So apart from all the hideousness (see posts below) we are really enjoying NZ! You will all be pleased to hear that I am loving driving around in the Jucy Crib (our campervan) and have already done over 1000km. It's really easy to get around...and although a little cramped the facilities at the sites are so good that we don't really spend too much time there! So I would reccomend doing it to you all! Here is a brief summary of what we have been up to:
Christchurch (just to make things even better) was really rainy! We went up in the famous gondolas to see the city from above...but the hills wer cloudy so all we saw was some white-ness! Well worth the $15! We also bought some Merino wool in the wool centre and some needles in the Family Store (Salvation Army charity shop) and are knitting ourselves some merino wool scarves! So cool! We bought a ticket to the old tram and saw the sights of the city on that...we also visited the Chinese Lantern Festival that was on and visited a really cool art gallery which was free and dry...it was still raining! It finally did stop raining and turned into a beautiful day...so we left Christchurch and headed to Fairlie (nr Lake Tekapo)...
...surprise surprise...it was raining in Fairlie! We headed over to Lake Tekapo to see the beauty of the Southern Alps (and also Mt Cook). It was stunning...the Lake was a beautiful aqumarine colour, like nothing I've ever seen before! However, true to form, it was raining so we only saw the bottom of the mountains! Still very beautiful though, and very hilly! Fairlie was a very small little town and we met lots of lovely travellers all full of hints and tips about where to go in NZ and also Asia! : D Pretty good time, but only a stopover...next stop Dunedin.
A 5hr drive put us in Dunedin (after a brief stop at Omerama). We enjoyed the drive quite alot as the views were superb! Truely awesome! Dunedin is a student town, and is probably the hilliest town I have ever seen! The reason for stoppign there? A chocolate factory and a brewery!We did a tour of both...obviously! The Cabury World was fabulous...the lady was so enthusiastic and naturally with our super brains we managed to get lots of free chocolate by answering the questions right! Lots of fun to be had right there! The brewery tour was also really good (goes without saying). The brewery only brews 4 days a week and is operated by 3 men...all very interesting, but far more interesting was the 1/2 hr beer tasting afterwards! You got to pour your own drinks from the pumps and taste 6 different types of beer! Needless to say much fun was had by all concerned! Also at Dunedin we cooked for the first time...amzing beef patties in tiger bread! Mmmmmmmm!
After some fairly nice weather in Dunedin we left on a nasty rainy Wednesday 5 March to go to Te Anau (pronounced Tay Ah Now). Was a pretty long way there too...also 5 hours...but we were spurred on by the call of the Te Anau Gloworm Caves that evening! Fortunately the weather in Te Anau was better than in Dunedin and we headed over to Lake Manapouri (the gateway to Doubtful Sound) and sat by the calm water for a very relaxing coupel of hours. After heading back into Te Anau we had some yummy dinner (cooked in the brand new facilities, right next to our convieniently placed camper) and changed before heading to the warf to catch the boat to the gloworm caves. The half and hour cruise takes you over to the caves and then you walk through them with a guide (ours was Japanese and was very humerous!) At the end of the tour you go in a boat to see the gloworms...A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Lit up like a night sky in there! Stunning!
Te Anau is also the gateway to Milford Sound and the follwing day we got up early and drove 2 1/2 hours down the only road in and out of Milford. It was easy...until about an hour in when you have to drive up a mountain...down a mountain...around a mountain...even through a mountain! The most beautiful road I have ever driven on...so many photo opportunities (unfortunately I can't upload any atm) and we stopped for them all! Once we got there we had an hour and a half cruise out on the Sound and right next to a waterfall! It was very wet and windy...but gorgeous! We also met an older English couple who were very impressed with my "bravery" of driving the camper! Very amusing!
The 2 1/2 hour journey back down the same road was not so fun! Having done it only 2 hrs earlier it did seem to drag on...however the beauty of the scenery pulled us through! We met a couple in the kitchen that night who have a daughter int he year above us who went to Canterbury Christ Church Uni...she lived just down the road from Neil and Dunstan number 11 if you know her maybe Dunst? Amy I think she was called...let me know! Anyway...they were lovely and had lots of tips for us, he was a vicar on sabattical and very very funny. We however had to tear ourselves away from them to go to the cinema to see a local film called Ata Whenua (pronounced Fen-ooh-a). It was filmed by a guy who does helicoptor tours over the Sounds and was views of Fjiordland set to music...the quickest half an hour of my life! Such an amazing film, and can only be seen in Te Anau...so well worth it! The chairs were massive and comfy...and we had hot chocolate! VIP treatment! FAB!
So now we are in Queenstown! It is Friday 7th March and I can't believe how fast the time is going! We have booked the shotover jet for tomorrow (so you can tell James John I took his advice Dad!) We also booked our glacier hike and our accomodation in Franz Joseph (unfortunately mangaed to book it for next week...not this week...fortunately though we noticed and manged to sort it out, or else it would have been Melbourne all over again! Hehe! Hope you are all well, loving getting your comments/Facebook posts/e-mails/texts...keep me updated! Hope you arn't bored by this now! Hehe! x
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