New Zealand & Australia

Thank you Russo for insisting that we spend time in your most favorite town – Wanaka🙏. Such a beautiful setting and a most amazing vibe. We slept in and then headed out to the Rob Roy Track (hike:). Hiking with sheep surrounding us was fun😊. The wild flowers were beautiful. The birds were singing. And we were awed by the beautiful vistas for the entirety of our hike! After hiking I found a most delicious dark chocolate at Patagonia and Connie enjoyed a Classic Ale at the Montieth Brewery. Then back to our “holiday park” (campground) for a shower and dinner…. A wonderful day❤️. Headed to Te Anau tomorrow for 2 nights and 2 tours … the glow worms caves and Milford Sound.

This morning we left the “Shining Star Holiday Park” in Hokitika and headed south on route 6 to Frantz Josef Glacier. Our first stop in Frantz Josef Glacier Township was the “Department of Conservation Visitor Center”. The employee/guide grew up in Phoenix, AZ and attended Kenyon College in Gambier, OH. He was so excited to meet people from Ohio and especially someone who grew up so close to Kenyon and even closer to Denison University! After a lovely chat we headed to the recommended hike to the glacier which we could not see for the fog and the rain, but it was nice to do some walking after driving for a couple of hours on a narrow, winding, coastal mountain road. During our short hike in the rain in the rainforest we did see a “Tomtit” (bird). Our next short hike was to Thunder Creek Falls on the Haast Highway next to the Haast River in the Haast World Heritage area (now that was a mouth full!) followed by a short hike to Fantail Falls. After the Haast Pass in the New Zealand Alps we drove next to beautiful Lake Wanaka on our right side for nearly a half hour followed by a drive next to beautiful Lake Hawea on our left side for more than a half hour as we headed to our “holiday park” (aka a camp ground) at Mt. Aspiring in Wanaka. Maybe one of the highlights of the trip was my passing a breathalyzer at a traffic stop in downtown Wanaka!! ( the police were stopping all cars, both directions!). After setting up at the holiday park we sighted a European Goldfinch (a beauty!). We find that by the end of the day we are mentally fatigued by all the calculations/conversions – liters to gallons; grams to ounces; Km to miles; Centimeters to inches; NZ dollars to American dollars; etc. AND by concentrating on driving on the wrong side of the road! (I believe the driving is the easiest part!!!) As I prepare to sign off I am listening to the rain on our camper van and looking at a forecast with no rain and cooler temperatures tomorrow 😊. We’ll be exploring in and around Wanaka all day😎

As we were leaving Westport we saw a new grocery store (Old World) that we just had to experience😊. But before entering the grocery we saw a sign for “pies” that intrigued us🧐. We went into the bakery to check out the pies and found that they all had meat such as venison in them, but then we spotted the bakery items and ended up walking out with 3!!! (Lemon-Poppyseed, Cinnamon-Orange, & Almond croissants:)- breakfast tomorrow morning before heading to Franz Josef and the Fox Glacier. After leaving Westport we travelled the Coast Highway to Punakaiki and the Paparoa National Park. We completed 3 hikes (“walks” or “tramps”) – 1st = The Pancake Rocks and Blowholes Track; 2nd = the Punakaiki Swing Bridge via the Paparoa Track along the Punakaiki River; and 3rd = the Truman Track to the beach ( low tide is a must!). After hiking for several hours we made our way south along the Coastal highway through Greymouth to a camp site called “Shining Star” in Hokitika.

Left Blenheim via Route 63 passing many of the vineyards (over 150!) and cellar doors (around 37) that are so prevalent in the Marlborough region. Stopped at the Stuleen Cherry Orchard in Renwick to purchase very tasty cherries 🍒 Once out of the lush valley we began our climb to the Nelson Lakes National Park. We visited the Visitor Center and left armed with trail maps. We completed 3 trails (Bellbird Walk, Honeydew Walk, & Brunner Peninsula Nature Walk) by Kerr Lake (and look at those black swans👀) and then began our journey through the mountains along the Buller River to Westport. Tomorrow we are headed to Punakaiki and the Paparoa National Park where we will walk to the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. We will then head to the Franz Josef Valley and glaciers.

A very early morning in preparation to queue for the ferry… camper vans are last to board🤨. A beautiful day to cross the Cook Inlet – sunny and very minimal wind made for smooth sailing that lasted 3 1/2 hours on the Kaitaki. Arrived in Picton at 12:15 pm and we were off to the Info Center in Blenheim where we got the maps we needed and then off for wine tasting in the Marlborough region. The best was our first stop at “ Cloudy Bay” where we indulged in a cheese platter and Connie tried the wines while I sipped sparkling water (the responsible designated driver!). After wines we stopped at the confectioner “Makana” and sampled and purchased very delicious chocolates. Nap time at our campground, Blenheim Bridges Holiday Park. Tomorrow we will be off to do some hiking in Nelson Lakes National Park.

Since last I wrote we have had several adventures and now we have WiFi😊. New Year’s Eve was spent in a Kiwi Campground. This proved to be quite the learning experience! We learned about a Kiwi Fob & Kiwi Cash for entering the campground, electric power, washing dishes, taking a shower, and exiting the campground! Took us a while to figure out the fob🧐. Our neighbors at the Kiwi Campground were newly weds from Israel❤️. Come to find out they were on the same flight with us from SFO to Auckland on Air New Zealand. They had just finished the 9+ hour hike – the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. After talking with them it confirmed for us what we wanted to do – a hike to the Soda Springs and back to the car park would give us a great experience in about 4-5 hours in the National Park. New Year’s Day we set off for Tongariro National Park. There are great views of 3 massive volcanoes – from left to right as we hiked – Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, & Ruapehu. Ngauruhoe & Ruapehu have both erupted in 1995, 1996, and 2007. After leaving Tongariro National Park we headed to the coastal town of Whanganui and stayed in a “Freedom Camping” site called Springdale Park. Freedom Camping as the name suggests is free (unlike Kiwi Cash Camping😜)! It was a great experience to be next to a park with little noise or distractions (except for the guy who parked right next to us and slept in his car when there were probably 30 other spaces from which to choose! Tuesday, 1/2/23, we took off for Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. We paid for a parking place in a paved lot that is referred to as a campsite next to a hotel called Capital Motor Lodge. Did some laundry, had dinner, and now it is early to bed to be ready to board the Wellington to Picton InterIslander ferry at 7:45 am. Leaving the north island and headed to the South Island for our next adventures.

Today began with a most wonderful tour at “Te Puia” – in the geothermal valley (Te Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley) just south of Rotorua city center (demonstrating 3 Maori crafts – stone carving; wood carving & weaving). It is home to the New Zealand Māori Arts & Crafts Institute and has a state-of-the-art Kiwi Conservation Centre as well as geysers, bubbling mud, and beautiful native bush. After Te Puia we headed to Huka Falls just north of Taupo and the huge, beautiful Lake Taupo. FYI – Taupo is the mountain biking center of New Zealand! We drove along the shores of Lake Taupo for many miles on our way to a “KiwiCash” campground in the city of National Park, the highest urban township in New Zealand at 825 meters. The city of National Park is alongside the national park known as Tongariro National Park – a volcanic wonderland (so the advertisements say!😜). Some hiking in the park tomorrow

12/29 was a very busy day! Breakfast at the hotel; Uber to the Auckland Domain (a huge park with the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Wintergarten, a Cafe, and lots of trails that we explored); Albert Park; Queen Street (the main thoroughfare); the Sky Tower ( we watched the bungee jumpers! Also saw a great 360 view of the city and surrounding areas:); and most special was connecting with a member of our lacrosse family – Dave Dunham – and we got to finally meet Kris! Also met a Kiwi official, Nicole, who lives in Aukland. And we dined at a great little restaurant in Auckland – The Depot.

12/30/22 was pick up the camper day! An interesting experience… Think we knew more about the camper than our rep who was new on the job🤓. Once the camper was ready to go and we were sufficiently “educated” we took off for Rotorua… slow going .. less than 10 miles from the pick up we realized we did not have a full tank of gas🤨. Filled up and then called Britz ( the rental company) to get a credit at the end of out trip. Fifteen minutes later we are driving along & chatting and a warning light and beep go off on the dashboard… with an image of a battery and the following text – “Stop Driving and do NOT turn off the engine”… what in the world?!?! So we call the company and the guy says no worries, just push the “back button” and the warning will go off. Will this be a problem in the future of our trip???? Continuing for another hour we decide it is time to stop and get some groceries.. That became a very interesting hour long shopping experience😊. When we finally reached Rotorua at about 4 pm, we parked the camper grabbed some gear and headed to town for a mineral springs soak at the Polynesian Spa… nice!!! As it was getting late we decided we were not going to cook and went to “The Pig and Whistle”…fantastic dinner😋. Time to return to our campsite. It is very warm in the camper as I lie here typing… we will definitely be getting a fan tomorrow!!!

Left SFO at 8:15 pm PST on 12/26/22 and landed in Auckland at 6:00 am on 12/28/22😳 ( lost a day!) . Signed into our hotel, the Jet Park Hotel, at 7:30 am and headed into the Aukland suburb of Mt. Eden to climb Mt. Eden (one of 48 volcanoes on which the city is built). Had lunch at I Press upon a recommendation from the book store clerks across the street. Headed back to our hotel early afternoon to catch up on much needed sleep🥱😴

We are ready to board; New Zealand is calling us❤️