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Greetings from the South island of NZ! This is the part of NZ we were really excited for :-). The weather has been really good for us here (although not as good as England...) and its only in the last couple of days that it has started to become a bit to wet and windy for us so we are glad to be flying to Fiji soon hopefully to catch some rays.
After a 5 hour delay getting over to the south island we managed to get across to Picton which is a very nice and scenic place. We decided to be active and went on a 4 hour walk up the mountain which gives you a view of the malborough sounds and we chose a good day. It was amazing weather and as you can see from the pictures its very impressive. We then drove down to Nelson but didnt end up getting there until really late so unfortunately we didnt get to see any of Nelson at all.
From Nelson we went down to Greymouth which is not a very well known town. We went to Greymouth via the Punakiki pancake rock formations which was pretty awesome. On arriving in Greymouth we went out that night with a few friends to the Monteiths Brewery Tour which was pretty interesting, however Sarah and I had to put Gum boots on (Wellies) because we were wearing flip flops (jangles), apparently its a safety hazard! They taught us all the hard graft thats gone into making beer and we got to try the new beers that are currently undergoing trial at the moment. The apricot wheat bear was pretty nice as it didnt have the usual addition of Hopps which meant it didnt have such a sharp after taste, as well as this we tried the crushed apple cider which went down a treat!! We also got to pour our own beers which was pretty cool and both of us pulled a decent pint. We then went off to a local pub and had some dinner and ended the night with some drinking games and tequila shots :-).
The next stop was Franz Josef and this was arguably one of the best stops so far on the trip. We did a trip called the Franz Joseph Ice Explorer Heli-Hike, this was epic! We went in a helicopter ride up to the glacier on the mountain and got to trek for 4 hours through the Ice caves, one of which was newly formed and even the tour guide had a professional photographer taking photos so we were lucky to get to see something so amazing! In one cave we had to slide through an ice tunnel to get out of it :-). Unfortunaly though as me and Sarah were about to pose for a picture in a cave i managed to tread on a pacth which looked like ice but wasnt and pretty much fell into a hole of ice water :-(. The swedish family we were with thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen and laughed for probably about 15 minutes so that was pretty embarrasing. Luckily we had loads of gear on which included crampons so there were no other falls from then on. To be honest i would have put my money on Sarah being the one to fall hehe. As you can see from the pictures it was pretty amazing and i dont think we will ever do anything quite like it again in our lives. After this we went to the Hot pools to recover from all that walking (and to warm up) which was the perfect end to a brilliant day!!
From Franz Josef we went down to Lake Wanaka. We were sceptical whether or not we would get to do our skydive here or not after our previous failed attempt :-(. All day the sun came out and then the clouds came over so we sort of persuaded ourselves it wouldnt go forward. Then came 2:30 and we were off in the little bus that drove us to the skydive place :-). We both chose to dive from 15000ft and before you know it we were kitted up and in the plane. It took about 20 minutes to get up to the right height and the views were amazing. We were above all the snowy mountains and a huge lake. We were then given oxygen in the plane about 5 minutes before we jumped. I was up first then Sarah after me. Neither of us were that nervous just really excited and it was just the best thing we have ever done in our lives. You cant put into words the feeling not only the freefall but the views when gliding with the parachute was just awesome. After this we went out for dinner to celebrate with a few mates. This was also the place where we stayed in possibly the best hostel ever with a TV, ensuite bathroom, kitchen and even an ipod dock. We re-named it the Poshtel hehe.
Queenstown was our next stop. This is known as the adventure capital of NZ. On our first day here we went luging which was really fun and i beat Sarah 2-1 :-), there was one moment though where we both went up on 2 wheels and nearly died hehe. After this we went skiing for 2 days at Cardrona Ski Resort. This was an experience. The first day was perfect conditions and we had 2 lessons which went over the basics of skiing. We then went up the kiddies ski slope, although most of the kids were better than us hehe, and practiced on there for a bit. None of us fell over from skiing but i did manage to fall off the carasel that we stood on to get up the hill. That was pretty funny as no one really falls over from a stationary position! In the afternoon we had a second lesson and got to go on the ski lift and went down the real mountain! This was scary but so much fun. Sarah fell over 4 times which was making me laugh a lot and other than the 2 times i fell from a stationary position i fell once. Day 2 on the slopes and we had our third and final lesson. The conditions were no where as good as they were and the wind/visibility was awful. We actually thought we would either freeze or die! After a few more falls (more on my own part) we had finished our skiing experience and all of us were aching from the neck down. To celebrate our skiing triumph we went for a Fergburger which is the biggest burger we have ever had in our lives but it also tasted good. We then finished the night at an Irish pub downing Guiness with some Brazilians. :-).
Christchurch was pretty much as expected. Its basically still in the demolition phase so most of the building are out of bounds and waiting to be rebuilt. We went to the restart Mall which was built after the earthquake and is basically a shopping mall made from big cargo containers, we even had an ice cream as the sun was out! In the evening we went to a bar called smash palace which is a recovery bar and really cool as its made from scaffolding and is outside and the bar is a bus. All in all it was a good night and it was good to see Christchurch. The next day was our final stop in NZ before we took the bus the whole way back up the country and this was Kaikora. Kaikora is home to thousands of Seals so again we were active and went for another 4 hour walk to see the Seal colonies which was cool. We also saw a family of Seal pups which was sooooo cute. Of course we watched the Lions beat the Wallabies Whoop Whoop!! So that sums up NZ which has been amazing probably the best country so far. :-). We will end with our usual summary and shall be in touch again from the sunny islands of Fiji I think we have earnt a coctail or 5.
Things we will miss:
1. The scenery
2. The pies (the best meat pies we have ever tasted)
3. Hearing the phrase 'SWEET AS' after every sentence!
Things we wont miss:
1. The pies (we have gained about a stone)
2. The snoring in the dorms...(this is the only country where it has been an issue!)
3. Wearing our very trendy raincoats and Vicki's walking shoes and Sarahs flip flops which she wears even in minus temperatures!
Missing you all lots xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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