We traveled from Hokitika to Christchurch; our last full day with the van.

Here’s an interactive map of our route, with some of the stops marked:

The town of Kumara; amusing as that is also the Maori name of a sweet potato:

One lane bridge:

Taipo River:

Taramakau River:

Otira Stagecoach Hotel, with Gollum on the roof:

Another one lane bridge:

Roadworks light with a countdown; nice:

16% downgrade:

Interesting avalanche guard:

“Thank you for not feeding me”:

Otira Viaduct Lookout:

Alpine Parrot Cafe for a coffee and slice:

Kea:

Kea info:

Arthur’s Pass National Park Visitor Centre:

Arthur’s Pass:

My beard having “main character energy” as the kids say:

Dusty:

Interesting rocks:

Castle Hill rocks:

Springfield doughnut:

Sheffield Pies:

Perhaps the tastiest pie I had in NZ:

Christchurch Fanfare Sculpture:

Arriving at Top 10 Spencer Beach:

Our site:

Pre-loved items bin; a good idea, since a lot of people end their trip in Christchurch (as we did); we had too much stuff to fit in that bin, so we took it to Red Cross before dropping off our van:

Shower:

We went out to a laundromat to do a last load of laundry:

And got takeaways from Kaikanui Fish & Chip and Chinese Restaurant next door:

Which we took back to our site (not the best, but the last):

This was our last night in the van.

We traveled from Queenstown to Lake Hāwea.

Here’s an interactive map of our route, with some of the stops marked:

Shockingly, another scenic drive in NZ:

We explored the Cromwell Heritage Precinct, which saved some historic buildings when the main street of Cromwell was submerged due to the construction of the Clyde dam:

 

Coffee and a slice at the Seed & Grain Store:

More exhibits:

Clutha River:

Cromwell stone fruit sculpture and sign:

45th Southern Parallel marker, halfway between the equator and the south pole:

Vines:

Interesting rocks:

We were going to stop at Wanaka Lavender Farm, but there wasn’t convenient parking, and most of the lavender wasn’t in bloom, so we skipped it:

Puzzling World is a cheesy tourist trap; we never intended to stop there, and didn’t:

We did stop at the Mount Aspiring National Park Visitor Centre, more our speed:

Of course, we had to take some pictures of That Wanaka Tree (along with several other people):

We had lunch at Scroggin in Wanaka:

A one lane bridge with a traffic light:

Arriving at our campground for the night, The Camp:

It was laundry time again, so we tried the laundry facilities at the campground, but most of the machines were out of order:

The showers were very basic too:

A cabin with a view:

Lake Hāwea:

Outdoor fireplace:

Dome:

Our site:

Since the campground laundry was unusable, we went back to Wanaka to do laundry at a laundromat. Which was a useful experience; we found that taking our laundry to a laundromat was easier than using a campground laundry, since we didn’t need to fuss with coins or small unreliable machines.

After laundry, we had dinner at Hello Ranger:

Then back to our site for the night:

We traveled from Milford Sound to Queenstown.

Here’s an interactive map of our route, with some of the stops marked; a big loop, because there isn’t a more direct route:

A rainy morning lead to hundreds of waterfalls:

Waiting to go back through Homer Tunnel:

Hollyford River:

Morning snack at Alpine Centre Cafe in Te Anau:

Sheep:

Lunch at Route 6 Cafe in Lumsden:

Lake Wakatipu:

Arriving at Driftaway Queenstown, where we spent three nights (the longest stay of this trip):

Our waterfront site:

Power and water:

Other sites:

Jump pad:

Shower:

Laundry:

View out our front window:

After disembarking from the Doubtful Sound cruise, we traveled just half an hour north from Manapouri to Te Anau.

Here’s an interactive map of our route, with our stops marked:

Whitetail deer:

Te Anau Welcomes You:

We stopped at Sandfly Cafe in Te Anau for lunch:

Fiordland National Park visitor centre:

We stayed the night at Te Anau’s Tasman Holiday Park:

Map:

Our site:

Time to do some laundry:

Cabins:

Other sites:

Jump pad:

We walked a few blocks to downtown; here’s a takahē sculpture:

We had dinner at Ristorante Pizzeria Paradiso:

An interesting take on a Hawaiian pizza:

We traveled from Invercargill to Manapouri, where we did an overnight cruise in Doubtful Sound of Fiordland National Park. I’ll do a separate post for that; this is just getting there.

Here’s an interactive map of our route:

Unripe marshmallows:

Countryside:

Farm equipment:

Brunel Peaks Cafe for coffee and slices:

Mountains:

One way bridge:

Waiau River:

Another one way bridge:

A little sketchy:

Interesting rocks:

Parked for our overnight cruise:

Stay tuned for the super-scenic cruise tomorrow….

We traveled from Dunedin to Invercargill.

Here’s an interactive map of our route, with some potential stops marked:

Narow road:

Nice view:

We did a guided tour of Larnach Castle:

Coffee and snack at the castle cafe:

Balclutha Bridge:

Cafe 55 for lunch:

Arriving at Amble On Inn:

Office:

Map:

Then we headed out again; a fuel stop:

Stirling Point sign in Bluff:

An anchor chain sculpture:

Small lighthouse:

McDonalds Big Arch burger for dinner:

Back at the campground, Jenn did some laundry:

Our site:

We traveled from Twizel to Dunedin.

Here’s an interactive map of our route, with some of the stops marked:

A cat visited our site:

On the road:

Waitaki Dam:

Takiroa Rock Art:

Flying Pig Cafe in Duntroon for a morning coffee and slice:

Duntroon exhibits:

Moeraki Boulders:

Lunch at the Moeraki Boulders cafe:

Katiki Point Lighthouse:

Dunedin architecture:

Arriving at Portobello Village Tourist Park:

Our site; very unusual in that it had a sewer hookup: