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Josie's Giant Adventure
Hello
Sorry I haven't written anything for quite a while. It is now my last day in New Zealand. Tomorrow I fly to Melboune. I am sad to be leaving. I've had a great time, done some amazing things that I never thought I'd do, even driven a car, met fantastic people and enjoyed some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.
So what have I done since Wanaker? It all seems like a long time ago.
After Wanaker Emma and I went down to Queenstown which is a beautiful town on Lake Wakatipu. Even though the weather was really bad when we arrived, I really took to it straight away. It is very good for going out and action sports and attracts a lot of backpackers. As a cool down from the sky dive Emma and I went jet boating and then hang gliding. Both fantastic. I waved goodbye to Emma and started the rest of my trip, travelling alone. I was apprehensive, but so far so good.
I stayed in Queenstown for my Birthday. By chance I met some excellent people to spend it with. We went out the night before and on the big day and it was all a lot of fun. There was the NZ rugby 7's tournament on over the road from our hostel all weekend and you could just sit down on the grass with your beers and watch. There was a brilliant atmosphere. In the evening we went to a few good bars and I drank many pink drinks. I got ID'd too 10 years to the day after I've been drinking legally. I was pretty happy about that.
After my Birthday I headed down to Te Anau which is a small town and the main attraction is that its a jumping off point for Milford and Doubtful Sounds - there's not much point in going there otherwise. I did day trips to both of the Sounds and they were so beautuful. Doubtful impressed me more as it was more remote and more spectacular. We saw loads of wildlife and the best moment was probably when the boat engine was turned off on Doubftul and all you could hear was the sounds of the birds and waterfalls. It was so tranquil which was very welcome after the hectic time I'd had in Queenstown. Doubtful Sound is called Doubtful as Captain Cook was doubtful that he would be able to get his boat out again - useful fact for you.
Then to continue my quiet time, I headed to Stewart Island. It is the roughest ferry ride I have ever had and I was very pleased when the green kid in front of me got taken outside by his dad before I witnessed any sea sickness. Lots of people were ill, but I wasn't and I quite liked it. Stewart Island was nice but very quiet. There is loads of wildlife and bird song that I have never heard before. There is no noise apart from the birds and weather as there are only 400 people in the main town and very little in the way of roads and cars. I did a few good walks. I turned back from one when I nearly landed flat on my back in a swamp of mud and water but at the last second caught hold of a tree which saved me - decided I'd had enough mud. The weather was really quite cold and I have never seen changeable weather like it - one minute its sunny, 30 seconds later its freezing with a downpour of rain.
I was glad to get to some lovely sunshine in Dunedin. I travelled through the Catlins between Invercargill (near Stewart Island) and Dunedin. It is lovely coastline with amazing beaches and forrests. We saw sea lions, some baby penguins and loads of birds and trees. It was all going very nicely until the bus broke down and we had to wait for 2 hours for a replacement and missed out nugget point where a lot of penguins live. Never mind, it was a lovely day and we were lucky to see a couple of penguins earlier on.
Dunedin was nice. I just spent the day wondering around the town and the lovely botanical gardens. I was continuing my quiet time before heading back to Queenstown on my way up to Lake Tekapo. I got to Queenstown and kind of got sucked in again, as I think a lot of people do. I ended up spending another 5 nights there. I did a wine tour which included learning about wine, tasting it and doing some cheese tasting. I went to a lovely little village called Arrowtown and spent some time reading by the beautiful lake in the sunshine - it was really good. I watched some people do bungy jumps at New Zealands original bungy bridge where the drop is only 43 meters. It made me feel sick just watching, I could never do it, but that one is nothing. The biggest one in that area, maybe in NZ, I don't know - Ben Nevis - is a 147 meter drop. I can't believe people want to do that. But its bizarre that I can't do that but could jump out of a plane!
I had some really good nights out with the friends I made at the hostel. We had our own little living room and it was very sociable and a fun place to be.
Eventually I managed to drag myself away from Queenstown. Well, I almost didn't leave when I woke up at the same time that I was supposed to be getting on the bus and had to grab my stuff and sprint and only just got there in time. I hadn't had time to change from the top I had been wearing in bed and only after I had ran past loads of people in the street, got onto the bus, walked past the driver and everyone on it, did I realise that it was inside out.
I headed up to Lake Tekapo in the middle of the South Island. Mount Cook is on the way and I just couldn't resist getting a helicopter ride over it which also landed on a glacier. I didn't think about being on a glacier and wore my flip flops which are not good footwear for snow. It was amazingly spectacular and a brilliant experience to finish off the NZ dream. Lake Tekapo is pretty small with not much happening, but I managed to have a very nice evening there.
I arrived into Christchurch and went to see New Brighton Beach and have wondered around the town. I would have done more but have got a cold so I've been trying to sleep that off before going to Australia tomorrow. Christchurch seems like a lovely place, its a shame I'm not here longer. In fact its a shame I'm not in the whole of New Zealand longer but I have a plane to catch.
Onwards to Australia....
Josiexxx
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