Queenstown and further!

OK, so haven't had much time to do this recently as we have been crazily busy!
Left off on our first full day in Queenstown. We had just been up the gondola, and then that afternoon we went white water rafting on the Shotover river. We met up at their shop in Queenstown and then got drivne about 40 mins to the place where they start the rafting. They didn't tell us we would be going on one of the dodgiest roads in the whole country though - a one lane, dirt track that wound its way along the side of the mountain, and at one point we even had to swing the front tyre off the edge in order to get around the corner!!!! Turns out it is an old mining road as they did loads of gold mining in the river up until 1992. I think I was scared more by the road then the rafting bit of the trip. Well after 20 nmins of me having my eyes closed and jeered at by Matt and Anna, we made it back to flat land! We got divided into 4 boats and loaded up into them with our paddles. Me and Matt found our way to the front of our boat and soon found ourselves pretty damn wet. There were a range of ra[pids on the river, ranging from grade IV to V and it was awesome. Rapids were really cool and we all got soaked, and amazingly no-one fell out. We even went through this cool long tunnel, and I was the only one steering at the front! Was really good fun, would definitely be something I would do again.
Well, we were very cold and wet by the end of it all and in need of the hot shower and sauna we had waiting for us.
That evening we went for dinner at Ferburger, apparently the best burger place in the world. it was pretty damn good as well, best burgwer I've ever had! We then went to town for a few drinks at World Bar, where we drank cocktails out of teapots.

The next day we decided that we hadn't had quite enough adrenaline and booked oursleves to do the 3rd biggest bungee in the world - the Nevis bungee, that involves a 134m drop over a river flowing through a canyon. The bungee bit is a large room suspended on the 3 steel ropes over the canyon - I think that was maybe more scary than the actual bungee bit!! Still was awesome, we all loved it and we have pictures and videos to prove it all!
Matt turned out to be first up, somethign which he wasn't particularly keen on, but he went for it anyway. Me and Anna had to wait a while longer as we were lighter than a lot of other people there. Still out turns soon came around and we both jumped, and loved it too!

Afterwards,w e had decided to leave Queenstown and we drove down to Te Anau, which is the main town and base for trips going to Milford Sound. Only took a couple of hours to get there and soon were there cooking dinner and relaxing before our next busy day.

We were up at and metting our tour bus at 0745 that would take us over to Milford. The scenery was amazing on the way, with more windy roads and it even started to snow a few times. At Milford, we had decided to do a kayak tour. Milford Sound is a huge Fjord and the scenery is stunning. Gorgeous mountains, waterfalls and just amazing to kayak around. We got kitted up in warm clothes, jackets and a kayak skirt. I was paired up with one of the guides as Matt and Anna were together in a kayak. I though this meant I would get an easy ride, but no, he made me do most of the paddling! It was so much fun being on the water and being able to get up close to the rocks, trees and waterfalls. We even managed to get within 3m of these seals just relaxing on some rocks! We spent about 3-4 hours on the water, and were well and truly knackered at the end, not to mention just a little bit wet!
We got back to Te Anau and just about managed to eat dinner before going to bed, early again!

The next day we undertook one of our longest drives so far. We decided to drive all the way up to the Franz Josef Glacier area, a good 900km at least. I was up first, and would you believe it, it started snowing!! And as we were up so early, the gritters hadn't even been out yet. We had to stop at one point to help a fellow campervan that had become stuck in the snow, and fortunately by that point, the gritters overtook us and paved the way. Fortunately the snow cleared and we got back to Queenstown without any dramas. We stopped there to check the roads we were about to go on were clear and book ed our glacier trup for the next day. Anna took over then and had some more windy roads to contend with, but at least no more snow. We stopped for lunch en route, and then Matt took over, and once again we had some snow! Crazy NZ weather! But as we got through the Haarst pass (amazing scenery) we reached the coastline, and it was glorios sunshine. We passed this awesome beach, where there were loads of rock towers - piles of stones all stacked up in towers. So we made a couple of our own, played on the beach and then carried on. We made it to Franz Josef in about 10-11 hours in the end, which was really good going as we stopped for quite a few scenery points.
Dinner and a few drinks in the pub and then to bed.

Next day we went down to the glacier tour centre and got kitted up for our day ahead. As so many travellers are so ill prepared for the cold weather, we were given boots. wooly socks, gloves, a hat, somw overtrousers and a waterproof coat for the glacier trip. We were also given crampons for our boots so we could grip the ice OK.
The glacier was incredible - at it's lowest it reaches 300m above sea level, extending up to 2000m and is about 15km long! Oh, and it is surrounded by rainforest! It was amazing to climb up. The guides have cut out steps so it is easier to walk up but it was still hard going on the old legs. The ice goes a beautiful blue colour as you climb in around it, just incredible. We were climbing in and around crevasses, crawled through holes in the ice and just generally got cold, wet and tired again! Amazing experience though, with some great views over the valley. We were on the ice about 6 hours in total.

So another busy day, so we had a bit of a lie in the following morning. We were up and moving by 10 and driving to Hamner Springs, which is more towards the east coast of the south Island. It was another long, windy drive up in the mountains again but we managed it quicker than we though. Hamner Springs is famour for 2 things in the area - skiing and its thermal springs. So within half hour of arriving we were soaking in 38 degree pools, relaxing our tired glacier ruined muscles! There were various pools ranging from 35 to 41 degrees, and just what we needed. Was bloody cold to get out of at the end though.
We had no food so ended up getting a thai takeaway and watching the film Juno in bed.

Another early start, on the road by 0730. We wanted to get to Kakoura, about a 2 hour wiggly road drive away which is on the north east coast on the south island. Matt and Anna have gone whale watching, where as I am chilling out in the glorious sunshine by the beach.

Planning to head to Blenheim later on adn get a bit of wine tasting deon, as this is the white sauvignon blanc region of the country. Thinking about heading to the north island soon.

Anyway, as you can probably tell, we're all still having an amazing time, just a shame it is going by so fast!!!
Hope you are all well, and keep the messages coming.

Love Kylie, Anna and Matt x x x