Travel log New Zealand 2023

Friday, november 3rd: up at 7.45am. As often, it's raining. We set off at around 9:30am towards Split Apple Rock. We're there in half an hour. We have to park on the road. We put on rain pants and raincoats and then take a path through the forest down to the sea. The clear-sand beach and turquoise water are magnificent.

The cut apple is right in front of the trail, but you have to shift to the right to see the clean cut in the rock. It's beautiful despite the overcast sky.

At the end of the beach, there's a small cave. Pirogues arrive near the rock and the passengers sing a kind of little haka. We're back on the road at 11am. Given the weather, we're not going to do the hike planned in Abel Tasman National Park. We head straight for Farewell Spit and Golden Bay. On the way, we stop off at Te Waikoropupu Springs to see the sacred springs of Pupu Spring and Dancing Sands Spring (1 km loop).

At 1.40pm, we set off again for Golden Bay. This is the northernmost point of the South Island. Here, a piece of land emerges from the sea in the shape of a kiwi beak. We arrive at the Wharariki Beach Holiday Park campsite before 4pm. We book a night in addition to tomorrow's online reservation and settle in.

It's not up to the same high standards as the other campsites: rustic showers for a fee, not very hot, dry toilets, old-fashioned cooking. But it has to be said that it's isolated. It's stopped raining and there's even a bit of blue sky. We then set off on foot towards the beach to see the Archway Islands, arch-shaped rocks with their feet in the water. The trail passes through meadows grazed by sheep. It's so beautiful!

Wharariki is a beautiful beach with few visitors. We move to the left to see the arches in the rocks.

Back to the campsite at 5pm after 4 km. We start making dinner in the communal kitchen, so as to be ready if the weather permits to return to the beach for the sunset. It looks pretty overcast, but we go anyway. It's not crazy crazy!

Saturday, November 4: up at 8am. It rained off and on all night, but this morning it's sunny and we're having breakfast outside, harassed by two big ducks or geese and a peacock.

We return to the beach to take photos.

There are a few sea lions. We then take the van to the Cape Farewell parking lot. Being on sheep meadows, there's a gate to open and close behind you. The Cape is a 200 m walk away. It's an Étretat-style arch. A beautiful sight.

We continue a little further by van to Farewell Spit. We park at Triangle Flat. It's midday when we start the Spit Track hike from the parking lot to the beach, then cut across to Fossil Point Track.

We picnic on the beach. The return journey takes us through meadows grazed by sheep. So cute!

It's much nicer than the first part of the ride. Back to the van at 2.15pm after 5.8 km. It's still early to head back to the campsite. We park at the Pillar Point Track trailhead. It's a 20-minute climb to the lighthouse. The lighthouse doesn't look like much, but the view is nice.

We go on a bit farther, as we catch a glimpse of the island's kiwi beak. Indeed, the view is quite nice.

The round trip took us 1 hour for 3.1 km. Back to the campsite at 4.30pm. Shower at $2NZ, just warm enough. Dinner at 6pm in the van. Then off to the beach to watch the sunset again. It's a bit prettier than yesterday.

Back to the campsite at 8.45pm. We've done just over 17 km all day. Around 10pm, David leaves to take some photos of the Milky Way.

Sunday, November 5: up at 5.45am. Fair weather. Departure at 7.10am. We take the road down to the west coast of the island. Shopping stop in Motueka, as well as a coffee and a kind of raisin bread, not bad at all. It's market day, and we've quickly done the rounds. Back on the long road. When New Zealanders have surplus fruit or vegetables, they put them on sale in front of their homes. We stop at a little hut selling apples and put the money in a special box. Break around 12.00pm at a rest area. We taste the apples, which are good and sweet. And it's raining again. As we approach the coast, the rain stops. We arrive at Cape Foulwind at 2.45pm. We're just going to see the lighthouse. But we can't see it very well, as access is limited.

We set off again at 3.15pm for the sea lion colony on Tauranga Bay. It's not really a colony, there are only a few of them. The viewpoint is high up, so it's not great.

We're a long way from home!

We set off again for Punakaiki. We can see the big clouds stuck on the mountains as we head for the coast. We arrive at Punakaiki Beach Camp at 5.15pm. We take a stroll along the beach while the laundry is running. We then put the laundry in the dryer and, as it'll take an hour to dry, head for the Pancakes Rocks. Between 6 and 7pm, it's not the ideal time, but the crashing of the sea in the chasms below is impressive.

We'll have another look in the morning. Dinner in the van.

Monday, November 6: up at 7am. Breakfast in the van. The weather is fine despite the overcast sky. Departure at 8.20am. Back to Pancakes Rocks.

We stay for an hour, taking photos of the birds.

We then go hiking in Paparoa National Park and take the Pororari River Track to the monkey bridge. The trail runs through a pretty forest alongside a gold-colored river.

It's like being in a Jurassic Park set. The view from the lookout is nice, but the rest is monotonous, with little view of the river. We did 7.1 km AR in one hour and fifty minutes. We make a few souvenir purchases at the Pancakes Rocks store and eat a pizza. We set off again at 1.15pm. We pass through Greymouth. We continue to Hokitika. We arrive at 2.30pm. A stroll through the town

and to the shipwreck... which isn't a shipwreck at all, because everything along the sidewalk is concrete!

We take the road again, heading for the Hokitika Gorge, half an hour away. The trail passes through the forest and then you have to cross a suspension bridge. The river is turquoise blue, an incredible color. The trail continues to a small beach. It's very beautiful.

There's another viewpoint at the other end of the parking lot, but it's not as good. The whole thing is 3.5 km long. We return to Hokitika for the night at a Holiday Park campsite at 5.45pm.

Tuesday, November 7: up at 7am. Big blue sky. Breakfast outside in the sun. We dump the van and set off for the glaciers at 8.45am. We arrive at the Franz Josef Glacier parking lot at 10.45am. We combine the Forest Walk and Sentinel Walk trails, 2 km, 30 minutes. The view is nice with the blue sky, but the glacier is a long way off. It's retreated a lot.

We set off again around 11.50am in the direction of Fox Glacier. We nibble a bit in the parking lot before hiking. At 1pm, we take the old car track, now closed. We go to the Glacier viewpoint via South Side Walkway, which gives a distant view. We continue on River Walk Lookout Track. We can still see the glacier in the distance, as well as the valley.

We return by the same route, adding the Moraine Walk trail with its cute mossy trees. All in all, 6.4 km. Back to the van at 2.45pm. We pass through the town of Fox Glacier. Then we follow a "Glacier viewpoint 10 km" sign to take a look. It's still a long way off, and it's starting to get cloudy. We're pretty disappointed by these glaciers, they're a long way from the viewpoints - we'd hoped for more. We then take a pitch at Fox Glacier's Top10 Holiday Park campsite. Dinner in the communal kitchen.

Wednesday, November 8: up at 6am. Heavy skies, but no rain. Departure at 7.30am. We'd planned to go to Lake Matheson to see the reflections, but since the sky is overcast, we'll skip it. We're still heading south on the Haast Highway. Beware, signs indicate that there's no gas before 120 km. At 10.15am, we make our first stop on the road: Thunder Creek Falls. Easy access, 200 m, a superb 28 m-high waterfall with the Haast River in the foreground.

We spend a good hour taking long exposure photos. Next stop is Fantail Falls. Another waterfall, less pretty than Thunder, with its beach of pebbles and cairns.

We continue on to Cameron Flat. It's midday and we're enjoying a picnic in the sun. Snow-capped mountains, forest, river... we're in good spirits!

We stay until 1.15pm. Then we go and see the Blue Pools. No way, the trail is closed just before the "pools". The bridges crossing the river are too old, so they've closed access. Still, we make our way to the first bridge. There's a pebble beach with a nice view of the river and mountains. Some people walk across the river to the Blue Pools, where the water is almost up to their buttocks.

3 km AR. We set off again at 2.50pm in the direction of Wanaka. We stop at viewpoints overlooking the Hawea lake.

We arrive in Wanaka at 4.45pm and head for the Hampshire Holiday Park campsite. We leave the van and set off on a ¼-hour walk to see the famous solitary tree with its feet in the lake, for which Wanaka is famous. We return around 6.00pm for dinner in the communal kitchen, before returning to watch the sunset.

Too bad, there are no beautiful colors.

Thursday, November 9: up at 5am and finally back to bed, the sky is overcast for sunrise. Finally, at 6am, it's clear. We rush off to the parking lot to take a photo of the tree. It's a little too late, but the mountain is clearing in the background.

Back at the campsite at 7am for breakfast. 10am: off to Queenstown. We make a stop in Arrowtown, a town that has retained its historic feel from the gold rush era.

Some beautiful buildings, but not showcased as cars can park in front of them. We have lunch in a restaurant, the New Orleans Hotel, because David saw lamb shank on the menu, which is good but not exceptional. We set off again at 1.10pm. On the way to Queenstown, we make a few stops at viewpoints. We arrive in the "adventure capital of the world" at around 1.30pm. Queenstown is famous for a whole range of sensational sports. We set off on a walking tour of the town, after settling in at the Creeksyde Holiday Park campsite, just 5 minutes from the center. Not far from the campsite, we take the Skyline Gondola, a gondola that gives us a great view of the city and Lake Wakatipu (61€ for both of us). Everything is under construction at the top, but we still get a great view.

Then we cross the town center. We pass by the lake.

Let's take an ice cream break! We push on to the Queenstown Garden, a large garden right in the center of town. The New Zealanders are great at this: huge green spaces in the cities, with flowers and trees, and plenty of room for sports (tennis, frisbee, cycling...).

Return to campsite after 7.3 km at around 5.20pm. Dinner in the van.

Friday, November 10: up at 7.30am. It's 7°C in the van, so it's hard to get up! Big blue sky, though. We leave Queenstown at 9.15am. We hadn't planned to, but as we've got a bit of time, we head for Glenorchy. On the way, we stop off at Bennetts Bluff Viewpoint, which offers us a beautiful panorama of Lake Wakatipu.

We reach Glenorchy at 10.30am. The focal point of this village is a line of trees in the water, rather like Wanaka. Not easy to photograph, as they're close to the shore.

On the other hand, with the snow-capped mountain behind, it's very beautiful. We take a lot of long exposure photos. We set off at 11.30am in the direction of Te Anau. We take a lunch break overlooking the lake. Along the way, our "cushy van" passes the 200,000 km mark on the odometer! We arrive in Te Anau at 4.20pm. We're in Fiordland National Park. We settle in at Lakeview Holiday Park. We then walk to a bird sanctuary, Punanga Manu, 15 minutes from the campsite along the Lakeside Walk on the shores of Lake Te Anau. These are aviaries in a wooded park where birds which are difficult to see in the wild, are kept, such as the Takahe,

the Kaka,

the Kakariki.

Access is free. We return to the campsite by the same route. Dinner in the communal kitchen. We go to watch the sunset from a pontoon on the lake. But a woman overtakes us and settles right on the pontoon - no respect!

Some youngsters ask her to let them through to take a photo, but she refuses. What a jerk! When she leaves, the colors of the sky are finished! But it's still very pretty.

Return to campsite at 9.15pm.

Saturday, November 11: up at 6am. Brrr 6° this morning in the van! And still a big blue sky. Breakfast in the shared kitchen. Departure at 7.15am. We head up Highway 94 towards Milford Sound with several stops. The first stop is Mirror Lake. As its name suggests, it's a beautiful reflection of the mountain.

Then off to Pop's View and Hollyford Valley Lookout.

Next door is the parking area for Marian Lake and Falls. Off we go for 3.2 km with a 400 m elevation gain. It's a nice trail through the forest, and for once it's undeveloped, apart from a few footbridges near the waterfall. The rest is made up of large rocks and tree roots, with an acrobatic passage. The waterfalls have a strong flow and the water is super transparent.

We reach the lake in an hour and a half. It's superb, with emerald-colored water and very high mountains all around.

We admire, nibble and take our time. Back to the van by 1.00pm. We continue on Route 94 towards Milford Sound. Stop at Monkey Creek, overlooking the snow-capped mountains.

We arrive in Milford Sound at 2.15pm. We park at the entrance to the town. In fact, there's nothing there but cruise departures! We combine the Foreshore Walk with a view of the fjord - a pity it's against the light,

and Lookout Track, which isn't so good. We grab a bite to eat at the Milford cafe. We return to the the van at 4pm and take Highway 94 in the opposite direction, Milford Sound being a dead end. We stop at Tutoko Lookout, with a view of the river and mountains in the background from the bridge.

Then we stop at The Chasm: the river flows into a deep, narrow chasm. You can't see much. After this chasm, the trail is closed due to storm damage in 2020, and will not reopen until 2024. On to Christie Falls. Before the tunnel, we stop at a viewpoint. Euh... why are people watching me get out of the van? Oh no, it's not me, there's a kea on the roof of the van just above my head! It's the first one we see. It's the only species of mountain parrot in the world, and is endemic to NZ. It's a bird that likes to nibble on car window seals, windscreen wipers...

After several photos, we're off to see Christie Falls, on the roadside. It's high and the pool at the foot is transparent.

Around 6pm, we set up camp at a campsite on Route 94. It's a primitive but fee-paying DOC campsite (Department of Conservation, organization dedicated to the conservation of NZ's natural and historical heritage), with dry toilets only. We have an aperitif outside, but it's windy, so we have dinner in the van.

Sunday, November 12: up at 8.15am. It's raining. Breakfast in the van. Departure for Manapouri at 9.50am. We continue our stops on Highway 94. At the end of the campground, there's a trail to Gunn Lake. The trail passes through the forest.

The atmosphere is strange with the rain and mist!

The lake is shrouded in mist. We then stop at a viewpoint at Kiosk Creek. The view shows the river and mountain in mist.

Then a stop at Eglinton Valley.

We're off to see Mistletoe Lake in a few drops of rain. It's not very interesting.

We then head for Te Anau to do some shopping. At 1.40pm, we arrive in Manapouri and head for the Possum Lodge campsite. It's very kitsch. We nibble. Then we walk along the lake to the harbor to find out where to take the boat tomorrow. It's only 10 minutes away.

Afterwards, rest! Dinner in the van.

Monday, November 13: up at 5.30am. Raining. Breakfast in the van. Today, it's the Doubtful Sound cruise we booked with RealNZ. We chose this fjord cruise over Milford Sound because it's less popular and apparently just as pretty, if not prettier. We leave the campsite at 6.45am for the harbour. We start sailing at 7.30am to cross Lake Manapouri. After that, we take abus at 8.30am to the cruise ship departure point. We pass through a forest with waterfalls.

Around 9.15am, we board the cruise ship to explore Doubtful Sound. The fjord is not accessible by any other means than these 3 successive types of transport. The fjord's mountains are very high. With the rain, the waterfalls drip everywhere. Along with the mist, this gives the fjord a mystical atmosphere. Maybe it's better with this kind of weather than a big blue sky. It can make for some nice photos. We spot a dolphin leaping into the water. Too bad it's so far away, it can't catch up with us!

The boat ride lasts 3 hours. Despite the roof over our heads, we get a good rinse via the sides of the boat! We return to the bus at 12.30pm, then cross Lake Manapouri in the opposite direction at 1.30pm. We disembark at 2.30pm. We change our wet clothes, drink a hot chocolate and at 3pm, it's off again with the van to the Catlins, further south. As we leave the Fiordland National Park area, the landscape changes and becomes as flat as the Beauce. It feels weird. We stop in Invercargill at Holiday Park at 5.10pm. Dinner in the van.

Tuesday, November 14: up at 7.30am. Fine weather has returned, despite a few clouds. Breakfast in the van. Dump station. Departure at 9.05am. We continue our journey towards the south coast of the South Island, the Catlins. We leave Invercargill and see nothing but "flat" meadows for sheep and cows. Then, once again, a few small hills decorate the landscape. The Southern Scenic Road crosses the Catlins from west to east. We're approaching the Southern Ocean. Our first stop on the coast is Waipapa Point Lighthouse. It's a small white lighthouse with a red door at the top of the cliff.

We descend to the beach, the rocks are covered with almost fluorescent green moss.

The road to Slope Point, our next stop, is very pretty and roller-coaster-like. Slope Point is the southernmost point of the South Island. It's a very windy place, as evidenced by the trees twisted by the force of the winds.

At the end of the path, there's a small lighthouse and a sign indicating the distance to the Equator and the South Pole.

We then head off for a picnic on the cliffs of Curio Bay. By the time we get back down to the beach and the Petrified Forest, the weather has deteriorated. We take a few photos of the petrified trees caught in the rock and it starts to rain.

We leave the area at 3pm, heading for McLean Falls. A beautiful waterfall accessible in 1 km through the forest.

We don't stay very long as it's raining quite heavily. At 4.50pm, we hit the road for the Papatowai campsite, it's the deluge. We settle into a DOC campsite ($20 for 2 people). Dinner in the van. It's not warm at all.

Wednesday, November 15: up at 6.30am. It's 4° in the van. Departure at 8.10am. We go back on the road to see the viewpoint on Florence Hill. It's a lovely view of a huge beach.

We continue on to Matai Falls and Horseshoe Falls. Two cascades easily accessible but not of great interest.

Next up is another waterfall: Purakaunui Falls. More impressive than the other two, it has several falls.

We then do some shopping in Owaka as we run out of water. Then it's off to Nugget Point Lighthouse. A small lighthouse at the end of a jetty surrounded by rocks. Very beautiful.

Right next door is Roaring Bay. There's an observatory where you can see yellow-eyed penguins and sea lions.

We see 2 sea lions but no penguins. It's their nesting season and they're starting to have young. The beach is closed at the moment. To have a chance of seeing them, you have to come before 7am or after 4pm. We have a little picnic by the beach. Then it's off to find a campsite. We set up at Kaka Point Campsite Ground at around 2.45pm. At 5pm, we return to Roaring Bay to see if there are any penguins. Around 7.30pm, a penguin appears on the beach but it's a long way off, then a second one. Even with telephoto lenses, they're all very small. What a pity.

Return to the campsite around 8.45pm. Dinner in the van.

Thursday, November 16: up at 8am. Big blue sky, so breakfast outside. Departure at 9.45am, we head for Dunedin. We head for Tunnel Beach, south of Dunedin, to see a bridge in the cliffs and the ocean at its foot. Access on foot is very steep, with a 140 m gradient and a 900 m length. It's okay on the way down, but it's going to be tougher on the way back up!

There's also a tunnel cut into the rock with steps down to the beach. Then it's on to the Otago Peninsula. On the way, we pick up a pitch at the Portobello Village Tourist Park campsite. We nibble and head for the end of the peninsula. Here, you can see penguins and albatrosses. I foolishly thought you could see albatrosses freely! But no, you have to pay. In fact, one day, a man raised a female albatross and her egg. Since then, they've been protected and all ringed. A center for their protection has been set up, the Royal Albatross Centre. I find it a little unacceptable to pay to see birds in the wild. Anything to make money! Well, we're stupid enough to pay because we want to see them. We take a guided tour (61€ for the two of us) for 5pm, otherwise there's no way to see them from the parking lot, as the view of the sea and where they live is blocked by a hill. And it's still well done because they don't fly over the parking lot! They must be remote-controlled! What's more, the visit lasts only half an hour, after an introduction and a 10-minute film. Observation takes place behind glass. We see a few in flight and on the hill. And that's a good thing!

The place is also overrun with seagulls. Some have really cute babies!

Return to the campsite at 6.30pm. Dinner in communal kitchen.

Friday, November 17: up at 6.45am. It's raining cats and dogs. Breakfast in the van. Departure at 9.35 am. We planned to visit Dunedin this morning, then go to Moeraki to see the lighthouse and the Boulders, large ball-shaped rocks, some of which are broken clean in two, visible on a beach during low tide. After a weather check, we change the program. The weather should be fine on Saturday and Tuesday around lakes Pukaki/Tekapo/Mont Cook. As these are beautiful areas with good hiking opportunities, we're going to opt for them. So much for Dunedin. The road takes us through Moeraki. We make a quick stop in the rain. The Boulders are out of the water.

They're huge, and one of them is stuck in the cliff, which is quite impressive.

Some are broken, and inside there's yellow rock. We continue on our way. The rain has stopped and it's almost sunny again. We make a detour to Omarama Clay Cliffs, where the rock formations are reminiscent of American canyons.

We continue on our way to Pukaki. We turn up at the Twizel Holiday Park campsite a little before Pukaki Village, but it's fully booked. We look on the Campermate website and see an availability at the Glentanner campsite, along Lake Pukaki towards Mount Cook. We make a reservation and head off. Along the lake, we make a few photo stops.

We arrive in Glentanner at 5.20pm. We set up the van and set off on foot to see the lake.

Dinner in the van.

Saturday, November 18: up at 6am. Brrr... 3° in the van, a little frost on the windshield and a big blue sky. Breakfast in the shared kitchen. Departure at 7.15am for Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. We start the Hooker Valley Track, which leads to Hooker Lake via Mueller Lake. All the walking is done on wooden pontoons. It's a beautiful hike, with three suspension bridges to cross

and Mount Cook, which overlooks the lake. It's NZ's highest point, 3,724 m above sea level. It's wonderful, we love it.

Having started early, it's not too crowded yet. On the way back, however, we meet a lot of them. We've done 10.7 km with a positive vertical drop of 138 m. We take the van again for 8 km to change parking lots. We do another hike that combines the Blue Lakes and Tasman Glacier. Our first stop is to see the lakes below. They're quite green, in fact.

Named Blue Lakes in 1800, they were fed directly by the approaching glacier. Now that the glacier has retreated, the lakes are fed only by rain. The result is the appearance of green algae. The trail then leads to a viewpoint overlooking Lake Tasman and its glacier. Another blue, wow!

The trail also takes us to the end of the lake, bringing us closer to the few icebergs that are just a short distance from the Tasman River and Lake Pukaki below. Superb!

This walk is 5.2 km long. On the way back, the GPS indicates 27°. Back to the campsite by 3.30pm. What a wonderful day! We eat a little ice cream and relax. Early dinner outside.

Sunday, November 19: up at 6am. Better weather this morning, 10°. We return to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park to hike Kea Point and Sealy Tarn Viewpoint. To get to Kea Point it's a slight climb, but the view is limited to Mueller Lake.

We hear the mountain rumble and a chunk of snow/ice falls. We have to retrace our steps a little to take the path to Sealy Tarn. It starts quietly before the 600 m of ascent over 2 km of almost vertical wooden steps. It's a real pain in the thighs. The higher you go, the better the view. At Sealy Tarn, the mountain is reflected in the small water basin.

At the end of the trail, the view of Mount Cook, Mueller Lake and Hooker Lake is grandiose. Wow!

The mountain is still rumbling but we can't always see the snow falling, except once. We enjoy the view for a while and have a snack. We come back down around midday, and then it's our knees that start to buckle! It took us 1 hour. In all, we've done 6.5 km. Back to the van at 1.30pm. The temperature is 28°C. In the afternoon, we set up camp at Twizel Holiday Park. Dinner in the van.

Monday, November 20: up at 8am. Breakfast outside. Overcast but fine. Van emptied. Departure at 10am for Lake Tekapo, with two stops on Lake Pukaki. Around 10.30am, we park on the shores of Lake Tekapo and go to see the famous little Church of the Good Shepherd. We'd hoped to see it with lots of lupines in front of it from the other side of the lake, but there aren't any. In fact, it's an invasive plant for New Zealanders, so they're trying to eradicate it. We cross the pedestrian bridge to get closer. It's quite crowded. And a few lupines too.

Then a quick tour of the village. Then it's on to Mount John. The road leads to an astronomical observatory and there's a charge for it (4€). A snack with a view of Lake Alexandrina. Then we'll check out the view over Lake Tekapo. It's pretty limited, though.

We get back down around 2.30pm. We pick up our campsite at Lakes Edge Holiday Park. We'll then relax by the lake with our camping chairs and e-books, enjoying the peace and quiet. Dinner in the van.

Tuesday, November 21: up at 7.30am. It's already warm. Breakfast outside. A few more photos of the lupines.

Departure at 10am. On the road, we make a stop at Burkes Pass in a setting from the "Cars" cartoon.

We do some final shopping in Ashburton. Then we go for a picnic by the sea at Wakanui Beach on the Pacific Ocean. We see dolphin fins, we suppose. We set off again around 3pm. We arrive at the Akaroa Holiday Park campsite on Banks Peninsula near Christchurch at around 5pm.

Dinner in the van.

Wednesday, November 22: up at 7.30am. Breakfast in the van. Departure at 9.15am. We begin our tour of the peninsula with the little white-and-red church of Onuku.

We can even go inside. Then we stop at a viewpoint from Akaroa Heritage Park. It's a nice view.

We try to get to a bay on the other side of Akaroa, at Le Bons Bay. We climb the mountain and find ourselves in the clouds. It clears up on the way down. The little village of Le Bons Bay is quite isolated, with its small beach wedged between cliffs. You've got to love solitude!

Return to the town of Akaroa. A former French colony, it features French streets and business names, as well as the French flag. On foot, we visit the main street and a few stores,

the pier Dalys Wharf,

St Peters and St Patrick's churches. We eat a sandwich by the water. Summit Road, overlooking the bay, still looks like it's in the clouds. Back at the campsite at 1.45pm. We eat pancakes (ready-made). At 3pm, we see that the mountains are clear. We take the van out on the Summit Road. It's a pretty road with some fine viewpoints, but not many stops.

Return to the campsite at 4:30 p.m. Dinner outside.

Thursday, November 23: up at 8am. The weather is nice. Breakfast outside. Departure at 9.30am. Head to the Gondola cable car in Christchurch (€45 for both of us). This takes us up high to have a view of Christchurch and the surrounding bays. The building at the top is under construction. It's a bit foggy but the views aren't bad.

We then head towards the New Brighton pier.

We have a picnic on the beach. Around 3pm, we headed to the South Brighton Holiday Park campsite in New Brighton in the suburbs of Christchurch. On the road, cops stop cars: alcohol test. David complies by repeating one two three four five! Negative, obviously! The campsite is not at the same level as yesterday, it is outdated. Short walk behind the lakeside campsite. Dinner outside. At nightfall, we return to the pier to take photos with the lighting which changes color regularly.

Friday, November 24: up at 8am. It rained all night and still rains now. It smells like the end and the beginning of the “last ones”! : last breakfast in the van, last emptying of the van, last storage and preparation of luggage. We leave the campsite at 10am. Head to a car wash to clean the exterior and interior of the van. At 11.30am, we drive to a park, Travis Westland. It is a wetland where there are birds and observatories. We're going to take some photos. Aside from the classic geese and ducks, we see a black swan and pukeko.

Then we have a picnic, finishing the leftovers under the watchful eyes of ducks who don't miss a crumb that falls! Around 1.30pm, we head to Travelers Autobarn in Christchurch to return the van. It goes pretty quickly, the guy doesn't check anything. There are 202,008 km on the clock, so we have covered 5,975 km in 5 weeks. Goodbye “grandfather”! We call an Uber and at 2.30pm we are at the Christchurch City Center hotel. The room is classy. We check in for flights and Singapore transit visas. We then leave for a tour of Christchurch around 3.45pm. While doing some souvenir shopping, we tour the city. The Transitional Cathedral or Cardboard Cathedral is triangular in shape like in Tromso in Norway.

We can't go inside, there is apparently a meal organized. We then pass through the pedestrian street New Regent Street and its pretty colorful facades.

The Cathedral, partly destroyed during the 2011 earthquake, is currently being restored.

Next to it, the Chalice is a beautiful sculpture representing a chalice.

Return to the hotel at 5.30pm. We're going to eat at The Perch restaurant 2 minutes from the hotel: burger and salmon, banofee caramel banana. Return to the hotel at 9.30pm.

Saturday, November 25: up at 7.30am. Breakfast at the hotel: buffet. We're packing up a bit in preparation for leaving tomorrow. 10.15am, departure for a city tour on foot. We go to Quake City thinking of seeing the 135 empty white chairs in homage to the victims of the last earthquake. But apparently it was dismantled this year. We follow the Avon River to see the Bridge of Remembrance.

It's in a neighborhood really close to the hotel where there are lots of shops, restaurants, bars, it's very lively. There are also lots of small covered passages like in Paris. It's nice. The trams are great.

While continuing to follow the Avon, we then head towards Hagley Park. Large garden with different areas like the “Rose Sculpture”. The roses are in bloom, it's superb and it smells good.

The trees are still impressive with their enormous trunks. Another beautiful garden, a stone's throw from the city center.

Across the street there are some beautiful buildings.

And almost everywhere in the city, we see street art.

We covered 10.9 km. Return to the hotel at 4pm. Around 7pm, we will have dinner at The Little Fiddle restaurant. We order lamb shank (a rare restaurant that offers it) but unluckily they don't have any left. David opts for roast lamb and I opt for chicken and pavlova for dessert. Return to the hotel at 8.30pm. We finalize the luggage.

Sunday, November 26: up at 6.45am. Breakfast at the hotel. We take an Uber at 8.10am to the airport. We arrive at 8.30am. Registration. Pass through security without opening David's bag! Boarding at 11.30am for the flight to Singapore. We arrive at almost 6pm local time, 11pm NZ time. We have a 6 hour layover, it's a long time. We snack a little. The boarding gate for the flight to Paris changes twice, we travel the length and breadth of the airport! We finally go through security at 11.10pm to sit at the boarding gate. We take off at 12.15am (local time). I think we fall asleep before the plane even takes off.

Monday, November 27: landing in Paris at 7.10am. Fairly quick passage through customs. The wait for luggage is longer. We meet the driver from our local agency at 8.50am and head home. Arrival at 11.30am.

* * *

A brief summary of this trip

New Zealand is very beautiful. This island brings together beautiful and diverse landscapes: volcanoes, mountains, fjords, coasts, rivers, lakes, beaches, forests, green hills, cultivable plains. But ultimately nothing we haven't already seen elsewhere. The mountains are beautiful but are not as varied as our Pyrenees or our Alps, the beaches with turquoise blue waters... we have the same in Brittany, the volcanic part in Rotorua is ridiculous when you know Yellowstone! However, all the roads are beautiful and not monotonous, few long boring straight lines with flat fields like in Beauce. The roads always have something to show: green hills, forests, mountain bends with panoramas, rivers with breathtaking colors, sheep, cows.

The weather was the point that worried us the most when coming to NZ. But in the end, the weather was rather kind to us.

In total, we had barely 7 days of rain out of 40 days, two of which really penalized us: in Tongariro and Dunedin.

The temperatures were cool in the morning: 3° in the van with frost on the windshield and up to 28° in the afternoon. Always a little wind, even a lot.

We chose spring in NZ (October November) in order to avoid the high summer season and reduce the cost of renting the van. This choice brought us a pleasant surprise. Many trees were in bloom, the flowers blooming and emitting good smells. For us, NZ will forever be associated with the smell of the Mexican orange tree! We could smell this smell everywhere!

It was our first van experience. We opted for a Self Contained model (autonomous including wastewater recovery and portable toilets) because it is often the only way to do wild camping or Freedom Camping (see below). Everything went well, no mechanical problems. We told ourselves, before leaving, that we would spend one night in a hotel or hostel per week just to sleep in a real bed. But in the end, we didn't feel the need. We only stayed 6 nights in a hotel: 3 in Auckland before getting the van, 2 in Christchurch after returning the van and 1 in Wellington in order to be close to the port for the boat crossing between the 2 islands . The van's "seat bed" was comfortable. The equipment and storage were sufficient. However, the size of the fridge did not allow for much stock and required shopping often. We chose a van with the kitchen inside and not in the back which require to open the trunk. Clever choice which saved us from going outside to cook when it was cold or raining.

When it comes to camping, there are a lot of restrictions on wild camping. There are 4 different categories:

- official campsites with toilets and equipped kitchens which are part of the chains,

- DOC (Department of Conservation) campsites with only toilets and which require a fee,

- Freedom Camping with or without toilets which are free but with the constraint of first come first served (and whoever goes hunting loses their place),

- wild campsites, but there are so many restrictions that we very quickly find ourselves in another category.

As far as we are concerned, we mainly opted for official campsites, because we must admit that it is very pleasant to be able to take a shower and we must also recognize that the toilets provided with the van are not practical. Wild or Freedom campsites operate on a first-come, first-served basis, so we didn't bother looking for them in the evening after our day's walks.

We did 5,975 km.

Deceptions:

- The Rotorua region (volcanic zone) because it is a small area without many colors.

- Not being able to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing because of the weather.

- Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier: the hikes stop very far from the glaciers.

- Not being able to go to Lake Matheson because of the weather.

- The Catlins: we expected better.

- Not having seen a penguin up close.

Good surprises:

- Hobbiton, glad to have gone although we are not that much of a fan of Lord of the Rings. It’s so pretty that it makes you want to live there!

- Cape Palliser: the lighthouse, the turquoise water, the seals very close to us.

- Lake Marian, a very beautiful mountain lake.

Crushs:

- Doubtful Sound in the rain which brought out a lot of waterfalls.

- The walks at Mount Cook: very beautiful.

The cities of Auckland, Wellington and Queenstown are ordinary and soulless. On the other hand, they all have exceptional public gardens right in the heart of the city. As for Christchurch, it's the city we preferred: no tall buildings, it's more lively, more pleasant.