Entry 15: NZ - The Sequel.

Arriving on the South Island via the 'InterIslander' ferry is a beautiful introduction to the more relaxed pace of life in the second half of NZ. You come through the Marlborough Sounds to get to the port of Picton. The Malborough Sounds are previously hilly areas that had been flooded thousands of years ago by the rising sea, leaving islands and waterways that are low in population and very scenic. We stayed in amongst the Sounds for our first night before heading south. You really need either a boat, or a week and a kayak, to make the most of the Marlborough Sounds, which really appealed to us if we'd had more time. We always knew our schedule would mean moving from place to place getting a taster of each, and we heard a saying - "you should always leave the table wanting more".

Sure enough our next stop was a fantastically positioned town thats geographical location has served it well. It's a place called Kaikoura which has an abundance of large marine life in its coastal waters due to the fact it has a large canyon shelf just off the shore that drops off from 90 metres to 700 metres deep. Warm water from the north mixes with a cold current from the south and draws up nutrients from the depths leading to a great feeding area, and the waters here are home to a large NZ fur seal colony, which in turn attract Killer Whales. There are Sperm whales here permanently which we were lucky enough to see during a boat trip, as well as dusky dolphins. Numerous species of dolphin and both Humpback and Blue whales pass through these waters.

We've continued our journey south stopping at Christchurch, which is like a little slice of England, before attempting to make our way to view Mt. Cook (NZ's highest peak), but with low rain cloud we were unable to see the summit and turned back rather than waste time. So finally we get to Queenstown.

Having done white water rafting and skydiving, Queenstown would, for me, pose the ultimate test with a bungy jump. I've toyed with the idea for years whether or not (if push came to shove) I could leap off of a high ledge, strapped by the ankles to an elastic cord?? You would be right to consider that slightly odd after jumping out of a plane at 12,000ft, but doing a solo bungy jump is a much lonelier place in my opinion. A saying I read at the skydiving place simply said "Fear loves company".....and I tend to agree. Anyway knowing we would come here when our plans first started means I've been tormenting myself about it for about 9 months.
Driving into Queenstown meant we would have to pass the 'Kawarau Bridge Bungy'. Now this is by no means the highest or the most spectacular of jumps but it does have history, as it's the site of the world's first commercial bungy jump, and therefore labelled 'The Home of the Bungy'. So this would be it, this would be the chosen spot in which I would attempt to leap off a platform 130ft above the Kawarau River. But for now the torment would have to continue (and intensify) as we booked a jump for the following morning, first off at 9am.
Sam cannot be forgotten in all this as she's doing her second bungy jump, but clearly doesn't have the hangups that I do.
That night I slept like a baby; waking every two hours. (and crying! - Sam).
We arrived at the bridge at 08:45 the next morning by which time I'd already been to the loo 4 times and that's without having any breakfast. There was no point in eating, I had a stomach full of butterflies!
Doors open, in we go. We get weighed, and receive our tickets to jump. We're told at this point that things aren't quite ready yet as the bungy cords (new today) have to be tested first by a staff member. I fall silent as we wait inside. I then go through my routine that I've practiced a thousand times in my head, which basically boils down to 2 things:
1. DO NOT HESITATE - it wont get any easier the longer you stand there, in fact probably the opposite.
2. LEAP - After watching several people do a bungy, I think the way you leave the platform says alot about your character, and most I've seen up till now seem to lose the power of their legs and either tentatively step off (like they're walking the plank) or fall in an awkward paralysed type state.....I'm not being made to do this, it's my choice! So anxious or not, I WILL leap because I want to leave that platform, after all, that's why I'm here!
We get back out on the bridge and the new bungy cords are good to go. Sam and I will be the first two members of the public to jump today and as it's worked out Sam will be first and me second.
By the time I'm called onto my platform (there are 2) Sam is almost hooked up to her elastic band, and whilst my ankles are being tied I look up and Sam is moving towards the edge, bound and ready. It's now (remember what I said about the way a person leaves the platform) that she informs me she's jumping off backwards!! It was something suggested to her by the guy strapping her up as it was her second jump. So here I am, trying to hold it together, and she's going off backwards!!
5,4,3,2,1 "BUNGY!!"...............she leaps (backwards) without hesitation.
I watch her leave the bridge and can only sit there listening to her scream as she reaches maximum stretch before being catapulted back upwards. It takes a few minutes for Sam to finish bouncing around before being released and ferried safely back to land.
And now, it's my turn...
My captor ushers me up onto my feet and towards the ledge. With a few hops I make it, and I curl my toes (I'm barefoot) over the well worn plank. He instructs me not to look down (which I do instantly) and to jump straight. I try to swallow my heart, which has somehow made a new home in my throat and then come the numbers:
5,4,3,2,1..........I leap forward and straight without hesitation!!
It takes only a few seconds before the bungy's limit then throws the whole process into reverse. I actually requested to touch the water, but due to the elastic being new and cold I was informed that it couldn't be guaranteed and so it wasn't to be........
A message to my brother:
Mark, this is exactly the place we watched together on utube before I left, and I didn't know whether or not there was a microphone to say (as you requested) "Mark this one's for you!", but take my word for it, I was thinking it seconds before I went airborne.
I hung around for a while, before reaching out for the pole, handed to me by the guys on the river below and was soon lying on my back safely in the dinghy...........
The feeling once you complete or achieve something that's been on your mind for so long, far outways the apprehension prior to the event, and if money was no object, I'd have done another. If you've done one, I admire your courage. If not, and you can relate to my anxiety prior to jumping, you should. Some may scoff, but I think it's a real achievment - but then I would say that - I've done one! We have both our jumps on DVD, and as you can see, some photos courtesy of AJ Hackett's Bungy.

From the tense drama of Kawarau Bridge, we left Q'town for the tranquility of Milford Sound. This is an amazing area that's very remote and as you'll see by the photos, just a massive expanse of mountain meeting water.
There are two embarrassing facts about Milford Sound, which were pointed out to us by our Geordie skipper during our two and a half hour cruise:
Milford Sound isn't actually a 'sound' (which means - valleys created by rivers then flooded by the sea), these valleys were created by glaciers which technically makes them Fjords. Realising the mistake, the whole area (even though this particular area remains Milford Sound) has been called 'Fiordlands'. The second error came in the spelling of 'Fiordlands' which should have been spelt FJORDLANDS.... More useless blog info, but it may just help you out down the local boozer on quiz night??

From Milford Sound we made a stop on the way back to Q'town, at a town called Te Anau, where we did another two and a half hour cruise which took us across Lake Te Anau, which is the largest body of fresh water in Australasia. We crossed the lake to get to some caves which we first entered by foot, then continued further into by boat. Silence was maintained as the boat was pulled along (via a guide rope) into absolute pitch black darkness which then revealed the natural phenomenon of thousands of little green flourescent lights from the gloworms that littered the ceilings of the caves. It was like looking at the night sky with green, instead of white stars.

The next day it was back to Queenstown, before embarking on a 7 hour journey north to Fox Glacier. This drive seemed like only two hours and encompassed everything you ever see in the glossy brochures when it comes to New Zealand's scenery, it was absolutely jaw dropping. From snow capped mountains to rugged coastline. Deep gorges with crystal clear rivers and waterfalls to low valleys with steep sided hills and mountains with bizarre rock formations and rainforest, including winding narrow roads and bridges.....it had the lot!

We took a good look at what tours were on offer to get the best out of Fox Glacier. Now you can't just go exploring on a glacier without some kind of guidance, so we had to do a tour, which we don't generally like to get involved in. However, our morning spent on the glacier couldn't have been better. This place gets an average of 5m rainfall per year, which is good because obviously in the winter that falls as snow which feeds the glacier. That said, on our day we had exceptional weather in the way of clear skies and sunshine.
Fox Glacier is approximately 16km long, 2km at its widest point, and where we chose to explore, about 200m thick, compact ice. The ice is so dense it's heavier than concrete and that's why you'll see in some of the photos that gorgeous blue colour, not white like the ice cubes from ya freezer. There are several sections to the glacier including a steep and very unstable part where large chunks of ice the size of six storey buildings are compressed and move at an astonishing rate of approximately 4m/day. The glacier then flattens out (relatively speaking) to a more stable area moving about 1m/day. Due to the obvious backup as the faster flowing ice meets the slower stuff, natural ice caves form and due to movement and thawing are ever changing. It's this section that we chose to explore. You can't hike up to this point, so we get the added bonus of a helicopter ride which takes us over the glacier with great views of the whole thing before swinging around and landing on a small section of flattened ice, which is man made and the only real flat part of the glacier about the size of a small car. Here we disembarked from the helicopter and applied our crampons (spikes that fit on ya boots to give you grip on the ice) before setting off to see what was about. Distance on the glacier is really deceptive, and what only seems like a few hundred metres is actually a few kilometres.
We cupped our hands and drank pure glacier filtered water as the continuous thawing created streams and puddles. We were on the ice for over two hours before being air lifted once again. It was an unforgettable morning and once back on the ground we got to see the peak of Mt. Cook which had previously eluded us, it was the icing on the cake.

The road further north didn't let up on the stunning views around each corner, and included a look at Franz Josef Glacier and a stop-off to cross NZ's longest (110m) swing bridge. This next leg ended at a small place called Punakaiki, which has it's own star attractions called 'pancakes' and 'blowholes'. Pancakes are rock formations shaped by wind and water and look like their name suggests. The blowholes are holes of various sizes in the rock, that as the surf (which is really rough here) comes in, forces air and water upwards and out of the holes, and can create sudden thunderous noises and spray.

Before leaving the South Island we finished in Abel Tasman, another beautiful National Park, which is on the coast and home to a large Marine Reserve. We've been out sea-kayaking here, which included paddling out 500m offshore to a small island which has another fur seal colony. We were hoping to be joined by some killer whales that come here, but no luck today. We were out in the 2 man kayak for a good few hours before coming ashore and doing a walk in the afternoon.

The next day we visited that same seal colony for a closer encounter - this time getting in the water. At first, we were dubious about the integrity of this trip, but as soon as our guide introduced himself as 'John the Walrus' we knew it would be an experience.... John was a slightly eccentric 65 year old, with a long white beard, great demeanour and a love of wildlife. He would end each sentence with an enthusiastic smile in a Jack Nicholson character-type way. On top of this, he was quite theatrical and would sing at every available opportunity, and it felt rude not to join in when prompted. Thanks to John's quirky nature we were also given the opportunity of gaining 7 years good luck. There's a shipping marker off-shore that locates the start of the Hapuka Reef, and legend has it that if you touch the Hapuka Reef Marker and then swim around it in a clockwise direction, you get your 7 years good fortune. We of course took this opportunity, much to John's delight, and the Aquataxi man's amusement. Then it was on to the seals, where we snorkelled in the waters just off Tonga Island, and it didn't take long, on an exceptionally calm sea, for some of the seals to come and check out the visitors. They seemed to take an interest in our clumsy attempts at diving underwater. They would then of course, demonstrate how underwater swimming was really done. They have a fantastic turn of speed and direction, which is in stark contrast to their awkward style on land. We spent about 2 hours in the water, before John reluctantly called time. He too was in the water and had found himself a scarf of seaweed. After lunch, we took another detour to Split Apple Rock, a strange rock just offshore which looked like a split apple funnily enough...... this was accompanied by yet more singing.
It was a good day and Sam's highlight of the South Island, which we had to leave the following day rather reluctantly.
It's been a great part of the trip, and we've 7 years good luck to use up....

Typically, that 7 years good luck eluded us almost immediately when just like the start of our NZ trip, the end looks to be scuppered by the weather. Hailed as NZ's best 1 day hike, the Tongariro Crossing takes you close to active volcanic craters and supplies stunning views. We'd planned to do this walk on our way back to Auckland, but a forecast of ice, wind and snow have forced us to cancel as the conditions are too dangerous, which is a real shame. That luck seemed to be elsewhere again as I left the campervan lights on later that day and we returned to a flat battery. Perhaps it kicks in once we leave NZ, or maybe it's a load of old b@#!*cks.

And so the round trip of NZ was comleted as we returned to Auckland to spend our last two days. Just a matter of preparing for the next part of the trip which will probably be the most testing, as we will be without our own transport (instead relying on pulic transport), the language barriers and cultural differences. We still have visas to arrange for Cambodia and China and internet use and mobile signals may be scarce depending how far we venture away from civilization, where dining on somebody's pet is common place and wearing shoes into a person's dwelling is punishable by death.

Bangkok, here we come.......

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