New Zealand - Cold, wet and just like home!

---

The flight to nz was with air new Zealand, which are now our favourite airline due to the fantastic food, service and entertainment system!

We arrived in nz feeling rather sleepy due to the lack of sleep the night before and how early we got up for the flight. We picked up our Jucy hire car called "el cheapo" (Pete wants me to state that was the only car left, but really we know we would of gone for the el cheapo anyway) and headed straight for Kaikoura.

It was a beautiful drive to kaikora and only two hours north of Christchurch. We wandered around the small town and bought some chips and pitas to eat in the car, afterwards we found somewhere to park up and thought we would try and sleep in the car to save money. It's not suprising that poor old Peter didn't have a great nights sleep unlike Rox.

We were up and ready by6am to go and swim with the dolphins, it was pitch black and feezing and we were wondering why on earth we picked such an early time. We were given wet suits, head masks and jackets to snorkel In - an attractive look as you can imagine!

We were taken out on the boat and split into two groups of8, our group were going to get to swim first. It was so cold and dark on the journey that Rox was debating on wether to get in but as the sun rose we saw the start of the dolphins diving into the air and heading our way this was incredible as there were so many dolphins doing side slaps and summersalts. We were both so excited and didn't care how cold it was we couldn't wait to get in.

When the horn sounded we both slid off the back of the boat as instructed into the water, it was feezing but the coldness soon disappeared as the dolphins swam towards us. There were so many surrounding us and swimming past us it was quite scary at first, but as we started to make noises throgh or snorkels the dolphins would swim over to you and swim alongside you being curious. We were told to engage with the dolphins you should hold eye contact, make noises and swim in circles to play with them, Rox particulary liked the swimming in circles and would swim in the opposite direction to the dolphins! Peter was lucky enough to see seals swimming amongst the dolphins, and loved diving under and swimming by the side of the dolphins!

This was an amazing experience, the staff on The boat estimated that there were over 200 dolphins consisting of husky, hector and common dolphins! They were so inquisitative and enjoyed playing with us that neither of us wanted to get out when it was time to go back to the boat, however we were freezing and its not suprising seeing as the mountains surrounding us were covered in snow.

When we got back on the boat it took us so long to get dressed as we were that cold Rox's hands were so numb she struggled to get dressed and Peter thought one of his toes was going to drop off. We had some hot chocolate and cookies and headed back for shore.

Our next trip of the day was to go whale watching, however when we arrived the company advised us that no other tours had seen any whales that day but they had just started to hear whale activity 23miles off the coast and if we didn't see any they would refund us 80 percent of our money back, we thought this was a great deal so we did it. It took us45minutes for us to get out to the location of the whales, it was then a case of waiting. Our guide spotted the whale from miles off so we headed in that direction, we saw a sperm whale sperting water into the air from its blow hole but we were still quite a way off and everytime we got near it went under! Peter still managed to get a good photo tho and we were pleased just to of seen it from a distance and the best thing about it all was they still refunded everyone.

We headed for the seal colony which was not far from where we were, we walked across lots of rocks and then realised there were two seals laying across from us asleep. One soon woke up and belly flopped along the rocks back to the sea.

That night we slept in the car again, this time however we slept and the beach and watched the sun go down whilst eating pita and dips again - how romantic! During the night Peter was so cold that he had to turn the engine on to put the heat on - it was bloody chilly.

We drove back to Christchurch the following day and swopped el cheapo in for the jucy crib again, we then headed into town where we had Thai for lunch and a walk around cathedral square.

Karen's dad John managed to put us in contact with friends of his in NZ so we arranged to go and stay with them in Rakira. When we finally arrived after lots of traffic and an accident Rewa and Warwick took us to there local pub to meet friends and dinner. We had great food and enjoyed being in company with the kiwis, we then stayed at there home which was lovely and felt like we were at home.

The following day we headed to lake Tekapo, this was roughly an hour away but was a beautful drive with lots of scenic lookputs where we snapped away. The lake itself was beautiful and was surrounded by mountains and trees. We visited the tiny church there which is infront ok the lake itself and has a huge glass window looking out to the lake, we agreed it would be a perfect place for a wedding!

As we drove further on towards Mount Cook we stopped at lake Pukaki which was a lot larger and further spread then the previous and was a sparkling lagoon colour, we continued driving past the lake on our left, mountains on our right and mount cook directly ahead covered in snow. It was such a beautiful scene we didn't want the drive to end, nz is truly beautiful.

We decided we should sleep at mount cook due to the lovely scenery and decided we would relax for the afternoon after are manic week and do a walk around mount Cook national park in the morning- so we sat and watched 24 in the camper which we are addicted to. The wind really started to pick up so we cooked dinner in the shelter provided and was in the camper by 6pm, thank god though as the wind was awful the whole camper was shaking, people were seeking shelter - one couple even resorted to cooking there dinner in one of the public toilets with no lights - eww.

We managed to get to sleep ok but were constantly woken up by the wind outside, the camper shaking and the coldness. Rox had to go to the toilet in the night and her and Peter were both concerned she could get blown away. When she went to the toilet she realised the brave people who had set up a tent earlier on we're gone - not suprisingly.

The next day we drove through Oamaru to get to Dunedin, in which we walked around the town and then spent 40minutes getting lost trying to find the steepest street in the world - you would think you would be able to see it, but no. When we eventually found it we were gob smacked at how steep it actually was, Peter couldn't wait to drive the JUCY up there, however Rox was concerned about the breaks. The JUCY did infact make it to the top where the view was great, by the time we got down we felt bad for driving so we then walked up it and discussed what great bums and thighs the people that live on the street must have.

We made another road side sleep over in order to save money and cooked ourselves vegetable fajitas in the JUCY which were yummy before settling down to a few episodes of 24 - yes you could say we are addicted to it.

The following day was a long drive day to Te Anau which is one of the gateways to Milford Sound. We went of track to a few scenic lookout points, at Kaka point we spotted two wild seals on the beach sleeping so we went over and took a few snaps and Peter tried to make some seal noises to befriend the seals - however the seals rushed into the sea and swam off.

At Nugget point we had a wonder to a few lookouts over the ocean but the best part was on the drive back to the highway when we saw lots of campers pulled over on the road, when we looked to see what they were looking at we realised it was a huge male seal - the dominant bull - on its own on the beach. Look at the photos it is gianormous!

We love the fact that in New Zealand there is wildlife everywhere from fields of cows, sheeps and deers to penguins, dolphins and seals and you can see them everyday at any time.

From Te Anau we had an early start and drove up to Milford Sound, which is actually a fiordland rather than a Sound - anyway - the drive was stunning, the weather was pretty dire but we got to see some stunning rainbows, rivers, valleys and lakes! Once we were there we headed of on our boat trip - we had a freebe given to us for hiring our camper through JUCY which gave us a two for one boat trip! The weather was still pretty crappy, Peter ended up with soaking wet feet because he sent his proper walking boots home, and tried to jump over a massive puddle but fell short! Although it was raining, this adds to the beauty, the hundreds of different waterfalls are in full flow and the rivers are surging! The boat trip was pretty good for a a cheapo one, we got to see, and sail into, a waterfall that was 4 times bigger than Niagra, we saw some seals, a pod of dolphins as well as more waterfalls!

A good morning, Milford Sound is definatly worth the journey! Due to us having limited time we jumped straight back into the JUCY and headed of to Queenstown via Te Anau! Happy driving!

Dont forget to check out the photos!

---