New Zealand 2016

This trip started with a week in Queenstown celebrating my son-in-law's 40th birthday. We then travelled to the west coast of the south island to look at the glaciers before arriving at Greymouth to catch the Tranz Alpine train across to Christchurch. After a few days we caught the train north along the east coast to Picton and took the ferry across to Wellington.

On the north island we travelled around Wellington and then stopped at Masterton to catch up with some friends. Then to was to Napier to tour the art deco city and travel to Auckland via Taupo and Rotorua. Finally it was north to the Bay of Islands to visit more old friends before catching the plane out of Auckland home.

Saturday 22 October 2016

We caught the train from Taree down to Sydney, spending a night at a hotel close to the airport.

Sunday 23 October 2016

We took the early morning flight into Queenstown, but not without some drama. When we went to book in our baggage the computer would not accept them. Our travel agent had not included baggage on this flight and we had to pay a cool A$200 for baggage. We weren't overly impressed and further contact with Flight Centre would be had.

The flight was uneventful and once through customs and immigration we purchased a pre paid mobile phone to use while we were here. The family had rented a house out towards Arrowtown and it only took a few minutes in our hire car to reach there and find it.

Monday 24 October 2016

We had booked in for lunch at Walter Peak Station on Lake Wakatipua, a few miles along the lake, and the best way to get there was on the old steam ship SS Earnslaw from Queenstown.

We had a really nice lunch and watched some sheepdog work and sheep shearing.

Queenstown, NZ - SS Earnslaw at Queenstown

Queenstown, NZ - SS Earnslaw's boilers being stoked

Queenstown, NZ - Walter Peak Station from Queenstown

Walter Peak, NZ - jetty

Walter Peak, NZ - Sheepdogs at work. There's always one.

Tuesday 25 October 2016

Today we had booked a trip and cruise at Milford Sound. It was quite a long bus trip, with the first break after a couple of hours at Te Anau - another beautiful spot.

It was raining throughout the cruise, but that made the waterfalls better. Loved it.

Te Anau, NZ - break time on the bus trip to Milford Sound

Te Anau, NZ - near the Mirror Lakes (a breeze broke the mirror)

Milford Sound, NZ - exiting the Homer Tunnel on the way there

Milford Sound, NZ - very scenic harbour

Milford Sound, NZ - waterfalls everywhere

Milford Sound, NZ - it may be raining, but it's still beautiful

Milford Sound, NZ - wind blowing a waterfall away

Milford Sound, NZ - large waterfall

Milford Sound, NZ - the sun came out on the way home

Wednesday 26 October 2016

We booked in for a round of golf at Queenston Golf Club.

Queenstown, NZ - the golf club from the summit

Thursday 27 October 2019

This was my son-in-law's birthday, so we took the gondola ride up to the summit for lunch at the restaurant.

Queenstown, NZ - riding the gondola to the summit restaurant

Queenstown, NZ - the view from the restaurant

Queenstown, NZ - bungee jumping

Friday 28 October 2016

I drove down to Omarama, the gliding centre in the region, but with low cloud and little wind there was not much activity, but great to have seen it and had a coffee at the famous gliding cafe.

Omarama, NZ - sleepy little town

Omarama, NZ - world renown gliding centre

Omarama, NZ - unfortunately no activity at the airstrip

Saturday 29 October 2019

We all drove to Glenorchy for lunch. It was a cold, windy day, but out of the wind it was quite pleasant, and the scenery was beautiful.

Glenorchy, NZ - Mount Earnslaw

Glenorchy, NZ - Lake Wakatipua looking towards Queenstown

Glenorchy, NZ - Lake Wakatipua looking towards Glenorchy

Glenorchy, NZ - jetty

Glenorchy, NZ - shortest railway. 100 metres from jetty to shed.

Sunday 30 October 2016

We left Queenstown today, driving to the scenic Wanaka and along the lakes edge, crossing over at The Neck to Lake Wanaka and then into the Makarora Valley and over the Haast pass to the west coast.

Makarora Valley, NZ

Makarora Valley, NZ - beautiful scenery

Haast Pass, NZ

We booked into our hotel at Fox Glacier and then drove to the Franz Josef Glacier to join in the glacier walk.

The guided tour allowed us to take a route not available to the public. We also received lots of good information. They also provided us with rain coat, socks and boots, and gave us beanies to keep.

I felt it was good value.

Franz Josef Glacier, NZ - waterfalls

Franz Josef Glacier, NZ - we joined a guided tour

Franz Josef Glacier, NZ - huge ice cave

Monday 31 October 2016

Today we walked up to the Fox Glacier.

Fox Glacier, NZ - from the viewing lookout

Fox Glacier, NZ - big valley

Fox Glacier, NZ - end of the glacier

After walking to the glacier we drove further along the coast to Greymouth. Greymouth is a mining town where the mines have closed, so I suppose tourism is a major player in its economy as it is the start/end of the Tranz Alpine railway.

Greymouth, NZ - road and railway bridges

Greymouth, NZ - empty docks

Greymouth, NZ - busy docks 100 years ago

Greymouth, NZ - checked out the railway station for car return

Tuesday 1 November 2016

We had a leisurely start to the day as the train didn't leave until after lunchtime. I had discovered that the car return was simply a matter of parking the car in the car park and then dropping the keys into a box at the railway station. We booked our baggage in at the station and then went for a walk to the nearby warehouse store.

After lunch we departed for Christchurch on one of the most scenic railways in the world.

Greymouth, NZ - our train to Christchurch arrives

Moana, NZ - very wet passing Lake Brunner

Arthurs Pass, NZ - almost at the top of the pass

Arthurs Pass NP, NZ

Canterbury, NZ - Walmakarira River

Wednesday 2 November 2016

Christchurch had been destroyed by earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. The city is in a rebuilding stage, but there are many buildings that are empty or are being demolished, while others are waiting restoration. They realised they had to get a city centre shopping centre opened as soon as possible in order to bring a semblence of normality back. They did this using containers. I thought it was absolutely brilliant.

We took the tram around the city. It provided a good description of what was going on .

Christchurch, NZ - open for business

Christchurch, NZ - the "Restart Shopping Centre" made of containers

Christchurch, NZ - the message is "Everything will be alright"

Christchurch, NZ - buildings still being demolished

Christchurch, NZ - new buildings going up

Christchurch, NZ - the tram takes you around the city

Christchurch, NZ - I have doubts about some buildings

Christchurch, NZ - Cathedral is in insurance limbo. (Update: We have heard it is now being repaired)

Christchurch, NZ - the botantical gardens are a nice relief to the city

Thursday 3 November 2016

Today we were getting the Coastal Pacific train up to Blenhiem to spend the night there before continuing the trip to Picton to catch the ferry to Wellington. This train goes through some of the favourite holiday towns, such as Kaikoura.

Sadly, it was only a few days later that the railway and road were destroyed in an earthquake.

The hotel was great and we had a nice dinner in the bar area.

Coastal Pacific Railway, NZ - nearing a tunnel at Kaikoura

Coastal Pacific Railway, NZ - snow capped mountains inland

Blenheim, NZ - no taxis, so we walked to the hotel

Blenheim, NZ - our hotel was very nice

Blenheim, NZ - we liked the town

Friday 4 November 2016

We were to carry on with the travel to Picton, picking up the train near midday. It was only a short trip into Picton, and there we ensured our bags were going onboard the ferry.

The ferry crossing was calm (thankfully) and we had paid extra to enter one of the private lounges. It was great to be able to stretch out for a snooze and food kept coming.

We picked up our car on arrival and drove to our hotel in town.

Picton, NZ - the train terminal and all bags taken to the ferry

Marlborough Sound, NZ - sailing down the sound

Marlborough Sound, NZ - sailing out into Cook Straight

Saturday 5 November 2016

We spent the day touring around the coast, having lunch at the harbour and driving up to the lookout.

I remember flying in here during a storm in 1998. Apparently the winds were gusting to 50kts. The 737 was being thrown around like a toy.

Ataturk Bay, NZ - named after Gallipolee due to its shape

Wellington, NZ - Alan looking relaxed

Wellington, NZ - loved this sculpture (Sea urchins)

Wellington, NZ - view to the city from the lookout

Wellington, NZ - not a lot of room for an airport

Sunday 6 November 2016

The drive today was up to Masterton where we had booked into a motel. We had a long chat with the owners and although we had plans to go out to dinner, we ended up having KFC instead.

Monday 7 November 2019

First thing in the morning we looked around town before meeting up for lunch with some old friends and afterwards we drove to Napier. We stayed in a nice hotel on the beachfront. I did find the black sand hard to get used to.

Napier was destroyed by an eathquake in 1931 and when the city was rebuilt it was all done in Art Deco. This has been retained and has produced a really nice place.

Napier, NZ - black sand beach

Napier, NZ - Art Deco hotel

Napier, NZ - the town centre was all Art Deco

Napier, NZ - I'm glad they have retained the Art Deco

Napier, NZ - looks like a lot of timber on the wharfs

Tuesday 8 November 2016

The weather wasn't that nice, with very strong winds as we drove to Lake Taupo. It was so windy, we grabbed some lunch at the local sandwich shop and found somewhere to park to eat it.

Lake Taupo, NZ - strong winds on Lake Taupo

On the road to Rotorua we came across an area of hot springs called the "Craters of the Moon", so, of course, we had to take a look.

Lake Taupo, NZ - entrance to Craters of the Moon"

Lake Taupo, NZ - the walkway around the steaming springs

Lake Taupo, NZ - more steaming springs

From there we drove to Rototua to stay at the Ibis. We have an in-family joke about which wall our window in an Ibis hotel will look at, but here our room, on the fourth floor looked out over the lake.

In the evening we were picked up for a Maori Cultural evening. There were lots of people there, but a good night was had.

Rotorua, NZ - Maori warrior canoe

Rotorua, NZ - no Maori show would be complete without a haka

Wednesday 9 November 2016

We spent the morning walking around Rotorua. The lake was quite pictureque and we could smell the sulphur in the park.

Rotorua, NZ - nice lake

Rotorua, NZ - we could smell the sulphur while walking around the park

Rotorua, NZ - boiling mud in the park. No wonder they are fenced off

We drove into Auckland, staying at the Best Western President Hotel. I thought it was rather amusing as this was the USA election day, and as we sat in the hotel room watching, we could not believe our eyes as Trump got elected. What is the world coming to?

Thursday 10 November 2016

Today we drove from Auckland up to Kerikeri in the Bay of Islands to stay with some old friends there. It had been many years since we met previously when I visited Wellington in 1998.

After a leisurely lunch we went out on their boat to look at the local area. It's a beautiful area and a great cruising ground.