New Zealand

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Arrived in Christchurch for the start of our travels around the South Island.

Travelled upto Kaikoura with the hope of seeings some whales. Went all prepared with my sea sickness precautions. The whales came out to play but I preferred the brown paper bag!!! Miraculously (however you spell it) i managed to take 4 pictures in my green state, capturing the whale in 3 of them, well a little bit of it anyway!!! Not a huge success for me. Later on we walked to see the seal colony which was only 4 km away........ according to Jeff. 2 hours later we finally stumbled across them.

Travelled over Arthurs Pass to the Franz Josef glacier, where yet again i donned some more gear, including crampons to scale the dizzy heights of the glacier. Just started the journey along the river bed when there was an ice fall so we had to make a detour into the rain forest climbing up and down ladders, over boulders etc. That was before we even reached the glacier. Then when we got to the glacier they had carved steps out of the ice but my legs were too short so i had my own steps made by the guide!!!!! After an exhausting 5 hours i was first back, joking.... i was last.

Queenstown was next on our stop, where we went to JP Hackets, the original bungee jump sight. Another first to my list !! So exhilarating.

Stayed a few days in Queenstown before returning to Christchurch and then back to Australia for the final leg of the trip.

On returning to Oz, we went to Melbourne and chilled out. Had a wonderful evening at Tim and Jenny's to celebrate Frances and Jeff's Ruby Wedding Anniversary.

The whole trip was as my first blog described 'a trip of a lifetime' and a wonderful experience

Barbara

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