Queenstown

Day 39

For the first time in awhile we had a nice lie in.  After a good 2 hour drive we arrived at South Isalands main resort, Queenstown.  The hostel was not ready so we headed around the town and had sampled the local cuisine, McDonlads chicken nuggets.

In the evening we went to meet Duncan and Danielle.  We had first met Duncan while we were lost in the maze at puzzle world.  Then 3 days later and a couple of  hundred kilometres we ended up by chance sitting next to them on the Milford Sound cruise.  It turned out they had both studied in Preston, Duncan lived there for 5 years.  They  now live in Manchester.  It was really strange being sat in a bar at the other side of the world talking about Micks Hut and Roper Hall.  It was a good night and I had a  fair few beers.

We ate at Ferburger, which is kind of a must in Queenstown.  The burger was really nice but I can not  quite see what all the fuss was about. It is no Carlos Junior that is for sure.

Milford Sound

Day 38

We woke and it was chucking it down, which meant the possibility of the road being closed into Milford Sound.  Claire was also in a bad mood as the other guy in the room was  the loudest snorer in the history of the world.  So her lack of sleep was my now my problem.


Anyway we headed off to Milford Sound and made it there quite quickly. There was one brief scare when Claire turned into the Car Park and did not see the huge yellow curb.  I thought she had broke the car in two with the sound it made.  Anyway it was fine, no scratches or dents.



We soon headed off on the boat, the weather was quite poor but it had stopped raining.  Lets just say the scenery was amazing and between us we took hundreds of photos.  There were hundreds of waterfalls, snow capped mountains.  It was amazing.

After the initial boat trip we headed out on a kayaking  trip for about one hour, which was really good fun.

Then we went to the discovery centre, which has a underwater viewing platform.  There were hundreds of fish.

In the way home we headed to a car park with a nice viewing point.  However the highlight of the view was a parrot.  This thing would not leave us alone and apparently they can rip your Ariel off, they are pretty big.

Anyone thinking of coming to New Zealand, Milford Sound is a must visit.

Te Anau

Day 37

Queenstown Skyline View

Waking up this morning I could feel the aches and pains of climbing yesterday.  Despite me ambling about, we had to be off early this morning as we had another busy day.

First thing was to head one hour down the road to Queenstown and the Skyline Luge.  We loved it so much the first time in Rotorua, we wanted some more. The first point to note was that the gondola at queenstown has smaller capsules and is significantly steeper than the Rotorua track, which provides a breathtaking view of Queenstown, literally!

We went straight for the 5 ticket offer and after obligatory safety briefing we were off down the track.  Being Queenstown (capital of extreme outdoor sports) we expected the luge to be more extreme than it's sister in Rotorua, however we were a little disppointed, the scenic or beginners track, was not as scenic as Rotorua (which wound through a forest), although you may have got good views of Queenstown if you had chance to look up, but it was mainly people watching you from the picnic tables.  This beginners track had a couple of tight bends, one straight after existing a tunnel, and according to Claire, she felt the beginners track was actually a better ride than the 'fast track' due to the length.  

The QT fast track was certainly not as hair raising as Rotorua either, although it had a couple of short drops, the run off from them was too short and then straight into gentle corners, the point was proven as C raced down it without brakes - something which was impossible at Rotorua without doing some great jumps off the track!! Tip - if your both islands of NZ go to Rotorua track and by pass QT one.  Hopefully we may get chance to test the Singapore one too! (well you never know!)

We met up with the Glasgow contingent (who we first met in Fiji) in Queenstown who suggested Caribe (number 1 place to eat on tripadvisor), a mexican/venezuela fast food place, and promptly opted for the Burritos after the great ones at Chipotle in USA, verdict: good, fairly healthy fast food 8/10, still nothing beats the Chipotle monsters!  The guys provided us with updates and tips after their own ventures around South Island - their tip to the Blue Pools was well advised - before they headed off to Dunedin whilst we headed off to Te Anau.

- Just a tip from talking to these guys and others - really think about the camper van vision and cost/benefit before coming to NZ - some CVs have cheap deals but if you want showers etc. you need a site and these site fees can add up ($40 was their most expensive so far), plus not all sites then have onsite kitchen equuipment, some even charge to borrow pans, and most CVs are much worse on fuel and slower at getting up hills than cars -

We had a quick look round QT before heading out to Te Anau - minus a minor panic after paying the parking ticket and then forgetting where he had put it once he got in the car (turns out it was on top of the car!) we were off.

Te Anau is the gateway town (village) to Milford Sound, although many tourists take the day trip from Queenstown, this leads to a 4 hour trip, we decided to stay at Te Anau so we were ready for the short journey to Milford.  Te Anau is smaller and quieter than Wanaka, although according to New Zealand Wilderness Magazine it was voted by readers as the Number 1 place to live for those into the outdoors - Nelson was 2nd and Wanaka 3rd - but so far we like the latter the best! It has a lake, several small shops which are the cheapest we have visited, plus a couple of eateries and a small supermaket and garage.  After a quick check in, we had a short wander round, play on the park - of course!! and got soaked in yet more rain, in a visit to one shop we were told by a helpful shop owner that Milford might actually be closed tomorrow due to an Avalanche closing the pass today!!!  Apparently because they have great road management systems in place, all the local garages, info offices and other tourist centres will get informed first thing ( from 6am onwards) about the state of the road, so we have everything crossed!!

Me with my latest catch on the shores of Lake Te Anau.

Wanaka

Day 36

First up was Puzzle World on the outside of Wanaka.   I was not sure what to expect but it was a fun day out. It  was a mix of illusions, puzzles, tilting rooms and a maze (I will get to that).

The tilting room was very strange, it was difficult to walk in. Some people bypassed it.

This was a simple looking puzzle, you had to connect all of tubes.  It took us a good 40 minutes to complete it.  There was even a small argument, a small highlight of what was about to happen.

We then headed to the maze!  Now initially this did not look too difficult but we were very wrong. The idea was to visit all 4 corner castles in a particular order, the first one being the most difficult. This took us the best part of one and a half hours and one or two rows as to which way to go.  The maze is made extra tricky as there are  one way bridges that are incorporated.  Lots of people gave up and  used the exits.

After we had recovered and grabbed some food it was off to Baseline Wanaka.  This is a climbing centre with a great mix of  walls.   It was a great hour and a half and we were very tired after it. Claire was a little apprehensive at first, as the walls were very high.  However her determination paid off and she made it all the way.

Claire on her way.

Me tackiling the grade 15! I got to half  a foot from the top, so so close it was pretty hard and extremely tiring.  It was awesome though

Wanaka

Day 35

Today involved a long drive to Wanaka, it took much longer than expected.  This is was mainly due to there being amazing scenery around every corner. The road through the New Zealand Southern Alps is spectacular and you could take hundreds of photos. It is the most spectacular road I have been on.

First up was the Fox Glacier

Fox Glacier is there!  Will swap pic with one of Claires.

Next  stop was Ship Creek.  This was a huge bay with some seriously big surf.  Some of the rainforest aroud the made the beach look like something out of the Pirates of the Caribbean. It was bitterly cold though

After overtaking our arch enemy a rav 4 driver, who was a total road hog we made it to the Blue Pools and Swing Bridge.

Some random shots from route 6 

After a couple of hours driving we hit the shores of Lake Wanaka.

View from our room at the YHA Wanaka. We splashed out and got our own private room with en-suite . It makes a big change after sharing in dormitory's. 

Franz Josef Glacier

Day 34

In the morning we headed off to the Franz Joseph Glacier, it was a couple of Kilometres from the YHA hostel.  After parking it up it was a 40 minute walk to the glacier viewing point.  Its is a fairly easy trek, just a short uphill right at the end.  The view is pretty good,  although you are not that close to the glacier.  I thought you would get fairly near, but unfortunately not.  The only way to see it properly is to go on a helicopter rider and guided walk, which is very expensive. The glacier has retreated so much in recent years, I suspect in another 10 you will not be able to see it from the viewing point. 

On the way back the weather took a turn for the worst and Claire speed marched all the way back to the car.  I could hardly keep up, she was flying.

Waterfalls on Franz Joseph Route

 We then headed to Lake Mapourika for some scenic shots as well as some jump shots!!

Claire is a better jumper

After a quick doughnut at the picnic bar we headed back to the YHA hostel for some relaxation.

Franz Josef Glacier

Day 33

Broken Laptop!

Bye Bye Picton

Fist thing on the agenda was to check/ fix my laptop.  I had read online that you needed  to take the back off the computer and disconnect various cables.  Anyway nowhere sold the correct equipment to open the damn thing (ranting again)  Eventually we located the only lenovo specialist in New Zealand, in the next town Blenheim. After faffing around the town for a couple of hours, I nervously went back to the shop.  Much to my relief it was fixed, it cost 40 dollars but I did not care.

We also picked up the new hire car.  A Nissan Note 1.3 sport! Wooya.  We decided to take out  full insurance on this car.  Apparent you do not need insurance over here. So if someone crashes into you, you have to pay to get your own car fixed and then take the other driver to court to get the money back!! What a joke, so we decided not to take any risks

Lets Just say on route, it had no problem overtaking camper vans etc!!! You need a decent car of here with a bit of power, you have to overtake. Broke a few speed limits on route to Franz Josef.  It took nearly 5 hours to get here, although the scenery was pretty amazing.  I will post some pics of the area tomorrow.

There will be no more complaining  hopefully!

Picton

Day 32

Library and Post office

Warning this post will contains some mills moaning, apparently I do this a lot.

Today was essentially a chill out day and catch up with washing and relax.  Anyway the lack of free wifi meant that we had to seek out the local library.  Having not been a public library since I was about 10.  I thought they might not be too impressed with me just rocking up and sponging their free internet.  However, there was a few backpackers in there and the librarians were actually nice.

Other people sponging free internet!!

Rant approaching!

Anyway I decided to check my Post Office Credit Card and pay off the balance.  Now this card is advertised as a travel card and aimed at people spending money while on holiday/travelling.  Anyway I came to pay the bill and I could not work out how to pay the balance.  It turns out you can not make online payments!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  How the hell can you have a travel card that you cant pay while abroad.  What a joke!!! You can only pay in branch or via a phone number.  So after a bit of messing around I came up with the only solution left. Get my mum to go and pay it!   Lets just say I will not be using it again, I only used by accident in the first place.


You will also note the lacking of swearing in this post, apparently my mum said I am not allowed haha!



Also my laptop died suddenly, with full power.  Not looking good, another hassle.

Picton

Day 31

Sunny at last!

We mooched around wellington in the morning before heading to the ferry port.  In the early afternoon we set sail on the Interislander ferry to Picton. The ride was pretty smooth although it was blowing a gale outside.

After 3 hours we reached Picton.  Wow the views coming into the harbour were amazing! We had been told that the sceneary in the south island is brilliant and it looks like all we have read is true.  

The weather was also fantastic in Picton the best so far in New Zealand.  The YHA Picton we are staying at is amazing we have our own little house.  However there is no Wifi free or paid! Which is highly annoying especially when you need to sort out internet banking,  skype,meeting people in a couple of days and future activities! So so frustrating.  Come on YHA New Zealand sort this out!

In the evening we headed to a couple of local bars and watched the All Blacks beat their arch rivals Australia in the final of the 4 nations tournament.