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Published: February 19th 2011
Well looks like our trip is coming to an end as we are now on our very last week :-( . However we are very excited about coming home to see everyone and I have already looked at the price of the South America lonley planet!
Our time in NZ has been incredibly busy but we have really enjoyed it. We started off spending a few days in Christchurch getting our bearings. We went to see the buskers festival which was interesting and then went off for a swim in the local swimming pool. We also took a stroll through the city to see the damage the earthquake had caused and managed to find a local brewery. We also went to the art gallery much to James' moaning.
It was then the start of our journey on the Magic bus. On the first day we got moaned at by Stu (bus driver) for not staying in a magic hostel but we soon got used to him and in the end were good friends. Kaikoura was our first stop, annoyingly the weather was terrible so for awhile we weren't sure whether we would get out to see the whales. Luckily
the trip went ahead but with a severe sea sickness warning - Spidey you would have hated it! There were a lot of sick bags being filled up, me and James managed to keep the contents of our stomachs to ourselves though. It seems the whales like rough weather as we were lucky enough to see 3 Sperm Whales, one being bigger than the boat. They all dived while we were watching so we were able to see their tails which was incredible. We also saw a pod of 70 dolphins who jumped and dived around the boat. It really was beautiful to see. Apparently there are whales and dolphins in Kaikoura all the time due to the massive sunken canyon that is off the coast - they reckon its the same size as the Grand Canyon in America and is over a kilometre deep. We also saw lots of seals lazing about on the rocks it was a really great place. The hostel we stayed in was also great - it even had a cat making us feel quite at home!
Next stop was lunch at Picton and then onto Nelson. We weren't massive fans of it but
everyone else raved about it, perhaps next time we need to go to the Abel Tasman park but we had bigger things to save our money for like the glacier and you can't do everything first time round.
So off we went to Greymouth stopping at Cape Foulwind and the Pancake rocks on the way. Apparently James Cook named it Cape Foulwind as it took him many days to berth his boat there due to the wind. Lucky for us that same wind seemed to be blowing when we arrived! Pancake rocks was great complete with blow holes, which were good to look at when the sea was as rough as it was. Greymouth was a pretty grey place that is recovering from a recent mining accident. The higlight of our time there was the Monteiths brewery tour where we got to try all the beer and cider and have a look round the factory. We also got a very good dinner - Lamb! and a big jug of beer - can't go wrong!
Next day it was off to Franz Josef - home of the glacier. As you can imagine my geek radar was going I was
so excited! Again the weather was miserable but we made the most of it. We all got geared up with waterproofs, hats, gloves and crampons and off we went. It was brilliant!!!! We walked down into crevasses looked at the moraines and the tunnels (conduits) running through the glacier. The glacier moves 10-50 cm a day, as it is currently retreating but when it is advancing it can move 5m a day. It's one of the fastest moving glaciers in the world but this can cause problems for the guides as they are constantly having to rebuild tracks for people to walk on. It went so quickly, I was quite disappointed when we had to head back! That night it was off to the bar with the magic crew to warm up as it was so cold!
Next stop was Queenstown. It was also the day of bungy jumping at Kawarau Bridge - 43m. I had said I would only do it if the sun was out - trust it to be a blazing hot day! James and I went up to the bridge to get all the gear on while everone on the magic bus stood in the
viewing area cheering us on. It was pretty scary looking down into the canyon but when a 12 year old jumped in front of me I knew I had to jump. James jumped straight off managing to pull off a great pose whereas mine is of me squawking! It was a brilliant experience and the adrenalin was great - sorry mum! We all went out in the evening as it was our last night altogether. That was when the teapot cocktails arrived - brilliant. Next day we went luging up the mountain - like a little go cart without a motor you just go down hills instead. The view from the top was amazing - we thought of you Jessica and Grant!
Milford Sound was our next trip - again pouring with rain! However this time it was supposed to be a good thing as it meant lots of waterfalls formed on the cliffsides. It really was beautiful. We went out on a boat into the fjord, the wind was blowing so hard that it was tricky to stay on deck and the water from the falls was going upwards but it was great. The camera did take a
beating though.
Next stop was Dunedin a small town in the south of the south island. Due to its proximity to the Antarctic it was pretty cold. There wasn't much to do here apart from having the steepest street in the world - James felt he had to run up it! Although we are not sure if it is steeper than your street Lisse and Peter! After James trying to catch his breath it was off to Lake Tekapo and a walk up Mt John. The views were great and the lake was so blue due to the glacier water - James was on a mission this day as he felt a need to swim in it so off he went while I stayed nice and dry taking photos. He feels it makes up for missing the Christmas swim back home. This then completed the circuit of the south island as the next stop was back to Christchurch taking in the Moreki boulders on the way.
We then got the bus to Picton and the ferry across to Wellington stopping in Kaikoura again on the way.
North island was surprisingly different from the south island as it
is much more rolling hills than great big mountains and glaciers. In Wellington we went to the Te Papa (the museum of NZ). It was brilliant as you got to go into a house experiencing an earthquake and learn all about how NZ was formed. It was really interesting.
After this brief stop it was off to Taupo, which was really pretty. We managed to find a hot water spring that fed into a river so we went there for a swim. The hot spring was seriously hot and the river water was really cold so it was a bit of a balancing act! We also went to the Craters of the Moon which is a geothermal area. There was boiling mud and big craters with steam coming up it was a bit stinky though. However that prepared us for our next stop - Rotorua.
It was pretty stinky in Rotorua but we had a great time and it was lovely to see Hannah - thank you so much for having us and showing us around. We had a wander around the lake and the geothermal park - more boling mud and steam! Hannah also took us to
the Blue Lake, a beautiful lake in the middle of nowhere that had the clearest water. James also developed a strange itchiness here on his hands and feet that comes back every now and again - very strange! In the evenings we spent a lot of time drinking lots of wine and catching up with other backpackers. One night we went to Mitai, a maori evening. The maori people put on a show for us showing us what life used to be like for them and showing us around their land, it was very interesting. The best bit had to be the food though as they cooked us a hangi, which is when the food is cooked underground on top of hot coals. It was lovely, both of us were so stuffed! We also went on a bush walk to see the glow worms. It was a really great evening.
One of our final trips on the bus was Waitomo to go in the caves. The caves were pretty impressive and there were loads of glow worms which you could see all over the ceiling. It was also pretty cool as there are no lights in the cave so
it was lit up by candle light. Next time we would like to go black water rafting in them and do some abseling but it was pretty expensive and I didn't want to crawl through any tunnels!
All of a sudden it was time to say goodbye to Hannah and get on the bus for our final journey - Auckland. James was really excited about this stop and has enjoyed showing me around his old haunts. Tomorrow we are off to see James' mum and dad on Waiheke island and maybe do a wine tour. We are then off to see James' old school from his gap year and maybe hit the beach for a final top up of the tan. We will then be heading to the airport on Friday to fly home to see you all. We hope you have enjoyed reading our blog and we can't wait to see you all when we get back so we can go on about our trip even more! This is Sam and James signing off for the final time xxxxxx
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Leonie
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See you soon
Love the last instalment. We loved NZ too. Have an amazing last few days. Then come and stay with us xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx