Oli Reveals: VI

Another installment of Oli’s round-the-world emails:

Number six, hopefully you’ll like it…

So, landed in Christchurch, on the South Island of New Zealand on November
8th and spent the entire time on the bus ride into the centre of Christchuch
thinking “i’m home again?!!”. What I mean by that, is that the buildings
are really similar to that of England, all colonial with their lawns and
garden beds, the shops and restaurants look the same, the people dress the
same, the road names are all English names, people drive on the left and
finally….the climate’s the same. The initial weather was wet, cloudy,
windy and cold, just like a winter’s day. Spent 2 nights in Christchurch at
a couple odf different hostels and looked for a cheap car to buy, with no
luck. Ended up hiring a Toyota Corolla for 19 days, and had a girl from
Israel tag along for the ride, called Yaara.

Drove north to Hamner Springs on the afternoon of the 3rd day, driving
through sheep-grazed pastures up a gauze-covered river valley to the
foothills of teh region, away from the coast, where we eyed some cool
picturesque valley views from up high, watching the river cut its way down
to the sea. Hamner Springs was a really pretty town, having an alpine
setting of pine trees, wooden lodges and green hills with thaty fresh smell,
like a crisp spring day. Stayed there for a night and then went to the
springs complex, relaxing in the sulpher/ hot spring pools before heading
back to the coast in the afternoon to the pretty seaside town of Kaikoura.
This place is famous for its sea colony and whale watching, so we did a hike
to the colony, where I was able to get about 2 metres from this big fat seal
to take a picture. From there, we continued our drive north, passing more
fields along the coast, before heading up into the hills again and dropping
onto the plateau that makes the north east of the south island. Here, the
landscape changed again, to vineyards, indicating we were near to out
sleeping stop for tne night, Blemheim. Did a wine tour on the following day
at Montana winery and found that I quite like their famous white wine
“Sauvignon Blanc”, plus learnt how to appreciate a wine. Still doesn’t beat
tea!! Drove to the port town of Picton after that, which like Blenheim, was
small, picturesque and had a really nice relaxed colonial feel to it.

We ended up in Nelson after that, which is my favourite town so far in NZ-
lovely mediterranean climate like the other northern towns (why they produce
so much decent wine!!), great pub/ cafe culture, beautiful colonial
buildings and a great mansion hostel to stay in. From here, we spent the
following 3 days treking in the Abel Tasman national park, covering almost
50km of coast, seeing loads of beautiful bays/ beaches, going through
forests and making well-timed tidal crossings of rivers that offer no
alternate route. We stayed in a couple of wooden huts enroute, providing
shelter, heat, toilets, a mattress and running water- nothing more. I didnt
bring a sleeping bag, as I only wanted to take my day sack and pack the
essentials- a stove, clothes, camera, water/ food and music. That meant
that i spent both nights by a gas gas heater or an indoor inclosed log fire,
which I kept going until 3am on the second night. The accomodation was so
basic, that it really made me appreciate the company of others and do the
simple things like drink tea together and make conversation, playing cards.
Had a bizarre moment when I was playing a new card game with a dutchman, an
israely, 3 germans, 1 Russian and another brit. Made a new friend, who
lives in Germany and i’m sure I’ll see next year.

The national park was so beautiful, even though our 2nd day of hiking
involved being rained on throughout the whole afternoon, being sandblasted
and going knee-deep in icy river water at 7.30 in the morning. The rugged
forested peninsulas and bays were really great to see, and the people were
really friendly. I did end up swimming on the 3rd day, as it was so sunny,
but doesn’t compare to the bath water that is Fiji!! I reckon the trekking
and our general stay in the north of teh south island were the best parts so
far.

Write back to me if you like, it would be great to hear from you!!

All the best, Oli