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 :)

 

First stop - kaiteriteri

It had been a long day so far, having arrived in picton we now had a few hour journey to kaiteriteri! It was a good drive, there was two bus loads of us which we were told was unusual! So many of us that the lodge we were staying in couldn't take us all, we were glad that we had prebooked ! We stopped on the way at a supermarket which was also a small mall, we gad 45 mins we manage to get our shopping, run across to k Mart to grab some socks, run to the post office to send some cards and get back to the bus with 5 mins to spare! 

We arrived in the very small town of kaiteriteri :) it was very pretty and the lodge we were staying in was right onthe sea front .....

.....it was a little gem of a place :) and to top it off there was a mini golf course opposite :) we hadn't booked any of the activities here they were far to expensive, way out of budget and over priced ! Instead we did a walk to the look out point, played lots of golf! Which by the way I won 4 times Luke won once ! That was $5 for one ball and club so we just got one! So why the others were doing there $200 activities we spent $5 ! We had lots of laughs here and fond it to be very relaxing like many places in New Zealand :))....

 

 

 

.....little kaiteriteri beach :) 

 

 

 

Our journey down to the South Island :)

We were up nice and early for our ferry, but we had a long wait in the departure lounge around 2 hours, all ferrys were delayed a s a couple of weeks ago one of the ferrys propellers come off mid journey so there was now only one and it was causing havoc! And making all crossings delayed :( wew ere also delayed as royal carribeans voyage of the seas was arriving Into the harbour, it was lovely to see as the scenary in the back ground made it beautiful I took some pics and video footage for my dad he would like to see that :) ....

Luke was so tired we went to bed at 1am and we had to be picked up at 7am! So we found a spot on the ferry and chilled out :) the journey was a little rough, we were thinking of getting something to eat. It can you imagine what the prices where like! $5.40 for a small cup of tea! I don't think so, although the lunch prices seemed more reasonable so we will wait until then! I was catching up on my blog and emails and we were just chilling :)

During the journey there were some gorgeous views and stunning scenary...

.....we sat down on deck 7 and chilled out and when we were about an hour away from the port of picton we sailed through "Marlborough sounds" and we were both amazed at the beauty of it.....new Zealand just keeps amazing us with its beauty......

 

 

.......some really stunning scenary :) 

We arrived in picton in the early afternoon collected our bags and made our way to the kiwi bus, all ready to get to our first stop on the South Island - "kaiteriteri"

Face timing Millie poppins :)

So having not spoke to chester and Millie (and the rest of the fam!) for a while as they had been in Walt disney world :) I was itching to talk to them and missed there little faces :( but trying to get the time right was really hard  because we were 13 hours ahead so it would either have to be first thing in the morning or late at night, anyway we managed to find a time to FaceTime but chester was at school, he was waking up quite late due to jet lag, so I manage to speak to Millie :)))

And we just couldn't believe how much she is talking now since the last time we spoke, we was pretty much having a convosation! She is so cute and has the cutest cheekiest grin :) she was showing us all her toys she got from disney :) and all her plushes :) she's such a cutie and we enjoyed hearing all about the trip :) we hope we get to see them at Walt disney world one day would love to see there little faces :))) Millie was chatting to us (well Luke!!) she favours Luke just like chester! So poor auntie sarah doesn't get a look in :( I am sure she will think differently when I start doing her hair all pretty for her :))))) 

Unfortunately we couldn't speak to chester today he was at school but will speak to him very soon :) miss our little chats to him :))))