Queenstown Rocks!!!

The pictures are slightly out of order, so we'll start at the top and work down...!!! This is NOT from Queenstown - we're now at the Fox Glacier and hoping to go on a glacier walk tomorrow (if we don't get washed out!). We went on a walk through the rainforest to the Franz Josef glacier this afternoon, and - IT RAINED! A lot. So you'll have to take our words for it that somewhere in the cloud over our shoulders is the bottom of the glacier as it meets the river valley!



So, back to Queenstown where we spent the previous four days this week. It was wonderful to have one base for a few days, and after two nights in the tent (one of which was spent with rain dripping through the roof!) we treated ourselves to a motel room! So what craziness we have been up to! Hurrah!
As soon as we arrived we made use of our tent's proximity to the gondola to go up to the luge and spend another afternoon whizzing down the track with amazing views over Queenstown!! The next day we went river surfing, which is pretty much like white-water rafting, but without the raft. We thought we were in for some light exercise, but this actually involved us body boarding along a 12km stretch of the river through grade 3 and 4 rapids (Niagara Falls is Grade 6!). It was exhausting! Unfortunately we don't have any photos of this, well apart from one of us in our wetsuits, but we didn't think we'd inflict that on you!



Sarah went paragliding off Coronet Peak, which is the highest mountain above Queenstown, and after a slightly bumpy take-off had some beautiful views for miles around. But it wasn't quite exciting enough so.......



Yes, this is Sarah! After everything she said about NOT doing a bungy jump. It was BRILLIANT!



RocketDan!!! (Should be hummed to the tune of Elton's classic)
As seen on Jack Osbourne Adrenaline Junkie, this was 'Fly By Wire'. Daniel decided it would be a good idea to be strapped in to a rocket and whinched up one side off a 60m high valley. Once released he whizzed propellor-powered across the 400m-wide canyon to the other side and then flew around for the next five minutes, getting higher and higher!
It was awesome like riding a motorbike at 170 kph (110mph) up and down a mountain without roads!!!



And this is us on the Shotover Jet. (We're in the back row, and Daniel's the one having all the fun!) This was brilliant too, as we sped along the Shotover River at about 80kph (50 mph) in a jet boat, just missing the rocks at the side and at points theough water that really should have been too shallow! Awesome 360 degree turns meant we got a little bit splashed but had lots of fun!

So, fingers crossed for the glacier walk tomorrow - and then we start our journey back to Christchurch for the flight home on Thursday. Boooo. :-(

Lakes and mountains galore!

After another drive through some amazing countryside, we arrived at Lake Tekapo - famous because the glaciers in the mountains grinding against the rocks make it a pure turquoise colour. And it really was beautiful (but absolutely freezing to swim in - though we didn't let that stop us!). The bottom photo with the lake and benches shows you the view we got from our tent this morning when we woke up! The weather was absolutely gorgeous when we arrived so we spoiled ourselves with a scenic flight known as the Grand Traverse. We were in a little Cessna plane, and flew right over Lake Tekapo into the mountains. We got wonderful aerial views of Mount Cook and the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers (hoping to do a walk on one of the glaciers later in our trip!). We're now at Lake Wanaka and have spent the afternoon sunbathing on the lakeside and enjoying an icecream! Off to Queenstown tomorrow for some adrenaline-fuelled activities!

Pictures from entry below :-))

Journey to the South Island

Hello again, sorry for not updating the Blog for some time but as you will find out we have been really busy and done so many things.The PC I am writing this entry from does not have a memory card reader so I am afraid no Pictures for you to marvel at this time...but I am sure we will find another Internet Cafe with Card reader on our Trip.
Right here it goes....We left Auckland on the Monday and picked up our little blue Korean Car and drove to the Coromandel Peninsula, as the weather was not very good we put up our tent and went for a little walk in the hope that Tuesday would be better. Well it turns out Tuesday was better but we decided to drive to Rotorua that morning. We arrived in Rotorua and had a session in the ensuite Spa Pool in out Motel :-) Rotorua is a smelly old place or as I would like to call it Smellyville due to all the thermal springs, mudpools etc. Anyhow next day we got up had some breakfast and went to the Te Puia Thermal Park, checked out the bubbling pools of mud, water and took in a Geyser on the way. We then went to see a Maori concert, AWESOME (incl. Haka). After that we went to a Mountain and drove up in a Gondola and LUGED it down 3 times :-)) ahhh he fun I had... (for my Dad..Rodeln). The next day we left Rotorua and drove to Wellington, after that 6 hour drive we checked in a Backpackers. Refreshed we made our way downtown and went to the Te Papa museum. After an early start the following morning (6AM) we went to the Interislander Ferry to Picton. Arrived in Picton and went straight for a wine tasting session at the Montana Winery (as you do..)we continued our journey for another 2 hours in the little blue car and arrived in Kaikoura (Whale watching capital). As the weather was really poo yesterday we checked into a Motel and took it easy. This morning GLORIOUS SUNSHINE and BLUE SKY...so we went on a Quad Bike tour through the Mountains. FANTASTIC!!!! Daredevil Sarah...that is all I say.... Tomorrow we are going Whale watching in a Boat...weather permitting.. we will then drive to Christchurch.

Bay of Islands

We had the most amazing time in the Bay of Islands over the last 3 days. We had checked in a Motel with Pool and Spa pool, so we utilised that straight after we arrived on Thursday afternoon. On Friday we went to the Treaty grounds in Waitangi and took in some Maori
culture, then back to the Hotel for another session in the spa pool! On Saturday we did a boat trip around the Bay of Islands, saw the famous hole in the rock and felt a bit seasick ....in the afternoon we stopped for 4 hours on a sun drenched sub tropical pacific island ...awesome.. After we arrived back at the Motel we had another little spa pool session! On Sunday we had a mammoth day of activities planned. We went up 90 mile beach, saw Cape Reinga where the pacific meets the Tasman sea, went to buy some souvenirs in the Kauri Kingdom shop, and saw some huuuuge Kauri trees. After that we drove back to Auckland and went to the Harbour where the Queen Elizabeth 2 had docked for the night. We are now packed up and getting our rental car. So from now on it is just us two. Matt and Wifey have been absolutely spectacular hosts and we really appreciate their hospitality and would like to thank them ever so much for putting up with us for almost 1 week.

Pacific Island anyone?

This morning we had a really good breakfast (when we finally got up ). After that we caught the Ferry to the Pacific Island of Waiheke (50 min boat trip). During the fun activities of kite flying, swimming and burying Matt in the sand we decided to have a local ice cream from the "Dairy" (corner shop in England).
After the ferry ride back to Auckland we had STEAK, yes George...STEAK!!!! It was amazing...never had a better steak in my life....After that 4 fully grown fed Adults went up the Sky Tower (highest Tower in the Southern Hemisphere). Fantastic Views over Auckland. We are off to the Bay of Islands tomorrow.

Kia ora from Aotearoa (Hello from New Zealand)

Yay, we've completed the (very) turbulent 10 hour flight from Hong Kong to New Zealand (unfortunately without any sleep and with the odd spilt cup of tea).
Matt and Wifey picked us up from the Airport as promised. Sarah is having a few problems staying up so she has been sleeping for the last 1.5 hours, will have to wake her up now as we want to go into Town and have some MASSIVE STEAK (George.. it is THE Steakhouse Matt was talking about).
We will spend tomorrow in Auckland and on Thursday we're driving North to Goats Island for some snorkeling and other joyful activities.

I've woken up now! We're sitting and enjoying the view of Auckland harbour from Matt and MC's lounge. The weather's very warm and I can't wait to get out and about for the next three weeks. We're thinking of going up the skytower before dinner for the views out over the city as the sun sets. And I hope I can try my first glass of New Zealand wine with our dinner!

Hong Kong Summary

Right...here it goes..
Hong Kong was pretty cool, so many little Chinese dudes...14.5 mio of them all in one place...my God..It was so busy.
We did not eat any proper Chinese food as it looked pretty strange...fully honey glazed duck with head and feet still on!!! Did not find a Snake eating place either so after all the hype back home in the Office Daniel did not manage to prove that he would eat Snake.
So instead we went for the more safer and in our eyes tastier Thai Cuisine.
We have to say that we're not really sure what 'Hong Kong style' is... you can smell noodles and sweet and sour wherever you are in the streets. They do a mighty good cake, though! All the bread seems to be brioche-style with various bits added.
3 days were absolutely amazing and we can fully recommend Hong Kong.
Best and probably most surreal bit was the Symphony of Lights - we took the ferry from the island over to Kowloon to watch a light show with all the skyscrapers lit up to music. Lasers, flashing lights and music on loudspeakers!
Anyway off to New Zealand now, another 11 hours flight.

We are here!!!!

Just a few snaps on the first day to make you jealous!!

Hong Kong's amazing and doesn't quite feel real! The flight was a bit of a killer, but the fact they upgraded us to an executive room at the hotel has made up for it! Almost ate some interesting unidentified food last night till we found a restaurant with an English menu and pictures!