Coast to Coast!!!

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July 1st 2009

Published: July 1st 2009

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dondon

East coast seals

Hello!!!!

Sorry about the delay in the blog, but internet access is severely limited out in the wilds of south island!!!! Ok, so we went to Kaikoura and did a 3 hour trip on a boat to see some whales....Bloody amazing!!! We were told to expect to possibly see 1 or 2....but we actually saw 5!!! All male sperm whales, and we were about 25 foot away!! Check out the photos....

Then went on a VERY long walk around the Kaikoura Peninsula, which was supposed to take a couple of hours, but it took us just over 4!!!! Needless to say we rewarded ourselves with a much deserved pint of local ale!! Also whilst in Kaikoura, I sampled some AMAZING seafood at a roadside barbecue that was recommended in lonely planet.....I had a portion of mussels and scallops, which were quite simply the BEST I have ever tasted!!! Jess has promised we can go back there before we leave South Island!!

We then headed cross country to begin our West coast journey. We have done a hell of a lot of driving, but it is completely fine, because the views are truly breathtaking......this is such a beautiful country,

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even in the depths of winter. We spend a lot of the time just staring out of the camper window, completely alone on the road and surrounded by snow capped mountains to one side of us, and rolling green hills on the other....the pics do not do this trip any justice! We visited a couple of small towns and did a mix of free camping and powered campsites, which is working out really well financially. We visited Hokitika, where the majority of New zealand Jade is crafted and sold....spent a bit of money on some jewellery....

Spent a couple of days in Queenstown, which was really busy as it is the annual winter festival. Made it there for the opening ceremony, lots of fireworks, bands and mulled wine!!! The ceremony was opened by the NZ prime minister which was weird as it is a fairly small town... Main event for us in QT was the Nevis Arc Swing....a tandem swing with Jess across a canyon, with a drop of 300 foot!!!! ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!!!! Don't worry mum and Jose, I'm still in one piece....just got to survive the sky dive and ice mountain climbing now!!!

Then headed down to

East coast seals

Milford Sound, and was a little disappointed, after all the hype, most of the sights were only accesible by a boat trip which would have cost £40, so we decided against it and hit the Southern Scenic Highway instead. More amazing sights, including our very own mountain....we stopped along the way because I wanted to climb up onto this untouched patch of snow on the side of a mountain...so we claimed it as our own and named it MOUNT MERREMEAD!!! I did a fantastic knee slide on a huge patch of ice, check the photos out Trina, Sarah, Busty, Lemon, Jose and anyone who has had the privilege of witnessing my drunken dance floor special....that one was for all of you!!!!

Currently in Dunedin down on the south coast, chilling out for a couple of days before heading back up to Queenstown for some more extreme sports and then to Fox glacier for our ice climb!!!

Much love to all

Don x x x

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