Sat 29th we set off for Dunedin for a beer festival. Beautiful scenery of course…lakes,mountains and valleys. Stopped along the way at a very small town where someone Alan met in Israel was working as a chef, but he had retired a few months earlier and moved to Queenstown. Went straight to the stadium in Dunedin where the beer festival was being held. Great fun over a period of about 3 hours…tasting a huge assortment of beers, listening to live bands ( the Black Seeds were particularly good), and chatting to friends of Gabriella and Alex. We checked into a nice old fashioned A/B&B….the toilet even had a pull chain flush. Walked down the hill to meet two friends at a Japanese restaurant for dinner. So the 2 Japanese meals I’ve had in my life have both in NZ. Slight drizzle for the walk back up the hill.
Sun…we drove up the coast and as we were making good time we stopped in Oamaru, spending a bit of time at the Sunday market. We bought cheese, sausages, pickle and bread. The landscape was very flat along that part of the coast; one could see the mountains in the distance. We carried on going with the next objective being a wine tasting at the Pegasus vineyard. A lovely sunny day; great wines ( 10nzd each for Gabriella and myself for the tasting ); beautiful gardens with funky sculptures; had a glass of white wine in the garden. We went on to Waipara for the night. There were 4 or 5 old fashioned train sleepers that could be rented…..but of course I was in my tent. Small place but with very good cooking and cleaning facilities. I was using the camp bed for the first time…much more comfortable than the air bed.
Mon 31st. We stopped an hour or so up the road at a river so that Alex could have some fun fishing…After all he had done a lot of driving. He didn’t catch anything but it was a very relaxing stop. Beautiful location. After a snack roadside lunch we headed into the mountains again, passed Christchurch and on to Hanmer Springs. There are some hot springs there and there was a possibility we would stop there for the night. A nice stop but the place looked a bit touristy and we headed on towards some more hot springs at Maruia. We stopped of at small tarn just off the main road. Lovely reflections in the water of the mountains and the trees. Reached Maruia in the slight drizzle. After checking in and pitching my tent, we headed for the strong sulphur smelling pools. There were 4 or 5 pools at different temperatures to test one’s ability to withstand temperature levels. Great fun in the pools even if drizzling slightly. We experienced an oil infusion sauna. I think it was orange or possibly eucalyptus. After 20 minutes I think, we were supposed to take a very cold water plunge. I knew my limitations and chickened out of that. I think I was the only one….happy to go under a cold shower but not to take a 4° plunge. There was a second sauna session. Nice sauna but forget the cold water plunge. After showering we had a half hour session of ying yoga. I think ying. Very relaxing, and even more relaxing if one can totally relax the mind. Sausages again gor dinner, I think….then time for evening relaxation in the lounge area.
Tues 1st Time to pack a damp tent. Went into the sauna again. I skipped the infusion sauna and yoga as I was busy packing up my tent. We left at 10:00 to go up the Lewis Pass. A beautiful day. Fantastic scenery of course . Passed Murchison, Motueka, Takaka and onto Abel Tasman National Park right in the north of South Island. I think we were at Tata beach. Lovely Bay and lovely beach…quite big grains of sand….reminded me of Mbamba Bay on Lake Nyasa. We had our own cooking facilities of course and cooked a nice simple dinner….hamburgers I think. A Weka ( nasty vicious bird) sneaked up on Gabriella and snatched part of her burger. Simple facilities at the camp site…toilets and washing. Oh, and to make up for not taking a cold plunge at Maruia, I had a couple of swims in the sea. Cold of course but bearable. Lovely sunny evening…and we managed to get a wood fire going.
Wed 2nd. As it was drizzling in the morning with no sign of letting up, we packed up, and after backtracking a little bit we were heading to the West Coast. We reached south of Westport and went on to Punikaiki and the pancake rocks. Fascinating geological phenomenon…literally layers of rock laid down in such a way as to resemble pancakes. We only spent a short time there in the driving rain and strong winds, but definitely worth it. We carried on to an A/b&b in Barrytown. Small self contained house..very comfortable. It was still raining so I just relaxed and enjoyed the hot tub.
Lost track of my days. The next day we went on to Hokitika and stayed in a pub A/b&b. Alex drove us to Lake Kaniere and the Dorothy Falls. We went on to Hokitika Gorge. A fabulous walk through trees and plants, following the river and crossing on swing bridges. It took about an hour…once again such fun. I treated us to fish and chips for dinner. I had visited the S African shop and sampled their biltong. We watched a lovely sunset over the Tasman Sea, followed by a short visit to Glow Worm Dell. A nightcap in the pub then bed.
Sat 5th. Our last day. Left Hokitika ( which I really enjoyed) and stopped at Franz Josef glacier. Spectacular, but of course the glacier was a long way off compared to where it was in 1908 ( there was a photo) due to it melting so quickly . In Haast we stopped at the Monteith brewery. We were much too early for the tour, but I got to enjoy their black beer…a lighter version of Guinness. We continued down the coast to Jackson Bay. The weather was back to sunny again; actually Hokitika had been sunny as well. At Jackson Bay we had a superb seafood lunch. Whelks etc. A big pier with guys fishing off it. It was about an hour each way but Alex had always wanted to check out Jackson Bay. Then back onto route 6 or whatever and into the mountains once again. We then reached L Wanaka and were driving along it for ages….well it is the 4th largest lake in NZ..I think. From there we then drove along lake Hawea until we reached Wanaka in the late afternoon. Phew..Wow..what an amazing 8 days. You have to keep using words like beautiful, stunning, gorgeous, spectacular . Truly South Island is all that. And there is so much to see and do. A big thank you to Alex for doing all that driving and to Gabriella and Alex for treating me to such a wonderful trip.