Wonderful New Zealand!!!!!!!
We arrive in Christchurch from Cairns, Australia, with a VirginBlue flight (a wonderful low-cost airline that also operates international routes). We arrive around 11:30 at night and obviously there's no one at the airport; after taking care of the usual customs formalities we take a taxi that will take us to our hotel, the Camelot Cathedral, right in the centre.
After a quick breakfast we take a small bus that takes us back to the airport for only 5 NZD; we arrive at the Maui service desk ( There's only a phone, we pick up the receiver, and a guy answers telling us he'll come pick us up shortly. At Maui, which is a few km from the airport, we pick up a small camper for two people with bathroom facilities, all for 700 euros (including collision damage reduction, first gas cylinder paid, dishes, outdoor tables, two chairs, etc.); the rental will last 13 days. After a quick introduction on the position of the drains and on setting up the sleeping area, we get on the camper and off we go....obviously with some difficulty due to driving on the left and the not exactly negligible size of the vehicle (6.60m). The first stop of our trip is Timaru, 160 km further on; along road 1 you notice nothing but flocks of sheep, it's impressive.
We arrive in Timaru around three...there's no one....we're incredibly hungry but all the places won't open before 5; luckily we come across a small seafood takeaway, where for the modest sum of 10 NZD we buy some chips, two fried fish and 1 squid (yes, 1—I meant a portion, I didn't know that here in NZ squid is sold by the piece!!!). Next stop Oamaru; we arrive when it's already dark, it's 5 in the afternoon. First stop a nice supermarket where we buy some fantastic steaks; yes, here meat is truly a fantastic thing.
Last night the weather was terrible; you could hear powerful gusts of wind making the camper move, but the night is calm and in the morning we wake up slowly around 10, have a nice breakfast, and off we go. In no time we reach the Moeraki boulders, those funny sphere-shaped rocks that are very curious, because the surface has numerous streaks that make them look like turtle shells; for the first time we encounter the famous "entry to points of interest by donation" - in Italy, how long would that last???? Next stop is Dunedin, or rather the Otago Peninsula, a truly exceptional place; there are very narrow little roads that practically overlook the sea; of course, with the camper it's not exactly the best, but it can be done.
The first place to visit is Larnach Castle, the only castle in New Zealand; of course, don't expect European castles; from the castle you can admire a fantastic panorama over the peninsula. Next stop is Taiaroa Heads, the extreme tip of the peninsula, where you can admire the very rare yellow-eyed penguins. The guides have us board a very cute eight-wheeled vehicle that easily makes its way over the muddy dirt road. Here we see a colony of New Zealand "fur" seals; there are three adorable pups; the guide explains that seals in the southern hemisphere differ from those in the northern hemisphere by the presence of ears (!!!!). We also visit, via a boardwalk, a beach where from a distance (they are very rare, they only live here, and this beach has the highest concentration) we see yellow-eyed penguins (after the pink-eyed ones in South Africa) returning from a fishing trip.
On the way back, we decide to eat at 1908, in the Portobello area toward Dunedin; the place is very nice, the food is very good, and the waiter/owner is very friendly. We leave the Otago Peninsula and find a little square to sleep in at Waihola.
Today we have a long drive ahead, all the way to Te Anau, a town that rises on the shores of the lake of the same name. Once in town, we make a quick stop at a supermarket, then we see an internet point where we can write to our friends. Here we discover that Raffaele has sent us the photos from our wedding; they are the first ones we manage to see. In Te Anau, our camping (the first one we try) is the Mountain View from Top10 (campsites are called holiday parks); Tomorrow we have to go to Milford Sound; according to the forecast, the road could be icy, so we decide to buy a tour from Trip's n tramps (60 euros per person, transfer in small buses and cruise on the fjord).
The small bus picks us up on time at 8:30, and off we go to the legendary Milford fjord (as far as I know, there are three main fjords in the world: the Norwegian ones, the Chilean ones, and these in NZ). Along the route, the vegetation changes rapidly; you go from the typical pasture full of sheep to a brownish bush; the hills are quickly replaced by very tall snow-capped mountains. After passing Te Anau Downs, the small bus stops at Lake Gunn; during this stop of about 1 hour, we can take a very pleasant circular walk lasting about 50 minutes immersed in lush nature (see the first photo)... it's fantastic; green is the dominant color here in NZ. All beautiful, if it weren't for the extremely annoying sandflies that infest these areas in swarms; these little creatures are smaller than mosquitoes but have a bite comparable to theirs.
After a hot coffee kindly offered by the guide, we continue our drive toward Milford Sound, stopping at a little pull-off where you enjoy an exceptional view; the gloomy weather and the mist rising from the dense vegetation only increase the aura of charm and mystery that surrounds these unspoiled areas. At this little pull-off we stop with a friendly friend, the Kea (see photo); the only alpine parrot in the world is extremely sociable, it comes close to you without fear... it almost seems as if New Zealand's tourism board paid it to entertain tourists. Both our guide and the Lonely Planet assert that this bird is fond of windshield wiper seals.....watch out!!!. We set off again, passing through the notorious Homer Tunnel; this tunnel, entirely downhill and 1.3 km long, has no lighting...
but just outside the tunnel we admire these very tall, all snow-covered mountains with bright blue rivers... impressive. The road ends at the small harbor where the "cruise" ships set sail; ours is the Milford marines. We set sail; the fjord is exceptional, as beautiful as the ones seen in Norway; everywhere there are waterfalls of all sizes. After seeing the "usual" colony of NZ seals, we see a pod of dolphins; they are exceptional; some perform powerful leaps... a spectacle. The ship pushes all the way to the Tasman Sea; the waves make themselves felt; after a nice turnaround, we return to the pier. We return to Te Anau, stopping from time to time to contemplate this lush nature.
After filling up with diesel (0.70 NZD per litre) we set off for Queenstown. This city looks a lot like our own Roccaraso, except that here there's a beautiful lake. After a quick sandwich we climb to the top of the hill to reach our Kiwi house. The kiwis, the famous flightless birds, actually resemble the fruit, or rather they look like big furry chickens with a very long beak....they are very clumsy but really likeable. Since these birds have nocturnal habits the kiwi houses are strictly in the dark so it is impossible to take any photographs. After this marvel we treat ourselves to a relaxing stroll around the city, there are beautiful rugby fields where the NZ people play happily. Next stop Wanaka, also on a beautiful lake where we can enjoy exceptional views...unfortunately you cannot stop/sleep at the lake.
In fact, around 7:00 AM a plainclothes police officer knocks on our door and tells us to leave....no big deal, today we have a lot of driving to do...we set off in the direction of Haast Pass, the road runs alongside Mount Aspiring offering us a fantastic panorama, often you have to slow down because there are single-lane bridges or hairpin bends to be taken at very low speed. Once past Fox Glacier we arrive at the tiny village of Franz Josef where we camp at Rain Forest Park (20 NZD).
Around 10:00 AM (a bit late) we head to the Alpine Adventure Centre where for 10 NZD a shuttle takes us to the "glacier" car park where all the trails begin, the female driver reminds us that she'll pick us up at 5:00 PM, if she doesn't find us she'll come back at 6:00 PM and if she doesn't find us she'll organize a search party (Gulp!!!). We start the short and not very demanding trail, the Sentinel Rock (20 min round trip), a nice viewpoint where you can see the glacier (even if in the distance) in all its splendour. We decide to turn back and walk the Douglas Walk as far as the suspension bridge (it feels like being in a film, the adventure is so tough) and the Douglas swing (gulp 2!!!!) bridge.
We quickly move on to the Roberts Point Track where in just 6 hours round trip (gulp 3!!!!!) you reach Roberts Point, crossing suspension bridges (where a maximum of 1 person can go on at a time), fording an unspecified number of little streams and climbing up and down enormous boulders on a trail that tends to disappear...I hope you're good at spotting "the little stone man" (in fact these are more or less large pebbles arranged in piles......it's not always easy to work out the right way to go). After 3 long hours of exhausting walking you reach the legendary Roberts Point (basically a small area with a bench and a table - picnic style -) where you enjoy a breathtaking panorama......a glacier of a beautiful deep blue colour full of crevasses.
The spectacle doesn't last long and after finishing our sandwich we get ready to head back......and above all before it gets dark!!!!!!!!We arrive around 5:30 PM and right on time at 6:00 PM our "shuttle" will come to pick us up.
After filling the camper's water tank we set off again. Along the road we often stop to watch the beautiful New Zealand falcons. The first stop is Hokitika, also known as the jade city. Wandering along Tancred Street we stop to look at the windows of the various little shops selling jade jewellery and then we stop at the glass studio, a typical little shop in the area that produces little animals and objects of all kinds in blown glass. We head towards Punakaiki passing through Greymouth, arriving at Paparoa National Park. Under incessant rain we walk a short trail (in about 15 minutes) that takes us to the Pancake Rocks Blowholes. These are formations resembling stacked pancakes, really very curious. On the way back to the car park we meet a pair of friendly weka, other flightless birds busy squabbling over a little piece of brioche.
We set off and arrive at Cape Foulwind and more precisely at Carters Beach. We stop at the Seal Colony Tourist Park where we rest for the night.
After the usual breakfast of cereal and muffins we set off in the direction of Nelson along road number 6. The scenery is very varied, we go from coastal views to beautiful snow-capped mountains. We head towards Abel Tasman National Park...along the road we meet very few cars, but lots of sheep and cattle. We make a short stop at Tapawera and then set off again for Marahau, the town located practically at the entrance to the park. Today it hasn't stopped raining for a single moment, the last stretch was really hard going...ok...we sleep at Old MacDonald's Farm, this campsite is really very big, there are pigs, geese, llamas (????) and the shared bathrooms are a bit rustic but they fit in well with the surrounding environment.
.....it did nothing but rain all night long, but fortunately this morning the weather is acceptable, so we treat ourselves to a nice walk in the Abel Tasman. This is one of the few coastal parks in NZ, completely deserted therefore very relaxing, after signing a book that records visitors' access we walk along a boardwalk, today it's low tide so you can see the whole seabed populated by numerous and very timid crabs that scurry away as soon as they see us pass. We walk a few metres, reaching Peters Beach, the first beach on the trail....very relaxing. We return to the camper and off towards Nelson, we cross the beautiful Marlborough Sounds region and arrive at Kaikoura where we stay at the (usual, seeing as we bought the discount card for the TOP10 chain) TOP10 Holiday Park.
Kaikoura literally means food and lobster...in fact everywhere you can see little takeaway caravans selling crayfish (lobster) and chips just like hot-dog vendors. Obviously we decide to try it, we get 1/2 a lobster and chips for 25 NZD.
Besides lobster, Kaikoura is famous for sperm whale sightings. We head to the whale watching office to find out whether today's tours are running, in fact a lot depends on the weather conditions which at these latitudes aren't always the best. Fortunately they're going out, we take a bus that takes us to the pier outside town and more precisely to South Bay, we board a brand-new catamaran and off we go in search of whales. As the weather isn't great, the sea is quite rough and clearly the ups and downs don't help much (vomiting guaranteed), every now and then the captain stops the boat and uses a sonar to try to work out where the sperm whales are, after a couple of outings with no luck we finally manage to see our first sperm whale, it's a tremendous thrill.
The sightings follow one another, the sea off Kaikoura really is teeming with sperm whales, they all behave the same way, they spout a bit of water, arch showing their enormous and powerful tail and then dive. On the way back we are "surrounded" by a pod of dolphins, or rather dark dusky dolphins...fantastic...they brush past our boat and perform jumps and pirouettes, for us who have never seen a dolphin it's a unique thrill, they really are full of energy and very sociable. Back on land we decide to take a little stroll around town to let our stomachs settle.
We leave Kaikoura quite early and after 2h 30' we arrive in Christchurch (we've done the circuit of the South Island), we go a further 82 km in the direction of Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula. This NZ peninsula has a very strange cartwheel shape, the roads and lanes we travel to get to our destination are obviously deserted and full of bends. Once we arrive in Akaroa we stay at the Akaroa TOP10 Holiday Park, it's on a hill from which you can see the whole town (650 souls). A little path leads campers into the centre, the town is very pretty, you immediately notice the French influence (the streets are labelled as rue), after a quiet stroll we decide to sit on one of the many benches by the sea to admire the sunset.
Today is our last day with the camper (we'll miss it), in less than two hours we reach our final destination, namely Christchurch. Before handing back the camper we stop in a huge park near the airport, today is Sunday and there's a rugby tournament. Once we've handed back the camper (and paid the diesel tax, 2.5 NZD/100km, we did 2700 km) we take the red bus which for just 10 NZD takes us to our hotel, the Camelot Square, practically in the centre. We take a short stroll and visit the Art Gallery (a little market) and walk along the banks of the Avon where there are gondoliers (!!!!) who for a few NZD take you for a little ride...tomorrow we head to the North Island.
Last night I didn't sleep well, maybe I'd got used to the camper's hard bed, after paying for our hotel (120 NZD) we go back to our airport, where at 11:15 a Qantas plane takes us (1h) to Rotorua on the North Island. The airport of this little town is microscopic, in fact there's no usual conveyor belt, but after coming out of the airport there's a little truck that "unloads" them outside (!!!!). We arrive at our hotel, the Regal Geyserland, from which you enjoy a beautiful view over the geyser of the thermal village...incredible, our room practically overlooks Pohutu (in Maori it translates as the great splash), the largest geyser in the area. One downside is that it's quite far from the centre and the buses come by only with difficulty.
We reach the centre and, walking the whole length of Fenton St, we head to the shores of the lake and from there towards the Anglican church of St Faith's and the Tamatekapua meeting house in the Maori quarter. Before going into the two buildings we stop at a craft centre where some Maori display fantastic objects and we decide to buy a tiki....beautiful. Unfortunately the meeting house can't be visited and they direct us to the one rebuilt for tourists located in the thermal village of Whakarewarewa (known simply as Whaka). So we visit the Anglican church, beautiful, the interior is decorated in Maori style, beautiful, there's a stained-glass window overlooking the lake depicting Jesus...creating the effect of seeing him walking on the water. Today we treat ourselves to a nice fish dinner, after all it's our first month of marriage (even if in Italy it's the 16th).
Today we go to the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute which is practically in our hotel, after paying the entrance fee (19.95 NZD per person) we treat ourselves to a quick breakfast of muffins and cappuccino. The centre is laid out with a series of routes in this thermal area, where from time to time you see pools of boiling water and/or mud. Very pretty is the cooking pool which really does look like a cauldron, the "pools" of boiling mud are very suggestive, and everywhere you see clouds with the characteristic smell of rotten eggs. Near the Pohutu geyser there are a series of benches where you can sit and wait for the geyser to erupt, which erupts roughly every hour.
Here too there are kiwi houses, it's nearly 12:15 and we head towards the central area of the thermal village where there's the Te Aronuiarua meeting house, this time it can be visited, it's beautiful (remember that to go in you have to take off your shoes). Beautiful, the interior is all carved wood decorated and painted red, various gods of the Maori religion are represented, all have their eyes decorated with paua, that shell with the iridescent colour.
At 12:15 the show begins, our guide chooses a chief from our group and the rest of us all behind him outside the meeting house...at a certain point the Maori come out in traditional dress, their chief approaches in a threatening manner (the classic expression with grimaces and tongue sticking out prominently)...when it seems he's about to attack us he crouches down and places a little fern frond on the ground; we pick it up and off we go with the songs of welcome, finally we go into the meeting house where we can enjoy the show, and of course the infamous war dance, the haka, can't be missed (the same one the rugby team, the All Blacks, perform before every match).
We're almost at the end now, we arrive at 8:15 at the Rotorua tourism office where the bus is waiting for us (a Newmans bus heading to the Waitomo caves; we've planned a stop at Otorohanga, a small town near the caves, but if you want the bus offers a stop outside the caves so you can visit them and then leave again for Auckland). Once we arrive at the caves we pay 25 NZD per person and go in. At first we see the "usual" cave with stalactites and stalagmites, that rock looks like an elephant, that one like a kiwi, blah, blah... the usual stuff. At a certain point we reach an underground river where a little boat is waiting for us, we get on and after a few metres we enter a gallery, it's completely covered with these luminescent creatures, the glow worms... it's an incredible sight, I've never seen anything like it in my life, it feels like looking at the night sky full of stars.
The glow worm is an insect that uses bioluminescence to attract insects and eat them; when it becomes an adult insect, since it doesn't have a mouth, it will just have time to reproduce before dying. After this wonder of nature, little known to most people, we go to our lodgings, the Palm Court Motel, very nice, we also meet the owner, a very kind person. In the evening we go to eat at the Be'Guinness Bar and Brasserie, the food is really good at an excellent price.
The Newmans bus passes right on time at 13:30, today we reach the last stop of our trip... that is, Auckland; incredibly, for the first time we run into crazy traffic, you can tell we're near a big city. We arrive at 16:30 at the bus terminal located right under the beautiful Sky Tower, we head quickly to our hotel, the Auckland City Hotel (shabby and dirty). We go back downtown and go up the tower, the elevator that takes you to the top is practically made of glass, so it's quite impressive. Once at the top we can see the whole city lit up (going up costs 15 NZD plus another 3 to go up to the Sky Deck). We come back down with our "feet on the ground" and wander around a bit, we grab a kebab on the fly on Queen St and off to bed.
Last day of vacation, we're going back to Italy, we still have a few hours to enjoy this beautiful city. At the Britomart station we take the Airbus which for 15 NZD takes us to the airport, which is about 1h from the city. After buying the departure tax (25 NZD) we board, off we go: Auckland-Brisbane-Singapore-Dubai-Rome...... 27 hours of travel.... not bad, but we're on the other side of the world!!!!!!!!!!!!
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