Some Toilet Humour

Lets end the blog with some toilet humour, literally. So we are staying at a motel at the airport and it’s pretty average. However it has one awesome feature. A toilet you have to ride side saddle. For those who are in the process of building/renovating I think having it placed sideways is something to consider. As you can see I was able to have a bit of a kip and rest my weary head. Win win!!!

...The Winner Is......

Now that the trip has finished I present you the winner of the Inaugural Douchebag Parking Awards. You might look at this one and go “how can that top the Tekapo effort?!” Let me give you my reasoning (if you disagree I don’t care as I am the President and founder of these awards and what I say goes). Here we have a definite local from the Wanaka area (I have blanked out his business name) who obviously knows this car park. Also, this was the first row of the very busy supermarket so the total disregard for other shoppers parking is something to behold. So there you have it, a late comer but a very worthy winner. I may revive these awards on our next trip so stay tuned. Feel free to devise your own awards but please come up with your own award name as we are in the process of a patent (remember this day, this award will one day be spoken of alongside the Oscars).

TranzAlpine - Greymouth to Christchurch

We then made our way up to Greymouth and boarded the train with 5 minutes to spare. You have never seen two people fly out of a hire car quicker than us, I don’t even know if the car was stopped before we legged it!
The Tranz Alpine trip took us back across to Christchurch. We were really looking forward to this trip as everyone we had talked to had loved it. However we thought it was pretty ordinary. The scenery was basically just paddock after paddock with a few mountains and valleys. I think that it would be more worthwhile in the winter with the snow on the mountains.

A slightly disappointing end to the trip but it has been an absolute ripper. We have seen and done so many things and had plenty of laughs along the way. Here’s to the next one!

Franz Josef Glacier

We spent the last couple of days in Franz Josef Glacier. The drive up here was picturesque (not only scenery but of course a top parking effort). Very tropical feel as opposed to the endless paddocks we had seen previously. It’s very windy in parts and poor old Kells Bells got rather sick just as we got into Franz. This was not good timing as we were due to head off on the Helicopter Hike on the glacier. Unfortunately Kel couldn’t come along but I took part. The Heli flight was good and off we trekked as a group of 6. We hiked for about 2 hours. It seemed like we weren’t going very far but seeing other groups in the distance put things into perspective. The hike wasn’t at all challenging and the weather was spot on.

After I returned I made the suggestion to Kel that she should go on a Heli flight the next morning (Saturday). She got to fly for 40 minutes over the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers and also over Mount Cook. I was extremely jealous!! The heli landed on Fox Glacier and Kel took some fantastic pictures.

3....2....1....BUNGY!

Todays voyage took us pretty much back on ourselves from the previous days as we made our way back from Te Anau with our destination being Wanaka. We stopped at a few spots along the way to snap some pics but it was mostly country we had seen before. We did however see a very rare sight on our travels, a cop car on a straight with a speed camera. These Kiwis are not revenue raisers like our force!

We stopped off at Arrowtown for lunch and we really loved this little town. All the buildings are the old school look from the gold rush days, it feels like you are at Sovereign Hill.

So as we were driving today I started to get the urge that I wanted to do the Bungy jump. After we left Arrowtown we headed up the road to the AJ Hackett Bungy spot at Kawarau Bridge (this is the spot we stopped at last Friday). After much to’ing and fro’ing I decided that yes I wanted to do this jump. So I rig up and take the shuffle out to the tiny platform. From the photos you would think that I am super confident but in reality I was terrified. 3….2….1 bungy and off I went. I must say it’s a pretty exhilarating feeling, however I reckon a second time around I would take it in more.

After this we headed off towards Wanaka on a very windy road which has some awesome views. We got here about 4pm and are really enjoying it. It’s like a mini Queenstown, alpine feel but only half the people. We have a beautiful room overlooking the lake. We like it so much that we decided that we would stay again tomorrow night so will just have a chillout day tomorrow. I am happy to report that Kells Bells injuries are pretty good. She will treat herself to a much deserved massage tomorrow.

After an absence of a few days I can present you today’s marvellous parking effort. This one occurred in the carpark of our accommodation. Not a bad effort, probably on par with the Mount Cook one. I don’t think anything is gonna top Tekapo but you just never know!

Girl overboard!

The first half of the horse trek was pretty calm and considered. Although neither of us had ridden for over a decade, we found ourselves wishing the guide would pick up the pace. After a short stop by the river I asked if we could trot or canter some of the way back. The guide obliged and we followed her speadily up the hill, revelling in the new found excitment. As I bravely (not smoothly) moved into a canter my previously obedient horse decided that she would rather stop suddenly than turn the corner. Thud. I fell off (apparently in slow motion) and hit the hard New Zealand turf like a tonne of bricks. I'm okay, just a wee bruised hip and shattered ego. I'm sitting here with a towel and ice wrapped around my rump. Still, there are worse places to be nursing an injury. The bed and breakfast we are staying at allows me to gaze at the mountains from the loungeroom window. I'm a happy girl.

Milford Sound

breath•tak•ing
Adjective:
1. Astonishing or awe-inspiring in quality, so as to take one's breath away

awe•some
Adjective:
1. Extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear.
2. Extremely good; excellent.

a•maz•ing
Adjective:
1. Causing great surprise or wonder; astonishing.
2. Startlingly impressive.

Ok, you should get the picture by now. We headed off from Queenstown yesterday morning bound for Milford Sound. I thought what we had already seen in terms of scenery was brilliant. However nothing could have prepared us for what we would witness along the way. The scenery is simply breathtaking. As the journey progressed it became more and more impressive. We would stop off at small nooks on the side of the road and the views were unbelievable from each one.

The drive down to Milford took us a good 5 hours but as I said we stopped off at many points along the way. You can’t help but not stop just to take it in. We got to Milford and boarded the Mariner and set sail. Very calm waters and we cruised around for about an hour, with the skipper taking us right up close to a number of waterfalls. We then put down anchor for the night and jumped into kayaks to have a bit of a paddle about. I thought that I would yet again be the first one to fall out but I soon got the hang of it and away we went. The water was pretty cold and a little choppy. We got back to the boat and Kel and I, in our infinite wisdom, thought we would have a swim. Mind you no one else was game (or as dumb as us) to get into the water. We jumped off the boat and into the water. My god it was cold, so so so cold. So we get back out and by this time our brains probably weren’t operating at full capacity, and also the fact that one of the crew said “oh, its warmer second time in” so off we went again, jumping back in. I can report that no, it wasn’t any warmer. However we managed to get a round of applause from the rest of the passengers who were probably muttering “what idiots” under their breath. But as I said to Kel at least we can say that we swam at Milford Sound!

We had a nice meal and had a short presentation of photos and some videos from Milford Sound which was really cool. The guide really knew his stuff and kept us entertained. The sleep was good I thought, no movement from the water whatsoever.

An early start this morning for some brekky and out to the Tasman Sea. In all honesty Kel and I didn’t really enjoy that part, there was absolutely nothing to see (no seals, dolphins or whales) so it was a bit of a waste. However it was stunning coming back into Milford Sound.

We are now back at Te Anau and are heading off on a horse trek in about an hours time. We will see where some of the Lord Of The Rings was filmed. Tomorrow it’s off towards the glaciers, will most likely stop halfway for some R and R.