We picked up our medicals and had a brief examination, the fact that I had a slight elevation in bilirubin was nothing to be worried about the doctor assured me, and we dropped our results in the large wooden box at the immigration office a few blocks away. The day before we had looked at a few houses on our way through Ashburton and were a bit concerned by what we saw. There were only 3 bedroom places available, nothing furnished, and without exception they were all in a state of disrepair. The walls of wooden
planking with flimsy doors and ill-fitting single glazed windows set the scene that was completed with threadbare carpets, grungy bathrooms and pitiful kitchens. It is a mystery why such houses are built (and the general structure is certainly representative of the region) when the weather is far from tropical, a heat pump or wood burner providing the sole heat source in a whole house. It was with trepidation we headed for a second afternoon of viewing but thankfully had seen a place on trademe (the kiwi ebay equivalent)
which turned out to be a nice little 2 bed flat with small courtyard and newly fitted out, just what we had been after and sure enough we snapped it up. That little job done, we set off for Queenstown with the plan being to hook up with the boys again for some white water rafting. The clouds hung low and gray as we passed through McKenzie country until we drew close to Lake Tekapo where the sun illuminated this ridiculously blue body of water. As ever we found a spectacular place to pull up by the water and settled in for the night
glass of wine in hand. The next day we arrived in town after completing a more boring 4 hour stint and were greeted by a spectacular lake fronted with the aptly named Remarkable mountain range. Phil and Tim had a contact and despite none of us having ever met her, Jill put us up in her flat for the next couple of nights, showing us the drinking establishments in the process. We had booked to raft the Shotover river on our only full day in town and after a minibus ride reminiscent of Nepal, we arrived at the put in
point dressed in thick wetsuits and yellow helmets. One safety briefing later and our raft of 6, led by a Greg, a Kiwi who smelled rather strongly of the previous nights intake, set off down river. None of us knew quite what to expect but while fun and a great way to see the narrow gorge, the rapids proved a bit tame and few and far between. Back on dry land Tim set off for his bungee jump, the infamous Nevis, while the rest of us kept our adrenaline levels raised with a round of frisbee golf!
The following day, morning having been written off to a hangover, the final van convoy took us to Arrowtown and shockingly enough our first proper NZ pie. Our bellies satisfied, Amy and I then parted company from the boys and made our way into the Fiordland national Park, spending the night hiding from the sandflies on the banks on Lake Manapouri. We had um-ed and err-ed about which of the Sounds to visit and how to see them and in the end plumped for a 3 day, 2 night trip in Doubtful Sound to kick things off. We left Manapouri, cruising across its lake an
d arrived at the hydroelectric power station at its west arm. After a quick tour of this underground station, something out of a James bond set, a bus took us over to Deep Cove on a completely isolated road where we dumped our bags at the hostel before heading onto the cruise boat for a 3 hour journey around the entire sound. We had heard Doubtfull was not as instantly
impressive as Milford but the scale was still immense and the sense of isolation complete, after all, unless you sail your own boat here the trip we were on was pretty much the only way to visit and the hostel the only accommodation on land. the sky was a rich blue, the tree clad slopes bright
green and the commentary from the nature guide actually very interesting. Having reached the group of rocks guarding the entrance to the Tasman sea, a colony of seals basking on the exposed rocky platforms, we turned round and 3 hours after leaving arrived back at Deep Cove. The hostel is set up as an education centre for school children and generally sees few visitors. We brought the total up to 5 including the warden who used to shoot deer from helicopters
(part of the national culling strategy)! Large signs warned to keep doors closed to prevent the native Kia (the only breed of alpine parrot) from destroying the place, and screens made sure that we were not bothered by the pesky sandfly. After an early night we were up early to climb the slope above us. We had not expected an easy walk but the "path" turned out to be little more than a line of orange markers following a seemingly
untrodden line up a ridiculously steep slope covered in dense, moss covered undergrowth. We ended up needing to use our hands and arms just as much as our feet and legs! The view at the top was more than worth the effort and a better spot for a much needed lunch you could not find. The soun
d extended out in front of us while the peaks soared up past our level topped with fluffy clouds in a blue sky. There was no sign of any human influence and you could be forgiven for thinking of this as some kind of primeval land as yet undiscovered. Just as we started to pack up, a group of 5 Kia raucously announced their arrival and looked on inquisitively as we made our slippery descent. Needless to say, neither of us could walk properly the next day (or the one after that), our legs reminding us that they were somewhat out of practice.
It did not matter too much however as, after returning to civilisation and stopping in Te Anau for some deservedly recommended pies, we slowly made our way toward Milford for a 3 hour nature cruise booked the next day. This drive is described as a destination in itself and we could not have agreed more. The sun continued to shine, amazing for what is touted as one of the
wettest places on earth, and the mountains slowly crept up on us as the farmland diminished giving way to lush flood plains and narrow valleys. Moving deeper, we wound our way over glacial streams, past fields of wild-flowers, along side towering cliffs and among parked up
for the night with one of the best views yet. There is always a down side and in this case the sandflies again came out in force, confining us to the van which we hot-boxed with repellent coils. It was worth braving the bugs for a few photos and I escaped with only a few incredibly itchy bites around the ankles! The cruise was all we had expected, Milford Sound is narrower and the land
steeper making your insignificance obvious and is in no way detracted by the number of boats on the water. In fact, the other boats actually allowed you to get a better impression of scale as they were dwarfed by the surrounding peaks, Mitre Peak towering above them all. W
e were in no rush and so once back on dry land, our legs having eased enough to allow less painful walking, we trekked up to Lake Marian, its crystal clear waters surrounded by a bowl of shear cliff faces. After another night spent hiding from our evil biting nemesis we walked up to Key Summit though unfortunately the views were obscured by the cloud which was flowing along the valley and over
the summit. This quickly cleared as we slowly made our way across the green farmland to Queenstown where we filled up on fish and chips before stopping just short of Glenorchy. We were then onto our final day before the trip back to Ashburton and made the most of it
by testing the vans ability to ford streams and walk up to an old mining works. We had to retrace our steps towards Tekapo, by far the most direct route, but did take the opportunity to explore some of the unsealed roads to add a bit of variation. Stopping for lunch in Twizel allowed us to make some calls and send a fax through to immigration regarding our still-to-be-received working
holiday visas and by Friday night of January 29th we were camped out on the beach just east of Ashburton ready to move into our flat the following morning and so commence the return to domestication.
We picked up our medicals and had a brief examination, the fact that I had a slight elevation in bilirubin was nothing to be worried about the doctor assured me, and we dropped our results in the large wooden box at the immigration office a few blocks away. The day before we had looked at a few houses on our way through Ashburton and were a bit concerned by what we saw. There were only 3 bedroom places available, nothing furnished, and without exception they were all in a state of disrepair. The walls of wooden 
planking with flimsy doors and ill-fitting single glazed windows set the scene that was completed with threadbare carpets, grungy bathrooms and pitiful kitchens. It is a mystery why such houses are built (and the general structure is certainly representative of the region) when the weather is far from tropical, a heat pump or wood burner providing the sole heat source in a whole house. It was with trepidation we headed for a second afternoon of viewing but thankfully had seen a place on trademe (the kiwi ebay equivalent) 
which turned out to be a nice little 2 bed flat with small courtyard and newly fitted out, just what we had been after and sure enough we snapped it up. That little job done, we set off for Queenstown with the plan being to hook up with the boys again for some white water rafting. The clouds hung low and gray as we passed through McKenzie country until we drew close to Lake Tekapo where the sun illuminated this ridiculously blue body of water. As ever we found a spectacular place to pull up by the water and settled in for the night 
glass of wine in hand. The next day we arrived in town after completing a more boring 4 hour stint and were greeted by a spectacular lake fronted with the aptly named Remarkable mountain range. Phil and Tim had a contact and despite none of us having ever met her, Jill put us up in her flat for the next couple of nights, showing us the drinking establishments in the process. We had booked to raft the Shotover river on our only full day in town and after a minibus ride reminiscent of Nepal, we arrived at the put in 
point dressed in thick wetsuits and yellow helmets. One safety briefing later and our raft of 6, led by a Greg, a Kiwi who smelled rather strongly of the previous nights intake, set off down river. None of us knew quite what to expect but while fun and a great way to see the narrow gorge, the rapids proved a bit tame and few and far between. Back on dry land Tim set off for his bungee jump, the infamous Nevis, while the rest of us kept our adrenaline levels raised with a round of frisbee golf!
The following day, morning having been written off to a hangover, the final van convoy took us to Arrowtown and shockingly enough our first proper NZ pie. Our bellies satisfied, Amy and I then parted company from the boys and made our way into the Fiordland national Park, spending the night hiding from the sandflies on the banks on Lake Manapouri. We had um-ed and err-ed about which of the Sounds to visit and how to see them and in the end plumped for a 3 day, 2 night trip in Doubtful Sound to kick things off. We left Manapouri, cruising across its lake an
d arrived at the hydroelectric power station at its west arm. After a quick tour of this underground station, something out of a James bond set, a bus took us over to Deep Cove on a completely isolated road where we dumped our bags at the hostel before heading onto the cruise boat for a 3 hour journey around the entire sound. We had heard Doubtfull was not as instantly
impressive as Milford but the scale was still immense and the sense of isolation complete, after all, unless you sail your own boat here the trip we were on was pretty much the only way to visit and the hostel the only accommodation on land. the sky was a rich blue, the tree clad slopes bright 
green and the commentary from the nature guide actually very interesting. Having reached the group of rocks guarding the entrance to the Tasman sea, a colony of seals basking on the exposed rocky platforms, we turned round and 3 hours after leaving arrived back at Deep Cove. The hostel is set up as an education centre for school children and generally sees few visitors. We brought the total up to 5 including the warden who used to shoot deer from helicopters 
(part of the national culling strategy)! Large signs warned to keep doors closed to prevent the native Kia (the only breed of alpine parrot) from destroying the place, and screens made sure that we were not bothered by the pesky sandfly. After an early night we were up early to climb the slope above us. We had not expected an easy walk but the "path" turned out to be little more than a line of orange markers following a seemingly 
untrodden line up a ridiculously steep slope covered in dense, moss covered undergrowth. We ended up needing to use our hands and arms just as much as our feet and legs! The view at the top was more than worth the effort and a better spot for a much needed lunch you could not find. The soun
d extended out in front of us while the peaks soared up past our level topped with fluffy clouds in a blue sky. There was no sign of any human influence and you could be forgiven for thinking of this as some kind of primeval land as yet undiscovered. Just as we started to pack up, a group of 5 Kia raucously announced their arrival and looked on inquisitively as we made our slippery descent. Needless to say, neither of us could walk properly the next day (or the one after that), our legs reminding us that they were somewhat out of practice.
It did not matter too much however as, after returning to civilisation and stopping in Te Anau for some deservedly recommended pies, we slowly made our way toward Milford for a 3 hour nature cruise booked the next day. This drive is described as a destination in itself and we could not have agreed more. The sun continued to shine, amazing for what is touted as one of the 
wettest places on earth, and the mountains slowly crept up on us as the farmland diminished giving way to lush flood plains and narrow valleys. Moving deeper, we wound our way over glacial streams, past fields of wild-flowers, along side towering cliffs and among parked up 
for the night with one of the best views yet. There is always a down side and in this case the sandflies again came out in force, confining us to the van which we hot-boxed with repellent coils. It was worth braving the bugs for a few photos and I escaped with only a few incredibly itchy bites around the ankles! The cruise was all we had expected, Milford Sound is narrower and the land 
steeper making your insignificance obvious and is in no way detracted by the number of boats on the water. In fact, the other boats actually allowed you to get a better impression of scale as they were dwarfed by the surrounding peaks, Mitre Peak towering above them all. W
e were in no rush and so once back on dry land, our legs having eased enough to allow less painful walking, we trekked up to Lake Marian, its crystal clear waters surrounded by a bowl of shear cliff faces. After another night spent hiding from our evil biting nemesis we walked up to Key Summit though unfortunately the views were obscured by the cloud which was flowing along the valley and over 
the summit. This quickly cleared as we slowly made our way across the green farmland to Queenstown where we filled up on fish and chips before stopping just short of Glenorchy. We were then onto our final day before the trip back to Ashburton and made the most of it 
by testing the vans ability to ford streams and walk up to an old mining works. We had to retrace our steps towards Tekapo, by far the most direct route, but did take the opportunity to explore some of the unsealed roads to add a bit of variation. Stopping for lunch in Twizel allowed us to make some calls and send a fax through to immigration regarding our still-to-be-received working 
holiday visas and by Friday night of January 29th we were camped out on the beach just east of Ashburton ready to move into our flat the following morning and so commence the return to domestication.
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