Sorry peeps we have been without wifi for a couple of days so here is a brief update but I will add more in the next couple of days.
As we were still stuck in Franz for a couple of days
following the glacier we decided to do some walks and spend some time relaxing.
We had to have these extra days in the area as the Glacier trips are often
cancelled due to bad weather, in fact for the 4 days we were there they only
took place on one day, which was the day we did it.
The day after our Glacier trip we decided to go for a walk
to see the glacier in all its glory from the ground. The view was great and the
walk had some pictures of how the Glacier looked a couple of years ago to show
how much it has receded (which was a lot further than Richards hair line), and
they say global warming isn’t happening!
The following day we decided to walk in one of the tunnels
nearby. The walk there was easy and we even came across a wild deer and once we
got to the tunnel we headed in with our phones as torches. It was a lot longer
than we had thought and the water did get a little deep in places, meaning wet
feet for us. We also saw some glow worms but there was nowhere near as many as
we had seen in Waitimo. Once we got to the other end of the tunnel, the rest of
the walk was closed so we had to turn around and walk back.
Our coach to Queenstown was the following day and the bus
driver was the scariest bus driver we have had yet. We were very happy to make
it to Queenstown alive but as it was fairly late in the day we just cooked
dinner and headed to bed as we had a long day planned for the next day as we
were traveling by bus to Milford Sound. The next morning we had to leave by 8
to catch the bus to take us to Milford Sound which takes 5 hours but does
involve some stops along the way. We stopped Te anu (a small town), at a small
waterfall called chasm, at Monkey creek – where we got to try some mountain
water, Mirror lake – where it is so calm and clear that you can see the reflections
of the mountains and sky in the lake and the plains, where we were able to see
the beginning of the mountain range.
Once we arrived at Milford sound we jumped on our boat for a two hour
cruise which took us all the way down the sound (essentially a valley,
previously carved by a glacier that has been flooded by the sea for those of
you who do not know what one is) and back. Along the way we saw some Dolphins,
who swam alongside the boat for quite a while, some seals, who enjoyed lounging
on the rocks, some impressive mountain peaks and a couple of water falls. We
then had to jump back on the coach and head back to Queenstown, this time the
coach only took 4 hours but all in all it was a really long day.
The next day we decided to climb Queenstown hill which was a
2.5 round trip but the walk was fairly easy and gave spectacular views of the
town and the lake. That evening we partook in the Queenstown tradition and
queued for a fergburger, which is a burger shop only located in Queenstown and
is supposed to be an amazing burger. I do have to admit it was good but we did
make a couple of mistakes, firstly we did not appreciate how huge they were so
we ordered one each and some chips. Well we barely touched the chips as we were
stuffed just trying to finish the burgers!
The next day Rich decided he really wanted to go on the Luge
which is like a sledge on wheels that you can start and stop with a handle and
you basically go down a course built into the side of a mountain/hill. First I
had to conquer my fears again and get into a gondola to the top of the
hill/mountain then to add insult to injury we had to go higher on a ski lift to
get to the beginning of the luge. On the first go down you have to go down the
scenic route which is slower and longer but means you get the hang of steering
and breaking. Rich complained I was going too slow but I was just getting the
hang of it and enjoying the views. The next couple of goes were on the faster
but shorter track and I was a lot quicker on those but Rich was faster still,
but even he admits he may have pushed it a bit far on some of the corners!
While we were up on the mountain/hill the weather had started to come in and
all we could see was cloud but this did make going down a lot easier for me as
I couldn’t see how high we were. As the weather wasn’t great we couldn’t decide
what to do in the afternoon so I let Rich talk me into Frisbee golf and we soon
got the hang of it and realised we were not good at it but we persevered and
finished all 18 holes, with Rich marginally beating me but we were both well
over par. For dinner we decided to try a local takeaway with a difference
called Pedro’s Lamb. There is only one thing on the menu, lamb shoulder with
scallop potatoes that serves two but I have to say it was the best lamb we have
ever eaten and we ate it all for dinner and felt like heifers afterwards. We
also went to a 4D theatre to see a couple of films but it was rather lame and
involved flying cars and a roller coaster.
The following day we picked up our hire car and set out on
our way to Christchurch with our first stop being Lake Tekapo to see the Church
of the Good Shepard which has great views over the turquoise lake. It was
stunning and we took lots of pictures when we could escape the mass of tourists
that were there. From here we needed to find somewhere to sleep for the night
so headed north to find a town closer to Christchurch. Following a well needed
sleep we decided to take a trip to Banks Peninsula which is just east of
Christchurch and is formed from the two tectonic plates creating craters of
land within the sea. We drove around the coast and ended up in the main town
which was almost bought by the French before the English agreed with the Maroi
to own the land. The French influence has very evident throughout the town
which did make it an interesting stop. We also managed to slip in a bit of
swimming at the beach, although the water around New Zealand is a lot colder
than the sea around Aus meaning we didn’t spend much time in the water.
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