First we fly to Christchurch where we pick up our car and stay the first night. Although the counter has more than 244.000 km we could have seen from the outside that this piece of metal is rather old. Noting down all scratches and putts on the form the lady kept ticking spots off on our directions. A thick fat scratch on the form would do the job!
And old it was, we discovered that after the first night. De battery had run flat! Hm, maybe a good idea to turn the lights off next time... The trip first went to the the nearest fellow traveler who could help us out. Luckily we could continue our trip quite quickly.
In Oamaru we saw very tiny pinguins (blue ones), which we couldn't put on a picture.
Dunedin (say: Duneedin) is a nice collegetown where we checked out all of the Peninsula. On a little sandbeach we could come really close to a sealion taking an afternoon nap. On top of the hill, next to a field full of sheep (what else) we visited a local organic sheepswoolshop. We had a nice chat with the lady owner and bought a warm sheepswoolen scarf because the New Zealand summer is quite like the Dutch summer.
That one long pants just didn't do it for us. Because after a week we could cook soup out off it, so we needed an extra pair. So we went to the local Kathmandu in Invercargill. And we are so fund of those hinking pants...
The highways in NZ are extreemly long and straight. You still wonder where the road will go after the hill. Off course, straight ahead again. It gets a little boring after 3 hours of flat land, straight roads and being surrounded by sheep all day long. Beeeeeeeeh.
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At Milfort Sound we made a boottrip through the Fiordlands. Despite the rain it was magical.
After Te Anau we went to Queenstown where we boogieboarded off a river! With guides we went down a river where pussys take a boat. HA! We just took a piece of carbon and a pair of flippers and crashed ourselves between the rocks!!
We really loved Queenstown with all the nice little streets, cafes and shops, but unfortunately we already booked two nights ahead and had to leave again the next day.
We hiked up to the base of Mount Cook. Before we got there we drove passed a magical lake. It was still very cloudy and rainy, but it as if the weather was clearing up, which was impossible with the rain and all. The reflection of the lake colored the the bottom of the clouds a beautiful turqoise.
Like as if a big swimming pool was build in between the mountains. The lake Pukaki get this color from the minerals out of the glacier water.
Fortunate for us, because this was basically the spot where we picked the southernn island for, the weather cleared during the day and we had a wonderfull time and made the best pictures.
Lake Tekapo is also such a lake only less turqoisy, but still very impressive. Because the weather was keeping up the good work and because we had a nice lakeview ensuite cabin we decided to stay an extra night. We also really needed to doe some washing and a day “off”.
At this point more than a week has passed already and we had to make decisions of what we really wanted to see and do. That meant skipping a town here and there.
Glentunnel is the next stop to continue our trip to the Westcoast via Arthurs Pass. That's one Holiday Park we will skip next time. An old shabby Park with nothing there except an 18 hole golfcourse on the side. So we gladly used our free afternoon and played 7 holes.
The ride through Arthurs Pass was beautifull. Top that with a capuccino in the sun and good walk in the woods and there's another perfect day.
It got even better when we arrived in Hokitika. After dinner we drove to the beach for one of the most beautifull sunsets we have ever seen. Check out the pics. We didn't shop them, honest.
Then, a highlight of the trip. We had a Helicopter ride on top of the Frans Josef glacier where we walked over the ice! Just incredible.
So, now we're getting ready voor the last week already. Going north to the southern island. Abel Tasman Nat. Park with hopefully better wetter too.
From a rainy Greymouth, love, Mijke en Robbert
Here are the pics of New Zealand so far
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| New Zealand part 1 |
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