The planning for this trip is totally crazy and I think 23 days is just not enough for South Island! With 23 days, I had to give up Picton, Nelson, Abel Tasman National Park and many more. The below was my initial plan, however, I am not able to cover all of it due to torrential rain that results in landslides (aka road slips), broken road bridge and flooding. And we had many activities cancelled and replanning of route due to road closure and stuffs. Nevertheless, my partner and I still enjoyed ourselves and making the most out of it. Thus, those underlined itinerary are not conquered but planned.
South Island, I will be back again!
This is my first campervan road trip! So it is going to be a long long post yet again. Information that I thought was important and may not be able to find details online at times. Mostly, these notes are for my reference. So if it helps you, it’s great too!
Mode of transport in South Island:
Dream Sleeper Mini (Luxury Campervan) from Spaceships Rental (NZ)
Everything you need to know about Dream Sleeper Mini (Video Tour) – Click on the link!
Personal thoughts about Dream Sleeper Mini (Luxury Campervan)
This is a non self-contained campervan, which also means, there is no portable toilet in the campervan. This campervan is converted from Toyota Estima 6-Seater Car, where you can convert the back seats into a bed good for two pax and the boot is your open kitchen. It came with a mini bar fridge and all necessary kitchen utensils except ladle (I like soup, so without the ladle was some inconvenience. But it’s all fine!). I love this campervan, it drives like a car. It gives comfort as you could drive this as a normal car even on a narrow and windy (curvy) road, it’s easier to manoeuvre through the road as compared to the typical huge campervan. If you like more spacious ones, you could look into van-like campervan, especially for people who are taller.
However, if you do not mind typical campervan size, it usually more equipped with heater, shower, toilet and indoor kitchenette. This also means there are more things to look out for maintenance. There are 3 water tanks; (1) Fresh Water (self-explanatory), (2) Grey Water, and (3) Black Water. And if I understand correctly through my research, Grey Water Tank are water collected after you shower. And this Grey Water Tank helps to flush your toilet bowls. After the flush, the waste and waste water will be collected in Black Water Tank. These tanks are to be emptied through a pipe that you will attached from your campervan to a designated place usually found in Holiday Parks or Campsites that have this amenity. Also, you will have to top up the fresh water naturally after using up. Parking didn’t seem much of a problem too. Perks of this campervan, it’s a good shelter everywhere during bad weather during your travel. And it’s super spacious. So as long as you are confident in driving this, it is pretty good choice. And you probably need to book a powered campsite where you can charge this camper.
Accommodation
So where did we stay? Obviously in our camper! But you cannot just park anywhere to sleep in! There are rules to observe for freedom camping (Campervans that are self-contained aka with toilet) and non-self contained (aka no toilet in camper) to park in. Freedom camping allows you to park within freedom camping zone which will be distinctively shown on the road signs telling you that freedom camping starts and ends. The camper will also have a sticker that states you are allowed to do freedom camping. Thus, you have more choices, since self-contained campervan are well equipped.
For non self-contained campervan like Dream Sleeper Mini, we are only allowed to camp overnight in a campsite or holiday park. There are range of campsites available from free to $30 per pax per night. So what are the main differences between the free and paid campsites, and holiday parks that you may ask. Free campsites are usually Department of Conservation (known as DOC), they only have a drop toilet with no showers. Some campsites are just $10 per vehicle per night which has hot shower at NZD$2 for 5 minutes. And the use of basin water to wash things after you cook at NZD$0.20 per 2 minutes or so. And this water are not potable usually. Holiday parks are luxury campsite with more amenities available, hot showers with unlimited time (but be considerate to other campers), washing machine and dryer at NZD$4 per wash or drying session for about 40 mins each (note that no washing powder is included, bring your own or purchase from reception at NZD$1 usually per wash or just get one from supermarket 500g for NZD$3 or so).
So how does it really look like or feel like, as camping is not a norm in my country. So this is one of the question I had in mind. Basically, you are given a parking space and this differs at each camping ground. Some are really spacious and some are really tight (means the next camper is just 2m away from you. Some had picnic bench and table for you beside your parking space. Parking space terrain varies from gravel to grass to tar road.
Oh and there is 3 types of camping grounds; non-powered tents, non-powered camper and powered site. Non-powered tents and non-power camper is basically similar at most campsite, probably only differ in size. Non-powered means a parking space for your camper or a space for both your car and tent. Powered site means you will have this powerpoint stand by your site where you can charge up your campervan (those typical big camper).
How do we decide to camp at where for the night? For us, we usually just drive to the campsite and have a look if we like the place and decide on the spot to camp overnight. If we do not like what we see or not comfortable with it, we just head to another campsite.
Some considerations when we decide to stay overnight at the campground. Our camper does not come with toilet, we usually try to ask for a parking lot that is just a short walk to the toilet due to habits of visiting toilet in the middle of the night. So if you don’t have such habits, you will do fine parking anywhere in the camping ground. And usually there are enough toilets to cater to all campers especially in holiday parks. Personally, I prefer holiday parks as they are usually well maintained and good cleanliness. Some comfort in camping that we seek. And I love cooking, so having a huge kitchen that comes with oven and fully equipped is awesome. So we could have more varieties in cooking too.
If you had some research done, and have a preferred campground, there are some passes available. Like campsite passes that gives access to most DOC campsites at a single cost, same for holiday parks pass that gives you general discounts with like a membership programme if you choose to stay with them for almost entire trip such as Kiwi Card and Top 10 Membership. Of course, some homework is needed for calculation to see if it’s really worth it. We didn’t purchase any pass this time round as this is our first time camping and first trip to South Island. So we wanted to experience various campsites. I would reckon long trips with campervan with a membership will give you some savings for sure.
Did we stay in camper all days? No, we didn’t. Especially, when we are hit with torrential rain where it is not possible to stay dry exiting and entering our camper bed without wetting it. Outdoor cooking also made impossible. So usually, we chose to hide in hostel or a cabin with ensuite toilet in Holiday Park during bad weather. Comparatively with motels, I find hostel private room and holiday parks private room (with or without attached toilet/shower) cheaper than motel.
Petrol
It variates between NZD$2.16 to NZD$2.39 per litre during December 2019 in South Island. There are petrol stations in most towns. Just be mindful when you hit one-third of fuel tank. So that you don’t go into distress situation. There are some ways to save or get discount. When I visited Carltex, the counter gave me a Loyalty Card – New Zealand Airpoints, where I could get 6 cents off per litre purchased. You can accumulate some points in New World Supermarket and some other merchants with this card. Check out how it works at Airpoints. Or you could also check out this app name Gaspy to find out the rates of the petrol around you.
Oh! On the side note, New World also has a club card that allows you to get club discounts on items on special club offers. And it can be a good saving. Just ask for the card over the counter/ cashier.
Driving
Maybe I am an ultra lousy driver, but google map definitely ain’t accurate. Unless you are used to long hours driving, and/or driving in narrow and windy (curvy) roads. If not, I usually add 30 to 40 minutes extra time to what google’s map estimation states. And this additional time does not include your stopover.
Something that could be uncommon in other countries (or at least to me) probably is signs of one-way bridge where arrow is bigger than the other will show you who has the right of way. So just slow down when approaching one way bridge. There will be signs to tell you that you are nearing one. Next one, single white line on road shoulder with broken middle line which usually appear on single lane. This allow slower driver to slow down or pull over to allow the cars who are evidently faster than you to pass. There are also passing lanes signages where official overtaking is done on a two lanes road if you are not comfortable to pull over on single lanes. So just keep to the left lane if you are allowing others to pass using the right lane. I guess it will be good practices to check your rear once every few minutes if you are too slow for the vehicles behind you. Usually, the locals are the one who would be driving a lot faster than you.
Drives are really long. I come from a country that I do not need to drive more than an hour to get from point to point. So I am tired easily. Do take short breaks with the beautiful scenery around you. A good 5 minutes to immerse yourself in admiring what the nature has to offer is a good break from your drive and keep you refreshed.
*Tips (maybe for the noob me in driving long distance)
Google map search ‘public toilet’ in the area you are heading to for every hour. Good to have yourself relief and also a good leg break from the vehicle.
Google Map
Download offline map! There are areas where you will have no cell connection. So it’s definitely helpful to do this on your google map. You can also use the GPS provided that comes or rented with your vehicle. However, I prefer using my phone as all locations has been favourited.
Meals
In general, cooking is definitely alot cheaper than eating out. A simple breakfast for two with two lattes would have cost you NZD$50 easily at a cafe. And of course, if you could do simple breakfast on your own, just go grocery at supermarkets. I love doing grocery shopping, one of our favourite activity especially when we were hit with super bad weather. Generally, we spent up to NZD$50 a per grocery that will suffice us with 3 breakfasts and 2 dinners. And on days, we splurge to get better items like crayfish (aka lobster) as add on to give our dinner an upgrade.
So for us, we make most of our breakfast and dinner. It was enjoyable to start or wind down the day. And we eat out for most lunches or we make simple packed lunch when we are on the go.
Itinerary Overview
Day 01: Christchurch International Airport – Kaikoura
Day 02: Kaikoura – Blenheim – Charleston
Day 03: Blenheim – Charleston
Day 04: Charleston – Punakaiki
Day 05: Punakaiki – Greymouth – Hokitika
Day 06: Hokitika – Franz Josef Glacier
Day 07: Franz Josef Glacier
Day 08: Franz Josef Glacier – Fox Glacier – Hasst – Wanaka
Day 09: Wanaka
Day 10: Wanaka – Queenstown
Day 11: Queenstown – Glenorchy – Queenstown
Day 12: Queenstown – Te Anau
Day 13: Te Anau – Milford Sound
Day 14: Queenstown – Invercargill
Day 15: Invercargill – Catlin – Purakaunui
Day 16: Purakaunui – Dunedin
Day 17: Dunedin – Moeraki – Oamaru
Day 18: Oamaru – Kurow
Day 19: Kurow – Omarama – Twizel
Day 20: Twizel – Mount Cook – Lake Tekapo
Day 21: Lake Tekapo – Christchurch
Day 22: Christchurch – Lyttleton – Christchurch
Day 23: Depart from Christchurch International Airport
DAY 01 [CHRISTCHURCH – KAIKOURA]
We arrived at noon time and head straight to Spaceship via Super Shuttle Service just right outside the Christchurch International Airport. Super Shuttle seems to serve a few location within the vicinity for people to pick up their rental vehicle. It is NZD29 per pax. However, we got it free as we are hiring our campervan for more than 21 days click on the link for updated information. So I would safely assume it varies from different rental company. So just check it with them. It was just a short 5 min drive for us to pick up.
We had a short introduction on the features of our camper and where are the things placed. And once, we took over. We drove to Northlands Shopping Center to settle our SIM card. We were given a 2Degrees Mobile free SIM card from Spaceship. And we had some issues in topping up and activating it. So we decided to just head towards the nearest store to sort this out. It works out great throughout the trip. There are several package that suit your needs. Also, it comes with an hourly free data for you to claim each day too.
Side note: It is a nice shopping center and we got to start our grocery shopping to stock up our fridge! Pak ‘n’ Save Supermarket is known to be the cheapest amongst the supermarkets. There are other supermarkets like ‘New World’ and ‘Countdown’, etc.
And off we go, heading down to Kaikoura Peketa Beach Holiday Park for the night. We took a cabin for the first night to have a good night rest from the long flight. Also, for us to see how does camping works. It was clean and pleasant.
DAY 02 [KAIKOURA – BLENHEIM – CHARLESTON]
Drove down to Point Kean Viewpoint. There are plenty of spaces to park at 0900HR. However, it got quite full at 1100HR when we returned to the car park.
*on the way to Point Kean Viewpoint Carpark.
There seems to be two route, coastal and uphill. We took the uphill one. This walk starts just at the carpark area. It’s a simple walk with a really nice view at the top.
Next stop: Nin’s Bin
Early lunch stop with a view. This place sell really nice beer battered chips and cold crayfish (aka lobster). The lobster are charged by the sizes. Each lobster comes with a price stated on their body. It is so sweet!
We head to Blenheim and call it a day as we are still having some jet lag. So we settled down in KiwiCamp. Love how the setup is for our camper. But do bring food to cook as there is not much choices nearby unless you head into the town itself. This campsite requires you to get a token (with a base cost of the token NZD$5) where you go cashless and top it up by NZD$10/$15/$20 and so on. The campsite itself was NZD$10 per vehicle per night. This token is required for you to enter/ exit the campsite. It’s clean and cozy. It has hot shower that is run by tapping the token NZD$2 for 5 minutes of hot shower with a timer shown. The only downside is the token can only be used in this campsite for South Island as there is currently only one campsite here while Greymouth and Hokitika ones are still work in progress. They have 3 more campsites in North Island.
DAY 03 [BLEINHEIM – CHARLESTON]
We didn’t manage to do what was planned due to bad weather plus the mister is unwell. So we decided to just head towards Charleston for the day.
Here’s the itinerary still.
Wine Tours by Bike (Self-Guided Biking Wine Tour)
Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre
DAY 04 [CHARLESTON – PUNAKAIKI]
Another day of really bad weather that we have caving trip cancelled on us. This is something that we were looking forward to. It includes a train through the rainforest, a hike to the cave, and tubing through the cave. It is so much fun. However, the bad weather made it impossible. So we had no choice but to move forward to our next location. If you have a chance to try, keep about 5-6hours for this adventure caving.
We will be back for this activity the next time. So you can check this out: Underworld Adventure Centre and Café.
Rain has started to be heavy… West Coastal Route is a lot more narrow and curvy (windy). Visual drops as the rain start pouring. Thus, Punakaiki Horse Treks is also cancelled due to the bad weather.
Mood on the low when things got cancelled twice in a row. Thus, we were so glad that the sky gave us some breather as we reach Punakaiki.
So thrilled that we manage to do a short walk to the Pancake Rocks! The view is gorgeous! It wasn’t the high tide yet, thus the blowhole may not be at its peak performance. However, the amount of rainfall has made it magnificent enough for our view!
And next moment, we were chased by the heavy pour. Yet, thankful that we were able to finished the walk and have some moment to soaked into the beauty here.
DAY 05 [PUNAKAIKI – GREYMOUTH – HOKITIKA]
There is not much in greymouth, and there was a joke around that the town is as dull as the name. Thus, Greymouth was very much of a rest stop for us. We went to Monteith’s Brewery who won many awards for their beer brewery! Mister had his taster fill of 3 different types of beer and we just enjoyed our break. There is a brewery tour available for sign-ups if you are interested to know about brewery. They also have pretty cool stuffs like personalising your beer bottle as souvenir.
Next, Hokitika, a town known for Pounamu/ Green Stone/ NZ Jade. There are quite a few shops selling it. Prices are similar across the shops and differ quite a bit on the types of jades. Like flower jades are known to be on the high side compared to the rest due to it’s rare find. It’s pretty as it gives different hues and colour range to the jade. However, it is very much of a personal preference. There are no two jade pieces the same, even though they may look very similar in design. It design has it’s very own representation and meaning; (1) Toki, (2) Twist, (3) Hei Matau/ Hook, (4) Kuru/ Teardrop, (5) Koru/ Spiral, (6) Hei Tiki, (7) Heart, and (8) Manaia. A meaning to each of its design. You can read abit more on the meanings and designs. Something that I would like to try the next time is to carve your own greenstone where you could design and carve it from scratch. Probably need a full day to get this done dependable on the complexity of your design. Bonz ‘n’ Stonz Carving Studio has a cozy workshop where there is a coach who will be attached to guide you along the way.
It’s been so rainy, that we only have a short breather, nevertheless still grateful.
DAY 06 [HOKITIKA – FRANZ JOSEF GLACIER]
Heli-hiking at the Glacier is a MUST DO at Franz Josef Glacier Guides! However, the weather said no to us! So do ensure you spend a couple of days if you really like to do this activity, it includes a helicopter ride and a hike at the glacier itself. All basic equipment are provided. We stayed two days here, but no luck at all. The window is not long enough to have a fair weather for this activity to happen. Thus, a refund was done.
DAY 07 [FRANZ JOSEF GLACIER – FOX GLACIER – HASST – WANAKA]
Yeap! So since we cannot walk on the glacier, we decided to walk towards and have a close look at part of the glacier. Low clouds with not much hope, but it did cleared for us to have a nice glimpse of it. Due to the bad weather, there is this much you can venture towards. Glacier has been residing much, thus, it’s really a peek-a-boo session this morning.
Since we had received news on the cancellation of heli-hiking, with heavy heart, we left the town. It was rather an adventure, as Hasst pass was closed due to landslide. We decided to still proceed down south and get nearer to Hasst and be ready to move when the road is cleared and open.
We continued our drive and head down towards Lake Paringa for the night. Rain just kept on getting heavier. We were told to be prepared with 2-3days worth of grocery as fox glacier do not have accessible supermarket or restaurant around. Most part of the town may also be hit by storm and have black out moments. The host was thinking we were out of our mind since we continued to head towards them after knowing the condition. As we had a booking at Milford Sound in a matter of a few days, we do not really wish to do a long 10 hours drive back up towards Christchurch and down towards Queenstown, eventually hitting Milford Sound in this kind of crazy weather. We just prayed that as each day, we inched nearer and hopefully getting to Hasst and use Hasst Pass to get to Wanaka eventually.
So for anyone travelling this route, the west coast side has no alternative road, pretty much run on a single highway. If there is a major landslide, either side of the road, you will be pretty much stuck in the town until its cleared.
Traffic map was pretty much like a stock market that get your heart racing when you view it. But it does help a lot to know when is the next road condition updates and which road are closed. Or the hazards you need to take note of.
If the weather is fine, we could just do a through drive to Wanaka and just have a leg rest in Hasst Town.
For us, we stayed a night at Lake Paringa and made a real difficult decision that we will drive up towards north and make a huge round to Milford Sound. But it turned out, the nature has made a decision for us. The road bridge that connects the highway between Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier was washed off during the torrential rain at night. So when the landslide was cleared between Fox Glacier and Hasst, we only could just continued southwards. As the bridge would probably take at least a week to be repaired and not lesser due to the crazy continuous rainfall.
We managed to capture the calm before the storm at Lake Paringa. So serene and peaceful.
DAY 09 [WANAKA]
I LOVE THIS PLACE! The first sunshine we had after the many days of crazy weather. It’s a nice time to do simple shopping and some other activity. We were thrilled to see the weather forecast with minimal rainfall!
So we went to Hook Wanaka – Lake to Plate to have our very first fishing experience. Just $10 per rod, baits and fish food lure was provided. The staff was really nice, he gave us a crash course and checked on us too! You will be charged by the weight of the Salmon you fished, and it’s all yours! We had our fun though our lunch was very dependable on our catch. They provide a few cooking methods, (1) Sashimi, (2) Hot Smoke, (3) Cold Smoke and (4) Fillet and Pack. First three methods, they could serve it to you in their restaurant by the lake at a small cost. And the last, they could do it for free. We had a huge catch of 5.4kg! One of the biggest catch, the staff mentioned. As we are just travellers, 5.4kg was just too big to keep. The restaurant offered to buy half the fish and the rest of it was fillet, sealed and pack. So we decided to have a portion of it with hot smoked method. And we love it!
This salmon is hot smoked to its perfection! Dining with a view just added to the experience. Highly recommended! Even if you do not want to fish. Come here for lunch, it’s just ten minutes drive from Wanaka town and it’s beside the Lavender Farm!
We visited the Wanaka Lavender Farm as well. It’s really nice in summer. Such a beauty and sight to see the hues of blue and purple lavender field. This farm has some farm animals too.
We also had our fun at Puzzling World, that brings us back right to childhood, going through the maze, solving different puzzle and going through the exhibitions that are optic illusions were pretty cool.
The start of the best day! So we really made it as fun as possible. So Wanaka tree was supposed to be a great highlight in Wanaka for all photographers to capture that lone tree. It didn’t had to be that tree, and anyways, it was not accessible due to the flood. A good portion of the place was flooded, but the people there did not fret and enjoyed the pool of water in the playground. It just became instant water playground for the children.
So there was this small pavilion with the couple in the midst of the flood enjoying their date.
DAY 10 [WANAKA – QUEENSTOWN]
Blessed with just some drizzle, we did Moa Tour with Ziptrek Ecotours and Luge Ride. It was the highlight of the day in Queenstown. There are various types of zip line tours, but chose the least adrenaline rush ones. We ain’t adrenaline rush type of people. So Moa Tour was a lot of fun and really nice to just enjoy the view doing various challenges set out by the guides too; such as inverting ourselves, closing our eyes before stepping off the platform. Was all simple good fun. The tour also imparts some educational information. So it’s pretty interesting too!
Since we are up in the skyline. So why not do the luge ride. It’s fun even for adults, and they have beginner and advance course in the luge course. Was good fun even for both of us!
DAY 11 [QUEENSTOWN – GLENORCHY – QUEENSTOWN]
Didn’t get a chance to do this one due to the lost time while we were stuck in west coast. Will definitely go for this the next time. Wanted to do the Bob’s Cove Track and Glenorchy Lagoon Scenic Walkway. So it’s just a pity to miss.
DAY 12 [QUEENSTOWN – TE ANAU]
Te Anau is really a nice town to be in. As we departed really late from Queenstown, we didn’t spend much time exploring the town or the vicinity. It definitely deserve a day on its own. It has the Te Anau Glow Worm Caves, Routeburn Track, Milford Track Walk. This town is a common town for people to have a leg rest before continuing on their journey to Milford Sound for their day cruise.
DAY 13 [TE ANAU – MILFORD SOUND]
Another highlight in our trip which really worth the spending! We left early and have a nice slow drive soaking into the scenery. There are many nice pit stops to make, Eglinton Valley, Mirror Lakes, Hollyford Valley Lookout, and many more. So try to allocate some time to enjoy these stops. As most tourists only spend maybe a minute! Just to take one picture and off they went. Probably trying to chase the cruise that they have booked.
For us, we booked an overnight cruise at Milford Sound with Fjorldland Discovery. Definitely a splurge! But we think the experience was well worth! Lots of waterfall, and Milford Sound is known for its rain. Basically, if there is no rainfall, there is no waterfall. So that’s how the nature works.
There was probably only two small cruise in Milford Sound during the late afternoon. The overnight cruise includes 3-course dinner and breakfast that was done by onboard Chef and definitely one of the best meal we had. We had Lobster Bisque, Blue Cod as Main and Brownie with ice cream. It was really good! Captain has a sense of humour as he introduce Milford Sound to us and definitely have an eye in spotting those seals.
We saw a family with pups too. They were so cute! In the cruise, they picked up fresh lobster (Crayfish) from the Craypot they set in the water. We were awed by just watching it!
Kayaks was provided as well. And if you are not interested in doing the hard work, you could just joined in the small safety boat and go for a ride. 
The hot tub (jacuzzi) on deck was really a nice to soak off your day under the stars.
DAY 14 [Milford Sound – INVERCARGILL]
Had to give the south of South Island a miss. We were looking forward to the oyster feast here! But time is just not on our side. So here is where we planned for in Invercargill:
Barnes Wild Bluff Oysters
St. Mary’s Basilica
Invercargill Water Tower
DAY 15 [INVERCARGILL – CATLINS – PURAKAUNUI]
Another to go that we are unable to:
Cliffs at Fortrose (Mataura River Mouth)
Waipapa Point Lighthouse
Cathedral Caves
The Lost Gypsy Gallery
DAY 16 [PURAKAUNUI – DUNEDIN]
We missed this walk at Purakaunui Falls. But definitely worth a visit in the early morning to avoid any crowd.
But we managed to then put our plan back on track from Dunedin after giving a miss to a few of our plans. It’s a town of the ancient buildings. Really beautiful and simple town. There are many cafes and pubs in this town. And my favourite latte is found in The Corner Store Cafe.
St Pauls’s Cathedral
Dunedin Town Hall
DAY 17 [DUNEDIN – MOERAKI – OAMARU]
We went forth to the famous boulders that is carved by the sea waves under the act of nature. Remember to check the tidal wave before going and of course there is a golden time, just a couple of minutes before this place is swarmed with tourists! We got there around 12.40pm. Could have been a little earlier. And I managed to get the window of opportunity to take a picture with not many people in it! Everyone just want to take a picture of them standing on top of the rocks. I prefer without.
Presenting to you, Moeraki Boulders Beach! You could just take a little walk down beside the souvenir shop and cafe. 
We also found a GEM nearby this place. Fleurs Place have really good mussels and fish platter where you could try 5 different types of fishes. The freshness and sweetness from the sea is beyond words. It is a MUST EAT, do call and make a reservation unless you are doing late lunch.
The mussels were huge and so sweet! No competitors out there was even close to this goodness!
Not too sure what was the seasoning of the fishes, but the grill was really good. The buttery simple flavouring of salt and pepper seemed to just bring up the unique taste of each fish! I remembered this platter consist of Sole, Monk Fish, Orange Roughy, Sea Bass and Gurnard. My ultimate favourite was Orange Roughy, the texture and flavour is just heavenly! Apparently, we were lucky enough to be eating this as the banned for fishing Orange Roughy was lifted to ensure that they are not going into endangered species. Our second favourite was Monk Fish! It’s an extremely ugly fish that has firm fish texture with the taste of crayfish (lobster)! Also known as the poor man fish, for those who cannot afford to eat crayfish in the olden days.
After a great lunch, we head down to Oamaru. And here, they are famous for victorian streets (Tyne Street) and the Steampunk HQ. 
Oh there is Whiskey Distillery at the New Zealand Whisky Collection for those who are interested in Whiskey. And also if you like to see Penguins in the wild at Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony, you could check them out at sunset where they will come onshore for the night rest.
DAY 18 [ OAMARU – KUROW]
Just not far away, there are two hidden gem in Kurow. Kurow is a very small town with really nothing much around. But the cherries from the farm were really yummy! Just watch out for road signs on the road, ‘Cherries on Sale’. It’s just so tasty.
The first gem: Valley Views Glamping! Away from the crowd, nice and quiet. A really relaxing place to take a break. Hosted by Patrick and Amber, they ensured we were really well taken care! They serve fabulous Lamb Shank and Cheese Platter, which was a pity that we missed it due to some unfortunate event that the hosts were away to attend a friend’s funeral. Yet be back to ensure we are all good for check in and stuffs. Fret not, they have a lovely kitchen for you to make your meals! And breakfast, they pretty much provide all that you need to make a hearty breakfast! They have dogs and piglets too! They are just too cute. Piglets are pretty much domesticated and were behaving relatively like their dogs too, bathing under the sun during winter, and weren’t stranger to anyone!
Our Geo Dome View from the inside! Super instagrammable for sure! There is two outdoor bath that has great view of the nature!
Each tent has all the necessary to keep you warm during the night for sure. Everything here is really eco-friendly too! So basically, when night fall, there are minimal light source. There are candles and fairy lights in the dome for you to keep your room cosily lit. There is also night lights around for you to safely move around the green. A portable toilet, just in case you are too frozen to walk to the shared toilet in the middle of the night.
So this is the beauty in the night of a clear sky where there is minimal light. You do not need to even go to Lake Tekapo to have such a view! I had the Milky Way just at my Dome Tent! Patrick was helping us to do a weather check and told us where to expect a Milky Way if sky is clear. Waited patiently till the sky darkens. And it’s just worth the wait and cold out there to have a good view of the stars!
And the second gem, Horse Riding! It’s just like a minute away from the dome tent! Arrange it through Amber, Madeline was available to take our last minute request! Am so thankful and glad. As we missed our initially planned horse riding. It was so enjoyable! Madeline is a 70 years old, healthy and strong lady who tend to the whole stable by her own! She have 8 horses! They were so pretty and amiable. She taught us how to brush the horse which I thought was great! They were so tall, and probably overpowering us in terms of strength. *laughs* When Zahir and Lucky tried to rub on us as they like the brushing, we were moved literally though they were just trying to be nice. Was a really windy day, and apparently learnt that horses did not really like strong wind. Something interesting, I thought. We also learn how to handle the horse by walking them, putting on saddle with loads of help. Getting on to the horse and adjusting ourselves to be relax on them as the horses will response to our anxiety at the same time. So as we adjust to them, they adjust to us. Though we did not travel far and long, we manage to move around with the horse with good direction control and over simple obstacle that Madeline lay out. The boys (Zahir and Lucky) were really good!
DAY 19 [KUROW – OAMARU – TWIZEL]
Time for our next adventure. Gravel road for 20 minutes (maybe exaggerating) at 10km/hr maybe? We decided to visit Clay Cliff! We didn’t want to take any risk on any punctured tire nor getting too much gravel scratch in any sense due our amateurish road trip. So we were really conquering this 2.4km really slow! Hilarious as it may seem, praying that it will not be just a 5 minute stay kind of stop. Else its not worth the drive to such secluded spot. Oh and we are not the only crazy ones. We saw a few more campers at the parking area. And we enjoyed our stay. Probably at least 30 minutes! The formation of the Clay Cliffs were stunning! Enjoyed the walk! Short and interesting view.
After this, we went to Twizel for the night. Knowing Mount Cook itself require early booking, which we definitely not able to, it will be fully book for most or all accommodation especially in summer. Twizel was probably closed to fully book for the night, and we were lucky enough to at least have a campervan unpowered site for the night. Its a nice small town with interesting small shops around in the town center itself.
DAY 20 [TWIZEL – MOUNT COOK – Lake Tekapo]
Just an hour drive or so away from Twizel to Mount Cook. Get there as early as you can, before it’s swarm by loads of buses, campers and cars! We did the Hooker Valley Track, it is relatively flat and easy walk (2.5hrs return journey). Hoping to have more time to do more walks around in Mount Cook the next time. There are a few tracks that you could do. By 10am, when we return to our car, the parking was fully occupied and buzzy! Loads of people heading our way while we are heading out.
We decided to give Lake Tekapo a miss and head straight to Christchurch. We initially planned for a stargazing tour with Silver River Stargazing, and cancelled due to the uncertainty during our travel.
DAY 21 [Lake LAKE TEKAPO – CHRISTCHURCH]
As we move towards the city, it was pretty dull at first, as I prefer the mountains to the city view. So we did the touristy thing, bought a tram ticket that takes us through the major attractions of Christchurch where commentary was done by the driver. He had a sense of humour as he introduced each landmark. So we took a full round trip to see everything just being on tram before we decide where to alight and move around. The tram ticket per adult is NZD25.00, it allows unlimited hop on and hop off as you present the ticket to board the tram between 0900HR to 1800HR in summer. 
DAY 22 [CHRISTCHURCH – LYTTLETON]
Lyttleton is a nice town with Farmer’s Market in the morning. It starts about 1000HR on a Saturday! Be sure you go over and check it out and definitely be early to find a parking. We always love Farmer’s Market, and we so shouldn’t go on the last day of our trip! There are so much varieties of grocery and bakery, that you could easily whip up a great meal with! There are like cheeses, nice pastries, hams, many types of mustards and spices, fresh mushrooms and vegetables, and many more! Of course not just food, but also lots of interesting items like green stones, clothes, quirky stuffs! And we caught a live band performance there. It was pretty cool!
And this spell pretty much the end of our trip as we move towards our final accommodation at Sudima Hotel which is located really near the International airport as our flight was really early the next day. And there we are off to return our trusty Spaceship Mini Dream Sleeper. It’s been a great adventure!
DAY 23 [ CHRISTCHURCH – HOME]
-THE END-
Le Solotitude 