Final Leg

Monday 8th April

We made the decision as we travelled north, to try and cross Cook Strait that night. We hoped to visit a second cousin of mine on the Kapiti Coast the following day, so an earlier start from Wellington would suit better.

With that in mind we drove straight to the ferry terminal where they were very helpful about changing our booking to an evening sailing. We killed a couple of hours wandering around Picton, then went back and got in the queue ready to board.

A great treat! On board we 'ate out' for the first time. My favourite, Fish 'n Chips out of a carton. We had a very calm uneventful crossing. Doug had the foresight to book a motel ahead. He emailed Rob who 'googled' up a motel in Johnsonville, then rang and made a booking on his cellphone. We were pleased that he did as they were shutting for the night but they kindly left a unit open with the key inside and light on.

Gerty Garmin took us straight there when we disembarked at 9:15 pm. It was so good not to have to unpack and erect a tent!

We were away 9:00 ish in the morning, and once more relied on Gertrude to take us out of Johnsonville and on our way home.

After a short stop to meet a second cousin at Raumati Beach, we set off on the long trip back up to David & Ruth's at Motuoapa.



Once again it was a lovely day - so different from when we came down three weeks ago. Mt. Ruapehu and Mt. Ngauruhoe looked spectacular rising up from the stark desert terraine. Very different from the South Island mountains, but just as impressive.

We reached Motuoapa at about 3 o'clock. It was good to see David and Ruth again and catch up on all the things that we had done over the last three weeks.

We were underway again before 9:00 am and finally reached Manurewa early afternoon.

It has been a great trip - only rain 2 nights in Blenheim. We were able to camp for 14 nights - 12 in a row which was character building and extremely healthy! The Land Rover didn't miss a beat. We met 2 cousins, one of whom I hadn't seen since childhood, and a second cousin that I had never met before.

Heading Home

Sunday April 8th



Long trips each day now, Lake Hawea to Rakaia to stay with cousin Norm & Fay, then to Picton Sunday and onto the ferry for a night in a Wellington Motel.



Nice views along the way of Lake Tekapo



and Kaikoura.

Wanaka Airshow

Friday 6th April

We came to the South Island to see 'Warbirds over Wanaka ', and today was the day. Here are some of the better pictures of over 150 taken.

We went fairly early and found that they were very well organized, parking vehicles, checking tickets etc. We had 'Silver Tickets' that gave us seats in the 'Silver' stand.

We noted a line-up of camper vans,up on the adjacent bank with much cheaper seats than ours!












The highlight of the day was the flying skills of a model aircraft flyer, Frazer Briggs, who could make the plane do anything, including hanging in the air in front of him.

There wasn't a breath of wind all day - not even the tiniest cloud - so it was very hot. We plastered on lots of sunblock and don't seem any the worse after a very hot day.

Back at camp: the places has really filled up. The main days at the airshow are Saturday and Sunday. We will be quite pleased to move on tomorrow. Homeward bound!!

Lake Hawea

Thursday 5th April




A quiet day. Instead of running up kilometers and running down the petrol tank, we walked by the lake. We were impressed by its clear water. (Those stones are all under water.) A little later Doug tried spinner fishing in the Hawea River with the usual lack of luck. It was so nice to find river access via a gate with a 'Welcome' sign instead of the usual North Island 'No Trespassing'.



The trees are very beautiful and autumn colours are everywhere. This camping ground is very laid back and simple compared to the Arrowtown one. The sites are bigger, too.

Arrowtown to Lake Hawea

Wednesday 4th April

Another freezing morning get up - 100m trek in jandals to the shower block - musn't complain; it's dry, and the day was beautiful once the sun sneaked up over the surrounding hills. The South Island is certainly getting the best weather.

We packed up the tent after breakfast, and loaded up. The stuff only just fitted!



We had our 4WD excitement early today. Across town, we forded the Arrow River (pretty deep, I thought) (but not over the bonnet- Doug) and set off up Tobin's Track. It was a pretty good track. We climbed very high up, and soon had a magnificent view back down over Arrowtown with a couple of seats! One of the seats was dedicated to Noel and one to Jack. The track finally met the top of the Crown Range Rd. (We went over the Crown Range over 15 years ago in the ute. It has since been sealed, and was very pleasant to travel on this time.)



We stopped briefly at the Cardrona Pub. Doug goes to Land Rover meetings in a replica of this famous old pub in Auckland.



Lake Wanaka looked so beautiful as we approached. We parked to gaze at the view, then took a stroll around town. The town was busy, Lots of nice shops - I felt that we looked a bit like Hillbillies in our camping clothes and old Land Rover. Everybody looked so smartly dressed!

Soon we drove around to Eely Point to eat our lunch. We stayed off the main road for a while as we drove towards Lake Hawea where we were to camp. En route, Doug did a little fishing.

Lake Hawea is quieter than Wanaka. We are in quite a nice camping ground near the lake. It isn't as modern as the Arrowtown one; seems more relaxed and not a single big board of 'Rules' in sight.

The sandflies are biting! I wonder if we'll have mossies tonight?

Cromwell

Today we decided to have a closer look at Cromwell, 42 km from Arrowtown, via Kawarau Gorge. We stopped for a look at the Roaring Meg power station, named after a noisy woman associated with the construction workers.

Cromwell town centre was very quiet, almost deserted, with a lot of empty shops. We found a supermarket and stocked up for a few days as prices are much cheaper than in the smaller shops.



Down by the lakeside we looked at the restored Cromwell Town, originally called The Junction as it is on the junction of the Clutha and Kawerau rivers. In 1993 the Clyde Dam flooded the valley and the original site of the town, creating Lake Dunstan.

Arrowtown - Coal Pit Road Gibbston - Bungi

Monday 2nd April

Sooooo cold this morning. Long trek to the ablutions, but worth it to get under that lovely hot shower. The sun takes a wee while to get up over the surrounding hills, but once it does it's very warm - hot even.

After breakfast and after doing some washing, the sun was streaming down so Doug and I shed our heavy jackets and woolly hats and walked into town.



We enjoyed exploring the shops, then walked over to the historic Chinese village.



We returned to camp to have lunch, then set out to find Coal Pit Rd. This is an old road in the Kawarau Gorge that winds up very high to an abandoned coal mine. It was definitely a 4 WD track; rough rather than scary and negotiated in 2nd gear, low ratio. Doug enjoyed looking at the rusty old steam boilers etc. He also happened upon this hedgehog munching away on some delicacy.

Travelling back to camp we called in to a winery and cheesery. We sampled some really lovely cheeses. after buying one we decided that we wouldn't visit the winery.



Our next stop was the impressive bungi jump on the Kawarau River. We waited for ages to see someone jump, but eventually our patience was rewarded.
Bungi jumping has been added to my Reverse Bucket List. Why do people do it?



Our final stop was Ford St, back in Arrowtown. Doug wanted to check out the ford as we will be crossing the Arrow River when we go, on to Wanaka on Wednesday via Tobin's track and the Crown Range.

Gore - Arrowtown

Sunday 1st April

We had a good last night in Gore - no fog, so it didn't seem as cold. Once again we cooked in the kitchen. Quite amusing - a young Frenchman came in to cook some pathetic little saveloy things for himself and girlfriend. I talked him out of frying them; suggested he just give the 1 min in the microwave. He told us about his camping adventure at Lake Blunt ????? He said that "The mices got into our campervan" he had tried to kill them by hitting them with a "One of these" (a saucepan).

After leaving Gore we set off for Queenstown. It was a beautiful morning - lovely blue sky; not too cold.



We had our first stop at Fairlight. The Kingston Flyer was there at building up a great puff for the trip back to Kingston.

We changed our plans at that point and decided that we would not camp at Queenstown but take an interesting road (Tobins Track) that followed on after the Crown Range. We would end up near Arrowtown. Sounded good - I have been over the Crown Range before and survived.

Some how we missed vital signposts and ended up on a 'bunny road' as far as Doug was concerned.



Doug was greatly cheered when he saw a turnoff to Coronet Peak. Some way up the road after we had enjoyed the spectacular views we came to a sign saying Skippers Rd. "Let's have a look," said Doug.



I have invented something new today. It's called "The Reverse Bucket List" On this list I will record places that I never, never want to go to again.
This was the dreaded Skipper's canyon. I haven't been so scared for a long time. We met quite a few vehicles going in the opposite direction - so scary giving way. The views were spectacular so I tried to distract myself by taking photos. I hated knowing that it was a 'No Exit" Rd so at some point we had to turn and retrace our steps.



Well we survived. The camping ground at Arrowtown is lovely, modern and well equipped. Doug is still keen to find Tobins Track; probably tomorrow, after we have climbed the big hill behind the camping ground.