driving to milford

The drive to Milford Sound was fantastic. We were on the bus before 7am but the first 2 hours of the trip (before getting to Lake Te Anau) are pretty uneventful so we made the most of it and had a nap. After stopping for breakfast at Te Anau the sights were much more spectacular - the driver stopped as much as possible for photo opportunities, which despite being very touristy I was more than glad to do.

First stop:

Just a couple of minutes later we stopped here:

where it rains nearly every day of the year! The driver thought the sunshine was too good an opportunity to miss.

It was a little while until we got to the Mirror Lakes. The view is truly astounding (I'm running out of adjectives here...). The first part of the lake is so-so, you can see a reflection of the sky and vaguely the mountains but we were disappointed thinking that it was that image about which there was so much hype, however, following the path around the corner we saw this:

The bus was glass topped, so as we drove closer to the Sound we could see the peaks of mountains through the roof:

Obviously it's not great for photography but if you have the opportunity it would be great to experience it for yourself.

More scenes from the drive:

 

 

 

 

loooongest bus trip of my life

The title implies that I didn't enjoy this incredibly long trip, but, in all seriousness, I did.

I was hesitant about committing to the 9 hour ride from Christchurch to Queenstown but in retrospect am very glad that we did. The first few hours saw us driving with rocky snow capped peaks just off to the distance to the right, as we crossed many little streams with crystal clear, or slightly aqua coloured water weaving it's way through stony grey creek beds. Most of these streams had loads of colourful lupin flowers growing by them, I couldn't get a photo of this though because we only ever saw it from the bus. This pic is actually of the sea of lupins at Lake Tekapo:

They come in heaps of different colours and appear over much of the South Island.

Anyway, what really amazed me about the scenery from the bus was the incredible juxtaposition, especially between Geraldine and Queenstown. If I had any artistic talent I would move here. From the same window we could see:

this photo from Alpine Pacific Tourism (I couldn't get a good enough image from the bus)

 

if anyone knows what the (blurry) circle of boxes to the right of this photo is, PLEASE tell me!

 

 

Extreme Picnics on blogspot also has a fantastic photo at this link.

 Once we got close to Queenstown we were a little worried to see the lanscape looking like this:

but there was just something eerily magnificent about seeing these immense mountain ranges (The Remarkables) shrouded in cloud. It's as though this is how they are meant to be seen, so when it started raining right before we disembarked the bus we didn't even mind.

take off!!

Leaving behind our luxury hotel accommodation at 5:30 on Tuesday morning, it was hard to believe we were really about to leave the country. I think the early start has actually helped us adjust to the time difference, although Australia is only 2 hours behind. This was the first time that I didn't feel nervous at take off, perhaps that was because I was so tired haha. Though we left late, we arrived early - despite loads of turbulence coming over the beautiful, snowy mountain ranges along the middle of the South Island of New Zealand.

Getting out of the airport all happened quickly. We didn't really have queues at any stage, which was fantastic. They were filming for Border Security NZ when we came through customs, after which we were through the gates, out the front door and straight on to a bus - though we weren't exactly sure where we were meant to be going. I have all the maps of New Zealand loaded on to my phone - we haven't needed to use it much but it's comforting to know it's there.

When we got into Christchurch city centre we strolled around with a minimal idea of where we were headed - base Christchurch (we booked all of the trip in advance because it's the first time we've done it). The lady at the check-in desk reminded me of the the actress Emma Thompson, but John tells me I'm crazy. Having climbed the 3 flights of stairs up to our room we realised we had no idea which room we were in so I sent J to find out.

After a bit of a rest we went to explore the city and find lunch - ended up being terribly difficult just to find a bakery! That was nothing compared to the search for a supermarket though, throughout the city there are heaps of convenience stores but we had to ask a local where the reasonably priced places are - leading us to a "Pak'n'Save" which made me think of those giant supermarkets in American films. We also walked through the Botanic Gardens, which, although pretty, are nothing spectacular. Oh, except for some of the trees - they're enormous!

More photos from Christchurch:

 

 

We were pretty exhausted by the time we got back to the hostel and met our 2 roomies from Germany. They'd apparently been there 1 night and were already bored of the city! That was kind of understandable though, we walked around the streets in the evening to try and find a nice bar to sit with a glass of wine but it was a ghost town by 7pm. We'll be back there later in the week though so perhaps there's more going on over the weekend.

24 hours to go!

For the past week I've been living on a diet of jelly and ice-cream, walking round with a box of tissues and persistently taking cold and flu medication to try and rid me of this horrid cold before we leave (tomorrow, 8:50am!). Finally I'm starting to feel less like a giant germ and more like a normal human again :)

Surprisingly, I have had no trouble packing into just a backpack. Admittedly a rather large backpack, but none-the-less it weighs only (about) 12kg, which compared to my 23kg suitcase the last time I went overseas is a lovely relief. Packing list:
2x jeans
1x shorts
2x dresses
7x shirts
1x jumper
1x cardigan
1x jacket
8x underwear
1x pijamas
1x bedsheet and pillowcase
1x trainers
2x sandals
1x havaianas to wear to showers
1x swimmers
Then my ghd (couldn't help myself), iPod, phone with GPS :), video camera, still camera, tripod, a book (new moon in French), and toiletries.

Sounds like a lot when it's written down like that! Anyway, tonight we're staying in Sydney because we have to be at the airport so early tomorrow, and I managed to convince J to go to the ballet at the Opera House with me! We're flying in to Christchurch and staying overnight.
Day 2: 9 hour bus ride from Christchurch to Queenstown! I'm sure you're envious of this part, but really, I've heard the scenery is great.
Day 3: day trip to Milford Sound.
Day 4: exploring Queenstown.
Day 5: stopping for the night at Lake Tekapo.
Day 6: horse riding around Lake Tekapo before taking the bus back to Christchurch.
Day 7: bus-ing it up to Hanmer Springs to visit the thermal pools and relax overnight.
Day 8: back to Christchurch.
Day 9: flying home in the afternoon.

Looking forward to posting some more interesting articles once we're actually over there! Though I'm not too sure of the internet access we'll have, may have to wait until we're home.

Enjoy the hot weather Australia!

pre-trip shopping

Been a while since my first post because I haven't had much to update. We went shopping for backpacks today and ended up sticking with the choices we made a few months ago, both from Mountain Designs.

I have this one, the Columbus 65L:

and J has the Pangea 75L:

I'll post more pics once we have them filled and are wearing them, slightly worried about fitting my life into here though!! We did get a GREAT deal on prices, Mountain Designs at DFO Canberra currently has a big sale on. Mine was RRP $399.95, final price $191; and J's- RRP $319.95, final price $156 I think. I was so pleased because we were ready to shell out 300 each, I can't really write about doing your research to get the best deal though because despite having tried to look for MD sales it was only by chance that we turned up today when this sale began. I believe it's 20% off until Sunday 15th.

Both packs open on the side (by that i mean they have a zipper so you can open them up like a suitcase and don't have to dig through from the top) and have detachable day packs, rain covers and infinite zippers, pockets and buckles. I'm going to have a play once exams are done to see if I can work out where everything goes... and will let you know what I think of it in more detail then.

Other things I've "invested in" for the trip- tripod, spare batteries and cases for video and still cameras.