Richard's Travels

Milford Sound Road

I’ve seen a lot more of New Zealand since my last posts, so had better start writing some updates. For my December break I returned to New Zealand. My parents had done a couple of scenic train trips, but for me it was my first visit to the South Island. I flew from Penang to Christchurch, a pretty exhausting flight, and was picked up early in the morning by my parents. They had decided not to spend the night in Christchurch, but to press on over the Southern Alps to Westport on the west coast. The drive took us out through the Canterbury plains and up Arthur’s Pass. The scenery became more and more dramatic as we drove on, and although the pass was shrouded in rain the views were spectacular. We also saw our first Keas – large, friendly flightless parrots that sometimes make a nuisance of themselves eating windscreen-wipers and window seals!

Mom and I on the way to Arthur’s Pass

Westport itself is a pretty though somewhat depressed town – it was historically dependent on coal mining which has suffered in recent years. On the morning of the day we stayed there we drove out to Punakaiki a little further north to see the Pancake Rocks, odd-looking sandstone formations that resemble pancakes in layers. The site also has a number of blow holes that water and spray rush though at certain times, making it look as though the rocks are steaming. We admired some more scenery along the way, but that afternoon the weather closed in  -one of the few bad days we had. Fortunately, one of the attractions in Westport is the Monteith’s Brewery, where we did a tour of the facility and spent the rainy afternoon sampling a few of their beers.

Pancake Rocks

Blowhole at Pancake Rocks

From Westport we drove further south down the coast to Franz Joseph Glacier. The town itself was very pretty, with stunning views of the mountains and glimpses through the clouds of Mount Cook. We walked as close as we could to Franz Joseph Glacier, though recent rains had washed away much of the path. We could get a lot closer to the face of Fox Glacier, and both were visible extending up the mountainsides from further away.

Fox Glacier

Mountains, sheep and glaciers

After visiting the glaciers, we headed south and then back over the mountains at Haast’s Pass. As with all the South Island, the scenery continued to be stunning with incredible sweeping views of the Tasman sea and steep mountain sides cloaked in impenetrable beech forests. The landscape opened up on the eastern side of the mountains into grasslands, a result partly of rain shadows and of course farming. We stayed next in Lake Hawea, in an old fashioned hotel overlooking the lake and the mountains beyond. We decided not to stay in nearby Queenstown, the South Island’s most famous and tony resort town. Stopping there the next day made it clear that it was a good idea. Although the setting is gorgeous the scale of tourist development is a bit intense. We did stop at Arrowtown just outside of Queenstown, which was once on old gold mining town. Although obviously gentrified most of the historic buildings have been beautifully preserved, and we enjoyed exploring and having delicious meat pies for lunch.

Arrowtown

Lake Hawea

From Hawea we drove to another lakeside town, Te Anau. Te Anau is the jumping off point for one of New Zealand’s most famous attractions, Milford Sound. The town itself was very pretty, and Milford absolutely lived up to expectations. The road itself, winding over the mountains and through a tunnel, built with huge effort in the depression, was absolutely stunning. We then took a boat trip down the sound to the Tasman and back again. We were very lucky to have perfect weather in a place that gets 6 metres of rain a year. The most famous mountain, Mitre Peak, was perfectly reflected and we saw splendid waterfalls rushing down the mountainsides. Even in summer the mountains were snow capped which made the scenery even more dramatic.

Lake Te Anau

Mitre Peak

Milford Sound

Kea Parrot on the Milford Road

The Milford Road

After Te Anau, the last leg of our trip took across the bottom of the South Island to Dunedin. We stayed there a couple of nights and I was really taken with the town. The natural setting is stunning, and the city has lots of beautiful nineteenth century buildings, the railway station in particular being an icon of the town. It is also the home of Speight’s brewery, and the alehouse there was the second great beer location of our trip! We went bird watching on Otago Peninsula which has a breeding colony of Royal Albatrosses. We also stayed till sunset to see Little Blue Penguins coming back from the sea to their burrows. We saw one more species of penguin, the much shyer and rarer Yellow Eyed Penguin. The next morning we drove out the airport and then headed to Auckland, where family was about to arrive for Christmas.

Dunedin Railway Station

I was in fairly rough shape when I got to New Zealand in early 2014. However, I spent the first few months in my parents new house, which I hadn’t seen till then, while looking for jobs. I eventually found a British Council job in Penang (I was also offered Tunis and Tripoli which I didn’t particularly fancy) and left towards the end of March. I mostly took it easy while I was there – I joined a local gym and did some cooking. Mom, Dad and I did manage to go on a couple of lovely trips in the North Island, however, as well as exploring a bit more of Auckland and it surrounds than I had on my previous visit.

Our first trip was to Hawke’s Bay on the Eastern side of North Island. We stopped off at a couple of places along the way. The first was Haka falls, and hugely powerful and oddly turquoise blue waterfall on the Waikato river, which was spectacular sight. We also stopped briefly at Taupo, which is New Zealand’s largest lake. We we lucky that it was a clear day as we got a view of the snow-capped peaks of central North Island – Tongariro, Ruapehu, and Ngauruhoe – across the blue water of the lake. (I’m a little unclear which of these three is which, so I’m sorry if I end up naming them incorrectly!). The road down from the central plateau to Hawke’s bay was spectacular though shrouded in mist.

Haka Falls

View of Lake Taupo

The main towns in Hawke’s Bay are Napier and Hastings, both of which were largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1931. They were rebuilt almost entirely in Art Deco style, which is their main to claim to fame and of course really appealed to me! We stayed in Napier, which is a small, compact little town and claims to be the most consistently Art Deco city in the world. It was indeed beautiful which a long shorefront on the Pacific and a charming town centre. We also visited Hastings up the road, which had been rebuilt in Art Deco and Spanish Mission style after 1931 too. As always in New Zealand we had some great pub meals and I enjoyed trying all the delicious local beer – always a refreshing change after Chinese or Southeast Asian beers. I also experienced an earthquake myself, though thankfully nothing like 1931. I was lying down and felt that the bed was moving. I looked over at my bedside table and saw the water level was also moving in a glass of water. Mom and Dad were walking around so didn’t feel it. They were a little skeptical but the evening news confirmed that yes indeed there had been a small earthquake centred a little way to the south.

Art Deco, Napier

Mom and I, Napier

The Masonic Hotel and Vintage Car, Napier

Spanish Mission Style, Hastings

On the way back from Napier we stayed a view days at Taurangi on the southern shore of Lake Taupo. The town is famous for trout fishing and, apparently, crazy gang violence, though it seemed a pretty quiet spot to me. It is also a convenient spot to explore Tongariro National park. We took the desert road to Taurangi, which runs through an area made arid by volcanic irruptions and by the rain-shadow of the three big mountains of central North Island. Unfortunately it was very misty and we couldn’t see the mountains, but it was an eerie and fascinating drive all the same. The weather was still cloudy the next day when we visited the national park. We drove to Whakapapa village in the park, which has a huge, alpine-style hotel called Chateau Tongariro as well as a few cafes and a visitor centre. We also went up to the ski fields on the slopes of Raupehu, though since it was summer there was very little snow. It was also difficult to see the mountain, which featured as Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings, though the mist cleared occasionally so we got a few glimpses. We returned the next as the mist had lifted a bit and had a couple of better views of the mountain.

View of Lake Taupo

Chateau Tongariro

Ski Fields, Ruapehu

The other trip we did while I was in Auckland was to the Coromandel peninsula. We stayed in a small town on the eastern side called Whitianga. On the first day we went to hot water beach, were water from hot springs filters up through the sand and people can dig pools of hot water to sit in. We also went to Cathedral Cove, a beautiful stretch of coastline with a large cave you can walk through. On the next day we crossed the peninsular to Coromadel town itself, where we took and eccentric railway that was initially developed to collect clay but is now a tourist attraction. It is narrow-gauge and makes a steep ascent up the side of the mountains overlooking Coromandel, with peculiar clay art along the way. After coming down from the railway we drove north up the peninsula passing more and more remote beaches. We stopped at one for a picnic before turning back and heading home to Auckland.

Mom and I, Hot Water Beach

Cathedral Cove

The coastline above Cathedral Cove

I then had a few more weeks in Auckland, getting to know the city better, before heading off to Penang, where I have been now for nearly three years….