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Published: August 9th 2007
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Sorry it's been so long since we've updated you on our travels but we've been far too busy! We have now made it to Queenstown in New Zealand's south island. Last time we updated you we were due to leave the wind and rain of Sydney and head back down to Melbourne. After a train journey out into the Sydney suburbs we were introduced to another campervan for the 3 day drive back down the coast. This time we were given the luxury model which was brand new with only 24km on the clock! Apart from some map reading arguments and the shock of the cold weather, we arrived back in Melbourne for a relaxing few days before boarding the plane for the short hop across to New Zealand! We were warned on more than one occasion that New Zealand would be cold so we stocked up on some warm weather gear and shoved the shorts and bikinis to the bottom of our backpacks. Its now been nearly 6 months since we had some really cold weather so in a way we're looking forward to the change......... not sure we'll still be feeling like that in 2 months time! We arrived
in Christchurch to pouring rain and cold wind but luckily we had arranged to stay with some friends of Ben's Auntie and Uncle. This gave us a chance to settle in to our new surroundings with some home comforts good food and a log fire! We spent a day walking around Christchurch and sorting ourselves out with bus and train tickets. The plan was to jump on the Tranz Alpine train from Christchurch to Greymouth and then join up with the Kiwi Experience bus. Before leaving Christchurch we took a trip out to Akaroa where we were to see some of the scenery that New Zealand is so famous for. Its difficult to describe but around every corner the scenery and photo opportunities seemed to be better than the last. Although we had only seen a small amount of what New Zealand has to offer it was already easy to see why so many people make the long journey here.
Early monday morning we boarded the Tranz Alpine train for the 4 hour journey across to the west coast. The train journey is said to be one of the best in the world and it didn't dissapoint. Surrounded by snow
capped mountains, the train works its way over bridges and through tunnels, before passing straight through the southern alps at Arthurs Pass. We arrived in Greymouth and met our new family on the Kiwi Experience bus. We headed south to Lake Mahinapua and parked up for the night at the 'Poo Pub'. After a game of rugby on the beach and some male bonding we hit the bar for a few jugs of beer to warm us up for the fancy dress evening that lay ahead.... we decided to swap roles for the evening, Rachel opting for a very hideous checkered look with serious shoulder pads, a toy golf club and an inflatable tiger armband whilst Ben opted for a very short white skirt and a see-through blouse, accessorised with a little pink scarf winning third prize in the best dressed 'bad taste' competition for his very sexy legs!
The following morning we were up early and back on the road to Franz Joseph, home of the famous glacier hikes. We booked ourselves onto a full day's guided tour, got kitted out in the very attractive waterproof clothing, chunky black walking boots and a bumbag containing spikes to enable us
to walk on the ice. It wasn't on the list of activities to do whilst on our travels but it was an amazing experience and one of the best so far. We were led up steps carved into the ice, through ice caves and pools of water, one of which Ben decided to take a dip in! Apparently it is the highest, coldest swimming pool in New Zealand... check out the film! It was a tiring day and by the time we had made it back to the bottom we were told that we had walked around 10km....... we had the sore feet to prove it! We left Franz Josef and travelled on the bus to Lake Mathieson where we strolled around the lake taking photos of New Zealands highest peaks Mt Tasman and Mt Cook. Next stop was Wanaka and then onto Queenstown. Before arriving in Queenstown we made a stop at the home of the original Bungy Jump on the Kuawara Bridge. We watched a short film on the history of bungy jumping and then had to decide if we were going to take the plunge ourselves. There are three main jumps around Queenstown and Ben decided he
was going to do them all so without wasting anytime he got up onto the bridge in the freezing cold and completed the jump. One down two to go!
Throughout the whole journey down the west coast we've seen some amazing sights, if we wern't surrounded by glaciers and snowcapped mountains then we were driving through lush green rainforests and winding around huge lakes and rivers. Tomorrow we head out onto those mountains for some skiing and snowboarding!
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Bungy?
Is new zealand colder than England? Guarantee you wouldn't have had as much rain as us! so much for being summer, everywhere is flooded!! Rach did u bungy too? I want some pictures!! Sounds fab lots of love and kisses xxxxxx