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Daisy
Our campervan which we took around New Zealand And so onto New Zealand's South Island but not without some dramas before we got going! As I said in my last blog we were going to enjoy our last night in Sydney, unfortunately we enjoyed our last night a little too much and slept through the flight. Thankfully the airline was very good and let us change our flight to the next day. Once we eventually made it onto the plane we had more trouble getting into the country. This was due to Babs and her "familiar tremors" a problem that makes her hands shake slightly most of the time, the customs officials however thought this was because she was nervous and so decided to thoroughly search all our bags them take swabs of my ipod and glasses for drugs and explosives! Not a great start but once we got into Christchurch things got a lot better!
We made our way to Wicked Vans to pick up our mean machine and was delighted when me and Babs were given "Daisy" a small ford campervan covered in flowers with the worlds "Jesus says follow me" on the back. Of course looks are deceiving and as fun as daisy looked
Freezing cold
Ice walking on the fox glacier she wasn't the best van to drive (the tracking was off, the clutch broke in Queensland and we had to wait for 3 days for it to be fixed, it leaked petrol, the engine temperature gauge didn’t work, literally ate petrol, struggled to start in the mornings) however for a car that’s as old as me a guess its not too bad and Babs and I loved to have it, particularly the funny looks we got driving across the country.
The first night we stayed local in Christchurch and then headed off early down South and as soon as we left the city I understood why people raved about New Zealand and how it is so very very different from Australia, the roads and the scenery are absolutely stunning its like nothing I have every seen before, loads of dramatic snow covered mountains, fields, greenery, rivers, waterfalls, valleys, its really hard to describe how beautiful it is as a country and needless to say we were stopping very often to take photos. Driving ourselves added a completely new dimension to the trip and gave us so much flexibility to enjoy New Zealand, much better than being sat on a
Bungee!
Jumping 440ft! A lot of fun coach for hours on end as we have previously done. Back home I consider driving to be a bit of a chore but here its part of the experience and the best way to see the beauty of the country. Its no wonder they filmed Lord of the Rings here (as travel agents/promoters constantly remind you of!) it fits the bill perfectly. The only downside to this stunning mountain scenery is the dodgy mountain weather; it rains a lot and is bloody freezing. Having packed my backpack based on spending 6 months in the sun this wasn't ideal at all but it could be worse, I could be in the rain at home (yes I know April was boiling but it wont last forever!).
Having spent a night at a lakeside (further advantage of the freedom a camper van gives you) you made our way into Queenstown, where as I mentioned earlier the clutch went and so Daisy had to spend a few days in repair but not a problem as there is plenty to do in Queenstown, its known as New Zealand’s adventure capital and where most backpackers head. Queenstown is a stunning alpine style town in the
Milford sound
Simply stunning middle of the mountains and although we were out of season is famous for its snow as well as extreme sports. Seen as we were only in Queenstown a few days Babs and I decided to go for the most extreme thing we could do, a 440 ft bungee jump! Needless to say when I go to the top of the platform, suspended across a huge valley, and strapped into my harness it was probably the scariest moment of my life (they provided DVD of you doing the jump and my face before hand backs this up, its very funny) however the jump and the 8.5 seconds of freefall was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I was so happy that I did it, there’s no way to describe the feeling but just pure adrenaline, its one of the best things I have done since traveling. The company that operates the large bungee also operates a few other sites and once you do one bungee you can do others very cheaply and so of course it would be rude not to. The next day we headed up into the misty mountain to do another bungee and a bungee swing too. This bungee was slightly different as you weren’t attached at your feet, instead at the waist so you can do a running jump off the platform! I went for you superman approach (which again looks very funny on DVD).
Once we had the van back from the garage we were off on the road again, this time calling at Milford sound, a stunning lake carved out by glaciers. We drove down late at night so we were the first people there in the morning to enjoy the scenery uninterrupted which was fantastic. Milford is a long drive and you do have to come back on yourself completely for 4 hours to get anywhere else in NZ but its worth it for the drive through the Fiord lands, this was probably the best drive we did and encountered plenty of views which meant again stopping just to admire and take photos every ten minutes!
By now we were moving on up the West Coast of South Island and onto the Glaciers, within a few kilometers of each other are two of the worlds only three advancing Glaciers the fox glacier and Franz Joseph glacier? Both are monstrously huge and are amazing to find right next to the coast line and add another dimension to New Zealand and our trip by going from one extreme to the next. We decided to get a closer look at the Fox Glacier and signed up for a glacier walk. This involved plenty of warm clothes, big boots and of course spikes and spent the next 9hours trekking around the glaciers which was hard work and very different from the jungle treks we had got used to but still an amazing experience. I remember drifting off to sleep in most geography classes about glaciers but to be on one and see it working was unbelievable and to travel so high up it too giving great views of the valleys below, if anyone travels to New Zealand they really should go up one of the glaciers, it was fantastic.
Next we moved across back to the East Coast and to Kaikora home to many Whales, Seals and Dolphins. Of course as we past over the hot springs in the mountains it would be rude not to stop so we experienced the very surreal by sitting in a boiling hot spring whilst around us were snow covered mountains! Once in Kaikora we did the tourist thing and went whale watching. This was another great experience; it’s strange to actually see such massive creatures so close up having only imagined what they are like from TV programmers. We saw a couple of sperm whales and also got to see them dive down meaning they show their huge tails.
Finally it’s back down to Christchurch where we began to drop off the van and say goodbye to NZ and Daisy after exploring the city. New Zealand has been fantastic a really great country I would want to see again, the scenery is brilliant, the locals all very friendly and want to chat to you, the activities are amazing as is the wild life but given my bag full of one jumper and the rest T-shirts/shorts I can't wait to get warm again, bring on Fiji!
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james s dad
non-member comment
well done james and babs
im glad you enjoyed n z ...the bungy jump looked scary but i knew you would do it and it reminded me of the time you had me take you on the big one at blackpool (only thats nothing compared to n z bungy !)where i only got to enjoy it after 3 or 4 goes!