I arrived in Christchurch on January, I did not do much exploration beyond the city centre. The central area of the city is closed off to the public and all the surroundings are like a ghost town. There are a very few shops still open and the only real people around are tourists taking a look at what was a beautiful centre.
I experienced a couple of quakes whilst I was there, apparently they are happening frequently but most are not felt. It was strange enough being inside for the movement but stranger still was when I was on the street as there is an aspect that you would expect the ground below you to be solid!
I caught the Kiwi Experience bus around the south island, first heading north to Kaikoura (famous for dolphin, seal and whale watching) although I saw none of these as it was literally overnight stop. Along the route I have met lots of people and the groups regularly change with people hopping on and off the bus for different lengths of time.
Westport seemed nice enough but again I didn't see much as more of an overnight stop only, as was Lake Mahinapua. At Lake Mahinapua the Kiwi bus stops for a fancy dress party, the place is a dive with a dodgy bar and dodgy beds, not really my cup of tea and not helped by the fact that most the group was early 20's and ready for party!
Arrival into Franz Josef was amazing with the snow capped mountains in the backdrop. I took a walk in the afternoon in preparation for a full day glacier hike the following day. The day of our glacier hike the rain came down most the day which made it a little tough going and of course impacted those essential photo opportunities! Amazing to walk on the ice, shuffle between ice crevices, climb under ice formations. The ice is melting at quite a pace and is anticipated it will no longer exist in 90 years from now.
After Franz Josef we headed by bus to Wanaka and it was another day of heavy rain. The bus arrived in Wanaka in super quick time due to the fact that not many of us actually wanted to stop for the photos in the cold wet weather and of course nothing is so pretty and clear on the photos in such rain! I chose to stay in Wanaka a couple of nights and pleased I did as the following day brought beautiful sunshine and the chance to walk to Iron Mountain and around part of the lake. On days like these it is easy to see why so many people boast of the beauty of New Zealand lands.
This brings me to Queenstown the party and adrenaline capital of New Zealand so I have had a few late nights and I couldn't bring myself to do the bungy jump so opted for the Nevis swing which is like a bungy swing. The swing was great fun, than anticipation at the start when the guy was going to release the leaver was the worst part after that it was all plane sailing!