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Published: December 14th 2010
We left Wellington on the early morning ferry which took about 3.5hrs over to Picton on the South Island. Shortly after arriving we were picked up by our next bus with an interesting driver that played rock music really loud all day, which wasn't annoying at all!! Our first stop on the South Island was at Abel Tasman National Park where we stayed in a big tent at a really nice camp site which we really enjoyed although it was a bit chilly at night. The next day we walked along the coastal trail and visited some nice quiet beaches. It was really quiet there with not many people around. That night one of the guys from our bus played in the open mic night at the local cafe so we went along and enjoyed some hot chocolate to keep warm.
The next day we were back on the bus and headed to Barrytown, which is also known as 'Baz Vegas'. We stayed in the only pub/hostel in town and had a fancy dress night with the rest of the people on our bus. Barrytown wasn't the most exciting place to be and only consisted of one street and about
5 houses but it was good to experience one of the smaller towns on the South Island. Our next destination was Franz Josef, which was a really pretty alpine town close to the Franz Josef Glacier. So the next day we were booked onto the glacier walk. We were given plenty of warm clothes but luckily the sun was out all day so we didn't really need them. The walk to the start of the glacier was 2.5km although it looked much shorter, then after an uphill climb we put our crampons on and were straight onto the ice. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the glacier and made our pathway safe using his ice axe. We walked through some crevices that were very thin and cold and some tunnels and caves in the ice. Overall it was a brilliant day on the ice which we both really enjoyed.
The next day we headed to Makarora, on the way we stopped off at some sights. The first was Mirror Lake where you can get a good reflection of Mount Cook, although it was cloudy when we were there so we didn't get the full effect. The second stop was
Thunder Creek Falls which was a 90ft waterfall, then finally we stopped for a look at some really blue pools. That evening we stayed at a really remote location with more sscenic views of the mountains as a back drop, which never cease to amaze us.
The next day was our stop off at Queenstown which is where everyone goes for the adrenaline sports and partying. On the way we stopped off to look at lake Hawea and a small town called Lake Wanaka for lunch. Arriving in Queenstown we were very suprised at how pretty and quaint it looked. As the town is surrounded by sloping mountains and a lake. So after a wonder round town we tried a fergburger each for tea they were massive and delicous!! This evening we headed for some drinks with people on our bus as we were parting ways the next day. We wish we could have spent more time in Queenstown but unfortunately the next day we had to move on to be in Christchurch on time.
Our last stop was Mt Cook where we stayed in a remote location over looking the mountains, the view was really spectacular and
on the way we also passed lake Pukaki which was ridiculously blue. That afternoon we took a short walk to a view point then relaxed and enjoyed the view. The next day we were on the bus for the last time and heading to Christchurch. The journey took us past another beautiful lake called lake Tekapo.
Christchurch has recently been hit by a number of earthquakes and there were plenty of buildings that had been knocked down as a result. The city was quite nice and had an English feel to it, with a small cathedral and city square. Most of the streets were named after english places and the river running through was called the river Avon. We enjoyed our last few days there relaxing and taking in the atmosphere. Our last day in christchurch was spent visiting the art museum and swapping some books so we had plenty to read on the beach in fiji. For a treat we went out for tea and enjoyed a few beers sat by the river in the warm ealry evening sunshine. We have trhoughly enjoyed our visit to NZ and believe there is still more to see but its time
for fiji.
P.s we have currently enjoyed our first week in fiji and will do another blog at the weekend before we arrive back home for christmas!!
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Dad
non-member comment
Sounds great
Hi there sounds magic nz. hope your enjoying Fiji and looking forward to seeing you soon. xx