East to the West

After driving through the ruins of Christchurch we trucked it to Kaikoura in search of some tasty waves.  In Kaikoura we found sunshine, fish and chips, and some long gentle waves.   We take turns riding our longboard, Eugene goes first. Later I suit up and swim on out to trade off. On our first day waves were gentle and allowed us to try some tandem riding.  We managed to both stand up and ride at the same time for a split second!!! After the first day the ocean went flat so we promptly headed out to the Kaikoura Peninsula to look for wildlife. We saw sea lions basking in the sun and Hector Dolphins off shore.  The next day we drove two hours down a dirt road to Isolation Hill.  Here we hiked into a valley and up a river to an ancient water carved canyon. Some sections looked like a Sawcut Gorge. Our hiking boots now needed to be dried.

We woke up the next day to find rain in the forecast for the next week in Kaikoura so we decided to follow the sun and head to the west where spells of fine weather were on tap.   We geared up little Frenchy and took off over the mountains through Lewis pass straight to the other side of the island. In Westport we decided to venture towards Karamea.  From Westport there’s a one way road to sleepy Karamea town, the gateway of the Heaphy Track.  On the way there we stopped at the Denniston Coal Mines for a walk through history and to view the area from a serious vantage point high in the bush. Further on down the road we headed to the Oparara Basin, deep in the Kahurangi National Park.  The Oparara Basin holds many hidden treasures. It’s another long road to the end of nowhere but beautiful bush and limestone cave/archways await you.

 At the parking lot we realized another flaw in Frenchy.  There are no indicators on the dash when you leave your lights on, no sound, no warning, just you and Frenchy. So our battery died so we found the flaw too late and spent the night in the park, at the parking lot. We tried five times to push Frenchy up the ‘wee’ hill and give her a jump start to get her going.  The battery didn’t hold a charge until the next morning when we tried one more time and got her going to get us out of there and onto our Heaphy Track adventure. 

The Heaphy track is incredible. It takes you through palm studded beach to moss fringed Beech Forests.  One of the best forest walks in New Zealand.  We hiked four days along the beach and into the foggy hill tops and back down.  In the park there are nikau palms, giant tree ferns, supple jack, carnivorous snails, and feisty wekas. Wekas are native flightless birds that are curious and a bit pesky when they steal your trash bag and try to hide it from you.

After the 40 mile walk we decided to check out the Karamea Music festival which happens once a year on the Estuary.  There was a great sunset followed by a clear night and a full moon rising. It was hard to dance after hiking but we managed to shake a  leg. When we left we forgot about high tide and had to forge the estuary to get back to Frenchy.  We got belt level in water and felt sorry for the snails under our feet while trudging through the mud.  After Karamea we headed back to Westport where we surfed, recharged and were reluctant to leave the west coast but all good things must come to an end. With rain in the forecast we followed the sun back to the east side to the town of Blenheim.  We are in search of a job harvesting grapes, getting Frenchy her next registration, and of course….finding some tasty waves.   

East to west pics

                                                                 Got the Munchies?

                                                                    Top-Dog Bru!

                                                               West Coast Expanse

                                                                   Weka on the Run!

                                                                      In the Elements

                                                                      Top-Dog Bru!

East to west

                                                                     Saw Cut Gorge

                                                                   Disco in The Gorge

                                                                      This is Life

                                                                     Gentle Annie's

                                                                     Oparara Basin

                                                        Largest Limestone Arch in NZ

More Pictures

                                                                    Milford Sound

                                                                        The Bush

                                                                    Lake Marian

                                                                       Mt. Sefton

                                                                    Lake Pukaki

                                                                  Swim in Fiordlands

Latest Pictures 2014

                                                                    Fruit Basket

                                                                     Working Hard

                                                                Lake Manapouri

                                                                     Kepler Track

Were Still Here

We just spent the last month waiting out the Holiday crowd by working on Jackson’s Orchard harvesting cherries and apricots.  We lived for free at the Lowburn campground just outside the town of Cromwell on Lake Dunstan surrounded by our little community of fellow pickers.  We headed to Queenstown for New Year’s where we danced our butts off and brought in the New Year with some “sweet as” fireworks. Afterwards we dabbled in some vineyard work, plucking excess growth and tucking wily vines back into their wire home. After this hard work we left the Cromwell area to head out into the great unknown. 

In need of some ocean time we headed to the South tip of the South Island to the town of Invercargill.  We wanted to go there because we had met a lot of interesting characters from there so we wanted to see it for ourselves. It felt as if we were in a Metallica music video. Lots of pale tattooed people dressed in black while old people looked at us with sideways stares.

After rocking out in Invercargill we cruised down the road to go for a hike, at the southernmost town of Bluff. A quant little fishing village with mean oysters unfortunately they weren’t in season.  Our hike took us around Sterling Point.  We caught panoramic views of Stewart Island while looking across the Foveaux Straight.  The sky was calm and clear when we started the hike but half way through it started to storm.  We made it back to our campsite where we got stuck in Frenchy for a day, waiting out the fierce wind and rain.  After the storm blew through we gave Frenchy a little pep talk before heading north towards the Fiordland National Park. She grumbled a bit but charged ahead. 

Our first stop en route was Lake Monowai which was a lovely place until the sun went down and the mosquitoes came out.  We love little Frenchy except for her one flaw….she lets the mosquitoes in when all the doors are shut and all the windows are rolled up!!!  We have no idea how it happens and can only guess that they come through the cracks of where the doors shut!! After a horrible nights rest we got the hell out of there and decided to sleep in the tent for the rest of our time in the Fiordland area. 

If the Fiordland National Park is not on your list of places to see before you die you must add it now!!  The road to Milford Sound is dotted with jagged peaks, spectacular waterfalls, glacial carved valleys, and outstanding views everywhere you look.  We hiked everyday to one of these natural creations and had wonderful weather.  Our pictures just won’t do it justice.  So make a trip and experience this World Heritage Site for yourself.    

After Fiordland we ventured to Mt. Cook/Aoraki, the tallest peak in New Zealand.  It was spectacular.  We lucked out again and had clear skies; we could see it from top to bottom.  This is a rare occurrence considering its Maori name Aoraki means “cloud piercer”. Here we hiked amongst the many tourists to view the peaks and their glaciers. Some of which are melting fast and probably won’t be there in twenty years! 

Then we got back in little Frenchy and drove drove drove!!!  All the way to Christchurch, this was a sad sight.  We had heard that it was still under construction form the earthquakes 3 years ago. That there were lots of jobs and they were putting it back together.   But we were shocked to see so many abandoned houses, broken buildings, closed streets, piles of rubble, smells of chemicals and water pouring into the streets; it was like visiting a war zone.  We didn’t linger too long and now we are headed to the Marlborough region and back to the Northern part of the South Island where we plan to do some surfing, backpacking, kayaking, and maybe some more vineyard work. Go Frenchy go!