Day 555 – Wellington, New Zealand

Day 555 – 15th December 2006 +13:00 GMT Total Miles 91625

James and Matts last day in New Zealand so they had a long lie in and the we had a wander around the city and along the waterfront and then stopped at satay kingdom for a cheap lunch. We returned to the hostel and then I dropped them off at the airport at around 7pm ready for there long flight back to England.

Day 554 – Kaikoura – Wellington, New Zealand

Day 554 – 14th December 2006 +13:00 GMT Total Miles 91620

Left around 10:30am a drove up North to Picton, loaded our bags onto the ferry and returned the hire car, then went for a quick bite to eat before boarding the ferry. The 3 hour crossing went fairly quickly and we arrived back in Wellington just after 5:30pm. We had a quiet night in the hostel and had an Indian takeaway.

Day 553 – Kaikoura, New Zealand

Day 553 – 13th December 2006 +13:00 GMT Total Miles 91483

James and I decided after a lazy morning we would go ATV quad biking as Mark recommended with his friend Alistair. Now Alistair owns a 1600 acre farm of sheep and cattle and has miles and miles of quad bike paths. So James and I turn up at 1pm and get shown how to ride the bikes and then off we go, zooming around at speeds of up to 70kmph up and down hillsides, along rivers and across numerous fields.


James And I On our ATV's


Me on ATV Through Stream

We also visited a seal sanctuary on his land. We stopped after a couple of hours for a cup of tea and a biscuit before returning back to the start at 4pm.


View Of Coast


Seal Colony


A highly recommended trip and great value for money. We then headed back to the hostel and Matt and I headed into the town looking in the local shops and walked back along the beach.


A Hawk


A Magpie

Had a quiet evening just playing games and chatting to other hostel guests.

Day 552 – Christchurch – Kaikoura, New Zealand

Day 552 – 12th December 2006 +13:00 GMT Total Miles 91468

Spent the morning with Jemma and she was staying on in Christchurch and the rest of us were moving on. So a coffee in starbucks and farewells to Jemma, who was a fantastic person to have met and would make a wonderful travelling partner to anyone. We then drove up north to Kaikoura and checked into Sunrise lodge. Mark and Osi the owners of sunrise lodge are a fantastic and crazy couple, we instantly hit it off with them and had great fun. We had a walk along the beach and into town for some lunch.


Kaikoura Beach


Kaikoura Beach

We spent the night chatting and playing silly games and pining the absence of Jemma.

Day 551 – Mount Cook – Christchurch, New Zealand

Day 551 – 11th December 2006 +13:00 GMT Total Miles 91282

Usual check out time of 10am so we hit the road and drove north up to Lake Tekapo where we stopped for coffee and admired the amazing view across the lake of the mountains.


Mount Cook Over Lake Tekapo

When drove on and stopped at Geraldine for some lunch and a quick look at the worlds largest Jersey. Then on to Christchurch. We arrived in Christchurch around 4pm and checked into Foley Towers.


A Popular Attraction - Swimming With Ducks

We wandered into the city centre and met up with a friend of mine called Kirstin.


Christchurch


Oxford Terrace Canal

We took a walk through cathedral square and around the botanical gardens, which had a large UFO in the centre.


Four of Us In Christchurch Botanical Gardens


A UFO ??

We then found a Thai restaurant and had a really nice meal, then headed back to the hostel where we chatted until we fell asleep.

Day 550 – Mount Cook, New Zealand

Day 550 – 10th December 2006 +13:00 GMT Total Miles 91096

We had to get up early and change rooms, we finally got into our 4 bed dorm which we had originally booked. James and Matt decided to go on a flight which lands at the top of the glacier and circles the southern alps. Jemma and I decided it was too much, the $425 price tag was off putting although they only paid $293 each in the end. Jemma and I instead sat in front of the TV and watched the film Rain Man while we waited for them to return. On there return we all chipped in and had a big fry up and then Jemma and I waked the Hooker Valley trail over the two swing bridges to the face of the Hooker Valley glacier, this walk took about 3 hours and was lovely.


Mount Cook


Mount Cook


River Bed


River Bed


Iceberg


Me On Swing Bridge


Jemma On Hooker Valley Trail


We then stopped for a quick beer on the way home then cooked a curry and headed off to bed.

Day 549 – Queenstown – Mount Cook, New Zealand

Day 549 - 9th December 2006 +13:00 GMT Total Miles 91090

Checked out at 10am and we made our way north to Mount Cook stopping to take photos of the statue that looks like Billy Connolly on his trike tour of New Zealand.


Statue Outside Cromwell

We also stopped at Twizel to do some shopping as there are no shops at Mount Cook.


Jemma And James Asleep


Mountain View Over The Lake


Lupins

We checked into the YHA and like usual they had messed up our booking and put us in an 8 bed share dorm instead of a 4 share, due to it being sold out there was nothing we could do. We visited the local bar/café and had some food then Matt opted to sleep and James, Jemma and I headed off to the Tasman glacier walk. This was a bit disappointed as the glacier was underground and this level and could not been seen from the view point. We headed back to the YHA and Jemma and I cooked then after we had eaten we sat and played monopoly and drank lots of red wine until the early hours.