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Flying into New Zealand, we were once again re-united with our Scottish pals, Laney and Susan. No matter how much we try and move around the world, these 2 always seem to conveniently crop up to cramp our style. Anyway getting a big old campervan seemed the thing to do so after a couple days pottering around Christchurch, we picked up the oil tanker of a road vehicle and set out on the roads of Kiwi-land.
First stop was the tallest mountain on the island, Mt Cook. You need a few days and a bit more specialist equipment than the trainers and hoody that we possessed to climb it, so instead we parked up and set about heading to do one of the many walks within the surrounding area the following morning. Yet the weather wasn't kind to us so after discussing it (Girls - 'Come on its only a bit of rain.' Ross and Sean - 'Screw that, I'm not getting out of bed to get soaked') we bit the bullet and headed further south to the town of Dunedin. This is a small town with a strong student feel to it so we spent a couple days exploring
and planning a few things to do in the area. Again though, the weather seemed to be our worst enemy so we weren't able to do everything we set out to. Buying a board-game and a few beers was the best way to relieve our growing frustration with the conditions, but luckily for us they vastly improved from here on in.
We headed across-country to firstly to the town of Te Anau which we used as a gateway to get to the beautiful Milford Sound. Cut out by a glacier over millions of years, the Sound is a massive tourist attraction and as soon as you see it, it is obvious why. Steeped mountains climbing out of pristine, clear lakes all within an area so vast that is virtually impossible to comprehend the distances and heights around you. And half of the beauty is in the drive up to place where the 2 hour journey cuts through valleys and mountains alike and makes the realities of a miserable journey up the M1 really hit home.
The popular way to see the Sound (or more accurately a Fjord) is to go in one of the huge tourist boats. However we
braved the cold and kayaked it, which paid of immensely once we were immersed in amongst the cliff faces and natural beauty that even the worse photographer would struggle to take a bad picture of.
Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand, was the next stop as Sean and the girls wanted to do a Bungy jump. They chose the original bungy location over the Kawarau River which has been around since 1989, whereas I had no desire to do one, so chose to save my money (or risk bottling the jump at the last moment more like). However once we got there the whole thing didn't seem too bad and although I could tell them it looked easy, without actually doing one myself, I didn't really have a leg to stand on in the argument.
So I paid my money and we all threw ourselves off a bridge like lunatics. I would like to try and put down in words what it felt like, but I really can't. All I can say is that you really have to try it yourself to know.
Next on the agenda was the Franz Joseph Glacier trek, which is essentially a
climb up a mountain made of ice. It was quite a good experience which offered some awesome views and scenery but unfortunately it is also a huge tourist attraction. So us and about 50 other people set out that morning to climb in a very 'production line' style operation of exploring the glacier. This is a side to New Zealand that I wasn't especially pleased to see, but I guess as long a tourists like us continue to pay the prices, it is something that will continue to happen.
Onto the North Island via the ferry, we stopped by Waiotapu Volcanic Park which, along with a few places on the north island, is where the Earth's crust is thinner so it allows natural heat to escape to the surface. The result was an island formed on volcanic rock with bubbling mud and water pools, and steam rising from holes in the ground making it look like a scene from the Jurassic age. Pretty cool to walk around. Nearby was also a outdoor spa which used these natural hot springs so a few hours were well spent here nursing our weary bodies.
Learning from our mistakes at the glacier,
we booked to do some spelunking (caving exploring in layman’s terms) with a company that had its own private cave system and didn't take groups of more than 6 people down. A great experience we got to abseil, climb, cave and float in some rubber tubes down a pitch-black tunnel, lit slightly by glow-worms on the roof.
And that just about concludes our NZ experience and with it our Southern Hemisphere adventures. As I write this we are sitting in Auckland, killing a few days before we fly out to the USA for the final leg of the trip. So I think for the first time in 6 months you are actually up-to-date with exactly where we are right now you lucky lucky people (providing you aren't reading this 3 months down the line obviously). So with that I will leave you until the next episode.
Ross
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