Kia Ora from Wellington

Yep, I am now at my first stop of my North Island tour...but I will save the details until my next journal. So for now, here are all my exciting tales from my journey around the South Island of New Zealand.

I may have mentioned to a few people that Si was coming out on the 21st January. He did, and arrived safely! There was no rest for the wicked as we set upon our quest to get to Queenstown to see Nell and celebrate Si's birthday in style....

Akaroa

Located within the Banks Peninsula to the south-east of Christchurch, Akaroa is a quaint little harbour and the first French colony in New Zealand. Dolphins swim in the water and beautiful steep hills surround the water. We arrived just in time for lunch on the harbour and checked into Chez le Mer before setting off for a 4-huor tramp to Stoney Peak.

The walk was beautiful-through farm lands, forests and open space. The hills were steep, but the view from the top worth it - the Pacific Ocean glistened in the sun. At Stoney Peak, approx. 800m high, the wind howled and it looked like the clouds were coming in. Believe it or not, the walk down was pretty tough - scrambling down steep grassed faces, and gravel paths - which you had to run down to keep up with gravity. We celebrated our return with a pint of lime and soda at the pub and later a posh meal at Ma Maison.

Mount Cook

With no time to waste, we set off for our next stop - Mount Cook, passing beautiful glacial lakes such as Lake Pukaki and Lake Tekapo on the way. The water was full of glacial flour, which gave it a gorgeous turquoise colour, but did not detract from the water temperature being very very cold!

From the shore of Lake Tekapo, Si and I could see Mount Cook in the distance. It was calling us, so with only the afternoon to spare, and the fact that the sun was shining like a trooper, we decided to book ourselves onto a plane and view Mount Cook from the sky.....

.....and what and experience it was. The plane was really quite small - 6 of us squeezed into the plane, which had folding seats. A little bit of turbulence around the peak of Mount Cook made me sweat a little with fright, but all was good as we soon saw the heads of Fox and Franz Joseph Glacier. The most exciting bit came next - a glacier landing on the Tasman Glacier! Yep, the plane had it's own ski's and snowballs soon landed on my head. We had to drive to a little town called Twizel for tea, but take away wine was the agenda for the evening, so we could sit and admire the view of Mount Cook over Lake Tekapo from our littl' cabin. Sweet.

Queenstown

What a place. Queenstown is beautiful - a funky ski town (in the Winter) surrounded by a huge lake (miles long) and gorgeous high mountains. The Remarkables are used in the Lord of the Rings!

We stayed with Nell (Si's sister) in Queenstown - great to see her. She introduced us to a Kiwi BBQ (i.e. lots of met and veg. and no bread) and the friends that she had made. The 25th January was Si's birthday, so Nell, Si and I spent the day at Coronet Peak downhill mountain biking. I joined Nell on the cross-country downhill - very proud of myself and I found it really quite scary in parts - narrow trails on top of steep-sided hills and tight corners. One of the best parts of cycling downhill is that you use the ski lifts to get to the top of the hill - i.e. no effort involved in up-hill climbing! We did not waste anytime and made it to Shotover Jet for the last ride of the day on "The Most Exciting Jet Boat Ride in the World". The ride was in fact awesome - lots of speed, tight turns, 360's and what felt like very close shaves with big canyon rocks! The day of course ended and the night started with a fair few bevoirs. And I got to see my Perth housemate Catherine, which was fab!

The Catlins and Fjordland

Nell managed to get a few days off work, so Nell, Si and I took to the road. Our first stop was Curio Bay, on the south coast. Hector Dolphins, found only in this part of the world live here, but sadly we did not see any. Being by the coast was just beautiful enough - imagine Dartmouth without any human influence!

The following day, we did a bush walk - the hostel manager told us the route was called the waterfall route and you simply had to follow the little red squares. It took us a while to find the track to start with, but then we were on our way. After an hour or so, the bush got pretty dense and we could no longer see the red squares; nor could we hear the waterfalls. At this point, we were deep into the forest and looking back thought we would have difficulty ever finding our way out. So, we called it a day and headed back - it was a bit of adventure and we returned quite dirty!

Our next stop was Riverton - a very very small town by the sea. By coincidence we met with Si's friend Jim, so settled down to a home-cooked curry and bevoirs in the pantry of the hostel. Just round the corner from Riverton was a beautiful bay, the name I'm not sure of but the waves were sweet as! The water was irresistible too, so I jumped in in my bikini-brrrrrr! We warned up in Alice, Jim's van and drank tea and ate lunch in style.

It was back on the road in the afternoon as we had to be in Te Anau for our briefing - 2 days kayaking in Doubtful Sound. Lake Te Anau make a great place to stop; we cooked steak on the BBQ and drank wine. It was an early night - 5.00am start the following day.

Adrian our guide greeted us in Te Anau, before driving us by bus to Lake Manapouri. There we had to catch our speed boat transfer to fjordland. On arrival, the sand flies hounded us - they're just like mosquitoes and make a real effort to bite you. No matter how much repellent you load on, they still find a way to get you! It was then back on the bus to the lodge, where we loaded up the kayaks with camping equipment (just in case the weather turned and we could not get back) and food and got going (I was designated driver in the back and Si was up front).

The views from the kayak were just stunning. The water on the fjords themselves are tidal and as we experienced subject to pretty heavy weather changes. By lunch, it was pouring down and we had to seek shelter to eat. Adrian got the kettle going, which was much needed - the air was chilly as was the glacial/tidal water we were rafting and wading through. Oh, we did paddle through a waterfall too!

By the afternoon, we had covered the amount of ground usually kayaked in two days, so we split into 2 teams (2 kayaks in each team) and hoisted the sail. We were leading, but a lull pulled us right back and we came second in the race to the raging water fall. Again, we learnt of the rapid changes in weather as the wind fired up and the tide raced - we were surfing waves in as the race finished! Standing beneath the waterfall was fantastic - the roar of the water was like thunder and the spray freezing cold, but refreshing.

Kayaking the following day was cancelled due to bad weather, but that did not stop us. Adrian told us about a trek that follows the huge waterfall we were gauping at yesterday. In the rain, we followed the very steep path/stream. On route, small waterfalls soon turned to big waterfalls and we made good attempts to cross those - they were pretty strong. Eventually we reached the waterfall, very close to the top - we stood right next to it - I can only the describe the conditions as being similar to a hurricane. Adrian and Si noticed that the ground was shaking - we were literally on the edge, so without any hesitation, the group quickly headed out of there and back to the path.

By the time we were on our way down, we were soaked - so Nell and I had water fights and jumped in the big pools of water caught between the tree routes. It was so much fun! It was then back to Queenstown for Fergburger (the biggest burger I have ever eaten) and drinks in Monty's by the fire.

The West Coast - Franz Joseph and Punakaki

Sadly, Si and I had to say goodbye to Nell today. We spent our last couple of hours in Queenstown heading up to Skyline in the gondola, having a go on the Luge and doing a short section of the Ben Lomond track - again spoilt was amazing views.

Our next stop was Franz Joseph. The drive there was beautiful, passing Arrowtown, Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. Driving in New Zealand is a real pleasure. We arrived in Franz just in time to do a glacier walk; starting with a 3km walk across the alluvial plain, then it was on with the cramp-ons and a 2hour walk over the face of the advancing glacier. We stopped every so often for the guide to re-carve the steps. I think I have been spoilt with my time on glaciers in Iceland as I found this experience extremely touristy, but walking on ice is good fun.

On route to Nelson, we stopped in Punakaki - what a place. We found a little retreat to stay in, beautiful wooden house, with rainforest and huts to stay in in the forest. It was just a 20 minute walk through the rainforest to the shingle beach too. If it were not for the smell of freshly baked muffins, Si and I would never have woken!

The main attraction of Punakaki are the Pancake Rocks - limestone rocks that have been squashed to look like pancakes. They make pretty good scenery and a prime place for photographs. It was then back on the road, to get to Nelson for our kayaking trip around the Abel Tasman.

The North Coast - Abel Tasman

The Abel Tasman National Park is located on the very north of the South Island. The water is a beautiful blue/turquoise and surrounded by hills covered in rainforest. The climate here is warmer also and for us, the sun was shining for the two days of our trip.

Si and I opted for a days walking and a days kayaking, so the water taxi picked us up from Kyteriteri dropped us of at a northerly point along the coast. It was then our task to walk south to a camp site, where we would stay the night and the following day, kayak along the coast to our start point in Kyteriteri.

The walk was fantastic with great views of the coastline, although tide times are important as you can only cross certain beaches at low-tide. We were doing pretty well, but had to wait through waist-deep water at Tonga Bay, holding our rucksacks above our heads. It was then necessary to laze on the beach for 2 hours at Tonga so that we would get to the next beach, Bark Bay, again at low-tide. Tough hey? We swam until the sun went down, cooked in the hut and joined our kayaking group for wine around the camp fire - it looked like we were going to have some fun the following day!

And fun we did have! I opted for the front seat, which worked well. The sun was shining and it did not matter to get wet, so on came the water fights! We kayaked along the beautiful coastline, pulling into estuaries and little bays for a rest and a swim. Lunch was pretty spectacular, with cappuccinos and cakes for desert...We were then set up for Abel Idol; each kayak couple had to sing a song - Si and I opted for Yellow Submarine, which went down well and the boys even created the backing drumming whilst every one else joined in the singing. An especially appropriate song, as our kayak was yellow.

Heading home, we were full of beans, but it was then that we were well and truly spoiled - the guide called out "dolphins" and there in the distance were Common Dolphins jumping high into the air, spinning and jumping. You could really see how huge they were. We got on it then and paddled like crazy - we kept up with the dolphins for a while as they glided beneath us in the water, swimming to the surface next to the kayak - it was a wonderful end to the day!

Nelson, Kaikora and Hanmer Springs

Aaron and Ducha, Si's friends, put us up for a couple of days in Nelson. We enjoyed another Kiwi BBQ and Si some mountain biking, and me a day on the beach soaking up the sun.

From there we began our journey south back to Christchurch, stopping off at Kaikora. The mission was to go swimming with dolphins, but sadly it was fully booked, so we enjoyed a rather large meal of Cray Fish and seafood platter. Cray Fish is also what Kaikora is famous for, but I am not sure it is all that.

Hanmer Springs is marked for it's geothermal pools. We opted to enjoy Si's last day touring the South Island in style, so spent the afternoon in the pools and relaxed later with a full body massage - bliss!

Back in Christchurch (White Water Rafting)

Oh how I enjoyed my stay on the South Island. I said goodbye to Si and spent just under a week in Christchurch planning the next stages of my trip.

I did sneak in a days white water rafting on the Rangiatata River, which was pretty good fun. We made our way safely down Grade 5 rapids, and even jumped into the glacial river for a swim through Grade 1 rapids. Jess returned to Christchurch that evening; her last stop before flying to Fiji and home, so we said goodbye in style and indulged in a fair few glasses of wine in town.

So, for now, I am a lone traveler until the 12th March when Mrs Fisher will be joining me and we take the road in our camper van....So exciting.

Hope you are all well, sending lots of love

Em x