South Island
Trip Start
Dec 02, 2007
1
20
55
Trip End
Sep 01, 2008
Picton,
New Zealand
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Luckily, we were there to see England dramatically tie the ODI series after being 2-0 down... or so we
thought. Instead we witnessed a pretty awful match in a terrible stadium - the less said about it the better!
From Christchurch, we headed further south to Dunedin, a city I didn't get to on my last visit
Main square in Christchurch
. We had agreat couple of days there, strolling around a very attractive city, taking it easy over a coffee or a glass of wine. We also happened to be there while England were playing a warm-up game against an Invitational XI (a total accident, honest), so we had a couple of days in glorious sunshine reading the papers watching cricket from the grass bank. A tough life!
We moved on from Dunedin to Te Anau and Queenstown, my favourite part of NZ on my previous trip. Te Anau sits in the heart of Fiordland, and was our base for exploring Doubtful Sound. There are two main Sounds to visit in the South Island, the other being the more famous Milford Sound. Fame brings the crowds however, and we were really pleased we made the decision to go to Doubtful. Even better was the fact that we were forced into the early
sailing - there were 32 people on our boat, with an additional 99 boarding the boat after us.
The early morning sailing also meant that the Sound was shrouded in an atmospheric mist that later cleared, and that the boat was followed by some Bottlenose Dolphins for much of the trip. We both loved it - hopefully the photos can portray some of the isolation and beauty of the landscape there.
From peace and quiet on the water, we moved on to Queenstown, adrenaline and party capital of the country.
Despite being very tempted, we resisted the urge to bungy jump, primarily because it was so expensive for less than ten seconds of 'action' (no jokes please...)
Relaxing at the cricket
. We did however have a ride on the Shotover Jet, a Jetboat ride through the canyons that was brilliant fun and the best hangover cure either of us has ever had!After a brief detour through the turquoise Lake Tekapo region in the central South Island, we headed to Kaikoura for some whale watching (no Jesse Ryder jokes cricket fans...). Although I had been before, this surpassed our expectations - we saw three Sperm Whales and about a thousand Dusky Dolphins playing around the boat - see the photos below!
In the run-up to Charlotte's birthday, we had strangely decided that there was no better way to celebrate
than to tackle a 71km walk through the Malborough Sounds. The walk was significantly tougher than either of us anticipated, but the scenery was stunning and the people we met very entertaining. For our first mult-day walk, the Queen Charlotte Track was a good choice, as there is a smattering of proper accommodation along the way, and
water taxis will transport all your luggage, save your day bags, for you. It was a great way to spend four days, although the last 5km were absolute hell... Charlotte even had the pleasure of having 'Happy Birthday' sung to her on the track by a couple of women we had met the night before
Doubtful Sound
. Unfortunately they had had a couple of glassesof wine when we met so temporarily couldn't remember her name, despite the hint that the name of the track itself may hold a clue.
Our final week or so in NZ was spent in Wellington to watch the second Test at the Basin Reserve. We had a
great time there, finally seeing another England win. In addition to the result, it was brilliant fun - fantastic weather, a beautiful little ground and some great banter with the Barmy Army. There can't be a better way to spend a summer's day than watching the cricket and having a bit of a sing-song - we're already planning future tours!
