New Zealand Part 1 : June 13 - 24

Wellington : Thursday June 22, 2006

Boy the McKinneys got out of Dodge just in time! We woke up to bitter cold, high winds and tons of rain. The news had indicated that a big storm front was moving in today and we had thought it best to get on the road early with the hope that we would make it over the passes before the worst of it hit. We retraced our steps from two days before as we headed south along the lake to Tongariro National Park. Once again the Desert Road was closed due to snow and ice. The radio was reporting that 20-30 truckers had been stranded up on the pass. The only route open to us was along the west side of the park. As we drove further down past the pull offs we had used before to take pictures of Mt. Doom, we realized just how thick the cloud cover was. We couldn’t even see the mountains today and they were only 1-2 km away! Then the rain started….

As we headed down the road, the rain got heavier and heavier. By the time we were heading over the pass to the town of Wanganui, the kids were dead to the world asleep. Too bad Deb couldn’t do the same. Every time we pulled out to pass on the twisty road, all I got were gasps and squeezed eyes from the passenger seat. Soon the highway began to really deteriorate and we were dodging rock falls that took over ¾ of the road or water falls that were falling into our lane! Eventually we made it out of the drainage basin and hit the coastal road. While the winds were high, at least the rain had dropped off. We found out later that they closed the road 2 hours after we passed through. All roads north were now closed and remained so for the next 3 days! Everybody was stranded in Taupo! At least we could have told them about a great place to stay.

We ended up arriving in Wellington around 1:00 and checked into our hotel (The Intercontinental). We decided to upgrade to a higher end room for $40 per night incremental cost. For that we got breakfast for 4, 24 hour internet, drinks, open bar, high tea and parking. If it seemed like a good deal, it was! We would highly recommend this place!

We had a lot to do still, so after dropping the bags and donning our raingear (it was pouring again) we headed out once more. The civic center located a block off the water front had some amazing architecture. The kids were very impressed with the large globe of silver ferns supported by wires in the middle of the square. The “Land to Sea” bridge connected the civic center square with the waterfront. It was covered with rustic wooden sculptures but truth to tell none of us could figure out what it meant. It was kind of like Maori traditional meets Picasso.

Located just on the other side of the bridge was the Te Papa Tongarewa, or the Museum of New Zealand. This was another huge freebie (donation requested), and a great way to spend a rainy afternoon. Like its sister in Auckland, it focused on the relationship between land and sea and the formation of New Zealand. It probably had a better exhibit on New Zealand’s unique geological situation, but while the Maori culture stuff was excellent the exhibit in Auckland was a bit better. The kids had a blast however and especially liked the section on biosecurity. Biosecurity is a huge thing here in New Zealand and tourists are faced with stiff fines for bringing in any kind of plant or animal. You even have to declare hiking boots for inspection now, in case any non-indigenous plant material is caught in the treads!

The highlight of the visit for the kids however was the brand new Lord of the Rings attraction. This exhibit featured the old sets, costumes etc. (including the famous ring) from the three movies. Peter Jackson is based out of Wellington so the local museum was the first to host this exhibit before it makes its way around the world. The kids met up with us an hour later (Deb and Brian took a pass on the exhibit as there was a surcharge) and it was off to search for some dinner. It had been a very long driving day so we were looking forward to a good night’s sleep.

Friday, June 23, 2006: Wellington, New Zealand

We woke up and realized that it was only a month until we would be back in Canada. Wow has this trip gone by fast! The news on TV was all about the weather. We were only now realizing how lucky we had been to make it down south. Another hour or two later starting yesterday and we would still be in Taupo along with hundreds of other stranded truckers and travelers. Everybody is lucky Brian is such an early bird.

Our plans for the day called for us to do a drive around the coastal route in the morning followed by a city walk in the afternoon. (Yes, Brian does have things planned out to that level of detail). Brennan was tired of driving and opted to stay behind and do some homework that Brian had set out for him to do. This was math, and pretty advanced stuff. Brian had him doing several Trig problems that involved calculating angles of descent, velocities and distances from their sledging trip. There was also something about a bazooka, two trees and a ravine???? Brennan seemed a little frantic and intimidated but he ended up completing the three problems (it only took him 90 minutes).

As for the drive, it was terrific. The windy little road took us around the bay and through a bunch of secluded inlets and towns along the outskirts of Wellington. We ended up stopping several times for pictures and GPS co-ordinates. At one point, Deb hopped out of the car to take a picture of a signpost (of penguins) and almost tripped over a huge seal that she hadn’t seen. Actually the seal was on a rock 3 feet from the car door. We aren’t sure from the scream (Deb) or the CROAK (the seal) who was more surprised. The seal seemed to have calmed down faster than Deb however as after the first surprised squawk he simply rolled over and went back to sleep. It took Deb considerably more time to settle down. Her anxiety was augmented by the fact that the sky was filled with seagulls carrying mussels. They were dropping the mussels onto the tarmac road to break them. Unfortunately we were driving at the time, and Brian was just a bit disturbed watching it rain mussels from the sky, just missing the car. The best part was that the sun was shining during most of the drive around the peninsula.

We returned back to the hotel (in the rain once again) and checked in on Brennan. After assigning some more math work, Brian checked the weather forecast. We were scheduled to take the ferry across the Cook Strait tomorrow and it is not unusual for it to be cancelled (it was cancelled this morning). The swells can get up to 10 meters high! If it was going to be too rough, we would cancel our trip and stay parked in Wellington for a few more days.

After lunch (Paella!), Deb and Sierra wanted to see the western side of town, while Brian had wanted to visit the east. We headed off in different directions once again leaving Brennan behind to struggle through some more homework. Secretly Brennan was thrilled to be left alone for a day. After 2 hours we all managed to get back to the hotel. The winds were incredibly high (hitting 70-80 km / hr). Brian brought back groceries for breakfast the next morning. The afternoon and evening was spent playing monopoly and doing some more trip planning for the south island. By the end of the evening, we had hotels booked for the next several days. The weather forecast had called for 5 days of clear weather over the south island. We thought out our earlier itinerary and decided we would sprint for the west and south coast to take advantage of the clearing weather. This region is notorious for its constant overcast and the opportunity to catch the glaciers and the Southern Alps in blue sky was too tempting to pass up. Hopefully we get lucky!

Saturday, June 24, 2006: Westport, New Zealand  

We had to check in for our departing ferry by 7:00 am this morning, so Brian was rousting everybody out of bed before 6:00. The ferries that shuttle between Wellington on the North Island and Picton on the South Island are very, very large (even by BC Ferry standards). This is usually a 3-5 hour trip (depending on the seas), and in rough seas the vehicles are often chained down to the deck. Just to be safe, we had all popped gravol before getting on board. Before the boat cleared the harbour, there was a PA announcement that suggested that during the crossing “we will be experiencing some less than optimal sailing conditions”. Read that to mean the seas were rough and we were going to be rocking. The winds were actually at gale force and the swells were at 3 meters. As a result, the outside decks were closed during the crossing until we got into the narrow protected fjords of the south island. The actual time in the rough seas was only a bit over an hour and the kids and Deb managed to sleep almost the entire way. As bad as it was, the trips we had taken in the smaller dive boats ( Egypt and Australia) and the catamaran between Turkey and Greece, were much, much worse.

Despite the bad weather, we managed to arrive in Picton pretty much on time. The sky was even starting to clear. The rest of the day was spent driving across the island to the west coast town of Westport. The drive through the northern mountains was spectacular. By the time we got there, the clouds had all cleared and we blue skies. We are constantly reminded of the similarities to BC except for the fact that all the bridges here are all one lane. We must have crossed 100 bridges enroute from Picton. All of them were one lane only which meant you had to stop and make sure there was no one else approaching. Given the small population and the time of year, we were pretty lucky. We only really had to stop once. I guess that is why they opted not to spend money on two lane bridges. The rivers here are also all picture perfect fly fishing destinations. Why would anybody every want to leave??

We arrived in Westport around 3:30 and checked into the Chelsea Motor Lodge. This was another lucky find. As we checked in, the owner advised us about a seal colony located down the road. As we only had 90 minutes of daylight left, we dropped the bags and rushed back into the car. Cape Foulwind National Park is located 15 km south of Westport. Driving into the parking lot, we saw a huge sand beach, surrounded by very thick almost tropical looking foliage. The hike to the seal colony was only 15 minutes on a good trail. Looking down on the rocks we were able to watch hundreds of 6 month old seal pups, bouncing around the rocks. We weren’t sure where the adults got to (maybe they were hiding) but the pups were very fun to watch and according to Sierra they were a 10 on the cuteness scale!

We headed back to town as the sun was setting. As the rental unit came with a kitchen we opted for some home cooking. Dinner was pasta, garlic bread, salad and wine (not for the kids). What a way to welcome us to the south island. Now if the weather just holds ….( NEXT PAGE )