New Zealand, South Island

Another long gap between blog posts so apologies for that...

New Zealand is an absolutely amazing place, it exceeded my expectations by miles. There honestly can't be that many places where snow capped mountains can be seen in the same view as beautiful coastlines?!

However, arriving in Christchurch I wasn't so impressed. As one of the bus drivers put it, Christchurch is "more english than England" and it's true. That, combined with cold and rainy weather, left me feeling glum. But that all changed on my first bus journey!

We first went to Kaikoura which is a small coastal town famous for whale watching and dolphin swimming. However the sea was too choppy for either of these so we instead opted for a walk to the seal colony, followed by a 3 hour walk over the cliff tops overlooking the sea.

We only spent one night in Kaikoura before heading on around to Nelson, dropping people at the ferry on the way. Nelson lies at the centre of New Zealand, and the actual point is only a short walk up a hill. It was still strange trying to adapt to the cold and having to wear layers and a coat!

After Nelson the group on the bus stayed pretty much the same all the way around to Queenstown, which meant that we were able to get to know each other fairly well. We were spending a few hours every day on the bus together... When we arrived in Westport we had our first options for activities and while a lot of people went jetboating, myself and another girl went on a horse trek. It was a beautiful day and we were all able riders which meant we could do a lot in just a couple of hours. We went galloping along the sand by the river, and at the end even took the horses into the water for a swim.

The next stop along the way was Lake Mahinapua, and anyone who has been on the Kiwi bus before will know what this entails... the Poo Party! This is a themed party at a small pub next to the lake run by an elderly man called Les. Our theme was "bin bags", set by our driver Buzz, and I was amazed by the outfits people managed to come up with! The winners were dressed in full length penguin outfits, which looked amazing but they were both sweating like crazy after half an hour! It was a fun night, with a late night trip to the lake along a path lit with glow worms.

Franz Josef was the next stop, where we did the glacier hike. It was a definite highlight of the trip, edging through narrow crevasses kitted up in waterproofs and boots with crampons. It was a tough full day hike but very rewarding, and the hot spa pool at the hostel was definitely nice to come back to!

Before getting to Queenstown we stopped at Wanaka which wasn't the most lively place but had a quaint little cinema with waitress service and sofas and armchairs which was fun. Queenstown was where our group separated as a lot of people stayed on for the ski season. I was just a little too early for skiing as the pistes were opening the following week. Most of the group did one of the bungy jumo options here, some did the 43m bridge jump but most opted for the 134m Nevis. I bottled it, there's no way I would be able to persuade myself to jump off the platform! I went hang gliding instead which was really fun, you get the most amazing views and it feels really peaceful gliding through the sky. Not very scary either! Queenstown also has a good nightlife, with lots of bars including the famous World Bar which serves cocktails in teapots...

After Queenstown I said goodbye to lots of the group and headed back round through Christchurch (just as grey as the first time) and around through Kaikoura again. The whale watching and dolphin swimming weren't running again, and it was raining which left very little to do! I was ready to get to the North Island!