A little chilly in Queenstown

We had a busy day planned for the Saturday in Queenstown, nothing as adrenaline filled as the previous day. First was the market on the wharf, mostly local crafty types selling their wares. Caroline and Howard spent ages choosing some artwork to go in the kitchen. Randomly we were asked to be part of a new commercial for one of the jet boats that run on the lake. Four times we were asked to walk up to the booth and pretend to ask for information. The sales girl was happy to give us loads of vouchers and discounts to attractions in the town, unfortunately no free rides on the jet boat.

Checking out the lake from the wharf

After a quick coffee we dragged everyone up the gondola to the viewpoint and luge. It was a really sunny clear day so the view was spectacular. Janine, Hanna and I left Caroline and Howard to watch while we had a couple of goes on the luge. It's more of a downhill peddle kart track but with no peddling. Caroline and Howard didn't realise there were two tracks to the luge so missed our 2nd run down which was quite funny as we'd asked them to take photos. The luge was so much fun you always want another go.

Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu

A long way from a lot of places

Group photo - Howard's still the most tanned

Cheesy couple shot

Next we tackled the important subject of lunch. Janine and I went to the legendary Fergburger to sample the best burgers in the world, in our opinion. The others went to a pub we'd found the previous day that had cheap booze. After lunch Janine and I tackled the disc golf course while the family did some shopping and drinking. Disc golf is like normal golf but with a frisbee as the ball and a basket for the hole, it's also free bar the frisbee hire. There were some serious players there who made us look rubbish but we still had fun, we wish there were some courses back home. It turned out to be a close game due to my score of 10 on the final hole, in the end I beat Janine by just 2 shots.

Tucking in to a Fergburger

A burger the size of Janine's head - of course she finished it

Not the best technique

Not sure this is much better

After the disc golf

View of the lake from the disc golf

Sun going down over the lake

Sunset on the lake

We went for dinner and Howard turned into a fish geek at the bar. He managed to get behind the bar to look at the tropical fish tank, so embarrassing. The best voucher we had picked up earlier was 50% off at the ice bar. Janine, Hanna and I decided to use the opportunity to get some cheap drinks. It's an amazing room to check out as the ice sculptures are incredible and it really is very cold in there. After this we took Hanna to the World Bar, a famous backpacker haunt. It's most famous for its teapots of cocktails which we had to sample. Eventually we rolled back to the apartment tired from so much walking around.

So embarrassing

Chilly

The first time in jeans for a while

Helloooo

Chilling at the ice bar

Teapots at the World Bar

Well I'm the king of the swingers

We took an Intercity bus from Wanaka to Queenstown, the bus driver was full of information about the area, he wasn't your average bus driver. Our hostel was pretty nice and we could even see the lake if we craned our necks at the window. We spent the afternoon walking around town reacquainting ourselves with the town. Unfortunately the rain came so we holed up in a bar for the evening watching a band. The coolest thing about the bar was the motion activated TVs hidden in the glass in the men's toilets.

Paddle Steamer on Lake Wakatipu - Queenstown

Lake Wakatipu - Queenstown

The next morning we checked out as Caroline and Howard were joining us later and we had booked a holiday flat in the town.  Hanna was also joining us from Auckland for the weekend. When she arrived we went for lunch and presented her early birthday surprise, a canyon swing. She was shocked and needed a couple of ciders to settle her down. Janine had done one of these a few years ago so was official photographer but I was also planning to jump off a cliff tied to a bit of rope. Once the parents had arrived we took a walk around the lake before heading of to do our jumps. The canyon swing is the worlds highest cliff jump at 109m, with a 60m freefall. Hanna went first as she claimed she would be able to wait on the platform and watch me go first. She took her time to be eased out over the ledge. But was soon flying down the cliff face. A mixture of bravado and stupidity meant I had picked one of the scarier jumps, hands behind the back, straight off the edge. Janine took much pleasure in reminding me after that my hands lasted about half a second before shooting to hold on to the rope in front. After the jumps adrenaline was pumping so we decided to go again, this time in tandem. Although Hanna needed some persuasion to actually jump. Once we are back on the solid ground of Queenstown we headed out for dinner with the parents to show them the photos of the jumps.

Notice the hands are no longer behind the back

A long way down

Before the tandem jump

Multishot of the tandem jump

Lake Wanaka... careful how you type that...

On the way out of Fox we stopped at a place called Blue Pools. It's a 30 minute walk to the clearest blue water you will ever see. The photos don't do them justice at all.

On the way to Lake Wanaka, this is Lake Hawea

We arrived in Wanaka fairly late in the afternoon, perfect timing for sundown over the lake and some cool photos. Finding in a place to eat turned out to be a bit of a pain as the restaurant Lloyd had found seemed to no longer exist despite recent reviews. In the end we settled for a Thai.

Janine has a paddle in Lake Wanaka

Lake Wanaka

The next day we took a walk around one side of the lake and then said good bye to Caroline and Howard as they were off to Te Anau and Milford Sound. Wanting to better our walking exploits from the day before so decidedly climb up Mount Iron. It was worth the effort in

the heat as the views of the Lakes were stunning.

Lakes Wanaka and Hawea from Mount Iron

A random hippie lady told me I had díscovered a new form of yoga

Foxy Glacier

The drive to fox from hokitika is very interesting, it follows the coast for a while with some stunning views then turns inland into the mountains and glacier country. Once we arrived in fox we spent the evening persuading Howard and Caroline to go in a helicopter over Fox Glacier. Both of us had previously walked on nearby Franz Josef glacier so the next day we left the parents to their helicopter and took a long walk to a viewpoint in front of the glacier. It was a hard uphill walk and we even managed to run back for some of it. We met up with the parents having thoroughly enjoyed their flight, Caroline fell over on the glacier and like father like son Howard missed it.

Tiny waterfall on the way to Fox Glacier

Glacier river - Lloyd messing around

Fox Glacier

Meanwhile on the glacier

In the afternoon we all took a walk around nearby lake Matherson. This is a stunning glacial lake a little way down the road from fox. The highlight was a large group of fantail birds flying around one small area of the lake.

Can you see Mr eel looking back at Janine?

Lake Matheson

Hokitika an awesome sunset

It was a long 4 hour drive to Hokitika but we managed to break the journey up with a stop at Panacake Rocks. These are lime rock formations that look like pancake stacks, hence the name. The reason for the shape is one of natures mysteries. It's a beautiful part of the west coast so walking around the area is enjoyable anyway but these rocks make it execeptional.

Pancake Rocks

The Jones family at Pancake Rocks

We managed to catch sunset at Hokitika beach, a stunning beach with loads of drift wood. Caroline would have loved to have taken some home for an arty piece in the garden but I think they were a little big for the luggage allowance.

Hokitika Beach

The sun really does shine out of Lloyd's bum

Hokitika Beach

The next morning we wandered around the town. Hokitika is famous for the carved jade stone found all over NZ. One of the local rivers is a major source. We checked out a couple of factories, eyeing up some pieces worth thousands of dollars but decided they were out of the price range.

Town centre of Hokitika

Once we had hauled Caroline out of the shop there was a short drive to Hokitika Gorge for a short walk around the gorge. At one point a Department of Conservation employee surprised us all by emerging from the bush with a rifle casually slung over his shoulder. Carol & Boyd had visited a tree top walk while they were in Hokitika, they had raved about it so we drove on to this. It's totally worth the trip if you area, there are stunning views all round and a lookout tower to climb. Caroline was suitably scared, something I enjoyed winding her up about.

Hokitika Gorge

Tree top look out - Hokitika

Back to Nelson

Once we had finished up at Golden Bay we headed back to Nelson over Takaka Hill. The weather was still amazing so the drive up was fun, I dread to think what it would have been like the day before. When we got back we took a walk up to the centre of New Zealand. We were quite proud that we were keeping pace with the local running club who were training on the hill at the time. 

Nelson from the centre of New Zealand

Janine can't reach the centre point

I can though

After some time up the hill we wandered back down to meet up with my parents. The following morning we had a spare day in Nelson so I dragged everyone to a brewery. The Stoke brewery is the old site of Macs beer, that brand was bought by one of the big brewing companies and moved of site a few years ago. The MacCashin family started up a new brand called Stoke. The tour was by the artist in residence, a really interesting guy who had travelled a lot. Next we decided to show my parents the 2nd best beach at Kaiteriteri. They loved the beach and the cafe looking out over the bay.

Production line at Stoke Brewery

Post tour beer

Janine was convinced there was a giant kiwi on the way to Kaiterteri

Kaiteriteri Beach

Hello little birdy - Kaiteriteri

Saturday morning we loaded up the car and planned to head off to Hokitika. First we had to check out the Nelson market. If this market had been in the UK it would have been full of crap, this one was not. The organisers of the market insist that only local traders are represented. All the products are made in the region, the favourite was a peanut butter. Although Howard liked the local spirits.

This is meant to be a Kiwi hat - looks like something else