Hey all! Just went on a two week bus tour of the south island which was absolutely amazing!! Such gorgeous scenery and met some really cool people while on the bus. Definately recommend Kiwi Ex for anyone looking for a trip of NZ.
Started off from Wellington and took the ferry across the sea to Picton, a small town on the south island. Cute little town with houses built up around the hills overlooking the beautiful Marlborough Sounds. Blue blue water and lush green hills make the scenery very pretty. A bunch of sailboats docked in the harbour add to the quaintness.
From the ferry, I get my first taste of the Kiwi Experience by boarding the bus and taking off to Nelson. Sat with a nice guy from Holland who kinda introduced me into his group so made a few friends right away at the first stop which was a winery in the Marlborough region. We had a little wine tasting (just two small glasses of white) before sitting down for some lunch. After the delish cafe lunch (the first of maaany), myself, the dutch boy, and a few girls took a few shots that were $2 for three! Can't go wrong with that! The first was a delish baileys/caramel concoction, the second a green citrus fiz, and the third was a refreshing choc mint shot. YUM.
We arrive in Nelson and the view was really nice of the beach and the snow capped mountains in the background. We arrived late afternoon so it was getting dark fast but we hiked up a little hill to the "centre of NZ". Not sure if this really is the Centre, but there's a pole and a plaque in the ground saying it is... After the trek back to the hostel we had a beer tasting in the bar. Tried about six different kiwi beers - my faves being Max Sassy Red and Max Spring Tide (?). There was also a wheat beer which was kinda fruity and interesting. Overall, very educational and a great start to a looong night.
Had a dinner at the hostel which was promoted as a great deal, but for $12.50 all we received was a mound of white rice covered in small amount of pork curry. I don't especially like curries.... and the Kiwis LUV them. sigh. Banana "cake" (bread) covered in choc icing topped off the meal.... and then we went back to the drinking. I did discover I enjoy cider. I thought at first this was that funky fruity beer stuff (okanogan) stuff I used to drink as a wee child, but it's actually pretty tasty and not at all like beer.
Off to the bars in Nelson... ya, all five of them lol... A few were pretty fun and unfortunately I didn't bring my camera out so i don't have pix. But we stayed out late dancing and then crashed back at the hostel, me trying to gather some quality sleep before I went skydiving the next morning.
So ya, drinking before a 6am wake up is NOT the best idea. I forgot to set my alarm and awoke to a guy in our room getting ready to go for the skydive. I debated cancelling then figured, what the hey... and gathered my stuff and hopped on the bus. Hit the skydiving field and decided to be the last one to jump so I would have optimum time to get scared haha. It was such a spur of the moment thing to go skydiving (well, the dutch boy pushed me into it) but it was definately one of the things I wanted to do in NZ. If I'm gonna jump outta a plane, may as well do it in the adventure country of the world!
Finally it came to my turn and I was suited up. I went for the DVD package as a VERY expensive memory but justified it as I prolly wouldn't be jumping outta planes again. Had a quickie interview for the video and hopped into the plane. Just a mini plane and there were two other jumpers with me, crammed into the plane with the three tandem instructors and the video takers. We had about a 10 minute ride up to the 13,000 feet over the gorgeous abel tasman park and the beach and mountains. Finally, the door opens. Out falls the first person and then I feel my tandam guy push me toward the door. So I'm pretty much just hanging out the door now with the guy I'm strapped to holding on before jumping. I pause so the person taking pix can get a pic of me, then I start screaming again. All of a sudden my heart jumps into my mouth and I am falling, fast.... It was THE most scariest moment of my life. The first 3 seconds of the free fall were very intense... then after that a cushion of air is created under me so we fall softly (well as soft as a free fall can go) to the ground. The person taking the DVD was filming my face for what seemed like forever and honestly, I was like, let me look at the scenery lol. I haven't seen the DVD yet but I do think I am smiling for a bit then my face drops bc I'm getting bored. How many faces can you make for 20 seconds in the air?
All of a sudden we shot up and I scream. The guy pulled the parachute. Then he proceeds to loosen some straps and I yell at him to keep me locked me while we're thousands of feet still in the air. Thank GOODness the parachute opened!! We fall gracefully to earth and he points out some sights - abel tasman, some mountains, nelson... So pretty!! Apparently when you're higher than some odd thousand number of feet in the air, you don't have depth perception anymore. While we were free falling, you really couldn't tell you were falling super fast toward the ground. It was only when we were about to land that the ground came rushing up (too fast if you ask me) but then we slide into the grass on our bums and it was all over! I tried to stand up and my legs were pretty wobbly still and I was kinda in shock from it all, and then the video taker comes up and starts asking me questions. I know I was pretty slow in responding.. it was quite a lot to take in. BUT, I have now fallen out of a plane!! Crazy experience!!
After Nelson, the bus headed towards Westport, leaving a few of the people I met behind unfortunately. We had the option to do some jet boating or horsey riding that afternoon but I passed... half bc I was hungover from the night before and half bc I blew my budget on the skydive. Made a warm fire in our hostel that night and chilled with another girl watching movies while the rest of the gang went on a three legged race to the bars. For some reason, with alcohol involved, kids games are suddenly fun again! Westport was pretty boring - when we arrived I went to grocery store to grab some food... and then I had seen all of the town!! lol
In the morning, we took off to Lake Mahinapua, stopping in Greymouth on the way. Soon after setting off, we took a hike at Cape Foulwind to see the seals. Perfect day for the hike and the views were so pretty. Finally got the spot where the seals were lounging around. You can't really see the seals in my pictures bc they blend into the rocks they were sitting on. They also smelled a bit. eeeww. During our lunch stop, we took another quick walk to see Punakaiki Pancake rocks. They were pretty cool. Apparently they are made from the bones of sea mammals that are crushed tightly together to form rock formations. When it's really windy, the waves crash into the rocks and you can see spouts of water splash up from between the rocks. Our day was not windy tho :(
We stopped in Greymouth, which is Nz's most remote city, for a few hours to gather supplies for our bin bag party. Yes, we had to create clothes out of garbage bags for the pub night in Lake Mahinapua. There is nothing to do that the Lake, except for the "Poo Pub" so I assume they invented this activity so we wouldn't be bored. I, being soo creative, just cut arms holes out of a black bag and created a very cute off the shoulder dress. Everyone really went all out and were very imaginative. There was a contest for the best dresses and a few of the girls dressed up like the Spice Girls. They won along with "Super Gay" which was a guy who dressed up like a gay superhero. He won bc the owners thought he stayed in character sooo well over the night. I guess it never crossed their mind that he may actually BE gay... lol.
Overall, the views we so gorgeous driving the west coast of the south island. You have the sea on the right side and the snowy mountains on the rights. Very scenic. To top it off, we stopped in at the lake in the morning to get some pretty pics of the mountains being reflected in the water. Unfortunately, one the day we went to see the best lake ever to get the most stunning refelctions (Lake Matheson) it was too foggy to see anything. sniff.
On to Franz Josef Glacier in the next post...
