Far Along The Road

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With our campervan working again, we bade farewell to Nelson, a city we had learned more about than originally planned. Even though Nelson is New Zealand’s sunniest city, we found ourselves in the rain the majority of the time. Forced inside, we found a thin-crust pizza place that we loved, enjoyed movies, coffee shops, and the city’s nationally renowned farmer’s market. With Nelson in our rear-view mirror, we were off to partake in something we enjoy even more: wine. Continue reading

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Our first attempt to visit Abel Tasman National Park ended in complete failure. During the climb up Takaka Hill on our return journey from Golden Bay, our campervan began exhibiting some disconcerting noises and habits: making loud popping sounds on turns (of which there are many as you climb and descend Takaka Hill) and near constant shaking and jolting. We had almost reached the crest of a second hill, after which we would be able to coast into the small gateway town to Abel Tasman, when we finally admitted that we had too big of a problem to ignore, turned around, and more or less literally limped into the city of Nelson to seek sanctuary and a mechanic. Continue reading

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Our West Coast road trip started with a jaunt to Jackson Bay at the extreme South end of the road, it seemed appropriate then to travel to the Northern terminus as well.  Unlike Jackson Bay, however, the town of Karamea offered many more activities for us to enjoy. Continue reading

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Mist sprayed up around us as the tumultuous waves of the Tasman Sea shot upwards through chimney-like holes in the towering rock. By sheer force, the battering rams of brine climbed the walls that tried to contain them, erupting in a booming umbra that showered us with the icy children they birthed. Here, the power of water was on full display: no placid lake or bubbling brook was this, meek and gentle in its assault on the harder stuff of the earth; instead, we beheld a fury of nature, raging mightily in its endless destruction of the cliff faces and bedrock. The sea roiled, turquoise and olive translucency capped with the foamy whiteness of its rabid attack. Continue reading

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Integrated in New Zealand’s culture is pounamu, or greenstone, a native rock originally quarried and revered by the Maori. Today the Maori, Kiwis, and tourists alike all wear intricately designed, carved, and etched pieces of greenstone. It is a symbol of New Zealand and we spent a lot of time ogling shopfronts trying to decide which one we should purchase for ourselves. Then, we came across a better idea. Continue reading

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The West Coast of the South Island is smushed between the wild Tasman Sea and the rugged Southern Alps mountain range. As we drove along the beautiful coastal highway, easily rivaling California One in breathtaking beauty, we were never far from craggy peaks or crashing, white-capped waves; in fact, at times it seemed we’d be swallowed by the waters or fall tumbling off alpine heights. This unique geographic sandwich we cruised along was the impetus for the formation of our next stop: two glaciers that were some of the lowest in elevation anywhere in the world. Their toes, or edges, are a mere 250 metres above sea-level, and they sit amongst temperate rainforests. As glaciers require an immense amount of snowfall and consistent below-freezing temperatures to advance, these ones were indeed a rarity. Continue reading

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With new belts in the car and new tyres on the van, we bid Queenstown farewell for the time being and set off down the road. An hour’s drive from our home base is another world renowned tourist destination: Wanaka. Wanaka plays host to 65,000+ people who come to witness one of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest air shows, Warbirds over Wanaka, an event that, sadly, will not occur during our tenure in New Zealand. When it is not hosting airplane aficionados, though, Wanaka serves as the gateway to Mt. Aspiring National Park in the summer and in winter it is home to one of New Zealand’s better ski fields. Despite its year-round tourism draw, Wanaka has been able to stay a sleepy little resort town, providing the antithesis to Queenstown’s crowded streets, late nights, and constant goings-ons. Walking the town and enjoying the glacial-carved Lake Wanaka was the perfect way to start our very own South Island road trip. Continue reading

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After touring the bottom half of the South Island with Liz and Lew, we bade them farewell to their Aussie adventures and set out to embark upon our own road trip. We aimed to cover the rest of our home island, getting to know it like the locals we would be thanks in no small part to the freedom afforded us by the purchase of a campervan. Our compatriots were looking to sell theirs off at a low point in the market, as winter’s impending approach means fleeing tourists and a ton of “For Sale” vans, so we offered them the money we were going to put toward bus travel around the islands. It was easier for all of us: they didn’t have to stress about trying to sell the van from overseas, and we could avoid the singles-and-ready-to-mingle debauchery for which the touring buses are renowned. Continue reading

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Within the hours after we departed from the Philadelphia airport, bound for the South Pacific, the Christchurch earthquake struck.  We were in the air at the time and were dumbstruck by the amount of frantic activity at our Air New Zealand terminal in LAX.  As information fragments turned into facts, we understood what had happened and the deadly toll of the quake (Christchurch’s second major earthquake in 6 months).  Our travel plans as the time took us to Australia, but one and a half months later we drove into Christchurch. Continue reading