Hey everyone!
Well, we drop our Ezy Cruisa off tomorrow, pick-up an El Cheapo, collect Morag and Chris from Queenstown airport, drive to our swanky pad in Wanaka and then spend a month snowboarding, wooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooo J
So last time we wrote we were in Wellington, waiting for our ferry over to Picton. That was quite an experience; we sailed in “less than favourable conditions”, quoting the captain. These conditions consisted of 5 metre waves and gale force winds, hmmm, wasn’t sure we were going to make it to the South Island. But we did, and we’ve had a fantastic 2 weeks here, can’t really describe how beautiful it is. STUNNING. We are now both suffering from “view fatigue”!!!!!!
After Picton our first stop was Nelson, from where we could admire the mountains of the Abel Tasman National Park. From here we drove to Hamner Springs over the Lewis Pass. Bright blue skies when we left Nelson, but once on the pass we experienced our first snowfall, had to get out of the car and jump around in it! Hamner Springs is a crazy little mountain town; basically the whole town is centred around a huge outdoor thermal spa place with loads of different pools. Of course we had to have a soak in a few. Two ski fields nearby too. Snowed loads over night.
The next day we headed to Christchurch, freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezing there! Seemed like a cool city, very British looking. Checked out a local micro brewery run by two English guys, good beer!
From Christchurch we headed over Arthurs Pass to the West Coast and Franz Josef, that drive was probably one of the most amazing we have done in NZ. Bright blue skies, snow-capped mountains, frozen lakes, misty valleys, turquoise rivers, ugly mountain parrots, frosty sheep….etc etc!! GORGEOUS. Anyway, the next day we walked to the terminal faces of both the Franz Joesef and Fox Glaciers (couldn’t work out if this glacier has any connection to Fox Glacier mints—James even did a taste test!). The glaciers are awe inspiring, massive, and once close up, they look really unreal. We also checked out the beautiful Lake Matheson, with its great reflections of Mount Tasman and Mount Cook.
From here we headed to Haast Beach and Jacksons Bay, a tiny tiny and very remote fishing village, in search of penguins. Nope, we didn’t see any, they were hiding or having a party or something.
And then it was over the Haast Pass to Wanaka. Incredible drive round the edge of lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. But cloudy and cold on arrival. From Wanaka we headed off to Te Anau as a base before our trip to Milford Sound, which we did the next day, truly stunning, like being in another world, towering cliffs into still turquoise waters and we saw fur seals, very cute!!
After this we headed as far south as we could go to Invercargill. Not a very inspiring town, but an absolute gem of a campsite which we had to ourselves! After Invercargill we headed to Dunedin (celtic for Edinburgh and you can see why), a beautiful historic city, really funky, helped by a large student community. And that was it, all major NZ cities covered!!!
And after a mamouth post we are up to date!!… Our lodge has internet connection, and Chris is bringing lots of recording gadgetry with him, so watch this space for much snow frivolities!! And who knows maybe a few comedy video diaries!!!
Hope all is well and not too wet!!
lol j&j
ps, my Oz mobile phone number no longer works.
