Jac 'n Chris On Tour South Island

Well here we are in Queenstown in the south of South Island. We have travelled far since the last blog and experienced so many different things, every day has been a mini adventure. South Island truly is an awesome place, photos and words cannot do it justice, lost count of the number of "Wows!" we have both said each time we came round a bend. 

Getting back to where we left off, before leaving on the ferry to South Island we had a lovely day in windy Wellington which despite it's reputation was not windy at all and thankfully remained that way for the crossing next day. 

We drove straight to Nelson along the spectacular Queen Charlotte Drive, one of the most scenic drives although not the quickest, with steep climbs and beautiful views of the Marlborough Sounds. Nelson is at the top of South Island and has some of NZs sunniest weather and a Mediterranean climate. No doubt the reason our son has chosen to live there. It is also choc full of art and craft galleries, is the craft- brewing capital of NZ, has numerous wineries, an epic beach and three national parks on it's doorstep. What's not to like? Good choice son, we love it! 

Toffee apple cider in jam jars, delicious! 

An old Dennis fire engine in Founders Park

We had a great day out in Abel Tasman National Park. Taken by boat to a remote cove, dropped off for hiking trails round the coastal forest then picked up later in the day at a different cove. 

Over Easter weekend the four of us went off in the camper for a tour of the top of South Island.

Cable Bay, ocean on one side, tidal mud flats on the other, takes its name from NZs first overseas cable link to Australia via Sydney which came ashore here.

On arriving in Blenheim we discovered that the famous bi- annual Airshow was being held here and managed to blag a pitch for the night for 10 dollars,  so watched a free firework display and practice flights from the van.

Joe and Katie on top of the van, good photoshot I thought

Such a cool pooch

Next day we made our way down the coast to Kaikoura and stopped off at the Ohau Point Seal Colony right by the roadside. Dozens of fur seals and their cute pups frolicking about. There is even a little training pool they use to teach their pups, as seen on David Attenborough's Life Story.

After a day in Hanmer Springs, the alpine village famous for its thermal pools( but very busy as it was a bank holiday), we headed back to Nelson.

The end of a long and lovely weekend

We had such good times with Joe and Katie that we were sad to leave them but needed to set off to see the rest of South Island. Hoping to catch up with them again before we finally leave. 

So we headed down the northern half of the wet n' wild West Coast. Spectacular scenery all the way, the wild Tasman Sea on one side and the Southern Alps on the other.

The famed Pancake Rocks and Blowholes put on a good show at high tide, a real spectacle when the blowholes exploded with a ground-shaking rumble.

At the well known holiday resort of Hokita we stayed in a campsite which was directly opposite a glow worm dell so we set off with torches when it got pitch dark. It was such a natural, non commercial environment, all free. There were thousands of them, magical (although not even worms at all but the larvae of NZs fungus gnat). 

Hokitika and the nearby town of Ross were founded in the gold rush of the 1860s. We stopped at the Empire Hotel established in 1866, oozing in character looking like something from the Wild West. The local patrons are all descendants of the original gold diggers.

We continued down the coast to Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, the scenic highlight of the West Coast. They are unique in the world, ice mixed with rainforest.

Franz Josef Glacier

Cloud came down and stopped our heli flight so we hiked up to the snout of Fox Glacier instead. Both glaciers have been retreating rapidly since 2008, being studied closely as further evidence of global warming.

On the walk back we spotted a few specimens of the rare native blue mushroom in the forest, how cool. Food companies are trying to find ways to cultivate and extract it's all natural blue colour to replace artificial colouring.

From Fox Glacier we drove 2 hours to the town of Haast, the last town on the west coast before heading inland to Lake Wanaka and Queenstown. The Haast region is a major wilderness area, roads didn't even reach this area until 1965 and it still has an end of the earth feel. Quite spooky and when we ventured out to find a shop most of the locals all looked a bit odd and seemed to be wearing gumboots. We couldn't even get a mobile signal let alone Internet. 

We were quite glad to set off on the Haast Pass to Lake Wanaka next morning, although that was another adventure. Having rained all night,and continuing to rain, waterfalls were cascading vertically down the face of the cliffs and even across the road in front of us. Quite scary in some places. It wasn't until we got through it and into a safe warm cafe that we were told about a young Canadian couple killed last year when their campervan was swept away in a landslip. 

A nice hot chocolate by the fire please

As we drove inland the weather brightened and Lake Wanaka was soon in sight, so many photo

stops en route. 

We spent the night in a lovely campsite with views across the lake. Next morning, heading for Queenstown, the snow started to come down. Now this is not supposed to happen until at least the end of May, apparently it is an unseasonable cold snap which will be over in a couple of days! Fortunately we packed clothes for all seasons so headed out into the adrenaline capital of the world and had some fun!

The Skyline Luge, Queenstown