Glenorchy arriving Kinloch

Driftwood on the way to Glenorchy

Vera finds a walking stick

We liked Queenstown but everyone felt happy about packing up and moving on. A winding road takes you along the Wakatipu lake up to to the village Glenorchy, a small sleepy town with only 220 inhabitants. After a stop for lunch at the lake and some energy in the computer from the caravan park office, we decided to go further a long the road and not stay in Glenorchy. Our aim was to find a nice DOC campsite. Tried a first stop at lake… but it was a bit too secluded (read deserted) and full of sandflies so instead, Kinloch here we come. On the way we saw a farm with cottages and horses, but unfortunately they didn’t accept campervans. The gravel road continued through the beautiful landscape and when we reached the forest and the lake Wakatipu again, and finally Kinloch. Kinloch is a lodge built around 1850 and they have accommodation, restaurant and kayak rental. The location is just by the lake is just beautiful with stunning views of the lakes and mountains. 

Kinloch lodge

View from our campervan

Only a few campers had made the effort to get here so it was really quiet and calm compared to the hectic Queenstown. Two lazy dogs live at Kinloch, Simson and Delilah and one of them to parked outside our camper. Something eatable may show up…Great to have a place of your own but a stone throw to grab a beer at the restaurant. Guitar music greeted us so Vera and Pernilla set out to find where the party was. A sign posted No uninvited, No drugs, No dreadlocks, No bring your own beers made us turn back. You figure out which category we fitted in...:-)

Mountainbiking in Queenstown

Kalle stayed in the camper and worked with the blog. Rest of the gang signed up for mountain biking. Vertigo bikes lined up some fearsome bikes and Vera, Klara and Oskar tried them out and Pernilla fuelled up with delicious pies and bread from the Bakery. Flexible bikes and good views of Queenstown made it a great trip.

 

After loosing so much energy we tried the hamburgers and Fergburger’s and they where huge and we reached the protein levels we had in the morning. 

 

Vera and Klara had a swing session that ended in the creek at the Queenstown beach and two happy wet girls and a tired mother returned to the campervan for a goodnight sleep.

Cruising the Mekka of activities, Queenstown

Queenstown is hip and all about activities. You can do everything in Q and the more adrenaline it generates, it lowers the numbers in your wallet. Rafting, bungyjumping, ziplining, swingjumping, you name it Queenstown’s got it. We picked the campsite closest to downtown and joined the hustle and bustle. A lot of people where out laying in the grass and eating icecream from popular Café Patagonia and of course we had to join the queue. 

Icecream downtown Queenstown

We strolled around the Gardens and tried the swing over the creek before we headed back to the camper.

Queenstown

Our neighbours turned out to be two Swedes we met in Tongariro, small world! Today is also two weeks since we tried the water from the creek in Tongariro and pepper, pepper we have made it. Giardia, ha, no luck with us!

Arrowtown

Another day in a tourist leaflet :-) New Zealand is very scenic. This  time we made our way through Haast pass, from the West Coast over to the Otago district. Beautiful waterfalls on the way, turquoise lakes and dramatic mountains.

Beautiful and cold in the mountains

Destination Arrowtown. Sleepy little town looking a bit like something from a Wild west movie. Nice pubs and good campsite made this an good night.

Kayak day and continuing to Sandfly paradise

Sunny day, perfect for kayaking! Premiere for family Janlert. We have been working hard building muscles for this (or not…). Richard at Okarito kayaks has explored the archipelago outside Stockholm and also kayaked in our capital! We get good guiding how we should work our way in the lagoon. Okarito lagoon is big and is famous for its birdlife, especially the white heron ( which we did not see). From the lagoon you paddle into different creeks and the forest. Full moon and previous heavy rain creates a big difference between high and low tide we where therefor dropped further up streams so we just had 30 min paddle against the current.

We did it

An ocean kayak is steady so we made it without severe incidents and not knowing the “eskimå roll”. How did we do on the bird watching…? Mja 3 happy kids can make any bird want to move elsewhere. We saw birds and from provided guidebook we guessed what they where. Binoculars will be included in the equipment next time… 3 hours later we arrived at the jetty and warmed up with coffee and hot chocolate before waving goodbye to Okarito. On  the way to Pairinga we passed the Frans Josef and Fox glaciers. They are famous for being glaciers very near the ocean. A lot of tourists and already seen the Mer de glaces in Chamonix made us continue to our nightspot Lake Paringa. Premiere for camping on the DOC campsite. DOC is Department Of Conservation and is run by NZ government. You put the fee in a box by the campsite. This one had toilet facilities and SANDFLIES. Who invented them? At home we have a lot of mosquitoes but they come out and sunset and they make noises. Sandflies are verosious, smart, hard to kill and they take a piece of you. They also are difficult to kill and their bites itch like h.ll. We took shelter in our camper and counted all the killers on our windows, waiting for us to come out. Ha, in your dreams.

Off to Okarito

Early bird wake up call and starting with a jogging on Hokatito beach. Sun is rising and only a dog and another jogger is in sight. Air is filled with salt and the sea is roaring and waves crashes against the beach. 

Fantastic!

Take off set to 9:00 and after a very needed girl shower we nearly are on time. Hokatito is a town famous for its handicraft, especially made of jade. We stop at New World and fill up our stocks of food and head for some look jade carving. Kids soon loose interest so after a bookshop stop, 2 horse books to Vera, Illiad for Oskar and Comic book for Klara, we take off for a quick lunch stop at M lake south of Hokarito.  The drive to Okarito is very nice and the Southern alps are rising just beside the ocean. Okarito today is not as big a village as it used to in the old mining days. Today this sleepy seaside village is famous for its lagoon and birdlife. The white heron can be spotted together with a lot of other birds. We find the little campsite and a good spot with our own BBQ. A lot of energy is piled up in young legs so we head for the beach. Grey round stones are scattered on the beach together with driftwood. Following the beach and then head up to the village takes us to Okarito kayaks. We sign up for 9:00 kayaking, first time so we will see how that goes… French camping close encounter… ends with the French moving somewhere else… We lit a bon fire and watch the milkyway as the waves roar in the background.

23 feb We are ok! no earthquakes on the westcoast

We are at the moment in Hokitika and have not suffered from any earthquakes. We will be in Christchurch 8 March!

West coast drive, Pancake rocks and Hokitika

Vera and Klara helped feeding the animals at the holiday park. And then we geared up for a West coast drive. 

Narrow road on the way to the West coast!

The Ocean is impressive and we just sat back and enjoyed. Quick stop at touristy Pancake rocks, as a said touristy but I can’t help being impressed by what nature can do. Rock formations and blow holes and chimneys is a little wonder. 

Hokitika was our destination and we parked up in the Family park. Kalle and Oskar went for a run on the beach and returned happy but drenched. I’m impressed. Jogging is on our schedule but we haven’t yet been regular about it…Area open for improvements.

Riding Wharariki beach and Murchinson

We couldn’t get enough of Wharariki so Vera and Pernilla booked a 3 hour horseriding trek on the beach. Pick up at 6:45 am to catch the low tide. Our guide was Cate from New Forest and also joining where Vivian from Oxford. With thorough bread running in their veins Vera and I hoped to a good canter. Chutney and Mickey didn’t disappoint us. The ride was extraordinary, first through the hillside and then on to the beach. I let the pictures speak.

Long drive to Murchinson, we are aiming for Queenstown.

Tramping Wharariki, close encounter with seal pups

Bye, bye Janne and Pia, they where off to Nelson and leave Christchurch on Thursday. Rucksacks packed with water and lunch and heads turned to the beach. Now it was high tide so the beach was much smaller and the river was not possible to cross. Big disappointment! Lunch on the hillside and back to campervan to wait for the low tide. At 3 pm we all got ready for some serious tramping. This time to Cape Farwell and the goal was to see seals and especially seal pups. From the gravel road, the track winds uphill to steep dramatic cliffs.

In the morning they warned us of the winds that may blow you off the cliffs but now it was a steady calm breeze. Still it was a bit scary to walk/climb the way along the cliffs.

In one gorge we climbed under the fence to get a better view of the seals and the seal pups. Still we where too far away from them so hope was to see seals at closer distance at Wharariki beach. 1 hour later we spotted the river, now possible to cross. The river runs in to a cave and you need a torch to really see where it runs out in the ocean. 

We followed it in 20 meters but then it all got pitch dark. Around the corner a seal came crawling up the beach. 

This one was grown up and looked suspiciously at us, when we where too close it barked at us. Still where are the pups we have heard so much about? Two Dutch guys we bumped into where also looking for pups, but they had no luck so far. We gave up and started strolling a long the beach. Then we spotted som people eagerly looking at something and we joined them. SEAL PUPS!!! So very cute and just at our finger tips. 

Mothers goes out fishing and leave their pups swimming in the pools created by low tide. They where shy so we just sat still and watched. Klara held out her hand and one pup almost touched her, but her smell scared them off. What a memory for life!

Farewell spit and Wharariki beach

Cape Farwell and Farwell spit is known for its birdlife and you can only access the main part of  the Spit by joining a tour. We tramped our own way to Fossil point. The track goes mainly through farmland and it ended at a beautiful beach. Sun was shining but we managed to get shade under a cliff at the end of the beach. Klara and Pernilla went on climbing/hiking to the next bay and met a seal! The beach is beautiful and very little people where hiking here. 

Fossil beach

Cooling hot feet, beach is burning

After an ice cream stop at the little nice café we drove the gravel road to Wharariki camp site. At first sight not a very charming campsite, but its close to the beach so we decided to stay one night. The owner said, a lot of people come here for a visit to the beach and when they’ve seen it they want to stay. And that was so true. Pernilla + kids wanted to go to the beach only 20 min away. Happily we took of chatting a way. A bit to much we noticed after 20 min a no beach. Hm we took the long track 1 ½ hours… But it was a very beautiful and we kept a high spirit in the team. Down at the beach it was low tide so all the rocks and caves where revealed. Pictures doesn’t really show how fantastic it was but it gives an idea! 

Beautiful detour around the lake

View of the arch at Wharariki

Exploring caves

Happy Klara

It was late when we got back but now our campsite actually looked really charming. Happy reunion with Janne and Pia from Gotland. They where also “drunk” with Wharariki beauty.

Off to Collingwood

Two days of non powered camping and also the attraction Golden Bay drove us to leave Marahau for the sleepy town Collingwood. On the way you pass the town Takaka, (“take a cookie” in Swedish J). The residents seem to take a lot of cookies and also taking it easy. Flower power never left this area so it’s really laid back. We got a nice camp spot just by the sea. We met Collingwood fire department on call. Fires are unfortunately common and we see warnings and the status of fires all the time. Pernilla and Kalle goes to the local pub for a beer and watch the Friday rugby game.

Collingwood beach at low tide

Marahau day 1

Almost rising up with the sun, and everyone on time for the transport 8:30 to Water Taxi Abel Tasman. Tourists are big business in NZ and Water taxi is no exempt. Checkin is efficient and we all wait outside the office togheter with a load of other eager Tasman park visitors. 9:00 tractors start rolling our the jet boats and the passengers embark on land and are transported down to the sea.

Water taxi

There your packed boat is slowly launched in to the water. And we head off in the choppy waters. A detour takes us pass the famous formation apple rock. 

A 40 min bumpy ride later we arrive in Anchorage bay, water is turquoise and boats are lazily anchored in the bay. In front of us are a 12 km Abel Tasman tracks to be covered by Janlert feet and after checking out the huts and information we take off. Following the path uphill gives us magnificent views of the sea.

Cold water!

Later on the track is not as exciting since it winds along fairly similar. Klara gets bored but the distance markers showing how far we have left gives her new energy. Vera sprints along, eager to get back to our afternoon horse trek. 4 hours later everyone are happily back at our campervan. 

100 m to go

We did it!

Great experience! Pernilla and Vera transforms into horse riders and goes off to meet Brian, the owner of Marahau horse treks. Brian is a genuine Kiwi, and his mouth never sleeps.