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Published: April 1st 2010
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Aoraki
Part of the scenery for a large part of the South Island Qantas woes, part two...
...once again Qantas palm off thier OneWorld Alliance responsibilities and we are on a Jetstar flight from Melbourne to Christchurch. To be fair, the flight was on time...the drawback this time was that they treat the flight like their domestic journeys and don't provide a meal (unless you want to pay for the usual over-inflated airline price for a sandwich of course).
We land at nearly midnight, and are treated to the usual customs checks, plus a few extras. Tent is unpacked and decontaminated as are our walking boots and it's close to 1am by the time we are talking to the not particularly helpful girl at the information desk about accommodation. We get bored of the whole idea of getting into town and sleep in the airport instead.
"Refreshed", we arrange a hire car from the airport. For NZ$29 per day expectations ought not be high, but we had in mind a basic and reasonable car, something like the Hyundai Getz that we'd used twice in Australia. Don't get us wrong, we're not off to buy a Getz when we make it home, but Hyundai can build cars and it kept us happy
Moeraki Boulders
The alien has hatched! for a few weeks. Daihatsu on the other hand should be hounded out of the car making fraternity. Our Sirion had little going for it and with almost 100,000km under its belt, actually surprised us by get round the South Island and back to Christchurch 15 days later with a further 3000km on the clock. The speed limit in NZ is a paltry 100kph but even downhill, with a following wind, while slipstreaming the car in front, were we ever treated to these breakneck speeds. And uphill...!
We left Christchurch immediately and found ourselves in Methven. No doubt a busy ski resort town, at this time of year it's a little sleepy but it did mean we were well ensconced in the scenery for which New Zealand is famed. It's breathtaking in virtually every direction and these views are to stay with us for the next 4 1/2 weeks.
In Lake Tekapo we catch the end of a wedding at the Church of the Good Shepherd. It is rather ironically named because of the sheep rustler who, with his trusty collie, managed to "collect" over 1000 sheep on their way from the other side of the hills into
Yellow Eyed Penguin
1 of only about 2000 left in the world. this valley thus start the wool & meat industries here. From Mt. John Observatory we are able to glimse Mt. Cook (Aoraki) for the first time. At Lake Tekapo we are looking straight up the valley at the mountain and are drawn in to a side trip, taking in icebergs on lakes and the largest glacier in New Zealand, Tasman. At 29km long, up to 4km wide and as deep as 600m in places, there is little chance of your G&T getting warm around these parts.
We could easily go on about every city, town and landscape that we saw, but here are our real highlights:
Lake Benmore Holiday Park - even with a tent, you get an en-suite bathroom!
The Moeraki Boulders - according to Maori legend dropped from a massive Maori cargo canoe, according to geologists hard concretions of rock (make a bit like a pearl) in softer rock which has now eroded. Whichever, they make the seashore look like the has been an invasion of alien pods.
The Railway Station at Dunedin - you don't have to be a train spotter to be impressed by this place.
Nugget Point in the Catlins
Milford Sound
Unusually bright morning in a place that rains nearly every day of the year. - you can spend a fortune getting to see yellow-eyed penguins in a "sanctuary" on the Otago Peninsula, or you can come here and be amazed by a chance encounter with a fledgling penguin for absolutely nothing. Brilliant! (Disclaimer - this blog does not guarantee sightings of yellow-eyed penguins in their natural habitat)
The Homer Tunnel into Milford Sound - 1.2km of hand dug, one-lane road with unfinished walls, no lighting and only two passing places that delivers you into an other-wordly place (where it drops 7m of rain each year).
Freezing our *its off in Kingston when we encountered the first snowfall of the season while camping - Nic was compelled to move to the car and Paul wore all his clothes inside the sleeping bag and still woke up shivering. At the risk of beginning to sound like train spotters - the Kingston Flyer looks like it's bank has foreclosed and it's doing nothing while waiting for a buyer. We hope that someone with a bankroll big enough to kick start it rolls into town and it re-opens, not everyone wants to bungy jump an hour up the road in Queenstown and it's a shame to
Puzzling World
The Roman toilets set up was very sociable. see these historic engines stuck in compunds doing nothing - we encountered the same thing in Dorrigo, Australia where the price of insurance meant the owner could even let the public in to see the engines.
The Jetboat on Shotover River - completely against our budgetary contraints, but absolutely worth the money we wasted for half an hour skimming along in a jetski built for 15.
Wanaka - a picture postcard town. Puzzling World will keep you amused for hours.
The journey from Wanaka to Fox Glacier - lakes, forests, mountain passes, seashore (including driftwood across the state highway from the bigger waves) and glaciers all in a few hours of driving.
Glaciers Fox and Franz Josef - OK, if you want to be left to your own devices with glaciers, go to Norway or Chile. But you can't help being impressed by these two glaciers almost reaching sea level, making them very accessible.
Kaikoura - again you pay handsomely, but sperm whales sightings are pretty much guaranteed on any boat trip and you can't miss the fur seals lounging down on the peninsula. (If fur seals are your thing and you are there in
Franz Josef Glacier
Pingu feeling quite at home. Feb/March, head 25km noth of Kaikoura for easy viewing of the breeding ground at Ohau which has countless pups playing in the rockpools). And the best bit about Kaikoura, we've rescued the "lost" Australian photos on our memory card!
Back in Christchurch we spend a relaxing time looking round the rather peaceful City. It's great that cities here can have just one or two hundred thousand people living in them. Such a short time ago a city meant 4 million or more, but China and NZ are worlds apart.
We find that Paul, side-tracked by a visit to the facilities has left the camping mugs in the camp kitchen at Kaikoura. To date on this trip we have now lost, misplaced, had confiscated (and at the very outside, stolen - but we doubt it):
Paul's jeans - Ko Tao or Ko Samui?
A pair of binoculars - no idea
Toothbrush & paste - in the toilets in Darwin airport
More toothpaste, washing powder - Australian airport security, Melbourne
Drinking mugs - Kaikoura
News flash! - More washing powder - laundry room, Friendly Waiketi Trout Stream Holiday Park
Now when we say "we" Nic is being very generous
Friendly Fur Seal
Meeting the locals in Kaikoura. - her only involvement (and even then only semi-culpable) was the washing powder in Waiketi!
Qantas woes, part three...
...on arrival at Christchurch Airport our flight number is not on the departures board, nor is there any flight at 17:40. Qantas/Jetstar staff are missing in (in)action and the girl at information advises us there is no such flight today - though there is one tomorrow. After a pretty frantic hour, Jetstar open boarding for the 18:35 and we find a staff member to ask what is going on. We find they don't always run our flight if there's not enough bookings (sounds a bit like the Bali fiasco) and we've been put on the 18:35 so we can check in now. Cheers for the heads up Qantas.
If I were BA, rather than thinking about merging with Qantas, I'd be lobbying to get them thrown out of the OneWorld Alliance for bringing the whole thing down. We used OneWorld because it's the only way into Easter Island on a RTW ticket. In hindsight, Global Alliance might have been the way forward and buying separate tickets to Easter Island. If you're thinking of a RTW ticket that includes Australia & NZ (which it probably will) bear Qantas in mind and steer clear.
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