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Friday 26th November - Adelphi Lodge, Kaikoura
Whoops - kind of fallen behind on our blog! Sorry!! J
Okay so we stayed in Franz Josef village for 2 nights and we did the Franz Josef Glacier on our 2nd day.The day we arrived the weather was gorgeous and sunny and then the following morning when we woke to do our climb, it was pouuuring with rain. We were not happy. We paid a lot of money to do this all day trip and we thought the rain would make it less enjoyable and the views wouldn't be so great because of the clouds. - Well we were kind of wrong there. Yes - the views weren't as great because of the clouds but the weather didn't stop us from having an amazing day and really enjoying it. We actually preferred it raining because it kept us cool. All the walking we were doing was making us really hot so if it had been sunny it would have been even hotter.
They gave us all the gear we needed - coats, boots, cramp on's, hats, and gloves so we didn't really need to worry about having the right gear.
The whole experience was something we were both really looking forward to. Neither of us have even been that close to a glacier or even seen a glacier so for us to be able to climb one was just incredible. We really did have an absolutely amazing day.
And to finish off our amazing day - as we headed back down the glacier and made it off the ice and onto the stony surface, Matt decided to add a finishing touch by tripping up and falling over - ass in the air, backpack over his head and flat out on the floor!!!! Ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha!!!! Was so funny!!! I was absolutely cracked up laughing and was bursting for the toilet from laughing so much. If only I had the camera ready to get a picture of it. We did get a shot of his wounds though! (A little spot of blood on his finger -he,he) Sorry Wendy - don't worry he's still alive J!
So just a few facts that we learnt along the way from our guide for those of you who wanted to read something educational J
·Franz Joseph is 12 kilometres long
·It's unique because it descends from the Southern Alps to less than 300 metres above sea level amidst the temperate rainforest. - Apparently only 1 of 3 in the world to do so!
Whooo . .
We did learn a lot more and we learnt quite a few riddles that our guide gave us to think about along the way, but Ive got so much to catch up on that I haven't written about so I'm going to move on to the day we left Franz Joseph and made our way to Wanaka.
So our next stop after Franz Joseph was Wanaka. Along the way we made a few stops, first being a short walk along a trail that lead to Lake Matheson. Wow! What a view that was - a mirrored reflection of Mount Cook on Lake Matheson - you'll see this in our pictures when we've uploaded them.
We made a few other brief stops along the way, before we reached our next overnight stop at Base Wanaka. We stayed here for 1 night and spent the rest of our afternoon walking around the local town to see what was around.
This was the evening where some guy nearly burnt down the kitchen at our hostel!! We recognised him from another hostel we were stayed at in Nelson - some guy from the Isle of Wight. We didn't really get to know him very well but anyway, he was cooking sausages for his dinner (which were extremely burnt already), and his pan had a small flame in it. So he brought the pan over to the sink and decided to run water over it to put it out????!!!!!!! You've probably guessed what happened next ........... Yeap a massive flame that reached the ceiling!
There were about 8 people in the kitchen and everyone leaped out of their seats and were ready to run out the door. The flame was HUGE!! He was lucky that he didn't drop the pan and spill it everywhere or I think that would have been it for the kitchen.The flame soon halved it sized in a couple of seconds after taking it away from the running water and he then decided to put it back in the sink and reach for the tap again - so I screamed at him and told him "don't do that!!!" and said "put it on the floor and leave it". Errghhhh . . . . . was so stupid that he didn't understand from the first time! Anyway the flame soon died out on its own and the guy had burnt his hand pretty bad because he had hold of the pan the whole time - was really weird how fast it all happened and how he didn't drop the pan during it all.
Kind of felt sorry for him after it all happened, as he was on his own and was pretty shaken up from it all.
Anyway, lesson learnt from that!!!
We spent our evening at the Wanaka Movie Theatre that night to watch RED - the new Bruce Willis movie. It was pretty cool. Not like a normal cinema and not what you would expect. It was a pretty small old theatre with old sofa's as seats and it even had an interval half way through the movie where they served freshly baked hot chocolate chip cookies! Was so cool!! J
The following morning we left Wanaka and headed to Queenstown! This was a place we were quite excited about. We'd heard a lot of good things about this place from different people so we couldn't wait to find out for ourselves.
Again, along the way we made a few stops, first being Puzzling World. This is where we did a massive wooden maze outside which took about 45minutes to complete and I hate to have to say this but ................................Matt made it to the finish before me!!
So as I'm writing this blog, and not Matt J I'll be moving on after that point!!
So we left Puzzling World and continued to make our way to Queenstown where I had signed myself up to swing off the highest canyon swing in the world - The Nevis Arc! Matt wouldn't do this with me so our friend Jody signed up to do this tandem with me. (Was cheaper to do tandem!)
When we arrived in Queenstown we stayed at a hostel called Nomads - was probably one of the nicest hostels we stayed at so far throughout our New Zealand travels, so we stayed there for 8 nights.
Our first night in Queenstown we spent going out with all our friends off the bus and our bus driver Toddy. Lots of cheap booze and great bars - World Bar, Altitude (Base), Buffalo! It was a great night which resulted in feeling pretty rough the next morning!!
Our 3rd day in Queenstown was the big day where we did the Nevis Arc Swing!! I was more nervous thinking about this than I was about doing the skydive. But once we got up there and we were strapped in, the adrenaline was really pumping. It was soooo amazing I would have loved to have done it again and again! The feeling was more scary than the sky dive because you really got the sense of freefalling slower than the skydive. After I did this, I was so close to booking myself in to so the Nevis Bungy - I suppose it was just the cost that was putting me off. I'm defiantly going to do a bungee before I leave New Zealand though - or at least in Australia!!!
Our other days we spent in Queenstown we spent chilling out, walked through Queenstown Gardens, had a famous Fergburger (a humongous burger!!), went on a blindfolded bar crawl (eventful night)......
Matt and our other friend Steve ended up having an argument with one of the bar crawl organisers that night because of one the games we played. It was a dancing competition on a table in the middle of the bar where about 10people were selected to dance to win a bungee jump. Me and our friend Steve made it to the final for a dance off and all of a sudden the bar crawl organiser announced the winner as some random guy who wasn't even on the bar crawl - so people started arguing and saying how could that be when me and Steve were selected for the final?? Anyway, things got a bit heated and we ended up just gathering up our friends and going to a different bar which pissed off the bar crawl organisers! J he,he!
Me and Matt had already won a game that night anyway so at least we'd won something - we both won Corona t-shirts,bottle openers and a hat each!
Our last day in Queenstown we actually spent going to the gym!! Were both getting extremely unfit out here as were not regularly doing active things everyday. We spend a lot of time on the bus travelling to our next destinations so it tires us out quite a bit. Not that were complaining J as were still having the time of our lives out here and doing things we've never done before.
Im sure I've missed out some stuff, but that's because I've got a lot to catch up on to get us back up to date.
So after Queenstown, our next stop was Christchurch. We weren't hearing very nice things about this part of New Zealand, so we weren't making plans to stay there for more than 1 night.
We were picked up early that day and headed out through the Kawarau Gorge and over the Lindis Pass into the Mackenzie Country. - Name comes from James Mackenzie and a well known sheep hustler. We were told a story about this!
That day we saw the most amazing views of Mount Cook (New Zealand's highest mountain at 3,754 metres) and the bluest water we've ever seen. It was so unreal what we saw. We stopped for our lunch and sat on the rocks with the best view we have seen in New Zealand!! - That's quite hard to say as the views out here are so incredible that you just can't say what is the best - but im sure you'll see why when you see the pictures.
We later arrived in Christchurch that afternoon and weren't too shocked with what we saw. It was a pretty dumpy town with not much to do or even see. We stayed at Base as we had our Base jumping cards (discounted rates, bought bulk accommodation for a cheaper price), and went out for a curry that night as we haven't really been out for a meal in a restaurant since we've been away. Our hostel was quite a dump aswel l - and we had a roommate who was a grumpy old man who wouldn't say hello back when you spoke to him?!! It was only for 1 night though so it didn't bother us too much.
Were quite used to the dorm sharing now, most rooms are 4-6 bed and it's easy to meet people that way. Also getting used to the "eating cheap", lots of beans on toast and pasta - which we like anyway. Were quite limited on what we can make to eat though as most places don't have ovens and you can only buy food which can be eaten straight away or refrigerated. We bought ourselves a cooler bag so we can carry our food around and then put straight into a fridge when we arrive at each hostel. It seems to be what every traveller does here. When you arrive at the hostels, in the communal kitchens, the fridges are full of blue cooler bags which you buy from the local supermarket.
So as Christchurch was a bit of a disappointment we decided to make our way to the next stop Kaikoura the following day, which is where we are now. (Finally . . . . getting back up to date with this blog!!)
Kaikoura in Maori actually means "To eat crayfish" - there's loads of crayfish found here (obviously).
Kaikoura was really beautiful and was the place to go and see the seal colonies, whale watching, and go swimming with dolphins and seals. So were staying here for 2 nights. Accommodation is cheap at $49 NZ for a double bed in our own room. It was a special deal we saw along the way to the hostel we were meant to be staying at which would have cost us $27 NZ each for a shared dorm.
Yesterday (our first day), we went whale watching. Well I decided to waste my $130 NZ by throughing up the whole time from being sea sick - lol! It was a 2 hour trip 10miles out to go and see the sperm whales. The boat journey was pretty bumpy and my stomach didn't take to well to it so I was sick within 20minutes. The sick bags were free at least and I went through about 4-5!!
I didn't let that get in the way from getting myself out onto the deck to see the whales though. I knew I'd get sea sick when we booked the trip, but it didn't bother me. I'd never seen whales in the wild before and I wasn't going to let a bit of sea sick get in the way. We saw 2 male sperm whales overall at different spots and Matt had seen some dolphins along the way whilst I was being sick so I missed that. But overall apart from the sea sickness, it was worth being sick to see the whales.
I really wanted to go swimming with the dolphins but that would have been another separate trip on a different boat and I didn't think my stomach could hack it! Matt wasn't so fussed about the swimming with dolphins so he didn't go for it either.
So today was our last day in Kaikoura and we went for a long walk to a seal colony around the Kaikoura Peninsula. The weather was scorching and perfect to walk along the coast. Although when we got to the seal colony we only saw 1 seal L. But the views were pretty cool and still worth the long walk.
After the seal colony we headed back towards our accommodation and went to a local outdoor pool for a swim. That took up the rest of our afternoon and we spent our evening in the communal lounge watching Lord of The Rings and writing this blog. We wanted to remind ourselves of the views that we had seen along the way that were in the movie. Was pretty cool and quite unreal to say we've been there and seen that! J
So Kaikoura was our last stop on the South Island before we head back up to the North Island. Tomorrow we leave and go back up to Wellington. Were only spending 1 night there as we've already been to Wellington and there wasn't too much to do there that we hadn't already done.
After Wellington we go back to Taupo where we did our skydives. Ill try and keep this up to date more often - but you've got plenty to read now!!! J
Hope your all well - we've got a slight feeling of missing home now, but still having too much fun to want to come back yet! J he,he!
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