Hello,
Hope all’s good.
So we left off in rain drenched NZ waiting to do Arthur’s Pass. In typical NZ fashion the next day was b-e-a-utiful so we set off to do some walks. First up was the Devil’s Punchbowl Falls, which is an amazing waterfall after 30 mins or so walking through forest. We then did a walk, which takes you to Arthur’s Pass itself, this was cool but didn’t compare to the first in terms of scenery. We then decided to climb up Temple Basin, which is a ski field in winter. I realised it would be a bit of a hike but I thought I could handle it as I like a bit of a stomp every now & again. Dear lord it was the most difficult walk I have ever done. It was so steep & relentless, with loose rocks so you had to be really careful with your footing. A 90 year old with a hip replacement could probably have beat me to the top! You were rewarded with amazing views of snow caped mountains & super clean air though. We thought the descent would be easy but because of the loose rocks it was almost as challenging as climbing. We both almost skidded on to our arses a couple of times. It was quite amusing watching all the people laden with full on hiking gear as we trotted along in our jeans & trainers!
From here it was on to Franz Josef to do the glacier heli-hike that we’d heard so many good things about. We booked in for the afternoon one the following day. Franz Josef is really small but very cute, with an Alpine feel. We had a lush meal that night & then the next day we did a short walk up to a viewing point of the glacier. They have some info boards there, which show you how much the glacier has receded over the years - pretty scary. It was then time for the heli-hike so we got all kitted up in the warm waterproof gear & hiking boots & were all ready to board the helicopter when they had to call it off due to cloud. Obviously safety is important but still really annoying. The 9am one the next day was fully booked so we put ourselves on the midday one & had to go & check in for another night at a campsite. For some reason they put us all by ourselves in a spot miles from anyone else, we think they were camper van elitists! They had a free private jacuzzi you could use there so to kill some time we thought we’d give it a go. Gary didn’t realise there was a step on the inside so he completely stacked it & fell face first into the water. Once I’d made sure he was ok I cracked up & I still kill myself laughing whenever I think of it! It didn't get much better as the jacuzzi smelt of wet dog & the water wasn’t that warm so we got out after a few minutes.
The next day also decided to be cloudy in the exact places that the helicopter needs visibility so they couldn’t run the midday one but were hopeful the 3pm one would go ahead due to how the weather was changing so we hung around for this & it was looking really promising….until the cloud moved just as were were about to get kitted up! Given that our Grand Canyon helicopter trip was cancelled from Vegas due to the helicopter crashing, killing everyone on board, we are kind of wondering whether we should take this as a sign that this isn’t the mode of transport for us! We are heading back to Franz Josef in the next couple of days for another attempt, which we’re really hoping is successful as it’s a 6 hour drive out of our way. Hey ho, c’est la vie.
Next up was Wanaka, which currently sits in position number 2 of our favourite places in NZ. It’s such a nice area, with a lovely atmosphere. The lake is lovely to sit by & it has a couple of roads filled with nice bars & restaurants. It probably helped that the weather was really nice here too. On our first morning we phoned up to book a skydive for the following day, which looked lovely on the forecast. They said they could fit us in at 11am that day, it was 10.30 at that stage, so Gary agreed! I instantly felt sick as my whole psyching period was gone but we decided it was probably just good to go & get it done before we could talk ourselves out of it & the weather at that moment was amazing with clear blue skies, warm sun & no wind. I thought I would be bricking it the whole time but once we got there I was surprisingly chilled as I filled out the paperwork & got kitted up (perhaps I was expecting it to be cancelled at the last minute like Franz Josef!) I felt ok in the plane too, although the fact that I was going to be jumping out did start to become a bit more real. You’re ridiculously squashed in the plane, which I think they do to encourage you to want to get the hell out of it. I was right opposite the door & when they opened this the nerves kicked in for the first time but luckily it was pretty quick from here. Gary was the first to jump & when I watched him drop like a stone from the side of the plane I had a moment of ‘I can’t do this’ but before I had time to express my doubts I was hanging out the door! The initial drop is the weirdest thing as you’re literally summersaulting so fast in the air but pretty quickly they pull this first mini parachute which keeps you upright as you free fall. After 45 seconds they pull the main chute & although it’s calmer from this point on, this is the bit where I felt most like chundering as they have to keep turning to keep you on course. I’ll have to write to the makers of my travel bands & let them know that they’re not that effective when falling through the air!! On our return you can look at the videos & pics of us doing it, they’re hilarious. Unsurprisingly you pull some funny expressions when you jump out of a plane at 12,000ft! We were on a high after this but decided it was probably a good idea to do nothing more taxing than lying by the lake. I did have my first G&T in ages that night, which I thought was deserved. The next day we checked out this weird place called Puzzling World (pretty sure that everyone that’s been here will have done it, it’s a tourist mecca) which is full of stuff that plays tricks with your mind. They’ve got this whole room full of faces that follow you wherever you go. We also did the maze that they have there where you have to visit the 4 corners before finding your way out. I’m ashamed to say that we failed & only managed 2, although Gary would like it to be noted that he was hot, hungry & unwell! Actually on this point, Gary has to be applauded as he not only did a skydive but did it with tonsillitis (not that he declared that on the medical form).
From our action packed antics in Wanaka it was on to Queenstown, which is actually renowned as being the adrenalin capital - yikes what would we get up to here! We took the scenic route across, on what’s called the Crown Range & it was really beautiful so we stopped quite a few times to take pics (although we have also become quite skilled at snapping away whilst driving).Queenstown currently sits at number 1 of our fave NZ places. We can’t say enough good things about it. First up, it’s absolutely stunning. It’s got exactly the right balance of being busy, with lots going on but not being hectic like a city. We stayed at Gary’s fave campsite to date, where we had a spot right by this little stream (it pays to have a teeny camper sometimes). He made friends with some ducks, who even I had to concede were cute. Our first activity here was taking the Skyline Gondola to do some luging. Given that I’d recently jumped out of a plane it was ironic that catching the gondola/cable car freaked me out! The views from up here were amazing & the luging was so much fun that we kept wanting to do it again (although Gary thought he was Vettel at one point & almost fell out!) They’ve also got one of the bungy jumps & swings up here (the bungy orientated in Queenstown), so we watched someone have a go on that. Gary wanted to try a bungy but decided now wasn’t the right moment (I knew that never would be the right moment for me). This exertion was followed by the heavenly treat that it is a Ferg Burger! For anyone that’s been here, these need no introduction & even if you haven't been here you may have heard of them as they’re world famous. This place is open 22 hours a day, 7 days a week & pretty much always has queues. I can’t admit in writing how many times Gary & I visited here, and the adjoining bakery, during our stay in Queenstown as it’s just too shameful! I also can’t talk about a shop called Cookie Time, which I may also have frequented far too many times! That evening we checked out Steamer Wharf, which is the bar & restaurant area by the lake - really nice.
Day 2 started with a bike ride around Queenstown Gardens & down to Frankton (burning the Ferg calories!) which was lovely & included a stop at the Boatshed Cafe where we enjoyed a drink out on the deck in the sun. This was a major point where we started to become depressed about our rapidly approaching return date. We then went to visit the Kawarau Falls, which is home to the original bungy they opened here. It’s 43 metres over a river, which you can choose to be dunked in. We watched quite a few people do it, with me feeling sick on their behalf, but Gary still wasn’t completely convinced by it. Instead we headed out to Gibbston Valley to visit some wineries & a cheese factory. We’re not entirely sure what happened to the daily budget here but we accidentally purchased a few bottles! It seemed that wine tastings had given Gary the dutch courage that he needed & it was back to the bungy place. Hats off to him as stepping to the edge of the platform & throwing yourself into the river below takes massive guts but he did it & has the pics/vid to prove it! Yay, well done Gary (and no I’m still not up for a tandem!)
Our last day in Queenstown (boo) began with an early start to go white water rafting. I was more nervous about this than skydiving as I’m really not a fan of choppy water but I wanted to try it. The numerous briefings about falling in, being whacked into rocks, getting cut by the sharp metal of the old gold-mining equipment in the water etc, did nothing to calm these nerves but I’d come this far & wasn’t going to back out. I’m so glad I didn’t as I loved it. We had a brilliant guide called Kacey, who’s been doing it 20 years. A lot of the time it's actually really chilled & scenic but on the 7 or so rapids that we did, it was definitely an adrenalin rush. It’s a grade 5 river, which is pretty hardcore (this is the most that travel insurance will cover you for & even the pro’s generally only go to a 6). The names of the rapids are pretty descriptive e.g. pinball, jaws, the toilet, aftershock. The worst thing that happened was that the woman behind me in the raft didn’t hold on enough at one point & came crashing into me, which hurt but at least I wasn’t overboard, which was my biggest worry. We celebrated this with a visit to a couple of wineries that we missed the day before (weirdly some more bottles ended up in the van!) & then a quick trip to an old gold mining place called Arrowtown, which was cool.
That evening we drove to Te Anau to do a cruise on the Milford Sound the following day. Milford Sound is actually misnamed because it’s a fjord - Sounds are caused by rock erosion whereas fjords are the result of glacial activity, which is what Milford is. Our boat could hold 75 but they were only 12 of us on it, which was pretty handy as we had loads of space to move around & get pics. All the big coach trips go for an afternoon cruise so that they can get there from further afield. The weather wasn’t great but that’s pretty common there (they have 7 metres of rain a year). We both enjoyed the trip, with highlights being how close we got to two groups of fur seals & going into a waterfall, but the danger of NZ is that you see so much stunning scenery that it takes a lot to impress & we didn’t really see much here that we hadn’t seen already. After cheese on toast in the camper by Lake Te Anau we started the journey to Lake Tekapo/Mt Cook (having already done 4 hours driving from Te Anau to Milford & back).
After driving for another 4.5 hours (and playing ‘guess the number of bits of roadkill we’ll see’ game to stay entertained!) we decided to spend the night in Omarama, which is about 50kms from Lake Tekapo as we were tired & hungry. This is a small, farming town with not a lot going on but we did manage to get a decent roast dinner, yum! The drive from there to Lake Tekapo the next day is one of the most scenic we’ve done I think. The lakes in this area are renowned for their amazing turquoise colour, which is something to do with how the glacial water crushes the rock. We got some great pics by Lake Pukaki en route. We drove up to Mount Cook (the highest mountain in NZ), which was cool. We also did the Tasman Glacial walk here where you’re supposed to be able to see massive icebergs in the lake during the summer but to be honest this was pretty rubbish with nothing to really see. We were saying it’s funny which stuff makes it on to the tourist trail, as sometimes random things that you come across whilst driving are actually far more impressive than the ‘must do’ sights.
Next, we headed up to Mount St John, which provides a great view of the surrounding area & is where you can do star gazing tours at night as this town is one of the best in the world for providing a clear night sky (it’s been awarded Gold Status as a Starlight Reserve) & they have the most high tech equipment here for it (one telescope is worth $7.5 million). Would you believe it though, the night we book & it’s cancelled as it’s too cloudy!! Damn you clouds. We’ve hung around though & are attempting it again tonight so fingers crossed. During the rest of yesterday we briefly visited the tiny Church of the Good Shepherd, which is pretty well known & has a stunning outlook from the altar over the lake. I thought it was nice, Gary was unimpressed but he had been grumpy all day so I ignored him. Miraculously he cheered up when I said they had a golf course & I got the pleasure of being a caddy for 9 holes! It’s done nothing to change my view that golf is a weird game but I have learnt that it’s actually pretty hard work walking around the course with your bag (the budget didn’t extend to a golf cart, which would have been cool). I also attempted a couple of shots, which were horrific! In another case of what a small world it is the woman at the golf course used to work on the Isle of Wight ferry.
That brings another whooper of a post to a close. We’ll be back again soon hopefully (unless the internet breaks due to cloud cover!) Keep in touch with your news.
G & C x
