Since we last left you, what happened... well Pete jumped his 134 metres from a cabin suspended in the air by some cables attached to the sides of a canyon (just getting there took some courage), held only by a bit of elastic tied to his ankles... and I ended up jumping out of a plane at about 12000 ft above the ground! So we did get sucked into the adrenaline trend of Queenstown... we ended on a quieter note by going karting on the heights with views of the turquoise lake and snowy peaks around.
From Queenstown we headed North, via Wanaka where we walked to the edge of a glacier, then we carried on between the sea to our left and the Southern Alps on our right, before turning eastwards towards Christchurch, where we had a few things to sort out.
Then we hit the road again, Northwards along the east coast this time, until we reached the Marlborough Sound, another of those ancient valleys reclaimed by the sea. It was all turquoise waters and hills emerging from the sea under glorious sunshine, with a few wild goats and strange flightless birds thrown in for good measure.
Further West, on the North coast, we stayed a few days in Motueka, from where we explored nearby Golden Bay, a haven for nostalgic hippies and eco minded people, with its numerous art galleries, and a tiny pink house where they make handcrafted chocolates (yum!), and the Abel Tasman National Park, where we had to get a ride on yet another very scary very fast boat to walk back along the famous coastal track dotted with emerald bays, waterfalls and crystal-clear pools.
Then, after a quick stop at the Nelson Lakes National Park (another lake...) we drove back to Christchurch, taking a break on the way to have a dip in the 41 degrees C thermal pools at Hanmer Springs... very nice when the air is a bit nippy! We have now found ourselves a nice quiet seaside hostel to unwind for a few days before setting off for South America.
So there we are at the end of our tour, and we've definitely got a headful of pictures (plus around 4000 on my memory card!!!!). All it takes is a few minutes driving on any country road and you find yourself in a spectacular valley or at the foot of a glacier. That is, if you are prepared to drive.... yes, just as Chinese toilets demanded a mention, so does Kiwi driving!
First of all there are the roads. It is a tiny country covered in mountains, so no motorways, it's all narrow winding roads. There are often roadworks, and a large portion of unsealed roads : gravel and potholes aplenty... So far our Nissan Pulsar has survived without a puncture, but I think we were lucky!
Then there are the Kiwis, and believe me, they are the nicest and most relaxed people... until they get behind the wheel! Speed is limited to 100km/h (60mph), and most of the time you only dare drive at about 30mph on these narrow twisty strips, but New Zealanders will overtake you in a hairpin bend at 80 mph! They stick to the back of you and overtake as soon as they can, and we have NEVER seen one actually stick to the speed limit! Trucks are the same, it isn't a rare thing to see a double trailer fully loaded doing 80mph on country lanes, and the other day I nearly got squashed against a rock face by one who cut the corner. The roadsides are dotted with small white crosses marking fatalities.
So to sum up we are glad to still be alive! Pete, my precious assistant, did a little research for me on the internet and found these interesting (if chilling) statistics : in 2006 per 100,000 people, the UK recorded 5.4 road fatalities, France 7.7, and New Zealand... 9.4 ....
A last little detail is that the sun, for a reason unknown to me, is extremely bright and low in the afternoons, causing dangerous cases of dazzling. Strange, but true!
So that's all for Kiwiland (try the yellow kiwi fruit : delicious!), next time we will be writing to you from the other side of the international date line : yes, we are getting ready to go back in time!
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