It’s the end of summer and it’s just snowed. This morning, I slid open the door of our campervan in Queenstown, New Zealand, to see the spine of the town’s signature mountain range, The Remarkables, coated with a fresh coat of powder. Wow, I did not come prepared for this. It’s really chilly; it’s February; I only brought summer PJs.
In all honesty, I wasn’t ready for a lot of things on this eight-day trip around New Zealand’s stunning South Island. I’ll fill you in on the whole adventure in a future article in WellBeing but, for now, here’s a list of unexpected things you may encounter in what’s surely one of the most spectacular islands on Earth.
1. Long-distance cyclists. My friend Jane (pictured below with the campervan) and I flew into Christchurch on Friday night, hired a two-birth Cheapa Campa and drove straight down to Queenstown, through jaw-droppingly picturesque scenery: aqua-hued lakes, razor-backed mountains covered with golden velvet, eye-poppingly green fields spotted with sheep. And cyclists kept us company the whole way. If you like cycling amid natural Beauty, this is the place to do it, but beware: here be mountains.
2. Strong, strong sun. The hole in the ozone layer sits above New Zealand and, although this country has a chilly summer by Australian standards, its sun has a kick to it. Take your hat, long-sleeved shirts, sunnies and a natural sunscreen for when you’re outdoors or driving.
3. Wekas. Many species of bird call New Zealand home and, driving up the West Coast from Franz Josef to Westport, we meet one of the more common varieties: the weka. Like the Kiwi, these beautiful, squat, brown birds don’t fly, so keep an eye out for wekas darting across the road. If you forget, don’t worry: yellow roadsigns are there to remind you.
4. Peacharines. The small town of Cromwell, a 45-odd-minute drive from Queenstown through the winding Kawarau Gorge, is known in New Zealand for its divine cherries and stone fruit. It’s in Arrowtown, though, a small historic gold-mining town on the way to Wanaka, that we meet the peacharine: the result of cross-pollination between a peach and a nectarine that marries the firmness of a nectarine with the fuzziness of a peach, and melds the two flavours. It’s pretty spesh.
5. Organic and biodynamic wineries. Central Otago pinot noirs are legendary but perched above Lake Wanaka on the road to Mount Aspiring National Park sits a small winery with a difference. Rippon is a biodynamic vineyard that crafts excellent, complex wines in small batches from homegrown grapes that contain the essence of their mother earth. We’re also wending our way north to Marlborough to try out the region’s most well known grape variety, sauvignon blanc, at organic wineries there.
With light and love from on the road in Aotearoa,
Danielle x
