Kiwi Campervanning

I thought I had better write this blog to prove to John that I am, in fact, still alive and well! That is despite all the crazy things Paul has been getting me into in New Zealand.

New Zealand is really beautiful, but also really cold! It's Autumn here and all the trees are golden and red, which is nice. It's pretty chilly in our camper van, though. We have a little electric heater, two quilts and a box of beer to keep us warm, though. It's really nice having the freedom to go where we want when we want. It's also great not to be in dorms for a while, too. Not so nice when I'm desperate for the toilet at 4am, though!

We started off in Christchurch, which is very pretty annd reminded us a lot of home - little old churches, cathedrals and Olde Worlde trams. From there we headed to Lake Tekapo, where you could see millions of stars at night. We even saw a shooting star! The views over the lake of the mountains were also stunning, and also very sheep filled!

Next stop was Oamaru, because I really wanted to see penguins. We saw Yellow-eyed and Small Blue penguins coming in from the sea to roost. Penguins have such big pink feet! They are very cute and really noisy! We saw a really lazy fur seal, too, who pretty much flopped on the beach and waited for the tide to come get him. Must have been a male - couldn't be bothered to walk to the sea!

Queenstown was good fun. We watched bungee jumpers, which was more than close enough for me. Paul said he would have done it if it wasn't so expensive!! We really wanted to go canyoning or white water rafting, but it's not the right season for them, so we ended up going river surfing! This involves riding through white water rapids on a body board! It seemed like a great idea until we got up that morning and it was freezing! We had ridiculously thick wetsuits, though, so stayed pretty warm although the water was 9 degrees. It was great fun, although neither of us can really say we surfed! It was more like clinging on and hoping for the best! As part of the package, we were taken to a hot pool place after, which was much more luxurious and meant we could both feel our toes again by the time we got back to the van!

After Queenstown we went to Wanaka and did a beautiful walk up a big hill/small mountain (?), which had great views of Lake Wanaka and more snow capped mountains. I don't think I could ever get tired of views like that, which is good, because they are everywhere we go!

The best bit so far was yesterday when we went for a day's guided walk on the Fox Glacier (of the mint fame!). We had to wear crampons, which was great, because it meant I had no chance of falling over! The glacier was stunning, with ice caves, tunnels and crevasses. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. It was like another world. I was really sad to leave. We rounded off the day by going to see some glow worms in the local woods, which was also magical (if a bit dark and scary!)

We have a few more days in the south before heading to the North Island. We're really looking forward to the volcanoes!