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Kia ora everybody, well we both are still saying g-day so both will do. What a place this is! Can see why people love this place and say its the best scenery in the world, it is truly breathtaking! What we have seen so far has all been so different but still makes you go "wow look at that" Awesome! Never known a country where you can jump from almost anything you want! thats coming up .... wooooooohoooooooo!!!
When we last updated we were getting ready for our visit to the world famous Milford Sound. Unfortunately as the time of year we are here your now limited to how you see the area due to adverse weather conditions. The area was formed years ago by the earth's plates moving pushing big clumps of rock skywards in a area the size of south east England, with the help of glaciers pushing their way through causing huge gorges and valleys which the sea flooded to make this a huge tourist spot. We decieded to go on a boat cruise for 2 1/2 hours what was well worth the money. Luckely we had a clear sunny day which just made it even better. Its hard to explain how amazing the views were but will put a couple of pics on in due corse. Saw waterfalls of a few hundred meters high, the boat took us underneath one to get the extreme power of the water, got absolutely drenched! Saw a family of fur seals lounging on the rocks catching a few rays, fancied joining them but Loz thought the sight of me would certainly put the tourists off! It's hard to explain how amazing it was, you can see for yourself soon enough. I'm sure a few readers who've visited will understand. Fancied doing the Milford track walk but as its 54kms long, it's about 50kms too far! Not being proper hikers, we decided to do a few shorter ones, still with amazing views though. The boat was a far better choice cos you got complimentary tea and coffee all the way. Also we managed to stock up the van! A seriously good day with awesome sights, that's why it's a world heritage national park.
Well, when in Rome and all that! While in Queenstown best do what all the kiwis do best, wooooooohooooooooo!! Another pair of pants please! Hows this for a Sunday, supposedly a day of relaxation, not in NZ! Couldn't come away from this place without at least jumping from some cliff edge or platform. Before Lauren gave me the definite yes i booked her on a Canyon Swing and white water rafting, the rafting wasn't a problem but jumping from a suspended platform overlooking the Shotover River was! She wanted to do it but this just made sure she went through with it. After a couple of days in Queenstown tasting the local brew, luging down mountainsides, couple of walks and winetasting (fantastic stuff this NZ wine!) it was super sunday, as they say on Sky! After a sleepless night woke up to again fantastic weather, no excuses! Got driven to the Shotover Canyon which was quite a long journey, well felt like it! Got strapped up and stupidly enough put myself in the front of the queue of 6 with Lauren hiding behind! The guys in charge were trying to wind me up, as if i needed it! But thought a bit of english courage and just jumped, once my ten toes were on the edge. Oh f***! 100m freefall which then swung you 200m in an arc across the canyon. They reckon you hit speeds of 160kms/hr (100mi/hr), how many pants? Great adrenaline rush but wouldn't do it as a hobby! Lauren followed suit and jumped off after similar banter from the guys at the top, screaming all the way down, they must have heard her in Oz! Stupidly enough we got back up the top and their winter special was a second jump for only $5 for charity "definitely do that again". This time we jumped off differently, both went for the Elvis Cutaway - suspended out over the canyon facing the sky with legs crossed over the rope then with a bit more banter and distraction they cut your release cable and off you go again, backwards! Felt like our eyeballs were being pulled out of our head! Wasn't any easier the second time, knew what was coming, but still great fun. Don't know what was going on in my mind but my one-liner when i got winched back up to the platform was "i'm all shook up!" And i certainly was! Got great pictures and DVD to prove we did it! After only a couple of hours rest we were back in town ready to be picked up for our afternoon on the Shotover River in a raft. Certainly more relaxing than earlier in the day! Got suited up and travelled along the cliff edge for about 45mins in an old bus to the start of the rafting route. 6 people per raft, 2 big ones at the front to help with steering and speed, that was me and some paddy, good luck! 2 daft dutch in the middle and Loz at the back with the skipper, think Loz thought she was on a sunday afternoon cruise, she was wrong! With my lefts and rights mixed up at the best of times as some of you will know and hearing definitely not what it used to be thanks to Oz, mixed up with a paddy this was gonna be one hell of a journey! Went on some category 4 rapids which were pretty intense, chucking some of the other rafts over and people out of them, luckily enough the extra weight must have helped as we stayed afloat for 2 odd hours. Loz nearly went overboard, luckily enough the skipper grabbed her ankle and dragged her back, i knew i should have given him a bit of extra money!! A great afternoon even though we got stuck a few times and had to get winched out after getting caught in the basin of a rapid. Slept well that night, now looking forward to skydiving in Lake Taupo, awesome!
Couple of days of relaxing at Wanaka before heading to the West Coast and the two glaciers, Fox and Franz Josef. Couple of short walks today to get up close and personal with the glaciers. Fox was first and after only a 20 min walk we were almost a stones throw from the terminal face of the glacier. Could only go on the ice with a guide due to the time of year and the movement of the ice can be dangerous if you don't know where you're going. So went as far as we could without paying any money! What a pair of tight-arses! At least we didn't sleep out there! Amazed at the size of the glacier, its 13kms long, like a huge ice river rolling down the alps, which in some areas is 300m wide by 100m deep, now that would make one huge slush puppy! Loz thought it looked like an ice castle out of Narnia or something. Franz Josef was just as impressive, better views but couldn't get as close due to the changing course of the river and falling rocks due to recent rain. So had to settle for a more distant view, but still got some great pictures. Wanted to do a skydive here originally but with the lack of snow at the moment it may not be that scenic so thought we'd wait til we hit the North island.
Happy to see Spurs are going to make Europe again, looks like things are heading in the right direction. Come on you Spurs! Another year of no silverware for the arsenal, you'll have to borrow our duster as your cabinet will have empty spaces like ours.
Love Loz and Jim x  Â
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