We are in Australia!

We are in Australia and really enjoying ourselves in the SUN!!! We know that the blog is 3 weeks short  of updates... We are working on it! We love you all and are thinking of you on our travels... We are currently living in a camper van and enjoying the challenges of not very much personal space and a lack of electricity! Nicole will be spending a day enjoying the local McDonalds free wifi within the next few days while the girls are supervising David in a free water lagoon and park so she can update you all.

7th August - Nelson Day 2 The centre of NZ and off to Kaikoura.

 Today we leave Nelson behind. Of all the places we have visited it is one of our favourites and we are sad to be leaving so soon. Before we leave we climb the ridiculously steep Botanical Hill - 

 

a horrible climb up winding paths in the Botanic Gardens. The path starts at the location of  the first documented rugby game took place in NZ and leads to the geographical centre of NZ. 

  

The scenery changes again as we travel through Blenheim and down through Marlborough "wine country"  and then hit the easterly coast and the crashing turquoise ocean - leaving the Tasman Sea behind us.

Several fellow travellers advised us never to pay to see penguins, sealions or seals in NZ as we could easily see them for free. We are heading for Kaikoura - a town rich in marine life where we hope to have another wildlife encounter - but cant quite believe  the roadside views of the plentiful groups of seals laying on the stony beaches and grassy banks all along the road into Kaikoura. 

 

 

We stop several times and venture unimaginably close. Another remarkable afternoon. 

6 August - Nelson - Markets, Morris Dancing and Ducks in the park!

A very easy start to the day and we wander into the centre of Nelson and the Saturday market. Nelson has a thriving "arts and crafts" scene and the market is filled with local produce, artisan bakers  and smokeries as well as local craftsmen selling jewellery, ceramics and sculpture. 

It feels fantastic to have the luxury of time to wander amongst the stalls browsing and the girls enjoying sampling and tasting as we go. We are also a little astonished to find a group of Morris dancers! We sit and watch with a steaming cup of very good coffee and the girls eat a fresh cooked crepe.

 We walk to Queens Gardens with armfuls of bread from our backpackers. Fresh bread is provided free in the communal kitchen each day but there were lots of odds and ends left over this morning and so we decide to go and find some ducks to feed. The seagulls also descend and enjoy the feast! 

 

 
We pass a peaceful hour or so in the park, wandering along the paths and through the ornamental gardens. There is something to be said for time spent doing ordinary stuff to keep us grounded!

 

Nelson Cathedral at night. Just across the road from our backpackers.

Friday 5th August - Greymouth, Punakaiki and Nelson

We are heading north again and leaving Greymouth. Before we go we head to the beach and hunt for greenstone in the surf. Greenstone or pounamu is the local name for the nephrite jade that comes from the South Island of New Zealand. Greenstone has a long tradition of being used and revered here starting with the first Maori inhabitants who fulfilled an ancient prophecy by travelling over the seas to find 'the God stone' as it was known then. It was shaped into tools, weapons, and jewellery. This tradition for jewellery making has continued through to today and the girls are desperate to find some for themselves. We see many waves crashing on the beach but sadly no greenstone and so we head back to the car - Tiegan has a welly boot full of sea water and is not amused!

Some 45km north we make a quick stop to see the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki. These are limestone formations that began forming 30 million years ago, when lime-rich fragments of dead marine creatures were deposited on the seabed, then overlaid by weaker layers of soft mud and clay. The seabed was raised above sealevel by earthquakes to form the coastal cliffs and coastline. The sea, wind and rain have since etched out the soft layers to form the unusual rock formations we see today. Punakaiki is located near the centre of the “Coast Road”, one of the most spectacular coastal drives in the world. When conditions are right, heavy ocean swells thunder into the caverns beneath the rocks and huge water spouts blast skywards through the blowholes in a truly spectacular sight.         

At the visitor centre we find a local lady with greenstone necklaces for sale and the girls each choose one to buy.

The landscape is changing again and we are leaving behind the lakes and mountains. We can admit that we are a bit "lake and mountained out"  now having seen 8 out of the 10 largest lakes in NZ and many of the tallest peaks here. The coast has an almost tropical forest look about it and the drive to Nelson is as scenic and beautiful as we have been told.

Nelson, on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, established in 1841, is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island. It is ranked as New Zealand’s 9th most populous city and the geographical centre of New Zealand. It is also said to be one of NZ's most liveable cities. It received its name in honour of the Admiral Horatio Nelson and many of the roads and public areas around the city are named after people and ships associated with him - Trafalgar Street is the main shopping axis of the city. It is also one of the few New Zealand cities to have its own flag. We are planning a 2 night stay here and are looking forward to having a whole day to explore making sure we find a backpacker in the heart of the town so we can have a "car free" Saturday.

  

Thursday 4th August - Fox Glacier - a big adventure!

After a sleepless night in a very cold bed in Franz Josef village Nicole has a lightbulb moment at 7am and decides to melt some plastic and splash out on a mini adventure to treat the family. We had planned to do a little walk as far as we could along the National Park trail to within 200m of the terminal of Franz Josef Glacier, but in a moment of madness a guided walk is booked an paid for and we do the fastest exit from any backpackers and dash the 20 or so kilometres round twisty turny roads to Fox Glacier Village and make it just in time for our briefing. At 13kms, Fox Glacier is the longest of the awe-inspiring New Zealand West Coast glaciers. At its head, soaring peaks of over 3,000m (10,000ft) dominate the vista. These include Aoraki (Mt Cook) and Mt Tasman. This mighty moving river of ice falls 2,600 metres, or a little over 8,000ft, on its journey from the base of the Southern Alps to the West Coast. New Zealand’s West Coast glaciers are unique and probably the most accessible glaciers in the world, as they terminate amongst temperate rainforest just 250m above sea level. So special is this mountain environment, that it forms part of the South Westland World Heritage Area. The unique combination of climate and shape means that Fox (and Franz Josef) Glaciers move at approximately 10 times the speed of other valley glaciers around the world. At Fox Glacier this is due to the funnel-like shape of the glacial valley and the huge nevé, the snow accumulation area, at the top of the glacier. Fox Glacier’s nevé is 36 square kms, bigger than the whole of Christchurch City!

 

We get kitted up with thick woollen socks, leather hiking boots and a waterproof hooded jacket and board the bus which takes us to the beginning of the glacier walk we would have taken.

We get kitted up with thick woollen socks, leather hiking boots and a waterproof hooded jacket and board the bus which takes us to the beginning of the glacier walk we would have taken.  The girls are the only children on the hike and our guide Tyler tells us, as we hike to the terminal face stepping across icy blue streams, that Rowi is the youngest person he has ever taken out on a glacier walk. The terminal face is amazing and our guide explains each part of our journey in detail.

     

As we climb up the side of the glacier we see the old path used only a few days previously but now covered by a sudden land slip. We climb up the final path before stopping to attach our crampons. The girls have to wrap the strap around twice for their smaller feet and then enter via freshly cut steps through a narrow v shaped channel between two ice walls which turns out to be a filled in crevasse. We descend down more cut ice steps and are blown away by the blue colouring of the ice around us.

  

We venture out onto the middle of the glacier complete with alpenstocks, following in single file, stomping our crampon points into the ice as we go. It was all too easy to forget that we were walking on a glacier 100 metres thick.

 

. We stomp a while longer before reaching a hollowed out sun cup which has progressed and evolved into an ice cave which we are able to walk through.

  

At one point we have to slide on our tummies through an ice tunnel before emerging at the other side in an icy heap. Tiegan enjoys it so much she makes David have another trip through!

At the farthest point of our walk, having reached the other edge, we come across a small glacial pool and enjoy fresh glacial water to drink before heading back across the ice.

    

We feel truly lucky (again!) to have shared this experience - it was an amazing adventure!

We head north again to Greymouth -  the largest town on the West Coast, and the commercial centre of the region. We check into our backpackers - and head off for a swim at the local pool. 


While we are there we have a change of heart about our chosen place to stay - Greymouth is an industrial town, full of miners and dockworkers and during the winter our hostel is used more like a boarding house for some of the men working here. We have no web access on the laptop from where we are and predictably it is now raining and dark. We know McDonalds has free wifi so head to the drive through and sit in the car park to try and find an alternative. Mercifully the YHA has a room so we return to pick up our packs, make our excuses and decamp to much better surroundings. Phew! There are some lovely girls from the UK already staying here - they are travelling on a Magic Bus tour around NZ and they entertain the girls playing jenga after supper.

Tuesday 2nd August - Te Anau to Queenstown and the LOVELY JOAN!!!!

 

We start our day by walking a little way around Lake Te Anau - the largest on South Island and another glacial lake of stunning turquoise blue. There is a sea plane moored on the water and a helicopter parked on the jetty. One of the many offering flights over Mt Cook and the surrounding mountains. Te Anau is home to a rare colony of  Takahe a flightless alpine bird and there is a huge statue in the town centre. A new hat is purchased and we set off again towards Queenstown. On the way the girls are bickering again and the pressure of packing stuff in, imparting knowledge, daily drives and another town another bed/backpackers is stifling. We are all tetchy and short tempered!  

   

We reach Queenstown passing  the third largest lake in New Zealand, Lake Wakatipu.Because of the mountains which rise hastily from the shore of this glacier lake, Lake Wakatipu has an unusual rhythmic rise and fall in water level, roughly about 12 cm every five minutes. 

We all enjoy the Maori version of this story. Manata was the beautiful daughter of a local Maori chief, who would not let marry her beloved Matakauri. One day, Manata was kidnapped by the terrible giant, Matau. Her distraught father promised she would marry whoever could rescue her. Here was Matakauri's chance. Knowing the warm nor-wester would put the giant to sleep, he followed the wind to Matau's lair in the mountains beyond. But he could not cut the cords that trapped her. Magically, the love in Manata's sobs dissolved them and together the pair escaped. After they married, brave Matakauri decided to make the Wakatipu safe from Matau by setting fire to the giant's bed of bracken during the next nor-wester. Fat from Matau's huge body made a fire so intense it burned a hole more than 400 metres deep. Melted snow filled it to create Lake Wakatipu. Legend has it only his heart survived and that its continuring pulse causes the lake to regularly rise and fall.

Queenstown was named because '...it was fit for Queen Victoria.'and is said to be the adrenalin capital of NZ. We head straight to AJ Hacketts - the home of bungy where we spend time watching brave souls throwing themselves off the restored bridge attached to an elastic band. 

 

We continue to Arrowtown, a little settlement founded from the time of the NZ goldrush Although there were attempts to keep the discovery secret, there were 1,500 miners camped down on the Arrow River by the end of 1862. 12,000 ounces (340 kgs) of gold were carried out on the first gold escort in January 1863. Gold eventually became harder to extract and the opening up of the West Coast goldfields in 1865 saw European miners heading for the riches there. This impacted on the Otago economy and in an attempt to restimulate it the Otago Provincial Government invited Chinese miners to come to the Otago goldfields. The Chinese created a separate settlement in Arrowtown, remaining until 1928. We explore the ramshackle Chinese Settlement and the girls draw parallels with the Indians invited to Fiji. Perhaps they are taking in more than we give them credit for!

 After the initial gold rush, a more permanent town began to establish itself and it is now a popular tourist destination. Arrowtown itself is filled with historic buildings and really quaint. Many of the buildings in the main street were built during the days of gold mining. Rather than relics, they are in everyday use as offices, cafes and shops. A proactive building policy ensures that the buildings are protected and that the wider township evolves within a set of design rules.

 

We are here because tonight we will be staying with a family we met while doing" breakfast service" in Christchurch. Joan and Emily welcome us with open arms and it feels amazing to be in a home environment again. We feel truly lucky to receive such hospitality, a home cooked meal and the voice of reason! Joan is an amazing lady and offers us wise words and time out just when we needed it most. THANK YOU SO MUCH! We spend the evening talking, planning and reassessing. The girls play endlessly with Emily and Ollie the dog and enjoy hot chocolate and chocolate biscuits before bed. The stay here gives us a chance to relax and take a breath and the next morning we are all feeling more positive. Sadly we can only afford the time to stay one night here as we still have a long way to go and not enough time.

 

 

 

In Queenstown  we ride the SkyLine gondola up Bobs Peak  - Reputed to be the steepest lift in the Southern Hemisphere, the gondola carries visitors high above Queenstown and we have an almost 360 view of the town. 

 

We pass more amazing scenery on our next long drive up to Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers .Possibly our longest yet - not good roads - but a real variety - and we experience possibly our least friendly backpackers with the worst kitchen yet. Fortunately we arrive late and plan to leave early.