Most days we don't really need a watch. There's usually no set schedule, much of our planning is weather driven. The morning of our ferry crossing over the Cook Strait between North and South New Zealand was not one of those days. The $230.00 fare is not refundable and the ferry most definitely leaves at 8:30 am with or without you. Today the alarm was set for 6:00 am but we both woke up around 4:30 hesitant to go back to sleep for fear of missing the boat. After an hour of 'just 5 more minutes' and 'OMG what time is it?' we finally crawled out of our comfy womfy bed at Rancho Relaxo and headed to the port.
The journey was sunny and smooth. A pod of dolphins escorted us part way and an Orca whale made its presence known with a big splash off the starboard side. I did some writing while Leigh took in the views and read a little. Three hours later we were docked in Picton, re-supplied with groceries and camping at a scenic DOC (Department of Conservation) campsite. Aussie Creek DOC is little more than a convenient roadside stop for campers (6 spots only!) but the view is beautiful. It's here that we got our first glimpse of the glow worms (thanks to a local giving us the inside scoop). As soon as it was dark enough we crept down to a nearby creek to find it lit up. Hundreds of tiny little lights resembling the night sky constellations clinging to the embankments on either side of the water. What a site!
We're heading for the Queenstown area where we can take our time exploring the mountains, lakes and glaciers, leaving behind the volcanoes, geothermal hotspots and 4/5 of the population in the north island. Our overnight stays are either at a 'Holiday Park', a full-service campground with showers, laundry, complete kitchens and powered sites, or a DOC campsite, the complete opposite. 'Freedom camping' - parking or tenting anywhere in the wilderness used to be allowed but is now very restricted. Areas that allow it are few and far between, you must be in an approved 'Self-contained' vehicle (onboard bathroom and grey-water tank), and fines for non-compliance can be expected. I imagine this is because of gross abuse. Roughly 80% of the traffic in the south island is tourist-related. This is campervan country and we're in the queue. Since leaving Canada we haven't seen a lot of other cyclotourists. It is fun to stop and chat with those we do meet but the occasion is rare. Here in the South Island, we pass someone on a bicycle all loaded down every other hour or so! They're all here! Or so it seems now that we are speeding along in the campervan.
Everyday there is something to smile at. Heading south we found St. Arnaud DOC campsite with a fantastic landscape. See photos, enough said! We stopped overnight in Greymouth, took a stroll along the west coast then hiked up for a look at Franz-Josef Glacier before parking the Happy Van at a Holiday Park in the overpriced town of Fox Glacier where you can buy a bowl of soup for ten dollars (Do they feed it to you as well?). That night we took a walk along a path through the forest that is home to a sky's worth of glow worms. Our eyes had to adjust to the darkness in order to see them so we crept almost blindly along the path using our little flashlight sparingly. The next morning we walked around Lake Matheson, then hiked up to see Fox Glacier, found another Holiday Park near Haast and passed out! We were both keen for all that hiking but I overcooked my bacon, caught a stomach bug and was fairly ill for a few days, spending most of the time horizontal in the back of the Happy Van. Leigh is already doing double duty with me in a cast, now she has to put up with my whining - I'm the first to admit I can be rather pathetic when I'm ill. She's a trooper through and through. With Leigh, her glass is always half full but you can have the rest if you want it. Then she'll go out and get more for you... I married good.
If you find yourself in Te Wai Pounamu (New Zealand's south island) we suggest you drive (or preferably cycle) State Highway 6 from the coast over the Haast Pass, to as far as you like. You will like. It is even scenic enough to put a smile on my pouty little face. We stopped several times for photos before arriving in Wanaka. Leigh got the chance to do a couple of rides while I was recovering but we have pretty much decided to revisit the south island when we can both enjoy the area by bicycle. There are so many great roads and trails to ride. The Crown Range (the highest paved road in the country) at 1076 metres/3530 feet might be one of those rides. It's a monster of a climb and a very tricky descent leading into Queenstown. We took a photo, got back in the van and carried on. Engines take all the fun out of it.
Queenstown itself was predictably busy - crazy tourist busy. Just passing through, thank you very much. In New Zealand the harder it is to get to a destination the better it will be. Our best finds are places that are not in the brochures, places that don't have a lot of signage. Moke Lake DOC is outside of Queenstown off the highway at the end of a sketchy 5 km of gravel road. A beautiful lake surrounded by mountains, we stayed there for two very peaceful days. The nights are quite cool now as summer turns to fall and we gain altitude. An extra layer is required as the sun goes down. We can even see our breath in the morning. Wasn't expecting that!
From there, we bombed it right up to the DOC near Mount Cook, New Zealands highest peak. After setting up camp in nothing more than a parking lot with washrooms, we took a short walk to a scenic lookout in front of Mount Sefton and witnessed several small but impressive avalanches (which apparently occur regularly). The next morning we tackled a 4 hr hike to the Mueller Glacier at the foot of Mount Cook. Stunning scenery and the weather could not have been better. I'm sure our fellow Canadians are tired of hearing about the fabulous weather here considering their past winter but trekking around the alpine valleys of New Zealand would be remarkably less enjoyable in the rain even with a glass half full.
With three weeks left of our New Zealand adventure, we've decided to head east with the hope of staying on another farm near Christchurch for a more personal experience of the south island.