Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand…if you want to throw yourself from a bridge, jet boat down a river, sky dive, or even go in a 2 person submarine that jumps out of the lake, this is the place for you. We decided to go jet boating down Skippers Canyon, because it had a nice, gentle drive around some the Lord of the Rings locations and gold mines attached to it… well, nice and gentle it was not. The drive into the Canyon was the real adventure, on a road carved out of the rock face, and in places 200 metres above the valley floor, and only the width of our small bus. Unbelievably this is a public road, where the national speed limit of 100 kph applies. In the past used extensively by the hundreds, if not thousands of gold miners who worked the Canyon. The jet boat seemed rather tame after this.

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On our drive to Wanaka the following day we dropped by the world famous A J Hackett bungy jump… Chris would have done it, but for the warning of his back surgeon, NO bungy jumping! Wanaka itself was a beautiful place, surrounded by mountains and its lake, and with the sun shining out of a blue sky.

And now onto the Great West Coast Drive… and Fox Glacier. We had booked to take a helicopter upto Mount Cook, the highest point in NZ, and then land on Fox Glacier for a short walk, but in the end the weather beat us. The morning started bright and clear, so we could see the mountains, but by the time of our flight, the weather had moved in, and it was only possible to take a short flight over the glacier, just the way it goes sometimes. But we did manage to visit the Kiwi Conservation centre. The kiwi is under severe threat due to predation, principally stoats, that were introduced to reduce the rabbit population, and rats, which came with the ships. There is now a significant effort to kill off the predators, and allow the kiwis and other native creatures to recover.

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A long drive the following day took us over mountains and rivers, all the way up the west coast of the South Island. Of note were the many settlements put down in the 1850s and 60s, driven by gold fever. We saw several processing plants still operating, particularly dredging for alluvial deposits in river beds.

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Unfortunately the driving had taken its toll on Chris’s back, which decided to cause him enormous discomfort, ultimately requiring a visit to a brilliant chiropractor in Blenheim. So it was necessary to take it easy for a few days to enable him to get back to normal. We will remember to take more breaks in our daily journeys going forward. Blenheim, the town of the Marlborough wine region… many beautiful Art Deco designed buildings dating from the early 1900s. Of course, there was also wall to wall wineries, possibly 25 in total. For those reading this in Slovakia, I know you would scoff at “only” 25 wineries…. but these are very good.

And, we cannot finish this blog without mentioning sandflies, the vampire bat of NZ…. this tiny black and highly voracious fly attacks with no notice, not announcing its presence until the sharp pain as it sinks into your unsuspecting flesh. Then there is the itching, which can last for days. Even Deet is of limited value, they are prepared to sacrifice themselves to make your life miserable.

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So… today we have crossed the Cook Strait to the North Island…. unfortunately the weather was atrocious, and it was impossible to see either island when we were out in the Strait, but we are now in Wellington, capital of NZ.