Day 138 – 26th March – Wanaka – Franz Josef – Wanaka

We woke up again to torrential rain and began our journey up to Franz Josef. We were hoping the weather would be better however we were told by a local that the west coast had the worst weather! Great, just the direction we were travelling in! We drove via the Haast Pass and due to the heavy rain the dramatic scenery was emphasised even more with the thundering waterfalls.  The roads and fields were flooded in areas and this meant there were waterfalls flowing which weren’t even supposed to be there! The river was also really high and roared as we drove past. After about an hour and a half we came to a stop in the road and a line of traffic. Cars were turning around and we were told that ahead there was a road blockage. There had been a landslide brought on by the water coming off the mountain and we could see a tree blocking the road in the distance. We turned around and began the slow journey back to Wanaka. It was unbelievable in such a short space of time how much the roads had changed and there were parts that were totally submerged under water. It was quite scary really to see how much things could change in such little time. We stopped on the outskirts of Wanaka in a picnic area and had a late lunch and re planned out South Island itinerary.  There is only one road up the west coast and with mountains all up the middle we were a bit stuck! We decided to hold out for another night in Wanaka and try our luck the next day getting to Franz Josef. We rang the campervan company and managed to add an extra day onto our booking and then we went back to the campsite in Wanaka and set up again for the night!

Day 139 – 27th March – Wanaka to Christchurch (Leithfield)

We woke up and checked the update on the road to Franz Josef. Unfortunately there had been more land slides and the road was going to be closed for longer. What was also more significant was the bridge to get to Franz Josef from the south had been completely washed away with the floods and therefore there was no way there from the south. We left the campsite and went to a local garage as our blockage wasn’t 100% fixed and while they were fixing the problem we planned a new route around the South Island. In order to see all the places we’d planned to see, it meant it was going to be a long day driving as we would have to travel east and up the coast that way. We set off and travelled approximately 500km to get just north of Christchurch.  We reached the campsite about 7pm and had an evening looking over the new plan!

Day 140 – 28th March – Christchurch (Leithfield) – Kaikoura – Blenheim

We had booked on a whale watching tour in Kaikoura in the afternoon and so we began the journey there at about 10:30am. It took a bit longer than planned as there were quite a lot of road works going on. We arrived in Kaikoura about 1pm and then did a bit of food shopping and had our lunch in the van. We weren’t booked onto our tour until 3:30pm as we only booked the night before. We went down to the office to check in at 3pm and got the bus down the harbour at 3:30pm.  Our tour was to go and see the sperm whales that can be seen just off the shore in Kaikoura.  The tour was full and we were lucky we had got on it as we booked so late due to our change in plans. We boarded the boat and went to sit down. We all had to remain seated in the covered inside area as the boat went pretty fast. The crew member told us the boat travelled between 50-60km an hour which over waves could make it very bumpy and the reason we had to sit down! When there was a spotting we were then allowed to go outside and either stand at the sides of the boat or go upstairs. When you got the call to go outside you had to be quite quick so you could get a good spot. Dan and I went upstairs at the first sighting and were first up and so got a great view of the whale flipping his tail out of the water as he went to dive down. All the sperm whales in the area are males as they have more body fat on them and can withstand the colder water. The females and young stay a lot further out in the warmer waters around Fiji and Tonga! When the whales come to the surface they do so so they can digest the food they have caught whilst diving. They dive down for about an hour before having to return to the surface to get more oxygen. After the first whale dived back down we took our seats again and the boat set off to find another whale. Not long after we set off, the boat stopped and we went outside to look for another whale. The crew used some underwater technology to try to hear the whale. When they couldn’t hear the whale anymore it meant one of three things. It was either asleep, on its way up to the surface, or already on the surface. We all hoped it was either the second or third option and started to look to see if we could see water skirting from the blow hole. There was a sighting and the boat moved towards the whale and again we watched while the whale dived down into the water. On average a tour will see 1-2 whales so we were happy when there was another sighting and we went closer to the whale. It stayed on the surface for about 5 minutes before diving down and you could get a great perspective of how big the mammals actually are! In total we managed to see the whales 4 times in our two hour tour

After the tour we drove up to Blenheim which was about a two hour drive and arrived at our campsite at about 8:30pm and then did some research about activities for the next day.

Day 141 – 29th March – Blenheim

We got up and had a chilled out morning until we got picked up at 11:40 for our bikes by wine tour! Blenheim is in the heart of the Marlborough wine region and we had booked a self bike tour through a company in Renwick which was only a few miles away. They come and pick you up at your accommodation, provide you with bike hire and maps of the wineries and then drop you off at the end of the day. Where the company is and where they live is a fantastic location for checking out some of the wineries and cellar doors. There are 9 in a 3km radius and 20 in a 5km radius! We got a brief from the company and then put our helmets on ready for the afternoon ahead! We tried a tandem bike but it wasn’t for us and so we set off on separate bikes to our first cellar door. We started at ‘Number 1’ which specialised in sparkling wine and therefore was quite different from a lot of the others who focus predominately on Sauvignon Blanc. The history of this place was interesting as the family originally started and still have a vineyard in the champagne region of France however one family member decided to start a vineyard in New Zealand in 1970s.  From here we did a short cycle to Whitehaven and sampled some of their wines. We then thought it would be a good idea to get some lunch and went to Geisen. We tried the wines first and they also had a very nice cider too before having a lovely lunch platter of meats and cheeses in the courtyard. From here we went to one final vineyard which was Bladen and a smaller more family run business. We tried some of the wines and then sat outside in the garden and had a glass soaking up the afternoon sun. We played cards and chatted to a couple of girls from the Cotswolds who were also on our cycle tour. We then cycled back to the bike company and got taken back to our campsite. It was a great day and such a good way of getting round some of the vineyards without having to drive!

When we got back to the campsite Dan bumped into someone who he used to work with at Halifax bank. What a small world! We sat with Mike and his girlfriend Rachel and had a few drinks with them until quite late and then went to bed!

Day 142 – 30th March – Blenheim- Nelson

We woke up a bit hungover and left the campsite in search of food! We stopped at a local cafe and got some food before driving on to Nelson. The drive wasn’t too long and we arrived about 90 minutes later. We had a nice spot overlooking the beach and had a very chilled afternoon!

Day 143 – 31st March – Nelson – Greymouth

Our plan was to get to Greymouth today and we spent the day driving south, down the west coast. We stopped off half way and had our lunch in a picnic area. We then went a did a food shop and arrived at the campsite late afternoon. We had a quiet evening and planned and booked some more things for the next few days. We rang both sets of parents and wished our mums happy Mother’s Day before heading to bed!

Day 144 – 1st April – Greymouth – Franz Josef – Greymouth

We had booked a Heli hike for today and were looking forward to this as we had to cancel our previous booking due to the flooding and bridge collapse just south of Franz Josef.  We had done a 5/6 day detour to get here due to the collapsed bridge and so when we woke up to heavy rain we were thinking it was fate and we weren’t supposed to go to Franz Josef! However we set off at 8:30am and as we were driving the weather changed somewhat and the sun appeared from the clouds! However this was short lived and we went to check in at 11am to be told our flight was cancelled due to low cloud. We were put on the standby list for the 2:30pm flight and hoped the clouds would clear. Unfortunately the weather seemed to get worse and at 1:30pm we were told the 2:30pm flight was also cancelled. We then began the two hour drive back to Greymouth to the campsite! We arrived back at the campsite late afternoon and packed up some of our stuff and had dinner in the campervan for the last time.

Day 145 – 2nd April – Greymouth – Christchurch

We set off from the campsite about 10am and headed to Christchurch. We went via Arthur’s pass and took in the fabulous scenery for the last time on the South Island. We arrived at Britz mid afternoon and dropped the campervan off and then got a taxi into the centre. As we had added a day onto the campervan hire we only had the afternoon in Christchurch. We checked into our hotel and then went to a couple of bars that had been recommended to us in order to finally decide our plans for the north island. As we had such a good time in our campervan, we decided to book another and then spent some time working out a route. We then went to a local Indian restaurant for dinner. As we were walking around Christchurch, Dan noticed quite a few people riding around on scooters called Lime Bikes. After dinner he decided to have a go on one and downloaded the app and took the scooter for a spin! We then headed back to the hotel for our final night on the South Island.