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Christchurch - Nelson
We landed in Christchurch after a mere 4 hours of flying expecting to be met by polar condiitions requiring 17 layers of clothing from warnings we had been given after 6months of Aussie Summer, however we were pleasently suprised to walk out of the airport to glorious sunshine with only a slight chill!
We headed off to the centre of town on the bus, and checked into our hostel before heading out for a brief walk around the cathedral square and surrounds but as we are returning to Christchurch later on we didn't see much. First impressions of the place are that it is fairly old-style town based around the cathedral which is pretty but not hugely impressive compared to some i've seen elsewhere in the world.
The kiwi bus picked us up from a nearby stop pretty early the next morning-a little bit more like the chilly weather we'd been warned about so wrapped up nice and warm. A lot of people on the bus were just starting out like us but some were already on their 2nd part of the journey so a nice mixture of people about 50 altogther. Our driver was a
Maori bloke called Rangi HUGE big guy but very friendly actually and he soon got everyone moving seats and getting to know each other.
LOTS of beautiful scenery on the drive from Christchurch to Kaikoura along the Eastern coastline, a few little stops along the way at various cafes etc so broke the journey up quite nicely. We were told that the weather wasn't looking too good so i was a bit worried we may not be able to do anything special in Kaikoura as i had been planning for the best part of a year! But luck was on our side as we arrived in Kaikoura the weather was perfect and the sea was relatively calm so we checked into our amusingly named hostel 'the lazy shag' and rushed off down to the 'Dolphin Encounter'HQ to check in and get kitted up for our DOLPHIN SWIM!!!
We had full wetsuits with socks, gloves, balaclavas, flippers and allsorts to the point where we basically couldn't move!! Boarding our boat they gave us all their speil about no guarunteed swims etc but we kept our fingers crossed and after 15 minutes out on the boat we started spotting a few
single dolphins jumping in the waves the boat was making. We were given the signal to get all our kit on and prepare to enter the water by sitting at the back of the boat to wait for the entry siren.. when it sounded we had to slide into to water fast and gently so we didn't scare them off!
After dropping into the water it took me over a minute to actually catch my breath as the water was FREEZING! When i'd eventually managed to breathe and get the hang of my snorkel i lost my breath all over again when dolphins appeared from all sides just inches from my face!!!!!!!!!!!! The pod was about 20 dolphins, so not as many as the usual pods which can be up to 2-300 however we had a particularly playful group and with the hints and tips we'd been given to keep them interested we managed to keep them interested and playing for the whole swim time (normally the pod loosed interest and you have to get in and out of the water 2 or 3 times, which the other 2 groups of the afternoon DID have to do even though they
had bigger pods) we had great fun making lots of squeaks and clicks to keep them entertained and swimming around in circles making eye-contact and trying to keep up with their immense speed. They are very cheeky though- they know when they are being watched and when you are trying to play so they start twisting and speed up and show off totally!
Beacuase they were so playful we ended up staying in the water 10 mins longer than usual winter groups do so by the time we heaved ourselves out we were well and truly frozen to the core! I needed assistance to yank my suit off and matt kindly put my socks on for me and i was not only cold but a little sea-sick whilst we were bobbing around in pursuit of the dolphins for a photo-opp from outside the water which also mean't we got to see heaps of the huge Albatross too! A total dream come true and the perfect day for it too!
A nice evening over a few drinks with some of the people from the group and thena fairly early night tucked up ready for another day.
Only a short hop
for us up to Blenheim to be met by Phil, a friend of Auntie Rose and Uncle Ian who live in a beautiful house just outside Blenheim with a lovely little vineyard for Phil's personal crop! We had a spot of lunch by the river and walked along it whilst Phil was at wine-making college and then went back to sample some of Lils cooking before she unfortunately had to head off to Wellington for a work contract for the remainder of our stay (but i am under strict instructions to return with my Auntie Rose next time!) We were also introduced to Cassie and Neo the dogs and Buster the cat. We were very lucky and had a lovely room and bed to spend a couple of days in comfort!
Our first full day in Blenhiem started with a yummy cooked breakfast to build up our strength for our wine tasting tour by bicycle! We ended up doing a 30km roud trip on the bikes in 4 hours, broken up by several stops and many glasses of wine to taste! Matt even fancied himself as a bit of an expert and started detecting the 'oaky' tastes! We saw some
beautiful views and tasted some delicious wines even buying a couple of bottles! get us!
After the bike ride we were well and truly exhausted (6months of very little exercise had made us a little un-fit!) so we spent the rest of the day just relaxing!
The following day Phil was our guide and drove us to Picton, very pretty little place where the ferry to the North Island goes. He then drove us back to Blenheim along the coastline showing us some spectacular views and bays along the way and finishing off with a short trip to the chocolate factory (to satisfy me) and a beer tasting (to satisfy Matt) and just a little more wine before heading back to pack and have one last 'proper meal'.
Our next bus arrived to collect us and drop some people off at Picton where our new driver Buzz (another pretty large Maori guy) took over for the next big chunk of our trip! Picton to Nelson wasn't a long trip and once we got there we headed to our hostel and then straight back out for a brisk walk to the top of a nearby hill to stand and
the most central point of New Zealand for yet more spectacular views!! Free vegetable soup at the hostel followed by more relaxing and then free breakfast in the morning was very welcome!
Nelson - Franz Josef
On leaving Nelson we headed for Westport stopping along the way to visit the Nelson Lakes National Park to a very windy lake complete with pretty high waves! (some of the boys from the bus braved a swim but i value my core body temperature and my fingers and toes so gave it a miss and watched from the nice warm bus as did most of the others!) We drove through Buller Gorge which was again completely beautiful to see.
Arriving in Weatport we spent the evening chilling out with the group watching films and chatting and turned in early as there was little to do around Westport itself and we knew the following night was going to be a little more 'wild'.
We left westport around 9am and headed for our first stop at Cape Foulwind for a walk around the track to see the seal colony on the rocks, a bit breezy but nice and refreshing all the same!
A little longer on the bus and then a lunch stop before yet another walk around the Pancake rocks and blowholes which were pretty cool! We then stopped to collect a few people from greymouth and stock up on our supplies for our bin-bag themed fancy dress party later that evening.
We arrived at Lake Mahinapua hotel nicknamed the 'poo pub' and were met by its slightly nutty owener 83 yr old Les, straight talking, no nonsense bloke with a very dry sense of humour! We started by heading to the bar and grabbing some refreshments and then set about making costumes for the evenings festivities. I opted for a full dalmation outfit complete with shoes and headband! Matt went for a little more of a minimalist look and was taped into his lilac borat man-kini (if you don't know what that is check out the photographs when i upload them-its beyond words!). Before the evening got underway we were treated to a HUGE meal of steak and venison stew accompanied by heaps of veggies, pasta and allsorts prepared by Buzz and Les for us which was delicious and a nice break from the soup and noodles we are having
most of the time! The evening was amusing we had allsorts of costumes from fried eggs and zebra to penguins,fairies and a nun! Not too crazy drunk so not too many bad heads in the morning although one guy managed to get his eyebrow and head shaved once he'd passed out for the night!
Before we left we went down to the beautiful Lake Mahinapua to catch some photographs of the reflections of the mountains in the lake which was stunning, and then we carried along to an outback museum/township/cafe combo run by a busman and an english woman for some breakfast before continuing into the westland national park, finishing in Franz JOsef overlooked by the beautiful glaciers!
Franz Josef is a sleepy little town and we didn't have to go far to get kitted up for our days hike up to the top of the glacier.The walk started through the rainforest tracks and then accross the river bed which is almost dry at the moment as they have had very little rain recently. This walk is probably the hardest of the day because all the rocks are uneven and it takes about 45mins! At the base of
the glacier we duck under the barriers and stop to attach the crampons to our boots which felt very odd! The first part of the climb was very tough on the old lungs and heart, the steps were just a little too high to walk up comfortably so by the time we reached the top of the first ridge we were all completely out of breath!(though the views were worth it!) We slowed the pace a bit by now, stopping every so often to admire the views or wait for our guide (Basil) to chop us some better steps with his pick-axe (very manly!) We crawled through a tunnel which was definately more fun than you'd think and also squeezed our way through some very small crevices in the ice. One of these was very narrow and i managed to be the first of 3 people in our group of 11 to get myself stuck halfway through! it was very amusing to eveyone including myself but once i had offloaded my bag to Basil i managed to get myself up to the top albeit soaking wet! (Matt also got stuck so he can't tease me too much!)
Lunch on top
of a glacier, with brilliant sunshine in a cloudless sky with a waterfall on one side and trees on the other is quite a hardship as you can imagine!!
The descent was much easier than the ascent it must be said, although the walk back over the river bed was the hardest as i was beginning to get exceptionally tired! Safe to say i was completely dead to the world very quickly after getting into bed!
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