Tiki Touring and the Wop Wops
I have picked up a few Kiwi expressions since we have been back in New Zealand. Bryan thought it appropriate to teach me a few often-used ones. In fact, while we were wiling away the hours in Managed Isolation, he started the Kiwi word of the day. The list included gems such as “munted” – meaning, in polite terms, beyond repair or intoxicated, “chur”, similar to cheers and used in expressions of thanks such as “chur bro!” I have tried to return the favour by teaching him some Bristolian expressions, but that only seems to have him fixated on him mentioning combine harvesters and sounding like a west country pirate! During our exchange of kiwi vs. brit cultural slang, I came across one of my favourite Kiwi expressions – “tiki tour”. A “tiki tour” is kiwi slang and means to go on a journey with no destination in mind, or to take the long way. Seems like an appropriate description of the way we have been travelling.
In true Tiki Tour style, we seldom plan more than a few days ahead, helped by the abundance of camping spots available to us, we know that we are never short of overnight parking options, many of them in stunning locations. There have been a few dates in our diary that meant that we had to be one end of the South Island or the other – such as the Stewart Island Rakiuara Great Walk followed a couple of weeks later by the Abel Tasman Coastal Walk. Otherwise, we tend to move on every night or two, with just a few exceptions of 5 days at Nelson Lakes over Christmas, and 3 nights in Kaikoura recently meeting up with friends.
The statistics bear out our slow and steady approach. It turns out, somewhat ironically, that we have actually been travelling slower by road than we did by the sea! Since we bought Cyril the Campervan last September our statistics so far are;
- 12,850 km travelled (in 265 days)
- Average 49 km per day
- Overnight camping spots: 130 (approximately!)
Being self-reliant on our power needs has played a big part in allowing us the level of tiki tour travel freedom that we have been able to enjoy. We are fully self-contained for grey and black water and can last a week between visits to the dump station for emptying and filling tanks. We use gas for cooking, a 4 kg bottle lasts us about 7 weeks, though that will change as we start to use our gas heater to keep us toasty and warm during the NZ winter. But our tiki touring style does take some level of planning for certain aspects of our day-to-day living. This mainly centres around having adequate food and water supplies. When we first set out, we were guilty of overstocking “just in case” we ran out. With limited space for storage and just a small fridge/freezer, we crammed as much as we could onboard.
We have got better over time though, keeping a small stock of tinned and dry foods in case of emergencies, but we have generally been making better choices when and what we buy. This is very similar to the way we planned for long passages on the boat. This includes choosing veggies with long shelf life and nature’s ready-made packaging such as pumpkin, red cabbage, carrots, onions etc instead of ones which need looking after – such as tomatoes and bananas. We also keep a 20-litre drinking water container inside Cyril and top up whenever we get the chance to refill with potable water. Every now and then we will head into the big smoke – i.e., one of the towns or cities to do a food restock. This usually coincides with us having a foodie treat of one sort or another when we have the luxury of finding interesting food options that don’t require us preparing and cooking them. There is an increasingly good selection of vegan foodie options around Aotearoa – Bryan says this is a sign of increasing social sophistication, though I reckon anything that is not a pie is considered sophisticated in NZ!
While our van-life is highly conducive to Tiki Touring, we have had a few Airbnb stays along the way and been fortunate to stay in some lovely accommodation that affords us some of the luxuries that Cyril cannot, such as ready made-up beds, Wi-Fi and, of course, lots more space. We have also recently started some house sitting, which usually involves looking after pets along with the houses. These sits are going to help us through the cold winter nights when Cyril is a less attractive option. Thankfully though, while it is nice to have lots of extra space for a night or two, we know that we don’t need it long term and are usually looking forward to getting back into the campervan after a few days. While we have enjoyed some stunning views from these various homes, one thing we are never short of in Cyril is a stunning view! But most importantly, there is something about having your own space even if it is tiny!
One other new Kiwi expression I have learnt during my time down-under is Wop-wops, which means “far from civilisation”. One of the things that have struck me about New Zealand is how remote you can be at times, and how easy is to escape civilisation just a short drive from a town or city. We recently spent some time in the Marlborough Sounds, certain parts of which are only accessible by boat. When we walked part of the Queen Charlotte walk, we were taken to our starting point by water taxi – a one hour journey – hiked for three days with overnight stops in lodges, and then picked up the water taxi back to Picton, where we had left the Campervan.
On the Western side of the Sounds is French Pass. We were able to drive there, but even with the road access this still felt very remote. Many sections of the road were narrow and unsealed and quite a shoulder workout navigating the twisty road, but the scenery was spectacular. In these locations, it is likely that we will encounter more livestock than humans, or in the case of French Pass some very large, very inquisitive Sting Rays!
Our slow pace has given us the chance to find some hidden gems along the way, that we may not have discovered if we had been moving faster. One was the Orokonui Eco-Sanctuary – discovered by chance on the road out of Dunedin. We hadn’t heard of it until driving past one day and seeing the signs. It is an ecological wildlife reserve developed by the Otago Natural History Trust and surrounded by a predator-free fence it gives a true up-close opportunity to see some of New Zealand’s native birds. As an added bonus, we found a great overnight camping spot close by in the sheep paddock of a park over property (POP) with amazing views down onto Port Chalmers and an amazing “above the clouds” experience when we woke the next morning.
Another fun find was the Forest Amble walk at Hanmer Springs. We were heading out of the campsite nearby and spotted the sign as we drove past. Throughout the short walk, we discovered wooden sculptures of birds, animals and wildlife, some on the ground and some up in the trees. It was great fun spotting the sculptures as we walked and was a great art meets nature experience.
We also loved the quirky Lost Gypsy Gallery at Papatowai in the Caitlins. This is an automata gallery and coffee shop that we both loved. The website describes the Gallery as a playground for adults. I thought it was interesting when I googled the word automata to find one description given as “robots or machines that operate under their own power, or people who have boring or ordinary lifestyles”. We started in the house bus, which is a work of art in its own right and acts as a workshop and gallery for the owner/artist in residence. Everywhere we looked there were automata made out of everyday equipment such as old clocks, bikes and even kitchen utensils. As I stood gaping at them, the owner-artist came up beside me and said, “don’t stand there with your arms crossed, start playing with them. Have fun!” No further invitation was needed as we dived in and spent the next hour pushing buttons, winding handles as the art sprang to life.
This slower pace of life is a real contrast to our old previous corporate and, dare I say, automata life. It is such a difference to our old lifestyle that was dictated by deadlines and structure, and very much focused on work hard, play hard philosophy. Tiki Touring sums up the way we travel now and a good reflection of our new lifestyle. I am even beginning to wonder if, maybe, we both have a bit of Lost Gypsy blood in us?
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