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Published: April 21st 2007
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Being that we are fast approaching the end of our NZ adventure and the fact that we haven't kept you up-to-date with our South Island adventures! We figured the easiest thing would be to update you on the last few weeks in one blog entry... So here we go...
The last few weeks have been manic, it has been non stop and we have been moving along and quite a steady pace!! We left Wellington on Easter Sunday and took the Cross Island Ferry, which takes three hours and crosses the Cooks Straight (basically a good way to travel from the North to the South Island)!! We headed past the Marlborough Sounds (pretty amazing scenery) before arriving in Picton. From there we headed on to Nelson where we spent the rest of our (non existent) Easter weekend!!! We decided while we had the chance to head to Abel Tasman, about a 45mins drive outside of Nelson for a day trip. We originally thought this would be a nice leisurely stroll around the coast, taking the time to enjoy the scenery! How wrong were we!!! Our nice stroll turned into being a 5hour trek, only allowing us approx. 10mins to
stop for lunch!! Thankfully the scenery was beautiful which kinda made up for it, think we would have preffered pre-warning tho 😊
From Nelson we headed onto a small place called Greymouth, literally named because it is situated at the mouth of the River Grey! Very original!! Not much to do here, so we were forced to do a Monteiths brewery tour!! Ended up being quite an entertaining night - lots to drink and a free BBQ, so no complaints!!
Early the next morning we headed to Franz Joseph - Glacier country!!! We origininally booked to do a half-day glacier walk when we arrived but unfortunately when we arrived there was torrential rain and all the walks were called off! Apparently they were worried people might potentially be blown off the glacier?!? Luckily we had planned to stay another night in Franz Joseph, so the nice man at our hostel arranged for us to do a half day hike the next day!! All we can say was that it was amazing - definitely a highlight and something we never thought we would do!!! Stupidly we thought it would be a good idea to go kayaking in the afternoon
- thinking again it would be a nice relaxing way to spend our afternoon! Again how wrong were we, definitely very strenuous doing a 7.5km Kayak when you have hiked half way up the glacier in the morning! It was beautiful though - we kayaked across a lake, down a small river and through a rainforest! The lake and rivers are so clear and you can see mirror reflections on the water of all the trees etc (you will have to have a look at the pictures to know exactly what we mean)!
Queenstown was our next port of call, so to speak! We arrived here last week Friday 13th and spent three nights here! Saturday was spent walking around the town, seeing the lake and eating Fergburgers (queenstown's claim to fame apparently)... One of the girls Claire, who we have met along the way had her birthday so we went out to celebrate in the evening!!! Headed to Minus 5 Bar first - literally a Bar made completely out of ice! You have to dress up like Eskimos to go inside and only allowed in for 30mins!!!! We also went to World bar where we drank cocktails out
of teapots - v amusing.
Sunday we headed to Milford Sound - Road Trip in the 'Black bullet'!!!! Took us 5 hours there, and 4hours on the way back! So all in all a long day!!! Was good though ad an adventure! Went on a cruise and saw some waterfalls, seals and dolphins!!! We were really lucky and boarded a cruise with 11 people in total as opposed to the 400 passengers which normally squeeze onto the large tour operated cruises.
Our next stop was Dunedin - which was hyped up to be a busy and bustling student town. it didn't really live up to the hype but we took a day here to have a look around and slow the pace a little bit.
Lake Tekapo in the centre of the south island was the next stop. Such a beautiful spot (as advised by Becca - Thanks!) It's a tiny little place with only 400 residents. the lake is a beautiful blue colour with snowy mountain tops as a background. the church of the good shepherd is also here - which is apparently one fo the most photographed spots of NZ.
Hols tried some star gazing here
with a printed sheet instead of a nutty professor to help. 9/10 for effort. 2/10 for results i think. fun though!
Next stop was Christchurch before our trip to kaikoura for swimming with Dolphins! We had a gorgeous day and there were 100's of dolphins willing to play! Kaikoura is not like Florida - we didnt ride on fins... we were taken out to the pacific ocean, to the Kaikoura canyon (1000 metres deep) and then plopped into the sea to swim amongst the huge pods. They were so playful and would swim circles around you/with you. Definately one of the highlights of the trip so far.
This afternoon we're heading back to Christchurch for the next 2 nights before jetting off to Australia mate!
Watch this space!
lots of love
Holly and Nicole xxx
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Wow- you guys are doing so much! Am so jealous- NZ sounds gorgeous! Enjoy your last few days there! X