Author Archives: Peter Rodgers

Today Keiran decided that he wanted to spend some time and check out New Plymouth while I wanted to go to Mount Taranaki / Egmont. So after fuelling up I dropped Keiran in New Plymouth and drove off to spend the day in Mount Taranaki National Park. We both had enjoyable and satisfying days. NewContinue reading “Day 25 Opunake to Stratford via New Plymouth and My Taranaki”

Wellington was much bigger than we expected and it took an age for us to get out into the countryside again. The North Island is certainly very different to the South Island and today was spent driving through green rolling countryside reminiscent of parts of New South Wales and Victoria when not in drought. OurContinue reading “Day 24 Wellington to Opunake”

Today we added water wings to our van to cross the Cook Strait. But we began the day with two detours: a walk at Karaka Point And a visit to the foreshore market at Picton where we discovered that we were hugely ripped off when we bought jade at Hokitika paying prices about ten timesContinue reading “Day 23 – Picton to Wellington”

Our only stop today was the WOW museum of wearable art & classic cars at Nelson. Picton

We spent most of today at the top of the South Island doing some walks. Pillar Point Lighthouse walk

Today we drove on more winding roads than at any other time since we’ve been here in New Zealand. One road chokers from sea level to 800 metres in just several kilometres and then back down again. That was just the first of many winding roads today use not just by us but also byContinue reading “Day 20 Kaiteriteri to Collingwood”

Whilst there is a shorter and more direct route from Murchison to Kaiteriteri, we chose the longer and more winding road via St Arnaud. Our first stop was at Kawatiri where we did a walk over an abandoned railway bridge and tunnel built in 1923. As we received conflicting information about this we’re not sureContinue reading “Day 19 Murchison to Kaiteriteri via Picton Lakes National Park”

We had no destination in mind today and just decided to drive as far as we felt like and stop when we found a nice place to stay which is right here in Murchison. We did stop at two or three places along the road where we found nice vistas Punakaiki Pancake Rocks

We are maintaining our consistency about leaving things behind. Yesterday I left our floor mat, which I just cleaned in the caravan park and didn’t realise it until we were several hours up the road. Today Keiran left his undies in the bathroom and also didn’t realise it until too late. A short drive toContinue reading “Day 17 Franz Josef Glacier to Hokitika”

Fuel is getting ever more expensive our fill this morning cost $2.45 per litre for 91. Haast River Bridge, very long and only one lane wide but with three stopping bays to let oncoming traffic pass Knights Point Lookout We began walking to Fox Glacier but after talking to a couple who we met returningContinue reading “Day 16 Haast to Franz Josef Glacier”