We are out of the campervan. Enjoyed it, but we were happy to give it back. We are traveling the south of the South island and need a warm place now. We have a Toyota SUV, good tires, we expect some Winter weather. Our first stop was Akaroa. Akaroa is a peninsula that is an old round volcano. It has bays that finger into the center like a piece of tree trunk dried and split (checked is the actual phrase). It is an idyllic little town. We took a boat out into the bay and beyond to see some special dolphins. Called Hectors dolphin, they are the smallest marine dolphin (about 1.5 m) and only about 2500 in number. We saw about a dozen of that 2500.
We did some hiking around the Banks Peninsula, but the trails are getting really slippery with the weather. It’s lambing season so we see day old lambs everywhere we walk. We took a drive to 4 of the hidden beaches in these deep bays. All beautiful, all to ourselves. Until we see a plane. Figured it was a tourist plane taking a view of the bay. Then it landed right on the beach next to us. Then another did. Pilots jumped out and chatted us up for a while. Just a couple kiwis out in their planes. Only here could that happen.
We tried to get some pet sitting assignments while we were here. In one case, the homeowner wrote back that she had already found someone. I wrote back that we were disappointed because we really needed some dog snuggles. So she invited us to come stay with her for a while. And we accepted. Only in New Zealand would a stranger invite you to stay for a while. We arrived for 4 nights staying with a total stranger. We have had the best time. She is a delight, her husband too. And the dogs are a stately female great dane, black except for a significant graying around her majestic face. A young, large lab/Dalmatian with a lot of youngster exuberance and happiness. An older Manx cat with some health issues, but a lot of personality and presence. Two white donkeys. Two steers (pets, not future food). A deaf alpaca; white with blue eyes. A bunch of chooks (what kiwis call chickens), 2 ducks and dozens of white doves. We had a fun 4 days with the dogs and doing what we could around the farm, including stacking a huge load of hay. Leaving was really sad.
Now we have moved inland. On our way alongside the highway was the large scale, free range pig operation you see in the picture: sows and their babies as far as we could see.
Our place for the next few days has a view of a snow covered mountains right out the window. This area should get snow this time of year, but so far the Winter has been mild. We are staying on a sheep ranch, in a huge 6 bedroom house (after the campervan, we wanted to spread out). It is in the International Dark Sky Reserve, so the views at night are as stunning as the day; breathtaking actually when you come out from under the eaves and look up to see a sky with more stars than black.
We are starting to count our days left in New Zealand and plan some fun. Only about 6 weeks to go. It is going to be sad to leave here; this country has taken our hearts. We are really lucky to be here: no covid (knock on wood) and no other tourists to compete with, and lots of deals. Not all tourist activities are operating, but we have unusual opportunities at locals pricing (thanks to having NZ drivers licenses). Here is a taste of some of the events we have planned. We leave the farm house on Friday and plan to hike the Hooker Valley Track in Mt Cook National Park. We hiked this on our epic 22-day adventure tour and want to do it again, this time in Winter. The entire hike is along a glacier fed stream right under the Tasman Glacier. Scenery was surreal in Summer, we expect it will be doubly so in the snow. To do this track we will have an overnight in Twizel (the nearest town to the National Park). From there we are planning another week of wine tasting in the Otago regions. This is the last of the NZ wine regions we will tour. And the biggest. Mostly pinot noir. From here we head back to the coast (East coast) and a very rugged part, the Catlins. From there Te Anau which is the closest village to Fjorland. A boat tour of Milford Sound is a must-do, once in a lifetime experience. So we are doing it twice. And a lesser known sound, Doubtful Sound, is reportedly better, just harder to get to, so we will do that cruise too. From there we are going to Queenstown. Our last visit here was our favorite stop of our epic 22 day adventure tour. Usually staying in Queenstown is expensive, it is a bit like Vail in its exclusivity, Boulder in its vibe. Now prices and availability are better, so we are taking a big, long stop in Queenstown. While we will be there for the Queenstown International Winter Games. Below is a look at the plan since dropping off the camper van. After Queenstown we hope to fit in the only thing we still haven’t done in NZ: a hut to hut mountain bike trip. We are thinking 3-5 days. For that we will go to the north west coast of the South Island.
