Returning to the main land from Taveuni on a twelve hour overnight crossing we had half a day to stock up on supplies before moving on to Caqalai (pronounced Thangalai, obviously). This small paradisaical island, described as the near perfect backpackers resort in the guide book (I can’t bring myself to write those two words), is east of the main island of Vitu Levu and is part of the Lomaiviti island group. On a par with Koh Wai in Thailand and if it wasn’t for the weather we had I might even had said that Caqalai was better. The island’s…
After being greeted by a live band in Nadi Airport and passing immigration (the passport is looking pretty good now) we were met by Nathalie, an old Uni house mate and as of recently girlfriend of a very good friend of mine back in London (I think I can claim some credit for that ïŠ ). Nathalie, once recovered from the shock of how much hair I’d amassed over the last 11 months or so, lead us to our nearby hostel, serving as our local guide. She had just started her own round the world trip, going the opposite direction…
Having heard that there were some good deals to be had on rental van relocations I spent a bit of time phoning around the different rental companies to see what was on offer. As time went by these offers just got better and better. Basically the companies are desperate to get their vans back to Auckland as most of their customers pick up the vans there and dump them at Christchurch. The problem of rental companies having all their vehicles in the wrong place really played into our hands and after several calls it seemed that Maui/Britz and Apollo had…
Crossing the Southern Alpes via Authers Pass the change in weather was dramatic. From near continuous rain, crossing the pass, the clouds cleared and we were bathed in sunlight. We’d learned how the west coast receives some of the highest rainfall in the world and how this was caused be the weather coming in from the Tasman sea and hitting the mountains, but to see how it diminished so soon after crossing the pass was quite bizarre. Skipping some of the good treks around the pass due to the rain we instead tackled Helicopter Hill, starting in picturesque woodland gradually…
We met this friendly Belgian couple on the Milford Sound cruise only to discover that they too were travelling around New Zealand via camper van and actually had planned pretty much the same route as us. We said our goodbyes expecting to bump into each other somewhere on route. More by chance than by planning we actually spent time with them on everyday of the following nine. Most evenings we spent in the same camp / rest areas and ended up playing some unique Belgian card games (anyone heard of Boonanza?) over food and drinks while getting to know each…
Continuing on from the Otago Peninsula we traversed the Catlins Coast. Anywhere else in the world and this would be stunning with an abundance of beaches, waterfalls, wildlife and walks (several of the best were closed for “Lambing”) but after already seeing so much natural beauty on this island it kind of paled in significance. Due to time constraints we also rushed through here ticking off the attractions yank style and not giving much time to appreciate them. The miserable weather didn’t help much either. Worth a mention though are the Cathedral Caves, tall narrow caves in the cliff face…
Returning back to the sea to tour around the east and south coasts of the south island we took in Oamaru and Mauraki with their penguin and fur seal colonies briefly stopping to see the bizarre Mauraki Boulders. A collection of almost perfectly spherical boulders lying on the beach. We covered quite a lot of ground in this region, often camping beside the sea, however the true highlight was the Otago Peninsular. A particularly stunning outcrop of land. One side has still calm waters throughout the harbour, the other has long sandy beaches, while the interior is blessed with deep…
Moving onwards towards Mount Cook, we spent the night at the side of the spectacular Lake Pukaki. Not only was the camping was free, but we had one of the best views in New Zealand outside our “room”. I was hoping to wake up to sunrise over the opaque blue lake with snow capped mountains in the distance. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be as the wind became so strong over night rocking the van so much that we had to retreat behind the trees at about 2 am. Taking the winding road up to Mount Cook the weather deteriorated. With…