To Milford Sound

Today the weather was tremendous in queenstown so I was up at 7 for my flight to Milford sound - it's a 5 hour trip there or only a 30 minute flight over the spectacular southern alps.

The flight was cancelled twice before finally going ahead at 2pm

It was bumpy but spectacular, although the weather closed in over the mountains and it was a misty day in the sound.

The sound (or fjord really) is just huge - the cliffs rise up so high completely dwarfing even the massive cruise ship which came in.

The take off and landing were amazing flying right between the mountains in an out of the sound. Def worth the wait!!

Queenstown day 1

Great day today!

First off I'd booked to experience a jetboat ride! These board were originally designed to work on new Zealand's shallow rivers and can operate in only 4 inches of water!







The shot over jet travels 7km down some pretty extreme canyons and takes you within touching distance of the canyon walls at a frightening speed! Great fun!




This afternoon I travelled on a scenic safari north of queenstown along the lake and up towards an past the tiny town of glenorchy. Lots of The Lord of the rings movies were shot here and the scenery was spectacular!














I am writing this while slashing out in a cocktail and buffet dinner at the top of the gondola with spectacular views down over the lake and queenstown. The steam ferry (plying the lake for 100 years!) has just pulled in down below. What a great view!!!

Location:Beach Street,Queenstown,New Zealand

A few days of updates

A quiet few days. 

We drove to franz hosed glacier on the west coast - a long drive through Arthur's pass which took 12 hours as we went via Christchurch to pick up some new people.

The next day was a day at the glacier, but the weather was so bad most of the day that we mostly stayed inside - a nice chilled day. At 5pm I went to explore the town when the rain stopped and managed to snag a lift out to the glacier and back.

The following day we drove to makarora via the haast pass (a road only completed in the 60s which took 35 years to build and opened up the south west coast to tourism). Stayed in the middle of nowhere which was peaceful but a little dull.

Then today drove onto queenstown where we stay three  nights and are free to do our own thing, and I've booked in some good adventures for the next couple of days!

More Dolphin pictures

After the swim we spent time at the front of the boat watching the dolphins play in the bow wake.



























Better pictures on my other camera but not uploaded yet!

Also just seen Mt Tongariro has just erupted! I was walking over that mountain a few days ago!

Dolphin Experience

Fabulous day today. Drove from Hanmer Springs to Kaikora. Here the Pacific Ocean has a deep trench that runs almost to the edge of the land - it means its a perfect place to see Marine mammals like Sperm Whales and Dolphins.

What makes it particularly special is that you can swim with the wild dolphins. It's not guaranteed - but usually pretty likely that you will get the chance to.

It was an amazing experience. The water was really cold (12 degrees) but after a few minutes you didn't feel it.

You are encouraged to make noise so that the dolphins hear you and will come over to investigate. We got so close to them - they were swimming in and out of us so quickly and were less than a metre away at times.

They were clearly intelligent, playful and enjoying interacting. When one singles you out to swim around you it is a very special connection and takes your breath away!

We managed to get some good pictures with an underwater camera too. This is one experience I cannot wait to do again!!

 See how close they get!

They got even closer than this dorsal fin suggests!

Swimming right underneath me!

To Hanmer springs

A long days drive today as we headed further south, through some great scenery. We had a little stop for an alpine walk then got to Hanmer springs where we stayed for the night. A couple of hours spent in the hot springs, dinner and an early night today.

Abel Tasman afternoon

Monday afternoon:

After the skydive we went for a beautiful walk along the coast of Abel Tasman national park.

It's a really stunning beautiful walk with clear blue sea, yellow sand, green forest and mountains across the sea. A really spectacular walk and my favourite type too, walking in the forest. It took about 4 hours - felt like a good workout!
























Finished the day at a beside-the-road burger bar which produced the best burger I have ever had. Really delicious and deserved after the walk and skydive!

Skydive!

So we got up early to head bck I te skydiving place. Te weather was good! I paid extra for a personal cameraman to take pictures and video. I was no too nervous about it an slept well. The flight up was really spectacular views - we couk even just see the north island as well as the south Islam mountains and Abel Tasman national park coastline. When the door opened however I got really nervous. It is not natural to jump Out of a plane I don't think!! Lara went first and the look on her face made me really scared! But as this point you are not in control - your tandem guide is - and a few seconds later I am on the edge of the plane and then jumping out and falling to earth! At this point I felt a bit sick but also exhilerated. And then te sensation overload is so much, and the views when the parachute opens are amazing. It's hard to Describe and the feeling of achievement is the one that I remember when I landed. A great experience, I'm so glad I did it!!