Week 2 begins on Monday 29th Sept in the Catlins area of South Island. We drove around a bit more and stopped for lunch in Invercargill (hereafter known as ArthurScargill) and then booted it up to Te Anau. We had planned to camp in this pretty lakeside town but it was freezing so we wussed out and got a cabin instead - toasty!
Day 9 was an early start so we could get to Milford Sound in time to do our nature cruise. Fiordland is such a beautiful area and the drive to Milford was amazing. The Homer Tunnel takes you right through a mountain - watch your brakes though, ours overheated as it's a lot steeper than you would think!! On our way we stopped to look at the Chasm (hereafter known as the 'Chas-m') which is a pretty cool water formed rock scenario. It definitely brought out the geography teacher in Bracey! We were booked onto a 2 hour cruise through Milford Sound, which is actually a Fiord rather than a Sound (geography teacher alert #2). We got to see seals, lots of birds and even the Fiordland Crested Penguins, the rarest in the world- sweet! It was so cold- the photos make us look like we're actually in Antarctica! Outstanding though. If you ever find yourself in that area do visit.
Day 10 saw us in Queenstown where we stayed with some work colleagues of Rachel's. Queenstown is in a gorgeous setting, right on the lake and surrounded by mountains. In true Queenstown style Brace and Simon did a bungy jump off a bridge! I was nervous enough just watching although it did look like fun! We'll put some photos up - just not now as this internet I'm on is slow and pricey- but next time I promise!! There was a game of Pictionary that night but due to the cheating I think the less said about that the better....
Day 11 was more driving (poor Sim - so much time behind the wheel!) this time northwards through Wanaka and up the West Coast to Franz Josef. We got to stay in a really cute backpackers cabin and had dinner in Blue Ice - anyone who has stayed in this area will probably have had a drink or 5 in there. They do pretty decent fush n chups there for $9.50 - cheap as chups too!
Day 12 (so this is now Fri 3rd Oct) was a pretty damp and grey day but not too awful to put us off a walk up to the face of Franz Josef glacier. Walking on the ice without a guide is not sensible so we did the right thing and stayed off- but got close enough to admire the ancient blue ice and the sheer scale of the glacier. We saw glowworms that night too - truly stunning sight. We walked through the forest and turned the torches off every now and again and lo and behold, there they were, twinkling away in the roots of an upturned tree. Sweet as.
We travelled a little further up the west coast on day 13 to a place called Hokitika (where they catch a lot of Hoki fish). The town looked a little bleak in the pouring rain but we found a gorgeous backpackers called Birdsong and snuggled up by the log fire and relaxed listening to the waves and rain whilst reading and generally taking it easy.
We got to see more of Hokitika on day 14 and it's actually quite a sweet town. Lots of jade is crafted and sold there and you can get the tastiest fudge this side of Roly's in Barnstaple. We had a little walk on the beach too - driftwood heaven for those beachcombers amongst you (Mum I'm talking to you!) We went into the Kiwi House there and got to see 3 of the little guys- so cute! Snuffling round with their furry bums in the air! We drove back to Christchurch that afternoon via Arthur's Pass, through the mountains which was stunning. We broke up the drive with a walk to the Devil's Punchbowl waterfall which was really steep but well worth it. Even got to see a Kea bird (alpine parrot) on the way - very amusing, curious birds. We got to spend the night at Bruce & Mary's again which was pure bliss!
