Travels with haRVy

After our side trip to Mt. Cook we headed back towards the East Coast to head southward on our circuitous route around the South Island.

Lots of young international car campers everywhere. These are pretty typical loads with each carrying three or four passengers plus camping gear.

This couple carries everything they need on their bikes. Guess we can’t complain about the inconveniences of living in a small campervan.

Appropriately named “Goliath” travel lift on Lake Benmore dam.

This scenic byway was a bit rougher and narrower than most.

But it lead us to this beautiful lunch spot.

Back on the coast at Oamaru Harbour.

The quirky town of Oamaru considers itself the Steampunk Capital of New Zealand.

It also has some of NZ’s best-preserved Victorian commercial buildings.

“Lane’s Emulsion” claimed to be a reliable remedy for pulmonary ailments. It was invented in 1898 by Edward Lane, a chemist from Oamaru, and was still in production until the early 1980s.

A sailboat in a bookstore…?

I just had to try out this chair and the gun was sitting on the arm of it.

Our next “Freedom Camping” site has a nice beach view…

from the bluff above.

Guess we didn’t get too close.

Beautiful beach stones glowed in the sunset.

The coast here is similar to Northern California except that extensive farmland rolls right down to the shore.

Lots of beach walks.

Miles and miles of beaches, bays, and inlets. This was a lunchtime view.

Downtown Port Chalmers.

“Freedom Camping” spot at Carey’s Bay, a small fishing town.

Carey’s Bay Historic Hotel across from our campsite.

Nice afternoon tea service at the historic hotel’s restaurant.

Much like an English pub.

Sunrise and low tide at Carey’s Bay.

Breakfast view at Aramoana.

What’s left of the wharf some residents want to save. Think it might be a little late.

Very eclectic neighborhood. This home looks like an ark.

Nearby backyard.

Why worry?

A little bit of Sante Fe, New Mexico For Sale in New Zealand.

The Aramoana Massacre, the deadliest criminal shooting in New Zealand, is a sad chapter in this idyllic neighborhood’s history.

Aramoana has two beautiful beaches.

We didn’t realize just how lucky we were to have a clear view of Mt. Cook as we drove towards the park. Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park is a rugged land of ice and rock, with 19 peaks over 3,000 metres including New Zealand’s highest mountain, Aoraki/Mount Cook.

We would not see it so clearly again.

From across turquoise Lake Pukaki the peak is almost lost in the clouds.

Looking down at the beginning of the Hooker Valley track (hike) with the first of three swing bridges in view.

Back towards Lake Pukaki from Hooker Valley.

Getting closer.

View from hut along track.

Lovely tiny late-season wildflowers. Think they are Gentian.

This (the third) swing bridge was a bit too high and wobbly for my liking.

Had to push ourselves along this last bit to get to the final reward at the end.

The hike wasn’t too strenuous, but it took longer than we expected. Turned out to be a good thing that we did it as soon as we arrived, because rain began to fall shortly after our return to the van and continued to do so for 24+ hours. We never saw the mountain again.

Mt. Cook across Hooker Lake at the end of Hooker Glacier.

South Island is loaded with farmland. Feels like it goes on and on. We have already driven on many lovely meandering back roads through fields of crops and around hills full of sheep and cows. We’ve both gotten more comfortable with driving on the left side of the road, so travel has become more relaxing. From the Banks Peninsula we headed down the coast and then inland to see the southern lakes region.

Unique accommodations in Little River.

The salmon capital of New Zealand.

Camping on bluff over the Pacific Ocean at Hakatere where a wild northwester turned into gusty southeasterly winds overnight.

The Ashburton River trying to reach the sea at Hakatere.

The coastal town of Timaru can’t seem to decide whether to embrace or replace its heritage.

Never seen one of these in America. It’s a playground swing for kids in wheelchairs.

We spent an afternoon in the hot spring pools overlooking Lake Tekapo.

This is Graeme, the caretaker at the campground on tiny Lake McGregor. He very kindly made sure we had a lovely private site next to the stream, away from the “kids.” He also shared his knowledge and love for the area.

Our view from campsite.

The last lupine blossom of what must have been thousands earlier this year.

Sunrise at Lake McGregor.

Nearly Lake Alexandrina, which we walked to.

Typical Kiwi Caravan Camp. Love the canvas enclosures.

The road to the summit of Mt. John with Lake Tekapo in background.

You can’t capture the 360-degree view from the summit with a camera.

Even with a panoramic. This one shows less than half the view. Click to view larger.

As you can see, there is quite an extensive observatory set-up here. It is a recognized International Dark Sky Reserve. The night skies have been absolutely amazing. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the Milky Way so bright across the entire sky! We’ve been lucky so far in that the moon has been minimal. Sorry I’m not a good enough photographer to capture and share the brilliance.

It’s a scenic but narrow and winding road across the Banks Peninsula to Okains Bay. Settled in the 1840’s by whalers, farmers and timber-millers this peaceful valley still has many early cottages, historic homesteads and public buildings.

We spent a couple of hours touring the Okains Bay Maori & Colonial Museum that houses many historic remnants of Okains Bay and the Banks Peninsula region including an extensive collection of Maori artifacts.

Figurehead on the bow of a traditional ocean going 3-ton waka that is still paddled.

This Whaakata (Meeting House) was built observing all Maori traditions and tapu, using original materials from other meeting houses.

The boathouse holds an extensive collection of antique hand carved vessels including smaller waka called waka-titi, which were used for fishing and eeling.

Mellinium Bridge over Okains River.

Sheep on hill overlooking the bay.

Early morning walk on the beach.

Time to get up!

Last view of Akaroa Harbour as we depart the beautiful Banks Peninsula.

We knew we would miss haRVy during our travels here in New Zealand, but we didn’t realize just how much. Our first impressions were very good. “NOT haRVy” was shiny and clean on the outside…even the tires and bumpers were polished. A nice Asian lady showed us the basics and Al was soon in the driver’s seat anticipating the challenges of driving on the “wrong” side of the road.

Gear onboard, engine started. “What’s that flashing light on the dashboard?” The manual says it is the “Engine Immobilizer” warning light. Oh great, those of you who know about our “Start Error” problems with haRVy  know what sort of dread that brought on for us. We immediately called Shane at Rhode Abode headquarters and he assured us that it really is just a warning with no further repercussions expected. OK, we’ll see. Off we go!

The weather was quite warm so we turned on the A/C… no cool air. Well, maybe that will get better.

Here’s “NOT haRVy” at our first camp site.

Right next door was a large horse racing track.

Our first stop was not far from Christchurch and nothing special, but a good place to get everything sorted out. We stowed all our stuff, including a load of fresh groceries, and enjoyed a nice home cooked dinner onboard. During clean-up the water pump stopped working. Then the fridge compressor, which had seemed to be running continuously, shut off and wouldn’t come back on…hmmm.

I won’t bore you with all the details, but I am happy to say that most all the problems seem to be resolved now that we have a new house battery the pump has been repaired. Keeping fingers crossed that all vehicle troubles are behind us.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that we got locked out of the van on our second night when Al left the key inside. Luckily AA (that’s their automobile club, not Alcoholics Anonymous) got a great guy to come out within 30 minutes (and before dark) to get us back in.

An auspicious start for sure. Things seem to be settling down now as we begin our second week onboard “NOT haRVy.”

Stay Left! But not too far left. At times being a passenger here is more challenging than driving.

There are many “Freedom Camping” areas throughout New Zealand.

This was the first one we spotted where we stopped to enjoy lunch bay side.

Here is where we camped for free in Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula. Doesn’t look like much, but it was very convenient to town with a distant view of the bay. Lots of camper vans full of travelers from around the globe.

Akaroa is the oldest colonial town on South Island and New Zealand’s sole French settlement. In the Maori language, Akaroa means long harbor, which was originally the crater of an ancient volcano.

We took a boat cruise around Akaroa Harbour.

Fur seals lounging on the rocks.

Waves crashing against the headlands.

Spyglass rock.

Al assisting Captain Stew.

Enjoying the ride and the scenery.

Penguin caves, but no penguins.

Hector’s dolphins, the world’s smallest, swam under our bow, almost as if on cue.

Then we walked over to the historic lighthouse.

Nice view back towards town.

The lighthouse was relocated here from the headlands by volunteers after the light was replaced with an automated one.

Off on a scenic, and at times harrowing, drive across the peninsula to Okains Bay.

A look back at Akaroa from the summit road.

To be continued… as Internet access permits.

From one side of the Pacific Ocean to the other… we are now on New Zealand’s South Island… Kia Ora (as far as I can tell, Kia Ora is used much like Aloha is in Hawaii.)

New Brighton Beach, our first in the South Pacific.

Why did we decide to go to New Zealand? Several well-traveled friends recently recommended it highly, the exchange rate is awesome right now, and we were 3,000 miles closer than we will be when we get back home to New England. What made the trip possible was the fact that we had enough credit card points to fly there and back for FREE! Gotta love that.

Our first few days are being spent “At The Right Place” in Christchurch because the camper van we rented is not available until Saturday. Ordinarily we wouldn’t spend several days in a city such as this, but it’s been fun getting to know this unique area that is slowly recovering from devastating earthquakes in 2010 and 2011.

Mountains of rubble remain in the hardest hit areas.

70 to 80 percent of the buildings in the CBD (Central Business District) were heavily damaged or destroyed. To date more than 1,250 buildings have had to be demolished.

This is what’s left of the ChristChurch Cathedral originally built in 1864.

This Transitional Cathedral, substantially built with cardboard tubes, is where the Anglican congregation now worships. It is also a major tourist attraction.

The impact of the quakes will take longer than a generation to resolve. Entire neighborhoods had to be abandoned and Christchurch’s heritage architecture is irrevocably damaged. While there is still a long way to go, the locals seem confident that their city will be better than ever eventually.

At the Re:START Mall shipping containers house some pretty posh stores.

Container restaurants are quite popular as well. We highly recommend Thai Container. (The tables are empty in this photo only because they weren’t open yet.)

Some buildings appear to be forgotten.

While dozens of modern structures rise around them.

This area appears unscathed, but they may have just been quicker to restore these lovely old buildings.

Walking along the lovely Avon River that winds through the city.

Here you can go Punting on the Avon.

Punts come in many sizes.

Here are some traditional punter outfits.

This lucky lad is going for a boat ride.

Antique boat sheds on the Avon River.

Traditional trolley transportation has recently been reinstated around the CBD.

Besides the side trip to New Brighton Beach shown at the beginning of this post, we drove out to see Lyttelton Harbor and Corsair Bay.

We look forward to getting our rented camper van tomorrow so we can set off in our preferred mode of travel.