Another thing that was on my must do list before leaving New Zealand was to explore one of the Glaciers. So we headed to Franz Josef where at the last minute Andrea & Silke decided they would come along as well since it was our last adventure together. The weather was a little better than the couple of days before but still pretty wet but that wasn't going to stop us....as you can see from the warning signs they certainly want to get the message over to people that it is not safe to go exploring here on your own without a guide - stupidly some people still do and end up having to be rescued or worse!!!
Some nice views as we walk up the glacier.
Some steep climbs up the ice stairs that the guides were out early re-cutting due to the heavy rain. This is the first time I had ever worn crampons - well I normally prefer walking in warm climates :-)
Looking a bit soggy on our last big adventure together.
Was a little strange to find this colourful rock on the ice - no idea how it got there.
And just typical after we got back to the town the weather cleared up and the sun came out - well in time for sunset anyway...
As it was our last night together we went out for a bite to eat - Andrea was presented with a Kiwi to join her on the rest of her travels as she didn't have a travel mascot.
Some beautiful scenery on my first & only bus journey in New Zealand as I travelled back to Christchurch.
I had booked a Hot Air Balloon for the morning after I got back to Christchurch as it is something I have always wanted to do and I had seen some beautiful photo's of ballooning over the Canterbury Plains but I wasn't holding my breath as there hadn't been one in over a week due to the weather. So up I got at 4am and made the call to be told I would be getting picked up at 4.40 - so I quietly got ready and off we went - only for the pilot to decide it wasn't happening as the wind was too rough!!! So back to Christchurch and I spent the day wandering around the city and of course taking photographs - here some people are enjoying a game of chess....
A big flower festival was just finishing up in town so a lot of the public buildings had some nice displays on.
Everywhere you go in New Zealand you see loads of old classic cars being driven around.
School uniforms......
I thought this was a cute little car......
Another to the point warning sign......
But it looked like someone didn't pay attention......
This Dyslexic trust had some really interesting sculptures outside drawing attention to it.
The Memorial Arch at Remembrance Bridge. So off to bed I went after this as I was up again at 4am the next morning on my last day in New Zealand to see if I was getting on my balloon ride....
And it was worth the second early morning as I got my Hot Air Balloon ride over the Canterbury Plains just outside of Christchurch. We get there and have to help set up the balloons which was fun.
I loved this it was peaceful and even though not the clearest days the views were still spectacular and I can now tick off Hot Air Ballooning from my 'must do' list It was a great way to spend not only my last day in New Zealand but the last day of my first year of travelling.
It was also fun - but hard work getting the balloon back down and onto the trailer at the back of the bus.
A glass of champagne was given out to celebrate the balloon ride - which is seemingly a tradition with ballooning!! I had a sip but no surprises when I tell you I passed it on to someone else to finish....some things haven't changed!!
And sadly Chom Poo Moo and I said goodbye to New Zealand and got on the plane for our 36 hour or so journey home!!
Chom Poo Moo was excited to arrive in Glasgow for the first time and to meet all her friends and family here. She didn't have long to wait as I bumped into Kenny,who I used to work with, at baggage claim and then Alice who kindly came to pick me up.
As you can see the last few weeks of my travels around New Zealand were pretty action packed and I loved it. Here are a few things that I will always remember about New Zealand:-
- One of the most beautiful countries I have been to - every drive could have lasted for hours as I loved the spectacular scenery (some did due to the number of photo stops).
- Kiwi's are crazy - if there is some mad, dangerous & fun thing that is not yet invented I am sure the Kiwi's will come up with it. But I enjoyed taking part in a few of these.
- The people here are more reserved than the Ozzies but they are friendly and helpful - someone described it to me as Australians are a little more towards the Americans (more upfront/have a nice day etc) whilst the Kiwi's are more like the British (wait for a reason to speak to you but happy to chat away once they have an introduction of some sort).
- Mountains, Volcanoes, Rainforrests, Lakes, Coastline, Glaciers, Rivers, Fjords/Sounds, Waterfalls - not in many places could you visit such a wide range of environments in a relatively short time.
- Sheep....35 million or so......
- Seals, Sea Lions, Penguins, Dolphins & Whales, Glow Worms, Hawks, Shags, Fantails and numerous other types of birds and dead Possums (the only one's we saw were Road Kill which the locals love as they are not a native animal and as there are so many of them they are killing the forrests).
- National Parks - you can't seem to drive a couple of hours without passing another National Park/Reserve. More than a third of the country is protected environment and it is set up for people to enjoy but look after.
- Though it doesn't have the history and 'culture' that Europe has they are working hard at keeping the Maori culture alive and educating both local people and travellers with access to villages etc. There may still be a lot of room for improvement here for race relations/equality and resolving some of the historic conflicts over land but it seems more progress has been made here than with the Australian Aboriginals.
- Getting through a lot of things on my 'Must Do' List - Swimming with Dolphins & Hot Air Ballooning being 2 of them - though most have just moved to the 'Must Do Again' List.
- This was a different way for me to travel, having our own transport gave us lots of freedom to do what we liked - there were of course the frustrations of having to compromise and living on top of each other for a couple of months which were to be expected (especailly given we had all been travelling pretty much on our own up till now) but overall when I look back on this I will remember the laughs, sillyness and fun that we had.
I can't believe I am actually back in Scotland and it is now over a year since I left. In some ways it seems like yesterday and then in others when I look back at my blog at some of the things I have done/places I have been they seem so long ago.
Everyone keeps asking what my favourite countries/places things are - and to be honest I can't answer that - there has been so many highlights to this trip I would have to do a full blog update just to list them - so where would I start!!! I loved every country for different reasons - people, scenery, history, the chaos, the things I could do, food, etc etc.....
Has it been Life Changing - I can't say that it has - well not in the big sense anyway. To date I haven't made any life changing decisions or realisations. All I can say is that I have had the best year ever - I feel much happier, healthier, certainly less stressed, more like my old fun loving self than I did before I left and that in itself is a good thing - I am sure when I look back in years to come I will see some changes in myself which I will be able to attribute to this trip but for now all I can say is bring on the next part of my journey.....
Yep you have guessed it I have booked my flight and I am off to the US on Wed 25th March - I am going to visit a few friends and see where I end up from there. I will be back home either when I run out of money or the desire to keep going - any guesses as to which one will come first???
Bye for now....
Jack xx
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