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We cruised across the gap to Picton, found the mini-golf course, had a Subway then headed west to Nelson. We planned a brief trip up to the Abel Tasman but weather conditions were infavourable and we made it to Motueka after spending one night next to a telegraph pole on a dirt track. Motueka was probided more golf action but that was all as we planned to cross back over to the east coast.
We arrived in Kaikoura and were directed to South Bay where we woke up to a picturesque beach and scenery. We took a trip to the "Maori Leap" caves with our guide Barry who showed us the secret home of the Toothfairy. After the caves we went out to see the Dusky Dolphins off the coast who came in huge numbers (300 upwards) to feed. They soared out the water in a typical social manner and played with their human visitors who braved the cold water, we decided to stay warm and dry. The All Blacks played that evening and won and the following morning we headed to the New Life Church, Kaikoura. The Pastor Brett and his wife Anne invited us back for a delicious lunch which was gratefully received by all on board woody. fresh Crayfish caught by Brett himself was a first for Craig and I, it was lush. Blessed with a good meal we carried on to Christchurch where we stayed on the street in the van and went along the Peace Walk to learn more about the city. The next epic drive was to be through Arthur's Pass.
Captivating mountains along Arthur's Pass kept us on the road to the west coast and we arrived for sunet at Hokitika to plan our drive south through glacier country. A beautiful sunset and lovely meal of fajitas followed the long days drive. Next day we drove on down to the Frans Joseph Glacier and took the walk up to the terminus. A short walk back and off we went down to the Fox Glacier township and Craig and Jana prepared for a Heli-hike the next day. A glorious sunrise dawned on a day with great conditions for the very exciting heli-hike up the glacier. I walked to the glacier and sat drawing the mighty geographical feature.
We carried on down to Wanaka only to be stopped from Skydiving by a horrible cold that was hanging over us. So we travelled to Te Anau via Queenstown ready for an early start to get us out to the incredible Milford Sound. The early morning drive was awesome and provided some magical sights. Being the only vehicle on the road was great and we slithered through the countryside. Homer's tunnel was an adventure in itself being the doorway to the "Sounds" it was merely carved out of the rock. We stepped on to the first cruise of the day at Milford Sound and it is just breath-taking. Go there, there is no other way to describe it. We travelled all the way back to Queenstown and spent our last night in Woody. Incidently you are probably wondering about the mini-golf situation. Well we were pleased to find a mini-golf in Queenstown that promised the "ultimate experience" and the effort put into the place is worth a visit in itself. We went up the Gondola and flew down the Luge there, which was very fun as the scenery was once again incredible. Our last day was spent up in Glenorchy searching for Isenguard. We sort of took ourselves on a safari and Craig mastered the fords and bumpy roads as we tried to find the place named "Paradise". Upon returning to Queenstown we said our fair-wells to Jana as she flew back to Germany toward the end of September.
Back down to two once again Craig and I felt deflated and pondered over what to do for the next 2 weeks. Mini-golf you might suggest, well there just aren't enough courses in New Zealand it seems and it just wasn't the same without Jana. We took an alternate route to Wanaka and woke up on a splendid day for a Skydive. This time we did it and the anticipation turned out to be the worst part. Craig was strapped to a Serbian half his size, who he never got the name of, and was about 5' 3. I got bound to an enormous Brazillian named Mac who was an enormous hulk of a chap. We were safely escorted to the ground and met some fellow English people and an Aussie who were all pumped by the experience. The next few days were a little less adrenalin fuelled as we rocked up to Mount Cook, just to look. Moved down to Lake Tekapo and played some mini-golf, naturally. From there we were at a loss for inspiration and travelled toward Timaru where we played another mini-golf course. From there we went north in search of Edoras from the Lord of the Rings. We pretty much found it then drove back toward Christchurch.
Arriving in Christchurch on Saturday we planned to go to Church. We attended Oxford Terrace Baptist Church and met Paul the Youth Pastor. He kindly invited us to park next to his house and use his shower, great. We hung out with Paul and Carolin and had some great conversations about church back home. We have met some of the youth and went paddle surfing in the chilly water at Sumner. We took one final excursion in Woody out to Akaroa and played a French course named Le mini-golf - not in the top 3.
Anyway, so here we are in Christchurch having journeyed through both islands, and we still haven't done everything. One chap we heard of dedicated an entire year to travelling New Zealand, i think that would just about do it. New Zealand has been one big campervan adventure and now we look forward to the next one in Australia as we spend the rest of October with Cat and Jo!
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