Month: January 2021

February 08, 2019

The final destination for today was the town of Wanaka (estimated 3 hours 35 minutes drive time). We got a later start this morning since we had free breakfast at the hostel at 7:30. I had cereal and orange juice. The cereal with dried fruit reminded me of trail mix.

The weather was partly cloudy and views toward Franz Josef Glacier were very nice. I pulled off to the side near the glacier access road to snap a few photos.

We drove on to the town of Fox Glacier and took a side road to see Lake Matheson. This was billed as a great place to see the Southern Alps as a backdrop to the lake, with reflections of the mountains on a still day. By the time we arrived the clouds had rolled in, but there was still a partial view of the mountains. We found out that access to the lake would be an hour round trip walk. I was under the impression that the lake was a lot closer to the road. Also, the place was inundated with tour buses. It looked like a tourist trap so we bailed out.

We drove south to the west coast for one last look at the beaches there. The weather was less cloudy at the coast. We stopped briefly at Bruce Bay, Knights Point Lookout, and the Tauparikākā Marine Reserve at Ship Creek. There we went on a boardwalk that crossed some sand dunes and led down to a rocky beach.

The road then headed inland through Mount Aspiring National Park and climbed to Haast Pass. The surrounding forest was extremely lush with lots of ferns. We stopped to see Roaring Billy Falls. The river below the falls had a gorgeous blue color from the glacial deposits. It was what I had hoped to see Hokitika Gorge look like a few days ago. There were also great views of the surrounding mountains.

Another nice spot along the road was the Landsborough Valley which had a good view of the mountains near the confluence of the Landsborough and Haast Rivers.

We also stopped to see Thunder Creek Falls and Fantail Falls. Both were short hikes from the road. Thunder Creek Falls was the more impressive of the two, while Fantail Falls had hundreds of whimsical rock cairns that people had built in the surrounding river bed.

We stopped near Cameron Flats at a river access pullout to eat lunch. The sandflies at that spot were very bad, so we did not stay long. They swarmed inside our car as we were leaving, and it took awhile to get rid of them all.

Next stop was the trail to the Blue Pools. The car park was a zoo with a few campervans briefly blocking the entrance as they were searching for a spot to park. I am not sure what their problem was since there was a small side lot that had a few spaces. I pulled into that lot and we walked to the trailhead. There we discovered we were not at the closest parking lot to the pools, and it would take a one hour round trip from there. We decided to try to park at the closer lot. But that lot was completely full with no sign of anyone leaving. We debated whether to go back to the lot that was further away but decided not to since it was already mid afternoon and we had another hour of driving to do. This was one decision that I now regret because the Blue Pools are supposed to be pretty spectacular. We will have to revisit that area in a future trip and figure out a way to get there earlier in the day to avoid the crowds.

Very soon afterwards the road exited the lush forest and entered a much drier region. The surrounding hillsides were a golden color. Heinrich said it reminded him of eastern Washington. We stopped at a few viewpoints of Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. The Lake Wanaka viewpoints were extremely windy. But they were devoid of sandflies!

We checked into the place we were staying: Aubrey Guest House in a residential area on the outskirts of Wanaka. It only had a microwave oven and a few plates and utensils for cooking facilities, so our dinner consisted of some microwaved rice and chicken dinners. I did not think they were very good: too much rice and not enough meat and vegetables.

After dinner we drove to Glendhu Bay on the other side of Lake Wanaka. We took a short walk on the shore of the lake. The vegetation was still mostly brown and dry, but there were some nice views of the mountains in Mount Aspiring National Park.

We drove into the town of Wanaka to fill up on gas and then drove back to the guest house for the evening.

February 07, 2019

The itinerary for today was to drive south and inland to the town of Franz Josef Glacier (1 hour 40 minutes estimated drive time). We woke up to mostly cloudy weather in Hokitika. After we checked out of the room, our first stop was Lake Mahinapua. The side road to the lake was through a pretty fern forest. There we got our first good views of the Southern Alps, although some of the mountains were partially obscured by the clouds.

Back on the main road, we drove to a bridge that crossed the Whataroa River. Finally I got to see nice glacial blue water. There was a side road near the bridge that led to an I-site and a spot where helicopter rides to the glaciers were offered. At the I-site we obtained a nice map of the Frank Josef and Fox glacier areas. I walked down to the bank of the river to snap some photos of it and the surrounding mountains.

Our next stop was Franz Josef glacier. The side road to the car park traveled up the glacial valley and was slow going since it contained repeated sections where the road went to one lane. I think it was done intentionally to force drivers to slow down.

It was about a 45-minute walk on a fairly easy trail to the closest view of the glacier. For many years the glacier has been slowly retreating, so the end of the walk does not get up to the head of the glacier. But we had nice views of it, especially through binoculars. Close up we were able to see the jagged sections of blue ice. We were lucky upon arrival to get a partial clearing of the clouds, so there was a bit of blue sky. On the trail we passed multiple waterfalls, some very close to the trail. They were fun to watch and I took several videos.

Back at the car park, we took another short trail to Peters Pool. It was only a 15-minute walk to the pool. The still water of the pool offered a nice reflection of mountains in the background. Even though it was still mostly cloudy, it was beautiful.

Since it was still early in the day we decided to drive further south to see Fox Glacier. It was about a half hour drive from Franz Josef on a twisty steep road. There was a lot of road construction near the entrance to the glacier, and we found out that many of the trails were closed. The main trail to the glacier was also being redone. Access to the glacier was via a very steep and unpleasant hike up a temporary trail on top of the glacial moraine. In addition the weather was not cooperative. It was very cloudy and the views of the glacier were unexceptional. I did not think the hike or the time spent at Fox was worthwhile, and I would not go there again until the construction is finished and the other trails are reopened.

We drove back north to the town of Franz Josef Glacier and checked into the Franz Josef Montrose hostel. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we had a private bathroom and small refrigerator in our room.

We decided to eat out that evening. The Full of Beans cafe was within walking distance of our hotel. I had an avocado and bacon burger that was huge and delicious. We also had a side order of chips and beer.

Our hotel was very close to the Terrace Walk that was on the south side of town. The map that we had obtained at the I-site said this was a place to see glowworms! We walked there at dusk to see them scattered all throughout the side of the trail. They like bogs and stumps, dank weather, and overhangs. It was fun to see them once again.

February 06, 2019

Our itinerary today was to drive along the west coast south to Hokitika (estimated 3-1/2 hours drive time). We left Karamea very early to try to catch low tide at Cape Foulwind. Unfortunately the weather was not good. It was very cloudy and raining when we reached the trailhead, so we decided not to go. Instead we drove onward to the car park at the Tauranga Bay Seal Colony. It was still very cloudy but not raining. It was a 10-minute walk to the overlook where we could see many fur seals and their pups lying on the rocks below. It was a distant view, so we used binoculars to watch them. We also enjoyed views along the coastline. Even though it was cloudy, the rock formations were interesting.

We drove further south to the Punakaiki area. Along the way the weather cleared and it was only partly cloudy. We stopped at Irimahuwhero Lookout which had beautiful views of the Punakaiki rocks in the distance.

Next stop was the Truman Track in Paparoa National Park. This was a 15-minute walk down to a small beach that could only be reached a few hours before and after low tide. We made it just in time before the tide came in. There was a small waterfall on the cliff directly above the beach that was fun to watch.

We drove to the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and parked near the visitor center. This is where we saw the first tour buses on the South Island. This area was quite popular with many tour groups. The pancake rocks were geologically weird. The rock layers really did look like stacks of pancakes. We stayed in the area for a few hours until high tide, since we had heard the blow hole there was quite impressive during that time. On that particular day it was good for only a few minutes. I think the weather conditions were too calm that day for the blow hole to do much. It had turned into a very nice afternoon with the sun shining.

We drove to the town of Hokitika and checked into the Mountain Jade Backpackers, where we had a room with private bath and a kitchenette. Since it was not too late in the day, after unloading our stuff we drove to Hokitika Gorge. This was one of the stops I had been looking forward to since the water in the gorge was glacial ice melt and supposed to be a beautiful turquoise color. But I was disappointed to find it was milky blue gray on that day. I think the recent rainfall had much influence on the color. Still it was a very nice walk to the gorge. There was a swinging bridge that was fun to cross and had a good view of the gorge.

Next we drove to Dorothy Falls. Access to the falls was via a dirt road that circled Lake Kaniere. The waterfall was right next to the road, so it was a quick photo stop. We continued to follow the dirt road to the west side of the lake, but there were too many trees to get a good view of the lake from the road. We finally got a good view at the lake outlet where the road became paved again.

Back in our room we fixed dinner: chicken curry, peas and carrots, red pepper, and onion. Afterwards we took a walk to Sunset Point. This was the start of the long walk along Hokitika Beach where people were collecting rocks and decorating the beach with driftwood displays. Supposedly it was a place to hunt for jade, but we did not find any.

We watched a beautiful sunset at the northern end of Hokitika Beach. Afterwards we took the heritage walk through town to the glowworm dell. We found a few groves with quite a few glowworms. Their numbers were impressive for such a small area. After enjoying the display for several minutes, we walked back to our room (we brought flashlights so we were able to see where we were going: it was quite dark out by that time).

February 05, 2019

This was another beautiful day with sunny skies. The locals told us we are having rare weather for the west coast. I expect our luck will run out soon, but I am enjoying it while it lasts.

Heinrich did the driving today. It was about a 45-minute drive to Oparara Basin. Access was up a long narrow twisty gravel road, which we had heard was not advised travel for campervans. Since we got such an early start, the road was not an issue. Only one car passed us on the way there.

It was about a 20-minute hike to Oparara Arch on an easy trail. The arch was a natural bridge and quite impressive. The morning sunshine was coming through the top of the arch when we arrived.

Next we hiked to the Moria Gate Arch. Access to the arch was by climbing into a small cave. There was a metal chain that we could use as a handrail on the way down. This arch was beautiful, and there were cave formations all around. Afterwards we took the loop trail that went directly over the arch to a nice viewpoint of the arch on the other side of the river.

The loop trail went to Mirror Tarn, which was appropriately named with the reflections in the lake. I took a video with the sounds of my favorite New Zealand bellbird in the background.

We drove back to the coast on the same twisty gravel road. This time it was more busy and we passed 8 cars. Then we drove north to the end of the road at Kohaihai. Heinrich found a place in the shade to park the car and decided to skip the hike to avoid any more knee issues. I hiked the Heaphy Track to Scotts Beach. It was a 1-hour hike each way. The trail went up a hill through lush rain forest to Scotts Hill Lookout, a really nice overlook of the beach. There was a picnic table, and it was a great place to relax and listen to the birds. Then I hiked down to the beach. It was high tide with lots of surf, and the wind was not blowing, so I got my first encounter with the dreaded sandflies. Since I had the repellent on and was wearing long pants and heavy socks, they did not bite me. But they certainly were a nuisance on the beach, swarming all around me. I was the only person on that beach, and it was beautiful. I would have stayed longer but the sandflies were just too annoying.

The sandflies were quite territorial. As soon as I left the beach they were no longer an issue. Other highlights of the trail were a small waterfall and a long swinging bridge. My favorite part was the lookout to the beach.

We drove back to the town of Karamea and stopped at the store to buy a few groceries for dinner. Then we drove back to the holiday park and fixed an early dinner in the shared kitchen: spaghetti and salad. I killed numerous sandflies that had made their way into the car when it had been parked next to the beach at Kohaihai.

February 04, 2019

Today was a long driving day, maybe the longest of the entire trip. I estimated 5 hours driving time from Marahau to Karamea. It was another good weather day with few clouds.

After about 2 hours of driving we had our first stop at the Kawatiri Historic Railway walk. This was a short 20-minute walk to a old railroad tunnel. The trail went around the tunnel and then looped back through the tunnel. It was interesting reading information panels about the history of the area.

We had two other short stops at nice viewpoints: Buller Gorge and Kilkenny Lookout. Then we entered the West Coast region and drove to the town of Westport to get groceries and fill up on gas. There were no gas stations further north where we were going.

We followed the coast north and stopped at the Charming Creek Walkway. This was billed in the New Zealand Frenzy guidebook as a “must do” hike. It certainly was interesting with railroad tunnels, a swinging bridge, great views of the river, and a waterfall: Mangatini Falls. But the majority of the interesting area was after hiking through 30 minutes of nondescript forest, making it a 2-hour total round trip hike. Heinrich bailed out after we reached the waterfall since his knee was starting to hurt again. I walked further, went through a nice tunnel, and watched a Weka bird near Watson's Mill. Don’t get me wrong: I liked the hike, just not the first 30 minutes of nothing at the beginning and the end. Cut that part out and it would have been great.

It was another hour drive to Karamea. We checked into our cabin at the Karamea Holiday Park. This was by far the most spartan of all the places we had stayed. We had to pay $5 extra to get sheets and a blanket for the bed since only a bottom sheet was provided. There was a shared bathroom which did not bother me, but the cabin was advertised as having a kitchenette. Technically that was correct since it had a microwave, convection oven, hot plate, and refrigerator. But there was no sink and no utensils. The refrigerator did not have a freezer. So we ended up using the shared kitchen to cook our dinner. The shared kitchen had no plates or silverware, but there was a spatula and a few pots and pans.

We cooked our dinner of lamb chops, vegetable ragout, and baked potato. We used our paper plates and plastic utensils.

That evening all of the stars were out and we had a brilliant view of the night sky. I love seeing the Southern Cross!

February 03, 2019

We had booked the 9 AM Discoverer Day cruise (Astrolabe Beaches and Bays option) with Abel Tasman Sea Shuttles. It left from Kaiteriteri. We could have taken a free shuttle bus from Marahau to Kaiteriteri, but we elected not to since I wanted the freedom to stay later in the area. The road from Marahou to Kaiteriteri was very narrow and twisty. It was about a 20-minute drive. I am glad that we left early while traffic was minimal.

Kaiteriteri has a very nice golden sand beach. It is more of a main hub than Marahou for boat tours to the national park.

The first part of our tour was a 3-hour boat cruise up the coast of the national park. Every 15 minutes the boat stopped at a beach to let people on and off for their various tours. We just stayed on the boat and enjoyed the scenery. We had great seats on the top deck. We passed by Split Apple Rock and a fur seal colony. The captain had nice commentary throughout the tour about the various landmarks along the way. We cruised back down the coast and were dropped off at Apple Tree Bay.

The second part of our tour was the hike from Apple Tree Bay to Anchorage Bay. This was about a 7 km hike that was estimated to take 2 hours 15 minutes total. There were a few side trails that led to other beaches along the way. Along the trail Heinrich heard some unusual pecking noises, and we found a mama Weka and her 2 chicks foraging for food.

We took the side trail to Stillwell Bay. It is a small but very pretty golden sand beach.

Next the trail climbed uphill and inland. We stopped at the Yellow Point Lookout which had nice views of the ocean on both sides of the trail.

We stopped at a nice viewpoint near Observation Beach. Heinrich decided to wait while I tramped down the 750-meter trail to the beach. At about the halfway point the trail got very steep, and I bailed out. It was taking way too much time and we had a deadline to be picked up by the shuttle boat at Anchorage Bay at 3:45.

The trail had many good viewpoints near Anchorage Bay. After we reached the bay we still had an hour to spare before the shuttle boat arrived, so I decided to hike to Te Pukatea Bay. It was a 20-minute hike each way. I rushed the hike a bit to make sure I had enough time, but I am glad I went since it was the prettiest beach seen so far.

The shuttle boat arrived early, and once again we got good viewing seats on the top deck. It was a 30-minute ride back to Kaiteriteri.

After we disembarked we wandered around the town and decided to have dinner there before heading back to Marahau. We ordered a meat lovers pizza at the Beached Whale restaurant. It was very good and reasonably priced.

We drove back to Marahau and had a relaxing evening at our room. I stayed up late to upload many photos to Facebook. After midnight I was happy to see that the outside lights were turned off. I wandered outside to the bridge over the creek, looked down and could see several glowworms at the bank on both sides of the bridge! I called Heinrich out to take a look. The stars were nice, too!

It was a great day with spectacular weather, and the trail, although busy, was less crowded than I had expected. People were spread out nicely along the way.

February 02, 2019

We woke up to another beautiful day with partly cloudy skies. After checking out of the apartment we headed north toward Golden Bay. Our first stop was at a lookout that had nice views of Golden Bay in the distance. The surrounding hills were golden, so I thought the name was appropriate.

It was about a 1-hour drive to our first destination: Farewell Spit. This was a long narrow section of beach that extended for several miles, but most of it was closed to foot traffic to keep it as a wildlife preserve. The road out to the spit was gravel for a few miles and ended at the Puponga Farm Park. There were many sheep grazing on the farm. We hiked up to the top of a small hill that had a nice view of the spit. There was a restaurant at the farm but it was not open yet. We were the only people in the area. It was so nice and quiet.

We backtracked down the dirt road and took a right turn to the next area of interest: Wharariki Beach. There was a small car park with a trail (about a half mile) that led to the beach. There was one camper van already at the car park: it looked like they had stayed there overnight. There were a couple of other cars in the lot, and that was it. Another quiet place.

On the hike we encountered a cow standing right in the middle of the trail, so we had to take a little detour. Once again we saw many sheep grazing near both sides of the trail.

The trail climbed over a small hill and then descended to the beach. There were many large sand dunes that we hiked over before reaching the shore.

This was an area where I was concerned we would encounter sandflies. But there was enough wind to keep them at bay.

The beach extended for a few miles. Offshore there were sea arches. The most prominent formation had three openings. The arches were far enough offshore that we were unable to get close to them, and it was not low tide. For the next trip I will check in advance as to when we have low tide. There was another arch located close to the beach that would have been accessible during low tide. We had to settle for photos from a distance.

We walked to the northern end of the beach where there was a solitary fur seal sunning itself. We watched it waddle over to a comfortable spot in the sand, where it proceeded to roll around. This area of the beach was in a nice protected spot surrounded by the dunes and small bluffs.

When we returned to the car, we found a male peacock wandering around the car park. There were many more cars that had arrived.

Our next stop was Cape Farewell. This was the northernmost part of the South Island. There was a short trail that led to the top of a bluff where we had a great view of the Cape Farewell sea arch. There was a hiking trail that climbed to the top of some sea cliffs where there had been reports of fur seals, but we did not take it due to time constraints.

We started the drive back south and made a restroom stop at Tomatea Point. This was a beautiful section of beach on Golden Bay. From there we had great views across the bay of the city of Nelson and the mountains in the distance.

We made the 1-hour drive back to Takaka and then detoured to a car park for the trail to Wainui Falls. Heinrich decided not to hike: his feet were still bothering him from the Tongariro hike. I hiked on my own: it was about an hour round trip. The trail led into the northern portion of Abel Tasman National Park. The forest was lush and beautiful. Wainui Falls was a gorgeous waterfall that cascaded into a beautiful green pool. It was a fun, easy hike.

I got back to the car at about 2 PM. It was time to head to our next destination: Marahou. We knew it was going to take at least a couple of hours driving since we had to backtrack over the steep, twisty road with sections of road construction. The side road to Marahau was also steep and twisty, so it was slow going.

The town of Marahau was very small with not much there. It was a main drop off point for hikers into Abel Tasman National Park and for some of the sea shuttles. We drove out of town and up a residential road that led into the rain forest, where our lodging was located. We checked in at the Buena Vista Apartments, a small privately owned accommodation that had three rooms for rent in a separate building. We stayed in the Samba room. It was very quiet and we did not hear our neighbors.

The apartment had a small living room, bedroom, and a kitchenette with a hot plate, microwave and small refrigerator. I fried potatoes, bacon, and eggs for dinner.

After dinner we drove to the entrance of Abel Tasman National Park, which was only a few miles from where we were staying. We decided to hike the first portion of the Abel Tasman Coastal Track just to see what it was like. The trail crossed a wide section of Marahau Beach which was very pretty in the evening light. We encountered a lot of people hiking out, as this was the end of their day. It was not as crowded as the Tongariro hike, but still more people than I had seen so far all day. We had read about New Zealand trail etiquette: hike on the left side of the trail, the same as driving on the left. The very first person we encountered, a European carrying a baby, stopped dead in front of Heinrich and made him walk around. Apparently he was not well versed in the trail etiquette. Next we passed a group of folks that were blasting music through their iPods. So much for peace and quiet and the sounds of nature.

After those encounters I was getting concerned about what our hike would be like the next day. We only went a little way further, up to a viewpoint of the next beach, before turning around.

Back at the apartment we had a relaxing quiet evening. There were laundry facilities outside the apartment, so Heinrich took advantage. The owners had told us to be sure to go outside after dark since there were glowworms along the creek. There was a small bridge across the creek that we crossed to get from our car to the apartment. Unfortunately when I went outside just after dark, the bridge was lit up with tiny white Christmas lights that made it impossible to see the glowworms. I hoped to check with the owners next day to ask if they could turn the lights off.

February 01, 2019

Today's destination was Takaka, in the vicinity of Abel Tasman National Park (about 3 hours 40 minutes total drive time). We planned a scenic drive through the Queen Charlotte Sound area with short hikes and stops at many view points.

The Palmira Lodge provided delicious croissants and chocolate muffins for breakfast, which we ate on the patio outside of the kitchen.

We checked out of the room and drove to Karaka Point. There was a 10-minute walk to a gorgeous view of Queen Charlotte Sound. I was so impressed with how green the hills were. We had another beautiful weather day with partly sunny skies.

Next we took the Queen Charlotte Drive and made stops at Governor’s Bay Track and Cullen Point Track. Governor’s Bay was a short steep walk down to a very small secluded beach: more beautiful views from there. Cullen Point was a hike to an overlook which needs some maintenance to remove some overgrown trees.

The road to Havelock was twisty the entire way, but it was not narrow so the drive was okay. It was worth it due to all of the beautiful views. I could definitely come back to the Queen Charlotte Sound area and enjoy spending more time there.

Next stop was the Pelorus Bridge Reserve. Underneath the bridge across the river was where a movie scene was filmed for The Hobbit: dwarves escaping in barrels down the river. We took a few short hikes to visit the river and a giant Totara tree.

Afterwards we drove to the city of Nelson and visited the New World supermarket to stock up on groceries and dinner fixings for the next three days. This may be the last large town we see for a while, so it made sense to reload the chilly bin.

Next stop was Hawkes Lookout which had great views over the mountains, forest, and ocean in the distance. Heinrich drove this section of road which turned twisty and had some delays due to road construction. We arrived at the Golden Bay Motel in Takaka shortly after 4 PM.

We had an apartment with a full kitchen for the night. It was a quiet spot with a grassy area and playground out back. We had chicken with honey mustard sauce, rice and salad for dinner.

In the evening we filled up with gas and drove to an area named The Grove. This was a 30-minute walk through a series of limestone outcroppings. We found small caves and arches, too! It was a fun area to explore.

January 31, 2019

 Today we said goodbye to the North Island. We slept a little later than normal since we had to wait for the car to be delivered before checking out. The car came at 9:15. It is a Honda Accent with only 30,000 km on the odometer, and a free upgrade. It has a nice, quiet drive. It does seem a bit smaller in the storage area, but the back seats fold down which helped everything fit.

We drove to Wellington to the Bluebridge Ferry Terminal. We left late enough to avoid the morning rush hour and it was an easy drive (30 minutes). After we arrived we had a couple of hours to kill before the car ferry departure to the South Island, so we walked along the Wellington waterfront to take in the views. It was a picture perfect beautiful day with blue skies. We stopped at a New World supermarket and bought sandwiches from the deli for lunch. I had a bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese. It was delicious. We split an apple guava fruit drink that reminded me of POG (passion orange guava juice, a favorite drink in Hawaii).

It was nice getting a little taste of the city. We intentionally avoided spending time in the major cities of Auckland and Christchurch for this trip since we prefer to visit the parks and natural areas. But the downtown area of Wellington near the waterfront was very pleasant and a good place to hang out for lunch.

When it was time, Heinrich drove the car onto the ferry and we found seats outside on the upper deck. The views of Wellington as we left the harbour were wonderful.

After we reached the open ocean, fog rolled in and it got uncomfortably windy, so we went inside. But after about an hour it cleared again as we approached the South Island. We went back to our old seats on the upper deck and had a great view of the Queen Charlotte Sound. This portion of the South Island reminds me of the Virgin Islands, especially St. John. It was very uncrowded with beautiful forested green hills surrounded by the ocean. The three and a half hour ferry ride was definitely worth taking.

After we disembarked at Picton Harbour, we drove to our room at the Palmira Lodge. It was only a 10-minute drive. Our room had a private bathroom and a refrigerator. There was a shared kitchen and an outdoor grill. We decided to make use of the grill and went to the supermarket to buy some beef fillet steaks. So we had a very nice steak dinner on the patio of the lodge, for half the cost of eating out at a restaurant. We had baked potatoes and a salad as well.

January 30, 2019

Since we had reserved two nights in Upper Hutt, our itinerary was to make a day trip south to Cape Palliser (1 hour 20 minutes estimated drive time each way). We had another nice weather day: partly cloudy. We started the day a little later than usual since we wanted to avoid the morning rush hour for our drive. After getting gas for the car, we drove up to the Remutaka Summit. This road was billed as the third worst road in New Zealand for motorcycle fatalities. It was steep and twisty to the summit, but it was a good wide road and I thought much easier to drive than some of the roads in Coromandel. We stopped at the summit and took a short walk to take pictures of the view.

Afterwards the road descended to the town of Featherston. We found a supermarket and bought some bread, and we also got more cash at an ATM.

We drove south to the coast to visit the Putangirua Pinnacles. We took a 1.5 hour hike up a stream bed to the pinnacles. This was a Lord of the Rings film location (the Dimholt Road). The pinnacles are badlands type formations where the stream has eroded layers of rocks. I thought they were quite interesting and different from anything seen in the states.

We drove on to Cape Palliser. The road followed the coast, and the ocean scenery was quite nice. There were several black sand beaches, mostly deserted. There was a lighthouse at the cape with 253 steps to climb to its base at the top of the hill. I made the climb and had a panoramic view of the coastline at the top. It was very windy up there, so I did not stay long.

About 1 km from the lighthouse was a turnout to a rocky point that contained a fur seal colony. This was our first encounter with seals in New Zealand! There were hundreds of them frolicking in the ocean, diving for food, and sunning themselves on the rocks. There were many seal pups playing. They were so cute!

We returned to the car to start the drive back to Upper Hutt. That’s when the fun began. As soon as I started the car, the Check Engine light came on. We popped the hood, checked the oil and fluid levels, and everything looked okay. There was no temperature gauge in the car, and we thought maybe it got too hot, so we turned off the air conditioning. We had no cell phone reception so we could not call anyone. I started driving slowly and everything seemed okay. After we passed a small town the speed limit increased to 100 km, and that is when we found the problem. The car refused to shift and I had virtually no acceleration.

We decided the only thing we could do was try to drive it slowly to where we could get cell phone reception. At that point Heinrich took over driving since I was having a mini freak out. We had to drive uphill to get away from the coast, and there were portions of the road that were narrow, steep and twisty. Heinrich put the car into first gear (that part of the transmission was still working) and managed to creep uphill at about 10 kmh. He put on the emergency flashers. Amazingly no other car came up behind us. We had to drive about 35 km before we reached a road intersection and had good cell phone reception.

Heinrich pulled the car safely off the road and I called AA road service. It took about an hour for the tow truck to arrive. The driver made a diagnosis that there was nothing he could do to fix it. He said he would tow it back to our hotel in Upper Hutt. I called the rental car company office in Wellington and made arrangements for them to deliver a replacement vehicle the following day at 9 AM.

It took about 2 hours to get back to the hotel. At least I did not have to drive the Remutaka Summit road a second time but got to experience the views from the inside of a New Zealand tow truck! At the hotel I contacted the front desk and let them know the situation since we may not make the 10 AM checkout time. They were very understanding. My main concern was to get the replacement vehicle in time for us to get to the ferry the next day for our required check in time of 12:30.

So we were stranded for that evening without a car. Fortunately we had previously bought food for dinner and we had made no other plans for that evening other than to relax. We fixed spaghetti and salad for dinner.