Nelson, New Zealand

From Akaroa in the Christchurch area, we cut northward back through the central hills of New Zealand's South Island. The spring flowers are out in profusion, especially Scotch Broom an invasive plant from Europe introduced by early settlers. Scotch Broom is especially difficult to eradicate as both New Zealand and California have discovered the hard way.

Yet another winding NZ road

Typical farmlands along river basins

Still, Scotch Broom does make a beautiful spring show.

Glacier melt river with Scotch Broom

We end up at the Tahuna Beach Kiwi Holiday Park in Nelson and are happy to find campsites close to the beach, that is, until we try walking on the beach only to be sand blasted by strong wind.

Blowing sands on a Nelson beach

where Mark's hat goes flying down the beach.

To escape the wind we walk inland through public parks, which include a go cart raceway and large open grassy areas. Being a Sunday afternoon, many families are out enjoying the sunny day especially at the Gypsy Fair.  Looks like Nelson is to New Zealand as Santa Cruz is to California, or Eugene is to Oregon.

Go cart race track

Gypsy Fair

Families are out in full force as the Gypsy Fair is a big draw for children.

Hula hoop anyone?

Face painting

and of course, goodies at food booths

Many of the stalls offer clothing and jewelry, all with a modern hippie flair.
Of course, no hippie gathering of any sort would be complete without Another Roadside Attraction.

Charlie (Manson?) sings

Another Roadside Attraction stage show

Upcoming schedule

We get a kick out of the many colorful food booths.

American donuts & hot dogs?

The "Ice Cream" sign attracts me to the Lucky Star

where I order a mango smoothie

As far as we're concerned, the main stars of the show are the handmade gypsy house trucks. Each one is individually made with loving craftsmanship and creative amenities. We especially enjoy seeing the inside of those for sale or ones we are invited into.
Several are for sale... and while tempting to consider, if only for a moment, they are completely impractical. So instead, we release our inner hippies by buying tie dyed tee shirts.

Time to cue the Grateful Dead's "Not Fade Away":

Akaroa, New Zealand

After coming out of the mountains we follow NZ Hwy 1 along the coastal plain northward towards Christchurch. Around Christchurch, we drive one of the few four lane highways in New Zealand and encounter  more traffic than usual. Before reaching Christchurch proper we turn off on Hwy 75 towards the Banks Peninsula and Akaroa, a popular resort town once settled by the French and still retains its distinctly French character.

KiwiRail on flat coastal plain

Viator Tour bus tour from Christchurch?

After threading our way between farms, we are soon back on a classic New Zealand narrow winding road, where we meet classic critters - sheep. Actually, we've seen fewer sheep than we expected as not as many are grown for wool as in the past.  In fact, the most common sheep now raised are a hybrid best for meat. With the increasing costs of shearing sheep and sending the the wool to China to be cleaned (an ecologically messy process), New Zealand sheep are now mostly grown for their meat.

Back to narrow winding roads

Shade loving sheep

About half way, we pass through the small town of Little River home of the unique Silo Stays Accommodations.
After the summit, it's all downhill into Akaroa. As the road twists and turns we get amazing views of the town and its sheltered harbor.

Akaroa and its sheltered bay

We get good campsites at the Akaroa Top 10 Holiday Park with it's magnificent views of the harbor and town. A woman traveling alone from Chicago is camped next door to us.  We ask her how traveling by herself in New Zealand has been. She says she loves it as it much safer than Chicago. Actually, we've met a number of women traveling alone and they all have said the same thing.

After we settle in we are quickly visited by a family of ducks consisting of a female Mallard and her ducklings. They are so cute, we all give in to the temptation and feed the ducks, thereby teaching them bad habits at an early age.

Since there's still several hours of light left in the day, we hike down to the town.

Ducklings scramble for bread crumbs

View of Akaroa from campground

Nice bench by harbor

Akaroa lives up to its reputation of being a charming town with a distinctly French flavor.  Jill and I are pleasantly surprised to find most clothing prices are lower in Akaroa than many other towns we've visited. Although, the store selling fine European lace clothing was not at all cheap. We also find a small trailer with a woman selling fresh crepes and a wonderful old fashioned sweet shop. The candy is tempting, but it's not on my diet. However, the ginger/lemon ice cream is another matter.  It's low calorie, right?

Fresh crepes for sale

Candies tempt sweet-tooths

As the light fades, we wander into the downtown park, complete with it's WWI memorial (odd we don't see as many WWII Memorials).  These are quite common in New Zealand. We also discover a wonderful bronze statue of an artist painting an empty canvas.  The guys love posing as the art piece being created.

WWI Memorial

Artist works on Mark

then Peter

By the time we start back up the hill, which seems steeper than when we walked down, it's almost dark.  Good thing we brought headlamps with us as the trail is getting really hard to see.

Sunset at Akaroa - are those clouds on the horizon?

Sure enough, the next day is gray and rainy. So we scrap our plans to stay another night and continue our drive northward towards Nelson.

Mt John Observatory & Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

After returning to Wanaka from Milford Sound, we are back on the road to Omarama. As much as we enjoyed Wanaka, our time is ticking down and we need to start back northward, besides the idea of soaking in the local hot tubs is very appealing. The terrain becomes much dryer, almost desert like, as we drive northward on NZ Hwy 8. Maybe we're in a rain shadow caused by Southern Alps.

Much dryer with less vegetation here

Looks like parts of the American Southwest

The main geological feature we see is the Omarama Clay Cliffs. Although these cliffs are on private land, the public can visit by paying an entrance fee.  As the day is getting late, we don't stop and press on instead.

Omarama Clay Cliffs We stay at the Omarama Top 10 Holiday Park, which is only about a half mile walk away from the hot tubs. That evening we are simply too tired to make it to the hot tubs.  The next morning Peter finds the trampoline and releases his inner child. This park, as well as many others in New Zealand, is home to a large flock of camp ducks. New Zealand does not have native squirrels or chipmunks inhabiting campgrounds begging and stealing food from campers. However, ducks have dutifully filled this ecological niche.  Even though all holiday parks post signs warning campers not to feel the ducks, it's hard to resist a mother with ducklings.

Peter Pan flies again

Careful with the family jewels

Ohhh - but the duck is hungry

Despite our initial intention to visit the hot tubs, we pass and get back on the road to give us more time at Lake Tekapo and Mt. John Observatory. People tell us we've passed up some great hot tubs. On this day's drive we pass several of New Zealand's many lakes.

Fish farm on an lake

Mountains and trees reflect in the still waters of this lake

Our next stop is at the lookout at Lake Pukaki, which is another long glacial lake but with the added feature of views of Mount Cook on the far shore. We park at Peter's Lookout where there is a large parking lot and visitor center popular with tour buses.

Mount Cook on the far shore of Lake Pukaki

Aoraki/Mount Cook is New Zealand's most famous peak. Standing at 12,218 feet, it is a favorite of mountain climbers worldwide. Sir Edmund Hillary is said to have used Mount Cook as a training ground for his and the Sherpa Tenzing Norgay's first ascent of Mount Everest, which culminated on the summit in May 29, 1953.

Aoraki/Mount Cook

Several busloads of Asian tourists are also at Peter's Lookout, most like us are busily taking photos.  We get a kick out of some of the goofy shots they take.

We arrange for two campsites at the Lake Tekapo Motels & Holiday Park, which affords panoramic vistas of Lake Tekapo. The wildflowers are blooming profusely along the shoreline. Jill and I can't resist their sirens' call.

Spring lupines at Lake Tekapo

With our campsites settled, we take the short but narrow (as in one lane) drive up to the University of Canterbury's Mt John Observatory.  Night tours can be booked through Earth & Sky in the town of Lake Tekapo, but we have driven up to take in the amazing 360 degree views.

Mount John Observatory

View towards the town of Tekapo on the right

View towards Southern Alps with access road to the Observatory

The views are well worth the long winding road up; although, we do hope we don't meet any large vehicles on a steep section on our way down. The Astro Cafe at the summit comes highly recommended, so of course we have to try it. I have an "iced coffee" which is made with vanilla ice cream. Totally tasty and not at all on my diet. As with many places in New Zealand, we meet people from around the world at the Cafe. We exchange taking photos with some newlyweds from Amsterdam.

This is a great place to take photos

Astro Cafe

Fearsome foursome

Later, back at camp we are treated to stunning sunset show.

Ahhh - this is the way to camp

Gorgeous - simply gorgeous

Lake Tekapo and Southern Alps at sunset

Needless to say, we are far from the only people taking photos during this sunset. As the sky behind us lights up, I motion to a Chinese couple to look at the sky and not just at the lake. At first, they don't understand, then they finally look up and big delighted smiles cover their faces. Looks like photographers all around the world speak a common visual language.

Sky lights up behind the campground

Peter catches the moon

The cold winds at night have wiped the skies clear by early morning. Steve from The Shot is the early bird catching a good business from us and from the other campers. After checking out, we visit the nearby Tekapo Springs for massages and to soak in their hot pools. Hey - it's a tough life but somebody has to do it. 

Steve from The Shot fires up his espresso machine

good to the last drop

View of lake from Tekapo Springs

By the time we reach the spa, the weather is already doing its quick change act again. Dressing in layers and having additional clothes within easy reach is the only comfortable way to deal with the constantly changing weather. One moment it's sunny and warm and the next - freezing. Still the water's fine in the hot pools so none of us really mind the cold rain.

The hot pools at Tekapo Springs