The return!

Well that's it folks, its check-in time at Christchurch airport so we can reflect on our holiday here in NZ.

The arrangements , route, accommodation and visits etc arranged before we left the UK have gone like a good Swiss watch - unassuming and perfect. Many thanks to 'New Zealand in Depth' based in Buxton, only a few miles from our home in Staffordshire for doing such a great job for two independent travellers.

Far from providing a diet of the normal tourist hot spots, Paul Carberry at NZID arranged some gems unknown to even the locals in NZ, just what we wanted!

We have been fortunate in having just half a days rain in the month we have been here - that's unusual according to the NZ folk but great for holidays.

The NZ people we have met from checkout assistants in supermarkets to hotel staff and locals walking the dog have been very friendly and polite - this has also made this holiday special.

The country in beautiful, just when you think you have seen it all some other gem pops up! Its a constant diet of 'wow' , 'amazing' and wonderful.

We covered 3200k in our hire car - easily manageable in the time.

Unfortunately the exchange rate was very poor so some things were expensive but we still managed on our budget forecast partly due to the excellent facilities at the accommodation arranged by NZID.

All we need to do now is save up for a return visit while we can survive the 23 hour flight!

Over and out

John & Maureen

www.house-in-france.org.uk

Kaikoura -a whale of a time!

We made good time up the main highway towards Christchurch and our destination on the coast at Kaikoura. Another beautiful warm day, unlike the UK the NZ farmers are very worried about the lack of rain. We made a small diversion to Gore Bay, had a wander along the  deserted beach and inhaled the fresh sea air. We arrived in Kaikoura by mid afternoon, our accommodation overlooking the golf course and a short walk to the sea turned out to be the best - and everything to date has been excellent but this tops the lot! Just discovered how to insert pics from this tablet so you can see Maureen relaxing.

We celebrated our arrival with a nice bottle of NZ sparkling rose and a dip in the spa bath then off to explore the small seaside town of Kaikoura. We quickly found the location for our whale watch trip tomorrow at 7.15am and also booked a restaurant for dinner this evening.  All restaurants have those giant NZ green lipped mussels on the menu and this also a crayfish area - needless to say I had the mussels - yummy.

Sunday - it's our trip out early on the whale watch boat......the weather is on the change and ........will we see any whales? We arrived at the check in at 7am for the first boat of the day. After a briefing we were taken by coach to the small port and quickly boarded the specialist high speed catamaran, the company has 4 - must be popular.  Only a few miles offshore is the continental shelf making this only one of three places in the world where whales can be found close to land. Whale to starboard came the cry and everyone quickly left the comfort of the viewing cabin to man the outside rails and small open top deck. This massive humpback whale put on a great show, blowing water before slowly and majestically slipping below the water with a final flap of his massive tail. A few minutes later we saw another then dolphins, albatross and fur seals - a great final morning to what has been a simply unforgettable holiday in NZ.

On our return we discovered all other whale watch trips (they can have 16 a day!)  have been cancelled due to deteriorating weather - just as well we were on the early boat.

We are now packed and ready to leave tomorrow morning - look forward to a final dinner this evening.

Lake Tekapo

Our wonderful holiday is passing, only four more days before we fly home, but still lots to see and do. We have a 5 hour drive from Te Anau to Lake Tekapo we are now heading north to the centre of the south island.

Another lovely route arriving early afternoon at our resort accommodation for two nights. The apartment looks out over the lake and mountains, the lake water is an amazing  turquoise blue due to the glacier flour suspended in the water. Once again our apartment has a full kitchen this time complete with dishwasher....and an upstairs bedroom with balcony.

After dinner we had to be at reception in order to be picked up for our trip up Mount John (wouldn't you know - he has a mountain named after him!). Up on the top is the observatory for the University of Canterbury and we were given an explanation of the night sky as well as the chance to look through some  really good telescopes at Jupiter, Saturn, the moon (which was almost full) and the tarantular nebular. It was a really warm night, although the fullness of the moon made seeing too many stars difficult. We saw the Southern cross too.  We were delivered back to our hotel by 12.30am.

Our last day in Lake Tekapo included exploring the local history and taking a hike on one of the suggested walks through the hills around the lake with rabbits for company. One thing you can be sure about in NZ is you will encounter few busy places - or fellow humans out of towns.

Tomorrow we head north up through Christchurch for our final two nights - how time fly's.

Milford Sound

Just as well we had the night to recover from our days trip on the jet boat - awesome! Today we were up bright and early for the two hour drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound ( Milford fiord to us European mortals). As we soon discovered the two hour trip was going to be another spectacular drive through mountains with amazing views down and over canyons. Everything here can be compared in some ways to the west coast of Scotland but on hyper steroids!

On arrival at Milford Sound which is only a sightseeing small boat terminal with no shops or houses we boarded our boat for the two and a half hour tour of the fiord. The boat was called the Milford Wanderer, a lovely boat which could also be under sail. Another lovely day with clear blue sky and sun shine with grey fur seals sunning themselves on the rocks.

After a slow drive back we chilled and then went out for a dinner in Te Anau but not before calling in at the local cinema to watch a 35 minute documentary tour from a helicopter of the area.

Another amazing day!

Te Anau

Today we travel further south and the sun is out once again. En route we stopped to take a trip on the Kingston Flyer, a vintage steam train. It was an eventful journey as the driver and other train staff had to stop the train to free a sheep trapped in a length of electric fence wire.

Another 200k or so later we pulled into a layby for a spot of lunch. Remembering this is in the middle of nowhere and we could have stopped anywhere .... A few minutes later we were tucking into a sandwich when another car pulled in. Would you believe it, it was Judith and Harrison Dawson, the wife of the guy who was my best man and his son.  Its a small world indeed!

We travelled on and soon arrived at our motel in Te Anau. Another brilliant location, our travel organiser has certainly done us proud. We have a view right over the lake and the new studio apartment is top notch and what's more it has free internet. Te Anau is like most places - very small, beautifully tidy and clean and surrounded by the most amazing mountains.

We were up early the next day as we had a full days exploring down a wild river right out to the sea on a jet boat. After an hour or so drive plus 32k down a gravel track we arrived at our remote location. We were soon joined by seven others plus Jochan the guide and driver. You technical guys will  be impressed to hear the small flat bottomed boat had TWO 8 cylinder Toyota engines producing over 500 bhp. We took off like a bat out of hell and after two hours plus we arrived at the mouth of the river and the very southern tip of the south island. After a good Barbi cooked by our guide and more explanation about the wild life and plant life we headed back - what a great day. It's a pity we don't have fast-flowing rivers in the Indre - these jet boats would make great toys for the boys!

Queenstown

So happily settled into our home for three nights and having supported NZ rugby we were ready to attend a big concert at the Gibbston Wine Estate on the Saturday - bought the tickets before we left the UK! We were up bright and early as the gates opened at 11am - time for a picnic on the grass before the first band at 12 noon. The massive stage complete with two very big screens was impressive, just as well we were early as 15,000  followed us in through the gates.  The first band 'America'  were brill , the second 'Bachman & Turner were brilliant and the third at 5pm was less known to Maureen & I but has a massive following here in NZ - Pat Benatar & Neil ?. It was a great day and just as well we had our hats and sunscreen. The concert has just appeared on YouTube....at least America - can you spot us in the crowd?

After all the action on Saturday we decided Sunday may be a good
day to catch up with a bit of washing so we headed into Queenstown to find the launderette.
Washing done and dried, we returned to the hotel for a spot of lunch. Afterwards, we decided to visit Arrowtown, which has a part perfectly preserved as a mining town - if you ignore the cars parked down the main street!
We then discovered the England cricket team will be playing a friendly here against a New Zealand team as a warm up before the test match - but after we have left! Also, the NZ PGA golf tournament is here at the beginning of March - it's all happening in Queenstown.
We went back to Stacks pub to watch the Wales v Italy rugby match and have something to eat.

Tomorrow we are heading south to Te Anau.

Fox Glacier

We decided to do a walk around Lake Mathewson which is renowned for it's reflections of the glacier, and we weren't disappointed. We walked through tropical rain forest trees and plants, every so often catching a glimpse of the mountains in the clear water. The walk took about 45 minutes, and of course it was necessary for the reviving cup of latte at the end!
We continued on the road from the lake and headed to Gillespie beach which had once been home to gold miners. The beach was wild and beautiful lots of rocks and pebbles - most washed flat by the sea, with very interesting patterns.  We are constantly amazed by the few people around and it was no different here - miles of beach with magnificent snow capped mountains behind, a couple of French travellers in a converted van for company. The beach was at the end of a 12km gravel road - pity the car following as we churned up loads of dust!

After lunch we did the walk up to the glacier. It was very interesting and easy to see the erosion talking place. Again, I took lots of photos - you'll have to wait to see them.

We left the following morning to continue our journey down the South Island. It was very foggy for quite a while, but there aren't too many cars on the roads, so it wasn't too difficult and the fog cleared. We carried on heading south following the coast for parts of the journey, stopping in Wanaka for a picnic by the lake. We were soon at our destination and home for three nights, the Hilton in Queenstown. The hotel complex is situated out of town and on the shores of the lake and we had a lovely lake view room complete with kitchen as part of the room (everywhere we have been we have had a good kitchen - very handy). . There is even a 'pub' a few metres down the road which is part of the hotel complex. After a hose down & g&t we were off to the pub for something to eat. A major NZ rugby match was showing live on the TV so we joined in the shouting along with genuine NZ supporters!