Missing the Drop: May 2005

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Carry on camping

After a brief stop in Queenstown (following local pie eating and wine tasting) we made our way to Manapouri to embark on our voyage into Doubtful Sound. We located our cabin (in the bowels of the boat) we were sharing with Ihsan and Nicola and then sat down for a nice cup of tea. This was followed by a few more cups while we waited for our crew to help rescue a deerhunter who had cut his hand rather badly two days earlier but had not sought assistance until now (he was in a fairly remote area, but there's no excuse in my book!). It turned out he only had to walk for a couple of hours to get to transport but they decided to get him a helicopter instead...

We enjoyed a spot of kayaking and were then invited to take a dip into the freezing water. Will obliged, I didn't.

After rather good wine and food we had a challenging game of Cluedo. There was some tactical play by Ihsan, a stab in the dark from me and a calculated guess from Will, but Nicola solved the crime.

The next morning we had a wake-up call to see the dolphins playing alongside the boat. It was beautiful weather (very unusual in that part of the country, though they say it's just as nice in the rain - but then you get wet) and I just had my camera permanently in front of my face trying to get a good mirror image picture in the still water. At one point the engines were turned off so we could hear 'the sound of silence', it was quite eerie. Then we chugged off back to land and got some respite from the sandflies.

We sadly parted company with Nicola and Ihsan, then set off for Milford Sound - for comparison purposes as well as the scenic drive to get there. We didn't stop long as it was a bit misty and murky, then parked up for the night in the middle of nowhere.

Next stop was back to Queenstown. We hired bikes and set off for a 'moderate, undulating' cycle route which turned out to be a massive slog up a hill and some heavy going terrain! All credit to Will who did not get off his bike and pedalled all the way up the never ending long steep winding hill, while I was struggling to push my bike up most of it. After taking four hours instead of the estimated two we were close to collapse, so we had some emergency Fruit 'n' Nut, then drove to Arrowtown for a very welcome hot shower at a camping ground which had a rugby pitch in the middle of it. No Brumbies here though so not interested. Will's abiding memory of Arrowtown will be 'the place that had knockout pies' - there was indeed considerably more filling than your average pie.

Continuing our fitness regime we went for a long walk in the hills where they used to mine for gold (we didn't find any), then went to check out the English sweet shop, for spaceships, dolly mixture and rhubarb & custard. Plus another visit to the pie shop for Mr. Etchell.

We put our van's gas rings to good use and produced good old mashed potatoes, chicken, peas and courgettes. We needed it - it was a very cold night. We finished off the mash the next day with some local sausages (unlucky animals' side of the road) then drove to Wanaka. The best thing about Wanaka was Puzzleworld, which kept Will busy for hours. It also had a maze which he managed to get round in record time, and visit each tower in order! It was a proud moment.

We decided to tackle another cycle ride - this was a fairly flat route, but at one stage I managed to dismount leaving one leg behind, subsequently falling off the edge of the forest track. After desperately grabbing bits of tree stump as I slid down the embankment, I realised that my feet were actually touching the ground, but my legs were in jelly and I had tweaked my ankle. I was terribly brave though.

Our next drive north took us through Haast Pass, another deserted camping ground and then to Fox Glacier village. We cycled to the terminal face of the glacier and to Lake Matheson, then had fish and chips in the first bit of rain we had encountered (we also ordered lasagne - which came deep-fried. I ask you...........)

The rain continued and delayed the helihike to Franz Josef glacier for a day or two. It was worth it though - my first trip in a helicopter was definitely memorable (and probably for the pilot too as I managed to elbow him rather hard when I was trying to fix my seatbelt). We donned our crampons and went for a jaunt over the ice and through ice caves, as well as experiencing a rather insignificant avalanche above us.

We didn't stay any longer in the 'town' (being a fairly unstimulating place) and headed up the west coast - to stay in some more one-street towns! We stopped off to see the limestone pancake rocks and blow holes which were really impressive (and free too, which was nice), walk among the copious amounts of driftwood on the beaches, then eventually drove up to Westport where it became a ghost town after Saturday lunchtime and it rained buckets (and most of the night spent awaiting football text messages, confirming that last chance saloon was to stay open for another week).

After meandering through Arthur's Pass and visiting another couple of villages we set off for Akaroa, via Barry's Bay cheese factory, meeting part of the production team (Daisy). We enjoyed a couple of nights of cheese and wine before packing our bags, saying goodbye to fine wine, food and scenery, to leave Christchurch airport - bound for Hong Kong.

# posted by William and Lucinda @ 9:14 am 4 comments