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Neil:
Hello everyone. Since our last blog we've made our way down the west coast of the south island of NZ passing two of New Zealand's big glaciers before swinging inland and climing towards Mount Cook, (Oceania's tallest peak) and then across to the East coast and south.
New Zealand is all about scenery - and sheep. There are around 4million people who live on the island and most of them live in the main cities - 4 million people and 16 millon sheep. I can't really put into words how stunning the best views are, and even my camera only captures a small impression.
The highlight of our south island adventures have been Mount Cook for me. The main road travels north in a valley basin heading directly for mount cook with smaller but no less imposing peaks surrounding the valley. The day we arrived it was very cloudy and wet and snow was falling on the higher peaks. Despite the limited views the weather caused, there is a large lake that the road follows for about 30km and it an increadible turquoise colour - unlike any water mass i've ever seen. We decieded to camp in
the valley and hope for the weather to clear.
The next morning we awoke to clear blue skys, white mountain peaks and an amazing view of Mount Cook. We drove to the base and followed a walking track for an hour towards a look out. I then left Nicky behind and carried on to a track that climbed the side of the valley. The track was physically demanding - it was as close to vertical as you can get before a walk becomes a climb. After 2 hours i reached the top of the ridge that ran along the edge of the valley and the views were beyond anything i've seen before. Amazing stuff.
I'm loving NZ and will really miss it. We've enjoyed having a big van with on board cooking and toilet - definitly the best way to see this fantastic place.
Nicky:
We have been doing a fair bit of walking in the last few weeks because as Neil has described we have been seeing some of the most amazing scenery and, much to my horror, it really is the best way to get really close to it. Our first major walk was
in the Glaciers. You can do guided walks on the actual ice but I am not that adventurous (to be honest I have loved NZ but I think I would love it more if I was an adrenelin junkie- you can climb, jump, bike, walk or row over, under and through just about everything here!!) so anyway the glaciers.... The Franz Josef glacier is huge and so beautiful, I have never seen one before and it is really imposing. We then headed to the Fox Glacier which is slightly smaller but more accessible. we walked for about an hour through this forest area which was beautiful because it had rained over night, we reached a view point and could see off in the distance this glacier glistening in the sun, then we clambered over some rocks and came face to face with a river. Now I am sure in the summer when it is good weather this river is more of a stream and getting across it is nice and easy because you can take your flip-flops off and wade through in your shorts but in the winter when I was wearing 2 pairs of socks, boots, long trousers and
this stream was a raging torrent of water over very slippery rocks I was not going any further!! I was really dissappointed but I was just not flexible enough to jump the rocks!! So Neil went on and I headed back to the van. His pictures make it look beautiful though!!ha ha!!
After the glaciers we headed to Mt Cook which as Neil has already described is just breathtaking. When we arrived the first day the cloud was so low it was difficult to tell which mountain was which but when we woke up it was abundantly clear because Mt Cook is just so imposing. Please dont be alarmed by Neil saying that he just left me on a walking track half way up a mountain!, actually he headed off on his walk and I did the sensible thing - headed back along the track and went and sat in the Hermitage, a 1920s hotel that was used by Hillary when he climbed the mountain and read my book, ate muffins and drank hot chocolate looking out of the hotel's full length windows over the mountain, a much warmer way to appreciate the view!!
I can't believe we
have only got a week left in NZ, it seems to have gone so fast!! But I think it is one of the most beautiful places we are likely to see on our trip.
Hope everyone is ok, speak soon, lots of love
PS I am sorry that we have banged on about the scenery and there are no pics, but the computer we were on didnt like Neil's camera -will update asap!xx
N xxxxx
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Jenn
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PUPPY!
Aghhhhh we av finally got our PUPPY! Yay.lol. i no u av probably seen kays pic on facebook but hey wanted to tell u myself 2.lol. avnt gt any on mine cos avnt ad time to sit on the computer cos av spent most thye time sitting on the kitchen floor playin wit him.lol. cos nt yet allowed in the dining room. hehe. Hope u r both well. Love you lots xxxxxx