Monday, April 23, 2007

Arrived!!!

Hey Guys.

Well after spending a few days in Christchurch we took a road trip up to Nelson as we wanted to go to the Abel Tasman National Park. We had an amazing day there. As the National Park is a coastal one you need to get a water taxi to a bay or cove of your choice then you can do a walk through the forests and get picked up from another bay which is what we did.

The weather was awesome and we had a really lovely day, well apart from the pesky sandflies.



The water taxi at Kaiteriteri.



Rope bridge on the walk from one bay to another.



A rather awesome looking cove.



Torrent Bay



Split Apple Rock.


Then we headed south to Franz Josef to see the glacier. We did plan to do a heli hike where a helicopter drops you off on top of the glacier then you hike for a bit before being picked up again but the cloud had come in and they had grounded all flights. It was a shame as it would have been amazing but I had already done a glacier hike last time I was in New Zealand so I wasn't too upset.




This is the Buller Gorge and New Zealands longest rope bridge which Vic and I walked over. We are tough. Although not tough enough to stop in the middle to take a photo of the gorge beneath us..



Me at the Franz Josef glacier. Note the evil cloud stopping us from choppering in.



Glacier at Franz again.

So after seeing the glaciers at Franz and then at Fox we drove down to Queenstown where we are all going to be staying now for the next 6 months. After driving a little over 2300 k's (about 1400 miles) in just 7 days I was happy to finally arrive at our final destination!

Now the long and stressful task of finding jobs and houses starts. It is sensible to get a flat or a house as they are actually cheaper than staying in hostels which is cool. It's quite cold down here too.. It is mid autumn now and the snow should be arring pretty soon!

Nic, Babs and I (Babs is dutch gal we met in Franz Josef and has come down to QT for a few days) drove to the Arrowtown autumn festival on Saturday which was nice, it was a stunning day and nice to relax and sit by the river in the sun.



Arrowtown main street.



The parade.



My battery went dead but all you missed were Fred Flintstone, Austin Powers and some marching bands..



Earlier in the day we chilled by the river. Which was icy cold by the way.



Nic and Babs.



Autum colours.



Me by a house in the chinese village in Arrowtown, where they came for the gold rush years ago. There were loads of these tiny houses all over the hills.



My car, I don't think I have posted a photo before. Briefly named Sebastian by Carly from back in the Mount but it didn't really catch on. 1989 Mazda Capella. Retro.





This is just something I did quickly showing where I have been. The blue dots are places I have been so far. The red arrow on the north island is where I lived in for a couple months 'Mount Maunganui' and the red arrow in the south island is where i'll be living from now on until I leave New Zealand. 'Queenstown' my new home.

Hope all is good.

Andy

Comments:
Arrrgggghhhh! I'm sooooo excited! Can't wait!!! I can't believe you've got around so much either...actually I suppose I can R xxx
 
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