Purakaunui Falls

3/27/25: Stopped for a short 20 minute round trip walk to see these falls while driving through the Catlins area at the bottom of the South Island. This was before we went to Curio Bay, also in the Catlins.

Milford Sound

Arrived in Te Anau on 3/28, ready for the Milford Sound cruise on 3/29. The cruise we signed up for includes a bus from Te Anau to Milford Sound.

Classic Motorcycle Mecca – Invercargill

On our way to Te Anau we stopped in Invercargill to visit Classic Motorcycle Mecca. This museum has the best collection of scooters and sidecars that we’ve seen, as well as classic motorcycles.

Curio Bay

3/27/25- Found another campsite with an awesome ocean view in Curio Bay. Next morning we saw a seal underneath the camper van next to us!

Best Burger award

3/27/25: Had to stop in Paparowai at Peake’s Kitchen for the burger that was the winner of the Burger Nation competition – voted “Supreme Burger”! And it was!!

And the toilet saga continues…

Last post we were happily camped at a beautiful spot along the coast and the toilet was fixed – or so we thought. Next morning it leaked again! The rental company arranged for us to go to an RV repair shop in the next town on our route – Dunedin. They were able to repair […]

All’s well that ends well.

Woke up Tuesday 3/25 to a leaking toilet- called the rental company and they came out to fix it. All good, so we left Lake Tekapo to head to our next stop for the night. Along the way we stoped to see some ancient rock art and lunch at a winery. Then on to Oamaru […]

Lake Pukaki and Lake Tekapo

Arrived at Lake Pukaki Sunday night, 3/23, in time to get a spot at The Pines – the most popular free camping area in the South Island. Gorgeous views of the lake and Mt. Cook. The next day we had planned to try hiking a bit of the famous Hooker Track, but the weather did […]

First stop

Our first stop for the night was at a winery that allows campers to stay overnight. Straight Eight Winery in Burnham. Very good wine and the wine maker invited us to stay after the tasting, to enjoy a glass of wine and conversation with a group of friends that arrived for an early evening get […]

Auckland

While the plan is to start our trip in the South Island, we decided it would be best to spend the first day after arriving in New Zealand, in Auckland to recover from any jet lag, before picking up the camper van in Christchurch. Feeling much better after sleeping 12 hours in a nice comfy […]