12 March, Timaru
Skimming stones at HakitikiBrrrrrrr- So winter finally hit’s us. After looking forward with some relish to Queenstown and it’s multitude of cool things to do, we got here Monday and were greeted with the majestic scene of snow capped mountains surrounding a deep blue lake- much like Geneva in appearance.
The road to Queenstown What we didn’t anticipate however were the snow caps progressing steadily closer towards the town as we experienced Queenstown’s lowest ‘high’ March temperature on record. That’s pretty low considering this is an alpine winter ski resort! So we finally got a dose of what Europeans have been experiencing this winter, although in a campervan with a tiny heater and absolutely the wrong sort of clothing. When we ventured outside we pretty much wore everything we possess and looked like a family of Weebles as we darted from one warming coffee shop to another trying to resist the temptation of sticking new sets of winter clothing on the credit card. Bang went the ideas of mountain biking down the Remarkables, white water rafting and Bungee jumping- almost......
As we left town today in a gloriously annoying autumn sun, we drove past Kawarau Bridge bungee jump centre and inquisitiveness got the better of us. Within half an hour Maddie and Georgia were strapped up, Lu watched nervously fully expecting something to go disastrously wrong whilst Olivia was trying to convince the officials she too was 13- just a wee bit small. As soon as we work out the technology, we’ll put the movie on the blog. I’ll let them tell the story when we are back but they are psyched.
Prior to Queenstown, we had spent a very wet couple of days journeying through amazing Lord of the Rings country to the tiny town of Franz Joseph, where rainforest meets the spectacular Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers. Fortunately the storm clouds parted for long enough for us to take a 40 minute helicopter ride up both glaciers even allowing us to land and spend 10 minutes at the top of one of the ice fields, leaving our footprint of a family of snow angels. Truly a once in a lifetime experience. It certainly took care of the girls’ geography lesson for that day.
Two nights followed in the town of Wanaka which proved equally memorable as we discovered the only 5 star campsite of our trip- the luxury of heated bathroom floors and a spa overlooking an amazing mountain view!
On the ice on Franz Joseph Glacier
As we left town today in a gloriously annoying autumn sun, we drove past Kawarau Bridge bungee jump centre and inquisitiveness got the better of us. Within half an hour Maddie and Georgia were strapped up, Lu watched nervously fully expecting something to go disastrously wrong whilst Olivia was trying to convince the officials she too was 13- just a wee bit small. As soon as we work out the technology, we’ll put the movie on the blog. I’ll let them tell the story when we are back but they are psyched.
Prior to Queenstown, we had spent a very wet couple of days journeying through amazing Lord of the Rings country to the tiny town of Franz Joseph, where rainforest meets the spectacular Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers. Fortunately the storm clouds parted for long enough for us to take a 40 minute helicopter ride up both glaciers even allowing us to land and spend 10 minutes at the top of one of the ice fields, leaving our footprint of a family of snow angels. Truly a once in a lifetime experience. It certainly took care of the girls’ geography lesson for that day.
Two nights followed in the town of Wanaka which proved equally memorable as we discovered the only 5 star campsite of our trip- the luxury of heated bathroom floors and a spa overlooking an amazing mountain view!
On the ice on Franz Joseph Glacier
It's a Puzzling World- WanakaWith only 4 weeks to go before we get home, conversation and thoughts have turned to getting back to life in Tonbridge. Soberingly, Maddie and Georgia have just submitted their GCSE choices- god we must be so old!
Until next time
Andy and Lu
Until next time
Andy and Lu
1 comment:
Can't believe it's been 18 months since I was in Queenstown. Awesome place! Can't wait for the video, looks like you're having a great time!
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