Worldwide Wanderers

This one is a bit delayed as with all the lockdown excitement I forgot to hit post! one disclosure needed….all adventures happened before lockdown….

It was incredibly tempting not to write anything about our campervan adventures around the South Island of New Zealand and just share some pictures as no words could ever do justice to the breathtaking, heart stopping scenery it has to offer. New Zealand has been always been on my bucket list and I was beyond excited to experience it with Pads and the kids. Whenever E & G were asked about what they were most looking forward to about this adventure, the answer was always “the campervan”…mainly because of the upstairs bed! Pads was a little cautious, not sure caravan or mobile homes featured in his childhood holidays!…but clearly my early caravan adventures with Nan and Grandad at the New Forest and Isle of Wight has left a warm place in my heart for any kind of mobile home adventure…..

We spent a few days in Christchurch before picking up the campervan, it’s a city still rebuilding from the devastating earthquake and we were a little unsettled but just how few people were around! It felt incredibly quiet after the bustling vibe of Melbourne. The street art and food scene really showed the city’s story and you can feel it’s on the cusp on truly coming back to life. It was also a brilliant opportunity for Pads to catch up with his old friend Matt and his wife Rae who really looked after us and showed us the beautiful areas surrounding Christchurch, Sumner and Lyttleton.

Pick up a day arrived…felt a little bit like Christmas! Our first impressions were “it’s a bit bloody big!’, followed by Pads muttering “you are not driving this!”…. I pointed out we had both the full insurance package so he had no need to worry….he actually looked even more concerned! After lots of explanations about “stuff” (left this bit to Pads), we stocked up at the supermarket – such a treat after 2 months, unpacked the bags which was an even bigger treat and set off to explore. We really didn’t get very far due to all the faffing about and before we knew it the sun was coming down. We quickly realised a free camping app was going to be our best friend and this co-piloting malarkey was probably going to end in divorce! After a small fallout mainly caused by my complete inability to follow google maps and Pads sheer exasperation trying to explain that turning the phone in different directions doesn’t help, we found a field to park up in. My romantic vision of camping under the stars was quickly shattered, to be honest I was massively freaked out by sleeping in a field with other people with only a small plastic door between us…was pretty much convinced we were all going to be murdered in our sleep!. It was also absolutely bloody freezing – I ended up wearing pretty much all my clothes including my sarong wrapped around my head as a turban – think some shopping may need to be done! Some drama ensued in the morning about no water, emptying waste…. absolutely no idea what he was talking about, I was just horrified that I couldn’t plug in my straighteners….we luxuriated in the fact that we could move without having to pack up all our bags….!

Feeling a bit more confident and sure of ourselves we set off in earnest to the gorgeous Lake Tekapo. Campervan driving takes a little bit of getting used to and there’s a few rules to follow. Firstly, you need to make sure all your cupboard doors are shut…learnt this the hard way when the kids nearly got decapitated by the full contents of cupboards falling on them. Secondly, a campervan is a bit wider and higher than a normal car…..might have inadvertently mounted a few curbs and taken out a few branches on some low hanging trees. Thirdly, you can’t go as fast as other vehicles so you need to pull over when the locals want to get past or they give you a very clear Kiwi signal….the kids learnt the middle finger very quickly and it’s now a firm favourite!

Ahh Lake Tekapo…..you took our breath away, the colour of the water was iridescent blue, the clouds were so close you wanted to touch them and the backdrop of the mountains made you feel incredibly small. The great thing about New Zealand is that you don’t actually have to do anything apart from just sit and watch – it’s like a relaxation, mediation, therapy course for free! We settled on freedom camping by the shores of Lake Pukaki – just us, the lake and the stars…this was exactly what I envisaged. E made dinner with some fresh Salmon…..and we relaxed with some wine chilled in the lake….could get used to this..and this time got Pads to sleep by the door so felt a lot less likely we’d get murdered in our sleep!

From the shores of Lake Tekapo to the peaks of Mount Cook…..the freedom of waking up and deciding what to do was a huge lesson in living in the present. As it was a fairly straight road to Mt Cook I was let loose for my first solo driving…pretty impressive even if I say so myself and as there was no need for any navigation we arrived still talking to each other. After an easy walk to the Tasman Lake we saw our first Glacier…sobering to see how climate change has impacted this environment and you couldn’t help but take a moment to reflect. As the sun was setting on our return from the Glacier we decided to sleep under the mountain – as soon as the sun is disappeared the temperature plummeted and we realised why everyone around us had proper winter gear – we were soo cold we all slept together! An early morning rise beckoned so we could complete the Hooker Valley Walk to the base of Mount Cook, we were so badly prepared it was quite laughable…..Pads actually refused to take a picture of us as he was so mortified – well he was wearing a pair of Barbour shoes, jeans and a linen shirt! Along with the posh camper we looked like a real bunch of twats!

A long drive back past Lake Pukaki, through the quaint town of Twizel and on through Omarama, lead us to what has been called the most beautiful place on earth, Wanaka. I’m not sure I could disagree – the lake, the mountains, the rivers were exceptionally. By this point however we realised we were fighting a losing battle against the cold, so conceded and booked into a camping site to plug in the heater, do some washing and shower in a place where you didn’t have to practice yoga at the same time in order to wash your hair (those shower cubicles are tiny!)!. We seemed to have swiftly adopted 1920’s gender roles on this trip, after a half hearted attempt from me to empty the “stuff” from the van Pads decided it would be less drama to do it himself, and I gratefully accepted in favour of the laundry and cleaning….I may have taken feminism back 50 years but think i got the better end of the deal!

We loved Wanaka so much that the planned few days turned into five and we still weren’t ready to leave (Ms Shaw….we support the intended move – just get a house big enough for lots of visitors as we’ll definitely be back!). We walked till our legs hurt, we paddled in the rivers, we ran the local park run and snuffled fabulous ice-creams…..it was bliss. No trip to NZ is complete without the mandatory jet boat experience – E&G were beyond excited but were left slightly underwhelmed as wanted it to be faster, scarier, more turns (seriously!)……the amazing Ryan managed to placate them by letting them drive the boat themselves…! A long explore down the Clutha River gave us a chance to sit and remember Paul on his anniversary – 2 years seems to have gone by in a blink of an eye, we floated some wild flowers down the river and watched the Salmon jumping through the rapids thinking how much he would have loved to have fished this river.

After tearing ourselves away from Wanaka we headed far south to the Fjordland National Park. The kids were mesmerised by the Glo Worms experience over Lake Te Anau and loved the cave exploration…..it felt a little like the boat trip in Willy Wonka – just replace the sweets with Glo Worms! We were really hoping to get up to Milford Sounds but the recent flooding had made the road unpassable so we decided to stay at Manapouri and explore Doubtful Sound ….such an unforgettable trip! The Fjordlands are absolutely breathtaking and with the weather in our favour we managed to travel all the way through to Thompson Sound. There was an opportunity on the boat to stop in the middle of the Sounds where they switch off the engine, ask everyone to switch off their digital bits and sit in silence for 5 minutes….pure mindfulness and impeccably timed given the oncoming chaos….

A brief stop in Queenstown, where to be honest unless you’re a backpacker wanting to throw yourself out of planes, hurtle down mountains or go canyoning – anything that could basically result in death – we headed off to the remote West Coast. This part of New Zealand is beyond remote and at some parts of the year is cut off from the rest of the island due to flooding and landslides. The coast is incredibly rugged and reminded us of the South West Coastline (minuses the Glaciers and hotpots!).

As the weather started to turn we spent a few days hiking Fox Glacier and Franz Josef before heading up the coast to Hokitika and Greymouth.

A stop at Hokitika for some fish and chips in the rain, some newly purchased board games and a couple of nights at Greymouth reminded us very much of home. As the clouds parted and the sun started to peak through we got ready to hit the wine lands of Marlborough and Blenheim – the part that Pads had been really look forward to!. And then we heard that the world was about to stop and breathe for a while – we had 36 hours until lockdown and some tough decisions to make….