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Published: November 12th 2008
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Day 7 Fishy encounters
We arrived in Kaikoura last night and spent the night in a very nice campsite directly by the sea. The facilities where fab and I had as many hot showers as I could fit in .
On the way to the campground we came across a rather special treat of a fur seal colony. They even had some pups for us to goggle up with our camera.
Today was whale watching day and we choose a rather choppy day to do it on.
However, we didn’t get seasick thanks to those great travel sickness tablets from mom. We saw two Spermwhales and a huge pod of dusky dolphins.
And to really make my day, we spotted some Royal Albatross - the largest seabird in the world with up to a 4 meter wing span. So graceful it made you feel like flying away with them…..
Ahhh, as you can tell I’m in my element now…getting all philosophical.
Day 7/8 Its Cold Out There!!! (And in here).
We continued our journey south to a little valley called Hamner Springs. It got colder as the day wore on so we decided to stay in a lovely little
campsite with more hot showers for the night. They even had a resident kitty for us to cuddle.
Peeling ourselves out of our sleeping bags the next days was torture as the temperature had dropped even further. We were down to 3C by then.
Our plan was to go paddling in the hot springs at the centre of the village, but it took some persuading as it had started to snow by the time we made to it to the site.
We managed to put on a brave face and donned our swimming gear. Yikes, I have never been so cold in all my life! But the reward came with the thermal pools, once we had submerged ourselves in the hot water ranging from 36 to 41C, all of our bits finally defrosted. And what an amazing thing to do, swimming in hot water whilst the snow and rain rages around you! Loved it!
Day 8/9 Glacier Country
Later on day 8 we took the Lewis Pass over a stunning mountain range, passed the city of Greymouth and drove on to the Franz Josef Glacier Valley. The journey took nearly 7 hours but we were glad to have completed
it in one day.
Day 9 Glacier Country continued…
We stayed in a jungle themed campsite for the night which was cool, but absolutely packed. Not surprisingly after our long journey, we overslept the next day and didn’t make it onto the road until gone 10am.
Jaime decided to do some very cool indoor ice-climbing, which I got to watch from the bottom of a -3C ice chamber. Brrr, but I got some fab pictures of how fast Spider-Jaime managed to scramble up the frozen walls. .
We then looked at various options for visiting the Franz Josef glacier and decided the best would be to hike up to the foot and leave any actual glacier walking until the following day with the Fox Glacier. Amazing rock formation, icy cold streams and some rather amazing waterfalls led us to the glacier, which looked like something out of a bond movie.
Day 11 Matheson Lake & Fox Glacier
That fruitcake of a travelling companion of mine decided to get up before sunrise the next morning to get some pics of Mount Cook reflecting in Lake Matheson. (Luckily I was let of the hook and worked on the task of
keeping warm in our camper).
It was worth it though. Look at the pics!! Bless your blue bits Jaime!
As I am typing this, Jaime is up frolicking around (together with a trained safety guide) on Fox Glacier and I’m having the morning off. (well I’m cleaning the camper out shortly, but it’s still considered as a bit of ‘me’ time).
The wind is howling round the camper, I’m snuggled into 2 sleeping bags and I have a chocolate bar as treat saved up…..ahhh live could not get any better. (well maybe with a hot shower but heyho).
Speaks soon xxxd
Day 12 Raindrops keep falling on my head….
You think it rains in England, ha! That’s nothing til you’ve seen the West Coast of NZ!
Apparently it’s the second wettest place on earth, only the high Andies beat it.
But its sure makes for some amazing Waterfalls. We continued our journey south and just had to keep stopping to ogle those breathtaking waterfalls until we were socked to the bone. Cold, wet and by that time thoroughly fed up, I decided it was time to treat ourselves to a dry bed for the night, so we rented
a tepee style lodge and wallowed in the warmth for a few hours.
Day 13 Wow and double wow!
It’s a scorching 23C out there! I think we’ve teleported to the tropics over night
Our journey continues south down some magnificent turquoise blue lakes and lush green hillsides. - I could stand to spend some time here, but our schedule drives us on to Te Anue.
Yeay, we’ve made it to Te Anue with a day to spare. We have a little wonder and then spend the next few hours just getting ourselves together.
Day 14 Getting nervous now ….
Tomorrow is Milford Sound day. For those of you who I haven’t bored with our itinerary, it’s a 4 day hiking trek that we booked to do with the department of conservation.
Its supposed to be the ultimate hiking trip to do for natural beauty….well the pics we’ve seen so far sure look fab.
It’s another scorcher today and I’m sat at a little picnic table with exotic birds tweeting in my ears as I type this.
If this weather holds out it will be an amazing hike, but we have almost been guaranteed to get
a couple of soakings along the way.
At night we’ll be staying in 3 different wooden huts along the way. They are basic with no shower facilities, so its jump in an icy lake or pong! Decisions, decisions…
Anyway, its time for some more chilling out before our big adventure. Will write more soon XXd
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