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Published: April 1st 2007
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Kia Ora,
Welcome to the south Island Edition!!
The Journey from Wellington took us across the 'Cook Straight' to Picton. Here we got our first glimpse of the South Island an amzaing sight of mountains and remote countryside. This was the first of an amazing 9 days in the South Island. From the ferry we drove to Nelson to our wicked accomodation near the beach on the north of the Island.
We had lots of activities to choose from here one one of which was Skydiving!!!
There was only one brave volunteer for this activity, yes the girl rules. (Ok maybe I am just the stupid one.) I wanted to do it, but knew I would be really nervous. It was a perfect day- clear blue sky- the best conditions for a bit of jumping out of a plane! There was 18 people from the tour jumping, and I was one of the last. Going up in the plane was brilliant, it was small but the views were amazing. We got to 4000ft and it seemed so high. only another 9000ft to go! It was pretty frightning. Luckily I was the first jumper. The door opened and
Ready to Jump?
Wish it was this close to the ground! the wind was so strong. I was told to take some deep breathes, but nothing happened...
I was pushed to the open door looking down 13000ft! Luckily I did not make any decisions, before I knew it I was freefalling to the ground. The views were out of this world... Freefalling lasted about one minute. When the parachute was pulled it was a gentle cruise to the ground. Feeling relieved that it had been a good jump. On returning to the ground, I was a mess, couldn't stop laughing! It was a brilliant experience and I would do it again!
The coast and the Abel Tasman National Park were fantastic and we had a great walk around the beach from the town. We will certainly be coming back here. Also the sunniest place in NZ another good reason to come back. Its Day 9 in the big brother bus!! and we made our way south to Christchurch Via Kiakoura, here we did the peninsula walk with some great veiws check the photos. The Landscape in the south island is so dramatic, you could never get tired of looking at it. Amazing.
With our overnight stop in Christchurch it was
off to the west coast, towards Fox Glacier. This drive took us through the middle of the country though Aurthurs Pass with snow capped mountains either side, awesome.
On the road agian and we stopped at the amazing, Lake Matheson. You can see why it is the most photographed lake in New Zealand..
We arrived in Fox late afternoon, after dinner it was off for a night walk in the forest to check out some glow worms!! So we set off 30 people walking through the forest in pitch black, getting scared every few seconds by possums.. very funny. The glow worms were cool to they looked like Christmas tree lights on the walls and trees. We had our Glacier walk planned for the next day. This guided walk took us from the base of the mountain on to the glacier. Once we reached the ice we put on Cramp-ons, the guide used pic axes to carve out steps for us to walk accross the Glacier. Pretty cool!! It was weird being on the ice, the air temperature reduces as soon as you step on it and there is just tonnes of solid ice in wonderful shapes all around.
From
Mental Preparation
In my own little world passing the time... Fox it was time to hit the party, extreme centre of NZ Queenstown. We were both pretty sensible here, our rafting was cancelled so we spent the day walking the Queenstown Hill track and taking in the veiws from the top. We also took the gondala up the mountain and did the luge at the top.. Loads of fun!! Racing down a track on the mountain in a plastic go kart type thing!!! The evening we spent in the Minus 5 ice bar, were everything is mad of ice. The bar, glasses, seats and plenty of ice sculptures. A COOL experience, as the whole group filled the bar wearing huge thick coats and gloves.
Our journey then took us towards Milford Sound, once here we got on the Milford Wanderer for an overnight cruise. This place is amazing, The narrow stretch of water is surrounded by sheer rock cliffs, some of which are one mile high!! This makes for some amazing water falls and sights with the clouds capping the mountains. The next few days were spent travelling back towards Christchurch. We had an overnight stop at Lake Ohau in a lodge right on the lake, this area will turn
Anthony!
The guy who will get me back to the ground! in to a ski resort in a few months I love to be here for that! Maybe next year!
It has been a really busy trip and we both need a holiday to get over it!
We pick our Campervan up in the morning, so we can see some more these amzing places here in New Zealand. We look forward to some more great adventures.
Hope everyone is well.
Love Catherine and Simon.
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Vicky
non-member comment
A Street Performers assistant, hey!
Well from the sky to ice! You two really are making the most of your time away from the everyday grind that is Eng! The photos look amazing! I particularly like the mirror lake and that enormous rainbow! By all accounts you look like you are having a blast and i am soooooooo jealous!xxx