We arrived in New Zealand on Jan 4th and quickly made it down by coach and boat to the South Island. We did spend a few days in Auckland previously visiting the sky tower and Auckland Museum but we were eager to get South.
We collected the car in Picton (the ferry terminal) and drove on. Our first stop was Nelson where Emily had been talking to an old school friend who told her to come and stay in the YHA hostel that he worked at. Emily asked him for a dorm but he ended up booking us in a private room for two nights completely free of charge. This always helps when you are traveling. We spent the rest of the day shopping. It was so good to be able to buy clothes (NZ clothes sizes are the same as UK) and talk to people without having a language barrier.
The following day we drove to Abel Tasman National park for a one day trek. We got the boat to Bark Bay. On the boat we saw a school of dolphins swim past us. Everyone stood up to see them. At bark bay we then had an eleven mile walk to get back to where we started. There was amazing scenery on they way back. The walk took six hours. Tony was moaning that his feet hurt after two!!
We left Nelson and headed for Punakaiki where we saw the pancake rocks and blowholes and from there we swiftly moved on to Franz Joseph. We nearly didn't make it to Franz Joseph as we nearly ran out of petrol. We had a hitchhiker with us so all three of us where panicking that we weren't going to make it. Luckily we did by the skin of our teeth!
At Franz Joseph we booked our glacier walk for the next day and that night we went to see the glow worms. We had to walk in the middle of the woods in the darkness with just each other and our torch. Emily hated it. It was so scary. When we got to where the glow worms were it was like a little cave. They looked amazing. Too make Emily a little more scared it was two women that told us where the glow worms were and they waited outside the cave. Emily was thinking Blair witch and hoping they weren't going to come in and make her stand in the corner.
The next day was our glacier walk. It looked so blue and beautiful. We had great fun getting wet when trying to slide through two massive pieces of glacier. The photos say it all. Tony was a bit diappointed that it wasn't a bit longer. Straight after the climb we drove to Wanaka.
Wanaka is like Queenstown but without the tourists. On our first day we climbed up Mt Iron which didn't take long and ate our lunch up the mountain. We walked along the sea front but headed back early as we wanted to prepare for the evening. We went out into town for drinks with our roommates Bex and Andy. The bar was really good and we met some locals who were really funny. Unfortunately Emily got chatted up by a weirdo right in front of Tony. The weirdo wouldn't stop staring at her and telling her he loved her accent.
We got the shock of our lives the next morning when there was a knock at the door. Emily opened it only to find the weirdo standing there. It turned out he worked at the hostel. Emily made a quick exit to go running. Tony pretended to be asleep! Today was para gliding day. We had to wait for ages as there was quite a strong wind although it was a very hot day!! Emily went first. She was so scared but loved it although she was a bit pale when she was brought back down to earth. Tony was fine and his para gliding partner flipped him a few times.
After the para gliding we hired a kayak and went kayaking on the lake. It wasn't for long as they were closing. We could go quite fast in the kayak and Tony insisted in chasing the ducks on the lake but they were quicker!!
That evening we went to the cinema. This wasn't an ordinary cinema it was independent and did not have theatre seats. It was filled with sofas and the film was paused half way through so people could get more snacks if they wanted. They could even get meals. Emily was most impressed with the homemade cookies! Yum. However we went to see 'The day the earth stood still' and it was rubbish. Nobody died.
The next stop was Queenstown. On the way we wanted to do Horse riding. However Tony drove in the wrong direction so we ended up missing it. When we got to Queenstown we booked it there but when we arrived at the place an old lady told us they moved five years ago. We weren't impressed.
We took a day trip to Milford sound the following day and agreed to take Pan a fellow traveler as they were trying to charge him 90 dollars to get the coach. He said he would split the petrol costs. It took us 4 hours to get there and the weather was awful!! It was constant rain!! We boarded a ferry on arrival which took us round the area stopping at the most beautiful waterfalls and natural sights. We saw lots of fur seals. On the way back we got back to the car only to find the car wouldn't start. Tony had left the lights on - silly sod. We had to get someone from the visitor centre to bring her jump leads to start it again. She charged us 10 dollars!!
On the return journey we stopped at different view points and stopped for a Fergburger. Fergburgers are exclusive to Queenstown and are known to be the best. There was always a queue outside. We weren't disappointed. They were huge and have so many different varieties.
It was in Queenstown that Tony did his bungee jump. He was so nervous but was absolutely fantastic. He didn't hesitate and jumped straight away. Emily was rubbish she was far to scared!! After the bungee we went white water rafting. Emily was mega nervous especially when they kept mentioning how dangerous it was! However we both had a great time and got soaked but we didn't fall out of our raft. Afterwards we were able to use their sauna to dry off and kept warm.
We drove down to Dunedin and picked up a few hitchhikers on the way. We stayed in a very socialable hostel and befriended a Canadian girl straight away as well as an English guy called David as well as Gary (Oz), Meuni (Japan) and a crazy German man. We sat up for most of the evening talking to them.
In Dunedin we visited Cadbury World and got lots of free chocolate. Emily kept answering the questions right so she could get more. She was annoyed that the children kept getting given extra. We watched as a tonne of chocolate dropped from high above us. It was great. We also learnt that chocolate is good for your teeth and that it contains no cholesterol! Emily got to have Tony's chocolate as well.
We also took a trip to the old railway and the botanical garden. Later that evening we went with Gary and Meuni to the Speight Factory for a brewery tour. Tony was so happy that Emily doesn't drink beer. He drunk all her free samples. We went out for a drink afterwards as well.
We left Dunedin and traveled to Lake Tekapo. On the way we stopped to look at some Moari drawings and some boulders that mysteriously stuck on the beach. They were quite fascinating. We also stopped for a Penguin Tour. We went to see the new chicks. They were so cute!!
We decided to spend the night at Lake Tekapo as they do star gazing and we hoped to be able to do that. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side as it was so cloudy but we did get to meet Kera and Elise who we saw in our last hostel. We stayed up talking to them.
The next morning after Emily had been running we went to see the sights which included a really old church. We then had to travel to Christ church. When we arrived we met up with Regan and Jaclyn who we met in Peru. They took us out for fish and chips and then give up their bed for us! they were so kind.
The next day was a Friday so while Regan and Jaclyn were at work we went to check out Christ church. The buskers festival was on so it was really good fun watching all the different acts and it was so hot!!. We also went to see the Cathedral and the Museum. We made sure we got back early enough to dive into Jaclyn and Regan's pool!!
That evening as it was Jaclyn's birthday we all headed off to Jaclyn's mum's farm. Jaclyn's mum (Linda) made as all dinner. There wasn't just us. Most of the family were there. Cousins, aunties, uncles, brothers, sisters - the lot. That evening yet again they let us stay in the bed indoors rather than sleep in the tent which was so kind of them.
In the morning Emily went running with Jaclyn in the 32 degree heat and nearly died. The farm is 900 acres in size!!! huge!! Then we jumped in the spa!! Fantastic but not for long because it was just too hot for it. Therefore Jaclyn and Regan took us out of the working quads. We took one quad and Jacklyn and Regan took the other. It was brilliant. They showed us the dams her dad was building as well as the rivers that flow through the farm. It was great and then we ended up getting stuck in a huge pile of shit!!! Well it was a swamp (cow pat swamp). Jaclyn didn't care and dived straight in to help us. She was trying to push it but the wheels we so stuck. We managed to free it in the end though.
Back at the house we waited until cow milking time then we got back on the quads and went to see the cows getting milked. We even had a go ourselves. It is all done but machines so we didn't have to use our hands!
Then it was time to jump in the river!! That evening we all eat and drunk to celebrate Jaclyn's birthday and it was brilliant. There was so many people there.
We didn't want to leave the next day. The family had cooked for us and given us somewhere to sleep and wouldn't take a penny for it. They were so kind to us. Linda had even baked us homemade cookies to take away with us.
We arrived in Kaikoura and went to book our swimming with Dolphins Excursions. Unfortunately they were booked up all week!! Crazy. They told us to come every 08:30 and 14:00 while we were here so they try and squeeze us on.
The next day we managed to get on the Dolphin tour!! The sea was so rough we were literally in the air on this boat!! Emily's stomach kept going round and a few some children were ill straight away. (Graham would have died had he been on the boat - Vicky you know this is true) Anyhow we found the dolphins and jumped in. Emily managed to swallow a mouth fall of sea water. The sea was so rough it was almost scary. Emily dipped her head under the water and through her snorkel saw two dolphins pass her. Tony had the same luck. This isn't always the case as they were wild dolphins and sometimes they don't like to get close to humans.
On the way back Emily was feeling really ill. She wasn't well before we started but eventually she got sea sick as well especially when a little girl decided to vomit all over the deck. Her stupid parents decided not to use the buckets that were given out. Luckily Emily wasn't sick and Tony went and got her a few blankets and a ginger biscuit to settle her stomach. We went back to the hostel and relaxed. Emily slept for most of the day but still felt rough in the morning!
The weather was awful the next day. It rained the whole day. Although Emily was ill somebody told her that there was a gym that you could use for a few dollars down the road. Emily went down there for a few hours. The day was spent researching for other parts of our trip and watching DVD's with the rest of our hostel.
We were sad to leave the South Island but we had to come to Auckland as some stage. Tony's friend Sarah came to meet us at the airport and let us stay with her. We went out on the harbour and had a BBQ in the evening. We went out with them in the evening but didn't stay out too long as we were knackered!! Sarah ended up getting home at 6 in the morning. We didn't see her much the next day!! Therefore we went to check out one tree hill which was so steep!! At one point you have to go down the hill just to get back up it. Emily was having none of it and climbed over the wall instead.
We wanted to take a trip to Rotorua and Sarah asked if she could come with us which was great. We didn't have to hire a car and took Sarah's. We also took Sarah's friend Kylie along for the ride. We arrived quite late at Rotorua so we had something to eat by the lake and then we found the free spa and jumped in there. It was cold getting out as it was 10pm by the time we did.
Our full day was action packed. We went onto the gondola and got a luge back down. It was so fun. They were like mini go carts. We did it three times!! Then we went to the Kiwi encounter and saw a few Kiwi's. They are so big!! Apparently when they are pregnant the baby Kiwi takes up a third of their body. Its the equivalent of a woman having a 34lb baby!!! Ouch. Then we went off to the lake as it was so hot!! The lake was cold though but we dried off quick.
We had our Moari experience that night. The Moari were the tribes that lived in New Zealand before the Europeans came. They still live in New Zealand but of course they live exactly the same as we do now. However the Moari people are aware of their heritage and we learnt a lot on our Moari night. They explained how they lived, the role of the men and women and which natural medicines they would use. They showed us the weapons they used to use for hunting animals as well as their different traditions and customs. After that they cooked us a Hangi. This is a meal which is cooked underground. As there are hot springs and mud pools they use the steam to cook their food. It was so nice. Tony went back for seconds. Afterwards they took us on a tour of the forest showing us the different types of trees native to New Zealand and what they were used for. We also saw some glow worms.
We left Rotorua and headed back to Sarah's house the next day. On the way back we stopped at Wakai beach which was gorgeous. The sand was so soft!! That night we had another BBQ.
Unfortunately that was our last night in Zealand and we headed to Sydney the next day.
