Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Kia Ora!
So, Lucy has taken you through the North Island antics and it's my turn to have a go at the South Island so far... may not be quite so witty but beare with me!
After an evening of cake and cards in Wellington it was an early start with a 7.15am pick up for the ferry crossing to Picton.On the ferry, some wierdo guy collared Lucy into a conversation about his cat for ages while i 'read my book'!! Haha Anyway that's pretty irrelevant, sorry...So, we found this cool machine where it takes your photo and you can email it for free as long as you know people's email...we know Chris got his, we thought we also knew Mum's, Dad's and Sally's - did you get them guys?
I saw a Dolphin!!! So exciting!
When we got to Picton, we got straight onto the next bus to Nelson, we stopped on the way at Pelorus Reserve where there was a river to paddle in - freezing cold!!!
Our hostel in Nelson, Fern Lodge, was the nicest one we'd stayed in and we got the kiwi share deal - a double bed in a dorm room!
We walked up a really steep hill to a white pole thing which marks the very centre of New Zealand!! This did mean that we missed the beer tasting though, doh. The following day we made it to the beach which was good fun and then met our friend, Mat, for bangers and mash - yumyum. We did a walk through Abel Tasmin National Park thenext day which was said to take 4 hours but took about 3. It was a lovely walk thought and good fun as there was a group of us off the bus - Anna, Phil, Tom, Neil, Mat, Deb, Lu. We cross paths with this group quite alot. After the walk we played mini cards and rewarded ourselves with ice cream before the bus back.
Next stop, Westport. This was the first time we met the lovely, Relle or Relish!!! A kiwi driver with a bad attitude and what seemed like a dislike for tourists so why she's in this job we don't know!! The bus group was brilliant though so that made up for it.
Westport was pretty much dead which seemed wierd for a saturday but we had an amazing room with 6 other girls - Catherine, Jade, Victoria, Heather, Amanda and Nadine who we've become really good friends with. We had our own TV, kitchen, toilet and free tea and coffee!! Amazing. So, we stayed in and watched Armageddon although we did rip it to pieces and still cried at the end. haha This was also the night that introduced us to our theme song....
'Gotta getta garage, gotta getta gottage, gotta getta skyline'!! Aussie and Kiwi advertising is shocking but this got in our heads big time - we'll sing it when we get back for you!! haha
We set off for Lake Mahinapua to the legendary 'poo pub' to meet Uncle Les, the 84 year old man who runs the hostel, have a barbeque and a fancy dress party! The theme was dreams and nightmares.
We stoppedat Tauranga Bay to see the seal coloney - there were loads of little pups, so cute and then stopped again at Punakaiki to see the pancake roack and blow holes which were really cool.
We got to Lake Mahinapua in time for happy hour and a dinner of barbequed steak, venison stew, jackets potatoes.... Then it was party time.
Jade was a pregnant teenage chav, Amanda, Nadine and Victoria were superheroes, Lucy was a bird (She dreamt of flying) and I was a spider for obvious reasons.
Lucy's costume was hilariously brilliant as you'll see in the pics. Everyone thought she was a duck and she won a prize for it - Mad Dog river boarding which she's doing on the 12th april.
There were a few patriotic minutes where we found ourselves singing the national anthem and jerusalem with some other brits whilst making people down their drinks which was funny! At around 1am Nadine had a 'brilliant' idea - "let's go jump in the lake" of course we all agreed so got our swinsuits on and towels, dragged some guy along as he had a torch and walked down this woodland path in the pitch black to the ice cold lake and went in! Great idea!!
We spotted a fire so decided to join the german guy, Felix, at his camp fire to warm up while he sang to us and played guitar.
Most people were feeling fairly rough on the way to Franz Josef s were greatful for a stop until they found out where - The Bushman's Centre. We watched a film of blokes jumping out of helicoptors onto deer and numerous deer being shot. Everthing in the place was covered in either deer or possom fur and there were skulls on the walls! They did have live deer, possums, pigs and eels aswell.
Franz Josef is supposed to be the best place to skydive as it's most scenic due to the glacier but not many people get to do it because of how fast the weather changes. Luckily the weather was perfect when we got there so Lucy went and jumped 12000 feet out of a plane and came back with a massive grin on her face!
I went kayaking on a reflective lake and really enjoyed that - it was fairly chilled out compared to our other activities.
We also did a full day glacier hike wearing crampons which was awesome - had to squeeze through really narrow gaps in the ice and watched our guide cut steps out for us etc definitely recommend it!
After the hike we joined the others in the bar and I sang uptown girl on karaoke to win a bar crawl - they forced me, honest!!
We then found ourselves as big bus rejects and so got to Wanaka on the kiwi minibus but it was ok as it was faster! We were a bit lame in Wanaka and played scrabble and watched master chef! haha
On arrival at Queenstown I signed onto the Nevis Bungy with Lucy's encouragement before I could back out and then they showed us bungy videos and we watched a few people jump off the first ever bungy - was scary knowing mine would be 3 times higher.
We went to check into our hostel to find that we'd booked the one in Christchurch by mistake! Doh. Luckily there was a double room left, the garden shed, which is only $1.50 each a night more than a dorm room - bargain! And it's a really cute room, we have photos. We went to the base bar to see who was there and to check the girls were in the same bungy group which they were - yay!
Debbie's birthday! Lucy brought me scrambled eggs and tea in bed and while I was bungying (separate blog), she and Mat made me a cake (twice as it turns out!) pizza and decorated the garden shed! We had some beers with Mat and Seth and then toga'd up ready to meet the girls. Seth got in Toga aswell. We had a really good night and then me, Luc and Seth went back for cheese on toast, cards and finding nemo. A fantastic birthday!
We had a bit of a barbeque last night and leave on the bottom bus tomorrow with Mat - Dunedin - Invercargill - Te Anau - Milford Sound - Queenstown. Should be good.
Love Debbie and Lucy
xxxxx
- comments