Our next big adventure.... Two years off work and backpacking the world!!!

We were lucky Friday night at Base Backpackers, there was no one else in the dorm with us. Saturday, we ordered an Uber to drive us to where we were picking up our rental car for the next 4 days over Christmas. The car is to get us out to our housesitting job in the Lower Hut area of Wellington. There is public transport but wasn’t sure over the Christmas period about availability. We decided on taking an Uber to the rental company, public transport was going to cost $10 and Uber was $15.70. Door to door with Uber, or a lot of walking and waiting for a bus. I set my offline maps up and we were on our way to Wainuiomata and our first experience in driving in NZ. I decided we would camp near the housesitting in a campground called Catchpool. It was only about a 15min drive from the house. The campground was classed as basic. My idea of basic is a drop toilet and an old rickety picnic bench and take your rubbish with you. The campground had flushing toilets, stainless steel pi...

In Christchurch we stayed 4 nights. First night we had our own room with TV and Netflix. There were no double rooms available for the next 3 nights. So, it was back in a dorm with 8 beds. Christchurch was reasonably warm at about 28 degrees. We have found in places that are colder, they don’t cater for the occasional warm days. 8 people in a room with no ventilation was horrendous. So now we are in Picton in our own room for 5 nights on the coast with an opening window halleluiah. It was a long day to get to Picton from Christchurch it took 10 hours. Distance would be about the same as going from Perth to Geraldton which is 5 hours. Our driver was called Lightning who stopped a few times for short walks and photo opportunities. The first walk was in the district of Hurunui and had a viewing platform over a lake and a nice 20 min walk on an Alpine trail. Next stop was the Maruia Falls. These falls were created after the 1929 earthquake in Murchison. The quake caused a landslide w...

Tuesday at Mount Cook was a nice wet 4 Degrees C. morning. After breakfast we went for a nice dry walk through Governors Bush. The walk has one of the last Silver Beach trees left in the area. The Stray bus we are on is a tourist bus. They have a set itinerary and stop at popular places to quickly take a photo then move on. The only difference you can choose to stay longer at a destination then jump on the next bus through. So, you are self-reliant on how to get around to sight see once abandoned in your chosen place. I wanted to go to Tasman Glacier, but was 10km away to the car park. You can pay for organised tours but are extremely expensive. I chose to hire a bike and ride there instead. The Tasman Glacier Terminal Lake was worth the effort. It is a lot larger than Hooker Lake we saw yesterday with far more larger icebergs. You get to see the other side of Mount Cook and watch its own unique weather being created from the west side of the mountain. After 4km of walk...

Friday was a little damp and we decided to walk to Ackers Point Track. On the way Sharon wanted to check out the Jade Carving by a local artist who’s been working with Jade over 40 years. You may recall we had a look at the Jade capital on the South Island. The town was called Hokitika and the Jade was reasonably priced and all the same colour Jade. When we looked at the Jade on Stewart Island it was a totally different shade. Being curious I asked the question. Jade colour varies all around the world from light green to greys. The artist buys his Jade from the west coast near Hokitika so the colour should be the same as sold in Hokitika which it is not. Apparently, their Jade comes from Canada and is mass produced in China. There is an obscure sign stating this in the shop. So, buyer beware when you think you are buying genuine NZ Jade. When we reached the end of Ackers Point Track we were graced with a couple of seals and their two pups frolicking in the rock pools. On the way b...

We have been on the move for a month now so on Saturday we decided to have a break, catch up on washing and blogs and work out what to do next. Stuart Island seemed to be the best place to do this. We changed our booking from Tuesday to next Saturday the 9 th December. Upgraded our accommodation from tent to double dorm and being Stray people got a good price. $20 a night each. Sunday went for a couple of hours walk to their Bather’s Beach then around to Butterfield Beach and up to Moturau Moana Gardens New Zealand’s southern most public gardens and has a great view overlooking Halfmoon Bay. Some of their fencing is made up from fern tree logs and continue to grow once back in the ground. Total amount of people we saw was 8. Both beaches had no one on them. Stuart Island for some reason has always been an attraction to me and have been looking forward to it since we began. Only 3% of the island is used by people and the rest is as natural as you can get. The longest hiking trail ...

Hello from Queenstown and defiantly the tourist mecca for New Zealand. This area is a very stunning  town and I can see why everyone is tripping over each other as it is just jammed pack with people and we haven't reached the top tourist month yet which is January. So Sharon & I had to be a typical tourist and caught the Doppelmayr Gondola to Bobs Peak rising 450m for breathtaking views over Lake Wakatipu. We also decided to do 6 luge runs while up there. We both had a fanastic time with perfect views of the lake and mountains as we zoomed down the track getting airborn and up on two wheels with the smell of burning rubber from the abused brakes and smiles all around. Wednesday morning was a bit sad had to say goodbye to my drinking buddy Kevin & his daughter Kaitlin from Vancouver. Also our driver Nat who is heading North again as we head for the deep south. We decided to go to Arrowtown for the day after a lot of people saying how wonderful it w...

Friday morning saw us on our way to Franz Josef Glacier. We had a stop at Punakaiki for pancakes. Had the backpacker special a stack of pancakes for only $10 instead of $18. Should of had one stack between us they were huge with maple syrup, cream & cinnamon. We gave our driver Nat one instead of wasting them. After the pancakes we walked over the road and followed the path around the coast through rainforest and the pancake rock formations. We stopped again for views along the coast and Hokitika for lunch. Hokitika is known for there Jade and driftwood. Then another stop at Lake Mahinapua to see white Heron"s blown over from Australia. Apparently if you see them it is good luck and your weather will be great at Franz Josef Glacier. Next stop and another Lake called Mapourika which was formed through glacial action. The day had become wet a gloomy the lake grey and the mountains covered in heavy cloud. We arrived at our accommodation about 4.30pm called Rainforest R...