Has it been that long?!

Well time flies when you're having fun and I realise the blog is lagging behind a little. Since last writing we've done a big road trip touring the south island of New Zealand. We first arrived in Wellington (picking up a 1/2 German 1/2 New Zealand surfboarding male-modelling American-evangelists-son hitch hiker who lives in Japan - it's amazing who you bump into!), N.Z's capital, is not known for nothing as the wet and windy city, as we soon found out! We squelched around for a while bracing ourselves for the gusts and then found shelter and a happy moment for Tim, A Lord of the Rings exhibition. I'm probably not the right person to give a write up for this as all I can say was there were some costumes, bits of set, video clips of the ridiculous amount of time and money that went into the film etc. etc. Highlight being we got out photo taken using the giant wizard people/midget hobbit types camera trickery - very clever!

My sister and bro-in-law very kindly lent us a car which we then took over on the ferry. After 2 years of marriage it's amazing what you can learn about each other, like your husband gets seasick for instance. Anyway after a nice choppy crossing we arrived in Picton. The first leg of our journey took us down the west coast with mountains on the inland side and desolate beaches as the road hugs the coastal line. A very beautiful and dramatic part of the world. We visited what is known as the pancake rocks, so called because they look like, well, pancakes. The amazing thing is geologists don't really know how this rock structure formed as these thin layered, towering structures - quite unique!

We drove onto see New Zealands glaciers the Franz Josef and the Fox. Although Tim thought the Franz Josef sounded cooler being close in name to the band Franz Ferdinand, I unknowingly booked us onto a tour up the Fox glacier. Luckily they're within half an hour drive of each other so we got to the right one and got kitted out for our expedition. As it was raining we we're given a complete set of water proofs and our crampons to stick to the ice. We looked absolutely ridiculous stumbling along in our matching baggy outfits, only to find that a slip had occured and so the area was unsafe. It all sounds quite dramatic but unfortunately/fortunately we didn't see any of the destruction in process. We went back to base and warmed up by a roaring fire taking in the local culture by drinking beer whilst watching the All Blacks beat the Asturalian rugby team! The next day we had better weather so set off up the glacier again. It was amazing. The glaciers are actually advancing and you can see the spikey fingers of ice at the front of the glacier pushing into the rocky floor of the valley, churning it all up. I think it advances at about 70cm a day! So we spent the morning stamping around on the ice, trying to to slip off! The ice is truely beautiful as the bluey colour glistens as we walked through huge cravices.

We then headed on towards Queenstown. It was such a privilidge to be able to drive in this most gorgeous scenery at our own pace. We watched then sun go down over snow topped mountains creating the most vivid
sunset of pinks and purples. We reached a place called Wanaka and decided to stay the night and found the coolest cinema there. It was kitted out with loads of old sofas and reclining armchairs, even and old morris minor with cushions in! You were able to take a beer or glass of wine in, and half way through they stopped the film for freshly home cooked cookies and home made icecream - now that's a cinema!

The next day we went to Puzzling world. It's a museum set up by a guy who was really into optical illusions. I don't really know how to explain it on paper (or screen as the case may be) but one room for instance was built completely on an angle but they had put in all the visual cues to make you think it was actually on a level. The effect just made your head go crazy as the messages just didn't make sense in you subconscious mind. We both felt really dizzy and at one point Tim just suddenly fell over - absolutely hysterical!

We spent 5 nights in Queenstown and beautiful city on a lake with mountains as a backdrop. It's a completely action packed, go-go-go kind of place, home to the bungy jump and all other sorts of crazy, 'why would you want to do that', kind of stuff. The first day we went on a jet boat through the Shotover canyon - great fun! They drive you at high speeds into the awesome towering rock face, then dodge at the last minute. We were really lucky to have blue skies and the sun shining down at quite a comfortable 15 degrees, whereas the previous week they had been jetting through ice which was splashing into everyone!

Then 3 days of skiing. Such a beautiful ski area as you can see right down into valleys still green, lakes and other snowy moutnain tops. We're getting a bit braver with our skiing down and went down to 'hang' with the boarders and try their 'fun boxes' as Tim likes to call them (jump ramps and stuff as I like to call them) I tried a few although I'm sure you can all imagine spent more time watching Tim flying off this and that.

Milford Sound had been really recommended to us so the next day we took a coach trip to see for ourselves. I found out a Sound is a flooded river valley whereas a fiord (NZ spelling) is a flooded u-valley left from a glacier. Milford Sound is a mis-named fiord (our blog is becoming educational and entertaining!). Unfotunately there had been another slip meaning we couldn't get to Milford Sound (boo) so got a free upgrade to the Doubtful sound trip (yay!). Another amazing part of the world with towering valley sides rising above us. We had another great day with blue skies and were blessed with a visit from a pod of dolphins, a fur seal and an albatross. This Sound is really in the wilderness as we had to travel across a lake and on a private road to access. When the boat cut it's engine there wasn't a sound! Part of the trip was also to go to a underground power station. Tim was quite excited as we went down a really long tunnel to get to it. I can't think of anything else interesting to report back on it though!

Last day in Queenstown and Tim had to do a bungy jump in it's birth place, and, if he was going to do it, he had to do the highest. We drove out to a remote setting where a pod had been built in the middle on a canyon. He took a ride out to it the then jumped off a ledge with 134m freefall, the highest bungy jump in NZ, third in the World! I watched from a safe stable distance!

Leaving Queenstown we headed East to Dunedin. Dunedin was a Scottish settlemant and it really felt as if we'd somehow travelled back to the Northern hemisphere with statues of Robbie Burns and Queen Victoria and stone buildings rather than the usual wooden structures of N.Z. Our main reason for this stop off was the Otago penisual which is home to some rare penguins. We visited a conservation project which have built a series of tunnels and hides so you can get up close to the yellow eyed penguin in their natural habitat, without upsetting them. At one point we must have been only 2 meters away from a pair outside their little nest. We then spent a while watching them come in from a days fishing. Swimming in then waddling along the beach - so cute! I could have spent hours there!

When we left the next day we did a detour to see the Worlds Steepest street. On arrival we did the whole 'well I don't think it's that steep' demeaning it. Then we started to try and walk up it. It was actually really steep. After half way I decided I had expereinced enough so headed back to the car, Tim of course had to go up to the top. Once there he beckoned for me to drive up to pick him up, I really didn't think it was a good idea but not sure how long I'd have to wait for Tim to return I decided I best give it a try. I revved up but on reaching the steepest section lost power, and even with the best hill start couldn't inch up any further. Slamming on the brakes and slightly shakey I gripped onto the steering wheel to see my dear husband hardly able to walk as he was laughing so much. As he reached me I asked him to take over but as I took my foot off the brake, even with the handbrake pulled as tight as possible the car just started sliding back. So all in all it really was quite steep!

Safely back down we started our journey back north. But that I think I'll save for another day! Hope you are all well, missing you all! Lots of love, Debs