Auckland

Location: Auckland
Distance travelled – 22.783 km/14,157 miles

Hang on, at the last post, we were in the middle of the South Island and now we're in Auckland? How did that happen? Well, most of it happened by train, but the first bit was still in my camper.

The process of leaving New Zealand began, mentally at least, when I left Lake Tekapo. I had no other major activities planned and, although there was still one overnight stop in the van, I was basically on the way back to Christchurch and thence to Wellington and Auckland.

That said, there were still 4 days left, so it wasn't all doom and gloom. Although the bulk of the spectacular mountain scenery was now behind me, the Rakaia River passes through a pretty amazing gorge not far from Christchurch. The road winds its way down to this bridge:

For my last night, I was determined to freedom camp and I found a perfect spot – a nice grassy area surrounded by trees and only just off the main road not far from the river.

My plan for my last day with the van was to visit the Antarctic Centre which is right next to Christchurch airport so, after getting the gas bottle and diesel tanks refilled, that's what I did. Christchurch has become known as the gateway to the Antarctic as so many expeditions leave from there and most of the research stations are supplied through the city.

The Antarctic Centre is pretty well done – they have lots of interactive areas for children of all ages as well as information for those looking for it. There's a colony of little blue penguins:

Most of which have been rescued when they were found injured. It seems that feeding time is always a popular draw for the crowds:

One interesting room was what they call the “storm” room. It's basically a giant freezer where they've created a snowy landscape, complete with igloo:

Every 20 minutes, they create an Antarctic storm to give visitors the chance to experience it. The room is normally about -8º C (17.6º F) but when they whip up the winds, the wind chill makes it feel considerably colder:

Sorry for the shaky picture, but it was hard to hold the camera steady. As well as the wind, they darken the room and blast you with the sound of the wind howling around you. It was quite realistic, though still hard to imagine what it would be like for hours on end. We were all basically quite warm (they lend you thick jackets) and it only lasted 2 or 3 minutes so there wasn't time to really get cold.

Antarctica New Zealand is a government agency that maintains the New Zealand presence on the continent, based at Scott Base, which is open all year round. The centre has lots of information about how the people there live and what work they're doing. I think you'd have to be pretty tolerant to live in the conditions all winter, but it seemed like quite an appealing place to visit in the summer, if only to say you'd been.

If you're interested, this is how far away it is:

You may need a specialised travel agent though.

Handing back the keys to my camper was quite sad. I'd originally booked it to avoid having to unpack and repack at all the various places I was visiting, and it really did become a home. Once the curtains were drawn, you could be anywhere. It was (generally) cosy and the kitchen was better equipped than the one I've been using in Amsterdam for the last 6 years! As a vehicle it was excellent too. Despite weighing 3 tonnes, there was never any problem about getting up the hills as the engine provided plenty of power.

But all things must come to an end so I emptied out the waste one last time and drove back into town where I got a lift back to my hotel.

Having already crossed one country by train on this trip, I'd decided to do the same again, so 06:45 found me checking-in for the TransCoastal train from Christchurch to Picton, which is where the Interislander ferry leaves.

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Now, it's fair to say that the TransCoastal is not quite on the same scale as the Indian Pacific – either in terms of length of train or length of journey, but it was fun in its own way. What it had, that no other train I've ever been on had, was an outdoor carriage from where you could take pictures without reflections in windows.


It was, though, quite cold and distinctly breezy standing in the observation car, but it was worth it for some of the views. Here is the sunrise, for example:

The coast north of Christchurch was still every bit as spectacular as it was when I drove by here last week, but now I was free to enjoy it.

Remember those road tunnels? Well, here they are again, this time from the rail perspective. You can't really tell, but New Zealand uses a narrow 3'6” gauge for all their railways – it looks very narrow when you're standing next to it!

The Interislander ferry leaves from Picton which sits on the north-west coast of the South Island amongst the Marlborough Sounds – the myriad sea inlets in the area collectively. I had a couple of hours to spare and the i-Site lady suggested a walk down the side of the Queen Charlotte Sound to Bob's Bay. It's a pretty spectacular setting:

This is the bay itself – as seen from the ferry as we sailed past:

There isn't all that much to Picton itself but it does, apparently, have a famous Scottish Bar:

The ferry is almost unique in the world in that, as well as passengers and road vehicles, railway wagons can also be loaded directly:

By the time we arrived in Wellington, it was dark, but I had a quick walk around anyway – having been sitting down for most of the day, it was good to get some exercise. My hotel couldn't have been better placed; it was on the other side of the square from the, rather grand, station:

On those occasions when there was radio reception during my drive around the island, I kept hearing references to “The Beehive” in a political context. This is the name given to the building where parliament meets and, when you see it, you can see how it got the name:

A little further along the road, I came across the Wellington Cable Car:

which was originally built to encourage people to move to the suburb of Kelburn, but which also links to the top of the Botanical Gardens. Apparently it's a popular outing for people to take the Cable Car up the hill and then walk back down through the gardens. In the pitch dark, this didn't seem such an appealing prospect, but I decided to take a round-trip anyway.

The top station offers a fabulous view over the city. Well, a view of the city lights, anyway:

The cable car driver recommended walking along the road at the top as there was a good café, and she was right. The Kelburn Village Pub had a great atmosphere and friendly staff as well as delicious food. I had a concoction of couscous, salmon, spinach and several other things.

After riding down in the cable car, I headed straight back to a very welcoming bed.

The Overlander train connects Wellington and Auckland.

It also has a (very small) outdoor area with this, you would have thought superfluous, notice:

During the winter, the Overlander only runs on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, but every second Sunday, a section of the route is hauled by a steam engine:

The engine came complete with a large coterie of enthusiasts, as might be expected.

The Overlander may only run three days a week, but it runs in both directions on those days. At the point where the two trains passed, both stopped to allow the crews to swap over so that everyone ended up at home at the end of the day.

Signalling problems meant that we were two hours late arriving in Auckland, by which stage all I wanted to do was sleep.

The following day, my last in New Zealand, I was determined to see at least something of Auckland, and the best way to do that was to head up the Sky Tower which, at 328m (1,076'), is the tallest structure in the country. From there, you can get a panoramic view of the whole city. To be honest, Auckland struck me as less like the New Zealand I'd come to love, but most of my time was spent on the sparsely populated South Island (only about a quarter of the country's 4.3 million people live there) and Auckland is very much a large, modern city. It even has motorways (lots of them):

This triangular building is the town hall:

There's even an Auckland Harbour Bridge, though, to be honest, it's not quite a rival for the one in Sydney:

There are glass sections in the floor of the observation deck which allow visitors to look straight down. This being New Zealand, there's also the possibility to throw yourself off the tower attached only by a piece of rope. You'd be aiming for that red circle about half way up the right-hand side of the picture:

My time was very limited and I splashed out on a taxi to the airport to eek the last possible moment out of Auckland and New Zealand.

On the world maps that are common in the UK and Europe, New Zealand is generally hanging on by it's fingernails to the bottom right-hand corner. At the airport, they have a different view:

Here, New Zealand is right in the middle and the UK is threatening to fall off the side. Mind you, that could just be a metaphor for the current state of the UK economy.

New Zealand has been the most amazing country. Round here, things are “awesome”, and New Zealand is just that – quite literally, awe-inspiring. The scenery is little short of breathtaking in places and it just goes on and on. Arguably, Scotland has similar glacial scenery, but we don't have the sheer scale that New Zealand has, and it doesn't last anything like as long – there just isn't as much of it.

The Kiwis themselves were almost without exception friendly and welcoming. The i-Site staff seemed to know almost everything, and seemed to have tried most of the activities they were describing, so they were talking from first-hand experience. It may be a long way from anywhere, and the demographics may present challenges not experience in a densely populated country like the Netherlands, but it's a very 'liveable' country. Not for nothing does is consistently score highly in lists of desirable places to live.

I have wished that I had longer at every stop of this tour so far, but never have I come closer to re-arranging my flights than I did here. The temptation to add a week was almost irresistible. I guess I'll just have to come back.