Wednesday Glacier to Wanaka

On Wednesday morning we left Franz Josef in (frustratingly) brilliant sunshine. However the trip to Wanaka, via Lake Matheson with incredible views of the Fox Glacier, almost made up for yesterday's bad weather. Actually I didn't make the bus because I thought pick up was at 8.15 and I was staying at a different hostel from everyone else so had to get a taxi to meet the bus at Lake Matheson. Ouch.

We ended the day at Wanaka which is the smaller sister ski station town of Queenstown (where I am now). The reason I'm wearing shorts in the photo (it was freezing) was that our driver (Bods) told me you can feed dolphins in the lake (!) but that you have to wade in to feed them. And I believed him until I walked out of the door and realised I had been well and truly had. In justification I thought (and semi still think) it is not a land locked lake.

Franz Josef Glacier

Franz Josef Glacier - Winter wonderland (in torrential rain). Still breathtaking.

Abel Tasman National Park, Nelson, South Island

Saturday 11th September - Abel Tasman National Park

On Saturday a few of us stayed behind in Nelson to walk in the national park. This is one of the most famous places to walk in New Zealand. The water is crystal clear and bright turquoise. When there is sunshine and blue sky it is phenominal - but of course there wasn't blue sky for us. Still gorgeous. We walked for about 4 hours through dense forest with lots of ferns. The forest is so green it feels as though it is literally bursting with life.

We had to get up early in the morning (pick up 6.55 am - ouch)and drive to the national park. We were taken by speed boat to one of the beaches up the coast so that we could walk back along the coastal path. En route we stopped at Tonga island (not the same weather as real Tonga) where the seals like to chill out. At the moment the babies are finding their flippers and apparently the mums are already preggers again so keep trying to move them along.

The walk was fantastic - fab views, waterfalls etc. The scenery is what makes NZ and it felt so good to be off the bus and having a look around.

45 minutes before the boat was supposed to pick us up it started to rain torrentially and was still at it when the boat collected us. It was low tide by then and the boat couldn't come into the beach, we had to wade out in the sea. In jeans. And converse trainers. Thigh deep. The final picture is how wet I was when I got back to the bus. I couldn't have been wetter if I'd gone for a swim fully dressed.

Centre of New Zealand, Nelson, South Island

Later on Friday 10th... in Nelson

The ferry from the North to South Island arrives in Picton and we then drove across to Nelson which is on the coast in the north west of the South Island near the Abel Tasman National Park (of which more later). In the afternoon because there was blue sky (finally) the whole bus walked up to the "Centre of New Zealand" which is basically a hill supposedly where you would put a pin if you spun New Zealand around. Awesome afternoon.

There are a lot of Magnolia's flowering here at the moment. I love Magnolia flowers.

I discovered at some point on this afternoon that I'd left my hiking boots, which I'd brought pretty much only for this one week, in the hostel in Wellington. It was dark when I left and I didn't see them. Bummer.

Crossing North - South Island. .... Sound

Friday 10th September - Wellington (North Island) to Nelson (South Island) across Cook Straight and Marlborough Sound.

Leaving Wellington the weather was overcast but it cleared up by the time we entered the Sound. The photos cannot do justice to how beautiful it is to have all of this around you. The water is SO turquoise blue. Marlborough SSound also means Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc country :-)

Tuesday 7th September - River Valley to Wellington

On the way down from River Valley to Wellington we stopped at a lovely town called Bulls. The people of Bulls love the name of their town. See pictures.

 
 
 
 


River Valley Lodge - Monday 6th September

On Monday last week we stayed at this lodge in the middle of no where. Usually this is THE place to white water raft in New Zealand however at the time the river was running too high. So it was pretty good that we'd already rafted in Rotarua. This night was actually one of my favourite so far in New Zealand. The 'home baking' was amazing (it's consistently good here). The central part of the lodge is like a ski chalet with a double height ceiling, roaring wood burning fire and lots of sofas around it. Pretty much everyone on the coach played in a giant poker tournament.

 
 
 
 


Hello!

Apologies for the delay in blogging. Just been really busy and had limited internet access. The past week has been one of the BEST of my life. It rains almost all the time because it is winter here at the moment but the Kiwi Experience has taken me to some really awesome places.

The link above I hope will show photographs of the Waitomo caves. Waitomo is actually famous for its glow worm caves and black water rafting but I'm afraid I woosed out because I didn't want to get cold and wet again after rafting in Rotorua and I wanted to see the Stalactites and Stalacmites instead.

We stayed in a hostel on a farm. The scenery was breathtaking and in the morning Charlotte got to bottle feed a lamb.

Auckland, Rotarua, Cathedral Cove

We are in Rainy Rotarua.

I was really looking forward to leaving Auckland and venturing out into the New Zealand countryside and it hasn't disappointed. The landscape is breathtaking. We're travelling with the Kiwi Experience because we got a great deal for both islands. The Kiwi Experience has a notorious reputation as a drinking, club 18-30 on wheels but this is mainly during the NZ summer. Our bus was half empty (two seats each) but a great way to meet people.

On our first day out of Auckland we stopped for a walk (lots of walks on the Kiwi Experience - very bracing) at Cathedral Cove. Having been hauled over by New Zealand bio security twice at Auckland airport (and threatened with a fine and life imprisonment) I was ecstatic to finally be wearing them. I'm not going to describe the scenery, see photos, because words can't but I love this country.

That evening our bus stopped at Mercury Bay. This is a summer resort on the coast for Aucklanders and I fully intended to go for a walking along the beach but as night fell our hostel hosts produced a massive vat of spaghetti bollognaise and the female bus contingent took over the TV with A Knight's Tale.

The following morning we set off for Rotarua via Matamata aka 'Hobbiton' where part of Lord of the Rings was shot.

Rotarua is a town beside a lake formed by a volcano crater and pockets of geothermal activity surround it. Sulphuric steam rises from the ground in people's back gardens and when we were in the supermarket I was almost overcome by the smell of rotten eggs, from the ground not the produce.

Yesterday we went white water rafting over a 7 metre waterfall on the Kaituna River. Charlotte had been looking forward to it for months after seeing the rafting on television. All strapped up in a slightly soggy wetsuit, helmet and buoyancy aid I must admit I was a little apprehensive but it turned out to be really fun, less scary than it sounds but above all a chance to see some amazing scenery that you certainly can't see from the road. The river is boarded by high rock faces with the emblematic silver fern growing from the cracks. The strangest contrast in New Zealand scenery is that between the tamed farmland and the wild, rugged indigenous forest.

As you might expect in a country of farmers the meat here is incredible. Last night we each ate 3 steaks each! SO good. The perfect end to a Kiwi adventure day.

Stay tuned for Waitomo glow worm caves...