Christchurch to Dunedin

It’s official, we are now living in a campervan! Steve picked us up promptly at 8:30 AM from The Grange for the ride back to Christchurch Airport and the rental agency office.  Driving through the neighborhoods that at first glance seemed to have dodged the wrath of the earthquakes, Steve pointed out all the homes that had scars from collapsed chimneys.  Repairs to all these homes are delayed as people deal with insurance claim issues nearly three years later.

At the KEA rental office, Sarah, a young lady from Germany, walked us through all the systems on our VW campervan, from operating the heater (very important in this chilly weather) and water heater, to using the stovetop and assembling the beds, to accessing the electric and water connections.  I was a bit concerned when the last item she covered was a quick lesson on how to install snow chains on the tires.  Wait a minute – isn’t today the first day of meteorological spring??  If we hit weather conditions that require snow chains we are not moving this campervan until conditions improve!

 

When we felt relatively comfortable, we stowed all our gear and bravely hit the road.  There is nothing like maneuvering a 22-foot campervan down the ‘wrong side’ of the road through roundabouts to get the adrenaline flowing! Frank did quite well but we both silently hoped that roundabouts would be few and far between as we made our way south on State Highway 1 to Oamura.

It soon became evident that there was much about this campervan that we were not familiar with – important things like how to get the bleeping GPS unit to respond to our pressing the ‘GO’ button - so, after provisioning at New World Grocers in Ashburton, we decided to stop at Glenmark Holiday Park in Timaru. The friendly proprietor was quite chatty and he rambled on and on about how holiday park owners and New Zealanders as a whole are struggling with the influx of Chinese tourists and investors (the Kiwis are not fond of the Chinese).  He finally gave us our assigned camper space and we parked for the evening.

First task – figure out where in this spacious campervan we would sleep – in the cubby hole over the driving space, across the back end where the table top would convert the sofa into a double bed, or in the middle where a contraption stored under the seats would fold out into another bed.  We opted for the back end.  After lowering the table top securely into place, we arranged a set of oddly-sized foam cushions just so to make an oddly-sized bed, then wrestled the mattress cover and flat sheets into place.  No matter how comfortable or uncomfortable this setup might be, it is where we will sleep for the duration of the trip.

We are beginning our tour of the South Island in the Canterbury Touring Region.  It encompasses a wide area from the highest peaks of the Southern Alps to the flat Canterbury Plains to the shore of the South Pacific Ocean.  Timaru (a place of shelter), situated on Caroline Bay, was once notorious for shipwrecks along its coast until its harbor was built.  This man-made harbor, developed in the late 1800’s, is one of the largest man-made harbors in the world.  We did not spend much time here as there was quite a lot of awesome natural wonders beckoning us to explore.

The Mackenzie District is famous for having some of the most beautiful scenery in New Zealand.  When we left Timaru it was a frosty 29 degrees. We headed northwest along State Highway 8 through the towns of Pleasant Point, Cave, Fairlie and Burkes Pass towards the snow-capped mountains of the Southern Alps and the Two Thumb Range.  The fields along the way served as pasture to sheep, cows, pigs and even deer.  (We later learned that these deer farms produce venison for export.) But, did I mention sheep?  Every field, every nook and cranny of every tussock-covered hillside was dotted with flocks and flocks of sheep.  It is no wonder that the Mackenzie District produces 70% of New Zealand’s soft and superfine Merino wool!
 

This flock of shorn sheep was being herded along Highway 8.  I took this picture as we drove by.

 

The turquoise water of the glacial lakes in the Mackenzie District is exquisite.  The lakes owe their beautiful color to rock flour – tiny sediment particles suspended in the water that reflect sunlight.  Sitting on the southern shore of Lake Tekapo is the Church of the Good Shepherd.  This stone church built in 1935to pay tribute to the Mackenzie Country pioneers, is one of the most photographed churches in New Zealand.  Nearby is a bronze monument paying tribute to another of these hard-working pioneers – the collie sheep dog.

A view of Lake Tekapo from inside the Church of the Good Shepherd

 

 

We parked the campervan at Lake Tekapo Holiday Park and had an incredible view of the lake right out our back window.  It was the perfect place from which to watch the sunset and sunrise over the mountains.

Sunrise over Lake Tekapo from our site at the Holiday Park

 It was 29 degrees this morning.

 

Lake Tekapo, Window to the Universe, is one of the world’s best places to observe the evening sky due to its high number of clear nights and the transparency of its atmosphere. It is internationally recognized as a Gold Status Starlight Reserve.  High atop Mt. John is an observatory run by the Physics and Astronomy Department of the University of Canterbury. We were extremely fortunate to join the 9PM evening tour of the awesome night sky.  Robbie, our bus driver with Earth and Sky, picked us up from the Holiday Park and brought us to the start of the tour in the charming village of Tekapo.  We had been told to dress warmly and we did our best to layer our fleece jackets over our warmest t-shirts.  Not to worry though since everyone on the tour was lent a bulky down parka to wear.  Since no white light is allowed up the mountain, we were also given small red light flashlights.  Robbie was also required to turn the van’s headlights off halfway up the winding road to the observatory – talk about dark!!  We were met at the top by several enthusiastic and informative guides who aimed their high-powered telescopes and laser pointers at the brilliantly-lit night sky.  The Southern Cross (Crux), the Large & Small Clouds of Magellan, the Globular Cluster Omega Centauri, the famous Jewel Box Cluster, the Milky Way and the moon – the most prominent feature in the sky – were all observed on this chilly, crystal clear night.  A round of hot chocolate for everyone and a group photo were the perfect ending to this most enjoyable evening. I loved this tour!!

Frank and I are the fifth and sixth from the right.

By day the view from Mt. John is also spectacular.  It affords visitors an uninterrupted 360 degree view of the vast Mackenzie region.

Mt. John Observatory by day

Lake Tekapo as viewed from Mt. John

 

From the lookout along the southern end of Lake Pukaki we had a clear view of Mt. Cook (Aoraki), the highest mountain in New Zealand – 12,349 feet.  It is the same peak that Sir Edmund Hillary trained on before his ascent of Mount Everest.  The lookout also had a small shop where we bought fillets of Mt. Cook Alpine Salmon from the highest altitude salmon farm in the world.  Not to worry if you cannot make it to New Zealand to buy some for yourself – the salesperson informed me that they export the very same salmon to your local Whole Foods Market in the USA!

Mt. Cook from Lake Pukaki

 

Our next stop – Oamaru.  The town has a well preserved collection of Victorian era buildings built of cream-colored limestone representing a period in the 1880’s when grain stores and warehouses were designed to be as grand as any other public or municipal buildings.  One such grain storage building has been converted into Steampunk HQ housing the biggest collection of ‘what the hell’ that I had ever seen. This is the industrial aspect of the fantasy of Steampunk.  Frank really got a kick out of exploring this ‘junkyard’ of Victorian era discards with a futuristic slant.

 

Down Tyne Street we were enticed into the Oamaru Textile Exchange where we struck up a conversation with Heather, one of the weavers, and her husband, a retired fly fishing guide.  The people of New Zealand are extremely friendly and always enthusiastic about sharing information about their country.   Here we learned about wool and alpaca fibers as well as the ‘friendly’ rivalry between Aussies and Kiwis who jokingly refer to Australia as “that island off our northwest coast.”

Also located in Oamaru is the Whitestone Cheese Company where we viewed the cheese making process.  The cheese maker was clad all in pristine white from his hairnet to his lab coat to his waders but for some reason he used his bare hands to stir the huge vat of cheese curds!?  This lapse in cleanliness was not enough to discourage us from sampling their award winning camembert and blue cheeses.

Oamura – the penguin capital of New Zealand – is home to a colony of 500 blue penguins, the world’s smallest penguins.  They stand just 30 cm tall, weigh 1 kg and live only 8-10 years.  From a viewing platform we waited patiently with dozens of Japanese tourists and one fur seal for the first group of penguins to arrive home.  They leave this very spot before sunrise to go out to sea to fish and then return just after dark.  Soft orange light illuminated the penguin ‘landing’ area.   Our patience was rewarded as the first group of penguins arrived, tumbling out from the breaking waves onto the beach and then awkwardly scrambling up the rocky incline.  They stopped many times to preen their feathers.  They did not seem to be intimidated by the lounging fur seal blocking their path and the seal did not appear very interested in them.  After adequate preening, the penguins comically waddled up a short grassy area to the relative safety of the colony where wooden nesting boxes awaited their return behind a protective wooden fence.  This evening 55 blue penguins were spotted in an hour.  Many more, sometimes as many as 300, will return in the same timeframe on a summer night, but this time of year many of the penguins are involved with raising their chicks and will stay hidden in their nests rather than head out to sea.

 

South of Oamaru strewn along the Koekohe Beach are the Moeraki Boulders.  These huge spherical grey boulders, also known as Devil’s Marbles, were formed 60 million years ago on the sea bed as lime salt accumulated around a hard core.  This is much like the process that leads to the formation of oyster pearls.

Moeraki Boulders

Dunedin, the gateway to the Otago Peninsula, is  the next stop on our journey south along the South Pacific Coast. We hope to see some Royal Albatross and yellow eyed penguins at the tip of the peninsula. Maybe the weather will even warm up...