Early morning Sat, after a night of parting, we boarded the ferry to Picton in the South Island at 7am.
It was an ugly cloudy early morning, which made it hard to wake up to. We got there rather early and staked out a good spot on the boat to hang out on the long ride.
The trip over was a bit long, so I had time for a nap and the fog which was really thick was coming out of the harbor to lifted as we got into the Marlborough Sounds. Which meant that the weather was starting to become sunny, something Ms. T (below) and myself was excited about.
From then on the sun was out and the view was amazingly stunning (see below) and the water was a memorizing blue.
Wandering the boat was kind of interesting, seeing how they organized the cars for maximum efficiency. Yet it is the Sounds that steals your heart and sweeps your breath away.
After what seemed to be never ending boat ride, we arrived. OK it was really 5 to 6 hours but still seemed awful considering how cramp it was. Once landed we then
we headed south, stopping at Kaikoura briefly to look at the beach.
The beach was nice but crowded and well it just didn't seem right, we wanted our own private beach and my guides knew where to get one.
It was a short 30 minute hike to "Bob's Beach". It was a lovely walk through the forest, a bit of hill but nothing major and completely worth it.
I was super excited to get to the beach on the first hot day I had in NZ. Much to my surprise, there was 'NO SAND!', this is not a beach. it was filled with rocks! ARG! Rocky shores are just that, they are not a nice relaxing beach which should be sandy!
The water though was so clear and it was very easy to see through but ridiculously cold.
Once we were done at the beach we drove on through mountains to coast lines, it was great to be able to see both almost in the same view. We would stop randomly for the view and another killer beach with Mt. Cook hiding in the fog behind me, see the photos below.
Then after a long day of driving, we were able to finished the evening in the hot thermal springs in Hanmer Springs (see below).
How nice it was to slip around from pool to pool of thermal, hot waters and chill relaxation. Something everyone sorely needed after a day of being crammed in a car. We stayed at Sheffield at Ms. S's (Ms.T's sister) house, in Canterbury. The next day we woke up early to head to Queens town, this meant another day of, you guessed it, driving! Luckily it was incredibly scenic, as the pictures below can illustrate.
The middle row are pictures while driving, there was a lot of driving involved. Yet it was a lot of fun to be hanging with Ms. T and Mr. B, plus they taught me how to drive stick. Everywhere we went it seemed like within the hour or before we were stopping to take a picture of an amazing view (see above). Had lunch on a giant compass. The water was incredibly blue and tints of green, in many ways the landscape felt surreal. Stopping at Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, which has really nice views of Mount Cook, the highest mountain in NZ (see below).
While driving to Queenstown we stumbled up a salmon farm and bought fresh fish for that night.
It was really interesting to feed the fish and watch them move around in the water. Plus get the best deal on the freshest fish ever, which made for a delicious dinner!Then we got to enjoy the cute ski lodge town that is Queenstown.
We were there for two night and went up to check out the view and walk around each night. On the walk to the skyline view there was a information stop about the kiwi bird (below), which I am sitting in. Once all the way up in hill the views are incredible. Ms. T and I went picture crazy while poor Mr.B just enjoyed the scenery (below).
After a bit there was only so much we could see and then went off to make dinner. It was an early night because on Christmas Day, we got up early
and drove 5 hours each way to Milford Sound, in Fiordland National Park. The drive was amazing and stunning the parts I saw, will be honest and say I napped a good bit of it since we left ridiculously early. We made great time and were able to take a bit of a walk around before we took a "cruise" (really just a boat ride) with Real Journeys out to the head of the Sounds.
The sounds are amazing and so breath taking! As you can see above, NZ if filled with amazing views, incredibly scenery every where you turn. Luckily the drive back I was wide awake and able to see everything I missed on the way in. We went to bed early because the next morning we had an adventure! White water rafting on the Shotover River!
After we finished our excursion we started driving back to Ms.S's house and stumbled into wine tasting. It was a 'remarkable' experience, OK bad pun on the name of the winery. Yet it was a great time and the tasting room manager was a hoot.
Then it was back on the road and more impressive scenery with the sun playing peek-a-boo and the clouds hiding the tops of the mountains. We even got to catch a rainbow among the mist!
We arrived back in Methven just before 9pm, hoped to eat at the Last Post but it was closed. So we went to the Blue pub instead and had some dinner. After we headed back to Sheffield and crashed. The next day was short, Ms. T and I went to the mall got our hair done and then dropped me off at the airport. Where I proceeded to wait five extra hours as the flight continuously got delayed.
A million thanks to Ms.T and her husband Mr. B for touring me around New Zealand, it was great to see them and an amazing trip. There are many more
photos but I only chose a selected few.
