Kayaking and Glacier Trekking

Milford Sound is a really beautiful place in the south west of the south island. It comes just off the sea and is surrounded by huge mountains. The majority of tourists explore the sound by cruise ship but we decided to do the trip by kayak instead. This turned out to be a brilliant decision! Not only did we get to spend twice as long in the sound as the cruise ships but we also got to get up close to all the beautiful waterfalls, rocks, beaches and wildlife. It was also so peaceful on the water and we got to spend lots of time just admiring the scenery. Possibly the most special moment was when a sealion came to the kayak and was swimming around us!

The only downside to kayaking was the ridiculous outfit we had to wear. We weren't allowed to wear cotton or denim in case we capsized which meant we had to wear the thermal clothing they supplied including a pair of thermal leggings and a long sleeved thermal top, both in the very flattering shade of blue and red stripes. We then had to put a 'skirt' on over the top which fitted over the cockpit of the kayak, followed by a bright yellow life jacket. Lets just say, we didn't exactly look our best that day!

Milford Sound has an average of 250 days of rain a year, so we were extremely lucky to have a gorgeous sunny day which was quite warm too, for New Zealand. The rain apparently causes the water to become almost black but as the sun was shining the water was really clear which meant we could see sea life including star fish and sea urchins on the rocks under the water. We spent the whole day kayaking the sound and it was amazing. The views were stunning and putting that extra effort to enjoy it by kayak was so worth it.


We then had to drive back through Queenstown to get to the next stop, the mountains usually mean you have to take big detours to get from one place to the next. We stopped here for a break and a game of crazy golf which was great fun, and I of course won! I think it must in the genes! Then we headed to Wanaka where it rained, a lot, so we just took a walk around Lake Wanaka and then got back on the road to our next stop, Fox Glacier.

Fox Glacier is a small town built next to a huge glacier which we took it upon ourselves to trek on! We had planned to do this for a while and I don't think I really had considered I would actually spend the day walking on a solid block of ice. Its pretty obvious I guess but just didn't realise until I was climbing on to it just what I'd let myself in for! We were taken by a guide in a group of about nine, firstly on one and a half hours trekking up hill to get to the glacier. It was quite a spectacular sight! We then kitted ourselves out with sturdy walking boots, cramp-ons (spikes to attach to the bottom of the boots) and walking sticks before climbing onto the ice. There are no walking paths on the glacier so the guide was cutting out steps in the ice with a pick axe along the way so that we could climb up and over the ice. It was pretty treacherous at times, especially as it was all up and down with huge water filled holes and big gaps in the ice, one slip could be disastrous! All was well though and we all did really well considering we were trekking for about 6 hours. As you can imagine it was pretty cold but not too bad as long as we kept moving. Stopping for lunch was the worst as not only was it pretty cold but it started to rain too so we didn't stop long before carrying on with the trek. We were pretty exhausted by the end of the day but it was an amazing day and such an achievement, how many people can say they've trekked across a glacier?! After a hot shower we were back in the car where we drove through Franz Joseph, the neighbouring glacier and on to Hokitika where we spent the night as I was pretty tired from the long walk and the long drive! The following morning we continued, on an excellent drive along the coast before reaching Westport where we had a lazy afternoon watching DVD's in the van to recover from the day before. The next day we went on a horse ride along the Buller River and the beach which was brilliant and after that we continued our journey inland to Hanmer Springs. Here we spent the night before spending around 6 hours the following day enjoying the amazing hot springs. They were over 100 years old and made all from natural hot springs. The pools varied from 28 degrees to 41 degrees which was so nice considering it was a cold day (although getting out again was pretty bad as they are all outdoors!). It was especially nice as it got dark as you could see all the steam rising off the water and the coloured lights gave a great atmosphere. It was such a lazy day but great all the same.

Next we went back across to the East Coast where I had trip booked in Kaikoura which was unfortunately cancelled. Due to lack of time we decided not to wait till the next day and to move on to Nelson from which we could take a day trip out to Abel Tasman National Park. Abel Tasman was really beautiful with many secluded beaches and amazing views. We walked there for about 4 hours along the coast. It was a beautiful sunny day again so the walk was really lovely. At the end of the day we headed back toward Bleinheim where we stopped the night, taking a slight detour through Stoke! We are now in Picton and heading to the north island today by ferry. Apparently its not as nice as the south island so I'm sad to be leaving but there's lots of good stuff to do in the north so it should be great anyway.