Week 15 (New Zealand - South Islands)

Mount Cook
3.01.08 -14.01.08

We took a long drive to see the famous Mount Cook, even in the middle of summer the snow capped mountains were so impressive with blue ice running down the sides. We took the opportunity to do some "tramps" (treks) and were extremely grateful for our hiking boots!

Dunedin
14.01.08 - 15.01.08

We visited Dunedin and were lucky enough to see yellow eyed penguins on the beach!! We were gobsmacked at the way the birds sang songs looking up to us, it was almost as if they were performing to us.

We also visited "Seal Point" on the Otaga peninsula home to Hooker Sea Lions. We saw them swim, fight and even woo the female Lions.Unlike NZ fur seals, Hooker Sea Lions are not afraid of humans and can be quite boisterous and aggressive. We were advised by signs not to approach any closer than 10 metres for our safety. The picture above is of a male sea lion charging down on Rob as he got too close, it is the last picture he ever took...

Also near Dunedin we visited "Nugget Point", there were so many sea lions and seals all on the rocks. We also spotted little rock pools which were full of all the baby seals. They were adorable, splashing each other and having fun with their Mums.





These were amazingly spherical boulders (like giant marbles) we found on a beach on the way to Queens Town. We have no idea how they got there, but they were amazing to look at, even in the rain and drizzle!





Queenstown
16.01.08 - 17.01.08

The drive to Queenstown was beautiful, we had "The Remarkables" (mountains) in the background whilst we drove past the beautiful Wakatipu lake. It was absolutely stunning.






We decided to go Canyoning in Queenstown, the night before our trip the heavens opened up, which caused a lot of snow to melt. The waters were fierce but we had a wonderful and exhilarating time.

This is a video of Jen doing a waterfall jump.




This is Rob's jump.

Fox Glacier and Franz Joseph Glacier
18.01.08 - 19.01.08

We drove to the two largest glaciers in New Zealand. This is a photo of Fox Glacier, they were so big and so blue. We went on a nice long trek and got really close to them. The water all around the glaciers were absolutely freezing. It was a lovely blue day which made the mountains and the glacier even more impressive!

PuPu springs
19.01.08

Near the Abel Tasman Nation Park we visited the very famous "PuPu" springs. They were beautiful, we could see trout swimming around so clearly. We found it really hard to resist the temptation to jump in....





Living in a camper van for 2 weeks defiantly has it pros and cons. One negative aspect is the lack of showers, after seeing the gorgeous springs we decided to find a wash facility. This river was the best thing we could come up with, but it did the trick!!

Week 14 (Bay of Islands, Rotorua and Christchurch)

Bay of Islands (07/01/08)

On Monday we drove across the top of the North Island of NZ to reach our next destination which was the Bay of Islands. Our first stop was the grounds of the Treaty of Waitangi. This is a historic place of huge importance for New Zealanders. In 1840 the treaty was signed by the British resident William Hobson and over 500 Maori chiefs. The treaty basically stated that the Maoris would have the same rights as British citizens and would be protected by the crown in exchange for giving up the sovereignty of NZ to Britain.


Although there is evidence of the settlers (or Pakeha) treating the natives badly it is interesting to see the difference between NZ's situation and the treatment of Aboriginals in Australia.

Built next to William Hobson's house is an impressive Maori meeting house. Many trade and land agreements were discussed by Pakeha and Maori on the grounds.





There is also a huge war canoe in the treaty grounds. It is made out of three Kauri trees (see previous post) and can hold 150 men.










As well as being full of history, you can also enjoy swimming with dolphins at the Bay of Islands. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best for viewing them so we decided to wait until we were in the South Island.

Instead we visited a small town called Russel via the local ferry. Russel was a beautiful little town which had the oldest church of New Zealand situated in it.



Rotorua (07/01/08 - 09/01/08)

We drove straight through Auckland to reach our next destination. Rotorua is literally built on a volcanic ridge of geothermal activity. It was so impressive to see the mud pools and steaming geysers that line the street as you enter the town, however, we were a little worried when a local said that they have to physically let the pressure out of the geysers every week or the town would shake!!






We spent half a day at the Waitomo Thermal Wonderland. Despite the cheesy name the place was awesome. From spraying geysers to bubbling pools it had everything and it was all natural.






The range of colours on display were amazing. They were created by all the different volcanic minerals mixing together. When we saw fluorescent yellow/green pools it was hard to believe that it had all been created by natural causes.





We also found time to relax in Rotorua. We took an invigorating mud and minerals bath at a spa. The picture to the left is not our bath (in case you were wondering) it is a boiling hot mud pool in action at the park.







Christchurch 10/01/08 - 12/01/08

We took a short flight down to Christchurch where we spent a few days taking in all the beautiful sights it had to offer.
We really loved Christchurch, it was very arty with some great coffee shops. We spent some time going to a huge old university that had been turned into a craft centre, we also took time to visit the museum and had a picnic at the botanical gardens.



This is a photo of Christchurch Cathederal, it is the only church that we have ever entered that had automatic doors!! (It was very touristy) but was a lovely church.









We picked up our campervan from the "Wicked Camper" office in Christchurch. We were really pleased with our campervan. It was brand new, automatic, air conditioned and the best feature is the huge pictures and lyrics spray painted all over the van of the Chemical Brothers!!





Akaroa (12/01/08 - 13/01/08)

On our first day in our Campervan we headed down to Akaroa.
We had to drive really high up into the mountains and at some parts we got a bit scared. However, from what seemed out of nowhere a huge turquoise blue harbor came into sight and we had such an amazing view that took our breath away!




We decided to spend the night up in the mountains on our first night. There was nothing around us except fields, mountains and a beautiful view of the sea.

This is a photo of the beautiful sunset we had from up the top of the mountain. This was taken just before Rob got down on one knee and asked Jennie to marry him and ..... she said yes!! (Sorry for the shocking news if you were unaware!!)

Week 13 (Melbourne, Auckland and The Kaori Coast)

Melbourne (31/12/2007 - 02/01/08)

New Year's Eve in Melbourne and the temperature was 41 degrees. We could hardly move! Despite the heat we did have a really good time, we spent the evening with Nerida and a group of her friends.






We started the evening with a barbecue and a few drinks, then moved onto a local bar where we sat outside to watch the fireworks and ended it all by falling asleep in Nerida's back garden (!)






Despite our New Year's Day hangovers we were determined to see more of Melbourne city so Nerida kindly took us on a guided tour. This is Flinders Street Station. There are a lot of beautiful buildings throughout the city and it was very good for pictures as there were hardly any people about due to it being New Year's Day.







Melbourne is a great city, probably our favourite in Australia. There is a strong music, art and coffee culture.







You can't walk down a street without walking round the cafe tables on the pavement. It's very European and we very much enjoyed sitting around and drinking coffee.






That evening we had another barbecue and if you click on the photo to the left you can see me literally "chucking another shrimp on the barbie!" Cheesy, I know, but it's a classic.









Auckland (02/01/08 -04/01/08)

The next day we had a flight to Auckland, New Zealand booked. We were supposed to arrive at 18:30 but after a 6 hour delay and a detour to Sydney we finally arrived at 01:30 with no accommodation booked! The next couple of days were mainly spent catching up on sleep and the usual activity of planning and booking that happens every time we reach a new country. Whilst walking around Auckland we got to see the famous harbour and experience the multicultural city. The only thing that let us down a bit was the weather. New Zealand weather is supposed to be very similar to English weather so this makes perfect sense!

The Kaori Coast (05/01/08 - 06/01/08)

On the 5th we picked up a rental car and set off towards The Northlands of the North Island. After a lot of driving and a coffee at one of the weirdest cafes we have been to (the woman was obsessed with frogs!) we arrived at the Kaori Coast. The first thing we saw were some beautiful fresh water lakes called Kai-lwi.







When we reached the Waipoua forest we got to see the largest Kauri tree in the world called Tane Mauta or "God of The Forest" the trunk is 17.7m high and the girth is an amazing 13.8m! If you click on the photo to enlarge it you can see Jennie waving her arms at the trunk base.








We then spent the night at a place called Opononi which has a population of 150. It might sound a bit out of the way but it was one of the homeliest hostels we had stayed at and was right next to the huge Hokianga sand dunes.