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Published: August 24th 2005
Skiing & Snowboarding at Cardrona
Check out the stunning background of Wanaka Lake!Hello again everyone!
Firstly we must apologise for the lack of contact from us (that includes not calling my mum until 2 days ago!), life has been quite hectic and there never seems to be a computer when you need one! Secondly i must apologise as it is not Anna writing this time but Charlie so sorry if my English is not upto scratch or it seems slighlty cheeky at times!
So after a 2 week beach holiday to start things off in Fiji it was down to business in New Zealand. We arrived in Auckland and spent my birthday in a Belgian restaurant celebrating Belgian national day with more mussels and chips that even Vanessa Feltz could eat in her heyday and lots of fine tasting Stella Artois for myself.
The next morning we were off on our tour of NZ and unfortunately the mussels seemed to get the better of Anna (or the Hofmeister she was drinking!) and we almost had to miss the bus but we made it so our tour began:
We were quite keen to get down to the South Island as we had heard such good things about it that we did
Auckland City
View of the famous Sky Tower and it's surroundings rush the North Island somewhat, it was also very similar to England in terms of the countryside so that was another reason to rush through it!
So we joined up with the same tour operator that had taken us around Fiji this time though they are called "Kiwi Experience". They provide you with transport around New Zealand, an authentic kiwi driver and help with accomadation and any activities you wish to do. At first this was just what we wanted but by the time we had come to the end of our ticket i was so glad i had not booked the same for Australia. Reason being that after a while you feel more like a school kid on a tour rather than a traveller, like being up at this time, what to have for dinner, where to drink, where to stay, where and when to go to the toilet! Anyway i am glad we did it as we met some great people and some interesting ones too!
As you can imagine the first shock between Fiji and NZ was the temperature. From going to a country practically stuck on the equator to a country not too far
Charlie's Birthday
This meal along with a few beers did not agree with Anna the next morning! from Antartica can cause the body some stress! Along with the mussel problem Anna spent some time in NZ feeling rather poorly. Thankfully she is better now due to the level of care and attention she recieved from nurse Charlie (although i did not wear an outfit!). We had a good understanding where she would rest in bed and i would go out and drink for both of us in the evenings! But she is fine now and raring to go!
With NZ being the so called "Adventure Capital of the World" we felt we had to engage in a few of the activites they had to offer:
*White Water Rafting - I was very much looking forward to this due to the size of the river rapids where as Anna took a day to decide whether to do it she declined only to be told she could not do the horseriding so that made her mind up!
Her fears were quickly realised when her boat which i must add was full of "gossiping non listening girls" (according to my friend Iain who was the only man on their boat)on the first grade 2 (meaning no danger) rapid
Quad Biking
Anna getting over excited about the trip ahead! toppled into the freezing cold water. As you can imagine there were screaming crying girls everywhere in the river which my boat had to resue. Lucikly no one was injured and we carried on to have a great day.
*Quad Biking - Something we had both wanted to try before so we travelled into the NZ countryside with a guide. Unfortunately for me he wasn't into speeding so he stuck woth Anna and showed her the sights while i endangered my life chasing cows and sheep!
* Jet Boating - Something i had seen advertised heavily in Fiji and NZ so was quite intrigued. I realised why the advertise it heavily as i would probably hve had more fun on a pedlo. They sell it as the best boat ride you will ever have promising 360 degree turns and speed. We cruised along the river and made some turns along the way. The best bit about this trip was the rainbow we saw! Enough Said
*Glacier Hike in Franz Josef - This was an astonishing 8 hour hike through a huge glacier lying in a vally between 2 mountains and next to a rain forest. The most
Franz Josef Glacier
The impressive glacier which we climbed astonishing feature of the glacier is that it moves 2 metres a day in all directions meaning that the guides were constantly ice picking new routes through the ice. It was a tough day although not as tough for Anna as she went in the "cruise group' while i joined the advanced group which meant we climbed further up the glacier. Needlees to say i had the last laugh! although Anna insists that her guide was better looking.
* Snow Boarding - Something i have done once before in Italy with my brother and friends but this time i was sober! We spent the first day at a mountain called Treble Cone where i learnt to boad again while Anna perfected her skiing. Managed to hitch hike there and back as the mountains are 45 minutes from the nearest town.
Further on in Queenstown we bought a 3 day pass in the "Remarkables range" which lives up to its name. Anna had decided to snowboard now as well and was very quick to catch on. Unfortunately on the 2nd day while at lunch someone with a very low IQ decided to take Annas board by accident which resulted in
lost afternoon for her. But the final day was great fun. I was trying out the blue runs (red in europe) but falling over some what which led to my first break of the holiday. When you get better at snowboarding you tend to become more confident and switch off at times. While racing fter Anna down the mountain (she was given a 60 second headstart!) i lost that concentration and tumbled several times down the mountain and was even greeted with the under 10s snowschool on how good my fall was. Anyway i got up and when i got to the bottom i realised that i had fell on my camera (which the good people at Bowne gifted me) and cracked the screen. If only i had that Shell tanker in my bag instead! Overall we had great fun boarding and were both anxious to do this elsewhere.
*Canyon Swing - Meant to be better than the bungee and it also has a longer freefall and i earned my jump for free so the swing it was! Before i go into detail the reason i got a free ticket was because one night while with the Kiwi bus
Relaxing in the Hot Pools
A natural wonder where you can walk in the pools on the river for free. A welcomed break from the winter weather! we had a fancy dress night which i have never done in my life before and don't intend to do so in a hurry. It had to be an International sports star or a cheerleader. I was not allowed to go as a cheerleader so opted for Linford Christie and Anna opted for the cheerleader outfit with some extra enhancement in the chest area! Check the photo out for the best description although you can't see the large bulge in my groin area which i had to replicate. Anway... this won me the prize and saved me 120 dollars.
The swing was done in between a canyon and it was scary enough just walking there. I was first to be harnessed up and asked to choose my method of fall. They have 10 ways you can jump/fall off the canyon with the 1 pair of pants category being the easiest jump and 5 pairs the hardest. As i am a man i went for one of the hardest called the "Indian Rope Trick". They hung me over the edge of the 100m drop and i had to hang on to a small piece of rope for at least 10
Fancy Dress Party
Linford Christie with his busty cheerleader! seconds while they attach everything. I hung onto the rope for about 7 seconds until the rope burn was too painful and plunged down at a very high speed. Luckily i did not splatter on the rocks at the bottom as this was their joke although i kew that. Annas turn next and she opted to jump off the platform. Anyone who sees and more to the point hears the video i took will find it difficult to believe that an avalanche was not created from the ear piercing screams that only dear Anna could make. I had another go and went for another 5 panter this time launching myself off the platform backwards. This was very scary in the most polite way i can put it. Anna chose not to repeat the jump!
*Whale Watching and Dolphin Swimming in Kaikoura - This was one of the places we decided to travel to by ourselves and im glad we did. After spending a week partying and boarding this was a lovely small town with the alps on one side and the ocean on the other.
First was the whale watching - we were told that there was only one
Canyon Swing in Queenstown
Scariest moment of the holiday so far! whale in the area and we might not see it but we ventured out anyway and the afternoon turned more into a whale chasing epsiode rather than whale searching . We ended up seeing six whales in a space of 2 hours. We were trying to snap away but it can be hard to catch them on a swaying boat! The Giant Sperm Whales were all between 15-20 metres although we only saw a small part of their bodies and they still seemed enormous.
Two days later we were back on a boat trying to find some Dolphins. I spent a good half hour previously pulling on a wet suit with lots of aditions to try and fight the cold off while Anna opted to view the dolphins from the boat (as she had just come off the antibiotics)
.
After an hour we located the pod of 200 dolphins and in the middle of a very cold Tasman Sea/ Pacific Ocean i leapt into the sea. It was amazing to see them from above but to watch wild dolphins swimming at a great speed towards you then dodging you at the last minute was scary but also unbelievable.
Minus 5 Ice Bar in Queenstown
The best vodka cocktails you could imagine At times they would stop and swim round you and see if you could follow and play games with them and then when they notice how pathetic we are swim off!
Also higly amusing for Anna and the other Dolphin Viewers on the boat was the noise us swimmers were making into our snorkels. We were told the dolphins were more likely to stop if you made a strange noise, so you can imagine the noises coming from 12 exiceted humans! After a few times in and out of the water chasing the pod we then saw the dolphins in their full glory chasing the boat and flipping acrobatically in the air. But by the end i was getting cold and everyone but a few were getting sea sick so it was back to shore asap.
Sorry for the length of the blog this time, if you got bored at least you had the photos to look at!
Look after yourselves and each other.
Love Charlie and Anna
xx
p.s. - We have sat in an internet cafe for a total of 4 plus hours arranging this so i hope you like it!!!
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Tez
non-member comment
Gary
Take that fucking Everton shirt off.