Been awhile since my last postcard and a lot has transpired. I have been posting on Instagram; those following will have seen some of the hikes and scenery. We have been heading south toward Winter in our Campervan. The potential for cold had us worried, especially after a few days in Wellington. Turned out my weather fears were unfounded. Wellington, unbeknownst to me, has cold, windy weather almost all the time. Too bad because it is a cool town otherwise. It is still cold now, we have had nights under 0C, but without wind the days are manageable with a light coat. Days get up to around 8-11C (46-51 F) most days., alpine areas 3 – 4 (about 38F).
We ferried the campervan from the North to the South island. Our ferry was the only one that sailed for two days, all others canceled because of bad weather. The ferry was huge. We were just about the last vehicle to board and we counted about 40 semi trucks, each with 2 trailers board, and at least 100 cars and campervans ahead of us. The seas were crazy. When we got back to the campervan I could not believe it was still standing upright. We were on the 8th deck and waves were hitting the windows like we were going through a car wash. I put a video on Facebook; I missed the wave coming, but the water on the window is evidence. The bow of the boat was crashing down in the troughs of the swells with the loudest bang. Lots of people were going to need another lunch because they lost the first one.
We spent A Lot of time wine tasting. Something you don’t see in the US, sheep in the vineyards. I guess they use them as lawnmowers in the dormant season. Wine regions we have now covered include: Waiheke Island (3 days), Northland (1 day), Gisborne 3 days (some amazing chardonnay); Hawkes Bay, huge wine growing area with a variety of soils so a wide variety of varietals, we were there a week; Martinborough (boutique pinot noirs) stayed 2 days, Marlborough (‘Mar bra’ as they pronounce it) I allowed a week here, but we did not need it. We tasted for 3 days. The only areas we have left are Otago. We will get there eventually. I am now officially tired of Marlborough Sauvignon blanc for awhile; I am preferring the more mellower Hawkes Bay version.
We have mixed in driving days with stationery days. Always schedule hikes along the drives to break up the driving and so Mark can see a little of the scenery instead of all road. The narrow winding roads keep his eyes occupied otherwise. I have never mentioned that New Zealand has thousands of one-lane bridges; narrow one-land bridges, some death defyingly high above river gorges. Yesterday we were on a west coast beach. Today we are camped in a gorge with snow covered mountains all around. We drove over the Southern Alps through Lewis pass; it is the easiest of the east-west passes, but still unnerving in the icy conditions. There is skiing here somewhere. This town is packed with people. More people than we have seen in 5 months. This weekend was the last of a school break. Kiwi kids have 4 terms, each separated by a two week vacation. We are not far from Christchurch, the second biggest city in New Zealand. The town is Hamner Springs and yes, has a natural spring. Later today we are going to go soak in it. New Zealand has a lot geologic activity earthquakes, volcanoes and therefore hot springs. There are other towns more known for hot springs, but we picked this one and a good choice it was. The families are leaving and we’ll have the place to ourselves.
Tomorrow we arrive in Christchurch (east coast again) and relinquish the campervan. We have a great itinerary planned for the next 2 months of wandering the South island. We are now planning to leave New Zealand in mid September. We have committed to our re-scheduled house sits in Portugal and Spain. We may, pandemic permitting, get back to the states around Christmas for a visit. Traveling has gotten just a little bit more complicated with covid. We need to be careful where we go to make sure we will be accepted into the next destination. Right now, that prohibits a leg into the USA.
Covid Update
NZ has not had a home-grown case of covid19 since April 19. They are catching a couple cases a day from people coming into the country in the quarantine process. One couple of ladies were allowed out of quarantine to travel across the country to Wellington so long as they got tested in Wellington. Well one had it. Heads rolled over that debacle, but no community cases emerged. Another lady escaped the quarantine compound. She got put in a different detention facility – jail. New Zealand is still paying the cost of the 2 week quarantine (not the travelers), but that has to stop soon. The country has been printing money to pay for all the covid related expenditures and it can’t go on much longer. People are getting fed up with the price tag.
Back to Us
We have a big anniversary coming up: two years of ambling vagabonds. We will produce a special postcard. Stay tuned. I am also posting old postcards and some new material on the blog: hummingalong.net. I should have the campervan story on there soon. It really is the way to do New Zealand. But if we ever make it here again, it will not be without mountain bikes. The mountain biking opportunities are epic. One in particular left from the Westport area called the Old Ghost Road, at least 2 days.
Cheers, Wandering kiwi wannabees.