As expected the journey over there was rather lame. 12 hours in Seoul isn't an exciting way to spend a day, especially as it was all spent in the airport (it seemed like too much hard work to go out end explore the city!) but at least it is a big airport with free wifi all over. Also the seats aren't too bad for sleeping on - they aren't metal and there are no annoying armrest. If you set yourself up by gate 17 (the gate for flights to someplace in China) it's pretty quiet for a couple of hours, then you get to watch the entertaining sight of Chinese people trying to get onto their plane, then it all goes quiet again for another couple of hours!
Arrived in Auckland and the parents were there to meet me, then we walked round to the domestic terminal for our (separate) flights to Wellington and some western food. Managed to stay awake until the end of the day by indulging in some shopping and then going for dinner a little way away from our hotel.
The next day we went for breakfast at a cafe close to the hotel that did awesome eggs benedict (continuing with the theme of Western food!) then we went up the cable car to the gardens.
We walked back down through all the assorted parts of the gardens. Of course I had to make a daisy chain!
At the bottom we walked past the Beehive to the waterfront and walked along to Te Papa where we spent a couple of hours. It's an awesome museum!
The next day we went across to the South Island on the Interislander. It was a bit of a crappy day to start with but as we got closer to the South Island the sun came out and it was quite pretty sailing through the sounds to get to Picton. Once there we picked up the hire car and then went for some lunch in the town. After lunch we drove to Blenheim but instead of driving down the man highway we went along the coastal road. It was a pretty dodge road in places, but there were some beaches/bays along the way to stop at and also this view:
Pretty awesome! In Blenheim there was much excitement in the supermarket as I found lots of exciting food that isn't available in VN like crumpets and L&P. In Blenheim we went to a couple of wineries, a hydroponic strawberry farm, a chocolate shop and the domain where we were mobbed by ducks while eating our lunch.
Next up was Kaikoura. The guy at the motel in Blenheim suggested a couple of places for us to stop on the drive. The first was a place called Kekerengu where we stopped for a drink at the cafe and a I spent a couple of minutes on the windswept beach before I got too cold and had to head back to the cafe to warm up by the fire. The next stop was Ohau Point where you can walk along next to a stream for a few minutes to arrive at a waterfall where heaps of seal pups are swimming around and playing on the rocks. Totally worth walking through a damp wet forest to get to! Once arriving in Kaikoura I got myself an attractive bright pink coat to try and stay warm and dry as the 2 stops on the way to Kaikoura had shown me that my little Laos hoodie wasn't gonna be enough to get me through the crap south island weather. Don't be fooled by how blue it looks in the picture below - it was freezing cold!
We spent that afternoon doing a whole lot of not much as our whale watching was cancelled due to wind. We walked from our motel into the centre for a spot of shopping and drove out to the seal peninsula but as the tide was in there weren't many seals around compared to last time I went there. In the evening we went into the centre again for dinner at a pub and had the slowest service in the world - we waited aaaaaaaaaaaaages for a simple steak. That evening was very clear which meant it was freezing, but it was very pretty on the beach with the moon reflected in the sea.
The next day was sunny enough to see the top of the mountains and the sea looked a lot smoother but whale watching was still cancelled.
As a result, we got on with our long long drive to Hokitika via Arthur's Pass (after a quick stop at the fudge shop). We got a little lost on the edge of Christchurch but it wasn't too bad a journey. There was some pretty scenery driving across to the other side of the country and we stopped at a few lakes/viewpoints/random walks as well as the cafe in Arthur's Pass surrounded by Keas.
We only stayed in Hokitika for one night and that was probably enough! On the first night we tried to go out for dinner but the two restaurants in the place were full so we ended up at the chippy and then we went to the glow worm dell on the edge of town. It is a couple of minutes walk from the road to a bunch of rocks covered in glow worms. Maybe not as impressive as the Waitomo glow worms, but free! The next day we spent the morning in the town and found a surprisingly large number of things to do. We went to the museum which had an exhibition all about Whitebait fishing as well as the standard collection of random objects found in all museums in small town New Zealand. Also went to a few of the shops - lots of greenstone and sheepskin stuff for sale, plus another small fudge shop - and to the kiwi centre. We got there in time for eel feeding time and saw the sea life that they have there before going to see the kiwis. After that we had lunch then drove to Franz Josef and our dodgy motel. After dinner we went out to Okarito beach, about 1/2 hour away from Franz. It's a bit of a drive to get there and it was freezing cold, but there was a really pretty sunset!!
The next day was a pretty crap day weatherwise but thankfully I had my attractive pink coat to get me through the day.
We went to Franz Josef glacier and walked to the face of the glacier and back as well as to some reflective lake pool that doesn't really reflect much on a cloudy day then went back to the hostel to attempt to warm up and eat some lunch. After lunch we went to Fox Glacier and walked to the face of that one too.
The next day we had another long drive, this time to Wanaka. We stopped at Lake Matheson and walked round to the viewpoint where you are supposed to be able to see the mountains reflected in the lake but there were clouds over the top of the mountain and ripples on the surface of the lake from the wind. It was still a nice enough view tho so it was worth stopping. The next stop was Knight's Point overlooking the coast and then we stopped at some place by a river for lunch where I was eaten alive by sandflies. We also stopped at a waterfall and then we got to the top of Lake Wanaka and stopped at a couple of places along the way to take pretty pictures like this:
We stopped at Puzzling World and I managed to convince mum to come into the illusion rooms with me. Eventually we arrived in Wanaka and had a bit of an issue finding the motel but once we did it was a very nice place to stay for a couple of days. We went into the town and had dinner in time to watch the sunset over the mountains which was pretty cool.
The next day was a bit cold and grey again so we went for a walk along the Clutha River then spent some time in the town. The next day it was all pretty again so we went to the lake before leaving to drive to Queenstown.
We stopped in Cromwell on the way as well as at a random hydroelectric place and the AJ Hackett bungy.
We had a very nice place to stay in Queenstown a little way away from the centre so lots of walking to and from town happened over the next few days. Of course we went up the gondola and we also went jet boating as well as spending some time in the centre and taking a trip to Arrowtown.
Perhaps the best thing we did in Queenstown was to go out to Milford Sound by plane. It was teeny tiny plane for just a few people and we flew out of Queenstown over the snowy mountains...
...out as far as the coast where the plane then came in to fly over Milford Sound before landing. The weather was much better than the last time I was there and it was very pretty, plus there were penguins!!!!!
Left the parents at Queenstown and flew up to Auckland. Didn't do much the day I arrived, but I did get taken for a roast which always goes down well with me, even if it was a strange takeaway roast served in a box! The next day I walked around the Viaduct area that had been all tarted up for the Rugby World Cup then I got a ferry to Devonport. Tried to find the bookshop I used to go to all the time but it seems to have gone :o( Did find another bookshop though so I was happy. I had to take a trip to the chocolate shop to get some gifts and then after lunch I walked to Cheltenham Beach. Walked along the beach to North Head and went to the little beach there before walking around for some awesome views of Auckland.
No trip to Auckland is complete (for me) without a trip up the Skytower. The weather wasn't great but it ended up being a more impressive sunset than I thought it would be.
Didn't do much with the rest of my time in Auckland - lots of shopping and aimless wandering - until my last day when Liz set me up with instructions as to where I should go. I obeyed and went to Parnell to the rose gardens and Parnell Rise, and in the evening I went down to the waterfront.
I managed to get to go to some places that I missed last time on the South Island and the weather was so much better than before in most places so it was a nice trip with the parents.
All the photos are here
