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We have been in New Zealand for 3 weeks and have done so many cool things, this is going to be a long one.…..
This has definitely been our favourite leg of the trip so far- everyone is so friendly, you couldn't ask for nicer people!
Our trip didn't start off quite so well….. We arrived in Christchurch after 2 flights and almost 12 hours of flying to find that our bags had been left in Sydney!We were not happy, especially as we were dressed for Bangkok weather and we soon found out that New Zealand had been having an unusual cold snap! Dave looked particularly funny wearing shorts, a T-shirt and flip flops while everyone else was wrapped up in sheepskin! J We luckily got our bags back the following evening after kicking up several fusses and having a very cold first couple of days!!
We have really enjoyed the campervan- it's from a company called 'Spaceships and is a bright orange people carrier with its name "Anakin" written on the side. We have seen so many others on the road, all waving and beeping at eachother! One very confused woman thought she'd seen us 5 different times in one day. It had actually been 5 different Spaceships! lol! We didn't have the heart to explain! J
Christchurch was really lovely and very English with a river Avon and even a Shakespeare themed pub where we warmed up! The man at the campervan company thought it was extremely amusing that we asked which carpark was closest to the city centre! He just laughed and said 'they all are!' and we soon found out how small most New Zealand "cities" are!! We also went to the Cathedral and Botanical Gardens before heading to Banks Peninsular further down the East Coast the next day. We didn't have the best views on our first day there- we drove up to one of the famous lookouts and all we could see was grey cloud. We even took a photo of the clouds as it was so funny. Just as we were driving off the clouds disappeared as if by magic providing us with the postcard view that we were expecting.
We then travelled to Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain, via Lake Tekapo which was absolutely stunning! The water is bright blue from the minerals and dust from the mountains and there is a really lovely little church right on the waterside! From Tekapo we travelled to Mount Cook/ Aoraki which we both loved! I don't think we realized how dramatic the snow capped mountains would be and I certainly didn't realize New Zealand got so cold! The drive to Mount Cook was amazing and there were so many views to take in! We did a walk to the Tasman Glacier Lake which had icebergs and great views of the mountains, went to the Edmund Hilary Alpine Centre and splashed out on a coffee and cake at the Hermitage hotel, which has the best views of Mount Cook!
From Mount Cook we travelled down to Queenstown where we went up the cable car, and saw the original bungy jump site (which we did not test!).We had a slightly stressful experience trying to find our Department of Conservation campsite (= a field and a non flushing toilet) when we got there -it was pitch black, we had sketchy instructions and ended up driving down a gravel track for about 20 minutes until we arrived at what we thought was our campsite…but then it turned out to be something completely different so we gave up and turned round when a car appeared from nowhere - having watched far too many horror films we were petrified and expecting the van to break down any second -it turned out to all be fine and we found out where we should've gone the next day but we make sure we arrive at campsites in the light now!
Having planned to do a skydive I was very alarmed at the number of people walking around Queenstown with crutches! I decided to do it at Lake Wanaka, which was further North so luckily I had a few days to reconsider!!
From Queenstown we went to Fiordland at the bottom of the South Island on the West Coast. We took a cruise around Milford Sound, where the landscape is awesome with imposing glacier-carved fiords towering out from the water. We went to Stirling Falls waterfall and also saw Mitre Peak. The highlight for me has to be seeing penguins and seals in the wild - the penguins are so cute and came out to say hello! We also went to the underwater observatory at Harrison's cove, where you feel like you are the one on show- the observatory is 10 metres underwater and allows a 360® view of all the sealife. Along the Milford Road we went to 'Mirror Lake' which has a really clear reflection of the mountains in the water - another photo opportunity!
We then travelled to Lake Wanaka, where time had run out for me and the skydive - it was now or never!! It was something I had always wanted to do but I was petrified! The day of the dive Dave said I was really quiet! I knew I was going to do it but I couldn't help but think what if something went wrong! Once I got to the airport I was ready to do it but still nervous. I managed to get paired with a crazy French man who made jokes when I asked serious questions like "I don't know, I don't work here!' and "We lost 6 people yesterday and we still haven't found the bodies". He was the WORST person I could possibly jump with but he did make me laugh! I didn't realize that in the plane you are all kind of bundled in and sit almost on the floor! It was so scary when they opened the door and it also didn't help that I had my very own 'camera flyer' - another maniac jumping out of the plane purely for the purpose of filming me! She interviewed me before the jump and as you can imagine I was not in the mood to be asked questions like "Do you have any words for your family!!!" I didn't have much of a choice when it came to actually jumping -as you are attached to the other person, if he goes, you kind of have to!! It was the most surreal experience of my life and it's almost like you can't process what's going on fast enough! I had views of the lake, snow-capped mountains and green fields -it was absolutely spectacular! I think my favourite part was the parachute opening - it was so peaceful and it felt like I was floating! At the bottom, my over enthusiastic camera flyer was ready to film me again!! Lol! The video of the whole thing is so embarrassing!! Some of the shapes my face contorted into were quite disturbing, I'm not sure what I was expecting at 200kmph!!! The next day my face had all swollen up and I was really worried that it wouldn't go back but luckily it did! Hehe!
Whilst in Wanaka we went to the really cool Paradiso cinema that I think Emma and Craig went to when they were here! It was a really cool place with loads of comfy chairs, homemade cookies and you could take wine in with you (always good J ) The staff were so nice they made the whole thing a real experience! We had a picnic on the shore of the Lake then headed up to the rest of the West Coast, the highlight of which has to be doing the glacier walk at Franz Joseph glacier, crampons and all! It was such a cool experience and something we never imagined we would get to do! The half day trip took around 5 hours with 2 of those on the glacier itself! The guide told us that at the rate the glacier is in decline, in 100 years the part we were standing on would be gone! We absolutely loved the whole thing and would definitely recommend it!
We then continued up the West Coast stopping at Gillespies Beach, Bruce Bay (to add our names to hundreds of rocks with writing on there), Hokitika, Greymouth and the "pancake rocks" at Punakaiki. Then it was up to Abel Tasman national park for some gorgeous beaches and coastlines - we also stumbled across a DOC campsite right on the beach by accident. It doesn't get much better than sitting on the beach with a beer 100 yards away from where you're sleeping! We also did a walk to a waterfall and went to The Grove which was described as a cross between Tarzan land and Walking with Dinosaurs! There's a great photo of Dave pretending to swing from a vine somewhere! JBefore we took the ferry crossing to the North Island we explored Nelson and its market. There's so many things we want to buy but just can't carry! We also went to Picton where there is a lovely harbour and took a quick trip to Blenheim where we joined in on the 150 years of Marlborough celebrations and parade by accident! Lol! We got chatting to a couple on our final night on the south island who told us an absolute horror story about parachute jumping going wrong. I'm so glad I didn't hear that before the skydive! The ferry crossing from Picton to Wellington through Marlborough Sounds was beautiful and we were really excited about seeing the North Island!
Lots of love
Claire and Dave
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