Here we are again… J Leaving Wanaka for Queenstown! Queenstown is again a city located along a lake…  it is the place to be for parties but also the starting point to visit the Milford Sounds National park.

In order to give you an idea about Milford Sounds, the landscape looks like the fjords in Norway… Mountains finishing in the sea!  Another important point is that this region is known to be the wettest in the whole NZ South island but we were quite lucky as we barely saw a few clouds during the day J During our boat trip on the fjords, we had the chance to admire seals and dolphins swimming and playing along our boat… a great moment J Tough to take pictures but we managed to get a few good shots for you!

After a well deserved night in Queenstown, we jumped on the bus to head to Dunedin situated on the East coast! We thought Dunedin was a small village but we were completely wrong on this one… Dunedin is the second city of the South island with a famous university… You can also climb the steepest street in the world…. I have to admit that we just climbed the first meters ;-)

And last but not least, Dunedin is situated next to a peninsula where you can admire wildlife… On the agenda: albatrosses, penguins, sea lions,… We joined a tour for about 6 hours… According to our guide, we had the best tour of the last two months as we could admire nesting penguins, albatrosses, a sea lion, fur seals,… really close by! The show of the penguins coming back from the sea at dusk is quite funny! We have some good videos we will for sure show you when we are back to Belgium!

Again some amazing days… We are slowly realizing that in 5 days we will be in South East Asia… but it is not yet 100% clear in our heads! The shock will be big… arriving in Bangkok after one month in NZ!!!

PS/ Where are the Belgian backpackers? We only met three since the beginning of our trip… but we met “heaps” of German and Dutch!!! Come on Belgium… Let’s travel the world!

09-12-2010 om 09:31 geschreven door Marjan & Isa  

Here we go with some updates… The longer we are in NZ, the more we fall in love with this country! We always think we have seen the best and in fact, the best is yet to come! So each day is full of new discoveries and surprises… Furthermore the inhabitants are just great and really welcoming you everywhere!  Two words they love to use… “Sweet” and “heaps”… You are “sweet” for anything you do and there are “heaps” of sheep’s around you for instance ;-)

Let’s now come back to our trip… Last time, we left you in Greymouth…

From there we head to the mountains and especially the glacier’s region to do a one day hike on the famous Franz Joseph glacier!  Our guide, Ben, was great … we could enjoy about 4 hours on the ice: climbing, walking, passing in small holes … check the pictures for more details! By the way, first time we could use our hat and gloves that we are carrying since the beginning of the trip ;-)

In summary, a great but a bit exhausting day… We definitely deserved our beer and coke at the end of the hike!

Next day, back on the bus to go to Wanaka…. Wanaka is located next to one of the biggest NZ lakes… also well known for skydiving! ;-) After some hesitations, we decided to take up the challenge!

We were really excited in the bus going to the airport… We had to put a special gear and 15 minutes later we were on the plane… The view from above was just A-MA-ZING! Blue sky all around BUT WIND! While being at 12.000 ft and ready to jump, the plane just went down as the wind was above 50km/h! L We were soooooo disappointed!!!! Back on the ground without jumping… The only positive point, we had a scenic flight for free!

Another good memory is definitely the evening of the 5^th December… The day our Dutch neighbors are celebrating Sinterklaas/Saint Nicolas!!! We ended up with a group of Dutch singing Sinterklaas songs around the BBQ… We even put our shoes below the BBQ for some chocolates! J Marije and Lonneke…. It is definitely a great souvenir with you ladies J

This is it for now… Have a look at the pictures, they are worth it!

09-12-2010 om 09:13 geschreven door Marjan & Isa  

What to say about the South island except that this is just one of the best place in the world we have ever seen!!! Landscapes are amazing and you can find a mix of paradisiacal beaches, lord of the rings landscapes, mountains,…

Below a set of the best:

Marlborough sounds:  First contact with the south island coming with the ferry from Wellington!  Typical NZ landscapes… blue sea, green mountains and blue sky J

Abel Tasman National Park:  This National Park is located on the North West coast of the South island. It is well known for its three days walk along paradisiacal beaches!  We could even enjoy a swim in the “turquoise” water of the sea… A bit cold but still great!

We now understand why NZ is recognized for its “Great walks”!

Kaikoura:  A place where the mountains are meeting the ocean! A real postcard!

Kaikoura is also well known for its wildlife… This is the place where you can meet whales, dusky dolphins and seals… We had the chance to admire whales and even swim with the dolphins! A great experience… 200 dolphins swimming and playing with you… Amazing!

We could as well admire a seal colony… these animals are definitely lazy… laying in the same position for hours! ;-) What a life!

Centre of NZ… Nelson: This city is at the entrance of the Abel Tasman National Park. Nothing special to mention except that this city is recognized as the “centre of New Zealand” … A small walk will lead you to the top of a hill where a monument indicates you are at the central point of the country! Quite funny!

Pancake rocks: Like that it seems really good to eat…. But these are just rocks that look like pannenkoeken/crêpes… as they are composed of different layers of stones… Better you have a look at the pictures as it is quite difficult to explain ;-)

Hamner spring: On the agenda, bush walks and hot pools… a relaxing well deserved afternoon!  Great hostel with warm welcome!

Greymouth: Nothing to say! A sad city but we had to stop there to catch our next bus… This city is unfortunately well known for its mining activities and lately the mining accident that happened over there…

PS/ A special thought for the great people we had the chance to meet on our route during this Episode 1…  ;-)

06-12-2010 om 01:34 geschreven door Marjan & Isa