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Published: December 5th 2008
welcome to NZ
Don't be fooled, its bloody cold here!!!New Zealand promised to be a lot of things. Breathtaking scenery, adrenalin-fuelled adventures, fun loving people, but we had not accounted for sooo much rain!!! Our first days in NZ were spent in a backpackers in Christchurch. Its nice here, but really, really English (I feel like I’m home again). It rains all day, and we have to keep ducking into shops to get out of it. Its FREEZING COLD!!!! Its supposed to be spring!!! Spring in QLD is hot!!! We came here for what???
We pick up our campervan (which is smaller tan expected, but will do), and head up north to Kaikoura. It’s where we can see sperm whales (3rd largest in world). We go out in the evening, but only see 2 (kinda, they are eating so are gone for 30-40 minutes at a time). However, the water is truly amazing. It has a shine on it I have never seen before. A velvet glaze, a reflection of the sky, but it looks so really and inviting!!!!
After Nelson, we head on to the Abel Tasman national park. Based at the northern tip of the south island, it hugs the Tasman Sea coast, offering walks that
take all day, and some that take 3 days. We take the full day option, get a water taxi to bark bay (about 23 kms away) and start walking. It’s a beautiful stretch of track; with little peep holes giving views of the coast. The weather holds up (it was a torrential rain pour yesterday), and we have a great day, until the rain comes…all day the next day!!!!
We drive on through Greymouth, and onto Poutaniki national park. A smaller NP, it is still beautiful, if only for the rain!!! Its keeps raining another day…all day!!! We still manage to see blowholes and limestone cliffs, similar to the 12 apostles in Victoria, Australia.
Next are the famous glaciers!!! I have been looking forward to this for a while now. We book to walk a full day on the Franz Joseph glacier (an advancing glacier, as it advances forward every few years). It’s a brilliant day. Led by very able staff, we are led up the terminal face, and further on into the glacier. As we do, it starts snowing (now we’ve had it all!!!). It brings a better sense of adventure now. I feel like Sir Edmund
are we in England or NZ?
its scary how English it is here!!! Hillary, pushing on through snow storms, braving it towards the top of the highest mountain in the world!!! Only, I’m not climbing Everest, I am doing a pretty easy walk on the world’s steepest glacier. I am kitted out with all gear (gortex jacket, woolly hat, gloves, waterproof trousers, boots and crampons (claw like metal spikes for shoes). You cannot do this without 1- a guide or 2- crampons. The latter I found out about when I had to remove one of my crampons, and nearly went sliding back down the glacier!!!! With 11 in our group, our guide takes us on an ascending and then descending climb through black, blue and amazingly white ice. Through gulley’s and streams, through the snow storm, in arctic conditions (I could not feel my toes at one point), and not once were we put in any danger. We built snowmen, had snowball fights with the other teams, ate bananas and cold baked beans on the glacier (someone’s bright idea, not mine!!!), and came back down, tired, hungry and ready for a warm bath and bed!!!
Next day we head to fox glacier, a retreating glacier (as it is retreating back every year).
We don’t do the walk, but do go as far as the terminal face. Just as amazing, and just as big, these colossal glaciers are a must see in NZ. I am starting to enjoy myself now!!!
The Haast region is noted for its spectacular scenery. It was nice, but I kinda expected something more stunning. It’s at this point that Carmen and I discuss whether we are expecting too much from NZ. Having seen amazing pictures, heard amazing stories, and spoken to amazing people, we were in fact expecting something truly amazing!!! The lonely planet describes the Haast region as “spectacular”, and there were some great vistas, and one amazingly step climb to Haast pass, but it never really happened for us. Then came Wanaka.
Wanaka sits about 120 kms from Queenstown. I guess you could call it the Lennox head of NZ (Lennox being a quieter version of Byron Bay). Wanaka held something special for us. It was here that our time in NZ really begun. With a backdrop of snowcapped mountains, the sun blazing away, cricket being played, and a relaxed town feel, Wanaka is where we took a few days to recuperate from the
message at the back
at least its not offensive!!! No Choice with the car i'm afraid, but not bad!!! constant travel. Life here was calm, but could get a lot brighter, depending on your mood. There are some adventure activities here: skydiving, rafting, bungee-jumping, but why spoil the mood? Queenstown was just down the road, and that’s where we will start our adventure, but for now, we relaxed in the sun, and could not take our eyes of the snowcapped mountains that became our back garden view!!!
Queenstown is really like Byron bay. It’s full of young (mainly British) adventure seekers, looking for the rush of a lifetime. We watched, as people threw themselves off river towers, held on by bungy-cord. It looks sooo easy, but when you take a look at what you will really see, that’s when the doubts come in. Still, I may still do one, there is still time yet!!! We did, however, get our adrenalin from a day of white water rafting. Everything is pretty pricey here in Queenstown, but it’s all done with safety in mind. This is not the Asian games, this is NZ, and if you have any doubts about how safe you may be, I can tell you, it’s all good!!!!! The white water rafting began at 0815. We
local trams
and tramps!! turn up to the shop, and we are then put into a bus, and taken down to the shotover river, where we are told that the preceding days rain has made for grade 4-5 rapids (6 being like Niagara falls!!!). The ride to the drop-in zone is an adventure in itself!!! The bus driver traverses the winding, narrow roads (incidentally with sheer drops of 70M or so down!!). This is made no more easier, as one of the guides gets us to sign disclaimers forms, advising us that we could die during this adventure!!! We are given our gear (wetsuits, boots, jacket and life-jacket, and helmet), and then get a brief safety talk. We then split into teams, and Adam is our expert guide. A mad Kiwi, he seems pretty hooked on getting us as roped as possible, and asks if anyone wants to sit up front. Carmen (being the smallest), was elected to sit at the back, and 2 Americans decided that they would test their metal at the front. I sat directly behind them. As we paddled out, Adam explains what is to come. Having been told that there are some grade 5 rapids on this course, I,
along with many I am sure, have a feeling of trepidation, but strangely I am urging myself on, wanting to look fear in the eye. The first rapid is not so bad, and as the other groups get bashed about, we seem to come out of it relatively unscathed!!! That was just the beginning. We then go into a series of rapids, getting whacked by the white water, freezing in nature, and we are definitely awake now!!! The photographer takes photos from her safe lookout, and as I wave, I can’t help but feel that she is nice and warm, and I am now freezing cold, despite by wetsuit, boots and jacket!!! In fact, my feet have lost feeling again!!! Maybe this is something I will have to look into later, but for now, my feet are wedged in good, and there is no way I am going to fall out of this dingy. There’s more chance of me dislocating my hip!! Oh…wait!!! Maybe that’s not such a good thing…..but there’s no time to contemplate this, as the next series of rapids hits us. At one point, one of the other dinghies bashes into us, creating a jam of boats,
wierd Maori wood carvings
abel tasman National Park no where to go, and the waves hitting us relentlessly!!! Its not fun being in the front anymore!!!!! Still, there is something of the fighter in me that wants the rapids to bring on more. I am starting to feel warm with fighting spirit, and as I look to Carmen to see if she is ok, the smile on her face makes me feel like rocky balboa, as his wife, after giving birth to their first son, tells him to win his boxing match. I can hear the music in my head, as Adam prepares us for the final grade 5 rapid!!! We go through a dark tunnel; all of us crouched down, except one of the Americans in the front, and Adam at the back. We get through, and as the American turns round to face the rapid, he smacks his face on the rocks!! It was the funniest thing, and I nearly lost my focus, as we descended what felt like a waterfall. It was an awesome finale, and we were grateful at the end for the hot sauna, shower, tea and biscuits. Highly recommended!!!!! Now, I have to tell you at this point, this was the end
split apple rock
doesn't look like an apple, but its suppossedly a famous icon here. of the adventure seeking…..for now!!!! But fear not, there is more to come, I promise!!!!!
From Queenstown we head Towards Manapouri, and the Doubtful Sounds. Now, there are 2 sounds, the doubtful, and the more famous Milford. We happened to be offered a fantastic deal for an overnight stay on a 5 star boat to the doubtful sound, and we took it. It turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. We met up with 2 other English couples. One (mark) just happens to be an ambulance man, who has brought patients to me in London. The other guy (Ryan) is a double for Daniel Radcliff in Harry Potter. Together, we spend the next 2 nights together. Doubtful Sound is huge. It’s bigger than its more famous brother, and dare I say, it’s better here. The weather was fantastic, and the reflections in the water were just indescribable!!!! We saw the rare Fiord-crested penguins, seals, it was amazing. To top it off, we had the best dinner and breakfast I have EVER had!!!!! 5 stars was an understatement, and after our previous experiences in China and Vietnam, I now have my faith in boat trips
the start of the long walk
we had to jump off the boat, into the cold water, and across the beach to start the walk. COOL!!!!! back!!!!! Of note, both the doubtful and Milford are not sounds, but Fiords. A sound is created by a river, and a Fiord is created by a glacier. These are glacier formed, but the early explorers didn’t know much about glaciers then, hence the name “sound”.
We went straight on to Milford and the early morning trip to the Milford sound. The weather was not as good as in doubtful, but it wasn’t that bad. It’s different here. The rock formations are higher, as it’s much closer to you. There were bigger waterfalls, and we also saw penguins and seals, but it just didn’t feel as amazing as Doubtful.
From Milford, we took on the all day drive to Invercargill. This is the most southerly town in NZ, and many people said to give it a miss, but actually, we really liked it here. We were only here for a day, but it feels a really nice big city. It has everything you want, and you would not go wrong in spending a few days here. Most use it as a passing place to get to Stewart Island.
We are heading to Dunedin, but decide to go
great background
although its was pretty cloudy, we still managed to work up a sweat, and got som epretty cool views. via the Caitlin’s. This is again, supposed to be spectacular scenery, but it’s really mainly farmland!!! There are some nice waterfalls, but after the spectacular Doubtful and Milford sounds, it all seems a little under done!!!!!
Dunedin was cool, its was bug, it had an electric feel to it, without being over the top. It is probably our favorite city of the south so far!!! Dunedin has a charm that has not been matched so far. It’s a university city, so the crowd is young. It has a castle (the only castle in NZ), it was used for a scene in the Lord of the rings (as are many places in NZ), but most of all, it was the chilled, relaxed feeling that came with it. Nearby is the Otago Peninsular. It’s a nice drive here, and there are more penguins and seals to see, but to be honest, we’ve had enough of these now. We could have stayed longer in Dunedin, but we had to keep moving!!!! Now 6 weeks feels a little short!!!!
We are now headed up towards Mount Cook, via Omaru. Yeah, I guess these names do sound a bit strange, but I do
give credit to the kiwi’s for hanging onto the Maori names for places. Its sounds sooo cool!!!! On our way, we pass by the Moeraki Boulders (look, another cool name!!). These are huge Boulder that were formed during the dinosaur age (some 65 million years ago!!). They formed at the bottom of the ocean, under immense pressure (rather like oysters, but not as tasty), and through time, have found their way onto shore. Its amazing really, nature at its most intriguing. Then…..guess what…..yup! It starts to rain, and we have to run back to the sanctuary of our car!!! BLOODY HELL MAN!!!!
Other strange and fascinating rock formations were the elephant rocks. These are more limestone rocks that look like elephants!!! Some look like the backside of an elephant, and are not so cool, but the ones that look like the heads of an elephant are amazingly life-like!!!! More rain keeps us driving!!! We pass some Maori rock art, but most of it is graffiti now. It’s very sad to see this, but I guess it’s the reality of modern life now!! No respect for anything. I have to say though; it’s not as charming or bewildering as the
Aboriginal rock art!!!
We finally reach Mount Cook. The Maori name for this is Aroraki. It is possibly the coolest name for a mountain I have heard!!!! Aroraki is the tallest mountain in NZ. It also has the bluest lake I have ever seen!!! Its glacial water and the blue color is made by the rubbing of glacier on the rock, releasing the sediment, and turning the water blue. You only ever see this type of blue water on adverts for the Seychelles or somewhere, but we had it here, and its was pretty warm too!!!!
There are many walks around Mount Cook, and some were more adventurous than others. We took the Hooker valley walk (yeah, alright!! I can hear the jibes now!!) down to the lake in front of Mount Cook. It’s a beautiful walk, and as we start we heard a soft bang. We looked up at the mountain, and we saw a little avalanche!!! It was amazing, but at this time of year, when things are warming up, there are several of these that happen on a daily basis!!! Thanks god we are not up there!!!! Some walkers looked like they were on their
way up. Strapped with helmets, rock climbing gear, crampons, man they must be mad!!!!
The end of this particular walk is at the foot of Mount Cook, where we are met with this beautiful glacial lake, with little icebergs in it. It was a great place for a spot of lunch, as we took in the views, before heading back. On the way back, Carmen got propositioned by a passing stranger. Now, I’m quite comfortable in our relationship, and feel its only natural that at some point, someone else will be attracted to your partner, and visa versa. But c’mon man!!! I’m right there behind here, obviously we are together, and this guy decides to have a crack!!! BLOODY CHEEK!!!!
The second walk was through the Tasman river. This was a shorter walk, and at the end was another lake, but this time, there were loads of icebergs. They don’t look that big, but man they are!!! I tried to pick one up, only to realize that the thing was deeper than I thought, and probably bigger that I was!!!!
Whilst the weather was holding, we took the short drive up to Lake Takapo. This is another
first sighting
a tail and that is it. But the water was just amazing beautiful lake, deep blue in color. We stay at the YHA, which allows us to park our camper in the grounds, and use the facilities, which are pretty good!!! The walk up Mount John summit is another amazing experience. It’s only a 3 hour hike circuit, but the views from the top (if you can manage the blustery winds trying to blow you off) are worth the steep climb.
And that, ladies and gents, is our trip to the south island of NZ over and done. We now take the long drive up to Picton, where we will board the ferry to take us across the Marlborough sounds, to the North Island. Only 2 more weeks in NZ, but there’s loads more adventure stories. Stay Tuned!!!
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