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!!