Moeraki, New Zealand Day 1

I have picked up my campervan and I am on the road south to Moeraki New Zealand. My first drive should take about a 4 hours. I make a couple stops along the way: one to a farmers market and another to a grocery store to stock up on some goods I need for the next couple weeks. The plan is to self-cater many of my meals so I need to stock up on the basics as well as things such as detergent, and all purpose cleaner. The van I have rented does not have a refrigerator but has a chill box. I later find this to be very inconvenient as it is only really for keeping cold things cold, and only while the van is running. A few days later I regret not paying more to rent a van that is solar powered when I have to throw out spoiled food after a outing or two. For the first few days though everything works out well. I am able to store perishables in the kitchen of the holiday park and the heat isn’t too bad so things left out don’t spoil as quickly.

The GPS helps get me to my first holiday park (holiday parks are essentially camp grounds in Australia and New Zealand). To get to my destination, Moeraki Village Holiday Park, I have to drive down narrow rocky roads and essentially driving through dirt in some areas. The car handles the bumpy roads fine but awkwardly until I get right to the entrance to the holiday park. Somehow I take a curve into the park too quickly and at the same time hit a bump which causes the van to lift off the ground. Things that aren’t secured go flying all over the back. One of the provided porcelain bowls has cracked in half. I have my first casualty and I haven’t even had the van for a full day yet. It seems kind of stupid that the plates and bowls are not better secured on the shelf; better yet plastic plates should have been provided instead. I learn a lesson that day to keep my things better secured.

I check into the holiday park I get my assigned spot for the next two nights. My spot is powered but my van is not set up to take advantage of it. Also regret not paying more for a powered van. It would come in handy when I want to charge things.

At the park office I note the viewing times for both the famous boulders and viewing of rare yellow-eyed penguins.

The goal today is to view Yellow-Eyed Penguins, the rarest penguins in the world. I am heading to Katiki Point Lighthouse this afternoon to try to get a glimpse of them. There are about 30 of them nesting here.

I secure my van and drive to the lighthouse. GPS is not giving me the best directions so I am having a hard time finding the lighthouse. I end up backtracking and and takes me much longer than I expect to get there. I fear I have missed the march of the penguins. Good thing I’ll have another chance tomorrow.

I find the lighthouse and park. The wind is strong, I have hard time opening and closing the doors of my van. I grab my camera and follow the path to the observation area.

I start to look down at the shore and I see Fur Seals.

I walk further out on to the ledge and pass some fur seals resting in the sun. I try to keep my distance.

I walk around the peninsula glimpsing down trying to find penguins but I am unsuccessful.

I am not paying close attention to my surroundings. I hear a grunt. I turn to find a fur seal is dangerously close. It grunts more at me then comes charging; it hops up and down quickly and has a snide yet determined look on its face. I am shocked and scared. I start shouting and running off. Luckily the animal gives up. It is a stupid thing on my part, I should have been more careful. Fortunately no one else is close enough to see my embarrassment.

The cheeky seals are laughing at me. (I am using my telephoto lens now!)

I head to another, safer, area where I get a good view of nesting birds.

I head to another area and notice a some families watching below, some with tripods. This must be the spot. I spot one isolated penguin in the distance. For the protection of the animals we are unable to get very close. Luckily I traveled many months with my heavy telephoto lens just for this moment.

Finally a couple of his friends show up.

We watch them waddle away to their nests further away from our view. I am confused that I only see three; maybe I missed more of them earlier? I decide to come back tomorrow to try again.

I head back to the campsite to settle in for the night. This is my first night van camping. I couldn’t have picked a more beautiful evening.

This will be my dinner setup for most nights for the next couple weeks

I make my bed and use the facilities at the campsite to clean up for the evening. Note: I do have running water and a camper toilet in my van. I don’t really plan on using either one because I don’t want to have to deal with the clean up that is needed if I use those things. I really don’t plan on freedom camping this trip so I shouldn’t need water and toilet.

It is a nice night and the bugs are not bad so I’ll able to leave the windows open until I close up for the night.

Campervan in New Zealand

Many months earlier when I started planning a trip to New Zealand I mulled about a plan of renting a camper van to travel the country. I read online how easy it is to freedom camp in your van if you have a self contained model. It is a romantic ideal but I had a few people warn me about safety. I also don’t do well with not knowing in advance where I am going to sleep for the night. I decided to enjoy New Zealand by car instead.

As it came closer to my New Zealand trip I still had very little of my itinerary booked besides a plane ticket in and out of the country and a couple nights traveling with my aunt. For the rest of my trip I considered taking the bus around South Island since I am told it is cheap and easy. The problem is I really crave my freedom to visit where I want and when I want and not be limited by the bus route. I am also not thrilled with the idea of unpacking and repacking almost daily and continuing to damage my shoulders by wearing all my belongings on my back.

After meeting with a friend in Melbourne Australia I am once more encouraged on the campervan idea. So many people successfully manage campervan life all the time; plus I already had opposite road driving experience during my time in Australia. I had decided to rent a campervan.

When it came to booking campervans I found a number of websites that do rentals. Some have multiple drop off points with no one-way penalty and some requiring a roundtrip to return. I thought about renting the van for South Island only and renting a car on the North Island. When I finally tried to book, I found many places and models were already sold out (15 days out). Perhaps this is one of those things best booked in way in advance. Finally I found a good match: price is average (a little bit of an upgrade to what I originally wanted) and I decide to use it for both North Island and South, using the ferry to take it across islands. Once I book my changeable ferry ticket I am all set.

I will book some hotels along the way to break it up but I’ll be mostly sleeping and living in a van (down by the river sometimes) for the next couple weeks.

I still have some anxiety about campsites being fully booked but one thing I have learned during my travels is that I can pretty much handle anything as long as I remain calm. I am just going to take that advice and live one day at a time.

pillow, comforter, sheets and towels included

I spend extra on the GPS which periodically stops working….more on that later.

Back to Christchurch

I am still in Christchurch New Zealand for one more night.

My aunt has left me this morning to travel to Sydney and then back to the United States. On the way to the airport she stops at the International Antarctic Centre. I did not join her but she tells me later that it is a very good attraction to visit. Maybe next time!

I start the day with laundry instead. After I hang all my clothes outside to dry I head out on my own to do some sightseeing in town.

I end up exploring inside the Canterbury Museum.

I see an exhibit of Moa birds that were used for food but are now extinct. At the time it was the tallest bird to walk the earth.

I also see artifacts of the Aotearoa, the East Polynesian settlers, the direct ancestors of Maori.

I am fascinated at the exhibition of a study done in New Zealand. In 1975 they studied about 1000 children born in Dunedin. They have been following them for their entire lives. The exhibit displays their findings. A good amount of valuable information has been gained from this study in the areas of mental illness, antisocial behavior, drug use, and much more. It is especially meaningful to me because the study is of members of my generation.

Antarctic Exhibit

Earnest Shackleton! This name runs familiar because his struggles during one of his expeditions is now used as a tool for leadership training. In the past I was assigned an exercise in survival based on his experience as part of a leadership program at my previous job. It is interesting to see an exhibit on it now.

I scope out the local birds so I will know what to look out for when I start exploring more of New Zealand.

I visit an old timey town based on Christchurch in the late 1800’s.

What is squawkzilla? Apparently it is a recently discovered massive ancient parrot. Glad that thing is not around anymore. The cool thing about New Zealand versus Australia is you don’t feel like there are a bunch of animals trying to kill you in this country.

After the museum I wander around town a little more.

I start noticing what is still leftover from the damage done by the earthquakes of 2011.

I stop for an unhealthy snack and a cocktail at a bar with a nice view. Original Sin

I leisurely walk around town for a little while longer before heading back to my lodging for the evening. Tomorrow I set off on a new type of adventure.

Arthur’s Pass, New Zealand

Yesterday we took the train from Kaikoura back to Christchurch. According to the maps it seems like our bed and breakfast is in walking distance to the train station. We set off with our luggage but unfortunately it seems in the wrong direction. We hike over an overpass and seemingly going out of our way. We walk past some office buildings and then finally we see our lodging, Addington Bed and Breakfast.

We booked the cheapest room, the twin room. It is tight for the two of us with all our luggage but the home is nice. The breakfast is quite good and the house is clean. I am happy there is a washer and dryer available so I can do some laundry while I am here. Space is tight but we don’t plan on spending too much time in the room; besides I’ll have the whole room to myself for the third night anyway.

Today we visit Arthurs Pass National Park and seemingly the best way to visit is by train, a couple hours from Christchurch. Accommodation and amenities are limited at the national park so we visit as most do as a day trip by train. There is also an option to rent a car and drive to the pass; in the interest of time we didn’t take this option.

The weather is quite uncertain as it often is. We hope to get some time to look around before the rain sets in.

We start off with a walking tour provided by a park ranger. We meet at the temporary visitor center.

Learn about animals introduced that became pests. New Zealand is very strict about people bringing in foreign plants and animals, even checking our hiking boots on the way into the country. Unfortunately they weren’t always as strict and now they are paying the price with foreign introduced animals wreaking havoc on their ecosystem.

Our guide takes us past a waterfall, a church with a great view and some other notable landmarks.

Only about 30 people actually live at Arthur’s Pass. As far as visitors go I think many who stay the night do tramping (similar to backpacking, the recreational activity of going for long-distance walks in rough country).

After our tour ends we take the hike up to view some waterfalls.

Devil’s Punchbowl Falls (Māori name is Hinekakai) is up and down a good amount of stairs (2.2 mile hike). I may have cursed and whined a little on the stairs but it is worth it.

After the water fall hike I’m hungry so we head to lunch at one the two restaurants at Arthur’s Pass.

Even with no competition, The Wobbly Kea isn’t bad.

I love my halloumi and pear salad.

After lunch we go for a short nature hike. At this point I am focused on seeing a live kiwi but from what we’ve been told it is more likely to see them at dusk. My ears are actively listening but we are unsuccessful in the quest. However we do happen upon some beautiful lichen lined paths that are other worldly.

After our hike we head over to the general store and watch a very naughty Kea bird try to steal everything.

We walk back to the station to await the train. It starts raining but fortunately the rain was not able to ruin our day.

While we wait for the train we start chatting with the guys next to us. We find out they are in Christchurch for a quick stop back home (California I believe). They are scientists that work in Antarctica. They are responsible for fixing and setting up important scientific equipment. They are fascinating to speak with.

Our ride back to Christchurch begins and the rain stops to open up some beautiful views.

Once we are back in Christchurch we head to dinner before walking back to our bed and breakfast. My aunt leaves me tomorrow and I am once again alone for at least another month. It is nice to have a companion while it lasts.

Kaikoura, there she (doesn’t) blow

We take the train to Kaikoura today. We arrive at the station in Kaikoura and there is no uber and no regular taxis. There is only one guy with a passenger van who will give rides from the train station. He has a business card but doesn’t seem to be always available for rides. I arrange a ride in the morning to the dock for my whale watching boat (at the time I didn’t realize it is in walking distance from my hotel). Anyway, it is hard to get around here without a car unless you don’t mind walking a while.

The ride to Kaikoura is beautiful with an open air observation car at the back of the train (think cattle car).

The observation train while going through a tunnel

Hotel in Kaikoura – Lobster Inn Motor Lodge

My aunt has a sunset kayak tour scheduled for the evening. We originally thought I would be joining her but I have done some damage to my shoulders while traveling. I am pretty sure ocean kayaking is not in the cards for me at this time. Unfortunately due to rough seas her tour gets cancelled for the evening. She hopes to do a paddle tomorrow sometime during the day instead.

We arrive early enough for lunch. We visit the cafe across the street where I get to try green-lipped mussels. They are large and quite tasty.

Green-lip mussels at Chiwis Cafe and Takeaway

I go to bed early because I have an early morning boat ticket for whale watching tomorrow. Kaikoura is supposed to be a magnificent place to see whales and other sea animals.

There is a 6:45 arrival time for my tour, the first tour of the day. My driver drops me off on time at the office. Once I arrive I come to find out that both my cruise and the cruise scheduled immediately after is cancelled due to rough seas. There are people in line already to reschedule for a later time but most of the other times this morning are already booked. The only time I can reschedule is for the afternoon but doing so would make me miss our train ride that we have booked back to Christchurch. I am disappointed. I usually schedul multiple days in a location in case something like this happens but in this case I did not.

My aunt goes on her kayaking tour this morning as scheduled. I plan to meet up with her later in town. I decide to walk back to the motel from the whale office instead of trying to find the one taxi guy in town. It is a nice walk along the beach.

I spend a couple hours making some phone calls that are much needed to the USA. I have a short window to take care of business by phone since our days are their nights and vice-versa.

After I take care of things I walk down to town. It is a cute little town. I see signs for crayfish everywhere but I am too cheap to order it so instead I end up getting a huge fried flounder and chips at Strawberry Tree Kaikoura. While the fish below is quite tasty, I regret passing up the crayfish because later when I get serious about trying it before I leave New Zealand I end up paying even more for it and end up disappointed. It is probably much fresher in Kaikoura.

My aunt finally meets up with me and helps me finish the fish. She has a photo of the bones and asked if I wanted to post it but it isn’t pretty so I’ll forgo the photo.

We have a little more time to kill before we pick up our luggage so we visit the local museum Kaikōura Museum. It gives a little taste of the history of the area. There is a good exhibit that talks about the major earthquake that occurred in 2016. A great deal of damage had been done to the coast, roads and tunnels. It is said to have pushed the south island 5km closer to the north island.

We head back to get our luggage and then to the train. We are heading back to Christchurch to overnight before our day trip to Arthur’s Pass tomorrow.

Kaikoura is beautiful and I am very sad I didn’t get to see whales during my visit. If I ever make it back to New Zealand it is definitely on my list again – next time for more days.

Video of train ride to Kaikoura