On the Road Again!!!

It's a week now (written on 20th March) since we left all our new friends, work and comfy house behind in CHCH. It is raining now so we have finally some time to update our blog and plan our travelling a bit in advance.

So far the weather was great. A bit windy at some points, but we are getting used to it now. Because of the wind our first adventure, swimming with dolphins in Akaroa (we managed to secure vouchers on Grab One), was delayed by one day as there were high waves on the sea. But it was worth the wait. Even though we have visited Akaroa before we had a pleasant walk through again, purchased few presents and stayed near the small water treatment plant that we have seen in our last visit. Great hiding place just above Akaroa. Btw, since then we are sticking to the freedom camping so still keeping all our accommodation money for tramping huts. Our scheduled departure was at 1130 so we have had enough time for pleasant breakfast by the sea while watching sea gulls playing. The sun was shining so when we finally get into our wetsuits it was quite hot in them. The swim was great, something that you will never forget. Hector Dolphins are the smallest dolphin breed, but they are still very playful and we had the chance to see about ten of them swimming just meter away from us. During the time when we were in the water we were attracting them to come closer in different ways. Dolphins were particularly curious about Lukas' ring banging on the goggles. On the way back to the harbour, other dolphin group accompanied us with a tiny little one and we could also get a glimpse of fur seal.

For our overnight stay we have picked an awesome place. Just under the transmission tower near the summit road there is a parking lot from where you can see all Christchurch in its beauty. And when the sun is coming down and the lights are being switched on the show is even better. Unfortunately, for our and other two campervans surprise, we have been woke up by a guard that wanted to close a gate that we have missed when entering. Fortunately there was parking space just few meters away, but our first “kicking out” experience did not let me sleep and I was all night worried that someone will come and kick us out again.

After necessary shopping stop in Christchurch the following day, we have turned south, finally. As we did not want to follow SH1, the most boring road in South Island, we have decided to travel to Geraldine by the upper route. We had enough time so we stopped at Sharplin Falls where we had met DOC rangers who gave us few travelling tips and explained the difference between tourists and visitors (we are visitors btw, have time to see Sharplin Falls, not like a typical Japanese tourist:-)). We have extended our trip to the top of the ridge along Mt Somers Walkway; wanted to find a cashe that was 'only' 400m away, but we did not count with the elevation so trip was extended by over one hour:-). The next stop should have been Kingdom of Rohan;filming place was near our path, but the gravel road was in so bad condition (even though we could see that it has been widened for the filming) that we have decided not to travel any further. And as we have more time we have ended our day by a walk to a former coal mine along Mt Somers Walkway, this time the end of it.

The following day we have visited Geraldine and tasted some local produce. We made also a quick stop in Timaru, where I managed to buy Czech hat (North Blank), made in China in one dollar shop for only $3.50. Bargain!

On our journey to Dunedin, the next stop was Oamaru, a picturesque town that was at times of its largest growth in late 19^th Century same size as Los Angeles. It is often called 'The Whitestone City' because of its large limestone buildings. They even had first NZ skyscraper. Another heritage from the export/import expansion is Thames Street that is so wide because ox-drawn wagons had to turn there. 

But the best thing about Oamaru are its penguins' colonies. Yellow-eyed penguins are coming out from sea to Bushy Beach two hours before dawn. As we came up quite early we had to wait for almost three hours in wind and rain but it was well worth it. In the end they were really close to us and surprisingly noisy. The entrance to the Little Blue Penguins colony that is next to local harbour is normally paid, but we have managed to see a glimpse of them marching across the beach just from the side of the visitors centre.

Another famous attraction before Dunedin are Moeraki Boulders. These spherical boulders are scattered across the beach. During this time of a year it seems that they are there for tourists only:-). We have still managed to get some great pictures even as we had to run away from high tide once.

After we have arrived in Dunedin we have realised that there is not much for us to do here. Don't get me wrong, I really liked Dunedin. It has a great student and historical feeling (much better than other cities that we have visited so far), but for travellers like us the city is mainly a shopping and DOC centre stop.

The old railway station was great tho and as it is the most photographed building in NZ we have few pictures as well:-). Oh, and I almost forgot, the city has very steep streets; there is even the world steepest residential street, which we had to climb, of course. 

What was more interesting for us was Otago Peninsula. Just outside Dunedin boarders, it is a great place to relax, see some native animals and find a spot for our van for the night. The Royal Albatross colony was highly recommended to us but with a hefty price tag of $42 it was a bit over our budget. But as we were lucky we managed to see three or four birds flying above our heads from the view point just next to the centre. 

Later on we wanted to stop for a dinner so we have turn into a small picnic area and that was it. The whole area was on the soft sand so we were locked in in couple of meters. And without 4WD we could not move. I have called AA but after half an hour they said that this is not covered and they will not be able to help. So in the end half of the village was running around our car trying to get us out of the sand and in 10 minutes we were free.

The following day was a washing day and I have almost lost one trousers' sleeve when we were drying our clothes in the car. We were running like crazy around the carpark and nearby streets but the wind was so strong that we could not estimate how far it could be flown away. Fortunately, the owner of the laundry found it lying on the main street in the end. After that we headed to Port Chalmers where we had been invited by Ant & Christine, a lovely kiwi couple that I have met on my friend's birthday party in Christchurch. They own a beautiful house on the cliff with views over the port and close bays. We had a delicious dinner from locally-caught fish and so much needed shower. They have offered us their guest room that we have delightfully accepted. Great change after two weeks of sleeping in the car.

After a great breakfast and numerous travelling tips we headed south towards Catlins via the Southern Scenic Route (tourist route designed to capture the best views and attractions on the way from Dunedin to Queenstown). One of the best place on the road was 'The Nugget Point'. The route towards it is via gravel road, what else in NZ:-), but under the hill you can find another yellow eyed penguin colony, and if you drive to the top there is a lighthouse with awesome misty views that were even better because the sun was just coming down. There we have stayed first time under the sign of no camping, but as there was another campervan and it was already 9pm we just risked it. The place was great but the wind during the night did not let me sleep so in the end I was happy to leave in the morning.

The Catlins is a land of waterfalls and forests that look like taken out of prehistoric books. On the way, after various small walks we have stopped to see Tautuku Beach where we have found a cave with dead cow in it and rotting sea weed that looked like poo:-).

When we returned back to the car, to our surprise the car did not start...so Lukas tried and tried and nothing. Luckily, there was a guy that helped us to assess the situation and told us that it is probably fuel pump and that it needs to be replaces. Hmmmmm. So he took me on the back of his car to the closest phone (no mobile coverage in the whole Catlins area!!!). This time AA were able to help and towed us back to Balclutcha, service town about 100km away. Fortunately they were able to repair the car the following day so after paying a hefty bill we were able to head on the road again.

We wanted to catch us some time but we still managed to see some more waterfalls and most importantly Slope Point, the most southern point of South Island. Then it was only Invercargill and organisational stuff for our trip to Stewart Island.