New Zealand

After spending 6 weeks constantly on the move in a camper van on the east coast of Australia, we really felt like staying in one place for a while when we arrived in New Zealand. We decided to stay in Christchurch for one month, and spend our second month exploring New Zealand’s south island. As it was autumn in New Zealand, it was quite a drop in temperature for us coming from Australia’s summer (from 30 to 10 degrees C.)

Fortunately we were able to spend a lot of time with Coen while we were in Christchurch. Coen is a hand gliding friend of ours, who has returned to live in New Zealand after 9 years in Europe. Below is a photo of Coen. (Unfortunately he broke his leg motor crossing just before we arrived, hence the cast and crutches).

Christchurch is surrounded by the ‘Port Hills’, which are only a 20-minute drive away from the city centre. There are 13 flying sites surrounding Christchurch. Unfortunately we didn’t get many soarable days, as the wind was too light. The hills are covered with running, mountain biking and walking tracks. We managed to run and walk a lot of them. Below is a photograph taken on the Godley Head walking track.

We joined the Port Hills running club. We hadn’t run much while we were in Australia, so it was a bit of a shock to the system, especially with it being so hilly! Although it was good to run in temperatures we were more use to. Their Sunday morning runs were fantastic - all off road on narrow walking/mountain biking tracks. They included some serious climbs, but we had some great views at the top of the mountains. Below is a photo taken from one such run.

We also joined them for their hills sessions on Tuesday evenings, their time trial on Wednesday evenings, and their recovery run on Thursday evenings. After the Thursday evening sessions we joined them for a jug of ale in their clubhouse that they share with the ‘Crusaders Rugby Club’ a team which mostly makes up the All Blacks.

We ran the Christchurch Half Marathon, on 2^nd June. We only had 3 weeks to get fit for it, after our two-month running lay off before we arrived in New Zealand. We both had reasonably good runs and thoroughly enjoyed the race. I did 1 hour 30 minutes, and Graham was a minute behind in 1 hour 31 minutes. It was a very flat and scenic race, certainly a PB course. You can read more about the race and see the results are on the web site ^{http://www.christchurchmarathon.co.nz.}

We also joined in with the Christchurch Hash House Harriers group. As in Australia, hashes are run from a hasher’s home, and they provide food & beer after the hash, with the emphasis definitely on the drinking (as opposed to the running).

Early one morning we travelled to Methven for a hot air balloon flight. Methven is in the Central Canterbury Plains, and very close the biggest mountains in New Zealand. It is one of the most reliable and spectacular areas in New Zealand for hot air ballooning. We were up at 5am, so we saw the sun rise over the mountains. We drove to the take off field, where we helped inflate the balloon (which took about 30 minutes). We climbed into the basket and floated skyward at 250 feet per minute. It was an amazing experience, much more a floating feeling than flying. The flight lasted about 1 hour, but the time just flew by (excuse the pun). The landing was quite exciting. We landed quite fast and we bounced 3 times on our side before coming to a stop. After we had packed the balloon away, we had a champagne breakfast in the field. Below are a couple of photos taken from the balloon basket.

We left Christchurch and travel north to Nelson. (Nelson is on the north coast of the south

island). Below are a couple of photos we took on the drive to Nelson, of the beautiful Kaikora coastline.

While staying in Nelson we walked the Abel Tasman Track. It is a 51km track in the Abel Tasman National Park. It is one of the most beautiful walks in New Zealand. It passes through rain forest overlooking beaches of golden sand and bright blue sea and several picturesque bays. The track gets very crowded in the summer, but being out of season, we only saw a handful of people. Luckily we weren’t bothered with the notorious sand flies which plague the route in the summer. In places the path crosses tidal bays so you have to plan carefully to make sure you can get across them at the right time. We still had to cross certain parts with freezing water up to our knees. We managed to do the whole track in two days (6 hours of walking one day and 7 hours the next). We had to carry everything we needed for the two days e.g. food, cooker, water, clothes, sleeping bags etc. We stayed in a hut on the track at Bark Bay, for our night on the track. There was only one other couple staying there. The hut had no electricity, so it was in darkness after 6pm, so we didn’t actually get to see what they looked liked until the morning. We had head torches and a candle for light, and cooked our evening meal on a small spirit stove by torchlight. Below are a few photos taken on the track.

After Nelson we went to the Frantz Joseph Glacier (on the West Coast), and then moved on to Wanaka. Below are a couple of photos of Wanaka. The first is taken from the balcony of the apartment we stayed in; the second was taken from a walk we did.

We did some walking around Wanaka. Below are a couple of photos taken from one particular walk we did.

It snowed while we were in Wanaka. Below is a photo taken from our balcony after the snow (c.f. the above photo).

We decided to do 2-day beginners snow boarding course, at Coronet Peak in Queenstown, while the conditions were good. We did another two days of snow boarding at Triple Cone and Cardrona Peak, which are the closest skiing resorts to Wanaka. Below is a photo taken at Cardrona Peak.

The snow boarding was going well, until I fell over and broke my upper left arm, the humerus bone, but I didn’t find it very funny!

From Wanaka we went to the Fiordlands in the south west corner of the south island. We stayed in Te Anau, over looking lake Te Anau. We did a couple of day walks on the Kelper and Routeburn tracks and a boat trip on the Milford Sound. Below are a couple of photos taken from on board the boat.

From Te Anau we went to Dunedin, and then finally back to Christchurch. We fly out of Christchurch to Singapore on 10th July. New Zealand is a country of friendly people and spectacular scenery, a must for anyone that enjoys serious walking and outdoor pursuits.