I finally got to New Zealand and what a beautiful country it is. I wish I had more money to stay here even longer. Christchurch was my first stop. Its a really nice city quite small as cities go. It suffered another massive earthquake its very sad to watch the aftermath. I started my Stray bus tour there. To be honest if I could start all over again I wouldn’t use Stray they are really rubbish. They’re always late not well organised and its hard to book buses because their always full or the brutal online booking system messes up your booking and God help you if you end up on Oscar’s bus he doesn’t know his arse and his elbow. But having said that some of the other guides are good and helpful. Our first stop was in Kaikoura. This is a gorgeous little town which I loved because you can go whale watching there. It was amazing!! We saw three sperm whales and hundreds of crazy dolphins that love to show off.
Then we went to Picton. This is a tiny town who’s biggest attraction is the ferry to Wellington. The next day we headed to Marahau home of the Abel Tasman National Park. There are some fantastic walks to be done here. Unfortunately after my three hour hike I got very sick (possible stomach bug) and spent the rest of the day in bed and couldn't go hand gliding the next morning much to my disappointment. Our next stop was Barrytown population 40!! No joke its tiny the only thing we saw was the pub. I did get to do some jade carving here though that brought out my artistic side (not)!! We headed to Frans Josef from here to the Glaciers. There some amazing hikes to be done here with lots and lots of ice.
Next we were heading for Queenstown but had an overnight stop at Makerora. We went jet boating here but it wasn't really worth the money I’ve been on more exciting roller coasters. The scenery though, as with all of New Zealand, was picture perfect. Also on the way to Queenstown we decided to go to Lake Wanaka where I finally got up the courage to do a 12,000ft Skydive!! It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever done although I have never been so terrified in all my life. Just waiting to get on the plane was the worst part, I felt strangely calm once we were in the air right up until I was being pushed out of the plane and that’s when I thought “Why am I doing this?” The free fall only lasts 45 second but the feeling was indescribable. Once the parachute comes out, thanks to the trusty expert attached to my back, its a nice glide to the ground. I wanted to go straight back up. The buzz from it lasted for days. That night when we finally arrived in Queenstown Emer and myself had our survival party which lasted into the early hours of the next day. I finally got to hand glide in Queenstown too. This was in some ways even scarier then the Skydive because you have to run off the side of a cliff at 2’000ft. The glide to the ground is a lot faster so the landing was a bit scary. I also did a Lord of the Rings tour here but it was drastically over priced.
After a few days in Queenstown we headed to Milford Sound. Another pretty spot with hundreds of waterfalls. It lashed rain but apparently thats when you get the best waterfalls. We headed south and spent a night in Invercargill. If your going here don’t bother there’s literally nothing here of interest but there are a few shops if you must do something!! Supposedly its been referred to by Mick Jagger as “the arse hole of the world”. We also took a trip to Dunedin which boasts the steepest street in the world. The bottom of it was good enough for me though. We also did the Cadbury’s factory tour here. That was lots of fun with lots of free samples, expect one floor smelled like the strawberry roses that they used to make years ago that turned my stomach because I always hated those ones especially the smell.
Then we went to Mount Cook and luckily we got a really clear sunny day because the mountain is only visible one out of every three days. Its a breathtaking sight though as are the icebergs in the lake below it, that break off from the Tasmin Glacier. Next we had a long drive past the Tekapo Lake to get back to Christchurch concluding my loop of the South Island. My next trip will start here and head north. The top half has a lot to live up to!!
