Time Running Short

After Dunedin we headed back to the west - well after all Mhairi and Mark said we couldn't leave without visiting Wanaka! The campsite was great- spa baths with a view of the mountains.




We resisted the urge to stay longer and headed for the coast through the Haast Pass. The forecast was rain but it never really happened. The gorge at the Gates of Haast was immense and judging by the amount of water in the river it had certainly rained recently. North of Haast we diverted to see the Fox Glacier. We've seen glaciers before but not with palm trees in the background.

We stopped for the night at Hokitika, at a campsite on the beach, and just across the road from the Glowworm Dell. The rain arrived during the night so we didn't hang about in the morning. It was on up the coast, past some spectacular scenery and pounding swell - pictures to follow again! - and improving weather as we crossed back over to Picton. Today we've been walking the outer section of the Queen Charlotte Track, delivered and collected by water taxi, and tomorrow we've booked a double kayak.

New Zealand's Other Island

Stewart Island is about the same distance south of Bluff in New Zealand's South Island as Foula is west of Shetland but the ferry is a bit different. It's a catamaran carrying around 60 passengers at 24 knots, and that's even in a 35 knot headwind which it was on Sunday. Lots of spray and whitecaps and banging through waves, lots of sick passengers, but we reached Oban on schedule in just under an hour. That's right, the only village on Stewart Island is called Oban, and just across Paterson Inlet are the islands of Iona and Ulva. Ulva is a bird sanctuary and the best place to see many native New Zealand birds which have been decimated by introduced predators like rats and cats elsewhere in NZ. This is a weka, which is a sort of flightless native hen, a bit smaller than a kiwi.

We had a couple of days there walking and soaking up the unique atmosphere. There is a strong connection here with both Orkney and Shetland. The earliest European settlers came from Orkney and there was a failed settlement in the north of the island by Shetlanders. Traill, Scollay, Peterson and Leask are all local names, and we found ourselves walking past Vaila Voe on Monday. We loved it and were really sorry to leave, but thankfully the weather had improved by Tuesday afternoon and we had a much more relaxed return trip.

We are now in Dunedin having visited Larnach Castle and the Albatross Centre on the Otago Peninsula today. This is a Royal Albatross and chick on their nest on the tip of the Otago Peninsula. This is their only nesting site other than the Chatham Islands. We were in a hide as part of the tour.
Dunedin is a bit of a culture shock itself. We knew it was a sort of southern version of Edinburgh settled by Scots Presbyterians, and we knew there was a statue of Rabbie Burns in the city centre but we really didn't expect the main streets to be called Princes Street and George Street, or to see buses going to Corstorphine and Portobello. Lots of school pupils seem to be wearing kilts as part of their school uniform, and the Water of Leith flows through the centre and past the Botanic Gardens. There's even a miniature copy of the Scott Monument - in Princes Street of course!

A Perfect Day

We awoke about 5.30 a.m. with a text from Mhairi to say that Rona and Keith had a new addition to the family born on Valentine's Day-- Theo Finlay Donaldson, 6lb 8 oz-- mother and baby both doing well.

Seriously we were awake anyway as our kayak trip was to start at 6.30 a.m. with a two hour bus journey to Milford Sound. After a stop for coffee and biscuits we proceeded to our start point and were given suitable clothing to wear and thorough instruction. The weather was clear--not always the case here where there are 200 days of rain a year. After breaking into two groups we set off in doubles across Milford Sound avoiding the many tourist boats and admiring the magnificent scenery. Our group tried sailing and once we got the sail up and running we certainly made good progress. After lunch on the rocks we separated to help a couple of less experienced paddlers who were struggling a bit in the breezy conditions. We met a few NZ fur seals along the way, swimming behind us and sleeping on the rocks.


We met an interesting Welsh couple on the tour. We thought we were quite adventurous but they had done most of their early travelling by train and bus as far as Mongolia, China and Vietnam. Mmmmm--food for thought for next time!

On the return bus journey we had a couple of stops to admire views and have hot drinks by the river. Back in Te Anau by 6. Days just don't get much better!

Routeburn Track completed!

They said it was one of the best walks in the world and we are certainly not going to disagree. Despite a series of gloomy weather forecasts and tales of how wet these mountains are we had three days of glorious weather, especially the middle day when we were mostly above 1000 metres crossing the Harris Saddle. The views over the Hollyford Valley were absolutely spectacular and the path itself seemed to be going through the most beautiful alpine rock garden. Here's a shot of the view from Harris Saddle with the shelter in the middle and the Darren Range mountains behind.


Although we were reasonably fit for the walk itself it was the first time in years either of us had walked any distance with a heavy pack, so it was great to relax in the DOC huts at night. The path was beautifully maintained and the huts were excellent with onsite wardens. The Mackenzie Hut warden in particular has an alternative career waiting for him as a stand-up comedian. Dehydrated food was fine on the Track but it was great to get back to Queenstown and a really good Indian last night. Which reminds me - we nearly didn't get back to Queenstown at all when the bus we had booked seats on drove straight past us without stopping, leaving us over 150 miles from our camper van. Needless to say there was no mobile phone coverage, but we are eternally grateful to Linda and Harold from California who cheerfully volunteered the back seat of their hire car to our muddy feet. They took us as far as Te Anau where we cadged a lift on a Real Journeys tour bus. Never mind Kiwi Discovery - at least you came clean on the mistake and gave us a full refund - which paid for the Indian!

Queenstown - Adventure Capital?

After an excellent stay at the Banks Peninsula, we travelled on to Queenstown via Lake Ohau, visiting some MacKay relations--Norman and Barbara--who must have one of the best views in New Zealand.

We had a very pleasant night there before continuing on our journey to Queenstown. The adventure continued with a jetboat trip on the Shotover River. That's us in the second row with the empty seat behind me. We only lost one --- only kidding!

We are now preparing for our three day walk on the Routeburn Track - watch this space.

Have camper, will travel - south

We are now in Akaroa on New Zealand's South Island, and we have certainly had a few adventures already. First we collected the van, filled up at the supermarket and headed out on to State Highway 1. First night was with the surfies at Raglan on the west coast, then on to the glowworm caves at Waitomo and the Tongariro National Park. This is Lord of the Rings country and we had a splendid walk in the shadow of Mt. Doom, sorry Ngaurehoe, for that is its real name. Next day was dull and misty, a bit like Scotland, so we moved on down to Wanganui and the Kapiti coast just north of Wellington where the sun was shining. However it wasn't shining next morning. What do you do on a wet day in Wellington? You go to Te Papa, the national museum, to see an exhibition about the Scots in New Zealand (and a few other things) then you get the ferry to the South Island. The next couple of days were spent at Kaikoura, the main whale watching centre. Again we went for a walk then, after a couple of false starts, we got out on a boat trip to see the sperm whales, which are more or less always around there. We also saw dusky dolphins, New Zealand fur seals and various seabirds including albatross. Now we're in Akaroa which is picture postcard beautiful, and a little bit French. Tomorrow we're off to see more dolphins, and we've hired a kayak. Should be fun!