Feb 10, 2015 NZ South Island Tour plus a little of the North Island

We toured the South Island of New Zealand in the Purple Pimp Mobile!

We rented the most unique campervan for this adventure. Purple inside and out, most surfaces in the interior were covered in purple velour or mirrors, with the exception of the 2 disco ball lights. She's a beauty and we got tons of comments everywhere we went, but it was affordable and ran well.

 

We started the adventure by flying to Queenstown. We arrived at 9 am, so we had a full day to explore Queenstown. We walked from our hotel into town, Gary and Gigi went for a swim in icy Lake Wakatipu, we walked around the botanical gardens, and stopped for a quick lunch. Then we headed up the Skyline Gondola where we enjoyed the views and a few rides on the land luge (Axel's favorite). After a brief dip in the chilly hotel pool we walked back downtown for some dinner and ice cream.

The next day we picked up the Purple Pimp Mobile. After getting the run down on the vehicle and some provisioning, we drove just north of Te Anua and camped beside the lake. This ensured we were on the road to Milford Sound early the next morning.

Once in Milford we checked in to the nicest holiday park we stayed at during the trip. They had a beautiful, large common room, an industrial kitchen with new appliances and all the cooking utensils, and of course beautiful scenery. We hiked all around the area, and that afternoon we did the obligatory cruise out Milford Sound to the Tasman Sea. We were on a small boat, so it was a little more personal and when the captain put the bow into a waterfall Gary was ready and in his bathing suit to get an icy shower. The scenery is spectacular, soaring mountains encapsulated with clouds, glaciers perched in the mountain crevasses, hundreds of waterfalls and seals lounging lazily on the rocks. 

On our way back from Milford Sound we did a few short hikes. The favorite was to the snow tongue that had yet to melt below a larger glacier just past the Homer Tunnel. Although this was a fairly small patch of snow compared to the nearby glaciers, we realized it was still pretty big (try to find Gigi in the picture below).

That night we camped in Cromwell, the stone fruit capital of NZ, yummy. In the morning Axel and Gary went to the speedway and drove go-carts. That afternoon we went on my favorite hike to the Rob Roy Glacier. It was about a 10 kilometer hike with a vertical gain of about 1000 feet, and so worth it as you arrive at this stunning flower filled alpine meadow with the glacier looming above and numerous waterfalls flowing down the mountainside. 

Of course there are sheep everywhere and the kids want to try to pet them.

We stayed just outside Wanaka and toured the town the next day. It was great to see the town that so many of our friends have lived in while skiing in the winter. We headed north to the Blue Pools, a glacier fed river that pools as it curves causing unbelievable crystal blue water. Gary and Gigi jumped in, and then out very quickly. They described the water as not too bad, but the air almost felt hot once they got out. Later that afternoon we were hiked to the Fox Glacier. We found it interesting to see the markers of how quickly the glacier has receded in the past 150 years. We spent the night in the town of Franz Josef, very cute, lots of bars and restaurants. We went out for dessert and the kids tried their first pavlova and loved it.

Close-ups of the Fox glacier

We woke up early and drove through Arthur's Pass to the Bealey Spur hike. This took us up into the alpine for majestic views of the mountains and glacier carved valleys. 

 

From here we headed into Christchurch to visit our friends AJ, Roland and Isabella Mathews. We spent a couple of days with them, trying to catch up on the past 20 years. Unfortunately you can still see the devastation all around the city from the earthquakes 4 years prior. The downtown is a complete mess, with most of the buildings demolished or about to be demolished.

Monday February 2nd as we headed north we tried to find a place to watch the Superbowl. We got many comments like "What is that?",  "No one shows American football around here.", …  Eventually we found the small Leithfield Hotel and were the only ones watching it. We were a bit disappointed they didn't show the American commercials, instead they showed cricket and rugby commercials. Although they did show the half-time show, so Gigi was satisfied. After the game we toured Kaikoura, then camped at Mangamaunu. Mangamaunu is a famous surf spot, but unfortunately there was no big surf when we were there or in the foreseeable future. That said, Gigi did go out for a little surf. Kaikoura is NZ's main lobster fishing spot, so we looked into buying lobsters from a small shack on the beach, but the prices were astronomical, $50-100 for normal size lobster.

We went to 3 vineyards for a little wine tasting on our way through the Marlborough Sound wine region. Definitely the land of the citrusy sauvignon blanc. We camped at our favorite DOC campground, Pelorus Bridge. It has some of the only old growth forest left on the South Island and due to that a scene from the Hobbit was filmed there.

We made our way along the windy, scenic Queen Charlotte Drive to the start of the Queen Charlotte Track at Anakiwa where we rented mountain bikes and went on a fantastic ride that snaked through the forest and overlooked the Sound. Gigi got tired so she headed back early in the ride, so I rode to the lookout point then turned back to join her, and the boys continued down the trail to Te Mahia for ice cream, and we drove around to pick them up. Then we headed into picturesque Picton for dinner and to enjoy the awesome playground.

The next morning we got the very early ferry to Wellington. The ferry travels through Queen Charlotte Sound and the Cook Strait. We were lucky it was a very calm day, but even with almost no wind, the waves really kicked up as we approached the North Island. It was easy to see why people say Cook Strait is such a treacherous body of water.

We arrived at 9:30 am into Wellington, so we had the entire day to explore the city. We walked around downtown, saw the rugby sevens parade, toured the Beehive and parliament building, and took the cable car up to enjoy the botanical gardens. 

 Incredible hydrangeas in the botanical garden.

After a nice warm, dry, not windy night in a hotel room, we went to Te Papa, the national museum. It is an exceptional museum that thoroughly explains the history of New Zealand, the good and the bad parts. It was Waitangi Day, a celebration of the signing of a treaty between the Maori and British, so Gigi got a Maori face tattoo. We also enjoyed music in the park outside the museum. That afternoon we headed north to camp in Kaimanawa National Forest.

The next morning we hiked a portion of the great Alpine Track in Tongariro National Park. We hiked to a level where you could see 2 geothermal vents. It is a little unnerving to be on an active volcanic mountain. Later we made our way into Taupo, where Axel and Gary went on a giant rope swing. They dropped 150 feet over a river canyon before swinging for a while. These are the new rage at the bungy places instead of doing a bungy jump. Axel was screaming as they swung them out from the platform, he definitely was having second thoughts about going, then they dropped them. They fell 150 feet and it looked like they were about to hit the canyon wall, then they swung out over the river. They both loved the experience. 

 At our campsite we floated on our air mattress down the Waikato River. As expected the mattress was of little use that night for sleeping, so Gary ended up on the ground and I slept in the van with the kids.  That night and the following morning we went to the Thermal Spa Park and soaked in the natural hot springs. The water is a perfect temperature, and if you feel a little too hot you can swim in the river to cool down. The entire family decided this was one of our favorite spots from the whole trip.

As all good things must come to an end eventually, we drove 4 hours to Auckland to hand in our Purple Pimp Mobile, then 4 more hours back to Opua and the boat only to be greeted to the biggest bird poo bombing I have ever seen. Thankfully my parents had a warm meal was waiting for us after a quick first scrub of the boat.

Cheers,

Julie