South Island : Milford Sound, Mount Cook & Akaroa

Stu : After the excitement of Fox Glacier and Queenstown Team Tui (as we will now henceforth be known! Just in case you were wondering we had a Tui campervan) headed down the country to Milford Sounds. As the crow flies this journey would probably be around 60kms but as always the Kiwis like to make things interesting so we had a 250kms trip down then backup to Milford Sounds through some pretty hairy country roads. The campervan looked like we’d done the Darkar rally in it by the time we arrived into Milford.

The Sounds are renowned for being the most scenic in New Zealand and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Even the drive there was spectacular. Once in Milford Team Tui disbanded for the day and Amy and I decided to do a scenic day walk. Unfortunately this turned out to be more like an Indiana Jones battle through thick bush so after 2 hours of ankle breaking terrain we decided to retire. Safety first people !

After Milford we headed North to Mount Cook (highest mountain in Oceania) National Park with a stopover for a spot of roadside campervan “free” camping. Once the horror \ ghost stories stopped we got to sleep for the best night’s kip I think any of us had. It was ridiculously dark and quiet and certainly made the mid-morning toilet trip from the top bunk interesting. Mount Cook itself was more spectacular than I had imagined. This was probably partly due to the fact that various avalanches on the side of the Mount had resulted in the Mount looking like Jabba the Hutt. So henceforth we would refer to the Mount as Jabba.

After a potter around the village we took a walk up to a viewpoint to the Mount and sat around for ages listening to the booming and cracking sounds of distant avalanches around the Mount. All good stuff….well at a safe distance anyway.

Then on to Akaroa and what has to be the most ridiculous hill drive attempted in a Hyundai Accent (we had luckily traded in the Tui Campervan for a high powered, shit off a shovel, 1.3l Hyundai Accent…..ahem). I say luckily because if we had attempted the hill drive in the campervan our blog certainly wouldn’t be getting updated any time soon ! We had booked into a holiday cottage the night before but didn’t realise quite how epic the journey would be. The windy country road soon turned into a 2.5 in 1 gradient, off road gravel track. The Lloyd superior driving gene soon kicked in though and after a 20minute ascent over the 3km hill road we finally made it to our cottage and the views of the bays and surrounding hills certainly made the effort worthwhile (see pic attached, our cottage was the one to the right of the photo nearest to the beach).

The following day Amy and I booked a fishing trip and headed out to the Pacific Ocean to see what we could catch. We were pretty lucky and our haul of 6 red cod (3 of which we kept), sea perch and rigg sharks certainly went down a treat on the BBQ that night. The highlight of the trip had to be when the skipper had a bite on his line and started reeling in. His face began to grow puzzled at the lack of success he was having getting his catch up. So much so he had to start reeling the line around his arm just to make head way. Finally though he managed to get the “sea monster” up. It was an 8ft long conger eel which he reckoned to be 70 year old. What a beast it was. He obviously had to let it go as there was no way he was going to get that fella on the boat. Cracking day all round apart from the first ever bout of sea sickness I had ever experienced. Certainly wasn’t pleasant and even though I tried to concentrate on the horizon it was so bloody choppy that all I got was sea, then sky, then sea then sky. Still…..I fought well and luckily the brekkie stayed down !

South Island : Christchurch, Fox Glacier and Queenstown

Amy : We arrived in ChCh to be greeted by the start of the England qualifying match. So in true Annan fashion Stu made us sit in the airport until the match had finished. I think he’d been having withdrawal symptoms since we were traveling and without Sky!
Once we’d seen the final score we hopped on the bus to the city to the holiday flat we were renting. We were both surprised at how frequent and cheap the public transport services are in ChCh compare to other cities in NZ.
I must admit once we got off the bus it was a long hard struggle getting to the holiday flat. Carrying a 16kg backpack in 25 degrees for 15 minutes isn’t my idea of fun I can tell you! Another big surprise was that the lady we were renting the flat from was Scottish and her mother-in-law was from Annan of all places…what a small world. You Annan lot get about don’t you!?!
We really enjoyed our time around ChCh as it was great enjoying the weather and mulling around the city. There were so many places to visit and I think we took about most of them in including, Cathedral Square, River Avon, Art Museum, Botanic Gardens and many markets. It isn’t one of my favourite cities as it just reminded me of Manchester but there was so much to do in and around the area which made it memorable.
On the Sunday we picked up Jon and Lucy from the airport and enjoyed a walk along the river with them and a few cheeky shandies in the local before we headed off to watch Muse play. This was an awesome gig especially as I don’t like Muse that much. They were awesome live and the light show was out of this world.
Monday saw an early start for us all as Jon and Lucy were booked onto the Trans Alpine train and we were meeting them in Greymouth with the Campervan. The drive there was spectacular as we took Arthur’s Pass. Quite hairy in a Campervan but the views were spectacular.
We arrived late that evening in Fox and spent a night there and had another early start as we were all booked in for a half day helihike up Fox Glacier. This was an amazing experience. Walking on a glacier isn’t the easiest thing to do especially as you are contanstanly in awe with the sights but it was well worth it. Although I think my calf muscles may disagree. I still can’t believe that we walked on the glacier and slid through glacier caves. Anyone hitting the South Island should definitely try this out. It’s such a shame that our photo’s just wont do it justice.
The following few days we chilled out around Wanaka and Queenstown. Again we were lucky as the sun kept shining all through the trip.
We actually had one of our best nights out in Queenstown when we went to a lovely Seafood Restaurant. We supped a few Kiwi vinos, ate mussels, battered oysters (yes you heard that right) apparently it’s a very South Island thing to do and then ate some of the best fish I’ve had in a long time.
Stu will fill you in with the second half of our ‘Team Tui’ trip but I did thoroughly enjoy campervaning around the South Island. It was quite sad to leave NZ and come to Oz as we’d had such a great time but I am sure we’ll have an equally great time in Oz. Well providing those damn mossies and spiders leave me alone!
We’re now spending a few days in Sydney and the weather has been so changeable. It’s 27 degrees but quite humid and every day has seen storms! I just hope the weather improves for the rest of our trip. We’ve also so far managed to see some great wildlife whilst we’ve been here like seeing a wee Wallaby, Goana Lizard, Fruit Bats and of course some not so nice bugs. All a lot bigger and more evil looking than other bugs LOL. As most of you know I’m not a big bug fan and it’s taking some getting used to having cockroaches and the likes about in the evening!!
Anyways’ hope you are all doing well and set for Xmas. We’ll try to keep the blog up to date as much as possible.

Is it a bird, is it a plane…..nah, its just Stu and Amy

Amy : Well what a wonderful weekend we had, it started off watching Spiderman 3 at the movies on Friday night, then ended with Stu and I doing our own Spidey-like jumps on Sunday.

Thanks to the good weather we finally got to use our Skydive voucher in a little place called Dannevirke.  After a 3 hour drive we made it on time for take off.  I went first of course, got all suited up in a bright luminous pink jump suit, the most unflattering rubber hat, harness and goggles and off I went.  We made it to just before 10,000ft when I got strapped to our instructor. Then 3 minutes later two experienced sports jumpers got up off theirs bums and walked out of the plane and off they went.  A minute later there I was on the edge of the plane…….then tumbling for dear life for 5000ft before the parachute opened!

It was an amazing feeling that free-fall.  I just wish it had been longer.  The parachute jump was still a good experience but nothing compared to that free-fall.  All in all the whole experience felt very surreal and wasn’t as scary as I thought it would have been.  Everything was out of your control so you didn’t have time to hesitate before getting out the plane.  What an awesome memory.

Roll on our next jump over the Glaciers in the South Island )

Stu : Well …… I think the videos say it all ! The strange thing was, like Amy said, both of us were amazingly calm about the whole thing. I didn’t even have to use the spare pants I’d brought with me. I think the 20 minute flight up that it takes to get to 10,000 feet gives you time to settle down and just enjoy the ride. Definitely an experience that I would recommend to everyone. The buzz during free-fall was just awesome.

When the parachute finally released it gave me such a kick in the guts I felt ill for the next 3mins or so. Add to that the crushed family jewels and it certainly wasn’t a comfortable situation to be in ! That wasn’t so good but certainly didn’t spoil the overall experience.

Anyhoo….in addition to the attached video you can see these extra videos by clicking on the links :

Amy’s jump (small clip)

Amy’s jump (full clip)

Stu’s jump (full clip)

Don’t Jump……Oh look, she’s actually enjoying it (PART 2)

CB: Amanda and Stu, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for a fabulous week, you guys are turely the BEST.

Well everyone I can only say two words for you if you are visiting these wonderful crazy people, TRAVEL INSURANCE!!!!!
Not for one of my first experiences though, the buggers lulled me into a false sence of security, we played crazy golf on our first day in Taupo, ok I came last but had great fun doing so, then…………….

Oh my god, they both know I am scared of boats (Loch Awe guys remember??) so what do we do, we go on a crazy speed boat flying around at great speed millimetres from the edge of the cliffs and falls not only that, the bonkers driver spins the boat around do 360’s at least a dozen times (well about 6)!!! It was brilliant and I am so glad I did it.

After surviving that experience I am determined to do this bungy thingy just to tell TB that I have done it, I got right to the edge but I chickened out and like Stu said lots of Chinese and Japanese people thought I was the entertainment when they saw my dvd on the big screen, I laughed so much I had tears in my eyes
Sorry again for chickening out Amanda, you are so so brave.
Good job they gave me the money back eh Stu else you would have had to jump

The hot pools that we visited in Taupo were amazing as well, its so crazy you have to see them to truely get the picture. It was Sunday evening at 6pm and there we were sat in a lake hotter than any bath you would take, then if you move slightly further out in the lake it becomes cooler, really an amazing experience.

We did so many other things as well, but always headed back for a BBQ and a glass of wine at the lovely place that A and S had rented on Lake Taupo the pics are breath taking.
The Taupo weekend was fantastic, so nice to meet Amanda and Willie and their two fab children.

Wellington was such a lovely place to visit, it was really nice to see your lovely home and now when I am speaking/emailing you I can imagine you in your house or at work all those miles away.

Amanda and Stubie
I cannot thank you enough for making my stay so special, I can’t wait to visit again I might bring TB next time if he is good, you might get that tandem bungy then after all Amanda:)

I love you both

Take care

CB X

Don’t Jump……Oh look, she’s actually enjoying it !

Stu : Our friend Claire (CB) from Edinburgh was over visiting last week so we thought we’d take her for a relaxing weekend up to Lake Taupo. We booked into a cracking wee lakeside cottage for 3 nights. Well, I say relaxing but as CB stood on the edge of a platform overlooking the Waikato river 47m below with nothing but an elastic rope tied to her legs for safety she knew that perhaps relaxing wasn’t exactly the right word !

Yup – you’ve guessed it. Amy had to once again have her adrenalin fix in the form of some crazy assed jump . I have to admit bungy jumps have never appealed to me so I decided to be photographer for the afternoon. Safety first guys, fun second ! Anyhoo Amy had talked CB into doing a tandem jump so the two of them were tied in ready for the jump. Unfortunately CB’s sanity prevented her from taking the final plunge so it was up to Amy to go it solo. As you can see from the attached clip she done us all proud – although you may just be able to hear her worrying if anyone can see her pants which is what we would all be worrying about if we were dangling upside down by our ankles attached to a giant elastic band 47m above a rocky river……isn’t it ! Aye. Some lass that one. Funnier was yet to come though as Taupo Bungy decided to put CBs failed attempt on the big plasma screen (with sound) for all to see. Bless her !! As the movie rolled more and more people came to watch. As CB put it “I’ve seen less people in a cinema !!”. Oh how we laughed.

My extreme sports activities for the weekend were limited to the World’s worst hangover on Saturday. Amanda, Willie and the kids travelled down to Taupo from Opotoki to spend the weekend with us so Willie and I decided to have a wee trip to the local boozer. Just so happened this local boozer was a British theme pub with Boddingtons, Old Speckled Hen, Tetleys, Guinness and Tennents on tap as well as numerous whiskys to chose from. You can imagine the carnage that ensued. 6 hours later we were zig-zagging our way back to the cottage having spent a weekly wage packet each. Saturday was certainly not a day to remember (

Anyway – CB is currently winging her way back to sunny Scotland but I think we managed to show her some of the NZ highlights during her week long stay. As well as showing her around some of the sights of Wellington I haven’t even had a chance to mention the jetboat ride (where CBs screaming rendered everyone deaf by the end of the ride), our evening in the natural hot pools, the fire in the kitchen (ahem, slightly over done steak there I reckon), the bee farm (yawn) and the craters of the moon tour.

Ah well – until I update you on Amy’s next death defying stunt……