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  • Izzi and Tom

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    Izzi and TomTravelsViaggiatore

    Day 70/72: Goodbye Van

    5 gennaio 2019, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We woke up in our van for the last time, and got the last of the things put away. Mended the velcro window blinds, and tried to give away a variety of things from crackers to an umbrella! It didn't take long, and soon we were on our last drive. We were mega early so stopped off for some great brunch in a quirky cafe (pulled pork eggs benedict, and a full English style thing with slow poached eggs (45 mins at 65°C apparently?!).

    We then drove to the Britz drop off, and said a sad farewell to the campvan, with vows that we were going to get one in the future. We'd done 6838km in total, and enjoyed every single one of them.

    The flight was still 3 hours away, and the airport transfer didn't take long, so we had a while to wait at the airport for the flight to Auckland. It was all very painless, and our bags went through okay, stuffed to the brim as they were! We got to Auckland and went back to the hostel we were at before. It was so strange being back there again, being in bunk beds and having people crashing around. We sat in the gloriously sunny park for a while, wondering what on earth we were going to do with over 24 hours in a city that we'd exhausted at the start of the trip! We went out for some lovely That's Amore pizza for dinner and went for an evening run in the park. It had all gone so quickly, we couldn't believe we were back already, but felt like ages since anything had happened. Time flies when you're having fun, and oh boy we had the time of out lives.    Leggi altro

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  • Izzi and TomTravelsViaggiatore

    Day 69/72: packing up

    4 gennaio 2019, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Today was a day of packing and relaxing. We went out into Christchurch in the morning to have a look around and get something to eat so that we didn't have to cook that night. It's a very modern city, put back together after the earthquake, and everything was very clean. It was a fine city, not the best we've been to but it had a really nice river. We went and had some pasta lunch, and Tom got a haircut as no where was going to be open on Sunday in Auckland.

    That afternoon we stayed at the campervan park and packed up. It was amazing just how much stuff we'd managed to collect over the 6 weeks we'd been in New Zealand! We barely managed to get everything in, it was a proper squeeze. Tom had to throw away his old running shoes (he couldn't wear then anymore anyway) but managed to stuff the little Christmas tree in instead, a questionable choice. Our walking boots were to be worn to the airport and it'd look like we'd be wrapped up for winter with the amount of clothes we were going to wear on the plane!

    It was really sad having to pack it all up, but finally we had everything in, and celebrated with the last of the cheese and crackers, some bubbly bought earlier in the trip, and the Christmas pudding that we drowned in cold custard, fantastic!    Leggi altro

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  • Izzi and TomTravelsViaggiatore

    Day 68/72: SUCH A GOOD DAY

    3 gennaio 2019, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    What an incredible day. Against many odds we managed to do the 2 last things on our list of wild activities. It was the grand finale for our massive travelling adventure, and we saw it out in style.

    The issue being described previously, we woke at 0145 on Thursday morning. The stars were some of the greatest we have ever seen, and after seeing some shooting stars, we set off on the 4 hour journey back down South. We were heading for Activity 1, swimming with dolphins! We didn't know the date of this activity, but on the off chance it was today, drove down. The drive was peaceful and the sun rose as we went on our way. We arrived, and after a short nap, walked to the centre to find that we had booked the activity for the following day. All hope was not lost though, and we waited in anticipation (watching a Ray swim lazily along the harbour wall) to see if anyone would cancel at this hour in the morning (0620). Then, a stroke of luck! The lady at the desk took pity on us and handed us the golden tickets (orange wristbands) of glory that let us through the arches (door) into the changing rooms! We couldn't have moved quicker and soon we were wetsuited up and ready to go.

    We got into the little boat with 8 others and headed out into the harbour in search of the dolphins. We were in search of the Hector's Dolphin, the rarest and smallest sea dolphin in the world (about 1m in length). As they're all completely wild, we were relying on the dolphins playful nature and pure curiosity of us to see them.

    This paid off though, and we saw them, their little dorsal fins breaking and then going under the surface of the water. It was brilliant to see, and after a few sightings of dolphins that weren't interested in the boat we came across a couple that were more enthusiastic. We got into the water and bobbed around in the thick wetsuits. The dolphins came up to us and swam right by us! It was very exciting but they seemed intent on breakfast so we turned to get back in the boat and try again. But then, a little figure pops out the water just in front of us and a blue penguin swims by, just starting his day of fishing!

    We then went on and for a while just watched and looked out for dolphins, until the time came for us to get back in the water! This was brilliant, as the Dolphins came right up next to us and were swimming underneath us and everything! It was so exciting, there must have been about 8 of them! We did that for as long as it took the Dolphins to get bored of us and then got back in the boat, had some hot chocolate and headed back to shore.

    We then went off to Activity 2, whale watching! Whilst we had been swimming, we'd had our wait list slot confirmed so needed to get back to the place we'd left earlier that morning by 1315. The arrival time said 1321 so we set off and headed up north again, arriving just on time!

    The whale watching was incredible. After a brief, we got on the boat and headed out to the sea. The water depth drops suddenly to about 1100m which is where the whales like to dive. We saw ospreys and Dolphins along the way, and the spout of a sey whale which is really rare for this area! We got told different bits of info as the boat trip went on which was great, and we waited for the Sperm whale that was in the area to resurface so we could see it.

    It was amazing to see. The whale resurfaced and the boat went over to a respectable distance away so we could watch him breathe. Sperm whales spend about 5-10 minutes on the surface before diving back down, so we got to bask in it's magnificence before it took its last breath, and slowly dived, his tail coming in an arc out of the water and then dropping beneath the surface. It was brilliant to watch, such a special experience.

    We then drove all the way back down to Christchurch, powered by fish and chips. We knew the next day was just going to be one of packing up and relaxing, so it was better to do all the driving in one day. We got to the campsite at about 8 and found a nice spot in the corner of the field, and settled into our penultimate night in the campervan.    Leggi altro

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  • Izzi and TomTravelsViaggiatore

    Day 66/72: New Years Day!

    1 gennaio 2019, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Happy New Year!

    Today was our first day of big driving! We had to get from Knobs Flat (near Milford sound) all the way to Oamaru to see the penguins! It was a 7 hour drive that took us, due to the lack of roads on the South Island, in a very round about route along the coast. However, this took us past Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world!

    We had a good drive, setting off relatively early to get away from the vast numbers of insects at Knobs Flat, and listening to great music along the way. We stopped off near Te Anau to get a coffee, and whilst there we saw some Alpacas! Turns out that you can buy food, similar to that of a family farm, to feed the Alpacas so we had a great 20 mins feeding them, and wondering how we could fit one in the van and take it with us for the rest of the trip.

    We decided, grudgingly, that the beanbags weren't safe enough to carry an Alpaca or 5, so we had to leave them behind. We carried on, the roads easy now we were out of the alps and the views were of sheep, cows and rolling hills. Beautiful!

    We came into Dunedin just after lunch, the home of Baldwin Street. Dunedin itself isn't very nice, looks a lot like downtown Leicester to be honest. But it was worth the drive for the street!
    The climb is 350m long, and averages a 1:2.83 gradient. It's really steep. You're walking up in on the balls of your feet, and have to really push to keep going. Imagine if the stairs lacked steps. It was great, and you can't quite get your head around how steep it is! We walked up to the top and watched a cyclist try and fail to get to the top, and then went back down and got on our running kit.

    It's a segment on strava and although it was probably the shortest run both of us have done, it was well worth it! It was so hard to put one foot in front of the other, and the burn was ridiculous. Anyhow, we did it and felt great after, with people watching on in awe and surprise (in our minds anyway) although there was no hope of running down!

    We got to Oamaru later on and had a sort of the van, taking out the major rubbish we wouldn't need for the next week and generally giving it a tidy. We then went to see the penguins!

    The blue penguin is the smallest species of penguin in the world, and are very rare. However, Oamaru is home to one of the largest colonies of them. The Penguins wake up just before sunrise, and travel up to 50km a day! They go in small groups ("rafts") to their chosen area for fishing, and then split up for the day to fish by themselves. They spend all day out in the sea, before heading back just after sunset in their rafts again. It's a long day for them, especially as they're only about a foot tall!

    Anyhow, they came in, about 10-20 at a time in roughly 10 minute intervals! They hopped slowly and warily up the rocks, pausing occasionally to spread the oils around their feathers to re waterproof themselves overnight. They then do a little dash, past a big seal which decided to sleep in front of the holes that they ran through. It was very cute, although Izzi got stressed when some didn't go straight through, or decided to wait behind! It was great to see them, and really interesting to hear about the species, and the ticket contributed to their conservation so all in all a lovely experience!    Leggi altro

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  • Izzi and TomTravelsViaggiatore

    Day 65/72: new years eve

    31 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    We woke up in our bug ridden campsite and quickly escaped to go for a walk. The weather forecast had lied and it was a beautifully sunny day, so we drove to the Divide and hiked up a steep hill to Key Summit. It was hot and hard work, but at the top there were the most beautiful views of the lake Marion that we had walked to the day before and the entire mountain ranges.

    The walk was a steep track up the mountain, through woods and up onto the alpine climate at the top. It was absolutely beautiful, and we enjoyed stomping through the stream that ran down the track at random intersections.

    On the drive back we stopped at various points along the road, including a mirror lake, which when sunny reflects the mountains in its dark water. However, it was windy so it didn't really...

    We also pulled over by a redwood forest and went for a short walk through the trees to a huge lake which was entirely deserted, and through lupin fields.

    Our new years eve consisted of fried chicken and rice, a bottle of wine that we didn't finish, and falling asleep listening to Harry Potter before 11, to be woken by Tom at 2359 to say happy new year. Not the most exciting one ever, but a lovely new years all the same.    Leggi altro

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  • Izzi and TomTravelsViaggiatore

    Day 64/72: Lake Marion and the Cascades

    30 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ 🌫 13 °C

    It was still raining. We drove to our campsite for the day early, checked in and put out table and chairs and various shoes out in the space to save it for ourselves. The man who checked us in gave us a map and various recommended walks around the area, so we drove to his first recommendation: The Cascades. The most amazing waterfall through a gorge, with a coffee van at the entrance to wake us up a bit. The view was incredible, and the walk took about 15 minutes on a hanging bridge across the gorge.

    Our next stop was to see a couple of keas: the only parrot that lives at a high altitude I think. Quite incredible birds, but very intent on pulling apart camper vans or cars, or scratching people, and as they're quite big, we kept our distance.

    We then did a walk through the rainforest to Lake Marion. The walk was incredible, climbing across roots and boulders uphill to a hanging valley with a huge lake, and mist and clouds all around, then stamping and half running back down. It took about 2 and a bit hours.

    The evening was spent eating and trying to stay as far away from sand flies as possible: we both got very bitten.    Leggi altro

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  • Izzi and TomTravelsViaggiatore

    Day 63/72: Milford Sound

    29 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    We drove out of Te Anau towards Milford Sound, a very famous Fiord in Fiordland. As we drove, we drove further and further into rain, and by the time we got to where our boat was leaving from it was solidly heavy rain. The boat was great, the captain constantly making comments about trying to sell the cappuccinos in the cafe... 'if you look to your right you will see some kayakers in the rain, a great way to see Milford Sound, except of course that they don't have the cappuccinos in the cafe on the lower deck to warm up, so buy yours now!'
    He pointed out loads of seals sat on rocks as we made our way through the sound, waterfalls crashing around us in all directions. It was wet and cold sat on the deck, but the views were absolutely beautiful. Occasionally the caption dipped the front of the nose of the boat right under the edge of a waterfall so we all got absolutely soaked. The photos will explain how beautiful it was a lot better than I probably can.

    The afternoon was dedicated to drying off, having hot showers, and listening to Stephen Fry read Harry Potter.    Leggi altro

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  • Izzi and TomTravelsViaggiatore

    Day 62/72: Ben Lomond

    28 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    We went into town and picked up some croissants and baguettes from a famous bakery. Actually the bakery itself isn't famous but its part of a chain with a very famous burger place. The food was good anyway.

    We walked straight to the start of a small cable car which takes you to the start of a walk up Ben Lomond, passing Noel Edmunds (which Tom was very excited about). Having never watched deal or no deal the excitement was slightly lost on me, and the following 45 minutes of googling his entire life story and whether we had really seen his wife and son or not was slightly tedious.

    We started our watches and began the long walk up. The first part was hard work, but lovely paths through forests. Then we got out into the side of the mountain, and there was no shelter from the burning hot sun. The walk got steeper, and soon we we scrambling on our feet and hands up the gravelly path, with steep drops to either side. The walk up took a long time, but the views from the top were incredible! Queenstown and lake Whakitipu was on one side, and on the other a huge mountain range with snow capped peaks as far as the eye could see.

    The scramble back down was less than fun, and took longer than the walk up. We were so hot, and had nearly finished all the water in our bags when the cable car came back into view, and we sat there with 2 random other people, who had probably had a nice coffee at the cafe and enjoyed the view, instead of climbing up a mountain, feeling very bad about how sweaty we must have smelt.

    When we got back to the car we drove to stock up on food, then out into the countryside to Te Anau Lake, our next campsite and the base of our trip to Milford Sound.    Leggi altro

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  • Izzi and TomTravelsViaggiatore

    Day 61/72: Mountain Biking!

    27 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Today we wanted to hire mountain bikes and explore the surrounding area. Mountain biking is huge in Queenstown, they're everywhere, and we wanted to see what the fuss was about. Tom went for a run first thing and then we both did a circuit on a sports field near the campsite, watching paragliders soar overhead. It really is a very adventurous place to be.

    Feeling very refreshed, we went into town to the Fergbaker bakery, which is the best and only real bakery we've found in the whole of New Zealand so far. Bread seems to be really awful from most bakeries over here for some reason compared to the UK, but ah well this place was the best we've found. We got some supplies for the day and then headed to the mountain bike hire shop. We chatted to the guy and decided to hire them in the early afternoon, so spent the morning chilling in the town, searching for a top that Izzi wanted and drinking coffee next to the lake.

    We picked up the mountain bikes and headed off on our chosen route. It was great fun cycling again and for the first 8km or so it was either road, or what would be "steep cliff path only for walkers" in the UK, which made for tricky cycling! The next bit up to the top of a good downhill section was all switchback turns up a hill, and Izzi had a strop halfway up when she realised she'd bitten off more than she could chew, and vowed as she pushed her bike up the hill to do more cycling in Guernsey (this was in retrospect, at the time she vowed never to get on a bike again and was much more unreasonable).

    We then went down the track which popped us out just opposite a bike park. We spent the next few hours here, on the hills on the edge of the lake, riding the tracks through the forest and generally wearing ourselves out at the steepness of the tracks and how rutted they were. We rode back later that evening feeling exhausted but pleased with the days efforts, it was a great place to ride.

    That evening we got changed and headed out into town to go for our first evening meal out in quite a long time. We found a steak restaurant which had great reviews so decided to go there. We ordered 2 very reasonable steaks (some of them were veeeery pricey) but when the waitress arrived and gave us the food, something seemed wrong. She had said the correct meals as she put the plates down, but Izzi had received a HUGE fillet (like really huge) that somewhat differed to the rump that we thought she'd be getting, and that the waitress had said, and Tom received something that nether of us knew straight away but thought was a sirloin. Not wanting to question the waitresses judgement, we tucked in happily. It was a fantastic meal! We only realised at the end of the meal, that the table next to us seemed to have much smaller steaks, that looked suspiciously like what we should have had as they had ordered the same things as us. We were worried that the bill would be sky high but luckily it was just as we'd ordered and we left feeling pleased yet confused, wondering if someone had received our meal instead of their own...    Leggi altro

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    Day 60/72: Boxing Day Bungee

    26 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    We woke up early and drove back to Queenstown, and passed Queenstown heading out towards Kawarea Bridge: the home of bungee jumping. This is where the first ever bungee jump was created, off a bridge 43m above a stunning blue river. The wait for the bungee jump was good fun, chatting to people and watching Tom jump first (I've never seen him look that scared...). You are attached by a harness to a loop, and when it's your time next they strap your feet together with a towel, thick pieces of velcro, and attach you to a huge elastic cord hanging off the edge (by both your feet and the harness around your waist).

    I was slightly nervous but okay until stepping out on the platform, and that's when I completely freaked out. It looks insanely high from up there, so when the guy was getting me to look at cameras and wave at things, I was busy freaking out and backing out of the jump. He took me back inside to calm down, and I was absolutely certain that I was not going to bungee jump that day. Once I had calmed down, however, I had another go, this time forgetting the cameras and just falling straight off the edge. Much much better. The rush is great, and we both finished it wanting to have another go. Once you're done jumping they let you down into a raft a couple of guys are in down on the river and untie you there.

    We watched a few more people do it, and a few more people back out, and then headed back to Queenstown. We spent the afternoon playing frisbee golf (safe to say neither of us are getting any better), and watched a part of a film.    Leggi altro

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    Day 59/72: Christmas!!!

    25 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Merry Christmas!!!! What an exciting day. So strange waking up on Christmas day to sun and heat, we even had a white Christmas if you count the snow that was sprinkled on the mountain peaks around Glenorchy. Tom called his parents and wished them a Merry Christmas Eve night, and then we opened our stockings! It was great, sitting there in the van with a cup of tea, fairy lights, Christmas tree, holly and mistletoe hanging around. Not traditional but great fun!

    We then went out for a run before it got too hot. Beautiful scenery, running around the smaller lakes of Glenorchy with santa hats and saying Merry Christmas to other people out for walks. We got to the main lake and ran along the jetty, threw our stuff down and jumped straight in to the amusement of many a tourist who took photos. One woman had recorded the whole thing and sent us the video! Very odd way to start a Christmas day!

    We then ran back to the campsite and had shower and cooked ourselves a well deserved Christmas breakfast of eggs/bacon or salmon on toast. Feeling very pleased with ourselves, we chilled out and unvelied our other presents for each other, and then went to find a spot on the lake. We drove around to the other side, which was a bit of a catastrophe because we ended up doing through a ford and then getting to a bigger one and having to do a 17 point turn on a tiny gravel track and going back up a very steep hill, where we stopped at the top to walk down to the lake edge only to be attacked by flies and mosquitoes and upon trying to leave, lost the car key so couldn't escape! We scurried and slapped for a good 5 minutes before locating the lost key in its very safe place on the gear lever and getting away faster than a car from a bank robbery. We then swatted all the flies in the van for the rest of the journey back to Glenorchy, listening to Christmas songs and stopped at the lakefront we were at that morning. There is a small park on the front, so we chilled out there for the rest of the afternoon, jumping in the lake when we felt too hot and playing cards, frisbee and snoozing. It was very relaxing.

    That evening, we made our Christmas dinner (chicken and potatoes, simple yet tasty) and tucked into our vast array of cheese that we'd managed to collect over the past few days. It was fantastic, and we had a bottle of wine out of paper cups, and let the sun go down as we chatted and ate. We both called our families on their Christmas morning. A really nice Christmas day all in all, and Glenorchy was a brilliant place to spend it in!    Leggi altro

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    Day 58/72: A Glenorchy Christmas Eve

    24 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We woke up to a beautiful view of the mountains, and decided to go for a walk in the morning. The sun was shining and birds were singing and the morning heated up incredibly quickly. We walked around the lakes, incredibly smooth with incredible reflections of the mountains, with plenty of stops to take thousands of photos. Both of us were wearing our Christmas eve socks, and humming Christmas songs along the way. We stopped for a paddle in the glacier river, which was unsurprisingly freezing cold, but ice blue and surrounded by fields of lupins. The walk finished by our campsite shop so we got pies for lunch and icecream sundaes (free thanks to our Christmas hamper!) and ate them in the sun.

    Izzi wrapped Christmas presents in the afternoon while Tom went for a hot run (he wasn't too happy afte starting out along a private road and having the turn around when reaching a sign). I then sunbathed while Tom wrapped my presents. Our Christmas afternoon passed in a blur of reading, eating and sunbathing.

    In the evening we were down to the lake, and took loads of photos jumping off the dock into the lake. Feeling very refreshed and cold, we had environmentally friendly showers at the campsite, and hung our stockings by the exhaust pipe with care.    Leggi altro

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    Day 57/72: Queenstown to Glenorchy

    23 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    We started the day in Queenstown, wondering through the town and to the park to play another game of Frisbee Golf. (Tom won by quite a long way unfortunately). It was hotter today, and the sun was shining. A beautiful day for being in the park by the lake!

    After a light lunch, we went for a walk, wondering up through the streets of Queenstown (up very very steep roads in places), and up Queenstown hill. The walk was beautiful, straight up through a forest of pine trees on lovely footpaths, and then opening up on the top to reveal an incredible view across the whole lake of Whakitipu and the city of Queenstown. After sitting at the top and watching paragliders taking off from a neighbouring hill for a while, we walked back down through the forest again.

    We arrived back at the van and went and did our Christmas food shopping on the way to Glenorchy, where we would be spending Christmas. The drive to Glenorchy was very beautiful (one of the top 10 drives in the world) along the side of the huge lake.

    We arrived in Glenorchy and checked into the most incredible campsite, all the buildings had been made out of recycled material, complete with a solar farm which created as much energy in a year as the campsite used. The toilets are composting toilets, with no flush and an air flow system to stop smells (worked very well), and the no flushing means that they save 600,000L of water a year. The campsite itself had incredible views of the mountains surrounding Glenorchy.

    We arrived and opened our wonderful Christmas hamper waiting for us at the campsite (thank you mum and dad) and had a lovely dinner.    Leggi altro

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    Day 56/72: Luge and Frisbee Golf!

    22 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    We woke up early and had breakfast in time for the 0800 Queenstown Parkrun (a free 5km run that happens on a Saturday morning in various parks around the world, very popular in the UK). It was attended by a respectable 100 or so people and we had a good race around the parks and along the lakefront. We both ran well and thoroughly enjoyed it considering it rained heavily half way through!

    After the run we cooled down and went to get a coffee (flat white, originated in New Zealand don't you know) and then went back to the campsite to have a shower and get changed. Queenstown was in a rut of low cloud so we decided not to do the very tall mountain hike, but luge from halfway down the hill instead. Luging is a bit like sledging on a road, you sit in a little cart with wheels, a steering column and a brake and you roll down the hill around corners and over humps etc. Great fun! We got tickets at the bottom of the cable car that took us up the mountain and got on, Izzi very nervous as she looked out the glass windows, jumping every time we went through the connecting pillar bits. We got to the top and donned our, very unflattering in Tom's case, helmets. The view was brilliant and we admired it, taking photos before the rain came, and then hopped on a ski lift that took us to the start of the luge. We got taught how to use it, and wondered incredulously at how some people failed to grasp the concept of braking. But after our brief we were on our way, zooming around the corners and weaving through the nervous nellies. It was great fun, sliding around some of the wetter corners and trying to brake as little as possible!

    We then went up the lift again for our second run, this time down the more advanced slope. Nothing too strenuous, just a bit steeper and more corners. Tom arrived at the bottom in front of Izzi and looked behind to see she'd stopped further up the track. What was all the fuss was about? Izzi had managed to lose control of her sled on a wet bit of ground and had collided with the entrance to a tunnel. A large graze on her forearm was the visible damage, and we went back up the hill to the office and first aid station. She got patched up and after joking about a free ride down, received one so we both made our way back down the first slope, Izzi more tenderly than before.

    After a great time luging we went to Fergburger, an apparently must eat takeaway burger place in Queenstown. The queues are normally mental but in the rain it was a little less, so we got 2 fantastic cheese burgers that lived up to the hype they have. We then went in search of frisbees for frisbee golf. This is a GREAT sport, played very similarly to classic golf, but with a frisbee instead of a ball. You play through woods, and there's a surprising amount of effort that goes into the sport, with a variety of plastics, weights and designs for various different shots. We spent a good 15 minutes chatting about the disks in the shop before purchasing one each for ourselves to use. Queenstown Park has the first official frisbee golf course and we had a great time lobbing our frisbees round in the intermittent rain, trying to get them into the chain frisbee catcher thing that varies from being 40-180m from the tee. Our first attempt was pretty poor but it was great fun, and we were glad we bought the frisbees instead of renting them, so we could play again in the coming days!    Leggi altro

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    Day 55/72: horses and lotr

    21 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    Today we woke up early and drove to Glenorchy to go horse trekking through the most beautiful valley filled with lupins and crystal clear rivers. The hack was awesome, the mountains were amazing and we did a few very deep river crossings.
    3 hours of riding later we were both feeling sore and/or out of practice. The area (and the horses we were riding) were used a lot for various films, including lots of Lord of the Rings scenes, Wolverine scenes, and Prince Caspian. And it's easy to see why! The scenery was breathtaking.

    The lupins absolutely fill the valleys here, they were brought over from England as a decorative garden plant but have become a weed, meaning that the valleys are super beautiful.

    We drove back to Queenstown (the drive along the lake is incredible) and had a good lunch before heading into town. We wondered around for a bit, exploring surf and skate (board not fish) shops, and finishing off some Christmas shopping.

    Queenstown is the adrenaline capital of the world, and it shows in all the signs for bungy jumping and Skydiving or another weird adrenaline fuelled activity every 2 meters you walk.    Leggi altro

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    Day 54/72: Kayaking and Queenstown

    20 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Glorious morning! We got up and stood on the rocks looking out over the lake in the sun, eating breakfast and feeling very pleased with the view. We then had a quick stretching session before we left to spend the most part of the day in Wanaka.

    Went down to the lake and hired a double kayak for a couple of hours. We paddled out over the clear still water to an island in the middle of the lake. On the way we passed the Wanaka tree and took our own photos and smiled for all the photos that we got in the way of. We landed on the island just as a couple of people were leaving, and then we were the only ones there! It was a 20 minute wander around with some of the greatest views of the lake and surrounding mountains. It was lovely and we paddled steadily back, Izzi steering us all over the place ("it's much harder than it looks, why isn't it going that way!?"). We got back and parked the kayak superbly in reverse onto the bank.

    We then wandered into the town again to browse some shops and have lunch (cheese scone, lamb and mint pie and a steak and cheese pie) which was delicious. We then decided to head back to the van and go onwards with our journey to Glenorchy for the next days activities. On the way we stopped to have a very cold swim in the lake to wake ourselves up after feeling a bit hot and stuffy. On the way we drove past the most beautiful rivers of clear blue water and fields of flowers in a variety of pinks and purples (Lupins I've been told), with a backdrop of huge rocky mountains and deep green forests, it's incredible here.

    As we drove on we decided to stop in Queenstown for the night and head up to Glenorchy in the morning. This was a great shout as we scouted out the campsite we were going to be staying in after Christmas and it turns out it's very pleasant. Another lovely day in New Zealand well spent!    Leggi altro

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  • Izzi and TomTravelsViaggiatore

    Day 53/72: Wanaka

    19 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

    The lady in reception was wrong. There wasn't as much rain today as yesterday. It drizzled on and off in the morning though, so we spent the most part of it in the campervan sorting out the last stages of our trip. We booked accommodation for the rest of our days in New Zealand, and sorted out dates for activities and what we wanted to do. After many phone calls and writing lists we were sorted, had some lunch and headed out to Wanaka town.

    It was the second time we'd worn trousers in 2 months as we walked along the edge of Lake Wanaka. Wanaka is a rather sporty town on the end of a 45km lake, with lots of sports shops and activities going on. The surrounding hills and mountains are a brilliant backdrop and it's a very touristy place, but didn't have a bad vibe to it. It was fresh, pleasant and lively. We came to a tree on the edge of the lake. It's quite a famous tree called 'that wanaka tree' on social media/travel pages, as on clear still days, this tree that sits in the lake just off the shore, can be photographed to perfection. Today was not one of those days, and we carefully stepped amongst the few tourists with selfie sticks and cameras, took our own photo of it and then realised there was a much better shot in the other direction, so carried on with our walk. We wandered along the bank then felt hungry and thirsty so headed back towards the town. We had a look around the shops*, (they offer heli mountain biking here, how cool!) and then came to a cafe on the end of all the shops.

    Our actions that followed were completely justified and we shall not regret the next hour for the rest of our lives.

    We walked into the shop, thinking "I've heard they do good milkshakes, let's try one". However the smells and the menus and the cakes were just too much so we ordered a flat white, an Eton-mess-esque sundae, a cheesecake and a large milkshake. We sat down and the 4 journeys were made to bring all our things to the table ("anything else you've ordered?" "oh yes! Don't take the table number away yet!"). The coffee was fantastic, the cheesecake passion fruity, creamy and light, the sundae bursting with flavour and the milkshake made with fresh chocolate ice cream. After slowly savouring all of the above, we rolled out of the restaurant and down the path back to the van. We let our substantial coffee stop go down and then went for a run up and down the river bank. Feeling more proud than ever at our achievements of cafe and run, we headed back to warm showers and a night of Izzi teaching Tom how to play racing demons.

    *Just a note for us to remember really, but we came to a small shop called Thieving Kia which when we walked in had, in Tom's mind, the best smell that he had ever smelled in a shop and proceeded to find the source of it to much amusement of Izzi and the 2 ladies who ran the shop who led us to the scented candle section    Leggi altro

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  • Izzi and TomTravelsViaggiatore

    Day 52/72: the wettest day ever

    18 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

    Today was so unbelievably rainy. We started the day at Fox Glacier, and drove through the rain until we got to the town on Haast. Haast is scarcely more than a small village but with a few cafés where we could get some lunch. We then decided to drive on through the torrential downpour. The sights along the way were absolutely beautiful, the water pouring off the edge of huge mountains looming ominously grey in the low cloud hanging over them. The rivers running under the bridges we were driving on were already pushing at their banks, and flowing down the roads.

    We stopped for a walk at a walk called Roaring Billy Falls. We walked through a thick green forest to reach a space of flat rocks before a river bed. It was a short wade across what seemed to be the overflowing puddle of the river to get to stand under a huge waterfall, which was indeed roaring. We skimmed stones for maybe 15 minutes in the pouring rain, then turned to wade back across the water only to find that it had risen somewhat, and the water was flowing past us quite quickly and already up to above our knees. This left us slightly worried about what would have happened if we'd been skimming rocks for any longer, and whether we would have had to swim back.

    Our next stop was 'Fantail Falls'; a normally very delicate waterfall, very famous and a only short walk from the road. Unfortunately, due to the sheer amount of water falling from the sky, the waterfall was just a solid waterfall, not much fantailing going on at all.

    We then stopped at the Blue Pools. The Blue Pools are a half an hour walk away through a forest to what are supposed to be crystal blue pools. Unfortunately again, due to the rain, the blue pools were actually just a muddy river. Feeling slightly put out, but laughing at quite how soaking we were from the rain, we headed on to find a campsite.

    We have stopped for the night at Lake Hawea, a beautiful lake with mountains all around. We are parked right on the side of the lake, and it finally stopped raining this evening long enough for us to cook dinner and go for a short swim. Apparently tomorrow is going to be even rainier than today, the lady at the campsite informed us, and wasn't terribly amused when we asked if that was even possible. It is in New Zealand apparently.    Leggi altro

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  • Izzi and TomTravelsViaggiatore

    Day 51/72: Glaciers!

    17 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    We woke up to a fantastic view from our campervan, had breakfast and got ready for a day of walks. We knew that the area had a plentiful supply of different ones so we got our boots on and headed off.

    Our first walk was to a small lake called Peter's Pool. Here, on a relatively still day, the mountains and glacier reflects in the water creating postcard perfect images. We walked through the forest paths, lush and green, until we came out into the open on the edge of the lake. It was incredible and we stood there open mouthed at the view. It was another beautiful day and the setting couldn't have been better. It was just like you see in photos of New Zealand (believe it or not), awe inspiring.

    We then carried on in the wrong direction, turned around and headed the right way to the Glacier. The walk took us along the valley that the Glacier had previously been. It was barren with slate and boulders stretching far out in all directions until it met the valley sides which turned skywards and turned to mountains. We could see the glacier in the distance and as we walked, there were signs that showed where the glacier had been x number of years ago. It was sad to see the vast rate of depreciation that the glacier has due to climate change. We walked further and further up the valley, and then came to the end about 700m from the terminal end of the glacier. It was impressive, after years of studying them in Geography and finally getting to see one in real life. There was a substantial river flowing from beneath the glacier and it seemed strange that there was any ice on it at all! It appeared smaller than we thought it would be, but years ago you could imagine it carving its way down the mountain side to form the valley we were in, just a shame it has receded so much. We walked back down, baking in the heat but very pleased with the mornings walking efforts.

    We went for some lunch in the town and read a humorous range of reviews from heli hikes in the area. They looked cool, but vastly expensive for what you get! We then moved down the road to the next glacier town, and to a lake called Lake Matheson. This is another postcard perfect image from New Zealand, as the still water on Lake Matheson perfectly reflects Mt Cook and the surrounding hills and trees. It was a lovely walk around the river but sadly the clouds had descended and the wind picked up, but none the less a beautiful lake. The walk was great though with an astonishing array of greens and browns so we had fun taking photos all the way round.

    We then headed for the campsite, and after being allocated a poor spot went back to the lake for a run. It was a lovely run, twisting and turning with obstacles such as trees, tourists, rocks and language barriers as we warned people of our approach for them to turn blankly to us and stand stock still. Ah well, there weren't that many. Great run! We then went back to the campsite, with the promise of rain the next day but luckily we've planned it was a driving day so it shouldn't get in the way too much!    Leggi altro

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  • Izzi and TomTravelsViaggiatore

    Day 50/72: Hokitika!

    16 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Ooooo what a lovely Sunday!

    We started the day by some window shopping in Hokitika. Hokitika (either Hoe-ki-teeka, or Ho-ki-teeka we still aren't sure and no one else is 100% sure either, locals or otherwise) is a very small town famous for it's Jade trade, and we spent a while browsing very expensive Jade carvings and a Jade seat that cost the same as a very nice house in the area. We then went and had some pies for early lunch, (steak, bacon and cheese, and mince and cheese).

    It was a beautiful day, so we went in search of some water. A couple of places were highly recommended to us so we had a look. The first was a lake (Lake Kaniere) with a waterfall that fell into a river that fed the lake. We decided to go for a swim and the pool the waterfall had formed was freezing but it was great to feel the water crashing so close by! We then wandered down to the lake front, surrounded by mountains (amazing) and had a paddle.

    The next place was Hokitika Gorge. This is one of the most famous places in South Island for the incredible blue of the water. It's due to the sediment and minerals in the rock that the water rushes over, and its absolutely amazing, see photos! You get to the Gorge via a swing bridge that runs over the river. It's stunning, the huge great cliffs and rocks with the greenery of the trees and bushes and then the astonishing blue of the river! We went down to the edge, took some photos and had a swim. It was as cold as it looks and churned in the mini bay we were in as the river flowed quickly by, very exciting!

    Then we headed on down to the Franz Josef Glacier. We have plans to do some walks around there tomorrow so thought getting there and starting early would be a good idea. It was a clear evening and the sun set behind the trees, lighting up the mountains as we cooked pasta, such a nice end to the week!    Leggi altro

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    Day 49/72: Kayaking and Pancakes

    15 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We left our campsite and headed down the West Coast, onwards on our journey. The roads were stunning (one of the top 10 coastal roads in the world) and the drive was great. After an hour or so we got to our first stop, Punakaiki. Here, we'd been told there was a couple of great walks to be seen.

    We headed out on the first, called the Pancake Rock Walk. It was a steady loop, with walkways and bridges initially through forest (it felt like we were back in the Singapore botanical gardens!) with little plaques naming all the trees and shrubbery. Then we walked out onto a platform viewpoint looking over the cliffs and coastline. Here, there were stacks of what was indeed rock pancakes! Apparently its due to the erosion of different densities of rock at different rates that causes the pancakes to form but scientists are still confused. These were great, and where the stacks were there were great holes running through the rocks, and the waves crashed in dramatically underneath us. It was very exciting!

    After walking around the walkway, taking photos and admiring the view, we stopped for an early lunch (1200). There was a cafe selling very appealing pizza, and very appealing pancakes, so we had one of each and split it.

    After lunch, we had a debate as to whether to carry on with the journey, or hire kayaks and go up a river we'd passed earlier on the road that looked exciting. We decided to do the kayaking and it was a brilliant decision. We arrived at what seemed to be someone's farm house and kind of peered around until a man found us. He sorted us out with kayaks whilst happily spinning stories of his 28 years of the river. We escaped with a bucket for our phones, nice neoprene bootees and string around Tom's sunglasses ("the amount of times I've had people borrow this snorkel to look for their glasses", "I had a guy come back after 4 years and he still had his string on them!") and headed down to the river. There was a rope tied to the front of the boat used for walking it across the shallower bits of the river, a fair amount as it turned out. It was hilarious, walking up the middle of a large river with great towering cliffs and hills on either side like something out of Jurassic Park, towing our kayaks like walking dogs. We went as far up the river as was reasonably possible, spent some time jumping off rocks and taking photos, and then came back down again through the rapids ("you won't believe the amount of people I've had fall in there, it's like they've never been in a kayak before!"). Such great scenery and a brilliant excursion from the route. The guy was pleased that we'd had a good time and waved us on our way.

    We also had a quick stop at a short track down to a beach*. It was unusually stoney for a NZ beach but had a great waterfall that flowed off the cliff down onto the shale, so we had a quick shower to cool off before heading back up to the road.

    We then drove to Hokitika and a campsite/field by a lake. We thought about going for a run and then decided it was far too late so went for a short walk to a lake side beach to have a paddle as the sun went down. Lovely Saturday overall!

    * all around New Zealand are these green and yellow signs that indicate walking tracks. You can find them anywhere, around campsites, the sides of roads, beaches, car parks. They have the name of the track, or point of interest, the distance in km and the average time it takes to walk it. This was one of them, a side of the road version.    Leggi altro

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    Day 48/72: walking, running & surfing

    14 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We woke up early, determined to make up for yesterday's laziness, and headed out for a run on 'foulwind cape'. Surprisingly the weather was beautiful and so hot in the sun, the run had no shelter, and the car park had almost no satellites to start up strava. After the first half mile there was a lookout over a colony of seals, and after that there was a cliff path run up to the lighthouse. We spent a while watching seal puppies playing on the rocks. Male seals can weigh up to 200kg while females tend to weigh around 40kg.

    The run was hard work but we finished it...kind of. And then we rented some surf boards from the former NZ surfing champion, and headed onto the water for the best part of 5 hours. Feeling very much improved, not to mention achey and exhausted, we decided to call it a day surfing wise.

    The sun was still beating down, so we walked back along the walk we had run earlier, and watched the seals playing for a long time.

    A lovely dinner that evening was very much in order, and we had an easy evening after an action packed day.    Leggi altro

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    Day 47/72: Driving South

    13 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    After having a horse eating the field around us to keep us company last night, Tom went out to the beach for a run in the rain. In an attempt to be festive he tried to draw a tree and wrote the word "Christmas" on the beach in the hope that it'd be picked up by Strava, with near excellent results! We then drove over to farewell spit which, as the tide was out, was very desolate and littered with sea debris. As the rain came down, we wondered how we'd benefit from walking along the wasteland so we turned around and carried on with the journey to our next stop, petrol and a supermarket for weekly provisions (apparently the West Coast is desolate with little human contact let alone shops). After a long drive, we ended up in Westport, at a lovely quiet campsite just as the day was ending.Leggi altro

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    Day 46/72: Skydiving!!! And seals

    12 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Early in the morning I got a call to say that my Skydiving would be pushed back to 1000, which made us both fear for a day like the previous day of waiting for the jump. Fortunately, at 1000 we showed up and I got into my gear. I was the only one on my plane (apart from the instructor person and the photographer) and it was so nervewracking flying up above the clouds. At 13000ft we jumped out and had about 50 seconds of free falling time (the video is hilarious- just me desperately trying to breathe while slightly hyperventilating, while wearing a very attractive hat and goggles) and at 7000ft we pulled our parachute and the photographer continued his fall down to greet us on the ground. (he pulled his parachute at about 5000ft). The soft journey down to the ground was amazing, the views - even though it was slightly cloudy - were incredible, of golden beaches and cliffs and sparkly sea. We landed safely and it was absolutely amazing.

    The rest of the day involved a drive up to the most northern tip of the island, and we stayed at Wharariki beach. We had a lovely walk to the beach across white sand dunes and spotted loads of seals all sat on the rocks around the edge. We climbed into caves and through limestone arches on the beach for a while, then enjoyed the sunny walk back to the campsite.

    An evening of reading and relaxing followed (in which I started and finished a particularly captivating book) and an early night for Tom (while I stayed up to finish said book).    Leggi altro

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    Day 45/72: waiting for skydiving

    11 dicembre 2018, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Today we woke up early and drove to the skydiving centre, I got all geared up and then they told us the weather had just turned and they couldn't get up until maybe 1300. Disappointed but eager to try again later we headed to a nearly brunch/market place and had French toast and bacon, which was delicious.

    We then headed down to the salt pools in Motueka, the weather was grey and cloudy and the salt pools looked cold. So instead of swimming we sat in the car and watched the sea flowing over the edge. At 1200 I got a call to say that the skydiving wouldn't happen at 1300, try again at 1400. And at 1300 I had a phone call to say not 1400, but 1600. We headed up the coastal road to a beautiful beach and had a lovely swim in a huge river flowing into the sea. The pull was insane, you could swim as hard as you could against the current and still be pushed back a few meters.

    We bought a volley ball and played on the beach for a while, had some lunch from a cafe on the beachfront and got another call to say they would try one last time for 1700 but if not then the skydive would be tomorrow morning at 0900. (spoiler alert: it was pushed to the next day.) We enjoyed the rest of the day on the beautiful golden sand beach.

    We had a relaxing evening at the campsite and headed off to bed quite early.    Leggi altro

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