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Published: October 16th 2010
Day 75
An early start and a day off driving for Brett as we hopped on board the Milford Explorer for our tour to Milford Sound. Apparently it's the wettest place in the world but we were lucky enough to have bright sunshine! After a couple of hours journey, with commentary from our young comedian driver, we reached Fiordland National Park and stopped off at various waterfalls, rivers and mountains...all spectacular scenery. Not long to our cruise part of the tour when we went past a "no stopping area", due to it being an avalanche zone, we were just going through a tunnel when drama occured...someone had broken down in the tunnel (the worst possible place!) meaning no one could get past either way...our driver reversed back out and past the avalanche area. We waited outside for around half an hour, nervous about our tour continuing whilst watching numerous mini avalanches! Luckily the road was cleared and we were able to go safely through the tunnel to the amazing scenery of the "thousand waterfalls". We made our way down to our boat and then went on a cruise around Fiordland, going right up to Stirling Falls (150ft waterfall) as well as making our way to an under water observatory. After the cruise we made the long journey back to Queenstown. As soon as we got back we headed for a recommended "Devil Burger" (which we would now recommend too!) before heading to the "World Bar" where we played a pub quiz and didn't spend a pound (or dollar!) as we drank a load of free beer!!! A great tour followed by a great evening.
Day 76
After checking out of our campsite we headed down to Queenstown Central Business District (CBD - why don't we use this phrase in England?!), had a brief walk through Queenstown park, walked past the lake and had numerous toliet stops before we were finally picked up for our lunch time Hang Gliding...this time the weather was good and before we knew it we were on top of Coronet Peak (Queenstowns largest mountain) getting into our flying gear! There wasn't any time to be nervous and within minutes Mandy was running in mid air off the cliff tied to her Hang Glider and tandem instructor...Brett watched her go before heading off too. A unique experience and slightly more relaxed then the Sky Dives we've both done in the past. We flew over Queenstown for around 15 minutes before swooping to the ground (the best bit!) like a bird and landing like a plane with the wheels rolling on the ground with your body just a couple of inches away and Brett's trainers scrapping along the floor! What a great feeling!! We were both smilling and then got to see (and buy) the in-flight photos and videos!
After grabbing a bite to eat and with adrenaline still pumping we made the journey north of the south island, choosing to take the scenic route which started with very steep and twisty roads to the top of a mountain (a good challenge for Brett's driving!) which was rewarded with another incredible view. The route then took us up, over and around numerous mountains before we reached our destination of Wanaka. We made our way to Stuart Landsborough's Puzzling World and the illusion room which was a bit of a laugh. We then went down to Lake Wanaka, did some shopping and headed off again to find somewhere to sleep. We found our first Department of Conservation (DOC) campsite (most of them are really hard to find and off the beaten track a bit!) which is a basically just an area to park with a public toilet. We parked looking over Lake Wanaka under some trees. You're supposed to self register and pay a small fee to stay, but with no forms what could we do?! A few dollars saved tonight.
Day 77
Time to head to the west coast (Brett was disapointed not to see Dr Dre or any gangsters!) and we did a lot of driving today as we went through Mount Aspiring National Park driving over a load of one lane bridges (one we even shared with a train track!!!) as we passed many creeks and rivers. We stopped at a couple of lookout points before making a proper stop at the town, Haast for refreshments! We then carried along up the west coast until we reached the main attractions, the Glaciers - a large piece of moving ice which flows 100,000 times slower than water! We went on a forty five minute walk upto the Fox Glacier before driving a few killometres (its weird not using miles!) to its neighbour, Franz Josef Glacier, where we did a short climb for a great view. Sights....(anyone remember Brett''s sky dive interview?!)...anyway New Zealand certainly does have a large number of incredible sights and natural wonders.
After a long days' driving and still quite far from our next attraction we were lucky enough to find another DOC just off the main road (although the main roads are more like drving over the downs!). This time we were by lake Ianth and the only ones camping there...dinner at a picnic table looking over the lake before an early night.
Day 78
Our first stop today was at the city of Greymouth - we drove to a lookout point, which wasn't anything special for once, then did some shopping with our trundler (NZL name for a trolly!) before heading inland. We went through Reefton (the first town to have electricity....you love these little pointless facts!) to get our Diesel, then stopped for lunch by a huge swing bridge...which Brett made Mandy play on for a bit! We then had yet another cliff edge drive before arriving in Hanmer Springs and a holiday park to get some electricity, water and to have a proper wash after two days of roughing it! Early evening and we headed to the famous Thermal Pools, where you relax in hot water pools which are outside with a view of the mountains...although there was some work going on we thought the general pools could have been designed better, however the more "natural" sulphare pool was cool (not literally, it was really hot!) although it did smell of eggs slightly!
Day 79
We took to the Alpine Pacific Triangle (a road route!) which included a few windy roads (Brett really is a pro now...sort of) before leading us to Kaikoura, known for its wildlife! We walked to Point Kean lookout before going onto the rocky beach where a colony of Seals live! We managed to find a couple of huge seals sleeping on the rocks and were able to get close (you have to be 10m away) to have a picture! We then found a cafe for lunch where Brett had the famous local crayfish whilst Mandy had a mussel chowder - both delicious. Heading away from Kaikoura we saw a sign for a lookout so we quickly stopped off and were chuffed as when we looked over the viewing point (at Ohau) we saw dozens of Seals lying on the rocks!!! We stayed and watched for a few minutes, as they made strange noises, waddled around and the baby ones jumped in a pool of water in a rock. After the excitemet we headed along the not so exciting straight roads towards Blenheim where there are numerous wineries. We then carried on the journey and reached Picton for the evening, where we found a slightly cheaper holiday park, ate some dinner and then walked into a desserted city centre...we did find one pub open (Oxleys) and had a good night as Mandy sipped wine and Brett drank one of the main New Zealand lagers, Speights - Summit.
Day 80
After a quick look round Picton we headed to the Inter-Islander ferry (which was very expensive to take our campervan on!) which would take us to the North Island. We waited in a queue and Brett was getting nervous about reversing on like they did at Fraser Island...but luckily it was a straight driVe on and the worker even directed Brett into a wonky positon at the rear of the boat! The journey was a couple of hours long and we just chilled out eating and drinking on some comfy chairs.
Late afternoon, we had reached the north island and decided to head towards Porirua (just north of Wellington central) in order to find a cheap campsite. We experienced our first motorway in New Zealand (which is only short!) and it was weird seeing loads of cars everywhere...we could see the difference in the islands already!!! We found what we were looking for as we checked into Elsdon Holiday Park for a tenner...bargain! Our introduction to the north was complete though with a stormy night keeping us awake most the night as the campervan rocked and the rain thumped on the roof!
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Lyndy Lou
non-member comment
Hi Guys!
Well, it seems that your touring is fast approaching its end. This morning I've caught up with everything I've been missing for a while. I've had internet problems. Anyway - you've certainly had a trip of a lifetime. I hope that I will have an invitation to the inevitable 'film show' and share the first hand excitement you've obviously been enjoying! Look forward to hearing from you when you get back to the lovely welcoming British weather! The sun's shining again today but the wind is cold - I know I've been out to put washing on the line! There's excitement for you! I have to say, when I read your blog on the day to James Bond Island I had a little tear in my eye. I think I added then (although it was only this morning 20/10/10) that we arrived in Thailand 2 years ago today......made me happy and sad to remember that particular trip. Anyway - hope you have a similar flight back to UK as your outgoing one!!! Hope to speak soon Much love Lynda xx