Mayday 3 pommes on an Island!!!!

Hurrah we have landed in the worlds largest playground! It is amazing here and so much to do.

The past week has been spent hot footing it around the country in our hire car which is a Nissan estate (known as a waggon out here). We flew into Christchurch, discovered that our bags were in Singapore! This was annoying but at least it was a sunny day as Emily was only wearing shorts and t-shirt! The first day was spent walking around the city shopping around for the best rates in car hire. At first it seemed like we were going to pay loads for a tiny box but it was fine in the end. We found a hostel after some time as they were all full due to the cricket being on that weekend then headed to bed.

Next day was cold and overcast and our bags still hadn't arrived, we looked like a couple of misfits wandering town, Dawn had here cropped combats on with a red sarong draped over her shoulders to keep her warm, Emily had her coat on that was longer than her shorts and flip flops and so looked like a flasher! We eventually got our bags at 5 pm!-Not before picking up the car, driving to the airport to collect bags to then discover they were in a delivery van heading our way somewhere else in the city!

That evening we headed to Methven, we were hoping to take a hot air balloon ride over the Southern Alps. The weather was unsuitable and so we headed off to Mt. Cook via Lake Tekapo. The lake was stunning, it had a dazzling turquoise colour to it, it was a windy day and so large surf was blowing across the 50 km long lake. The backdrop was the Southern Alps with snow on the highest peaks. The scenery is so dramatic as its so natural and rugged. The whole country is like this. There is so much space and the roads are so long and empty between towns, we end up driving for hours before meeting another car. Passing through towns in the evening is odd as many of them are all closed by 6 pm even the local fish and chip shops! We're so used to everything being open till 10pm at home that we really need to think ahead now.

After the lake we arrived at Mt Cook. The weather had really kicked in by now, the wind was blowing, the clouds and rain had arrived and we really couldn't see much at all! As we went for an hours walk to a glacier and a view point of Mt Cook, we took in the beautiful scenery and joked that in fact we could be in Wales or Devon as it looked the same and the climate was perfect! The photos of us in our wet weather gear will prove this! At the look out point we were unable to see Mt. Cook due to the clouds but it was still stunning looking across the vast mountain range and valley below.

Next we headed to Lake Wanaka for the evening's campsite. We got there pretty late and all the campsites were closed. It was perfect as we parked in a car park right on the banks of the lake so that we would wake up with panoramic views of the mountains and lake. It was a restless nights sleep though as we were rudely awakened by the sound of our car going through a car wash! In fact there were a line of water sprinklers beside our car that went off for a couple of hours in the middle of the night! It was so loud but at least the car got a good wash!

The following day we drove to Milford Sound. It was an amazing drive along mountain rounds with raging rivers and waterfalls each side of us. The closer to the coast we got the worst the weather got. It was now sheeting rain, as we stopped for quick photos. We even had to drive though a tunnel, through a mountain, which was 2km long and felt like you were driving along the underground in London!! The rain made for beautiful cascading waterfalls everywhere, even if we were a bit scared driving down the steep winding mountain roads in the wet! It made for good coasting though, as there are no petrol stations in Milford Sound and were were running a bit low!

After warming up in the campsite lounge, which was lovely blast of civilisation, we spent a wet and windy night in the car, trying to sleep, as the rain and wind pummeled the windows.

The next day we went Kayaking in a Fjord at Milford Sound, again it was very very wet and windy, but there were amazing waterfalls cascading down the mountains. The waves were a bit scary and I thought a few times we would tip over, but we were only soaked by the rain!! Been in Kayaks rather than a boat meant we could get very close to the seals and we even glimpsed a dolphin!! After 4 hours in a Kayak we were very achy and needed a shower to warm up.

Yesterday we flew up to north island to support Emily's friend swim the Cook Straight. However, an hour after we left Wellington harbour we crashed into rocks and the boat got grounded!! It was very very scary, as the boat listed heavily. Life jackets on we were evacuated to the nearby island Mana, where were we got soaked scrambling up the rocky beach. We were marooned on this narrow rocky beach for 5 hours awaiting rescue by the coastguard. Eventually the Marine Conservation Officers of the island collected us from the beach and took us to their base on the island. We warmed up in the sun with cups of tea, while watching some amazing birds - Takaha, which are very rare parrot like chickens that are green and blue.

We are currently in Dunedin staying with Emily's friend and it is so nice having a roast dinner and a good nights sleep in a nice soft bed!! Heaven!!