It was amazingly sunny again, and Picton looked like nothing like when we had arrived with the ferry in the rain.  A van drove us down Charlotte Dr. where they dropped us off with a kayak.  It was very relaxing to paddle around the stunning Marlborough Sounds.

The sounds from Picton

We saw lots of various birds, sea stars, and lots and lots of blue mussels.  Unfortunately, it was one of those days where my camera decided not to work, and Hendrik didn’t take his kayaking for obvious reasons.  It was lovely, and afterwords we drove to Kaikoura.  It was the same drive we had done on our first day on the southern island and this time it was more gorgeous.

We saw fur seals along the way and once in Kaikoura we walked a bit on the Kaikoura Peninsula where there were pretty views.  It was our last night in New Zealand and the next day we drove to Christchurch airport.

Kaikoura Peninsula

The next day we set off to Nelson.  On the way we stopped by the Punakaiki’s Pancake Rocks which are pictured on too many postcards and in every guidebook.  When Hendrik tried his camera it wouldn’t turn on so he became very frustrated right away.  I then remembered that I had a camera too and should have taken that one on the glacier instead.  Unfortunately, it was very temperamental and randomly refused to work and right now was one of those times.  It only seemed to work when I didn’t need it so in a way it was good we had Hendrik’s on the glacier.  We walked on the short path around the pancake rocks, but unfortunately the mood had been ruined by the dead camera, and Hendrik didn’t care at all about the nicely stacked flat rocks and just wanted his camera to work.  He predicted that the rain had fried the inside of it.  Too bad we didn’t have a camera because it was more spectacular than I thought it would be.

Stock photo compliments of the NZ govt

We stopped briefly in Nelson and lo-and-behold the camera began to work again so all was right in the world, and Hendrik could enjoy the vacation again.  Nelson was a typical New Zealand town with a cute beach and a statue of Able Tasman.  Then we continued further to Marlborough Sounds and hoped for better weather than last time.  It was 100% better, and the sounds looked stunning in the sun.  We drove down the scenic route from Charlotte to Picton and even went on the side “scenic route” called Kenepara Road.  It was not worth it to go down the road since it was just windy and trees along the road blocked any view.

It was sunny when we arrived to Picton and it looked like the whole town had a facelift from when we were there before.  It is amazing what the sun can do for the scenery because suddenly Picton wasn’t this shabby ugly town we just wanted to leave but an adorable village surrounded by the most spectacular scenery.  Since it is the driest part on New Zealand we were actually pretty unlucky the first time around.  We booked a kayak tour for the next day, and then I finally got to play mini golf.

Picton (Christmas Tree)

Rain it did.  We woke up to pitter patter in the morning and we didn’t see sun for the next 24 hours.  We weren’t happy about the precipitation but Franz Josef Glacier Guides gave us socks, boots, pants, hat, gloves, raincoat, and we were off – off on a 1.5 hour steep difficult hike.  We were divided into three groups for fast athletic people, medium pace and slow.  Hendrik and I chose to go into the slow group but soon realized that we were the fastest group.  Since we were the last group to head out we had to cover the same ground as the rest of the groups in the same amount of time, so I pretty much had to jog to keep up with my short legs.  We hiked trough the woods all the while the rain pelted down.  At one point the terrain was so steep there were ropes tied to the trees so there was something we could grab on to.  The rain had made it a muddy slide so it was one thing going down but I feared going back up the rest of the day.  I was exhausted after the hike, and we had just made it to the base of the glacier.  I wish they would have forewarned us about the hike because I had no idea it was going to be so tough.

I was pretending to enjoy the hike

There we put on spikes called crampons onto our shoes and we were off hiking up the glacier.  The first part of the glacier wasn’t too nice since the ice is mixed with lots of mud and rocks so it hardly looks like a glacier.  The higher we hiked the prettier it got, even in the rain.  Some of the ice was so incredibly blue that I’ve never seen ice like that in real life only in pictures.  In some parts, it was pretty magnificent and stunning but I’m still not sure the effort was worth it.  I would definitely splurge on a helicopter if I had to do it again.  Being cold and wet while hiking strenuously was not my idea of a good time. They also offered a ½ day tour which is useless because you don’t even get to the pretty part of the glacier but just stay on the muddy part, and a ¾ day which we wanted to do but it wasn’t being offered this day.

We did not stop for lunch and had to eat while hiking.  Even though it was raining, I would have appreciated a break.  Our guide was very nice and cheery, and I had no idea how she managed to do this every single day.  She not only had to hike the route every day but carve paths out for us in the ice with a giant pick.  She didn’t even mind the rain and said that it rains two out of every three days so statistically we had a good chance of rain.  The guide found nooks and crevices for us to take pictures in which were extremely claustrophobic but also surreal, to be completely surrounded by huge walls of ice.  The whole time Hendrik was worried about his camera since he had a new EOS camera and it wasn’t waterproof.  We did our best to keep it covered, but there was only so much we could do in the pouring rain especially since we wanted to take pictures.  I told him that it survived acid rain so it should survive regular rain.

Posing with the pick

There were a few scary points along the way.  Occasionally there were holes in the ice and if you would fall in there would be no help.  It would be almost impossible to rescue someone because of the flowing water and shifting ice.  We saw how quickly something can disappear when the other guide who was being trained accidentally dropped his pick, which is really huge, into one of those holes.  It vanished instantly though he poked and scoped the hole for a while with no success.  This is why it was necessary to go with a guide because if you are not familiar with the glacier and its patterns it is very dangerous.  On the way back Hendrik and I were a bit behind the group, only about 20 paces, but since we didn’t know the path the group had taken we didn’t know how to catch up because to us there did not seem like there was a path.  I slipped and fell down a short wall.  At least there weren’t any holes at the bottom, and I wasn’t hurt, but it was just scary to feel so out of the element.  Our guide immediately came and helped us to the rest of the group, and I stayed at the front for the rest of the time.

Us in a crevice

That night, it was wonderful that our campsite had a spa since I was in pain.  Spas seemed to be really popular in New Zealand and almost every single campsite had a spa.  I debated which visit to the glacier I had enjoyed more and couldn’t decide but what I did know is that I was in less pain after tequila night.

View from the glacier

Our cave adventure began at 8 in the morning so it was another early rise.  We were going adventure caving on the Dragons Blackwater Cave Rafting trip in Greymouth. There were three others on our tour which was nice since it was a small intimate group.  We were supplied with an outfit consisting of a wetsuit, sweater, booties, two pairs of socks, helmet with a light, and galoshes.  Seeing the outfit I knew we wear preparing to be cold.

The hike to the cave was about 40 minutes which took us to the entrance where there were big orange-brown boulders with water rushing past them at the entrance.  It was hard to make my way through the cave being pushed by cold water and trying to find secure footing on slippery boulders.  As we went deeper into the cave natural light disappeared and the only light there left was the light on our helmets.

At one point we had to jump off a waterfall which was about 6 feet tall.  It was scary because when I fell into the water I had trouble resurfacing because of the falling water from the waterfall, but it was adventurous like the tour promised.

Near the end of the cave we were given inner-tubes to float to the end of the cave.  I turned off my light and relaxed on the cave’s lazy river.  All around me were little blue lights which lit up the cave’s ceiling and walls and it was all very tranquil.

rafting

These were glow worms and they made the cave spectacular.  When we were all at the end of the cave we were given hot chocolate and a chocolate bar and gazed at the “starry sky.”

Glow Worms

Then we had to make it back through the cave back to the exit.  Our guide sent us through another path at one point which was extremely claustrophobic, and I had to squeeze through cracks that I was sure I was too big for.  Somehow I squeezed though but I definitely prefer walls to be a bit further away from me.

Squeezing through a hole

Once we were out of the cave we were given the option to go on a “nature’s water slide.”  That was a small stream running down a rather smooth rock surface into a deep pool.  We were given mats to sit on and told to slide down.  We all hesitated because it looked scary and no one wanted to go first and even our guide said he wouldn’t slide so we were a bit skeptical since we didn’t want our holidays to end in a hospital.  Brave Hendrik went first and even though the rock face was smooth there were bumps and dips and Hendrik bounced around like pooping corn.  The rest of us were even more skeptical when we saw how Hendrik bounced, and I didn’t go because of my compressed fractured back and we all walked back down.  Back at the base we relaxed in the hot tub with a beer and muffin.

Watch the video of Hendrik sliding

Then we had to decide what to do next.  We had wanted to visit Able Tasman but in one day we could hardly see any of it.  We needed several days to do some hikes and we didn’t have that.  Since we had an extra day we decided to go back to Franz Joseph Glacier and try to get on a tour again, of course we called ahead this time around and booked ourselves a full day tour.  We had to drive back to Franz Joseph since the tour started early in the morning.  On the way there we stopped at Hokitika, which was a very cute town, for dinner.  We found a nice looking diner and I couldn’t decide what to eat.  I saw “whitebait” sandwich on the menu and I asked the server, who was probably the owner as well, what that was.  To that question the friendly man grew excited and exclaimed, “Whitebait is a delicacy.  You can’t leave New Zealand without trying whitebait.  It costs 60-90 dollars a kilo and the fishing season just ended.”  A woman appeared from the back which appeared to be his wife came and showed me a whitebait patty which was an omelet with lots of tiny white fish in it.  I was put off since I have never liked to eat little fish because they usually tasted very fishy and their bones would crunch in my teeth making chills run up and down my back.  The couple assured me that the bones would not crunch and again told me that I HAD to try it.  So I did and was really surprised at how lovely whitebait was.  It was great, not fishy and I didn’t feel one bone.

We checked into the top 10 at Franz Joseph again and I was very disappointed to find a trampoline at the campsite since it would have been an awesome way to beak some bones during tequila night.  Then we bough food for tomorrow’s adventure and checked the forecast – rain.

The following day we had to say goodbye to Simon and Beata since we had planned for an extra week in New Zealand than they had. We drove them to the airport and then had to find ACE, our car rental company since we were trading our station wagon in for a smaller cheaper car. Though they claimed to be at Christchurch airport they are actually a bit away and after asking around I got directions to them. They are a pain in the ass company, but if you don’t breakdown they are the cheapest in NZ. We opted for no GPS this time since it was not only useless, but caused a lot of expensive agony and stress.

Giant Sand Fly

Then we were off through Arthur’s Pass again. The weather was clear this time from the beginning so we were able to see the gorgeous views that we had missed the first time. We spent the night in Greymouth, where we had planed on going adventure caving the following day.

In the morning we had a short drive to Christchurch and spent the rest of the day touring the city, which didn’t take very long and then spent the rest of the day souvenir shopping. Christchurch ended up being my favorite New Zealand city since it was pretty, charming, bigger than most other cities, had lots of restaurants and cafes, and it didn’t hurt that is was sunny and warm.

There was a schottish music competition and punting in the park

That evening we went to the Belgian Café since it was the Belgian holiday, Sinterklaas and to bid adieu to our two friends who were leaving us tomorrow. So we ate overpriced Belgian food and drank ridiculously expensive beer, which they could get at a fraction of the cost in two days.

The Belgians in front of the Belgian Café

We had high hopes for Dunedin since it is named after the adorable city of Edinburgh, but we were pretty disappointed. Besides a few nice buildings, such as the train station and a cute octagon shaped square there was noting to it.

People dress wierd in Dunedin

We thought there would be lots to do and had allocated a whole day to the town but were rather bored. We went to the art museum to fill time, which was nice, had lunch and then drove north. Before we left the town we had to go to the advertised “steepest road in the world” which is located in Dunedin. It is called Baldwin Street and the slope is 19° at it’s steepest. It definitely looks steep and daunting when you drive up. Only Simon, the avid hiker wanted to climb up and we drove, twice, since Hendrik thought it was so fun. It’s worth a drive up and down, which must annoy the residents, but the pictures don’t do it justice since it’s hard to take a picture of a slope.

Me driving down the steepest road in the world.

On the way we stopped at the famous tourist site of the Moeraki Boulders which are huge perfectly round rocks by the sea. There we encountered more tourists than at any other site along the southern route. The boulders were spectacular and we had fun climbing and jumping from them.

I had fun directing a photo shoot.

Later, we stopped in Oamara for coffee and the old part of town was adorable, much nicer than Dunedin. Further on our way we stopped in Timaru for dinner and had the hardest time finding a restaurant. We walked up and down the whole main street and only found three. One Indian, one Thai, and one really pricy one that claimed to be the best in town but it was out of our budget. We went to the Thai place which was jam-packed, and had to wait for an hour to get our food, but the food was good. Other than in the restaurant the town was a total ghost-town and it was a Friday night.

We frequently saw farms of this interesting animal but don't know what it was.

Throughout the night, I woke up numerous times to pelting rain and by morning it was still going. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take a “rain day” because we had a schedule to keep. Solemnly we headed down the Southern Route and when we reached our first scenic stop – Waipapa Point, the rain had miraculously stopped. It was a beach where fur seals came to rest, but our expectations were not too high since we had been unlucky to see many animals on our trip. We were pleasantly surprised to see quite a few fur seals, and I had never seen the animal so up close and personal before.

By the next stop, Curio Bay, it was partly sunny.  It was a petrified forest and it was not only interesting for the fossilized wood but also for the many penguins which lived on it.

Right next to Curio Bay was Porpoise Bay, where ironically there weren’t any porpoises but the bay was famous for Hector’s Dolphins which came to play there. They didn’t come to close but we were able to spot their fins occasionally popping out of the water. We did see another seal there to which we got a bit too close, and he chased us away barking. It was pretty scary to see an angry seal.

One angry fur seal

Again ironically, we stopped by a waterfall in Niagara and had lunch there as well. Unfortunately we could not go to the Cathedral cave since it was only opened in low tide and we came by too late. Our last stop was Jake’s Blowhole, and I don’t know who Jake is but I concluded he couldn’t have been very important.

"Niagara Falls"

It was quite a hike to get to the hole through sheep pastures where we had to avoid sheep droppings with every step. The hole was deep but very unspectacular and not worth the hike. I think there would have to be a hurricane, tornado, or tidal wave to make the hole blow the 50 promised meters, and in that weather I wasn’t going to hike to it.

I thought this could be a set for a horror movie.

The scenery was pretty nice and we got a few close-up snaps of sheep, which is a necessity for a NZ tourist. Then we were off to Dunedin.

Awwww

I was startled awake at 6:45 AM by the roaring sound of an engine which had just been turned on. I looked out of the tiny peephole window in our room and to my dismay it was pouring. When we looked at the fjords surrounding us waterfalls had formed in every crevice. The cliffs were pin-striped from the waterfalls. Even though it was too uncomfortable to go out on deck that morning the sight was truly something else as the whole landscape had been painted with bubbling white water. The boat went very near one waterfall and our nature guide filled a container with water so we could drink it. Another benefit of the rain was that there were no sand flies in sight.

Doubtful Sound in Mist

By noon we were back on land out of the waterfall wonderland and were on our way to Milford Sounds just to take the postcard picture and see the Homer Tunnel. It continued to rain and the cliffs along the windy road to Milford was again painted with waterfalls. When we arrived in Milford it wasn’t raining anymore and we went for a walk. We noticed about five various tour companies competing for the busloads of tourists who came to Milford. Seeing this and the constant tour boat traffic on the fjord, we knew we had made the right decision by going on a cruise on the Doubtful Sound because we were the only cruise ship on the fjord. The famous Miter Peak was visible from shore so we took lots of pictures.

Miter Peak

As we drove away from Milford the sky cleared, the waterfalls stopped and all around us the sky opened revealing jagged snow covered peaks, so we had to stop and take lots of pictures along the way was well. Then we headed south to Invercargill so we could do the southern route tomorrow.

Finally Sun

We woke up early and drove to Manapouri from where our Real Journey’s cruise would leave. We were paranoid that our GPS was completely wrong and didn’t know exactly how long it would take us but after a 20 minute drive we arrived two hours early. We sat by the dock playing hearts and rubbing ourselves with insect repellent to fend off the sand flies. We were warned there would be a lot of sand flies in the Sound so we had purchased more. It was sunny when we first arrived at the dock but when it was finally time to leave it was raining.

Beata and I on the boat on the lake

The first part of the journey was crossing Lake Manapouri, where there were spectacular views already. There was a heavy mist lying low in the surrounding and it felt like a landscape from Jurassic Park. Then we had to take a bus to the fjord. (Doubtful Sound isn’t really a sound which is made by rivers but a fjord made by glaciers). I spent the twisty drive flicking sand flies and putting their carcasses into a napkin.

Lake Manapouri

Once on the overnight boat we were disappointed with the size our room which was tiny with 2 of the narrowest sets of bunk beds and a communal showers. At least the communal area which was also the dining room was really nice and all we’d have to do in our room was sleep. They also liked to feed us we got muffins as soon as we boarded, then soup, then dinner and desert and free coffee and tea all day.

Hendrik, Simon, Clementine, and Beata

The fjords were prettier than I thought they would be and were remarkable in the weather we were having. It was cloudy then sunny then rainy; I even saw a rainbow but was not fast enough to get a picture. Apparently the fjords get 6-8 meters of water and it rains 200 days out of a year so we were lucky to get the sun.

Sun!

We were able to see seals ad even got a glimpse of a penguin but they were very shy. Our activities were postponed because of the weather and just as we were supposed to do them again the rain cleared and the sun came out. We could choose between kayaking and going on a boat with a nature guide. I went on the boat which was interesting and I could take lots of nice pictures of the boat and the boys who went kayaking.

Hendrik Kayaking

After our dinner buffet we had a slide show presentation about the native animals of New Zealand. We learned that animals which were brought over were responsible for the extinction of many native animals and even people like the Maori were responsible for the extinction of the Moa. A huge problem in New Zealand are possums which are quick to kill kiwis since they are flightless and can’t escape. Possums are a pest and there are lots of them and carcasses along the road are a common sight, and therefore, they are nicknamed squashums. Possum hair is also very warm, and therefore, the hair is used to make sweaters, hats, ect. People get paid to collect possums and then they are put thorough “possum-pluckers.”

The boat

Then we played Clue until it was bed time. Unfortunately I was stuck with a top bunk, but I ended up sleeping more than I thought I would.