Goodbye 2007 - Hello 2008!

Sorry we've not posted for a while....been completely away from computers and internet for a few days, which I must admit has been heavenly!

But we're back in civilisation - or at least a very small town with a phone signal and internet cafe - lovely Wanaka. Its been a busy few days, so I'd better rewind to 31 December when we last posted to fill you in. No pictures yet as I don't have the camera on me, but we'll add some when we can...

31 December 2007

New Year's Eve started with a little bit of a disappointment - rough seas meant we couldn't head out on our planned whale watching trip from Kaikoura...but yesterday's dolphin encounter meant that we weren't too down about that. After a leisurely breakfast and a bit more dolphin spotting from the beach, we set off for Christchurch.

As soon as we arrived we headed to the International Antarctic Centre. Christchurch is the base of the US Antarctic Programme and about 140 flights leave for Antarctica each year from the city...so it prides itself in being "the gateway city to Antarctica". The International Antarctic Centre houses exhibitions about live on Antarctica - from animal life and weather, to what its like to work and live there as a human. It was a great museum, although largely aimed at kids so there wasn't as much science as we were hoping for. But we did enjoy donning big warm jackets and experiencing an "Antarctic environmnet" - where we entered a room which was about -8 and then experienced strong wind chill which dropped the temperature considerably - brrrrrrrrrrrrr. We also watched the local penguins being fed there - all of them were rescue penguins who had been injured on the NZ coastline and were enjoying retirement and regular feeding at the centre. Our favourite was "Elvis" the penguin, who was completely blind and so had a very cute way of getting around.

Once we'd had enough of being cold, we drove into Christchurch and checked into our quirky hotel - the Windsor Hotel. An old student hall of residence, it was a very bizarre but comfortable place - kind of an up market youth hostel, but with luxury things like individual bathrobes and slippers to wear and a full breakfast.

After a restful afternoon, we enjoyed a delicious and vast dinner at the Arts Centre restaurant where they had an Irish jazz singer and free bubbly for New Year's Eve. We chatted for so long that it was 11.30pm before we left the restaurant, so we rushed to Cathedral Square to join in the city's New Year celebration. There was live music in the square with about 5,000 revellers - but unfortunately the music wasn't quite good enough to persuade those around us to join us in some dancing. Time flew by and it wasn't long before we did the usual countdown, watched fireworks and sang Auld Lang Syne. It did feel quite odd celebrating new year so far ahead of everyone in the UK, but it was an excellent New Year's Eve :-)

1 January 2008

We started the New Year with a long day of driving to the West Coast - but first we had to swap wheels...we dropped of the car we'd been driving South for Jo's friend at his place in Lyttelton and picked up a lovely new hire car in the city for the last part of our journey. It was a scenic drive as we headed for Arthur's Pass in the Southern Alps. We stopped at the Pass for lunch and a lovely walk out a stunning waterfall.

Then we continued to western New Zealand, stopping again in Hokitika which has a beautiful beach and buzzing greenstone industry. The town produces gorgeous jewellery and ornaments in a bright jade coloured stone. Lovely Jo let me pick a necklace for my 30th birthday present, so we chose a funky shaped one that apparently represents the kumara (sweet potato!) and means friendship - quite appropriate we thought :-)

Singing along to my iPod (poor Matt), the last couple of hours of the drive passed quickly and we arrived in Franz Josef Glacier village in the early evening. After an alarming few minutes when the motel couldn't find any record of our booking, we finally got into our little apartment. We were all tired after the long drive, so we cooked up some cous cous and settled down to watch a movie in the motel.

2 January 2008
Today was an exciting day for Matt and I. My parents, brother and sister-in-law gave Matt and I helicopter flights over the Franz Josef Glacier for our 30th birthdays...and today we got to use them! We opted for a helihike tour where we were flown around the glacier and then deposited at the top for a 2 hour walk on the glacier. Because we flew up, it meant that we weren't at the bottom of the glacier with all the other multiple walking groups, and also that we were on whiter cleaner snow and ice. The flight was brilliant - it was incredible to see just how vast the glacier is and how dramatic the terrain on it gets - something just not possible to see from the village side of the glacier. Plus we got an amazing view of the coastline and interior Southern Alps - stunning. We had grins like cheshire cats by the time we landed on the ice.

For the glacier walking, we had a great guide and a small group, so we covered a long walk and managed to find caves to climb through. I loved walking in crampons - it made the ice so easy to walk on. The ice was beautiful - so many colours and shapes. Every so often, we heard the crack of the ice shifting or a mini avalanche, so we were regularly reminded of how volatile the area is - the ice where we were walking moves up to a metre and a half every single day! All too soon, it was time to fly back down - in an even smaller helicopter, which had a rather alarming tendency of the doors opening mid flight. Thankfully I was well strapped in, so that didn't matter too much! Thanks everyone for that fantastic present - we absolutely loved it!

Whilst we were high up on the glacier, Jo attempted to go kayaking but the inept company didn't notice her waiting and departed without her, so she headed to the coast for some beautiful walking and photography (will get her to add a snap here and perhaps an account of her adventure!).

We met in the centre of town for a quick sandwich before driving out to the face of the Franz Josef Glacier. After parking, we walked along the river bed to the glacier face and were struck by how many large groups were trekking along with us to go on walking tours of the glacier - it made us appreciate even more the heli-hiking experience! It was great fun clambering over the large boulders and we saw some lovely waterfalls along the way.

Back in town, after stocking up on some new books to read, Jo and I headed to a bar to sample yet more NZ Sauvignon Blanc whilst Matt downloaded his full camera memory card onto a DVD. He drove us back to our cute motel for pizza and more wine.

3 January 2008
This morning we were supposed to get up shockingly early to get to Lake Matheson in time to watch the dawn (one of the picture postcard shots of New Zealand) - but much to Jo and my relief, Matt's weather check at 4.30am indiciated that it was cloudy so we opted to sleep for a few more hours - phew!! When we finally ventured out later that morning, it was raining heavily. We still went to Lake Matheson, and Matt and I did a one hour walk around the lake, but the cloud was too low and the water too disturbed by the rain for us to get any pictures of the famous mountain reflections in the lake. It was still a nice walk, made even better by the great cafe and breakfast at the end of the trail where we met Jo.

We then drove at a leisurely pace over the Haast Pass into Central Otago, stopping along the way for numerous short walks to waterfalls, beaches and blue pools. We had our first encounter with the evil sand fly that day, and we are all nursing multiple bites from the horrible creatures! As soon as we drove through the Pass and to the otherside of the mountains, the weather completely changed and we were back to blue skies and HOT HOT weather :-) When we reached Lake Wanaka, we stopped for a beautiful walk on the shores of the crystal clear lake. We all wished we had kayaks.

We finally rolled into Wanaka and checked into our gorgeous motel (2 bedrooms - what luxury!) We wandered into town to the famous cinema (where instead of regular seats, there are sofas and wacky seats, and where you're encouraged to take in wine and beer). Unfortunately the evening film was sold out, but we booked seats for a late live music performance by a jazz/blues guitarist.

Evening entertainment planned, we went back to the motel for a couple of hours of planning for our 3 day hike (lots to plan when you have to carry everything you take yourselfs), laundry and mexican takeaway (yum). Before long, we headed back to the cinema for the show. It turned out the guy was from London, so we were a weeny bit disappointed we weren't watching local talent - but it turned out he was an amazing guitarist and singer, and had a unique style. Can't remember his name, but if I do, I'll add it - the acoustics weren't brilliant in Wanaka, but I bet in a better room, he'd be pretty amazing!

4 January 2008
I'm writing this on 4th January whilst Matt and Jo are off canyoning and I'm enjoying some lovely walking around Lake Wanaka (and some lovely wine tasting in the local vineyards!). Tomorrow I celebrate my 30th birthday and we set off on the 3 day Routeburn track....so our next post is likely to be when we return to civilisation after that...

Hope you're enjoying our blog....see you all soon
Pamela