Birthday Trip South

Do you ever look back and wonder where all those years have gone?  My son Michael's  birthday is fast approaching, and he will be turning 60! That's certainly hard to come to terms with.  I certainly can remember his birth, the toddler years, then schooling - how on earth did he get to be 60?  And how old does that make me?  I was 18 when he was born, a couple of months off 19, so a young Mum indeed.  And 12 months later I did it all again, when his sister  Nicky was born.  Those were the days.

With such a momentous birthday coming up, we decided to take the caravan down to Christchurch in the South Island, where Michael has lived for the last 15 years or so, and celebrate with him.   So we packed up, drove to Wellington and boarded the ferry to take us across Cook Strait.  This trip takes about 4 hours.

BlueBridge Ferry Feronia

We arrived at the ferry terminal in good time.  Handing the paper work over to the girl in the kiosk, she handed over the boarding pass, and asked us, could we  manage 5 flights of stairs, or she could park us close to the lifts.    That was a shock, we  must have been really looking our age, we thought, as we replied, close to the lifts please.  We were guided into the correct line, and sat and waited till the ship berthed, and the passengers travelling north had all disembarked.  Then it was our turn and we were waved aboard.  Gemma has to be a big brave girl and travel in the caravan all alone.  It's rather noisy down in the hold so we imagine she just hunkers down somewhere till it is all over.

Everyone seems to make a bee-line to the cafe on these trips, including us.  It was a late lunch for us, so we purchased some sandwhiches, and a drink, sitting in the cafe for a while.  A little way into the trip,  the ship was starting to roll and we decided to leave the cafe and go and sit in the Quiet Room which we had spotted.  Oh dear me, just walking up the corridor was an effort, holding on to whatever was handy, as we tried to keep on our feet.  I'm sure we looked just like a couple of rather drunken OAPs as we stumbled about, it was not easy at all.  We curled up on a couch in the Quiet Room, waiting for the rolling ship to quieten down.  

I had a funny thing happen to me in the toilet block.  The lady in the next stall tapped on the wall and said she couldn't open the door.  Of dear, what could I do, I wondered.  So I looked at the square door handle and presumed she had been trying to turn it.  Just slide it to the right, I advised, and yes, it worked.  English was her second language, and no doubt she had visions of being trapped in the toilet, no wonder she was getting agitated.  So that was my good deed for the day.

Then we changed seating areas and I got my knitting out.  These socks are for one of my granddaughters for Christmas.  In fact, tucked away in my knitting bag is two pair of socks, and a couple of beanies I'm knitting for charity.  After all, I don't want to run out of knitting while I'm away.

Socks for Christmas

It is always such a lovely sight when the ferry reaches the Marlborough Sounds and glides along in these sheltered waters.  We went outside to enjoy the scenery and the smell of salty sea air.  It was a bit breezy so Robin had to hold on tight to his cap to stop it blowing away.

Gliding through the Marlborough Sounds

We made good time, and arrived in Picton a little early.  Our first overnight stop in the South Island was just a short 8kms away at Koromiko.  There were only a couple of other vans in attendance, so there was plenty of room.  This is a lovely place, surrounded by beautiful mature Totara trees.  The custodian came to get our fees, and remembered us from our previous stay.  She used to have a Birman, so was particularly taken with Gemma.  Sadly, her cats had died young, and she had several other losses over the last two years to cope with.  Such a shame, she is a lovely lady, and she recommended the  Birman breeder to us when we last met, where we got Gemma from.

Our first night in the South Island, plenty of room for us.

An old fridge full of books to swap

It was a very chilly night indeed and we awoke to a rather foggy morning

Lunch on the coast the next day

Our camp for the night consisted of several bays, so after checking them out, decided on the lower one.  Not too full, so plenty of room again.  It was such a nice day we sat outside for a while, making the most of the warm South Island sunshine.  But once the sun started going down, we could tell we would be in for another chilly night.  Just as well we have an efficient diesel heater to keep us warm and toasty.

Staying at Kaikoura

Just look at that snow on the mountains

Where have we been lately?

We are heading back up the east coast of the South Island, making our slow way back to the Ferry Terminal.  Staying at Christchurch for a couple of days gave us the opportunity to catch up with son Michael again.  And I had so enjoyed our previous visit to Sign of the Kiwi Café on the Port Hills last time we were here, that we collected him from his home and went there for lunch.  It certainly was a long and winding drive up the road.  There were plenty of people there already there enjoying their lunches in the fresh air, and we ordered whatever took our fancy and found ourselves a table too.   Outside in the gardens seemed an ideal place for a few photos – “Oh, Mum, not again” said Michael, rolling his eyes.  But that’s what mothers do, don't they, take family photos when they can.

Michael and his Mum

While out and about we came across a large hollow metal ball – wonder what this is?  So we stopped to find out.  “Fanfare” was designed by Christchurch born  sculpture Neil Dawson and was suspended from the Sydney Harbour Bridge to mark New Year in 2005.  Then it was gifted by the City of Sydney to Christchurch City in 2007.  Fanfare is 20m in diameter, 24m high and weighs 25 tonnes, and is covered in 360 steel fans, each 1.5m in diameter and each one rotated by the wind.  It certainly is a mesmerizing sight.

“Fanfare”

With Cyclone Gabrielle wrecking havoc in the North Island, and not being sure if she would travel down south, we decided to stay in the Christchurch area for a few more days.  We moved from where we were staying as all those tall trees surrounding the property had me worrying if they would blow down on us in the strong winds.  So we moved 10km or so up the road to Kaiapoi.  The brand new  Kaiapoi NZMCA Park had just opened the previous day, so we were delighted to be one of the very early customers.  This new park is built on the substantial red zoned area, (previously a large subdivision)  from the massive 2011 Christchurch earthquake and all the badly damaged houses have been knocked down and removed. 

No more housing can be built on this red zoned land, so it is good that other low impact activities like sports fields and a large enclosed dog park are making use of the land.  Another great idea in this area  is the Food Forest, quite a large area built around many fruit trees.  Other items are planted in the gardens, I noticed many pumpkin plants spreading about and just starting to flower, and plenty of thorny berry bushes with not a single fruit on them.  I collected some apples and pears plus a few peaches from old mature trees to take back to the caravan.  All these trees would have been part of neighbouring home gardens before all the houses were destroyed in the earthquake.

I checked out the Food Forest

Kaiapoi was an important trading hub with the Maori people and the Kaiapoi River and surrounding waterways were used to transport pounamu (greenstone) from the Arahura River, and mutton-birds from Stewart Island.  These days the river is used by pleasure boats and cruise boats, including the Kaiapoi River Queen.  There was a trip scheduled in the weekend after we had departed.  So we will certainly have to return to this town and have a lunch or dinner cruise of the wonderful looking boat.

Doesn’t it look great

A couple of days later we drove up SH1 to Kaikoura.  Oh look – tunnels.  There are two sets of these tunnels, carved through the rock.  They may look tiny but plenty of large heavy trucks pass through them on a daily basis, so there was no problem that we would fit.

Two tunnels cut through the rock

Kaikoura township was buzzing with cars and campervans, the tourists had certainly come calling.  The car park at the Whale Watch encounter was packed with vehicles as the customers had climbed onboard the boats for a thrilling trip.  Down at the coastline the bleached white uplifted rocks from the big 2016 earthquake were ghostly white in the sunshine – all this coastline was originally under water.  There were several seals basking in the sun – some people walked over the rocks and got alarmingly close to them.

Seal basking in the sun

We finished off our sightseeing with an ice-cream.  Not a real ice-cream, the vendor was selling either Gelato or Sorbet.  We chose a gelato each and sat down in the sunshine trying to consume them before they melted in the sunshine and dripped all over our fingers.

Happy days

Then it was off to Blenheim.  Driving along the now repaired coastal highway, we reflected on how it was during our last trip to the South island when the road was still being repaired after the 2016 Kaikoura Earthquake.  This tore through fault lines, demolishing houses, ripping up roads and railway lines and causing massive landslides.  Kaikoura was cut off and isolated.  1700 engineers and workers toiled for over a year before Kaikoura was finally reconnected.  Two years later on  our South Island trip in 2018 we remember how the road on the hill side was lined with long lines of containers to keep further rock fall at bay, so work was still ongoing then.  There was not a container in sight this time as we drove along. No wonder New Zealand is called “The Shaky Isles”.

Gemma wasn’t the only cat in camp in Blenheim, there were two others.  A white cat with black markings was nicely behaved on his harness and lead.  And the van next to us had a “catio”, I had only ever seen this before on an American quilting blog, so went to check it out.  The older tabby cat enjoying the fresh air in safely has only recently been caravanning and hated the harness and lead.  So the owners decided that the catio was a great idea for their cat, and made one themselves which hooks on to the side of their motorhome.  The cat is free to hop in and out of the motorhome through the window, and really enjoys his room with a view, I was told.

Cat in his catio

I’ve been doing a little stitching on a rainbow lately, but nothing really to show just yet.  I was really impressed when I asked Robin if he knew the colours of the rainbow, and he rattled them off, no trouble.  Although I had a general idea, I would have asked Mr Google to get it correct.  Luckily I have all the thread colours  my bag, so I’m stitching merrily away.

Cruising about

Something ticked off the Bucket List, and what an adventure we had.  We are currently in Te Anau (which means place of swirling waters) and recently enjoyed a Coach/Cruise/Underwater Observatory combo to Milford Sound and through the Homer Tunnel.  Our adventure started in Te Anau when we boarded the big red coach – with several photo stops along the way.  The scenery here is spectacular. The very pretty Mirror Lakes were just off the roadside, and it was a nice easy 5 minute  boardwalk there and back.  People everywhere, we certainly weren’t the only bus in the car park.

Us and the big red coach, and the Mirror Lakes

I was looking forward to going through Homer Tunnel.  It is 1.2 km (0.75 miles) long, and was  opened in 1953.   William Homer and George Barber discovered the Homer Saddle in 1889, and Homer suggested that a tunnel through the saddle would provide access to the Milford area.  But work didn’t start till 1935  The tunnel and the associated Milford Road were built by relief workers during the Depression.  The men had to live in tents in a mountainous area where there might be no direct sunlight for half of the year.   Progress was slow, with difficult conditions, and work was also interrupted by World War II and a avalanche.  These problems delayed the tunnel's completion and it was finally opened in 1953.   So there we were, waiting at the red traffic  signal to start our trip through the single lane  tunnel.  And out the other side where we drove under an avalanche shelter, certainly a danger on parts of this road.

Homer Tunnel

Here we went onboard The Lady Bowen  for the afternoon cruise.  Most people had rushed upstairs to sit on the outside deck, but we secured a table downstairs under cover.

The Lady Bowen

First things first, we redeemed the ticket for our picnic lunch.  Wonder what was in them?  We were pleasantly surprised – sandwiches, two pieces of fruit, cheese and crackers, two Anzac biscuits, small bag of chippies and a chocolate bar.  There was plenty of help yourself tea and coffee available too.  We ate the sandwiches, cheese and crackers and a mandarin each, and took the rest back to the van for later.

Our picnic lunch each

Nothing says Milford Sound more than the iconic 1683m high Mitre Peak, named by Captain John  Stokes of HMS Acheron in 1851, who found it’s shape reminiscent of the headwear worn by Christian bishops.  Our Captain pointed out places of interest and wildlife  as we cruised along, as we gazed at awe at the shear granite cliffs, then taking us right out to the entrance of Tasman Sea. 

Views from the stern

There were several waterfalls tumbling down, and in the rains many more appear.  The Captain nosed into Stirling Falls, giving those on the bow quite a splashing.  Never mind, getting drenched is meant to make you look 10 years younger, we were told.

Stirling Falls

On the way back we stopped at Underwater Observatory, one of the highlights of the trip.  The Underwater Observatory was built in 1995. The construction project involved building the viewing chamber in 3 sections in Invercargill and assembling them in Bluff. This unique floating underwater observatory is the only one of it’s kind in New Zealand.   After an interesting talk about the facility and wildlife we descended the spiral staircase to 10m beneath the water – 50 steps down.  There were lots of viewing windows, and we all moved around, checking out the marine life.  And to see the black coral, which is actually white.  The fish swimming nearby are not fed, they are just going about their business, and no doubt looking in the windows at all these strange creatures looking out.

The Underwater Observatory

After climbing back up those 50 steps, it was time to climb aboard the boat, cruise back to the dock, where we all disembarked and made our way to the correct bus for the ride back to Te Anau.  Everyone was quiet, no doubt reflecting on our trip, and I’m sure several nodded off as we drove along.  And why not, it had certainly been a big day out, from 10.30am to 6.30pm with lots of lovely sights along the way.  It was a great trip indeed, we would certainly recommend it.

We booked another short cruise (two hour duration) a day or two later, to visit the Te Anau Glowworm Caves.  Way back in the mists of time (about 35 years ago) we did this same cruise after the completion of our four day Milford Track walk, we were much younger and fitter then, of course.

 

All Aboard

The trip took us for a 30 minute cruise to the western shores of Lake Te Anau.  On arrival we walked up to the Visitor’s Centre. There was a full contingent of 72 people, and we were split into groups of 12, and away we went into the cave for a guided tour.  No photos are allowed in the caves, and when in the boat, we must be silent, we were told, otherwise the glowworms take fright and their lights go out!

Photos from the brochure

Luckily there were handrails to help us walk through the cave, and in some parts we had to bend our head and shoulders to get under the low ceiling!  That was a bit tricky.  What I had forgotten was just how loud the rushing water was in the cave, it was so noisy the guide had to shout to get her messages across.  The rushing water exited the caves, and our boat ride thankfully took us across still waters deep inside the caves.  With just a torch to guide us as we clambered into the small boat and then we moved slowly along in silence and complete darkness.  And there they were, tiny dots of light on the roof of the cave, certainly a sight to behold.  The boats have no motors and our guide told us later that she moves the boat along, standing in the front and  pulling on a chain, all in complete darkness.   What a woman!

After our cave experience we walked back through the wet cave, drip, drip, drip, to return to the Visitors Centre where we helped ourselves to a hot cuppa and listened to a presentation on the life of a glowworm.

Back on the boat for our return trip to Te Anau, and we decided to take ourselves out for diner after our wonderful trip.  The meals were huge, neither of us could finish them.

Dinner for two, please

The weather here has been exceptionally hot, up to 30s some days.  Gemma found an ideal way to cool off.  After snoozing away  on the cool grass  under the caravan, safely on her lead, she came inside and we wondered where she was.  Believe it or not, she had curled up inside the hand basin in the bathroom, just her size and obviously nice and cool! 

Gemma put herself in the hand basin

My knitting is coming along slowly, a few rows here and there as I feel like it.  There is no rush for this, and it is slowly growing.

Holiday Knitting and Tripping Around

I’ve taken both knitting and stitching projects away on the trip.  Must admit I often do knitting in the car while we are traveling, and have finished two little sleeves on the toddler cardigan I’m making and have now started on the back.  I’m not in any hurry with this project, and I’m using up left over wool from my own jumper finished recently.

 

Knitting in the car, and two sleeves finished

After the Covid scare in Auckland we changes our travel plans are have been moving slowly southwards. We drove along the Desert Road and got a snap of my favourite mountain, Mt Ruapehu.  There was just a few streaks of snow on the slopes, but it is summertime, after all.

Mt Ruapehu

After our lunch stop  we continued on the last part of our journey, to drive over the Taihape-Napier Road, Gentle Annie. Known historically as Gentle Annie, it is now  lot more gentle on travelers than it used to be.  Some years ago the road was full of sections of rough gravel, but these days the road is sealed all the way.  Terribly narrow and full of bends,  with many mountain ranges to climb up and over, motorists must take their time and drive carefully.  Extra research has told us that “Gentle Annie is a long uphill road or trail without a resting place”.  Not named after real person at all, so now we know.

Our stop for the night was at the free parking site at Springvale Suspension Bridge.  We had to juggle around a bit to find a reasonably level spot each.  A lovely quiet place to spend the evening, but no cell phone or internet coverage out here in the middle of nowhere.  This beauty was christened Rangitikei River Bridge no 75 in 1926, and very few examples of this type of suspension bridge remain.  In 1970 the road was realigned and a new bridge built alongside the suspension bridge.  The replacement bridge is functional but very plain compared to it’s beautiful older neighbour.

Springvale Suspension Bridge, on the Gentle Annie Road

From here we moved on to Napier to the Erikson Road NZMCA Park for several nights.  It’s always great to catch up with my sister and her hubby who live in nearby Hastings, they both have health issues and have now moved into a rest home complex so there were forms to fill in, and a declaration to sign.

Kathleen and Dennis relaxing with me in the middle

Laundry always needs doing while on holiday, so we found a laundromat and took our big bag of washing for a ride in the car.  One of the regulars recommended we brush down the filter tray on the dryer, makes it work much better, we were told.  Makes sense, as we all do this at home, don't we.

Robin clearing all the lint from the tray

Our Weber BBQ got a real work out on Sunday.  Robin cooked our traditional bacon and eggs for breakfast, then we had toasted sandwiches for lunch, that’s the first time we had cooked them on the BBQ.  Then for dinner we had BBQ belly pork in maple sauce, so yummy, with roast kumara, (sweet potatoes).  With a couple of extra veggies cooked inside the van, it was a great meal indeed.

Pork and roast kumara for dinner

It seems that our time in Napier really focused on food.  We We went out for a Fish and Chip and Oyster dinner at Takitimu Fisheries, our first visit there.  Certainly a popular place, with patrons queuing up and the waiting time for orders extended to 40 minutes.  It was a lovely evening so we took a drive around the coastline.  The marina was full of expensive looking boats, and there  were several trendy restaurants full with patrons enjoying dining with a sea view.  After all the Covid doom and gloom with hospitality venues, it was good to see these businesses booming again.

Marina at Napier

We lunched one day at Silky Oak Chocolates.  As it was such a hot day we both ordered an Iced Chocolate, so rich and decadent!  And of course a few hand made chocolates came home with us too.  Guess these items aren’t on our keto diet, but goodness me, did they taste delicious!

Our decandent lunch

The weather in Napier was glorious, hot and sunny and temperatures about 25C most days.  Just right for a trip to the iconic Rush Munro’s Ice Creamery in Hastings, a much loved institution dating back to 1926. With plenty of flavours on offer, it was hard to choose.  We both took a while to ponder the many possibilities.  And this is what we came up with, two lovely ice-cream sundaes.  The big one for him and the smaller one for me, so delicious.  We enjoyed them in the lovely shady garden.

Ice cream at Rush Munros

Gemma is not too keen on the car, but enjoys her time in the caravan.  As long as she is well fed, and gets plenty of attention, and gets taken outside now and again, she is happy.  Here she is, relaxing on the caravan vanity unit, almost falling off, it seems.  She is certainly well relaxed.

Gemma relaxing the afternoon away