NZ South Island

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Our intentions on leaving family in Greytown were to jump on a train to Wellington and then get a ferry over to Picton, hire a car and then see as much of the West coast as possible during our remaining few days. We'd also put another ad on gumtree and had arranged to meet Nina (yet another traveller from Germany!) en route.

We were dropped at the nearby railway station, said our goodbyes to Mum and Dad and were soon on our way, arriving at Wellington in plenty of time to catch the ferry. Except this was Thursday morning and there were no empty ferries until late Saturday afternoon. We had been assured there was no need to book ahead but stupidly failed to take the Easter Weekend into consideration. As our time on the South Island would already be too short we decided we had to get there as soon as possible no matter what. So a quick taxi ride to the airport was in order only to discover that the only place we could get to at such short notice was Christchurch - the place where we were due to end our trip in 5 days time. We took the flight anyway (seriously denting our funds) and waited around the airport until 4pm. Luckily there is barely any distance between locations in New Zealand and we had begun our descent almost as soon as reaching our highest altitude. We immediately rented a car and drove the 6 hours back north to Nelson arriving just before midnight. The drive up the East Coast was fantastic despite it being dark, the mountains and coastal routes being lit up by moonlight. It was just a shame we couldn't take any decent pictures. We didn't really have the option of just travelling the other way around the island as we still planned to meet Nina at Nelson and had a skydive booked for the next day.

We did the skydive at 8am the next morning, on the most perfect of days weatherwise. It's one of the best things i've ever done, yet also one of the hardest activities to describe. As soon as it was over it felt as if i'd never jumped but it was definitely worth doing. The view up there was sensational, as long as you remember to look around as you hurtle towards the ground! As soon as the dive was over we headed into town to see that everything closes for easter. It was like a ghost town, so we were mind-numbingly bored as we waited for Nina to arrive. We made a 'Welcome Nina' sign to keep ourselves occupied.

With Nina on board we hatched a half-formed plan to see us through the next few days and drove South down the West Coast, again with some great scenery and endlessly winding roads to keep us entertained. In all the time of driving in New Zealand i am yet to hear a song on the radio from later than the mid 90's, but most of the time a radio signal was out of the question anyway. As Nina hadn't arrived until late afternoon we just drove on through to make up time, stopping in Westport overnight - another ghost town due to Easter. The next morning we headed straight for Punakaiki to see the pancake rocks and blowholes. Whilst here we decided to do some hiking (always a good activity to keep costs down). We took on a 3 and a half hour hike to the Fox Tavern caves and back. There was a couple of mild streams to cross along the way as well as some steep climbing towards the end. It was hard work getting to the caves (especially for Nina and her unsuitable footwear) but it was worth it once we finally got there. We had the use of the world's smallest torch with a less than certain battery life as we headed deeper and deeper into the rock. It was a much better experience than doing a guided cave tour where your movements are restricted. By the time we got back to our car it was getting late so we pushed on again. We had booked a day long hike on the glaciers in Franz Josef, a long way south so stopped overnight in Hokitika for some much needed beer. Before leaving here we made the essential stop at an overpriced sanctuary to see a kiwi bird, and then drove a scenic route around Lake Kaniere on the way to our final destination before heading back. We tried our luck at goldpanning in the small town of Ross just outside of Franz Josef but i am sorry to report we were unable to find enough gold to fund our trip for a few more weeks. In fact i think i am down $6 from renting the necessary equipment.

Franz Josef is only really a tourist town, surviving only on the glacier tours and helicopter rides. I loved it there. Our hostel was roomy with free soup everynight and being such a small place everything was in walking distance. We arrived here on the Sunday evening and spent the first night getting to know fellow future glacier hikers. Our day long hike began the next morning at 9am, although it was well past 10 by the time we were all kitted out in our 'non- waterproof' waterproof clothing that we were given to wear. I've never worn so many pairs of socks in one go before! There were over 60 people on our tour, which was a bit disappointing as a lower number would have made for a better experience. However, once we had hiked for an hour or so and reached the glacier itself we were split into more manageable groups of 11, allowing us to get to know each other. Everyone got on well except for some annoying American's who over exaggerated as always on everything they saw and did. The ice hike was brilliant, but very cold. There was a persistant rain that soaked you through and our guide had us crawling through holes and cracks in the ice. As with the skydive the experience was amazing and something i'd recommend to anyone, just bring your own protective clothing! After a long day we eventually returned to more free soup and beer and relaxed for the evening watching a few films. Here is also surely one of the only places left where you can rent VHS and watch movies on a fuzzy screen.

We left bright and early at 6.30am to get back to Greymouth in order to drop our rental car off in time. We got here ridiculously early though and that is where i am now, trying to fill time before our afternoon Tranzalpine Train across the country back to Christchurch.

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