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Published: April 22nd 2010
Sperm Whale
With Southern Alps in the backgroundSo, I spent the last week or so on the Kiwi Bus in the South Island and it was pretty awesome. My first day on the bus, we headed north from Christchurch to Kaikoura and went whale watching, which was pretty over priced but I did see a sperm whale called Tiaki, twice. But we did only see about 10% of him and it was hard to comprehend just how big it was. But still it was cool to have seen the whale and the info on the boat was excellent and they had a really good video about the area and the sealife. We also found a pod of dolphins, a pod of over 400 dolphins! So that kind of made up for it a bit.
The next day the bus went up to Picton and some people headed off on the ferry to Wellington and we picked up people coming off the ferry, which was good because I met a bunch of people who I ended up hanging out with for the rest of the trip and having an awesome time with. We then headed on to the town of Nelson which is on the north west of
the island and is known as the gateway to the Abel Tasmin National Park. I met up with Clare from my flight over while I was there and we went for a swim. First proper exercise I have done in ages so I was pretty chuffed about that. I didn’t stay long in Nelson because I had a quite tight schedule but I’m sure I’ll be back in the campervan.
The next few days were spent travelling down the west coast and it was a bit wetter and I had to get my mac-in-a-sac out. Pretty annoyed thought because I think I’ve lost my sac. Anyway, we did some pretty stunning walks on the way down the coast, I always managed to be part of the group that went the right way, of course. Really enjoyed the views and we saw a lot of wildlife too including lots of New Zealand fur seals (which are actually sea lions, but that’s another story). We also had a bus party at one of our stops on the way down which was good but our bus was a bit tame really. There were only 40 of us on the bus and there
were 8 couples so we recon that had something to do with it/
We had a two day stop in Franz Joseph Glacier and most people did the glacier hike on the free day but I just chilled out and enjoyed the awesome sunny day because I’m going to do it with the boys when we make it round there. More stunning scenery down there too. Pretty standard for New Zealand really/
After Franz Joseph we headed in land to Wanaka and had an over night stop there. It was pretty but just looked like home really and wasn’t very big but was a nice place to visit. I think it’s busier when the ski season gets under way. We went to Puzzling World while we were there, they have a maze and an illusions centre which kind of messed with your brain but was well fun.
We headed for our last stop in Queenstown, via lots of stunning views (again) and lots of Lord of the Rings film sites, which I was loving! We also stopped in at the AJ Hacket bungy centre at the Kawarau Bridge bungy jump. I definitely have done it if I
Kiwi Bus Group
We walked the right way, pretty pleased about it. had the money but it was just too expensive. I’m really not scared by bungy jumping at all now. Apparently you can get quite addicted, I’m sure I would be if I had the money to be. Usually you spend two nights in Queenstown but I was meeting Scotti P and Rob in Christchurch the next day so I only had the one night. We went out and got out Ferg burgers which are these massive burgers which are famous in NZ. I thought they were really good but we were all a little disappointed at the size really, we managed chips as well… Then we headed out for our bus night out and had a great night out and I was not loving the half 8 bus the next morning. I was really sad to be leaving loads of the people on the bus but hopefully I’ll catch up with a few of them while I’m touring around with the boys! All in all it was a pretty awesome time on the Kiwi Bus!
I’m in the campervan with Scotti P and Rob now and it’s pretty cool. But I’ll blog about that in a week or so!
Miss you all lots still, so long till I’lm home but I’ve almost been away 6 months now!
Love love
Charlotte xx
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