Top of the South

New-Zealand-aerial - Sandra the Traveller

Top of the South Tour was our second trip to New Zealand.

It was that spring/almost- summer time of October that we headed out for our second South Island trip. Nine days of almost all glorious weather. Cherry blossoms and snow at Hanmer Springs! We managed to stay ahead of the fickleness, until the storm hit in the last couple of days.

On our last trip to the South Island, we headed south, heading for the fjords. This time we drove through the top, with Hanmer Springs our first stop. We visited towns like Murchison, St Arnaud, and Nelson before headed for nature in Abel Tasman National Park. Kaikoura was our last stop before heading back to Christchurch.

Cherry Blossoms at Hamner Springs NZ 2009Hanmer Springs

Population 900. Hanmer Springs is an alpine village in the Cantebury plains, just a short drive from Christchurch. It is known for the skiing and thermal pools. 

My husband drove straight from the airport, after a long red-eye flight from Singapore. After we unloaded the rental car and played with Molly, the resident Cocker Spaniel at the hotel, we just slept. In this gigantic round bed, so comfortable though it could have been the concrete floor we were so tired.

The next morning we took the Conical Hill walk. This is a 20-minute uphill walk that takes you to a vista overlooking the town and surrounding mountains. Not a strenuous zig zag track, well worth the time and effort. 

As we hit the town limits coming back in, snow began to fall. We hadn’t seen snow for a while, a long while. The cool crisp air was a welcome change to stifling humid tropical weather. It reminded me of the fall weather back home. Spring, fall – not too different. Unpredictable. Temperamental. Wet.

With cherry blossoms in full bloom, winter had come back for a brief visit. We headed to one of the many cafés in town, which was busting with tourists, for some hot tea and coffee. An enjoyable second breakfast, before leaving for our second stop.


On the road South Island New Zeland between Hamner Springs and Murchison 2009

Murchison & St Arnaud

We arrived in Murchison (population 624) around 4 in the afternoon. It was an awkward time – do we stay, do we drive on the next and possibly bigger town or do we push on to Nelson?

We decided to stay at St Arnaud (200) so we could visit Lake Rotoiti the next morning.

St Arnaud was like a ghost town – no one was on the road and all the stores were closed. It was after all, a town of 200!  After a few ringing of the bell at the town’s only hotel’s reception, we drove to Lake Rotoiti for a look-see.

It was bitter cold and the wind was blowing so hard that a hike at that time, with the sun dropping fast, was out of the question. The die was cast. Nelson it was.


Sunset Near Nelson New Zealand 2009

Nelson

Nelson (dubbed “the sunshine capital of New Zealand) sits on Tasman Bay and is an arts and crafts centre and wine country.

By the time we arrived, the sun was fast setting, giving us a breathtaking visual with lights sparkling on the delta’s water. In the dusky divide, we found our way to the Monaco Peninsula, where our hotel the Grand Mercure was located.

My husband found these self-contained cottages. Ours was the one bedroom summerhouse cottage that came with a beautiful spa bathroom. It was very romantic, indeed. That night we ate at the famous restaurant The Orangerie.  With conservatory windows looking out across the inlet, it was a beautiful setting, even if the darkness cloaked the views. And of course, we had wine, as a prelude to our wine tour the following day.

The next day we did our wine tour and one of our guides was Bermudian. Small world! The interesting thing is the first Kiwi I met was in Bermuda. We had a ton to talk about.

It was not yet high season and many of the boutique vineyards were still closed. We were lucky that Richmond Plains, which makes organic wine, was opened. They had just started producing biodynamic wines – made organically with ethical spiritual considerations, based on the ideas of Rudolf Steiner. We bought a few bottles of their first biodynamic wine, the Aries. Sweet and light. Beautiful. There is organic wine; then there is biodynamic wine.  With conventional wines full of pesticides, organic/biodynamic is the way to go.


Abel Tasman

Abel Tasman National Park was probably the highlight of the trip. It is the smallest national park and is busy for tramping, sea kayaking, and other water sports. It has a marine reserve, with seal and penguin colonies.

The town Motueka had only one general store and only one restaurant was opened. It was not yet high season, though they still charged high season prices!

On the first day, we checked out the famous coastal trek. With low tide, we saw the sandbars. In the distance, we could just make out people on horseback on these great plains. With the setting sun’s glorious colours illuminating this landscape, I felt quite removed from time and space. The undulating light, reflected in the seas and the rivets of waterways, was like no other view I’ve ever seen.

The next day we went sea kayaking, and saw seals sunning on the rocky shorelines of the outlying islands and dolphins in the distance. We even saw a few penguins, one was so close that we could have touched him. It was AMAZING.

On our last day, after we checked out, we went riding with Pegasus and rode a “Rings” horse. Apparently these horses were “extras” for the Lord of the Rings series filmed in New Zealand. For me, it was more walking as Hermit the Frog was a stubborn old man who knew what he wanted to do. Cooperating and keeping up were not it. He was 28 years old. I was happy sloshing through the water by myself,  far behind the trio. By the end, I was semi-wet from riding through the water and my husband was sniffling, with eyes swollen and bloodshot. Is he allergic to horses?

Here’s the full Abel Tasman blog


Kaikoura

This is where people go whale watching. That too was our plan, except Mother Nature had other ideas. We waited as we watched the changing weather. The incoming storm did mean all trips out to sea were cancelled that Friday. With my unpredictable motion-sickness (especially on water), we decided to give the day after a miss as well. Kaikoura is a small town. Not much stayed opened after 5 PM. I liked the feel of the town – with its many small shops, restaurants and cafés. We even got a Christmas ornament and  souvenirs. 

We drove to a seal colony at the edge of the town for some photos, and a walk. Mostly I just collected rocks and driftwood. That night, we had a delicious Thai dinner, paired with the Seifried Gewürztraminer we bought from one of the Nelson wineries. That might have been the date of destiny that began my love affair with this wine.


Christchurch

Last stop – Christchurch. This trip we stayed near the airport, right next to the International Antarctic Centre (definitely worth a visit). As far as we could tell, it was the only airport hotel. We spent our last day going to the Arts Centre Market, the Antarctic Centre, and the Natures Reserves.

After some unproductive time with the GPS, we got to the Arts Centre Market. Compared to last June, to our surprise, it was quite empty. Perhaps the storm kept the vendors and visitors away. As the day warmed, the crowds did get thicker.

(sadly, the Arts Centre Market remains close as of this posting, after the Feb 22 2011 earthquake)

We rushed back to the Antarctic Centre since hotel reception told us it closed at 5.30 PM, suggesting helpfully that we should get there two hours in advance for the tours. The centre actually closed at 7; however, because of the error, we were just in time for the last penguin feeding of the day at 3.30 PM.

The centre had a lot of great exhibitions, with lots of information and the penguins were, of course, the highlight, as was the ride in the Hagglund. Very cool. If you have kids, this is a must-do!

That night we went for the dinner-and-tour at the Willowbank Wildlife Reserves nearby. You could feed the farm animals, birds, and also the wallabies. And the eels. After nightfall, we joined a Japanese tour to meet the Keas, the Kiwis, and other Kiwi natives and non-natives. It was another animal whisper moment, for my husband.

Here’s more about my Willowbank Wildlife Reserves visit.


It was a fun and memorable trip to New Zealand. Our second trip, another tour of the South Island. Living in a tight urban city like Singapore, being in the space and openness was just what we needed. We rented a car and drove through the top of South Island, rounding out our adventures that began last time driving through the Cantebury Plains and visiting the fjords. If I can get hold of those photos, I’ll be sure to share them here.

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