So this is where we camped last night. Our jamminess ran out today. Weather was extremely RUBBISH for going to Milford Sound. Rain & fog are not conducive to picturesque views across sea and mountains. But hey you can’t win ‘em all. The drive to Milford Sound was pretty spectacular despite the sh*tty weather. You could still get the gist of it and there were definitely Misty Mountains galore. ...
Not satisfied with our adrenaline-filled Sunday we went on the Shotover Jet today. A 30min jet-powered speedboat ride through shallow water, down narrow canyons and 360° spins. Pretty exciting but not as good as the bungy. We’re thinking we should have done them the other way around. Walked, & climbed in part, up to top of hill (Ben Lomond national park) behind Queenstown to see more stunning views. ...
OH MY GOD! Matt & I did a 134m bungy jump today. It was incredible! Stupidly booked it for the afternoon so we both spent the morning sweating about it when all we wanted to do was get it over and done with. It was also a 45min drive out of town so our 2 o’clock appt was just for the bus ride. You get your full-body harness on and go on a open cable car across the canyon to the bungy car hanging over a massive canyon. That was pretty scary in itself. ...
Feeling a little worse for wear. Our lush view from our campervan was lost on us. Managed to get enough energy to move to the holiday park in town as we know we want to stay in QT a couple more days. I’m sure we must still be drunk though as just gone and booked a bungy jump for tomorrow. Arghhh!
Random photos taken before leaving Wanaka. This one was taken by Matt after he turned the van around on a busy main road to specifically to this field of sheep, parked up, ran across the road, tried jumping over a ditch and promptly sprained his ankle. Any excuse not to drive. Stunning views on the road from Wanaka to Queenstown. Queenstown is in a beautiful setting on Lake Wakatipu surrounded by snow-capped mountains. We love it. Even more than Wanaka. ...
Here we go again. Another bad weather day. Stayed in our van on our deserted campsite watching the clouds float across the hills working on SCF. Didn’t do anything really all day except a half hour walk to the lake and back via New World supermarket. Fun stuff. Ever heard of a battered lasagne? No, nor us. They sell them in New World. Taste like a deep-fried lasagne, bizarrely.
Hell of a night being bashed around by stormy weather then gorgeous morning with the view we were hoping for. Pipping those Wicked campervans to the post for this spot on this tiny DOC island was worth the under-their-breath cussing we probably got from them. Travelled to Wanaka passing more lovely things. We fell in love with Wanaka immediately and may stay another day or 2 or 3… ...
Non-eventful day. Woke up, it was raining. Run was pointless. Nowhere to run to except around the carpark 4 times getting wet. Stayed in all morning blogging & working on SCF. It rained some more. Drove to Haast. Grey, depressing place in winter. The cheapest tin of baked beans in their only shop was $2. Wanted fish & chips but couldn’t bring ourselves to try the bleak cafe. Stubbornly ate pasta-in-sauce on the side of the road whilst it drizzled and continued on our way. We’ll get our perfect Fish & Chips by the beach. One day. ...
Brekkie today was in our own private holiday park with a backdrop of forested hills and snowy mountains. Mostly a day of working on SCF in the campervan sat outside a nearby backpackers lodge which had wifi with our chosen provider. We are very sad. But hey there’s work to be done. A whistle-stop trip to Fox Glacier. It was cold and rainy and low cloud cloaked the hills. Very a la Misty Mountains. How a couple of hours can make such a difference in weather conditions. We ventured halfway to the bottom of Fox Glacier to get a satisfactory glance at the flowing ice river. ...
Woke up this morning planning to do a Heli-hike. 10 min helicopter ride followed by 2hr glacier hike and 10min helicopter ride back. It was bland weather. Grey, overcast and chilly. And when we thought about it $400 each was a bit steep. So perhaps we just walk today and then see what the weather’s like in Fox Glacier tomorrow? Well by the time we’d faffed about waking up and all that jazz and then watched huge trout jump around in the shallow river trying to get up stream, the sun was itching to come out. Hmm should we or shouldn’t we? ...