Queenstown to Rotorua

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Work in progress...

Thursday 15th Dec

Upon leaving Franz Joseph Tess, Jane, Hannah and Declan stay behind in hopes that the hike will go ahead today. The rest of us have an aching feeling of disappointment as we do not have the flexibility in our plans to choose and so we move on to Queenstown. Driving through countryside that is bursting full of huge lakes and hefty hills is breathtaking. We pass by Lake Wanaka and get a quick stop at Lake Hawea. The water is more blue than I have ever seen.

There are many great things about travelling this way but as a photographer, my main bug bare is that you do not have any flexibility to stop where you want to. There have been so many wonderful places I would have loved to have stopped and photographed or just sat and appreciated for a while but it's just not possible with Stray. You just have to watch these places, these wonderful scene pass you by. The most frustrating thing is that a good photograph is all about the light and there have been so many times when we have stopped for ten minutes to photograph a fantastic place just as the sun has vanished behind a cloud and then two minutes down the road the sun reappears to illuminate all the great coloursonce more but by then the opportunity is missed.



Having mentioned, in Greymouth, that I was thinking about a two day trip to Milford Sound, a few others mention that they too would like to come so we arrange a car hire together.

Friday 16th Dec

Judy, Niklas, Anita, Barbara and I head down to pick up the car from the two bit rental car place and after some serious faffing in the shop (not on my part for a change but by the rental place) we are taken our ride. The car is a Nissan Sunny and a massive step down from my sexy lil runaround in the states but it fits us and our bags in, just. Judy is a little freaked at the idea of driving an automatic for the first time and on the wrong side of the road so I take the first stint which, after a quick supermarket stop, turns into a great stretch of road twisting and winding around the edges of hills, sandwiched betweens steep slopes and lakes.

We get to Te Anau at around 1.30pm after a two hour drive and realise after checking in to the hostel that we have nothing to do so we could've stayed in Queenstown for the morning had we been better organised. But we make the most of being in what's rated one of the best walking bases in the world.

We drive down to Te Anau Downs and take a walk along the lake side then back down to Manapouri Lake where we spend a little more time sitting and taking in the beauty of our surroundings but also stretch our legs and walk a little way around the lake. We also paid a visit to the Wildlife centre which as we expected in a country that has very little wildlife, had very little wildlife. It was also more dismaying than anything else. It was like the wildlife centre that time forgot with enclosures that we're far too small for the poor creatures inside. I felt particularly sick when I saw that they had a number of kaka and kea (types of parrots) in very small cages. The fact that these creatures are so intelligent makes it so much worse.

Saturday 17th Dec

Up early and left the hostel in Te Anau (the lakefront backpackers) at 6.30am to get to Milford Sound for our 9am cruise. I chose to drive all the way there and it was one of the best drives I've ever taken and definitely on a par with the Pacific Coast Highway. As we pass by Te Anau Downs and head along the hillside the sun breaks through the overcast skies and we see the most wonderful hazy light fill the fields below. Shards of light break through the gloom and illuminate the mist hanging over the land. Soon, we become surrounded by massive snow capped peaks, alpine woodland, rivers and fiords.

We stop before reaching the Homer Tunnel to get a few shots up the valley but as soon as the car engine cuts out there is a cry in the trees around us. Then another screech. A large bird flies across the road and perches on a ramshackle building next to the car. It's a kea. I large woodland parrot and he chatters away to his friends who chatter back from the other side of the road. He swoops down to the road just a few feet from the car. Before we know it, we are surrounded by 12-13 greenish brown parrots. Having seen them the previous day in captivity, it was so wonderful to see them here in their true environment. I grab some bread from the car and offer it to them. Throwing it at first but eventually I sit down and offer it from my hand. One of the kea hardly even hesitates in gently taking it from my hand. Then many more seem happy to take the bread from me. They have such powerful beaks but they really are so delicate in taking the food. It was a fantastic experience and a wonderful surprise.

We hop back in the car and head on to Milford sound passing through the most terrifying mountain tunnel I have ever been through. The Homer Tunnel looks like it as blasted out of the mountain in the 1940s and then had absolutely nothing else done to it since. I drive more quickly than perhaps I should to get out of it as soon as.

Arriving in Milford Sound, I don't immediately see the three peaks that are visible in almost every picture of this place but I am instantly struck by the beauty of the surroundings. It feels so tranquil at this time of the day. Probably not so at around 1pm when bus loads of weary tourists appear after five hours on a coach.

We jump on the Jucy cruise which takes us out to the Tasman sea, passed huge waterfalls, a mountain shaped like a resting lion and Mitre Point. On the return we see young seals basking in the sun on the rocks and pull in right under one of the biggest falls in the area and each get the free shower we were promised.

We had to start making our way back pretty early afterthe boat trip, as we were meeting friends in Queenstown as it was to be our last night with the majority of people on our bus. On the drive back we stopped in at The Chasm which is a massive waterfall that has eaten away at the rock to form interesting holes and shapes in the rock and falls away into darkness. We also make a stop at the 'Mirror Lakes' which we all agree should be subject to some case of false advertising as it neither reflected like a mirror, nor was there more than one. However, it was incredibly beautiful so we stopped for lunch in the picturesque setting and sat on the wooden viewing platform in peace and tranquility until a bus load of tourists turned up. It felt like an invasion until it occurred to us it that was usually us and the big orange bus doing the invading.

It felt good to be apart from Stray for a while and I think we each felt a little less like a tourist on our trip to Milford. Sadly, we had to return back to the bus and so we headed back to Queenstown to rejoin the group. It was great to see everyone again but the evening was tinged with a sadness again as this night we say goodbye to so many people.

Sunday 18th Dec

Left Queenstown at 9am. Stopped off at Lake Tekapo to pickup/dropoff and get a few quick snaps of the most photographed church in New Zealand, 'The Church of the Good Shepherd'.



Tekapo is the most magnificent, almost artificial, turquoise blue owing to the high content of glacial powderwhich refracts the light in a different way. The whole place looks photoshopped!



We arrived at Mt Cook Village around 1.30pm and a few of us had signed up for the Glacier Explorer trip so we pretty much dumped our stuff and headed out. We had a ten minute coach ride with commentary from a Scandinavian guy called Lenus who sounded remarkably like kermit the frog and so I chuckled to myself through most of it. The boat ride was on a pretty speedy rib around the glacial lake that has formed at the terminal face of the Tasman glacier, which is the biggest in New Zealand. Floating around in the lake waters were huge ice bergs moving slowly and dripping in the warmth of the sun. It was a strange place, very beautiful but also incredbly baron and sort of dead. The glacier was spectacular but we weren't able to touch the face of it for health and safety reasons.



Monday 19th Dec

A pretty early start this morning as we travel from Mount Cook to Rangitata. It felt like a long day in the coach but we eventually arrived in Geraldine where we wre picked up by the rafting company and taken to the lodge to get a free lunch and to get prepped for the rafting. I was so excited. This was something I had wanted to do for years and now I finally had the chance.the rangitata has grade 2-5 rapids, one of the grade 5s being 350m long. I couldn't wait.



We arrived at the river, the scenery...as always...was incredible but this wasn't something I was going to be paying much attention to for the next three hours. My main priority was going to be staying in he boat.



We had a very gentle paddle for 30mins or so whilst our guide, Dan, showed us the ropes and got us practising the different commands. Then we hit our first rapids. At grade 2, they were a nice intro into what was to come. Next came a loger bout of grade 3s. It was wicked fun and we were all desperate for more. We pulled in to the side to jump out of he boat as Dan wanted us to see the grade 5 before choosing whether we were up to doing it or not. No-one in our raft even hesitated when he asked if we wanted to continue. Weabsolutely nailed it, it felt so easy...for us. Not so much for the last raft to come through. Dan shouted and we all turned around, the third raft had been flipped and so everyone had to get involved in the rescue of six crew now floating downstream, very quickly, towards the next set of rapids.Luckily, everyone was fine.

The next set of grade 5s were more of a challenge and I felt our raft almost flip a few times but we did exactly as we were told and made it through. We were introduced to 'surfing' which involvespaddling your raft back into what's basically a waterfall at the base ofrate rapid. The force of the watepushups the raft into it and you have to fight to maintain control. It was fun exhilarating. The next time we tried this, we intentionally tried to flip the rabut forwards but didn't succeed, though we did all end up in the water. I was in absolute hysterics when Judy pulled me back in the raft and I don't even know why. Next was the cliff jump and I managed the freaked let me mind get the better of me on the 9m. As soon as I walked away from it I regretted in, I knew I should've done it. But after that we had a few more rapids and then we all jumped out of the raft and floated peacefully downstream until we had to finish up. What an amazing day!

Tuesday 20th Dec

Left Rangitata Rafting Lodge at 7.25am en route to Christchurch where Judy leaves the bus. It's a sad time as we have spent the last week or so pretty much doing everything together. But I hope we will stay in touch after parting. I go on to Kaikoura and plan to do absolutely nothing so I can catch up on some rest and maybe my travel blog.



When we get to Kaikoura, we've been booked in to the Adelphi Hostel and it's horrible. The hostels have been pretty good so far and with some we have even been spoilt but this one needs a bloody good clean and a revamp. Regardless, it's just for one night. Barbara goes on the whale watching trip and Laura from Germany and I take a wanderthen rough town...it doesn't take very long. Kaikoura is a very cute, small town by the sea. Like so many places we've visited, it has a good vibe to it. It's very chilled, a bit touristy but not too much and the air smells like sea. I like it.



Laura and I get fish and chips as we agree it's the done thing to do when staying in a seaside town. We go to the pub quiz, come second and go to bed. Crazy times! The next morning I say goodbye to Barbara as she heads back to Christchurch today.



Wednesday 21st Dec



We leave Kaikoura for Wellington and catch the 2pm ferry from Picton. Laura gets off here and catches the interislander so we say goodbye. I spend most of the time on the ferry talking to Jesper who was in my raft at Rangitata about science, the mind and the universe. He's a 19year old physics student from Sweden and he's smart it's good to be able to have this kind of conversation with someone.



Tonight in Welligton I went to the Flying Burrito Brother Mexican with Julie, Abby, Bianca and Gemma (the twins) and got shirty with the waiter because he got shirty with me, ate some really good food and got a free drink.



Thursday 22nd Dec



Tomorrow I see Emma!!!

I travelled up from Wellington to Rotorua, which is where I am now, sat on the top bunk under a smelly duvet in a pretty horrible Base hostel but I'm happy because tomorrow I get to see Em :o)

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