New Zealand didn’t start well. I’ll be honest. I lost my phone. Somewhere in Christchurch there is a taxi driver whose back seat ate my phone. True story. Nevertheless, New Zealand has made it up to me this past week. I’m officially head over heels in love. Let’s start from the very beginning shall we?
Christchurch:
Being our first stop on our kiwi tour, much was expected from young Christchurch. We were to be slightly disappointed our first day as, in all truthfulness, there isn’t that much there. The main tourist activity that McCulloch and I wanted to do was the Antarctic centre, so we did. It was tremendous fun. You don’t often hear much about the Antarctic, everyone always seems far more interested in the North Pole, so it was interesting to learn some more about the frozen continent that floats so close to New Zealand. The most entertaining factor of the visit was our trip to the Antarctic itself. Donned in warm jackets, we headed out into the snow and the beautiful scenary in front of us. Granted, the ‘beautiful scenary’ was a poster covered wall and the ‘Antarctic’ was a man-made room, but at least the snow was real! Here we were plunged into the centre of a -18.7 degree wind chill. Amy declared throughout the whole thing that this was merely ‘shorts weather’ (cocky Canadian haha) but I was freezing. My denim skirt and leggings are apparently not ‘antarctic’ attire and thus I near on froze. Safe to say I won’t be moving to the antarctic any time soon!
The following day we met up with two of our Oasis family, Jay and Rach, who live in the city. Playing tour guides for the day, they generously chauffered us up to a look out point over Christchurch, the beach and the arts centre. We then spent the evening eating and gossiping over a bottle of wine. It was great to see them and hopefully we will see them again before we leave New Zealand.
With the arrival of Monday morning, came our departure from Christchurch in our car, ‘Sunny,’ as we headed into the mountains to visit Hammer Springs.
Hammer Springs:
Hot springs were what attracted us to this mountain location. The thought of natural hot springs tumbling from the mountains was just too appealing to ignore. After a brisk morning walk through the cold mountain air, we equipped ourselves with waterproof camera and swimmers and headed to Hammer Springs spa.
Whilst it was incredibly relaxing and the views were simply breathtaking, it was almost too ‘man-made’ for my liking. In my mind I had images of naturally formed rock pools with waterfalls of natural hot spring water flowing into them. The plastic bath-esque tubs were not quite fitting the picture…..but hey, beggars can’t be choosers! The surroundings were stunning though and more than made up for the slightly ‘touristy’ take on the hot springs. Sitting outside, in spring water, surrounded by mountains blanketed by tropical rainforest was an amazing sight and in itself made the trip worth while.
Kaikoura:
Not being ones who like to hang about, Amy and I loved and left Hammer Springs after a day and headed to Kaikoura, where the mountains meet the sea. Our coastal drive on a clear day was simply breathtaking. I’ve never seen such views or a sea as turquoise. This country is beautiful and our coastal drive proved it. Driving for four hours with such views just isn’t a chore, in fact its more a pleasure and a past time that both Amy and I are enjoying.
Kaikoura was very, very small but we were there for one reason and one reason only, to drink with Adam and Dave. Our male counterparts (who we’ve spent time with in every country we’ve been to so far) were meant to be on the North Island, but spent two weeks drinking in Queenstown, managed to cross paths with us once more. The four of us, before heading to the pub and playing pool, discovered a road/sea side Seafood BBQ where we immersed ourselves in crayfish, scallops, whitebait and other such fish luxuries.
The following morning however, as much as we do love Adam and Dave, our real reason for visiting Kairkoura descended upon us – our wild dolphin swim. Granted, at 4.30am in the morning my reaction was ‘screw the dolphins.’ Who in their right mind willingly gets up at 4.30am to go swimming the ocean that is freezing in the heat of the day? Us apparently. We headed out, decked out in hooded wetsuits, onto the ocean in search of the Dusky Dolphins. Having been told numerous times that how many we saw depended on the dolphins, we weren’t really expecting much. If they had any sense they’d be sleeping like we should have been. But apparently, like Amy and I, dolphins have no sense either. 30 minutes into our journey found ourselves surrounded by the Dusky dolphins, these ‘acrobats of the sea.’ Everywhere we looked there were fins, tails, noses…..there were hundreds of them. As quickly as we could we all slipped into the water and became part of the dolphin pod. The experience was unbelievable. All around us were these dolphins and we were their entertainment. Singing to them through our snorkles as we had been informed to do, the dolphins were attracted to us and, once you gained eye contact with them, you could swim in a circle with them until you got too dizzy to continue. A dolphins idea of a joke I presume. It was unforgettable….never in my life did I imagine that I would be swimming in the ocean at 6am with over 200 wild dolphins. Never.
Abel Tasman:
Journerying from the East Coast to the North West corner of the South Island, we hit Abel Tasman national park. It was here that Amy, Lofty and I set out on a 7 hour, 20km trek through the national park. I honestly think it was the closest to death I have ever come. Seriously.
We started well. All of us were full of energy and enthusiasm. The picture perfect views kept us entertained for the 4 hour part of our hike to Anchorage, our half way point. An hour previously, we had emerged ourselves in the crystal clear waters of Torrent Bay for a chillax. The water was freezing, especially compared to 30 degree waters in Australia, but the colour and clearness of it meant it just couldn’t be ignored.
After Anchorage, the pain hit. As we had been walking down a hill towards Anchorage beach, I had slipped on some leaves and jarred my already tempermental knee. It wasn’t happy. But there was no other way back. It was the final hour that was the worst. I knew that if I stopped, even for a second, I would not move again for a very, very long time. So, I powered on through leaving Amy and Lofty behind. Finally, I arrived at the finish point and promptly collasped whislt I waited for Lofty and Amy. Needless to say that night we didn’t do very much at all. The pain the next day, even two days later, was intense. I would say the views and beauty made it all worth while….but right now I’m not so sure. Ask me in a few days.
Franz Josef Glacier:
Now we are in Glacier country, down the West coast. This morning, bright and early, Amy and I headed up to Lake Matherson by Mt Cook to photograph ‘the most photographed lake in New Zealand.’ It’s famous for its mirror like reflections of Mt Cook and Mt Tasman behind it. It truly was spectacular. Looking at my photos now it is almost hard to tell apart which is the reflection and which is the mountains themselves. The beauty was nearly overpowering and on more than one occasion forced you to stop dead and simply stare. The path round the lake was full of motionless tourists struck dumb in awe.
Tomorrow, Amy and I brave the glaciers. Due to my knee being unhappy with me, I am only doing a half day, Amy a full. We’ll let you know how we get on…assuming we aren’t too sore to write.
First Impressions:
I love this country. I have been here only a week and already I know that I prefer it 110% to Australia. Every inch of the New Zealand that we have seen so far is picture perfect and is as close to paradise in so many ways. I feel at ease here. The visions around us can literally make you speechless. Now that is power if ever I saw it.
[…] February 11, 2008 by amymcculloch The sight of Franz Josef glacier crawling down into the rainforest is unreal. We are sitting at the base of it, and from this close it looks like a jumble of rocks and debris rather than a huge sheet of ice. That view is soon about to change. Our guide, Cliff (no pun intended… that was his actual name), demonstrates how to strap the clampons onto our feet and soon we’re making more noise walking than the clackers in The Devil Wears Prada. They have dressed us up in full head-to-toe ice climbing gear: toques, mittens, gore tex jackets, snow pants and big black boots. It’s warm down here and I’m dressed to face the snowstorm room in the Antarctic Centre. (See: Sarah’s blog entry) […]