New Zealand: South Island - Encore

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I've barely paused for breath since my last blog, not that I'm daring to complain, it's just an explanation as to why i haven't had a chance to update my blog! Since Christchurch I have only spent consecutive nights anywhere twice. Again, apologies if parts don't make sense - I haven't really edited...

I'll carry on from where I left off...


Milford Sound

Another Jurassic Park moment or two. Leaving Queenstown before sunrise, it was a sleepy bus ride to the Milford sound. However heads started to lift as we got closer and the scenery improved. Like most people I booked myself onto a boat cruise as this is the only real way to see the area fully ( I certainly didn't plan in forking out for a flight!). Although called a sound, Milford Sound is more accurately classified as a fjord because it was carved out by a glacial movement. Running 15km inland from the Tasman Sea, it is surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise 1,200 metres or more on either side. These rock faces were spectacular both visually and in the way they climbed so steeply from the water. Rain turned out to be our friend that day. It rains out there more often than not and this day was no exception. However, as we reached the sound the sky cleared and the rain earlier in the day proved to be a real plus! The skies were clear but the water which had caused dismal rain just hours before was now producing stunning waterfalls. White water crashed from up high into sparkling blue waters below, and at one stage we were right up close and personal with the foot of a waterfall - cameras beware!

Later that evening we stayed in the sausage capital of the world/NZ, Tuatapere. Forgettable, apart from the fact that 3 of us managed to blag a room with ensuite hot tub and SAUNA!


Stewart Island

After another early start we arrived in Bluff for the ferry to Stewart Island. An hour or so off the south coast, Stewart Island is the southern most point of New Zealand. You can see Kiwis in their natural habitat, but we didn't. In fact for my $110 ferry I don't think I achieved much. The weather was pretty miserable and the fishing trip guide was at a wedding - great. As we were only staying a night we did our best to make the most of it. Myself and 5 others from the bus hired a car and explored near enough the whole Island. The best bits were... The fresh fish and chips(yum!), the phone box mounted on a tree, and our little cottage with its own log fire(not forgetting the joy in trying to light the thing!). The post office hired us the car - a little unusual - the man behind the counter was very keen to show off the island's power plant... hmm... let's say I wasn't quite so impressed as he'd been! The views were nice, but not the best I've seen here and I couldn't help thinking it was money I didn't need to spend.


Dunedin

En route to Dunedin, we took the windy country roads through the windy Catlans. We saw a huge sealion. It was quite intimidating, especially to the folk it was charging at! I'm pretty sure a their fancy nikon camera wasn't going to help them, even with it's 10x optical zoom and wide angle lens! We also stopped to walk along the beach of the petrified forest. You can see fossilised trees lying on the beach. They look like wood, feel like rock. Strange, but worth the stop.

The home of Cadbury and Speights brewery, it's not so hard to fathom why Dunedin is the student capital of New Zealand. We arrived for the first night of O week (freshers), and quite some night it was. It started with a tour of Speights brewery. Along with being interesting there was also the "sampling" at the end. This was essentially, the group, glasses, 6 taps of various tasty beers, and consuming time for as long as we could keep the tour guide talking. Surprisingly, this was quite a while! A good start to the night.


Stray to Sunny

The stray bus took us back to Queenstown (see previous blog). I stayed 4 or 5 days, then jumped in a trusty Nissan sunny with Amy, whom I've been traveling with for the last month or so. She's the pretty girl in lots of my photo's so it wont take Sherlock Holmes' power of deduction to work out who she is! We've had a great time in some beautiful places. Having the car has allowed me to see even more of New Zealand, parts that weren't covered by the bus. Oh and not forgetting the joys of camping!

Dunedin revisited. Second time around seemed the opportune time to sample the Cadbury factory, literally. The factory produces 85%!o(MISSING)f all New Zealand chocolate, and despite actual the factory being closed the tour was worth the trip. Looking past the free chocolate and the giant pile of crunchies, we also saw (and felt!) the biggest chocolate waterfall in the southern hemisphere - 1 tonne of chocolate! No photos allowed I'm afraid - which is a shame as i was planning on recreating in my front room.

Also in Dunedin... We drove out on the Otago peninsula, saw Lanarch castle - pretty garden and nice views but not too much to blog home about. However, right at the end of the peninsula, we were lucky enough to have an albatross fly over our heads! It must have only been 5 metres above our heads and what can I say... it looked like a seagull, only on steroids! Massive wingspan. We also visited the Otago museum where I picked up a hitchhiker in the form of a butterfly. It stayed on by back for around 20 minutes and Amy had to near enough flick it off! I also cooked a steak on a 400'C stone - nice.


Mount Cook and Lake Tekapo

A long but beautiful drive took us to Mt Cook, the highest peak on the continent. After a quick nosey in the Hermitage hotel, with it's statue of Edmund Hillary (The New Zealander who was the man to climb Mt Everest) looking out at Mt Cook. Amy and I did a 2 hour return walk to a glacier with great views of Mt Cook. Well the sign said 2 hours but I think that was at *** ******** tourist pace! Clouds rolled over the mountain and the sun lit the snow to show off the area to it's full potential.

Early evening we arrived at Lake Tekapo, a large turquoise lake with the quaint little Church of the Good Shepherd overlooking it - unfortunately surrounded by happy snappers but what can you do? The area is also the home of New Zealand astronomy, so in the dark of night we took a tour of the observatory. Well worth it. I learned much about the night sky down here, including the famous southern cross and not so sought after fools cross! The milky way and Magellanic Clouds (other "nearby" galaxies) we clearly visible. With the telescope we saw Alpha Centauri - the nearest star to us at a mere 4.4 light year away! To the naked eye it appears as 1 star but we could see 2 of the 3 it is actually made up of! We saw many other things but by far the highlight was viewing the rings of Saturn and it's moons!!


Kaikoura: Dolphin Swim

Despite the early start, the dolphin swim has got to be one of the single best experiences of my life. To say that it was worth the 4:30AM wakening is a massive understatement. It was cold, dark and damp but through my sleepy eyes I was still excited. I checked in at 5:30, wet suit on, and a short bus ride later I was aboard the Delphinidae. By the time we saw our first dolphins the sun had made an appearance and it wasn't long before we were in the water. It was probably cold and probably raining but that certainly wasn't crossing my mind. There were countless dusky dolphins darting and diving around me. I tried to stay away from the main group of people, it felt like it was just me in the water, making stupid noises and swimming in circles but i didn't care. To my surprise one dolphin stayed with me nearly the whole time, he (I've decided it was a male through no real reasoning) would swim around in circles, making eye contact and getting faster and faster until I couldn't keep up! They were so playful despite being totally wild - got the sense of their intelligence and that I was very much in their world!

I was extremely tired and not surprisingly - we were in the water for 50 minutes! Apparently it is very rare to keep a pod entertained that long. Usually it's less than half an hour even with more than one swim! The boat moved to join the main pod. Around 400 dolphins! Splashing. Jumping. Flipping. You name it one of them was doing it! Probably including sex - the guide on the boat said they are extremely promiscuous - It had been recorded that a single female had mated 5 times with 3 different males in.... wait for it.... 2 and a half minutes!! yes that is minutes!


28 Days Later...

That day, 28 days after landing in Christchurch, Amy and I boarded the Picton-Wellington ferry. A new month, a new island. Rubbish weather meant the view of the Marlborough sounds was appalling but it got us to the North Island safe and sound. Since then I have done another 101 things - I'll try and write a blog for those soon!

After the problems I had with my phone not working, I went and lost my UK sim card - so if you have text it and I haven't replied then that is why! Since then, I've found it, tucked in the corner of a pair of board shorts that have been through the sea, hot springs etc - miraculously, it still works!! so feel free to drop me a text!

Anyways, hope everyone is well and got lots of chocolate from the easter bunny!

David/Lofty

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