We woke up in New Brighton feeling surprisingly human. After a soak in the hot pools and dinner the night before, hitting the hay for the first time in 44 hours felt pretty damn good.
A trip back into Christchurch to pick up the van, and our adventure could officially begin. Well, first we needed provisions. Camp stove fuel from Bunnings (New Zealand’s version of Home Depot), and groceries from Pak’nSave – which is unlike anything in the United States.
Since I am so obviously awesome at everything I do, it was super easy to make the switch to driving on the left side of the road for the first time in my life. After a little experience driving in the city, we headed straight into the country. My understanding of geology is that Akaroa Bay is the crater of the volcano that formed Banks Peninsula. The drive over did little to prepare me for the driving I would encounter the next couple of days.
Of course, we had decided to camp at some of the bays that are scattered around the peninsula, and why wouldn’t we take the scenic route? With a name like Summit Road, how hard could it be? The roads we encountered were steep, super twisty, vertigo inducing, and super narrow. Probably would have been great fun in a tiny sports car, but when you are still trying to figure out where the left side of your little van is touching the road, and the non-existent shoulder is next to precipitous consequences, it gets a little scary.
Barb, of course, is a super helpful and calm passenger who makes new driving experiences like this very calming with constant encouragement like, “Look out!!!” And, “Jay, Jay, Jaaaaay!!!” My personal favorite way that she likes to calm me down is by suddenly, and for no apparent reason, grabbing the dash and taking a sharp inhalation as she fills her lungs with what is surely the last time she will experience the sweet taste of life.
There were places that you could get your wheels off the road, so I spent a lot of time getting out of the way of the little old grammas who could zip around on these roads like they were nothing. They were such dears that gave me little “beep beeps” as they passed. I felt it was their little way of saying “thank you,” but also a way of telling me that they know it’s tough, I’m doing a really good job, and they are proud of me.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that on our first day, Google wanted to take us on a more direct route to our campsite. We left the sealed road and entered a gravel road that rapidly became steeper and steeper, as the road dropped straight down the side of the volcano to the ocean. Luckily, I stopped and started to walk a bit to see if I could tell where the road flattened out again. Some locals came tearing up the road and let us know they spend a lot of time getting people like us unstuck, and the road we wanted was just a bit further. He also told me I was doing a good job and was a very brave boy.
The paved road we took down to our first camp was still terrifying.
We didn’t get many pictures taken on the drive over.
We spent the evening unpacking and getting nested in our new home. The question was finally answered about whether we brought too much stuff. Nope! Even though the van guy was a little shocked by all that we had brought across the ocean, it all fit perfectly in the van, and we had a pretty neat, and streamlined, set up. We slept pretty well even.
Pigeon’s Bay is a great little campground run by the Christchurch City Council. Small, quiet, and uncrowded, it was a great place to start our trip. Besides the tricky drive, quite possibly the hardest drive of our entire trip, it was a great first stop. Pretty basic facilities, but that was fine.
After a simple breakfast, we headed towards, Akaroa, a very charming little town on the bay.
On the drive out, we stopped at the Hay Scenic Reserve where we were introduced to the abundant New Zealand Fantails. It was always a special treat on our travels to see people the first time they are approached by the little birds flitting here and there, practically able to hover around you. We later learned, that as you walk, you stir up little bugs, so the birds come around you to feed. We were probably the first people to enter the forest here, so it was a pretty neat to have these little birds flitting up to us within seconds of entering our first trail in New Zealand. We really felt we were embarking on a pretty unique journey.
Our first stop in Akaroa was the Giants House, one woman’s art project. Josie Martin is a sculptor and horticulturist who spent 27 years creating this giant garden full of art pieces.
Akaroa was first settle by the French, and it keeps its French feel with its street names, restaurants and bakeries. We didn’t do the proper planning for this Akaroa, and some of the things that I thought we could check out required driving on road that were four wheel drive, and based on what we had seen, we weren’t willing to risk it. We had a great meal and walk around town before heading to our campsite for the night at Okain’s Bay. A bit of a regret that we didn’t allow for more time in this area. Even though it is primarily driven by tourism, It is not nearly as crowded as other areas of the South Island.
Off to Okain’s Bay!