Seeing the country.

Before I leave the country I thought I better remind myself what I’m leaving and going to miss. The trip was also to see my family and say good before Jamie and I head to Edinburgh and to play tour guide to Emma who had only been as far south as Franz Joseph.

Anyway 1st stop was Fox Glacier for a 4 hour guided tour of the glacier, sounds like fun… yes…! Think again! As you may be able to see from the photos the weather was not good. We walked to the glacier in sideways rain, fog and hail... crazy! Once we got there the rain and wind had not let up nevertheless we still walked on the glacier and saw some amazing beautiful sights.

That afternoon we drove our trusting 85’ Honda Accord (it’s got 460,000 km on the clock, no kidding!) to Wanaka to find a bed for the night. Lets just say this was quite a hard ask, as all 8 backparkers and campgrounds we called were full… oops probably should have booked somewhere earlier. Anyway it all worked out as we ended up sleeping at my granddads crib (batch) after tracking down a key from the neighbour.

Puzzling world Wanaka.

Next stop was Cromwell to say bye to my sister Kirsten and niece, Sophie. We had a few lazy days in Cromwell while Emma was fighting a bad cold. At this stage I’d realised how cold it can get in Central Otago wishing I’d packed an extra thermal and hat instead of my bikini and boardies.

On Saturday we headed to Te Anau via Queenstown. Queenstown what can I say – beautiful scenery, lots of tourists, yummy ice cream, the best fudge shop, a cool market and an information centre on every corner.

Te Anau was really fun and abit warmer then Central. The 1st day we were in Te Anau we drove to Manapouri and hired a row boat to get across the mouth of the river to the start of the circle track. If you are sharp you may notice something wrong with our rowing style………!

Yes thats right we rowed the boat most of the way backwards, SHAME! It was fun anyway. The circle track was a 3 ½ hour loop track. At the top the views were stunning.

At the top of the walk we made a little friend. This South Island robin (I think or that’s what Emma tells me) came within inches of us and the camera it was very cool!

That afternoon we took a boat ride to the glow worm caves. The cave was awesome and the glow worms beautiful but sorry no photos allowed in the caves so you’ll have to go see them yourself.

The next day, Monday, we drove to Dunedin. Saw the folks and relaxed in Mum and Kens warm house. We did go and visit the Albatrosses and their fat chicks but didn’t manage to get close enough to get a good shot.

The steepest street in the World - Baldwin Street, Dunedin.

Here’s a photo of my little sis pretending to be a grandma with my glasses on because apparently only old people wear glasses.

Thursday we headed to CHCH. We stopped at Shag Point, and the Moeraki Boulders.

Seals sunning themselves on the rocks at Shag Point. Shag Point is just off SH 1 about 60 km north of Dunedin and only 5 mins up the road from Palmy.

Emma and I having fun at Moeraki.

We stayed with Diz and Tim in CHCH, Thanks guys! I caught up with my little bro, Daniel, in CHCH and got a shock! His once light browny/ strawberry blonde hair had been dyed black and cut into a Mohawk by a ‘friend’ in his hostel.