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No, I have not sold out. This is our little car that survived the trip (mostly). We are at a glacier lake. We tested the water and it was indeed cold. New Zealand
Well well, here I am on a flight over the Pacific and just going over Fiji as I type. I'm almost caught up after two months of being behind.
We spent almost two weeks driving across the South island. Our intention was to drive both islands, but once we got to exploring and making plans we decided that one island per trip was enough to occupy us. The truth is, there is just too much to see to get to do everything you want. But we saw just about everything we could and had a great time.
We landed in Christchurch- on the eastern coast about ½ way down the South Island. Since we are still Down Under it is Winter here and getting pretty cold as we head head further south. (We tried to see if the toilet flushed the opposite way, but came up inconclusive.) The car definitely was on the opposite side of the road as well as the steering wheel to the car.
I felt unconfortable everytime we turned left and the round-abouts almost gave me a cornary. But nothing was as nerve-racking as the one lane bridges that popped
It's fall!
Here we are in Christchurch and there's leaves! It was lovely. This is in the center of town- our hotel is right behind us. up all over the highways. One one bridge we didn't have to share the lane only with on-coming traffic- they threw in a train as well. Just for fun. Woo hoo.
So once we knew we were in opposite world, we took off on our Adventure. I have more pictures that I can talk about and will spare you the details of every town we visited- I'll just share the big events.
In Queenstown we went jet-boating. This is a specially designed boat/ hovercraft that only needs 4 inches of water to operate. It also can do some mean 360s and stop on a dime. We rode this little boat down a very narrow canyon. Mom would have had a stoke if she saw us careening towards rocks or spinning out of control, but it was fun. It was also very cold and I'm pretty damn appreciative of the heated hand rails- thanks Shotover Jet!
We rode the gondola up and over the city in Queenstown too. A pretty site from above. The city sits on lake Wakatipu and has an interesting coast line. From the top tourists can bungy, slingshot, or para sail down. I really
Holy cow!
Only these aren't cows, folks. We ain't in Texas anymore. These are sheep ladies and gents- and they speckle the island. wanted to hang glide, but it wasn't offered here. So no adventurous way down for me this time.
The most scenic thing I think we did was the Milford Sound cruise. This reminded me a little of Halong Bay and Ko Sok and was just as beautiful. There were huge mountains and tons of waterfalls. After I downloaded my pics to my computer I realized I had over a dozen different waterfall shots. Half way through the trip it started to rain- which was a good thing. The rain makes the 2 hour drive back more scenic because it brings out more waterfalls. The Sound isn't really a Sound at all- it's a Fiord which is when a glacier cuts a hunk outta the land- filled in by H2O. See, I learned something.
My favorite thing was the helicopter ride over the glaciers. On the West Coast there are numerous glaciers up and down the Southern Alps (where we drove along) and we stopped at Fox glacier to spend the night. We got up before sunrise the next day to head over the glaciers- bad weather was on the way and the earlier we got up top the
It's Cap't Larry!
We went on a restored steamer called the TSS Earnslaw. We got to see them shovel coal into the boilers to power the ship. Plus they had a bar where we got cokes. Did they have that in 1912 (when it was built)? better. So they say. It was a great ride and as I was up there I remembered that not only am I claustrophobic (and squashed between my dad and the pilot), but also afraid of heights.
As we rise up and over this mountian of ice and then turn a sharp corner, the world fell out from under us and I almost died. I remembered that once I went skydiving with my sister in the Norhern Alps and the heli ride up there was the worst part. But it was beautiful and cold and walking around on the top of it made you feel like you were on another planet. Once we were back in the helicopter and on the way home we heard numerous calls over the radio for our pilot to go and rescue several hikers and hunters who were stranded up on the mountians. Good thing we went out early- the storm seemed to have cleared the glaciers for the day.
Okay- enjoy the photos! I'm afraid that after all these months of writing I have finally ran out of things to say (gasp)! It's true! New Zealand has left this little traveler exhausted
We struck gold!
Not really- Dad still has to back to work and I'll have to get a job (eventually) but here we are at a gold mine from the 1860's. There was a zip-line style chair from one edge of the gulch to the other. and speechless. And we still have one more island to go!
PS- if you've noticed less spelling errors give kudos to dad!
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Cameron from Scotland
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Memories
I love South Island and Queenstown and your blog brought back those great memories.....I could almost hear Barabra Striesand in the back ground!