The last few days have been packed full of adventure and things to marvel at. We arrived in Queenstown for our few days of luxary camping, checking ourself into a compact but scenic campsite situated just in the middle of the town. I’m not sure if Queenstown is another place that NZ class as a city, but it’s barely much bigger then Lutterworth. I mean, it is bigger, but you get our drift. Our little camping spot was right next to a little stream running through the campsite, which ran down from the massive hill right behind us.
The town itself is completely buzzing. Non stop. The first day we arrived we sat our van down and then headed out around the town, looking through the various shops and spotting out places to eat etc. The vide was good and there seemed to be hundreds of different things to do, although most of them not for the faint hearted. We made our way into the information office and asked them where the nearest Noodle Canteen was. After a good bit of grub back at the campsite, we spent the evening relaxing and watched A Serious Man on the laptop. Good film.
Next morning we rose nice and early and made our way back into town. It was about a 5 minute walk to the centre which was nice and handy, especially for later that evening when we got the beers in. Our first objective of the day was to climb the massive hill that shadowed over Queenstown. Well, there was a gondala opperating for the many that couldn’t be bothered to climb the hill, although after a good hour of just constantly walking up steep grass and big wooden steps, it wasn’t supprising they offered that service. It was worth it once we reached the top though and the views were just astonishing. You could see the whole of Queenstown and the mountain range that surrounded it. There was also plenty of chances to spot somebody bungy from a ledge extending off the hill, or watch somebody paraglide to their death. The hill also had a nice dity downhill mountain bike track, hidden away within the trees with various different sections depending on your skill level. There were loads of people hurtling down at pretty impressive speeds, how many of them actually made it to the bottom without coming off though, god knows. Coming down was slightly easier. On the way up we’d managed to get chatting to a couple that actually worked at the top and they said that the people didn’t check for tickets going down on the gondola, just what we needed 
The weather was beautiful so we headed towards the front of the lake and spent some time at the market there, which sold some really interesting braclets, necklaces, paintings, etc etc.
Getting into the evening, we made our way back to the camper and cooked up some steak on the barbe, got ourselves cleaned up and headed out into the town to a few bars. We ended up in a club which had a illuminous paint night on, full to the brim with people our age and the usual shitty club music but it was an hilarious night and we met some interesting people. The rest remains a secret.
The morning after was bungy jump day. Abe headed out to the bungy and managed make it back alive. The canyon where the bungy jump was performed, was nested beautifully above the Nevis river, you can watch the video below for a better idea of the thrill.
We then packed up and made our way out and towards Milford Sound, probably the most remarkable bit of scenery we have seen this trip. I think we’ve certainly travelled this in the right direction because everytime we think we’ve seen the best scenery, something else pops up and astonishes us even more. The lanscape around the Fiorland National Park is just out of this world, we’re both in agreement that Milford Sound is probably the most mind blowing thing we’ve ever seen.
If you’re not a fan of rain. Stay away. The weather is unlikeable for most, although without the constant downpoor, you wouldn’t get the astonishing number of waterfalls falling from the mountains. We managed to jump on a boat tour, getting a nice small boat which took you a little bit closer to the rocky terrain, all for about 25 quid, which lasted us just over the 1hr30mins mark. It’s almost undescribable really. The video below probably can’t justify the place, plus with it being extremely wet, it was almost impossible to film outside of the van. The journey there was also quite amazing, with a neat little passage through the mountains and into a tunnel which had been built to pass through the terrain in the 1930′s. Once you come out of the tunnel, that’s where it really hits you. Enjoy the video below.
The few days after were really spent catching up on travelling. We’ve been through a few of the Southern cities but most of them not really catching our eye all that much. With New Zealand being a relatively new country, they constantly remind you that the cities are still well into development and you do get that feeling in a lot of them. The smaller towns around NZ are definitely much more interesting. On our way to the outskirts of Christchurch we did manage to witness a pretty crazy event. As we passed down a stretch of road, we’d just been on a visit to a Lake near by, Lake Tekapo, the one that was used in much of Lord Of The Rings. It’s right next to Mount Cook and the water is a strange blue colour, because of the glaciers melting into it. We’d decided to try and get as far as possible, so set out from Tekapo (where we’d oringially decided to camp) and try make it to the french town of Akaroa just outside Christchurch. Along the way, we hit a set of roadworks, which because it was late evening, were closed due to the laziness of the Kiwi’s. They still allow you to drive on the road although it’s qutie rubbly so they set the speed limit to 50KM an hour. As we climbed the long straight up the hill, in the distance we saw another campervan hurtle around the corner, appearing at first to tackle the corner with ease. It was only until he got a little closer it was clear that he’d gone way to fast and was skidding all over the place. He’d managed to stay on the road as we passed him but with a quick check in the rear view mirror, abe belted out “he’s skidded off” and as Tom turned round to inspect, there it was. Boom, off the road and into the ditch.
After no haste in deciding to be the good samaritans, we quickly turned round and went back to inspect the damage…although maybe it was more just to see some blood and guts. As we arrived at the crash scene, the Japanese tourist had jumped out of his van and looked in pretty good shape. A lorry driver had also pulled over to ‘access’ the situation and after a quick word, he said that he would ring the police (as he has a working phone) and we were free to leave if we wished. It was pretty insane really, we’re just glad he ended in the ditch instead of in our windscreen.
It wasn’t until a little later on down the road, which things got even more intesting, and perhaps slightly amusing/worrying. Feeling rather peckish, we pulled over to make a quick ham sandwich, at which point we were graced with the poluting sound of sirens. Of course our first thoughts as the ambulance flew past were that this poor tourist had managed to injure his passenger (girlfriend) in all their excitement. What then amazed us even more, was that one fire engine passed, followed shortly by another fire engine AND another ambulance. Then, what was ANOTHER fire engine, made it’s way all the way to the t junction, slammed its breaks, turned his siren off and headed to the pub. There was still no sign of police so the lorry driver must have got the wrong number.
Since then, we’ve visited the Aukaura, Christchurch and off to Picton to catch the ferry back North. Christchurch was pretty boring, a bit of a dump and looked like an earthquake had hit it. Now we set sail for the sunny North to see Art Deco Napier and hit the beaches for 3 weeks.
Peace X
