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The flight to Wellington was fine, no hitches right up until we got to our hostel, Rosmere. Turns out they didnt have our booking, and we had to make do with a dorm and a single (i nabbed the single since was still feeling like death warmed up) The next day we checked into the YHA, very swanky and a lot more central. Wellington is notoriously windswept, and it certainly didnt disappoint. The weather was grey and rainy, but the city stretches round the harbour and up into the hills behind, pretty in the way big city harbours are. Despite being cold, I really liked it. We wandered around a wee bit, and went to probably the most famous 'museum' in the country. Called Te Papa, Kiwis call it 'our place'', as it has everything that embodies New Zealand...from a maori Marae, or 'meeting place' to an interactive earthquake simulation, natural history displays, geography, culture, social history: it was great. BUT the completely unexpected highlight as I walked in the door was to be greeted by the bigature model of one of the ships from Lord Of the Rings. OH SWEET LORD. Anyone who knows me will know how unbelievably excited
i was. Turns out there was an exhibition on!!! I eagerly paid my money and went in, to be greeted with ORIGINAL concept art by Alan Lee and John Howe!! These men are legends! Plus loads of ORIGINAL props, Arwens Evenstar pendant, costumes, swords like Sting and even Narcil, costumes, and THE ring itself!!! Oh my god. Im hyperventialting at the sheer memories. So that made my day. No wait, it made my year. And where better to see the remains of Middle Earth than in Middle Earth itself 😊 After, we walked around the shops then in the evening treated ourselves to a little cinema visit to see Ice Age 2 (actually very funny).
It was an early start the next day to catch the ferry to Picton, the 3 hour ride whizzed by thanks to a couple of Disney films, then finally we entered the Marlborough Sounds. Gorgeous high green hills rose up on both sides, dwarfing our huge ferry, and there was an eerie silence as we sailed through the narrow channels. Picton was a lovely little sunny town, with a beautiful sheltered harbour. We picked up our car (a Nissan Sunny!!) and set off for
Kaikoura. The first views of South island scenery were beautiful, and reminded me a lot like Scotland, with undulating hills and vales in all shades of green. We got to Kaikoura just as night fell. I settled into the warm cosy sofa to watch a film, and Phil ventured out into the freezing pitch black to sightsee. He later reported there wasnt anything to see. Next morning we went to be briefed for our dolphin trip. We got kitted up in the works - hood, wesuit, vest, booties and gloves..before setting off in the boat. We saw albatross and a few fur seals - one even jumped clean out of the water. But the definite highlight, and a highlight of my life so far, were the dusky dolphins. We caught up with a massive pod of them - ive never ever seen so many together, there must have been hundreds, and they were following the boats and leaping out of the water. Every time we got into the midst of them, we'd all jump into the water to swim with them and were literally engulfed. It was SO amazing, they'd swim under, beside, round and round you - we were
all squeaking away like maniacs to entertain them, and diving down - though that was problematic as the abundant neoprene we were wearing made us far too buoyant. I couldnt believe how close they were - I could touch them (if they werent moving so damn fast). They simply swarmed past, teasing us - you'd look out over the sea and see them coming straight for you, jumping out, with fins looking worryingly shark-like. Then you put your head underwater and suddenly there they were all around, speeding past, god it was incredible. To look a wild dolphin underwater in the eye when it's a foot away, to hold its attention, and connect with it - even in such a superficial, tenuous way...it was beyond words.
We had a few of the swims, catching up again and again with the pod, then after a photo opportunity when we were dry, we headed back to land. I picked up some gloves because it was really starting to get cold, and I drove us the 3 hours to Christchurch. It was a beautiful coastal route for part of the way, with the turqouise sea contrasting with the black sand - New
Zealand sits astride two tectonic plates, as a result it has a history full of earthquakes and volcanoes...hence the black volcanic sand. We turned inland and got to Christchurch mid afternoon. We booked into Base hostel, a big clean hostel, right in the centre. Christchurch was GORGEOUS, I said to Phil I wanted to live there (pretty much what I say in every city) but this place was different. It was unbelievably pretty. It was very Ye Olde English, all the street names were British and there's even a river Avon which runs through it, with weeping willows trailing their branches in the water. Quite a gothic cathedral dominates the centre sqaure, but its small and pretty - in front of which we chanced upon a choral display of local schoolchildren performing maori songs. Loads of old buildings and an old tramline filled the city with an historic air, and leaves fallen from the trees along the river had turned deep golden: it was stunning and I loved it.
The next day we drove to the Aoraki/Mount Cook national park, Mt Cook being the highest peak in Australasia. The scenery changed into 'Scotland with higher mountains' then undeniably 100% New Zealand as we turned a bend and I let out an involuntary gasp at the view. Before us in the distance rose the Misty Mountains themselves: the Southern Alps, glorious snowy jagged mountains, and underneath them green plains with golden pines. We passed by lake Tekapo, surrounded by mountains with a pituresque little church right on the lake edge. From there we passed lake Pukaki, a gorgeous bright blue, with superb views across to the awesome Mt Cook. The golden trees, the blue of the water, and the white capped mountains was just ridiculously beautiful - I wanted to stop at every turn to take numerous new pictures. We got to Mt Cook and the famous hotel there, the Hermitage. We had some food and went for a couple of short walks to get a closer view of the mountains. We came back to the YHA, a lovely homely little alpine themed place, complete with sauna (i dutifully checked it out - got very hot and sweaty). We all watched some films then I got a great nights sleep. For once we didnt have an early start, but set off at check out time for Queenstown. We veered slightly away from the Alps, and the scenery became distinctly Northumbrian, with dark green and brown hills. The mountains soon made a reappearance, and we arrived in the beautifully set Queenstown after lunch. It sits on lake Wakatipu; the Remarkable and Eyre Mountains form a stunning backdrop, and Queenstown creeps up their slopes. The town is the outdoor activity centre of New Zealand, but, being too poor to eat at the moment, and thus unable to bungy/jet boat/parasail etc, the town was fairly quiet for us. We caught up on the usual internet admin and planned our next steps...
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