December 31st

Dec 31st
Decided to return to our lovely campsite by the beach, only this time it started to rain on the way there. Once we set up, it poured down! Still, we are now hardy campers and had dinner anyway. Tents managed to stay dry, but everything else got soaked.
This is our campground from the hilltop. You can understand why we wanted another night there. We drove into Picton in the morning and checked into Wedgewood hostel. Really nice place, with gardens, kitchen and HOT SHOWERS!! Picton is where we catch our ferry to Wellington tomorrow. Checked out the town and hung up all our stuff to dry out!

December 29th / 30th

Dec 29,
Drove to Blenheim, just outside of Picton. Found Library, walked around the shops, shopped for food. Then drove to a campsite along the beach. Quite remote, as you have to drive on a gravel road , winding around the mountain, for 10kl. Quite surprised to see a few other campers there, but it was lovely. We were hit hard by the wind, but you couldn't beat the view.
Walked along the beach, and watched the sunset.
Dec 30th,
Woke up to a sunny day, still very windy. Decided to do the Queen Charlotte walk to day.
Derek woke up before everyone else, and took this sunrise picture. As he wakes before everyone else, every morning, he has been in charge of breakfast everyday.
The start of our walk. This is actually the end of the walk, most people walk from Picton to Anakiwa, but we're just doing a section of the walk. It will be 13k to Mistletoe Bay.
Great views along the way.


Got to the Bay in 2 1/2 hrs, had snacks, then a guy was packing away his canoes and asked where we had walked from, he said he was driving back to Anakiwa , if we wanted a lift back. We acted like wimps and jumped into his truck! Originally, we were going to walk the 75k track, but somewhere along this trip, we decided not to, and chose small hiking trails as we saw them. The track was fun, but I'm glad we didn't walk the 75k!

On the Morning of Christmas Eve, Derek and Christopher managed to get another flight on the balloon.
This time the weather was a lot clearer. They took off from the foothills of the local ski resort, headed south and then managed to box back and landed close to the launch site.
The scenery was fantastic.
Derek, enjoying the flight.
At one point a herd of cattle spread out single file along the fence to watch the balloon pass overhead.
The champagne is served after the flight by a waiter dressed in top hat and tails!!!!Maybe we should start this tradition??????

We took our presents down to the beach to open on Christmas day, complete with tree and Santa. It was a gloriously sunny day.
We all had turns on the ATV bike.
Even Maureen had a go!!!!!!
Then we couldn't get her off the thing!!!!!
It is a lot of fun though.
On boxing day we packed up the car and said goodbye to our Christchurch area home for good.
We headed up to the north of the south island. This is Michelle at the top of the lookout post in the whale watching town of Kaikora.
We camped the night at a lovely beach side camp site, beautiful views and no sandflies!!
Next day we continued northwards, and spent the day in the city of Nelson. This is their cathederal that qualified them to be called a city.
This is a historic street in Nelson from the late 1800's.
After a picnic lunch we visited the Japanese gardens in Nelson.
On the night of December 27th we campted at the Tasman-Able National park. We had to travel 11 kms down a dirt road to reach the campsite, it was misty and raining as we travelled there. But as we reached the camp the clouds parted and the weather was fantastic.
Beofre dinner we hiked to Harewood hole, the deepest in NZ, 170 meters deep. Was pretty scary looking over the rim.


Then we hiked up to a scenic view point. The view was amazing. A shear drop to the valley below.

The view was spectacular.


Great campsite. Woke up to sheep everywhere. This is real camping.
We got into a staring competition. I guess she was here first.
The beach at Kaiteriteri. Golden sand and safe water to swim in.
Even though the main beach was crowded, there were numerous other deserted beaches.

Nice to get out of the car and soak up the rays.

F ori 18th,
Drove to Akaora ( Small french flavoured town, french tried to invade,but english were already there, but small colony settled. Landscape very much the same as France, so produce is same). Drive from Christchurch approx 1hr. Passed this cute Library, on the way, it looks like the perfect English country cottage!
Family view from hillside, looking down to Akaora Harbor.
Akaora Harbor. Beautiful town set amongst the mountains.
Sat 19th
Packed and set out to Methven. Derek has been communicating with George (Owner), he wants a pilot to fly for the summer ( Dec to Apr). As luck would have it, the flight for the day was delayed due to low clouds, so a couple of people cancelled. When we arrived, they were ready to fly, and as they were light we got to fly.
Our flight went above the clouds, with just the tops of mountains poking out. Great flight, had coffee with George and discussed possibilities of flying next year. Then made our way to Queenstown.
Our first night camping, at this beautiful campsite. Great setting, but lots of biting sandflies.
Sun 20th
Queenstown is a touristy town, with lots of shops advertising Bungy jumping, skydiving etc.. Drove on to Milford Sound approx3 hrs.

This is Franz Josef Glacier, parked car and walked 40 mins to glaciers edge. Didn't realize you could get so close to the Glacier. If you got a guide, you can actually hike up the Glacier.
At the mouth of the Glacier, you can see the layers splitting apart. There are warnings about sudden ice drops.
Beautiful lake Takapo.
Christopher actually went into the freezing waters of Lake Takapo.
Camping just outside Queenstown, our first experience camping as a family.
Walked down to the lake to wash the dishes and this is our view! Took a long time to wash them, keep getting distracted.
Shopping malls at Queenstown. Nice town but a tourist town.
Queenstown harbor where all the boat rides leave from.
One of our walks around Milford Sound.
Another hike, with views like this it doesn't matter how long the hike is.
Believe it or not, this is how Michelle slept. She preferred the car to the tent.
A.J. Hacketts Bungy jumps are at this bridge, which is the home of the first bungy jump in Queenstown. People are lining up to jump at this spot. Couldn't get the kids to jump, even though they said they were up for it, they decided not to.
Stopped at this lake for lunch. Drove across from west coast to east coast heading back to Christchurch.
Driving back, we passed Maruia Hot Springs. This is just like a Japanese Onsen. After camping for 3 night, we needed to soak! Stank of Sulphur, but was soooo relaxing. Arrived back at Leos place, so we could do some Christmas shopping tomorrow.