A NZ South Island sojourn

[JohnM]

Tomorrow it’s on the bird to start heading to NZ for the rest of January.

The original plan was to join a one-way 15-night Coral Expeditions voyage from Bluff (port for Invercargill) through the southern islands of NZ and Macquarie Island (aka ‘Macca’) to finish in Melbourne.

I did something essentially identical, except it was Bluff-Bluff, with NZ’s Heritage Expeditions in 2019 (The Galapagos of the Southern Ocean) and I was keen to repeat it with PJM as I knew she would love the bird life in particular.



However, it transpired that Coral Expeditions pulled the pin on the extensive voyage because of problems with landing permits, especially and maybe only, for Macca. To not be able to land on Macca, but only pass by, would be worthless in my view as it was an amazing highlight of my previous trip.

A little rummaging on the internet revealed the massive limitations faced especially by new entrants in voyaging to Macca: Macquarie Island World Heritage Area | Parks & Wildlife Service Tasmania.

Only 12 vessels are permitted each year, with a total 2000 pax landings, and no vessel >220 pax (not in itself a problem for CE with maximum 120 pax). Another, I suspect much more onerous, restriction is that vessels must already be Antarctic-approved. I also noticed that Tas Parks is quite late in issuing permits, so I would suspect that throws into too much doubt advance voyage planning.

They have also become severely covid-neurotic, now forbidding interaction with the Macca staff.

C’est la vie.

Anyway, CE offered a full refund or the option of a shorter voyage Bluff-Bluff, departing on the original date, with a cabin upgrade sweetener. I had already made QF J Classic Reward bookings PER-SYD (A330) & SYD-CHC (EK A380) and MEL-PER (A330), so I decided to keep those and opt for the shorter voyage, followed by renting a car in Invercargill and doing a few days touring the S Island back to CHC.

We’re having one night at Rydges SYD on the way out and two nights in Christchurch with the aim of a day driving to Akaroa before flying CHC-IVC.

Leaving all flight bookings in place, I snared QF J Classic Rewards CHC-SYD, again on the EK A380, for a couple of nights’ stopover there, that will enable PJM to visit relos, and then J Classic Rewards SYD-MEL to pick up the original MEL-PER A330 flight.

The short CHC-IVC flight is NZ reward in a whY-only ATR72.

Here’s the updated voyage plan of 8 nights.



Here’s the plan after returning to NZ. Two nights in Wanaka, one night in Greymouth and two nights in Kaikoura. A glacier landing flight (fixed-wing out, helo back) is booked for Mt Cook (fingers crossed for favourable weather) and a whale-watching trip is booked in Kaikoura.



As usual, most of the TR will be after return.

 

[VPS]

Have fun

 

[NSun]

Can't wait to see your pictures of/experience in Kaikoura - it's my favourite part of New Zealand.

 

[JohnM]

The usual view from the rooftop bar at the Rydges and the EK lounge was wonderfully quiet and peaceful, which was good given that our flight was delayed because of the late arrival of the incoming bird.



Only about a dozen or so pax in J. First time in EK A380 J for both PJM and me. I’ve always previously snared F redemptions on other EK A380 flights. Of course, the glaring exception was being relegated to whY when I won the QF Wine trip to Italy… (Ciao Italia - a Qantas Wine mega-bonus!)

PJM’s happy face reflects forgetting about that grisly whY experience.

And down to the bar after breakfast for a cup of tea for PJM and a sample of the Bordeaux for me.



Strolling around central Christchurch. Many new buildings, but still some badly damaged buildings from the February 2011 earthquake.

One wonders whether they will ever manage to restore the cathedral, and whether it will be worth it. It surely will cost a bomb and time marches on.

The large building opposite, which I believe was a hotel, is an absolute vandalised eyesore that needs to be demolished.



Nice new function centre and the placement of the entertainment precinct overlooking the Avon River is always a lovely aspect of Christchurch.

 

[JohnM]

Next day we drove out to Akaroa, on the Banks Peninsula, a long-extinct volcanic complex with distinctive radiating erosion patterns. It’s a very pretty area, well worth a day’s outing from Christchurch. We drove there directly but took the more scenic eastern ridge-top route back, deviating down into one of the sleepy bays (Le Bons) to scope it at sea level.



Akaroa township. Quaint and pleasantly touristy. Blue pearls, cultured in the large paua abalone shells are a signature attraction.

 

[JohnM]

Next morning we flew CHC-IVC to await pickup by the coaches coming through from Queenstown where most of the voyage pax were originating. It seems to be a common thing for voyages leaving from Bluff, the very industrial port for Invercargill, to have pax muster in Queenstown. I guess it makes a lot of sense, particularly for Australians, as it’s well-serviced by direct flights from Oz.

We had some time to kill, so we wandered up the main street to the E Hayes Motorworks Collection, housed in the E Hayes and Sons hardware store. This is no scruffy Bunnings-style warehouse, I assure you! It’s an amazing multi-department, principally hardware, store taking up pretty much a whole city block, with an lovingly curated motorcycle museum within the store free to view.

The store is a model of cleanliness and orderliness. You can take a 360deg tour here: 360

It really has to be seen to be believed!

The cornerstone exhibit is the authentic, original The World’s Fastest Indian motorcycle.



For anyone interested in motorcycles, a much wider array of photos is here: E Hayes and Sons - The World's Fastest Indian - All You MUST Know Before You Go (2025)

Norman Hayes, the grandson of founder E Hayes was an avid mechanical tinkerer and hand-built a working internal combustion engine from all sorts of weird scrap for fun and a bit of a wager with a mate. It’s displayed in the store, and someone will start it for anyone interested.



See it run:

I don’t know what it is about Invercargill, but they do motor museums wonderfully. Transport World, which I visited in 2019 is exceptional (posts 48 & 49: The Galapagos of the Southern Ocean) and there is another motorcycle museum that I have not visited: Classic Motorcycle Mecca: Invercargill Motorcycle Museum.

It was great way to kill a couple of hours before the coach swung past and took us out to Bluff to board the ship.

 

[JohnM]

And aboard we go.



We like Coral Expeditions for a number of reasons. The small number of pax (120 on each of their two more recent vessels; 70 on their older vessel), the highly active nature of the itinerary, the all-Australian crew, especially providing employment and training for enthusiastic young Australians, always excellent guides and guest lecturers, a jam-packed activities program and a great laid-back Australian vibe.

Our previous three voyages had been in tropical waters, with a lot of in-water activities, so this voyage would be different in that regard.

One of the unique things is the ramp at the stern which lowers and raises the ‘Xplorers’, as they call them, two tender vessels used for most excursions, and which make excellent snorkelling platforms. The ramp makes for easy direct entry into the ‘Xplorers’ before they are lowered into the water; the process being reversed on return.

The ‘Xplorers’ are stowed side-by-side on an upper deck, being transferred on a railed winch system, while Zodiacs and racks of kayaks are lowered by the usual crane system.

They also carry several Zodiacs and a clutch of kayaks for which the platform forms a great entry and exit point. It was also used by those who chose to do the chilly-water dip.

 

[GarrettM]

Next day we drove out to Akaroa, on the Banks Peninsula, a long-extinct volcanic complex with distinctive radiating erosion patterns. It’s a very pretty area, well worth a day’s outing from Christchurch. We drove there directly but took the more scenic eastern ridge-top route back, deviating down into one of the sleepy bays (Le Bons) to scope it at sea level.

View attachment 430317View attachment 430318

Akaroa township. Quaint and pleasantly touristy. Blue pearls, cultured in the large paua abalone shells are a signature attraction.

View attachment 430319View attachment 430320View attachment 430321View attachment 430322View attachment 430323View attachment 430324View attachment 430325

We did the Christchurh-Akaroa day trip on our honeymoon just over 10 years ago. Lovely spot. Enjoyed an icecream while checking out the wharf. Wanted to take a squizz at the other side of the bay as well but we couldn't squeeze it in. I do remember the drive out there in our little hired manual hatchback, and thinking at the time my Subaru would have made the switchbacks much more enjoyable.