copleys

So… now that I’ve eventually got all of the photos uploaded (there are a bazillion, but it’s worth a look through them – there are some great pics), it’s probably about my turn to look back at our NZ holiday!

Nelson and the Jennings

If you know Paul & Lisa, you’ll know that they’ve emigrated from the UK to New Zealand. They’ve set up house in a town called Nelson which is at the top of the South Island.

It’s a pretty cool place. Pretty little town centre (lots of pubs!) More hours of sunshine than any other town in NZ. Warm(ish), clean, blue sea. A backdrop of hills rising up behind the town, riddled with mountainbike trails. A good choice of location says I, and it seems lots of Brits agree – there’s been quite an influx of the buggers over the past few years, driving up house prices and prompting the opening of endless delis and boutiques. Now the Jennings have arrived to offer their services: Lisa to work as a Social Worker and Paul to laze about doing as little as possible.

We had a great time with Paul, Lisa and Buster. Their house is out on the edge of town, right at the foot of some great MTB tracks. Whilst the laydeez were doing xmasy things, PJ and I took the opportunity to get out on the bikes. The cycling’s really good – a perfect mixture of ups, downs, single-track and fire road. I was onboard PJ’s full-suspension beast, and I have to admit that I’m a bit of a convert to the whole bouncy-bouncy thing. I survived rocky descents that, on my rigid bike, would have eaten me up.

Paul and Lisa have bought a boat. It’s a small cruiser / fishing boat type of thing. They’re just a hour’s drive from the edge of the Abel Tasmen park – an area of beautiful countryside, and stunning, isolated, sandy bays. It was to one of these, Mosquito Bay, that we motored to for a short camping break. Whizzing along through blue waters, with the sun beating down, gazing out over the tree covered, rocky coastline, I couldn’t help but think of Seychelles – it really was quite similar.

The bay was beautiful. The fishing was good (Paul and I very manfully caught dinner for our women). The camping was fun (despite the contents our bin-bag being redistributed over the whole site by a big fat possum – fun times picking up crap at 3am!)

I came away from Nelson as a big fan. I’d return at the drop of a hat.

Christchurch and the Camerons

After the disappointment of our dolphin spotting trip being called off, we cheered ourselves up by stopping off in Christchurch for a couple of days with Stuart, Vicky and their boys, Callum and Ben. Stuart is one on my oldest friends – we met at secondary school back in 1979 – Thirty years ago! Needless to say, they all made us feel very welcome. The boys are great – you’d be hard-pressed to find two more pleasant kids.

We were given the grand tour: Christchurch city centre, the local seaside towns, the hills surrounding the Canterbury Plain. It’s a really nice region, and we were lucky to have great weather to see it by, and good company.

Christchurch itself is a handsome city. It was modelled on Cambridge by the city founders – willow lined river, punts, old stone-built university, large parks, etc. The place has real character (even it is based on another town’s). The old university is now used for touristy things. We lazed about in its various tree-shaded courtyards, enjoying tea and cake and listening to buskers.

Driving over the Southern Alps

Wow! The drive from Christchurch westwards over the Southern Alps to the west coast was just stunning. The show-topped, mountains, the lakes, the ice-blue streams… breath-taking.

We stopped for lunch at Arthur’s Pass, famous for its scenery and gaggles of naughty kea (parrot-like birds). These cheeky little buggers spend most of their day stealing anything that looks tasty / interesting. Bits of car, bunches of keys, cakes from plates (we saw a little kid’s muffin get whipped from right under his nose!), etc. They’re a bit of a menace, but fun to watch.

Once we hit the west coast, the views were equally spectacular. Now we had mountains to our left and a wild coastline to our right. It’s quite a drive.

And of course, we had the opportunity at Fox Glacier, to fly up to the glacier itself for a hike (as Jem’s already talked about). This really was the icing (ho ho ho) on the cake. Fabulous. Gorgeous. Awesome. Spectaculous… I’ve run out of superlatives!

New Zealand Coppers – So Efficient

As we approached Queenstown, at the end of 2500km of driving, almost all of it at or below the speed limit, I thought I’d stick my foot down a bit. The roads were empty and it had been a long day, so we were keen to get to our hostel and grab some food. You can imagine who appeared just around the next bend in the road…

NZ police cars all have radar built in to the front of the car, constantly checking the speed of approaching cars. They don’t mess about either when they clock you over 100kmph. The one that passed us hit the brakes, performed a quick u-turn and was behind us, lights flashing, in about 10 seconds. I briefly considered making a run for it, but the I quickly decided that our Nissan Sunny wasn’t really up to any sort of car chase. I pulled over, fessed up to doing “a maybe a little bit over 100, officer?”, and sheepishly took the speeding ticket. Bollocks!

Queenstown – Fun Town

We both decided that we liked Queenstown a lot. The town has a great vibe to it, and you really couldn’t find a more spectacular setting: on the shore of a huge lake, surrounded by towering mountains. Plus we got to spend some more time with Paul and Lisa who had driven down to meet us.

The place was packed for the summer xmas holiday. We had a crummy, not-even-very-cheap room in a hostel right in the centre of town. Amusingly Paul and Lisa hadn’t booked any accommodation until the last minute so ended up having to camp in a soggy field about 20 miles out of town. A heavy rainstorm meant that they ended up spending a night in our hostel room – four adults and a child squished into tiny bunk beds!

Despite the less-than-sterling accommodation, we had a great few days. The town is set up to squeeze every last dollar from the tourists who flock there, summer and winter (great skiing apparently). We cable-carred, we luged (I love luges – I want one in my garden), we jet-boated (really thrilling, even with rain needling you in the face!), we ate cakes, we sheltered in greenhouses from rain storms… the thrills never ended! Plus, I alone, proved my manliness by leaping off a bridge attached to a bit of rubber!

Bungeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

The bungy jumping centre at the Kawarau is not the highest one you can do (only 43m compared to some that are over 150m!) but it’s the most charismatic – the jumps are made from an old suspension bridge over a steep-sided gorge. The river rushing past at the bottom of the gorge is a vivid blue. It’s quite a spectacular site. I was determined that, having passed up on the chance many years ago in France at an equally beautiful spot, I’d have a go in New Zealand. New Year’s day seemed the perfect time too – what better way to shake off a hangover than by leaping off a bridge and getting dunked in a river?!

The jump was really thrilling. Every step made it more and more exciting / nerve-wracking: the thinking about it… the waiting… the leaping stomach… getting strapped in… hobbling to the edge… looking down to the river below… the final worried gaze at my wife and friends on the viewing platform… then… the leap!

I had watched a few people go before me who seemed to stumble off the edge, or dive in a semi-foetal tuck. I figured the only way to do this was with a full swallow dive – back arched, arms outspread – so I did! Looking at the video Jem shot, I looked magnificent!

So, all-in-all an amazing holiday in an amazing country. Sorry it took so long to tell you all about it!