Greymouth, Franz Josef, Wanaka, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Dunedin and Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

Hey!

Ok so it's not as easy getting online here as it is in Australia, so I've squashed pretty much everything since Christchurch into this blog entry. Here's how the last 2 weeks went...

After getting the Tranzalpine train across to Greymouth, because of the bus we're on we had to stay 1 night in Greymouth. There's nothing to this town!! It's cool the way they do buses over here. It's more of a tour. So they go certain days in winter (but everyday in summer) so you have to work your plan around the bus, and it's compulsory to stay at some places over night as the bus doesn't go any further. The hostel we stayed in Greymouth was cool though, it was called Noah's Arc, and each bedroom was designed as an animal from the arc. So we were in the sheep room!

The next morning we jumped on the bus at 8 and headed south down the west coast. It's so beautiful, lakes and mountains everywhere. Our final destination was Franz Josef, and because we wanted to do the full-day glacier hike here, we had to spend 2 nights. So the following morning we got all geared up and headed to the glacier. We were walking for a good while before eveing reaching the end of the glacier. When we first looked at it we thought oh we probably climb to the top and walk around up there. Not a chance! We made it about half-way I'd say. There's crevaces and caves and well it's not as straight-forward as you'd think. It was so amazing though, stunning. We broke off into groups, and it turned out we had 9 Irish in our group of 11! Ok well 5 of us were together, but still what are the odds of having another 4 Irish in your group! The entire hike was about 12km, and for about 7 hours. It was tough at times but we had our 'clampons' so we had a grand grip of the ice.

Our next stop on the bus was Wanaka. I think it's at a higher altitude as it was soooo much colder than Franz Josef. When we arrived we went to the puzzle world. There's a big illusions room and an outdoor maze. Sure it kept us occupied for a while anyway! Our hostel had free pool and table tennis, so we had great fun there too! It's the simple things in life that make us happy :p Next day we had a few hours to kill before the bus collected us again, so we just checked out the lake, Lake Wanaka. It's one of the bigger lakes in New Zealand, and is 50km in length!

So then we finally arrived in Queenstown. It was night when we arrived so we just checked out the town, went for food etc etc. First impressions were that yeh it is quite built up for a small area, but it's a nice cute little place. The next day when we were walking around we discovered there's actually loads of shops, restaurants, pubs etc, so it's actually quite packed. But it's still a nice little place and everything is so accessible. The lakeside is gorgeous as well, Lake Watikipu, which is 80km in length. Apparently at the moment if you went into it you'd have 15mins before you'd die from hypothermia!! That afternoon we went into a shop down here that does hoodys and tshirts and you design the look yourself. SO we all got a hoody and designed it with various NZ logos, and things (sports etc) representing our time in NZ.

The next day I went off and did a day trip to Milford Sound. The girls are going to do it just before they leave Queenstown so I went off to do it with a tour company over here. For those who haven't heard of it, Milford Sound is a Fiord over by the west coast. It's in an area known as Fiordland as there are so many over there, but Milford was known, well unofficially I guess, as the 8th wonder of the world. It's fabulous, crystal green waters with huge rock faces. So we just got the bus from Queenstown down, but since it's such a journey, we stopped in Te Anau, and some other places too. We also stopped at a chasm which wsa fascinating to see, it was crazy the way the rocks had formed due to the stream. Anyway, so Milford Sound itself was a must see. We did a 2-hour cruise around it and up to the Tasman Sea. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone over this side of the world, it's something that photos doesn't do it justice.

The next day Gillian, Emma and Marie went skiing for the day so since it was my last in Queenstown, I kind of wanted to do something big but didn't want to o skiing. Long story short, Trish (Alice's friend) somehow convinced me to do the Nevis Bungy Jump with her. I was considering doing a bungy, but thought I might brave the Kawarai Bridge one which is the world's first bungy and is about 40metres or so high. I said sure I'd ask about the Nevis, and before I knew it I was on the bus on the way to it with Trish!! Gillian had done the jump the day before and well she survived it so odds were we'd be fine too!! :) The Nevis is the 3rd highest bungy jump in the world, at 143 metres high. I think by the time I was half way down I realised I was doing it. It was definitely the scariest thing I've ever done!!! It's just hard because you have to jump yourself, they can't push you. Well I'm so glad I did it anyway, I still can't believe I went through with it! Afterwards they were telling us of a great offer they had for the Nevis Arc, so it was my turn to dra Trish into doing something. So we did it together as a tandum. It's the world's highest swing. And it was so much more enjoyable as it wasn't as scary. You could hold onto the harness, and it was out of your control as the guy dropped you, so you just hang there and enjoy! It was about 140metres as well so it was quite a drop, but it was class!

That night we went for some drinks as it was my last night with the girls, so the following morning, after 10 months together I said a sad goodbye. And I headed for Dunedin. It's scottish gaelic for 'Edinburgh' so obviously has a lot of scottish influence. It was alot bigger than I thought but there wasn't alot to do there. They have a cadbury chocolate factory there which was cool enough, and they also have the world's steepest street (Baldwin St) according to the Guinness Book of Records, so of course it was compulsory to climb to the top of it :)

The next day we headed north towards Lake Tekapo. There's not much in the township, but two of the most photographed landmarks are here, the Church of the Good Shepherd and the Collie Dog. And of course the Lake itself doesn't look too bad either!! :) At night you can see the stars clearly and see the Southern Star.

And then it was time for my last stop, back to Christchurch. I'm here for two days now and then fly to New York to meet Ger. We'll spend 5 nights in NY (including the 4th of July celebrations) and then up to Boston for 3 nights, before flying home for Oxegen. So plenty still to look do for the next 2 weeks =D

Here's some photos from the last 2 weeks....

Cathy x x