Well, we left the hostel, and waited for our taxi to turn up, but our luck with taxis showed again, as it didn't arrive. We hailed another taxi and negotiated the same sort of price, so we didn't mind too much. We got to the airport, and were shown the area we were allowed to sleep in, and we settled down to a night of bad sleep. I did manage to fall asleep eventually, but it seemed like no time before we were up and checking in. We handed over our bags, and went through to the departure lounge. We spent the last of our Aussie Dollars, and used the free internet. We boarded the plane at about 8am, and took off at about half 8 (sort of on time). They played some Catherine Zeta Jones film, which I watched part of, but couldn't be bothered with most of it. We landed at about 13:30 local time, after seeing some spectacular scenery when we flew over the Southern Alps. We got on the bus to the center of town, and were surprised to see that Christchurch was so small. It was based around a small square with a big church in the middle, but other than that, there wasn't much. We checked into the hostel and went for a look around the town. We found a huge supermarket, and were pleased to see that food was cheaper than in Australia, so we could splash out and not regret it later on. We got back to the hostel and made some soup (which we had just bought) and then bumped into a couple of friends from the Oz Experience (Chessy & Becky). They left Oz way before us to do the Kiwi Experience, but it was too expensive for us! We watched a film in the evening and then went to bed at about 12.
We got up relatively early on Saturday, and went to the Spaceships office to pick up our car, but it wasn't ready by the time we got there, so we went to McDonalds and got ourselves a McCafe for breakfast. We had hired a Toyota People Carrier to take us around the whole of NZ! It has a box on the top for 2 people to sleep, and enough room in the van for another two people. We checked it out, and then went off in it to the supermarket to stock up on supplies for the next 3 weeks. We bought loads of pasta, bread, milk and cereal (the most important things, of course) and loaded it in. It was a tight fit, but there's lots of storage space under the bed, so all was OK. We started driving, and decided to get to a place called Hanmer Springs, which had thermal pools. It was too dark to go to them by the time we got there, but we found a layby in the mountains, which is where we cooked sausage & mash, and then tried to get some sleep. It was so cold though! Luckily we'd played a game of poker to see who was going on the top. Alex and Mike were unfortunate enough to lose, so they had the worse of it. There seemed to be a strong breeze that blew through the valley, which made it so cold.
We woke up at about 9am on Sunday, and had some cereal, before going back into Hanmer to go in the thermal pools. We paid $12, but it was good to get somewhere warm, and with a shower! We spent about 2 hours in the different temperature pools, but then realised we had to get on the road to get to our next destination - Kaikoura! We had some lunch by the side of the road, and then got back on the road. We got into the town just before sunset, and experienced an amazing drive. The scenery was stunning; we drove along a coastal road, with the sea lapping the shore, and then suddenly it changed into rolling hills, and snow capped mountains! It was crazy! We found a nice spot by the sea to park up, and then went into the town for a few games of pool, and a beer. It was another realaxing evening, but it was really good to have, as it chilled us out so much. That night, it was mine and Stu's turn to go up in the top box, so we prepared ourselves for a freezing night, but it was fine actually.
We woke up with the sun beating on the canvas on Monday, and I was so hot! It was really nice to have the sound of the sea by our van as well - it took me back to Fraser Island! We went into the town and went on the internet for a bit, and tried to make Stu do his Student Finance, but it didn't really work! We got on the road and stopped off at Ohau Point, which is a small seal colony on the coast. We spent about 20 minutes watching them play by the sea, and then did the walk up to the waterfall, which is where we saw 5 baby seals playing in the pools. It was astonishing! We went down to the waters edge and one of the seals came over to us, but that was when we thought we were getting too close. We backed off and went to the main waterfall, which is where Mike went for a swim, but I'd felt warmer water come out of a fridge! So I decided against it! We walked back to the car after that, and drove to the town of Blenheim. We drove through the town, and got some more supplies from the supermarket. We drove to the edge of the Lagoon area, and cooked dinner (chicken stir-fry) and watched a film.
We got up at the more normal time of 10am on Tuesday, and drove Alex to the hospital so he could get his stitches out. We went to a local campsite and did some washing, had showers and filled up our water bottle, and then went to pick Alex up. The nurse did a good job, and didn't even charge him, so all was good! We went back to the lagoon, and did the walk to the ship wreck (SS Waverly), which took us over some wonderful landscapes, and also got us lost, so we had to trek over a couple of rivers and past a sewage works, but we made it back! We the got into the car and drove towards the town of Nelson. I fell asleep in the back for most of it, but when we arrived, it was raining really heavily, so we decided to get pizza instead of cook! We then found a good place to park on the outskirts of town, and got an early night. We tried watching Lord of the Rings, but gave up halfway through, as we were so tired, but had to play a game of poker to see who was going on top! I nominated myself to go up, as I didn't mind, and was joined by Alex a bit later.
We got up on Wednesday at around 10am again, and had some breakfast, and then played a game of Frisbee and then went into town. We went on the internet and had a wander around the shops, but didn't buy anything. Mike and I watched the rest of The Lord of The Rings (LOTR), and then drove out of town to try and find a surf beach. All of the beaches seemed pretty dead, so we parked up at a place called Pepin Island and had a kick-about with a rugby ball. We watched the sunset and made some dinner before driving back into town to meet some people from the Oz Bus (different people this time!). We had a beer, and played a few games of pool, before we headed North, towards Abel Tasman. We stopped off halfway there, and went to bed at about 1am, after watching Flight of the Conchords (NZ comedy).
We got up on Thursday at about 11am, and drove further into the National Park, to a place called Marahau. We had some lunch, and kick-about with the rugby ball, then we drove to an area where they filmed LOTR. We weren't sure if we got to the exact spot, but I definitely recognised parts of it. It was called Chetwood Forest if it rings any bells, but some of the views from there were stunning! We left there at about 5pm, and cooked some dinner (steak, mash and veg.) in someone's front drive, before driving to Westport. We stopped off so I could call my Dad and wish him Happy Birthday, but other than that, it was plain sailing all the way. Mike drove the whole way, which took about 3 hours. We parked up in a small country lane, and went to sleep almost straight away.
We woke up at about 12pm on Friday, and went into the town to find a doctor for Mike (his back was hurting him)but not before getting the car stuck in some mud, and then spending about 10 minutes trying to free it! We dropped him off at the hospital when we had finally got the car unstuck and we went to the supermarket for some more supplies. We ended up buying breakfast and lunch (croissant, scone and pizza) and went back to get Mike. He had only spent a short time in the Dr's, but we had spent so long shopping, he was left standing around for a while! We went to a coffee shop for some of the afternoon, and then started the long drive towards the glaciers (Fox and Franz-Josef). We drove for about 4 hours, but reached Franz Josef just after 9pm. By this time, we had experienced some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen! The coast was amazing, and there were the Southern Alps right next to the sea, with snow capped peaks. We cooked some eggs for dinner, and then noticed there was a problem with the door - it didn't open!!!!!! We tried everything, but we couldn't do anything. This was all we needed, as we could only cook if the door was open! We knew we could survive on sandwiches, but for how long??? We found a quiet lane to park and then we started to watch a film. It wasn't long into the film when a car screeched to a halt outside our van, and a man started ranting at us. It was gone 12am on a Saturday morning, and he seemed really drunk. He was shouting at us for parking on the road (we were in a layby!) and he demanded that we moved. In the end we did, and we found a much nicer place! Stu and I were upstairs, and it was sooo cold! Below freezing, easily! We had 2 duvets and our sleeping bags, so we were fine.
We got up at about 10am, and went to Fox Glacier (the town) and did the walk to the actual Glacier. It only took about 10 minutes for us to see it, and when we did, it was amazing! There are only a few words you can use to describe such a large mass of ice moving down the mountain, as it is so unbelievable! It moves between 1 and 5 metres a day (which is quite a lot), and is around 13km long. We could get about 80m away from the terminal (the end), so we got loads of really good photos. We filled up with petrol, and went back to the town of Franz Josef, where we called the AA, and enquired about glacier walks. The AA only sent someone from the nearest garage, so they didn't have any luck with the door, but we did book our glacier walk ($140 for the full day). We went back to the car and had some sandwiches, and then went to a nearby bar holiday camp (Top 10) so we could have free showers, and also fill up our water.We then went to a bar and had some cheap food and a beer, and then drove to our usual spot between the glacial towns. Stu and I had the downstairs, which was actually colder than the upstairs, but there was quite a harsh frost!
We woke up at 7am today (Sunday) and drove to Franz Josef for 8:15am, so we could do the glacier walk. Stu didn't come, as he didn't have enough money, but Alex, Mike and I got kitted out with jackets, trousers, gloves, hats, boots, and crampons (spikes that are attached to the boots) and got on the bus that took us to the glacier. We started off the tour by walking to the glacier terminal, which took over 45 minutes, as we had to climb ladders, and walk over rough parts of the ground. We were then split into 3 different groups, depending on our ability. We chose the best group, which was for the fittest (we liked to think we were the best!) and we started to climb. It was much harder than I thought it would be, but also much warmer than I expected. We all soon took off our jackets and jumpers (we were told to wear 5 layers!). We continued up the ice, and it soon started to turn really blue, and the rocks on the ice disappeared. Our guide had a big axe that he used to carve steps in for us. We saw one of the other groups ahead of us, and when we reached them, we stopped off for lunch. I was pretty tired at that point, but some food helped a lot. We had a 15 minute break, and then watched the other group descend into a crevasse that wasn't very wide. We followed, and almost got stuck, but we managed to squeeze through. We went up a bit further, and found a small cave area, that started with a really narrow crevasse. Two of the guides spent about 15 minutes hacking away at the ice, so we could go through. It was a lot narrower than I thought. We weren't allowed to take any bags with us, and we all understood why! It was about 1 foot wide in most places, and towards the end, even narrower! The last part was particularly hard, as we had to duck under a ridge, and up through an opening. It was also below freezing at that point! Most of us managed it (we were given the option of going down that one) and we went to our highest point on the glacier. The views were stunning (again!)! We spent ages taking photos, and then it was time to descend. It was a lot harder, as parts were starting melt, and going down hill is always harder. We made it to the bottom at about 4pm, and were all so tired. All I wanted to do was go to bed, but we still had another 45 minute trek back to the waiting coach. We made it back at just before 5pm, and handed back all of our things. We were so glad that we had the chance to do it, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone considering it!
At the moment, we're waiting for Stu to come back with the van, as it was supposed to get fixed today (hopefully!). Well, wish us luck!
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