On Thursday 13th February, we headed out of the mountains of New Zealand's South Island and down towards the south coast. We had been planning to stay in the Catlins, being the southernmost region of the mainland, but it was a bleak day with the rain driving down, so we skirted quickly along this part of this coastline aiming towards Dunedin.
The rain added to the drama of the sea-scapes and we could see why many ships have foundered on these shores. Long sandy surf beaches were interspersed with rugged cliffs and the occasional small town, surviving on a bit of fishing and tourists in season. As we approached the east coast, the landscape became gentler, with rolling green hills dotted with sheep and cattle. We also felt as though we were arriving back into civilisation as the road passed through a few larger towns. These had a rather run-down feel, with rusting old factories that probably served as canneries and other food processing facilities hinting at better days in the past.
Dunedin, when we arrived, had a livelier feel, with it's setting around a wide bay and many well-maintained Victorian era buildings. Our plan though was to stay on the Otago Peninsula, which juts out into the ocean to the east of the city. We eventually found a place to stay on a converted farmhouse at the far end of the peninsula, not particularly luxurious, but with a beautiful setting.
For our first 2 nights, the only other occupant was Julia, who was working locally: currently as a guide at the penguin sanctuary just down the road, until May when she will miraculously transform for 6 months into a ski instructor. On our third and final night, a few more people arrived, including another English Sue, this one taking a break from her time on the British Antarctic Survey - now that's an interesting job!
The Otago Peninsula, was a beautiful, rugged, isolated place and we felt really in our element here. At the very end of the road, we reached some towering cliff tops, where the next stop would probably be the west coast of South America. It's main fame, is that these cliffs are home to the world's only mainland royal albatross colony. We took a short walk to a viewing platform and watched in awe as these majestic birds, with wing-spans of up to 5 metres, glided on the thermals above the cliffs.
Our time, here was mostly about hiking and spotting wild-life. We had the paths pretty much to ourselves and it was like being in the Yorkshire Dales, with the Cornish coast-line spliced on. In addition to the albatross, we spotted seals and sea-lions basking on the deserted sandy beaches and rock pools and all sorts of gulls, terns and other sea birds.
But there was also a lively local community in the small village of Portobello with its pub, shop, chippy and a couple of cafés. Driving back down a steep, narrow lane into the village from one of our walks, we were stuck for a couple of miles behind a local women in a motobility scooter. We got past her eventually, but then bumped into her again 5 minutes later in the village shop: 'ee up luv' she greeted Sue. She was from Yorkshire and 60 years living in Portobello hadn't blunted her accent, but she seemed less than impressed to hear that we were from Kent - we knew we should have run her off the road when we had the chance!
The hills are alive...
Back on the road again, we had a long drive day on Sunday 16th February. We were heading back towards Christchurch to complete our 2 week loop around the South Island. Before dropping the car back in Christchurch though, we had a couple of nights pencilled in to stop on the Banks Peninsula to the east of the city. The peninsula was formed 8 million years ago by two huge volcanic eruptions and juts out from the mainland like a mis-shapen bicycle wheel. Again, it is spectacularly beautiful, particularly the road to the centre, which passes over the highest points, with 360 degree views of the peninsula and the ocean below.
We stopped in Akaroa, the main town, which is also now used by cruise liners that used to stop in Christchurch pre-quake. It was a quaint town, full of tastefully refurbished colonial houses and a pier used by pleasure boats for cruises around the bay. It was a pleasant stop, even if it felt rather manicured to us after the ruggedness of the Otago Peninsula.
The area has an interesting history though, which is worth recounting with apologies to our French readers. The area was sighted by James Cook in 1770, but not colonised until 1838 when a French whaling captain took a liking to it. He struck a deal with the local Maori and headed back to France to obtain royal approval and returned in 1840 with 63 settlers on board. Sadly for him, he returned to find that the British had learned of his plans and he sailed back into the harbour to find the Union Jack flying proudly on the headland - the Treaty of Waitingi (between the British and Maori chiefs) had overridden his deal and he and his crew faced the choice of returning to France, or becoming British subjects!
To reflect on what might have been, a small stone plaque has been laid commemorating the first French landing. Oh yes and then there are some French named streets and a couple of bistros that allegedly serve the best food in New Zealand!
We sadly drove back to Christchurch to drop our car off, because it felt as though the best part of our NZ trip was behind us. We had 4 hours to kill before a bus trip north up the east coast to Kaikoura. Christchurch was experiencing a heat-wave, with temperatures well into the 30s, but as described in our first post 'Quake City' this still felt like a city suffering from post-traumatic shock.
This was amplified by Sue's conversation with a women that came to sit with her on a bench whilst I was getting our lunch. Her home in the city of 50+ years had been destroyed by the quake and shortly after, her husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Following his death, she has been re-housed in a small flat outside the centre. Each day, she walks into the city, more out of habit than necessity. She was trying to put on a brave face, but we could sense how lost, lonely and bewildered she was beneath the bravado.
By the mid-afternoon, we were on a bus, for the scenic 3 hour drive up the coast to Kaikoura. It was a novelty not to be driving and I responded by snoozing most of the way! Kaikoura is famous, for it's steeply shelving shoreline, which means that a huge variety of deep-sea creatures can be spotted very close to land, most notably being whales and dolphins.
The town itself was rather bland, just a long strip of shops, bars and fast food joints along a rather scruffy beach, but we made the best of it and on our first evening we got ourselves some fish and chips (Hoki - the local speciality) and a bottle of the local Sauvignon Blanc for which the area is renowned (the Marlborough region is just north of here). We sat on a bench overlooking the beach to eat it as the sun started to set, but were soon surrounded by dozens of seagulls, all hoping for a share of our Hoki. They were to be disappointed, though we had to watch them (pardon the mixed metaphor) like hawks - they had clearly done this before!
We had 2 full days in Kaikoura. The first, we spent on a bracing circular cliff-top walk, looking down on seals cavorting on the rocks below. The highlight though (and one of the highlights of our whole trip) was a boat trip out to 'swim with dolphins'. This is one of the few places in the world, where there is a good chance of swimming with dolphins in the wild and, despite the extravagant claims in the marketing literature, we were slightly dubious as to whether the dolphins would play ball. Our cynicism was misplaced though, because after motoring out for half an hour, we found ourselves in the midst of a pod of some 400 dolphins. Donned in wet suits, masks and snorkels, we got amongst them. They clearly found us most amusing and swum around and under us, close enough to touch and performed acrobatics, jumping out of the water, as if in celebration.
Sadly, we didn't have our camera with us on this trip, but you can see some pictures from similar trips on the organiser's website: www.dolphin.co.nz
So, we come to our last steps on the South Island, which was another bus ride up the coast to Picton. From here the ferries wind their way through the Marlborough Sounds and across the Cook Strait to Wellington. Although we were here primarily to catch the ferry, Picton turned out to be a very nice town with a laid back atmosphere and a beautiful setting. We didn't have much time here, regrettably, but we spent the afternoon of our arrival walking around the bay, where there were fine views out towards the Sound, and I even managed a quick dip in one of the secluded beaches on the edge of town!
All of this, brings us to Saturday 22nd February. In our next post, we will tell you about the boat across to Wellington and our time in the North Island.
Phew, was starting to think you'd disappeared off the edge of the world - great to read your latest post xxx
ReplyDeleteAndy, looks great, though I think running over the Yorkshire woman would have pipped swimming with dolphins! Cheers Chris
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