New Zealand - The South Island

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Hi everyone,

So yes we've finally left Australia after 6 months there and have moved on to New Zealand, (where its like being back in England). For the first couple of weeks it was cold, wet and windy, we've even seen snow making us feel for at home but then its stated to get nice and warm again and our tan is returning. So we started off in Christchurch (halfway down the south island on the east coast) and is known as the most english of New Zealand cities. We felt very at home with the pretty churches and cathedrals, english made trams (not like our sheffield ones) and the Avon river running through the town. The city also has lots of gardens which kate dragged us around. We also felt very at home here as the English cricket team were in town playing a one day international against the Black Caps. There was a great atmosphere but as usual, we lost!

To travel around the rest of NZ we decided to hire another campervan and off on our travels we went. We drove south through the beautiful and picturesque Banks Peninsula to a pretty little town called Akaroa on the edge of a scenic harbour and this town started its days as a French settlement. This was our first look at the wonderful wildlife in NZ. The harbour is home to the endangered Hector dolphin and also many more marine animals and birds. From here we continued south and headed towards the southern Alps and to the higest mountain in Australasia; Mt Cook standing at 3754m. Around this area we saw lots of snow as there are many ski resorts in the area during winter and it was bloody cold (just like being back at home)!

We continued south and moved back towards the coast, passing many more lakes and mountains. We came across some amazing maori rock art sites, dating back to around 1000AD. We also went to see some fossil sites where whales, thought to be baleen whales, were fossilised many many years ago and a group of many rocks called the Elephant Rocks which were shaped by the seas movement but now lie 30kms inland. Back on the coast we arrived at the Otago coast and the Otago Peninsula. This area is reknowned for its wildlife, with the worlds rarest penguin; the Yellow Eyes Penguin, the enormous Royal Albatross, blue penguins, NZ fur seals, hooker sealions and many more animals. It can be very difficult to get a sighting of the rare yellow eyes penguin but we went to a few different reserves and sat in hides but we had no look. We went to a place called Shag Point (before you giggle, a shag is a type of bird) to see some seals. We had a walk along the rugged coastline and sat atop a cliff edge. Kate looked down and saw 2 yellow eyed penguins really close but then realised they didn't appear to be moving so she thought they were plastic and some fool had put them there. We were just about to move on when one of them moved a little and sat down. So yes we did see a real one in the wild. We sat and watched for a while longer but it was more like they were watching us.

On this coast we also saw these large, strange boulders that looked like a jigsaw that someone has stuck together. These are known as the Moeraki Boulders and have formed by falling from the cliff face. They also contain some form of crystal in them but even scientists don't know what it is. We carried on south to the city of Dunedin (a very Scottish influenced city) and down to the south coast to an area called the Catlins. This beautiful, isolated and untouched coast has magnificent, rugged coastline and again a haven for nature. Nugget point is a reserve we visited and is the only place in NZ where fur seals, hooker sealions, elephant sealions and yellow eyes penguins all coexist, although not always in harmony as we saw for ourselves. Also on this coastline, we saw many dramatic waterfalls, a huge cavern 200m inland which at high tide acts as a blowhole, a fossilised jurassic forest dating back 180 million years. This was really interesting, with lots of stumps and fallen but all in the rocky shoreline. We also stopped at NZ's most southerly point; Slope Point.

From the southlands, we travelled north into the Fiordlands and to a plave called Milford Sound but unfortunately on the day of our trip, we didn't have good weather but still the scenery was very beautiful, even with the mist and rain. At Te Anau we did a trip into a glowworm grotto. The caves were a maori legend, giving the area Te Anau its name (cave with swirling water). They were rediscovered in 1948. You walk through a 200m long cave of waterfalls and whirlpools. We had to bend and crawl to get through certain areas then moved into a boat to get into the grotto. The glowworms are tiny little green lights twinkling on the roof of the cave. You have to be really silent in the grotto and its pitch black apart from the glowworms. Next we travelled north to Queenstown, the so called "adventure capital" of the world. Our adventure here was going luging. You have to catch a cable car up this mountain and then at the top you can luge down two different courses; a boring, slow, scenic one and a fast, go too fast and you take off one. We did the boring one first and then went racing on the fast one. Kate was winning for most of the race and then I undertook her on the last bend (I did give her a headstart though). Some 20kms away is an old gold mining town called Arrowtown. We visited a small chinese immigrant settlement from around 1870's and also tried our hand at gold panning in the river but without success unfortunately.

Further north is Lake Wanaka, surrounded by snow capped mountains. Here we went to Puzzle World which houses crazy illusion rooms and a funky 3D maze, which kate completed first!!! From here it was time to visit the giant west coast glaciers. There are two main glaciers here; Fox and Franz Joseph. We visited both but decided to walk up the Franz Jospeh on a guided tour. We walked up the terminal face which was rocky and then on to the nice white/blue ice on top of this which was spectacular. The hike was amazing but very hard going. We had to wear proper boots and crampon spikes so we didn't slip on the ice. We continued up the west coast and towards the top we moved inland and stopped at Buller Gorge; home of NZ's longest swingbridge. It was a bit wobbly walking over this so we decided to come back across on the tandem cometline. Before kate could think it over, I booked the tickets and flew over this gorge around 50m below us. if you want to see how scared kate was have a look at the video at the top of the page!!! North west from here was the Abel Tasmen National Park. The most beautiful National Park, reknowned for its bush. Here we did the best trip we have done so far. We did a guided sea kayak trip. We started the morning at the southern end of the national park and paddled across to the beautiful Adele Island for some morning tea before passing bush clad cliffs and deserted beaches. We stopped for lunch at Te Pukatea Bay, revived for our afternoon of hard paddling in the rough seas of the next part; the so called "mad mile". Ath the end of the day we used a sail to get ourselves abck into Anchorage Bay, ready for a jet boat ride home. Next stop was more wine tasting around the Marlborough region, famed for its Sauvignon Blanc and then down the east coast and inland a little to the thermal reserve of Hanmer Springs. Here we did a horse trek up through the hills of the village. It was a really beautiful day, we had beautiful horses and even Luke enjoyed it. So after this exertion, wethought we'ed soothe our muscles in the themal spa's. With 13 different pools, ranging from 28-42 degrees, it was really relaxing apart from the suplur pools and that lovely rotten eggs smell!!! There were even slides so Luke didn't get bored.

So back up the east coast, for the last part of the south island, through the Kakoura coast and peninsula with stops to see the wonderful wildlife including whales, dolphins and seals. Last stop before we caught the ferry to the North Island was the Marborough Sounds. Again a beautiful scenic area with an abundance of fresh shellfish to pick for yourself from the shore but we're not that brave yet!!! So all in all we had a great time in the South Island and met some really nice people. Now its time for the north island.

Hope your all well, keep in touch, Luke and Kate xxx

P.S. To view our route, take a look at the map at the top of the page.

P.S.S. Unfortunately our memory card has broken and we have lost all our photos of Queenstown, Arrowtown, Lake Wanaka and Mount Aspiring National Park so you'll just have to imagine all the fun things we did there!

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Photos

Giant chess
Cathedral Square Christchurch

Rose Arch
in Christchurch Botanical Gardens

One i grew earlier
This wasn't my valentines present from Luke!!!!

The Blackcaps V The mighty England!!!!
At The AMI Jade stadium Christchurch

The River Avon
Through Christchurch

Lyttleton harbour
The gateway seaport for Christchurch

Banks Peninsula
Formed millions of year ago by 3 erupting volcanoes before there was land here!!

Akaroa
How beautiful!!

The beer Safe
The most valuable possesion!!!

Rakaia Gorge
The river is known for its clear blue waters from the glaciers

Lake Tekapo
The turquoise colour of the lake is created by rock flour, finely ground particles of rock held in suspension in the glacial melt water.