New Zealand - The South Island

Rocky mountains, desert plains, ice (ice cold), snow, green, blue, yellow and white lakes and lots of heart stopping laughs this place is 'Sweet As'...

Unlike the rest of our adventure so far, the residence has been slightly different. For 3 weeks now we have been rockin' up to the best spots of the South Island in our 'Breezer' sized campervan. To the lay person, this means a very tight campervan, actually the smallest in the company's range! But despite its cramped size and occassional smell (damp, feet etc.) it has been the best fun and we couldn't be closer! Literally.

We started in Christchurch and made sure we hired the Winter Warmer extras package for the camper including an extra duvet, hot water bottle and flask - it has been invaluable. We thought we had a faulty gas stove. After spending $15 on emergency-line phone call and a couple of locals advice we were left shamed that the gas stove wasn't leaking - it actually was just not turned off properly. Oops.

The Salvation Army helped us to kit out on hats, scarfs and warm pants. Whilst wandering around this city gathering these essentials we bumped into a German couple and we had seen them countless times in Fiji, wierd.

We made sure we visited the main attraction here and visited the Antartica Center, we experienced a snow storm, penguins and a Haaglund which is an off road snow truck - we were taken over a dirt track at full throttle, you can imagine the whip-lash.

We had started off in proper electric powered camp sites in Christchurch and the rest of the South due to the sheer blooming cold. Being so close to Antartica, is gets minus temperatures during the evening and about 7 degrees average during the day.

For Hamner Springs, Methven and Lake Tekapo we decided to brave the elements and 'Freedom Camp'. We were equipped with the winter warmer package at least but only a small windup torch - it was slight torture. It goes dark at 5.30pm so because of the dark and cold we found ourselves asleep by 7.30pm usually, not so fun. We woke up in Lake Tekapo to icicles inside the cabin. So you can appreciate that we decided to nip that in the bud and make sure we hooked up to electric from then on!

If you could wake up with a smile on your face anywhere, it must be New Zealand. At every campsite we have woke up at there has been breath taking scenery from snow mountains, grass mountains, salmon and ducks playing in rivers, valleys, creamy blue lakes (from the rock flour), birds singing, rainforest, vast lengths of farms etc etc. We have been spoilt and I could bore you with all the tiny details. We both agree that the best thing is the drive from the Canterbury Plains to the Southern Alps, the coast is pretty cool too. It is silly that you actually get used to your surroundings and we have to wake each other up from time to time.

We explored the South Island clockwise but had to miss out Dunedin, Intercarvill and Catlins due to the campervan guzzling too much fuel and we could not afford there. The Kiwis are great, really nice people they have given us tips from the best fish and chips to the hot spots. Even though we have had the best time in every place, here are the highlights:

09/08/10 - Skiing in Cardrona (Queenstown) followed by a burger from FergBurger (woooah) and a night out and also we went back a few days later for a night out in nearby Gold Rush town of Arrowtown (13/08/10) cosying up with the locals! The guy who took us up the mountain (about an hour drive) said it was one of the best days the had all winter, and I believed him. The sun was beaming and it had snowed heavy the previous night so lots of nice powder, sweet as. As Jon hadn't been skiing in about 142 years, we took it easy but Join hadn't forgotten his moves and we made the most of beginner and intermediate slopes and we didn't fall over. Queenstown is like everyone says it is - awesome and expensive, we had blown most of our cash here but it was worth it. The atmosphere is eletric and full of cool people but a pint will set you back $7!

10/08/10 - Charlie did Sky Ledge Swing 400ft above Queenstown - didn't quite make the bungy as I thought this was going to be its timid little brother - oh no. Jon is putting the video on Facebook soon, it is a cracker. Plenty of straps on me I had lower myself into a sitting position and the man slid me off the edge, once suspended succesfully 400 metres over QT. Jon and my audience counted down 5 to 1 - one arm out and pulled off the little red cord that held me up with me right hand then - well then I don't remember much else, think my heart stopped slightly. I had the job of making sure the 3 harnesses we used in the correct order to get me back up to the ledge. I don't know whether I was shaking from the cold or the fear...

10/08/10 - Jon did High Speed Jet Boat (Queenstown). Travelling at super high speeds on only 4 inches of water through the Shotover Canyon. Came nerve-rackingly close to the gorge rock edge! Had some 360 degree spins thrown in too. The boat was going that fast Jon's face nearly fell off due to the frost bite.

12/08/10 - Doubtful Sound Cruise (Te Anau). Before the cruise it included a coach ride 2km down underground to hydro power station - the caves underneath were fun to look at the rest was pretty boring. Our small boat with 20 others we sailed up through Doubtful Sound, past the West Arm to the edge of the Tasman Sea, we couldn't get all the way out 'cause it was too rough. The scenery was breathtaking, truely amazing and had low fog which made it look even more dramatic against the surrounding mountains. The guide was great he had not had a day off in 3 months!

14/08/10 - Got lost in Puzzling World in Wanaka, a place with a huge wooden maze built in the 70's - we saw the German couple again!! They also managed to flatten their battery so we had the job of pushing the van around the carpark with them trying to jumpstart it, very funny.

16/08/10 - Franz Joseph Glacier. A military operation to start with to get the gear - coats, special boots, crampons, lockers, rucksack etc. A short bus journey too us to the start of the glacier trek. It looked 500m away but it was 2.2km. So we made the trek, it didnt look real a pale blue radiance, with white peaks and black rock flour. In all we had 2 hours on the ice with the guide pick-axing the path through for us, a great adventure. We are learning that despite the cold, winter is the best time to come to NZ because we have the glacier and NZ to ourselves.

18/08/10 - Limestone Arches at Oparaka Basin. We had the intention of seeing the caves too but the windup torch wasn't man enough. To get the Arches walk area we had to venture up a 14km 'no campervans allowed' gravel track. As our van bearly makes the camper grade we went for it. At the top we head down the track for 1/2 hour and came to the 45 meter high arches. Wow. It had mini waterfalls inside, a river below and the only light passed though the smaller exit and enterance. The whole outer area was drenched in dense rainforest, looked like Jurassic Park we thought.

In between all this? Well that was full of hours of driving and Fiji Rum/Vodka. We covered 2900km, just in the South Island. We have only had the one campervan 'issue' - on the 18/08 we got stuck in gravel/mud on a side road on the way to Nelson. We had to be rescued by a local called Jon with his 4x4 - bad times!!!

We now are off to the warm(er) North Island on the InterIslander Ferry from Picton to Wellington!

xxxxx

Fiji

Its been over 2 weeks since we last posted and since then we have sunned ourselves silly in paradise! It was winter when we were there and the guy who picked us up from the airport was wearing a hat for their subzero temperatures if you can call a low of 25degrees C cold! During the day it was pushing the 35degrees but that was nice with a sea breeze.

We spent all but 2 of our nights in Fiji on the islands known as the Yasawas. The islands are where the picture perfect postcards are all taken. We took the big yellow boat (the flyer) up the islands to the very north 5 hours it took we went up to an island called Tavewa at Otto and Fannies resort, we happened to be the only people staying there, imagine that a whole beach to ourselves! During our 2 week stay we stopped at a total of 9 different islands resorts, the most beautiful being Blue Lagoon which was actually where the movie was filmed, the Crystal clear waters here and the white sandy beaches surpassed anything you can ever imagine. The snorkelling was unbelievable here all the different tropical fishes, Nemo and Doris were everywhere, swimming is great schools close enough to touch. As well as sunning ourselves we took in some of the tours; I (JP) saw the Saw-wi-la caves which involved an underwater swim under the rocks into another cave, pretty scary when you are the first to go through and met with nothing but deeper water and complete darkness. Also involved a climb up the rock face, whilst wet, up through a small passage known as the pregnancy cave because those that are pregnant cant get through that gives an idea of how tight it was. I was surprised that they were able to do this part of the trip and that nobody had been killed before! We also did some Voi Voi weaving in which Charlie made a nice bracelet and I made a rather pathetic bookmark, dont thing weaving is for me! We both really enjoyed a visit to a local village, in particular the school where all the local kids wanted to play, they loved our cameras taking pictures and then looking at the results, Charlie even had a bit of trouble getting hers back from one of the kids! On one day I even took on the ridiculous idea of swimming from one island to another, I managed it just, but this was far toughter than I had expected and I must have swallowed enough sea water to start an aquarium! The swimming with sharks had to be the highlight though, taken out into the middle of the ocean to where there was a reef we jumped in and snorkeled along until we saw 4 white tipped reef sharks, they just swam amongst us getting there free feed from the guides. Charlie managed to touch one but I didnt get close enough, those who dares wins!

The night life was a little more laid back than I would have thought, but that may have been down to the amount of food they fed us! Every meal was 3 courses and there was always extras for those who wanted it. If you dont like fish though do not go to Fiji, every meal even breakfast included fish! Most nights there was entertainment, some of the highlights were the international crab races but we never won. The Meke and the fire dancing we saw on Wayalailai was probably the most impressive a real insight into some of the more traditional side of Fiji. The fire dancing was slightly scary though as one guy was clearly learning as he kept dropping his flaming stick, not good for those sat in the front row, thankfully we were up a height and out of the way. They love their Cava in Fiji, it is basically a drink made from the root of a plant which they leave to dry and than crush into a powder and mix with water; leaving a lovely muddy brown water to drink! We partook in many of these ceremonies not always by choice but after you got used to the taste it wasnt so bad and it always numbed ours tongues and helped us sleep better. One traveller I chatted with did it for 10hours and lost the feeling of his legs!!

Think that pretty much covers our Fiji experience, a truely beautiful place which cannot be described in words!

Now for the cold cold land of New Zealand!