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Published: March 25th 2007
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18970 KM from London
A long way from home (couldn't find a sign with Manchester on it). On our return to Queenstown we knew we didn't want to stay in the same place as last time, so we booked into a smaller hostel further out of town. We had a few lazy days walking around town, shop etc. The most memorable day there was the day we went 400m higher than the town on a gondola. From there the views really are stunning, see pictures. We also decided to do something called luging. They're basically go-karts but they rely on gravity to power them. As the gondola takes you up a big hill, it's a good place to do it. The way it works is luge down one of two tracks in your kart and then get a chair lift back to the top/start. There were two courses to choose from, scenic and advanced. We had 3 goes on each. It's really good fun and a lot cheaper than the other more extreme activities.
The Stray bus goes from Queenstown to Christchurch in one day. This is apparently the same distance as going from London to Edinburgh, so we decided to do our own stop on the way. We got off at Twizel and from there
Mike on Gondola
Above Queenstown. got on the Cook Connection minibus to Mount Cook village. The YHA hostel was more like an Alpine lodge and when you looked outside you were surrounded by mountains. The weather was a bit wet and windy but we still decided to do a 4 hour walk (Hooker Valley) to get a better view of Mt Cook and to see the Tasman glacier. Annoyingly the top of Mt Cook was always covered by clouds so it wasn't possible to get a good photo. The walk was good though and you got to go over two swing bridges, one of which was really exposed to the wind that I enjoyed, but Debbie didn't so much. We got back to the hostel ok and cooked in the best equipped kitchen we've had so far. Enough about food, I didn't realise I've been writing about it so much, but from the comments and messages I guess I have.
We had 2 nights in Mt Cook, the second day the weather was worse so we spent most of the day watching films: Shrek, Catch Me If You Can, Whale Rider ( I chose this one) and Snatch. This made up for my lack
Gondolas
From the outside of films in past weeks. On the final morning the weather had cleared up o we got some better photos of the top of Mt Cook before getting back on the minibus. We managed to get back to Twizel and onto the Stray bus to Christchurch for our last week in NZ.
Christchurch is NZ's English city and it does kind of feel like one. It's strange to have a week in one place after traveling so much. We've made our hostel room into a tip by emptying our backpacks.
On Tuesday, (our first full day) we spend the morning getting our bearing around the city and then got to go to the cinema, yeah! to watch Hot Fuzz. On our 2nd full day we went to a fudge cottage and to a kitchen to see it made and do a lot of tasting, including hot fudge which is sickly but REALLY good. In total we tried about 10 different types and our favorite was the white chocolate and raspberry flavour. It was cheap too, 5 pounds, which let you eat enough fudge to make you sick. That evening after eating lots if fudge we decide to swim
Mike Luging
Speed demon to try and make up for it.
The following day we got a bus out to the gondola (cable car not a boat) above the city to the summit of another volcano. Unfortunately it was hazy in the distance, so couldn't get good views of Christchurch. We stayed until sunset for Debbie to get some good photos. There's a 9 hour walk you can do but we opted for just half hour one
As we'd still not seen a kiwi bird we decided to go the wildlife park. It's like most zoos but you can follow volunteers as they go round feeding the animals. The highlight was the lions where we got to go into a cage and were towed into the enclosure while they were fed from inside the cage by the keeper. the lions actually jump on top of cage above you and the noises they make are really impressive and makes you hope the cage is strong enough. We did get to see 2 kiwi birds in the nocturnal house, they came out to get their food, but they are really shy and nervous, any sudden movement or sound they scuttle back to their burrow.
Mike and Queenstown
I'm on top of the luge!!!!! Yesterday after visiting the museum and the botanical gardens we finally got to see a rugby game. It was the Super 14, Christchurch Crusaders vs Stormers (from Cape Town) We watched the Crusaders win easily and then went for a free pint using our match ticket. There was a really good atmosphere at the Jade Stadium, there were knights on horses and cheerleaders to entertain the crowds.
Our last day in Christchurch and New Zealand has mostly been spent sorting and packing. We'll be up nice and early tomorrow as the flight is 6.45am! Next blog will be from Oz.
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