Continuing from last week’s post, these are the next 7 days from mine and Mennas 6 week road trip around New Zealand!
The first week took us from Auckland through the Coromandel, Matamata, Rotorua, Taupo, Whakapapa Village and finished in Napier.
The map at the bottom of this page highlights the regions in which we travelled this week.
DAY 8
Lazy start once again, common theme going on here! Beans and egg on toast for brekkie, and we started to pack up the van. Today was mainly a driving day to get closer to the Southern point of the North Island. We headed South from Napier for 2 hours to reach Palmerston North. We found a parking space, had a wander around the busy but also quiet town, and stopped in a coffee shop called The Coffee Club – I had a lemon and passion fruit slice and an iced chocolate. On our way back to the van for lunch, we passed the New Zealand National Rugby Museum, and how could we not go in, being avid Welsh rugby fans? It costs $15 per adult to enter. An hour or so was spent nosing around the artefacts, and we actually ended up finding some memorabilia and letters sent from back at home in Pontyclun!
We jumped back in the van and finished the last hour of driving for the day, reaching a small campsite in Eketāhuna. After parking up, a stir fry was made before heading to bed for the night.
DAY 9
After an early wakeup for a change, we packed up and drove down 2.5 hours to Wellington. Following the winding roads, we found a parking space and pulled up at Mount Victoria Lookout, a high spot in Charles Plimmer Park which gave views over the whole of Wellington and beyond! Roughly half an hour was spent before jumping back in the van and heading to the hotel. We had booked a hotel in the centre of Wellington, a small, quirky place called U Boutique Hotel. There was no parking on-site, so we found a smaller car park around the corner and checked in. We made good use of the showers and facilities before getting ready for the afternoon and taking a 10-minute stroll into the centre of town. We found a cracking lunch spot at EKIM burgers (I had a corn fritter burger; it was lush!) on our meander around the centre, coupled with walking into every single op shop (a charity shop) we could find! A quick rest at the hotel before heading back out and straight to the harbour.
The main attraction near the harbour was the Te Papa Museum, and we managed to make it in for roughly an hour before it closed for the day. It was a pretty impressive museum, with plenty of floors filled to the brim with interesting facts about anything and everything you could think of!
However, the place that Menna and I were looking forward to visiting most was the Welsh Dragon Bar, a bar/restaurant dedicated to Wales. It just so happened that they weren’t serving food when we went, so we sat down for a drink instead amongst the Welsh shirts and signed poster-covered walls. For food, a restaurant called 1154 was highly recommended to us, a pasta place which was heaving inside – we could see why. I ordered a spinach and ricotta ravioli dish with a brown butter sauce, and it was INCREDIBLE! Too full for dessert, so we started the short walk back to the hotel. However, on our way, we passed a Duck Island ice cream parlour, and we are not the kind of girls to turn down ice cream, regardless of how full we are. We shared a small tub – a mixture of a salted caramel scoop, a blueberry buttermilk scoop and a gooey butter cake scoop. We finally reached the hotel and crashed for the night in the comfiest bed we had slept in for a long while.
DAY 10
We woke up at 6am and started to get ready in time for the Inter-islander ferry to cross from Wellington to Picton. The crossing took roughly 3.5 hours, and there wasn’t much to do on this early of a crossing. They have a cinema and normally show some films, but instead, I wandered around the boat a few times, took in the views and listened to some music. After reaching Picton, we found our van at the bottom of the boat amongst the others and drove to Blenheim, just 30 minutes East of Picton. This stop was purely just for diesel and some snacks before continuing the drive South for 2 hours to Kaikoura, our first stop on the East Coast.
Kaikoura town isn’t large, very similar to Thames in the Coromandel; it is one long street where everything seems to be going on. The rest of the afternoon was spent stretching our legs by having a walk down this street before jumping back into the van and parking up at our campsite for the night. Fajitas were for tea, and we watched a film together before heading off to sleep.
DAY 11
An exciting day for us both as we had booked to do the Dolphin Encounter! We’d booked online, $240 for the whole experience, although there is an option to just watch from the boat. The first step after we arrived was to fill in some forms and waivers before getting given a two-piece wetsuit, a neoprene balaclava, neoprene gloves and shoes, and a mask and snorkel. All of these were tried on and fitted correctly before leaving to have our health and safety briefing. We needed to get on a coach to drive us to the boat port. We weren’t on it for long, but were sat next to one of the biggest wasps I have ever seen, which made for a very stressed-out coach ride! Boarding the boat was next, and so started the journey out to where the dolphin pods were known to be. The boat drove for about 15 minutes before spotting our first pod of dolphins that we were able to swim with. These 15 minutes were not boring at all though; the Kaikoura scenery is breathtaking. There was also a fair bit of information given by the staff about the local area and wildlife that we saw on the way.
Once fully kitted up, we slid in and played with the first pod of dusky dolphins. We spent about 40 minutes with this pod before hopping back on the boat after a call came in of another bigger pod a bit further on. Dusky dolphins are named the most active and playful dolphins in the world – this was evident as they were chasing us through the water, spinning circles and leaping around us! The second pod that we swam with was the same, just as magical. There were a lot more the second time around, but due to the time of year, the water was cold, and most people on the boat were getting chilly, so after about 20 minutes, we got back on board and dekitted.
It was a slow drive back to port with many sea-sick passengers, but on our way back, hundreds upon thousands of dolphins were following the boat. I was sat at the very front of the boat, the bow, watching and getting splashed by them jumping out of the water. It was an absolutely incredible moment, one I will never forget.
Once back at the centre, we returned the kit, got changed and attempted to warm up. There was a cafe onsite, and we made good use of it – ordering some lunch and a hot chocolate to warm up further. Kaikoura is also famous for its seal colonies. There are several just along the side of the road, but the biggest, most well-known colony is at Point Keal Lookout on the Kaikoura Peninsula. We parked just on the side of the road and followed the boardwalk along until we started seeing seals pop up everywhere! A short while was spent here, most of the seals were sleeping or splashing in the water, but there were a few who did threaten to chase us and make some alarming sounds! After nearly being taken out by a few, we found our way back to the van and went to the Strawberry Tree, a local British pub on the main street, before checking into the AirBnb for the night.
DAY 12
A lie-in made a great change, and we had a slow start to the morning after a chaotic few days. The 2.5-hour drive further South to Christchurch started. Our first stop was to the Christchurch Botanical Gardens; entry is free, which made it so much better. The back of the van was opened for a quick bite of brie and crackers for lunch before grabbing our bags and stretching our legs. The gardens were like any other you’d see in any city around the world, so it wasn’t too soon before we left. We managed to tick off plenty of other touristy spots across Christchurch after leaving the Botanical Gardens: the Cardboard Cathedral – we didn’t go inside, just admired the outside instead, Cathedral Square and New Regent Street. We sat down for a coffee in Belle at the end of New Regent Street for a relax and a people watch.
Our campsite was down South for another 20-minute drive in a place called South New Brighton, and we arrived there before the sun set. It was a gorgeous evening, so we headed down along the estuary and to Southshore Beach just in time for sunset before going back to the van for burgers and card games.
DAY 13
The day started with some admin, a quick stop at the Escape Van Rentals shop in Christchurch to check out something with the van before continuing on our road trip.
We started by driving 1.5 hours to Akaroa. The views heading into Akaroa were breathtaking – green rolling mountains surrounding us. The weather was rubbish; it drizzled pretty much non-stop, but despite this, we parked up, waterproofed up and went to explore. The views would have been so much more spectacular if the weather was better, but pretty all the same. Akaroa is a small, quaint little town with not too much happening. There are many houses which had been preserved from when they were built; it was almost like the town was stuck in time. The walk to the Akaroa Head Lighthouse was roughly 20 minutes, passing the Memorial Gardens and small shops as we went. Finally reaching the lighthouse meant some photo opportunities, it was a small structure, one that had been around since 1880. It was closed when we went so were unable to enter, during some months of the year I believe you can pay a small fee to visit inside. After walking through the rain, we were chilled to the core, so we found a lush coffee shop called The Common for a drink and some lunch. I went for a deluxe hot chocolate and a mozzarella and pesto ciabatta, which hit just the right spot.
Our final destination was the Giants Garden, a mosaic garden filled to the brim with artwork from Josie Martin. The weather was still grim, but an umbrella was given to us at the entrance, which was a lovely touch. It cost $35 per person to enter, but once in, we were given a map and free roam around Josie’s garden. Her artwork was impressive, ranging from animal mosaics to full-sized humans to chairs – the list could go on.
On the way back to the van, we passed the Akaroa Museum. It had free entry, so we stuck our heads in for a nose and a quick shelter from the rain. It was quite small but took us around the old buildings, the history of Akaroa and the evolution of the town. We continued in the van further South for another 3 hours to a small town called Winchester, where we parked up for the night.
DAY 14
Another early start to drive West to Lake Tekapo. It was a stunning drive, getting closer towards the Southern Alps meant huge mountain ranges and glacial lakes everywhere we looked. We arrived at roughly 11am and made a beeline for the Church of The Good Shepherd. Ice was covering the floor, everything was frosted over, and it was so cold but also so beautiful! The Church is rated as one of the most picturesque spots in the South Island, so we snapped a few photos before grabbing some more layers from the van!
We then drove to the starting point for the hike up to Mount John Observatory. The car park was super full and icy, we had some spinning wheels on the way out! It took us about one hour to hike to the summit, and when we did, the views were incredible. You can see two different lakes from the top – Lake Alexandrina and Lake Tekapo, both of which are stunning turquoise colours. There is a car park that you can drive up to the summit for the views, but I highly recommend the hike, it was fab and didn’t take that long. At the top, there is also a cafe – The Astro Cafe – where we bought a hot chocolate and a slab of red velvet cake to share whilst soaking up the incredible views. The hike back down included a lot of slips, trips and falls on the ice, but it also came with a lot of laughs, so it made the walk enjoyable! We managed to get the van out without getting stuck in the ice and after popping in a few souvenir shops, made it to Burkes Pass, just 15 minutes outside Lake Tekapo. Burkes Pass is a tiny tourist attraction, a stop mimicking a 1950s town. It has shops and buildings stuck in the past filled with relics and objects from that period. A bizarre but oddly fascinating attraction to see during your time in Lake Tekapo.
Our final stop for the day was back at the Mount John Observatory car park, this time to use the hot spa and springs at the base of the mountains. We paid $35 each to bathe in these hot pools, which overlook the mountains and Lake Tekapo. It was a much-needed time to relax after camping in the van for two weeks.
Our campsite for the night was our second-ever freedom camp, this time, it was overlooking Lake Pukaki and the mountains. This has got to be my favourite camping spot from over the entire 6 week road trip, but also the coldest! We had some soup to warm up before filling our hot water bottles, wrapping up and heading to sleep.
Check back in next Sunday for Week 3 of this epic road trip!