The North of the South

After leaving Wanaka, we knew we had around 10 days left in the South Island before we crossed over to the Dark Side (the North Island). 

We stopped for a night in Temuka and spent a very cold evening in Timura, trying to catch a glimpse of the world’s smallest Penguin.  We were lucky, we saw two and the kids were finally able to tick the last box on our ‘must-see wildlife in the NZ South Island’ chart.  I should add, it's not easy to photograph a 40cm tall Penguin in the pitch dark with a Huawei P9!

We spent a couple of days in the Nelson Lakes area, at a brand new AirBnB house on Lake Rotoroa then headed on to Malborough Sound for 5 days.  This is the most northern part of the South Island, a beautiful area of mountains and sounds, little villages, winding roads and stunning views.

We had been given the use of a traditional Bach house for 5 days by a lovely couple who host Israelis in their home.  They didn’t have room for all 5 of us so instead they gave us their holiday home just outside the beautiful village of Havelock.

The place was beautiful, the views were amazing, the gift of a home for 5 days was something we won’t forget in a hurry and we hope to return the favour to Wayne and Jane when they visit Israel next year.

We had a brilliant 5 days in the area.

We walked 20km of the Abel Tasmin Walk, enjoying the stunning beach views and turquoise waters.

We climbed the highest mountain in the area, Mt Stokes, which at 1200m had been described to us as the ‘hidden gem’ of New  Zealand, giving breathtaking views of the entire area.  Well, after 3 hours climbing straight up, it was certainly all hidden!  Suffice to say, the 2 hour hike back down wasn’t the most fun after the disappointment at the top.

Another couple of great hikes in the area and our time was up.  We headed to the picturesque town of Picton to catch the 4 hour ferry crossing to Wellington.  We managed to grab some final views of the area, I guess we were trying the savour the last moments on this magical place before leaving. 

And just like that, our 5 weeks on the South Island had come to an end, 5 weeks that far exceeded our expectations and gave us so many truly amazing experiences.  We got back to nature, hiked up mountains, enjoyed boat trips, celebrated 2 birthdays, got close to seals, sea lions, dolphins, penguins and just had a brilliant, brilliant time.

Here’s hoping that the North Island can live up to the standards set by her big brother!

Jesus, Wanaka is beautiful!

Wanaka.

What a brilliant place.

One of those places you don’t want to leave.

We spent 2 days there on the way down to Queenstown and had planned to spend another 3 days after returning the campervan.  Those 3 days turned into 5 as we couldn’t leave.

We stayed at The Zula Lodge that offers 3 nights free accommodation for Israelis.  It is run by Messianic Christians who believe that Jews are The Chosen People and that Jesus was the Messiah (Ed. - this author offers no opinion on the existence or otherwise of the Messiah, past, present or future!).  Beliefs aside, we had a great time there, so much so that we paid to stay on for another 2 nights.  The place was full of younger, travelling Israelis plus a nice German family who were volunteering and so the kids had a ball, we shared meals together, they played games, chatted and generally just felt at home.

Guy celebrated his birthday there and with Eyal having alsojust celebrated his birthday, we threw a joint party for them.  They loved the attention and it certainly made up for them not celebrating with family and friends back in Israel.

Away from The Zula, we had a packed 5 days.

In a crazy coincidence, an old work colleague from London had moved to Wanaka in 2017 and having not been in contact for 16 years, we met up thanks to Facebook.  As an added bonus, Orlando happens to have a speedboat so him and his wife Melissa took us out for the day on the Lake, we stopped at a deserted island for a BBQ picnic and soaked up the breathtaking views.  It was an absolutely brilliant day, both for catching up and for experiencing the Wanaka good life.  16 years after sharing bottles of wine in Soho pubs, here we were, 12,000 miles round thw world, sharing wine on the shores of Lake Wanaka, both a bit older, perhaps a little wiser but certainly both enjoying life.

We spent a couple of days trekking.  First, the amazing Rob Roy Glacier Trek which we did with some of the volunteers from The Zula.  A 10km walk to get up close and personal with the Rob Roy Glacier.  The weather was fantastic and the scenery likewise.  A nice walk through forest but the end point opens to close-up views of the hanging Glacier, breathtaking.

The second trek was Diamond Lake.  The views should have been spectacular but the weather wasn’t with us so although it was a nice 3 hour hike up and down Rocky Mountain, we didn’t get the best of the views at the top.  But that is New Zealand, the weather is changeable, you just have to learn to take it as it comes and appreciate the moody grey skies as much as the clear blue ones.

Our final day in Wanaka was a little damp so we headed to Puzzling World, a world of mazes, optical illusions and puzzle games.  The kids loved it, they beat me and Shoshi to escape the maze, finishing in just over 1 hr as we struggled to find our way out.  Oh, how we got lost. Oh, how they laughed. 

That brought an end to our time in Wanaka and really our time in the Southern reaches of the South Island.  We might not have found Jesus, but we certainly found a brilliant town, set in quite breathtaking scenery and we all admitted we’d hate to think we will never return to this special place.

יציאת מצריים

We left Israel exactly 6 months ago today, the 19^th October.

Today, the 19^th April is Passover Seder Night.

Jews all around the world are recounting the story of when the Jewish People left Egypt and their lives of slavery.

We didn’t exactly leave a life of slavery although for Shoshi, being a teacher is pretty close.

Travelling is certainly not all beautiful photos and relaxation and we’ve experienced something of our own Ten Plagues during our travels…

1. Dengue
2. Typhoid
3. Hernia
4. Bicycle Crash
5. Stolen Wallet
6. No break from kids
7. Philippino Food
8. Travelers who don’t use deodorant (what is that all about Frenchies and Germans, sort it out!)
9. The price of beer in Vietnam – makes it too easy
10. The thought of going back to normal life.

The Jews apparently then spent 40 years in the wilderness of the Sinai Desert.

We have spent 180 days travelling through Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and now New Zealand.

Not so much wilderness, more like wonderment.

And then after all of that, Moses/ Charlton Heston received The Ten Commandments.

We’ve discovered a lot on our travels so far, so not really Commandments but more like lessons we have learnt:

1. Don’t take anything for granted, each and every day is a lucky one when travelling.
2. Long term travel is cheaper than staying at home in Israel.
3. 24/7 with kids is tough but definitely gets easier with practice.
4. Most people in most places are pretty fair and decent.
5. Fast travel suits us better than slow travel.
6. Always listen to your instincts, they are 99.99% right.
7. Always have food in your backpack, otherwise kids will go crazy.
8. A good bed and pillow are a luxury worth paying extra for every now and then.
9. A few days without Wifi is a real gift from the gods.
10. The 5 of us know each other better today than we did 6 months ago, for good (and for a little bad!).

So as we bring up 6 months on the road, with only another 4 months of this incredible journey left, our overriding emotion is one of contentment of how things are going but anxiety at how little time we have left.

שנה הבאה באולנבטור הבנויה

Week 2 in our Camper - Views, views and more views

We left Wanaka and headed onto Queenstown for a couple of days.  We had read that Queenstown is ‘one of the most beautiful towns in the world’ and it didn’t disappoint.  Surrounded by imposing mountains, the town is wrapped around the mandatory blue lake.  Quaint bars and restaurants, extreme sports but the tourist numbers to go along with it.  A little busy but only by NZ standards - if Queestown was in Israel, it would be the most relaxing town in the country.  

The weather wasn’t great so we took the chance to catch up on laundry, grabbed some fish and chips and then headed to our campsite, on Lake Moke.  Beautiful location, completely isolated, almost mo other campers there and a field full of horses for the kids to play with. Sitting having a cold beer, looking at the mountains, it was definitely one of the moments when you think ‘this is the life’ (these moments seem to be daily in NZ).

 
By this point on our journey, we were kind of winging it.  No real plan other than knowing a few key places we wanted to get to.  One of them was Milford Sound, which Rudyard Kipling once described as ‘The 8^th Wonder of the World’.    The drive from Queenstown is around 6 hours so we stopped overnight in the small village of Lumsden at a nice campsite with hot showers (massive luxury when camping here, amazing how even the most basic things become luxury).

The next day we drove onto Milford Sound, where we had booked a boat trip.  The drive itself was spectacular enough.  The boat trip had the 'wow' factor (although Shoshi wasn't as impressed as the rest of us), the scale of the fiord is hard to comprehend from photos, although seeing how the Cunard Queen Elizabeth cruise ship appears like a tug boat gives some idea. Just a breathtaking part of the world.

We then spent 2 days in Te Anau, the main town in this part of Southland, again, great views, very quiet.  We walked the first 4 hours of the Kepler Track, along the shores of Lake Te Anau, through Lords of The Rings type forest with plenty of poisonous Disney-esque mushrooms.

From Te Anau, we stopped again overnight in Lumsden and headed back for 2 days in Queenstown.  It was our last 2 days in the camper and also coincided with Eyal’s birthday on 31^st March so we wanted to be somewhere with a little life-support and also where we could do a couple of special treks.  So we spent two nights on a beautiful campsite on the lake, mountain views, blah blah blah…I’m boring myself now.

In Queenstown, we climbed The Remarkables, the main ski resort in winter which currently has no snow, making it a great trekking area.  The drive up to 1600m was a steep climb, then the walk and scrabble up to 2100m was challenging but rewarded buy panoramic views of Queenstown and the surrounding mountains.  This was a tough climb, it took us around 5 hours but definitely worth the effort.

Our second hike was the much more relaxed Queenstown Hill, a 3 hour walk up to this iconic hill which overlooks the town.  At 700m, it isn’t very impressive or challenging but the views were brilliant and, as Shoshi and I have discovered, we can’t batter the kids everyday with 5/6 hour climbs.  They need some time to recover, not physically but definitely psychologically from the thought of yet another day in the mountains.

 The following morning, we said ‘goodbye’ to our home for the previous 2 weeks, our Jucy Camper, and picked up our hire car.  It had been an brilliant time, we learned how to live in a confined space of about 8m² and not kill each other.  If nothing else, that was an achievement beyond anything else we have done in the 6 months to date.