From the moment we decided to visit New Zealand over Christmas break, we had been pretty excited to go back to our favorite place on earth. On December 14th, we finally headed out to start our big adventure but Jakarta wasn't going to make things easy. We had a pretty major thunderstorm so we left hours early for the airport and good thing because several trees were down and streets were flooded. We made several detours and drove the wrong way a few times to get around scenes like this.
It was slow going through other streets and took over an hour just to get on the toll road, but we were finally on our way!
Our flight was delayed 3 hours (not weather related) but we didn't mind so much because our friends the Thompsons were flying out of the next gate and we got to hang out with them before they flew off to Texas.
The flights were fine but our late start meant we missed our connection in Sydney and arrived in Christchurch at 4pm instead of 2pm. We had to collect our bags, get acquainted with our new campervan, and pick up groceries before we finally hit the road around 6pm. Kind of a bummer to get a late start but the sun was up until about 9pm so we didn't miss any scenery. And the kids found their first Subway, so they were 100% happy!
Out on the open road, we finally started to relax and enjoy the 3 hour drive to Kaikoura.
These kind of wide open spaces and roads were greatly appreciated!
We found a quick dinner at the only place open in Kaikoura and then settled into our first night of camping. We woke up on day 2 to an absolutely gorgeous morning!
We stayed at Peketa Beach Holiday Park, which turned out to be lovely and gave us our first glimpse of mountains in the distance.
Just behind our campsite was a beautiful black sand beach.
The kids loved it here because they had mini golf and a zip line as well! Too bad we only had one night because after breakfast we packed up the house car and headed into town.
My Christmas gift was a whale watching cruise and it turned out to be the absolute best way to kick off our trip. The sunshine was amazing, the wind was cool, and we saw more wildlife than I thought was possible.
First, the captain lowered the hydrophone to listen for sperm whales, toothed whales that hunt with echolocation.
The crew was able to find our first sight of the day - a male sperm whale!
He was so much fun to watch. They typically spend 10-15 minutes on the surface then dive for 45 minutes to hunt, but this guy dove, returned, took a little nap, and then dove again.
Stunning!
Whale Watch Kaikoura had excellent boats and they left every half an hour so we saw a few others out with us.
I caught these two napping while the boat was moving closer to shore. We thought once the whale dove we had seen the best of the day, but we were so wrong.
Not great pictures, but closer to shore we found pods of hundreds of dusky dolphins enjoying their morning.
We found a little juvenile humpback having his breakfast as well.
We went closer to a rocky island to look for fur seals, after having seen many in the water playing around and waving their flippers. The crew said that's how they warm up but I still think they were waving at us :)
Lots of mamas and babies sunning themselves on the rocks.
Then we got the cutest and most unexpected surprise of the day - a little blue penguin also doing some fishing in the area! From that moment on, Alex was obsessed with penguins and it was a favorite family moment for sure.
We had some delicious crayfish in Kaikoura, then headed up the coast toward Blenheim toward our next stop.
One of the best things about driving around New Zealand is how quickly and dramatically the landscapes change. As we headed out of the Canterbury district into Marlborough, there was no doubt we would see some different sights.
It was pretty exciting to start seeing the grapevines from one of our favorite wine regions!
We were too late for most of the cellar doors, but made a quick stop at Whitehaven to taste and buy a few bottles to take with us.
We stopped first in Picton to check out the quaint little town and have dinner on the Marlborough Sounds.
Even here, we found interesting life in the ocean!
It was a lovely little town and more lively than I expected because it is the ferry point that connects to the North Island.
After dinner, we enjoyed the beautiful drive around Queen Charlotte Sound toward Linkwater and our next campsite.
Smiths Farm was probably our favorite holiday park because it was a beautiful green space nestled in a valley and our first feeling of really having escaped the crowds. We woke up to birds and cows instead of motorbikes and car horns.
The coolest part of this farm was a hike up the hills, best done just before the long sunset.
It got increasingly difficult as we neared the end and especially challenging in the dark, which the kids absolutely loved. We scaled some rocks and crossed the creek a few times until we made it to the waterfall at the end.
The reason it's so cool to come at night is these tiny strings of worms. New Zealand glow worms!
We could turn off the flashlights and enjoy the constellations of tiny glow worms working their magic in the dark.
The next morning, jet lag hit us pretty hard and we didn't make it out of bed until 10am. Thankfully, we were staying a second night in Linkwater and we were able to use the camp kitchen to make a great breakfast with plenty of bacon for Ben.
It was overcast but lovely.
We did some kayaking on the sound for the afternoon and it was a fun experience, but something of a letdown after having seen so many animals the day before.
Still, we enjoyed the experience and the scenery!
We saw sting rays, a lot of nesting birds, and (sadly) one dead blue penguin. That sort of spoiled things for Alex. Still, it's hard to be unhappy in a place like this!
Back on the farm for the afternoon, we got to know the resident lambs who were more than happy to enjoy our treats.
A little happy hour at our campsite table before dinner!
The kids had a great time on the trampoline as well. It was so great for them to get to play outside for the first time in ages and they even made the waterfall hike again by themselves to check it out in daylight.
We drove over to Havelock for dinner and stopped to enjoy the view over Kenepuru Sound.
Havelock was tiny and adorable.
I had been looking forward to this for weeks - the best mussel restaurant around!
We had to get the sampler platter and were thrilled to try the green lipped mussels every way imaginable. It's hard to beat them simply steamed in a tasty broth, though.
On our second morning at the farm, we happened to be nearby when it was time the feed the lambs and there were two very willing volunteers to do breakfast duty.
We packed up the campervan and had a pretty good day of travel ahead to the west coast. It was still pretty lovely heading back toward Blenheim.
Since it was an open day, other than almost 5 hours of driving, we decided to hang around Blenheim a little more and enjoy ourselves! First off - Subway lunch. Next, groceries. Then wineries.
(Obviously, Matt didn't drink and drive...he just tasted and spit)
Hard to know who was enjoying the outside area at Cloudy Bay more - the parents or the kids?
We also stopped at Fromm and found a new favorite at Te Whare Ra. Then it was on the road to the other side of the South Island.
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