New Zealand Day 8: Queenstown

So, our big day had arrived. I got up feeling strangely worried that I was not feeling more nervous. I knew I should be more nervous, but having never thrown myself off a cliff before I had no context into which to place the day’s activities. After breakfast, Lucia went off to have a walk around the shops, and Skins and I went to ‘The Station’ to be picked up to do the Nevis Arc Canyon Swing.

The Nevis Arc  is the world’s largest swing, it’s a 60m freefall down one side of the canyon before being swept across the bottom by the river and launched up the other side. All in all I think it’s about a 160m ride which is over in a couple of seconds. As we were only doing this once we thought we should make the most of it, and having had our requests to do a naked tandem swing categorically rejected, we thought we should make it as interesting as we could in any other way possible. 

We got into our harnesses (fully clothed), attached to one another and to the swing, turned around backwards and suspended upside down with our feet in the air and our heads down to the ground and out to the canyon. The operators said they would release on three; the longest three seconds of my life. As it turns out, at three, they decided to pause for a few seconds for effect before letting us hurtle towards earth and some stupidly scary pace. 

I can’t really describe the feeling, so I won’t try but we did decide to do it again straight away after, this time upright and backwards which was, oddly, even scarier. To end our Nevis Arc experience we were caught trying to film on our cameras the films that they had taken of us doing the swing which were being replayed inside and they were trying to sell to us for 50-150$.

For lunch we went to the highly acclaimed and much recommended FergBurger, which is somewhat of a QT institution. FergBurger was excellent- very reasonably priced and one of the best burgers I’ve had. We followed this with a couple of games of pool and some beers while trying to gather some Dutch Courage for our afternoon bungee jump. Unfortunately the lunchtime beers and burger concoction did not mix well, and we headed to the bungee jump both feeling nervous and sick.

We met Lucia after her walk, and got the gondola to the top of top of the mountain where our bungee jump was. The jump we did was called ‘The Ledge’ which, while only being a 50m bungee was placed 400m above QT, so when you look over the edge it seems as if you’re going to fall a long way! Our time slot was from 5-6.30pm, and when we arrived we found that we were the only two people there instead of the usual group of 7/8 people. This meant that the three jump coordinators had the time of their lives inventing scary ways to eject us from the platform, during which time they actually had to speak with their safety administrator to see if they were allowed to blindfold people as it had not been done before! 

 Unfortunately for me, it was allowed and I was the guinea pig. My third and final jump involved standing on the edge of the platform backwards, blindfolded, having the music turned up and told that sometime during the course of the next track I would be pushed from the platform backwards. This was possibly the longest wait of my life, hence why I chose not to go again. Skins, on the other hand did six jumps, experimenting with the front flip the squirrel and other such moves.

Having gone home and changed my underwear the three of us headed out for quite a plush meal at the Captains Table then tried to cover a few more pubs. We went back to Buffalo Club where they were doing a promotion whereby if you come with a ginger you will be gifted a $50 bar tab. 

 So, thanks to Skins, we had a few free rounds in there before heading on to another pub for a few more beers and to watch the first leg of State of Origin, before heading back to bed.

New Zealand Day 7: Milford Sound to Queenstown

Our wake-up call was at a very early 7am (despite sleeping in a campervan, we’ve been managing to lie-in until about 9am) for breakfast followed by kayaking. Breakfast was another tummy-expanding affair of fruit, toast, pancakes, croissants and cereal; kayaking was meant to burn this all off, however, the crew decided that it was far too windy to allow any of us to go in the water. Instead we were taken in speedboats to view the waterfalls and nature of the sound closer up – we were very lucky to have a group of dolphins playing around our boat. 

 We docked back into the harbour at around 10am and from here it was a 2 hour journey on the same road back out to Te Anau to carry our journey on towards Queenstown for the boys to do all their adrenalin-junkie activities.

We got to Queenstown quite late but managed to get a site on the campsite for two nights. We also harangued the quite knowledgeable campsite staff for over 90 minutes about what the best ways to kill ourselves were whilst there, Skins even asked them if they had any recent mortality statistics for the various activities on offer. 

We left over $1,200 lighter having arranged to do the world’s largest swing, bungee jumping, jet boating and white water rafting over the next two days. 

Feeling slightly guilty about blowing our spending money on stupid activities, we had some pasta and sauce from a jar before hitting the town for a few drinks. We had heard a lot about the nightlife in QT so we tried to cover quite a few pubs over the period of our stay. 

We had drinks at Red Rock, World Bar and Buffalo Club, all of which were exceptionally nice little alpine bars with large fires- the sort of which you’d expect to find at the top of an Austrian ski slope.

New Zealand Day 6: Milford Sound to Te Anau

Milford Sound is accessible only by a vast and beautifully stunning 119km road from Te Anau. And if the drive there wasn’t spectacular enough, arriving in Milford Sound is quite breathtaking – rocky cliffs rise out of still waters; you can understand why New Zealand has been described as “God’s country”. We decided the best way to experience Milford Sound would be to take an overnight cruise on the Milford Mariner. 

On arrival, we had the usual safety briefing, and then took a cruise out into the Tasman Sea past various amazing waterfalls in the sound. A relaxing glass of wine complemented the views perfectly. 

At around 7pm, a delicious 3 course meal was served of orange and kumara soup, a buffet main of vegetables, meats, salads and everything else your heart could desire, followed by an enormous desert table featuring pavlova, cheesecake, chocolate cake, brownies, ice-cream, plus cheese and biscuits. Washed down with a bottle of wine, it would be safe to say that we were all well and truly stuffed. 

This was followed by a half an hour presentation detailing some of the nature around the fiord – we were treated to some fantastic pictures and videos. A wander round the boat, some seals frolicking in the water, and the crew jumping off board finished the night off nicely.

New Zealand Day 5: Dunedin to Te Anau

Today we were meant to be travelling to Invercargill, the most southerly city in the world. However, quote the Lonely Planet, “flat and suburban, with endlessly treeless streets, Invercargill certainly isn’t going to blow your senses”, we decided a trip there was probably not worth the extra few hours of driving. 

First stop was the steepest city in the world - Baldwin Street in Dunedin. You can get a certificate if you drive up it in your car but we felt Billy probably wouldn't be able to manage that so we walked up it instead, which was knackering.

Next on the agenda was the drive to the lakeside town of Te Anau, which is the gateway to the New Zealand fiords. With a stop off in uninspiring Gore for lunch (including a man shouting out of his car window “ginger” at Skins whilst we were walking along the high street), we arrived in Te Anau at around 4pm.

We booked ourselves onto a tour of the Te Anau Gloworm caves, which, accessible only by boat, are a 200m-long system of caves with sculpted rocks, waterfalls, whirlpools and a glittering glow-worm grotto inside. Having had a presentation from the most uncharismatic person in the world, the tour itself afterwards was also rather uninspiring. Glow-worms are not as cool as one would have thought...

New Zealand Day 4: Dunedin

Dunedin is quite a busy place so we decided to make the most of it and spend the whole day there. Both Dave and Skins were desperate to see a rugby match so we drove to Carisbrook, where one of the Super 14 teams play, to see whether there were any matches on. Unfortunately, the rest of the matches were being played in South Africa so rugby was a no go (a blessing in disguise?!).

Dunedin is home to Cadbury World, so, of course, we had to take a tour. The first thing the tour guide did was give us some freebies; a Perky Nana (chocolate covered banana flavoured chew bar), a Freddo, a Chocolate Fish (chocolate covered strawberry flavoured chew bar) and a Caramel Chew (self explanatory). Luckily, NZ Cadbury is much better than Australian, which as you will know from my constant complaining, tastes like tobacco.

The tour continued in the same vein, with freebies galore – only if you answered questions on the factory correctly though. Of course, I listened intently and followed the tour guide closely throughout to maximise on freebies. At the end of the tour we were all given a sample of liquid chocolate – delicious! I think Dave had four of them, and then moaned about feeling sick for the next half an hour.

After Cadbury World, I went for a wander around the shops, whilst the boys went to watch some university rugby. The plan was to meet at Speight’s brewery for another guided tour (and free beer) at 4pm. This was another good tour, although the guide had some kind of verbal diarrhoea, which did get quite grating towards the end. But when you get free beer you can’t really complain (not that I’m a beer drinker, but a freebie is a freebie; don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and all that...)

By now it was about 6pm so we headed to an Irish pub, with a cosy fire and sofas, for some more alcohol and a very yummy dinner. Of course, this was followed by the third (and, thankfully, last) instalment of Drag Me To Hell...

New Zealand Day 3: Lake Tekapo to Oamaru to Dunedin

Probably the most entertaining part of this morning was watching Skins attempt to light the grill on the campervan cooker to make himself some toast - after about ten attempts he gave up and asked me to have a go. I did it first time. And then made him his toast too. Useless is the word that comes to mind...

Lake Tekapo in the daylight was quite stunning - a beautiful expanse of bluey-green water surrounded by mountains, which are used for skiing in the winter.
The campsite had an Alpine spa and ice rink so we decided to spend the morning there before making our way to Dunedin. The spa was very relaxing with outside bathrs raning from 36 degrees to 40 degrees, with views of the lakes and the mountains.
Ice skating followed, and there were no falls until Dave and Skins decided it would be a good idea to rent some ice hockey sticks and pucks. I, sensibly I think, gave up before I fell over, but they carried on. At one point, Skins complete stacked it, and I swear he wasn't even moving, just standing up. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo!

Next stop was Oamaru, famed for its yellow-eyed and blue-eyed penguin colonies. Everyday, at dusk, you can watched the blue-eyed penguins come into shore - at a price of $22.50. Luckily, watching the yellow-eyed penguins come in it free, only cathc is that you're about two miles up a cliff face and need 20/20 vision to be able to see them.

Oamaru turned out to be as interesting as...watching paint dry. So we decided to drive on to Dunedin, stopping at Moeriki where they have some interesting shaped boulders. Eventually arriving at the campsite in Dunedin, we set ourselves up for the night, cooking an extravagant meal of pasta with jarred suace, and watching some more of Drag Me To Helll, just because the beginning had been so good and none of us could bare to carry on without finding out the ending (it was turned off again after about 30 minutes).

A much more comfy night's sleep followed- me as snug as a bug in the middle of the bed!

New Zealand Day 2: Christchurch to Lake Tekapo

We woke to a freezing cold campervan, but this was quickly rectified by turning the heater on full blast, and soon, we were snug as bugs in rugs. First mission of the morning was making breakfast: Dave had chosen the easy option of muesli and milk, but I had decided to set myself a challenge and make porridge; it turned out to be pretty straightforward once I had gone outside to turn the gas canister on and found all the cooking equipment. A yummy warm breakfast to start a cold day.

We decided to take a trip into Christchurch and follow a walk recommended by the trusty (if somewhat misleading Lonely Planet - see Perth trip. In an hour or so we had seen most of what Christchurch had to offer - we climbed the spire of the cathedral, saw the Floral Clock (yes, a clock made of flowers), and even saw Maori people doing a version of the haka. All very riveting stuff.

Soon it was time to drive to the airport to pick up Skins and begin our journey down south. First stop was Lake Tekapo, west of Christchurch. We didn't arrive until around 6pm and by this time Skins was jetlagged and very hungry. We found a lovely little restaurant called Pepe's with a roaring fireplace and settled down with a yummy plate of pasta and a few drinks. This was followed by the three of us snuggled up in the van (now christened Billy) watching the beginning of Drag Me To Hell, which, yes, is as bad as it sounds.

It was the first time with the three of us in the campervan, and with Skins' jetlag and a cramped bed, it wasn't a good night's sleep. All I remember is being woken up every hour by Skins either saying "turn off the heater" or "Dave can you lie on your side". Next night was my turn in the middle then...