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Published: April 10th 2008
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I've moved up to the North Island in the time it's taken me to write this, so rather alot's happened - I'll try not to ramble! Franz Josef was fantastic, one of my best days here. The weather was rather pants, but me and my friend Beth sung our way through it in a vague attempt to keep spirits high (I know the comments I'll get for writing that!). It was an amazing experience being on a mountain of ice for the day - there are massive cracks and water holes which are easy to fall into so it's rather exciting. The glacier is expanding around 20cm a day, so the ice is constantly changing shape. As a result the guides have to make new routes everyday, so the climb was quite slow as we found ways to get up, and even slower when random ice sheets fall so we have to go back on ourselves to prevent falling down! Awesome stuff!
The next day the weather was bad so we headed straight for Wanaka. I really liked Wanaka, we stayed in an awesome hostel with a tv in our room and a bath!!!! I was so excited that I
had to have two baths that night, how sad! Wanaka was a good oppertunity to do our washing and chill out for a bit in preperation for Queenstown (much needed!). We stopped off at puzzling world on our way to Queenstown which was so much fun. It has a giant maze which I managed to get lost in for 40mins before taking an emergency exit out, and lots of rooms full of optical illusions. We arrived in Queenstown and went straight to 'the original bungy', for those mad enough to jump off. I decided that I'd spent enough money on adventure activities (and was maybe a tiny bit too scared!) so didn't do the bungy, but it was funny to watch the cocky boys get scared! I was in Queenstown for four nights and it was brilliant! The night life is crazy and it's so tourist orientated that there's always something to do. I met so many cool people and had such a blast. I think one of my favourite bits was lugeing - going down the mountain on a little go-kart, but that was closely followed by 'Fergburgers', which was an outstanding burger cafe with the biggest burgers I've
Waterfall
waterfall at milford sound ever seen! It started getting much colder in Queenstown but we were lucky that it was pretty much always sunny. However, the one day it did pour happened to be the day I went to Milford Sound which was a shame. Though renowned for reflective lakes and tranquility, all we saw was clouds and LOTS of waterfalls - impressive, but not as good as we'd hoped 😞 .
I was gutted to leave Queenstown (so gutted that I'm considering extending my time here and returning, we'll see!), but I left for Christchurch on Sunday. It was a long drive, so I was happy when we reached the hostel (Charlie B's in my case), which was really nice. We were reunited with some of our friends who'd only spent two nights in Queenstown so went out for a big curry that evening, yummy 😊 . Christchurch reminded me of a small town in England, nothing too special in my opinion, but pleasant. I went to the botanical gardens which were really pretty, and had a random surfing lesson in the afternoon. It was so much fun but I was rather terrible and struggled to get off my knees. I did,
however, manage to surf backwards lying down on my board which is apparently quite a talent!
From Queenstown we headed for Kaikoura, which was only a couple of hours away. Kaikoura is famous for its' dolphin swimming and whale spotting, but I decided to go on a fishing trip with some friends. We caught lots of fish (I caught a blue cod and two perch!) and 7 crayfish. Our driver, Ginny, cooked them up for us and we had a big feast that evening which was fantastic! The crayfish with garlic butter was my favourite part, and it was satisfying to see the same meal for $70 in a restaurant! My hostel in Kaikoura, 'The Lazy Shag', was really nice and spacious and I almost wish I'd spent more time there, but I left for Wellington the next day.
I enjoyed another night out in Wellington, and said good bye to all the remaining friends that I new (rather sad!). Today I started on a totally new bus to Taupo. The people are really nice, but I'm actually starting another bus tomorrow to do east cape which should be fun. I only have another couple of weeks left
Lugeing
On the lift up to the luge here which is really upsetting, I'm rather enjoying the kiwi lifestyle!
All the best, xxxxx
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