New Zealand - our thoughts .........

So having now reached the end of our New Zealand chapter we are reflecting on the last 8 weeks.....

We have enjoyed every part of New Zealand and every part has been different however our New Zealand funds are low and Christmas wasn't what we thought so were ready to go at the end of 8 weeks.

We decided that we probly spent a day or two to long in some places and not enough time in others but overall divided our time very well, we did the activities that we wanted to apart from a few that were just too expensive but we were happy with what we saw and experienced. Not having our own car was a huge disadvantage to us as we wanted to explore off the beaten track more, and we also wanted to do a lot more fishing. We absolutely hated kiwi experience! We loved there drivers but the actual company and office staff had no customer service and were so rude never again! Luke thought it was a little chilly! But it wasn't compared to what we are used to at home, I think we found it a little chilly as we had come from asia and it was hot and humid there we had been here a long time and had kind of got used to the hot weather! Luke loved the scenary, the quietness of the whole country and the calmness, that there no traffic anywhere and it was a relaxing country to be in just generally. We did not like how bad the internet was! It was expensive and not particularly good at all.

We have learnt many lessons on the trip, we have bought all our own food and have cooked on a budget which was really fun and we actually made some really nice food :)) Luke said he learnt he can live on veggies! As I am vegatarian now we have been having a lot of vegetables ! But I have cooked him meat aswell!  we learnt how to pack our bags the way we should be packing them! It took some time but we eventually decided we would live out of one bag and put stuff that we wouldn't need on the other bag! It was much easier that way! We both wished that people in England cared more about the environment around them and what we as humans are doing to it, having been to many different places now we realise how bad we as Britons are at caring for our environment.

We would definitely return to New Zealand but we would have to do it independently without using a company, it was stunning to see that everywhere you go the scenary is stunning and it is like you are travelling through untouched land, it really is beautiful.

Christmas in christchurch !

So having arrived at our christchurch hostel for Xmas and finding nut we had no wifi it put a bit of a downer on our Xmas :( but we carried on and took a walk down to the nearby shops where we did Infact find wifi! At first we tried to use the wifi in Mc Donald's but it didn't work then we went into the mall and in work extremely well I was so pleased as I was a bit tearful knowing that I wouldn't speak to anyone on Xmas, at least now we could come hear on our boxing Day and try to speak to people at home on Xmas day eve back home, I wanted to speak to chester and Millie but didn't think they would be awake but knew I could speak to them in a few days .......

.......anyway ! We woke on Xmas morning and Santa had been!!

We had put a Xmas hat over a lamp and layed our few pressies under it we had for each other :) it felt a bit like Xmas :) we had a snuggle and then began to open our pressies :) Luke got me some jandles, a lovely piece of Jewellery for my belly piercing which I was not expecting :)) it was lovely and a lovely blue bandanna thing which is used for a bandanna, scarf, hair band, and a few other things! Very useful :) I got him a couple of Maori ornaments which he wanted but wouldn't have bought himself :) a neck scarf black one to cover a scar he has on his neck from the sun, a couple of drinking/alcohol related silly gifts :) and we also gave each other a Xmas card :) we were both pleased with our gifts  and also pleased we had something's to open :)

we had a lazy morning and the prepared dinner together :) I took the lead as I just can't help it ! But Luke was very helpful he helped with the vegi's and he did the pudding :)

we decided we would have roast pots, sweet pots roasted, roasted carrots and parsnips, stuffing and Yorkshires :) oh and cabbage! And Luke had two pieces of lamb :) we seasoned the roasted vegi's with all kinds of stuff we found in the cupboard ! And we left it all to cook! 

 

As it was cooking one of the girls that worked here put out chocolates, fruit, crackers, strawberries etc for everyone in the hostel to enjoy which was really nice :)

 

we watched this program we had been following whilst in New Zealand called "the block" about four couples renovating houses from scratch for competition it was really good ! There was nothing  xmassy on until later that night.

Dinner was finally ready and it looked lovely and our mouths were watering .......

 

 

 ......it was sooooo tasty :) I was very pleased and Luke absolutely loved it :) we absolutely stuff ourselves! Infact we stuffed ourselves so much we couldn't fit in pudding so we had a cuppa tea and some chocolates! Just before we left the table Luke was so full he really needed a food nap! 

.........he stuffed himself silly!

We settle for the afternoon in front of the telly with a new edition to the feline life in this hostel.....

.......he was much more cuddly then the other cat! Although the other cat was cuter! 

We crawled up to our room still so full! But then decided it was a good idea to make a sandwich with the left overs! It was so tasty but it really wasn't needed! We sat and recovered from our food binge and watched only fools! As let's face it it really is t Christmas without a bit of only fools! Then we watched vicer of dibly! And shortly after I rang my nanny o :) I was so pleased to speak to her for a few minutes I missed her so much :( and she is always tearful when we speak it makes me tearful, I love her so much so hearing her voice made my day perfect :) it was a Perfect evening and perfect Xmas day :)

So Boxing Day came and we had decided we would walk to the mall to use there wifi to contact the family :) first call was to my sister to try and catch chester and Millie :) but they were asleep, I thought they would be but tried anyway, they had all had a good day and had got spoilt and liked our pressies which was nice as it was difficult to buy them things 6 months In Advance! Millie was easy to buy for she was a little girly girl and pretty much liked anything dolly or disney princess, but chester is in to so much and changes what he is into so much it was more difficult but I am glad he liked his pressies to, I am hoping to find him a skylanders somewhere on our travels one that he hasn't got but wants and be super auntie :))) love them both very much :) anyway after hearing about there day we rang my mum and dad :) it was so nice speaking to them on Xmas day and it was a constant laugh talking to them :) we have already booked ourselves in for next years Xmas :) I love spending Xmas with all the family it's so festive and fun, I sometimes wish we could all fly to disney world for Xmas day :))) we headed back to have a Boxing Day dinner, all the left overs! And it was lovely, more tv and over indulging :) off to oz tomorrow and simply cannot wait :)) 

Christchurch AKA "ghost town"

The journey to christchurch was a long one it was going to be around 7 hours with stops! But it would be our last journey with kiwi experience which we couldn't wait for! It was a grim day :( everyday in queenstown had been sunny and the day we leave it was raining all day and cold! So we. Issued some great scenary on the journey including mt cook, but to be honest we just wanted to get there.

We arrived at our hostel "around the world" and we had booked a room called the "love shack!" It was a cabin in the garden! It was small! Luke felt a little closed in! But we had a fridge and a tv! This was now the highlights in our lives! The hostel was ok, the staff were amazing the facilities not so amazing ! It wasn't as clean as we like! We spent our free day exploring the city or what was left of it! It was like a ghost town here since the earthquake in 2010 it was quite sad actually and we couldn't believe how little had been done, there were many listed buildings almost destroyed and a lot of the CBD was gone it was no surprise it was taking so long to rebuild, we had heard that there were many disputes about certain rebuilds. 

 

In the center of town they had built this thing called the restart mall, it was shops that had been made out of shipping containers! It was great, and as we walked around. there was many Chrismassy things going on, carol singing,  decorations everywhere, lovely little food stalls it was pretty much the most Xmas stuff we had seen since we had been here ! Although it was. Ice to see that it was still very clear and you could clearly see all the damage that had been done roads were closed, buildings were half there and half not! A lot of work had been done to use and recycle objects and make them into actor actions for the community and tourists it was very clever and there was a lot of artists that had created the most wonderful graffiti on some of the walls which was cool to see!

We had enjoyed the CBD and were now off to the supermarket to get some Xmas food, and to go to the warehouse to try to get Luke another hat! It was a twenty minute walk and as we walked we walked passed a Denny's! We decided we would have a meal there later after our shopping to treat ourselves! We havnt eaten out for ages and we needed a Xmas treat! And it was so cheap in there! We went to the warehouse and got what we needed and had a look in rebel sport as they had a big sale in there......and we ended up finding a telescopic fishing rod with a reel! Just what Luke had been looking for! For the rest of our trip! As we can fish at the sea for free it was a free all day activity for us to do in many locatins all up the east coast of oz and fiji! Luke thought he would only get the rod and would have to buy the reel seperately but this was just exactly wha we were looking for and it was strong and seemed to tick all the boxes for Luke! So we bought it a Xmas treat for Luke and there was 20% off it! It was very exciting that we could now look forward of fishing in oz! Anyway I have spoke about the rod  enough now! We had a Lovely meal at Denny's and headed back for a rest and to research more on oz!

The next day we decided to be adventurous and catch the bus to our next hostel which was haka lodge it wasn't far away - a couple of miles away but to far to walk with all our bags, we arrived and couldn't check in until later so chilled out wrote the last of the postcards, caught up on the blog.

When we could checked in we investigated our room which was lovely, we had a tv and DVD player which we watched my skydiving dvd on! Lovely balcony however unfortunately it was now that we realised we wouldn't be alto get internet over Xmas :( I was devastated and upset can't believe I couldn't talk to my family on Xmas day and I wouldn't be able to see chester and Millie's little faces either :( and so annoyed as we had more accomodation to book in oz :(   Was already a little upset about no being home and with family for Xmas and about missing all the lovely Xmas food! I knew me and Luke would have a lovely Xmas but I was really missing all the Xmas food and the ability to wish everyone merry christmas! Anyway I didn't stay upset to long Luke gave me some cuddles and I wrapped his little gifts and felt a bit better! I cooked a lovely meal for us and we watched all the Xmas programs that were on and films ......it felt very festive again :) 

Queenstown

The distance to queenstown from wanaka wasn't far but we stopped at a few places on the way including a fruit and veg shop where all the food there is freshly grown it was so cheap we ended up buying 2 bags full of veg :) 

We arrived early afternoon and it was a lovely sunny day we had already pre booked our double ensuite room and when we got Into it we were pleasantly surprised it was like a hotel room, nice balcony with gorgeous view of the lake, 32 inch tv, nice bathroom, kettle, fridge this was the most luxury we had had since we arrived in New Zealand !

We settled in and pretty much chilled out watched films and ate Pizza that first night! The next day we decided to go for a walk around the lake we debated playing frisby golf but it didn't look to iressive so gave that a miss! It was a lovely sunny day with a bit of a wind coming over the lake, we went on quite a long walk and took lots of pics the views were Infact breathtaking :) 

 

.....it was like we were in a postcard!

We were walking all afternoon, we wandered around the town and headed back for more films and a snuggle :)

We spent our days walking around the lovely town, exploring all the streets  and little boutique shops, we spent the evenings watching Xmas films, making home cooked food and snuggling planning our trip to oz which was fast approaching! 

We spent one afternoon hiking up her another mountain! We walked to the gondola station which Is the cable cars and saw that the price for a return trip was $27 each and decided that was just to much for our budget to take ! So we decided to walk up! We knew it would be hard because this gondola was the steepest on the Southern Hemisphere ! So the walk up was going to be hard! But we did it and I had Luke encouraging me all the way which I needed! It was a really hard walk for me we stopped loads and saw some gorgeous views over the lake .....

.....although it was hard looking back it was a fun walk!

At the top the views were even better!...

 

 

.....the steepest cable cars!

It was pretty chilly at the top, so we treated ourselves to a hot basket of chips! Which went down a treat! It was a round 18.30 by this point and we were going to walk back down but I had a thought that we could get the gondola back down! I didn't want to pay to get down so we went to the cable cars and as luck would have it the guy that works there was assisting some people getting off the gondola so I jumped on and called Luke over and we were on and the doors shut! That was it we had got on this end would we get off at the bottom for free! It was a good view on the way down and extremely steep more steep then we like! We got to the bottom and just walked out! We were pleased as we had got to do the walk, see the view and ride the cable car all for free! Saving the penny's once again! What a day :)

Another activity we decided to do the next day was crazy golf! A favourite of ours :) it was $13 each! But it was something we enjoyed  and loved to do together we had such a laugh! It was a reasonably hard course! Luke won the first time and I won the second time! And I had my name put on the leadership board for England! For my great score! Which was 45!!! Par was 47! I was quite pleased with that!

It was only a day until we would be leaving for our final destination which was christchurch, and my mind was on Xmas day! I really wanted to get Luke some gifts to open, you can't have Xmas with no pressies! So we decided to have a very small budget $40 each which is around £20! To spend on each other! We went out seperately and bought gifts to wrap! Only time will tell if Luke likes what I got him! 

All in all we loved queenstown it was very beautiful, however being at the end of our tour we didn't have as much money as we had wanted, but we still had a great time, the only thing we disliked was how expensive everything was! It was the most expensive of all of New Zealand ! Still a lovely place tho!

Next stop christchurch :)

Wanaka

 We arrived in the lovely town of wanaka and it was a lovely day :) we walked the short 2 minute walk to our YHA hostel that was directly in front of the lake wanaka.....

......and what a view :)

We were absolutely exhausted until we arrived and saw how lovely this town was and then we must wanted to get out :) we had a wander around the small town and got our bearings before we went back and cooked something lovely to eat! I cooked Luke some lamb which he loved I had vegatarian sausages which weren't so good! But I loved the mash and veg and gravey!

The next day we decided to go for a walk around the lake, it was a little overcast but we still ventured out :) we got some good pics and had a lovely afternoon taking pics having an ice cream and chatting :) ....

 

 

 We had a good day and went back to cook another homemade meal I can't remember what this one was but it was good :) we were enjoying cooking our own homemade food :) it was tasty and we loved experimenting with new foods :)

We chilled out for a day or two caught up on research, blogging and editing our video !

The day or row before we left wanaka we decided we would take a hike up mount iron! We were really on a tight budget so were doing all the free activities we could! And the view from the top of mount iron was suppose to be great :) I knew it would be tough as it was extremely steep and it was a hot day :) although we didn't realise how hot it was until we starting hiking ! It was pretty hot and sunny on that mountain! Quite soon after we started walking I was struggling :( I had walked many walks on this trip and struggled but was kinda hoping it would improve my asthma and I would feel better but I guess not! I really struggled to breath on many occasions and was getting annoyed that i was out of breath a lot of the time I really wanted to be able to hike up hills and not to struggle so much but that was not going to happen and I was taking my reliever inhaler a lot which made me feel rough and shake from head to toe :( I was glad I had Luke there he really encouraged me and helped me through these things and was really good when I was feeling stressed about it or feeling ill from it he really was good and very calming I would have given up without him, anyway we stopped nearly half way for about an hour on this bench over looking the scenary below us......

....we sat there chatting and then we continued our hike which only got steeper which of course I was over joyed at! When we were nearly at the top I was stopping more and more and at one point just sat on the floor about to give up....

......but Luke was good with me and we both carried on to the top and I am glad I did because the views were great.....

 

 

.....we stayed up there for around 20 minutes but we had run out of water so were keen to get back down and also we had both got burnt as we didn't put any sunscreen on - epic fail! We just didn't realise the strength of the sun, we got back down and walking back to the hostel we both felt a little rough from the sun and dehydration, we stopped at a shop to get these drinks that we had had before really nice fruity cold drinks and they went down a treat! We then decided to sit down by the lake to cool down and to dip our aching feet in! And then we treated ourselves to fish and chips :) 

 And it was delicious :) 

We loved wanaka it was a really lovely little town that was calm and peaceful pretty much like the rest of New Zealand ! We just loved it and would definitely come back here :) our next stop was queenstown and we were interested to see what this party/adrenaline capital had to offer, apart from massively over priced activities!

Franz josef, a snippet of fox glacier and lake matheson :)

Having left the hotel mahinapua quite hungover ! We we now on our way to franz josef glacier town! We were most excited about this as it looked so pretty in the pics and also we had never seen a glacier before! When we arrived it was bad weather raining etc and was a little cold! We weren't to bothered as we were here for 5 nights, we settled in in our YHA we had a double ensuite room which was luxury for us! And it was actually very nice, the hostel also had a sauna! Which we enjoyed :) the yha hostels all seemed to have lovely kitchens which everything you needed and plenty of room :) 

The whole time we were in franz josef it rained and was a little chilly which actually suited as as we had so. Uclh research and booking to do for the next legs of our tour in oz and usa that we actually needed the time to relax and do the things we needed and as we had free wifi in the yha's it was the perfect time! We did wonder around the town a few times it was a lovely little town :)

On the third day we decided that we would take the walk to the face of e franz josef glacier it was suppose to be a three hour round trip! It was only mildly raining this day so decided that we would go for it, we could of taken the shuttle to the car park of the glacier which would have cost us $25 and cut out 1 hour and half off our walk but we decided we would save the penny's and walk it :) 

It was a lovely walk and had some beautiful  scenary around us....

....the walk itself was all on flat ground so it was nice :) we saw a lot of wildlife on our walk and also saw a dead cat but this wasn't a house hold pet cat! it was like a mountain cat a wild one! When we got to the car park we had a little rest....

......it was another hour to the glacier front ! We continued our walk and the scenary was even better ! Rainforest around us either side and the glacier in front of us :) it was a relatively clear day so we were lucky :) there were many waterfalls coming from the mountain above us it was really breath taking .........

 

......the walk took us a little longer then stated as we were stopping and taking pics and also going on detours to get a better look at things! By the time we got the glacier itself we were amazed it was beautiful but we were gutted  we couldn't get a closer look! But it just was t safe so we took heaps of pics and looked around the area it was great fun :) 

 

 

 ...we decided to make our way back as it looked like there was storm approaching there were already clouds blocking our view of the snowy mountain tops! The walk back was just as nice :) we saw a native bird called a "kea" ....

.....it was super colourful and a very pleasant bird :) we were lucky to spot it! And we also saw another native bird. It I cannot remember the name of it ! We are told that it is birds that rule the rainforest and not mammals ! 

We were pretty tired after that walk we were out for around 5 hours! But it was well worth it :) we thoroughly enjoyed franz josef and loved the walk :) we feel very lucky to have got so close to a natural wonder like that :) this particular glacier was one of only three in the world that ends in a rainforest! The others are fox glacier just down the road and the other is in Argentina! So we are lucky :) we weren't to sad about not being able to do the helicopter flight and ice climb due to the price! We enjoyed our walk :) the only way you can get on the glacier these days is by helicopter due to the danger of it and the ever moving glacier so that's why the price is so high! We weren't going to pay $300 each for a ten minute flight!

When it was time to leave franz josef we went on our way and our driver very kindly took us to a point where we could see fox glacier :) and that was also beautiful.....

We also stopped at a lake called "lake Matheson" it was famous for its beautiful reflective water :) we went for a short walk to the look out point to get some pics and it really was stunning like everything else in New Zealand :) ......

 

....our next stop is lake wanaka and we couldn't wait :)

Lake mahinapua

So the next stop was lake mahinapua a place that kiwi experience had been stopping at for 23 years, they originally stopped there as the oldest publican in nz owned the pub unfortunately he died earlier his year and there contract was coming to an end so they have decided to take that stop out and add a new one between queenstown and christchuch as that journey was 7 hours! So we were one of the last buses to stop there !

We wasn't overly joyed at the thought of going there, all that was there was the pub and a lake! We were only there for one night! And the point of going there was to have a fancy dress party! Which was fine, but our budget was so tight and spending penny's on fancy dress.....we just couldn't justify it, plus as we were on a different bus everytime we boarded we knew no one! And when we boarded this bus there were quite a few shall we say "idiots" on there! That just werent our cup of tea! But we decided we would go to the party but just wouldn't dress up! The driver also cooked dinner with the owners for everyone!i had vegi option and Luke had a steak which was huge! Our food was very tasty :)

Anyway....when we arrived we decided to take a walk to the lake....which was huge.....

.....there was also a restored two paddle boat there which told the story of gold miners :) it was very interesting :) 

.....we were learning something new everyday! 

After going to the lake we decided to hit the bar! We hadn't drank the whole time we had been in New Zealand due to our budget and the drink being ridiculously expensive! And here we got a mug of cider for $10 bargain! And we had a flavoured syrup! It was soon time for dinner, Luke had the steak which he said was really nice and I had vegi quiche which was also lovely. :)

The night was a good one ! We drank about 5-6 jugs of cider between us and it's safe to say we were a little drunk! But we were having such a laugh! Luke videoed me singing and dancing along to s club 7! We chatted to the owners for ages they gave us loads of tips :) we thoroughly enjoyed the night we went to bed not long before midnight and were feeling very sorry for ourselves in the morning! It took basically the whole day for us to feel better! It was safe to say we were getting old! And being old mixed with a hangover .......not fun! Xx

The little town of westport :)

Our next stop would be westport...... We had a few hour journey first and stop at Nelson National Park,  it was pretty cold that day that will be the coldest day we had so far we were  feeling the chill! The National Park had a beautiful lake with mountains in the background and being by the water made it even colder! we sat down had a look at the views I ate my vegetarian quiche, while sitting eating a duck well one particular duck would literally come right up tp my food and try to take it out my hand! What a very brave duck! Luke shod it off time and time again but it came back and back and back.....in the end I threw the quiche at the ducks and seagulls and they had great pleasure fighting over it! I have never seen ducks and seagulls in such close proximity together! We sat out here for a while but it got pretty cold so we got back on the bus.

.......we encounter some lovely scenary on the way down to westport...

Before we knew it we were in westport...it was a lovely little town that consisted of one main road full of little boutique shops, a supermarket, post office and a takeaway! There were roads of houses but that was it!.....

.......it was quite literally deserted, there was a beach close by and a area for fishing and a look out, I say close by it was around a 50 minute walk but the walk wasn't so bad it was on flat ground and had beautiful mountain views to look at! We arrived at our hostel "bazils" there were two bus loads of people so it was jam packed but we had already pre booked a double private room....thank god! It was a lovely hostel, it played reggae music all day, had a lovely little garden  with hammocks and seats all around.....

 

....it was quite different to all the other hostels we had stayed in :) the ownersw ere super friendly aswell and gave us lots of free wifi! 

We didn't do a u of the activities the kiwi bus was organising because again it was super expensive and our budget just couldn't do it, we really didn't no how the others were doing it! So we decided we would do some walks, walk to the beach and hopefully do some fishing :)

The owner was really kind and offered to lend us his fishing rods for free and told us a good free place to fish! And he also took us out on his fishing boat to assist him bring in crates from the sea he had previously put there with bait in to catch crayfish, we were excited! It was a small boat and the sea was pretty choppy that day! We had to hold on tight ! We were so lucky that day as we saw wild dolphins and seals it was really amazing to see them in there natural environment :) There was a bit of a petrol leak at one point which made Luke feel sick he said the current of the sea and the petrol fumes made him feel ill he was ok after a while! There was only a few crayfish caught as a few of the crates were open, we couldn't get to a couple of them as the sea was so strong it was to dangerous, at one point the boat just stopped working and we were going to hit the rocks! I had no idea what was going on at the time! But we could have had to jump out ! Pretty scary! Anyway Luke was assisting with the others with the crates....

 

 .....Luke really enjoyed it learning new things and doing things he hadn't done before I loved watching him :) in that second pic you can see the crayfish and the other bucket is full of fish heads which he used for bait! The crayfish were still alive in the box and on the way back they were. Really terrifying me ! And the owner decided he would get one out and put it on my arm! Well it's safe to say I was terrified I scream and cried I was so scared! He apologised after he said he thought I was joking when i said I was scared! Poor Luke couldn't get to me as we were going so fast and you couldn't let go when we got off he said he was really worried bless him :)) definitely the highlight of that trip for me was seeing the dolphins and seals what a memory :)

When we was on solid ground again we decided to go fishing that same day, we borrowed the rods and set off to the coast,  in new zealand you can fish for free in the sea and 150 meters in land from the sea, so that's what we did, we planted ourselves on some rocks.....

 

......and began spinner fishing something I had never done before and something Luke hadn't done that often, it was such fun :) and easy to do, the first place we started we caught nothing so we went further towards the sea and literally was catching one after the other ! We caught fish called "kahawai" they were pretty beautiful fish, the owner wanted us to bring back at least 6 we caught over ten but we put them all back, it was pretty hard to get the hooks out as we had no net to get the fish up to us so it was quite tricky but we managed it and to kill them we would of had to slit there throats, bleed them and carry them all back ! Some of them were up to 8 pounds it would have been quite hard to carry them all that way back with all out bear as well! And I just couldn't face killing them! I knew that that is what New Zealanders do but us english are generally not allowed to catch, kill and eat so we decided not to, he was a little disappointed but we explained why we didn't bring them back he understood. He had a few different types of fish that he let Luke try including crayfish which he liked! That fishing trip was really worth it and we had a amazing time, and were so pleased we got to do it :) .....

 

.....what a fun day :)))

We also had a wonder to the beach one of the days.....

 

......it was a lovely beach, very unspoilt it wasn't touristy at all which was nice :) it had a lot of driftwood on it which we found odd! We didn't go swimming it was a bit chilly but enjoyed strolling along it :)) 

Overall we thoroughly enjoyed westport we had a lot of fun for free :)) the hostel and owners were great and we would defo go back if we had the chance :)