To infinity...and New Zealand!

"Good afternoon this is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard this Rocket ship journey from Christchurch which circles the south island of New Zealand, provided by Spaceship Campervans. This service will be making scheduled stops at Dunedin, Invercargill, Queenstown, Fox Glacier, Franz Joseph and Kaikura before returning to Christchurch. We will be cruising today at an average altitude of 4ft with speeds reaching up to 100km per hour. The outside air temperature is around 20C, and with the exception of a few clouds the weather should be mostly fine.

We may encounter a small amount of turbulence during our flight today and this is most likely to be caused by either rock fall or gravel roads. I therefore encourage you to remain seated with your seatbelt securely fastened for the duration of this journey. A small selection of drinks and snacks will be available throughout the journey, and these will be dependent on the stock levels of the nearest supermarket. Sleeper class is available at the rear of the vehicle, but we would like to remind customers that this is only available while the vehicle is stationary. 

A small range of fragrances will also be available to purchase during the course of our journey, with this weeks special being "haven't had a shower for a while"; the latest fragrance from Dior, of which a tester is available free of charge.
If you require a toilet break, please inform myself and I will try and find a safe place somewhere within the next 200km. So please sit back and enjoy your journey with Spaceship Campers."

So as you may have realised by now we have spent the majority of the last 2 weeks touring the South Island of New Zealand in a campervan, but this wasn't before an eventful start to our time in New Zealand.

With our campervan. You can see me clutching the small gold tin of travel sweets that no journey is complete without :)

Although we were due to explore the South Island of New Zealand first, our flight from Australia would actually take us into Auckland on the North Island and from there we would make our way down south by a series of buses and a ferry. However with our first bus running an hour late, we ended up missing the inter island ferry and this in turn meant that we ended up missing our bus to Christchurch. As we had missed our trip to Christchurch we ended up missing our hotel room that we had booked for the night. So as we weren't in Christchurch that night we ended up missing the first day of our campervan rental. Therefore we had to scrap one day of our planned itinerary in order to get back on track.

* A worthy note to any other travellers making a similar journey to us; although bus times will often make out that there is enough time between the bus and the ferry, you have to board the Interislander ferry 45 minutes before it sails. The buses often run late (despite there being very little traffic) and so it becomes very easy to miss a ferry that you thought would not be a problem to catch.

Once we were on the ferry (which was rescheduled free of charge by the bus company) we got our first real taste of what New Zealand landscape can be really like. The deep blue waters on which we were sailing were flanked on either side by rolling green hills edged with a dramatic rocky face, and a couple of small penguins followed alongside the ship until we made free of the land and got into open waters. Likewise, as we made our way through the Marlborough Sounds into Picton on the south island the scenery was of the quality to take your breath away. 

Taken from the ferry between Wellington and Picton

We stayed that night in Picton as the bus company had also rebooked our bus ticket to Wellington, but that was not until the following day. Unfortunately the bus company accept no liability for accommodation in circumstances such as this, and so we ended up paying for both the hotel room in Christchurch that we could not use as well as the hostel that we hurriedly booked on our arrival in Picton. The town there is a lot smaller than we thought it might be, and I think to an extent it suffers from people driving off the ferry and passing straight through it without stopping.

After our bus journey the following day we found ourselves in Christchurch, where we needed to book another extra hostel room as we were unable to pick up our camper until the morning after (the costs of one late bus soon add up!). I was really surprised to see how much damage remained from the earthquake that the city suffered back in February 2011, with the rebuilding process only just now getting under way  According to our bus driver this period of time has been left deliberately by the government to ensure that any aftershocks or further earthquakes have passed before the rebuilding begins. There is still a large "red zone" in the middle of the city where the worst of the damage has happened, and this area is out of bounds to pedestrians and most traffic. There is a bus however that is still permitted to run through the red zone which you are able to take to see the main damage, but it is a lot more expensive than any other bus in town. Strange that a natural phenomenon that killed many people has effectively become a tourist attraction.

The next morning we stood keys in hand in front of our transport and our home for the next 10 days. Our Spaceship campervan had it's name "SANDO" stickered on the side, although we think this is a rubbish name for a spaceship. It is essentially a Toyota people carrier that has had the interior refitted to have rotating rear seats and a double bed included. Simple, but it does the job. 

Doing a spot of cooking at a camp site

Fighting to make up the lost day in our schedule we made our way down to Dunedin, where we went in search of our new best friend; the library. Often with free wifi and a power source at hand the libraries of New Zealand have become invaluable to us to ensure we can keep "in the loop" with facebook and emails while making sure we have enough power in the evening to watch a film in the van.

The following day was one of our longer journeys as we made our way down and around the coast to Invercargil, dropping down to Bluff (the most southern part of the south island of New Zealand) before beginning our journey up the west coast as far as Monowai.

Our next major stop along the way was at Milford Sound. Milford has a great reputation with tourists, and in a sense that worried us a little. There is little worse than finding a wonderful, tranquil and serene area only to find it is packed with too many loud (and dare I say in some cases ignorant  tourists along with just as many people trying to sell them useless pieces of tat. As such we nearly opted for the notably quieter Doubtful Sound, although time and money would not allow for this. We were however overjoyed with our time at Milford. We booked ourselves on the first cruise of the day through the fijords, and we were pleasantly surprised that it was not as overcrowded and as touristy as we might have thought.

Milford Sound

The boat tour was incredible, and on our way back we were even treated to a dolphin swimming in the bow wave in front of the boat. The scenery was spectacular, and it s easy to see why it is considered one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand. The road journey there wasn't half bad either, although it is currently only open during daylight hours due to a rockfall which is waiting to happen.

A few more days later and we found ourselves at the famous Fox Glacier. The one thing that you notice about the country is how diverse it's landscape is. Beaches, rainforests, open plains, mountains, glaciers, they have the lot. 

We had booked ourselves on a half day trek on the glacier, and we arrived full of excitement about all of the wonderful ice formations that we were going to see. Unfortunately the glacier didn't quite live up to our expectations, and we realised to get to see all of the cool things that are pictured in the booklets and on websites you have to take a helicopter hike at the mere cost of $400 per person. Slightly out of our price range! Don't get me wrong it was still good to get out on the ice and learn more about their intriguing creation and movement, but we just felt it left a little bit to be desired for the price we paid.

Vicky and our guide (Dora) scaling the Fox Glacier

During our journey we were mostly making use of campsites provided by the New Zealand Department of Conservation, some of which are free and some of them require a small fee (usually around $6 per person). From some stories I have heard there have been problems before with campers leaving a lot of mess behind while "freedom camping", and so these sites act as a kind of fair deal for everybody. 

The main event for us in the south island though was still yet to come. We journied coast to coast to make our way from Graymouth to Kaikura where we booked ourselves on a tour to swim with wild dolphins. You may or may not know that New Zealands temperatures are very similar to that of the UK, and so needless to say the water was very cold. Equipped with full wetsuits as well as all of your standard snorkelling gear we made our way out into the Pacific Ocean in a small vessel until we found a pod of a couple of hundred  "dusky" dolphins. We slipped down off of the back of the boat and into the water and instantly the dolphins all came over to see what we were about. There were so many of them swimming around us as close as only an inch or two away, while others were putting on an acrobatic display of dives and flips right in front of our very eyes. 

Me swimming along with one of the dolphins

The way that these tours are operated are really positive. The do not feed or train the dolphins at all to encourage them to interact with the swimmers, and everything is all completely on the dolphins terms. They have in entire ocean to swim away from people if they don't want to be near them, and you get a real feeling of it being a privilege of being let into their world when they stay and play with you. 

The weirdest sensation for me was not being able to see the ocean floor. Normally when I have been snorkelling the water has been less than 10 metres deep, with the focus being on the corals and reef fish that are easily within eyesight. In this case however the ocean floor was some 135 metres down, and all that was apparent was a sense of being at the top of a giant blue chasm with no way to tell left from right or up from down. The dolphins soon distract you from that though!

So now returning our campervan to Christchurch we turn our attention to the journey back up to the north island. Will it run smoother than our journey down? I certainly hope so, but the only way to find out is to check back here for the next instalment.

"This is your captain speaking. We have now arrived at our destination in Christchurch. The local time is still the same as when you set off, and the weather is now raining. On behalf of the whole crew we would like to thank you for choosing Spaceship Campers and we hope to see you again soon."

Oz: Over and Out

We have spent the last 2 weeks in a rural area just outside of the town of Wauchope where we have been helping a family with various tasks around their property in exchange for food and accommodation.

Our objective was to find somewhere that we would be able to stay for 2 weeks and  at the same time to try and learn a bit more about environmentally friendly living, and Peter (our host) and his family were able to offer us just that. Living with Peter were his son's Lewis and Billy, as well as a lovable cat and dog; a black Labrador named Banjo and a ginger moggy called Monty.

Billy and Banjo on the floor in front of myself, Vicky, Peter and Lewis (holding Monty)

All of the water in their house comes from a rainwater collection system with 3 tanks around the house that can hold around 20,000 litres each. The water is heated for showers and washing up by a couple of solar panels that are installed on the garage roof. They have a compostable toilet that over time is able to create a fertiliser for the soil and is of course water free. 

The family were all really easy to get along with and we would often sit and discuss our favourite films and music, as well as comparing different stories from our respective parts of the world. 
While the work was relatively simple, it has given us inspiration for ideas that we can put into practice back home along with many of the other things that we have seen over the last 8 months.

The only nasty experience that I encountered during the 2 weeks was being bitten by a couple of bull ants while we were trying to clear their nest that we had found while scrub clearing. While raking the vegetation away from the giant mound that was their home (so that we were able to burn them out with petrol without the fire catching and taking the whole forest with it!) I failed to notice 2 bull ants that had scaled my legs and were then stinging me on my neck and chest. For those that are not aware a bull ant is around an inch long and has 2 very large mandibles on it's head. At it's rear end it has a stinger like a bee or a wasp, and it holds on to you tight with it's mandibles while delivering it's sting. They are very aggressive, and will come towards you to attack from up to 2 metres away.

Bull ant

Banjo is a crazy dog and was full of excitement 24 hours a day. Every times we would set foot out of our room in the morning he would be waiting and would come running with an enthusiasm that made it look like you had been gone for a week. He adores chasing a stick or a ball, and having a tennis racquet and a downhill slope made the game lighter work for us!

On the few days that we were not helping out on the property we would tend to go into Port Maquarie where we were able to visit a Koala hospital and enjoy a couple of hours walk on the coastal path from the lighthouse point at the end of Miner's Beach. The Koala hospital was very interesting to visit and it was amazing to see how well a number of the koalas have recovered from very distressing circumstances. They are often hurt in collisions with traffic, and are also frequently caught up in the forest fires that decimate the landscape on a regular basis.

Sleepy Koala at the hospital

During our walk along the coastal path we fortunate enough to see a whale and a pod of dolphins that were all visible from the shore. The path is well used by walkers in the area, and it finishes up in the town centre bay front area where a resident pelican likes to use his large beak as a way of making people surrender some of their fish and chips in his direction!

The bay's resident Pelican

We were very sad when our two weeks with the guys came to an end as we felt that we had settled in quite well with them, and we can only hope that our work was good enough to reward them for the very kind hospitality that they showed us. So back on the road (or rails in this case) again we would be as we made our way to Brisbane.

We arrived only yesterday in Brisbane, but we are already again on our way out again. A bus to Casino and a train to Sydney followed by a flight to Auckland in New Zealand is bringing our time in Oz to an end. Yesterday in Brisbane we took a river cruise to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where you are able to visit and learn about Koalas as well as many other animals. There were so many different animals to see we struggled to fit them all in during our time there, but it was a really worthwhile experience on a gloriously sunny day.

Vicky feeding a small Roo at the Lone Pine Sanctuary

This morning, before departing for our 25 hour journey to New Zealand, we took a walk through the Roma Street Parkland which is home to many different types of Australian wildlife and plant life. It is strange to hear people mentioning Christmas while we are out and about as the days here are still getting longer and hotter!

So Australia down and just New Zealand to go. Bring it on! :)

Melbourne and Apollo Bay

Travelling overnight on the train to avoid paying for a nights accommodation didn't come without it's downsides. After a very "on - off" nights sleep we arrived in Melbourne Station to find ourselves a 40 minute walk away from our hostel at a time in the morning where the trams weren't even running. Refusing to pay the extortionate price for a taxi (they make the UK look cheap!) we set off on foot carrying all of our luggage and were delighted when the hostel's doors were finally in sight.

After our last experience of a hostel back in Sydney we were a little wary of what we might find awaiting us, but as we looked around the Melbourne Metro YHA we were pleasantly surprised to find a comfortable, clean and warm environment that didn't cost the earth to stay in. After a much needed hot chocolate in the hostel's cafe, we headed straight out to explore the city with the use of the free shuttle bus.

Unfortunately it was difficult to say that the weather we had in Melbourne was any good, so making use of the free bus (13 stops around the whole city) and the free tram (a loop around the Central Business District) frequently saved us from the cold and sometimes wet conditions while providing a great way of learning the layout of the city. 

Melbourne's free city circle tram

The second night of our stay in Melbourne we booked to go and see the famous Penguin Parade on Phillip Island. This is the official title given to the homeward journey each night of Little Penguins (that is their actual name and not a description) as they come back from their day at sea. As they grow to only a maximum of 30cm high the penguins are quite vulnerable to attack from larger birds during daylight hours, and so they leave and return to their burrows under the cover of darkness when the predators have gone back to their own nests. The phenomenon was first recorded back in the 19th Century, and it has now gone on to be a fully fledged tourist attraction with a visitor centre and seating areas from which to observe the penguins. Each night hundreds (sometimes even thousands) of penguins make their way out of the water, and the subtle lighting placed on the beach allows the spectators to watch them as they make their way up to 1km inland to find their burrows. It really is quite a sight, but unfortunately no photography is allowed as camera flashes have been proven to damage the penguin's eyesight.

Although we had planned to stay in Melbourne for 6 days, we actually decided to change our plans and head down to Apollo Bay where the YHA hostel was offering 3 nights for the price of 2. The main reason however for our visit was our desire to travel the Great Ocean Road. With private trips being expensive and short term car hire not being possible, we found that by booking a trip with V-Lines (bus and train travel) to Apollo Bay from Melbourne we could travel the Great Ocean Road for a couple of hours on the way to our destination. Not only that but it was far more economical.

Some of the coastal views over the rocky landscape are very impressive, and in places reminded us of Cornwall but with added sunshine! For it's low cost we were gobsmacked to see how good the YHA Apollo Bay Eco Hostel was. Not only that, but when we arrived we were upgraded from our dorm room to a private double room for no extra cost, despite the private rooms being 3 times as expensive! It actually ranked as one of the best we have stayed in on this whole journey so far, and with it's clean cut feel it was a great example of how less can feel like more. The hostel is 50% more energy efficient than other hostels of a comparable size, but the facilities were just as good if not better.

The shore line at Apollo Bay

On that first evening we went for a stroll down into the harbour and were shocked to see not only one but 2 stingray in the water that measured around 2 metres across. They were certainly bigger than any that Vicky and I have seen before! Only around 10 metres further round the harbour where the water was getting shallower, we found a pufferfish living among the rocks and plant life among many other smaller species of fish. It was certainly a surprise to see so much from dry land.

Pufferfish. Currently all out of puff!

The next day we set off to try out some of the Great Ocean Walk which was opened in 2006 (the reason for only  walking some of it being that it is 91km long). However due to the poor signposting of what is supposed to be the most impressive walk around led us to lose the path within half a kilometer, and we ended up walking around 7km by the side of the Great Ocean Road. After those 7km we managed to find a trail that linked our position back to the correct path and so we used that to make the return journey. Along the way we had a close encounter with a Tiger Snake (the 2nd most poisonous snake in that area) as well as bumping into a couple of Echidnas which are a lot larger than we thought they might be!

The first Echidna that we met. He's actually bigger than a size 5 football!

Before we knew it our final day in Apollo Bay was upon us and so we took the opportunity to go and gaze at the wonderful shoreline one more time, this time walking in the opposite direction to the way that we had previously gone. We checked in on the harbour on our way back to find our pufferfish still there and several more smaller stingray had also arrived.

A couple of days worth of travelling was now in front of us as we would make our way round to Wauchope on the East coast where we would be picked up to go to our work exchange project for 2 weeks. The return Great Ocean Road journey took us back to Melbourne where we had most of the day to wander the city again before we boarded the overnight train to Sydney. At Syndey we would have nearly 5 hours to waste before our connecting train to Wauchope that would last 7 hours. 

Next time's installment will feature the work exchange project in more detail, and that should be online in about 2 weeks time. See you then :)