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Published: April 25th 2006
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Whale-watching at Kaikoura
One of the sperm whales that we saw during our Kaikoura whale-watching cruise, as he heads back underwater Despite all of the Lord of the Rings hype about the beauty of New Zealand scenery, I have to say to say that I still was unprepared for the reality - it is an amazing place to visit, and the natual beauty on south island is particularly fantastic, even from the moment that you arrive through the Sounds on the ferry from Wellington!!
We have had almost 4 weeks in New Zealand, and have had a great time (despite C having to contend with the in-laws for a week of that!!!)
The highlights have been:
NORTH ISLAND:
- a few relaxing days in Whangarei, catching up with Helen's family & friends over for the wedding;
- Steve (Helen's brother) & Roxanne's wedding, amidst the glorious views of the Kari Kari peninsula, with 270 degree views of the vines, beaches and the sea;
- a coach tour up to the far north point of Cape Reinga, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea, and speeding down the length of the 90-mile beach while the waves crash in on the beach; meanwhile, seeing what happens if you do not heed warnings of the establishment to leave the
90 mile beach (Cape Reinga)
What happens if you ignore warnings & do not leave the beach before the weather turns!!! beach when the weather is turning bad (ie: your car gets destroyed by the sea & is sunk into the sand with only the roof showing!)
- the peaceful tranquility of a house on the beach in Oakura (Bay of Islands), where we stayed with the main wedding party for a few days;
- attempting to travel through the "worst sign-posted" city of the world: Auckland. Directions to the main airport & THE main state highway 1 (motorway) would be clearly sign-posted in most cities...but not in Auckland!!
- visiting the national museum (Te Papa) in Wellington, and experiencing the wind of the "windy (capital) city", whilst catching up with NZ-based friends Alan, Eyleen & Carrie.
SOUTH ISLAND:
- whale-watching in Kaikoura, where we got to see 3 large sperm whales, plus dusky dolphins and various bird-life.
- tasting the best of the Marlborough region wines whilst in Blenheim - well, someone has got to take up the offer of free tastings!!!
- discovering that driving times between towns in NZ should be estimated (in advance) at an average speed of 60 kph - the scenery is as fantastic as the roads can be
Chris' new haircut
Chris sports his new shorter haircut (grade 1 all over), after Eyleen "kindly" shaves his hair in Wellington. Back-drop is from the Queen Elizabeth Drive, the road from Picton to Havelock. winding! Nothing moves fast around here!!
- hiking up to the foot of the large Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers whilst waiting for the flying conditions to improve ("Helly hikes!"); and then finally doing the real 'heli-hike' up onto the mid-level (1,200m) of the Franz Josef Glacier = a helicopter ride up to & off the glacier, with a 2-hour hike on the glacier in between;
- the beautiful scenery whilst driving down the west coast of NZ, down from Greymouth to Franz Josef, and then FJ down to Wanaka = breath-taking!
- visting the lovely town of Wanaka, set on the lakes & with a lakeside/mountain view from our bedroom at the hostel!! And with plenty of walks and drives that rival anything we have ever seen = lots of photos we will have to edit at some point before we can show them all to you!
- a full-day excursion out into Doubtful Sound, which at 40km long is one of the longest fiords in Fiordland area (SW NZ). First you have to cruise across Lake Manapouri, and then be driven across Wilmot Pass to reach the fiord. However, it is a beutiful area
Franz Josef from on the glacier
A view up the Franz Josef glacier during our hike at 1,200m (it is 2,500m at top & sea level at bottom!) & worth the trek to get there - and was a fab trip despite the overcast/cloudy conditions.
- going on a cruise down through Milford Sound, probably the most famous of the fiords in NZ. The 2 hour drive to get to Milford Sound is stunning enough, especially down the steep alpine pass about 20km out - but then the 14km fiord itself is also fab. And we had a sunny day (the first they had in 10 days - it rains 2 out of every 3 days in fiordland!)
- the stunning lakeside views that we had from our bedrooms of our B&B at Manapouri (a bit of luxury after staying at hostels for 2 weeks!) and the back-packer lodge in Queenstown ... with the view almost worth the cost of the room!
- getting "stuck" in Queenstown, as overnight snow has closed most of the mountain pass roads (60cm of snow fell overnight on one of them!), there has been flooding closing westerly roads to Christchurch, and all flights have been grounded!! Guess we will be spending another night here then (and hopefully can get to Christchurch before are due to leave NZ?!?)
Only
Lake Matheson
The lake is famous for its reflections -the cloud was hiding the mountain tops, but it was still impressive a few days left in NZ, then off to Australia we go - Sydney here we come...
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