Morning all,
Well - it's been a beautiful, long and scenic ride in the south island of New Zealand, or Aotearoa ( in Maori), the Land of the Long White Cloud. The prettiness that is the south island started with a ferry crossing from Wellington to Picton across a rather gorgeous seascape (most of which I missed because I was asleep) which ended dramatically with sheer cliff faces rising from the sea (which I also missed, also due to my submission to seratonin). I saw the pictures though, courtesy of new-found amazing and lovely person James, and felt suitably silly for having failed to see it. The first stop in the south island, however, was stunningly picturesque as well, so i don't feel I missed out too much. Nelson, the supposed centre of New Zealand, is a vineyard paradise of sunny weather and pretty mountains and hippy organic foods, and just happens to be next to the Abel Tasman national park. After a wander to the centre point of NZ to so the touristy picture thing, the Kiwi Experience posse and I enjoyed a few quiet drinks in the most English pub outside England, The Prince Albert, and stayed in rather posh rooms with power showers :-) The following day saw the first activity of the South - I went kayaking in Abel Tasman along a coastline of picture perfect beaches and was lucky enough to kayak alongside seals and see penguins, which was pretty cool. A stopover in a hut in the park allowed me and my compatriots, Woody, Duncan and Alison, to trek back through the park the following day, which was also pretty cool. What was NOT cool, however, was getting bitten to shit by bed bugs in the hut. Not cool at all - and two weeks, 4 types of antihistamine, and an entire tube of aloe vera later, the 150 odd bites I was so lovingly given are finally disappearing. Still, I think I can call myself a traveller now - a proper, bonifide, bed-bug-bitten traveller. I am also a expert on bedbugs, which is great.
After the two-day Abel Tasman trek, we headed back to Nelson for a night out, followed by a mooch around Nelson's amazing market the following morning. There were crafts, jade stone, bone and paua shell jewelry, yummy organic foods, locally grown fruit and veg, and many very smiley and happy people being exceptionally helfpul. I love Kiwis. The next stop was in Westport, an old mining town on the West Coast, and was very uneventful, apart from watching England lose the rugby - never a good thing. So, a coach load of disappointed English set off for the next stopover, via a coastal walk along the nearest point to Australia. If you looked really, really hard on a very clear day, you'd still have no chance in hell of seeing Oz. Lake Mahinapua was the next pit stop, and as a place was as uneventful as Westport. However, due to the cunning plan of Steve - The Most Amazing Kiwi Bus Driver Ever - a party involving everyone dressing up in outfits entirely constructed from plastic bags ensured an evening of raucousness and revelry ensued. I dressed as a pirate (obviously), and I had a hat, and a hook like Captain Hook, and a parrot called Long John after Long John Silver, and a parchment of buried treasure. I looked oh-so-beautiful, and joined a horde of variously attired friends masquerading as skydivers, cows, mummies, zebras, Little Red Riding Hood, a cupcake, and other such delights. See the pics.
Continuining with the journey down the west coast, Franz Josef Galcier was next on the cards. Unforntunately my plan to hike on the glacier and get a close-up view were scuppered by the skiing injury to my knee, so I had to make do with being bed-bug-bite-covered and somewhat tearful at the hostel instead. I did get to hike up to the glacier, but I was still pretty disappointed not to be able to check it out properly. Ah well...I saw some pictures, had a lovely hike to it with Claudia the Columbian, and had some time to wash and dry all my clothes etc. to rid myself of the evil bedbugs. By comparison, the subsequent stop in Wanaka was darn groovy. Lake Wanaka followed in the trend of NZ scenic-ness by being utterly gorgeous, surrounded by mountains and blue sky and all that. We had yet another night out (see a theme emerging here?) and also got to go to Puzzling World where we were confused by the optical illusions and had our hung-over logic challenged by various puzzles and mazes. By comparison to Wanaka, nevertheless, next stop Queenstown was even more fabulous. Queenstown is marvellous. It surrounded by snow-capped mountains, has a serene lake, has gorgeous gardens to stroll around, the weather was great, the sky was blue, the birds were singing...the usual. Furthermore, Queenstown is filled with great bars, good places to eat, all the backpackers you could ever want, and is the activity hive of New Zealand. Adrenaline junkies can attempt skydives, bungi jumps, paragliding, parasailing, canyon swinging, and all manner of other exciting activities. I did luging - which is basically go-karting down a hill and racing people at dangerous speeds. Having nearly run out of money, though, I was restrained on the activity front and chose instead to spend my time and money imbibing various beverages with lovely people and navigating my way around a dorm room so messy it could have been a Tracy Emmins piece. But Queenstown was awesome. Sweet as...
In order to reach the final destination of my Kiwi Experience ticket, Christchurch, we embarked on an epic 8 hour bus ride and had a glimpse of Mount Cook en route. Apparently it's in Lord of the Rings. But I don't like Lord of the Rings, so I wouldn't know really. It was very pretty. It is the tallest mountain in NZ, fact fans. Even though Christchurch was my last official stop, I managed to get an add-on to head up to Kaikoura. Kaikoura was, again, very scenic and pretty - mountains, sea, blue sky, yada, yada, yada...but here I managed to do one of my favouritest things ever - swimming with dolphins :-) I got to dance with them, sing to them, look them in the eye, look oh-so-sexy in a wetsuit and have an unforgettable afternoon. Not being waterproof and thus not being terribly enamoured by the sea, my camera wasn't taken along with me so I have no pictures of the underwater shenanigans. But you can imagine the dolphins and what it's like to swim with them. And you can see pictures of me in a wetsuit!
Final destination, then - Christchurch. After hitching a lift back to Christchurch with lovely Phil from the hostel, I have spent the last few days whiling away the hours in Christchurch. It's about the least Kiwi city you can find in NZ - no activities, very few scenic views etc. However, it is very like England. There is a Gloucester Street, a Cambridge Terrace, and Oxford Street and Manchester Street. The river Avon winds its way through the city, complete with punts, and passing an arts centre which is so Oxbridge-college that the lack of toffee-nosed posh-types in it is almost disconcerting. That said, although almost everyone told me that Christchurch was boring and there was nothing to do, I have successfully managed to get my hair cut, see many art galleries, go to a cathedral and a museum, have a huge Hallowe'en party where my attempt to be a goth was thwarted by my blonde hair, wander the botanical gardens and try to plan how to earn money in Oz. I must earn money in Oz to relieve current state of destitution and vagabondery in an attempt to facilitate further travel...I will definitely miss NZ, land of incredibly beauty and amazing activities...I imagine that Sydney, where I will fly this afternoon, will be a very different experience to NZ - not nearly so exciting or varied...but we shall see, and I will inform you thereof anon...
Muchos loves to everyone
xxx
Link to Kaikoura and Christchurch pics - http://cambridge.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2179635&l=243fb&id=36900740
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