New Zealand New Zealand - A lost opportunity?

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It is difficult to describe my feelings about this tour. I would not knowingly have chosen it., I obviously didn’t read the small print or realised that it was going to be so big. At times it was noisy , slow and frustrating with ques and stops at large tourist cafes/restaurants /gift shops which if one was travelling in a smaller group , wouldn’t be given a second glance.. We were herded like good sheep to and from the bus and from place to place often with little time to enjoy where we did stop, and then whizzing past those we would have liked to have had time.. Of course any tour large or small has to keep to a time line but on this one it was totally inflexible. Our hotels were mostly not particularly good , though some were set in spectacular scenery. I have to say I never ever ever want to see another buffet!!
. What I didn’t get from this tour was a feel for the local communities , no visiting Maori homes and listening to life stories - not really possible with 48 people. Still in 17 days lots was packed in and we saw huge areas of the country. From geothermal springs in the north to beautiful mountain peaks , sheer gorges , rapids galore and waterfalls tumbling down through forests and rocky crags to the valley below - truly breath taking.. Our guide Sue had a tremendous knowledge of everything and had lead an interesting and very varied life. Our driver Paul amazed us with his handling of a giant bus, one metre longer than most, up windy mountain roads across narrow alpine bridges , Nz has hundreds of them!, and generally getting us safely .to our destinations. While there were some people I actually didn’t get round to talking to at all, of those that I did, most proved to be ,caring , interesting and friendly. Would I go on a tour like this again? - No but I do take away a glimpse of this wonderful country , I probably will never return as the world is big and there are heaps of places I have not seen! So see below for my thoughts.


The Ferry journey from Wellington to the tiny picturesque village of Picton in the north of the South island took around three hours across the Cook Straits . It was sunny though there was a keen wind , ,the journey through the numerous deep water passages gave us lots of beautiful scenery. Our little hotel had glorious views across the Queen Charlotte Sound and ranked quite highly in terms of the kinds of places that have been on offer on this tour- you can tell I have not been totally impressed!! But this was grand and 5 of us had some drinhipoos outside until late around 11pm ( people shut up shop very early here even if you are resident in a hotel most only have restaurant licenses to sell drinks so its buying drinks from town or raiding the mini bar. We have acquired a reputation for late night boozing - I love it!!!!

On our way south we stayed at Christchurch supposed to be the most English of all the towns/cities in NZ . It didn’t particularly wow me though we had a good meal in one of the plentiful bars and restaurants . We also ended our tour here and had a grand evening dining on a restaurant tram as we travelled the city - great fun!

From now on in the weather became more winter like and I was forced to buy a warm Marino wool jacket hadn’t many cold weather clothes!! , We moved southwards through plains, mountains and valleys, the mists prevented us from seeing Mount Cook the highest mountain in NZ at 3.7 thousand metres. we past glacial lakes and rivers bubbling over with summer rain and viewed one of the many hydroelectric dams which provide NZ with 72% of its electricity. The weather on this day was clear bright and crisp and the colour of the lakes had to be seen to be believed , greens and blues that were of the clearest quality We had the opportunity to t walk along a beautiful beach where perfectly rounded boulders crafted by the Pacific emerged from the ocean, that was great and I felt heaps better for it. On that day we ended up in a town on the east coast called Dunedin a corruption of New Edinborough , and the place seems to be a homage to the early settlers a good proportion of whom came from that town in the 1840-60s. It has some lovely 19 century buildings and is one of the better towns after Auckland , that we have seen. I popped into the national Art museum and St Paul’s cathedral ( not quite on par with the better known one! but never the less worth a visit)

WE travelled south and west with rain and drizzle to Te Anau set on a rather lovely glacial lake the largest on the south island . Our reputation for boozing deepened as we drank late into the night well past 11pm!!!

The next day was to be one of the two highlights Milford sound, the fijord area of the beautiful west coast. Unfortunately the weather had closed in and the mountains , valleys and rivers were shrouded in fog and cloud , we were unable to see much. It just added to my feeling that this tour was not the best. By mid morning and as we reached the coast magically it cleared and we were treated to the true beauty of this area as we cruised for a couple of hours down the sound through steep gorges and cascading water falls- I couldn’t help but be lifted by the awe inspiring scenery, it was magic. Queenstown is a pretty and lively place full of backpackers restaurants , bars and organisations selling outdoor activities. We popped into the ice bar where the temperature was 5 below all dressed up in fur, and downed vodka cocktails . I did wonder why we ware paying high entrance fees when if we were back in the uk we could just stand outside!. I went on a four by four safari up into the outback to explore the mining areas of old . We crossed very rugged country wondering how the miners survived and how the roads were built hugging the steep moiuntain side as they did. We were shown how to pan for gold in the strong flowing river unfortunately . NO luck for me or for anyone else, though Robert one of our group did have a spec the size of a pin head, spotted by our guide !!

I didn’t join the throng who were off to a buffet high up on the cliffs overlooking the town but. took off and found a fantastic restaurant and had the best food on the whole tour.. And to top it I got chatting with two very interesting ladies one of whom had lived in Hertfordshire and now lived in Dorset in the next village along from Vick and Les. Would you believe it they knew places both in the south and in herts that I had been to, it was great to meet them Enjoy the rest of your stay girls and do keep in touch!!!

We continued east and now turned north to make our way towards the famous glaciers of Fox and Franz Joseph. The weather was on our side warm and sunny, The scenery was fantastic alpine like views with mountains covered in temperate rain forests. We walked to Franz and saw how it had retreated over centuries , What makes these glaciers most special is that they move at an incredible pace , a metre a day and these are the only ones in the world which end around the coast through temperate forests.

And then there was the chopper ride!! 40 minutes of flying around the area through the mountains along to Mount Cook , down the glaciiers and along the valleys. I was nervous and when the pilot glanced round to ask the 4 of us if we were ok he said I looked terrified!!! But it was quite superb with the most amazing views ever. We landed on the snow some 4000 metres up and walked on the ice. What a trip!! We later learned that our sister chopper taking more of us up and about had had an incident with the door opening while flying!!! I wont even try and describe what feelings went through my brain , a formal incident complaint has been lodged with the company.- no more to be said and I will move swiftly on.

And so the tour ended with a trans costal train journey from high up in the alps back down to Christchurch.

I have very mixed feelings about this tour half of me thinks an opportunity has been missed and that I should have researched possibilities more thoroughly , while the other bit says , you saw loads , met some lovely people enjoyed some spectacular scenery and experienced some exciting thrills. So all in all the boat is still out on this one!

Tomorrow off to the Cook islands for 6 days see you there !!!!

Love caro
cccc

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Photos

Dont do it Sue!
The hydrpelectric station at waitaki

The sweet shop at oamaru
This one is for jess!

Comments

[Vicky]

N.Z.
The pictures look great - even if it wasn't your best experience in all, you obviously saw some lovely sights. The chopper trip that you describe up the glacier was one of my favourite experiences of my whole world trip - taken first thing in the morning of a beautiful bright clear day. Wonderful!! Here's hoping you enjoy Raratonga. You should get to have some Hangi feasts there. lots of love Vicky (and Les)