Photos of drive to Haast

Wanaka to Haast and onwards

Yesterday we visted Lake Wanaka, sadly it was wet and cloudy, so not a lot to see, but loads of goodies in the supermarket to stock up on. We got on the road heading in the direction of Haast. Amazing views all along the road, photos to follow, we were going to stop off at a Doc campsite (Department of Conservation) which looked good, these are sites where you pay a minimal cost for minimal amenities, no showers, we have one in the van, long drop toilets, don't even ask! Luckily we have our own, and no power, but when we got to the site there were loads of midges and it was starting to bucket down, so carried on to Haast and a proper campsite, which was absolutely packed by 4.00 by people taking refuge from the pouring rain. This morning woke up to blue sky and sunshine, as they say onward and upward, we are now at Fox Glacier on the South West coast with a beautiful evening. Had a great day visiting a very remote beach with flat rocks, which was 12 Kms off the main road called Gillespies beach, then a beautiful lake called Lake Matheson, which is where the Maoris used to fish for eels and trout, had a great walk round, now camped for the night on a very pleasant site, with Chris cooking dinner, even better! Tomorrow I'm going to be very brave and go for a walk on Fox Glacier!

A short drive south brought us to another awesome landscape of LAKE PUKAKI and views of MOUNT COOK in the distance.A spacious site on the edge of the lake afforded us a peaceful and tranquil day of short walks along the shoreline and a welcome 'chill-out' period of sitting by the van in glorious sunshine reading our books and sipping chilled white wine I'm writing this at approx 8.45pm,the sun has finally set on the mountains which have taken on a purple and indigo hue, and MOUNT COOK is just about to fade in to darkness,it's great snowfields slowly dimming in the sunset. Probably our most amazing visual experience of the holiday, and we're sure there will be more to follow

Lake Pukaki & Mount Cook

Lake Tekapo

We climbed a Mountain

Left Christchurch in rain and cloud, and arrived at Lake Tekapo in sunshine and warmth - what a difference a couple of hours and a lot of height makes! We are now at the gateway to the Southern Alps. Decided to go for a walk round the lake which is bright turquoise, and comes from glacial melt water, stunning. Then we had a stroll! up Mount John where there is an observatory, it was very steep, but we made it photos to follow. We met a young man on his way down who told us he had run it in 6 minutes! Absolutely amazing views when we reached the top well worth it. Returned to our campsite to find that nearly all of China had arrived in campervans!

Transalpine Railway & Arthur's Pass

TranzAlpine Railway Journey

We arrived in Christchurch yesterday, parked Amity in a very pleasant campsite. Today we have taken the TranzAlpine Train to Arthur's Pass. The journey was awesome through mountains, over viaducts, photos to follow. Have spent a pleasant day in Arthur's Pass walking trails, watching waterfalls, and picnicking on top of a mountain. The sun has shone and we think how lucky we are to experience this magnificent country.

-23/2/2012 As an addition to arriving at Marfells beach.....the weather took a turn for the worse!!we spent a blowy night in the campervan hoping it wasn't the start of a tsunami!! This morning was quite a change....the wind had dropped and the lashing rain had subsided!!once we got packed up we headed south on highway 1 and after a pleasant stop at 11 am for coffee at a breathtaking point overlooking the rolling waves of the Pacific, we carried on to a small town called Kaikoura,and after a brief stop we drove for about 10km to a an excellent beachside campsite called Peketa,with dramatic mountains straight out of the Lord Of The Rings as a backdrop to site.We've had glorious sunshine all day....Factor 70 sunblock!! And now after a tasty dinner of pork with hoi sin sauce,stir-fry vegetables,bar-b-q sweet corn and savoury rice,washed down with a glass or three of Hawkes Bay Chardonnay,we're settling down for a quiet night with the sound of the Pacific waves crashing on to the beach....bon nuit!!!

Peketa

Just in front of where we are parked for the night

Marfells Beach

V v stormy!

Whatamango Bay

The views we had from our bed last night!

Amity

Our home for the next few weeks

South Island

Set off from Rachel's house in Wanganui on Tuesday morning in our new home for the next couple of weeks in a camper van called Amity photos to follow. We headed to the Interislander terminal at Wellington, and onto the Picton Ferry. What a breathtaking crossing, through the Cook Straits, it took 3 hours, very relaxing. Then last night, Tuesday stayed at a very basic, but beautiful site just outside Picton called Whatamango Bay, it was nestled in a bay in the estuary with mountains all round. Our first night in the camper van, it was great, so much freedom, not having to look for restaurants! This morning we woke up to rain and grey mist so set off after breakfast looking for sunshine, unfortunately today we didn't find it! And are camped tonight at Marfells beach on the East coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean, I certainly don't fancy an evening dip, the waves are very high and it's pouring with rain, but we are cozy in our van drinking some delicious wine! And Chris about to cook dinner. The great thing for me though is that I have a signal here so can check emails etc, it is definitely the absolute middle of nowhere!

Art Deco Photos

Now I'm all up to date!

Photos of Lake Taupo & Huka Falls

Art deco Weekend in Napier

What an amazing weekend, everyone dressed up in their 1920's, 30's and 40's clothes, it was like the biggest fancy dress ever, there were over 300 vintage cars and motor bikes on display, dancing in the street, learn how to jitterbug, airplane displays. There were 7 of us, and we had a great time, people watching, sampling the local Hawkes Bay wine, and generally having a good time. Sunday afternoon had a BBQ in Colette and Nigel's garden, then said goodbye to them and are now in Wanganui with Nigel's sister Rachel getting the camper van ready for departure to the South Island tomorrow. And photos as well, I'm getting there!!

Photos of Napier

Some views from C&ns house