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Saturday, April 24, 2010

Last days, Mt Cook, Timaru and Akaroa.

The next morning we were up and on the way early as we had a 3 and a half hour drive to Lake Tekapo. The day was fantastic and clear so we were determined to do a flight over Mt Cook and the Tasman, Franz Joseph and Fox glaciers. We made it to the airport in time and were in for a treat. John was lucky enough to score the co-pilot's seat and for the next hour and a half we were in awe of the magnificent colours below us. The glaciers look so much bigger from the air, and the lakes around the mountains were a gorgeous turquoise colour from the glacial sand. It was so clear and the colours so brillant we kept pinching ourselves. Definitely another thing ticked off our bucket list!
All too soon our flight was over, but the memories will be with us forever, and the photos will too. We then drove on in to Lake Tekapo for lunch and marvelled at the glorious colours of the autumn trees, the clear mountains and sky and the glacial lakes. Just a picture!
It was then another hour and a bit to the seaside township of Timaru for the night, and after our big day it was nice to stay in and cook for ourselves tonight.

Our last day dawned too quickly and it was time to head off to Christchurch. We decided to visit the coastal town of Akaroa first however, on the recommendations of several friends and we were not disappointed. The drive into Akaroa around the Banks peninsula was noteworthy on its own for magnificent scenery but the best view is overlooking the harbours. Akaroa is the site of the country's first French settlement and some descendants of the original French settlers still live there. It was so cute and quaint to see the French street names and the French provincial village style houses. I could so live here! I only wished we had more time to stay a night or two in this area, but we only had a couple of hours.
The drive back to Christchurch was easy and my fears of not being able to find my way to the airport unfounded. Before we handed in our hire car and checked into our accommodation near the airport for the night we had one last place to visit. The International Antarctic centre. This was a really good museum, well set out and the blue penguin exhibits good. We watched them being feed, we experienced what it would be like to be in an antarctic storm (freezing doesn't do the feeling justice!) and had a fun ride on a Hagland transporter, hanging on tight up the steep hills. Definitely worth a couple of hours visit.
All too soon it was time to tidy out the car and return it to the hire company at the airport. Our accommodation for the night provided free shuttle service so the trip back was easy. We had our last night in NZ in at the hotel, enjoying a lovely last meal and savouring the local Pinot Noir for one last time. Off to bed early for our 4 am rise, after somehow managing to squeeze things back into our suitcases for the return to Australia.
It has been a magnificent 26 days in this Sth Island of New Zealand everything we had hoped for and much much more and we feel so sure we will return soon that we didn't cash in our remaining NZ Dollars!

Fiordland to The East Coast

Our last day in Te Anau was again a clear one, but also chilly. We decided to spend the day driving along the road to Milford Sound again, this time stopping off to explore the many interesting stops along the way.
Unfortunately a lot of the snow on the mountaintops had gone, so when we reached Mirror Lakes, while the scenery was stunning it was not as magnificent as it was 2 days before. From there we headed on finding Lakes and creeks, the names of which I can't remember, but there were all stunning nevertheless. Just about any interesting side track was explored, as anyone who has travelled with John before will know. As we got closer the Milford Sound the weather started to change and it was becoming foggy and slightly damp, so we turned back after Falls Creek and headed off to Te Anau for the afternoon. It was fine there, and it was nice to relax in the late afternoon sun and spend some time sorting through photos, washing and other domestic chores.
Reluctantly we left on Monday morning and headed off towards Dunedin. The day was clear, but cool and very windy from the west. We followed some magnificent mountains and through lovely sheep and cattle farming grounds and into Clutha country, named after the mighty Clutha river. We laughed as we drove through the neighbouring towns of Gore and Clinton, where they had named the highway "The Presidential Way". We reached Dunedin by about lunchtime and decided to take our lunch with us and eat it in the grounds of Lanarch castle. This castle/mansion was built by an Australian banker, William Lanarch, in 1870, on the highest point of the Otago Peninsula for his wife (he married 3 times). Unfortunately Lanarch committed suicide and his family sold the house and its beautiful grounds. In 1967 it was rescued and restored. The grounds were not as magnificent as those we have seen of other castles in Europe but the view over the peninsula was lovely.
Then we had a scenic drive around Dunedin, taking in the sights of the historic old Railway station and the interesting city layout called the Octogon.
That night for dinner we met up with our new friends Darrell and Karen Love, who we met on the Abel Tasman trip. They took us to a great restaurant with a magnificent view over the city and we enjoyed a great night reminiscing and sharing photos and stories.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Queenstown to Fiordland

Well it has been several days since I have managed to update this blog, mainly because the wireless internet connection around this area is not very strong, and you can only get it for an hour. It is virtually impossible to upload photos with such a slow speed, so photo updates will have to wait. They will be worth it but!!

Before we left Queenstown, we had time to go up to the skyline and being another clear, although windy day we had magnificent views of the lake and the Remarkables that surround the city. John was happy after sourcing a new lens to replace the broken one, so he was rather snap happy. He was not too keen on the gondola ride but, and I virtually had to twist his arm to get him on! He couldn't sit facing the view on the way down, what a wuss! It was fantastic climbing up through magnificent tall pine trees, and luckily they blocked any wind. After we were back on the ground we decided to wander around the Queenstown gardens before we left for Te Anau and we weren't disappointed with the views and the lovely trees in the park. We left the city really feeling sure that we would make a return visit one day.

When we arrived in Te Anau and had settled into our beautiful lakefront motel, we acquainted ourselves with the town, which didn't take long and looked in awe at the mountains around us. We were also keen to see what could possibly happen with the clouds we saw around us, some certainly looked like snow clouds and it was pretty cool. We decided to book a kayak trip for the next day, and that night ate at the Redcliff Cafe, Te Anau's best, and it certainly didn't disappoint. Trivia bluffs might be keen to know that Orlando Bloom and some of the cast of the Lord of the Rings had eaten there too on several occasions, we saw the autographs to prove it!

The next day began really early (6.30am pick up) and we could feel even though we couldn't see it yet, that perhaps some snow had fallen during the night because it was freezing!! We were picked up by our guide Marius of Fiordland Wilderness Explorations and headed on to Milford Sound, a distance of 110kms away. As the sun began to rise, we could indeed see what we had suspected, a dusting of snow had occured during the night! We were both so excited!! And, it was a lovely still morning. About a third of the way along, we managed to coax our driver into stopping at Mirror Lakes for that perfect shot of the mountains reflected in the lake, with snow on top! How beautiful! But, we had not brought John's camera, only mine!! Guess who was kicking himself!
We reached Milford Sound around 8.3o and then had to get all kitted up, get kayaks organised and go through the obligatory safety instructions. We were still kicking ourselves at how beautiful the scene was, picture perfect, but freezing cold!! I had about 4 layers on, but it took me a while to warm up. Suprisingly the water was warmer than the ground, and my feet finally warmed up when I got in the kayak.

It was a magnificent day, one that really made us pinch ourselves at how lucky we were. We just couldn't get over the sheer size of the cliffs, and the wonderful scenery. The only thing that spoilt the serenity were the planes and helicopters and the tourist boats! We were lucky that the other kayakers (6 including the guide) were fairly competent so we made a good pace and the guide took us to Stirling Falls, somewhere he normally doesn't take groups too. We went right up under the falls as far as we were game, and got pretty wet. The sound of the falls was awesome. Just after we left the falls were had seals watching us from the rocks and then the icing on the cake for me, dolphins! They were only about 10 metres away from us, on 2 occasions two jumped out of the water and did somersaults for us. They were so big, and it was amazing! Everyone was so excited. The rest of the afternoon went all to quickly, we found a little beach to have lunch, then paddled back past the wonderful Bowen Falls and reached our start spot by about 2.30. We were finally dropped back at Te Anau by about 5.45pm, tired but extremely happy with our magnificent day.

The next day would be hard to top the previous one, but it was equally as magnificent. We drove to Manapouri for our journey to Doubtful Sound. This time we joined a tour, as it is the only way to get to the sound. We left by boat and taken across Lake Manapouri, a journey of about 50 mins and then picked up by a bus. This took us to the Manapouri underwater power station for a look at the immense operation they have there producing electricity with the water from the lake. Then there was a 2o km bus trip to Deep Cove, where we transferred to an even larger boat for our 3 hour journey of Doubtful Sound. The weather had begun a little overcast and with light rain, which continued on an off during our trip to Deep Cove, but a little while into our cruise of the Sound, the rain cleared and the sun poked through the clouds to reveal the splendour of this fiord. Whereas Milford Sound was spectacular, Doubtful Sound is a grandeur. It is 10 times the size of Milford, and a lot more serene. There were no planes or helicopters just the magnificent mountains and a huge number of spectacular waterfalls. We couldn't get over just where the water could come from! It was a magnificent journey, one which really makes you appreciate the grandeur of this country.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

From Wanaka to Queenstown

The weather is still holding for us! It was slightly overcast but at least not raining! The drive from Wanaka to Queenstown was again pretty stunning, via mountains and the Otaga wine growing area. We stopped off at the most gorgeous little historic town called Arrowtown just outside of Queenstown. It used to be a goldmining town, but has now become a tourist attraction. Lots of shops and quaint old buildings, but the thing that impressed us the most were the glorious trees, and the little river where they used to pan for gold. The hillside around the town was covered with a range of trees all displaying their autumn colours. It was a pretty sight.

We made our way into Queenstown via Coronet Peak, the highest mountain behind the town where the ski slopes are just waiting for a downfall. The wind was really strong up the top, the highest point of Coronet Peak is 1649m high!

We spent the afternoon wandering around and acquainting ourselves with the scenery of Queenstown. It was rather windy so not the best for any water activities, but great for sightseeing. John managed to find a camera shop that had a wide angle lens to replace the one that was broken when the tripod fell. So we are all set for Fiordland! Bring on the snow that is forecast!!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Nelson to the west coast

It was a gorgeous day again when we left Nelson after picking up another hire car, again a Corolla, great little car like we had before. The trip through the Buller Gorge was so pretty, we stopped off and walked on the longest suspension bridge in NZ, pretty site great photos.
When we reached the coast, it was still clear and the surf was very calm. The "pancake rocks" was another stop, great rock formations but because the surf was calm there wasn't any blowhole effect happening.
We stopped the night at Greymouth, feeling rather beat after our busy week.
The next morning was slightly cooler and overcast, but the scenery down the coast was still impressive. We stopped off at Hokitika, then made it to Franz Joseph glacier by lunchtime. We decided just to walk up to the base of the glacier as opposed to doing an organised walk, as the weather didn't look like it would hold. It was the right decision but disaster struck at the base of the glacier when while snapping a self portrait with the camera on a tripod, a gust of wind blew it over and John's wide angle lens suffered damage. Needless to say he was not happy with himself!
We then headed off the Fox Glacier, making it to the base of it before the rain set in. Unfortunately the rain got heavier and we were unable to make it to see Lake Matheson. We think we just saw a glimpse of Mt Cook and Mt Tasman, just before it became clouded in!

After steady rain and wind during the night, we set off from Fox Glacier on the drive to Wanaka. Despite not being able to see all of the mountains surrounding us, the wet weather did make the rivers and streams run really well, and there were an amazing number of waterfalls along the journey through the mountain ranges. It was tempting to stop often, and often we did! By the time we made it through to Lake Wanaka the rain was easing and we couldn't get over how beautiful this area is. The trees are changing colours and as the sun came out late in the afternoon the scene around the Lake was just beautiful. We have heard that another change is on it's way, this time with snow forecast!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Abel Tasman National Park

On Monday we travelled from Picton to Nelson. The weather was cool and overcast, an unbelievable 13 deg, havent experienced that temp for a while.
Nelson is a pretty place, quite large and surrounded by water and mountains. John was feeling a bit off with his head cold so we had a quiet day packing and preparing for our big week ahead.
Tuesday we were picked up from the Mercure just after 8 and driven by bus over to Moteuka and then to a boat at Kaiteriteri. The boat took us all the way to Totaranui almost at the top end of the park and we then commenced to walk from there to our first stop for the next 2 nights at Awaroa Bay. The Homestead we stayed in there was beautiful and full of amazing history. The house was built on an inlet and the next day we walked and kayaked around that inlet. The hospitality on this trip was fantastic. Our guides were only young girls but they knew lots of history about the area as well as the local vegetation.

After two great days at Awaroa we left for our next stop. We reached this by a combination of a 2 hour walk and then 3 hour paddle, with lots of stops in between. For the next two nights we stopped at Torrent Bay lodge which was equally as nice as a last stop, perhaps even nicer because it was directly on the beach. Day 4 was a "rest day" but we had fun kayaking for half a day to a gorgeous beach at Te Pukatea bay where we walked the headland enjoying the views and the birdsong before lunch on the beach and a paddle back to the homestead.
Day 5 was all kayaking with several rest stops again at beautiful beaches for morning tea and lunch. After lunch the wind was even strong enough for all 7 kayaks to raft together and put up a sail to "sail" for some of the journey. We made it back to Kaiteriteri by 2.3o and were then picked up by the bus and returned to pack up our gear and into Nelson.

It is so hard to sum up this trip, it has been fantastic! All that we had hoped for and more. We were so lucky to have fantastic fine weather for the whole time, with the cloudy conditions on Day 1 rapidly clearing to fine days with light winds. The accommodation we had was beautiful and the food and wine lovely, even down to our brown bag lunches and snacks provided for the days outings. And to top it all off, we made some great friends and the whole group doing the same trip were lots of fun! This area of New Zealand is definitely worth exploring.