A month in New Zealand

Sat 1 Mar 2025 Wellington, the capital city, has a faster pace of life than we've been used to. It's not as new and fresh feeling as other places we've been to, though there was a brand new looking St Mary of the Angels church. There was also a dragon boat race on today that made us think of Bristol.  We spent the morning at The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa, New Zealand's national museum. The exhibits about the Māori people, other original indigenous peoples of the pacific region, and the history of their journeys, were very enlightening. There were also some beautifully carved artefacts.  In the afternoon, we went to see the Wētā Workshop who make props, prosthetics and models for big budget movies such as Lord of the Rings and Avatar. Some items are even made from kitchen foil and then the final layer completed afterwards. Activities included handling hobbit feet and big guns.

Fri 28 Feb 2025 Today we boarded the scenic Coastal Pacific train to Picton, where we will retrace our ferry ride back to Wellington on North Island. This included some pink salt lakes (salterns). So it was goodbye to Kaikōura, which had been a very nice town to stay in.

Thu 27 Feb 2025 Today was a day for wildlife.  Getting up at 6am, and catching a sunrise, we took a boat off the coast of Kaikōura to go whale watching. We weren't disappointed as we had three sightings (two of the same whale and one of another). Below should give you an idea of the scale of whale to boat (the whale scale), and you can see here a video of the whales in action. We were also luck enough to see a pod of 30-50 dolphins swimming playfully, as well as some albatross - see here for a video of some of the dolphins. In the afternoon, we went on a seal kayak tour, to get up close to fur seals. They are incredibly cute - click here for a video of a playful seal updating its waterproofing! We finished with an amazing dinner at the Craypot - Kaikōura roughly translates to meaning the eating of crayfish, which are abundant here. We shared a whole crayfish and a platter of other excellent seafood. 

  Wed 26 Feb 2025 We say goodbye to Christchurch, which as served us well. Our lovely apartment had an enclosed balcony to enjoy meals.  It was opposite the picturesque Hagley Park. Though the mornings provided a misty challenge for Stu  when navigating his dawn run, it was sunny during the day and was a good place for Stu and I to relax with our luggage ahead of check in when we first arrived! We're now in Kaikoura and had fish and chips. Look out for updates tomorrow on whale watching and kayaking with seals (the seals will be in the sea, not actually kayaking with us).

Tue 25 Feb 2025 Today we took some time to get to know Christchurch a bit better. We started with Willowbank wildlife reserve, which included a section on creatures native to New Zealand. Though we weren't allowed to take pictures of Kiwi in their "Nocturnal House", we saw many other creatures.  Christchurch was devastated and is still recovering from two major earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, it is re-emerging renewed with some memories of the past there in remnants. A very nicely designed city centre in which to spend time is juxtaposed against what was there before and what is missing. Quake City provided poignant exhibits, sharing the experiences of the human impact of the earthquakes - the anniversary only three days ago. This included personal stories, CCTV footage, and photographs of the aftermath. There was also information about the "liquefaction" caused by the ground conditions in Christchurch, which causes solid ground under buildings and roads to become...

Mon 24 Feb 2025 It was definitely worth the wait to take a hot air balloon for astonishing views across the Canterbury region that Christchurch sits in. Every second of this experience was magical. Being thirteen hours ahead of the UK, we were some of the first people in the world (even before those at ground level in Christchurch) to see today's sunrise as the atmospheric mists cleared. It was an intimate trip shared with only Jessica (our other paying guest) and Nick (our pilot). We hope that the pictures of this experience speak for themselves.  Watch this video here for a sense of the serenity, punctuated by the burner. The experience also involved the setting up and taking down of the balloon for flight. Though are at the other side of the world, the balloons are made by Cameron Balloons in our home city of Bristol (shout out to Maggie Cameron)! After this, we handed over the campervan and headed in to stay in a Christchurch apartment for a couple of nights, thus entering a n...

Sun 23 Feb 2025 There was a party group at our campsite last night that disrupted many people's sleep - I guess it was a Saturday night! Today, the campsite was mostly vacated with lots of green space for us. After a morning run and a big breakfast, we started to pack down the van, as tonight will be our last night. Tomorrow morning we have a very early start as the weather looks perfect for ballooning! So it will be a tight window before dropping the van off in Christchurch. We befriended one of our neighbours, Sandy, a fellow noise sufferer last night. She had an amazing story of bringing back to life a caravan that belonged to her parents, that was stolen and re-found, that has been in the family for 43 years!  Once we knew the balloons were on, we went for a river stroll then jumped in the campervan to do a wild camping night on the grounds of the "Ballooning Canterbury" hangar, ready to wake up at 5:15am.

Sat 22 Feb 2025 After hearing last night that our balloon ride on Sunday morning was at risk due to the weather, we heard today that it was a "no go", with the option to move to Monday morning instead. We've been rejigging our camping sites, and aren't freedom camping tonight, but have got permission to wild camp at the site of the balloon launch so we can tumble out of bed in time for the 6am start!  In the mean time, we've headed to Glentunnel, which is nearer to where we need to be. As we were retracing some of the original route we took to the Southlands, we were delighted that the weather today afforded us the opportunity to enjoy a stop to look at Aoraki / Mount Cook, the tallest (3724m) mountain in New Zealand. It had been obscured by clouds when had done the glacier tour earlier in our trip. Our view was from Lake Pukaki, where we were able to pick up some sashimi, as well as a zingy salmon spread for our sandwiches. This is very fresh from the salmon in t...

Fri 21 Feb 2025 Today we headed part way back our existing route and then onto Ōmarama - a very tiny "town" surrounded by dry mountains. If you're interested in our progress, here it is: The route was, as always, scenic. On arrival, we went for a run amongst the lovely backdrop.   This was topped off by a super clear starry night:

Thu 20 Feb 2025 Basing ourselves in Te Anau, we decided to take a tour onto Milford Sound, which involved a coach and then a scenic boat trip amongst the fjords. This was a good choice, as it included a four-hour return drive, and the weather set to be quite rainy - sufficient for a potential cancellation. The weather held out enough to enjoy the boat tour, before the rains came. The weather did add some atmosphere to this experience, and we did see many seals! Our tour guide was great and informative, and stopped at some nice spots on the scenic drive too. We have been fortunate enough to see many birds on our travels, and today was no different. A special cheeky one is the kea to be see on the right below. They are playful and love to interact with people. They are a kind of parrot that is found at higher altitudes, though due to their strange screech many people prefer a cockatoo.  

Wed 19 Feb 2025 We're headed to Te Anau so we can start a Milford Sound tour tomorrow (beautiful fjord lands to come!). We did stop en route to have the water supply fixed by somebody who our campervan company organised for us. Luke really knew his stuff, and replaced a faulty pipe that was the source of all of our airlocks. We'll tell you all about that when we see you! Over the course of the drive, the landscape really opened up to some very long views, and we also passed by "Roaring Meg" waterfall and hydro scheme:

Tue 18 Feb 2025 Today, we went to the Tasman Glacier. We drove up to Aoraki (Mount Cook Village), and then took a bus and walk down to a small boat mooring where we got a good look at the icebergs on Tasman Lake and got right up to the the glacier terminus. Things looked a bit touch and go as to whether the trip would go ahead, as we had heavy rain overnight. With heavy clouds and tricky conditions, we could be turned back at any minute and the trip cancelled: As it happened, sunshine won out. Our guide got us up close to various icebergs, and explained a lot about how they behave and what they are telling us: We're now at a campsite in Wānaka, ready for the what comes next (including getting somebody to look at our campervan water system, though it does seem to be working again).