Christchurch

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We've just said a fond farewell to our campervan - it treated us well during our cavorting round New Zealand. We had the camper for a month - we spent just over 2 weeks in the North Island before heading on Down South.
Down South we began with a little wine tasting in Malbrough (yes - we got someone else to drive!!) which was quite entertaining and we picked up a bottle or 4 on the way round.
Then we headed on down for a spot of whale watching - we were really lucky as we saw four whales - they are HUGE!
After the whale watching we headed inland from the East coast heading accross to the west via Arthurs pass - spectacular views abound during the twisty turning route - and we stopped for a bit of tramping on the way. NB: Tramping = Rambling/Hiking in Kiwi-speak.
Beginning to get the hang of the wilderness camping thing... picking a spot for the night is not as easy as you'd think - right next to the railway track not a good idea when the midnight express rolls through and knocks you out of bed !
Having achieved the east coast we headed to Glacier country and up to the Franz Joseph Glacier. We took a full days guided walk on the glacier - which turned into a bit of an experiment in hyperthermia as it never stopped raining ! The ice formations were amazing and we had a chance to appreciate them after we'd got some hot chocolate inside to get ourselves unfrozen.
Next it was down to Milford Sound - which looks every bit as good as it does in any of the pictures ! We took a trips and tramps tour (cheers Chris for the tip on that one) down to the sound itself, and a boat out on the water - in contrast a very nice day allowing us to go right out of the sound on to the ocean. The photos will show Milford sound better than I can describe !
Following another Wilderness camping adventure - bit cold as the gas froze for our central heating we headed back to Queenstown for a bit of Internet Laundry - yes good combination I know.
Having done the Shotover river which is about as hairrasing as it gets we headed off to Mount cook.
Mount cook just got better as we drove towards it - along the 1 hour road that just leads to Mt Cook - and nothing else - the mountain slowly revealed itself through the mists - to discover that the weather was fine nearer the mountain. This is one of the most awesome mountain scenery that I've seen.
A quick pop to Dunedin and we're back at Christchurch dropping off the campervan for our way home - and we didn't crash it - though there was the odd attempt ;-)

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