Dark skies

We went to Lake Tekapo for some dark sky star action. We were not holding out much hope as it was so cloudy and wet on the drive over. However we did get some stunning views of the Milky Way one of the nights - the sky was jet black and thick with a rich vein of stars streaking across the sky - impossible to photograph!

Lake Tekapo is one of the three lakes making up Mackenzie Country. The lakes have lovely turquoise blue water with lots of people taking a dip in them. 

We chose the thermal hot springs to dip in instead - much more relaxing!

There was a cute little church with great views across the lake and a statue of a collie as a tribute to sheepdogs that work the land. 

We also slept by Lake Pukaki and sampled some of the sashimi from the worlds highest salmon farm! Yum!

On the way down to Cromwell we stopped in to see the Clay Cliffs which were pretty impressive rock formations which you have to go down 10km of unsealed road to reach. Bumpy!

Tiny Timaru penguins

We travelled in land towards Lake Takepo via Darfield, Mayfield and Geraldine. There were lots of straight roads and icey blue rivers. 

We stopped at a small farm attached to a campsite where we got to see a wallaby, cuddle guinea pigs and feed some llamas and donkeys. 

We took a detour to Timaru where we stayed on a free car park right in Caroline Bay. It was a super park with loads of fun bits like massive play parks, a rose garden and a super walk through aviary which Boo loved. 

The star attraction though was after dark when we braved the cold to watch a handful of tiny blue penguins coming ashore to feed their young pups who were hiding amongst the rocks.  It was a late night but real fun, even more so as there were only a few to see so took some hunting!

Busking in Christchurch

Christchurch suffered two quick fire earthquakes a decade ago. The second one destroying 80% of the buildings in the centre. They’ve rebuilt loads of it and it gives the place a really fresh, clean and modern feel. We really liked Christchurch. 

It was also the World Buskers championship while we were there so we got to watch magicians, jugglers and acrobats trying to woo the crowds dotted around the centre. 

We also took in some of the great food as well, particularly at Riverside Market - a large indoor foodie haven. 

New Zealand is great at providing fun things for kids to do in places like museums and galleries. Boo and Olive had a happy time playing with all different bits in the art gallery and we all had a go at doing some artwork - can you tell whose is whose?

We then headed out to Akarau in Banks Peninsula with stunning views down to the harbour as you drive through.

Seals and dolphins

Kaikoura on the east coast treated us to a rugged landscape and a lot of seals and dolphins. We had a great time sat in the camper looking out at the sea trying to spot seals, dolphins, penguins and whales. The tour boats stopping help to signal that something fun might be imminent. The penguins and whales have so far eluded us.

We stayed at a massive freedom camping site called Coes Ford with a nice river running next to it. We were entertained for the evening by some guys driving their 4x4s up the river and getting stuck for a bit. I’m generally amazed by all these free camp sites as you drive round and this one was particularly good.

Delayed

Our crossing to the South Island was delayed by three hours, so we didn’t arrive until after 3am. It was too windy at Picton for the tow to come and bring us in! 

We crashed in Picton for the night then carried on to nearby Blenheim where there was a nice camping spot by a lake. 

We went to the Omaka World War One plane display. Peter Jackson donated his collection of war planes and created some realistic dioramas of fighter pilots facing off and planes crashing. The scenes were stunning and there were all sorts of interesting anecdotes dotted around the museum. For example - they put union jacks at the back of allied planes at the start of the war to prevent friendly fire. However they stopped doing this when they realised it was getting mistaken from afar for the German black cross symbol. 

The next day we went wine tasting at Wither Hills. It was a very slick affair which is perfect when you’ve got a one year old who has zero interest in wine! Although, to be fair, Boo slept the whole time. Nate explained it all really succinctly and gave our mouths a lovely tour of different grapes. 

Selina’s favourite was Sauvignon Blanc and mine was intriguingly Chardonnay - not like any Chardonnay I’ve ever tasted before! You get your tasting fee refunded if you purchase a bottle - so that was a no-brainer!

Wet and windy end to North Island

The weather has really turned chilly, wet and windy for our end to the North Island. We stopped in Palmerston North for a night. We had a great curry from Arranged Marriage - great name, great dosa. 

With the weather a bit wet - we only spent a night by the sea in Kapiti - not really doing justice to the place.

Then we left ourselves just one night in Wellington where we drank some fine coffee and, due to the inclement weather, revelled in the (indoor!) Te Papa museum on the water front. It was a really great museum with loads of stuff to entertain Boo and Olive. 

Boo liked the bird display and button that you press furiously to start a volcano. Olive was less keen on the earthquake simulator room. There was also a very big, preserved squid!

We lined our tummies with really tasty Malaysian on Cuba Street - I loved the mango chicken(!) - ready for our ferry across to the South Island. We’ve got six weeks to work our way round the island before I have a taste of Stokesy’s test cricket lined up back in Wellington.