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Hello Hello!
Well, this is our final Blog from New Zealand! We cant believe how quickly 2 and a half months can go.
We have had a great time these past few weeks. Especially as i (issie) turned a quarter of a century old!! nooooooooooooooooooooo! ...thanks for the Birthday Wishes 😊
The celebrations (preparation) could be traced back to our visit to Renwick, in the Marlborouch Region, famous for its wine. Here we did a wine tour. It was wonderful and yummy. We visited about 6 wineries and they are very generous with their samples, which we thoroughly approved of. It included a visit to a chocolate factory (bonus!) and we also tasted liquers and olive oil. A very good day and we came away with 2 bottles of wine for my birthday.hurrah!
Next was a little detour to Hamner Springs to bathe (again) in some thereputic waters. As it was the school holidays - it was full of kids and not as tranquil as our vist in Rotorua - but little can beat sitting in a steaming giant bath looking up at the sky as the stars emerge.
Next we drove to Akaroa. We had
heard very good things about the Banks Peninsula, just south of Christchurch, so decided it was here we would have my birthday. We could not have picked a better place. It was beautiful, remote, mountainous and sunny! We stayed in Le Bons Bay Backpackers - our TOP hostel in New Zealand(after 2 1/2 months of hostelling!). It is literally in the middle of nowhere with outstanding views of the mountain range that the house is perched on. The hostel is like a wonderful cosy retreat/staying with old family friends. There is always a roaring fire, a kitchen warmed by a wood stove and simply delicious meals cooked every night by the owners and backpackers working there (for a charge...but more than worth it!) Those who decide to have the meal all sit on one long table (some times snug - but always sociable) This is how i spent my birthday eve and birthday night too - when i was sang Happy Birthday. On my birthday we went out with Gary (the owner) and 3 others in his boat which he takes out every morning to take people on a tour on Le Bons Bay - unlike the busy touristy tours
in Akaroa, this is a completely different experience. We were totally alone out at sea, apart from the Albatross that flew over just above our heads, the little penguin and the Hector Dolphins...and a cow that had fallen off the cliff!
We also did a bigger trip to swim with dolphins (a must in Akaroa) something we had been really looking forward to. The weather was COLD and a little drizzly and and a swim in the Ocean wasnt too appealing. But we were soon tightly clad in a wet suit, waterproof gloves, socks and balaclava ... we looked so HOT. We went out with 5 others in a little boat and went to and fro through the waves and wind looking for the smallest and rarest dolphin in the biggest Ocean.
Soon however we were in - bobbing about tapping stones together, whistling down our snorkel tubes and singing karaoke songs - its was hilarious...our best efforts to interest the dolphins with our perculiar behaviour were met by a couple of bemused dolphins who came for a quick look and then were off. The swim wasnt wholey successful - but it was an experience! and we got a
part refund 😉
That afternoon to warm up we visited Tree Crop Farm a wonderful bohemian garden and verandah - where you can hang out as long as you like. The admission fee (10 dollars) includes a warm drink and a pick of nuts, wind fall apples and figs. The hot chocolate (we had just been in the Ocean!) was beautifully presented on a big wooded plate - two mugs of frothy milk and a little bowl brimming with chocolate powder, roses and lemmongrass 😊 yum.
We hung out on cosy sofas and wrapped up in rugs, reading books and walked the garden - which is wild and full of paths through vege patches and leading to fire warmed baths. It was so fun to explore and ill come back to New Zealand, if only to return there!
Now in Christchurch for our last fews day. Re-packing, sending stuff home...all the boring stuff. Along with visiting a great arts market, the art gallery, and Antarctic centre - worth a visit - there is a room you go into that simulates a storm in the Antarctic and the winds howls and the temperature goes down to minus 18.5!
Leave tomorrow very very early and head to Fiji where the weather forecast is for rain! Boooo!
Perhaps we wont leave New Zealand until the weather picks up. In fact i could live here!
Hope everyone is well.
Lots of love issie and cordy x x
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