Last Day - Christchurch

Having packed everything and sorted out the van (why did we buy some of those things?) we left Akaroa for our final journey in the campervan. It's took less than a couple of hours to drive to the drop off point near Christchurch and we were at our hotel before midday. The hotel is within walking distance of what is left of the centre of Christchurch and the sun is still shining, so we have been moseying around. 

We had to walk through the Botanical Gardens, which were lovely, and very English. 

The large glass house in the background was closed because of the earthquake, as are many buildings, but there were plenty of plastic temporary green houses nearby. We spotted this beautiful butterfly in the dahlia beds.

The stream is called the Avon 

and streets were named after English cities - Worcester, Gloucester, Manchester etc. Very English after the French influence in Akaroa. We visited the Cathedral which we all saw on the news only to find two groups of protestors - National Front and anti-National Front - shouting very politely at each other watched by more tourists and police than there were protestors! 

This is the original Cathedral which will remain closed for some time. It is thought to be so unsafe that they have used drones to survey the inside. 

And here is the inside of the famous 'cardboard' Cathedral which was quite impressive but not, by any means, all cardboard.

Behind the cathedral are 185 white chairs to remember those who died in the earthquake

This is not an original idea, but is was very poignant. Even more so were the stories told by individuals for a film in Quake City, a small centre set up at the Re-Start centre by Christchurch Museum to explain the reasons and history of earthquakes in the city. These were very emotional. There are also detailed accounts of the 2010 and the much worse 2011 quake which destroyed the central business district. There are great plans to rebuild, but this will be a long process and in the meantime everywhere you look are sights like these..

with bollards, diggers, containers and chain link panels rapidly becoming the city's icons.

We had lunch in 'container city' and wandered around the shops there, but this is really an area designed to give tourists something to do. I'm not sure it will go a long way towards regeneration.

As everyone told us, Christchurch is a sad place, but if the plans to rebuild come to fruition it will be fantastic. We'll have to come back and check it out in a few years time. One more sleep before we get on the plane home. 

Nearly the last leg...

After a wonderful time on the Otago Peninsular the next few days are really about heading towards Christchurch to get the plane on Sunday. There's not so much to see on the east coast of South Island, but there's always something. 

First stop, the Moeraki Boulders, formed on the seabed 60 million years ago as lime salts accumulated around a hard core. The ones on the beach were in the soft soil behind it, but as the beach erodes the boulders come to light and then go on to be eroded by the sea - over millions of years of course!

Then on to Oamaru, the main town of North Otago, which was another amazing find. Beautiful local limestone Victorian buildings, many of which have been converted from warehouses to shops.

And a mad steam museum which we didn't go into, but caused some amusement.

We stayed at Timaru, another coastal town. We walked to the beach at dusk to look for blue penguins, who never arrived (I'm guessing they are moulting too...) but found this reminder of how vulnerable this part of the Pacific coast is.

From here went on to Akaroa, the oldest town in Canterbury and a couple of hours drive from Christchurch airport. We had intended to spend a couple of days in Christchurch, but frequently on our journey we have been advised not to stay too long as it is such a sad place and gawping at peoples misfortune doesn't seem quite right.

So, we chose to come to Akaroa which is beautiful. It was settled by the French in 1840 and seems keen to keep those connections. There is a Gendarmerie, a Boucherie, and the petrol station advertises L'essence. Many of the streets, though not all, have French names and there seem to be quite a few French tourists - perhaps searching for their ancestors?

There are rare Hector dolphins here and Graham went swimming with them! I'm not too fond of water, and there was only one space left so I went along as a spectator. We have some more professional photos of these, but these will give you a flavour of how it went. Glorious weather again, just right for our last day on the road.

That is Graham and a dolphin in the open sea. The dolphins are wild and come to visit the boat and to investigate the swimmers. Just one more day to go now. Tomorrow morning. We have a short drive to drop the van off and the we will spend the rest of the day in Christchurch before flying home on Sunday.

South Island - from west to east

Leaving Te Anau felt as though we were starting on our journey home. Just a week left of our trip and we were picking our way across to Christchurch to fly home on Sunday. But, like everywhere else in NZ, there are always big landscapes and interesting things to see along the way.

We were heading for the Otago Peninsular just south east of Dunedin and some 300 km drive. Half way was a town called Gore in the heart of an agricultural area and a real town. This was the first place we had been to in ages that wasn't a tourist trap and it was lovely. There were proper shops selling everyday things and there were strong signs of its agricultural heritage 

We spent ages in a craft cooperative shop and an enormous art gallery funded by an eccentric named Money which was full of strange and haunting paintings by Chinese artists. Quite incongruous. We arrived in Portobello not really knowing what to expect. We could have been in a very quiet Cornwall. 

though you can just see the cruise liner in the top right hand corner! The campsite was small and friendly and it was lovely to be in a less overpowering environment after the enormity of Fiordland. We went for a lovely walk yesterday morning and came across several Pukaka as well as all sorts of waders and plovers

before having lunch in the 1908 cafe. Fish and chips - more of a favourite here than in the UK.

The weather was beautiful and just right for our early evening excursion with Elm Wildlife Tours. http://www.elmwildlifetours.co.nz  We were collected from our site at 3.45pm and got back five hours later. Otago Peninsular, like Cornwall is criss-crossed with lots of tiny roads and unsealed tracks and impossible to negotiate with our campervan. Sean (or possibly Shaun) took us and seven others to various inlets and coves where we saw more wildlife than can be listed here but included kingfishers, stilts, paradise shelduck, pukakas (otherwise known as purple sproutings..), black swans, oystercatchers, various shags etc etc. Then we arrived at the Royal Albatross centre at Taiaroa to have these magnificent birds flying over the tops of our heads. 

Elm Wildlife Tours have a conservation area which they run in conjunction with a local farmer. This meant we were able to get really close to yellow eyed penguins

These poor little things moult once a year. During this time they can't swim and don't eat, but just stand and wait for their feathers to change. All they manage to do is make it to water to drink. They are very vulnerable at this time, especially to feral cats, dogs, the occasional sea lion and stoats.

We also walked on the beach with sea lions

 

and then went on to see more fur seals, but, having already seen so many and as it was getting dark, I didn't take any photos. I did take some of the sunset - the end to a gorgeous day.

Fiordland Land Part Two

Well, dear reader, I expect you're getting a bit bored of all this! I'm struggling to find the enthusiasm to put pen to paper again, so to speak, but it will be a great reminder for us when we get home and our memories are failing.

The day after Milford Sound we went on a trip to Doubtful Sound. All the same principles apply (fiord, not sound, black coral is white etc), but the trip was very different. We were up at 6.15 am ready to be collected by a bus from our campsite which was going to take us on a 30 minute ride to Manapouri. It was dark and raining. Our first boat trip was across Lake Manapouri which took about 45 minutes and was more like a river bus with plenty of seats for the 57 of us and free tea and coffee. At the end of that trip was a power station, of which more later, but here is a photo of our boat (the big one) with the only bit of the power station you can see above ground in the background.

Then we had to get on another bus to be driven along the most expensive road ever built (?) to take us across the Doubtful Sound. This unsealed road is said to have cost £1 per cm when it was built in 1963 to enable materials to be taken to the power station from the sea. Here is a view of Doubtful Sound from that road. It was one of those 'everyone must get off the bus now and take a photo' moments!

And here they all are not getting back on the bus!!

Once that 40 minutes bus ride was over we got on another boat which was going to take us around Doubtful Sound. This was another large boat and the captain and a guide gave us plenty of commentary. We went through the fiord and outto the Tasman sea which, we were told, was unusually calm. Again we had the best weather - it was raining on 'the other side' but not in the Sound. We were told it usually rains 8 meters a year! We saw more fur seals ( getting boring now) 

and two pairs of yellow crested penguins (apologies for the quality of this photo taken with my little camera)

and learned about tree avalanches. All the trees and plants cling to bear rock. When it has been very wet and windy a tree might fall at the top of a 'cliff' and in doing so tears up a large chunk of other trees and plants in the process - rather like peeling off wallpaper. The newly exposed rock then starts to 'green' again when lichens and moss start to grow and then seeds from trees germinate and it all starts again which you can see in the middle of this picture.

 The trip on Doubtful Sound took about two hours, the most poignant of which was when the boat shut off its motors for a while and we were in complete silence. Very special. Then we got back on the bus to the power station. This time we went into the hydro electric power station which is almost all underground. The bus took us down a 1.5km tunnel to find this

Built by the NZ government in 1963 to provide power for the aluminium smelting plant in Bluff, on the south coast near Invercargill, this power station would provide 83% of the national power if it weren't powering the plant. It's all controlled remotely from Wellington on the North Island and 49% of it has just been sold off by the government. Sounds familiar! Graham will explain the technical bits if you are Interested. After this visit we boarded the boat tootsie us back to Manapouri and then another bus to take us back to Te Anau - exhausted. 

Fiordland Part one

Sorry. This is VERY long, but there's so much to tell you! Our next stop was Te Anau, gateway to Fiordland. We stayed for just one night and then took the 120km drive to Milford Sound. This is said to be one of the most scenic road journeys in the world and it really wasn't bad. En route we saw another mirror lake

some more amazing woodland and yes, these sizes and colours are pretty accurate 

and went through the tiny Homer tunnel which is 1.2km long and has a 1 in10 gradient.

 This was slightly scary. There were extraordinary views which never come out well in photos

even more ferns 

 and The Chasm which is an incredible waterfall and you can see how the stones brought down by the water in full flood (it's very low here) have made huge smooth holes in the rock.

Before we left the UK we booked to stay at Milford Sound Lodge, the only campsite there. Our booking included our overnight stay, breakfast, a nature tour of the sound in a small boat and a visit to a discovery centre. We weren't too sure what to expect, but it was a good deal. The campsite was basic and, as with all of Fiordland, swarming with Sandflies. We locked ourselves in the van at 5.30 and didn't leave again until the morning. Despite this, and being covered in insect repellent and wearing a scarf, hat, and trousers tucked in socks the little buggers still managed to find my fingers. I am still itching now.  Here's a photo of our little vessel. Cruise ships come In to the sound now...

So, now for a lesson in fiords and sounds. We have heard this so many times in the last few days we will never forget. A sound  is made by water erosion and has a V shaped bottom. A fiord is made by a glacier and has a U shaped bottom and has been flooded by the sea. Milford Sound is not a sound at all, it is a fiord. And Doubtful Sound is not a sound either....!  The bottom of the fiords are full of sea water, but the top layer is fresh water coming off the rocks above. This fresh water picks up tannins from the plants and is slightly brown which stops the light going through the water. This in turn gets plants and creatures thinking the water is deeper than it is and things are found there which are usually only found in deep oceans. One of these is back coral which is, in fact, white. It only turns black when it is dead - another one of those facts we have heard too often. Here's a picture of white coral taken from the Discovery Centre which is 10m under water 

And here are a couple of photos of the sound. All sense of size is lost in a photo, but believe me, everything is enormous!

Our package turned out to be excellent value and we were pleased to have been able to make an early start because we had stayed overnight. By the time we left at about 2pm there were coach loads of people who had come up from Queenstown and Te Anau. We had seen and learned so much that we went straight back to our Te Anau campsite - where we booked to do to Doubtful Sound the next day.