Hello folks in the old country. We wanted to take this time to update you on our travel adventures. We have been all over the place in the South Island of New Zealand
Feb 19, 2008 we landed in Auckland, then took another flight into Christchurch. Happy Birthday Matt - 6 months of traveling is your present, Oh but in Kiwi land that is travelling with 2 Ls. We have officially entered the land of unsealed (not unpaved) roads, tramping (hiking), Holiday (vacation) and heavy accents! Getting the car was challenging - they told us they had automatic, but only had stick shift. With all of the mountains here we decided it would be too stressful driving stick( and only Francis can drive stick!!), and so had to argue for a refund and head over to another dealer. Driving on the left and getting in the wrong side of the car still confuses me. Christchurch is a typical city, and is not very interesting. We spent the night there - our first night of camping together.
Since then, we have been all over the place, going to Mount Cook, Lake Tekapo, Dunedin, Stewart Island, Milford Sound and Queenstown. Camping is a big change from having a bed to sleep in. We've been cooking our own meals, and are probably eating healthier than we did in the States. Also is the cheapest as New Zealand is extremely expensive.
The most fun was kayaking 2/25 in Milford Sound in the Southwestern part of the country in an area called Fiordland. Granite mountains carved out by glaciers left an untouched paradise for us to explore. We saw seals and dolphins. Kayaking is hard work, our muscles were very sore after finishing. We also met a couple with the same exact wedding date as ours from Louisiana. They were some of the nicest people we have met so far. Well actually the nicest people we meet so far have all been Americans.
Stewart Island on 2/24, which is just south of the southern tip of NZ is very peaceful, a refuge from the hustle and bustle of life and traveling. Deep fried mussels - delicious!
In Dunedin on 2/23 we saw the 2nd most endangered species of penguins, the yellow eyed penguin up close and personal.
Mount Cook on 2/22 - 2/23, also known as the Sky Piercer, is the the tallest mountain all of NZ and Australia. We tramped up to Lake Tasman, which is at the terminal end of the Tasman glacier. Let me tell you, boating around a glacial lake is an experience to remember. The water is frigid, just 2 degrees above freezing. It is also murky white due to ground up sediment from the rocks. It takes just over 300 years for snow from the top of the glacier to make it down to the terminal face 25 km down the mountain and break off into icebergs. Speaking of which, we walked onto an iceberg floating in the freezing cold lake. If we felt we had 2-4 minutes to get out of the water before dying of Hypothermia.
We stayed at Lake Tekapo on 2/21-2/22 on the way to Mount Cook. It is a beautiful, brilliant greenish blue - you won't believe it until you see it in person. We soaked ourselves in hot springs for about 4 hours - it was worth it! Here we completed our first tramp, hiking up Mount John in the morning to see some guys jump off the cliff to catch the thermals on their parachutes!
So what have we learned so far:
New Zealand is EXPENSIVE. Petrol (i.e. gas for those of you in the old country) is costly - when you first look at the price you think $1.70 is a great price...until you realize that there are 4 liters in a gallon, so you pay $6.80. There is no price competition in NZ. Every station has the exact same price within a city. For that matter, other stores such as clothing and outdoor activities all price at the exact same price. We miss the American enterpreneurial spirit of competition!
The nicest people we have met so far have been Americans. I always heard that Kiwi's are friendly, but so far that doesn't seem to be the case. Their loss!
Camping is not easy. Without a pad your back hurts!!! But this is what tramping is all about, eh!
We over-packed, and will need to cut down what we are carrying once we are without the luxury of a car
Until next time, good afternoon, good evening and goodnight (10 points if you can name the movie)
More thumbnails ...
24 votes 
