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Aotearoa meaning Island of the Long White Cloud, as New Zealand is known in Maori, was always going to be memorable. It would be the first time I would see Sheena in 5 weeks, Mel & Roly were getting married, we would sky dive, bungy jump and base jump our way around this most beautiful country.
We started in Christchurch. It started well picking up the rental car from a company called Jucy and filling in the paper work with Lucy. Yes, within seconds of arriving in NZ I had met Jucy Lucy. That evening I met up with two of the three NZ girls we had met in Bolivia earlier in the year. It was great to see them albeit briefly because the bride & groom to be were in town.
Like a scene gone wrong in a romcom movie, Sheena ran out of the customs halls ready to be greeted with open arms, flowers etc...Instead, nobody. I was waiting at international arrivals forgetting Sheena would be arriving via Auckland. Just the welcome I sure she was wanting after a 28hr flight! We drove straight to lunch with Mel before heading south-east to Akaroa.
Akaroa is a
quaint town about an hour from Christchurch with it's first settlers being French. The French links are now pretty tenous so rather than having pre-wedding drinks that evening in THE hotel, we met old friends and some of the family in L'Hotel. Pulling back the curtains the next morning revealed that the wedding would have perfect sunny weather. Just enough time to brunch with Richard, Heidi and their two adorable children Thomas and Isabela, remove the 1000 crinkles and brush the cobwebs from my suit and help Sheena prepare for her wedding speech all about the circle of love (private joke - sorry!).
The wedding was a short bus ride away at French Farm. A spectacular setting, with the mountains and lake acting as the backdrop for the ceremony which would take place outside. Both Mel and Roly helped relax the occasion by forgetting their vows, although Roly, marrying a Kiwi, was probably used to Mel having problems with her vowels! For good measure, the pastor chipped with his own slip up saying that "our" rather than "your" relationship should be cherished. With the wine in fall flow, great speeches and an impressive first dance by the newly weds
we partied the night away.
There's not many places in the world I'm sure that you can cure a hangover by putting on a wetsuit, travelling 1/2 mile out to sea and swimming with wild dolphins. These dolphins off the coast were the world's rarest (and I believe the smallest) called Hector dolphins and are an endangered species.
Next stop - Queenstown. If you were to create a playground for Adults it would be Queenstown. Unparalled scenery, more outdoor activities than days in the year and to top it off there were 15 of us which meant the peer pressure factor was huge. We started off taking a drive up through Te Anau to Milford Sound. Actually a fjord rather than a sound i.e. glacial, the scale of the fjords is hard to fathom without a point of reference. You can see in one the pictures, a small white dot at the base of one which is a ferry! To top of the cruise we saw a pod of bottle-nosed dolphins that then swam in the wake briefly as we headed back to the port.
Once back in Queenstown we dedicated the next day to adrenaline rushes.
The next morning started with a jetboat ride through the Shotover river. At times there were merely inches between the boat and the rocks as we raced through the canyon with the odd 360 spin for good measure. Then the peer pressure mounted with a visit to the original AJ Hackett bungy. A mere 43 metres high (compared to the 210m one I did a few years ago in SA), the feelings were more or less the same i.e. as you have an elastic band strapped to your ankles standing on the edge of a bridge you tend to wonder how you got yourself there in the first place! The next day was meant to be a quiet walk around Queenstown but then we passed the luge course. Basically trays on wheels you race down a hill using a handle between your legs as brakes. First attempt the recent rain got the better of me and I simply carried on straight on a bend, heading down the grass verge to the right of the tracks. Second time, I had Roly in my sights and I decided to go for the overtake. Except, Roly steered to one side and revealed a
metal bar in the middle that split the track in two. Landing on my rear some 5m down the track I spent the rest of the day nursing the wounds.
It was time to grow up and leave Queenstown. We headed up the spectacular NZ west coast to do a walk on the famous Franz Joseph glacier. Stopping for the night in Haast (the only reason you stop in Haast is because a) you are going to the glacier or b) you have run out of petrol) we then proceeded to Franz Joseph the following day. A stunning walk across the ice, made all the more fun with Richard trying (and failing miserably) to put his crampons to the test on a slippery slope. Within seconds he was sitting at the bottom nursing is own injuries! Still, having done the adrenaline sports in the preceeding days it all felt a bit "family fun". Needing an adrenaline fix once again, we headed up to the Abel Tasman National Park. Words cannot describe just how stunning this place is. In fact we decided the only way to truely appreciate the scale and beauty of it was to get an aerial view.
The scale of the Fjord at Milford Sound
Not a great picture but to illustrate the scale, the white spec at the bottom of the fjord is a ferry!We donned our jump suits, put on some biggles like hats and climbed to 13 000ft. The door opened, a quick wave to the camera on the wing and out we jumped. Free falling for a minute feels like an eternity but the view was unforgettable - mountains, the sea, beautiful coastline made all the more special with Bob with a moustache stapped to my back! If Bob hadn't been a skydiver (he was part of the NZ team for 3 years), you could imagine him in some underground movie shown only in the darkest alleys of Soho!
Onwards and upwards, we stopped off for a tour of a huge sand spit called Farewell spit on the Northern edge of Abel Tasman by horseback. Again it was a bit "family fun" until one of the horses bolted into a full gallop sending a young girl flying. Fortunately she wasn't hurt.
The roads on the South Island are in good condition but full of tight curves so travelling anywhere is never a quick process. We stopped in Picton for the night before heading across the Queen Charlotte Sound to Wellington to meet one of Sheena's old university friends -
Jack. We were treated to some fantastic wines and a guideed tour of the Te Papa museum which has some interesting artefacts from Maori heritage. Interestingly, it is also the place where they are defrosting a colossal squid at the moment in preparation for dissection. Back over the sound the next morning and a short drive to Blenheim - NZ wine county - the place that has blessed the world recently with fantastic Sauvignon Blancs from the likes of Cloudy Bay and the Mudhouse. Feeling the need for some comfort after being in hostels for the past few days, we stayed in a beautiful hotel in town with a four post bed and a standalone bath.
Kaikoura, our next stop simply blew us away. We managed to get the last 4 swimming places on a boat that was going out to swim with Dusky doplhins. It didn't disappoint - within 20mins we were swimming amongst a pod of 100-200 dolphins that are reknowned for their acrobatics. The breached, somersaulted within 5m of us and then you would have 10 of them within inches of you. If you spun around in the water they would follow you making eye contact.
Taking the Plunge
Bungying off a bridge in Queenstown It was just sensational made all the more special in the knowledge they are completely wild and not enticed into the area in anyway (except for the fact they are sociable so enjoy playing).
We drove to our final stop the next day - Hamner Springs. A nice way to finish a great trip with a back massage for me and a face massage for Sheena together with a soak in the hot springs. Feeling totally relaxed and pampered the time had come for Sheena and I to once again say our goodbyes as I went through the gate to Auckland and she headed home. The next time we would see each other would be the UK and my galavanting around the world would be over.
Auckland was all about one thing - the basejump off the sky tower. 192m jump off Auckland's highest building with a cable attached to my back bringing me to a stop so I could land on my feet below. I put on the jump suit and looked in the mirror. I looked like Flash Gordon (or Dangerous Brian for those of you that remember a character performed by Brian Conley) - totally
ridiculous. Anyway, I made my way to the top in a glass bottom elevator which obviously did nothing for my nerves. The weather was appalling that day to the extent I was surprised it was running. Consequently I would have to jump off the building into the wind and clouds and then a little way down I would begin to get a view of the surroundings. I have to say the jump was a little disappointing as your descent speed is controlled unlike a bungy/skydive but nonetheless sailing passed the 20th floor of a building headfirst is still an odd experience.
My NZ adventure was over. It is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever visited made all the nicer by the fact that NZ genuinely seem to appreciate what they have got and look after their land. It is, on reflection probably not a bad thing that NZ is so remote and/or that it's immigration polices seem so strict - it is a land still relatively unspoilt and I'm sure they want to keep it just so.
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