So the start of another working week as we leave Te Anau and head back towards Wanaka with a final destination of Lake Hawea.

We are now getting used to the camping lifestyle and the van driving style. The latter is much easier for Pete when he is driving with his Baseball cap on.

It is actually amazing how you can travel the same road, in the opposite direction and see so many different things. It’s a full days driving so first coffee stop is a tiny place called Mossburn. 
Onwards to our next stop a couple of hours later, which is the new ski town of The Remarkables. Nestled under the mountain range of the same name, there is everything there from an Airport to a Supermarket. Quite surreal indeed.
We stopped for lunch beside Lake Wanaka before the final leg of the journey to the Campsite at Lake Hawea which was a real find. 

We parked very close to the lake, which was beautiful and peaceful in the late afternoon sunshine. The temperature has started to dip so a couple of extra layers were required to sit out on the bench to admire the view but, it was well worth it.
We got talking to a couple of North Islanders who were on holiday in the South so we gained some local knowledge and tips for our own trip to the North Island next week.

An older guy turned up in the meantime, took his dingy out of the car and down to the lake (a steep incline), came back up to the car and then took down his fishing rods and he cast off out into the middle of the vast lake.

An hour later I ended up talking to his guy’s wife who had come to see where he had got to. She explained that they were both well into their Seventies and that they lived on Marlborough Sound (they get their post once a week via the mail boat that we travelled on through Queen Charlotte Sound from Picton). Small world again.

As her husband came into shore, she ran down to the water edge to help him bring the boat ashore. Let’s hope we can all be that fit and active at that age! Home cooked dinner and we spend some quality time star gazing. The sky is just a blanket of stars and solar systems.

Up with the sunrise on the lake on Tuesday morning as we get an earlier than normal start for our drive to Fox Glacier. This is another solid day’s driving but there are plenty of lookouts to view the lakes and waterfalls on the early part of the trip.
I imagined the drive to Fox Glacier to be up a mountain but, far from it, there is a lot of green agricultural land and after the town of Haast, we hit the coastline for a short time and the blue of the Tasman Sea is blinding.

Again we have glorious autumn weather; bright sunshine with a crisp chill in the air. We arrive at Fox Glacier around 3.30pm and check into the campsite. We then head into town with the idea of finding a helicopter ride up to the Glacier. We are told that the weather may close in tomorrow so, today is our window. 

We are airborne within the hour and it’s a phenomenal ride up the mountain, through the clouds, then over the top of the mountain to the glacier where we land. Stepping out onto the ice is incredible. We are told not to stray far because crevasses open up all the time in the ice.

There is time for photos, before the return trip over the National Park. 30 minutes never to be forgotten.
First walk on Wednesday is to the Fox Glacier. You drive around 5km out of town to the start point for an hour walk to where you can see the ice. As you are on the drive it tells you that the glacier was here in 1870, 1930 etc etc …scary stuff. Global warming in front of your eyes!

So a good bit of exercise and still a stunning vast expanse of a landscape. Next stop is Lake Matherson or rather some really great coffee in the Lake Matherson coffee shop before we start walk no. 2 for the day. Mount Cook and Tasman are unfortunately obscured by clouds but it’s still a beautiful walk around this dark water lake which, is so peaceful and reflective in the sunshine. 

It’s then a drive to Franz Josef up and over a few mountains, the type of alpine driving we expected the day before that we encounter today. A sleek red Austin Healey would be ideal for this drive, rather than our van ….. But there go 🙂

We arrive in Hokitika in time for sunset on a beach strewn with driftwood that gets shaped by the locals into sculptures. A creative use of time indeed and all part of New Zealand outdoors culture.

Thursday is the start of our drive back to Christchurch for our flight to Auckland early on Saturday. First we head to Hokitika town for a look around before heading out to the very blue waters at the Hokitika Gorge. 

Lunch at Kaniere Lake and a early afternoon arrival at Jackson Retreat & Holiday Park which is in the mountains just before Arthur’s Pass.  

As we are getting set up, the Trans Alpine Train goes over the rail bridge below the site. Great to see the train we had travelled on only the week before. We also had time before the evening’s downpour to tackle part of a really untouched native rainforest bush walk and saw a Weka bird and her chick.

So now at 9pm we are here in the clouds, it’s pouring with rain and windy but we are cosy in the van and waiting to see how Friday dawns.

It’s Friday and the rain has stopped and the sun is out. Outstanding camp site confirmed with the early morning powered shower! 

We set off for Christchurch at 10am and arrive around 1.30pm after a steady, challenging and spectacular drive over Arthur’s Pass and subsequent mountains. Some lookouts deemed too steep for the van but still a great drive and another view of the morning Trans Alpine train on its way to Greymouth.

We returned the van in the afternoon and spent a lovely evening with new friends Leonie, Dennis and family, many thanks for their company and hospitality. 

Saturday 9th April (one month before we land in London) we travel to Auckland where our adventures in the North Island begins.

Pete & Jules