ANA AND ANDY, KAIKOURA, BLENHEIM AND PICTON, NEW ZEALAND 12 SEPTEMBER 2014

Once we'd had our full of relaxing in hot springs and walking in the local area we moved on again, back across to the East coast to Kaikoura.

Kaikoura was a brilliant stop. We parked up at the information centre and headed out on the loop walk which was the to-do thing in town. 

We followed the coast for an hour or so and came across our first of many, many seals! As we continued around the shore we came across some baby seals who were using the shallow water to play and learn how to swim!

Ta-dah... Ramsgate Street in Kaikoura.  You can take a girl out of Ramsgate...

One of many seals we came across - beautiful :)

Large heron amongst the Kaikoura coastline

Epic landscape

Good spot for lunch although the seagull in front tried to take it from us more than once!

Continuing on the coastal walk

Loads more seals basking in the afternoon sun :)

We walked all the way along the top of the cliffs but came down to sea level for a few pictures

Back at the top

These two looked like we felt - walked out!

After a brief stop for lunch we continued on our walk and completed the Kaikoura loop! We stayed overnight at a DoC campsite and we settled down to a van cooked dinner and some sleep!

The next morning on our way to Blenheim in the Marlborough (wine) region we stopped again to see more seals! Seeing so many colonies is unreal and they are great fun to watch :)

Just a small snippet of the many seals playing in the small pools by the side of the rd

Great day for the drive

We headed straight to the info centre in town to get a map of the wineries which we could visit. Our first stop was Brancott Estate which was a recognisable brand and a great into to NZ wine. 

The Estate was massive! We parked up and made our way up to the building (bypassing the free shuttle which would take you up the hill). As you enter you're taken to a small room to watch a video about the estate and its roots, once over the curtains draw back and you're rewarded with a view of the vineyard. Andy then tucked into some wine and we had our packed lunch sat outside in the sun.  Next stop was the makana chocolate factory, naturally.

Soaking up the sun at the winery

It's pretty big, bet the wines are all on 3 for 2 in ASDA

Andy learning the art of sounding interested at a free wine tasting

And scoring with several glasses of Brancotts finest

What Andy assumed he would be drinking at lunch...

and what he actually had :) Robinsons 2014 it's a good year don't you know!

Wine for Andy, chocolate for me :)

One more vineyard and we headed off to our campsite for the evening. I went for a run whilst Andy cooked up a yummy stew out the back of the van. 

Start of the van-stew

View from the campsite and location of my run

Andy still cooking the stew, now it's dark!

Up early the next day and we got on the road to our last South Island stop- Picton.  The drive was beautiful and the sun shone for us for the whole time. Picton was where we would catch the ferry across the Cook Strait to the North Island.  But before we did we decided to spend a day exploring the Queen Charlotte Sound walking track.

Sunny drive to Picton

Day 1 of exploring the Queen Charlotte Sound

It may be sunny, but the coats are required as it was bloody freezing

Our campsite near Mistletoe Bay, a whole campsite just for us!

After spending the first afternoon plodding around the coast of Picton we drove further along the coast to stay closer to the start of the walking track. It took an age to drive to the campsite as the roads were so windy, but it was worth it once we arrived. We were the only two at the site along with a lama.

We are in the middle of there, somewhere

Up early the next day as our planned walk was estimated to take at least 6hrs. The sun was on us for most of the walk, but the rain appeared around an hour from the end. We got back in the van and headed back to Picton to be greeted with a brilliant rainbow - cheers! A well deserved fush and chup (aka fish n chips in English) dinner and early bed ready for our departure the next day.

Morning sun over day 2 of exploring the sound

And we're off...

Another picturesque view as a reward for our tramping

Middle aged shoe shot (along with my now 2 tone walking trousers)

The halfway point of our walk

We were down there by the lake and now making our way back, sunny days :)

Hang on there NZ! 5mins ago we were walking in the sun...

alright, I'll let you off sun+rain=rainbows :)

Bye bye South Island

There are two companies running the journey across the Cook Strait and we went with Bluebridge for the 3hr crossing. The ship passes through the Queen Charlotte Sound and our into the Cook Strait where it's pretty choppy! I of course felt sea sick because I'm a Jessie on the water. We docked into Wellington in just under 3hrs and drove off the ferry into the capital of New Zealand :) 

ANA AND ANDY, QUEENSTOWN, FRANZ JOSEF, ARTHURS PASS AND HANMER SPRINGS. NEW ZEALAND 8 SEPT 2014

Once we'd packed up in Milford Sound we headed back on the rd to Queenstown.

Arriving in Queenstown was like arriving in a massive city. Lots of queues and busy streets but a tiny place! Very odd. We checked into an overpriced campsite for the eve and headed out to explore and see what Queenstown had to offer. 

Beautiful Queenstown by day

...and as the sun is going down

After a quick walk and explore we figured that we'd need to move on pretty quickly to catch the good weather for our planned Heli Hike on Franz Josef Glacier. So we packed up the next morning and got back on the rd to Franz Josef! 

Our view from the campsite at Franz Josef, not bad eh?

We'd been recommended a Heli Hike by a few people and plumped for a 3hr trek and helicopter flight on Franz Josef- the worlds largest commercially trekked glacier. A pricy experience so we were hoping for good weather and an unforgettable experience. We were not disappointed! We were given the all clear to get into our climbing gear and wait for our helicopter pilot! 

Can you spot which one is me? No, didn't think so!

There's our chariot!

I ended up in the front seat next to the pilot and Andy jumped in behind. Bit of a squeeze as there were 6 of us in the tiny copter to the top of the glacier! Was my first time in a helicopter and absolutely loved it! Short and sweet :)

Once we were all on the glacier our guide got us to pop our crampons on. Our guide was a young lad from the UK who has been taking clients up onto the glacier for a couple of years. A really nice guy who put a lot of effort into ice axing his way around the glacier! We walked for a couple of hours in and out of crevasses and up and down glacial steps and I even got to have a go on the ice axe :) After the walk it was time to head back down in the helicopter and get our feet on solid ground!

So this way first?

From the helicopter onto the ice

Andy getting into ice climber mode

The professional in action

N-ICE and smiley.... see what I did there?

Making a path for the rest of the ice climbers!

'I'm Andy Rotton... get me outta here'

Igloo

I was hoping to get a job as an ice guide so was trying out the kir

Heli-selfie on the way down...

As part of our experience they included entry to the local hot springs! So after climbing around the ice we spent the afternoon relaxing in the springs with pools up to 38 degrees- toasty! 

We continued along the coast to Hokitika and Greymouth and stopped off to explore before driving inland to Arthur's Pass.

Hokitika highlight :)

Greymouth, says it as it is...

The plan was to stay in Arthur's pass for a few days to walk and explore but the weather had other ideas. We'd been really lucky until now and suddenly were halted by a big rain and wind storm. So we spent a rainy night in Arthur's Pass and moved on the next day. This time we had an extra passenger! Andy had agreed to take a lad who was walking and hitchhiking to his next stop. So we dropped him in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere and continued onto Hanmer Springs.

The evening before the rain came at Arthurs Pass, yes the campsite was next to the railway line!

Rainy Arthurs Pass

This Kea is trying to hide from all those who pull over at the scenic lookout by trying to blend in... 

Hanmer was beautiful, once we got there!  We planned to stay at the DoC campsite which was only a few miles out of town.  We drove for around an hour up and along a gravel path and were still not at the site, so decided to do a U-turn and head back into the town.   The main attraction was the hot springs so we bought a day pass and went in the morning and again at night. Stopping over in a holiday park and enjoying the pub in the town we had a good time relaxing here.

Blurry but these are the hot springs at night

Relaxing walk to get a view across Hanmer before getting back on the road