21st
Feeling fairly rough this morning as I had to get up early and wash my hair about five times to remove all pink dye. Managed to get packed and on the bus without being to late. We headed off to Franz Joseph today and on the way we stopped off at this little museum called the Bushman museum. Basically its all about these mad New Zealander’s who used to catch the deer off the hills and bring them down to the deer farms but to do this they would chase them in helicopters and jump from the helicopter onto the fleeing deer! The man who runs the museum used to do this and he’s an absolute fruitcake. They also serve all sorts of road kill in the café known as “headlight delights” I didn’t try the possum pie but its meant to be good. We stayed at the museum for a few hours and then it was a long drive to Franz Joseph and the famous glacier. Arrived in Fran Joseph in the pouring rain and got soaked through finding a cash point. We then all booked a day walk on the glacier. Unfortunately the hostel we booked into was only just better than the weather and that evening no one really wanted to do anything apart from sleep.
22nd
Had to get up early and walk a small distance into town to get kitted out with all the stuff needed to go on the glacier. This included hats, coats, trousers, socks, boots, gloves and of course crampons (the spiky thing that fit to your boots letting you have grip on the ice).
We had a short bus ride out of town to the glacier and then a walk to the actual glacier along the gulley that it had carved out over time. From a distance it doesn’t look that big but once you get close to it its absolutely huge. Walking on the glacier meant going up lots of carved out ice steps made by the tour leader with his pick axe. Some parts the steps had been carved already and it was very steep with a sheer drop on one side and just a hope to hold onto on the other. It was fairly hard work and very cold. While we were up there it started to rain and everyone got soaked through even with all the waterproof gear we had on. Once we had climbed up the main front of the glacier it flattened off slightly and we had the chance to take a break and have lunch. The views and the color of the ice were stunning. After that the guide took us further up and into some unknown parts of the glacier. Halfway through walking we had to stop because the path the guide was going to take had disappeared over night due to the ice moving. We then headed down off the glacier and by the time we had reached the bottom it was about 6pm and I was definitely exhausted. When I got back into town and got rid of all the soaking kit I went straight to the supermarket and bought a lot of food, I was starving. That night we had a couple of drinks in the bar and all turned in fairly early. I slept like an absolute baby.
23rd
Early start again and because of the walk yesterday everyone was tired and aching. We set off to Wanaka which is a fairly long journey but about two hours into it we stop at a small tourist info place and the bus driver gets a call saying that the road to Wanaka has been blocked by a landslide that happened in the early hours of the morning and that we might have to stay another night in rainy Franz Joseph. We were not amused. We then drove to the nearest local pub to wait for more info. It was nice just being able to chill out in a pub with no plans to do anything and we all had a few before lunch drinks, played cards and pool. We were at the pub for about three hours when we heard that they had managed to clear the landslide and we could head off again. In all that day we spent about eleven hours on the bus because there was a huge queue at the mud slide site. We got into Wanaka absolutely knackerd but pleased to find that the rooms were lush all had en suite with baths! The town of Wanaka is really nice and I definitely want to go back there in the winter to check out some of the best snowboarding in New Zealand. That night we had a few drinks in the local but the whole place was pretty quiet.
24th
Left for Queenstown and on the way stopped at a place called Puzzle World. Basically consists of all these weird and wacky rooms and puzzles collected together by this eccentric guy. There is also a huge maze where you have to go in go to all four colored corners and then get out. It took us ages but in the end we managed to do it. After puzzle world it was into A J Hacket bungy site and the first commercially bungeed bridge in the world. One of the Kiwi bus people did it and it looked awesome but I was saving my money for the Nevis one of the largest bungies in the world at 134m. After a short movie on the bungy tour and how it came into existence I booked the Nevis for the 26th.
After that we drove on into Queenstown which turned out to be a lot smaller than I was expecting but really nice surrounded by snow topped mountains and a huge lake. We booked into a huge hostel called the Discovery Lodge and that night we all had a big night out saying good buy to Hookie and Lou the two bus drivers that had taken us all the way through New Zealand. And later on there was karaoke which was honestly pretty terrible.
25th
As I am staying about a week in Queenstown there was no pressure to rush around the town, do all the activities and see the sites before the next morning. So basically today was just a chill out day. Had a good deserved lie in till about midday then played cards and watched old movies in the TV room that consisted of a TV no chairs and about twenty bean bags. Also had my first Fergburger, basically a restaurant type place that servers huge very very tasty burgers. Got to bed pretty early that night as it was the Nevis tomorrow and I wanted to be as wide awake as possible.
26th
THE NEVIS! Got up late again but the bungy bus doesn’t leave until 11. We had to walk to the Queenstown bungy centre where we were all weighed and booked onto the bus. Then it was about 40mins bus ride outside Queenstown to this huge gorge where there is a gondola suspended across it 134m above the river below. The gondola is purpose built just for the bungy and when I stepped off the bus and saw how high it was the fear really kicked in. We then were all kitted out with full body harnesses and clipped in to this small cart that took us out to the main gondola. The view was amazing even though it was drizzling. I had been told at the bungy centre that if you took your camera with you you could tape it to the back of your hand and jump with it. So my plan was to set it to film mode and press the button just before I jumped. When it was my go and they had connected the bungy to me I had to shuffle out onto the foot wide ledge over this huge drop, I made the mistake of looking down and I have probably never been so frightened in my life. I pressed the record button on my camera then stood on the ledge the guy behind counted down from 3 and on 1 I launched off the ledge arms spread wide. The rush was incredible and the first few seconds felt like minutes. I then remembered my camera and turned it to my face hoping to get some kind of footage. It felt like I was falling for ages and at the bottom I was expecting to bounce but I just sort of slowed down. Once you have bounced a couple of times you have to release this catch by pulling a piece of cord. This disconnects your legs and allows you to sit upright in the harness while they winch you up. Earlier on the Kiwi experience I had one a free bungy dvd so I got photos, postcards and a short film of me jumping. I also got a free t shirt. That night we were all buzzing from doing the bungy and went to this nice bar with two open fire places and good music called the Buffalo bar.
27th
Again this was another chill out day just explored the town a bit more and hung around the hostel nothing very exciting. We also arranged a road trip down to Milford Sound as tomorrow was my last night with Mary, Zoe and Matt who I had been traveling with from the first day I got on the bus and have become great mates.
28th
As Milford Sound is a fair drive from Queenstown we had to leave really early at about 5.30. Dave, friend of Matt’s who we met in Wanaka picked up the rental car the day before so we all stumbled out of the hostel and into the car for the long drive. Milford sound is meant to be the 8th wonder of the world or so I’ve been told. Its basically a huge gorge that has been carved out by a glacier and after a while that glacier has reached the see and the gorge has filled with seawater. The drive down there was nice and we stopped to look at a few other stunning views. When we got there we booked a ferry tour that would take us all the way out to the sea and back again with a guide on board. The weather was great it was crisp and very clear and the views of the huge cliffs surrounding us on the water were amazing. Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery just after we reached the sea so I didn’t get that many shots of the waterfalls close up on the way back but still if I do say so myself I got some good photos. The drive back was great fun listening to music and making different compilations. When we got back to Queenstown we got made some food and all went out. It was a great night and also really sad saying goodbye to everyone. I got about an hours sleep.
29th-2nd
Nearly everyone left this morning to go to Christchurch. Again really sad saying final goodbyes. After everyone left me and the two other girls Becky and Katie checked out of the discovery lodge and went to look for cheaper, better accommodation. We ended up walking for a bit and finding a small cozy place called the Aspen lodge full of really nice people. I stayed there for a few days basically doing nothing apart from watching movies from the selection they had and walking around Queenstown which is beautiful. Also manage to miss the Kiwi bus because the stupid lady n the phone said it left at 9.30 not 8.30.
3rd-7th
Had to say goodbye to the girls and get up early to pack to get on the Kiwi bus to Christchurch. A guy called Chris who was Swiss also was catching the bus so me and him traveled up together. The bus journey was pretty cool saw some amazing mountains and lakes that where so still and clear. Arrived at Christchurch and booked into the Xbase backpackers got a room with John an Irish guy who had been on the bus all the way from Auckland. Christchurch is a pretty dead place but we went out to a few clubs and bars and I met a guy called George Holland who I went to primary school with and haven’t seen in years. My highlight of Christchurch has to be me and John going to see a English comedian called Ross Noble in the local theatre. It was an awesome night and he was hilarious. I managed to read a whole book while in Christchurch as there really wasn’t anything else to do. John was flying to Fiji a day before I was so we planned to meet up over there. On Saturday I caught a taxi to the airport, checked into my flight and said goodbye to New Zealand and hello to Fiji.
Im in Fiji as im writing this and i know ive got really behind but the internet over here is useless so fingers crossed there will be more before i come back on the 2nd June (My birthday)
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