Sharpie's big skive!
 NZ updated... Hello everyone, I`ve got lots to tell you! Our time`s nearly up in the South Island and we`ll be heading up to the North Island in a few days. Before we got here we were told that two months in New Zealand might be to long, but it`s been just right. It`s allowed us to take things at our own (laid back) pace. We`ve brought ourselves a 60hr bus pass which will get us to most places in both islands. I`m glad we`ve done it this way as we can plan our trip as we go. For the past few weeks we`ve been taking it quite easy spending a few days in each place. We ended up staying 5 nights in Franz Josef and apart from doing our Glacier hike we didn`t get up to that much. Walking on the Glaicer was so cool!!!! It`s not until you get up close you realise how big it actually is. We spent about 3 hours climbing it which was enough, we got to see some ice caves and cracks without killing us in the process. Any longer and I don`t think I`d have been able to walk for a week. It was a bit scarey at times as we`d heard that the day before a guide had fallen down a 20 feet crack! Luckily our trip went okay. Two days after the climb my legs ached so much that I lost the ability to walk down steps and fell over on my ass with my backpack on....very funny to watch! Looked a bit like a tortoise! Its quite quiet this time of year but it hasn`t stopped us from doing anything as the weather`s generally been alright. We spent one night in Punakaki to see the pancake rocks and ended up having the whole hostel to ourselves. We took a trip to Hanmer Springs which is a small village surounded by mountains. It`s main feature is the Thermal springs. Felt very weird to be getting into a bikini when its no more than 10 degrees outside but worth it to get into the springs. Apparently they`re natural, but they`ve made them look man made which is sad. We got into the sulphur pools which really stink....made us smell like egg and tarnished my ring!!!! In Hanmer we hired some mountain bikes and got totally covered in mud! Looked like we both had chicken pox! We`ve just spent a few nights in Kaikoura in the east coast. Its the place to go to see whales and dolphins....so we did just that. The best experience for me so far has to be swimming with wild dolphins. I can`t even explain just how amazing it was, especially being out in the middle of the ocean with them rather than being in a swimming pool. We were given head to toe wetsuits to wear, which made us look like seals, as the water was at about 8 degrees which is pretty cold. Even through the wetsuits you could feel how cold it was, getting in the water took my breath away but I soon got used to it, especially seeing the dolphins swimming underneth me. We were given some tips on how to interact with the dolphins so that they come closer to you; we were told to make noises through our snorkels, dive down with them, and that if they circle close to you follow them and swim in a circle, this incourages them to play. Firstly I thought it was a wind up but it worked. By the third swim I had at least 5 dolphins circling around me. It was so amazing! The next day we went up in a helicopter to see the sperm whales. We saw one but we also saw a rare Southern Right whale with it`s calf about 20mtrs in from the shore. Just so amazing to see. Yesterday we went to Blenheim to go wine tasting. We got there and booked the trip straight away. We were picked up and taken to a really posh winery to meet with the rest of the group. We both felt like total outcasts. We turned up in our combats and with our sandwiches in a plastic bag (classey) and so (for some reason) we were quickily ushered out and was told that we couldn`t eat our sandwiches there and had to sit on the grass across the road and wait until the rest of the goup had finished their lunch! Oh well....we ate our sarnies and found a winery opposite to start with the wine tasting! There`s probably so much that I`ve missed out, but I`ve gt to go as there`s free soup here and anything free`s a bonus!!! Take care, Love Leys x
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Diary Photos
| 2nd Sep 2006 | |
| Paul Daniels... | |
| I wondered what he was getting up to these days! |
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| 2nd Sep 2006 | |
| Taking a break | |
| On our way back from seeing the seals that bathe in the sun just by the road! |
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