Day 1: explore Christchurch by foot and by tram

Kayleen Thompson and i are enjoying the Tranzalpine trip in NZ

Day 2: Tranzalpine train journey from Christchurch to Greymouth and back. Photo is in Greymouth - the memorial dedicated to miners who have died at work.

Day 3: collect camper and drive away from the rain. A stop at a lake at wine o’clock. Ashburton overnight

Day 4: towns of Geraldine (coffee and walk) and Timaru (lunch, Caroline Bay and lighthouse, Māori art display, walk, coffee, camp)

Day 5: From Timaru to Waimate for coffee. Past lakes and power stations to Otematata. Lunch stop at Deep Hole. Paul tempted to swim (and he did). To beautiful Victorian Oamaru - old buildings, harbour, a seal, and little blue penguins waddling past us, so close, even nesting in our caravan park.

Day 6: Reluctant to leave Oamaru, we eat breakfast at The Collective cafe in Harbour Street. There was a vintage car club meet (treat) at a park on the short walk to breakfast. We detour to see Moeraki Boulders, and The Coast Road through Karitane and Seacliff.

Our surprise at beautiful Dunedin was a Scottish Band festival or comp of some sort. Bagpipes galore!

Staying at Portabello.

Day 7:

St Clare Beach for coffee, Kaka Point, Owaka and, at recommendation, back to Cannibal Bay and Newhaven Beach to see Sea Lions. yep, they were just lazing on the beach (but no photos to share here sorry).

Stay at Newhaven

Day 8:

Up early to catch the low tide to see Cathedral Caves. McLean Falls. The petrified forest. Curio Bay (lunch stop). Invercargill.

Oh, must add for Fiona Cassidy, we had lolly cake for afternoon tea.

Sorry that I haven’t taken photos of caves and falls on my phone so that I can include some here…And I haven’t transferred them from my camera yet.

Day 9 (Tuesday): with rain forecast for the next few days we booked Doubtful Sound trip for Friday. After taking a drive to The Bluff (south of Invercargill) we head inland (wheat, sheep and cattle country) to check the cycle paths - via Gore, Tapanui to Freedom camp at Pinders Pond. We note the bike path along the Clutha river but not tempted to hire bikes in the rain.

Day 10: a wet, cool start to the day. Pinders pond was 9 degrees as we pulled out at 10am. Nearby quaint Roxburgh for coffee. Fruit growing between Roxburgh and Alexandra (we have to taste). Lunch stop at Ranfurly where it was 6 degrees at 1pm (expecting a top of 8 degrees - not sure they made it). Beautiful and awesome country - Rocky outcrops, hills, valleys, fields, sheep. Otago rail trail looks great too but weather is miserable for the (plenty) cyclists today. Camp at Balclutha (with sunshine).

Day 11:

Cutting across country - Highway 1 to Gore, then across to Te Anau. Manage to get a campsite at Manapouri, a campground with a morris minor collection and our site with view of Manapouri lake. A walk to the lake and a drink at a bar (converted old church).

Le meilleur emplacement de camping jusqu'à présent. Nous sommes sur le lac Manapouri.

Day 12:

Doubtful Sound Tour - boat across Manapouri Lake, coach across Wilmot Pass, boat cruise for 3 hours around Doubtful Sound. Then coach and boat back to Manapouri.

Beers and dinner at the Cathedral Cafe/Bar.

What a day!!! Awesome!!! Brilliant weather. Apparently we had a very Atypical day.

Again, most photos are still on my camera. though photos can’t do the place justice.

Day 13:

Morning (takeaway) coffee at Te Anau - and we take it to the lake to admire the views and activity. Then drive into Milford Sound (to the harbour) and out again, stopping at various viewpoints along the way. Another awesome day, beautiful warm fine weather and that drive is something else!

Camping at Mackay Creek campsite in the Fiordland National Park alongside the Eglinton River

Day 14: A drive day. Morning tea back in Te Anau. Beer and cheese platter at the Bathhouse cafe at Queenstown. Strange to see the beach so busy with swimmers and sunbathers , and waterskiers (we are usually here in winter for snow skiing).

To Cromwell and stay at nearby Bannockburn. The country we are driving through is still amazing (I need a thesaurus as amazing is overused in these posts) - a picture postcard view at every turn and in every direction you look.

Day 15: We take a look further east, driving to Omarama via Lindis Pass. Another amazing (that word again) drive rugged mountains, dry looking country, sheep country (where the sheep are making our Icebreaker brand clothes - 4 garments per fleece) but we didn’t see many sheep or much of anything green. Then back through Lindis Pass to Wanaka where we laze on the beach and take a swim. Camp at Albert River campsite.

Day 16:

Heading for the west coast… through another pass, the Haast Pass. Another (you guessed it)… ‘amazing’ drive. This place has so many mountains !! And lakes!! We stopped to see Blue Pools and a waterfall. Hit the coast and drive to Jackson Bay, then back to Haast.

We were lucky to get another brilliant weather day in NZ. Back to the west coast today, the trip through Haast pass was amazing. This shot of Jackson Bay.

Day 17: Unfortunately it was a wet day but geared up and went boating on the river, walking in a rainforest and looking for paunamu on the Waiatoto River Safari.

Drive up the coast to Fox Glacier. Bonus treat: the campground offered a 9pm guided walk to the Minnehaha Glowworm walk

Day 18:

Fox Glacier walk. We are in cloud. The glacier was in sun. Wow!

Franz Josef town for lunch. Franz Josef Glacier walk. We are in rain, a bit of sun on the glacier.

See kiwi at the Wild Life Centre.

Drive north: more mountainous roads, a look in on the Tasman coast at Okarito beach.

Stop, swim and camp at Lake Ianthe/Matahi.

Day 19: (have had to renumber the days…. My pancake post .. the real ‘day 19’ was lost.)

Day 20:

from Westport we took a drive to Cape Foulwind. And there was (possibly is always) a foul wind!! Had trouble keeping the campervan on the road.

Took a walk to see the fur seal colony and watch them and the wild seas for a while. then drive to Karamea…. Through another pass, then Along the coast with a narrow wedge of dairy farms between the wild Tasman sea and rainforest-covered mountains. (Would not like to be the milk tanker driver). Lunch and a brief walk at Karamea which is hidden back from the beach a bit. Stopped see Lake Hanlon.

A peak at the Tasman Sea at another spot was a bit windy. Camp at Berlin’s (Creek) Cafe and Bar… and enjoy a beer overlooking the Buller River but not the vicious sandflies!

Day 21:

Morning tea at the gorgeous little town of Reef ton, though locals must not realise that travellers visit on Sunday cos only one cafe was open (and busy!). Met the local miner at the miners cottage. BTW, it’s raining again, and cold. Via Springs Junction to Maruia falls then Murchison for lunch. Detour to St Arnaud to see Lake Rotoiti. From Motupiko we take a country road past hop farms and Apple orchards to Motueka, north coast.

Day 22:

From Motueka we take a drive up to Farewell Spit. Of course we had to cross a mountain to get there. A mountain called Takaka Hill… the most nail biting, breathtaking (as in, take my breath away, I’m holding my breath,I can’t look, freaking me out) drives yet. Lunch at ‘bohemian’ Takaka. A short walk at the start of Farewell Spit. Look in at Tata Beach.

Back track through Motueka and on to Nelson for the night.