Afternoon!  It's been a busy 13 days in our little campervan - we've travelled virtually all over NZ and done 2600km's which is quite a bit for a small country!

I left my last blog telling you that we were in Wellington and on the Friday we were departing there to go on the Interislander Ferry to Picton, South Island.  Well, just to let you know we managed to get there - in case you were wondering!  Not much to report on the actual ferry crossing as it was extremely boring - so much so I had a nap!  As soon as we arrived in Picton we made our way via the scenic route to Nelson where we arrived about 8.30 that evening.

Saturday we checked out and went to the information desk in Nelson where we booked ourselves onto a 13,000ft skydive!  It was quite spontaneous as we had talked about trying to do it in Queenstown but the weather was so nice that we thought we'd do it then and there.  We got picked up in the town centre and went on a 45 minute drive into the Abel Tasman National Park and had our introduction and then got kitted up - before having 2 wee's of course!  We were introduced to our tandem skydiver buddy - mine was called Mike and he came from England of all places.  He explained everything to me, what I should do and when - quite simple really but when you're nervous about jumping out of a perfectly functional plane it doesn't quite sink in!  I got in the plane first with 'my bloke' and sat right on his crotch - we got very close indeed!  Then two other pairs came in and then Ria got in with her 'buddy.'  She had the best view but on the downside she was first out!  We climbed and climbed altitude and after about 20 minutes we got to 13,000ft where the door was opened and the next thing I know Ria is dangling out of the plane waving at the camera and then all of a sudden - gone!  Bye Riaaaaaaaaa    Then the two other pairs went and then finally it was my turn - the nerves had kicked in - not as bad as I thought they would have though!  We shuffled to the opening - me still on top of his legs (poor bloke!) and then all of a sudden I was actually dangling out of the plane trying to catch my breath while attempting to smile for the camera - let me tell you it wasn't easy!  A few seconds of smiling and waving at the camera then away we went!  It was absolutely amazing - just like flying (falling, but flying) and the views were fantastic - the only massive downside was the extreme pain I felt in my ears - like I'd burst my ear drums or something.  Apparently some people experience it with all the air pressure - it was painful but then he pulled his cord and we shot up in the air a good few feet and the parachute was released.  He kept putting his thumb up to check I was ok - I'd put my thumb up and told him I was in pain with my ears and he said just keep trying to clear your ears by blowing etc.  The screeching coming from clearing my ears was quite disturbing but after a little time it got soooo much better and I could actually enjoy the rest of the descent.  Mike was pointing at the landscape and telling me what was where and I was just smiling, enjoying the ride and then he said lift your legs right up and then we landed - I then put my feet firmly on the ground - ahhh I'm safe!  Ria came over to me and hugged me - we were both smiling and just in a state of 'whoa' .... it's hard to explain!  We then took off our jumpsuits, bought a t-shirt and got whisked away back to the town.  What an adventure that was, we were talking about it for ages - Ria had the ear pain too and we both said we wanted to do it again but we'd make sure we had ear plugs next time!  Looking back now it just seems unreal.

After that we drove for about 2 1/2 hours until we got into Westport and stopped there for the night.  Sunday we drove to a place called Cape Foulwind (nice name!) but what was really nice about the place was it has a seal colony - not just any seals but the cute furry ones!  We took some photos naturally and then made out way to Hokitika.  En route we stopped at some little goldmining museum and paid $5 to look around at a big fat boring nothing - plus we seemed to be the only people there so we made our exit fast - I blame Ria coz she wanted to go there - she knows it too!  So we arrived in Hokitika and that evening we went to ta glow worm dell and saw these tiny little bright lights in the trees but as we get spooked easily we didn't stay too long - hey we were the only ones there and it was pitch black!

After a very cold night in the van we bought some souvenirs in the town centre and then went onto Franz Josef.  We had a look round the town and then made our way up to the huge glacier - quite extraordinary really.  After a few pics we came back to town and found a site for the night.  Unfortunately that evening I had a dodgy delhi belly - yuk!

I woke up the next day feeling unwell still but we made our way to Fox Glacier and again took some more pics - looks just like Franz Josef!  We would have liked to have hiked on one of them but the tours were incredibly expensive.  So we drove and drove - for about 5 1/2 hours in total taking turns and arrived in Queenstown.  As we'd had such a long day driving we decided we'd eat out so I had a delicious rump steak with chips and Ria had a very yukky looking Prawn Satay with noodles dish.  And then we had a chocolate , peanut & banana dessert thing.

Queenstown is a lot smaller than I imagined it to be - more like a big ski resort.  The next day, Wednesday we decided that we should do a bungee jump so we opted for Kawarau bridge - the original birthplace of the bungy jump.  We were driven there and made our way to the bridge and because Ria is so small she made it straight to the front of the queue - so she was harnessed up and ready to go.  They counted down 3,2,1 twice and then on the third time she jumped - I was so proud of her - she enjoyed it.  We both think that a bungy jump is more scary than a skydive.  With a bungy jump you have to jump off it yourself but with a tandem skydive someone is kind of doing it for you.  About 8 jumps later it was my turn to go and I was back in the position I was in about a year ago.  He counted down 3,2,1 and then I just jumped.  I'd asked beforehand if I could at least touch the water with my hands but he said I might go deeper btu I said I was ok with it.  I ended up getting most of my upper body wet - it was a very big dip and it was very cold too.  But I enjoyed it just as much as the first one I did!

Afterwards we got our free t-shirt and certificate and were driven back to town where we had some lunch and then had a look around.  Thursday morning we left the site and decided last minute to go on the gondola (a cable car) so we parked up and took a cable car to the top of a very high mountain - had a good look over Queenstown and took some pics.  We came back down and then basically drove for about 10 hours with stops and in turns right up to Kaikoura - a last minute decision to go that far but what the heck!  En ruote we came across two beautiful lakes, Pukaki and Tekapo - we've never seen anything like it.  The views were breathtaking and I don't even think the pictures will do it justice.  We arrived in Kaikoura about 9pm and parked up on a site. 

We came to Kaikoura in the hope of going on a whale watch tour so yesterday (Friday) we went into town and debated over whether we should spend 60 quid looking for whales and we thought 'what the hell.'  So we wrapped up warm and went out on a small catamaran searching for big sperm whales!  And we sure did see them - we saw about 4 in total which is a good tour.  We saw their blowholes from quite a distance and sailed up quite near to them for good views.  Unfortunately as they live in water you don't really get amazing views or pictures or even tell exactly how massive they really are.  Then just when you're getting a bit bored they take one last breath of air and dive and that's the best bit of all as their tail fin flips into the air and you get a view of a lifetime.  It was really quite something to see.  I got a fantastic picture of two whales taking a dive side by side (which is rare) but unfortunately Ria was trying to get a picture through her low battery camera and missed it.  Although I only really saw it through the camera lens.  After that we saw some albatross and also some very cute acrobatic dusky dolphins so it was a worthwhile trip.

We left Kaikoura this morning and made our way to Christchurch where we checked-in to a hostel and then returned our little campervan which we had actually grown very fond of.  So tomorrow and Monday we'll be having a look around the city and then Tuesday it's off to Australia - oh well....that's life I suppose!