Hi everyone,
Cannot believe the last time I posted a message we were back on the North Island.. so here goes..!
We crossed the Tasman Sea from North to South Island and stopped overnight in Nelson at the north of the island. The ferry crossing was a bit more spectacular than Dover to Calais I have to say! We cruised in to Picton through Marlborough Sounds (valleys created by rising sea levels) and saw some beautfiul mountains and deep blue sea. From Nelson we drove north to Abel Tasman National Park and the town of Marahau. We booked ourselves on a water taxi for the following morning to get us into the park - there's no road access only by boat! That afternoon we explored the area and took a short walk to Harwoods Hole through forest that was used in that film - the Lord of the Rings. So the following day we got our walking boots on and got the water taxi at 0900 for arrival in the park at 1000. The water taxi ride in itself was great fun - very high speed! The Abel Tasman Coastal Track is considered one of the finest walks in NZ and it's 52km long usually taking about 3-5 days for people to complete. We decided to walk almost half of the walk in a day - about 24km... We were advised it should take us about 6-7 hours so off we went.. The sun was shining and the scenery was spectacular. Lots and lots of golden beaches and turquoise water below us.... We stopped for lunch halfway through at the beach in Torrent Bay and then carried on although it was getting a little tougher for us the longer we walked... Finally reached the end after 5hrs 45 mins so we were chuffed but exhausted. A great days walking though. Had a hot shower and slept well that night!
From Abel Tasman we drove south to Punakaiki via Nelson Lakes National Park. We had wanted to stay for a couple of nights and walk here but were aware of time so just stopped for lunch at the beautiful Lake Rotoiti. Photos to be seen as soon as we can get them on Flickr!
Punakaiki is famous for the 'Pancake Rocks' - rocks which have been created from flattened sediment over hundreds of years and they resemble a stack of pancakes... We went there at sunset so the light was great and some of the pictures we took are stunning.
The next day we set out to Glacier Country.. very excited! We drove down the west coast along some incredible scenery, lots of wild beaches and rugged cliffs. We arrived in Franz Josef at 12:00 and checked in to a nice campsite. We decided to pop in to the town centre to ask about booking a tour for the following day and when we arrived at our chosen operator they said there was a heli-hike tour going out that afternoon at 1430. We had chosen to do a heli-hike tour because neither of us have ever been in a helicopter and also the weather that day was stunning and not forecasted to be so great the following day so off we went....
It was an incredible day... we got dropped off on the face of the glacier about 2/3 of the way up and were given crampons to attach to our boots.. Very cool. There were only 11 of us in the group so we had 1 guide and set off exploring the blue ice! Carl, our guide, drilled a hole into the ice and attached a rope so we could climb through some ice holes... I seemed particularly rubbish at this and at one point managed to get the whole of my boot in a puddle..! Most inelegant! The scenery was spectacular and the whole trip was a real highlight.
From Franz Josef we stopped off at Fox Glacier and also walked to Lake Matheson where you can take a picture of Mts Cook/Tasman with the reflection of the lake so that was pretty special. Our journey then took us along the Haast path to Wanaka via Lakes Hawea and Wanaka. Wanaka was beautiful, a quiet pretty town on the edge of a lake with ski fields in the background. We spent 2 days there and visited the New Zealand famous Cinema Paradiso. A cinema that has sofas, an old morris minor and airline seats as chairs and they serve hot homemade cookies at the interval.. Yum.
From Wanaka we drove to Queenstown and spent three days there. Our first day was spent looking around the town, it's a very ski oriented place. The second day we went on a jet-boat ride through the Shotover Canyons which was pretty cool and quite wet! Jet boats are designed that they only need 10cm of water to travel in! We loved it. That afternoon we also booked ourselves on the Nevis Highwire Bungy jump for the following day so the rest of the day was spent worrying about that!
Bungy Day - we got on the bus to the jump zone at 1000 and arrived at 1045. As we got there Jack Osbourne, John Thompson and Jodie Kidd were there having jumped themselves for Jack's TV show.. Cool. Carl and I were harnessed and put on the first shuttle because Carl was going to the the first jumper - the bungy tester! (ie the heaviest!)... We were in a group of 4 other people... When you arrive in the pod, hanging 134m above the river below, you are given your ankle straps and then you wait... Carl went first and was brilliant! We have videos to show everyone when we get home! He loved it and came back safely.. Then it was my turn.. Quite scared when they walk you to the edge because you finally see what you're about to fall in to! Three, Two, One and I jumped (well more fell..) and my first thought was "I don't like this.." But I LOVED it! We both did and really wanted to do another but no time... A real achievement in the courage stakes don't you think!
After Queenstown we headed south to Fjordland and Southland. We arrived in Milford Sound via the famous Milford Road which is pretty spectacular - it takes you up long winding roads and it was snowing too! We booked ourselves on a Milford Sound Cruise the following day and then spent a nice afternoon warming up in the campsite/hostel!!
The cruise was beautiful, as is the whole of New Zealand! We love this country. Check out the pictures soon...
So next we visited the Catlins, a national park on the south east of the South Island. We stayed in an odd campsite in Curio Bay and the next day we visited a petrified forest from 180 million years ago when New Zealand was attached to Gondwanaland - a super continent in the middle Jurassic period. Very cool. We also saw sealions on the beach at Cannibal Bay!
Today we're in Dunedin, a fairly large Uni town before heading off to Moeraki and then finally Christchurch on Monday when we return the van.
That's all for now folks!
Mr and Mrs H xxxx
