DAY 23 & 24: Final push to Christchurch and a day in Christchurch before flying to Auckland

Didn’t detail this bit in the diary. But basically it’s a drag to Christchurch around 200km down into the flat plains and along the agricultural belt of the eastern side of the country into move civilised country. I think we found it rather disappointing after the tremendous power of the west coast. It is a charming little place though with a fantastic Botanic Gardens.

DAY 22: Queenstown to Lake Tapeko (220kms)

Left early and got there faster than expected! So climbed Mt John to the Observatory. Really bonny the but Mt Cook not showing-it was only spring. There are loads of salmon farms, old gold mining outfits, vineyards and big scenery the whole way, the reservoirs are all full of glacial melt water and so have a spooky turquoise colour. Mt Cook is a 70km detour off the main road but I’m sure if the weather was good it’d be worth spending time there. I know friends had a fantastic time around Mt Cook when they went.

DAY 21: Queenstown, Arrowtown and dentist

Not my best day as I ended up in a dentists chair with antibiotics and a swollen face. But it could have been worse. We did go lugeing in Queenstown (this is mad fun and not one person I know could fail to enjoy it-you must try this if you get the chance) http://www.skyline.co.nz/queenstown/luge/. Buy tickets at the bottom of the gondola as it’s cheaper and get at least 5 goes! This is also the spiritual home of bungy jumpers everywhere and they have one here on the hill too. Arrowtown is an interesting curiosity of a place where the Chinese were involved in the gold mining.

DAY 20: Big Day Out. Dart Stables and Dart River Safaris.

Up early to drive to Glenorchy at the head of the Lake where we met our horses. Paul had a Clydesdale called Dam (15 hands!) and I had a chestnut called Sledge. We wandered down the Dart River with our horses and gained a new respect for anyone who could ride! This is serious Lord of the Rings territory and nearly everyone around the place was involved in some way or another and there are some great stories to be heard http://www.dartstables.com/ . This was for the whole morning. We latched on, by luck, to the Dart River Safaris for the afternoon fun http://www.dartriverjet.co.nz/ . These boats are the business. They can travel on around 6inches of water and can turn on a dime which makes for an interesting ride in the hands of professionals. The equivalent of handbrake turns gets everyone wet! You can take these rides further down river in town where the ride is maybe more exhilarating but the scenery doesn’t come close to what they’ve got in Glenorchy and around Dart and Rees Rivers. There’s also a 4 wheel drive bus tour with these guys through some of the Lord of the Rings hotspots and some useful local info on flora and fauna.
Found another good restaurant in town ‘Finz’ down by the wharf (BYO) for a good fish and chip supper.

DAY 19: Wanaka to Queenstown (100km)

Failed to walk the Rob Roy track (lack of enthusiasm and dreadful weather) so we went to Rippon vineyard instead where they make great Pinot Noir and is in stunning gorgeous setting (see left). It also has a golf cross course-you should see this game-it’s mad. http://www.puzzlingworld.co.nz/ and then when it’s raining Puzzle world is more fun than you’d expect.
The drive down Lake Wakatipa is unbelievable gorgeous. Its Scotland times 3.
Tourist information is town is run with military precision and they are very good at what they do. We treated ourselves and booked into the Coronation Lodge/Motel for NZD100 per night and it was only 5 mins from the very centre of town and was really very nice. (We ended up staying 3 nights). Ate at the Lone Star in town. Famous for big portions and they are not joking. Really nice place and do BYO too. Followed by the Red Rock bar (we later learnt this was a bit hit and miss but there was a good guitarist in the first night).

DAY 18: Continued the drive to Wanaka (270km)

The drive to Wanaka was strange after the flight. There are some spectacular places on the way down the west coast. There’s Knight’s Point, Haast Pass (very entertaining driving). Beautiful Blue Pools on the Haast River that are worth stopping at.
Stayed at the Lakeview campsite at Wanaka after unsuccessfully trying to organise a fishing trip-no-one fishes on rivers here. So we drank a bottle of Cloudy Bay sauv blanc on the lake side and ate fish and chips and fed the ducks as the sun went down.

DAY 18: Helicopter flight round Mt Cook and the glaciers

Our first break in the weather in 3 days and we were on the first or second helicopter flight that morning at 8.45am (booked previous night and they have to have a minumum of 4 people to fly but the time of year you‘re going sort this out early). Go for the full package even though it’ll burn a whole in the credit card (it’s the cheapest place to do this flight from although you can do it from Queenstown but it’ll cost an extra 150bucks per person). Also go helicopter-that way you get to land on the neve above the snow line which is amazing-the planes can’t do this. It’s only 45minutes and costs NZD350 per person but I’d do it again tomorrow. I’ve been in helicopters before but not in this kind of scenery it’s very special. The glaciers were awesome but then so was Mt Cook and Mt Tasman.

DAY 17: Franz Josef to Fox

This may be only 20kms on the map but it’s a healthy half and hour in a 1973 combi van. This glacier is very different in character and the valley it funnels through is extremely unstable looking in a ‘I know why they don’t tar the roads round here’ sort of way. Huge debris flows, and no stopping signs on one section for pedestrians on the way to the face! Oh and keas the smartest, funniest birds around and you shouldn't feed them.

We also did the Chalet Lookout Track which gets you above the glacier and at the terminus as it was in the 1830s (I think). Paul went fossicking here too! You can also get down to Gillespies Beach from here which was mined for its gold. it’s a great place to get rid of cobwebs as it’s really blowy this side of the island. Stayed in the Rainforest Motel for the night which was fine and ate in the excellent Neve Café-there aren’t many eateries in town but this one is great and very busy by the way so book ahead if you can. Fox is even smaller than Franz Josef.

DAY 16: Hike on Franz Josef

It's not for everyone but it's great fun and you get to the blue ice up top and a great view down the valley.
(You also get quite wet but the beer in the bar later is well deserved).

DAY 15: Blackball to Franz Josef Glacier (280kms)

These are big driving days but there are plenty of places to stop along the way. Hoki (jade) and one of the biggest towns on the west coast. Stunning scenery down to Ross where we went panning and Paul was bitten by the fossicking bug. We also meet some bigger campers!

From Ross its 100kms to Franz Josef. Unbelievable scenery even in poor weather.http://www.franzjosefglacier.com/ we booked a trek up the face for the following day with these guys. NZD120 per person with the Top 10 discount card. Probably a little too much for some but definitely walk up to the front of it and check it out. Its very easy and flat and spectacular. Stayed in the Top 10 campsite out of town but still within walking distance and it was only NZD28 for 2 people and had great showers (almost as good as Picton). Ate in the Blue Café at the end of the main street (you can’t miss it there is only one street) good value at NZD100 for the 2 of us and they charged 5 dollar corkage-a lot of places out of the main cities do BYO and maybe charge corkage on wine.

DAY 14: Nelson to Blackball (290kms)

Spent a little time in the Saturday Nelson market and visited the Hansen jewellers where we got dads 'precious'. Visited the Buller Gorge Swing bridge on the way over-your first encounter with gold country coming from this direction. Also the first experience of sandflies (very good outcrops of active fault planes here).
And onward to Blackball and the ‘Formerly Known as the Hilton Hotel’ where we camped for about NZD15 in the back carpark. An exceptionally quirky place if ever there was one full of gold diggers and fur trappers. Quite unlike anywhere else we went a really fun night with amazing people.

DAY 13: Renwick to Nelson

Failed abysmally to find the hill we intended to walk up (Mt Royal) so did some little walks in the woods at the bottom of the Richmond Range instead. Drove over to see the Boulders on the western side of the south island (we’ve missed out all of Abel Tasman already here). Stayed overnight in A Culinary Experience B&B (currently building new premises I believe) run by and American couple who seem to sail half the year and live in New Zealand the rest. Not the cheapest at NZD 255 a night including dinner at 45dollars a head (but she is a chef). We donated the wine as by then we had a large collection! http://www.a-culinary-experience.com/ .

DAY 12: RENWICK-wine tasting, high winds and Herzog Restaurant

Got away from campsite asap. Visited Villa Maria (well you have too). Arrived at B&B for the night called Antares http://www.selections.co.nz/ on Jeffries Rd.(NZD150 incl bike hire and a short stagger from the Restaurant) http://www.herzog.co.nz/ -booked way in advance-people fly from Auckland to eat here.
Vineyards by bike: Clifford Bay (nice but overall disappointing), Te Whare Ra (magic Guwurtztraminer-oldest vineyard est.1979), Cloudy Bay (obvious reasons), Allan Scott (best one so far).
Dinner at Herzog is a major financial undertaking but well worth it. At NZD200 per person all that time in campsites paid off. That does include wine matching and a 5-course degustation menu and fantastic sunsets over the vines.

DAY 11: Start of Queen Charlotte Walk (15kms) from Ship Cove to Furneaux Lodge

Booked the Cougar Line boat out there the previous night. They take you out (we took the 8am boat) and pick up in the afternoon-you just have to walk fast enough to catch it. The scenery is spectacular though and it was quiet at this time of year.
Camped at Blenheim Top 10 site (not to be recommended-right under the main road bridge in town) for NZD24.50)

DAY 10: Kayaking in Queen Charlotte Sound (15kms)

With Marlborough Sound Adventure Co (with Top 10 discount worked out at NZD85 per person). We were the only ones on the water that day. Blue penguins, gannets, shearwaters, spotted shags.
Ate at ‘Le Café’ in town-great hot and sour soup and nice bottle of Villa Maria ‘Seddon’ single vineyard Sauv Blanc (NZD46).

DAY 9: Wellington to Picton by ferry (3hrs)

Top 10 caravan site only NZD 26.5 a night and the nicest one we visited. http://www.topparks.co.nz/ you get a 10% discount at all Top 10 sites and a bunch of tourist visitors places if you present your card. It adds up quite quickly as many thins aren't cheap. Walked along the Scout track to Bob’s Bay. (Me above drinking a Huthlee 1999 Cabernet Franc).
Nice restaurant in town called ‘The Quest’ that probably used to be the ‘Marlborough Terranean’ in the guide books.