My Journey Round The World

We arrived just on time for the 2 pm ferry from Picton to Wellington… A bit more than 3 hours  from the Southern Island to the Northern one.

Watching the stars was quite tiring so the next morning we didn’t do anything… Having a nice breakfast in the fjord, in front of the sea, watching the birds… So hard to be on holiday !

Pelarus Bridge trip, back to childhood… Waking up in the middle of the forest and after a nice « campingmade » breakfast – where we met a retired US couple travelling for a year already ! They came with their sailing boat from Mexico via Marquise Island to NZ where they sell their boat and bought a van - we left for a 2 hours walk which ended up to be a 6 hours one BUT (wait a minute Grégoire…) just because we decided to go up the mountain and come back after a wonderful rest  laying down for Ariane by the riverside while I was playing in the water… (Mum you would have love the place !) J

After such a nice journey we stopped at the café for a vegetarian meal before heading back to our van to find a new place to sleep and watch the milkyway.

Driving the whole day on the Lewis Pass road with nice countryside which reminded us of France, Austria, Switzerland and Croatia all together, crossing many « one lane bridge » and a farmer bringing back his cows to the farm with his young kids – funny ! – we ended up in Murchison, a small NZ city… I don’t really know how to describe it… See by yourself !

After such a good start we finaly reached Kaikoura. I really wanted to see some whales but the tourist office board said to us that they couldn’t see any for 2 days… L So we went for an estimated 3 hours walk which happen to be a 6 hours one – no comments Gregoire… – with a stunning view of the coast, crossing pinguins, sea lions – describe as seals… Can someone give me the exact definition of a sea lion and a seal ?!? – and birds… It was a wonderful day !

Back to the van, we start to look for a camping, however the office we found was already closed… We had a quick diner and continue our journey on the Lewis Pass road, where we stopped for the night.

As we finaly managed to leave Christchurch – too long to explain ! You never know if you’re in or out of the town… – we stopped for dinner at Cheviot – one of the biggest town shown on our map… 1 road with some houses and 2 restaurants but only 1 opened… - where we unexpectly found a cheap power supply box for the van in our restaurant-motel-bar closing at 10pm. Excellent choice !!! Ariane was more than happy to find some cats while waking up and having our first sunny breakfast…

Governor’s Bay : 1st night in the van after picking up Ariane at the airport and enjoying a first evening with WiFi and a chat with Catherine on Facebook 
Back to Christchuch to sign the van contract for Ariane -  I don’t want to be the only one to enjoy driving this really confortable automatic car on the left side of the road ! – we briefly met Remco back from Queenstown for a lunch and walk in the botanic garden before heading north to Kaikoura.

When arriving a second time to Lake Tekapo – hoping to see the beatiful sky one more night – I found out that Ariane was arriving on Sunday and not on Saturday as said… Luckily I had found another couchsurfer in Christchurch – Sinco, also Dutch and leaving in NZ since more than 20 years  – who could host me 1 more night than expected.
So on Saturday he offered me to join him and his friends for a small saling race in Lyttelton. I had a thought for my dear ostheopath in Boulogne while crawling from one side to another, sitting on the mast trying to catch the wind for starting the race! Lot of fun for my first time sailing ! We even saw dolphins swimming next to the boat and one of them did a really nice jump just in front of us. I’m not saying I’ll do that every weekends but I really enjoyed it even if I still have some bruises after a week…

Following a good night sleep at the Lakefront Backpackers Lodge – www.laketekapo-accomodation.co.nz – the friendly Cook Connection – www.cookconnect.co.nz – bus driver came to pick me up at the hostel , drove us with some pictures stops to Mount Cook Village and even brought me directly to the Youth hostel – www.yha.co.nz – I booked. Hostel are pretty expensive – as most of the things here !- however really practical, clean and with friendly & helpfull staff.
So as I arrived pretty early with a sunny weather – seems not so easy to see Mount Cook so clearly as Alan, the bus driver told us – I decided to go for the 4 hours Sealy Tarns track with steep stair climb – indeed !!! It was even sometimes hard to know how to continue – beautiful weather, not too warm and great view on the glacier, hearing the avalanche on the other side, impressive – but as long as it’s not an hearthquack I’m fine ! – On my way back I went to the Kea Point to seat at the lookout which provide a great views of the Aoraki Mount Cook, the Mueller Glacier, the hanging glaciers and icefalls of Mount Sefton.
In the evening I decided to « cook » as the places to eat where really expensive – Gregoire you would be amazed by the kitchen – but not by my cooking for sure !!! and went to try to see the stars… Not really successful. While going back to my dormitory I bumped into Remco – a Dutch traveller looking for something to eat at 10pm… As the village was pretty dark and I couldn’t really explain the way to the restaurant, I went with him, also hoping to see more stars on the way.
On the next day we went together to the popular and lovely Hooker Valley walk passing two swing bridges, along a cold river where I couldn’t avoid putting my feet, before reaching the final destination of the Terminal Lake at the bottom of the Hooker Glacier where we had a small picnic. Amasing to be in short leaves with ice floating around… We arrived back to Remco’s car just before the rain!

After 4 days resting in Christchurch with Maddy and her family – couchsurfing contact J - I moved south for 1 night to Geraldine where the helpful tourist information lady advise me to go to Lake Tekapo and Mount Cook if I didn’t want to spend most of my time in the bus – less confortable than South America but usualy with a bus driver (here with the www.nakedbus.com, no bus driver aren’t naked !) who tells you some interesting stories about places you see!

So the next day I went to the amazing Lake Tekapo… I’ve never seen a lake so turquoise! – due to sediment in the water coming from the glacier in the headwaters. This « rock flour » is suspended in the water and when combined with sunlight creates the unique water colour - Splendid… Even more stunning is the view on the summit of Mt John where I could enjoy a delicious carrots cake at the Astro Café Mount John is internationally recognised as one of the best place for viewing the southern sky. The Christchurch University of Canterbury and Nagoya (Japan) operates the scientific Observatory where you can choose from either – expensive ! – day or night tours. Lake Tekapo is said to have the clearest, darkest and most spectacular night sky in New Zealand. Indeed!!! I spent my evening – pity that the night was too cold ! – laying down on the Lake Tekapo beach watching it, I’ve never seen so many stars and the Milky Way Galaxy… Incredible! So amasing that I wanted to enjoy it again. Unfortunately when I came back a day later weather was cloudy Anyway I had a great view on the lake from the Youth Hostel and went to visit the pituresque Church of the Good Shepherd before heading back to Christchurch where finding that Ariane will arrive a day later than expected…