Moving on to Kaikoura

After a quick trip to Hellers Factory Shop, we stowed our bargains away in the fridge and freezer and hooked up the caravan, stopping at the dump station and we were finally on our way heading up SH1.  Our first stop was at Amberley to see the statue of  Charles Upham VC and Bar.   Born in  Christchurch in 1908, he gained  a Diploma in Agriculture and his working life began in the high country and hills of the Hurunui District where he was a shepherd.  Charles Hazlitt Upham is probably New Zealand's most famous soldier. He became one of only three people ever to win the Victoria Cross twice for his actions in Crete in 1941 and Egypt in 1942. He is the only person to have achieved this as a combat soldier.  In 1953, Upham was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal. In 1992, he was presented with the Order of Honour by the Government of Greece, in recognition of his service in the Battles of Greece and Crete.

Charles Upham VC and Bar

We stopped for lunch at the Parnassus  NZMCA Park – only one other van was in residence.  It’s always good to stop, stretch your back and legs and have a little walk around after traveling a while.  Parnassus must have had quite a lot of rainfall, as a sign stated “Park on the grass at your own risk”.  We stayed on the hard while we had our lunch break.

Lunch at Parnassus

Well fed and rested we were on our way again, driving along as the road hugged the coast.  Oh look – tunnels.  There are two sets of these tunnels, carved through the rock.  They may look tiny but plenty of large heavy trucks pass through them on a daily basis, so there was no problem that we would fit.

Driving through the tunnels

This looked interesting, obviously erected as protection from rock fall onto the road and passing vehicles.

Protection from rock fall

We have arrived

170km later we rolled into Kaikoura NZMCA Park, the second one in this area.  This park has been open for three years and just like the Kaiapoi Park, has been developed on red zoned earthquake land.  Quite large, it is made up of five separate “blocks” with one set aside for those campers who want to use generators, and caters for about 100 vans.  We soon found a space and settled in.

Parked up in Kaikoura for the next two nights

The next day we went out exploring.  Kaikoura township was buzzing with cars and campervans, the tourists had certainly come calling.  The car park at the Whale Watch encounter was packed with vehicles as the customers had climbed onboard the boats for a thrilling trip.  Down at the coastline the bleached white uplifted rocks from the big earthquake were ghostly white in the sunshine – all this coastline was originally under water.  There were several seals basking in the sun – some people walked over the rocks and got alarmingly close to them. 

Uplifted costal rocks by the earthquake

The lookout high on the hill was calling to us, so up and up we drove.  Lovely views, but it was a matter of “hang onto your hats” while we were up there.

Views from the lookout

We were wondering how many campers were staying at the original NZMCA Park by the Trotting Club so drove around to check it out.  There were a few there, about a dozen we thought.  Guess the new camp is more popular these days.  We finished off our outing with an ice-cream.  Not a real ice-cream, the vendor was selling either Gelato or Sorbet.  We chose a gelato each and sat down in the sunshine trying to consume them before they melted in the sunshine and dripped all over our fingers.  It was a nice finish to our afternoon.

Gelatos for two please

Our South Island Trip is being cut back a couple of weeks as Robin is having issues with his leg.  After two lots of antibiotics it is still not right so we decided to cut short our trip and the earliest return sailing we could get is next week, 23rd February.  Sadly, we had to miss out on several places we wanted to visit, including Hanmer Springs, not possible with Robin’s leg problem.  Never mind, we can always come back to the South Island again, and I’m sure we will.