New Zealand/South Island

If you like the North Island, you will like the South Island even more. Every one told us such, saying that the South Island is so much more beautiful. How? How can anything get better than what we were seeing? Well, Yes it can. By the bucketload. If North Island is the Prince, then South Island is surely the King. The beauty of this wonderful place is just jaw dropping. From the moment we landed at the airport it wasn`t hard to see what people meant. Goodness me it is so so beautiful. Our driver was the loveliest most chatty Kiwi we had met so far, asking us our plans, giving us pointers where to go, where to add, what to miss (nothing...) as he drove us to our first 2 night break in the city of Christchurch. Whoops, guess Mrs B didn`t quite get the scale of Christchurch. We were in the suburbs, and though the map said opposite the beach with just a golf course between us and the sea, this wasn`t strictly true. A bit more of a walk than we had thought we headed for the beach and the pier regardless as directed by the property owner, but we were not particularly smitten by the sea front, so decided that as we were so very tired anyway, we would do a `bit of food shopping` then take a taxi back to our loft apartment, and hit the main city of Christchurch the following day. Let me explain the `bit of shopping`....after the very poor choice of food options in South America, New Zealand is quite the opposite, and we simply cannot help ourselves. The food is like the scenery. Awesome, tasty, fresh, and varied. To say we eat well is quite the understatement, especially now that Bunny the Cook has so many more ingredients to play with.

Christchurch. A much smaller city than we expected, but like every other town here, ridiculously pretty, cute, tidy and friendly. Not knowing where to go, we followed the scenic tram tracks, we could have gone on the tram, but we do prefer shanks pony, and let the tracks determine our path. First stop the Cathedral. If you recall Christchurch was hit by a short but massive earthquake that destroyed a good portion of the city, and in particular its very iconic and old Cathedral. To date it is still in a state of renovation such was the desire to repair, not knock down and rebuild this old church. We saw many of the newly rebuilt buildings, other buildings with massive reinforcements to keep them standing, others with half tin half tile roofs, and some, like a very large derelict looking building, once a hotel we were told, still awaiting its turn to be refurbished. At the garden of remembrance we walked amongst the many white crosses, each of which was adorned with its own red poppy ( we are very close to the 11th November, but although it is a date of remembrance, the New Zealanders and Australians I believe, prefer to commemorate Anzac Day which falls in April) we tried to assist an elderly gentleman find his uncle, but alas the name was not to be found. He was a lovely guy, who proceeded to guide us to the more central part of Christchurch and its Town Hall, which was next to the most amazing concert hall. We had hoped to take a peep at the hall, but it was closed....or at least it was closed to everyone else bar us, when Mrs Bunny begged a town hall employee to let us take a look. The big act tonight? Jason Mamoa of all people, who knew he played in a rock band, cos I sure as heck didn`t! Obviously we didn`t get to meet him, but the hall in which he was due to play was empty, but pretty special. The next big act to play there will be Sir Cliff Richard. From the concert hall to dining hall, as once more our bellies rumbled and food beckoned. We had been given strict instructions that we could not leave Christchurch without visiting the Riverside Marketplace. A multi venue eating place with just about every genre of food you can hope for. Naturally Mr B swayed towards the liquid venues, whilst bunnies 2 and 3 hit the food stalls. We chose Spring Rolls, and Nepalese dumplings, and the best mango lassi drink. Of course we had to sample the cake stall as well, sharing the best Millionaire shortbread imaginable. He told us his wife, who came from Liverpool (we can forgive her that oversight) made them. Like everything else here, they were pretty darn tasty.

Van time. Can I just say, that Mr Bunny absolutely went straight to the top of the class, 3 gold stars and an Oscar, after deciding that the campervan we had prebooked whilst in the UK was going to be far far far too small for us. By now, we know each others quirks, sleeping preferences, and privacy needs, so he spent many an hour negotiating with the company to secure us not only a bigger campervan, but a 6 person motorhome for exactly the same hire fee!! We barely slept that night with giddy excitement to see this new and bigger bunnybus. Collected from the airport from a rental company that was super busy, they gave us the briefest set of instructions and sent us on our way. This briefest of briefings would haunt us later.

First stop, Lake Tekapo, whilst back in the UK little bunny asked if we would be in New Zealand in November. With yes being the correct answer the excitement was palpable when she said Oh goody, we will get to see the Lupins. Lake Tekapo, after passing every scenic eyes on stalks vistas, we made it to the lake. I admit, I cried. I cannot describe to you just how blue, scenic, picturesque and utterly beautiful this Lake is. It is the colour of a perfect summer sky, on a blissfully sunny day. Bedecked by the gorgeous lupins that adorn the lake side, and backed by snow capped mountains it truly is a sight to behold. Very sad to know that the locals hate the lupins as they are an invasive species of plant, their colours of pinks and purples complement the lake so charmingly. The utterly charming little Church of The Good Shepherd stands on the bank of the lake, and I swear if that little church charged a dollar for every photo its been in, it would be the richest little church building in the world. We spent a long time just gazing at the beauty of this lake, before we headed off to a yet `more beautiful` lake, Lake Pukaki. Yes, the lake itself was equally blue and beautiful, but the lupins there had quite clearly been doused with a plant killer leaving sad dark stalks. Lack of lupins aside, we set up to spend our first night freedom camping on the Lake side. Table and chairs set up. cold drinks poured, now for some food.......ever tried lighting a gas hob with no spark and no matches? Mrs B had to don the best smile as she wandered from van to van begging matches. After a long day driving, and a great meal, bedtime beckoned . Problem number 2. How the heck does the swinging, height adjustable table disassemble??? This nightly occurrence was to incur our wrath of 'urine extraction' for a further 10 or so nights until we gave up and left the darn bed made up. Learning that weather was closing in on the west side of the South Island, we decided to head straight for Milford Sound rather than visiting other towns on the way, and made the best decision in doing so. We spent the whole day driving but given the beauty of the South Island, this was no hardship.

The whole of the road leading to Milford is geared up for camping, motorhomes and caravans on every level. There are at least 7 freedom sights, some paid sites, fully fledged holiday parks and lots of others. NZ is geared up for Motorhomes, and it is no more difficult finding space for a motorhome than it is a car. Anywhere. We camped in a large semi shale, hard decked field, and we call it the place where Mr B swore he saw a Kiwi but didn`t. To clarify, this bird had wings and a long beak. It was bold and brash stealing from peoples picnics, and it was 6pm. A true Kiwi is flightless, long pointed beak, is super timid, lives in deep dense quiet forest areas, and only comes out at night time. Long story short, the only true Kiwi we saw was the one Kiwis backside in the North Island bird sanctuary.

Milford Sound.

There are many `Sounds` similar to fjords, or the same? I truly do not know the difference. We chose the popular Milford Sound for its ease of accessibility, rather than Doubtful Sound with its reputation of being slightly more spectacular. There are many boats, and many boat operators, I chose the biggest looking boat Milford Haven. The trips are not cheap, but whichever boat you chose, the views are the same. Amazing, spectacular, and just wow on every level. The boats drive along the cliff edges, passing by the magnificent cliffs and massive waterfalls. Our weather was picture perfect, and made for a superb 2 hour boat trip. At the end of the Sound as we approached the sea, a pod of local dolphins appeared. Some bright spark on the boat kept spotting the odd penguin, but given that he was glued to his size 36 magnifying telescope, most other people on the boat deigned to give his sightings no more than a cursory glance in the approximate direction. Doubtful Sound, you may(?) be more beautiful but you really don't need to be, happiness fulfilled in the most perfect tranquillity of Milford Sound,

Heading Northwards again, our journey continues...