Queenstown and beyond

We were really starting to enjoy the freedom of having our own campervan. For once we didn’t have to rely on other people for getting around, and we were no longer at the mercy of outdated bus timetables or crazy Indonesian drivers. We were however at the mercy of Cora's diabolical map reading skills! The next stop on our trip around the south Island was the millionaires playground of Queenstown, so called because you can basically do any activity you want there (for a price!).

Lovely Queenstown

The drive from Tekapo was one of the best scenic routes I’ve ever driven, it was hard to stop ourselves from saying “WOW”, all the time. The windy road carved its way around the vast snow covered peaks and through wide open grassy plains as far as the eye could see. Each time we passed another camper we got a wave so I had started to wave like mad with a big grin on my face the whole time. Arriving into Queenstown there was suddenly a real bustle about the place, lots of folk milling around the bright streets, sitting in the many bars and restaurants and looking like they were enjoying themselves.

We stayed in the nearest holiday park to town and it was probably the best one we’d stayed in on our whole trip through New Zealand. The people who worked there were very helpful and the facilities were top notch, not to mention we could walk to all the bars and restaurants in 2 minutes (which is the most important thing of all!)

Settled in we set off to book some ski gear for the following day. I couldn’t believe that I was going to get the opportunity to do a bit of snowboarding while in New Zealand, it was August after all! Cora did her best to feign excitement about our impending trip to the slopes, but I could tell she was a bit nervous. She needn’t have been as (after remembering how to put the skis on) she wasn't all that bad! We spent the whole day on a set of slopes appropriately named the “Remarkables”, we may not have looked the part, with our hideously ugly rented ski gear -none of which matched or was made in the last 10 years- but who cares!

After a rowdy night out with a somewhat far from home Kells head (hi Podge!) we spent our final morning queueing for a Fergburger, the famous burger place on the mainstreet. Since we’d arrived there had been a constant queue outside the place day and night, and people have been known to get their breakfast here. On our last day we rocked up and patiently waited in line for what was an epic burger I must say!

Putting some miles behind we made towards the west coast, but not before a sudden rush of madness caused me to veer of course and head for a 45m high bridge on the outskirts of town. This was where the famous AJ Hackett hurled himself off in the 80s attached to a bungy chord, and the sport of bungy jumping was born! I knew if I thought about it too much I wouldn’t go through with it, so within 10 minutes of pulling into the centre I found myself with harness attached perched high above the freezing water below.

What the hell was I doing!! Was I mad! I never thought I would do a bungy, but here I was, and with a quick countdown of 1, 2, 3, BUNGY! I picked a point on the horizon and leapt off! It was the most exhilarating feeling I have ever experienced, for those few seconds it felt like I was free falling to the water below. I was relieved when I felt the tension in the rope and hanging there it was hard not to let out an enthusiastic “WhooHoo!!” It wasn’t cheap, but it was well worth it and we jumped back into the camper, me with a smile from ear to ear!

Our next stop was the town of Wanaka located right on a crystal clear blue lake with beautiful mountains in the background. Wanaka was kinda like a baby Queenstown but as it was winter it was very quiet after all the madness of Queenstown it was a perfect place for a quiet couple of drinks and to stock up the camper.

Lake Wanaka

With no time to waste and with glorious sunshine beaming down we followed the main highway out to the west coast and had our first sight of the great Tasman sea. We drove over large gushing rivers and through enormous pine forests, stopping as often as we could for some photos and to walk in the countryside.

The country itself is so well set up for tourists, every attraction is really well signposted, and all the trails are well marked and maintained. They also have toilets.. everywhere! It was a vast contrast to travelling around some countries in Asia. We arrived in the small town of Fox Glacier in the as the sun was going down, and decided to leave it until the morning to go visit the huge glacier nearby.

The glacier is located about 10 minutes outside of town and unlike most things in New Zealand you don’t need to pay to go and see it. The walk to the glacier was along the old glacial valley was like something out of Lord of the Rings, almost eerie. It was much colder here, as if the glacier was cooling all the surrounding air, so the woolly hats were on! It took us about 30mins until we got a full view of the glacier and it was pretty awesome!

At Fox glacier

I still don’t think that the glacier was on a par with some of the ones we had seen in South America, but the fact that New Zealand even has glaciers I find amazing. They really have everything here! There are actually two glaciers, but because of crappy weather and a rather scary thunderstorm we didn't get a great look at the second one.

Sharing the single lane bridge with a train, safe?

We continued up the west coast past the famous pancake rocks and into Westport where we visited an old abandoned mining village. After Westport we finally got back to some civilisation in Nelson, voted recently as the best place to live in New Zealand. It was nice to see a few faces in the bars for a change! On a whim we signed up for some white water rafting on the famous Buller river and luckily got a beautiful sunny day for it. Two dudes who looked like aged rockers showed up and took us on an extremely professional but very fun and fast paced trip down the river. At one point we all jumped into the water (which was FREEZING!) and let the rapids carry us down. Not quite a bungy jump, but still a good rush! The cup of home roasted coffee at the end was a welcome treat for the cold hands.

Our last stop in the south island was in a town called Picton from where we would board the ferry to the north island in a couple of days. But before our imminent departure, there was a wine region nearby to drink our way through! Marlborough is one of NZ's premier wine areas and produces a lot of white wine, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay mainly. We visited around five vineyards in all, each of them differing in size and charm. Some were big businesses with no personal touch, others were small co-ops who were more than happy to entertain us for ages. We had most of the tastings to ourselves and could take our time. Feeling slightly pissed, it was nap time back in the campervan!

Can you tell we've had copious glasses of wine?

The following morning we packed up the camper and reported to the dock for the 10am sailing of the interislander ferry. The trip was smooth and the views were amazing, and we both sat and hoped that the north island could live up to our time in the south island. Time would tell..

Time for a spot of roadside lunch!