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Published: March 2nd 2009
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Before leaving Australia we had just enough time to venture out of the city into the Blue Mountains; so called due to the blue haze hanging over them, allegedly due to eucalyptus oil they give off (or something like this, that may not be completely factual but that‘s what I‘ve been told so I‘m sticking to it). We had Nic’s friend Dan as our chauffer and guide and he took us on a lovely walk through the mountains, passing waterfalls, with great views, but with far too many climbing steps at the end for my liking.
A very enjoyable time in Oz unfortunately had to come to an end and we arrived smoothly in Christchurch courtesy of Qantas. We didn’t really get to do much sight-seeing whilst there, we just had enough time to grab food and do boring things like laundry before trying to get to sleep in a hostel full of over-excitable, rastafarian wanna-be 18 year olds who’d been allowed to stay up after 10pm for the first time. We boarded our coach for the eight hour journey to Queenstown early the following morning. I managed to sleep through the first part of the journey, the flat boring bit,
but I soon woke up as we got into the more mountainous central region. The views were just stunning, I can see why hobbits, elves and the like would choose to live here! One of my favourite views so far was looking over Lake Pukaki towards the snow capped Mount Cook (…and I’ll take this opportunity to tell you that I’m related to Captain Cook, apparently…again this may just be something I’ve been told and believed without questioning, but my great Nan was a Cook and apparently it’s been traced back in that blood line), absolutely breath-taking! The lakes were a beautiful opaque turquoise blue, due to the dust/sand being carried down from the glaciers. Although nothing could live in the lake due to the glacier sand , it sure does make for spectacular viewing! We eventually made it to Queenstown and after a couple of hours of time wasting and drinking hot chocolate amongst the stunning scenery, we met up with Nic’s cousin Mike, who’d very kindly let us stay the night with him, and even more kindly agreed to let us borrow his little campervan (a van with a bed in the back) for a tour around NZ.
We went out for some bloomin’ good pizza and a few beverages and with Mikes input we (I) organised a route around NZ.
We eventually set off in our (well ours for now) little campervan just after lunch the day after, having stocked up on tins and other boring camping food stuff. First stop Milford Sound (voted as the number one tourist attraction on trip advisor.com). It was a long old drive so we stopped at a Department of Conservation campsite (DoC) an hour or two outside our destination to rest our heads for the night. These campsites are, shall we say, basic…they only cost a couple of squid and for this you get a toilet, which is just a drop into the floor , and we managed to get a picnic table…and that was it. We cooked tinned ravioli on our little stove, washed up in the lake a stone’s throw away and got ourselves sorted for our first night on the road. The next morning we awoke and went down to the lakeside to wash. The lake felt like our own, so still and peaceful and almost like a mirror, reflecting the dramatic mountainous landscape behind and glowing
red in the morning light…spoilt only by me turning round to see Nic naked as the day he was born hitting the lake for a full on bath. Being out with nature obviously had brought out the exhibitionist/naturist in him! The drive along the Milford Road was pretty spectacular in itself, but arriving at Milford Sound was something else. Don’t get me wrong I love the Lake District, but it pales in comparison to Milford Sound, with the moody clouds hanging down over the sheer sides of the majestic mountains (Nic‘s flowery descriptions are slowly rubbing off on me, I‘ll be writing poems soon!). We booked ourselves onto a cruise though if we had had more time we would’ve ideally liked to kayak. The cruise was spectacular nonetheless, and allowed us to explore the sound, which had been carved by four ice ages (again this is just what I heard). We even managed to spot some fur seals trying to find some sun to warm themselves on the rocks and quite excitingly some bottle-nosed dolphins and some Kea flying above us. After that we got back on the road and 1 talked Nic into driving almost the whole 411km to
Dunedin on the other side of the South Island. We ended up parking up just outside, in a camp site next to the pleasant Waihola Lake, where they had much needed showers and everything! The next day we briefly stopped in Dunedin which is supposed to be just like Edinburgh - it wasn’t - before heading out to the wildlife capital of NZ: The Otago Peninsula. Don’t get me wrong - tis not that from a life time dog hater I’ve suddenly become David Attenborough, but ‘when in Rome’ n all! We headed to the Royal Albatross Centre which was good, and very informative (any question on Albatrosses just post them to me) if not a little over-priced. Whilst there, we saw several birds sitting on their chicks but I would’ve ideally like to have seen them fly…apparently it wasn’t windy enough. Even more exciting were the fur seals I’d spotted on a beach near by (free as well) and then the sea lions we saw frolicking around on another beach…I had hoped to see some yellow eyed penguins but unfortunately they weren’t out to play and wouldn’t be back from fishing until 9pm. Too late for us as we
had to continue our mammoth journey up the road. We headed North up the east coast for an hour or two, stopping at the Moeraki boulders. They are some almost perfectly spherical boulders just lying on the shore of the beach, very peculiar! The next day was pretty grim weather-wise so we drove lots. We thought about whale watching at Kaikora but the weather was terribly British and the trips were expensive so we beasted it right up north covering over 600km, stopping in Christchurch for a cheeky Souvlaki. The weather got torrential at one point - we had the coast battering down on our right only a few metres away, strong winds blowing us all over the flooded roads, and hills to our left with their tumbling debris. Thankfully we got through it unscathed and were relieved to find Blenheim, where we stopped for the night. Fortunately the weather has settled itself down and we are now just waiting for the ferry across to the North Island. Got a lot more driving to do tonight as Nic has booked his 15,000 ft sky-dive for tomo afternoon in Taupo…I’ll be holding his coat!
Update on that since this is
the first chance we’ve had to get this on…Nic did his sky-dive a few hours ago, coming down all smiles before slowly getting greener and clammier then running outside for a tactical spew….nice one Nic! Apparently the way down was fun though!
Big love, Cat x
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r.i.swan
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Pleased nic safely on land again. Also that you stuck to your guns and didn't join him. Report writing coming on leaps and bounds. I thought it was very descriptive.