New Zealand - South Island!

---

After a very scenic and beautiful 3 hour ferry journey crossing through the cook straight and Queen Charlotte Sound we arrived in Picton in the South island. We carried on straight through into Nelson, driving through the Marlborough Vineyards, passing through a town called Havelock - ‘the green shell mussel capital of the world’. We stopped for lunch at Pelerous reserve to be temporarily attacked once again by the work of the devil - Sand flies! That evening we enjoyed some local beer tasting and planned our next few days.

On arrival in the south island the change in scenery was dramatically different to that of the north, with much higher landscapes and snow capped mountains everywhere we looked. The following day we ventured out to the ‘Abel Tasman’ National park. We took a scenic water taxi from Kaiteriteri to an old Maori Pa site at ‘Pitt Head’ passing ‘Split apple rock’ which has a strong Maori connection/history. On arrival to Pitt Head we started a 4-5 hour coastal walk stopping for lunch at ‘Cleopatra’s Pool’ - a beautiful secluded waterfall and side pools. The walk was pretty moderate, no where near as strenuous or painful as the ‘Tongariro Crossing’ we did in the north island! The walk had some beautiful coastal views along with some good inland bush tracks. Arriving at ‘Bark Bay’ in the rain (our camping spot for the night) we quickly set up our tent and managed to cook dinner only by the help of a local school kid showing us how to use the gas stove properly! That night in our tent, the rain was torrential. As Holly fell asleep, Kev looked at the roof of the tent praying for it not to cave in! The next morning we woke to meet our kayak instructor on the beach (still raining!) and jumped into our double kayak - better known as the ‘divorce vessel’ where couples are known to fall out over steering and paddle issues! We were no different and some light hearted bickering occurred! Just before setting off, it was then confirmed that the kayaking was for over 4 hours and a total of 17km out in the open ocean following the coastal line. Passing through a strip known as the ‘mad mile’, the weather got worse, the waves got higher and the kayaking got a hell of a lot tougher. We made a brief stop at ‘Pinnacle Island’ in our kayaks, circling around to see all the seals lying on the rocks. We then got ridiculously excited when we saw the shape of a fin literally a few meters in front of us, frantically trying to get closer, we thought it was a dolphin; our excitement was then curbed when the instructor pulled a jacket out of the water! The jacket couldn’t have looked more like a fin!! Both feeling seasick, we pulled into a beach for lunch and decided the kayaking was too tough/not enjoyable, so we requested a water taxi to collect and take us back to Kaiteriteri.

The following day we headed towards Westport down the west coast, stopping at Nelson Lakes National Park, parking up next to the very scenic ‘Lake Rotoiti’. The lake is surrounded by beautiful mountains that are reflected by the still waters of the lake, inhabited by a black swan and a huge eel which was circling in the shallow water. Braving the cold waters, Kev decided to run along the deck and take the plunge into the freezing cold waters, which were surprisingly refreshing! The lake was surrounded by over confident ducks, one of which bit Holly’s foot. We got back on the bus and winded our way down the ‘Buller Gorge’ - New Zealand’s longest, & one of the most scenic drives alongside the Buller River.

Heading down the state highway 6, which stretches 435km along the Tasman shoreline, we headed to ‘Lake Mahinapua’ stopping at ‘Cape Foulwind’ and did an hour long walk stopping at one of New Zealand’s largest seal colonies. Continuing our journey we pulled over at ‘Punakaikis Pancake Rocks’, which consisted of several layered rock formations dating back to over millions of years ago. That night we stopped at the ‘Poo Pub’ ran by 84 year old Les. This was a barbeque and themed ‘bad taste’ night, with both of us dressing accordingly.

We arrived in ‘Franz Josef’ glacier village the next day - nestled in Westland national Park. The following day we were due to do our full day glacier hike, but after being suited and booted the trip was cancelled due to extreme high winds up in the glacier. From where we stayed we were able to see lots of snow capped mountains which was incredibly beautiful - quite surreal. The following day, crampons on (studded boot attachments), it was full steam ahead and we commenced the walk to the bottom of the glacier through some bush and over rocks. The whole hike lasted around 6 hours, we did some great ice walking and rope aided climbs. Weather was pretty ideal except a few rain interludes, and we enjoyed drinking the fresh glacier water out of some little insets.

Next day we headed to Lake Wanaka, stopping for a walk to Lake Matheson - the perfect ‘Reflection Lake’ - mirroring New Zealand’s biggest mountain - Mount Cook. Lake Wanaka was a beautiful place, surrounded by more mountains, with lovely weather. Heading to adrenalin & partytown‘Queenstown’ the next day stopping at ‘Puzzling World’ which consisted of a huge human maze along with various illusion rooms. We also stopped at ‘Kawarua Bridge’ - home of bungee jumping. After watching a few people jump from the 43m bridge, we booked our bungee for elsewhere - the 134m Nevis! - New Zealand’s highest! Had a big night out which involved drinking cocktails from small teapots! The night ended with consumption of the infamous ‘Fergburger’ - huge cheap delicious burgers!

A few days later we headed to Dunedin, stopping at ‘Baldwin Street’ - the steepest street in the world. On arrival in Dunedin, we headed to Cadbury world for a guided factory tour which involved some free chocolate and a 1 tonne chocolate waterfall. Passing through the Catlins the next day, we headed to Invercargill stopping at nugget point - a coastal look-out with families of seal pups at the bottom of the lighthouse. Drove to a long stretch of beach in search of some sea lions, which we eventually found. There was one huge sea lion in particular that we chose to keep a safe distance from after hearing they are able to outrun a fast human! After a few people got a bit closer the lion let out a massive warning roar, which soon cleared everyone off! There was a female and male cuddled up close to one another which made a touching sight. Headed to Curio bay in search of the ‘Hector Dolphins’ (the smallest and rarest dolphins in the world). After looking out for about 45mins, and our hopes having died down, we turned for one last look and spotted a pod swimming out in the bay. Ceasing the opportunity she had always hoped for, Holly stripped off to her underwear and made a run/swim for it. After swimming out for about 10 minutes with 2 others, Holly realized they seemed to be swimming out farther, so she made a suggestion to the other 2 that they stopped swimming and made some underwater noises with their mouths. As she turned her head, one dolphin came out on the water right within arms reach. Before they all knew it, there were dolphins all around them! A very emotional and amazing experience - free and off the cuff! After a while we all swam back to shore, reveling in our experience, with grins that didn’t die down for the rest of the day! Having lived off of peanut butter slices for lunch and pasta for dinner pretty much the whole of our time in New Zealand we decided to indulge for a few days and had a beautiful group meal that night along with a few beers which cost no more than fourteen English pounds for the two of us! A bargain!

The following day we headed from Invercargill to Te-Anau, taking in some beautiful scenery along the way. Next day we headed to Milford Sound, cruising through the waters on a ferry tour - the sound is a beautiful asset to NZ, and has been used for some Lord of the Rings filming. After all the stunning views we had already witnessed on the South Island, the sound was stunning - a little over-hyped - but stunning none the less. Heading back to Queenstown we began to mentally prepare ourselves for the Bungee the next day!!!!!!!!!!!!

Driving up to an extremely steep and dangerous road up a canyon, we reached the top, where we had our first views of Nevis in the distance!! After getting some harnesses on, we were shoved in a small high wire cart, with gridded flooring to be taken to the main jump pod. This was a petrifying experience in itself - dangling above the massive canyon in the wind and rain, Holly started to bawl, while Kev held on for both of them for dear life! We finally reached our jumping destination - a pod dangling in the middle of a high wire over the Nevis river which we could just about make out from that height!! Kev jumped first, on the second countdown with not much difficulty. Wish we could say the same for Holly, who had a shameful 10 minutes, screaming and bawling on the edge before somehow throwing herself over - still screaming as she was pulled back up after the jump! Rush was unreal and enjoyable for Kev, but a horrific experience for Holly, although a great achievement for someone with height fears!! We celebrated our bravery with another Fergburger!

Headed to Christchurch for a few days - not really much to do there and the weather was rubbish and freezing. Headed to Kaikoura - famous for its extensive marine life of whales and dolphins. We arrived to lovely weather - it was nice to see the sun again! We booked ourselves onto the ‘dolphin encounter’, the one thing Holly had been waiting for! Anxious if we would find the Dusky dolphins, we headed out on a little boat for half an hour and stumbled across 250 plus dusky dolphins - everywhere!!!! Jumped in and out of the boat 5 times to swim with the amazing creatures - playing, racing and investigating us! They seemed thrilled for the company, but not as much as we were to see them! Kev enjoyed this experience a lot more than he had imagined, topped off by 1 singular dolphin coming up to him underwater and making eye contact for a few seconds, 10cm away. Holly swam in circles with 3 dolphins swimming around her, getting faster and faster! So amazing to realize they are totally wild, and yet so intrigued by us, and so friendly. They are the most acrobatic of the dolphin species and we enjoyed watching them flipping out of the water, backwards and forwards!

Coming towards the end of our time in New Zealand, we relaxed in Kaikoura for a few days, by the sea in the sunshine, before getting a bus back to Christchurch for our flight to Sydney.

New Zealand is difficult to put into words, because it is so visually inexplicable! We conquered so much during our time there - so many activities, sights, walking, and exploring. To sum up, Cape Reigna, Paihia, Bay of Islands, 90 mile beach, Auckland, Cathedral Cove, Mercury Bay, Hot water beach, Rotorua, Maori Cultural night, white water rafting, luging, Waitomo Caves, black water rafting, sheep shearing, rabbit shearing, Huka Falls, sky diving, lake Taupo, Tongariro crossing, River valley, Wellington, Te Papa Museum, Cuba Street Carnival, Botanical Gardens, Queen Charlotte Sound, Picton, Nelson, Abel Tasman, Sandflies, Walking, Kayaking, Seals, Nelson Lakes National Park, Lake Rotoiti, Cape Foulwind, Lake Mahinapua, Franz Josef, Glacier Hike, Mt. Cook, Lake Matheson, Queenstown, Fergburger, Dunedin, Cadburys world, Invercargill, Penguins, Curio Bay, Sea lions, Hector Dolphins, Te Anau, Milford Sound, Bungee jump, Christchurch, Kaikoura, Dusky Dolphins, laughs, friends, and so much fun! The beauty of New Zealand will never leave us! An unreal, amazing, stunning, exciting, fun and exhilarating 6 weeks.

Australia here we come…

---