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. Anyway we headed off for more ace driving.
On the way we stopped at loads of cliff look outs, beaches, and lakes, the thing that really stood out on the journey however was when we decided wed drive up a small lane to try and get in the deep blue river for a swim. When we finally got to a car park we saw that a company was operating helicopter flights from here. Wed not planned for an expensive helicopter flight and werent going to change our minds now. However when the operator cut us a deal to fill his flight, we jumped at the chance. Before we knew it, we were taking off and heading up towards the mountains. The fligth was amazing and we just kept getting higher and higher. Eventually we touched down at the top of the mountains, landing at the source of the Merchison glacier. For the whole time we were walkign about on the glacier we had the biggest grins on our faces and couldnt believe we were doing this. All too soon we had to get back in the Helicopter and head back to base. The flight back was amazing too, with the pilot pointing out all the cool things along the way such as a rest house perched on the edge of a cliff for mountaineers, as well as stacks of glaciers, mountains and avalanches. When we landed back at the base, we still couldnt stop grinning. Just an amazing thing to do.

((helicopter ride photo))

We finally got to Franz Joseph and were totally bowled over by the scenery, surrounded by snow capped mountains, Franz Joseph is a pretty special place to visit and the local industry reflects the tourist population. The place we were staying was pretty nice and seemed to have everyting we needed. Nikki was far too excited about the free soup though. Whilst waiting in the soup queue, who should i be stood right behind, thats right, Mr. Petrol.

We had to be up really early the next day to have a good hike so went to bed early. Franz Joseph gets really cold at night, and with no double glazing, it was a bit of a chilly one, btu we lived to tell the tale. We headed over to the hike centre the next day and were given all the equipment we needed to get hiking; Cramp-ons, etc.

The hike itself was amazing, and Nikki and I decided to go into the intermediate group and not the super fast group who were walking at a crazy fast pace, its a wonder they got to see anything at all as you spend alot of time looking at your feet when your on a glacier. Our guide was very good and i took so many photos i wore my camera out. It was pretty much non-stop stuff apart from a quick lunch break. At times it was a bit scary when we had to climb up some cliffs and stuff like that, but well worth it. Even though our feet were really aching fo a few days after the hike, i would gladly do it again.

((Franz Joseph photo))

Next day we left Franz Joseph early and headed South. First stop was Franz Joseph glaciers cousin, Fox Glacier. WE walked up to check it out and whilst the scenery was yet again stunning, The glacier itself wasnt as impressive as Franz Joseph and so we were glad we decided to hike the one we did. Still really cool though and worth checking out. We continued on and stopped at loads of waterfalls, streams, bridges and similar, all shown in the pictures. We finally got to Makaroa which is a village with abotu 3 houses which sits in the middle of a great big valley. After pitchign the tent up we grabbed some food and had a little walk down to the river. Again, this place was amazing. Unfortunately our tent was surrounded by a bunch of huts, all of them full of horrible little Rah children of about 16 years old. Eventually they stopped pissing about and we managed to get to sleep. Makaroa is a really nice place and a great half way point between Franz Joseph and Queenstown if you like being a bit more isolated from civilisation than normal

((Journey to Makaroa picture))

((Makaroa pictures))

The drive to Queenstown was great Yet again the scenery was amazing and we were constantly stopping off to take pictures on a regular basis. We stopped off at a fantastic little town called Wanaka on the way. Wanaka seemed like a really nice and friendly alpine town and we felt we could happily live here if a job came up. Apparently things really kick off here in the winter when the ski season begins. After a quick coffee in Wanaka we hit the road again and on the way hit wine country. We hadnt stopped at a winery yet so we pulled off at a decent looking one and did a few tastings. The wine tasted amazing, Apparently this particular winery was one of only a handfull that sit on the 45th parralell. The 45th Paralell is the line half way between the equator and the South pole. The result of this position is that it gets really intense sunshine in the summer and cold winters. This causes the grapes to grow intensely during summer which gives everythgin a very well developed flavour. We came away with a bottle of chardonnay, with the journey enhanced a little by the small blood alchohol level. We also stopped at an old goldmine, a few watery type things and the place where bungee jumping all began. We were not brave enough or rich enough to bungee, but enjoyed watching other people leap.

((Wanaka, scenery on way to Queenstown))

((Bungee jump video))

Eventually we got to Queenstown and pitched up. We had a great view of the mountains and lake. Initially though we werent too impressed with Queenstown. It seemed to be full of Brits on gap years and working holidays and we struggled to here a single kiwi voice. The night out we had was ok, but again it was kind of ruined by the massive levels of drunken, lairy, idiot Britishness going down. Just before sunrise however we went up on one of the cable cars to near the top of one of the mountains. The view from up here (as shown by the amount of pictures i took trying to capture it). There was however a really big bush fire going on on one of the hills in the near distance. It seemed as if the whole hill was on fire and as it got darker, the glow grew ever more menacing.

((Queenstown pictures))

Overall we found Queenstown ok, we enjoyed the scenery etc. But in some ways it seemed like an upmarket version of Newquay, without the beaches.

Next up was our journey to Te Anau. We were heading down to Te Anau because it was from here that we would get picked up the next day and taken to Milford Sound for our Kayak tour. Youre probably sick of hearing it but yes the scenery was great. Te Anau itself is a nice little town with not much going on, but it does have a really cool lake and a really modern cinema showing loads of arty type films you can enjoy whilst having a beer. We needed to be up early the next day for Milford Sound so we just had a look about, grabbed a pizza and ate it by the lakeside, then to bed at about 9.

((Te Anau))

We had to get up at 5.30am the next day as we were getting picked up at 6.30am for Milford sound. A little bedraggled, We made the minibus in time and were soon well on the way. The journey itself took about 2.5 hours (150km) and on teh way we stopped at the mirror lakes

((mirror lakes picture))

We got to Milford Sound at just before 9ish and after a much needed pee, we got into the canoeing gear quickly. We then headed off me in the back stearing and Nikki up front. From start to end we just had an amazing time. Its amazing how huge everything is there and how easilly the eye is fooled by the massiveness of everything. because everything is so huge, it looks nowehere near as big as it actually is. When we first headed out, theere was a really strong wind piling into us, this caused pretty big waves to try and knock us off balance, but luckilly we had no capsizes. One of the highlights of the trip was when we saw fur-seals. We saw 3 fur seals hanging out together by the edge of the water, twirling about in the water and rubbing their fur. Apparently they do this to spread oils about to keep them waterproof. One thing that really annoyed us (and everyone else that ever visits), was the abundance of sandflies. Luckilly the weather wasnt too warm so there wasnt loads about. But there was enough, and they loved munching on my exposed hands, OW!

The pictures of Milford sound probably say more than i can, and even they cant properly capture how amazing this place truley is. I reccomend going here to anyone who reads this blog, easilly one of the best things we did all holiday.

((Milford Sound Pictures))

On the way back from Milford Sound was great as well. The guide who had just taken us on the tour of the sound was now driving us back. We stopped at several cool things along the way and at the spots he showed us some plants, leaves and berries and got us to taste them. It just topped off an already amazing day.

((pictures from coming back))

That night we went to see the film Love in the Time of Cholera as it was bucketing down. Quite a mediocre film i thought, and lots of stuff about it made it rubbish, such as the occasionally poor acting, the non-flowing storyline and some really rubbish make up type effects. It passed the time quite nicely though and it was nice to sit in a comfy chair after the hard days paddling.
We headed bacm to Queenstown the neext day brigh and early. Thsi isnt the most interesting rdive i n tye worlx but still ok. When qe got to the saem campsite in Queenstown we had to pat a behavioue bone of $50. Because it was thd easter weekend and loads of Kisis go away and get drunk, they wanted to make sure everyoje on the site behaved themselves. After putting up the tent again, we decided to climb Quernsyown hill. It was a nice day and the viewq from the hill were fantastic as expected. We didnt climb all tje way however as it was pretty steep an we were stilk a bit worn oyt from the previous day. As before, we went into town fro a few drinks that nignt but nothing tio major as there was eome serious drivlng to be done the jext day.
The next day we headed off to Mount Cook National park. Whats in Twizel and on the way to Twizel? Not very much at all. This drive was the longest and probably the most dull journey of the whole holiday, however once we able to see Mount Cook it got alot better with the mountain views improving with every killometre.

Once we got to the park, we immediately set about doing one of the walks. We decided on doing the Hooker Valley walk because it lasted approx 4 hours and wasnt ammazingly difficult but still gave great things to see.

The walk was amazing, with the scariest bits probably being the suspension bridges over the rocky rapids. Again, everything around us was on a gigantic scale so nothing looked as big as it actually was. Mount Cook however did look massive. The amount of names of people whod died climbing the mountain at a memorial at the beginning of the track was testament to the extremity of the place. Our hire car until now had been flawless until we were driving on one of the gravel tracks, when anothe car came steaming in the other direction and smack, thewindscreen got a chip in it. we had to pay for any windscreen chips at $50 a chip so we werent very happy about that.

The place we were staying in Twizel was fantastic. We were basically in the middle of no-where in a large room in a very nice guesthouse/lodge. We got there just in time to see the sun setting behind Mount Cook. This was probably the best place we stayed all holiday.

((Mount Cook and Twizel))

Again the next day was a big drive back to Christchurch, and another not so interesting one. I recomend to anyone coming to the South Island that more time is spent on the West coast than East Coast. Nothing really to report about this except that we stopped at a little town which had the biggest caridgan in the world and we bought some Wooley hats hand knitted by a granny for $8 a go. Nikki finally found that she can suit hats she just needs the right one.

We slogged on for Christchurch and got there in good time to mena wed get the free shuttle back to our hostel from the depot. Luckilly they didnt notice the windscreen chips or the hubcap that had fallen off, so without saying a word we vamoosed back to the hostel for the night. With what was left of the rest of the day, we had an explore aroudn Christchurch and overall found it to be quite a nice place all in all. Unfortunately we were there on a sunday, so no decent bars were open but we found a couple of nice places that suited us just fine.

((Christchurch pics))

The next day we flew back, no worries.

Overall we had an amazing journey, but there was so much we didnt see or do, so areturn trip next summer is definately on the cards.What did we learn on our trip though?

- When visiting the South Island get hold of the strongest bug repellant you can and then bathe in it.- Some people have no concept of petrol station ettiquite
- Theres more Britixh in Queenstowg than Kiwis.
- Milford Sound is one of the most amazing places in the world to visit.
- Our experience of constant good weather was incredibly jammy.
- Glaciers rule.

OK, so sorry it was a long time coming, but hope you can see why.

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