Nina & Stasiu in NZ

Moving to a different location during the trip every day was sometimes hard for Nina & Stasiu. Especially when they had just made new friends or liked the place. Fortunately they always had each other to share and look for new adventures.

New Zealand part 5

After a very wet and stormy night in Waikawa, we continued the coastal route towards East coast historical town Dunedin, with a scenic stop at Nugget Point. Portobello on the Otago peninsula was where we spent the night. Slowly we were making our way back up north again, passing the Moeraki Boulders, Oamaru with its historical buildings, great Steampunk playground and blue penguin colony on to Timaru where the final night in our motorhome took us to the Patiti Point freedom camping spot, right on a cliff, short walk to the beach and little lake - fantastic! Our last leg was to Christchurch, but before handing back the camper, we had one more scenic road to travel to Akaroa on the Banks peninsula with again more outstanding views. Late afternoon we arrived at our hotel in the centre of Christchurch. The city centre is still in a shocking state of ghost buildings, ruins and empty lots after the earthquake of 2011. Before catching our flight back to Auckland the next day, we visited the Quake City museum and the lovely Botanical Gardens to finish our memorable '4000km in 15 days trip' to New Zealand.

New Zealand part 4

From East coast to West coast via the Arthur's pass. Great scenery underway to our next destination: Hokitika. Lovely beach where we watched the sun go down after a beautiful afternoon with an extremely excited Nina because it would be her birthday the next day. Up early to open the presents, we continued south along the West coast. In Franz Josef, the birthday cake with 7 candles tasted great just before the surprise helicopter flight up to view both Fox and Franz Josef glacier and even a stop on the glacier for a snowball fight: unforgettable, impressive and beautiful! After this the day drive continued along the windy coast to Haast Beach where we spent the night. Queenstown next: the route was again extremely scenic with waterfalls, clear blue lakes and white capped mountains. In the Queenstown area we found another fantastic freedom camping place. Right on the lake, mountainous views and finally the opportunity for the long awaited campfire. We decided to drive to the famous Milford Sound the next day and we made it just in time for the last boat tour of the day. Lush green, waterfalls galore and even a seal colony and the rare yellow-brow penguin up close; it was a windy but great trip. We spent the night at Milford Sound, waking up to it's great view from our prime parking/camping spot. The South coast was next: passing through Invercargill and then onto the scenic coastal road, we made a little detour for the most southern point of South Island - Slope point - to set up camp right at the waters of Porpoise Bay.

New Zealand part 3

From Waihi, our route cut cross-country via Rotorua, where we made a quick stop for the lake, geysers/hotpools, to our overnight stop in Taupo. There we found a great freedom camping site at Five Mile Bay right on the lake. Waking up to the soothing sounds of the water, we continued our trip further south, with a stop on the West coast at another superb freedom camping spot on the beach in Paraparaumu - huge playground and nice restaurant 'onsite' so everybody had a great afternoon/evening. Next day only a short drive to Wellington where we met for coffee with Staszek's cousin just before catching the ferry to Picton South Island. Our first South Island night we spent on the East coast at Wairau Diversion freedom camping area, a gorgeous place where a river meets the beach/sea. Just in time for sundown, the kids played on the beach, made friends with the fishermen and even got some fish to take 'home'. The following day we were on our way south along the coast to Kaikoura spotting some seal colonies. In Kaikoura, famous for whale/dolpin watching, we learned that the tours for that day had been cancelled because the animals were too far out and there was nothing to be seen. We decided to drive on further south to Leithfield Beach for the night as the day after we would cross country again to exchange the East coast for West!

New Zealand part 2

Our trip started in Auckland, where we picked up our motorhome. After a stop at the supermarket for provision, we soon made our way north via to the Bay of Islands, Paihia, our first stop. The Waitanga campsite was convenient, albeit not as scenic as we had envisioned. The next day we made our way back towards Auckland, along the scenic routes of the East coast. We spent the night in Takapuna in a pretty spot right at the beach and even had Polish family dinner guests over! In the morning we had to get up early to head south through Auckland and then east for winding roads of the Coromandel peninsula to end our day in Waihi for yet another family meeting. This was a longer driving day than anticipated but very much worth it - what beautiful sights! Great that we were welcomed with dinner and a blazing wood fire by Staszek's aunt and uncle before rolling into our beds. Up on time the next day to feed the calfs, check out the chicks, horse and walk the dog!

New Zealand part 1

For the October holidays we were headed for New Zealand: 16 days to cover North and South Island - a challenge but we had it all planned. Here a quick impression of this beautiful country with its every changing scenery and a great trip in, of course, a motorhome. More New Zealand posts will follow shortly.