It’s our last few hours in our campervan after a 10-day journey around New Zealand’s South Island. We only missed two sections – Marlborough – famous for its Sauvignon Blanc wines, Abel Tasman and Nelson Lakes National Parks; and the scenic East Coast with its famous Moeraki Boulders and sea life. I make notes for our next visit, which of course we’ll add to our always-growing travel list. Continue reading Reflections on New Zealand Journey
Category: Campervan adventure
New Zealand’s Castle Hill
After a quiet and restful night at Jackson’s Retreat, we’re nearly the last campervan to leave the holiday park this morning. It’s a bit sad, it’s our last campervan day in New Zealand’s South Island before we check in the van back in Christchurch and have our last night in the city.
But it’s another beautiful, sunny and hot day so we “break camp” as we call it and follow our host’s suggestion to hike Castle Hill – a huge cluster of limestone rocks further down Arthur’s Pass toward Christchurch. If you’re a Lord of the Rings movie fan, you may recognize these as we did once we belatedly caught up on the trilogy. I’m pretty sure a trekking scene passed right through here – and we see why once we’re hiking among the giant boulders. There’s just something about being up close to such geologic magic – something that has been here for eons. I feel this way hiking in old-growth forests too – a sense of permanence. Continue reading New Zealand’s Castle Hill
New Zealand’s Arthur’s Pass
It’s day 9 of our campervan trip on New Zealand’s South Island and today is our last 24 hours of our van journey. We’re leaving the teal blue Tasman Sea waters of the West Coast and headed inland, toward Arthur’s Pass National Park.
We backtrack from Punakaiki and the Pancake Rocks south to the turnoff in Kumara Junction and head into the mountains on highway 73. Like much of our trip, we could spend more days out here exploring the many hiking trails, many with above-treetop views of the snow-covered Southern Alps.
We opt for a fairly easy hike to a gorgeous waterfall, then head to Arthur’s Pass Village for a relaxing lunch and to try yet another New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc on a sunny restaurant deck. After, we try another short hike then head to our space for the night – Jackson’s Retreat Holiday Park.
The couple who runs the place toured the world by sailboat before buying and running the park, which sports a few cute ADU-type cabins, nicely-spaced plug-in campervan spots and open, grassy camping areas. Like the other holiday parks we’ve visited in New Zealand, it sports nice and clean shower facilities, a comfortable cooking and eating area and some supplies you’ll need on your journey far away from cities and stores. They even have a few glow worm dells you can visit at night and a hike to a waterfall.
Set on 15 acres in a soothing valley rainforest, with views of the Alps and Taramaku River, this was no doubt our favorite spot of the trip. And, we’ve got wine to finish off with our camper-cooked sunset dinner, so we enjoy the last evening with the campervan just hanging out in our little grassy area picnic table.
New Zealand West Coast Sun Days
After a long drive up the coast yesterday and checking out Hokitika last night we decide we’re enjoying the sunny West Coast and drive further up north than I had originally mapped out.
Further up the road is Pancake Rocks, in Punakaiki, and Paparoa National Park. We’re enjoying taking our time, windows rolled down, pulling over for snapshots of the glistening Tasman Sea from various cliff spots.
Then we them – the grouping of rocks at Dolomite Pointe where weathering has carved the limestone into layers, so they look like stacks of pancakes. We read this is through a process called stylobedding, and it’s yet another aspect of nature we’ve not seen before.
Our arrival coincides with low tide, so along the short viewing path we don’t see the blowholes this area is also know for during high tide and storms, but we’re ok with that – we’ve been lucky to seen dramatic blowholes on the Big Island of Hawaii and back home on the Oregon and California Coasts.
Our faces in the sun, we enjoy the rock geology and vegetation growing from the cliff and appreciate the last few days we have on our journey.
Hokitika and Hokitika Gorge
After several hours’ drive up New Zealand South Island’s West Coast we arrive at our campervan spot for the night in Hokitika, but we’re too late for the numerous art and greenstone (jade) galleries that the town is known for. Greenstone actually comes from the rivers near Hokitika, so it’s known as the greenstone capital of New Zealand. 
No worries.
It’s a beautiful end to the day, so we walk the beach to a waterfront restaurant for a quick near-sunset drink, try whitebait fritters because we’ve heard so much about it (not quite our taste and not entirely sustainable we learn), then continue on to the nearby old downtown, (originally founded during the gold mining days) and line up at the popular fish and chips place (Porky’s Takeaways) before heading back to tuck in for the night.
Next morning we’re up with rest of the camp, have our breakfast in the sun and head out to Hokitika Gorge. It’s a bunch or narrow roads getting there – and already crowded at the site, but we luck out and instead of hitting a dead end with our 21’ campervan and having to back out we find an overflow lot and take off for the gorge. 
The scene is a lot like the Blue Pools from a few days ago, just a lighter shade of teal/turquoise and chalky compared to the clear Blue Pools.
We feel lucky that every day for the last eight we’ve woke, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at our campsite and traveled to absolutely stunning scenery like this.
Lake Hawea to the West Coast
We wake to yet another blue-sky day and are raring to go. On today’s drive is Southern Alps beauty. We’re on highway 6 heading toward Haast Pass. Mt. Aspiring National Park and South West New Zealand World Heritage Area is on our left and there are many places to stop and hike to gorgeous waterfalls and turquoise/teal rivers and pools.
We heard along our travels that the Blue Pools near Makarora are amazing so we’re hiking into them along with visitors from Germany, Canada and more. We get our first view of the pools and cross over the suspension bridge to a viewing platform, then to the water’s edge. It’s breathtaking.
Where we’re from, the Pacific Northwest, our glacial rivers are sometimes dark and murky coming right off the mountains. Most of the rivers coming off the New Zealand’s Southern Alps – at least in summer – are this beautiful teal color. 
But we have much more ground to cover today to make it half-way up the South Island’s West Coast, so we take in one more waterfall and pass by yet another teal river.
We continue our drive through tropical Hawaii-like Haast Pass and hit the coast at Knight’s Point.
It looks and feels like a Central to Southern California beach, a bit of a cool breeze hits our faces but blue sky abounds and ongoing series of Tasman Sea waves hit the beach.
From here, we know we could spend a few days exploring Fox and Franz Josef glaciers. We’re on the other side of Mt. Cook, where we visited earlier in our trip and sandwiched by two national parks – Mt. Cook and Westland Tai Poutini National Parks.
We make a note to spend at least a day or two here next trip and continue on, our goal for today is still about two hours up the coast, in Hokitika.
On the Road Again
Today we pull up stakes in Milford Sound and start the long drive back through Fjordland National Park, past New Zealand’s second largest lake and curving back east toward Far South.
There’s no other way (by car/van at least) than backtracking the way you came in but it’s gorgeous and we’re well rested after two rest nights plugged in at Milford Sound lodge’s campervan section.
Discussion of the morning is how nice our campervan facilities have been at the holiday parks we’ve visited. They are inexpensive (compared to a hotel/motel) and have clean showers/bathrooms, group cooking and eating areas and comfy lounge areas to use wireless, read or meet people from all over the world. Fantastic way to travel – we are new fans!
We could get used to this. Seeing beautiful scenery every day while driving to a new location. We’re stopping at pull-out after pull-out to take in a snow-covered mountain, a waterfall, a carved-out valley. I don’t think I can capture the beauty in words except to say that it’s awe-inspiring at nearly every turn.
I had intended to build in more “Freedom Camping” on this trip (if you have a bathroom and running water you are considered “self-contained” and approved for camping off the grid).
But I also knew we’d be traveling in New Zealand’s high season, learning along the way that kiwis take to the road right after Christmas – which is today – and we are already seeing more travelers on the road.
Not quite trusting, we opt to call ahead to Lake Hawea for a plug-in space and stop by Lake Wanaka for lunch and sauvignon blanc, which of course we’re also becoming fans!
Milford Sound
It’s Christmas morning, and day 5 of our campervan adventure far from our Portland home. We’re now on the very Western edge of New Zealand’s South Island. It is as majestic as they say, and photos can’t capture all the pure natural beauty your eyes see.
I now have a new appreciation for waterfalls. And not your average waterfalls. 
It rained all night and into the morning as we donned our requisition where’s Waldo-striped long underwear and fleece, pulled over bright yellow rain jackets and tightened hoodies against the pelting rain.
A subtropical rainforest, Milford Sound gets a reported 3-9 meters of rain a year – and we were sitting in all that fresh water as we pushed our boats onto the Harrison Cove. All this top fresh water sits on top of ocean water coming in from the Tasman Sea way beyond where we’ll go today – at least in these boats.
The torrential rain has spawned all types of waterfalls raging down the sheer mountain walls – some a long single line following a crack the vertical length of the wall. Others a gusher that can’t wait to get to the sound below. Some look like flower dumped from up high, beads landing on outcrops, vegetation and then the pool below. 
We feel spray and wind from one of the big ones and have to lean into the wind or be pushed over. These are just a few of hundreds in this sound, which is really a fjord since our guide tells us this area was in a U-shape from glaciers rather than rivers, which are cut into more of a V-shape. This is just one of 14 in Fjordland National Park.
Where it’s hard to see in the morning, an afternoon cruise takes us further out, past the same waterfalls of the a.m. but in the clearing sun they look different – less runoff but still majestic and unlike most Pacific Northwest waterfalls we’ve seen.
These are up close, enough to not just feel the spray, but nearly get blown over by it (AKA a “glacial facial” as they say).
In the sun, the sound looks like Tahiti or Kauai, where mountains jut straight up from the water and where the weather changes quickly. We are easily falling in love with this country and the immense, nearly untouched beauty and terrain we’ve seen over just the last few days.
Later, we are invited to a Kiwi Christmas dinner at the lodge and meet folks from the Bay Area, a suburb close to Portland, England, Australia, Singapore and much more. So nice to be outside the American culture for a bit.
Queenstown to Milford Sound
After breaking camp at the Holiday Park Creeksdyle in Queenstown, we take quick break to check out the original bungy jump location outside town. It’s 141 feet off the Kawaru Bridge, where the teal water river rages below.
You can take in the view from the bridge as if you were going to jump yourself – but I’m sure standing on the actual platform and jumping is a completely different thing.
Still, I’m tempted. You only live once, right? It’s kind of like when I tried skydiving even though I was afraid – it was something I wanted to do at least once in my life and I actually ended up feeling like the freefall – which I was sure would scare me the most – was actually really peaceful.
While not originally on my bucket list, bungy jumping may have made it onto this list because of this trip and seeing the original location. Another scouting mission for next trip…
We fuel up in Te Anu and we’re in Fjordland National Park, New Zealand’s largest. The terrain on our way to Milford Sound feels familiar – like entering Yellowstone National Park in Montana, some of Oregon’s Scenic Columbia Gorge, but with an occasional palm tree. Then like Utah’s white-capped Wasatch Range. Makes us appreciate that we’re seeing the best of America’s West in a condensed few hours.
Then the rainforest reveals itself. As we pass through the near 4,000-foot Homer Tunnel we enter Cleddau Valley, closing in on Milford Sound. It’s like the Hoh Rain Forrest in Washington’s Olympic Mountains. Variations of deep green and the beginnings of many waterfalls.
Queenstown Play
Day 3 in the campervan and our drive takes us from the Alps to the Central Otago region. We’re headed to Queenstown, a total outdoor playground. We have one full day and two nights, so we plug in at a Holiday Park (Creeksyde) and jump in for tandem paragliding in the morning and gondola/luge in afternoon.
Queenstown is like Lake Tahoe meets a Colorado ski town – or maybe Boulder. There’s something for everyone – rafting, paragliding and parasailing, jetboats, skydiving, hiking and this new thing called Hydro Attack – it’s like an enclosed jet ski that can submerge up to 5 feet then shoot straight up in the air. If you can’t do G-forces, it won’t work for you because they aren’t kidding about the rocket piece we’re told.
If you’re not into the outdoor adventure Queenstown also offers a great downtown shopping district and excellent restaurant options on the wharf, and a fantastic garden walk to a point that gets you out onto the lake for a 180-degree view of the town and the Remarkables mountain range.
Paraglide morning
The windy uphill road takes us to Cardrona ski area where we’ll jump off the cliff from Coronet Peak – or as my paraglide captain Hansel says “you run and we just take off.” It is just like that – all geared up we take a few jogs, the kite picks up air and we’re quickly off the cliff – just floating. It’s easy and peaceful being the passenger as his Go-Pro captures the scenery and my constant grin, the lush green and brown landscape below. He takes us along a cliff line and catches a thermal. I can hear other paragliders echo my woo-hoos as they follow similar line. Then there’s the corkscrew like moves that get us closer to our landing path lower on the mountain. I see now why my captain and many of his compatriots have come from all over the world to live here – to fly every day in this gorgeous valley, and from the highest commercial take off in Queenstown .
Gondola & Luge afternoon
Switching gears, if you go up the Gondola right from town, definitely try the luge course if you like to go fast. When I first heard the word, I thought we’d be literally doing the luge, but in summer with wheels. You actually sit up in a hard plastic cart and can turbo it up, especially on the red course after you’ve done your first orientation run on the easier blue course.
We instantly turned to kids who grew up loving to drive the cars on the rail course at Disneyland, then learned to alpine ski and instantly bombed the hill. Adrenaline kicks in, we gain courage and catch air the next run, up on two wheels around the sharp curves on the next. After 3 runs it’s growing hot on the course.
All the better to check out the Stratosphere restaurant and view. Paragliders jump from the mountain tip above us and pass by our window overlooking Queenstown. Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand’s third largest lake, glistens below. Boats look small. Two more luge runs and we’re done with our active day and head to dinner on the wharf (many good restaurants to choose from by the way.)