There and Back Again

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

The weather cleared in the afternoon. The Misty Mountains were misty. We got stuck with a lorry on a mountain track. We drove up a river. We panned for gold. We saw Skippers Canyon. Awesome.

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

Our deadline in Queenstown was the date of our LotR Filming locations 4x4 tour.

Unfortunately this was the ONE day the weather did us dirty. (The cancelled ferry doesn’t count, that turned into a positive.). It was still stunning, but our guide didn’t take us to Paradise as he feared the weather turning. Another reason to come back.

I must admit this led to the funniest picture of the month (it’s supposed to be Isengard)

The best bit was when the guide pulled out a box of swords, capes, biscuits and hot drinks! We got some wonderfully moody shots in the rain.

And lunch!

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

We slept in Christchurch, but it was just a place to sleep. Picton to Queenstown is 11 hours on a good day, according to Google Maps. In real life though, between no dual carriageways, roadworks closing lanes, campervans, tractors, and breaks, it’s realistically a two day drive at best.

We are heading down the east way, which is the less-scenic but faster route. And by less scenic, I mean it’s only as beautiful as the Scottish Highlands on the sunniest day of the Scottish year. Quick reminder that the Kiwis call this “Autumn”.

Today’s pit stop was Lake Tekapo. Stunning. You turn a corner on a hill and a huge glacial lake appears out of nowhere (then happened at least twice more after this stop). Husband took one look at it and declared he wasn’t getting on the plane home. I couldn’t resist dipping my feet in it to splash about. The waters are crystal clear and the whole area is a national dark sky area. I’d love to stay overnight and see that, if only we had time.

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

Goodbye Picton, goodbye Blenheim. We were the only two people on our wine tour. We basically had a private tour of the area with a full tasting everywhere we went. I never want to see a vineyard or a glass of wine ever again.

We’re driving the length of the South Island down to Queenstown, down the east side. A bunch of people told us to stop off at Kaikoura, so we did. They have whale watching and all sorts of marine activities. Our goal was the wild seal colony.

After miles and miles of scenic coastline, we arrived, and the view was phenomenal.

The seal 🦭 colony was well worth our time. We got lucky with the tide and could walk freely across the rocks to watch adults throw eachother off the best sunbathing spots and babies playfighting. Finished up with a seafood platter, of course.

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

We’ve met a lot of other tourists and compared a lot of itineraries.

I recall one person saying “Why are you spending days in Picton?! There’s nothing to do there!”

My dear friend, we are on holiday. Having nothing to do is precisely the point.

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

What we will do, is refund our ferry tickets and book a flight! We nabbed the last two tickets on the midday flight to Picton. It costs more, and we had to pay excess baggage costs as the checked allowance is lower than the ferry one. On the other hand, it would have been 4 hours on a ferry vs only 30 minutes in the air.

Wellington has ruined airports for us. We walked in, walked directly to the gate, and checked in. There’s no security screenings on small domestic flights. Also, giant eagles in the main hall.

We saw this cute little twin propeller plane and went “awww, look how small it is!”

And then we saw OUR plane! Baby plane! 12 seats!

This is WAY more fun than the ferry.

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

I wish I could say we did loads of sightseeing in Wellington, but to be honest, we are knackered. Wellington is on the small side for a city (200,000 people, or just over) and is the capital of New Zealand 🇳🇿

By the time we got here we had a whole list of recommendations, places to go, food to try, drinks to drink. But did I mention we are knackered? We’ve spent the last few days celebrating a marriage and getting to know new family members and I feel like I could sleep for a week. We did not see the sights. We ate food, napped, and watched movies. We found a local arcade and played games. We went shopping for a new luggage bag to consolidate our backpacks and tourist trinkets into a no-car friendly package. We had a good time.

Ultimately we came to Wellington for two main reasons. The first is the world renowned Weta Workshop. Most famously known for the practical effects of LOTR, they’ve actually worked on hundreds of films, shows, art installations, and physical special effects of all kinds. There are many parts of the tour we weren’t allowed to take photos of because they own the props but not the rights, it’s that kind of place. Absolutely worth the trip.

The second reason was to get the ferry to Picton, and begin our adventures again on the South Island. But between the strong winds and strong rain (did I mention those?) the ferry has been cancelled! Whatever will we do?

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

We started the day with a walk up to the lookout point above the town. Rivendell is not far from here, further into the mountains.

A very helpful bus driver enabled us to visit Martinborough, aka one of the many wine regions on offer in NZ, with tons of vineyards to choose between. Husband picked out Poppies, which was absolutely incredible, and we enjoyed a wine tasting and a lunch platter.

Then we visited Martinbrough Brewery for a few tasters. It looks a lot but is only 150ml per glass.

And then we went home because I needed a nap!

Beer trivia: You can’t get it in a pint glass. That’s not even a LOTR joke. “Pint” isn’t a standard measurement here, NZ is entirely metric. You get an undefined amount in a large beer, usually around 400mls. A British pint is 568ml. The only exception is if you drink Guinness, which of course comes in a Guinness glass every time.

Meanwhile, a “pint” of milk IS standardised, at 600ml. But it’s technically an industry standardisation and not a legally defined measure.

Spirits are different too. A single is 15ml, a double is 30ml. They typically serve a double automatically, but sometimes they ask.

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

Telling people you’re visiting Featherston on your tour of the country is probably like saying you plan to spend four nights in Willington. It’s a tiny town less than two miles across with less than 3000 people in it, and lots of bookshops, surrounded by far more interesting places that are all at least 10km away. This is our base for the wedding that brought us here in the first place. I really like it here.

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

The geothermals was just a warm up for the main activity of the day…. Night kayaking!

This was a trip out onto the lake in two-person kayaks, lit by the full moon on a glorious calm night. We were guided to four glowworm caves over 90 minutes. Absolutely incredible.

Husband loves the water. We could have stayed out there all night under the stars. Eventually though, we came back to dry land.

Again, no photos, it upsets the worms. But they sent us these pictures.

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

Today we went to Te Puia geothermal park to see Pohutu, the largest geyser in the southern hemisphere and the most active in the area. It can erupt up to 30 metres high and goes off once or twice an hour.

The park has more than hot water. We also got to see live kiwis running around inside the conservation centre, and a cultural show from the maorí community that owns and runs the park. This is also home to the NZ Māori Arts & Crafts Institute, which is divided into three disciplines; Bone/Stone/Jade carving, Wood carving, and Weaving. Fantastic place.

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

In Waitomo, we stayed in a hobbithole motel room (although it was only the facade really). Up bright and early to be the first tour group of the day in the Waitomo cave!

Being first was excellent. The first guide of the day has the job of turning the lights on as they go. The next section was constantly pitch black and it was really cool. There’s a huge channel carved by a long gone underground river, and loads of stalagmites and tites. The tour finishes with a silent boat ride in the pitch black, under a canopy of glowworms. Glowworms dangle webs and attract flying food in with their light.

You can’t take photos in there, so I took this off the website.

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

Rotorua sits on a beautiful lake in a literal hotbed of geothermal activity. If you want hot springs, bubbling mud pools, and majestic geysers, this is the place to be. Along with that sweet, sweet, smell of sulphur. Yep, Rotorua smells like rotten eggs. Pretty though!

We’re self catering in this one. Got a nice holiday cabin and ventured to Woolworths to stock up salad, meat, breakfasts, and snacks. They have pre-cooked sausages specifically for barbecues. It also took me way too long to work out why there were no spirits, not even premix, you have to go to a bottle-o for that. So we did!

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

We also did the Behind The Scenes Tour…. With lunch! So so worth it!

Our tour guide helped me get an extra special souvenir here… One of the original leaves, fallen from the artificial tree above Bilbo’s house 💚

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

From Hamilton to Hobbiton.

Unreal. The amount of love, care, and obsessive attention to detail here is completely unhinged. I loved it.

Here are ten at random.

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

We picked up our rental car today. First stop, tacos. Dear lord, the tacos.

Second stop, Hamilton! Nice place. Good ice cream. There are really special gardens here, a series of 18 enclosed gardens showcasing the garden styles of different cultures around the world, but we lacked the time and energy. Maybe next time.

Hamilton feels a little bit like Durham in a way - We took five steps away from the street down a steep hill and found ourselves on a path by the river, the streets a distant memory.

[treasuresmiths-thereandbackagain]

Next up, the Sky Tower. Panoramic views of the city, a bar, a restaurant, and you can jump off if you like! There are no photos of Husband at the top because there was no way I was getting him up there - He would have hated it.

And then, The Fish Market. We loved it here. It’s, well, it’s a fish market. There’s a bar, and lots of food vendors. If none of them take your fancy, you can pick something fresh out from the market and there’s a place that will cook it for you. We spent the afternoon here drinking almost-pints and eating lobster.

Hello Beasty’s prawn toast has ruined prawn toast at home forever.