South Island 2017

What was Hot in the South Island

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Fiona and I had both taken 6 months off for a trip to Europe and to go around the South Island and we were really looking forward to it..

After getting back from Europe in early August and with our house still rented out, we immediately went to Taupo to pick up Rafe who was being cared for in Gary’s shed by Gary’s neighbour Chris… kind chaps that they are !

Click on the Images for Hi Res

Welding on the feet

We returned to Auckland to get a few things done like drop down steadies on Rafe and a couple of other things and then we were off.

Rafe and Ian and Lynda’s XLI

We left Auckland and first stop was Taupo with Gary and Dianne, who we’d been around Europe with and other Motorhome friends Ian and Lynda. A few nights there, a night in Mangaweka, then to Wellington to catch up with my son Alex who commutes from Auckland, then onto the ferry and the adventure began.

Dianne picking the girls up for a tiki tour around Taupo

The highlights:
Best Park over property (POP) –  Peski’s in Geraldine where we spent nearly two weeks.

Nice parking

Best free Parking – Lowburn on the lake front.. a week of perfect weather helped here 🙂

The View

Best NZMCA park – probably a tie between Tekapo and Ranfurly. Tekapo is stunning amongst the pine trees right on the lake and Ranfurly, dead flat with a dump station next door, rubbish and water and right in the middle of town !

Amongst the pines with Ray and Margaret on the right

Best Long term rate campground – Kaiteriteri right on the beach. Just magnificent.

Close to the water

Best pub that we stayed at – Empire Hotel in Ross. Great roast meals, lovely town and great hosts.

The Empire

Also Omakau Hotel with a fully setup Motorhome park at the back.

Best Museum we saw – Bill Richardsons Truck Museum. Brilliantly done and with a huge collection of all sorts.. even lawnmowers and tools.

Henry Ford and some Bowsers

Best Bike ride – Otago rail trail. Omakau to Ida valley and back. Also Lowburn to Historic Precinct in Cromwell.

The first Viaduct

Best Bridge that we crossed in Rafe – Historic Ophir Bridge. I found myself doing some quick mental arithmetic to make sure it was safe 🙂

Rafe on the Ophir Bridge

Most amazing discovery – Brittens first Motorhome which we found in the Geraldine museum.

From the back. A nice stained glass window on the back. Note the opening wooden windows.

I’ll let the Image Gallery below tell the story of the trip.
Click on the Gallery below for a Slideshow.

Rafe at the Mangaweka Campground
The bridge
Entering the Tory Channel. North Island behind
Rafe with the handbrake on with people getting off at Picton.
Looking across towards Nelson with the snow on the tops of the hills
Some extras with the daffodils
Dogs exercising their owners.
I can feel a drink coming on
The famous Restaurant over the water.
Looking down the main street with the Old St Peters Church and the Windmill behind. The Windmill was in the main street of Nelson for many years.
Fiona on the Bristol Freighter
The Bristol Freighter
The port and the shops
Late afternoon in the sun
Looking down from the lookout
A Happy Place
Nice sign
The Moutere Inn
Dusk looking down Reeftons main street with the old lights lighting the street.
The Hut
The Bearded Miners. Gavin, Peter and Mark
People collecting Driftwood down by the Greymouth Breakwater
ith rafe outside that famous Hotel
The Jetty down at Lake Mahinapua
The Bar. Amazing working cash register
Fiona with the fire at the Empire
Up in the Historic Gold area
The Franz Josef Glacier. See if you can spot a Helicopter
Rafe at Hawea
The amazing dump station with the grates in the ground at Queenstown
Queenstown with Jacks Point on the right
Queenstown waterfront
Fiona and Jessa at Q’town
Fiona checking out the Fairlight Railway Station
A Train at the Station
Inside the carriage – Lumsden
The Texaco Tanker Invercargill
Later Fords
Fiona in the café done up as a 50’s Kitchen
Colac Bay
Curio bay looking towards the campground
The park setup – Lawrence
One of the Roxburgh pubs
A sluicing lake behind the park _ Roxburgh.
Close to the bike trail – Roxburgh
Fiona nearly at Roxburgh
Roxburgh bridge
Clyde Dam
A view over Clyde
The old Hotel
The road through the vineyard through the Kawarau Gorge
The kawerau River from the road
Jessa checking out a Pinot Gris at Mt Rosa
Lunch at the historic Gibbston Valley Tavern
The Ophir Bridge
The Function Centre – Omakau
The front of the Hotel
Starting off at Ranfurly Railway Station
Fiona arriving at Wedderburn
Once the tea rooms, now a museum.
The Dunedin Railway Station
Along the Platform
The Taieri train
In the Railway Station
The Pergola with a peep of Dunedin at the end.
Outside the ballroom
Waimate Markets
The main street at Rush hour 😉 Waimate
The Oamaru Wharf
Plenty of room
Sue (Peskis) with her new Letterbox
The gardens at Peskis
Fiona checking out the Hats
Cheers at Geraldine
Where’s Rafe
One of the performing groups
Fiona with her great auntie Jeannie’s Morris
The interior of Johns truck
Fiona with the Cadburys Chocolate
Lake Tekapo late on our first day
Love the different layers in the colour
The Stone Church with the tourists
Happy Hour with all our visitors at Tekapo. Cell pic
A bridge across the river
Great camping
Across Lake McGregor
Our neighbours Jim and Lynley back at the NZMCA park
At Omakau
The first Tunnel
On the way back to Omakau
Nice !
A Miners hut
On the way to the Stamper Battery
Fiona gold panning
Under the mountains
Rafe in front of the house plugged in. The visitors area on the very left.
The boat club down by the NZMCA park
Parked behind the Gate in Cromwell
Ross is a great character.. the birthday boy.
The pools at Hamner
Fiona enjoying the heat.
Look at all that water.
Fiona at the market – Nelson
The Church cafe – Richmond
The bar at the cellar Door
Lots of Motorhomes on the deck
Mt Ruapehu
Ian and Gary with all the polishing toys!

We met some wonderful people along the way and had some nice 5pm catchups in some fantastic places.

Fiona on the bike ride on the way back to Lowburn alongside lake Dunstan

The weather was superb. Fiona reckons we only had 1 wet day in the South Island! I reckon it was 3 but the weather really looked after us, if anything it was quite hot with a record breaking 33C in Cromwell on the day we decided to do a bike ride from Lowburn to the Historic Precinct and back !

The Historic Precinct

The difference in Fuel prices between the different parts of NZ was quite noticeable with the highest I saw at $1.48 a litre for diesel around Hanmer and the lowest $1.19 in Cromwell. We filled up in Takanini before we left at $.98 a litre! As Fiona says though Hay Ho.. when in Rome !

Happy Hour at Peski’s

One of the things that really surprised me as we went around was how many people recognised us from this Blog and who made themselves known. It was fantastic to meet you and to hear your feedback. We’re fast approaching 400,000 views which is amazing in less than 2 years!

We’re back in Auckland with our feet up for a bit before we set off again.

8 thoughts on “What was Hot in the South Island”

  1. Fabulous! I run the Dethleffs Owners Club UK. If we can ever help with Rafe please let me know. You are clearly a pro photographer. Please can I ask what gear you use? Best wishes Richard DethleffsHelp Also, in case it is of interest to anyone you meet, I invented Patented Cabbunk Twin which adds two child beds into any swivel-seat campervan or motorhome. We have sold a few to OZ and NZ. They sell really well over here and in the USA.

    On 9 Feb 2018 11:28 a.m., “Bugger It, we are off – http://www.buggeritweareoff.com” wrote:

    > Chris Miller – Buggeritweareoff.com posted: “Fiona and I had both taken 6 > months off for a trip to Europe and to go around the South Island and we > were really looking forward to it.. After getting back from Europe in early > August and with our house still rented out, we immediately went to Taupo t” >

    Like

    1. Hi Richard. Lovely to hear from you. Yes, I’m an ex News Photographer/Photojournalist (whatever the trendy word is these days!) of some 35 odd years both in NZ and Australia.
      Fiona and I took 6 months off to have a look around but we’re back in our house on Monday and back at work!
      To answer your gear question. Up until about 3 months ago, until the end of the Europe trip, I used a Nikon D3 but I sold the D3 and now use my D4. .. Big difference. I’ve had the D4 for several years but used to keep it for commercial work to keep the shutter count down.

      Rafe was pretty well behaved. 52000k’s now..
      Just the odd spring and loose screw.. Normal stuff.

      I’d love to see some images of your bunks, If you send me some images/information, I’ll do a post on them.

      Thanks very much for dropping in and we’ll keep in touch.
      Safe Travels
      Chris

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  4. What an amazing blog you write! Hope to meet up one day. Our Pop is 1528 in Pirongia!

    Linnie Jones Amberfields Bed and Breakfast http://www.amberfields.co.nz

    On 9/02/2018 3:30 AM, “Bugger It, we are off – http://www.buggeritweareoff.com” wrote:

    > Chris Miller – Buggeritweareoff.com posted: “Fiona and I had both taken 6 > months off for a trip to Europe and to go around the South Island and we > were really looking forward to it.. After getting back from Europe in early > August and with our house still rented out, we immediately went to Taupo t” >

    Like

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