Wakana, Queenstown, Milford Sound and Christchurch

It’s counting down to our last week in New Zealand with just 3 more stops remaining. The first of which is Wanaka. We’re only here on night and we get there in the afternoon when it’s hammering it down with rain. We’re not sure what else we can do so we decide to go to the quirky independent cinema to see War for the Planet of the Apes (8/10). Next stop is Queenstown, the country’s adventure and party capital. On the way in we stop at the original A. J Hackett Bungy, the first commercial bungy jump in the world. We watch a short documentary about the man, who turned his hobby of jumping off tall things into, I presume, a multi-million dollar industry. One person on our bus does the jump here, other adrenaline junkies are saving it for the Nevis bungy, the largest in the world. Go hard or go home, I suppose.

We arrive at the hostel, do a quick food shop then think about what we want to do. Heidi and I are not really down to do much in the way of thrill rides, or partying, but because of how the bus works we have three nights here. I go with two lads from the bus up the gondola, which takes you up the giant mountain that overlooks the town. The views from the top of Queenstown surrounded by beautiful mountains and the massive lake are spectacular. From there, we get on the luge – small carts you roll down a paved track. You only have a brake and let gravity do the rest, it’s pretty great fun.

That night there’s a dinner put on by the Kiwi Experience – chicken and ribs. It’s a great meal but we don’t hang around for drinks as tomorrow we have a day trip, also courtesy of kiwi, to Milford Sounds.

We get up seriously early and hop on the bus. The sounds are a good two hour drive, so halfway we stop for coffee and snacks. The last 45 minutes of the drive are a stunning jaunt through the snowy mountain range, at one point going through a mountain via a tunnel. We emerge from the other side as our driver plays the Jurassic Park theme. It’s apt but not needed to inspire awe at our surroundings.
We arrive at the ferry port and shortly get on the ferry. The trip is about 1 ½ hours. Milford Sounds is pretty incredible, and our ferry captain provides narration pointing out waterfalls and, once again, seals chilling on the rocks. Fun fact: It turns out Milford Sounds is misnamed because it’s actually really quiet actually a fjord.

No scuba gear, no pot of gold

It’s a long day so we’re pleased to get into bed. Unfortunately, there are people in our 8 bed dorm who don’t seem to care we’re trying to sleep and chat for ages (mainly umming and arring about whether to go out). When some of them eventually do go out they come back and wake us both up. I can’t get back to sleep so I read for a few hours in the log cabin-esque lounge (complete with fire). We change rooms for our final night.

On our last day I do the walk up the same mountain where the gondola and luge is. The walk is longer and harder than I imagined, but as it’s a clearer day the view from the top is that much better. Later we meet people for drinks and have a nice night chatting, and saying goodbye to some of, our travellers from the bus.

As if the walk wasn't "breath-taking" enough

Queenstown is often where the crowd on the kiwi bus changes. Some people go south to Invercargill and Dunedin, some people spend more time in Queenstown. The bus, therefore, becomes instantly more clicky with people predominantly sticking with those from their previous bus. As a result, Heidi and I are mainly hanging around a group of lads (a mixture of UK, Germany and one American). Next stop is Lake Tekapo.

Before arriving at the hostel we visit the church that sits on the side of the lake. This is one of the most photographed buildings in New Zealand, not just because of it’s beautiful surroundings but because Lake Tekapo is a great place to see the milky way. Which is why Heidi and I are booked on a star gazing tour at night.

This might actually have been on the way to Lake Tekapo...

We treat ourselves to a double room at Lake Tekapo, a small chalet with a double bed and two heaters. The hostel has a large dining/lounge area with a roaring fire. We venture out with the lads to climb the mountain. Before we begin our ascent there are warnings of ice – enter at your own risk type of things. These are ignored, but after about 30 mins Heidi and I are separated from the guys and she quite rightly points out that we will have to descend through the ice, a task more arduous than traversing up through it. She’s right, so we return to the hostel and drink hot chocolate by the fire.


We get picked up for our star gazing at 10.30pm and get taken to the observatory atop the same mountain we attempted to climb earlier. We’re given something of a tour around the observatory, and our guide points out stars and constellations with a laser pointer. We then get to look through some powerful telescopes at the moon, Saturn and a great number of stars. Unfortunately, because it’s a full moon it’s too bright to see the milky way. When we get back down the mountain it’s minus 8 degrees and it takes a while to stop shivering and go to sleep.

Me, shifting in and out of our known reality

Out final stop is Christchurch. We arrive here on the 5th but our flight isn’t until the 10th – we thought we could use the downtime. And downtime there was because Christchurch is still recovering from a large earthquake in 2011. We find that for the most part they have been planning the rebuilt, and it’s only this year they have actually started. There are some temporary work-arounds, such as the Re:Start mall, which is entirely comprised of shipping containers and food trucks.
The only attraction we decide to do is the tram, which is a restored antique one. The tram itself is very pretty but the tour consists of listing the buildings that were destroyed, and the buildings their completing. As we go round there’s some concern part of the track will be closed off because the local super rugby team the Crusaders are having their victory parade today (remember, we watched the final in Franz Josef?). We get off the tram, pick up a free flag and become loyal supporters for the afternoon.

Heidi and I manage to get our flag signed by a few players, including All Black captain Kieran Read. We listen to the speeches then have our picture taken with the cup. It’s the highlight of our stay in Christchurch.

We book our last night in a hotel near the airport and for the last meal I have a burger from New Zealand’s own Burgerfuel. We first saw one of these in Sri Lanka, but their everywhere in NZ and...their pretty damn good. The quality of the patty far surpasses other mainstream burger joints and the other ingredients, of which Heidi is not a fan, compliment it perfectly. It’s only my second since we’ve been here and I’m sad I haven’t had more. I also attempt to eat a McDonalds pie because, y’know, it’s a pie from McDonalds but as always my eyes are bigger than my stomach (also the pie was surprisingly average).

It’s an early flight so after only a few hours sleep we get up and trudge along to the small airport and leave our temporary home. We’ve spent 10 months in the land of the long white cloud, while we only planned 4. Just like when we left Wellington, I’m keen to leave but the feeling’s ultimately bittersweet.


Next stop...Australia!

Kaiteri, Westport, Lake Maninapua and Franz Josef

It's an early start as we head back on to the Kiwi Experience bus, which takes us all the way from one side of the city to the other, where the ferry terminal is. The ferry journey takes 3 hours, the last third of which goes through the very pretty Marlborough sounds.

Island in the Sun

We spend the rest of the day in transit, before finally reaching our hostel in Kaiteri in the evening. We do a quick walk up a short uphill track then return to cook dinner in a cramped kitchen. Our hotel in Wellington didn't have an oven, but the hostel here does so we cook a pasta bake which Heidi has long craved for. The next morning we are taking a water taxi up to a beech and track which is part of the massive Abel Tasman National Park. The walk takes over an hour but we have to kill a bit more time before our taxi picks us up and takes us back to the hostel, not before checking out a few seals chilling on the rocks. 

The rest of the day we travel to Westport, with a few stops for walks and so on. It's getting colder the further south we go, so when we arrive at the very Bohemian, surfer themed hostel we're pleased to see a large lounge with a roaring fire. This is where we spend most of our evening.  

The activities in Westport are surfing and paddle boarding, but given the low temperatures no one is keen. Shortly after leaving we go on a coastal walk which ends with a platform looking out at a whole community of seals on the rocks.

Poser

Our stop for lunch is at Pancake Rocks, named due to the unusual shape due to erosion. The waves here crash with such power it causes the water to shoot up several metres in the air, occasionally creating a cool rainbow effect.

We stay at a lodge in Lake Maninapua, where we're told we're to have a fancy dress party, the theme of which is 'bad taste'. Heidi and I don't partake in the dressing up, but we enjoy a bit of the party with the cross dressers, a giant condom, et al.

Dirty lens

Our next stop is something we've been waiting for with great anticipation - Franz Josef, home of the Franz Josef glacier. We've booked ourselves onto the 'heli hike' which involves getting a helicopter ride onto the glacier, then wondering about on it for a few hours. As neither of us have been in a helicopter before, or on a glacier before, we're very excited.

Shortly after arriving and checking in we and a large portion of our kiwi experience travellers head to the centre for a quick safety briefing. We're to come back here tomorrow morning for an early lift-off. Heidi and I spend the rest of the evening in a nearby bar (though, more of a restaurant) to watch the Super Rugby final. I make the wise decision not to have a few beers.

It's an early start as we return to the centre the following morning, get our gear on and meet our guide for the day. There's some final weather checks but we're given the all-clear. Heidi and I are put in separate choppers and we take off. The ride over to the glacier provides some amazing views of the glacier and the mountains that surrounds it. The glacier itself is situated in a valley in between two huge mountains. 

We land on a tiny flat square of ice and wait for the other chopper. Heidi's follows shortly and we begin our walk. There's ice for miles around us. Other guides and people making paths look like ants in the distance. We begin climbing the glacier, and I begin dishing out my 'Mr Freeze from Batman & Robin' ice puns. 

Ice to see you

The track, which is constantly being carved by the guides, takes us past deep crevasses in the ice, as well as through them. We stop every once in a while so our guide can ell us a little about the glacier, and this helps make the 3 hour walk less intense. The time does fly though and before we know it we're back on the helicopters returning to the little town. The heli hike will be one of the most expensive one-off costs of the whole trip, but we're certain it will be an experience we will never forget.


 

GET TO THE CHOPPAA

That night we have a few drinks with our kiwi experience group, then hit the hay.

Sunset at Franz Josef

Next time - Queenstown, Milford Sound, Lake Tekapo and Christchurch!

The blog's back, baby

 

Me and my city

Yeah, I know. I haven’t kept up with this blog for around 8 months and for that I’m sort of sorry, but the truth is as we’ve been living and working in the windy city of Wellington, there hasn’t been enough going on each week to write significant regular update on. We’ve been too busy saving for the next leg of travelling which will be the most significant, spanning around 6 months. I mean, I could have written a monthly post but y’know, I just didn’t. Let’s move on.

Life hasn’t been all sedentary, mind. Which is why I thought I’d dedicate this comeback post to the highlights of our 8 months in Wellington. Here they are, in no particular order:

r/wellington; You’re on the internet so chances are you’ve heard of giant mega forum Reddit. Early on in our stay I checked out the local subreddit for advice and tips, but found more than what I bargained for as the community is fairly active and organises multiple meetups. Whilst my first was a pleasant outing at a bar, over time these meetups ranged from walks to escape rooms. It’s something I would definitely recommend using if you find yourself in a city for a long time where you don’t know anybody. I met a whole host of cool people and did a whole range of things I wouldn’t have done otherwise. I even ended up organising a few cinema meetups myself. Whilst an organised “cake walk” (like a pub crawl, but with cake) wins for originality, a walk up Colonial Knob was a real highlight.

Lions tour: The main benefit of extending our stay in Wellington (other than, y’know, money) was that we got to stay in New Zealand for the British and Irish Lions tour. The Lions are only formed every 4 years, and come to New Zealand every 12 so we took it as providence, and back in March bought tickets to see them play the local Super Rugby team, the Hurricanes. It wouldn’t be the first time we’d step foot into the Westpac Stadium – back in February we’d gone to see the Sevens tournament. I’d read that the Sevens in wellington was a big deal, but it suffered in recent years due to mismanagement (mainly strict regulations on alcohol sales) and so was not the event it once was (in fact since then, Wellington has now lost the Sevens tournament to Auckland.) We still had a great weekend watching some 20 hours of rugby.
We’d also see the Hurricanes a few times before the Lions. Super Rugby, he tournament between a selection of NZ, Australian, South African and Japanese teams, is wildly exciting, with a pace unseen in European rugby. But the Lions did not disappoint against these sides. When we saw them against the Hurricanes they started incredibly strong, only to lose their form near the end and end up drawing.
The day after seeing this game I came home from work to a very cagey Heidi. I can’t quite put it into words but something was off. She went out to meet some “friends for a drink” as I was supposed to be working at the Welsh pub (they needed extra people for a very busy week). My shift was cancelled so Heidi asked if I wanted to come out. She was very insistent, and told me she’d met someone I knew. So I went out and found Heidi...sat with my dad.
The week before he’d had a revelation of sorts – that the next time the Lions toured NZ he’d be in his 70s and would, in all probability, not fancy it. And with me being here it gave him that extra motivation to get on a plane, travel half way round the world and get some tickets for the big games against the All Blacks. And one of those tickets was for me.
The three of us had a great week which culminated in dad and I witnessing the Lions historic win against the All Blacks. They went on to draw the final test, meaning a draw for the entire series. It’ll be something I never forget.

Us at Westpac Stadium for the Rugby Sevens

Outings: Without a car or a lot of expendable cash we often felt quite confined to the city. Along with the aforementioned Colonial Knob we did occasionally make an effort to get out of town and head into the incredible surroundings of the Wellington region. When dad visited, he rented a car and the three of us had a day trip down to Lake Ferry. This is further south than Welly, and on a clear day you can see the peaks on the South Island, which we did. Dad also spotted something in the water, between the lake and the sea. After much inspection through camera lenses and binoculars we could then make out that it was a frolicking Sea Lion. As we were leaving he made his way to land and we were able to see him a bit more clearly.
There’s a town on the way to Lake Ferry called Martinborough, where we had visited a few months earlier. The region is predominantly known for it’s vineyards and wineries, so we booked ourselves on a wine tour and had a minibus drive us and 3 older couples round as we tested a huge variety of reds and whites.
The only other tour we shelled out for was a Lord of the Rings tour. There are a few spots in the Wellington region where scenes were filmed, not to mention the rather awesome Weta workshop where props and sets and built for a huge proportion of Hollywood films. The tour took us to the workshop, where we awed at weapons from District 9 and the full size, operational Warthog from Neil Blomkamp’s Halo 3 promotional short films. The tour also took us to sites where Rivendell and Isengard scenes were filmed, and our guide was informative and entertaining.
Another outing we embarked on was the Paekakariki Escaparment, which is along the Kapita coast and is conveniently located between two train stations, so we travelled to the furthest and walked backwards. It was a stunning day and we had great views of Kapita Island, which is a nature reserve. Much to Heidi chagrin, the walk included two rather large swing bridges.

Sea? I wasn't lion

Ready for battle

As a city Wellington has been very good to us. It’s a very lively city where most weekends, especially in the summer, will be host to some public event or festival. The food and drink here is also exceptional, with a huge range of independent restaurants, cafes and bars. Notable examples include Mama Browns, a soul-food diner which serves an excellent chicken and waffles, R Bar, a pirate themed underground bar and the Foxglove, where we had an excellent steak when dad was visiting. Across from out hotel is Capital Market, a food court featuring cuisine from across Asia. I have now developed a taste for a Filipino dish called Dinuguan, the main ingredient of which is...pig blood. Tasty as hell, though.

And so, with just a few days to go I find myself in a conflicted mental state. On the one hand, I’m keen to get moving. We extended our stay here by roughly 5 months, and living and working in one place for a long period of time was never part of the plan. But conversely as the end of our trip looms I realise that I will certainly miss Wellington’s vibe. It’s trendy without being pretentious. It’s cool without being too try-hard. And it’s just the right size. Heidi and I know we’ll come back one day (maybe in 12 years!)

Cuba Street, Wellington