Our route is taking us inexorably south but to get to Fiordland in the south we have to head southeast for a while as there is a range of mountains in the way. Our next stop is therefore Wanaka – a township on the south shore of Lake Wanaka. On our way we stopped for a couple of walks. The first took us to Roaring Billy Falls. There was no explanation as to who...
We left Ross first thing carrying on our trek south. Our route takes us along the coast past the New Zealand Southern Alps. These run in a northeast to southwesterly direction for most of the length of South Island – around 500km. The tallest peak is Mount Cook at 3,724 metres, but there are 16 other points which exceed 3,000 metres. On the west coast there are...
Our stop for tonight was Ross – an old mining town. The current population of Ross is apparently around 300 people and a signifcant proportion of them seemed to be in the Empire Hotel this evening – the only pub in town and the only place to get a meal! It was one of those pubs where you expect it to go quiet when you walk in as they all turn to look at...
We headed today from Nelson to our next stop – Greymouth. Rather than following the main road, we decided to take the coast road towards Westport and then south from there to Greymouth. The main idea was to be able to stop at the Punakaiki rocks – otherwise known as the ‘pancake rocks‘. Punakaiki rocks This is an area of the coast where the...
Abel Tasman was a Dutch seafarer and merchant from near Groningen who is best known as the first European explorer to reach the islands of Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) and New Zealand. He also was the first to sight the Fiji islands. When he arrived in New Zealand he anchored in Golden Bay at the southern end of what is now the national park. The park...
We started this morning with a walk to the centre of New Zealand. It is slightly debateable whether it really is the centrepoint of New Zealand and recent earthquakes may have moved it slightly, but, from the perspective of a surveyor, this trig point is the centre because it is the origin point for Nelson and Nelson is the central land district of the 12 New Zealand...
This morning we wandered around Nelson. Nelson is the oldest city in the South Island and the second-oldest settled city in New Zealand – it was established in 1841 and was proclaimed a city by royal charter in 1858. The town was named after Nelson and some of the roads in the town are named after people and ships associated with the Battle of Trafalgar. The main...
We made an early start this morning. Rashly, we had booked a whale watching trip. This meant a 7.15am start and from the front at Kaikoura they ferried us by bus to South Bay marina. The boats they use are catamarans and use jet units which allows them to accelerate very quickly up to around 30 knots but to slow down in a couple of boat lengths – highly...
Since we arrived late, we stayed last night in Christchurch and then set off first thing this morning to head to Kaikoura. Kaikoura is about two and a half hours drive north of Christchurch and the route takes you through some beautiful countryside. It starts with rolling hills with vineyards in the valley and gradually gets more mountainous. The road weaves through...
Today started as my birthday. A delightful day spent in a tin tube at 40,000 feet travelling more or less due south at just over 500mph. The day finished just 15 hours later, leaving me with a truncated birthday. The reason? the international date line …. The international date line is an imaginary line roughly based on the meridian of 180° longitude. It goes...