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Published: December 13th 2007
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Well hello everyone!!
We are now well into our trip round New Zealand, so thought it was about time we updated the blog to let you know what we have been up to.
The first thing to say is that we both love NZ to bits, the people, the scenery and the wildlife are fantastic, they could do with learning how to brew a decent beer, but that is only a slight grumble!
As you will all probably know, we decided to jump ship from Sydney and do our NZ trip a few months earlier than planned, and it has turned out to be one of the best decisions we have made since being away. Being on the road in this beautiful country definitely beats being in Sydney looking for work!
We have been very lucky with the springtime weather, today being the first day that we have had persistent rain, and the temperature being up to 30 degrees at times. It certainly has helped to keep the tan topped up.
So, what have we been up to? We won't bore you with all the details (I will attach photos to give you a better idea!)
but the first week was North Island and we have been on South Island since. We started with a very early flight from Sydney to Auckland, found our hire car and drove to Waitomo, home of the Glowworm caves. They were fantastic, stalectites, stalecmites and thousands of worms with fire in their tails. A tip to anyone thinking of going....get there early. We made the 9.30 tour (us and 4 others) by the time we had finished there were at least 6 busses and the car park was full!
From there we went to Rotorua, home of the thermal parks and sulphur smell (you can let rip at will there and noone will be any the wiser, as it always smells like it!). While we were there we did all the tourist sites; the thermal park and mauori village, spent an afternoon in the Polynesian Spa (6 naturally heated pools between 38 and 42 degrees overlooking the lake) and took a trip to Mount Maunganui. We also met up with Rich's parents who were in the vicinity.
Then it was a long drive down to Wellington, split up with a stopover in Taihape. The drive took us over
the Desert Road and past Mount Ruipaihu, which was used in Lord of the Rings. In Wellington we met up with Helen's Dad's cousin, Patricia. She was kind enough to show us the sights and cook us dinner. We also managed to wander round the Botanical Gardens and go to Te Papa (the national museum, very good and free!!). We had a couple of nights in Wellington, but had planned a slightly longer stay, the spanner in the works being a certain Mr Beckham who was in town playing football. This resulted in exactly one dorm bed being available in Wellington..I kid you not.
After Wellington, we were up early again to get the ferry across to South Island. They had football on in the bar, so I managed to watch 2 Premiership matches on the crossing!! We then drove on to Kaikoura, where they do whale watching tours. We had seen plenty of them on the east coast of Oz so decided against a tour....but then realised that there really isn't much else to do in town. Interestingly (??) the whale watching tours only started about 20 years ago, as the local council didn't think anyone would pay
just to go and see whales. The boats now bring in over NZ$40m a year and the town has doubled in size...so they got that one a bit wrong!
The spectacular drives that are the mainstay of south island started the next day when we headed through the Southern Alps on to Arthurs Pass. After one night there, we carried on through the mountains on to Glacier Country. The drive was the most scenic I think I have ever seen, snow capped mountains, deep blue mountain lakes...really stunning.
The highlight of the trip to date waited for us in Franz-Josef. A half day glacier walk....it truly was awesome. We were given hiking boots and crampons and spent four hours being led up and on to the glacier. It affected me slightly and I was jumping around like a mountain goat..before I realised how deep some of the ravines were and Helen told me to stop! The views from up on the glacier were gorgeous, you could see for miles and being up on the Glacier just brought something completely different to it. Definitely the best $90 I have spent in a long time!
Our next proper stop
was Queenstown, but that was a couple of days away. The distances in this country really aren't all that great, but it takes a lot of time to travel, because the roads twist and turn their way through the mountains (which also means that I am likely to stop every few minutes for a photo opportunity)!
We spent a lovely night in Wanaka, the weather was beautiful and we sat by the lake for an hour or so and had a drink in the evening overlooking the lake with the snow capped mountains in the distance. One of the best drinking spots we have found since we have been away.
On route from Wanaka to Queenstown we stopped at Arrowtown (really good pies) and at one of the bungy jump sites. They have a viewing platform and standing there was enough to put me off. I don't mind admitting just watching them made me feel sick! Helen was also put off, but she thought it looked a bit too easy rather than any fears (or so she says!!). The next day she woke up with a really heavy cold, and the weather turned, so we decided to have
an easy day and organise the rest of our trip.
This completed, we drove to Te Anau, as we were planning on a trip to Milford Sound for a cruise. The hostel was on a deer farm (and they taste really good in pies) and the views from our cabin were amazing. The cruise on Milford Sound was fantastic, the weather wasn't great but the clouds hanging on the cliffs made it really eerie and atmospheric...very Lord of the Rings! We were lucky enough to find a pod of dolphins in a very playful mood, which was an added bonus.
So that was yesterday and today we have driven to Dunedin in the rain. We are planning on going out onto the Otago Peninsula tomorrow to try and find us some Penguins, Fur Seals (that are actually Sea Lions) and Albatross.
That's about all for now, sorry if it's a bit of a long entry, but we have managed to cram quite a bit in over the last two and a half weeks. And just think, in two weeks Christmas will be over!
On that happy thought, we will say goodbye for now.
Helen &
Rich
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