Catching up....ctd!
Trip Start
Oct 05, 2008
1
8
23
Trip End
Ongoing
Melbourne,
Victoria,
Australia
Sunday, January 18, 2009
After Rotorua was Lake Taupo - only 40 miles from Rotorua but it took half a day to get there on the bus. We really enjoyed how we got to see so much of the country on the bus, but annoyed at times how many stops (many seemingly unecessary) it makes. A consequence of this was we didn't get to Taupo until 3pm, so didn't se much of the town (we were only there for one night). We did however get to see Huka Falls on the way which was pretty incredible, though wished we had a bit more time in Taupo itself....
The next stop was Wellington. On the way w passed through the Rangipo Deasert and got some awesome views of Mt Ngaurahoe - which starred as Mt Doom in the Lord of the Rings. We continued on to Wellington and went up Mt Victoria, which gave some great views over the very pretty capital city. We had four nights in Welly so got to have a good explore, finding some lovely coffee shops (Welly has more coffee shops per capita than New York City) and a look around the shops and Te Papa museum. Wellington is a very artsy city so nice to just potter around. Our hostel was also incredibly nice and included a cinema room - so one day that it was tipping it down we caught up with a few films. We really did have a nice time in Wellington, though were excited to explore the South island.....
SOUTH ISLAND NZ
We travelled over on the ferry from Wellington to Picton on the 16th December, heading straight over towards Nelson, 'the sunniest place in New Zealand'....We travelled through some stunning countryside, including the Marlborough wine region. However, Nelson didn;t live up to its name and we suffered two very rainy days, which unfortunately put paid to a trip to the Abel Tasman National Park. Next stop (just for an overnight stop) was Greymouth. Enought said about that place already, though the hostel was very nice and we got a very good nights sleep. We travelled on down the windy and spectacular west coast. We arrived at Franz Josef and had a look around the very small town before heading out on a glacier hike. We were given all the gear and were blessed with some nice blue skies. We headed out over the glacial till and towards the glacier, taking in the stunning mountain views. We reached the terminal face and put on our 'crampons' to climb up an ice staircase onto the glacier. After walking on the dirty bt of the glacier we reached the beautiful clean part - an awesome blue ice, where we walked through caverns and ice caves. We headed back down and reached the hostel around 8pm - both pretty knackered but a really good day!!
The next day (19th Dec) we set off for Queenstown. It was another spectacular drive, around the foothills of the Southern Alps. Unfortunately the weather had closed in a bit but we still had some great views of the 'Remarkables' mountain range - used heavily in the Lord of the Rings films. Fortunately the next day the weather had improved a lot and we headed off to the absolutely stunning 'Milford Sound'. We were lucky enough to have perfect blue skies and the drive down from Queenstown was an attraction in itself, particularly at Cascade Creek and the Cleddon Valley. We took a short cruise around the sound - seeing the majestic Mitre Peak up close, as well as various waterfalls and wildlife. It was absolutely stunning and words cannot do it justice.
The next day we decided on something more adventurous - Queenstown is known as the 'Adventure Capital of the World' After much deliberation we decided to do the Nevis Highwire bungy - 134 metres over the Nevis gorge. We were picked up from central Queenstown and spent a nervous 45 minutes on a bus on the way to the bungy site. We eventually arrived and had our first view of the place (eeek!!). We were harnessed up and took a gondola out to the bungy pod - started getting pretty nervous by now! It was done in weight order but soon enough it was my turn to jump....I got strapped in before making my way to the edge - trying my best and failing) not to look down! I heard the countdown and DIVE!!! The freefall was incredible and I was so stoked I had managed to do it. After a bit of bouncing about I was winched up, feeling pretty amazing and with a huge smile on my face..!
Daisy was up next - looking pretty calm and collected until she was right on the ledge....she then had a momentary panic before she quickly regained her composure and had a great dive out. GO ROOTS!!!! She was winched up, absolutely beaming - we were both so pleased that we managed to do it. We were both full of energy for the rest of that day, culminating in a game of Risk at the hostel with Greg and Nick!b Our final day in Queenstown was more sedate - a visit to a Kiwi sanctuary, where we got to see a couple of kiwi hopping around and looking uber cute. We also picked up some bits for our fast approaching xmas dinner (was 23rd Dec!) and spent the rest of the day dodging the sun - it was scorching outside. We both had an ace time in Queenstown and defintely recommend!
Next stop was Dunedin - known as Edinburgh of the south. We arrived here on Christmas Eve and stayed at 'Hogwartz' - an old Bishops residence and now a lovely homely hostel. There was a huge BBQ in the evening so we got some bits and got involved. There were loads of Germans travellers in the hostel, who celebrate xmas more on the xmas eve - so it turned into a pretty big night!!
On Chrsitmas Day we turned out a pretty good Christmas dinner, though it did seem very odd without family around...We had a nice day though, taking a stroll around the near deserted town in the afternoon and enjoying wine and cheese in the evening. The rest of time in Dunedin we visited Cadbury world (lots of free samples, yumm!!!) and also took a trip over to Broad Bay (just around the coast) to visit the McDougalls - family friends of Daisy's. They have a lovely bungalow overlooking the beach and we have a great afternoon, with Sarah taking us around the Otago peninsula where we saw sea-lions and albatross. All in all we enjoyed our time in Dunedin, with Hogwartz being one of the nicest places we have stayed so far.
After Dunedin we spent a couple of days at lake Tekapo - a beautifully vivid blue lake at the base of the mountains. Unfortunately I had developed a bout of hayfever (in December, damn Southern Hemisphere!) We did however go for a nice cycle, visiting a couple of loval landmarks and just enjoying the setting.
Our final stop in NZ was Christchurch, where we saw in the New Year in some cool bars in Lichfield lanes, enjoying the 30 degree weather - don't get that at New Year at home!!! Chrsitchurch is often regarded as a very "English" city - although it really reminded me of Brussels more than anywhere else! We had a nice few days here, exploring the botanic gardens and topping up our tans in the sunshine. It was a really nice end to our time in New Zealand - an absolutely beautiful country.
