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Published: October 17th 2011
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Surprisingly we woke up the next morning feeling fresh as a daisy looking forward to continuing our Kiwi experience down to the South island. The freshness didn’t last too long though as our hangovers decided to creep up on us once we were onboard the ferry! We’d planned to start the south adventure by travelling down the east-coast – first stop was Kaikoura. Already the scenery was starting to hit us more, the drive down the Marlborough coast was really stunning, with rugged rocky cliffs and stretches of beautiful beaches being pretty easy on the eye!!
We had heard that Kaikoura was famous for the masses of sea-life that live on its coast and in particular the seals that make this place their home. Sure enough on the drive there we noticed a pair of eyes staring out of a wee fat rubbery body lazing on a rock!! We screeched to a brake and hopped out the campervan and on the rocks were dozens of seals lazing in the sun – we didn’t get too close though as we had been warned they can actually attack you and move quite fast (although they looked like they weren’t moving anywhere for
a while when we saw them!!).
The next day we were on the road again and headed for Christchurch. We had heard that the city was in quite a bad way since being hit by the earthquake earlier this year so none of us were sure what to expect. We really didn’t expect to see the damage as bad as it was – basically there is no longer a city-centre as this was the area that was mainly hit and is now cordoned off but surrounded by buildings that are half-standing. The building that really brought home how strong the earthquake must have been was a cathedral that only had the shell of its walls left. It was really sad to see and it looks like there is still a long way to go until it fully recovers.
After spending the first couple of days on the coast we thought we would head inland to Lake Tekapo, wow – this is the first time in New Zealand that we were really and truly blown away with how beautiful this part of the world is. The scenery changed from endless sheep (honestly there are millions here!) to snowy mountains
within a heartbeat. At Lake Tekapo as soon as we stepped out of Mr Haka we knew we were looking at something pretty special. The lake itself is aqua-blue with an amazing backdrop of snowy mountains, if it wasn’t freezing Paul would have ‘jamp in’!
When you’re in New Zealand, because of the kind of scenery it has to offer you have to really embrace the outdoors so with this in mind we decided to trek up Mount John for the views over Tekapo (and also for the exercise since our diet has plummeted recently!). We’re not going to lie, there were a few shaky moments on the way up with us bent over double for breath as a few sprightly pensioners marched past! It was all worth it though when we finally conquered it as the view was spectacular.
Now that we’d completed our daily exercise we headed down to Twizel where we set up camp for the night – treated ourselves to a monster of a burger and we must say this was no ordinary size of a burger – Paul’s face lit up when it was wheeled in! Afterwards we limped our way to the
pub (from either Mount John or the burger who knows!) to watch the rugby semi-finals.
The next day was another epic drive to Dunedin, although it didn’t help the fact that we’d taken one wrong turn which added another 2 hours on! Not to repeat ourselves but again the scenery all the way was pretty fantastic, from moonlike landscapes to more snowy mountains and lakes, not a bad drive at all!!
Tina was really excited about getting to Dunedin which is known as the ‘Edinburgh of the South’ – as we drove along Princes Street, George Street and especially the Water of Leith she felt like she was back home except just on the other side of the world! Dunedin is Edinburgh’s gaelic name and was founded by Scots and is proud to show it. Apart from all the street names there’s also a statue of Rabbie Burns in the centre (which had been taken over by anti-capitalist protestors), loads of Scottish shops and enough pubs to sample as much whisky as you can stomach. Ok we must admit it didn’t really look like Edinburgh but it sure felt like it as it was bloody freeeeezing!!
Dunedin
is fairly small so we followed our trusty guide-book on what to do. We visited the world steepest street according to the Guinness Book of Records and even climbed this on an empty stomach before brekkie – what a way to wake you up in the morning! Apparently the local train station is the most photographed building in New Zealand so ofcourse we had to check what all the fuss was about and sure enough when we arrived there was already 4 different groups of Chinese tourists snapping away. Aside from the excitement of this we were adopted Kiwi’s again as we joined the locals, cheering on the All Blacks winning their semi-final. Roll on the Rugby World Cup final and another great couple of weeks in New Zealand!
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Dave Barnes
non-member comment
Hi guys New Zealand,,,wow, I didn\'t realise just how beautiful it is and there\'s a lot more to see apart from sheep!! Those snow capped mountains are simply awesome, such scenery. Paul, I\'ll have to find out exactly where that incredibly steep street is, steepest in the world eh,,,no chance of cycling up that even on the smallest granny gear ever!! Must have been a shock to see the devastation of Christchurch recovering from the earthquake earthquake. Btw, love the photos. Take care guys and we\'ll see the 2 of you soon. Dad