Queenstown

We made Queenstown our base for a few days as it had a lot to offer. For starters this town was home to the bungy jump Jonny had his heart set on doing. He wanted to jump from a 47 metre high bridge above a fast flowing river. I cannot believe he suffered with such bad vertigo when we left the UK. Jonny was so brave, an instructor took him to the bridge as I watched from below. They placed a towel around his legs then attached the bungy cord. Jonny then waddled to the platform and the instructor counted down “3 . . . 2 . .” Jonny looked down, big mistake “. . .1” he didn’t  jump. I was gutted, we had discussed that he has to jump first time as it would only get harder as the reality would set in. The instructor quickly told Jonny to take a deep breath then he started again “3 . . . 2 . . . . 1 . . . Bungy” Jonny through his self from the bridge with arms out stretched like rugby star scoring the winning try. He did so well and the first thing he said to me is “I want to do that again”. I think next time I will have to join him.

Queenstown is a ski town with many lovely restaurants, pubs and clubs to choose from.  When we decided to go for a few drinks we chose to stick to the snow theme and visited an ice bar called Below Zero. We were given extra warm coats and gloves and enjoyed the cocktails so much we somehow managed to stay in the giant freezer for over an hour.

The main purpose for being in Queenstown was to go skiing. It was my first time ever on the slopes and Jonny and I agreed that I probably wouldn’t benefit joining a busy ski school due to the limited time and funds we had. So we took the brave decision to let Jonny teach me. Most couple would advise against this as the disagreements and arguments could lead to divorce. But I am very pleased to report Jonny was a fantastic teacher, he was patient and taught me the basics. He must have been good as I managed to stay on my feet for the first 2 hours of our day. After a successful morning we decided a break was in order so we went for a well-deserved hot chocolate. I sat and chatted with a friend we had met while Jonny went back on the slopes to do some more challenging skiing. In the afternoon I returned to the snow with Jonny, I wish I could say things continued to go smoothly but things took a tumble and by things I mean me. The slope had become so busy with children and ski schools and I was unable to stop or steer myself properly. As I was heading straight for a 5 year old I panicked and through myself on the floor in a not so gracious way. My hat went flying behind me, my sticks went in another direct and I ended up in an emotional heap. Jonny collected the parts of me from down the mountain and picked me up, he tried to convince me to give it another go but I was too nervous about all the kids that were everywhere. I have not written skiing off completely; I will give it another go but I’m not in a rush . . . .

After Queenstown we drove to another sky town called Wanaka which is a situated on a picture prefect lake. We enjoyed an evening here as well as a stroll around the lake.

Milford Sound

Our day started in Te Anau a small town about 2 hours from Milfors Sound. At the port we boarded our ferry which cruised around the sound. The whole day including the journey was one we will never forget, we saw some of the most gorgeous landscapes we have ever seen. We are unable to describe Milford Sound and do its beauty justice, so we will let some of your photos do the talking . . . . .

Oamaru & Dunedin

The next major city we were going to stop at was Dunedin. However we had heard that Oamaru was a good stop to see some wildlife and in particular see a penguin colony. Leaving Christchurch we travelled south down the east coast for about 3 hours before we arrived in Oamaru. We were staying in a small campsite right on the coast with backdrop of the Southern Alps. We were told by the campsite owner that there were two colonies of penguins that inhabited the area; The Little Blue Penguins and The Yellow Eyed Penguins. We learnt that the Yellow Eyed penguins are in fact one of the rarest form of penguin on the planet.  On our first night we went to the area of land where we were told we could see the Little Blue Penguins. On arriving we found out that a charity had set up a lookout and a small fee was charged to the public to go in and watch them. We were sadly too late to pay and watch as they had already started to arrive. We decided to go up on to the cliffs to see if we could see any of the Yellow Eyed penguins. Knowing that our luck with seeing wildlife had not been the best so far, we were very surprised to see two of them just under the viewing platform. Apparently to see one in the cliffs is lucky so to see to we felt really privileged.

The following day we went and had a walk around the small Victorian town which was very quaint. We did a little bit of research and found that the best time to see the Yellow Eyed penguins was just before sunset. So we went back to the cliffs and waited, our luck was in and we watched several penguins make their way from the sea, waddling to the cliffs. We were also lucky enough to see some sea lions and seals. From here we made our way to the Blue Penguin charity look out.  We paid our money and took a place in the lookout which was more of a small stadium. As it was winter the penguin numbers usually decline and we were told to expect to see between 30 and 50 Baby Blue’s come out of the sea. Yet again luck was on our side as the researchers counted over 140 make the journey from the sea to their nest, we were amazed. Unfortunately we were unable to take any photos as the flash effects the penguins eye site and the charity are very strict on enforcing the no photography rule, so you will have to take our word for it; these penguins were adorable. 

Yellow Eyed Penguin

Our first impression of Dunedin was that it was such a student town. It is home to Otego University and the city is therefore littered with bars and pubs offering discounted drinks and eats; we felt right at home. Our campsite was a next to a stream which we followed one evening to find glow worms sparkling in the bushes. It was a lovely unexpected treat as they glitter looking very special. We spent our first full day exploring what Dunedin had to offer, we took a trip to the shopping centre, the botanical gardens and to the Forsyth Barr rugby stadium which Jonny was most impressed with.

The following day it was time to do something we were both very excited about, a tour of the Cadburys Chocolate Factory. We were treated with many samples which went down a treat. Of course we are bias but decided it is not as good as the Birmingham factory back home. 

We had a lovely time in both places and before we knew it we were moving on.