Kaikura - Life On The Edge

Working our way further up the panoramic east coast where beyond each twist and turn a picture-perfect scene emerges. We spent two nights in this pretty peninsula town backed by the peaks of the Seaward Kaikoura Range.

A Little History

In Maori legend, the peninsula was the seat where the demigod Maui placed his feet when he fished the North Island up from the depths of the sea. The town was a whaling station from 1842 until 1922; whale watching is the biggest attraction here - glad they didn't catch them all back then.

We started the Kaikoura cliff-top walk in the morning fog, but it was still spectacular.

The laying and folding of the land under the sea millions of years ago can be seen on the bluffs and in the ocean.

We took the beach trail back, and saw a lot of birds and seals on the way.

Woke up early in the morning and was met by the spectacular cloud formations.

Next stop Marlborough and time for some wine tasting! 

Christchurch - On The Way To Recovery

A Little History

We took the inland scenic route from Geraldine to Christchurch, which is the second largest city in New Zealand with 380,900 inhabitants. In 1850 the settlement was ordered by the Church of England due to the fertile farming land. Christchurch was meant to be a model of class-structured England in the South Pacific, not just another scruffy colonial outpost. Churches were built rather than pubs, and wool made the elite wealthy. Only 5% of the Maori in NZ live on the South Island, as it was settled a few hundred years later than the North Island.

Earthquake

We went to the iSite to get a current street map as many roads were blocked off or made one way streets due to construction and repairs after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake at 12:51pm on February 2011. At that time people were working or on their lunch break when the earthquake happened just 10 km from the city. Around half of the 185 death occurred when the Canterbury TV building collapsed. The affected part of the city was a sad sight, but the city is well on the way to recovery, the residents have embraced the change, and there is a positive energy in the city.

Re:Start Mall

This mall is a colourful labyrinth of shops based in shipping containers, and was the first retail activity after the earthquake.

A Taste of Denmark

We stayed in a campground in Papanui 5km north of the city center, and stumbled upon this store!

The bakery was established in 1987, and the ryebread and the spandauer tasted just like in Denmark - lucky me!

The Coolest Fun In Town

We had finally reached summer temperatures again after the much colder south, and then we visited the International Antarctic Centre! NZ's Scott Base on Antarctica is only 4.5 hours flight away, and most employees fly in and out of Christchurch. Antarctica is the coldest, direst and windiest place on earth and more than 98% is covered in ice. We got to experiences a -18C windchill, and it was cold! Respect for the people working there! 

We spent a couple of hours in the informative, interesting and interactive museum, and had some fun too.

Did you now dinosaurs and penguins are related....?

Antarctica is the only place on earth that is till as it should be....

Time defrost in the sun with a cold beer and some pork scratchings.

Life is great!

Dunedin to Christchurch - Penguins And Boulders

The east coast of the South Island is rural and urban, less rugged, drier and more populated than the west coast. It was a beautiful drive from Dunedin to Moeraki on the narrow and ocean-hugging road. 

Moeraki

When we arrived at the campground we were told it was time now to go see the Yellow-Eyed Penguins coming home to feed their chicks from a day of fishing at sea. Waiting for mummy in a safe spot.

'Give me some fish, Mummy'.

It was amazing seeing them in their natural environment - and we didn't even have to pay for it! 

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There were also plenty of fur seals lazing around. They barely raised their heads when we walked by in respectful distance.

Moeraki Boulders

These spherical boulders on Koekohe Beach is scattered about like a giant kid's discarded marbles. The boulders are actually concretions that have been exposed through shoreline erosion from coastal cliffs that back the beach. They originally formed in ancient sea floor sediments around 60 million years ago. 

Some are more than three meters in diameter and weighs several hundred tonnes,

This boulder tidal pool housed a starfish and some seaweed.

A 'new' Andy is hatching......

Oamaru

We stopped for coffee and ice cream in Oamaru. We walked through the Historic Precinct with the largest collection of protected heritage buildings in New Zealand. They were crafted from the local limestone now known worldwide as Oamaru Stone.

Nothing moves fast here!

We spent the night in Geraldine, which has a country-village atmosphere with a population of 2,210 people.

Dunedin - A Taste of Scotland

Leaving Glenorchy we headed south towards Invercargill and drove through part of the Southland. We didn't see any other cars for about one hour, and after that they were scarce.We drove through lush plains flanked by rolling hills in the distance (the Caitlins). We had decided that we would not go to Milford Sound as we didn't have gear to do any of the famous Milford Sound Track, we had seen fjords in Norway and Newfoundland, respectively, and it would be a 600km return drive just to take enjoy the view - if the weather was cooperating.  

Since the 1990s, when Bill Clinton and Al Gore were respectively president and vice-president of the United States, the road between Clinton in Otago and Gore in Southland has been designated the 'presidential highway'.

Dunedin

It was quite a long and eventless drive, and we reached Dunedin late afternoon. We had decided to abandon our Spaceship again, and had challenges finding a place to stay. We were so desperate that we considered taking a single room and putting the mattress from the Spaceship on the floor! Luckily, when we came back to the hotel they had a double room for us - phew! The outdoors is never far away here in New Zealand.

A Little History

Dunedin was founded on the hard toil of whalers, gold miners and migrants from Scotland. Dunedin is old Gaelic word for Edinburgh. Dunedin is this often said to be the best-preserved Victorian and Edwardian heritage city in the souther hemisphere.  The Dunedin Railway Station is said to be New Zealand's most photographed building, so we had to take a picture....

In Dunedin they speak New Zealand's only regional accent. The softly rolled 'r' is an expression of the Scottish heritage and a strong local identity among the residents. Even the weather was Scottish - around 12C and overcast, and we ran into a pipe band competition on the Octagon Sunday morning.

We had booked tickets to the Royal Albatross Centre (RAC), but had to cancel as our Spaceship wouldn't start. We had had problems with the fridge battery not working in Queenstown, so AA must have fixed it but caused another problem. AA came quickly, and we went to see the albatrosses.

A Little Ornithology

The Northern Royal Albatross has a wing span of up to 3m/9'6" long, it can fly at speeds of around 120km/hour - 74mph, at 7 month old the chick is 10-12kg, and the adult is 8-9kg normally. Once the chicks leave the nest, they spend 5 years at sea before coming back to breed in the same area.

We saw several birds nesting, and we were lucky to see they in flight as well. They Need strong winds to be able to fly as they are heavy birds. They use the airflow and thermals to stay in the air. They rarely flap their wings.

Huge birds!

The RAC is located on the tip of the Otago Peninsula and we had some great views on the drive back to Dunedin.

It is sadly time to head north, which means the journey homewards has officially started as we are flying out of Auckland up north! 

Glenorchy And The Routeburn Track

Glenorchy is a small settlement of 200 people nestled in spectacular scenery at the north end of Lake Wakatipu 45km north of Queenstown. 

A Little History

In 1862 the first settlers came from Europe looking for new grazing. This was closely followed by hoards of prospectors looking for gold and later scheelite. Tourism has also been a major contributor to the town's economy for over 100 years. Early visitors to Head of the Lake would arrive on the TSS Earnslaw steam ship from Queenstown and spend the day touring the Routeburn or Paradise Valleys.  In 1962 the Queenstown/Glenorchy Road was opened, unlocking a way for many travelers to explore this magnificent area further. Now known as one of New Zealand 's most scenic roads it follows the original route taken by the first European pioneers to the Head of the Lake. 

It reminded us of Scotland, and even the weather had a cold, drizzly Scottish feel to it. But is was beautiful.

The following day, however, the weather gods were on our side as we set out to do a 17.6km day hike of the Routeburn Track, a famous backpacking track.

The track was following the river for a while,

and most of it was in the shade of the trees but with some amazing views along the way.

Time for an after-lunch rest before heading back down.

Dorte got this very appropriate and funny Valentines card from Andy:

We celebrated our love spending the night in The Lodge, and had a wonderful dinner.

A very quaint and beautiful little village!