Linnea and Gustav

NZ Road Trip – Day 5 (Wellington – Whakapapa, 23 September)

We woke up in our seaside accommodation at 8 am and fixed ourselves some breakfast. Shortly after the nearby camper vans had left, we were getting ready to leave, but first, we were going to use the dump station. This was our first emptying of the grey water tank and the toilet waste cassette. It was quite simple. The grey water was emptied using a tube that we connected to the car. The toilet waste cassette had a good design that allows for easy emptying and cleaning.

We rolled out from the campsite and drove along the coast in Wellington to an area close to Oriental Beach, from where we walked up to Mount Victoria. It was many stairs and hilly tracks which lead up to Mount Victoria, and “Mount” felt like a well-deserved prefix to Victoria indeed. The view from the top was nice, but due to clouds, we could not see very far. But we think we could see our car from up there.

When we got down, we managed to get back to our car right before the parking maid got around to our parking lot. This was good as we arrived five minutes late for our parking ticket. We drove out from Wellington and started making our way north on Highway one. Before we got too far, we drove into a shopping area to go to a Noel Leeming store, which sells electronics. But Burger King became prioritised, so we went in for lunch first. We got some suggestions from the woman behind the counter when we asked for student deals, even though they weren’t student deals the deals she suggested were within a good price range, and we were sold.

Stomachs full we headed into the Noel Leeming store and bought a phone charger for the 12V carjack, as our phones had been running low on power while driving. We plugged it in, and it was working as we drove back onto highway one. On the roads there was a lot of traffic, there was congestion multiple times, and we started discussing how to re-plan the NZ highway system. Although experiencing queues at some point is probably to be expected on a road trip.

We took another pause to refuel on our way, but otherwise, we drove straight to our next camp site, Whakapapa Holiday Park. As we were getting close to the camp site, rain started hitting our windscreen. The campsite itself was a bit muddy due to the rain but seemed alright otherwise. It’s located in the middle of Tongariro National Park, which has several volcanoes and seismic activity. But the weather forecast didn’t look good, so the plan on hiking tomorrow morning had to be cancelled, and we decided on heading straight to our next destination.

Gustav discovered that the cramped toilet in the van is actually rotatable, which means that you can use it without training to become a contortionist. That’s good news although we wouldn’t have minded realising that earlier than day 5.

Time for bed! – G&L

NZ Road Trip – Day 4 (Abel Tasman National Park – Wellington, 22 September)

We started our day with a hot shower to clean ourselves after the hike and prepare us for a travel day ahead of us. We were driving to the ferry in Picton to go to the north island.

After breakfast, we filled our fresh water tank and then rolled out from the camping site at 9 am. We topped up on diesel and started making our way back over the curvy mountain pass.

Apart from a nature call, we drove straight to the ferry terminal. We drove past many wineries, which seemed understandable as Marlborough is one of the largest wine regions in New Zealand.

We arrived at Picton and the ferry terminal at 12:15 pm with one hour to spare before final check-in. During this time we made ourselves some soup for lunch, which we ate in the car. Time passed, and we had eaten our lunch and drunk some coffee, before boarding a man from the ferry company came and asked us concerning an alga that is present only on the south island. He asked where we were from and then went on to say how beautiful Stockholm is and complained only that the E4 highway in Sweden is a bit boring.

At 1:50 pm or so, they started boarding the cars onto the ferry. We parked our van on the lower car deck and proceeded up to deck seven where we watched the ship leave the shore. Then we bought a coffee (a caramel latte, yum!) and a panini sandwich and sat down to watch our journey through some large windows in the front of the ship.

As the ship left the archipelago, the sea became a bit more rough, although it was still quite calm. Linnea felt a bit ill and needed to sit and watch the horizon in order not to get seasick. We both made it through without any incidents, but the ship was late on arrival in Wellington.

When we drove off the ship, we made our way towards a Countdown (the New Zealand branch of Woolworths) for some groceries. As we got to the parking garage for the store, we realised that our van was too big for the garage height and we had to find somewhere else to park. We ended up driving a couple of blocks down and turning back, not so much because we couldn’t find a parking spot, more because of the hectic traffic and needing to slow down in order to park in the spot.

We finally parked 700 meters from the store, walked there, and bought our supplies. From the store, we drove to our campsite for the night – Evans Bay Marina. It’s located next to the water and the docks for smaller boats. We fixed supper, wrote some blog post, and went to bed.

G’night! / Gustav & Linnea

NZ Road Trip – Day 3 (Abel Tasman National Park, 21 September)

Today was a very special day. It was Gustav’s birthday!

In celebration of this, we stayed for the whole day in Abel Tasman and didn’t do any driving. By the way, that’s the only day we’ve planned to stay at the same campsite during this trip. We started the day by talking to Gustav’s parents on Skype. It’s a bit fascinating that the time difference is so substantial (10 hours at the moment) that Gustav’s parents are still having the day before at the time of the Skype.

Afterward, Linnea started making a pancake gateau, with Nutella, ice cream and candy decorations on top. As the Swedish saying goes; “Man tager vad man haver!” (”You take what you have!”)

This delicious monstrosity was eaten outside the campervan, out in the sun at our portable table that we rented with the van. We sat there for quite some time, admiring the landscape, and also Gustav opened his present.

When we were done with the cake, we thought about renting a kayak for the day and called the company operating close by. Unfortunately, they had only one drop off time during the low season, and it had been early in the morning. It would have been nice if they had written that in the brochure…

A little disappointed with the kayaking company, we quickly came up with a plan B. Which was hiking in the national park!

Linnea had read about the stunning beaches alongside the coast of the national park, so it was quite fitting that our campsite was located right next to the starting point of Abel Tasman Coastal Walk. We looked up on the map how far it would be to walk to Te Pukatura Bay in the middle of the park, and it was roughly 12 km one way. We didn’t feel discouraged by that, nor were particularly concerned by the fact that none of the signs at the starting point had that bay on it.

We started walking the same track as when we ran the evening before. This time, it was high tide, and most of Sandy Bay was under water. We continued on the track past Porters Beach and up along the coast.

We kept a steady fast pace, since we wanted to reach the stunning beaches in the middle of the national park, and also a tiny bit due to the fact that we were tracking our pace with Runkeeper. We felt like beating our record for the furthest and fastest hike!

After passing a few bays, we felt like it was time for lunch and walked down to a gorgeous small beach at Akersten Bay with two benches available. At first, we had some company by other hikers, but then they all went, and we were alone at the beach. We finished our lunch and drew a mark in the sand before continuing.

We pretty much went straight up the cliff to a lookout where we could see both the beach, another bay on the other side, and a boat that was anchored gleaming in the water. We had a coffee break there, sitting on a rock and feeling tired but wonderful.

Moving on we kept our fast pace, feeling energised we passed 10 km walked. The rainforest continued on and on, the track going up and down the cliffs and always curving back and fourth. Notably, there were no railings on this track, not even when you were walking high up, and there was a straight plunge down to the water. But fortunately the path wasn’t that narrow, so we didn’t think about is most of the time.

Passing a corner we saw some strange shapes moving towards us on the path. Coming closer we saw that it was two birds that looked a bit like the Kiwi Bird, but bigger from our estimate. They didn’t move off the path, not even when we walked passed them. They just kept walking the path like they were a couple just like us out on a stroll. Birds in New Zealand are weird. (The birds turned out to be Weka or Maori hen).

We finally made it to the middle of the park! The view from the top of the hills was amazing. For the final stretch of our hike, we decided not to go to Te Pukatura Bay. Instead, we went to Watering Cove.

We were alone on the beach there too. Probably because of it being the low season, so a big tip we want to give is to visit NZ during the low season!

At Watering Cove, we were thinking about taking a swim. So we changed into our swimmers and started walking into the water. We had got to our ankles before we stopped. It was very cold, and the sun was no longer shining into the cove not making things better.

Being happy with just bathing our feet, we got dressed and started our journey back to the campsite.

As time was rushing on and our walk had taken quite a lot of time going one way, we walked back in a brisk tempo with few stops. It was good that we decided to head back when we did, because when we had a few kilometres left it was really starting to get dark, and we only had a flashlight. But we made it back in time before it was completely dark.

Back in the campervan, we at a three-course dinner consisting of carrot sticks and dip as the appetiser, spaghetti and sausage in tomato sauce as our main course, and last but not least, fruit salad (a.k.a. fruit cocktail) with ice cream for dessert.

After dinner, we went out for a short bit to look at the sky. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky making it very easy to see the stars. It was an awe-inspiring experience.

/ Linnea and Gustav

Managed to get a manicure, a furry friend and completely covered in paint this Sunday! The first two I didn’t expect ?? #thecolorrunaus #happiest5k #linneaandgustav

Continue reading Managed to get a manicure, a furry friend and completely covered in paint this Sunday! The first two I didn’t expect ?? #thecolorrunaus #happiest5k #linneaandgustav

Went to the only and newly opened H&M in Newcastle. It puts a smile on your face when you hear that they’re playing ABBA and Avicii on the speakers ?? #justswedishthings #linneaandgustav

Continue reading Went to the only and newly opened H&M in Newcastle. It puts a smile on your face when you hear that they’re playing ABBA and Avicii on the speakers ?? #justswedishthings #linneaandgustav

NZ Road Trip – Day 2 (Hanmer Springs – Abel Tasman National Park, 20 September)

Paying for the vans bedding proved to be worth it during the first night already. We did not have any heater on as we were running low on the battery for the living area and were not hooked up to an external power source, so during the night we woke up a couple of times because it was freezing in the van.

We made it through the night and woke up at 6:45 am and had slept 9.5 hours. We used the facilities at the camping site and fixed ourselves a sandwich each before driving off. We only drove for a short while before stopping for full-on breakfast. Coffee, yogurt, and sandwiches were our breakfast made up of. We ate it at a rest stop at the table located there. We shared the table with a French woman about our age from Lyon who had been living in New Zealand since October last year. She was making breakfast for herself and her boyfriend, who was still sleeping in their truck.

We talked to her while we ate our breakfast but had finished eating before her boyfriend woke up. After breakfast, we drove off continuing our way north. Our first stop was at Maruia Springs where we bought a cappuccino and a scone and walked down to the stream to admire the nature. We risked the dryness of our shoes and walked out on some rocks to a section in the middle of the stream. It paid off; we got some nice pictures, and only the soles became somewhat wet (on Gustav’s shoes).

Our next stop was at Maruia Falls. The view there was really beautiful as well, but the currents in the water seemed quite treacherous. In the stream below the fall, there was a whirlpool where a great number of trees were going round and round. So that would not have been a good place to bathe. But the park bench was a good place for lunch. Soup in a cup and a sandwich, which kind of feels like a camping classic. Our lunch was unfortunately disturbed by a few biting flies that seemed to think that we looked tasty.

In Murchison, we bought more supplies at a Four Corners store before driving the last bit to get to our next camping site, The Barn Backpackers in Marahau. As the day progressed, the roads seemed to get narrower and curvier. In New Zealand, they often put up recommended top speeds in sharp curves. The lowest speed we had encountered during the first portion of our driving was 35 kph, so as the first 25 kph sign appeared we both exclaimed “25?!” So, yes, the roads were really curvy.

At The Barn, we registered and paid at the reception and were glad to hear that hot showers were free. We parked our campervan in power site 11 and hooked up the power, after which we started charging our phones and extra batteries. When the electronics were connected, we put on our running clothes and went for a jog along the coast in Abel Tasman National Park to Porters Beach.

The forest was really thick, but when we got out to the beach we were met by a wide expanse of sand. As it seemed to be low tide, the water was really far out, and there were seashells everywhere. Linnea picked a few shells, still unsure if we’re allowed to bring them back even to Australia. There were seashells the size of your hand there, unlike anything you would be able to find in Sweden!

After our jog, we made dinner consisting of noodles and tomato sauce. It was good! Then we took a hot shower and watched a movie. Hopefully, this night will be warmer, now that we’re able to have the heating fan running.

/ Gustav & Linnea

Our first filtered coffee in Australia! We had to argue with the waiter in order to get milk with it. #justswedishthings #LinneaAndGustav

Continue reading Our first filtered coffee in Australia! We had to argue with the waiter in order to get milk with it. #justswedishthings #LinneaAndGustav

Another tick on the bucketlist! #surfsup #newaddiction #linneaandgustav

Continue reading Another tick on the bucketlist! #surfsup #newaddiction #linneaandgustav

NZ Road Trip – Day 1 (Christchurch – Hanmer Springs, 19 September)

Today was the first day of our road trip adventure through New Zealand. Andy had offered to drive us to the rental place, which was really nice of him. We got there at 9:15 am and started by filling out some paperwork. We were helped by a German woman, Helena, who was working there.

Of course, we ended up with some of the extra additions, like heater, bedding, insurance, etc. Hopefully, it will be worth it, well not the insurance. When we drove out from Christchurch, we had to drive through some road work, but we made it through.

It felt really weird to drive a bigger car and to drive on the left. The landscape was really scenic as we drove north. When we got to Hanmer Springs, we found a good parking spot and a grocery store. We loaded up on food and got back to the camper van.

We decided to go to a petting farm, only to find that it was not open on Mondays. But we found other animals to pet as the horses along the walkway proved to be friendly.

Fish and chips for lunch (19 September 2016)

We grabbed fish and chips for our late lunch, and then we headed to our first camping site. It was located a bit outside of Hanmer Spring and was free. Being free it only has a couple of public toilets, which is better than nothing.

Arriving at the camping spot, we were alone at first. We unpacked our bags and put our stuff in the cupboards in the van where everything seems to fit. Then we cooked dinner, which was sausage with beans and peas. We managed to cook it on the stove in the van and wash the dishes, but after that, the battery started to run low. So then candles proved to be a good thing to bring. Thanks, mom!

We made our bed in the back of the van and sat down to write these posts. So far everything has been going well, and that’s the way we hope it will continue.

Good night!
Gustav & Linnea

Welcome to my new crib! #hobbiton #movingin #linneaandgustav

Welcome to my new crib!
#hobbiton #movingin #linneaandgustav

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Linnea & Gustav

NZ Road Trip – Day 5 (Wellington – Whakapapa, 23 September)

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NZ Road Trip – Day 4 (Abel Tasman National Park – Wellington, 22 September)

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NZ Road Trip – Day 3 (Abel Tasman National Park, 21 September)

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Managed to get a manicure, a furry friend and completely covered in paint this Sunday! The first two I didn’t expect ?? #thecolorrunaus #happiest5k #linneaandgustav

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Went to the only and newly opened H&M in Newcastle. It puts a smile on your face when you hear that they’re playing ABBA and Avicii on the speakers ?? #justswedishthings #linneaandgustav

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NZ Road Trip – Day 2 (Hanmer Springs – Abel Tasman National Park, 20 September)

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Our first filtered coffee in Australia! We had to argue with the waiter in order to get milk with it. #justswedishthings #LinneaAndGustav

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Another tick on the bucketlist! #surfsup #newaddiction #linneaandgustav

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NZ Road Trip – Day 1 (Christchurch – Hanmer Springs, 19 September)

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Welcome to my new crib! #hobbiton #movingin #linneaandgustav

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