Day 43 Queenstown After the rain woke us this morning we set off in the wet weather so we could get to Queenstown early afternoon. For lunch we stopped at the lakeside in Wanaka, which is a town a bit like Taupo. The weather dried up enough for us to have a walk round the town and the shops before moving on. From Wanaka we had a very scenic drive over the mountains and passed more ski areas, finally reaching the highest drivable road in New Zealand at just over a 1000 metres (higher than Scafell!). The road then snaked down [View Full Entry]

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Day 42 Franz Josef Glacier Today we were booked to go on a half day trek onto the glacier. Once we had all our gear together, the tour company provided boots, coats and crampons our group and guide jumped onto the bus to take us to the valley floor. After a 40 minute walk, some of it through rainforest we reached the foot of the glacier, we were then showed how to attach the crampons onto our boots before setting foot on the glacier. Our guide led the way cutting new steps as he walked to make it easier for us [View Full Entry]

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Day 41 Franz Josef Today we had a long drive ahead of us to Franz Josef Glacier so we took the scenic route to the nearby Lake Kaniere and Hokitika Gorge. The lake looked just like a millpond and there was not a sole on it, we continued to drive the length of the lake stopping to look at a waterfall on the way. Hokitika Gorge swing bridge was nothing compared to the one we walked over at the Buller Gorge but the scenery just as good. The river here is a bright turquoise colour due to the glacier rock particles [View Full Entry]

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Day 40 Hokitika Today we tried to go white water rafting down the Buller River, but unfortunately there were not enough people to join us which was a real shame as it is famous for its grade of river and is in flood at the moment. We travelled further south to Charleston to try to go and see the glow worms cave while riding on water in inflatable tubes, unfortunately this was full as well so it we were destined not to get wet or have any adventure trips today. Quite disappointed we continue south along the coast and stop at [View Full Entry]

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Day 39 South Island - Westport Today we set off early as we wanted to drive quite a distance over to the West of the Island. It rained overnight and was damp and overcast in the morning, but it was still a very scenic drive through the mountains and it felt a bit like Scotland. We stopped for a break where there was a narrow suspension bridge hanging over the Buller river, after a quick stroll we continue to Westport arriving at lunchtime. Westport is a small mining and fishing town and we find a holiday park near the beach. Just [View Full Entry]

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Day 38 Wellington Part 2 We went back to Wellington city centre today to visit the parliament building. The tours are free and they leave every hour. We got there for just after ten so walked across the road for a quick coffee to waste a bit of time until the next tour left at 11am. The tour consisted of a visit into three connected adjacent buildings. The first was called the beehive, here is the cabinet office, the prime ministers office and several other function rooms for state occasions. Next we moved through the parliament building where they showed how [View Full Entry]

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Day 37 Wellington The drive south along coast in sunshine was lovely and we arrived in Wellington at lunchtime. Wellington is the capital city of this fantastic country although with a population of only 164,000 it is only the third largest city in New Zealand. The city is the major crossroad for people travelling between the North and South Islands as the ferries leave from here. We spend the afternoon exploring New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa. It is a massive modern museum full of interesting facts about New Zealand's history, the Maori culture and the environment. The museum [View Full Entry]

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Day 36 Tongariro National Park Today we headed straight for the national park and travelled high up into the mountains famous for being the set of Lord of the Rings and in the Winter a great ski area. The first mountain we saw was Mount Doom a volcano standing high above the area now know as Mordor. We visited the Whakapapa ski resort and took a ski chair lift to see the view from up one of the mountains. It was really strange getting a ski lift in March, which we normally do, but the ground is normally covered in snow! [View Full Entry]

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Day 35 Taupo part 2 First job of the day was to walk into town and book a ticket for a sailing trip on Lake Taupo. After this we spent the next couple of hours wandering round Taupo town until the ferry left at 2pm. After lunch we went down to Cherry Island which is on the river near the bungy so Oli could have a swim in the fast flowing clear river. We set sail on the Barbary a vintage sailing boat built, launched and raced in 1927 in California and once owned by Eroll Flynn it is said that [View Full Entry]

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Day 34 Taupo We woke up to a brighter morning although the clouds still looked to have some rain. The first visit of the day was at Wai-O-Tapo an 18 sq km thermal area full of collapsed volcanic craters, bubbling mud pools and geysers. At 10.15am Lady Knox Geyser is made to erupt, she constantly pours out steam but when erupts she pours out water about 10 metres high. We were amazed at how long the eruption lasted, think it was due to the amount of water underground and there will have been a lot from the rainfall of the previous [View Full Entry]

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