The South Island New Zealand

Hi everyone,

Well we've done the south island now! Can't believe how fast the time has gone! So here goes with the latest news:

Day one and two - Picton - We arrived on the ferry and went to our lovely hostel called the Villa. It was very quaint and it even had hairdyers and a tv in the room (luxury for us!!) however, the best bit was the gorgeous free apple crumble and ice-cream every evening yum yum :-) Just chilled in the evening in preparation for our cruise and trek trip along the Queen Charlotte Track in the Marlborough Sounds. The day started with a cruise where we were lucky enough to see dolphins swimming beside the boat it was amazing! We got dropped off at Ship Cove where we began our 4 hour walk. We had to walk at a fair pace so we got to our meeting point (Fernaux Lodge) on time so the walk was quite tough! The views were well worth it though!

Day three and Four - Nelson - On our arrival to Nelson Mark got told off by a Policeman for crossing the road too soon which amused me a lot!! After much laughter we arrived at our best hostel so far - Accents on the Park (itwas more like a hotel!) The next day we did a walk around Abel Tasman National Park. It was beautiful! Again it was part cruise part walk but only a 2 hour walk today! The cruise took us past Tonga Quarry and some seals sunbathing on the rocks, then we walked back down to Bark Bay where our boat returned us to Kaiteriteri for our coach back to Nelson! In the evening we met up with Mark's friend Emma from Market Harborough who he hadn't seen for 15 years! It was a lovely evening thanks for the drinks guys!

Day five and six - Hokitika - To split up the long journey to Franz Josef we stopped over at Hokitika home to the famous green jade stone. It seemed like a bad idea at first because the weather was awful and there wasn't much to do! But the next day was lovely. The sun shone and we had a picnic on the sea front :-) we also bought some v.nice home made fudge and had fish and chips for tea (shortly before the chippy was robbed! Although we've pleaded poverty in previous entries we can assure you it wasn't us!!)

Day seven and eight - Franz Josef Glacier - we arrived in Franz Josef in the early evening so we sorted our hostel then booked our Glacier hike for the next day. The village was beautiful and the views of the glacier were amazing! Had some tea then watched the New Zealand vs Australia rugby match on tv New zealand won!! We woke the next day and got ourselves ready for the glacier hike! we got kitted up in the office (boots, crampons etc.) then we were on our way! One word 'amazing' it really was! the walk was tough but our guide was really good which helped a lot. At one point we had to squeeze ourselves in between part of the glacier (knew we shouldn't have ate that Macdonalds!!) it was a brilliant experience.

Day nine to twelve - Queenstown! - We spent the whole of the first day travelling to Queenstown but we went via Lake Wannaka which was beautiful, we also saw 'thundercreek' waterfall which was also v.nice. We arrived in Queenstown at tea time, booked our hostel (not so nice so we booked another one for the next few nights!) then headed to Winnies Pizza place (it had been recommended to us by everyone who has been to New Zealand) we weren't dis-appointed, we had a large pizza 1/2 with steak the other 1/2 with a lamb roast dinner on it, it was gorgeous!!! The following day we attempted our trip to the Milford Sound! The views on the coach journey down were beautiful. However, when we got to the boat cruise it was cancelled :-( the tunnel that we had travelled through was at risk of collapsing due to a previous avalanche so we had to go straight back! Gutted wasn't the word! To make up for that we treated ourselves to the other food place that had been recommended Fergburger! Again we weren't dis-appointed mmmmm! The following day we had a nice lie in then went for a walk around Queenstown visiting the underwater observatory then making our way up to the gondola ride. When we got to the top we had two goes on the Luge (a 3 wheeled cart down an 800m race track), we did the scenic track first as a warm up (I let Mark win that one!) then we progressed onto the advanced track (which I won although Mark says he let me win!) It was lots of fun! The next day we decided it was time to complete our Nevis tandem Arc (the highest swing in the world 120m drop and 300m swing!!! - see Facebook for the video!) we nervously booked it then began our journey to the site, we got weighed and our hands stamped, then we walked across the swaying bridge to where we would do our swing! The drop was unbelievable so it's safe to say we were very scared! We were the first to go - it was out of this world and we both wanted to go again when we'd finished. We got some trendy hats (see pic) as proof that we'd done our jump which we later gave away to charity :-) We had a few beers later that night, we definately needed them after our day! and we also visited the Minus 5 ice bar brrrrr. Because of the beers the previous night our last day was spent with a lie in then on the internet and shopping (it's a tough life!)

Day thirteen to fourteen - Christchurch - Our first day was spent travelling again but we went via Mount Cook and Lake Tekapo which were both beautiful!! the journey was long but well worth it. We arrived in Christchurch got dropped off at our hostel (result!) then bed early in preparation for our Trans Alpine Crossing. It was supposedly one of the greatest train journeys in the world but to be honest we were both a little let down by it. The river gorge was pretty impressive but having been to Mount Cook the day before the mountain range from the train wasnt all that good. We only had an hour in Greymouth too so didnt have time to make the planned trip to the brewery :-(

Day fifthteen to sixteen - Christchurch to Kaikoura and back. The plan was to take a trip up to swim with Dolphins stay the night then head back. Bit of a school boy error really but we didnt book in advance as nothing else had been that busy....as u may have guessed the boat was fully booked so we ended up taking a walk to a seal colony instead. The dolphins will have to wait until Australia! The coastal area around Kaikoura was still fantastic.

Day seventeen - Final day in Christchurch. We toyed with the idea of a tram ride then a punt on the River Avon but the weather wasn't the best. It was freezing! Instead we walked around Hagley park, along the river then took in Catherdral Square and Victoria Square. All very nice. So there you have it. That in a nutshell is New Zealand. We fly to Melbourne tomorrow morning at 6am.

Thanks for all your messages. Keep em coming. Sorry we can't reply to them all but it's still great to hear from you all.

Missing you all loads.

Mark & Christine x x

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