These are the jottings from memory and diary of the first trip by two Australians to the south island of New Zealand during summer 1993 (January).
We travelled 'independently' by hire car and more or less made up our itinerary as we went. The only plan was to stick to the southern part of the south island, and get back to the plane on time. We mostly used motels overnight.
Another agenda was to look out for antique and book shops. Joan and I both collect odd bits and pieces and early Australian books. Being the first time to NZ, we stuck to most of the well known tourist spots (the bigger dots on the map). At the end of the two week trip, Joan was to spend a week in Dunedin at a conference.
Many thanks to those NZers and others who sent me many 'things to see and do'.
Please forgive my obsession with numbers and values (I've been in the computer business too long.) All the $ values are in NZ$ [NZ$1 = Aus$0.77 = US$0.52 = UK35p]. (Well, it was in Jan 93.)
All claims to the World's biggest, highest etc are from NZ tour brochures. I didn't check, I'm just the messenger.
General places visited/stayed:
Perth - Sydney - Christchurch - Lyttelton - Akaroa - Mt Cook - Twizel - Wanaka - Arrowtown - Queenstown - Te Anau - Milford Sound - Manapouri - Doubtful Sound - Gore - Dunedin - Christchurch - Sydney - Melbourne - Perth.
This trip report (part 1) covers Perth Queenstown.)
|
Had to set our watches 5 hours forward.)
Normally two hops of about 8 hours total. Because of heavy bookings we had to split and stay overnight in Sydney. A non event; no time to see or do anything.
Trip across the Tasman Sea took about 2.5 hours. The last 10 minutes over the NZ alps in high cross winds were definitely not for those unhappy with flying. We were in the rough end of the stick (a 747-400) which flapped about somewhat. The kids loved it and screamed for more. The adults sat white-knuckled, checking out the sharpness of the mountains below.
|
Airport as expected except the baggage delivery could be improved. Our bags were split over two independent conveyers. We wasted ages wondering where one of the bags got to. Hire car delivered to airport. An almost new Ford Laser 1.6L. (Cost us $54 per day with unlimited mileage. (McDonalds Hire). Rent-aDent has older cars from $40 per day. (The Laser turned out to be very economical but lacks zip when passing at high speed on a mountain-top curve. We only tried it once.) Drove around a bit. Unexpectedly hot: reached 33degC that day (90F). Found our only pre-booked motel (the Admiral) on the edge of the city at $85 per night. Showing its age but very spacious. More like a 2-bedroom apartment. Being Monday we went to the movies in the evening as not much else was open. (A comment about the cinemas at the end of part 3.)
Also more about Christchurch (Chch) later when we returned at the end of the trip.
|
Several net respondents to my request for info mentioned Akaroa. So we headed off early via a tunnel and the port of Lyttelton. Lyttelton is a business like place with hill views over lots of water. It's the main port for Christchurch. We discovered one interesting building not even mentioned in our NZ tour guide: the Timeball Signal Station, built in 1876. It's now a museum. On top of a castle-like tower is a large black ball on a pole, which would drop at exactly 1.00pm GMT to signal correct time to ships' navigators. A weird idea, used until 1941.
From here we drove via winding road across the bare hills to the Akaroa harbour and township. (It took about one and a half hours.) Akaroa was originally settled by French colonists in 1840 then taken over by the Brits as a whaling settlement. Some French street names, and many (about 40) of the original wooden buildings from about 1870 are still there. They have all been well maintained and still in use. The little museum is worth visiting. Most of the other tourists seemed to be day-trippers from Chch. Not yet discovered by the international tour bus set, but could be soon. The biggest hotel/motel is being expanded to cope with bigger conferences. Many craft shops and a good number of eating places. Little Akaroa has a huge war memorial with names dating back to the Boer war.
We stayed overnight in the Akaroa Village Inn which is more like a quiet sea-side resort. Very pleasant. A bit of an extravagance at $79 ea incl evening meal and breakfas. There is also a backpackers hotel at $16 per bed.
|
(Weather fine, sunny, 23degC, heading west.)
Early start for a fairly long drive to Mt Cook. Slow initially, while climbing over the old volcanoes surrounding Akaroa, then flat plains filled with fat looking sheep. We crossed some very wide, shallow rivers. (The Rakaia river bridge is a mile long). The roads were all flat and mostly straight, hence fast, almost all the way to Mt Cook.
Wind Breaks:
The only other distinguishing feature is the number of huge wind breaks growing along edges of fields. These were formed from closely packed pine trees which were cut by some giant hedge clipper into a rectangular shape. Many of them were 10m (33') high. (We thought we had figured out how they were trimmed from an advert on TV showing a helicopter flying upside-down with the blades chomping through some heavy foliage. It turned out to be an ad. for Agent Orange or similar. 'Don't cut your weeds the hard way, use Blogg's herbicide.'
Lakes:
On the way we stopped at lakes Tekapo and Pukaki. These are glacier formed lakes with a brilliant milky-turquoise colour due to fine particle suspension. The lakes are now part of the local hydroelectric scheme. (Their level is controlled by the hydro system.) Trees NOT!:
The biggest surprise in this area is the lack of trees. The whole landscape is either rock/snow (high bits) or low grass/shrubs and flowers. (More sheep on low flat bits.) The lack of trees meant perfect vistas while driving along any road in the area. (I assume the grasslands are natural, not cleared or burnt out as in many parts of Australia.)
Mt Cook:
It was mid afternoon in bright and sunny weather that we finally could see Mt Cook from about 50Km (30miles) away across lake Pukaki. It and the nearby range was snow covered at the top. In less than an hour we reached the end of the sealed road at the Mt Cook township and National Park. We passed a Motor Camp and an airport on the way.
As mountains go, Mt Cook is very much middle of the range on a world scale at 3764m (12420 feet). The Mt Cook park alone however contains 140 mountains over 2100m (7000 feet). The park itself is only a tiny fraction of the Sth Island mountain/lake/fiord region.
Tasman Glacier:
The other big attraction here is the Tasman glacier, one of the world's longest at 27Km/17m, and 3Km/2m wide. We could only see it from a distance. A helicopter or ski-plane is needed. Apparently good skiing on the glacier in winter with very long runs (12Km/7miles).
The Hermitage hotel was rather expensive and in any case booked out. Though there are other cheaper hotels in the town, none of them have views of Mt Cook (our reason for being there), so we decided to head back along the lake to the next town:
|
Twizel (Pronounced TWYzel we were politely told.)
|
Twizel looked like a construction town with gardens. It was put up in the 1960s as accommodation for workers on the local hydro scheme, with every intention of pulling it down when complete. Some of the locals fought to keep it and won. It now is a minor tourist centre of its own with a number of motels/hotels handling tourist overflow from the Mt Cook village.
We stayed at the up market McKenzie Inn Motel at $92 for the night. (We learned later that the A-frame units down the road were much cheaper and had similar facilities.) Had a good meal at the motel, with a view of Mt Cook. Everyone here seems to start their evening meal early (to us) at about 7pm. We hadn't yet become used to starting and finishing with the sun still shining. (The sun doesn't set here (Jan.) until about 10.00pm.)
|
Twizel to Queenstown (Warm sunny weather)
|
Road as before but climbed through Lindis pass. Lindis everything here: pass, river, peak and valley. The pass is at about 3000 feet. Stopped at a minute town called Tarras with a surprisingly large tea rooms and woollen goods shop. By the length of the stainless steel urinal in the male loo, I should have guessed: Tarras is the half way stop for tour buses between Mt Cook and Queenstown. Well, after some coffee we cruised the wool shop. Joan bought a wool sweater. (Later she found the same sweater in a number of other places at a lower price. Still good value.)
Wanaka:
This small resort town on Lake Wanaka is off the Mt Cook-Queenstown track, along the road to the Haast Pass and the west coast. Turned out to a pleasant little spot where we stayed for lunch. It's a bit of a junior Queenstown without the hoards of tour bus tourists. I spotted a hovercraft skimming across the lake, so as a former hovercraft owner I couldn't resist have a ride. I think it was about $18 for 30 minutes. It could seat 10. Two of the other passengers turned out to be from Perth. (Small world.) The 30 min trip was good until we hit some biggish waves at about 70Km/hour. Just as well the roof was padded because we didn't have seat belts. Got back in one piece if a little shaken. One of the stranger attractions at Wanaka is 'The Greatest Maze on Earth'. A mile long, 3D maze you can spend several hours getting lost in. (We didn't try.) There is also trout fishing, trekking and 'flight seeing' to Mt Aspiring by ski-plane or helicopter. Ski centre in Winter. Not enough time or money for these side trips. Our next destination was Queenstown. |
|
| Copyright © - "John Newman" |
|
