0043. NZ Part 3. East Coast up to Picton

0043.   NZ Part 3.  East Coast up to Picton.   26th Jan - 2nd Feb.

Otira Hotel sign

Leaving Brunner Mine in the rain, we set off down to Moana, on the shore of Lake Brunner.  The weather did not improve, and we were starting to wonder if our sunny days were gone.   Moana in fact has a station right beside the lake, so we visited that in our effort to stay as close to the rail route between Christchurch and Greymouth as we could.    We persevered in the rain, joining the main highway again near Jacksons, and then heading on to Otira.   Still raining.  In the middle of nowhere, as we started to climb into Arthur's Pass, we spotted a big hotel beside the road, but were past it so quickly we had to do a U turn to go back and investigate.   Thanks goodness we did.   It was a treasure.

The bar - but no room for drinking

0042 - NZ Part 2. West Coast

0042. NZ Part 2.   West Coast.      17th - 26th September 2023

Our home for 3 weeks

Woke up on the morning of the 17th, still stiff, but ready for the next phase of our Adventure - Time to go and pick up our little rental Toyota Campervan.  The head office for Freedom Campers is in Christchurch, but it was cheaper and easier for us to pay the excess and have the van delivered to us in Queenstown instead of flying to Christchurch.   And it also suited our planned itinerary to see as much of the N Island as possible.   So, leaving our bags at the great little Bella Vista motel, we walked in to town to catch the bus to the airport.  Unfortunately buses in Queenstown not quite as punctual as those in The Netherlands - The bus was almost an hour late in arriving - Apparently one had broken down somewhere !!  Anyway, eventually got to the airport and found our van and driver in the car park, where we had a brief hangover before he left us to it.  The camper is an older unit (reflected in its low price) but very similar in many ways to our Troopy camper back home, so nothing too much to learn. So we headed back to the motel, picked up our bags from the motel, and set off down the road.  

0041 NZ Part 1. Milford Track

NZ Part 1.  10th - 16th January 2023.  Milford Track walk.

Sydney Harbour

Snow near Queenstown

Tues 10th.     Day 1.      Brisbane / Sydney to Queenstown

Sarah drove us to Brisbane airport very early in the morning to catch our 6.10 am flight to Sydney, where we connected with our Queenstown flight, arriving there in the afternoon.  Left new Lonely Planet guide on the plane !! Taxi to the Bella Vista motel which was perfect, and only 5 minutes walk into town;  What a crazy place - All (and every) extreme sports, and mostly young people there.  Supper in a pub with a couple of beers followed by a walk through town (and ice cream on the jetty) before heading to the motel and bed.