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We only arrived in New Zealand about a week ago but I have to say that I already absolutely love this country! The scenery is stunning and every corner you turn there is just one amazing view after another. Not to mention the friendly people, great bars, and 101 death-defying activities you could try your hand at.
We flew into Christchurch after leaving Jo back in sunny Sydney. You may be wondering why we didn't see any more of the East coast of Oz. Well, for starters, we didn't really have time to do it justice. Plus, I've seen a lot of it before and we were both keen to hop foot it to NZ. And finally, it gives us an excuse to go back!
Christchurch is described as the most English of NZ cities, and it's easy to see why. All the streets are named after English cities and there is even a River Avon where you can enjoy an idyllic afternoon punting on the water. We stayed there a few days before getting on the TranzAlpine railway to Greymouth on the west coast. This is described as one of the top rail journeys in the world and it is easy to see why. The four hour journey took us up into the Southern Alps, over gorges and rivers and through tunnels en route. It was fantastic and an open air viewing platform certainly put the wind through your hair. The views of snow covered mountains were breathtaking.
From Greymouth, we began our journey on the Magic tour bus. It's a hop-on/hop-off backpacker bus which will provide our transportation needs throughout our time in NZ. Not only that, the drivers act as tour guides and they even book activities and accomodation for us. So we just have to sit back and enjoy the ride. Not bad at all!
So our first major activity was a hike up the Franz Josef glacier. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but was looking forward to it nevertheless. And it didn't disappoint. We donned very attractive hiking boots and big winter rain jackets before making our way over to the glacier. It was incredible walking up it, along staircases cut into the ice. The guide was hacking away at the ice as we went up, while we made tentative steps with our big snow grips crunching into the ice. It was brilliant but I was aching by the end of it. Luckily our hostel had a spa, so we spent the evening relaxing in the hot bubbles trying to relieve our weary feet!
From Franz Josef, we made the journey down to Queenstown via numerous picturesque lakes. Talk about a beautiful country! So now we're in the self proclaimed 'adventure capital of the world.' So far we haven't done much, apart from meet up with a friend of Matt's, John Paul (hello!), and have a pretty heavy Saturday night drinking session. As for activities, well we're considering doing a canyon swing (which is exactly what it says on the tin) and a white water rafting trip. Bungy jumping just doesn't appeal at all but we may do a skydive at some point.
I'll let you know how we get on - if we live to tell the tale!
Take care, Love Nikki xxx
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