Hello Everyone
After an amazing sunrise flight from Cairns to Brisbane (truly beautiful views), we spent an extremely long and dull day in Brisbane airport waiting for our early evening flight to Christchurch (if you've seen the film Terminal, it was a bit like that). We then had an amazing sunset flight with more incredibly beautiful views. The only annoyance was the air stewardess from hell. Z unfortunately left her only jumper in the airport terminal, only 2 mins away, and the hag wouldn't let her get it, or even get the ground staff to bring it to her, despite Z's pleas that it was her only one. Heartless witch couldn't give a shit. Z then scared T a little by suggesting that the pilot was probably a learner, as he kept switching the seatbelt sign on by mistake, and his voice was a little shaky over the public address system. Didn't exactly instil confidence. Needless to say T was a whimpering wreck by the end of the flight, especially as the take off and landings weren't the smoothest.
After our semi-crash landing, we disembarked into a howling gale. Typical. We spent 6 weeks in glorious sunshine in Australia, with no need for jumper or coat, and now Z didn't have one it's pissing it down. And our novice pilot told us it had been glorious all day. Life's hard, eh?!
To be fair on our captain, Christchurch had actually basked in glorious sunshine for several months, and only as we arrived, had the weather taken a freakish turn for the worse. Apparently it was very unusual and the weather was miserable the whole time we were there. We still had loads of fun, though. Stayed the first night in a jugendherberge, which was full of miserable people who avoided eye contact. We entertained ourselves by seeing who could get the most responses to loud, in your face hellos. We didn't get one. Next day we moved to a nice hotel and paid three pounds more for a smile.
Christchurch is very pretty - set on the River Avon, it's a lot like England, mixed with New England. They have lots of gothic style architecture and lovely old (for them) houses. The Cathedral was pretty impressive also and made good shelter from the rain. They have quaint old trams and try very hard to be English. Christchurch has an excellent museum with interesting and informative displays on the "history" of the place, which was one of the first permanent settlements. It was lovely to see old photographs of our boys back in the day, all excited at the prospect of a new life in far off lands. It was actually quite moving to read the songs that our countrymen had written about leaving their beloved England and Scotland, and their apprehension about starting again in a strange land. There was also a good exhibit on Maori history.
After a couple of days in Christchurch, we went to pick up our Camper, Mark II. Bit disappointing compared to the one we got in Oz, and way more expensive. It is really old and we had to go back to the depot on at least 2 occasions with minor problems such as live wires dangling from light fittings, ready to electrocute us. Not very impressed at all, but won't go on...
Our next port of call was a charming little seaside town, Akaroa. Luckily the weather picked up, and it was a fab drive over dale and valley to the tip of Bank's peninsula, east of Christchurch. Akaroa's first European settlers were French whalers, and all street names and houses were pretty and French. We did fun things like look around graveyards, as you do. We had a top spot in a beautiful campsite, high on a hill overlooking Akaroa and the crystal clear waters of the bay. T cooked excellent native green lipped mussels for our first meal in the new (crap) van, they were huge and delicious.
We had a brief stop in Christchurch (via lovely Lyttelton and the campervan place - again) so that T could watch some Super 14s Rugby. We saw Canterbury Crusaders crucify the Bulls from South Africa in a really exciting match (even Z thought so). The Jade Stadium was pretty cool with a castle in one corner and loads of Knights on horseback galloping around the pitch before the match. The cheerleaders weren't bad either. Had a few drinks for Paddy's Day, and met a guy from Portsmouth who now lived in Christchurch - small world, eh.
Next day we set off for Mt Cook, which is the highest peak in NZ, and had another really impressive drive, past the bluest lakes you've ever seen (something to do with ground up rock particles suspended in the water). Then, out of nowhere the snowcapped Southern Alps loomed up in front us; it was an incredible sight. It was beautiful weather all day, but as soon as it turned dark, a howling gale started up. We were in the middle of the wilderness, about 4km walk through pitch black bush to the nearest settlement, and we had to go ring our mothers for mothers' day - that's love for you!
Next morning we were rudely awoken at about 5.30 by the sound of stomping feet on the roof. Z panicked a little, thinking there might be a bear or psychopath on the roof, and sent T, armed with a coathanger, to investigate. Turned out it was a load of Keas, New Zealand mountain parrots (more like eagles), trying to eat the roof of the van. They were right cheeky buggers as well: despite T's attempts to wrestle them with the coathanger, they just carried on and one even had the audacity to come and stare him out. Anyway, we were up then so had the most amazing sunrise walk through the Hooker valley, with awe inspiring views of Mount Cook and the beautiful Alpine scenery.
Dunedin was our next stop and very nice it was too. Many Scots settled here, so there were lots of Scottish place names and millions of Churches. They have a very impressive railway station and interesting colonial architecture. They don't feel the need to paint all their old buildings gaudy colours, as in Oz, which was refreshing. We had a tour of Speights brewery and drank lots of beer, and then a tour of the Cadbury's factory and stuffed our faces with chocolate (and then felt a bit sick). Z has started judging cities on the basis of their supermarket(s) and Dunedin has a right good one. The Otago peninsula is right next to Dunedin, so we had a lovely drive around there (as it was raining). It's supposed to be a great place for spotting penguins, seals and albatrosses but they obviously weren't bothered about seeing us.
On the way to Milford Sound, our next stop, we had a fantastic, alpine walk (v hard work) to Key Summit and probably the most spectacular views yet. We were surrounded by imposing mountains and glacial valleys and you could really get a feel for how the glaciers had carved the topography over millions of years. Milford Sound is actually a fjord, not a sound, on which we cruised. It was very beautiful and immense and we felt tiny and insignificant. Had our first glimpse of some seals which were very cute. There were numerous waterfalls, in which the skipper determined to get us drenched, and from which we drank incredibly pure water.
We drove that night to Queenstown, and awoke the next morning to find Sproat (Z's friend from hospital) and his mates Robbie and Chris staying in the same campsite. Random. They are also doing a round the world trip, but we didn't think any of our stops would coincide, so it was a most pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, they were moving on, so we said our goodbyes, and then planned the day's activities, as Queenstown is apparently the adrenaline seeker's adventure paradise. First up was a gondola ride to the top of one of the mountains (Queenstown is surrounded by many, including the impressive Remarkables Range), and then we luged all the way down (you know, like a bobsleigh but on wheels). Top laugh. Grandma Z came down the whole way with the brakes on, leaving T at the finish line checking his watch. Loads of people paraglide from the top as well, but it was too expensive (and T was too chicken). Next up was jetboating. This was excellent fun - being hurtled around at top speed on a boat skimming on about 10 cm of water, doing loads of 360 degree spins through the narrowest gorge, and narrowly escaping being crushed on the rocks. It was cool. Queenstown was a pleasant place, if a bit touristy (but its supermarket is crap). We had a fun, boozy night, including a visit to a posh off licence where you could pay a nominal charge for tasters of their wines. Unfortunately our visit was curtailed by a drunken, over zealous German wine conoisseur, who scared us off.
After Queenstown we headed to Fox Glacier and bumped into Sproat again. Spent the evening drinking with those guys, and catching up which was great. Got accosted by an old pissed up Kiwi poet, who told us that Maoris and Scots were cannibals. He was a bit of a wierdo. Next day, feeling a little hungover, we visited the Glacier, which was awesome. ⇒We actually climbed the Franz Josef Glacier the following day, with the help of a female guide, who was very sexy, especially when wielding her pick axe, but a bit up her own arse. It was absolutely huge and a bit cold and slippy. Didn´t realise how high we´d got until looked behind us at all the little ant people below.
We soothed our aching muscles the following day in the hot springs at Hanmer Springs, and then drove to Kaikoura, which is famous for its seal colonies and whale watching. Had to put off the whale watching for a day as it was really windy and there was a major seasickness warning. So spent the morning cleaning the van and managed to get T a new wedding ring, made of Jade. After that we went for a lovely walk along the clifftop. Well it was lovely until T decided to take an alternative route back along the rocky shore at the base of the cliffs (prohibited). Z was convinced if they didn´t get stopped by the ranger, they would be washed away by the rising tide. When T nearly tripped over a sleeping 3m long seal, (which can get aggressive) Z insisted it was time to turn back. Unfortunately, they had gone too far to go back the way they came, and it was getting dark, so T made them scale a pretty much vertical cliff face, in the howling wind, and jump a huge barbed wire fence. It was a bit scary and Z was pissed off. He placated her with a lovely dinner of the local delicacy, crayfish (like lobsters) and chips- v. tasty (and Z very pleased). Got to go whale watching the following day, and it was well worth the wait. We saw 2 sperm whales, millions of dusky dolphins and seals and a couple of albatrosses (huge). When Ian, Robbie and Chris went, they saw Orcas as well.
We drove to Nelson after that, and the following morning, we woke again to find Ian and the gang living next to us. We were beginning to get concerned about stalking, but they insisted it was us following them. We spent the day in Nelson and they set off their next stop. Nelson has a nice supermarket and cathedral. Never make eye contact with old people in Churches. T had the misfortune to glance at a kindly looking older gentleman, and it turned out he was a vounteer who detained us for well over an hour to give us the history of the place, just like in Port Macquaire. We wouldn´t have minded but the conversation was turning political, and when he started saying that George Bush was great, and we should wage war on Islam, we started getting a little uncomfortable. All this from a Christian, and in the House of God. What´s the world coming too. Z tried to tell him that only a very small minority of the muslim faith were fundamentalists, but his retort was "well they all treat their women badly".
Our last stop on the South Island was Picton. Unbelievably, got to the campsite, and Sproat and the boys were in the spot next to us, AGAIN. We spent the rest of the day exchanging suspicious glances and then went out and got drunk at an Irish bar. Next morning, we got the ferry to Wellington and started our adventures on the North Island. More later. Don´t be strangers..... P.S. Couldn't put all pics on and most are of T as T's memory card not working so will have to show you when get back or put on Flickr
