Our first stop in New Zealand was Auckland. Here we pencilled in a few nights to decide on the route we were going to take and mode of transport. Auckland on a whole was distinctly average. A sort of medium-sized city which seemed to be lacking that bit of sparkle. Because our time in New Zealand was limited, we were only left with one option. This was the Kiwi Experience bus. Unfortunately for us this meant we had to bypass the north island altogether and fly straight to Christchurch in the south. This also meant we had to spend more time in Auckland. Softened however by our trip out of the city to Devonport where we scaled our first dormant mini volcano and to find Super Mario World.
Christchurch was a lightning visit with the most exciting aspect for Jonny being the laundry room. 0630am the following morning we joined the Kiwi Experience bus for the first time and made our way north to Kaikoura. Here we were scheduled to swim with the wild dolphins however mother nature had different plans. Due to the tragic earthquake in Chile, a Tsunami warning was issued for the whole South Pacific. Thus cancelling all boat trips. 0530am the following day we then checked in for our dolphin swim. Amazingly as we travelled out to sea, we caught our first sunrise of the trip. Before long dolphins were spotted and we geared up and slipped of the back of the boat. We swam for 45 minutes with a pod of over 600 wild Dusky Dolphins and had a truly awe-inspiring experience. We were advised to sing and hum to them to keep them interested and playful. They were most impressed when Lowy started humming the theme tune to Blind Date. We couldn’t be certain but this may have been a factor when they started to mate a yard from Jonny’s head, much to his amusement.
Overnight in Nelson then we made our way to Westport. Briefly stopping en route so a brave Lowy and Scott could take a dip in the tiddler shrinking Lake Rotorua. We then came to Buller Adventure Tours where we would be doing our first activity, horse trekking. Helmets and boots on we were all assigned our horses. Jonny was on Locky, who was totally unresponsive but thankfully followed other horses. Lowy was on Luke, who initially preferred backwards to forwards. Scott was on Max, a huge horse who he formed a man/beast kinship with immediately. We trekked for 2 1/2 hours through fields, riverbanks and deep rivers. Eventually we worked up to a canter ( gallop ) and you would have had to surgically remove the smiles from our faces. Although there was a strong possibility we would be walking around like John Wayne for the next few days..
Lake Mahinapua was next. Not before we stopped at Greymouth to choose costumes for our compulsory fancy dress party that evening, themed Under The Sea. We arrived at our hotel at 6pm and Les, the 84-year-old thick bearded gent and owner of the establishment, jumped on board to give us a pep talk. After tea, which consisted of Les’ famous trademark venison stew and BBQ steaks, we all transformed into costumes. Jonny was a sea turtle, Lowy was a Rainbow Jellyfish ( new species ) and Scott was the captain of the Titanic. Jonny’s clearly sounded/looked better as a concept. John Bowman hit the nail on the head with the gay TMNT description. The Rainbow Jellyfish died after an hour or so and Scott was a clear winner of the 3. There was some amazing ingenuity from other people and with plenty of alcohol, the whole bus became acquainted in a ridiculously looking fashion.
Although the aftermath is visible all throughout the New Zealands majestic landscape, it is beautiful to see a glacier at work, slowly grinding its way through the mountains. On route into Franz Josef you catch a glimpse of the huge river of ice flowing down from the mountains. We all became excited about our planned glacier hike the following day. Unfortunately not for Lowy as his feet were still plagued with problems from previous coral cuts and wounds.
0915am at the glacier hike centre Scott and Jonny geared up then group was taken to the foot of the glacier by bus. Before you could reach the glacier there was 50min hike over lunar like terrain. The groups were then split into smaller groups, each numbered in order of hike difficulty. Scott and Jonny up for the challenge, volunteered for group 1. A short ascent up and almost vertical shingle path we strapped on our crampons and then hit the ice. Here we trekked 2/3km up the giant ice-cube, passing gorges, climbing through crevasses and abseiling. Stopping briefly so our guide could carve steps out of the ice. About 2pm we reached the plateau, enjoyed the view then started our descent. About 20 mins from the bottom, Jonny tripped on his crampons and fell face first onto the ice, picking up a nice shin and sternum injury in the process. His wounds and pride nursed 2 hours later as we dipped into the hotpools, choosing our preferred temperature of 40°, 38°, or 36°.
A quick stop at Wanaka and the truly breathtaking Lake Matheson, we were on route to Queenstown. Scott and Jonnys bungy jump was chosen for a few days later however our driver had other ideas. He changed our date to er, that day! Also happily announcing over the bus tannoy we would be jumping in 30 minutes! As he counted down the minutes we arrived at the famous Kawarau bridge. The bridge is 43m over the stunning turquoise Kawarau river and home to the original bungy jump. After a brief tak about the origins of bungy, we made our way to the weigh in counter. After payment was settled we were told to make our way up to the bridge. As we got harnessed u, we queued on either side according to weight. Jonny wanting to go first didn’t have much of a choice as he was ushered to the front of the queue due to the correct bungy for his weight already attached. Towel wrapped round ankles, bungy tied, it was time to go. “Do you want to go in the water?” to which Jonny replied “put me in the soup” 3-2-1 Bungy! It goes over so fast you don’t have time to think. It is one of the greatest personal and mental obstacles anyone could overcome. About 20 mins later Scott saluted to the camera and threw himself off. Lowy not being such an extreme sport fanatic, was amazing talked into doing the Nevis Arc, the worlds highest swing. He was whisked off in a coach to return at the hostel a few hours later proudly sporting his achievement trucker cap.
Queenstown we chose to finish off our New Zealand trip. Here we spent a lot of time consuming alcohol and laughing with our double cush Huddersfield friends and the lovely Danes. We also ate the legendary Fergburger, went jet boating and played frisbee golf. Yes, frisbee golf. It was an enduring beautiful town and the perfect place to finish our short but amazing adventure. It was also a sad end as this was also the end of Scotts trip. The funds were dry so he had no option other than to return home. The 3 monkeys were now down to 2 as we parted with manhugs in Singapore airport. Hopefully the money tree he planted before he left has grown full, so he can catch us up as we continue on through South East Asia..
