Driving North till the road runs out

Internet access (and even mobile phone signals) a bit patchy in this neck of the woods so a quick update with photos to follow sometime soon.

We've driven as far as it's possible to drive up the west coast of South Island - north of Westport, past the mining townships of Granity and Hector and on past the village of Karamea to a spectacularly beautiful DOC campsite on the beach at the start of the Heaphy hiking track. Unfortunately this site was home to millions of biting sand flies who made life a bit trying so we just stayed one night.

The forecast is for sun and light winds for the next few days (unusual conditions for this part of the country -the Oparara Basin where we walked yesterday gets 6,000mm of rain a year!) so we'll head slowly south and are aiming to get to Dunedin on the south east coast at the weekend.

Loving the countryside, hating the sand flies and meeting some lovely people en route.

"Once in a hundred years storm" batters Christchurch

Poor Christchurch - still trying to recover from the destruction of the massive earthquake 3 years ago, yesterday it was battered by a massive storm that has left many suburbs flooded and thousands of people without power. http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/your-weather/9790499/One-in-100-year-flood-swamps-Christchurch

We were there! We'd found a sheltered (we thought!) commercial campsite on the coastal side of the city for Tuesday night and rigged the tent, cooked supper and then checked the weather forecast on the web. What had been forecast the day before as 'strong winds' had, to our dismay, suddenly become "up to 140 kph gusts at the start of Wednesday" and we had a fairly sleepless night as we were pelted by huge rain squalls and sudden wind gusts - being on top of a car suddenly felt quite an exposed place to be! We got up at 6.00am and packed away the tent as quickly as we could  as the weather suddenly deteriorated even further; after a quick breakfast we drove west, over the dramatic Arthur's Pass, across to the west coast where the sun was shining and the wind light. What a contrast and, having since read the news updates, we're very relieved that we escaped the chaos when we did.

Over here in Greytown, it's calm and sunny.

Mind the wallaby poo!

After a couple of weeks of sunshine and blue skies, the weather has suddenly gone a bit 'orrible here. We drove north from Queenstown to Glenorchy (on the Dart River - an interesting Scottish / Devon lineage) - a beautiful road along the banks of Lake Wakatipu. When we flew over it a few days before, the lake was calm and a startling turquoise colour but now it had dark clouds over the hills and rain squalls rushing down it.

North of Glenorchy is a tiny settlement at Kinloch and another attractive DOC campsite beside the river at the start of the Routeburn Track, one of the designated 'Great Walks' of New Zealand. We set up the tent and, after a quick raid into the bush for firewood, lit a camp fire just before the heavens opened. We huddled under the awning, delighted to have some shelter from the rain, but the swirling winds banished any thoughts of a complicated camp supper and instead we heated up a very good organic risotto ready-meal before heading for an early bed.

The night was very cold, very wet and very windy and the noise of the river beside us grew ever louder as its level rose. We were happy to stay dry but packed up the following morning in persistent cold drizzle and headed back south. The hills along the lake had changed colour overnight - snow is relatively unheard-of at this time of year (it was officially the first day of autumn) but that's what it was:

We decided to return to the campsite at Arrowtown and, for the first night in 4 weeks, we thought that a spot of indoor  sleeping might be a good idea as the rain continued to fall. We arrived to find the camp full of smart motorhomes and caravans, populated by a very different clientele. It transpired that the NZ Golf Open was taking place just down the road so many of the players and golf supporters were in town and we very were lucky to get a little 2-bed cabin (with heating!!). Neither of us know anything about golf but we picked up the information that the first day of the Open had been a bit of a shocker, with a short blizzard driving players and fans off the course.

As an aside, we love the story told by comedienne and 'News Quiz' chair Sandy Toksvig;  she decided to give the late Alan Corren, the brilliant writer and broadcaster, the gift of golf lessons for his 60th birthday, thinking it would be good to get him away from his desk where he chain-smoked as he worked. As he returned from the first lesson, she asked how it had gone.  "Terrible game, absolutely terrible" he responded, "and as for those bunkers.... It's no wonder Hitler died in one!"

Washed, dried and warm the following morning (both us and our laundry), we contemplated our next move. We had originally planned to head further south but the forecast for the next week looks very bad. A low pressure system to the east of South Island and a high pressure to the west are combining to pull cold, wet and windy conditions from the Antartic so the south looks distintly uninviting at the moment. Instead we decided to head north east, back towards Christchurch where the sun might still be shining. En route we drove through Naseby and crossed the hills via Danseys Pass, another gold-rush track built by determined men through almost impossible terrain.

We ended up at Mount Nimrod, at a very off-the-beaten track DOC campsite about 20km west of the coastal town of Timaru. It's another awesome spot and the circular hike, encompassing two peaks and a waterfall, was a great start to the following morning.

The view across the Canterbury Plains - our camp in the tiny grass strip in the woodland and the centre of the photo

The place was so good that we decided on a second night and were now the only occupants of the camp. Apart from the wallabies, that is - other campers, locals to the area, had the previous evening pointed out droppings all around our car and identified them as wallaby poo. We half expected marsupial company around the camp fire but were sadly disappointed.

This morning we drove on to Christchurch and spent the afternoon in the excellent Antarctic Centre where Dianne got to meet some Blue Penguins, much to her delight. The cold southerly wind is now delivering sudden downpours of rain and hail so we're hoping that we'll have better conditions tomorrow for a visit to the city sights.

Helicopter flight video

Well we are feeling truly privileged. Never been in a helicopter before so our maiden flight was over some stupendous alpine scenery, landing on a glacier at 6,500 feet before descending to the Tasman Sea shore at Milford Sound. Thanks to everyone who made this possible!

Here's a video of the flight

Back down to earth now, with a $12 campsite beside a beautiful lake - Moke Lake

Jet boating on the Shotover River - a dramatic video!

We succumbed to the tourist marketing drive and booked a Jet Boat trip on the Shotover River near Queenstown. Wow, what an adventure!

Luckily we were advised that a small, family run enterprise operates at Skippers Canyon in the upper reaches of the river and they provide a much more interesting experience than the very commercial operations nearer town. Our trip began with an hour's minibus journey up a winding, steep and very narrow track (which took 4 years to build in the 1840's) which was carved into the hillside to give better access to the goldfields. The views were superb:

Once we arrived at the river we were introduced to our driver and his incredible boat. Powered by a 420hp V8 engine, the secret of these craft is the Kiwi invention of the Hamilton water jet. This sucks water up through a grill in the bottom of the boat and squirts it out at high velocity through a directional nozzle at the stern. No propellers or rudders mean that the boats can attain speeds of about 80kph in water as shallow as a couple of inches.

To get the full effect have a look at the video that Graham took here

then have a look at a professional version! here

Wonderful Wanaka!

Wow, this is a pretty fantastic place if outdoor pursuits are your thing. In winter there's good skiing and at this time of year lots of walking, cycling, climbing and watersports to choose from.

We've had a couple of energetic days, with, first, a long walk along the edge of the lake (17km was about the day's tally in very hot temperatures - up to about 32 degrees - so a swim in the very cold lake was refreshing) and then, the following day, an excellent mountain bike ride on very straightforward trails along the Clutha and Hawea rivers.

At the end of the day's cycle we had a great evening with Graham's Godmother Sue and her family. Sue arrived here on holiday from Scotland 10 days ago with daughter Gillie to stay with her oldest son Keith, daughter in law Andrea and family. Keith, Andrea and their 3 children moved here from Christchurch just over a year ago (they were in the city when it was hit by both major earthquakes) and we can certainly understand why they chose Wanaka as their new base. We're finding it hard to leave but will head west towards Queenstown tomorrow for more amazing scenery.

Videos of Molesworth Station

Graham's gone all Top  Gear on this video of our drive through Molesworth Station - have a look here

There's also a NZTV video telling you a bit more about the operation of this 181,000 hectare  farm here