What we did (and didn’t) see in Lucerne, Switzerland

Posted on September 8, 2019 by Jen

Hello strangers! It’s been a VERY long time since we’ve blogged about our trips. Never fear – we have actually taken trips (phew!) but they have been to familiar places (eg, Las Vegas, Maine [twice]) so we haven’t taken the time to blog about them.

But all of that has changed! We are now on a 10-day trip to Switzerland and Italy with my dad. For those of you who don’t know, my dad took me on my first overseas trip to Venice at the impressionable age of 15 (as I wrote about here). 

Over the years, he has taken Jeff and I as “chaperones” on multiple school trips with his Latin class, including to Italy, Switzerland, Greece, France, and more. Many friends and family have joined over the years as well.

This trip is a “thank you” to him for taking us with him so many times. But way more importantly, for sparking in me a passion that is a huge part of my identity. I am a traveler.

I cannot imagine my life without traveling the world, experiencing new cultures, and meeting new people. Heck, I even married a foreigner…

So, without further ado, here’s our first blog post of this thank you trip. Dad chose the itinerary – 2 nights in Lucerne, Switzerland, then on to Italy where we’ll spend 4 nights in Florence and 3 nights in Venice. It’s a hard life we lead!!!

For those of you who don’t know much about Lucerne, it’s a beautiful lake town north of the Swiss Alps. It has a historic old town, several landmarks (which we’ll show you pictures of), and a huge lake surrounded by mountains, which provide many scenic excursions for daytrippers.

Map of Lucerne – we generally started with A (the Chapel Bridge) and went clockwise from there.

Sadly for us, the weather was rainy and cloudy and we never saw the mountains. Sigh. Having seen them in the past, it wasn’t a huge deal for us….but boy oh boy it would have been nice to have better weather!

On Day 1, we arrived in Zurich after an overnight flight from Philly. After getting scammed out of an extra 45$ for train tickets (man, I’m losing my touch!), we rode from Zurich to Lucerne, arriving around noon. Our hotel was a quick walk from the station, so we left our bags in the luggage room (since check in wasn’t until 2pm), and went to walk through Lucerne.

First stop, the obligatory pic of the Chapel Bridge. This is the most iconic image of Lucerne, with its covered wooden pedestrian bridge lined with flowers, flanked by the tower.

Chapel Bridge – Iconic Image of Lucerne (when it’s sunny)

From there we walked to the Jesuitenkirche (in middle of image).

Bridge lined with flowers, leading to the Jesuitenkirche.

I am not one for churches, necessarily, but this one stuck in my memory from past trips due to its lightness. The peaches and whites of the interior are a stark contrast to the dark colors of churches dotting Italy.

This was the first Catholic Church north of the Alps. It was begun in 1667 and consecrated in 1677.

Inside of the Jesuitenkirche

From there we headed down river to the second covered bridge – Spreuer Bridge. Smaller but similar to the Chapel Bridge, this one led us to our first desired stop – the fortress wall. You can see the 2nd and 3rd towers in the background of the below image.

Spreuer Bridge – smaller of the covered bridges

Each of the covered bridges have painted murals on their ceilings detailing items from history.

Murals on the inside of the covered bridge

From the bridge, we went to the Musegg Wall. This is something we hadn’t seen on previous trips, so it was high on Dad’s to do list. We wandered down some wrong, hilly backstreets before finding the route to the wall.

Not surprisingly, it was up, up, up to the wall.

The wall provided protection for the city in the 1500’s (and onward) and consists of 9 towers, several of which you can climb. We made our way up the hill and the boys went up the first tower. (I bowed out, due to bad feet and being out of shape).

The Mannliturm tower (“Little Man” tower, the one on the left in the pic above) climb turned out to be a doozy – but provided a nice view over the city. The stairs in this tower made the boys uninterested in climbing stairs for the remainder of the day. (smile)

View of Lucerne from “Little Man” Tower (named for the statue at the top of the tower)

Continuing along the walk by the wall took us past fields of Shetland steer (we think), alpaca, goats, veggie gardens and soccer fields; the view of the walk is below. (And FYI, that’s me sitting on the red bench, for scale [and Jeff’s amusement…])

View of walk alongside part of the Musegg Wall

The next tower was the Zyt tower (also called the clock tower). We didn’t climb this one, but it did get us up on the actual wall to walk for a bit, which provided a nice perspective on the city.

Walking along the actual wall

After the towers, we decided to walk to find the Lion Monument – another must see on Dad’s list.

A view back to three of the nine towers as we left to find the Lion Monument…

During our walk, our legs reminded us that Lucerne really is built on a hill, and it felt like we were always going up. Hmmmph. Or going down only to realize we need to go back up to get where we needed. After 15-20 minutes of walking around various hilly back streets – we finally found the lion and happily sat down for rest and the view.

The Lion Monument is an icon in Lucerne that commemorates Swiss soldiers lost in 1792 defending the Tulieries Palace in Paris during the French revolution. Mark Twain once called it the “saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world.”

The Lion Monument during a moment of quiet (Zoom in to see the detail and sadness in his face)

It was here that we really stopped and were thankful that we weren’t walking around with 20+ ducklings (ahem, high schoolers) behind us. The Lion Monument was actually quiet for a time, so we took it in, relaxed, used the WC and then hightailed it out of there as soon as a tour bus moved in.

From the lion, we headed back down to the lake, so we could get our bearings, and then find food. Jeff and I grabbed a beer and Swiss hot dog (it would have been more aptly named as a cardiac dog) with Dad eating pommes frittes (aka French fries) sitting by the water with a view of the Chapel Bridge.

The Swiss (ahem, Cardiac) Hot Dog and a local brew.

It started to rain, so we headed to check in to the hotel, and tried to stay awake until a reasonable hour before conking out (it was only Day 1 after all!!).

The next day started with an awesome full breakfast at our hotel. Since it was raining, we took our time and enjoyed the coffee, food, and people watching.

Since Lucerne is relatively small, there wasn’t much to do if you couldn’t go up one of the mountains. That said, trying to go up would have been pointless, since we would have only seen clouds.

So instead, we walked through Old Town Lucerne, looking at the many wall murals painted throughout the city.

Notice not only the mural but the gilded wall hanging and the Swiss flags, both common in Old Town.
The Last Supper
Murals across multiple buildings…

The one I recalled the most was colorful and fiery (in contrast to those above).

Jen’s most memorable mural…for no apparent reason 🙂

After Old Town, we booked an afternoon boat tour of the lake. While the weather was still cloudy with the occasional rain, none of us had been on the lake before – so we did it. When in Rome, eh?

Lake Lucerne is quite large, with 4 distinct sections. We went from Lucerne (upper left) to Wessig, Vitznau, and then Breckenried (about midway) before turning back.

Our view was super average due to the stormy skies…

Panorama of Lucerne (and its bad weather) from the boat…

… but in our minds we imagined a clear day, where there were blue skies, snow capped peaks and sun warming our bodies.

In that scenario, as we got farther into the lake, I could see it being alive with boats, the small villages full of guests and locals mingling and enjoying the lakeside hotels, man-made beaches, etc.

I could see this being called the Swiss Riviera (mind you, I have no clue if anyone else thinks so).

We went all the way out to Breckenried first – viewing the lakeside villages from the boat …

Wessig Beach, dubbed the Lake Lucerne Riviera by Jen…
Hotel in Vitznau

On the way back, we stopped in the small lakeside town of Wessig, to have a coffee and relax as the rain fell. (It had been a really hard day, you see – ha!)

Mmmmm, tiny coffee. Hmmmph.

We found a hotel with a lakeside view, copped a squat and sat chatted with a coffee, HUGE paninis for Jeff and I (woah!) and then wine.

Unexpectedly huge paninis by the lake

After an hour and a half our so, we made our way back to the boat and headed to Lucerne.

From there, we went back to the hotel, at the prime hour of 6:30pm…and fell asleep. AAAAACK! Exactly what you should not do when trying to get used to a different time zone. Aye, aye, aye! So we completely messed up that nights sleep. But at least Jeff got to go out and take night pix of the city…

Chapel Bridge by night, with the Gutsch hotel in the back left and a clock tower in the far right.
Chapel Bridge from a different perspective with the Jesuitenkirche in the middle of the image.
View of the bridge from the other direction…can you tell it’s the center of Lucerne!??!?!

The next morning we had another great breakfast before checking out and heading across the street to the train station. When we entered, we were serenaded by an orchestra playing various hits.

Orchestra serenading passersby in the train station…a lovely unexpected sendoff from Lucerne!

The Lucerne Festival, a classical musical event, was going on in Aug/Sept and it must have been a part of that. It was wonderful to:

(1) be entertained unexpectedly during our 1 hour wait, and

(2) watch as music brought people from many different nationalities together via the joy of music. 

[Don’t tell the boys, but when they wandered off and I was left there to people watch, sing, and keep a hawkeye on our bags, a tear or two unexpectedly fell. One of those exquisite moments of being a part of the world – where by and large, most humans are good. On any given day, our new reality is that a train station could be bombed by terrorists or have something terrible happen. But not today. Our day was filled with joy.]

Ok, enough of that sentimental nonsense, let’s close this out with some of Dad’s impressions of the trip!! 🙂 For reference, the last time he traveled internationally was in 2012 and his last time in Lucerne was in 2008. These are in no apparent order – just Dad’s thoughts as I tried to pull them out of him!

  • People didn’t clap when the plane landed (he’s right – and I had completely forgotten that the whole plane used to do that). These days we only clap if there was big turbulence. Happily, we had a smooth flight. Whoop!
  • Lucerne has grown a lot in a decade, as evidenced by cranes everywhere with new buildings being erected seemingly on every street corner.
  • The breakfast in our hotel was MARKEDLY better (read: full buffet of bacon eggs, fruit, cereal, cheeses, meats) than in those on student group EF tours (deli meat, bread, cheese – dry as a gourd!). There has to be some benefit of getting older and making more money!
  • Since we weren’t with a school group, we didn’t get the obligatory tiny spoon from the Bucherer (dept store in Old Town) like we used to! (note: we still use those tiny spoons at home…)
  • Living near the train station and traveling by train was a better experience than expected.
  • There is a lot more graffiti than Dad remembers.
  • It’s harder to tell where people are from by their dress alone. Americans used to stick out like a sore thumb. While some still do, the global dress code has become more homogenous over time.
  • The Old Town wasn’t nearly as crowded as he expected. In the past we’ve gone in March (near Easter) and this time in September on a Thursday and Friday. It was lovely to walk the less crowded streets.
  • More bicycles now than before. (Especially outside of the train station.) It’s striking how many bicycles there are.
Bikes, bikes, and more bikes!
  • And last but not least, Dad’s last word of wisdom – if you’re going to climb the wall, rent a pair of legs. (Thanks Lieutenant Dan!)

That’s all for now. Ciao peeps, we’ll talk again once we’ve checked out Firenze!

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The West Coast of NZ – Finally!

Posted on March 11, 2018 by Jen

As you may recall, Jeff and I tried to reach the West Coast during our last campervan trip but couldn’t, since several bridges had been wiped out due to flood. This year, with Cyclone Gita moving through, it looked like we might meet the same fate, but alas, we didn’t! We finally got to visit Jeff’s beloved West Coast. Yippeeee!!!!

The West Coast will always hold a special place in Jeff’s heart, as he used to visit his grandmother here growing up, and, simply stated, he loves the solitude and small town feel of the area.

But the West Coast is also unique for others who don’t have such sentimental attachments. It’s primarily a rainforest, and is the wettest part of New Zealand, making it a very lush area of the country. But before we get to that, let’s talk about our route to get there.

Getting to the West Coast – NZ roads are different

As you know, our last stop had been Manapouri, which by car, should have been 7 hours away from our destination – Okarito.

Route from Manapouri to Okarito

It took us 11 hours. (Eeek!) This was not entirely unexpected, as it does take longer to get places on NZ roads – especially in a campervan. In fact, they remind drivers of this often throughout the country, with the below signs.

Indeed, NZ roads are different – allow extra time!

We knew this was the case, but we had decided that one long driving day was worth it, so that we could get to our destination and stay there for several days, rather than splitting the drive in two.

Despite standing by our decision, boy was that a long day!

So what do they mean by driving on NZ roads being different?

Driving on NZ roads is challenging – it’s not like going fast on a straight highway for miles and miles, as you can in the States. Rather, there are twists and turns, traffic backups due to slow vehicles on mainly 2-lane highways (campervans, large trucks, elderly drivers, tourists taking pictures out windows, you name it), many areas of construction, the occasional sheep mustering/cattle drive etc, etc. You get the gist.

Travel Tip: When doing a long drive in New Zealand, plan at least 30 to 40% extra time for expectedly unexpected delays. (You never know what they’ll be – but more often than not, they’ll be there!)

Thankfully for us, the drive was beautiful (as are all drives here, really)! So it’s worth showing you a few shots along the way, even though we didn’t spend any time in these areas.

First things first, you can always find the below vistas.

Sheep abound in NZ (as of 2016, there are ~27 million sheep overall and ratio of 6:1 sheep to people – down from 20:1 in the 1980’s, with ~30% decrease in numbers from 2006 to 2016). I haven’t been showing you many of these, but trust me, they are everywhere! Oh, and they always run away when you stop to take pictures of them. Hence the many sheep butts in this photo.

(Except for that one who is looking at us with curiosity. I’d like to sit down and have a cup of tea with him – see what makes him different from the rest.)

Sheep, sheep, and more sheep!

While Queenstown is the most popular destination in this area (think skiing, bungee jumping, jet boating, adventurer’s paradise), it holds little appeal to us (too many tourists and people in general…shocking, right?). But the area is stunning, no doubt.

Wanaka, a smaller version of Queenstown, is just up the road apiece and is getting just as crowded. We stopped there to do some grocery shopping and couldn’t get out of there fast enough! At 2pm on a Friday, the store was a madhouse. I asked the cashier if it was normally like this on a Friday afternoon. She responded that it’s always like this. Woah.

For us, the most gorgeous features of this area are the mountain-rimmed lakes. The below pic is of Devil’s Staircase by Lake Wakatipu, called such for the “staircase” type action of the road as it winds by the lake.

Devil’s Staircase at Lake Wakatipu

Lake Hawea, further north, is the most beautiful of these lakes, to me, as I simply can’t get over the color of the water.

Lake Hawea and its turquoise waters…Mamma mia!

And only a short drive from Lake Hawea is Lake Wanaka (as close as 1km to each other at their closest point, the Neck), which is a different color altogether. The reflections of the clouds in the picture below are enchanting. To see all of these lakes and mountains when they are snow capped in the winter is simply amazing.

Lake Wanaka – just a stone’s throw up the road from Lake Hawea

This area is also known for its orchards and vineyards. The number of these have skyrocketed since we have moved away with many of the hillsides covered with netted grapes.

Vineyards dotting the landscape

And as indication that we are finally getting to the West Coast, below is the Haast River. Haast is best known for Haast Pass, the lowest of the Passes to pass over the Southern Alps (~560m above sea level).

Haast River

Once through Haast Pass and then the town of Haast itself, we were well and truly on the West Coast.

Our time on the West Coast

Two things to note about our trip to the West Coast –

  1. We wanted to go here so badly that it was worth the possible miserable weather (rain was forecast for more days than not during our stay), and
  2. Our plan was to stay in each place for 3 nights, so we could start the relaxing part of this sabbatical. We had no plans to sightsee – only chill. The places we planned to stay were Okarito and Hokitika.

I’m happy to report that we only got one day of rain (yahoo!) but the threat of rain did cause us to cut our stay short…we only spent 5 days here. But that’s one of the reasons we have a campervan  – to dodge the weather when needed. Now on to the West Coast!

The lush West Coast

The glory of the West Coast, to me, is in its environment. It’s on the westward side of the Southern Alps (which form a spine down the South Island), and the copious rain allows for a lush, green atmosphere that just makes you feel like all is ok with the world. It feels vibrant, healthy, and the air you breathe just feels clean. Or so it does to me.

In addition, it’s quiet, it’s beautiful, and…it sometimes makes me feel like I’ve walked into Jurassic Park. It has that prehistoric “you wish you’ve seen what I’ve seen” feel to it. I often expect a dinosaur or prehistoric reptile of some sort to wander out from the ferns at any moment…Maybe that’s why it’s a bit magical to me. (Or maybe it’s just because Jeff loves it so much.)

Interesting note: New Zealand does have one reptile that I half expect to see wander out of the bush at any minute – the tuatara. As “the last survivors of an order of reptiles that thrived in the age of the dinosaurs” – I would faint if I saw one in person, but alas they no longer live in the wild on mainland NZ (only in the islands).

I feel at peace here.

The scene below is uber-common on the West Coast, where ferns and greenery abound.

State Highway on West Coast – greenery abounds!

And more…(just to make my point)

More greenery along the State Highway

And it’s not just the lushness of the whole picture all together, but I’m also in love with the individual ferns. Tree ferns, Ponga ferns, I love them! (Though they do smell sometimes…oh wait, or was that Jeff? Sometimes it’s hard to know.)

The lushness of every fern still has me enamored. Especially after a fresh rain. Mmmmmmm.

Ferns – I love them! (Or at least in NZ – in NC, they don’t have the same effect on me)

And because the West Coast is on the “backside” of the Southern Alps, there are also glaciers to be seen and/or hiked.

Travel note: As the crow flies, it is only ~40km (~25mi) from Okarito to Mt Cook (the highest mountain in the Southern Alps), but by car the fastest route is ~500km (~310mi), which would take you 6.5 hours to get there (and don’t forget to add your 30 to 40%!).

There are 2 glaciers that can be visited from the West Coast – Fox and Franz Josef. Unfortunately, Fox Glacier was closed due to a slip after a massive rain event in early February, which took out over 200m of the road.

Fox Glacier – road closed due to recent slip

But Franz Josef was open to visitors, so we stopped to take a look. Luckily for us, we got there early enough to get a parking spot in the main lot. It filled up quickly, so people were having to walk a couple of kms up the road to just get to the main lot, before then walking another 20 to 30 minutes to see the glacier. Yikes!

Travel note: New Zealand is currently not equipped to handle all of the visitors they are receiving. Parking lots are often overcrowded. I have no recommendations for how to handle this – other than to schedule more time than you think you’ll need if there is something you really want to see.

Ok, back to Franz Josef. We walked to the first viewing point – seen below. Notice the sign. People have crossed barriers at these glaciers to take pictures and have died for their efforts. Stay aware and heed the signs!

Franz Josef glacier and associated warnings

When I first saw the glacier, I was taken aback. Instincts told me that this glacier had retreated considerably since we’d been here about 15 years ago (by half its length, at least, in my estimation?).  To me, it looks like a stump.

I can’t wait to get home to look at my old pictures and compare, but until then, I had to settle for some good ole fashioned (or new fashioned?) googling.

And sure enough, as reported in 2016, Franz Josef had among the fastest melt rates of any glacier in the world. Gulp. In fact, it is moving at such a rate that in 2015 they banned pedestrian traffic onto the glacier by hiking, due to safety hazards. Now the only way to view the glacier, other than from afar, is by helicopter.

Fox Glacier is suffering a similar fate, as reported in 2017, with alarming before and after pictures presented for 2006 and 2015. While periods of advancement have been observed in past decades, the overall result has been rapid decline for these glaciers since 2011. Double gulp.

We’d learned of similar issues in Glacier National Park (whose glaciers could be gone by 2030) and Iceland.

Note to self: Jennifer – keep your thoughts on climate change to yourself and get back to the story, pronto!

Rightyo, then, back to the story. For now, New Zealand is one of those unique places where you can see a glacier and a rainforest waterfall in the same panorama. Stunning.

Franz Josef panorama

When we stopped at this viewpoint to see the glacier, there was another option – to walk another hour or so to see the glacier closer up (~750m away), but we chose not to take this route. From previous experience, I know that you typically see the dirty gravel riverbed where it meets the ice, rather than the pristine ice view you might be hoping for. Wasn’t worth it for us.

For that reason, my favorite way to see the glaciers (at least 15 years ago) was by heli-hike. This is when they take you up in a helicopter and drop you off with a guide to walk around the ice, with boots, crampons, pick axe and all.

This option was much more fulfilling, as you are surrounded by the white and blue ice, can traverse the crevasses (where safe to do so), and really feel like you are experiencing the glaciers instead of just “seeing” them. (Not to mention that I recall feeling like I’d conquered the world while I was up there. I’m not adventurous enough to be a climber, so this was close as I would get!)

This option is still available now, but I can only imagine how many people are heli-hiking, now that it is essentially the only option to see the glacier up close. What effect must this be having on the glaciers? Those thoughts never entered my head 15 years ago. Now, I choose to appreciate that the glaciers exist at all.

This visit simultaneously opened my eyes and saddened me.

Okarito

Up the road about 20 minutes was our camping destination – Okarito.

Okarito is a small town of about 30 people, with approximately 30,000 tourists visiting each year. We chose to stay in Okarito since there was a campsite near the beach, plain and simple. (And since it wasn’t as far as Hokitika, which would have added to our 11-hour driving day…)

Okarito is best known for its kiwi population, including nighttime tours to see them (they are nocturnal), as well as for the lagoon, with its associated kayak and boat tours. We did none of these. Instead, we read in the hammock, fished, blogged, napped, you know the drill. We chilled out.

We did see multiple signs for kiwi, though, reminding us of their presence in the area.

Kiwi sign

They allow dogs everywhere else (or so it seems) – but no dogs here!

And Jeff had some luck with fishing this time, though only the small one allowed his pic to be taken as the big one was camera shy. And Jeff is a catch and release kinda guy, so no evidence to share.

Small fish in Okarito

And, of course, we watched the sunset over the ocean, which we can’t do on the east coast of the US. Nothing spectacular, but special nonetheless. Notably, the beaches here are gray and pebbly, unlike the sandy beaches seen in Southland.

Okarito Beach

Our time in Okarito was wonderfully unhurried. We stayed at a campground, which was quaint and looked like it was still stuck in the 60’s (in a good way).

In fact, in addition to their clothesline and recycling bins (both are common in NZ), there was also an old-fashioned clothes wringer! I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen one, and I’ve still never used one. But it did add to the old campground atmosphere – along with the goodhearted and always chatty campground hosts.

Okarito Campground

Okarito clothes wringer – yes, I had to include a picture!!!

On Day 2, the forecast was 100% rain all day. After having a lazy morning that included our morning-time favorites – jam or Marmite-smeared crumpets with copious amounts of coffee – we migrated to the “common area” so we could charge the laptop and phones as a productive way to pass the time.

Our German camping comrades had other ideas, as they made a mad dash to get what they needed to survive the rain… (pic posted with verbal permission)

Must have beer!

Fortunately for us, it cleared up for 4 to 5 hours in the afternoon, allowing for more fishing and whatnot. We were pleasantly surprised at that turn of events.

Hokitika

From Okarito, we headed to Hokitika, a small town of about 3,000 people, where Jeff’s grandmother once lived. He has fond memories of visiting there as a child and a young adult, when he went camping with friends.

His memories were of driftwood on the beach, and he desperately wanted to freedom camp on the beach somewhere in Hokitika with hopes of doing some nighttime photography. For a variety of reasons, that didn’t happen exactly as he had hoped. But we still had a great time.

First things first, Hokitika is quite different than when we were last there, which is over a decade ago now. Not unexpectedly, things change in that amount of time, but it took us a bit to reconcile the current Hokitika with that of our memories.

When we knew it, Hokitika, and many of the small towns on the West Coast, were more humble, sometimes run down, and more homely, if you will. But now, clearly money has been infused into the area as many buildings have been updated and tourism is thriving.

That said, Hokitika has kept its charm, with the old clock on the main street in town…

Hokitika Clock Tower

…as well as the Hokitika sign made out of sticks on the beach…

Hokitika beach sign

But the beach has changed quite a bit, as there is now a beach wall made of stone, with little to no driftwood to be seen at the town beach.

Say what?!?!?!

We don’t know if Cyclone Gita cleared it all off the beach, or if someone is doing it purposefully (honestly the beach looks too clean to have been cleared by a cyclone).

Hokitika beach…where is the driftwood?!?!?! Aaaack!

Which left Jeff not wanting to camp in Hokitika after all. Bummer!

That said, we did enjoy some of their finer foods…we shared some fish and chips (authentically wrapped in newspaper, of course). They were the first of our trip and were delish!

The menu at a local takeaway shop

Fish and chips in Hokitika

(See Dolly photobombing in the background? We like to keep an eye on her when we can, since people have warned us that breaking into cars/vans is possible. We never experienced any trouble, though.)

And later we had a nice coffee on the beach. While in the cafe, we just had to photograph this selection of “pies” – quite a variety, eh? From Moroccan, to Indian, to Mexitarian (?), to kiwi classics…they have it all!

Pies at a cafe in Hokitika – what a variety!

So now it was time to figure out what to do, since we were no longer staying in Hokitika. Fortunately for us, we had stopped into a nearby small town called Ross, to check out their beaches. They were just as Jeff had remembered the Hokitika beaches…strewn with driftwood. Superb!

Except…

No freedom camping for us!

Lucky for us, a new campground had just opened up nearby (which wasn’t even in our handy travel directory yet!) so we stopped in. It was pricey by our estimation ($40/nt for a non-powered site) but it was PERFECT.

We got a front row spot where we could see and hear the beach from our van…

View from Dolly at Ross

…with all of its glorious driftwood available to photograph at will.

Driftwood in Ross

Some of the pieces brought up on the beach were huge – evidence of the strength of the rivers that carry them out to sea as well as the strong currents that hit the West Coast and bring them ashore.

Remains of a sizable tree beached on shore

And, similar to Slope Point in the Catlins, the strong winds shaped the trees in the area…

Windswept trees on the West Coast

During our stay at Ross, we visited nearby Lake Kaniere (another of Jeff’s favorites), only to find that the road to his favorite local photographic site (Dorothy Falls) was closed. Phooey. So we stopped trying to see what we thought we’d see around Hokitika and just embraced Ross.

The universe applauded our efforts with the most perfect night of our trip thus far.

Jeff showed off his firestarting skills by successfully lighting the best bonfire on the beach (no one else could get one started due to the winds, I guess) with a brilliant sunset as the backdrop. The colors of this sunset evolved for what seemed like hours. Simply breathtaking.

And for the first and only night of the trip, we had company. A NZ couple from Blenheim joined us and we talked and photographed late into the evening. We had a blast.

Sentimental note: As it turned out, the couple we spoke to were woodturners – so we’re going to order something they make [maybe a cutting board?] as a remembrance of this perfect night, and this awesome trip overall. We had tried to look for something genuine and unique in Hokitika, but found that lots of it was now produced in bulk and geared for tourists. So yet again, Ross saved the day! You gotta love it!

Bonfire at sunset – PERFECTION!

Jeff went out for some nighttime shots too…(indeed, they really are nighttime shots, lit by moonlight).

Ross Beach at night

More night photography – with interesting circle of sticks Jeff found on the beach

The campsite was eccentric in that it had self-described “quirky” cottages that you could rent if you didn’t want to camp. These were made out of shipping containers. If you know us, you know we’re enamored by the tiny house movement, so we loved this unique twist on a campground!

Campsite with shipping containers for the registration office, kitchen, toilets, laundry, as well as rooms for rent

In the end, this modern day, shipping container laden campsite by the beach full of driftwood and nighttime photography opportunities was meant to be. It was simply perfect for us. Thank you, Ross!!!

Travel tip: Ross is a speed trap. I had gotten my only speeding ticket there, when I lived in New Zealand, so we cracked up when we saw some poor sucker pulled over by a cop as soon as we pulled out of the campsite. Reassuredly, some things don’t change!

After a couple of decadent days in Ross, the impending rain sent us on our way.

Moving on from the West Coast

Leaving the West Coast meant traveling down about 4 to 5 hours of the same way we came, before stopping for the night in Cromwell and then heading inland the next day and driving across Central Otago to Dunedin where we would see our family and friends. (We’d learned our lesson about 11-hour drives, so we split it over 2 days!)

The drive down allowed for some new sites, including the below cattle drive…(A sheep muster and a cattle drive on the same trip?!?!?! So cool!!!!) And to be clear, these drives aren’t on side roads – we’ve seen them on the main state highway. Yet another thing that makes NZ roads different and why you should allow extra time.

Industry note: Dairy and beef cattle farming are becoming a bigger and bigger part of the NZ economy – and particularly dairy farming. As of 2016, the ratio of dairy cows to people were ~1.6:1. I can’t find specific numbers on the percentage increase over time, but we can tell you that we are passing more cattle farms on the road now than even just 5 years ago. Will be interesting to see if the number of sheep fall as the number of cows rise. NZ is already having issues with the increased stock effluent polluting local rivers – so this is another issue they are dealing with (besides increased tourism).

Hokitika and Westland have always been big dairy areas, due to the moist climate. In fact, Jeff remembers walking from his grandmother’s house to the dairy manufacturing plant up the road to buy fresh milk and cream in glass bottles. This is something I have never experienced, so it fascinates me! (It also kills me that we are now old enough to say, “back in our day…”. Yowzers, when did that happen!?!?!?!?!? Oh my.)

Cattle drive on State Highway

Along the drive, we also spotted another of NZ’s native birds, the pukeko. They seemed to like foraging in the fields along the highway, as we saw many of them.

New Zealand’s colorful pukeko

We had thought about stopping in at some of the walks and sights along the way, but decided against it, since parking was already overloaded.

No parking for sights along the road…

We reached our final destination in the early afternoon. We stayed at Aurum Wines near Lake Dunstan overnight.

Aurum Wines – an Okay2stay member

When we were back home planning our trip, Jeff had found this site called Okay2Stay.co.nz that had entrepreneurs all over the North and South islands such as cheesemakers, brewers, winemakers, artists, etc, who would allow you to park at their establishment overnight (for free, in a self-contained campervan) as long as you tried some of their goods.

For a small fee ($45NZ/yr) we joined the site. This was the first and only night we used it on our trip, but we recommend it as a way to get a quieter camping experience and more access to locals.

So, of course, we bought a bottle of wine from them as per the site agreement. It’s a hard life, right? (In fact it was so delicious that we bought a second!)

Thanks to Okay2Stay, we got to spend the night at Aurum Wines, an organic vineyard that included olive trees (for olive oil) as well as an English garden. Again – given our love of organic gardening (and wine) this was perfect for us. It was an absolutely splendid afternoon and we enjoyed supporting the local economy.

And with that, we come to the end of our relaxing time on the West Coast. We hope you enjoyed the journey – we certainly did! Cheers!

Cheers from Aurum Winery!

Categories: New Zealand, Photos | 1 Comment

Cruising Fiordland

Posted on March 3, 2018 by Jen

From Southland, we drove the rest of the Southern Scenic Route until we reached Fiordland. Both Jeff and I have been here before in our past lives, but never together, so this was very exciting for us.

We monitored the weather and booked day cruises in the 2 of the fjords – Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound. But more on that in a minute…

Introducing Fiordland

To orient you, Fiordland National Park is just under 5000 square miles (~12000 sq km) in the southwest portion of the South Island (see map below). It is the largest national park in New Zealand and over 95% of it has never seen people. Woah.

It is mainly undeveloped due to the rugged terrain as well as the large amount of rainfall the area gets each year. To give an idea of distance, it is about a 10- to 12-hour drive from Christchurch.

There are over 12 major fjords in Fiordland, of which Dusky Sound, Doubtful Sound, and Milford Sound are the most traversed.

Dusky is the largest and can be reached by boat, Doubtful is second largest and can be reached by boat then car, and Milford is the most accessible and most popular perhaps because it can be reached by car alone. All can be reached by air. Scenic flights are very popular in this area.

Fiordland National Park – Southwest portion of South Island of New Zealand

Spelling and nomenclature

Ok, for those of you who are grammar geeks (I can say that, since I am one!), let’s go ahead and get this out of the way. Fiordland is spelled as a variant of the Scandinavian word fjord. Not sure why, but anywho.

As one might expect, Fiordland is made up of fjords, meaning they are carved by past glacial activity. But they were originally named Sounds and the name has stuck. So Milford and Doubtful Sounds are actually fjords. New Zealand “righted” this naming wrong by calling the national park Fiordland.

Ok, enough of that – let’s get to the pix!

Road to Milford Sound

As mentioned, Milford Sound is the only sound in Fiordland that can be reached by road. It is about a 2-hour drive from the closest town – Te Anau (~75 miles or 120km away). So not a fast drive.

The feats of engineering required to build this road are incredible. It is a notably scenic and sometimes challenging drive. The road to get there is almost as impressive as the actual sound itself. Well, almost.

All that said, the first part of the drive was rather uneventful…well, or so we thought until we ran into our first sheep mustering! And sadly, I mean this almost literally. As we rounded a bend, we came face to face with this flock of sheep headed directly at us. Thank goodness Dolly has good brakes!

Travel tip: Now we understand what that sheep sign temporarily propped up against a post meant…how were we to know, since there are signs for sheep everywhere here?!?!?!? Others, be forewarned.

In all seriousness, it was fascinating to watch the muster. And particularly how good the sheep dogs are at herding them.

Sheep heading to the right at first…

…until a renegade group decided to go left…so Dolly (our van) was surrounded by sheep! So cool!!!

So for us, the trip to Milford was already a success…before we even really got started! But now let’s go to the rest of the story…

We drove into Milford on a rainy, dreary early evening. Since it rains over 250 days of the year in Milford Sound, seeing it like this seemed very fitting!

Eglinton Valley – one of the first stops on the road to Milford Sound

We were not only mesmerized by the gorgeous scenery but also by the hoards of buses that were leaving the area. This area is hugely popular for day trippers, mostly coming from Queenstown and Wanaka. We were happy to see them go.

 

Road to Milford Sound on a typically rainy day

 

Panorama on the road to Milford Sound

One of the most impressive feats of engineering, besides the fact that the road was carved into the sides of rugged mountains (!), is the creation of the Homer Tunnel.

The Homer Tunnel is ~1.2km long and took 18 years to build (from 1935 to 1953), with delays along the way including a depression and world war. It travels through a mountain at a 1:10 gradient (~6% decline). The inside of the tunnel is still raw granite, making it look as though it were only blown out yesterday.

The view once you get through the tunnel (below) tells the tale of what’s to come on the drive. There are many switchbacks until you descend down to the sound.

Coming out of the Homer Tunnel

We stopped on the side of the road just outside of the tunnel (to cool Dolly’s brakes), and a kea came to greet us. Kea are New Zealand mountain parrots that are currently an endangered species. They are quite cheeky, as they love anything that sparkles or shines, and have been known to eat the windshield wipers off cars, etc.

I couldn’t take a great picture of this one, as every time I tried to put my camera out the rain-splattered window to take a pic, he looked at it greedily as if he were going to fly up and take it from me! Can’t have that!

Cheeky kea outside of Homer Tunnel

 

Another sight was Falls Creek, where torrents of water were flowing through. It’s always best to see Milford (the road and the sound) after or during a rain, when the waterfalls are at their best.

When I looked through our pictures, I found these 2 interesting. Can you tell which one Jeff took?!?!? Clearly, I’m not the photographer in the family.

Falls Creek waterfall

Falls Creek waterfall

There were also beautiful streams running alongside the road full of crisp, blue, glacial waters.

Stream running alongside road to Milford Sound

Finally, at the end of the road we hit the head of Milford Sound. To give you a peek, here is what it looked like on that overcast, drizzly evening. Quite dramatic. Rudyard Kipling called this the 8th wonder of the world.

The pièce de résistance- Milford Sound in cloud; the foreground is a tidal estuary.

Milford Sound

Ok! So you’ve stuck with me on the road to Milford. Now, once at the sound, we stayed overnight at a powered campsite in the Milford Sound Lodge before taking a 10:45am cruise with Cruise Milford.

The only notable part of this overnight stay was that it cost $20 for sufficient internet for me to post that previous blog post. Ouch! While it’s a bit understandable in this remote area, lack of wifi throughout parts of New Zealand is something they need to deal with in order to accommodate the increasing number of tourists with their ever increasing expectations of connectedness.

Travel tip: Do not count on having wifi during your travels through parts of the South Island. 

Oh, and perhaps the second notable part was Jeff spotting these cute weka – one of New Zealand’s flightless birds.

Weka at Milford

We specifically chose Cruise Milford since it has smaller boats that touted having more room to move around the cabin and take pictures. We were thrilled with our cruise and would highly recommend them.

Cruise Milford

While still overcast at the start, we had a non-rainy day for our cruise. Yay!!

Travel Tip: The main parking lot fills up quickly, so the park and ride is likely your best option. Buuuut….the park and ride doesn’t have signs indicating how often they come (it’s about every 15 minutes, as we learned later), so we ended up hoofing it to the cruise terminal, making it just in time to catch our cruise. Hello, adrenaline rush!

Now, on to the sound. Below is the iconic view of Milford Sound, with Mitre Peak in the center.

Mitre Peak rises 5,560 feet (1,692m), ie, approximately 1 mile out of the water. Below water, it does much the same, going straight down for over 200m, making it the second highest mountain to rise out of the sea. To prove that the peak continues to go straight down, the skipper drove us right under a couple of the waterfalls, soaking those who chose to stay out on deck. Ummmm, no thanks, I think I’ll pass on the glacial shower!

Mitre Peak (centre) in Milford Sound

The rest of these pix will give you an idea of what we saw on the ~2-hour cruise, which went from the head of Milford Sound out to the Tasman Sea and back. Milford Sound is approximately 16 km long and 3 km wide.

Let me emphasize that NO picture can do this experience justice. You truly have to be there and soak in the atmosphere, the grandeur, and the majesty of the mountains that drop straight into the water.

Go, if you get the chance.

As the cruise began, we learned there are 2 permanent falls in the sound – Bowen Falls, immediately at the start of the sound, and Stirling Falls, more towards the Tasman Sea. All other waterfalls (>95%) appear as the result of rainfall in the area.

Here are the Bowen Falls, looking back from the start of our cruise…

Bowen Falls

And the Stirling Falls are below…the most notable here being the size of the quite large boat relative to the falls. WOAH!

Stirling Falls

But even more impressive, below is the larger view, to provide context of how that very same boat and Stirling Falls fit into the bigger picture of Milford Sound…(see the weeeeee boat to the far left? That’s the same big boat!) Are you starting to understand now while Milford is such a popular place to visit? It is humbling, indeed.

Stirling Falls with boat as context for size

Perhaps the most telling vista is the one below. It says the whole story, really, since everywhere you turn for the full 2 hours you see vistas like this. Amazing!

Panorama of Milford Sound

In and amongst the beauty was the occasional fur seal.

Fur seals chilling on the rocks

And while there wasn’t much wildlife to be seen above water, there is stuff to see underwater. For that reason, they have built a floating underwater observatory.

While Jeff and I didn’t visit it, the intent is that you can go down into this “observatory” and watch the wildlife and black coral in their natural habitat. Or who knows, maybe you are the one on display, and the wildlife is looking at you! A reverse aquarium, if you will.

You can see the observatory to the far left of the below picture.

Milford Underwater Observatory (to far left)

From the observatory, it was back to port at the end of the cruise.

The glory of Milford is that while the Sound is clearly the main tourist draw for the area, there are other options as well, including the 4-day Milford Track walk (which I did with friends in a past life). This is an excellent way to really experience the area. It is so popular that you have to book months in advance.

Additionally, as I’ve mentioned before, you can see this area by scenic flight from Queenstown or Wanaka (I can recommend these as stunningly gorgeous) or you can take a bus trip from either of those places (no thanks, I would rather be shot).

The vast majority of people visiting Milford Sound are daytrippers, or so it seemed to us, since the evening at the campsite, while full, was much quieter than we expected.

Travel tip: If you have time, stay overnight in Milford Sound. It gives you the unique experience of seeing the sound by sunset and sunrise, but more importantly, to experience the area when there are considerably fewer visitors and you can actually find some quiet time. During the day, the area is abuzz with the cacophony of tourists of all nationalities.

Now from Milford Sound, it’s on to Manapouri for some fishing before the next day’s cruise of Doubtful Sound.

Manapouri

Manapouri is a small town of less than 1000 people, situated on Lake Manapouri, the starting point for the trip to Doubtful Sound. It is about 2.5 hours south of Milford Sound by car.

Jeff booked us a campsite (at Possum Lodge) that was within walking distance of the lake as well as the boat dock (brilliant!), so we parked up for a couple of nights. We had begun to realize that we (and by we, I mean Jeff), had been driving every day, so it was nice not to drive for a change.

The weather was gorgeous and we had a really tough time of it here, clearly, as Jeff fished…

Fishing at Lake Manapouri

…while I read in our hammock. It’s a hard life…

(But if you are starting to curse us…never fear…there was the occasional bumblebee and the 8-minute burn time that we had to contend with. Even paradise exists in reality.)

Jen enjoying the hammock and a good book!

Since we were in Manapouri for my birthday, we had tried to splurge and book an overnight cruise of Doubtful Sound, so we could kayak and fish and other such fun stuff, in addition to the cruise, but alas they were all booked.

Travel tip: Book the overnight cruise in advance, if you want to take one. In our case, they were booked solid for at least the next 6 weeks, so we’d recommend booking at least 2 months in advance. That doesn’t work well with our unplanned campervan adventure, but is necessary for those with a planned itinerary.

Instead, we took a day cruise which involved a 1-hour boat trip across Lake Manapouri, a ~45-minute bus ride across Wilmot Pass to meet the cruise ship in Deep Cove for a 3-hour cruise of Doubtful Sound. We went with Real Journeys and would recommend them.

Doubtful Sound

Doubtful Sound is larger than Milford Sound and is more isolated and harder to get to, making it a bit less desirable for much of the tourist population. (Which if you know us, you know we like to shed tourist crowds when we can. Who doesn’t, right?!?!?)

The Maori name for Doubtful Sound is Patea – meaning place of silence. It is the perfect name for a very serene place. While Milford Sound is dramatic in its beauty, Doubtful Sound is understated.

But both are equally beautiful.

To begin our trip, we took the boat ride across Lake Manapouri (pictured below). It was stunning in its own right, especially as the clouds lifted by the afternoon.

Lake Manapouri

The most notable thing about Lake Manapouri is the hydroelectric power station located at one end of the lake (below). It is the largest hydroelectric power station in New Zealand and the second largest power station in New Zealand.

Since it is over 200m above Deep Cove in Doubtful Sound, they built a power station to harness the power of this drop. They dug out over 1 million tons of rock to build the underground power station as well as the 10km tailrace tunnel. I have to ask — who thinks of this stuff?!?!?!? I am completely amazed.

The power station wasn’t open at this time, so we could only view it from outside.

Hydroelectric power at Manapouri Station

Once we docked, it was now on to a bus to travel the 22-km Wilmot Pass to get to Deep Cove. Along the way, there was more of the same as we’d seen in Milford, beautiful streams…

Stream on the Wilmot Pass drive

…as well as waterfalls finding their way down the rock faces. In addition, the road was strewn with ferns, mosses, lichens, and native NZ trees, making it a beautiful, lush drive.

Falls on Wilmot Pass

But the most impressive stop, hands down, was at the lookout where we could see Doubtful Sound for the first time. And better still, the clouds had lifted and we got a bright blue sky. Oh glorious day!

Travel Tip: The weather on one side of a pass can be completely different than on the other side of a pass (Wilmot or otherwise), so we always held our breaths going over passes…since we never knew what we would find on the other side! So, don’t always believe the weather predictions…

First view of Doubtful Sound from Wilmot Pass

Doubtful Sound is the deepest fjord in Fiordland, at over 400m deep, and is 40km long from Deep Cove to the Tasman Sea. It has 3 arms. There is no such iconic image of Doubtful as for Milford. Rather, it is a fjord full of natural, untouched beauty. Everywhere you look is breathtaking. I felt very at peace here.

Here is one such image.

Doubtful Sound

Again, here is a picture for context of size…see the large boat at the bottom that looks tiny? Again, it’s not tiny…

Doubtful Sound – with boat for scale

Looking into the sun, the silhouette is also impressive…

Doubtful Sound in silhouette

And the wildlife put on quite a show for us. Jeff got this action shot of 3 bottlenose dolphins doing all kinds of flips and tricks for us. (The 2 just out of the water are easy to spot, but see the third one above them, doing a flip? Very cool.)

Frolicking bottle-nose dolphins

This small rock island stood out among all the green…

Small island in Doubtful Sound

And, of course, there were fur seals as well, though we saw little other wildlife, besides the dolphins.

Doubtful Sound fur seals

The picture below gives you an idea of the tree avalanches that occur in this area. Since this is all rock, there is a particular order that leads to successful growth. Lichens and mosses start to take hold on rocks, followed by ferns, then allowing trees to take hold with their roots among them, forming an intertwined matrix.

But sometimes, wind or an event will cause the trees to slide, causing a “tree avalanche.” Once the trees fall, they tear the moss, lichens, and ferns away with them, leaving the bare rock face.

Of the 3 “scars” you see in the picture below, the far left and far right are tree avalanches and the one in the middle is actually a waterfall that starts at the top of the mountain and works its way to the bottom. 

Nature truly is an amazing thing.

Tree avalanches in Doubtful Sound

For a better idea of the vastness and solitude of the area, see the panorama below…

Doubtful Sound panorama

…as well as the view once you get out to the Tasman Sea. Luckily for us, the swells were minimal, but on windy days the ride can be quite rough.

Doubtful Sound where it meets the Tasman Sea

And from there, we turned back to return to Deep Cove. On our way back, we turned into the Crooked Arm of the sound (below) to experience a moment of silence. Since Doubtful Sound is the “place of silence”, the skipper turned off all the engines and implored all passengers to turn off all phones, stop talking and taking pictures, for a minute of silence.

Jeff was on the top deck, where everyone obliged and had their peaceful moment. I was on the lower back deck where morons insisted on using their cameras and people walked around completely oblivious to the skipper’s request. Errrrrrgh! See why I hate tourists?!?!?!? (And yes, it’s not lost on me that I am one, but at least I try to be a respectful one!)

I tried very hard to get lost in my own moment of silence, but it was harder than it should have been. But the place does feel rejuvenating – an overnight cruise would be good for the soul, no doubt.

Looking into the crooked arm of Doubtful Sound

Overall, the ride was wonderfully serene and peaceful, with awe-inspiring views at every turn. Again, clearly pictures cannot do this place justice…you must go visit yourself. We highly recommend it!

After our bus ride back over the Wilmot Pass and boat ride across Lake Manapouri, it was time to resume our fishing and reading positions by the side of the lake.

What a magnificently wonderful way to spend a birthday. I’m a lucky girl.

And as a post-note, 3 days after we cruised Doubtful Sound, over 330 people were stranded by a 25m long slip of Wilmot Pass that blocked day tours getting back to the Manapouri boat dock. Approximately half of these were evacuated by helicopter, while the others were bussed out once the slip had been cleared. Tours resumed as normal the next day. I’m glad we missed that bit of excitement!

Hope you guys enjoyed cruising Fiordland with us!!!

Categories: New Zealand, Photos | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Exploring the Catlins

Posted on February 25, 2018 by Jen

Hello again! We have now started our second campervan adventure through the South Island of New Zealand, approximately 5 years after our first. If you recall, we had a bright yellow wee Mercedes Sprinter van last time – named Sunshine.

Well this year, we’ve moved up a bit to a larger van (we’re too old and high maintenance to cram into a small one these days!). And with that, I will introduce this years campervan…Hello, Dolly!!!

Introducing our campervan, Dolly! (Alongside some of the beauty of NZ)

She’s a glaringly white beast – so we had to name her after a famous sheep (we are in NZ after all), hence Dolly, after the first cloned sheep.

Inside, there is a double bed, dinette, 4 burner stove, microwave, dorm fridge, sink, TV, and bathroom/shower. All we could ever need!

Bedroom and kitchen

Dining room (with bathroom directly across from it)

So once we met Dolly, we packed her up and set on our way. Before we start with our stories, I’ll let you know why we chose campervaning (again) since I know some of our friends back home think we’re nuts to spend Jeff’s month-long sabbatical in a van.

Why explore NZ in a campervan?

We chose to campervan because we wanted freedom to choose where we wanted to go, when, and for how long. It was important to us that we be able to shorten or extend our stay in any given place at will. That’s the simple answer.

Another reason is that the weather in New Zealand is unpredictable at best. It is an island country after all. As we learned on our last trip (where we never got to see Jeff’s beloved West Coast due to flooding), planning our route before we get here is a waste of time and energy – so we learned to live in the moment and go wherever the (warm) winds take us.

This year, our hope was to head to the West Coast first, since we missed it last time. But Cyclone Gita had different ideas. Heaps of rain fell in the central and west of the South Island due to the remnants of Gita…so what did we do? We went south.

To chase the sun (or avoid the rain, whichever you prefer).

So that’s how we ended up in the Catlins.

Introducing the Catlins

I hate to admit it, but I had never heard of (much less visited) the Catlins before. Yikes! I’m not sure why, but I guess I never really got to Southland during my time here or in previous visits.

In fact, all I’d really heard about Southland (aptly named, since it represents the southern area of the South Island) was that life was slower here, people had a strong, distinct accent, and folks were more apt to like country music. Those of you from the southern US, sound familiar?!?!?!?

The Catlins is not a place you’d visit on a typical 1-2 week NZ vacation (unless you had a real reason to), so the people who visit here are those traveling for longer spans of time (think months to a year) or even locals.

And honestly, the absence of tourists everywhere was one reason that I came to love it so much. It was uncrowded and unhurried, not to mention stunningly beautiful. Mmmm, a perfect way to start a sabbatical. Bliss.

To orient you, the Catlins are an area in the Southeast portion of the South Island (see map below as a reminder).

From Dunedin, we took two and a half days to explore the Southern Scenic Route, through the Catlins and eventually over to Fiordland. We used a helpful google map that led us to points (or walks) of interest – it can be downloaded here.

We took in several sights but certainly not all! We tried to do as many of the 20-30 minute walks as we could, mostly to waterfalls.

Things to see and do on the Southern Scenic Route

Nugget Point

Our first stop at Nugget Point was my favorite. If you recall, I’m a huge fan of lighthouses, so to see a lighthouse on our first stop was a sign of great things to come for me.

The lighthouse was built in 1869/70 and was kept by a lightkeeper until it became fully automated in 1989. It is now managed from Wellington, in the North Island.

Nugget Point Lighthouse

Fur seals waddled along the shore, though we could not get close enough to see them well.

The “Nuggets” as seen from the lighthouse are pictured below.

The “Nuggets” are the rocky outcroppings that resemble coastal nuggets of gold, especially in the right light.

This area reminded me a bit of Maine and Nova Scotia. The rugged coastline and stunning turquoise waters soothed my soul. The view below is looking back from the lighthouse.

The turquoise blue waters take my breath away!

Around the corner from Nugget Point was Roaring Bay, best known for its yellow-eyed penguin colony and viewing hide (double click for panorama). We were there in the middle of the day, so we didn’t see any penguins (since they were out to sea fishing)…

Roaring Bay – home to yellow-eyed penguin colony

…but we did see tourists doing exactly what the signs said not to do. Boy, that gets my goat! (I know, I know, I’m such a rule follower! Sheesh!) The intent of the viewing hide is to watch the penguins from inside the hide (as the sign states), not from outside it or above it, so as not to disturb the penguins. Sometimes self-centered (or oblivious) tourists burn me up!

Rule breaker caught in action (wink, wink)

Purakaunui Falls and Bay

Our next stop was the Purakaunui Falls (I dare you to say [or spell] that 3 times fast!). These are apparently the most photographed falls in New Zealand, and the most iconic of the Catlins. A short 20-minute walk from the road, these 3-tiered falls (20 meters high) are worth the walk.

Purakaunui Falls

There were also small falls along the way that were beautiful in their own right. The below pic also gives you an idea of the rainforest atmosphere of this area.

Small falls on the walk to Purakaunui Falls

Aside from visiting the falls, we were looking for a beautiful place to stop and eat our lunch (ham and cheese sandwiches and Jeff’s favorite chicken-flavored potato chips in Dolly), so we thought we’d try Purakaunui Bay. Not knowing anything about it, we were taking a chance here. And boy did it pay off!

After a bit of a bumpy and windy ride down a small road, we arrived at a gorgeous beach that turned out to be a surfer’s haven (double click for panorama). As we lunched, many surfers took advantage of the big swells and surfed ’til their hearts were content. We lunched and did absolutely nothing else. It was perfect!

Purakaunui Bay – lunch spot extraordinaire!

Matai Falls

Up the road a piece were Matai Falls (10 meters high), beautifully simple falls. Not unexpectedly, had this been a rainy day, these falls would have been more substantial. I like them in their simplicity – almost like fairy falls.

Matai Falls

The walk to Matai Falls was also beautiful, again through rainforest. I continue to be mesmerized by the size and variety of the ferns in New Zealand.

This also gives you a preview of what Jeff loves so much about the West Coast, which is primarily rainforest.

Rainforest walk to Matai Falls

Tautuku Bay

From Matai Falls, our next goal was to find a place to camp for the night. Using the trusty travel directory that Viv lent us (thank you!), we found a free campground right next to the beach. There was no power or water, but in our self-contained campervan – we didn’t need any.

Tautuku Bay from the Florence Hill lookout. We camped about where you can first see the beginning of the lightest sand (behind the hill)…

We had most of this beach all to ourselves and there were only 2 other campervans at the campground (containing people we never actually saw). Awesome!

We had no cell or internet service, which we are getting used to, so we just enjoyed our evening by having some wine and cheese on the beach, then taking a walk before eating dinner in Dolly. More bliss.

McLean Falls

The next day, we set out for McLean Falls (22 meters high), which ended up being my favorite of them all.

It was hard to get a good picture of these falls since the sun was so bright that the pix were quite glaring. So we just sat and enjoyed them, waiting for a cloud to float by so we could try to get a good shot.

McLean Falls

Again, the walk to these falls revealed some interesting forestry, particularly this tree that had 3 trunks growing sideways (looking for light, perhaps?)…fascinating.

Forest at McLean Falls

Cathedral Cave

From McLean Falls, we visited Cathedral Cave. We hadn’t planned to, since you can only visit at low tide and we had no internet access (nor desire) to consult tide charts. But as it turned out, it was low tide when we were passing by, so we visited the Cave.

This cave is 30 meters high and 200 meters long, formed entirely by the sea. It is located at the end of Waipiti Beach. This was one of the only places where we had to pay to visit ($10NZ pp; to help maintain the road and trail) but we were happy to do so.

In the below pic, squint to see the man at the entrance of the caves, for context of size.

Entrance to Cathedral Cave

Once in the cave, it got dark and a bit narrow and spooky…

Inside Cathedral Cave

…before coming out the other end, where the cave opened up dramatically (again using people for scale).

Cathedral Cave Exit

As we left the cave, a HUGE wind came up and we had to lean into it for the 200m walk back to the track. Bizarre! Jeff almost lost his hat in the process, but a kind man behind us ran it down and gave it back.

After we hiked the 1km back up to the carpark, it was on to our next stop.

Curio Bay

From there, we headed to Curio Bay. We had heard from a fellow British camper, back at one of the falls lookouts, that this was a nice area, so we were excited to see it.

The view of the Bay is below.

Curio Bay

But what you can’t really see from this view are the two things that make this area interesting: (1) a yellow-eyed penguin colony and (2) a fossilised forest.

As per normal, it was mid-day, so we didn’t see the penguins. But we did see the fossilised forest, preserved in the beach, as shown below. It is estimated that this petrified forest is 180 million years old.

Curio Bay fossilised forest

Again, this area was best viewed at low tide. We chuckled as a couple of guys got caught out too far as the tide came in, stranding them momentarily on a rock (don’t worry, they got back safely). Another man got his whole camera bag soaked as an unexpected wave hit him. Ugh, that hurts.

Moral of the story – never turn your back on the sea.

From Curio Bay, we had to make the decision of whether we wanted to press on and finish the Catlins today or if we wanted to stay another night and see the rest tomorrow. We liked the area so much we went ahead and stayed another night.

Weir Beach Reserve

Again, we found a free campground near the beach (Weir Beach Reserve, to be exact), but this time, there were more campers. By the time the campground filled up, there were maybe a total of 35 to 40 cars and campervans.

While we were slightly indignant by this at the start (remember – we’d been spoiled by only 3 campervans, and never seeing another person the previous night), we decided to put on our big girl panties and deal with it. (Ha! This is hysterical to me, since most other places there would be MANY more campers! Yes, we are spoiled indeed.)

What this did provide, though, was an insight into the current state of camping in NZ.

While there are quite a few tourists and locals in campervans, there are also MANY who camp in cars, or old regular vans that have been converted into “campervans”. On one side of us we had 2 girls sleeping in a station wagon and on the other, we had 2 girls sleeping in the equivalent of an old Honda Odyssey. Neither of which had bathroom facilities, and both of which had a modified dorm fridge/sink retrofitted inside.

So this brings to light an issue that NZ is having with camping vehicles that aren’t self contained (ie, contain water and toilet facilities). In previous years/decades, NZ was more open to “freedom camping” ie, camping where you like, assuming it’s not on someone else’s property.

But more recently, now that many vehicles don’t have toilet facilities, these folks took advantage and were polluting NZ with their waste. As a result, there are now more regulations about where you can and can’t camp, especially if you aren’t self contained.  (Another reason we chose a self-contained vehicle, besides the fact that we’re old and earn enough money to rent a moving toilet for ourselves.)

In Weir Beach Reserve, there is a toilet available so these car campers can set up shop legally.

Below is  a pic of the campground, with a gorgeous sunset as the back drop. Tough stuff.

Weir Beach Reserve campground at sunset

The next morning, we got up early to go see the last few parts of the Catlins that we wanted to see, before making our way to Fiordland.

Slope Point

Only a few km up the road from our camping spot was Slope Point, the southernmost point in the South Island of New Zealand.

Slope Point

As you’d expect, this was a rocky, wind-swept point. The winds coming up from Antarctica batter this area.

(Please also note the lack of safety barriers of any sort. Visiting many places in NZ is at your own risk – they encourage you to use common sense!)

Slope Point coastline

The effect of these winds can perhaps best be seen by the look of the trees. They have permanently grown in a wind-swept formation. (Doesn’t that picture make you cold just looking at it??? I feel for those cows!!!)

Slope Point wind-swept trees

From Slope Point, it was off to Waipapa Point, our last viewing point in the Catlins.

Waipapa Point

Since we started with a lighthouse, it seemed only fitting that we end with a lighthouse as well – the Waipapa Point Lighthouse in this case…

This area is known for its shallow waters, which contributed to the worst civilian shipwreck in NZ’s history. In 1881, the SS Tararua ran aground, killing 131 of the 151 people on board. This lighthouse was built after that disaster, and continues to be a reminder of that fatal shipwreck.

The Tararua Acre (cemetery for many of those lost in the wreck) is a short walk from the lighthouse.

Waipapa Point Lighthouse

Here we were also able to see some sea lions lazing in the sun. We captured this photo only as the young pup stretched and yawned before curling back up to his mom and returning to his morning nap.

Sea lions at Waipapa Point

As I continued walking around the point (on walking trails), I inadvertently came way too close to a sea lion sleeping among the brush. Fortunately for me, he didn’t wake up when I passed. I was only made aware that he was there by the tourists above me waving their hands and pointing, warning me to step back. Otherwise, I would have never noticed him. Yowzers!

After our stop at Waipapa Point, our tour of the Catlins was concluded. What an unexpectedly wonderful way to start this year’s campervan adventure! In the end, I suppose I should thank Gita for steering us in this direction.

Now it’s time to make our way to Fiordland where we have 2 day cruises set up. Stay tuned for more on those trips, to come!

Categories: New Zealand, Photos | 7 Comments

Hello again, Christchurch!!

Posted on February 20, 2018 by Jen

It’s been our longest time between trips to New Zealand ever – over 5 years (aaaack!!). We are now here for Jeff’s month-long “sabbatical,” where we’ve decided to take a 3-week campervan trip in the South Island, bookended by 3-4 days in Christchurch to see family and friends.

To remind you – Jeff and I met, fell in love, and got married in Christchurch – about 15 years ago. It will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Since then, Christchurch has changed – the normal, sometimes subtle, evolution you’d expect over 15 years, but also, and most obviously, due to the multiple earthquakes it has sustained during that time. The most destructive of which was on February 22, 2011.

The 7th anniversary is rapidly approaching and the city is still recovering.

This is the second time we’ve returned to Christchurch since the earthquakes. We blogged about our first trip back, in late 2012, when there was little to do but peer through a chain link fence that surrounded the centre city – to view the destruction from afar.

At that point, it was natural to begin to process the shock, and remember what the city used to look like. I dug through my memories and remembered the city as I knew it before.

This trip is in some ways similar and some ways completely different. Christchurch is still recovering, and is successfully rebuilding the city, piece by piece. You can see how it’s evolving and becoming a new and different version of itself.

Below are some of the changes we noted during our initial 3-day reintroduction to the city.

Post-earthquake Christchurch

The earthquake on Feb 22, 2011 measured 6.5 on the Richter scale and damaged the city’s centre, along with outlying areas.

The city’s most iconic landmark and the “heart” of the city – the Cathedral in Cathedral Square – was badly damaged, blocks of the city centre were weakened and/or had to be demolished, and tragically 185 people died on that fateful day.

Some of the most obvious changes in the last 5 years are the new memorials – a wall erected to commemorate the people who died…

Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial

Tribute to earthquake victims, survivors, and those who helped during and after the quake

…and an art installation of 185 empty chairs – one for each person lost.

185 Empty Chairs temporary art installation to honor victims of the earthquake

 

185 empty chairs

And then there is the heartfelt, handmade tribute to those lost in the CTV building, the building where the most lives were lost. They are currently landscaping that area as a memorial. (Christchurch is “the Garden City”, remember, so their gardens and landscaping are a beautiful tribute.)

Tribute to people lost in CTV building

Additionally, to temporarily “replace” the iconic Cathedral, a cardboard “transitional” Cathedral has been erected.

Apparently, temporary structures such as this have been created in other earthquake-damaged cities (eg, Kobe, Japan), so the same architect designed one for Christchurch.

It is the only Cathedral in the world made substantially of cardboard (mainly the tubes, with some local wood, steel, a concrete floor, and a polycarbonate roof added for good measure).

Cardboard “Transitional” Cathedral

 

Inside of Cardboard Cathedral

I’m still not sure what I think about this. I can’t tell if it’s a tourism ploy, or a sincere effort to revive a community. Regardless, it is unlike anything I’ve seen before.

Once the real Cathedral is restored, this one will become a parish church for the neighborhood where it is located.

It is not clear when that will happen, though, as the iconic Cathedral is still in a state of disrepair that is disheartening. It will be a joyous, joyous day when the life and energy fully return to Cathedral Square.

The Cathedral in 2018

To perhaps alleviate the somber tone of the Cathedral, they have tried to bring some personality back to the area already, with some graphic artwork and fun in the square…

Child having fun playing chess in the Square

Despite this effort, the most notable change for me was the silence. As we walked through the city centre on a Monday afternoon, the openness and quiet were striking.

Regardless of whether you’ve visited Christchurch before or not, we all know what cities sound and feel like. Loud, animated, hurried, atwitter, not to mention tall, narrow, and closed in.

This was not.

Rather, it was eerie in its quietness, with blocks that used to have bustling stores now either empty, blocked off with construction fences, or replaced with parks and gardens.

Walkways/park where buildings once stood

The sound made by people walking the city dissipated quickly in the open spaces rather than bouncing off building walls and contributing to the energetic feeling cities normally have.

The below scene is where I noticed it the most (double click on the image to see the full panorama). The area to the right of the picture used to have tall buildings that were filled with activity. Now you can see so, so far instead. It gave me pause, for sure.

The silence due to the missing buildings is palpable

With the openness comes less of the feeling of a city to me. Yet at the very same time, the new buildings that have been erected, and the gradual return of stores to the city centre, is reassuring and wonderfully hopeful.

And then there is the engaging artwork that embodies the city’s spirit (picture above) and openly points to the bright future to come (picture below). (Notably this future is beside a building that is still being reconstructed and among orange construction cones that are mainstays around Christchurch since the earthquakes.)

Final sign in a series of artwork depicting the city’s transition

And then there is the praise for the local “superheroes” (ie, all city citizens) who are contributing to that future.

The superheroes of Christchurch – ordinary people who did extraordinary things during times of need

Honestly, I had trouble coming to terms with the two feelings that were stirred inside me – grief and anticipation. While I grieve for the Christchurch of my memories, I’m eager to meet the new Christchurch that emerges.

I can’t wait to meet it, in whatever form it may take.

The more subtle changes

Ok, so the changes as a result of the earthquake are obvious to spot. But there are more subtle ones that I’d also like to point out, if for no one else but myself…(wink, wink).

For example, the coffee and café culture in Christchurch is booming. The suburbs are thriving, the café’s seem new and cosmopolitan, and you can’t go two steps without running into a coffee shop. Seriously.

And, hallelujah, during our 3 days there, I never saw a Starbucks. Yay, Christchurch!!!

The coffee culture is booming…and the salads and slices are delicious as always!

I must say, though, that the quality of the coffee hasn’t changed, nor has its creative presentation. It was always delicious and beautiful and still is. I think it’s due to the fresh water and milk, but that’s just me.

Creative and delicious coffee!

 

In addition, Mexican restaurants now abound in Christchurch. When I moved there in 2000 – there was no Mexican food to be had. Indian, Thai, Lebanese, and other nationalities, but never Mexican.

And with this new trend, say hello to Old El Paso taco mixes in grocery stores (great for those of us going on 3-week campervan tours…!!)

Heck, when I was here, it didn’t seem like there was much packaged food at all – everything was made from scratch…ask me about some of my adventures trying to cook back then. They are hysterical! (But looking back, I wish it had remained that way!)

Similarly, there is now gluten free, vegetarian, and organic food and produce, as well as whole food shops.

Whole food store

 

Vegan, gluten free food at local cafe

Subtle differences, but differences nonetheless. Those are but a few things I noticed in my first several days back.

To me, it seems like Christchurch has been quite globalized in the past 15 years. With the influx of tourists brought in by the Lord of the Rings fame, New Zealand as a whole has become a tourist destination (and rightly so). But with more tourism comes more outside influence. As long as they don’t lose themselves in the process, I’m good with it.

That’s just my two cents.

Final thoughts

I hope you’ve enjoyed this re-introduction to Christchurch as it stands in 2018. I can only imagine how it will evolve in years to come.

Also, I can’t end this post without saying a HUGE THANKS to Viv, Lindsay, Rosey, and Simon for letting us stay with them during our time in Christchurch (in their awesome caravan!). And for providing us with heaps of tips for our trip, not to mention camp chairs, an incredibly helpful campervan travel directory, games, and other such helpful travel gear. Thanks guys!

And stay tuned for posts on our upcoming campervan adventure. I have no doubt there will be great pictures and stories to share!

Cheers, Jennifer and Jeff

Categories: New Zealand, Photos | 7 Comments