Day 23 – Queenstown to San Francisco

Departure day always comes with a few errands: packing, cleaning, filling the propane, filling up with diesel, emptying the gray water and refilling the fresh water tanks and feeding the ducks the last of our bread. Once those were done, we figured we had 90 minutes of free time. Hmmmmmm what to do? How about we hop on a bus to a raging river, climb into a jetboat with 12 other people and speed through a narrow slot canyon at 80km per hour, skimming over 10cm of water, while purposefully coming as close to the canyon walls and rocks without killing anyone? That sounds great….Sign us up!!!

Jetboating on Shotover River was insane and so much fun! The canyon was gorgeous and while everyone was gripping onto the safety bar with white knuckles, I could not help but also notice the gorgeous fall foliage. With the recent weather storms, the river was high, rough, and choppy with major white water in spots. The trip down the river was like a 30 minute rollercoaster ride complete with full 360 degree spins and cold waves crashing over the jetboat. Everyone got soaked. The drivers train on the river for 120 hours before they are allowed to carry passengers. If a driver grounds his boat while skimming over the shallow spots, he has to buy all the drivers a case of beer. It’s odd that the driver’s job is to make everyone on board feel like they are about to die by crashing to smitherines against the rocks. Glen, our driver said he loved his job! He’s one of only 10 people on the entire planet licensed to drive a Jet Boat in the Shotover River Canyons.

Once back on the dock, it was a return bus ride to city center and to our camper. Doing the Jetboat was a great way to end the trip. The camper was returned without even a scratch. Matt was an excellent driver! It was hard to say goodbye to our little house on wheels. We had a wonderful time in New Zealand. It is a beautiful country and will remain one of our favorites.

THE END

Day 22 – Queenstown

POURING rain pounding on the camper roof seems to be nature’s alarm clock. By 10am the rain was tolerable and with our full REI raingear to keep us dry, we walked down to city center. Everyone downtown was loading up on the Adrenalin buses heading off to experience some new death-defying activity. Last time I bungy jumped off the Auckland Bridge, so no need to do it again.

After some window shopping, we walked back to the camper and just made it before the next downpour hit. This type of rain is so heavy, there’s not much you can do but stay inside and read. Also, Matt’s not able to fly us around today because of weather. That’s a real bummer, because we were both looking forward to that. Finally we got a break in the rain and went up the Gondola and stopped at the cemetery along the way. The headstones date back to the early 1800s. The top of the gondola had great views of the mountains, lake, town and bungy jumpers. The weather was changing so quickly up top that it was like watching time-lapsed photography. I got a rainbow though! By the time we came down, the rain had returned. Back in the camper we packed and had our last meal of what food was left…ham & cheese sandwiches with peaches. Tomorrow we pack up the camper and head home. However, we might be able to sneak one last adventure tomorrow morning if the weather cooperates.

Day 21 – Invercargill to Queenstown via The Catlins

Last night it rained so hard that it sounded like marbles were hitting the top of the camper instead of raindrops. It rained for most of the day as we made our last push home to Queenstown where our journey began 3 weeks ago. We set out this morning to explore the The Catlins. It’s the coastal area at the bottom of the south island. The southern most point of New Zealand is Slope Point. I think the trees describe the fierceness of the Antarctic winds that pummel the point better than I could.

From there we just explored all the little towns and countryside along the coast. I think the majority of the sheep have been hiding out in the Catlins. They were everywhere! We stopped at Curio Point and got lucky since it was low tide. The entire area that is exposed at low tide is not made up of rocks, but of petrified trees from the Jurassic Era. 65 million years ago, there was a forest there and now it is fossilized. Sounded kinda lame in the Lonely Planet book, but it really was quite interesting. Ranger Jim was there to answer all of our Petrified Forest questions.

There are two towns separated by 44km. The first town is Clinton and the second town is Gore. The stretch of road between the 2 towns is called “Clinton-Gore, The Presidential Highway.” I just thought that was great! I wonder if Al and Bill know about the Highway?

We got into Queenstown just as the sun was going down over the lake around 6:30. Our day had started at 9:30am. It was a lot of driving, but there was always something beautiful to look at.

Day 20 – Stewart Island

It was an early morning flight on a little plane that sat 9 passengers and 1 pilot. As we flew from Invercargil to Stewart Island, the waves below were really choppy and we were so happy not to be on the 1 hour ferry boat crossing! The total flight time was only 15 minutes and flying over the island helped us appreciate how dense the forest is and how “wild” the island still is. There are very few roads and the ones they do have are in a very small area. The rest of the island is reached only by multiple days of hiking or by boat. The only town is Oban. It’s a very peaceful fishing village. We spent the day hiking the trails that were within reach from town center which took us about 5 hours to do.

When we popped out onto a small paved road at the end of the first trail, we were instantly greeted by black lab puppy. She decided we were suckers and ran to fetch a stick. Her name was Kiki and we played fetch for a long time down at the beach. Then her buddy, another black lab named Snow, came to join the fun and started to dig up the beach. As he dug, Kiki would jump up trying to catch the sand. It was a beautiful bay, so we did not mind hanging out and playing with the dogs for awhile.

We continued hiking through rain forests, climbing up and down the slopes and randomly popping out to see a new bay or flower or mushroom. Most of the time hiking, we were looking up in the tree tops. The Tui birds were everywhere and they sounded like a mix of R2D2 robots, lasers and early Depeche Mode Techno music. When they fly, it is very loud. They rapidly flap their wings and then they glide through the narrow openings along the trail. There were lots of other birds that were entertaining too. However, the Tui Birds put on the best musical performance. We did not see any Kiwi birds. Stewart Island has over 20,000 kiwi, but they are nocturnal and very shy.

While tramping down another trail, we came across a beautiful deserted beach. If it had been warm, I would have jumped right in. From there we just kept exploring until it was time to head back to catch our return flight. The return flight was a lot bumpier with a head wind of 20 knots. I had to find my happy place during those 15 minutes of flying. Once back at the airport in Invercargill, we could see the clouds getting darker. We made our trip ahead of the weather, but just barely. There is definitely a big storm coming tonight!

Day 19 – Te Anu to “I dunno where”

As of today, our travel schedule has been completely changed. Since we had absolutely perfect weather in Doubtful Sound, there was no need to do the overnight camping in Milford Sound in hopes of finding good weather. We went to Milford Sound on the last trip anyway. Matt said he was “fiorded out.” So with that, I looked at the map and chose Stewart Island as our new destination. My plan was quickly shot down by the booking agent who informed me that there was room on the ferry going to Stewart Island, but no room for the return ferry and that we would have to spend the night. She also said that the weather would be “dreadful.” However, there was not a cloud in the sky and I could not image that in one day the weather could change so dramatically. We decided to call their bluff and drive to the town of Bluff to check out the ferry status and weather first hand. If it still did not work out, than we had no idea where we would end up for the night.

On the way to Bluff we stopped in Clifden to admire an old bridge, but the neighbor's pig got most of our attention. We arrived in Bluff around 2:30 and were told the same disappointing news. “I can get you there on a ferry, but you will be stuck overnight until the 8am ferry can bring you back…Emmmm plus the weather shows rain is coming.”

I was totally bummed out. Spending the night made the entire trip out of our budget. Back in the Camper, Matt saw an ad on one of the maps regarding charted flights to Stewart Island. He made a call and to our major surprise, a round-trip flight was only $50 NZ more than the ferry!!! The pilot also said that the stormy weather would not come until the late evening, so the island would be quite nice for the day. So we are flying to Stewart Island on a little plane tomorrow morning at 9am! After all that, we ended up a camper park in Invercargill that is close to the little airport. Today’s lesson: Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Day 18 – Doubtful Sound

Into Fiordland we went to experience Doubtful Sound. The journey to get there starts with a boat crossing of Lake Manapouri, than a transfer to a bus which travels 2km down a spiral tunnel to the Manapouri Underground Power Station, then over the Wilmot Alpine Pass and finally to the fiord itself for a 3 hour boat cruise. This is the only way to get to Doubtful Sound. You can’t travel there on your own at all. We had originally wanted to do an overnight cruise, but it was REALLY expensive and totally out of our budget. The stop at the power station was stupid. All the tours stop there because it is New Zealand’s engineering marvel. However, taking a bus down a 2km spiral tunnel was just dark and the power plant itself was boring.

Doubtful Sound only gets approximately 50 days of sunshine per year. The rest of the time it is a torrential downpour (like our visit to Milford Sound 3 years ago). As we headed over the pass, we saw blue sky!!! I could not believe it. We spent 3 hours cruising the fiord. It gets it’s name from Captain Cook discovering the fiord and making a notion on his map that the fiord was a “doubtful harbor” for his fleet.

Despite the wind, it was really spectacular and the waters were very calm for the most part. The only fatality was my lens cap, which I dropped and it bounced off the boat into the water. Doh!!!!! At least it wasn’t my camera. While cruising, we saw bottle-nose dolphins leaping out of the water next to the boat, a colony of fur seals, kea birds and a bunch of other birds. It was a good day, but a long one and we were both happy to be back in our little camper.

Day 17 – Wanaka to Te Anu

It still amazes me how beautiful Lake Wanaka is, especially since 3 years ago, we never saw even a glimpse of what it looked like due to heavy fog and rain. Before we hit the road, we spent some time by the lakeside. It was a perfect mirror and it was hard leave this area.

Wanaka to Te Anu is about a 3 hour drive and goes through Queenstown. We stopped at the pilot’s club in Queenstown and Matt is cleared to fly weather willing next week. The plane he flew last time was sitting there just waiting for us to take it for a spin.

When we got to Te Anu, we had a few chores to do other than walking around the lake. #1 was laundry. As a pulled the bed apart to wash the linens, everything was wet. The last 2 nights in Wanaka, it was around 34 degrees. It was so cold. The cold temps combined with the little camper heater + plus our breathing had covered the berth ceiling in condensation. The mattress, quilts and pillow were wet. So #2 on the list was to dry out everything. We looked like trailer park hillbillies. The mattress smelled moldy, so I doused it in Frebreeze. #3 was to feed the ducks on Lake Te Anu and #4 was to do some grocery shopping.

Day 16 – Rob Roy Valley Track in Mt. Aspiring National Park

The Rob Roy Track is considered one of the best tracks in NZ. Getting there in a camper van is not so easy. Matt had been joking about doing some serious off-roading and he got his wish. 31km of rugged dirt road, complete with multiple river ford crossings. Each time we took the camper across a “ford” we held our breath and hoped that the wheels had a enough traction to get us across. The track started off crossing wide open pasture lands with Mt. Aspiring at the end of the valley. We followed the Matukituki River along with the sheep and grazing cattle. It was wonderful! We crossed the River and the swing bridge and then the journey really began. This is the trail description in the track pamphlet: “The first section of the track is a little steeper but then gently undulates through beech and native forests.” Ummmm, there was nothing gentle about it. It was a 2 hours hike up steep switch backs and climbing over rocks for an elevation gain of 1300 feet. It was exhausting, however, everytime the glacier would peek through the trees it helped us to keep moving up. The trail climbed through beech trees and native forests following the Matukituki River. There were mountainous gorges, waterfalls, rapids and the glacier always looming ahead.

When we finally made it to the end of the track, I made 2 flat rocks my resting place and just laid down looking up at the mountains. The glacier was impressive and as we looked around, there were definite signs of avalanches, flooding and massive rock slides. I was very content on my rock, but with the sun dropping behind the mountain, the temperature started to drop. The hike down was of course faster, but brutally pounding on my knees. There were times that I seemed to pick up too much speed and felt like an out of control vehicle looking for runaway ramp to slow myself down. We passed hikers going up, and I could not believe they were attempting the climb so late in the day, but like us, everyone seemed clueless to the climb ahead of them.

We continued down and across the valley, could see a massive sheep herd being driving to a new pasture. It was like a freeway of sheep all moving in unison, being driven by the dogs. A few would stray down towards the river, but they did not go unnoticed for long. Overall, the track was great, just a bit more challenging than we had anticipated. 5 hours after setting out, we were back to the camper and happy to sit down.

Day 16 con’t – Frances the Cat

There is a little gray female cat who lives at this holiday park. Tonight, she came to our door, jumped up the steps, went to the fridge, and politely made herself at home. She was so cute, I just had to give her a little treat of milk. With her purr-box going in overdrive, she lapped it up and then asked for more. Matt decided her name was Frances and we both gave her some lovin’ then she headed off to a new adventure.

Day 15 – Mt. Aspiring National Park to Wanaka

The DOC campsite offered spectacular views, and plummeting temperatures. We had to conserve our battery in order for the fridge to run so when the sun went down, it was early to bed with a good book and a headlamp. We woke up to blue skies for the first time in over a week. With the good weather, we headed back up Hasst Pass for some alps viewing, then down to Blue Pools for an easy hike. The trail meandered through a dense forest and some of the larger trees looked like they were Ents (Lord of the Rings reference).

The drive through the park is one of the prettiest in the entire south island. We made frequent stops along the drive to Wanaka and had lunch on the North shore of Lake Wanaka. We had to do a little off-roading to get there which including Matt peeling-out in the campervan and leaving behind some nicely spun-out dirt. I don’t think our insurance covers 4-wheel driving, but currently Matt feels so comfortable driving the camper that he is considering taking it off a few jumps soon.

Coming into city/lake center of Wanaka was so different this time. We could actually see the mountains! Last time we spent 2 days here and never saw what all the fuss was about. It truly is beautiful. The campground in Wanaka is one of our favorites. Besides the nicest bathrooms, showers, friendly staff, book exchange and incredible views, they have indoor hot-tubs. The soak was great! Tomorrow is an early wake up call. We are heading out to do the Rob Roy Track which will take us deep into Mt. Aspiring to the Rob Roy Glacier. The track is called “the most spectacular day walk in NZ.” We could even attempt this hike last visit due to weather, but tomorrow is suppose to be perfect.

Day 14 – Fox Glacier to Mt. Aspiring National Park

For the last 3 days, not a single heli-hike group had gone up the Fox Glacier due to bad weather. The area gets 260+ days of rain so the odds are not in your favor. However, this morning, there was a break. Not the sunny morning that weather.com predicted but it was not raining nor was it a white out. There were 2 groups of 10 that were going up at 8:30am. When it was our turn, we loaded up into the helicopter and zipped up the glacier in 6 minutes to land squarely on a landing pad marked with a few rocks. The pilot did have some fun at our expense. Before landing he did some aerial maneuvers, banking hard and pulling a few G’s including a crazy drop over a waterfall.

Once on the glacier, we put our crampons on and began hiking. Taking a helicopter up to the pristine ice falls was so much better than hiking the Terminal Face of Franz Josef that we did 3 years ago. Climbing a terminal face is absolutely exhausting and by the time you reach the top, your legs feel like jello. This time, we had all the energy and freedom to hike through caves, look down crevases, climb over blue pools and literally enjoy every moment. Since both of our groups were small, we never really saw each other during the 2-1/2 hours of hiking. It was quiet. The sun never broke through, but the fog and mist maintained their distance so we had excellent visibility and no wind. I loved it!!!!!!

When the helicopter returned for us, it was carrying a new batch of hikers. By the time we returned to the landing pad outside the little town, the clouds were already starting cover the mountains and glacier. By the time we pulled out of town, everything was socked in again like pea soup. Our group really caught a break!

We drove for almost 3 hours through thick fog. When we arrived at Mt. Aspiring National Park (where a good portion of LOTR was filmed) there was nothing to see but white. We pulled off into a DOC campsite for the night and are keeping our fingers crossed for good hiking weather with spectacular views. DOC campsites are basically undeveloped, no power and in the middle of nowhere. There is a rustic toilet system and that’s it. However, it’s only $9 USD per night.

Day 14 continued – Our New Camper

After 2 weeks in our little campervan, we decided a change was in order and went for the top of the line Camper Upgrade. This new camper is much more “homey”, complete with ornate stained-glass windows, a built-in Sauna and fireplace. There is plenty of sauerkraut in the fridge. Matt is handling the corners in the Alps like a pro in this 16 wheeler!

Day 13 – Fox Glacier – Happy Easter

The day began as a total white-out. However, the weather changes here so quickly, it’s hard to tell what will happen next. We elected to change our glacier heli-hike to tomorrow, hoping to hedge our bet for stable weather. Mid-morning, there was a slight break in the weather, so we hiked to the terminal face of Fox Glacier. The trail crossed multiple fingers of the river and required a lot of rock hopping. I could have made a day out of watching ill-prepared people in street/business shoes, carrying purses, trying to balance precariously across the rocks, only to lose their footing and slip into the water. The blue ice of the glacier was really beautiful and I can’t wait to be up top tomorrow to explore some of the blue ice caves. As expected, the weather didn’t hold for long and by the time we made it off the trail, the rain started and the glacier was hidden behind a thick mist.

After lunch, the rain turned to drizzle so we did a short walk around Lake Matheson until the heavy rain sent us back to the shelter of our camper. The area was once again plunged into a white-out and we could hear the helicopters returning home. The rest of the day, we stayed in the camper while it poured outside. I spent the time reading in my area (the bearth area over the cab) and Matt was in his area (the kitchen table) working on his computer. I’m so glad we did not try to heli-hike today. Easter dinner was eggs and pancakes.