We got up and went for a stroll along the shore of Lake Wanaka which was very beautifully lined with autumnal trees glowing red, yellow and orange. Craig skimmed stones into the lake and although it was a slightly cloudy day the landscape was beautiful as ever. We walked to a quaint little café and Craig treated us to a hot chocolate and a cake.
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| Lake Wanaka |
We set off along the winding roads to Queenstown where after we found a lovely campsite we walked to the gondola and took a ride to the top. We admired the spectacular views over the lake and mountains and Craig and I took the scary ski lift further up so that we could try the luge. I swore I would never go on one again after the one at the Great Wall of China but it was only a short trip. We took the scenic route on the luge and it was great fun, afterwards we did the skyline walk and watched people do the bungee jump before making our way back down on the gondola. We looked around the town and booked a tour of Milford Sound for the following day.
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| Queenstown |
We were up very early for our tour and got picked up by our funny tour guide in a coach. He told us stories about the surrounding area. We made one stop at Te Anau for a hot chocolate and a cake before driving on to the Milford Sound road. We made a few stops on the way, one at Knobs Flat where we looked over fields of golden grass and the next at Mirror Lake. There were beautiful views everywhere, New Zealand doesn't disappoint for spectacular scenery. We boarded our boat and took a cruise through the sound. Unusually there hadn't been much rain in the area so the waterfalls were just thin trickles falling down the cliff faces rather than gushes of water. One of the waterfalls was a little more impressive so the captain of the boat backed us into it which caused mists of water to drench a few people at the back. It was great eating our lunch with such lovely views and we saw seals on rocks on our return. As the boat tour finished the sun was diminishing, Craig managed to get a beautiful photograph looking back with the sun disappearing behind the rocks. Milford Sound was definitely worth the early start and the long journey.
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| Milford Sound |
The next day we decided to make the most of the fact that Queenstown is the capital of adrenaline sports and we booked ourselves a canyon swing. I said I'd only be happy to do it if Craig agreed to doing a scenic horse trek with me in the afternoon so we booked that up as well. We walked in to town to get signed in and weighed for our swing, I was so nervous I felt physically sick. The minibus picked us up and we made our way to the Nevis Swing which was up a long and bumpy dirt track. We could see the canyon swing which is over the Nevis river and also the bungee jump which is New Zealand's highest. We walked along the platform which juts out over the river and got harnessed up for our swing. We decided to go side by side forwards and were clipped in and lowered out. After a countdown from three we were gone, we were in free fall for a few seconds before the swing catches and we were then swinging through the air, surrounded by beauty with the sun beating down. It was such an adrenaline rush and the closest thing I'd probably ever do to a bungee jump, we decided to go again but this time backwards. We were harnessed up and lowered out, despite having just done it I was still so nervous awaiting the drop. The guys tricked me so that when they released us it would be more of a surprise, I could've killed them! On the way up the wind picked up and dislodged a cable so we were dangling over the edge for ages before they could reel us in, scary!
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| AJ Hackett Canyon Swing |
After the swing we ordered photos before making our way back to town where we met up with Jenny and Tom, we went for a little walk and then got picked up for our horse trek. We were partnered with our lovely horses and we went for a trek surrounded by mountains, lakes, fields and the odd cow! I ended up with the most disobedient horse J.D while Craig was an absolute natural on George, he picked up riding so quickly. The trek was an hour and a half of relaxation, it was so quiet and peaceful, a complete contrast to our morning.
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| Me and J.D |
The next day we did our little campervan chores before driving back up to Wanaka where we tried to book our Franz Josef tour after missing our before, we didn't realise that since last being there the glacier had slipped dramatically meaning you could no longer walk to the glacier to hike, you'd have to go up by helicopter so we booked up a heli-tour! We drove to Franz Josef town and found a campsite for the night.
