So here we are again,
24/6
We left the picturesque town of Kaikoura and headed for Hanmer Springs. A twin room worked out cheaper than some dorm we have stayed in so we treated ourselves to a twin room for 2 nights. So nice to have our own room, can leave stuff out and not worry about it. We went to the hot springs and sat in nice pools of 36, 38 and 41 degree water. The hottest one was a sulphur pool so it was a bit smelly!
25/6
This morning we went and played mini golf. I came 3rd. We had ice to contend with on some of the holes which was strange. We then did the maze, you had to go around and find words before you finished. Girls v Boys. Luckily they ran off in one direction meaning we ran off in teh other (better) beginning direction. We passed the boys at one point. Girls won!! We hid so the boys would think they won and sure enough they thought they had and arms were thrown in the air in celebration until we came out to show ourselves- hahaha!! We then did some clay pigeon shooting. Si and Ell had a little competition and Si won quite comfortably in the end. I then spent the rest of the day doing the laundry-what a massive load we had, so much so the dryer had to be used twice. The boys went and did some driving range and more golf.
26/6
We left Hanmer and had a somewhat speedy trip to Christchurch. Emma's grandparents live here so Si and Emma dropped us off at the YHA and they are staying with them. We had a look around the city, it's very English looking with the cathedral, parks and road names. We rode the tram to see some of the "landmarks"of the city. We saw 4 of the Italian rugby squad walking around. We spent the evening playing a new card game with the Americans that we sat with at the Maori dinner in Rotorua. Fun game and it got pretty tense at the end.
27/6
In the afternoon we wnet to the International Antartica Centre. That was pretty cool. We experienced the -18 degree Antartic storm. The room temperature was -8 but the wind chill made it -18. We then watched the little blue penguins getting fed, they were so cute. Finally we had a ride on the Haaguland which is a weird van thing that has tracks like tank instead of wheels to get around the ice. We had a ride, not on ice, we went up and down some slopes and through water where it came up to the windows and the tracks were propelling us through the water as we were floating in it. In the evening we went to the All Blacks v Italy game. It was awesome. We saw them perform the haka and then win 27-6. We had good seats along the try line, in the front row.
28/6
Up and ready for 6.45am pick up this morning for the 2 hour trip up to Mt Hutt. Had a ski lesson. It was ok, but I'm fairly sure I won't be doing it again. I couldn't manage to get the wedge which is how you stop so it seemed silly to go for the second lesson on turning. Sat in the cafe all afternoon waiting for Ell and the shuttle back to the hostel at 4pm. Had 2 falls, on to stop hitting someone and the other where I couldn't stop down the hill. I ended up with one leg one way and the other pointed in the other direction. No wonder my knee hurt afterwards!
29/6
Today we had a lay in and then went to the Art Gallery- not much to say about that really. We then stopped in a cafe for some cake before heading to the museum. It was cool, there was a good Antartica room so I learnt some stuff in there. Really late lunch of a salmon panini-yum! and then naughtily some more cake. Late lunch meant late dinner- bangers mash and gravy, yum again! Took ages to get to sleep, probably because had dinner too late.
30/6
I wanted to go dolphin watching but it ended up being cancelled, don't think I will see any at all this trip the way I am going. Instead I went to a Orana Wildlife Park. I went in the back of a lion fed wagon which was way cool!!! There was a lion on the roof all the way which was scary but such an awesome site. I hadn't realised quite how big they actually were. There was another lion jumping at the side. They had the odd scrap when one wanted the others food which was a bit scary at times. Then I went and touched/fed some giraffe which was cool. Next was watching the rhinos, cheetah and hunting dogs getting fed. I got really close to the rhinos and one of the cheetahs hissed at me! Cool day with some awesome once in a lifetime stuff while the others went skiing/snowboarding.
1/7
We had a really pretty drive by the Southern Alps out of Christchurch. Really nice mountain roads to drive along. We were going to stay in Arthurs Pass but as the ski fields were shut we moved on. We ended up on the West Coast in a town called Hokitika. Nice little hostel by the beach. Was going to watch the sunset but there was too many clouds blocking the view.
2/7
The fire alarm went off this morning, I may have set it off by putting the heater on in the bathroom but we will never know! We went and saw the Hokitika Gorge on the way to Franz Josef Glacier. It was cool, we wnet on a swingbridge across the gorge, which of course the boys decided to jump on. The water was really nice and blue because of the glacier flour in it. We got followed by a little bird that was flying really close and making lots of noise. Ell did an indoor ice climbing wall which I went and watched him do. Went to make dinner and then realised that we had left a new bag of rice, tin of tuna and can of sauce at Hokitika-damn!
We have booked ourselves in to do a glacier walk which should be good
xxx
