Thursday, March 19

Our travel plans this week were to explore The Catlins area in New Zealand’s South Island, and then meet up with a social networking friend / local kiwi named Penelope on Saturday who’s been a godsend in providing tips & advice for our trip. We “met” Penelope through a YouTube travel channel Andi and I love watching called Keep Your Daydream, and we’ve been looking forward to visiting her in her hometown of Gore, NZ for weeks. It’s been amazingly helpful having a local to ask questions and solicit “insider” travel advice — we’d hoped to thank Penelope in person!

Except today, Andi and I woke up with a nagging voice in our minds and a weight on our hearts telling us to return home to Wisconsin. We’ve been watching both United States and New Zealand news outlets closely regarding COVID-19, and intuition is telling us it’s time to go home before that’s no longer an option for us. We are bummed to cut our trip short, to say the least! Andi messaged Penelope this morning to let her know about our change in plans and she completely understood. There’s one more area of South Island we’d like to see before we go, and then our new plan is to make our way toward the airport in Christchurch. That is, if we can get a flight home…

Our return flight is scheduled for May 18, so Andi called Air New Zealand this morning to see if we can change it. It’s a 72-hour wait just to talk to someone! They are calling us back. In the meantime, we finished school this morning at the campground in Balclutha and then set off for the Lake Tekapo area via the Lindis Pass.

In revising our route, Andi and I opted to skip the city of Dunedin and consequently, the Moeraki Boulders located north of there. Most of the activities I’d planned for us to do in Dunedin involved museums and playgrounds and since we’re choosing to personally distancing ourselves from groups right now, we probably aren’t going to do those things anyway. Tory was bummed about not seeing the boulders in person as she researched about the unique natural rock formations before we visited New Zealand. It doesn’t make sense logistically to drive there anymore though.

The drive to the Lake Tekapo area via Highway 8 was beautiful. Honestly, I don’t think there’s a road in South Island New Zealand that isn’t a sight to see. Highway 8 took us through several rural farming towns. We passed by local fruit stands selling plums, peaches, corn, and pumpkins. It’s fall here now — similar to September weather — which is crazy to think about apple orchards and pumpkin patches. In our minds, it’s springtime. Andi stopped the RV at one farm stand and bought a huge box of plums and four ears of corn on the cob for dinner tonight.

We didn’t have much left in the fridge for lunch, so we stopped at Benger’s Garden Cafe in the small village of Ettrick. This cafe is clearly a one-stop-shop for the community. They sold everything from convenience store items to blue plate breakfast & lunch items. Andi ordered minced meat on toast (a true New Zealander meal — basically sloppy joe meat on buttered bread), I had a chicken panini w/ a side salad and the kids had their usual chicken nuggets, cheeseburger and chips (known as French fries to us, Americans). Also, we finally tried a piece of lolli cake. I’ve been dying to know what the heck this is! Lolli = candy in kiwi speak.

Remember those orange circus peanut candies we used to eat as kids? Come to find out, lolli cake is basically a brownie with colorful marshmallow circus peanuts baked into it. Except, in New Zealand those orange circus peanuts are called Eskimos. They’re a popular candy here. I can’t say we loved our first experience with lolli cake, but it was fun to try something new.

The four of us sat outside in a beautiful open garden area and ate our meals. Andi and I were a bit nervous about going to a restaurant for lunch, but luckily it wasn’t busy and we sat outside.

Back on the road, we passed through the small towns of Roxburgh and Alexandra. On another day, I would have suggested we stay and camp in either one of these towns. Both had adorable Main Streets and generally a good vibe about them. We decided to keep driving though, so we’d have time to visit Lake Tekapo before leaving the South Island.

Mid-afternoon, we reached the summit of Lindis Pass. Once again, the varying New Zealand landscapes continue to amaze us. Brown, rolling hills dominated the valley for as far as we could see. I imagine this area is even more dramatic when the mountains are covered in snow. Andi parked in the car park, and we took a short walk up to a lookout platform.

Back in the RV traveling farther north on Highway 8, we passed through the town of Cromwell — a place I considered visiting when we were in Wanaka (mostly because I read about a a kid-friendly winery there - ha!). As we drove by the outskirts of Cromwell, we saw two great-looking freedom camping spots on Lake Dunstan. Andi said he thought we should continue driving though, making this our longest drive day yet. We’d been on the road for 4 hours by now.

Eventually we reached the Mackenzie Region, an area known for its clear starry nights, bright sunny days and unbelievably turquoise lakes. Andi and I both exclaimed “WOW!” the moment we rounded the bend and caught first glance of Lake Pukaki. The color of the water is spectacular!

The lakes in this region get their color from glacial flour — a thick powder that’s made when glaciers moving down the mountains grind up rocks as they go.

Andi heard about a freedom camping area on Lake Pukaki called “The Pines” which came highly recommended by several people. We were pleased to find lots of free camping options all around the lake, not just in the lot designated as the The Pines. We drove around for a bit to find the best cell service in the area (still waiting on a call back from Air New Zealand re: our flight change) and eventually decided to park our RV nestled amongst the trees. We don’t have leveling blocks in this RV, so Andi made it work with a large rock propped under our tire. It did the trick!

After driving most of the day, Tory and Aden bolted out of the RV the moment we parked and started in on creating art with pine cones, leaves, sticks and rocks. Aden created a scene he called “Two Boys at the Pub,” inspired by he and Andi’s boys trips to the pub during this trip, no doubt. Tory made a campfire teepee, she said.

Andi and Aden walked along the rocky beach to check out the area. Tory peeked her head through the window above her bed and reported all the things she could see — birds, trees, fellow campers, and the like.

For dinner, Andi made fresh, local corn on the cob and chicken basil pasta. With a limited cooking space and only a handful of spices and seasonings in the RV, we’ve been eating the same rotation of meals for six weeks (chicken stir fry, grilled meat or fish & salad, and a hamburger vegetable skillet of some sort). It’ll be nice to switch it up when we move on from here.

Andi and I joke about our personal cooking styles — I enjoy cooking when I’m in my own kitchen, have a meal plan with all my tools accessible. He accepts the challenge of cooking in a small space with random utensils and ingredients. At home, I’m typically the one who shops and makes all our meals. On this trip, Andi has taken charge of grocery shopping and most dinners. A Swiss family we met the other day in The Catlins was shocked to hear Andi say he had to go inside to start dinner. “He cooks?” the dad said to me. Yep!

After dinner, the kids and I snuggled up to read Chronicles of Narnia before bed. It was quiet and peaceful on the lake, but windy. I loved hearing the waves lap up against shore all night long.

Not sure of tomorrow’s plans — we hope to hear back from Air New Zealand so we can make a more informed decision about the next week of our trip.