Camping through New Zealand - September 1998

If you ever get a chance to go to New Zealand - Do it!

Luann and I spent a month in New Zealand in the fall of 1998. We landed in Auckland, spent a couple of days getting used to the time and hemisphere change, then picked up a camper. We had no hard destination other than Christchurch on the South Island in 20 days.

These are a few of the pictures but they don't begin to show the beauty of the country or the hospitality of the people.  New Zealanders have British manners and American frontier spirit.  The country is still wide open and camping is a national past time.  We saw volcanic mud and ancient glaciers.  We saw electric plants built nearly a mile underground so that the lake wouldn't have to be dammed. The people were great, the beer was good, and the sheep were everywhere.

We started out in Auckland on the North Island. The Kea Camper would be our home for three weeks. The camper was a modified Ford Transit. The diesel engine was trouble-free and economical and the interior was outfitted with a double bed, sink, microwave, gas stove, hot water, electric heater, even a small toilet/shower.

Our first encounter with sheep. We were driving along through hills and twisty country roads when we crested a hill and found a road full of sheep, fresh from spring shearing.

Keep in mind you drive on the left side of the road. I would occasionally drift over. Roundabouts take a bit of getting used to but they make a lot of sense. Fortunately there's not much traffic in the country side and when they see a tourist camper coming, natives use plenty of caution and steer clear. This is a place where people use signals, they wave you in to merge and no one sees a need to tailgate. Many bridges are one lane and you wait your turn to share the bridge. There was one bridge that accomodated two way traffic plus a railroad, all on a twelve foot wide bridge. Common sense and courtesy go a long way in New Zealand.

This lamb is really a kid.

Lots of hiking, lots of flowers.

Sheep skins keep more than sheep warm. The west side of the south island was pretty wet and cold. Even with electric heat in the camper it was nice to have some extra insulation.

On the west coast of the south island is the Franz Joseph Glacier. This trail starts among tropical ferns and ends at a glacier.

The end of a 'short' 3 hour hike. New Zealanders love to hike and the trails are clean and well kept.

Note that trails are marked in time to destination. We had to add 30%, they obviously keep up a faster pace.

The Kiwi is the New Zealand national symbol. (this is NOT life-sized)

A camp ground in Queenstown. The campgrounds in New Zealand are excellent. This one had a two-person jacuzzi and fireplace. Every camp ground had clean rest rooms, hot showers and good cooking facilities. Most had washing machines and they were often located right in the middle of the town.

We met some great, funny people - campers and hosts. One morning I overhead some American's trying to convert Centigrade to Fahrenheit. It was pretty cold outside but by the time they calculated 9/5, added ("or should we subtract?") 32, took into consideration the rounding errors and came up with an answer, they determined it was 162 degrees fahrenheit outside.

Favorite New Zealand expression: "brilliant" - as in, "How's things?" - "BRILLIANT!"

Favorite US expression (after the showers ran out of hot water) - "Looks like hot's on the road again."

On the dock in Queenstown. Queenstown is sort of like Lake Tahoe - young, outdoor oriented and suffering from popularity. You can bungie jump, hanglide, take a jet boat on the river, cruise the lake or get a good meal. After a week in the remote west side of the south island, a little tourist-catering was nice.

The Tukeko is another popular bird. (also not life-size).

I didn't get a picture of the Kea, a mischievious bird known to peel the insulation out from the windshields of cars or fly off with any car keys carelessly left on a picnic table. We saw a Kea picking up a rock in its beak and use it to break open nuts on the ground. Unfortunately the Kea has been seen attacking sheep.

It was fall in the northern hemisphere but spring in New Zealand. Lots of tulips everywhere.

sheep, again...

Most cities have municipal gardens. This was in Christchurch. New Zealand public gardens are educational as well as a place of refuge. Most have aviaries and often have other animals on display. Trees and plant from all over the world have been imported. We saw California Redwoods half way around the world from California.

Be aware that importing or exporting plants or animals is very strictly regulated. They are very serious about contamination. We saw campers who just arrived at the airport scrubbing tents and hiking gear to make sure no contaminated soil or seeds got into the country.

Punting on the river through the municipal gardens in Christchurch.

Our last town was Christchurch. From here we caught a plane to Auckland and on to Los Angeles. Our final flight to Monterey ended after 22 hours of airplanes and airports. But because we crossed the dateline heading east it was still two hours before we left.