First Look at New Zealand's South Island

Leaving Bali was a very difficult thing for us to do. The surf is amazing, the diving is out of this world, and everything is so cheap. But knowing that the south island of New Zealand was at the other end of our plane ride made the parting much easier. I have been to New Zealand once before. I hitchhiked from Auckland down to Wellington then all over the south island. I'm looking forward to going back to some of those highlights and also having some new adventures along the way.

The Brain

Beebop, Rocksteady, and Shredder

Even April O'Neil made the cut

  For the next week and a half we have a tricked out camper van rented. This will give us lots of options and freedom, plus they paint all their vans wild themes. I was pretty pumped when we picked up ours because it is decked out with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme. All the way down to April O'Neil and Beebop and Rocksteady. This cartoon was a Saturday morning staple for me growing up. Picking up the van was also a sigh of relief because the shop closed at four, and our plane was late lifting off so we didn't arrive until three. It took 45 minutes to get through customs, New Zealand is pretty strict. Then after jumping in the first taxi we see that could fit our surfboards, a woman promptly rams the back of our taxi while we are stopped. Luckily, through email, I got in touch with the van guy, we made it to the shop, and managed to drive away in our artistic transport.
 

Sunset on Kaikoura side

Sky blue water near Hanmer Springs

  After picking up some groceries and petrol, we headed to our Northernmost point of our trip, Kaikoura. This cool coastal town is home to a resident pod of sperm whales. There is a deep trench just offshore where they can be seen daily. Whale watch boats and spotter planes take tourists out and we were determined to find some. Our first view of the ocean showed a beautiful, calm sunset scene. Last time I was here I was foiled by rain and wind. This time would be different I could tell.
   I was right! This time it was fog. Foiled by fog. The ocean was as calm as it could get but you couldn't see 100 yards. Pretty tough to find sperm whales. Guess it will have to wait for my third trip.

Our lodging in Greymouth

Incredible views on the Lewis Pass Highway

  So foiled by fog in Kaikoura meant we were on our way west. We drove our van way up in the mountains to a cute mountain town called Hanmer Springs. We had a great dinner here enjoying some nice cool weather for the first time this trip. The highway here is just two lanes and winds its way next to rivers, through ancient forest, and past wildflower studded mountains. It's hard to keep your eyes on the road because of all the beautiful scenery. Luckily there are pull-offs all along the road for just this purpose. It seems like every bend in the river had another signed picnic spot next to it. We followed the highway through the Lewis Pass and knew we were getting close when the rivers started flowing towards the other coast. Our destination was the old gold mining boom town of Greymouth. Our hope is to catch some waves...and rent a wetsuit.

Myles at the helm, driving on the left

Yellow wild flowers everywhere