Day 14 - Nelson to Wellington

Woke up this morning feeling a little stiff and sore after our kayaking excursion yesterday. If we were to go kayaking a few more days we would all develop abs of steel!. Checked out of our accommodation in Nelson and began the drive to Picton, where the Inter-Island ferry departs for Wellington. The drive was fairly slow as we had to cross a mountain range - left turn, right turn, left turn right turn, the drive was very windy, both up and down the mountain – In NZ they probably only call this a hill, but in Australia, I think its high enough to be called a mountain!. The view was spectacular, especially as we were getting closer to Picton. Picton is located beside Queen Charlotte Sound, a large fjord? Surrounded by mountains that slide into the water.

We reached Picton at around 12:00pm, about 90 minutes before the ferry left. We returned the car to the Avis rental desk, picked up our boarding passes and checked our luggage in. Still having an hour to go before boarding, we ventured outside into the drizzle and walked into town, browsing in a few souvenir shops before walking into the bakery to grab a baguette for lunch. We made our way back to the terminal and ate our lunch, and soon enough it was time for boarding.

The ferry was very large, with multiple decks cafes and seating areas. We found some seats towards the rear of the ferry where we could see the back of the boat (with all the campervans parked on the deck) and could also see all around – Well, we could if the drizzle would clear! The strait between the South Island and the North Island is called Cook straight, and the crossing took just over three hours. The sea was relatively calm, however the drizzle and low cloud continued the whole trip, which was a pity as the crossing would have been very picturesque, as the route passes through the Sounds and around the Islands.

We arrived in Wellington around 5:00pm, collected our luggage and picked up our rental car – a RAV4 again, but this time a blue one. We drove to our hotel, checked in and after driving around town for 20 minutes eventually found the hotel car park. There are a lot of one way streets in Wellington, so as soon as you miss your turn, you are suddenly a long way from where you need to be, and not sure how to get back. We made ourselves comfortable in the Hotel, and then headed into town to find some dinner.

Day 13 - Golden Bay (Tata Beach)

A very early start today- 6:00am.  We headed to the west coast towards the Abel Tasman National Park which was a 2 hour drive even though it was only 115kms away. The road was very windy and up in the mountains.  Mazz wasn't coping very well as the drop of the mountain was on her side. The views were great but  wasn't keen on taking any photos. We got to Golden Bay and then headed to a small beach called Tata Beach. Today we are going on a guided tour on kayaks with Golden Bay Kayaks. Because it was a tour for families, there were 3 families that also joined the tour- Germans, Swiss and British. The two guides Pip and we can't remember her name, were great guides. We were all giving a safety briefing and a quick demo of how to kayak. Paul and Daniel were together and Josh and I were together. Once we were all ready we headed down the coast where we kayaked to two islands- Ngawhiti Island and Motu Island. Here we saw different species of birds and we even saw a seal frolicking in the water. The water here is so blue and clear. We kayaked between majestic rock walls and even got to go up close to some small caves. In one of the bays there were a whole heap of buoys that were used to grow mussels on. We kayaked to the beach for a short rest and explore and then kayaked back to a more sheltered beach. Here we had morning tea of tea,coffee, hot chocolate and muffins. We had a lot of interesting conversations getting to know the different families and hearing stories of their travels. The weather was great for kayaking as it was slightly overcast and about 22degrees. After a rest for about half an hour we headed back the way we came to return to Tata Beach. Pip decided we all needed to have a race back to the beach- rule 1 you must do a 360degree turn, rule 2 first to the beach and run and grab the New Zealand flag was the champion, rule 3 no bumping and rule 4 go as fast as you can. Any guess who won? Yes it was team Aussie A- Mazz and Josh! We all had a really great time and it wasn't too expensive for New Zealand prices! Another 2 hour drive back to Nelson which wasn't as bad because we were on the inside lane. We arrived back to Nelson, had showers and relaxed for the rest of the night. Good job you can get Aussie tv over here-we've been watching the Boxing Day Test! Go Aussies!

Day 12- Greymouth to Nelson

Today we had a little sleepin until 8:30 am. Once packed and ready to go we drove along the famous "Coast Road" to Punakaiki and the Paparoa National Park. It is one of the most beautiful in the country and follows part of the ancient Greenstone Trails, used by Maori for centuries in search of the stone Pounamu, better known as jade. The "Coast Road" is ranked by Lonely Planet as "one of the best scenic coastal journeys in the world" After only a 45 minute drive we stopped at Punakaiki where you can see Pancake Rocks. The Pancake Rocks are limestone formations that began forming a long time ago where rich fragments of dead marine creatures were deposited on the seabed, then overlaid by weaker layers of soft mud and clay. The seabed was raised above sea level by earthquakes to form the cliffs and coastline. The sea, wind and rain have since etched out the soft layers to form the unusual rock formation that makes them look like pancake stacks. When the conditions are right, the ocean swells into the caverns beneath the rocks and huge water spouts blast through the blowholes. Unfortunately it wasn't high tide so we didn't get to see the blowholes. 

A wander around in the touristy shops and then another 2 hour drive ahead of us. The scenery isn't as spectacular in this area, but the roads were very windy. We have now named New Zealand as "The Land of One Lane Bridges". We made it to our destination at about 3:15pm We are staying in a medium sized town called Nelson. This is the furthest north we have been. 

Nelson is the oldest city in southern New Zealand. Nelson was named in honour of Horatio Nelson who defeated both the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar. In fact many of the roads and public areas around the city are named after people and ships associated with the battle. The.  people in Nelson are referred to as Nelsonians. 

We had and early dinner in our motel, which is right near the airport and the golf course. An early night tonite as we have to be up early (6:30am) for a road trip to Golden Bay which is near the Abel 

Tasman National Park for a kayak tour. Sorry for not adding photos. We don't have free internet in our motel room so Mazz is using the iPad connected to her iPhone to type this up. We will try to add photos some other time. 

Day 11- Franz Josef Glacier, Fox Glacier, Greymouth

Ok so we are tired of early starts but today we have a great and exciting day planned. At 7:45am we left our little chalet in Franz Josef and headed back to Fox Glacier Village. We had a ½ day Fox Trot hiking tour booked for 8:35am to go out on to the Fox Glacier. Once booked in we had to put socks on and proper hiking boots. We had just a short bus ride to the glacier car park, Our guide Danni lead us on a walk beside the river bed to the glacier terminus. From here we walked uphill for around 30 minutes to access the edge of the ice. We all grabbed a hiking stick, except for Daniel cause he's too short for one. We hiked a short distance passed a rock fall area and then to a flat area. At this point we fitted our shoes with crampons specially designed for walking on ice. We then followed Danni up the ice steps. Occasionally she had to cut the steps away with her big axe. The route took us onto the ice amongst crevasses and ice ridges and lead us onto the middle of the glacier for spectacular views of the ice and lower glacier. Fox Glacier was named in 1872 after a visit by the then Prime Minister of New Zealand Sir William Fox.

We spent at least one hour on the ice. Danni was with us for the duration of the trip in case of any rock falls or breaks in the ice. We enjoyed listening to fascinating details of the natural history of the landscape. The top of the glacier is moving 6meters a day and it was only 100meters thick where we walking. The ice we were walking on was 60 years old. The glacier is 13km long and at the top its 600meters thick. The experts say that the glacier will be completely gone in 100 years. We were very fortunate to hike (The Kiwi's call hiking “tramping”) on the glacier with magnificent weather.

After we got back to Fox Glacier Village we had some lunch at the cafe and then had another drive in front of us. Today we are staying in a town called Greymouth. The drive was again very spectacular with snow capped mountains, fast running rivers and views of the Tasman Sea. We made a quick stop at a town called Hokitika where you can buy jewellery out of green stone. It was very pricey so we got back into the car and headed to our accommodation in Greymouth. We are all very exhausted from our hike on the Glacier.

Day 10 - Merry Christmas from Franz Josef Glacier

December 25th - Christmas Day.
Daniel was the first person up this morning.  He pulled back the curtains hoping that we might have a White Christmas, but alas not today.  It was overcast, and there was a light drizzle in the air but no snow.  It has snowed in New Zealand on Christmas day before, in fact snow can fall on any day of the year in the Southern Alps (They are closer to the Antarctic than Australia is).

We had more time for breakfast this morning, so for Christmas breakfast we had pancakes before opening a very Christmas presents that had found their way to New Zealand and were sitting under our miniature Christmas tree.  Christmas had a very different feeling this year as there was no extend family to share Christmas with.  It was nice to be lazy howevery, and the boys had plenty of time to play with their presents instead of rushing around.  Daniel received an ipad mini for Christmas, Josh received an ebook reader, Mazz received some candles and Paul received some shortbread.  Not a bad effort 4000kms from home!.

Afterwards we watched some Doctor Who episodes on TV (It appears there was a Christmas day Dr Who marathon running), after which we headed into town for a walk up to the Franz Josef Glacier.  The walk was about 2.0km from the car park to the base of Franz Josef Glacier.  Along the way be passed though a stretch of rain forrest, then walked along the bed of the glacier valley, passed waterfalls and walked alongside a riverstream that ran along the bed of the valley.

We returned home afterwards for some Christmas pudding and custard followed by a screening of "The Hobbit" - extended edition, another one of the boys Christmas presents.

Day 9 - Queenstown to Franz Josef Glacier

Today we leave Queenstown to go to Franz Josef Glazier. In hind-site it would have been nice to stay in Queenstown for Christmas but Mazz wanted to be somewhere different and special for Christmas.

We had a little sleep-in (8am!) and then packed the car and headed North towards Wanaka. The GPS took us a short cut through the area where the winter ski fields are. The roads were a bit windy and of course it rained and rained and rained, so the views were not spectacular at all, but it did create waterfalls along the side of the ride. We stopped in Wanaka for a last food shop, just in case there wasn't a supermarket in Fanz Josef Glacier. The shops (there not that big) were crazy.....last minute Christmas shopping! Wanaka is like a miniature Queenstown but because of the continuous rain, we couldn't enjoy the views.

Driving in these areas when it rains can cause some major problems for the roads, with land slides and rock falls. We weren't sure if the road through the Haast Pass would even be open. We came to some road works and had to stop. We wound down the window to see what the lady had to say and she told us we could go but to not stop and go as fast as we could. We guessed that the road wasn't too safe and saw lots of rocks and water over the road. Also along this road, there are a lot of bridges buy they are only one way. You have to see if the sign gives you right of way or the cars on the other side have right of way. You would think if they make the bridges they would make them a doubled lane bridge, but not here! There were again a lot of waterfalls cascading down the sides of the mountains, some of them even flowing onto the road. The whole way the rain was just continuous heavy rain. If it rained like that in Adelaide, the roads would be flooded.

It took us 5 hours to drive 350kms. We arrived at our accommodation for the next 2 days- Glacier Cottages. There are only 3 cottages and they are on the owners property. They breed American Miniature Horses/ponies. They use them for showing, Pony Club and pleasure riding. One of he ponies is a very playful foal. Just the size for a Hobbit!

We don’t have a lot planned for the rest of the day (Christmas Eve), just chilling and watching TV. Depending on the weather tomorrow, we may go for a walk to the base of the Franz Josef Glacier. It really doesn't feel like Christmas here at all.

We wish everybody a safe and Merry Christmas and we hope you all have a great Year in 2014. To Marilyn's Family- who ever gets the grandpas jocks- sucked-in cause we know we wont be getting them.

Day 8 - Queenstown, Lothlorien and Isenguard

We woke up early this morning as we had an early start.  We had arranged for our tour guide to collect us from reception at 8:00am as we were off on another scenic Lord of the Rings location tour.  The area around Queenstown is spectacular and is one of the major areas used for filming LOTR. - Many different scenes from the movie were filmed in the area, and we had the opportunity to view them up close.

The day was clear, although it was a little cool in the shade.  First stop was 12 Mile delta.  This is where Sam sees the "Oliphants", and also where he catches a brace of "coneys".  The area was also used for the area where Faramir and the rangers are patrolling.  After this we followed the lake around further past the old historic town of Glenorchy and into a national park.  The national park includes a swamp area which was used for scenes from the "Dead Marshes" and also a forest area which was used for the entrance of Lothlorien, and also for Amon Hen - The orc chase scenes where Boromir get shot by an arrow from the Uruk-hai.  

Apparently the leaves were not "Golden" enough for Peter Jackson (The movie director), so he had a whole heap of leaves collected and sent to the local primary school, who paintd them gold!.  The forest was definitely spectacular, with moss covered trees and branches, and the sunlight filtering through the leaves.  The only thing missing was a couple of Elves casually wandering through! After Lothlorien, we headed onto some private farm land in an area called 'Paradise Valley".  This is the location where Isenguard was filmed.  With mountains surrounding the area and the forrest to the side, it was easy to picture where the tower of Isenguard would have been located.  

The area used for Isenguard has also been used for the scenes from Narnia, and also for the X-men origins- Wolverine movie.  Most recently is was also used in the second movie as the location for Beorn House.  This bought us to the end of the tour, so we headed back to Queestown with a couple of more stops to take photos of the spectacular scenery.

The finding of the Ring

Gollum claims the ring

We headed back to the apartment and consulted the LOTR guide book.  Across the other side of Queenstown, in an area called "Arrowtown", there were a couple of other locations where scenes from LOTR were filmed.  These were "Bruinen Ford", where Arwen and the injured Frodo escape from the black riders, and "Gladden Fields", where Deagol finds the ring, and is killed by Smeagol/Gollum.  So, with guide book in hand, Josh, Paul and Daniel headed off to see what we could find.  (Mazz stayed at home as she had seen enough LOTR for the day)

Gollum dissapears

Although Peter Jackson did a fair job with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, we thought we could have done it better, so being inspired by all the film locations we had seen earlier in the day, we took it upon ourselves to "recreate" a few scenes from the film.  I'm sure you'll agree they are an improvement on the original.

After our film making efforts, we returned back to the appartment, picked up Mazz and headed into town.  There was one more thing that we still needed to do before we left Queenstown, and that was to ride the Gondola up to the top of Ben Lomond, and then have a turn (or three!) on the luge, a "go kart" that runs down the hill in a special track.  Daniel was especially happy, as this was the one thing that he was looking forward to doing in Queenstown.  After another Gondola ride back to the base of the mountain we grabbed some dinner in Queenstown and then headed back to our apartment.