New Zealand

Tuesday 6 June

Another early start; we wanted to make the one o'clock Interislander ferry to Wellington, and the South Island terminal at Picton was a fair morning's drive away. But, once again, we were blessed with warm sunshine and after a non-taxing journey we arrived at the charming town of Picton (sadly only notable for the ferry terminal) with time to spare for lunch.

Picton Harbour

Then it was on to the ferry,

and a sad farewell to New Zealand's South Island; at least we would be taking many happy memories - and hundreds of photos - with us.

The leisurely cruise along the Cook Strait in the sunshine reminded us a bit (just a bit) of our Milford Sound trip just a week ago...

In fact, the day was deceptively chilly as we headed north, but we were reluctant to leave the open deck as we watched Picton recede into the distance and disappear; there was always the possibility of dolphin spotting, and anyway the scenery was too good to miss.

Eventually, the coast of North Island appeared and some time later - right on schedule - the ferry pulled into Wellington Harbour.

Following some sketchy navigation and a slightly confusing detour we arrived at our accommodation for the next three nights, a basic but comfortable studio apartment.

As it was evening, we ventured next door to a promising-looking bar/restaurant. Sadly, this place provided us with the worst meal experience of our entire year so far; in hindsight it was comically bad! We waited precisely one hour between the starter and the main course and on questioning the waitress she informed us that the delay was because the chef "had decided to go for a walk"! After approximately an eternity we were each presented with what appeared to be a dirty plate; closer inspection with a magnifying glass revealed that this was, in fact, the main course.
The only saving grace was that the restaurant managed to undercharge us for our drinks; we left the money for the bill (no tip!) on the table and fled.

Not to be deterred by one lousy meal, we retired for the night ready to explore Wellington afresh the following day.

Sunday 4 - Monday 5 June

Running slightly behind schedule after our Franz Josef Glacier hike, we left Franz Josef late Saturday afternoon and headed to Greymouth for the night. The weather was truly foul, but the hostel we stayed in (Global Village) was absolutely fantastic - more like a good budget hotel than a backpacker place. Fortunately, we had already taken in the sights of Greymouth on our TranzAlpine trip from Christchurch and so we weren't too concerned at being confined to our comfortable quarters for the night.

On Sunday morning we left early, still faced with torrential rain, and made our way to Kaikoura arriving mid-afternoon.

Kaikoura lies on a peninsula, and crayfish - for which the town is now famous - are abundant in its waters. (Kaikoura, literally translated, means 'meal of crayfish').

We had managed to outrun the morning's rain as we arrived at our accommodation for the next two nights; a charming hostel called 'The Lazy Shag' (behave yourselves!).

We headed into town in the evening, searching for a particular venue that the hostel owner recommended for a meal and a drink but try as we might we couldn't find it among the seemingly endless crayfish restaurants, and so we ended up in a typical pub eating sausage and mash! Here, the heavy rain caught up with us once more and we headed in for the night.

Sunday 5 June

Kaikoura prides itself on the conservation of an abundance of local marine life; in season, there are seals, dolphins and whales aplenty to be seen here.

Although we were here out of season, we were still keen to take a boat trip out into the bay just to see what we could see. Sunday morning was cool, but bright and sunny. However, on arrival at the Tourist Information Centre we were told that the sea was too rough for any boats to be going out that day.

This was to be our last full day on New Zealand's South Island, and we were keen not to waste it; the weather was too good for that. As an alternative to a boat trip, the helpful Tourist Info lady suggested could do a coastal walk which would take us from town, to the peninsula, up into the hills over the bay and then back down into town through open farmland. Well, we're always happy to do another walk...

Thanks to the sunshine, the scenery and the wildlife, this was one of the most enjoyable walks we have done and rather than give you a detailed account of every step, I'll give you the highlights via photos...

Starting by the shore

Kaikoura's rugged coastline

Down by the rocks, no-one was excited by our presence

From seashore to farmland and back to town...

Although the hills may look green and rolling, they were actually green and brown since cows grazed here; I quickly discovered this by plunging my foot into a large, fresh cowpat causing Sharon much hilarity.

Walk over, we headed to the supermarket then feasted back at the hostel with a celebratory bottle of wine; we had crammed so much into our few weeks on South Island and tomorrow we would be heading from Picton to Wellington for new adventures on North Island.

Thursday 1 - Saturday 3 June

Just a few days left on South Island now, and as we headed north towards Picton and the interisland ferry our next stop was Franz Josef village.

Franz Josef is famous for one thing - the Franz Josef Glacier;

and here we come to another one of Sharon's 'must-do' activities: hiking on a glacier. But I'm jumping ahead.

The route we took to Franz Josef just happened to pass one of New Zealand's most famous landmarks/tourist attractions - Lake Matheson. Chances are, if you've ever seen a picture of a perfectly still lake in which the surrounding mountains or forest are reflected, then you've seen Lake Matheson. The lake is approached via a nondescript woodland walk, occasionally punctuated by viewing platforms; and what views!

Sated by the beauty of the lake we continued to Franz Josef itself, arriving in the early evening and hastened to buy tickets for a glacier 'heli-hike' the following afternoon.

Friday 2 June

The village of Franz Josef, named, like the glacier, after Emperor Franz Josef of Austria, is basically a single road lined with tour operators, restaurants and accommodation. All the local ation takes place on, around and above the glacier itself.

Today was the day of our heli-hike (a helicopter flight to the otherwise inaccessible top of the glacier, followed by a two-hour hike over the ice). We awoke to clear blue skies and sunshine, and the sounds of numerous small planes and helicopters buzzing overhead.

Clutching our tickets, we eagerly made our way to the tour operator... only to be told that because we were the only people booked on the heli-hike it would be uneconomical to fly us up to the glacier. We were peeved, to say the least; we didn't really have time to hang around another day in the hope that we might be able to go on tomorrow's heli-hike. We opted for a refund, then made a quick phone-round of the other operators just in case. No joy. Sharon was upset; we'd come so close.

Sensing that this might be our one-and-only chance ever to hike on top of a glacier, we pulled ourselves together, hastily re-wrote our schedule and marched back to our tour operator. Handing over the cash once more, we were told that tomorrow's heli-hike was virtually guaranteed as other folk had already signed up. What could possibly go wrong?

We filled an unplanned free afternoon with a woodland walk which ended near the base of the glacier. So close, so close...

Saturday 3 June

The day began promisingly, but before very long we noticed a subtle darkening of the clouds gradually transforming to an overall blanket of dark grey. The hitherto constant drone of aircraft in the skies overhead ceased, and we began to worry.

Our tour operator confirmed our worst fears; by lunchtime incoming rain and snow over the mountains made flying impossible and all aircraft were grounded for the day (excepting emergencies).

Well, what now? The tour operator offered a lifeline; despite the weather, we could still take a guided hike on the lower part of the glacier even if we couldn't fly to the higher part. Of course, we couldn't turn this final opportunity down.

And so it was we finally found ourselves and an intrepid few others, rain-soaked and freezing, with crampons on our feet, climbing over solid impacted ice and squeezing through the narrowest ravines on the Franz Josef Glacier, with our guide - ice-pick and rope in hand - carefully carving steps and footholds in the ice for us. And you know what? It was fantastic!

Tuesday 30 - Wednesday 31 May

Another long morning's drive from Te Anau eventually brought us to Queenstown, a large, bustling, tourism-driven city on the shores of Lake Wakatipu.

It was lunchtime and we were hungry, so we pulled into the nearest car-park to town, paid for three hours' parking and promptly noticed that our hostel -where parking is free- was about 200 metres away.

Never mind. Queenstown is a friendly, lively place set beneath a backdrop of mountains and beside yet another beautiful lake.

Funny how, just strolling around these faraway places, you can always see something vaguely familiar that reminds you of home...

Anyway, once having lunched and moved the car we spent a pleasant afternoon exploring and visiting every 'outdoor' shop we could find in search of a decent pair of walking boots for Sharon (I'd already nabbed a bargain pair in Christchurch). Inevitably, the afternoon culminated in 'tasting sessions' at a number of good local hostelries, including the sister-pub to the Dux Delux microbrewery pub which we sadly didn't visit whilst in Christchurch.

Wednesday 31 May

As mentioned, mountains form the backdrop to Queenstown and today we fancied doing a spot of walking. Not far behind our hostel lay a gondola ride leading to the Skyline Visitor Centre, a launching spot for paragliders, and a smaller 'ski-lift' rising to a luge circuit and the start of a few walks.

We had intended to do a couple of the shorter walks, but on arriving at the top we found the ones we wanted to do closed and roped off. All that seemed to be open to us was the (gulp) five-hour return walk to Ben Lomond; a towering peak quite some distance ahead of us. We decided to take the gradually ascending walk as far as the Saddle, below the peak of Ben Lomond itself.

Already, at the start of the walk, the scenery awed us.

The morning was bright and warm, with low clouds hanging over the surrounding mountains and heavy frost clinging to patches of grass as yet untouched by the sun.

After a couple of hours walking we finally reached the Saddle, and stopped for a rest. Here we met a group of four walkers who were heading for the summit of Ben Lomond, and who kindly took this flattering piccie of us:

Us? Knackered?

From here, Ben Lomond looked tantalisingly close

and we knew that we'd almost certainly regret it if we turned back now. Anyway, the path looked nice and easy...

... and so, for a while, it was. But gradually, wide path turned to stony scramble which eventually gave way to snowy incline. Was the final push over ice-laden rocks to the summit of Ben Lomond worth all our efforts?

We think so.

Monday 29 May

Almost the end of May, and for a lot of tourist operators in South Island, New Zealand, almost the end of the season.

We set off early from Te Anau to the the Milford Visitor Centre, taking in a long, varied and sometimes downright scary road down steep twisting inclines, beside beautiful lakes and - memorably - through the 1.2km Homer Tunnel (D'OH!) which passes through a mountain.

Milford Sound itself is normally very wet; it receives more than 7 metres of rainfall every year. We were blessed; the day was bright and sunny as we boarded the impressive Milford Mariner

But more impressive, of course, is Milford Sound itself; a 16 kilometre fiord between sheer mountains heading out to the Tasman Sea.

We had just made this trip in time; the Milford Mariner would make it's final cruises for the year tomorrow, May 30th, and the crew made no secret of the fact that they couldn't wait to go to the pub to celebrate this!

And so we slowly made our way through this magical, majestic sunlit landscape, passing by (and later, beneath) high waterfalls

and tree shrouded cliffs

as we headed out to sea. Interestingly, there is very little to anchor the trees to the cliffs with roots clinging to shallow crevices in the rocks. During heavy rainfall trees can be dislodged causing a 'domino effect' among neighbouring trees and resulting in a potentially dangerous tree avalanche. Just as well it was sunny, really.

Once arriving at the mouth of the Sound, the boat made a leisurely turn heading for the mountains on the port (left) side. Here, in places, we were able to cruise closer to the rocks in order to get a good view of basking seals

and to pass under spectacular rock outcroppings hanging high above.

Justifiably pleased with the sunny weather, everyone stood on the observation deck of the boat as the Captain kindly steered it right under the 155 metre high Stirling Falls! The water was freezing, but very invigorating - so much for staying dry though...

Before we knew it our wonderful cruise along Milford Sound was almost over, but it presented another highlight of our South Island tour and made us keen to return and do the trip again in a future summer.

We took a slow drive back along the valley floor then up through the mountains to Te Anau, where we would spend one more night before moving on again.

Sunset on Lake Te Anau