Driving New Zealand’s South Island – Part Three

Jon: After getting Gramper back from his stay in the auto shop, we backtracked north through Queenstown before reaching new territory and the town of Twizel where we’d camp for the night. We arrived well before dark and decided to drive out to Lake Pukaki. We’d seen other distinctively blue glacial lakes. However, Lake Pukaki’s radiant blue was unparalleled. Words and pictures fall short of explaining the view – especially when you add snowcapped peaks in the distance.

Mount Cook National Park is beautiful. Mount Cook, also known as Aoraki by the Māori, is the centerpiece, but surrounding peaks make for a quintessential cirque with hanging glaciers and waterfalls covering their faces. The park holds a popular Department of Conservation campground where we’d spend the night after hiking up a steep mountainside via the Sealy Tarns Track that switchbacks and climbs its way over approximately 2000 steps. The reward – a reflective tarn with exceptional mountain vistas.

Day two in the park called for another hike. I watched as clouds slowly crept down toward the valley. They were accompanied by stiff winds that made the hike even more memorable. As we headed into Hooker Valley, we needed to cross three “swing” bridges (suspension bridges). Each challenged our crossing as the gusts pushed and shoved us. I was certain to hold on to my sunglasses and had to lean into the wind to move forward. The track terminates at a large tarn, Hooker Lake, at the base of Aoraki. Hooker glacier flows into the tarn where icebergs float like ice cubes in a giant cocktail. This is an extraordinary place where the elements and surroundings remind you of how small you are. To add one more bit of awe, some distant waterfall mist caught a ray of morning light creating a faint rainbow – perfect.

With our time in New Zealand beginning to run out, we pointed Gramper toward the east coast where we began about three weeks earlier. Before returning to Christchurch, we stopped in Omarau to try our luck at penguin spotting and to check out the 1800’s architecture. The old limestone buildings, brick lined roads, and track running through Harbor Street brought back memories of port towns in England I’d visited years ago.

In the evening we visited an overlook where yellow eyed penguins may be spotted on the beach. Luck was with us. I spotted a single penguin on the beach almost immediately after entering the distant walking path. These penguins are quite rare with the colony having diminished in size dramatically over the last few years. It was fortuitous for us to see this lone ranger. Sadly, we saw people disobeying the beach closures and approaching the penguins. If the penguins are scared away, they may not return to their nests and leave their young at risk. They’re also at risk returning to sea with their new predators – the barracuda. Thankfully, many of us watching from above gestured and caught the attention of the trespassers. They left the beach before our little friend noticed. We returned once more and this happened again by even more egregious offenders. It’s disheartening to know that some will deliberately ignore obvious signs to do whatever they like – ugh. Amy and I followed the rules and enjoyed our sightings. We weren’t done with penguins yet, though.

We visited the blue penguin colony at nightfall. This is a paid entry program where you await waves of penguins returning from their fishing grounds at sea. To be honest, the narrative program was poor. The penguins saved the show. The blue penguin is the smallest of the species and has to endure a long daily swim to and from feeding grounds at sea, crashing waves on shore, and a rocky climb back to the nesting area. These brave little fellas were a sight to behold. They arrived in groups throughout the night. We watched until the last group had come in – long after most visitors departed. Patience pays. We were stopped by staff along a pathway as we were exiting. One of our friends had decided to take an alternate route and walked the pathway at our feet. We stood silently as he waddled past, seemingly unaware of our presence. It was a very special moment.

The next day started with a stroll through Omarau’s well-groomed botanical gardens and brought us to the earthquake devastated downtown area of Christchurch. The damage from the 2010 and ‘11 quakes is hard to miss. Hotel windows remain boarded, structural supports hold up the remnants of the central cathedral, and several lots hold construction equipment where buildings once stood. Though a sad reality, places looked like they could be scenes in a post-apocalyptic or war based movie. Despite all this, the city is not without spirit and character. Progress is being made on repairs, rebuilding, and reenergizing the city. We visited the Re:Start container mall where bright colored shipping containers have been turned into trendy restaurants and shops as an innovative solution to the wait for new construction. In the past few days, Christchurch has suffered two sizable earthquakes. Residents may be rattled, but I doubt they’ll be broken.

We spent the night with Billy and Kelli who moved, from near our former home in Colorado, to Christchurch. We have mutual friends and had actually been introduced years back. It’s fantastic when travel brings people back together. We swapped stories and laughed into the night before finally calling it a day. Our final morning in New Zealand was well spent visiting the Canterbury Museum. I enjoyed learning more about the Māori people and checking out the Antarctic exhibit.

We used the afternoon to clean out and return Gramper. It was certainly sad to say goodbye to our ol’ friend. We went to bed early in preparation for our morning flight back to Australia. Check back for our next post about the final leg of our circumnavigation of the world.

(Dates: February 3-8, 2016)