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7th March 2008 - 10th March 2008
So we arrived in Queenstown and after all Tony's moaning about sleeping in the Tent we decided to stay in a hostel for the weekend (plus the weather had forecast rain). We drove around to just about every hostel in town and quickly realised that we were not going to get a bed for the night. Fortunately the local campsite had a spare tent pitch and we reluctantly started pitching the tent again. Tony almost tripped over his bottom lip a few times until I promised that we could spend the money we had saved on accommodation on beers.
Fortunately the rain held off and although the campsite was packed we got a fairly good nights sleep. The next morning we tried again to find a bed for the night but with no luck we resigned ourself to another weekend in the tent (not that I mind too much at least it's clean!).
The weather was lovely and we got a gondola to the top of the mountain/hill above the town. The view from the top was lovely and we were able to watch some people throwing themselves off of a platform at the top whilst enjoying our ice creams. Suitably refreshed we decided to have a go at luging, it is where you sit in a plastic cart and sort of luge down the hill. In order to get to the top of the track you have to go up a chairlift and the funniest thing was watching as Tony clinged on to the side with his safety helmet on!
Once at the top you go down two different tracks. On the first track we went separately but the second time we raced. Now those of you who know us well would be surprised to hear that we are quite competitive and both wanted to win!! I was in the lead for most of the way and at the end of the track they take a picture of you, so as I neared the end I slowed down to get a picture with Tony, only he didn't listen and went whizzing passed me as I shouted at him. Needless to say he has not stopped going on about how he won the race.
As Queenstown is the extreme sports capital of the world we were keen to watch more people throw themselves off of things and in the afternoon we headed out to the Karouw Bridge which is the site of the world's first permanent bungy. Neither of us have been very keen on bungy jumping before and I had always said that it is something I would not do. However when we arrived and watched people jumping I got the bug (must be the foreign air). I decided that it would be a once in a lifetime thing and that I wanted to jump. Once I had made up my mind and paid I was really excited. I wasn't nervous whilst waiting for my turn and even when they were strapping my legs together I wasn't worried. It was only when I was standing at the edge of the bridge looking over the edge and the man said I had to let go of the handrail that I was really scared. Despite this I wanted to just jump and I think the longer you stand on the edge the worse it is so after a couple of seconds I jumped and it was amazing. It is one of the best things I have ever done and would recommend it to anyone!
Needless to say I spent the rest of the weekend on a complete high and can't wait to try something else. What can I throw myself off next?
10th March - 13th March 2008
On Monday (after three nights in the tent) we headed south to a small town called Te Anau. This is the gateway town to the Milford Sounds, which is an area of fiordlands renowned for the natural beauty.
After arriving on Monday we planned to drive to the Sounds on Tuesday and spend the day doing some of the walks in the area. Unfortunately when we got up at 6am the next day it was raining heavily. We decided to carry on to the Sounds and hope that the weather cleared up. The drive took a little over 2 hours and inspite of the rain the scenery was beautiful. Because of the heavy rains there were lots of waterfalls and the rivers were raging making it even more interesting.
When we reached the end of the road the weather had not improved and I had a brief walk around but the rain made visibility very poor. So we ate our lunch in the car before heading back to Te Anau. It was a bit disappointing that the weather was bad, but apparently it rains a lot and we did get some amazing pictures of the water.
After Te Anau we drove to a small town called Gore. It was a really only a stop over point to break up our drive and to be honest there was nothing really to see or do in Gore.
13th March 2008 - 15th March 2008
On Thursday 14th we drove to Dunedin a fairly large university city on the east coast. We were immediately surprised at the size and how busy it was in comparison to everywhere else on the South Island.
We we camping again and out came the tent! After securing our bed for the night we decided to take a walk into town to have a look around. Unfortunately our first impressions were not good, particularly as I got spat on the leg by some dirty herbert! I don't think it was deliberate but I think someone spat out of their window as they drove passed hitting my leg! I was a little (understatement) distressed at this and spent the next couple of hours washing and disinfecting my leg several times!
Fortunately we had a better experience of Dunedin the next day when we visited the Cadbury factory. Just visiting the factory was exciting enough but when we went into the tour we were given a bag to put our choccies in and a hair net (not as exciting but equally as much fun). We were given some chocolate when we sat and watched a video and then at every stop around the factory we got more. We would walk up a flight of stairs and the guide would say "I think you deserve some more chocolate for your effort" and out would come the choccies! At the end of the tour the highlight was a massive chocolate waterfall inside a huge silo. As the chocolate came cascading down it splattered on the banisters and some of the walls. It took all my effort not to lick the walls on the way out.
After ditching our hairnets and buying more chocolate from the factory shop we headed for a rest (the pub) before our next tour at the Speights Brewery.
Speights is a local beer that is renowned throughout New Zealand and as we are becoming brewery tour experts we just had to go to the tour. It was well worth the effort as the tour guide was very funny and the tour very informative. Also at the end we got to try 7 beers and pour them ourselves.
Today we are off to the Otago Peninsula just east of Dunedin.
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