The last week or so has been my favourite so far for sure, everything's been great from the weather to all the little things that have popped up in between. We've come down from Nelson at the top of the south island to the unnesscery but plesant Westport, through the beautiful and down right wierd Lake Manipua, into cute and gorgeous Franz Josef, onto stunning Wanaka and ending up in the vibrant 'place to be' Queenstown.
This is our 4th day in Queenstown and i'm really enjoying it, it's not the pumping mini ibiza it's been made out to be but there are some good bars and extraordinary scenery. It's a really quaint little place with a wharf, jetty, steamer boat, little beach and village green which are all surrounded by a backdrop of skyscaper mountains and lush forest.
I really, realllllly like New Zealand, the way of life is so different here, it's very refreshing. Everyone appreciates and
respects the environment in which they live, infact they're genuinely proud of it. They're helpful and kind and i've not
seen one single chav or scary looking person on the streets anywhere, only a couple of chilled out hippies.
New Zealand is a spiritual place full of mythology, history and scenery unlike anything i've ever seen. People just sit and stare at the mountains, sea and rolling hills soaking up the beauty and then spend their time using the country as a playground. I love being in a place that feels safe and revolves around an active lifestyle, it's a hidden gem that needs to be revisted!
Anyway, back in Nelson our kayak day started off on a bad note as we rose at 6am to monsoon style rain sheeting down outside the hostel. It was a tough 5.45am wake up call so we spent the 1 1/2 hour bus journey to the national park in silence hoping it would clear up...which it didn't!
We managed to change our trip to the following day though so take two and we were up at 5.45am again for a second try. This time the weather was really nice and we got to get out on the water even though Tina was very nervous about being out at sea and capsizing.
It was a slightly stressful ride at times as everyone else had a guy in their double kayaks so more bicep power compared to me and Tina who were paddling as hard as we could but still flagging behind with aching muscles. Tina was in charge of the rudder despite having never been in a kayak and not wanting to steer so we did our usual thing of complaining about the aches, pains, speed of the group, getting wet etc and then saying 'how amazing it was' at the end. That seems to be a common theme on the trip so far, everything's 'the best ever' when looking through those rose tinted specs!
After the kayak we realised we had 4 hours to complete a 5 hour hike so power walked up the coast in the hot sun and somehow made it to our water taxi in time.
After Nelson we drove down to Westport which was a bit like an American ghost town, lots of long straight grid like roads and creepy inbred types peeking out from behind the net curtains. We only had one evening there (thank god!) but it was a warm sunny afternoon so strolled down to the beach and watched the waves roll in while sitting on some washed up driftwood.
The following day was also a weird one as we made our way down to Lake Manipua, there is litrally nothing there except the lake (which is both slightly eerie and gorgeous) and an old rusty shed owned by local man Les which was our accommodation for the night. Although the scenery was incredible the over night stop was gross and had it's fair share of squashed mosqitoes on the wall and dead cockroaches with legs spread eagled in the air on the floor. We avoiding cooking and washing as much as possible and happily jumped back on the bus in the morning!
Our next stop was Franz Josef, we were particulary excited about the trip from this point onwards because we were slowing the pace right down and staying for more than a day at the next few stops. Again it was bright blue skies when we arrived at the quaint little high street (we've been really lucky with the weather) and our first stop was the glacier centre where we booked ourselves onto a full day glacier walk.
That evening we bumped into some friends who we'd separated from earlier up the coast and caught up around a big fire pit drinking liquor coffees and mulled wine which was really nice. The following day was 'supposed' to be our chill out day before the big ice hike but in typical over productive style Tina and I decided to go on the Roberts Point walk as recommended by the hostel owner.
The walk was supposed to be a stroll type thing with packed lunch at the top but to say it turned out to be challenging would be the understatement of the year! The trail head was 4kms from Franz so to even get to the start we hedged our bets and began walking on the hard shoulder with our thumbs in the air, it was only 10 mins or so until we were picked up by a couple who were also going up to the glacier and believed picking hitchers up was good karma so that worked out well.
After around 45 minutes of walking the stoney path petered out into little more than some orange arrows pointing us in the direction of the summit and we passed an onimous sign saying 'DANGER - do not pass this sign unless you are an experienced tramper with equipment or with a guide'. Oops.
2 litres of sweat, some nasty falls, abseils down muddy slopes clinging onto tree roots, scrambling over waterfalls and 6 hours later we returned to the start and begged a mini bus driver to take us home. We spent the evening relaxing in the local hot pools and splashing out on a curry as a reward!
Even after the Roberts Point debacle we made it up the glacier the following day and really enjoyed it, probably the best thing to be done here in NZ. I had a bit of a panic at the beginning when I realised we'd be going 8 hours without access to a loo and had just drunk a cup of tea but our guide was obviously used to these touristy demands and rather embarrasingly I had to make do with a secret spot in the ice, I wasn't the only one though!
Rather typically when it was my turn to sneak off and be discreet a bloody helicopter full of hikers flew overhead and
obviously had a giggle at my expense!!
Also a quick note, if you ever find yourself looking for accommodation in Franz Josef, go to the Glow worm hostel, it was defo the best in town, very authentic with black and white photos of the victorians on the ice and lots of historical artifacts scattered throughout the rooms.
After Franz we went down to Wanaka, a small town with a big view. The town looks out across another huge lake and onto a snow capped mountain range behind. We just chilled there for 2 days soaking it up. Ooo I also got my broken
tooth fixed by a nice dentist there so I have a whole tooth again which is nice.
...and now we're in Queentown, heart of the adrenalin activites. We're not doing any though to save on cash so i feel a bit bad that i'm here and not doing anything but i'm sure i'll be back and can do all 134m of the Nevis bungy jump then! I hadn't considered doing it at all but am tempted after getting here and hearing about it. The thing is, I think a bungy jump, especially one where you spend the day being driven out to the site is an experience that is more fun when shared with someone and seeing as Tina's never been up for it i'll pass this time too.
Right, i'm off outside now, it's sunny! laters! :)
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