"Kia Ora" from the South Island of NZ

Napier on the waterfront

Wow, we thought it was beautiful at the North Island but found it equally amazing on the South Island. All in all, we are on a trip of scenery and words and pictures hardly describe what we are seeing daily.

I am keeping track of where we go and what we see and will do my best to describe the many places so we remember. If I didn't write them down, I would have a hard time remembering which photo belongs to which beautiful site.

Along the way we had to change our plans a bit because of weather forecasts in the south and west. The Milford Sound was already closed due to flooding from a storm and we were going to go to the Doubtful Sound instead. These are both fiords in the Fiordland National Park area. A cyclone was expected the day we were to head there so we moved northwest instead. A cyclone is the same as a hurricane or a typhoon, depending upon where you are in the world. We did get a smattering of rain here and there but nothing overwhelming - glad we made the plan to avoid the south.

Welllington

We spent a short time in Wellington (N Island) walking around the harbor and a quick stop in Te Papa Museum before crossing the strait to Picton and promised to return on the way back.

Kaikoura Peninsula - walk along the beach

Kaikoura Peninsula

ROur first stop on the So Island was Kaikoura where we stayed two nights. It is the place for whale watching so we were up early to the boat with high hopes. They rarely have a time with no sightings but ours was it - no whales so we received an 80% refund on the trip. It is a lovely coastal spot and we walked the Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway one day and the following day up a mountain before heading to Christchurch.

Christchurch is a city in transition due to the terrible damage of an earthquake in 2011. Many were killed and many more were injured and the city is still recovering. We met Tom's friends Georgie and Sebastian and had a fun dinner with them and coffee the following morning.

Akaora Beach

Akaroa harbor

Next we headed to Akaroa at the suggestion of several people as this was the time we were avoiding heading south because of the storms. We enjoyed this area -  Akaora is a cute little French town with lovely restaurants and tourists galore. The scenery was amazing, from the campground and around every curve. (This is mostly true of the majority of places we visited.) Our second day included a hike to Heritage Park above the city with amazing views. We enjoyed dinner in the campground with neighbors from Switzerland, Martin and Daniela along with a sunset view from the campground site.

Devil's Punchbowl at
Arthur's Pass

Happy 65 to Ricardo

Then to the west coast crossing the southern Alps at Arthur’s Pass where we stopped for a hike at the Devil’s Punchbowl Track on our way to Greymouth which was a stop on our way north to Abel Tasman National Park.

Now it was Feb. 18th, Richard's birthday when we stopped to walk at Pancake Rocks and another walk along the river in Paparoa National Park where we were caught in heavy rain, all getting soaked. Having our "home" right at the end of the track allowed us all to get into dry clothes upon arrival. Thankfully it wasn't too cold.

Pancake Rocks

Pancake Rocks

The following day in Abel Tasman NP we went to Kaiteriteri Beach for a little walk and Susie and Richard went kayaking. We celebrated Richard's birthday on the 19th (really the 18th in some parts of the world) with Tom making Richard's favorite meal, pasta with oil/garlic.

Tom preparing one of  his
special vegan meals

Now would be an excellent time to mention that we have enjoyed excellent meals just about every night by Tom, our chef. Very creatively he cooks us something special after we shop together in one of the great grocery stores here in NZ. The two that we frequent are New World and Countdown - with all kinds of specialty vegan items. Tom owns a vegan restaurant in San Cristobal de las Casas, MX (where we met him) so you can be sure that we enjoyed our favorite cuisine every day. I should have written each meal to make a motor home vegan recipe book!!!

On our third day in this park we took a boat ride with Abel Tasman EcoTours which was informational and showed from the water the whole area of this beautiful national park. We enjoyed a short beach walk with a view of a harbor, a picnic lunch and loads of history and information.

Split Apple Rock at Abel Tasman NP

picnic in Abel Tasman

Go Susie and Ricky

Beautiful beach

Off we were to Nelson, a lovely town with Queens Garden and a walk up to the lookout - the center of NZ, and then to Picton for an early ferry back to the North Island and second visit to Wellington to return to the museum that we enjoyed several weeks ago - Te Papa.

We are winding down with a visit to Napier, an art deco town) walking along the harbor and up to Bluff Hill Lookout. Each of these NZ towns are special in their own way and all with focus on outdoor activity and beautiful vistas.

Redwood Forest

Redwood Forest Tree Walk

We returned to Taupo for a quick visit with Mick and Valda before heading to one more important area that we planned for this time - Rotorua where there is a giant Redwood forest and we walked among the trees and did the "Tree Walk" on paths suspended off the ground from one redwood to another - a way to see up and down and witness the forest from another viewpoint. Lastly we visited Whakarewarewa - A living Maori village and learned of their history, culture and artwork. For me, these last two activities in Rotorua were highlights of our trip.

Maori Anglican Church
painting of Maori Jesus in
window with Lake Rotorua
in the background

Whakarewarewa - The Living
Maori Village

Blue Lake, Rotorua

Sadly we will be saying goodbye to each other after a wonderful time visiting both islands and living closely in our "Tane Mahuta", our home for the month. I would recommend this country to anyone loving nature with time to enjoy traveling. Would I recommend a motor home trip? I think it would depend whom I would be talking with - in NZ this was luxury compared to many backpackers living more simply but to others, it is roughing it. I am happy to have experienced it and would surely opt for a little more luxury another time. After a few days we all found our comfort zone, our tasks to support the trip and our ways to find a little "alone time" each day. I managed to draw some days and completed another accordion book of NZ.

Now we plan for the next adventure with several friends in the land of the Aussies for much of March. For those who wonder....we are monitoring with the tour companies in Japan where we plan to go after AU and so far, all is a go. Stay tuned!

Thanks for traveling these islands with us and more to come in a week or two.

AND NOW SOME THOUGHTS FROM RICARDO

Our New Zealand adventures are ending. After a month of traveling with my cousin Susie (cleaner and copilot), my friend Tom Pratt (driver and cook) and Susan (navigator) we all have come to know and understand each other better. I have never seen a more beautiful place in all of my travels.  The people here have been super friendly and always happy to help us find what is needed. Great hikes and great food experiences were plentiful. Living with 4 people in a 21' motor home has it challenges but after 4 weeks we have developed a communal routine. We are diverse in some ways .... two vegans, one vegetarian and a carnivore.

Today we are back in Auckland and have returned the RV we called "Tane Mahuta" after the famous tree here dated more than 2000 years. As we wind down our time now in the magical land we have great memories and a better understanding of how people can inter-relate in a very small space with nature just outside the door. I have come to respect the Kiwi’s and how they cherish their north and south islands. The kids here play outside and people may have iPhones but prefers to have social time together. They are very proud of the Maori past and it shows itself to us almost everyday. 

If it wasn't for the distance New Zealand would be like other over populated places but here it is wide open spaces. Thank you for traveling with us as we are now off to Australia for the month of March.