Day 15 - Wellington, Mt Victoria and Weta

Woke up this morning to another nice day. First stop after breakfast was the Weta Cave – The workshop / museum / souvenir shop that is owned by Weta workshop. Weta workshop is a costume, special effect, annimation and movie prop company that are based in Wellington and have worked on all of the Lord of the rings and Hobbit movies, as well as District nine, Narnia, Avatar, King Kong and other movies and TV shows. Outside the Weta cave they have sculptures of the three trolls (William, Tom and Bert) from the Hobbit, and inside they have some of the props from the movies, including scuptures of Gollum, Lurtz (The large Uruk-hai that shoots Boromir with an arrow) and Gandalf. They also have various weapons, armour and costumes from all of the movies that they have been involved with. After wandering around the shop for about an hour, we decided to book ourselves into the Weta Workshop tour – A tour of part of the workshop where the work is actually done, and an explanation of how they make their props. The tour was pretty popular and was booked out until 3:00pm, so we bought our tickets and headed back into Wellington to pass the 4 hrs until it was time for our tour.

The National Museum of New Zealand is located in Wellington and is called Te Papap Tongawara. Its a pretty good museum (voted one of the top 50 museums in the world!), so we spend a couple of hours wandering around the museum. They have a lot of interesting interactive displays and exhibits, as well as some special collections and special exhibits. The highlights of our museum trip were the “World of Wearable Art (WOW) collection, - Various costumes that have been designed as art as well as fashion, and also the the exhibit on “Awesome Forces”, an explanation of earthquakes, eruptions and other natural forces that occur.

After the Museum, we headed into Mt Victoria nation park – A park that overlooks Wellington. Apart from having some spectacular views of Wellington, Mt Victoria national park is also the location where some of the scenes of Lord of the Rings were filmed, especially a scene at the start of “The Fellowship of the Ring', where the Hobbits are on their way to Bree, and hide from one of the Black riders under a tree. It took a while to find, but armed with our location guide book and a GPS app that Mazz downloaded, we eventually found the spot. The large tree is not there, as that was a Movie prop created especially for the scene, but otherwise the location was very recognizable, and our “halflings” were able to “Get off the road”, and take shelter.

After Mt Victoria, we headed back to Weta Cave for our tour. There were about 20 people on the tour, and they described how props start of as a piece of 2D art, are then modelled in CAD in 3D, and are then made into 3D objects. Final step is painting to make the object life like. We also heard how much of the art is now created using photoshop. The Weta Workshop also employs a full time “armour manufacturer”, who makes all the weapons and armour for the movies. He is genuine craftsman, and some of his work is on display in the royal armoury in Leeds, England. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any photos in the Weta Workshop, as many of the items that were being worked on have not been released yet, and they don't want any “spoilers” to get out, like the minature model we saw being created for a remake of the “Thunderbird series”! After the workshop tour it was back to the Weta cave for Daniel and Josh to buy a souvenir or two.

On the way back to the Hotel we drove by “Stone st studios', where a lot of the studio scenes were filmed for the Hobbit and LOTR. The studio appeared pretty quite and not much was happening inside, but the large green screen at the back of the building could be seen from the outside the building.

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.