Naturally New Zealand

"There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more." - Lord Byron

For the first time in the trip, all of us were sad to be leaving. Australia had been fantastic and we had done little or no planning for New Zealand and so the usual excitement of what lay ahead was more subdued than normal. We were flying into Queensland where the forecast was for rain and nighttime temperatures of 3 degrees. We were not used to this type of weather. But as we were about to find out, what New Zealand was lacking on the weather front in June, it more than made up for it with its beautiful scenery and wildlife. The South Island has been such a wonderful contrast to the rest of our trip – the only beaches we visited were on our long drives, not even Alfie was able to wear shorts and instead we wore jumpers gloves and scarves and took long family walks with almost no other soul to disturb us. Winter in New Zealand is no doubt a very different experience to the summer. However, although it rains quite frequently and is pretty cold, there are many days of clear bright skies, when the scenery comes alive in colour, and the landscape appears awash in waterfalls that would otherwise be dry without the rain.

Leone had found an incredible apartment just on the waterfront of Queenstown. A simple two-bedroom apartment in the heart of the town and about the cheapest place we have stayed since we have been away. This acted as our base for various trips in the local area. For the first time in our trip, we had proper rain and it was really cold. Hardly surprising given we were fast approaching winter in New Zealand, but nonetheless a nasty shock for our now Mediterranean temperament. But when the rain did stop, we were rewarded with incredible landscapes, gushing with nascent waterfalls and shinning in incredible colours. We visited Milford Sound, where the rain was incessant and torrential. But the hillsides literally flowed with water down into the fjord (it is not a sound!)and we were assured that it is best seen during the rain - which is lucky as it receives 10 metres of the stuff a year and rains 70% of the time. The only thing I would say is that it is a bloody long way to drive there and back in a day for a boat trip in the rain in a big lake. Even cheery Leone agreed with me on that one. That said, the kids didn't mind it all. The idea of having the best part of 7 hours on a tablet in one day was heaven to them, even if it meant having do sit through one of dad's geography lessons in the middle of it.

Much of the thrill of Queenstown was closed to us given the age of the kids, but we did go up the cable car and then play on the luge cars one fun afternoon; Alfie in particular showing an unhealthy lust for speed. That was, until, he got massively tired and his hands so cold that he could no longer operate the car and we had to be rescued by the attendant halfway down the luge track.

From Queenstown we drove to Wanaka, via a little old gold mining village called Arrowtown. In Wanaka, we were staying in friend of mine's parents' batch (Kiwi for a holiday hoe). It was ideally located just near the centre of the town. Many of our readers will know that Leone is prone to taking on new things with great gusto. During our travels she has become acutely aware of the damage that is being done to our environment. Quite rightly, I hasten to add, we as a family have now become somewhat fanatical about it. As I read that sentence back, I realise it suggests some form of cognitive decision from myself and the kids. This is misleading. However, such is the fervour with Leone has embraced this calling that we as a family are firmly entrenched in all things green. I, for one, am delighted. One of my main goals of this trip was to try and really address how much lazy spending we do in life - do we really need another top? My preaching from a mere pecuniary perspective had fallen on deaf ears. But with mantra, "reduce, reuse and recycle" ringing out, I have been overjoyed to at last see my wishes fulfilled - leftovers kept in the fridge and eaten the next day, using our own coffee cups thereby saving a dollar and thinking about what we buy. Wanaka also boasts one of the best recycling centres in the world called Wastebusters. So it is to there that we trekked to buy the children much needed walking shoes and warm clothes. I was fully converted to the environmentalists movement when 2 pairs of kids walking boots and a bag if warm clothes cost us £5. Joking aside, it is amazing how quickly Leone's persistence has changed our habits. We are constantly moving in and out of accommodation and therefore having to take our rubbish out. It is unbelievable how much reduced our landfill rubbish is now we are really, truly thinking about what we buy and what we chuck.

Our time in New Zealand was always going to be marked by a lot of travelling. Our maximum time in any one place was 3 nights. From Wanaka we travelled up the West Coast to Franz Josef for two nights, before travelling to Surrey Hills for two nights then a farm-stay just outside of Christchurch for 3 nights. On each journey we would stop in the middle, finding something of interest along the way to break the journey

Franz Josef was stunning. The weather, whilst remaining cold, was incredible - with beautiful clear blue skies that made the long walks fun even for the kids. I felt like my old A-Level physical geography teacher, Mr Nalder, as I talked the kids through the formation and erosion capabilities of glaciers, all the while maintaining a walking pace a little too fast for their comfort. Leone took great pleasure (and with no basis whatsoever to have such confidence), in drinking water from the glacial stream which was "wonderfully pure". It was wonderful.

It was during our drive from Franz Josef to Surrey Hills that we made our most freaky stop. We were due to stop at Arthur's Pass for lunch and then a walk through the snow to the Devil's Punchbowl Waterfall. Shortly before Arthur's Pass we passed a roadside inn in Otira with a giant Gollum and Gandalf outside it. We quickly pulled a U-turn and headed back there for lunch. It turned out to be a bad decision. It is without doubt the strangest place I have ever been. As soon as Leone walked in, the owner clearly got the measure of her and before a word had left Leone's mouth, the owner said, "we don't have any tomatoes, any salad or any soup. But I can cook you some hard boiled eggs." "OK, but could I have them soft-boiled?" " I don't think so, but I will see what i can do." The atmosphere got worse as the sun fell below the mountain line, against which this strange tavern was set, and the air immediately became icy cold despite the fire on one side of the room. Whilst the kids marvelled at the parrot ("he talks but he won't talk to you - he doesn't like children"), I marvelled an the extraordinary array of bric à brac filling both the restaurant and the "lounge bar". I have included just a few of the pictures below, but you really must visit for the full effect. We ate quickly and left all of us feeling somewhat uneasy.

After Franz Josef, we had 2 farm-stays organised. The first was in Surrey Hills, about 2 hours outside of Christchurch, with the same parents of a friend of mine who put us up in Wanaka. They have a stunning farm in Mt Somers where they breed venison, amongst other animals. We had a fabulous 2 nights with them, enjoying wonderful home cooked meals and looking around their huge farm (though apparently it is small by NZ standards). Michael Salvesen, the owner, decided to show this city boy the reality of farming on my first day. We set out in wet and cold conditions to look on a young calf who was bloated. Within a few minutes of us being there, the poor animal became short of breath as the bloating put pressure on its lungs and heart. The vet had been called and was on his way, but the the calf only had about 10 minutes or so before it was going to die. Luckily the kids weren't with me, for as soon as the vet arrived, he removed a humungous needle and inserted it just below the backbone of the poor beast. Gas immediately shot out. Once the initial pressure had been released the vet then screwed in a valve that had to be the size of wine cork in diameter into the stomach. With no anaesthetic the pain brought the animal to its knees and brought tears to my tender eyes. It was all worthy of a James Herriott novel. Thankfully no one died, or was sick.

Our next stint of farming came courtesy of a small rare breeds farm-called Warwickz farm. The website promised an array of small furry animals to enthral the children and luxurious accommodation in a beautiful red barn and at £90 B&B it was chosen for a 3 night stay and would act as a base to head out to Akoroa to see the dolphins. What it failed to mention was that it was entirely unsuitable for human inhabitation, particularly if it was anything below 10 degrees outside. Unfortunately on the night we arrived it was -2 degrees. The welcome flowers left for us in the barn had frozen - literally frozen. The barn itself also doubled up as a gift shop and so we were arranged around the remaining rooms in a rather haphazard fashion. Given only three of the beds had a heated blanket, Eliza slept with Leone, the other kids had a hot bed and I had to sleep in the barn loft underneath every blanket we could find to keep warm. The absence of curtains did little for heat retention, but did mean that as I drifted off into a fretful sleep, I could see literally 1,000s of stars of the southern hemisphere given how remote we were. But the kids were as happy as proverbial pigs, with rare breed pigs, alpacas, donkeys and ponies wandering freely around the place. The weather contrived to delay our trip to see the Hector dolphins by two days, but we were rewarded with seeing them, albeit in rather precarious conditions as the children grappled n deck amidst 4 meter swells in the Southern Ocean. It was certainly all very authentic, which kept Leone happy, but reminded me and the kids of why we like the little luxuries of life.

We had one quick night in Christchurch and Alfie and I managed to catch a game between the Crusaders and the rebels. It was a 66 - 0 drubbing by the Crusaders and so Alfie is now hooked on Rugby, which is good. Christchurch is a rather sorry city currently. The damage from the earthquake is still starkly visible throughout the city, and at times it felt like a ghost town. We filled our couple of days there teaching the kids about earthquakes at the earthquake museum and walking around the botanical gardens and Christchurch museum. It is so sad that a city that was once a highlight of any trip to New Zealand now struggles to fill an entire day.

From Christchurch we drove north to Kaikora for whale watching. Leone managed not to be sick and we were rewarded with more dolphins, seals, large albatrosses and a beautiful sperm whale. This final shot in the arm of the South Island's incredible nature marked the end of a very full 2 weeks, and we boarded the ferry from Picton to the North Island feeling rugged and righteous. I was sporting a beard, Leone had had her fill of the great outdoors and the children had realised there was no point in whining about the walks; they were still going on them. They had actually become really quite resilient and dare I say had begun to enjoy the walks, all bar the perilous ice-crusted walk to Devil's punchbowl falls - a promised 30 minutes there and back being more like 90 minutes. But the beauty of the place cannot be overstated. Unspoilt, deserted, spectacular and for the most part dry. It had delivered.

I do not propose to write much on the North Island. We had left ourselves only 6 days to get from Wellington to Auckland. We made a miscalculated journey from Wellington to Rotorua, which was going to be 5.5 hours even before the main road was closed for 3 hours, with no feasible detour. We managed to really tick off a lot of Maori culture, with 2 visits to Maori villages, one of which really was quite eerie evoking memories of the 70's TV programme, Children of Fire Mountain for those of you old enough and sad enough to remember it. Alfie really enjoyed learning the Haka and all of the kids continued to be incredibly resilient for what was definitely the most 'travelling' part of our trip. Rotorua is really quite spectacular, with hot springs wherever you turn. Leone was overjoyed to find our own one and not have to pay for a touristy one. It was a little tepid and a little muddy but yet again authentic. The volcanic landscape around there is unbelievable and is literally alive around you. It is enough to enlighten the interest of even the most ambivalent geologist. Auckland is not much to write home about. We had a lovely meal atop the revolving Sky Tower, but did little else there other than pack away our winter clothes ready to be couriered back to the UK.

We had shortened our stay in New Zealand so that we could spend longer in Australia and I don't regret doing so. That does not mean we did not enjoy New Zealand. We had an absolutely fantastic time. But in the winter no one place is worthy of more than a one or two night stay. Had we spent longer there, we would not have spent more time in any one place, instead we would have added more stops to our trip. After 3 weeks of bed-hoping, as any fresher will tell you, we were exhausted. I had driven over 5,000 kilometres, the children had slept in 12 different beds, and Leone had dragged us round what seemed like 100s of kms of hiking. We had seen a lot, we had learned a lot and we had eaten a lot of red meat. We were ready to head back to warmer climates, with longer stays and more leisurely days. But we will definitely come back to New Zealand. In the summer this time, when the kids are a bit older. The country is marvellous and has so much to offer. It is unspoilt and the people are too.