Kiwi Experience - Queenstown to Kaikoura

Day 158: Queenstown to Twizel and up to Mount Cook 

I was up early to catch the intercity bus (the nz version of a national express bus) to Twizel as the Kiwi Experience bus would have arrive after the shuttle bus had already left. I did my shopping for mount cook in the supermarket and then sat at the bus stop with a book. It's surprising how quickly time passes when you're engrossed in a good book. 

On the way up, since it was just me in the coach, the driver stopped a couple of times to let me get some photos of the mountain. 

Once we'd got to Mount Cook village he gave me a quick tour around and then dropped me at the hostel. I had some lunch and then went off and did two walks in the afternoon. The first one I did was called the governors bush walk and it went up the hill to the side of the village through the forest and then down to a small stream, although I'm sure when the snow is melting it is a raging torent. 

The second walk I did was a longer walk to Kea Point which overlooks a small lake and has views to the Mount Cook behind. As you can see from the photo I was pretty sweaty by the time I got to the end as it was very warm! I got chatting to this lovely French girl and we chatted all the way back to the village. I really like meeting people and finding out about their life. And it definitely made the walk back seem much shorter than it was. 

Kea Point walk 

I had dinner at the hostel but didn't fancy sitting there the whole evening. I wanted to watch the sunset but it was too cloudy so instead I walked up to the Old Mountaineers cafe for a New Zealand style apple crumble and a pot of tea. I stayed there with my book until I was closing time. 

I rang grandad whilst I was there and a woman came up to me really concerned I was crying. Instead my shoulders were just shaking from laughing down the phone with grandad! 

Tea!

Luckily I'd brought my head torch with me to the cafe as it turns out a village inside a national park doesn't have any street lights! 

Day 159: Mount Cook and then to Lake Tekapo

I woke up early to try and see the sunrise and the colours change across Mount Cook but the cloud from last night hadn't moved yet. 

My first stop today was at the DoC centre to check out the forecasted weather conditions and to read the Maori story behind Mount Cook or Aoraki as it is known as traditionally. Aoraki and his brothers came down from the sky to meet the earth mother but when they tried to go home the spell didn't work and they and their waka (boat) over the years turned to stone. Aoraki and his brothers became the mountains and their waka became the South Island. 

Today I walked the Hooker Valley track. I was so glad I had my waterproof this morning to act as a wind breaker as the sun wasn't out and there was a chilly wind blowing. Part of the track was being maintained and rather than closing it so the work could be down like would properly happen at home, you just waited for one of the workmen to call you over and then you stepped around the digger!  

When I arrive at the end I was shocked to see icebergs! Had I thought about it it makes sense for their to be icebergs floating in the terminal lake of a glacier but I hadn't though about it and so I was pleased. 

Mini iceberg

There was still no sign of the mountains and so I decided to just sit and wait. I had nothing to get back for apart from lunch and I had enough snacks with me to keep me going so I waited to see if the cloud burnt up. 

After an hour of waiting I was given my first tantalising glimpses of the mountain and another half an hour later the clouds had completely burnt up and my patience was rewarded with a stunning view. I didn't think it was possible but I feel in love with that mountain! I couldn't take my eyes off him. He was such a handsome mountain (sorry will!). 

Clouds clearing

I walked back along the path back to the hostel. I am actually so glad it was cloudy this morning as having the mountain revealed as the clouds cleared was far more special than being able to see it for most of the walk and so it not being as special when you get there. 

I had a late lunch back at the hostel and a shower before catching the shuttle bus to Lake Tekapo. I thought I was special yesterday when he stopped to let me take photos but apparently he does that do everyone! The lake was so calm as we drove past, the reflections of the mountains in it were beautiful. 

Reflections in the lake

Lake Tekapo was pretty nice but the hostel I stayed in had the smallest dorm room and kitchen I've ever seen. The dorm room fitted in two bunk beds but that was it, there was no where to put your bags, and in the kitchen you were constantly bumping into people as you tried to cook. 

Lake Tekapo is famed for its beautiful skies so obviously I went outside for a look for a while. 

Day 160: To Christchurch

We left Lake Tekapo and stopped in a small town called Geraldine on the way to Christchurch. There was a church fete going on so I wondered around that and had a delicious bacon sandwich and bought myself some organic local honey yoghurt to have for breakfast tomorrow. 

I checked in to the yha and had lunch before going through a walk of the CBD, well what's left of it. After the earthquake nearly 70% of the buildings either collapsed or have been knocked down as they are no longer safe. One of the most poignant reminder of the earthquake was the old cathedral. It's still in its crumbled state whilst it's future is being discussed. I then walked to Latimer Square where a monument to the old cathedral spire has been erected. I also saw my first egg. These eggs are about a meter high on a platform and are painted. They are all over the city. Christchurch is full of artwork like this. Guess they are trying to brighten the place up and give it a more upbeat feel. 

Next I went to the new cardboard cathedral. It's an absolutely stunning building. It's a surprisingly big space and Is so light. Next door was the 184 chairs to commemorate all those who lost their lives. 

Inside the cardboard cathedral

I then headed to the physics rooms. Turns out it's a modern art exhibition which I didn't understand! 

I then wandered around the re:start mall looking in all the shops. The mall is made out of brightly coloured painted old shipping containers. Amongst this is the quake experience, an exhibition showing photos and videos shaing people people's experiences of the earthquake and the future Christchurch. They have really used what has happened to plan an amazing new city centre. I can't imagine what people went through in the quakes, even having listened to people stories you can't get your head around what these people went through. 

Re:start mall. 

Once I'd finished in the city centre I went back to the hostel to do my washing (super fun I know) and had dinner. I got chatting to one of the girls in my dorm and got chatting to her and managed to persuade her to come to the local pub with me to watch the rugby. Was a nice night. 

Got back and spoke to Will for his birthday before bed. 

Day 161: Christchurch

In the morning I got up and took the penguin shuttle to the International Antarctic Centre. Luckily someone had told me of a website you could book this through which made the ticket half price! 

First I went into the snow storm room with a jacket on and rubber shoes over my flip flops. The room was at -8C and once the 'blizzard' started the wind got up to 45km/h and with the wind chill factor the temperature plummeted to -18C. Pretty cold! 

Ready to make a getaway 

Next I went outside for a ride on a hagglund, a Swidish all terrain vehicle that they used in the Antarctic. It can go up 45degree hills (which we did), cross 1.9m cravases (we crossed a 1.4m gap) and is an aquatic vehicle (so we swam threw a 3m deep pond). Pretty good fun! 

Hagglund rid. 

I went back in side and watched the little lie penguins being fed. That bred isn't native to Antarctica but all the birds there are rescue birds who have a disability and so cannot be released into the wild. Some are blind, some have paralysed limbs and one is afraid of the water! 

Penguin

Next I watch the 4D movie about an Antarctic voyage and then had a look around the rest of the centre. Whilst waiting for the shuttle bus back I had a very delicious (food mention alert) warm cheese scone. I'm going to need to start making those when I'm at home. 

I had my lunch back at the hostel and then had a very brief look in the Canterbury museum. I think I maybe all museumed out for a while as I couldn't bring myself to walk around all the exhibitions. Instead I wandered through the different areas of the botanic gardens. Unfortunately the conservatories were closed (earthquake damage) but the rose gardens were really pretty and it was nice walking along the banks of the River Avon. I can totally see why Christchurch is the garden city and with all the oak trees that have been planted an the conkers on the floor I can see why it's call the most English city outside of England. Looking at the river and the ducks I could easily have been walking through Crane Park. 

England or New Zealand? 

After getting a bit too cold from the breeze that had picked up to stay in the park and continue reading my book I went to the supermarket. Back at the hostel I then made an epic chilli con carni! So proud of it. And I'd bought a treacle sponge pudding to microwave which finished off my dinner amazingly. Just thought if add this in in case you were wondering (dad) about my food! 

I watched an old film on TV before going to bed. 

Day 162: Transalpine Railway

My morning didn't start too well as the railway shuttle service forgot to pick me up. Twice! I'd been standing outside the hostel for 50 minutes when the bus turned up. And I still got to the train station 20 minutes early for the train! So even if they had picked me up on time I still would have been hanging around for a long time somewhere. 

I got on the transalpine railway and of all the people I could have had sitting next to me I had a girl who was starting her kiwi experience trip today! I tried to give her lots of good advice about things to do down the west coast. 

The train journey was 230km each way through stunning scenery and there was an audio commentary to listen to on the headsets whilst we went along so you knew what you were looking at. One of the tunnels at Arthur's pass was closed for safety reasons so we all piled off the train, onto coaches and drove around the tunnel and the train met us on the other side. 

Getting back on the train at Arthur's pass

View out of the window. 

I had 45 minutes in Greymouth so I went for a walk around the town and along by the waterfront since I didn't get to see the waterfront last time I was here. 

On the train back my seat was on the other side of the train so I got to see a differen view on the way back. 

It was a preety long day, especially as there was lots of track work on route so we arrived back an hour later than planned so I'm so glad I had left over chilli from last night as I was feeling too tired to cook. All that sitting on a train really takes it out of you. I sat watching the tv on the sofas chilling out and then spoke to mum, dad and C on Skype. I totally did a great job of reassuring mum I'm being safe after she watched the video of the canyon swing. And the fact I was wearing my cardigan inside out (which she noticed) obviously helped me convey the whole responsible thing! 

 

Day 163: Kaikoura

After battling through the traffic and roadworks, with a bus that clearly wasn't a fan of most of the gears it had, we left Christchurch and off up the coast through the rain to Kaikoura. 

As we drove along the Paciffic coast we saw dusky dolphins jumping and splashing out in the distance which was really cool. All the jumping and tail splashing is part of their hunting routine so that was pretty cool to watch. 

We had a very rushed check in before heading down to the whale watching place. The sky was blue and the sea was still. It was definitely the calm before the storm! 

We got on the boat and the narator was so funny and informative. She asked us to put our seat belts on and everyone was scrammbling around looking for theirs. Turns out this was her 'English test' to see how many people were listening and understood her! 

The boat was pretty fast and we raced along, stopped so we could stand outside whilst the captain put the hydrophone in the watch to see of he could detect the sound of the whale and then we raced off in the direction I f the whale and then stopped and relegated it again. 

Listening to the whales 

Our spotter caught sight of a spout of water coming out of the whale's blowhole but the weather was getting worse and the swell was increasing so the captain pulled the plug and we went back without seeing him. So seeing a whale, and especially it's tail, is still on my bucket list. The company was pretty good about the whole situation and gave us an 80% refund which was pretty nice of them. 

Luckily the rain didn't start until we were back on 'dry' land and we ended up hiding out in the supermarket whilst the hail fell and fell and fell. That stopped but we still then had to walk back in the rain. Turns out flip flops, a hill and rain do not combine very well. Had to walk barefoot for most of it! Basically looked liked of had a shower fully clothed when I got back so I had a proper shower to warm myself up and then sat infront of the fire whilst eating dinner. 

The hostel was basically another house in the owners garden and upstairs there was an amazing room with one wall a glass door out to the balcony with sea views. If that was my house I'd be very happy. The room was full of sofas and there was a hard drive full of movies an TV programs so most of the bus found themselves a comfy spot and we had a movie marathon night. 

Kiwi experience - Queenstown

Day 155: Canyon Swing & St. Patrick's Day

I got my hair cut in the morning and even once it was cut I couldn't believe how long it is. It's been curly all the time so I hadn't noticed how much it had grown! Back at the hostel I met up with Victoria once she finally recognised me. She was so used to seeing my hair curly she walked back and forth past me! 

We went for a 2 hour walk along the lake front track which was mainly really nice apart from the 10 minutes where it decided to start raining. Luckily both of us had brought waterproofs (always prepared) so it was fine. 

We came back to the hostel for lunch and mooched around for a bit until it was time to check ourselves in for the canyon swing. We were bused out the 40 minutes to the canyon. I wasn't nervous at all on the journey. It was only once we pulled up in the carpark my brain realised what I was doing and I was nervous. Jumping out of plane was nothing compared to what I was about to do. 

After checking in we walked across this wobbly suspension bridge to the platform where we were fitted into our harness. If you've seen the video you'll have seen that my hands are clenched in a tight fist the whole build up. We were attached to the swing and had to let our legs hang over the edge. Victoria and I were holding on to each other hands so tightly and then onto the harness. The guy made us put our arms out to the side and then held us there for what felt like forever. And then he pressed the button. And we were gone. Just like that. Hurtling towards the earth. We both instantly pulled our arms back in and gripped onto the harness. I screamed and I screamed and I screamed. I screamed as we fell, I screamed as we were shot up the other side and I screamed as we swang back! Victoria was laughing so hard at me and as I got used to it I started laughing too, albeit slightly hysterically! And my whole body was physically shaking from all the adrenalin running through me. As we were pulled back up I kept looking down to see how high up we were and then looking up seeing how far we still had to be pulled in. As we reached the platform we were clamped into a bar to pull us back to the platform. Which made us swing and therefore made me scream. Most people scream a little bit but the guy was pretty impressed with my ability to scream continuously for so long! 

Canyon swing

Still shaking, we walked back to the office to buy our photos and were then bused back into Queenstown. Neither of us fancied cooking so we hit Dominos and shared a $5 pizza and then, since we'd earnt it, went to cookie time for happy hour. 2 for 1 warm cookies. What an amazing idea. 

Today was St Patrick's day so we went on a rather disorganised bar crawl around the town which was still pretty funny. Luckily I'd won a kiwi experience top so I had something green to wear and the girls in my room had bought face paint so they painted the Irish flag onto my check. 

Ready to party 

We got to go to the ice bar which was really cool...ice cold in fact! The glass was ice and obviously it slipped instantly out of my hands soaking my gloves! Even with the thick coat they gave you I was in I was still freezing cold! All in all though a good night. 

Freezing in the ice bar

Day 156: shot over jet and stargazing

I woke up at 7 so ran to the kitchen, grabbed 2 slices of bread from the breakfast bar and then went back to bed. That way, when I actually wanted to get up and breakfast was closed I had toast to go with my eggs. So sensible. 

I spent the morning at that lake doing a bit of life organising... Calling up activities I needed to book and accommodation until lunch. 

After lunch I went through town and checked in for my shot over jet boat. We were bused out and given a fetching fully length wrap around waterproof to put on and a life jacket before we got into the boat. 

These boats go fast! It took us only a few mintues to fly down the river, skim past the canyon walls doing 360degree turns as we went. It was so much fun! Luckily I was in the middle of the boat so didn't get too wet! 

Photo of their broucher since you obviously weren't allowed cameras. 

I'd been given a voucher one of the girls got for a free t-shirt there so tried to use it and nearly caused a diplomatic disaster. They kept demanding to know where if got it! Seriously if you don't want to honour it then don't give out vouchers. In the end, since I'd booked through kiwi experience I'd already got a discount so couldn't have one! Couldn't they have just said that first! 

We were bused back into town and I joined Victoria at the lake for a bit of sunbathing until it was time for the free dinner at the hostel. It was a small portion of veggie curry but luckily her friend had got one but wasn't going to eat it so we shared his to make it into a meal rather than a small snack. 

I got the gondola up to the top of the hill above Queenstown and watched the light change colour on the remarkables as the sun set below the mountain behind me. I then waited around in their coffee shop reading until 9pm when it was time for stargazing. 

The stargazing was amazing! We were given these really expensive Canadian Goose down jackets to wear and taken to a dark spot to look through the telescope. I saw through the telescope the Moon, Jupiter and it 4 Galilean moons, the Orion Nebula, the jewel box cluster and the closest star to earth! Wow! I've never looked through a powerful telescope before. I know I did physics so I should have but I haven't. It was truly magical!

Looking through the telescope 

The moon taken through the telescope

I got back and watched Hot fuzz and then went to bed. 

Day 157: Ben Lomond walk and last night in Queenstown

Victoria and I were up early and set off to walk up to Bob's peak. Turns out the name is more of a general name for the area and so we decided to walk to the saddle of the Ben Lomond walk, about 800m above Queenstown. 

We walked for about an hour vertically up through the walking tracks of the Queenstown mountain bike park to the gondola where star gazing was yesterday. We'd obviously taken a wrong turn somewhere as we were not expecting to come out there but since we were there we decided to have a luge ride. Basically after being chairlifted up you ride back down the hill on a sled with a handle to steer and to control the braking. I'm not explaining this that well but it was pretty good fun especially as I over took Victoria on the last bend to win!

 Chair lift up to the luge

We then continued from there on our vertical walk up to the saddle. The views were amazing from there but boy was it sweaty work. My top was so drenched I had to wrap it in a plastic bag and walk down in my bears top as the sweat was making me so cold. Really attractive I know!

From the saddle looking back down towards Queenstown

We had our lunch before walking back down the hill. It took us 3 hours to walk up but only just over an hour to get back down again! That's how steep it was. 

We got back to our hostel and both had a well needed shower before hitting one of the many tea shops in books and we just sat with our pots of tea refilling them with hot water for nearly 2 hours chilling out and reading our books. 

I had the free dinner again at the hostel and was luckily only third in line as the queue stretched all the way around the kitchen and out down the corridor. I'd eaten and washed up and by the looks of it the queue was still just as long. It definitely was a small dinner, half a sausage and a few peas, so I went to one of the bars, the find, to meet Victoria. They do $2 tacos on a Wednesday so after two of them (they were also tiny) I finally felt satisfied! 

After packing my bags so I was pretty much ready to go we headed to the find (again) for their happy hour tea pot cocktails. I think tea pot was the theme for today! 

With our teapots

We then moved on to a bar called buffalo which played music you could dance too rather than trying to be too cool. I mean it played cotton eyed joe and the lion king. How cool is that! They were giving away lots of prizes and I managed to win the dance competition. I think years of dancing like a crazy lady at pop finally paid off. Unfortunately you had to use the voucher in Queenstown and since I was leaving I became Victoria and gave my dance buddy the prize.  

I think I may have danced a bit too much as I woke up in the night with the most painful leg cramp! 

Kiwi Experience - Bottom Bus

Day 148: Dunedin

We had a late pick up today (10.30) so after checking out of the hostel we sat on the bench outside as we waited for the bottom bus to pick us up and take us off to Dunedin. 

Our first stop was overlooking the Clyde dam and then we drove down the hill to Clyde for a lunch stop. It was a pretty quiet town that had just us and a group of bikers there for lunch. 

Clyde dam

On our way into Dunedin we stopped at a view point to get a view out over the city. It looks just like how I imagine Edinburugh looks. I guess that's why they named it the Galiec for Edinburugh! Unlike most of the houses in NZ, the houses in Dunedin look like they belong at home! We then visited Balwin Street, officially the steepest street in the world and we walked up it! We were so out of breath when we got to the top and were so thankful for then water fountain they'd placed at the top. Looking back down the street part of it disappears from view it's that steep!

World's steepest street

We tried to visit the Cadbury chocolate factory once we'd checked in but it and the cafe had shut at 4... 40 minutes before we got there so we had to make do with cadburys from the supermarket instead! 

For dinner we cooked this amazing sausage pasta bake (yes I'm talking about food :p) before we went to the Speights brewery for the brewery tour. We had an hour tour around the old and new factory which was really interesting seeing how it's brewed and then we were shown how to pull a pint properly and then given half an hour, whilst they played their entire back collection of 'Southern Man' advertising campaign, to pull as many drinks as we liked for ourselves from the taps. There was 6 different drinks to try but after trying the gold medal ale I stuck to the cider. 

Speights brewery

Poring a pint

Day 149: The Catlins and Invercargill

Today we went through the Catlins to Invercargill. The Catlins is an area of amazing wildlife and not on the typical backpacker route but absolutely stunning. 

Our first stop was at Nugget Bay and we did a lovely walk out to an old lighthouse and on the rocks below us we could see seals chilling out on the rocks and the pups were playing in a little kiddie pool. Well, obviously not exactly a kiddie pool, but it was a small little pool of top of the rocks, filled by sea water but they weren't going to get washed away or smashed to pieces against the rocks. I guess that's why they were there. 

View to the lighthouse 

The sheep around hill clearly don't see too many cars as everywhere we drove we caused a stampede of sheep to flee in the other direction. 

Our next stop was Cannibal bay for a walk along the beach. It's amazing on that beach. The sea lions come onto the beach to sleep and so you can walk all around them. We saw one emerging from the sea true Daniel Craig James Bond style! I'm pretty sure they know everyone is photographing them so deliberately pose for the cameras! 

Sea lion

We ate our lunch in a small town called Owaka which had a teapot garden. It was like the shell house in Southbourne (mum, dad and C you'll understand this) except rather than a collection of shells from around the world it was a collection of teapots! Next door was a collection of dolls but there was creaky music playing and we couldn't bring ourselves to go in there! 

Tea pot gardens

We drove around to Florence hill lookout point to get a nice view of the coast line and to hopefully see a blowhole but the swell wasn't big enough for that. We then drove to McLean Falls and went for a walk up to the waterfall. The last bit involved climbing up on the rock where the side streams of the waterfall ran and I found out my trainers are definitely not waterproof! Had a nice damp sock! 

Lookout point 

Waterfall

We drove further in the Catlins to Curio Bay and Porpoise bay. The cafe there had no hokey pokey ice cream left! Did they not realise that I was coming and order it in especially for me. Not sure what in going to do once I'm home and I can't have hokey pokey daily (fingers crossed it's appeared in shops since I've been away!). This area is famous for the hector dolphins (the worlds smallest dolphins) who play in this bay at high tide but unfortunately the tide was pretty low and we didn't get to see any. We did however see a yellow eyed penguin (the rarest species of penguin in the world) on the beach waiting for his mate to come home. Consodering the beach was massive, there is only a small section you're allowed to walk on to and there are only 8 pairs of penguins there seeing one up so close to us was pretty special. 

Lone penguin

We arrived into Invercargill pretty late in the evening so we just visited the supermarket to get dinner and for me to get supplies for Stewart Island before cooking dinner together one last time and then visiting the pub next door to reminisce about the times we've spent together as I was off to Stewart Island the next day so leaving the girls. We'd only know each other for about 16 days but that's the longest I've spent with people I've met and I knew I was going to miss them once they'd gone! 

Day 150: To Stewart Island

In the morning I said goodbye to the girls which was pretty sad as I was off to Stewart Island and they were going to Milford Sounds. Last time we sai bye as we weren't travelling together we knew we'd be meeting up again in Queenstown. Now if we meet up again we'll be in England somewhere which is pretty sad. 

 

I got picked up from the hostel after breakfast and transferred to Bluff to the ferry terminal. We were early getting there so the driver took us to see the start of highway 1 which stretches all the way from here up to the most northery point on North Island (with a little break for the ferry transfer). 

The ferry crossing was so smooth which as good considering all the horror stories I'd heard about when the weather was choppy and people throwing up all the time. Got to see some beautiful sea birds out of the window skimming their wings in the water. 

Arrived at Stewart Island and it seems like such a lovely place (I'm assuming te fact there isn't a cloud in the sky is helping). The hostel I'm staying in for the firs two nights feels more like a B&B or a family home which is lovely. Was trying to book 2 trips whilst I'm here so I used their phone to ring up and then one of them called back the hostel as he forgot to give me some information so I had the girl who worked there walking up to me saying the phones for you! Doesn't soud that funny now I'm writing it down but it was!

Got chatting to one of the guys at the hostel and we went on a lovely short coastal walk through a little bit of forest and around past all these secluded bays. 

We got back to the hostel and I just wanted to chill out for a bit so sat on their sofas and watched Anckorman. According to the guy who worked there that film had been on every day for the last week! He really needs to move it out of eye sight if he doesn't want to watch it again! 

The kias come down into the garden every evening to be fed sunflower seeds. 

Feeding a Kia 

In the evening I went out on a boat tour to try and spot Kiwis. We set out just before the sunset and so had this amazing boat ride out to the wharf with the sun setting behind the Island and blue penguin heads (the smallest penguins in the world) popping up around the boat before they disappeared below the surface again. 

Sun set over Stewart Island 

It was getting dark when we moored up and the skipper and the guide explained to us what we were doing and a couple of safety things for us (watch the long hanging branches) and for the kiwis (don't shine your torches in their eyes). We walked across through a track across the bush to Ocean beach. Once we were on the beach we turned our torches off and the guide used just his torch on a low brightness to scan the beach for kiwis. 

 

We got so lucky. Pretty much immediately we saw a juvenile female eating the bugs that feed on the rotting kelp on the beach. It was such a cool experience to see one in the wild. Especially as 95% of New Zealanders haven't!  Further down the beach we saw a mated pair (the junevile is one I their kids) feeding together. The guide said he never sees two kiwis in the same torch beam as usually they feed solitary so it was pretty special to see that and she (I know it was a female from the beak curvature!) kept putting her beak on his back. It was so cute. It was such a perfect night for kiwi watching. The moon lit up the beach and the stars looks incredible. 

On the walk back to the boat we saw a juvenile male on the path infront of us before he darted off into a bus, a possum with its scary red eyes watching us from a tree and an owl! On the boat we were given hot chocolate and biscuits to warm up and then taken back to half moon bay. 

Day 151: Stewart Island

Today we (my new German friend and I) took a ferry across in the morning to Ulva Island. Ulva Island is a predator free bird sanctuary and so full of all different types of birds, some only found on Stewart Island. You can do all the walking paths in an hour and a half but then you'd never see anything so we took it really slowly and it was amazing how many birds appear when you just stand still an silent for a few minutes. An inquisitive Stewart Island robin came right up to us and was pecking away at my shoes and then tried to fly away with firstly my shoelaces and then a piece of cotton hanging off my socks. When he decided to peck my leg I had to shake him off.

Ulva Island ferry ticket

My little friend

The ferrys are rather irregular but it was such a nice day we decided to spend the day reading on this one beach. Well that was the plan. When there was only 15 minutes until the ferry and we were half an hour away it started to rain! Awesome...

We walked back through the forest to one of the other beaches and luckily it was only spitting so I sat in my waterproof sheltered by a bush and did what I intended to do in sunshine and read! When we got too cold to sit there any more we walked to the lookout point over the ferry point so we could wander down when we saw it come in. Luckily the sun came out so we were able to warm up whilst we waited. We saw the little blue ferry come in but by the time we'd got down to the wharf it was full! After all that waiting we had to wait again for it to come back and pick up those it couldn't fit on first time around. This was actually a blessing in disguise as on the journey back over a Mollymork (a small albatross) came over and showed off her wings to us as she checked out whether we were a fishing boat and whether she was likely to get a scraps off us. 

In the evening I didn't fancy cooking and since Stewart Island is renounded for it's seafood so I went down to the pub, the heart of this community, to have some locally caught blue cod and chips and then some chocolate mud cake. It was pretty fun chatting to the locals who one of the girls I met in the hostel had been out fishing with today. They really know how to wind people up. I said I was from London and they were like 'never heard of it', 'is it big' and 'is it near Scotland?'. I actually tried to explain where in the UK London was before I realised they were winding me up! 

Day 152: Stewart Island

Didn't fancy an early start today so I had a bit of a lie in and read my book in bed for a while which was lovely. I had to swap hostels this morning but that only involved walking through the gap in the hedge at the edge of the garden. And it wasn't that much of a chain as the daughter ran the one I was originally in and her mum ran the one I moved to! I think the guy sitting outside on his balcony got a bit of a shock though seeing a girl loaded up with backpacks and a cooler bag emerging from the hedge! 

I spent the morning on beach reading my book and then went back to the hostel for lunch. 

I set out for a short 3 hour return walk out to horseshoe point but ended up bumping to a couple of people from the hostel and agreeing to go with them to Maori Beach which, it turns out, is a looonnnngggg walk away. Think we must have walked for 6- 7 hours at a pretty good pace. No dawdling from us! 

At horse shoe point we got a great view into the bay and out to see we saw dolphins swimming past a fishing boat below us. 

The walk the whole way to Maori beach was up and down and up and down and up and down into all the little bays along the way which meant all the bits I enjoyed on the way there were painful and all the bits that were painful were now enjoyable! My legs ached a lot and it took a few mental battles with myself to get up some of those hills but I was so proud with myself once we got back. Maori beach was lovely and it did have a long drop toilet and drinking water, which I was super thankful for, but I'm not 100% the pain justified it! 

Finally at Maori Beach

Surprisingly after a shower and some food I felt alright enough to go out kiwi spotting with a few people from the hostel. We spent an hour wandering around on the fields the locals say they are often spotted. We were pretty sure we'd heard a female call and what sounded like claws scrapping at the leaves on the floor to get to the bugs but we never saw anything so we gave up and walked back to the hostel where we bumped into a local guy who pointed one out in the bush to us. After all that searching there was one a minutes walk from the hostel! 

Day 153: Stewart Island and back to Invercargill

(Oops, I forgot to finish this the first time I published this)

I went out Kayaking in the morning. We paddled out hugging the coastline as our guide Phil pointed out sea horses, sea urchins, sea cucumber and a small shark. He pulled out a star fish to touch which was really strange as all the tentacles wriggled as I held it! 

We pulled up on a beach and walked up to get a view out towards native island before paddling out to native island. Phil pulled seaweed and kelp out of the sea to try. Don't think I'll be eating that again. It may be full of nutrients but it tasted so rubbery! 

We had tea and cakes on one of the beaches as a ream made by Phil's wife who is a gourmet chef so obviously the cakes were amazing! 

We paddled around the rest on the Island and saw blue & yellow eyed penguins on our way home. My partner was an older guy and I guess he must have been getting tired on the way home so was just rearing his paddle on his lap. Which I wouldn't have minded except that it was dragging in the sea acting as a break! And at one point he started paddling backwards for some reason so I ended up doing twice as much work! 

Kayaking

Wriggly starfish

I went to the Bunkhouse theatre to watch a really cute film, told from the point of view of the dog, about the Island history and some of its stories. 

I got the ferry back to Bluff which was slightly choppier than the way to Stewart Island but still not as rough as people said it can be and then was transferred back to Invercargill. It was a strange feeling being back there without the girls. Made myself some dinner and then watched a movie in the TV room whilst catching up on my diary. I thought I'd have lots of time to do it on the Island but ended up so engrossed in my book I didn't actually write anything in it! 

Day 154: Milford Sounds

We left Invercargill and were taken to the lovely looking town of Te Anau for a quick stop before continuing along into the national park. We started off at this plain (who's name I know can't remember) that's 2km wide at its widest point and the mountain that surround it are 2km high at their highest point. I think that was pretty well planned! 

Our next stop was at the mirror pools which are extra reflective because of the oil that's excreted by the trees that surrounds it. 

Mirror pools

We carried on driving through the national park to Homer tunnel. A tunnel cut straight through the mountain that's only wide enough for cars to go in one direction and it isn't lined so you can see the rock around you. Feels like you're in a mining tunnel that's being explored rather than a massively popular tourist route. When you come out the other side it's hairpin bends all the way down to the valley floor. So glad we had an experienced driver and we could just admire the scenery. Some of the campervans going along looked pretty dangerous. 

We had a two hour boat cruise through Milford sound, which is actually a fjord technically not a sound. But whatever it should be called it's stunning. New Zealand definitely knows how to do beautiful scenery. 

We were given our packed lunches to eat as we cruised long the fjord, out to sea and then back along the other side of the fjord to the ferry terminal. 

It rained slightly on our way back but that didn't make Stirljng falls any less beautiful! 

Milford Sound

Stirling falls

On the bus back to Queenstown pretty much everyone was asleep as we drove through venison country. In used to see deer roaming free in Bushey or Richmond park. It was strange seeing them in pens like sheep! 

I had a totally cool evening sitting in the movie room and running out every 45 minutes to swap my laundry into the drier and then to hang it up in my room as it was warm but not totally dry. I got pretty creative with my hanging using a belt for my underwear and hand my t shirts tucked into the bars above my head! Clearly getting good at backpacking!

I had a catch up with Victoria, one of the girls from my bus, just in her room until the other people wanted to go to bed so I went back into my room for bed! 

Kiwi experience - South Island to Queenstown

Day 141: ferry and drive to Kaiteriteri

We got up early and checked out and met our new driver Flea who took us to the ferry terminal where we had to check our bags in airport style onto the ferry. The ferry crossing was really smooth which was good since some of the ferrys that went the day later were cancelled because of the rough weather. They served warm scones on the ferry which were yummy with clotted cream and jam. We walked around the outside of the ferry as we approached the South Island to enjoy the views of Marlborough sounds as we pulled into Picton. 

Marlborough sounds from the ferry

We collected our bags from an airport style carasol. I had my usual panic when my bags don't come off straight away that they must have been lost even though there were lots of other people still waiting for their bags. 

We drove through Marlborough country and since they are famous for their wine we stopped at a vineyard and tried a Saviongn Blanc, a Pinot Grisio, a Pinot Noir and some desert wine. A very civilised afternoon for $2, so we had a small taste of 4 wines for £1!

Wine tasting

We pulled into Kaiteriteri, checked into our hostel and then wandered down to the beach. We really wanted a jump beach shot of the four of us and so experimented for over half an hour with self timer and burst shots trying to get it right. We were hysterical and still no closer to having a shot when we weren't on the ground when a retired lady who is also on our bus came over to take it for us and we ended up chatting to her for ages. I hope when I'm here age I'm still travelling and exploring new places. She said she could have got on a bus aimed at her age group but they never get offered the fun activities that buses aimed at 18-30 do. I've met at 73 year old lady who decided to do a skydive! 

Getting pretty good at my jump photos!

We cooked a massive curry between us girls tonight with garlic pitta and then we went and sat in the tv room. The plan was just to write our diaries for a bit on the sofas then wander across and see if people were in the pub next door but in the end we watched the entire of the day the earth stood still (not a good film but by an hour in we'd invested too much time not to find out how it ended) before going to bed. 

Day 142: Able Tasman national park, Kaiteriteri

I got up early to have breakfast at 7 before kayaking and it turned out the kitchen didn't open for another 30 minutes. That's 30 minutes of sleep I missed out on! I did put that time to good use though and booked myself onto a skydive for tomorrow morning! Eeeeekkkkkk!!!!!!! 

We were picked up by a minibus and taken down to the kayaking office to pay and get our life jackets and the kayaks. We drove down to a bay and walked down to near the shore line to learn how to paddle the easiest and stuff. The tide was coming in so fast that we were in the water by the time we were ready to get going! I got lucky and had the guide as my kayak partner so either I'm a lot stronger than all the other girls (as my core and arms didn't ache too much when we finished) or he was doing most of the work!  

We had a beauitful 3 hour kayak along the coast of the national park stopping for 45 for tea and a muffin on apple tree beach. The guide had brought a frisbee so we got to through that around for a bit which was cool until one of the boys threw it into a spiky bush and we had to drag it out with a stick. And then I did the same thing. A that point we decided to put it away and kayak around to the finish point. 

Kayaking

With the guide in our kayak 

We were meant to be doing a full day kayak but the winds were predicted to be so strong in the afternoon that we walked a small part of the 4 day Able Tasman Coastal track back to the kayak hire place. It was such a beautiful walk. We were protected from the wind and it was great being able to see the national park from the water and then from land. I walked with these two lovely Canadians who had the fastest walking place I've ever encountered. We did the 4 hour track in 3 hours including stopping for lunch. 

Stunning views along the walk

We chilled out at the kayak hire place in the sun until they gave us a lift back to the hostel. We sat with some people outside talking and took me an hour to summon up the energy to go inside and shower and make myself dinner. Felt so tired. 

In the evening we chilled out in the bar and played pool and I learnt the correct way to set up the balls and the easy way to remember how to do it. I managed to loose every game I played though. 

Day 143: Skydive and Westport

I was awake at 5am excited and unable to sleep as I was skydiving today. I didn't however in my half excited half sleepy state think about going to watch the sunrise on the beach. Missed opportunity there. 

Finally 7am rolled around and I got dressed and then picked up by the skydive minibus and taken to the airbase. We got shown a video so we knew what to expect, signed all the paperwork and then sat outside watching the groups before us going up in the plane and then landing in front of us.

Skydive plane

When it came to our groups turn we got kitted up our jumpsuits and harnesses and then met my jump master who would be strapped to me and the guy who would be filming and taking the photos of my jump. I had a quick interview to go at the start of the video of my skydive and then we were straight onto the plane and up in the air! Either it all happened so fast or my brain was already in meltdown and unable to cope with what I was about to do. 

Whilst on the flight up my jump master checked my harness, pointed out the scenery and clipped us together. At 8000ft I was given an oxygen mask to breathe through as the cabin isn't presurrised (obviously as the door gets swung open). At 13000ft the first 2 girls jumped. The door swung open which I only noticed because it suddenly got chilly and then it was closed again! 

The door was opened for my jump and the photographer guy climber out and hung out of the side of the plane whilst the jump master and I bum shuffled together along the floor to the door. So there I was at 16500ft with my legs hanging out of a plane. And then I was falling to the Earth! My brain went into complete sensory overload and it all happened so fast but was such a rush! When the parachute was pulled I thought we'd been falling for 20 seconds rather than 80! Watching the video back on the ground I know I was posing for the camera doing peace signs. The Chinese guy in the video we watched before we jumped did that and so I think my brain must have latched onto that so I kept doing it! 

Excited on the plane

Sweet as!

Falling to earth 

Once the parachute is pulled everything slows right down and you're just floating there hanging in your harness. It was so good just relaxing there and looking around at the scenery. From where I jumped, even though it was a bit cloudy, I could still see both North and South Island which was cool and I could see Mount Doom (who's real name I've forgotten). 

When we came into land the dive master started doing all these turns so we landed in the right field. We came in pretty fast and the camera guy was running backwards and tripped slightly trying to get out of our way and we landed sitting down in the grass. It was so cool.. Buzzing from it! I think if you want to know what happened you'll have to watch the video when I'm home! 

Feeling proud of my achievement!

We were taken back to the hostel and got on the kiwi bus. I'd been feeling pretty rough after the skydive on the bus. Think it was a combination of motion sickness (from both the jump and the windy roads we were on) and all the spare adrenalin pumping through my body that I had to sit up on the jump seat next to the driver. We stopped at a lake and I cured all my problems by running off the jetty straight into the freezing waters (twice). It was a shock to the system and I can't believe only 5 people from a bus of 50 did it! How often do you get to jump into a lake with snow capped mountains behind it. I guess they must have seen the eels I ran past and decided against it. Luckily they and the ducks got out of my way when I tried to get out of the lake. 

Jumping into the lake 

We stopped in a small town and I rewarded myself for my bravery jumping into the lake (and to warm myself up) with a hot chocolate with little marshmallows. 

There's not much in Westport, our destination for today, but the hostel was pretty cool so I chilled out on the swing chairs after dinner. 

The bus left a bit late in the evening so when it pulled into the carpark at the beach we ended up running across the sand and got there just in time to see the last 3 minutes of the sunset. It was really pretty and the mountains behind us were coloured pink and red from the sun light which was so nice. 

Sun setting behind the lighthouse

Pink mountains

Kiwi experience! 

We spent the evening on the beach with a bonfire. The beach was littered with drift wood so it was the perfect place for a good bonfire. It was so nice and the guys went all cave man and wouldn't let any of the girls collect firewood and then they dragged over all these tree trunks so we all had benches to sit on. 

Beach bonfire

Day 144: To Franz Joseph 

We got on the bus and started our morning with a nice hour walk along the coast from Cape Foulwind to a seal colony. All the adults were flopped out on the rocks and the baby seals were surprisingly agile wobbling themselves up and over the rocks. Could have stood watching them for ages. 

The drive into Franz Joseph was along stunning coast line to one side and mountains the other. We stopped at the pancake rocks for a walk the see the limestone sculptures which I thought looked more like camel humps than pancake rocks. 

Pancake rocks

We stopped briefly in Greymouth to wait for people getting of the transalpine train and then continued on to Hokitika. The fudge shop opposite where we parked had a sign saying free tasters so obviously we went in there. They were making their own waffle cones and they smelt delicious so I ended up having a Hoky Poky ice cream in Hoki. 

We pulled into Frans Josef and I met up with the girls again. I'd made my own food for dinner so I ate that and then sat in the bar whilst they had theirs. We spent the evening at the Moonsoon bar that was attached to our hostel, the rainforest retreat, and it was a really nice evening. 

Day 145: Ice Explorer, hikes and hot pools in Frans Josef

We checked in at 9.15 for our Ice Explorer. We were given boots, waterproof trousers, a thick overcoat and wooly hat and a cool red bag to put all our stuff in. We got changed into our gear and them walked across the road (the most dangerous bit of our day statistically). We were helicoptered up onto the glacier and then we put our crampons on so we could walk around easier on the ice. The way to walk in crampons on ice is to walk like John Wayne and to stomp like an angry small child! It was so cool being up on the ice. The guide had to maintain the steps and the path as we walked around so we had lots of time to take photos and to appreciate where we were whilst he did that. 

On the Frans Josef glacier

With my pick axe (May have been possed!)

Chilling out whilst the guide mends some steps 

He showed us how far the ice has retreated in the last 6 years and told us the Maori story of how the Frans Josef glacier had formed. The story goes that a woman who was half human half god who lived in the mountain and she came down the the beach and feel in love with a human but she had ice cold blood and he had warm blood so everytime they touched it burnt. They decided to walk to Mount Cook to see one of the gods to ask if she can be turned human but Mount Cook is sacred and the human man should have asked permission to go there. Angered, the god set an avalanche down to kill him. She climbed to the highest point and cried and cried and cried. The other gods felt sorry for her and so frozen her tears as a permenant memorial to her grief. 

We got to slide and shuffle our way through a little tunnel in the ice which was pretty cool and I'm so glad the guys went down first as I knew if they could squeeze out the other end I must be able to. 

Small tunnel to crawl through

Just before we climbed down to the bottom and got the helicopter back, we took off our top layers and got a group shot...

Feeling on top of the world 

Helicopter back down looking out at the river

A cafe had adverts where you wait to go onto the helicopter so all I was thinking about when I was hungry on the glacier was the bacon sandwich that was waiting for me at the bottom. Their advertising worked so after returning all our gear we walke across to the cafe and I had a delicious buttery bacon ciabatta smothered in ketchup. Mmmmmmm

In the afternoon 3 of us went for a 3 hour walk. We walked the 45 minutes out to the carpark and from there we did two small return walks. The first walk went to Peter's pool (actually a small kettle lake) were you could see the reflections of the mountains behind in it as it was so still. The second walk was vertically uphill up to a lookout point for the glacier. There was a really sad flip chart that showed just how much the glacier had retreated in the last 100 years. The glacier has been known to go through cycles of retreating and growing but the rate at which it's been retreating the last 6 years is unprecedented. When we were up on the ice you could see the line where it was 6 years ago and it's shrunk by a good 30m if not a lot more in height in that short amount of time. 

Peter's pool

How the glacier has retreated in the last 100 years 

After dinner we went to the hot pools across the road from the hostel as we got in free with our wrist band from the ice explorer. I thought they were naturally occurring hot pools like in Roturua but it was actually spring water that was heated to the perfect temperature. Not that I'm complaining! We all sat in one of the pools chatting until we were all prunes. 

I was feeling so relaxed and sleepy after the hot pools that I ended up spending my Friday evening sitting in bed catching up with my diary. A guy from the hostel came round to check people weren't drinking in the rooms and we were like look at us... We have Bastille playing on my iPod and we're all sitting on our beds with our diaries. Does it look like we're drinking! I totally fit in with the kiwi experience stereotype of spending every night drinking! 

Day 146: Lake Wanaka

The bus departed at 730 and our first stop was for a walk to Lake Mateson to check out the reflection of the mountains in it. 

Reflections in Lake Materson 

We then drove through the winding valleys if the aspiring national park. We stopped at a lot if scenic photo ops and the blue lake pools which was really pretty. 

On the way into Wanaka we stopped at Puzzle world which was really cool. The first few rooms were full of illusions Nd then there was a tilted house that completely messed with your brain. Then we did the maze. It took us longer to find the exit than it did to find all 4 corners if the maze! 

Tilted house - you can see on the protractor behind where horizontal is

Playing with perception 

Once we were in Wanaka and checked in we went to the Wanaka farm show. Saw alpacas, sheep, horse jumping and there were all these stalls selling clothes, tractors and jacuzzis! We then wandered down and sat by the lake for a while enjoying the view. One of the girls and I cooked dinner together and ate it outside on the balcony in shorts and a t shirt with the sunset over the snow capped mountains behind us. Pretty cool. 

Sunset

Something I overheard someone say is so true.... New Zealand is the only place where the actual views are better than any postcard you can buy. No camera can capture New Zealand's beauty. 

In the evening we went to watch the new 300 movie at this really cool old fashion movie theatre which had sofas to sit on and half way through the film there was an interval and they served warm chocolate chip cookies. Such a comfy place to watch a film. So nice to be somewhere to chill out and watch a film rather than having to clamber up a ladder to go to bed or sitting hunched up on a bottom bunk so you don't smack your head. 

Sofas and even a car to sit in at the cinema

Day 147: To Queenstown 

Got to have a little lie in as the bus wasn't leaving until 10am so I got to sit in the park by the lake and chat to Will, which was nice since I hadn't spoken to him for 2 weeks! 

Our first stop on the way to Queenstown was at the 45 degrees latitude line. So at this point you're exactly half way between the equator and the South Pole. All towns from here on South are nearer the South Pole than the equator! How crazy!! 

45 degrees latitude line

On the way into Queenstoen ee stopped at the home of Bungy jumping and I watched some people from my group do it. I'm not that brave to do it myself. We then stopped at a lake where we went for a swim before pulling into Queenstown. 

The girls were already there and waiting for me having filled in my details on the check in sheet. They sent me straight to reception whilst they hunted for my bag off the bus. Such a great idea of there's! I'd checked in, sorted myself out and was ready to head out whilst most of the kiwi bus where still milling around in reception waiting to be checked in. What good friends they are! 

We went for a wandered around town to explore (it's a pretty small place) and then chilled out on the beach by the lake for the afternoon. We phoned and ordered fergburgers to skip the queues outside and then just went to pin them up and took them back to the beach to eat them. They live up to their name! They are the best burgers in the world. Mine was a delicious chicken, avo and bacon burger. You may think I'm doing my usual talking about what I've eaten but this burger has won awards and is often voted as the best burger in the world. A title which I think it deserves. 

In the evening we went to a couple of bars to try out Queenstown legendary nightlife. Guessing what with it being a Sunday it wasn't as legendary as usually. The bars were cool but we ended up leaving the first place, which did cool tea lot cocktails, as we couldn't hear each other to talk to. We are getting so old! We had a good night though, again as always in NZ, not because of the place but because of the people I was with.