Attack of the Sandflies Part 1

The flight from Sydney to Christchurch, New Zealand only took 3 hours. It felt good to be leaving Australia and onto somewhere new again after the past 5 weeks on the go. Immigration was fairly painless but they're just as strict as Australia on what you're allowed to bring in (no plants, dairy produce, dirty shoes!? etc.) so we had to declare any wooden souveneirs we had. Thankfully we were given the all clear and welcomed by warm sunshine. Christchurch is known as the "Garden City" and the most English like, it's also the sister of Christchurch back in the U.K. which seemed a bit wierd after being so far away home.

We took a trip to the Antarctic Centre (advertised as the best in the world, because it is the only one in the world!) and learnt what conditions were like in Antartica and what research was carried out there. Christchurch is one of the main last port of calls for people flying out to Antarctica, part of the Antarctic Centre is also used to train people and send them out on the US Air Force's Hercules planes located opposite. The highlight of the centre was the blizzard room, a room where you could experience hands on a wind chill of -18 degrees and testing out the warmth provided by igloos and tents. You're provided with thermal jackets but nothing to cover your legs. We both had shorts on and to say it felt cold would be an understatement.

I (becka) booked a trip to the Ko Tane village costing $80 which I thought was quite expensive but really wanted to do it. I got to see a traditional Maori village and their customs and also got to see the rare kiwi birds and other NZ wildlife. My tour included dinner where I thought I would be eating a hangi (meal cooked under the ground) meal. Instead I was seated in a posh restaurant and had a six course meal (that must be why it cost so much?)! I did feel slightly "billy no mates" but two glasses of wine and a delicious meal later I felt top of the world. When I got back to the hostel to tell Si all about my afternoon and my six course dinner I felt slightly guilty knowing that si had indulged in beans on toast for his meal!

We'd decided to hire a campervan to travel round South Island and picked it up on our 3rd day. First impressions were how new and swish it looked, nothing at all like the big white campervans you see everywhere, more like the A-Team van. We stocked up on supplies and set off to our first destination, Kaikoura - on the East coast to do a spot of Whale watching. We stayed on a lovely campsite and went whale wathing the next day. It was great!!!! We saw two breaching Sperm Whales and a massive pod (around 300) of Dusky Dolphins flipping and jumping around for us. Bit of knowledge for you......sperm whales were so called due to drunken fisherman back in ye olden times mistaking a large reservoir of oil held in their heads for something else...hence the name.

Si and I booked a tour to go swimming with the local seals however due to weather conditions it was cancelled :( we hope to be able to do it at the end of our south island adventure?

After the disapointment of not being able to swim with seals we headed on our way west and stopped off at Mauria (sorry may have forgotton correct spelling) Thermal Springs. We were able to camp on site so thought we would stay the night, use the facilities and be off the next day. Picture the scene...mountains on one side of us, thick forest on the other, a large creek running past us and loads and loads of gnawing, biting, scratching Sandflies! Their bites burnsss us....it does preciousss. Trying to have lunch with a thousand sand flies is not an easy task. I (becka) was running around trying to consume pasta salad, whilst I (Si) just gave in and let them bite away :( We ran into the thermal spa to try and get away from them. The springs were lovely, very nice on a cold winter day however not so lovely on a very hot summer day. I (becka had been in a thermal spa before (although in the freezing cold) whereas si had not and it was quite funny watching his face turn from normal to red hot as he slipped into the spa of melting lava.

After being cooked for some time we decided to go for a few drinks at the spa cafe and read our books in the sun (such crazy kids!). We manage to escape the flies from the cafe but we could not prolong the inevitable entourage of flies. We decided to go for a walk to the creek rather than sit and be eaten alive. The walk didn't take long so back to the place of evil. As I (becka) did the driving Si was the chef for the whole trip. He cooked dinner whilst I ran around screaming! We bathed in mosquito repellent and four mosquito coils but they still managed to get us! I (becka) could not sleep until every fly that had got into the van had been killed (it was a blood bath).

The next morning looking like we had contracted german measels so we didn't even get out of the vehicle, we decided instead it was safer to drive straight out and stop somewhere else for some breakfast (it ended up being in a picnic spot at the side of the road with nearly as many Sandflies). We headed all the way to the West Coast, down to a place called Hokitika. We walked around the town and did a spot of jade shopping as Hokitika is the main area where they make the jewellery (the green pendants you see Kiwi's and Maori's wearing). After taking absolutely hours deciding on jade designs we headed to Franz Josef glacier via Pancake Rocks (so called because the rocks apparently look like stacks of pancakes?). The campsite we stayed at was very picturesque and set amongst the rainforest and mountains although pretty trees come with nasty mosquitos! We booked ourselves onto a heli hike up the mountain to walk on the glacier. We stopped off at their local pub during happy hour so thought it best we take full advantage and try their local brew. The next morning we took our helicopter flight up the mountain and it was fantastic. The weather was great and we ended up in the confident "the leading" group. We strapped on our crampons (spiked shoes) and took a two hour trek over the glacier. We went through ice caves, saw glacial pools and were pretty overwhelmed by the sheer mass and colour of it all.

Next stop fox glacier.........

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