Anyway, back to what i've intended to talk about are my travels around the south island with my friend Capri! We started out on the 21st of November from Palmy Airport. Now this has to have been the EASIEST PLANE JOURNEY IN MY LIFE. All we did was hand over our luggage, wait a little while and stroll onto the plane. No checks, no scanners, barely any waiting or walking. Felt way too relaxed. Definately a different flying experience. On the plane me and Capri enjoyed mucking about and looking out the window, trying to guess where we were on the map she had on her, and in no time we had arrived at Christchurch Airport.
Messing about In Christchurch Airport!
So from there we went to SoHotel just outside the square found in the christchurch town centre. Probably the coolest hotel i've been to. It had mood lighting in the rooms, a function to plug in your mp3 player to play in the room, a cool wake up function, a lovely flatscreen. The best thing is that the 4 nights that we stayed there were all free, thanks to capri winning a competition with the local travel agent "hitch". So we were both in heaven in our hotel room but we got up to lots of things while we were in Christchuirch including, punting on the river Avon, Tram riding, Gondola riding, Market going, shopping, art galleries, museums.
The best night however was when we went to the Diwali celebrations in the Square. It was fantastic1 I got some lovely butter chicken, the dancing was awesome too. It really made me want to watch some Bollywood movies right there and then! After that we headed to the hotel and did some dancing of our own. We went with the alcohol flow and stalked randoms to see where all the clubs were. Just down by the avon were about 3 in a row. I remember dancing to Lady Gaga A LOT aswell as P!nk. Lots of fun.
(Other interesting things that eve include a unicyclist chasing Capri, a free huge can of V along with the discovery of a bicycle in the river!!)
Our travels then lead us to the city of Dunedin, which is basically a minature Scotland in New Zealand! I heard bagpipes on multiple occasions, they have a big statue of Robert Burns in the square and a "Scottish shop" too. We stayed at a nice backpackers called "Kiwi House" which although the owner was lovely, you could tell she would go after your ass if you stepped out of line. We got up to lots of things here too including; camping in a park, couchsurfing with Jackie (a woman we met randomly in the street), museuming it up, going to the steepest street and to the gardens and aviary.
While in Dunedin, we were figuring out how to get to somewhere else... Either by hitchhiking (i happy to say i am and i'm still a hitchhiking virgin) or going on another nakedbus (which doesn't involve being naked thankfully...
But luckily we were in luck as Capri had met Wil, a guy also travelling around New Zealand while at a bar on one of the nights we were in Dunedin. So once we got a hold of him he was lovely enough to take us around a lot of the Island in his car. (Thanks again Wil!)
While with Wil, we managed to travel the coast along the Catlins camping at various locations and seeing some gorgeous scenery! We managed to see rare yellow eyed penguins in the wild along with a seal that had just gave birth! Amazing!
We then went to Invercargill to freshen up at a hostel for an evening before heading off to the Burt Munro challenge which was happening at a local town nearby! (Info On Burt Munro) Then we headed to Te Anau where we decided to take a hike through the Fiordlands. I don't think I was the best prepared person for a 3 day hike, but I think i managed to hold up after hours of hiking through the rain over horrible tree roots and huge pools of cold water. Ugh! So glad I managed to do it though! But after three days of not having had a shower I was glad at the same time as being sad to go to Queenstown on the 3rd day. I had to say my goodbyes to Capri and Wil at the shelter then get a water taxi over the lake to Queenstown where I did some exploration and shopping until I left to come back home to Palmy.
Now that i'm back I notice how crap I look and how badly I feel after all the travelling. Not the best way to greet my parents tomorrow in Wellington, but oh wells.
However I can celebrate in knowing that i've passed all of my exams!!! and can now fully enjoy the rest of my travels with my family!
Love to Everyone back home!
Miss you! (and if I don't get a chance to say it again, have a lovely Xmas!)
P.S. Also Check out my pal Capri's blog HERE to see her entries about our adventures!
P.P.S If you're reading of facebook press view orginal post!
Blair Xxx
