Tag: New Zealand

New Zealand – Picton to Kaikoura

Kate2 Comments

It was a bit tricky dragging the kids out of bed at 5:30am this morning, but the promise of a fry up breakfast on the ferry helped! We made it to the port in good time and hopped on board ready to leave North Island behind.

Cold but stunning views

A gorgeously sunny morning meant we had incredible views as we left the bay, and again on entering Picton, South Island.

Once we drove off the ferry we headed straight onto the highway to start our journey south. We had planned a few stops along the way to Kaikoura, taking in the views as we went.

First stop: Monkey Bay, providing our first viewing of the famous black sand here in New Zealand. We also enjoyed finding various beach treasures – both the beautiful and the weird!

The best game ever – being chased by the sea!

Second stop: Ward beach – glorious in the sunshine and we had the place to ourselves.

Third stop: petrol and lunch supplies! We enjoyed a pineapple cutting machine in the supermarket, which peeled and cored pineapple and chopped it into easy-to-eat sticks! Also some things, like tomatoes and cucumbers, are quite expensive compared to the UK.

Tomatoes cost about £5 for a small box

Fourth stop: unplanned seal viewing! As we drove down the coast we could see little black dots on the rocks so we pulled over to investigate… we carefully tiptoed nearer and there they were!

Kekeno (the Māori name for fur seals)

Fifth stop: Paparoa Point – a culturally significant stop between Picton and Kaikoura which tells the story of Paikea – a whale rider popular in native Maori folklore.

Tüteurutira

Depicted on the viewing platform’s internal face is Ruaumoko (the Māori god of earthquakes). It is there to honor the significant change of the coastline and the sea bed due to the 2016 earthquake.

The sculpture you see as you approach the viewing platform is of Tüteurutira (a historic Māori Chief). Each step leading up to the viewing platform displays a name from his “whakapapa” (family and ancestors).

Sixth stop: Ohau Point… or seal heaven! This is a walkway along the coastline where you can park up and just enjoy these incredible creatures up close. We saw so many pups too, very special.

Spot the fur seals!

And that was it for our first little road trip on South Island. We’ve reached Kaikoura and checked in to our backpackers here – now for an early night to catch up on some sleep!

New Zealand – Wellington

Kate4 Comments

A cold and early start this morning, as we had a 5 hour road trip down south ahead of us. We were rewarded with beautiful sunrise views on our journey though, which made up for the chilly noses and toeses.

Leaving Taupo
A shoe horn is an acceptable piece of breakfast cutlery right?

It was just magical, hours of stunning scenery that made the long journey so much more interesting.

We were hoping to get to the Mt. Ruapehu cable car, but the roads were pretty icy and we didn’t want to get caught taking too long and then missing things we’d planned to do in Wellington. Thankfully, we made it to the city with enough time for some sushi lunch!

We then made our way up Mount Victoria for some pretty views in the sunshine, and back down again to the Weta Workshop. Kate and the children headed inside, while Martin took himself off for some local craft beer!

https://www.wetaworkshop.com/about-us/

Excited!
Recognise this troll?
“Smeeeeagol, why does it cry?”
Spot Sylvie
These are made just with tin foil and a teaspoon!
Warren Beaton:
Dr Tin Foil himself!

A last minute decision to nab some tickets to the FIFA Women’s World Cup saw Martin and Elijah hurry off to the stadium this evening. Luckily it’s just down the road from our hotel.

Panoramic view and close to the action!
Sweden 🇸🇪 vs Italy 🇮🇹

And that is our whistle stop tour of Wellington done! Another early start tomorrow to catch the ferry to Picton on the South Island, where we hope to spend a few hours stopping at various interesting spots as we make our way down the coast to Kaikoura.