South Island Adventures

Hello all! It's been a while since we've updated, so let's get right to the action.

As Steph mentioned in the last post, we took a ferry from Wellington in the North Island to Picton in the South Island. We'd been wanting to do a wine tour, which we had planned to do from Nelson, but since the heart of NZ wine country is in Marlborough and Blenheim (only ~20km from Picton), we decided to do our tour there instead. We opted for a half day tour and visited four wineries plus a liquer maker. As is typical in NZ, our guide was absolutely full of relevant information about the region. During the tasting, I discovered pinot noir/chardonnay champagne, which both Steph and I really like. Definitely pick up a bottle if you see it.

After Picton we headed to Nelson, which our Lonely Planet guidebook touted as the "most livable city in New Zealand". While it did have some cool shops and bars, it was the first city I was slightly underwhelmed by. It could be because the weather was rubbish, or that all the other cities we'd been to had exceeded expectations, but Nelson didn't do a lot for either of us. The one highlight of our time in Nelson, for me anyway, was the side trip through Abel Tasman National Park, which contains one of New Zealand's Great Walks. We hiked roughly 22km through coastal forest and got some great views of the beach and sea. Much to Steph's dismay, it was not a coastal beach walk like she thought, and we had to book it for the last 6km to catch an earlier bus, but all's well that ends well, eh?

Leaving Nelson behind, we once again boarded the Magic Bus en route to Greymouth, an old, small town on Wild West Coast. Along the way we stopped to check out Cape Foulwind, so named by Captain James Cook due to the, you guessed it, foul winds he encountered when he discovered the area in the 18th century. About 300m from the cape was a fur seal breeding colony, which we also got to check out. From there it was on to the mysterious Pancake Rocks (which scientists still don't understand the formation of) before pulling into Greymouth.

In Greymouth we stayed at a nautical themed hostel, Neptunes. I'm not sure if it was the Magic Bus driver or the hostel owner who got the number of people wrong, but he didn't have enough dorm beds to accomodate everyone. Rather than send us to another place or charge us extra to upgrade to a premium room, he gave a few people single rooms for dorm prices. To decide who got the last one, he asked if there were any couples travelling together, and since Steph and I fit the bill, we got a great single room for only $25 NZD each, the same amount we're used to paying to share a room with 4 to 10 other people. If any of you have stayed in hostels before, you can appreciate how grateful we were. As far as Greymouth itself goes, there's wasn't really much to do, with the exception of a tour of Monteith's Brewery, their all you can drink sampling room, and an all you can eat sasuage buffet. $13 USD well spent is all I can say about that.

As we left Greymouth, we left civilization, along with cell phone coverage, gas stations and the like, completely behind; nothing but mountains, forests and rivers between here and the Franz Josef Glacier. If driven directly, the journey should have taken three hours or so. However, the Magic Bus incorporates a number of stops into the days to break up the tediousness of a long bus ride. Sometimes this is great, and sometimes, like that day, it was not. Our two stops were the Outback Adventure Center, which featured a real live caged deer AND a live possum (rarities in Oklahoma), but also the Ross Gold fields, where you could try your hand at panning for gold! They guaranteed you'll find some gold in your pan, because they put it there. Exciting times.

What really was exciting, however, was the chance to hike on a glacier, something I did in Franz Josef. The relentless rain kept Steph in the warmth of the hostel, but I donned my waterproof and cold gear and headed out on a half day hike. We had a fantastic walk through the valley the glacier carved during the last ice age, and spent a couple of hours climbing around on the glacier itself. Definitely one of the best experiences of the trip for me. As we were walking back to our bus after the hike, what struck me was not how cool it was to have been on a glacier, but how amazing it is that so many natural wonders are within such a small space in New Zealand. Within the 50 miles surrounding me were several 10,000+ ft mountains, miles and miles of beautiful beaches, the Tasman Sea, two glaciers and tons of rain forest.

We left Franz Josef early the next morning to get a good start on a long, long ride down to Queenstown. The drive down featured more of what I've come to expect from New Zealand; stunning mountains which drop right into deep blue lakes, dense bush and forest and green, lush plains and valleys. It's the kind of landscape where you can pretty much point your camera out of the bus window and be guaranteed a brilliant photo. Making this day even better was a welcome break from the rain (which, afterall, is what keeps the area so green and pristine) which meant that we stayed dry during our short walk out to Lake Matheson. It also meant that the picture postcard reflective views of Mt. Cook weren't spoiled by anything other than a few ducks and a lost kayaker.

Just before we came into Queenstown, we stopped at Kawarau Bridge Bungy, the site of the first commercial bungy center in the world. This was something both Steph and I had talked about doing, and were pretty excited about it. I was all set to go that day, and after some convincing, Steph was as well. We got weighed in and headed out onto the bridge where we got in line. One of the guys working there noticed I weighed more than 80kg, which meant I would be jumping off of a different platform, the one with the heavy duty bungy cord, rather than the lightweight cord. Since there was no line at this platform, they immediately started to harness and strap me in, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is where the wheels came off the wagon for yours truly. My heart started pounding, my chest began to tighten up, my legs went a little weak, and I lost the ability to think about anything other than how to get myself off of this tiny little platform 150 feet above the river. I stood on the edge for about two minutes, and despite repeated attempts by the staff (one of the guys even offered to hold my hand), the crowd (who cheered me on several times), and our bus driver (who offered me free drinks if I did it), it just wasn't happening. Before any of you rush to call me a pansy (not that you'd be the first or the last I'm sure), let me say that I am terrified of heights, and it runs in the family. I remember when I was maybe 10 years old, and my family took a trip to the Grand Canyon, my dad wouldn't even look over the edge because he's that scared of heights. I'm a little better, but not much; simply being up on the bridge was enough to really freak me out, and there was just no way, even though I knew I couldn't get a refund, that I was jumping off.

As I was getting unstrapped and trying to remove my heart from my stomach and vice versa, Steph was still standing in line, having witnessed this whole debacle. I'll let her tell her side of it, along with the details of her jump:

"Having been convinced to jump TODAY, rather than waiting till tomorrow like I was planning, I had little time to think about what I was doing. All I knew was there were about 50 people travelling with us and they would be watching, yikes. I don't have a fear of heights per se, this is just something I never thought I would do. It seems dangerous to say the least. Anyway, I filled out my 'toe tag' (ominous, don't you think?) and handed over my credit card. I was then informed that this purchase would be non-refundable; that's when I knew I would do it. If you know how I am about money, you'll understand that. I was a little jealous when Blake immediately got pulled to the other side and strapped in, I had about 5 people waiting in front of me and in cases like this the more time you have to think, the worse it gets. However, I watched Blake stand there for about 2 minutes with an extremely terrified look on his face and that was enough to make my legs start shaking. Despite just witnessing Blake's experience, I made it to the front of the line (all the while trying to convince Blake to try again), got strapped in and was suddenly standing on a ledge 43 m high with nothing to hold on to. The guy told me to smile for the camera and counted to three and I just lept off the edge. I fell for about 5 seconds before I realized what I just did and then started screaming bloody murder. It was worth it all, after bouncing back up a few times, I dangled above the river with an incredible feeling and a great view. I also have the pictures and DVD to prove it. Sweet as. :)"

And there you have it folks. I was planning to include details on our time in Queenstown, but since this post has turned into a novel already, it will have to wait until next time. Same bat time, same bat channel.

Photos from this portion of the trip are at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2289686&id=9605303&l=43de3