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Published: February 6th 2013
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Arriving in New Zealand was a much smoother affair than 'visa-gate' of our Australia flight! We landed at 10pm and I clearly wasn't prepared for the 20 degree temperature drop from Australia and was immediately freezing in my shorts and t shirt so I was pleased for once the shuttle bus was actually where it said it would be at the right time.
We stayed at the Jailhouse in Christchurch which was a really nice hostel with lots of character, the only downside was it lived up to it's 'Jail' name with a 9pm curfew on pretty much everything and as it was out of town most people seemed to just go to bed at this time, a definite constrast to the boxed-wine party all night culture of the Australian hostels. We only had 2 days in Christchurch which we spent looking around the city, we were both shocked at the devestation still apparent from the Earth Quake, a very different city to the one I visited in 2008, there is actually now very little left to do so we look a day trip the beautiful thermal pools at Hanmer Springs, 2 hours out of Christchurch for a day of
r&r.
For the South Island we opted to do an organised tour, the same tour as I did in '08, this may sound odd but all the other ones we looked into didn't seem as good and I knew Andy would love it. Its kind of like a big school trip where you have to do headcounts before leaving each destination, get treated slightly like children and inevitably after spending 24/7 together for 16 days some people do your head in! But the tour has loads of positives as get to stay at amazing locations, it's an activity based trip so lots of exercise and adventures and we got our own 'room' - well tent to ourselves.
Our first day on the tour was a rainy one, no matter how amazing the scenery camping in the rain just reminds me of a very wet holiday in Newquay a few years ago spent with Andy forcing me to watch test cricket in the pub - thankfully after this we then had 16 days of blue skies and sunshine, the only notable thing I can think of about our first stop was that we encourtered some very scary looking sheed
Andy after swimming at the blue pools
Apparently it was cold! Seemed fine when I dipped my toe in. in the barn...
I had warned Andy in advance that New Zealand in hilly, and not just little hills like in UK but big hills and go on and on, desapite my warning he was still shocked at how tiring the cycling was and dfeinitely took a while to come around - in fact the only cycles he really seemed to like were the ones that were totally downhill and didn't involve any peddling! Despite his constant moaning I think he loved it deep down!
Everywhere we visited in the New Zealand was beautiful, it's easy after the first couple of days to become a bit blasee about the spectacular scenery but looking back at the photos some of the shots barely seem real, I have attached as many pictures as possible and it's hard to single out where we liked the best but Mount Cook, Milford Sound, Queenstown & the Glaciers were definitely highlights and we both loved the lake side camping sites.
I didn't want to cause my mum anymore worry so this time no bungying or skydiving has been undertaken! I did however try 'ice
Someone not a fan of cycling
(Unless its 100% on the downward incline!) climbing' on the glacier which turned out to be more terrifying that the other two put together. I thought being a total beginner it would be quite tame but it turned out we had to abseil down over massive chasms that were too deep to see the bottom of and hoist ourselves up with just ice picks and spikes on our shoes! I was doing quite well until I got tired then it all turned into a bit of a calamaity and I ended up stuck on a ridge and was just hanging there like a beached whale whilst some poor Japanese lady who weighed about 50kgs tried to hoist me up! I did manage it eventually but as a result am covered in bruises and had aching arms for many days, maybe all the ice creams weren't such a good idea. The instructor found the whole thing hilarious and instead of helping was just laughing and taking pictures! Luckily these are on my retro disposable camera so I have no way of uploading onto here - probably best for everyone.
Andy also got into the adventure spirit and went rafting down grade 5 rapids in Queenstown, I was
Us at the Great Divide
One for the wall, handily placed rock fot me to stand on relived to see him come back in one piece as I thought if anyone was going to fall out the boat or fall into a rock or something it would be him! I went River surfing this day which involved going down big rapids over rocks on a bodyboard and just generally holding on for dear life, in hindsight jumping off the bridge on the bungy was probably a lot safer and less energy required!
On one of our 'free' days we hiked 1500m's up Mount Luxemore, I sometimes find walking around Nottingham city centre exhausting so I have no idea how I managed to get up there but somehow I did, was actually getting down that was more of the problem and Andy couldn't bend his knees properly afterwards for a good few days.
The last place we visited was the Abel Tasman National Park on the top of the South Island, we booked a kayaking trip for our day there but unfrtunately I can't tell you anything about this as I somehow managed to get seasick and had to abonden the trip and get the water taxi home, as the sea was flat as a pancake
Tent at sunset
No complaints about camping in this weather! I'm pretty sure the instructors thought I was either a) just making it up or b) secretly very hungover, but Andy informs me it was brilliant!
Next stop the North Island for more mountain walking and activities; before the 12 days of sunbathing and book reading in Fiji!
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leo
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i like the bearxxxxx.