Saturday 17 May 2008

Pure New Zealand

Well I left some good friends in Wellington and again remembered the worst side of travelling - saying goodbye, but I knew the South Island was going to live up to my high expectations and it certainly has. The ferry crossing to Picton was incredibly bumpy and after 3 hours we arrived at the ferry terminal. I took the bus down through the Marlborough Valley where we sampled some very agreeable Riesling & Rose wines and it would have been remiss of me not to taste the famous Havelock Greenshell mussels, they were delicious. So a pretty good introduction to the South Island before making our way down to Nelson, gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park. The drop in temperature was noticeable at this stage and I needed to purchase a few extra items of clothing. From here, I worked my way down the West Coast which I can honestly say has some of the most stunning scenery I have seen to date. The Nelson Lakes National Park was breathtaking but even I wasn't brave enough to take a dip in the freezing waters of Lake Rotoiti. Arriving in Westport, I decided to give the quad biking a try at Buller Gorge and wasn't quite sure why when I was psyching myself up to drive down a vertical slope of mud without flipping the bike! On to Tauranga Bay where we witnessed one of New Zealand's largest seal colonies before arriving at the Pancake Rocks & Blowholes (named because the limestone stacks have been eroded over thousands of years to resemble giant piles of neatly stacked pancakes). The noise was deafening when the blowholes exploded and I was glad to be watching from above. Moving down through Greymouth to Lake Mahinapua, we prepared ourselves for one of the legendary 'Poo Parties' - our fancy dress theme was plastic bags & I was obviously with some very creative travellers, the outfits were unbelievable, my attempt to make a dress from a chocolate scented bin liner earned me the prize of a Jagerbomb (I am now hooked) and we also sampled some of the famous West Coast venison (or as they refer to it - bambi). Franz Josef was my next stop and I continued to put myself outside my comfort zone by taking a helicopter ride up to the Fox Glacier (I think I am slowly overcoming my fear of flying) and then hiked through brilliant blue ice caves and pinnacles for a couple of hours, another one of my highlights so far. The  reflection of Mount Cook on Lake Matheson on our way to Wanaka was beautiful, the only regret was that I was a month too early for the ski season. Set on the edge of Lake Wanaka and surrounded by the spectacular scenery of Mount Aspiring National Park, this relaxed small town was somewhere I felt I could settle. Queenstown was the next destination and I knew this was going to be a party town. We stopped at the Kawarau Bungy site for one of our group to throw themselves off the original bungy bridge and I surprised myself at having the urge to jump, but then I remembered my fear when I jumped all those years ago and decided against it. I did, however, manage to throw myself off a platform 109m high and freefall for 60m (reaching 150kph) on the shotover canyon swing. I was terrified and took a while to jump but enjoyed it so much I went straight back up and did another one sitting on a chair and falling backwards - awesome. Luging is another activity you just have to try when you're here, the ride up to the track on the top of the mountain on the gondola is another fantastic experience. Queenstown has been tough on my heart and my credit card so a day cruising on the beautiful Milford Sound was just what I needed yesterday. My last stop will be Christchurch in a couple of days and then I leave NZ to head for South America. My travels in this country have been so enjoyable, I shall never forget the scenery and all the crazy activities I've done but I'm looking forward to the next adventure.


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