New Zealand South Island

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New Zealand South Island

Nelson
After leaving the amazing and fun North island it was time to head South. My first stop in the South was going to be Nelson where I would be staying with a friend Greg for a few days.
Greg lives about 30k out side Nelson in a place called Wakefield in a beautiful spot in the country all you can see from his house is fields of forest trees and mountains a very nice place to stop and spend a few days while I have man flu.
Greg and his family and friends were very welcoming and made me feel right at home, it's kind of strange, to me this is a big deal with Greg letting me stay at his house and his Mum and Dad and friends inviting me around for dinner I almost did not want to leave Nelson at all. This to Greg and his family and friends is something they have done before taking in travellers and making them feel at home it's just there way and the New Zealand way of live.
Over the 4 days at Nelson I did not get up to much as I was quiet ill but the place did feel like home and I will be returning there in about a months time to try and find work so I can save so money and continue my trip.

Abel Tasman
Abel Tasman National Park is a national park located at the north end of the South Island of New Zealand. The park was founded in 1942 and with a coverage of only 225.3 square kilometres, is the smallest of New Zealand's national parks. The park consists of forested, hilly country to the north of the valleys of the Takaka and Riwaka Rivers, and is bounded to the north by the waters of Golden Bay and Tasman Bay. It is named after Abel Tasman, who in 1642 became the first European explorer to sight New Zealand. lol can you tell I am getting a little bored of writing the blog now as the above bit is from wikipedia lol.

While at Abel Tasman Myself and some new friends Alex, Seb, Lee, Virginia, Lucienne, Kelsi did a 25k trek through the forest to the beach. At night as it was tipping it down with Rain our Stray bus driver, Rose and Chris all got out there guitars and we sat around a heater singing some songs 😊

Barrytown

Tonight was fancy dress party night, the whole group got dressed up as Vicars & Tarts It was a really fun night out with lots of drunken storys to tell but at we all agreed what happens in Barrytown stays in Barrytown.

Franz Josef.
I am really liking this wikipedia thing so hear is a bit about Franz Josef.
The Franz Josef is a 12 km long glacier located in West land National Park on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It's unique in the fact that it descends from the Southern Alps to less than 300 metres above sea level amidst the greenery and lushness of a temperate rain forest. It is also one of only three glaciers to come so close to a coastline.

The area surrounding the glaciers is designated a World Heritage Site. The river emerging from the glacier terminal of Franz Josef is known as the Waiho River.

The glacier is currently 12 km long and terminates 19 km from the Tasman Sea. Fed by a 20 sqm large snowfield at high altitude, it exhibits a cyclic pattern of advance and retreat, driven by differences between the volume of meltwater at the foot of the glacier and volume of snowfall feeding the névé. Due to strong snowfall it is one of the few glaciers in New Zealand which is still growing as of 2007, while others, mostly on the eastern side of the Southern Alps, have been shrinking heavily, a process attributed to global warming.

Now back to the Derekish I was meant to be doing a full day ice hike up the glacier today but due to heavey rain fall I was only allowed to do a half day walking hike with the rest of the stray bus. Altogether I was on the ice for about 4 hours and it really did not seem like this. It was such a good day hike and was amazing just to be walking on a glacier.

Makarora

Not really a lot to say about Makarora by the time we got hear on the stray bus it was almost dark and we had a early start in the morning to head for queens town.

Queens Town

The adventure capital of the world and I have pretty much already done all the adventure things that I want to do in New Zealand lol. The only left that I did want to do I bottled out of which was the Bungee jump but Queens town is such a nice little town. Everything is walking distance and the town has a lot going for it self.
The first couple of nights we spent hear was heading out on the town and finding out what are the best bars to hang out in, at in a few days time i will be turning the big 30.

On day 3 of queens town Seb, Diep, Channeke and I headed for Milford Sounds to spend a night on a boat at the 8th wonder in the word as they call it lol.

Milford Sounds over night cruse

The Milford Mariner over night cruse was amazing and so glad I took the time out to do it. We had a 4 bed dorm room on the boat which was much better than any hostel we stayed in. Included in the cruse was three course evening buffet meal and breakfast, Kayaks, Speed Boats ride, and we got to watch the sun set over the Tasman sea before anchoring for the night in sheltered Harrison Cove. Milford Sound runs 15 kilometres inland from the Tasman Sea and is surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) or more on either side. Among the peaks are The Elephant at 1,517 metres (4,980 ft), said to resemble an elephant's head, and Lion Mountain, 1,302 metres (4,270 ft), in the shape of a crouching lion. Lush rain forests cling precariously to these cliffs, while seals, penguins, and dolphins frequent the waters.

Anyone visiting the south Island in New Zealand this is one of the must do things as it just breath taking.

My 30th

Well I could not of picked a better place to be for my 30th New Zealand and Queens town baby. Ceri my travel Buddie for 5 months turned up in queens town just for the event and I was also joined by my new friends from the stray bus. It was a really good turn out and I have fun when I leave these people I am going to miss them all so much. We went out of a meal in a place called Winnies which of cause is a pizza place where else would I go for my 30th then ended up in the Queenstown night club world bar where we had a password for 100 free drinks which made the night 😊

The rest of mine time in Queens town was spend just chilling out and trying to keep out of Fergburgers which if you are ever in Queenstown you just got to go to this place the burgers here are just amazing and the biggest burgers I have ever seen in the world. My last day in Queens town is my first good buy to some of the amazing people I have met today was good buy to Carol, Sinend, and Channeke.

Ok I am a little board now writing my blog the reason for this is cus I am now in Wakefield back with my friend Greg. Staying with Greg is cool and not the boring bit, the boring bit is I know now with in 2 weeks time I reckon I will be back in the UK. I am currently trying to find work but I am only putting half hearted efforts in to looking. I really do not want to go home but also don't really want to work. In NZ there is not much work around and what is around I cannot do 😞

Sorry back on track from Queens town I went to Christchurch and went to a rugby match the crusaders v the reds the Crusaders kicked the reds ares 32-12 or something like that. This is where I said good buy to DaveSteveChris and my partner in crime Seb, going to miss this cheeky chappy so much even though he is a piss taking ****.

From Christchurch I went to Kaikoura where myself and Lucienne went on a bike ride around the town. This night I had my last dinner with the stray bus. A group of them went out on the bus though and caught $400 of cray fish so it was a really good last dinner.

The next day is where I got off and said my final good buys to my new founds friends. I have had such a good time in NZ and out of all the places I have been so far this is the only place I think I could call home. I am currently looking for work I have given my self 2 weeks to try and find some work if there is nothing around I will have to go back to the UK and look.

I am going to keep my fingers crossed for myself now my next blog entree will be either back in the UK or well who knows. One thing is for sure I now have the travel bug so I believe this is just the start of my travels.

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Photos

Queens Town Ice Bar
Top Row
Virginia, Lucienne, Lee, Me
Bottom Row
Kelsi, Seb.