New Zealand

We had come to the end of our South Island adventure, but before we jumped onto the ferry to embark on our North Island trip, we wanted to check out the vineyards. We drove to Blenheim in Marlborough and took a spot at a caravan park that was on the banks of a creek that teemed with eels.   I guess I have been spoiled by French vineyards, and their rolling, verdant, picturesque, glory.  Marlborough was surprisingly flat, barren and industrial.     But the wine was good!!    After filling up on good wine and food, we said goodbye to the South Island and boarded the ferry. Ni-Van found a friend

 From Hamner Springs it was on to Kaikoura.  We ate delicious fish and chips and saw lots of wildlife, including heaps and heaps of entertaining seals.   Kaikoura is also were the sliding side door to Ni-Van came off.  One of the fixtures had rusted through.  So for the rest of the trip we had to keep the side door shut and climb in and out of the front passenger seat to access the rest of the van.  It was slightly precarious hitting high speed with a dodgy door, but the van dude reckoned we would be right.  We didn't really have much of a choice.    

After our icy escapades we decided to treat ourselves to a night at Hamner Springs.  A thermal spa laden with minerals sounded like just the ticket to sooth our muscles.  And it was.

During my university summer breaks I used to work at Central Queensland University, advising undergrad business and law students on their subject selection (!?).  I remember one summer my boss, Philip, showed me some photos of his trip to Franz Joseph Glacier.  They were spectacular and I decided then and there that I too would experience this magical place one day. Romain had the same aspirations so we jumped in Ni-Van and hooned of to Tai Poutini National Park. First stop was Fox Glacier.           After skidding and sliding around on the ice for a bit and taking a sufficient number of dorky photos of us pretending to be foxes, we drove to on to Franz Joseph Glacier. We had signed up for an ice trek.  Our guide told us something about slowly moving glacial walls with the potential to crush us all to death, can't recall the exact details.  But regardless, we got our crampons on, and set off into the icy blue wilderness.    It was ...

 It was time to relax after our Milford Sound hijinks.  So we decided to partake in some free camping at Te Anau. An absolutely gorgeous spot.  A pine forest and a huge lake surrounded by snow capped mountains. There were a few other people with the same idea, but there was plenty of space for everyone. We found a really great place to tuck Ni-Van in for the night. It was such a beautiful spot. Romain even braved an icy dip in the pristine waters! We were about to settle down for an afternoon drink and then we had the great idea to drive Ni-Van down onto the pebbly beach for a photo shoot. Great photos.  HUGE mistake. We happily snapped away for a good while then decided we'd captured enough and it was time to drive Ni-Van back to his nook in amongst the pines. Except we weren't going anywhere. Ni-Van was bogged.  While the van had driven fine onto the beach, it was not interested at all in exiting the beach. The tyres spun and pebbles flew but there was no forw...