The Beautiful South (NZ)

Welcome to Middle Earth!
And so we move to New Zealand, a land dotted with living landscapes that conquer all expectations, except of course if you've seen Lord of the Rings. Bigger than Britain but with only 4 million people, you can tread paths of snow, ice, lava, sand or rock without encountering human life (though, with 40 million of them, you're never too far from a sheep). To be honest we wont be able to do the scenery justice so we'll just say it's spectacular and focus on what we've been up to!!!

"We're dreaming of a white Christchurch ..."
OK - not quiet Christchurch but an hour away at Mt Hutt. We'd like to think they heard we were coming to town and kept the ski resort open, but suspect it had more to do with the extraordinary snow falls for the time of year.

Having spent a couple of days in the very English and picturesque Christchurch, we were a little 'cultured out' with our wanderings around the gothic cathedral, art centre, museum and university, not to mention our walks through the botanical gardens and along the pretty River Avon (unfortunately punting was off the agenda as a body had been dragged out the day before!). So, (despite having discovered the fudge and chocolate factory's free daily tastings) once we heard there was fresh snow on the mountains and skiing to be had, off we sped in our newly hired 'Ezy' Camper, picking up rental skis, boots, jackets, etc., along the way!

We arrived a little concerned having driven through high winds and heavy rain, seen 'lifts closed' signs along the way and noticed skiers/boarders heading in the opposite direction. Ever the optimists, we gave the weather forecaster the benefit of the doubt and stayed the night ... waking the next morning to glorious sunshine and an overnight snow fall of 15cm - excellent skiing conditions! Plus, as the weather had been so bad the past couple of days and the season had officially ended 2 weeks before, we practically had the mountains to ourselves ;-)

"Get your motor runnin..."
With the freedom of the open road beckoning, we decided not to chance our ski luck and called it a season after a perfect day. With the whole of the South Island to cover in less than 2 weeks (after our little diversion), we obviously planned our route carefully ... alright then, we just got in the camper and drove:

Lake Tekapo, with turquoise water and views of the snow-capped Southern Alps (more commonly known as the ''Misty Mountains'), was amazing. As was the picture perfect ultra-blue Lake Pukaki with stunning views of the Mt Cook National Park. Mt Cook and the Tasman Glacier didn't disappoint either - with the latter giving an almost alien feel to the striking surroundings.

Speaking of other worldliness, Milford Sound in the Fiordland was one of the eeriest places we've seen. With the weather dry but grey (we were lucky apparently as this is the wettest place in the world with rainfall measured in metres rather than centimetres!), the unforgettable vista was dominated by weather-scuffed cliffs, snow-tipped mountains and crashing waterfalls. We'd gone out on the first boat which made the experience even eerier for the silence.

Enroute back to Te Anau and on to Manapouri (aka 'The Dead Marshes'), we quickly realised that part of the beauty of the trip lay along the roadside - one of the most picturesque drives we've seen. The repeated urge to stop at photo begging spots along the way (including the Tatoko Valley; Donne and Gulliver Rivers; Hollyford Valley, Falls and River; The Chasm; and the Mirror Lakes) meant that this 150k journey took all afternoon!

Queenstown, the outdoor capital of NZ and home to the 'Pillars of the Kings', has something for everyone - the stunning Lake Whakitipo; the aptly named Remarkables mountain range (where LOTR pilgrims have been known to break down and cry - how sad?!); the gondola with it's great views; and lots of bars, shops and restaurants. The real attractions are for the adrenaline junkie though. The home of the world's first bungee, Queenstown takes extreme to the limit - in fact we're amazed they haven't invented extreme ironing yet!

No longer able to remain in one place too long, we continued around Lake Whakitipo to nearby Glenorchy. A tiny unspoiled town at the end of a winding road with views seen on many a New Zealand promotional piece, it is surrounded by snow-tipped mountains and the vast lake ('Ithilien', 'Isengard' and 'Lothlorien').

A little too quiet, we moved on to nearby 'gold-rush' Arrowtown ('Ford of Bruinen' ''Enough already - anyone would think we were geeks!!'') with it's pretty tree-lined streets and 19th century wooden buildings. A town-wide power-cut caused by a bad storm made it positively sleepy here too so we legged it to Wanaka. Now this was more like it, with a laid back feel and beautiful scenery mixed with lots to do it was much more our kind of town - a pity it was too cold to take advantage of most of the activities, especially the cool looking water bicycles!

"Ice, Ice Baby..."
After a slow, photo opportunity laden drive to glacier territory via the Haast Pass, detouring to watch the dolphins fish at the isolated village of Jackson Bay, we arrived at the Fox Glacier in time to watch a beautiful mountain sunset perfectly mirrored in Lake Matheson.

Fox Glacier, at 250m above sea-level and 13km wide at the Neve (rim), is one of the largest glaciers in the world, and one of only three to be lined with rainforest. We'd heard the best way to experience it was to walk around it - so we went one better and walked on it. Getting dropped off via helicopter, we spent 3 hours hiking around the top to explore blue ice-caves; peer into bottomless crevasses; admire the pristine ice formations; and listen to the dull thuds of the grinding ice sheets below! Easily the highlight of our NZ trip so far.

"Raindrops keep fallin' on our heads..."
Still on a high we headed along the West Coast, which is so renowned for its rainfall that the locals affectionately call it the Wet Coast (perhaps we're homesick and being drawn to anywhere rainy?!).

Passing by the Okarito Lagoon and dragging Ali away from the jewellery famed Hokitika, we drove along this rugged stretch of rocky coastline (which in our opinion rivals Australia's 'Great Ocean Road') eventually coming across the Pancake Rocks. A spectacular series of limestone rock formations that look like stacks of thin pancakes (mmmm, we're hungry), we were lucky enough to visit at high tide so we also got to see the water surging into caverns and out of geyser-like blowholes - giving Steve yet another excuse to say "there's nowt so powerful as t'sea".

"It's a long, long road..."
We ended our whirlwind tour of the South Island with a visit to the Kekeno fur seal colony at Cape Foulwind (yes, we've heard all the jokes); a walk across NZ's longest swing bridge over the Buller Gorge; photo stops at Lakes Rotoroa and Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes National Park, as well as at the pretty Hope River; a stroll around Te Waikoropupu Springs - the clearest cold water springs in the world - and the dancing sands; as well as wander stops at Marahua, Motueka and Takaka.

"with many a winding turn..."
A brave attempt at seeing Harwood's Hole - the deepest cave in the Southern Hemisphere - was thwarted by the narrow, winding, cliff-edged track up to it taking so long to negotiate that it was almost dark by the time we got there (we felt walking around a cave mouth in the dark with no safety rail was perhaps not wise).

Running out of time we had to choose between a day walking the glorious coast of the Abel Tasman National Park or a quick dash back down the coast to spot the whales of Kaikoura. We chose the latter, more because of the grey sky and cold temperatures than our desire to see whales - which was lucky given we that we didn't!

"Boat over troubled waters ..."
OK, that doesn't quite have the same ring to it but we were keen to follow the musical theme! Described as the most stunning car park in the world, the Inter Islander ferry was lovely - very picturesque and more like a day trip than a ferry crossing. Though we were very lucky as just 2 days before the sea was so rough it took 10 hours (instead of the usual 3) and passengers had to be separated into groups of the sick and very sick!!!

Apologies for all the LOTR references - it's hard not to get caught up in the location spotting madness. We promise there will be no more, though we may mention 'Ork-land' a few times (sorry - couldn't resist!!)