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Hi all!
Have finally managed to find the time and energy to make it to a computer. Have had an action packed week or so, on the move almost every day. We have now almost completed our loop around the South Island. Currently we are in Queenstown, supposedly the 'party capital' of NZ - well I don't see any parties, the town is tiny - not what we expected at all! In fact, I have been quite surprised at just how small the townships are here, and how few buildings etc there are along the roadsides. Mind you, with a population of only 4 million people it's not surprising that there aren't many people around!
It is very cold here at the moment, we woke to a frost this morning and I froze my butt off on the coach - it has a condensation problem so we are forced to travel around with the air con on full blast! I now wear 4 layers every day, plus a wooly hat and scarf. Stylish I know!!! The scenery here is amazing though, mountains, hills, lakes and rivers as far as the eye can see. We have also driven through
native rainforest, and pine tree plantations, as well as seeing the very imposing coastline. I even managed to photograph a seal colony the other day, but I doubt the photos will show up well on here so they will have to wait until I arrive home.
My week hasn't been so adventurous as Fiji. We have mostly been moving from one place to the next, which is a bit of a shame. The biggest disappointment came in Franz Josef, where we had booked a heli-hike on the glacier. This was very expensive but involved being flown by helicopter up to the fresh virgin slopes at the top of the glacier, then hiking for 2 hours through ice caves and along crevasses etc, before being flown back down again. Sadly, torrential rain and a ridiculous amount of cloud menat that the trip was cancelled - gutted! Still, we went on a walk up to some rock tunnels instead, when there was a break in the rain! It's just such a shame that I never got to hike on the glacier - I suppose I can use that as an excuse to come back again some time in the future!!
I have managed to do a fair bit of walking, most of it on quite hilly terrain which was a bit of a shock to the system! There are some fantastic coastlies here, and the native bush and rainforests are great to hike through too. I also went on a jet boat the other day, harnessing 820 brake horsepower and doing spins and turns along a river, which when in flood equals the size of the Amazon River - the largest in the world. That was alot of fun but not quite as much of a rough ride as I had hoped for. Watched some bungy jumping today which was blooming scary, I was tempted to give it a go but I don't think I could have forced myself to jump off the ledge, so I'll have to try to psych myself up some more before my next opportunity!
That's all for now, I'll try to upload a few photos for you, check out the mountains!!
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Debbie (Marmie)
non-member comment
Love the hat and goggles girls! I am glad you didn't bungee jump, but I expect you will eventually. Scenery looks fantastic - I am very jealous. Have a great time. Love you loads xxxxxxx