Merry Christmas to one and all.

Long time no update, when I last left you all I was just arriving in Greymouth,  well I’m pleased to say that I did partake in a couple of pints of Monteiths Original and a lovely order of barbeque spare ribs at the Brewery, I also managed to get a six pack carryout to keep me going as I headed further South.  I didn’t get around to sampling the fare in the Speights Ale House, but still plenty of time to do that as I continue my trip around the South Island. The weekend in Greymouth was very wet which curtailed too much sight seeing, but I did manage to get out to Brunner Lake to get a better look at the snow

capped mountains.  So, on the Monday morning I packed up and headed off down to Hokitika.

Hokitika is a very pretty little town, a lot smaller than I imagined it to be, but you had the sea on one side and snow covered mountains on the other. It was from here that my whole perspective when driving South changed. I was used to looking out of the right side from Westport down as most of the good views were of the sea and coves on that side, but from here all the good views changed to the left hand side as the Southern Alps really came to the fore.  I took a drive out to Hokitika gorge where there is a swing bridge over the river, but, the most striking thing was the colour of the water in the river. As my colour perception is not the best I will describe it as a very pale bluey/green. You will see it in the pictures and that was the actual colour, there are no camera jiggery pokery goings on. Quite stunning to say the least. Now I forget why the water is this colour but I due recall it was something to do with glacial melt and minerals. For any more information I urge you to contact Uncle Google.

It was while I was in Hokitika that I had a serious theft occur, but luckily the two culprits were quickly apprehended but unfortunately the stolen items were never recovered.  I had to go to the Supermarket to stock up on provisions and on completion put the bags in the car while I just popped to another shop to pick up the paper and a magazine to read. On getting back to the campsite and unpacking the shopping I was four items missing, these being crusty bread rolls, two of which I had planned for my lunch. I went back to the car to see if they had dropped out of the bag on the trip back, but all I found was an empty plastic bag in the back of the car and a few crumbs, so, ladies and gentlemen of the jury I think its an open and shut case of the dogs who ate the bread. Lesson learned, not to put the rolls at the top of the bag to stop them being squashed as worse things may happen.

Next stop down was the little town of Franz Joseph, which was absolutely crawling with tourists, and it wasn’t even the height of summer. Very much a town fully geared up for dealing with hikers, bikers, climbers and sightseers who all wanted to see Franz Joseph glacier.  The whole town was Hotels, motels, backpackers accommodation in between places to eat and drink.  As for the helipads they must be some of the busiest in the country, helicopters were flying constantly from 8 in the morning until about 6 in the evening. I took a drive down to the next  town along called Fox Glacier which was about 20kms south of Franz Joseph, and although it was a bit misty I got a good view of Mount Aoraki, or Mount Cook as some may know it as, this is the heighest peak in New Zealand at 3724meters or 12,200feet it used to be higher at 3764 meters or12,300feet but a rock slide in 1991 took 40meters off the top.  Geography for beginners, all part of the service. I managed to get a couple of shots of Fox Glacier albeit not overly good ones due to the weather conditions.  After 4 days here I packed up again and got back on the road.

 

Next port of call was the small, about 250 people of Haast which was some 140kms South of Franz Joseph. Some lovely scenery was seen on the way down before parking up at the back of a shop in the middle of the town.  Not much to see or do here and was only going to stop for one night, mainly to give the dogs a break from the car.  But then I nearly packed up and went the same night, as I made the mistake of sitting outside enjoying the evening sun when I got my ankles covered in sandflies. Now for those of you who don’t know, I believe that New Zealand is the sandfly capital of the world.  These pests are very small, no bigger than a decent mosquito, but boy they can certainly nip. They don’t bother you if you are moving but as soon as you stand still they are on you like a back of starving hyenas. I used to suffer from these things when I lived at Kawerau, but the ones down in Haast were from a whole new level.  Luckily non got into the caravan so I didn’t have to grab the flyspray and set about them.

From Haast it was quite a longish drive to Cromwell, bypassing Wanaka which no way was I going to try and drive through towing the caravan.  Although it was a decent drive the scenery was outstanding. Going through Haast pass to  Wanaka was probably the best I had seen so far on the trip.  I passed four waterfalls on the way, but, you will all be pleased to hear that I didn’t stop to take any photos of them, not because I didn’t want to but I couldn’t room to park at any of them.  So down into Central Otago we went and finally got to Cromwell. A stunning little town, surrounded by mountains with snow still on the tops and looking really nice in the sun. But I should imagine a very cold place in winter. What more could you ask for a pretty town in some really warm sunshine, surrounded by snow capped hills and to top it all lots and lots of vineyards with cellar doors offering a wide variety of wines.  It was obviously a thriving town as lots of new housing was being built, which I guess if it continues will eventually spoil it. That’s progress folks.  I took a drive out to a place called Bendigo which was a town or village just a cluster of vineyards, but I was drawn more by the name as it is the same as where my sister lives in Victoria, Australia.  I was driving along this backroad with a local chappie in his Ute a kilometre or so ahead of me when I saw he went through a ford. Ah thought I he went across ok shouldn’t be a problem for me either.  Well, being a local he obviously knew the way across it better then I, when I drove in it  was a bit deeper than it looked and faster flowing,  and neither was I in the same wheel tracks as him, so down went the front of the car and the the water came up over the bonnet. Luckily it was only about six meters or so across so I managed to keep going and was soon coming out the other side, but it gave me quite the scare.  It wasn’t until a week or so  later I discovered that my front number plate was missing and I presumed it was lying on a river bed in Bendigo.

Drove out from Cromwell and went down to a little place called Lumsden, going from Cromwell to Queenstown I went through Kawarau gorge, no not Kawerau but Kawarau and passed the world famous and  original A J Hackett bungy jump bridge. Sadly I couldn’t stop and jump off myself as the carpark was reasonably full and I wouldn’t have been able to park up, so to my sorrow I was unable to partake. But I can now say I have been to Kawerau and Kawarau. Managed to miss Queenstown which was busy enough on the outskirts for my liking, so I was thankful I didn’t have to go through the town centre. I managed to stop a couple of times when I got south of Queenstown to give the dogs a break and to take a couple of photos.   It wasn’t until I got to Lumsden that I realised that I didn’t have a front number plate, so that entailed a 160km round trip to Invercargill to get new plates for the car. So Ive gone from HWP778 to LUF452.  Lumsden itself was nothing to right home about but I was the only person staying at the caravan park so  the dogs had a bit of a free rein and I could turn the music up a notch which is always pleasant.

From here I went out West again to Te Anau, which is the gateway to Milford Sound. I was last there 12 years ago with my daughter when we did our little road trip, and although it has grown a bit since those days it wasn’t as big as I remember it, well maybe it just seemed as if there wasn’t as much there as I thought there was. What there wasn’t  was any shortage of was motorhomes it seemed that every other parking space had a motorhome in it.  Ive no idea just how many motorhomes are hired in New Zealand every year but between Britz, Maui, Starrv and Jucy it must be well into the thousands if not tens of thousands, and certainly far more of them on the South Island than the North.

Anyway I then swung further South leaving behind Otago and into Southland and went around to Niagara which is just at the bottom end of the Catlins National Park. There was nothing here at all, not even a shop, mobile signal or internet coverage, so it was a very peaceful few days. The nearest shop was 22kms away at Tokanui, and you had to drive 6kms just to pick up a phone signal.  Niagara was 4 houses and a river the nearest neighbour was in Waikawa 6kms up the road. But I did manage to have a trip out to Slope Point which is the Southern most point of South Island. Also went out to Waipapa Point where there were a couple of seals on the beach, which coincidently is one more than there was at the seal colony.

Finally I arrived in Dunedin, or Dunners as it is also known and Edinburgh of the South.  A good size city and in places very pretty.  Im currently stay just to the south of Dunedin in Brighton (no pier) thank for the hospitality of Tony, Julie and Ann, not forgetting Breeze, Moss and the new arrival Storm. So with my two its is quite the doggy house. Thankfully all the dogs and the adults are getting on well together.

So I will wish you all a very merry Christmas and all the best to everyone for the New Year