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Our travels now bring us to Winton, and to the warmth of our friends from our uni days. It was so good to be able to visit K and S, to visit their 'farm' and spend several days relaxing a la casa de brinkworth y thorne. Their 'homestead' took us by surprise, with enough land to provide much of what they need to consume, and, certainly by English standards, a large bungalow. We helped out a little on the 'farm' feeding the chickens and cow, and also dragged them out for a fantasic walk in their local hills, even 'bagging' a new hut along the way. This is the NZ equivilant of letter boxing on Dartmoor. I must also mention the incredible variety in our diet at Winton. We changed from days of pasta sauce to cray fish, their poor pig, and a Thai Special. It was great.
I am writing so nearly at the end of our time in glorious NZ. We were told that South Island was really very special (while we were on the north) and we've certainly not been dissappointed. We left Picton on a very early bus after our ferry ride, down directly to Christchurch in order to collect our hire car. At 3 pounds 50 each a day, we certainly couldn't complain. We travelled to the west coast over Arthurs Pass, stopping briefly for the obligatory engineering photo of the new viaduct, past the glaciers and then on to Wanaka. It was here that we started to believe the reports from so many others about the beauty of South Island. For one whole day it stopped raining, thankfully coinciding with a day walk we planned to do, reaching over 1500m. And The Views......
We travelled down to Queenstown, and the days passed by as we moved between Queenstown, Winton and Fiordland (near Te Anau). Of course we wanted to see the Abel Tasman National Park and Mount Cook, but, quite happily, we got 'stuck' as there were so many walks to do in this area.
The treks were out of season, so we only had to pay half the price compared to walking in the summer to stay in the huts on the Great Walks. We completed the Milford Track, the Routeburn and Kepler on South Island, with very mixed weather some good views, log fires, snow cappped peaks and tumbling water falls. Shall I go on? The great thing about NZ is the accessibility of the walks. It is really easy to do an A to B walk, and the transport back to the start can always be arranged. On the Routeburn we were lucky enough to be able to do a car-key swap with one of K's friends from rugby, saving a 5 hour journey back to the start.
Milford was the most outstanding and different trek. Just with the transport combination alone, we'd never done a walk like it. Mini bus, boat, walk walk walk, kayak (across Milford Sound). The walks are also give a great opportunity for meeting like minded travellers, and we met many Europeans who'd also been waiting for the cheaper low season. We happened to be on 2 tracks with a couple from the Czech Republic, so got to know them quite well. At about 9.30 one night, just as most trampers were about to head to bed, 3 Americans burst into the hut. They were sopping wet - well, it had been raining since 1pm. They had just completed a 6 hour walk, and had spotted a Kiwi an hour before. As if their excitment wasn't enough, they even had a photo of it! So, yes, these mythical birds really do exist, but we were not that lucky this time.
We are now heading back to Christchurch through the Caitlins, back up towards our flight on June 5. There is so much more to see here, the Abel Tasman, Stewart Island, the whole area north of Christchurch on South Island. We still want to walk the Dusky Track and Hollyford Track (during a spell of fine weather), and sample the many heli kayaking possibilities. Unfortunately with only 6 more days here, we'll have time for some penguin spotting (yellow crested), perhaps some whales, seals and albatrosses, and the rest will keep until next time.
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