Denouement Diaries - Week 1

Essentially the ramblings of two adults that probably require adult supervision.

As usual, follow along at:

• @expeditiondenouement
• @lukereynoldsorg
• @casey_palmz

And...here. Anyway let's get into it:

7/2/23: Prologue

• Left coast after seeing off parents
• Thought about holding off to try for another rabies shot
• GP practice called us - there were no more rabies shots
• Looks like one rabies shot will have to do...
• Let's not get rabies
• Got Japanese chicken and rice bowls, naturally
• Then Casey’s licence actually happened to be delivered so went and got that from the house
• Then down to Brisbane
• More family farewells
• Sat around for a bit
• Family dinner

8/2/23: Prologue continued

• Bumming around in the northern suburbs of Brisbane
• Got a car cover for Casey - the car will be lonely for a year
• Then replaced my watch battery
• Off to the airport
• Very quiet international airport
• Easy through security
• Easy on to plane
• Pretty sure they forgot to feed us - thanks, Air New Zealand...
• Watched the whole first season of 'Derry Girls' - must tell Andy
• Off the plane and easily through immigration and customs
• Then an easy cab to the motel
• Keys in a lockbox - acquired
• And in for showers
• Face feels like feet
• Pathetic dinner of a biscuit and some watery motel hot chocolate
• Pretty good start to the trip

9/2/23 - Day 1: Christchurch - Mt Sunday - Ashburton

• Uber driver drove past our motel twice - eventually found us
• Then easily found the Spaceships depot out near the airport
• Keys in the lockbox
• Claimed our ‘Nugget’ - it's the name of the car
• Then basically just started off into Christchurch to find breakfast
• Could not turn right for my entire life - Christchurch has lots of one way streets
• Found breakfast spot run by lovely Indian family
• Then headed south
• Fuelled up
• To Mount Sunday
• Through nice farmland
• 2.5 hours
• Climbed to Edoras and back
• Felt like a man of Rohan
• Then drove down to Ashburton
• Checked in
• Then to grocery store
• Campground is dank
• The residents are....residents of a regional campground....
• Roast chicken and pre-packed salad for dinner - felt like classic backpacker food
• Then some snacks while in our van bed watching 'Wednesday'
• Tried to book tomorrow night's accomodation, sent enquires, failed, couldn’t receive text message because no 2FA - excellent planning, Luke

10/2/23 - Day 2: Ashburton - Moeraki - Dunedin

• Bacon and eggs in the campground kitchen
• The residents are still dank
• Then off heading south
• Stopped at Timaru
• Had a coffee and a LOUISE cake - literally felt like we offended the whole country by not knowing it is called that...
• Hit up Vinnies for some warm clothes before we head to some altitude
• Got a parking ticket - fantastic
• Left Timaru
• South to Moeraki boulders
• Actually pretty interesting
• More coffee
• Realised we did have a place for the night booked in Dunedin
• Kept going south to Katiki Point and walked up to the lighthouse and along the point to see some seals
• Was cool, wasn’t expecting to see seals in my day
• Then kept going south to Blueskin Bay
• Stopped and had a snack and toilet break and got feet into sand with a quick beach walk
• Then the last 20 mins or so over the mountain into Dunedin
• Looks like Hobart
• Is lovely
• Found our caravan park
• Is not dank
• Is full of people vanning around like us
• No residents, just people travelling around - excellent
• Checked in
• Then went and found a pole gym for Casey
• Dropped her off
• I went and wandered
• Dunedin is lovely
• Casey was happy she hasn't lost any fitness in...like two days...
• Back to campsite
• Fish and chips ordered
• Showered and clean
• Picked up food - perfectly greasy and battered
• Dinner in the last of the sunlight
• Then into the van for some 'Wednesday'

11/2/23 - Day 3: Dunedin - Lawrence - Roxburgh - Queenstown

• Woke up stiff as a board
• Because we slept on a board, sort of
• Stretches and sunlight and face washes and wake up
• Bacon and eggs cooked out of the back of the van
• Cleaned up and rolled out
• Out on to the peninsula as thought we would check out the castle
• Turned out there was a hefty entrance fee
• And it was a private residence essentially
• Had a domestic as I couldn’t be assed
• Found coffee and pastry
• Domestic settled
• Then rolled out of Dunedin proper
• South through Milton - looked shit
• Then turned inland towards Queenstown
• Stopped at the museum in Lawrence
• Learned about the gold rush
• Then coffee and pastry in the bakery next door
• And took the museum lady’s advice and detoured out to Gabriel’s Gully where the gold came from
• Walked around in the scrub and had a great time
• Saw a couple of deep mineshafts that are still there
• Then continued along
• Stopped at Roxburgh for some honesty cherries
• And fresh fruit ice cream was awesome
• Drove on until screaming Meg or roaring Meg or whatever the hydro thing was called
• Stretched the legs
• Then into Queenstown
• Quick scramble around to park up and pinch some internet to refresh my maps
• Then found the caravan park easily
• Check in
• Then walk back down to town
• Found the cable car stop
• Up to the top
• I think we are cable car and funicular people
• Down and into town to find dinner
• Found an Indian place
• Was actually incredibly good food
• Gorged
• Stumble home back up the hill
• Showers
• 'Wednesday' on Netflix
• Bed
• Sleeps

12/2/23 - Day 4: Queenstown - Arrowtown - Glenorchy - Paradise - Queenstown

• Woke up 830am
• Coffee for crazy lady immediately upon rising
• Drove to arrowtown - looked for Arwen’s stream - realised the actual site would be miles away
• Got a local coffee - delish
• Walked around pathways next to clear ass creek
• 10:03am hit - domestic began because boy needed to wee and lady wanted to keep walking
• Domestic settled and had a hard plastic crepe from the local markets
• Saw Wilcox Green
• Then drove to Coronets Peak, stun
• Went UP because we are UP people, apparently
• Sat outside in chairlift gondola
• Amazing mountain views at the top, tramped around for an hour or so
• Back down, into car and off to Glenorchy
• Had dumplings, of all things, in Glenorchy
• Then boy found 3 LOTR sites on maps and went to all three
• Full sent nugget through a creek, champion
• Saw: Lothlorien, tried a disgusting reenactment of some Frodo bullshit and failed; and where Isengard would sit
• Then had a swim in the lake on the way back to Queenstown campsite
• I called this my shower
• And clothes wash
• Got to camp
• Did some booking for the next few days
• Then cooked up the last of our bacon and eggs for dinner
• Washed up
• Drove nugget down to maccas and grabbed a sundae and thickshake
• Back and sleeps

13/2/23 - Day 5: Queenstown - Wanaka - Waterfall Hunting - Haast

• Awake startled at the crack of 848am
• Fuelled up nugget
• Got Casey a coffee at the cool little print shop down the road
• Then started off
• Then drove to the Cardrona Hotel - not entirely sure what the dealio is but it was v cute but full of grey nomads, yeeted out of there
• Luke decided to have a domestic with nugget and backed her sweet ass into a rock - she didn’t deserve it
• Drove to Wanaka
• Grabbed a sausage roll and coffee
• Walked along the waterfront
• Finally found myself a hat
• Then drove up to the stupid tree
• It’s literally just a tree
• Surrounded by twits
• Taking photos
• So anyway we took a photo of the tree
• Then rolled out past lake Hawea - photo
• Had a little walk around the monument, lady went off the beaten track as she is more adventurous and fun than Luke
• Went to Blue Pools next, much much busier
• Lovely place but slightly less lovely due to people being people
• Saw a mostly-naked chick doing Insta-twit things
• I mean, come on
• Then went to 2 waterfall stops (Fantail Falls and Thunder Creek Falls) stun
• Then drove to Haast village, nestled on a flat under the mountains near the coast - stun
• Had v late lunch early dinner at hunting lodge
• Then did internet things and chilled out
• Bed and showers but with all of the mosquitos

14/2/23 - Day 6: Haast - Fox/Franz Josef Glaciers - Hokitika

• Slept in a little
• Rolled out of bed
• Around to the little cafe in Haast township
• For coffee and a new bottle of water because idiot Luke threw one out last night
• Then rolled out
• First stop was Fox glacier township
• Grabbed more coffees and some pastries then rolled a few hundred metres back to the trail carpark
• Easy walk to the little lookout
• Weird looking at a glacier from a hot forest walk
• Back down to the car
• And drove the little way to Franz Josef glacier
• Drove the way up into the carpark
• Then just a couple of short walks
• One to an elevated rock to view the glacier
• And one only a few hundred metres up until the trail closure signs
• Still able to see the glacier though
• Back to Franz Josef township for lunch
• Then Casey went and did a Kiwi tour at the little conservation centre - did see a Kiwi
• Carried on and took a side road to Okarito for a stop and look at the lagoon
• Then did a little forest walk on the way back out to the main highway
• Came into Hokitika around 1900
• Awkward check in - payment wouldn’t work
• Gave up - promised to pay in the morning
• Cold ass shower because the cheapies had a machine for coin operated hot water
• Old boy owner was an old school misogynist - kept asking all the female backpackers if they were going to do the cooking
• Made some pasta
• 'Derry Girls'
• Bed

15/2/23 - Day 7: Hokitika - Nelson

• Up around 0800
• No staff around to try and pay again
• Drove into Hokitika proper and got cash from an ATM
• Then back to the campsite and taped it to the door of the office
• Back to Hokitika for coffees and pastries
• Before heading off
• Basically just a driving day
• Got some more coffees from a maccas on the way
• Then bakery lunch in Wakefield - awesome bakery
• Into Nelson in the early afternoon
• Checked in to the massive caravan park
• Did some internet jobs
• Then dropped Casey off at Altitude Pole for a couple of hours
• I cruised around Nelson getting my bearings
• And read a book for a while
• Back to camp
• Rubbish dinner by me - crunchy beef - why was it crunchy...?
• Then an earthquake hit (6.1 mag) - small and mostly the southern North Island but I would have died in the shower washing my socks with some 'Head and Shoulders' which would have been funny as
• 'Derry Girls' = laughing fit by the beach
• Then bed

Stay tuned for more.