More, More, More!
New Zealand – Curio Bay, Catlins
This week we experienced more of everything – more thrills, more wind, more rain, more incredible scenery, more wildlife, more long drives, and more beer! We started the week by jumping off a bridge, then drove south to see Milford Sound (actually not a sound at all, but a fjord), then to the southern end of the South Island (but not the southern most point). We started our way back north, stopping to see a petrified forest and giant round boulders on beaches, before visiting Christchurch which is still recovering from the earthquake
1. Go
- Car – 1,252 km. This week felt like a lot of driving. We kept moving every day until we arrived in Christchurch.
- Boat – 28 km. We took a beautiful cruise of the unforgettable Milford Sound.
- Foot – 93,000 steps in 7 days (approx. 46 miles)
2. See
We thought we might spend a few days in Queenstown, but the number of tourists and partiers was a little overwhelming! But would couldn’t leave the area before eating some delicious food and bungy jumping (read more about those in the EAT and MOVE sections). Queenstown scenery was truly remarkable (especially The Remarkables).
New Zealand – Quuenstown
Our next stop was Milford Sound. It’s a full day to drive out and back to the tiny little town on the edge of the water, but the drive alone is worth it. We woke really early (well, Pat woke really early and Lindsey rolled out of bed into the passenger seat) to get moving. The tour buses reach the end around noon, so we wanted to avoid that mayhem as much as possible. Luckily, it was raining during our drive – yes, it’s a good thing when it rains in Milford Sound because all the cliff sides grow waterfalls. It was still raining and a little misty when our cruise started at 10:00am, but started to clear up about an hour in. The mist and waterfalls made it pretty magical. We had a few opportunities to get soaked under those plentiful waterfalls as the boat navigated under them (see our Flickr album for a photo series of Pat braving the onslaught of water).
On the very south end of the South Island, we drove through the Catlins Conservation Park. Aside from just being a beautiful drive, there were several stops along the way that made it even more fun. The best were Waipapa Point Lighthouse, a petrified forest in Curio Bay, and Purakaunui Falls. We had great luck with the weather. From the photos, it looks like perfect weather, but it was mostly rainy and windy. It just happened to break for our three stops!
We stopped on the Otago Peninsula for some wildlife viewing before ducking into Dunedin for some beer drinking. On the Otago Peninsula we saw plenty of seals and seagulls, but did not catch albatross or yellow eyed penguins.
Another long day of driving from Dunedin to Christchurch was broken up by stops at the Moeraki Boulders and the town of Oamaru. The Moeraki Boulders are large, grey spherical rocks up to two meters in diameter strewn across an otherwise empty beach. They were formed millions of years ago around a small core piece, similar to the way a pearl is formed. They were in the cliffs, but rolled onto the beach as the cliffside eroded. Oamaru has a spectacular historic district where many of the buildings are made of ornate white stone.
We finished our busy week in Christchurch. The city is still recovering from the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 and there are reminders everywhere. Most notably are the memorials scattered through town and the still crumbling and severely damaged cathedral in the heart of town – they still aren’t sure if they should demolish it or restore it. We had a pleasant day walking around town on the botanical gardens
3. Eat
No visit to Queenstown is complete without one stop at Fergburger (or two in our case). This place is so iconic that there is a line out the door at any hour. They are open 23 hours a day, they only close for one hour in the morning to clean up. Next door is the equally delicious Fergbaker. We enjoyed breakfast at the bakery (the best meat pies we’ve ever had) before going bungy jumping. Then we stopped by Fergburger for lunch before heading out of town. The burgers are huge and really good, but we thought the pies were better.
4. Drink
Just when we thought we had figured out the coffee scene in New Zealand, it knocks us down again! The weather had been beautiful and hot, so we thought an iced coffee would hit the spot. We found it on the menu and ordered! We were so excited until it came out looking more like a coffee milkshake than iced coffee. Since we are both lactose intolerant, we couldn’t have it. 😦 We hadn’t had an awkward travel snafu in a while, so I guess it was time.
New Zealand beers continue to impress and this week we were lucky enough to visit some breweries. We stopped by the small Invercargill brewery to pick up some tasty beers during a crazy storm. In Dunedin, we had a taster plate at Speight’s brewery. Taking full advantage of Dunedin’s beer scene, we spent the afternoon at a perfectly hipster bar. They had four hand pulled beers on tap which was super fun but also super pretentious.
New Zealand – Dunedin
5. Sleep
We are still really enjoying the van, but this week exposed a flaw: campsites are rarely close to city centers. We stayed in two cities this week, Dunedin and Christchurch. We really wanted a campsite close enough to the city to walk. We found the closest places we could. They were pretty good, but it was still a trek. We love walking around a city for a whole day, but when you add 4 km to the beginning and end, it makes for a long day.
6. Move
When you’re in Queenstown, you have to go bungy jumping! It’s the birthplace of bungy and they don’t let you forget it! They had a few different options, but we chose the classic jump off the iconic Kawara bridge. It’s a “small” jump at only 43 meters, but it’s the original, and it’s in a beautiful canyon. Lindsey did this same jump on a family trip nearly 20 years ago. The guy checking us in asked if we had ever bungied before. Lindsey said, “I have a VHS of me doing this exact jump 20 years ago!” To which the guy said, “Woah! I had never seen a VHS until I started working here. We have a collection of great jumps in the back office and there’s a pile of VHS along with DVDs.” Wow, apparently we are getting old!
Check out Pat’s CADENCE Week 19 post (coming soon) for details about this week.
7. Etcetera
We’ve been listening to the radio a lot while driving (when the stations come in) and aside from being simply entertaining there are some confusing moments. One thing that really threw us was the weather report. They would say, “Today’s forecast is fine, and tomorrow is fine, then Friday is mostly fine.” Fine? Mostly fine? We finally asked someone and it means clear or just generally good weather. It still makes us giggle a little.
This week we have been doing some serious big picture planning, mainly regarding our gear. New Zealand is that last cold place we will be in for months, so we need to update our gear. Pat needs to replace his jacket with something more versatile; Lindsey needs a new long sleeve shirt; and we both need shoes that will work for hiking and water. We finally made decisions and bought everything we needed! We lucked out and found three out of four on sale. Next step is to ditch the stuff we don’t need anymore (which may be the harder part).
On a totally different note: we saw a Kea! It’s one of the birds painted on our van. It’s much bigger than we thought – about a foot tall. They are really pesky birds and were jumping on all the cars in the parking lots to pick at the antennas and rubber bits around doors. They have been known to do some serious damage!
Check out our Flickr album to see all our photos from this week.
Nomadic Cadence 
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