North Island
As I was flying in to land at Aukland airport, I was awestruck by the vivid green colour of the At Rotorua I also fulfilled an ambition to partake in a more challenging white water rafting expedition. This time on the Kaituna River - a grade VI rafting river, the wildest in rafting terms, probably due to the seven metre Okere Falls, which you raft over. The Kaituna, then had the largest drop distance in the world, for any commercially rafted river. It was so high, that as we approached the edge of the waterfall, we were unable to see the wide pool of water which stretched out below, before the river continued to run its course. Thankfully, we all managed to stay aboard the raft. I had held on for grim life, being adamant that I was not going to be the one to fall out! However, I will admit to going overboard after a serious of wild rapids further downstream, and it took me all my strength to haul myself back on board the raft before we reached the next stretch of white water.
I also attempted to find my way in to the centre of the Fairbank Maze, the largest hedge maze in New Zealand, but after spending more than an hour trying to get there, I have to admit that I cheated, (don't tell anyone!). In Roturua, you can also try your hand at zorbing, although, it isn't recommended if you have a hangover, which is why I missed out!
There are two ways of travelling from Wellington, in the North Island, to Picton in the South Island. The first is by ferry and takes about four hours, and the second is by a six seater aeroplane, which takes half an hour, and costs the same price as the boat. Going by my past experiences with boats, I decided to opt for the latter. Unfortunately, it was a windy and cloudy day, (I don't think it's ever not windy and cloudy in Wellington), and this meant I was in for a very rough and turbulent ride. Thankfully, I have a much better head for flying than for sailing, and I was able to enjoy the fantastic aerial view of green mountain scenery, as we approached the South Island.
rolling landscape, even with the cloudy grey sky. Aukland then hit me as a depressing, grey city, reminiscent of Glasgow, and it did not take me long to depart for the countryside. My first impression of New Zealand was renowned however, as I started out on my northerly journey towards the scenic Bay of Islands surrounding Piahia harbour. 
My first mission, was jet-boating, and I carefully rigged myself out in the necessary gear, which I hoped would prevent me from drowning should I happen to fall out of the boat. In between white knuckle thrill, our driver would stop the boats engine, to narrate stories of Mauri legends, from the days of Captain Cook. The weather was remarkably mild for the beginning of winter, and I spent the day being whizzed around the beautiful islands, as well as through the middle of a rock, which had a hole in it large enough for our boat to pass through at speed, which amused our skipper no end. On dry land again, I headed further north, through the ancient Waipua Kauri forests. Kauri trees, are forest giants, and can have tree has a trunks up to five metres in diameter.
I did intend to make the trip to Cape Regina, the most northerly tip of New Zealand, however the weather deteriorate rapidy, and I decided to change direction and head for Rororua, a fantastic place of discovery for all things geothermal, including the pungent smell of sulphur emanating from orifices all over the ground. The backpackers I stayed in even had a hot spa bath, which captured the naturally hot spring water form the ground. After a couple of days, I had grown accustomed to the smell, and was having a tremendous time exploring some of the various volcanic areas. The geothermal activity around Rotorua, gives the landscape a dramatic visual impact, with the blue, green, red and yellow hues of the mineral terraces, set off against clouds of rising steam from craters and blowholes. I was snap happy again, and used up many rolls of film here, which I have been able to gain appreciation from my friends for. I swam in an open air natural mineral pool, (39oC), and I had to get out because my body was too hot. The temperature of the outside air was twelve degrees and my face was freezing, but, I found it too tiring to swim in the hot water!
There are a number highly acitve thermal areas around Rotorua, and I visited most of them. Tikitere, has the largest hot thermal waterfall in the southern hemisphere as well as mud pools, and a mud volcano. At the Waimangu Volcanic Valley you can see the Waimangu Cauldron, (a pale blue lake which steams away at 53oC)and at Waiotapo, you can view numerous interesting features such as the large, boiling Champagne pool, or the Lady Knox geyser, which erupts with punctually at 10:15 a.m. every day.
I reluctantly hauled myself away from the playground at Rotorua, and made my way past Lake Taupo, and on to Wellington, where I indulged daily in a large bowl of porridge for brekkie. Aside from the cable car ride to the Carter Observatory and Botanic Gardens, I also visited the amazing Te Papa museum, where I spent a whole day. This is the national museum of New Zealand, and has an extensive Maori collection, as well as an impressive natural history display, which houses extinct species like the giant Moa bird, whose legs were taller than my whole body. Many of the exhibits are interactive, and there is a unique future zone, which has several attractions, including a simulated journey through the land of the dinosaurs, and a virtual bungee jump, which gave me a much bigger adrenalin rush than I anticipated.
The virtual bungee, involved wearing a virtual headset, and having my ankles wrapped as if I were about to take the plunge for real. There was no avoiding the scene being displayed in front of my eyes, which showed my feet edging forwards to the edge of a plank, high above a river. My bound feet, were forced to move on the pads upon which I was standing, and upon hearing the "3- 2-1 BUNGEE!" 
command, the last thing I expected was to be flipped upside down and have the pressure intensified on my ankles, as I rapidly approached the ground. When I reached the end of the rope, the pressure on my ankles was released to make it feel like I was being catapulted back up as I watched the ground become more distant. I approached the end on the rope again, and once more the pressure on my ankles was intensified. The virtual jump did not end there, and I had to hang upside down, bouncing on the end of the rope, while I waited to be lowered in to the boat waiting for me. The virtual bungee, was stimulated from a real jump off Skippers Canyon Bridge, which towers seventy-one metres above the Shotover River, near Queenstown. I felt so giddy and disorientated when I was unstrapped, that I actually felt like I had done the jump for real, and I walked off in an adrenaline daze.
After spending an enjoyable couple of days in the small village of Picton, I set off do my next destination, Kaikoura. Kaikoura, is a beautiful little village, situated on the East coast of the South Island, better known as the best spot on the planet to see whales. So off I went, rugged up in lots of warm clothes, and armed with spools of film, on a special boat, equipped with hydrophones, to pick up the sound of whales below the surface. It turned out, that we had a tremendous day for spotting these large creatures of the deep, as normally in one outing, only one or two whales can be observed, but when I went, we spotted seven giant sperm whales. At one point, as we all took our seats, there was a gasp from someone in the boat, as the sperm whale which had just disappeared resurfaced, and launched its entire body out of the water, parallel with our boat. The boat, was about fifty feet long, not small by any means, however it was dwarfed by the magnificent creature alongside us, which created a huge splash as it belly-flopped back in to the ocean. Apparently, it is a very rare sight to see a whole whale out of the water, and after we had witnessed it, there was little excitement at the splash of the tale, typical of the other whales as they dived deep underwater.
There a number of excellent walking tracks around Kaikoura, although I did not tackle any of the longer ones, mainly because the first snow falls had hit the mountain ranges. I did, however, manage to motivate myself to walk around the peninsula. During which time, I was able to see some of the rare, Hector's dolphins, which visit the area, as well a whole colony of seals, which were lying on a shingle beach beside the car park where I began my walk. I also came across a playful young seal further on, and it seemed to be performing for me, which of course meant I had to sit and watch it for half an hour. Upon returning to the backpackers, I laid myself up with a mug of hot chocolate and planned my the next leg of my journey, to Dunedin.
Dunedin, (the Celtic name for Edinburgh), was founded by Scottish settlers, and is vaguely resemblant of the Scotish capital, theough on a smaller scale. It was certainly rainy enough to be compared to Edinburgh, but one obivous difference was the presence of a yellow-eyed penguin colony on the nearbly Otago Peninsula. As far as I know, the only penguins in Edinburgh are in the zoo. What I did particularly enjoy, was the multitude of little Scottish shops, which sold tablet and other Scottish confectionery, which I had been craving since I had left home, over a year before. I also appreciated the pints of Tennants which I managed to force down me, not that I ever had gone short on beer! I stayed with a few friends in Dunedin, which was particularly good for the reason that I did not get woken by other backpackers at the crack of dawn every day, and I was able to get out of bed, having slept off any after effects of the preceding night. Desperate to get to Milford Sound while the weather was holding out, I departed from Dunedin, and made the spectacular journey across country.
At no point in New Zealand, is the scenery monotonous, however the beauty of the drive approaching Milford Sound astounded me, and explained why this fjord, is New Zealands most famous destination. When I arrived at Milford, I boarded a ferry, and accompanied by other travellers, made the scenic journey around the fjord, formed thousands of years ago by glaciation. The fabulous snowcapped Metre Peak, towered above the water, its image mirrored in the calm waters, which reflecting all the sheer peaks surronding the fjord. There were hundreds of captivating waterfalls running down the steep rock faces surrounding the Sound, and yes, I took photos of them all! There was a pod of dolphins, playing around the waves created by our boat, and there were a few seals dotted around the rocks. As we made our way back, the mist rolled in suddenly, and we were no longer able to see the edges of the Sound.
After Milford Sound, I travelled north, until I reached Queenstown, the capital of New Zealand winter sports. I was planning on looking for work in Queenstown, but on realising how many other travellers were planning to do the same, I decided to kickback and let the money take care of itself. (It didn't take long to run low, especially with all the entertainment available in Queenstown! I took a ride in the Skyline Gondola, to the summit of Bob's peak, which overlooks Queenstown, and had a go on the Luge ride, in which you race about a downhill track in a sled-like contraption with wheels. As I was becoming short of cash, I gave the majority of activities a miss, contented enough because I had tried most of them elsewhere on my travels, except white water sledging, for which it was just a touch too cold for even my blue Scottish blood. I decided it was time once more to pack up and go, and I departed towards Fox Glacier, one of the last places on my, "must see" list.
I arrived at Fox Glacier, and immediately found a very homely backpackers, which gave me a good chance to chill out. As it was winter, there were not many other travellers around here, and the backpackers was nearly empty, save for me and a Canadian girl (two idiots from cold countries). We wandered through the terminal moraine of the furthest advance of the glacier, which lay a considerable distance the glaciers current position. No where else in the world at this lattitude, has a glacier advanced so close to the sea. As the sun went down the striking colours of the blue ice, were emphasized by the pink sky, and the views over the glacier, taking in crevaces and seracs, were breathtaking. In New Zealand, when the sun goes down, it gets cold very quickly, and it did not take us long to retreat to the cosy pub at our lodgings. We did manage to venture out at night however, to take a look at the intruiging glow-worm dell, which was situated behind the pub.
Lake Mathieson, is a short walk away from Fox Glacier, and from the opposite side of the lake, you can observe, possibly the most spectacular view ever. Reflected in the still waters of the lake, you can see the snow covered summits of both Mount Cook, and Mount Tasman, with Fox Glacier extending out below. I mean, the postcards looked terrific anyway, because when I embarked on my walk to the other side of the lake, the mountains were covered in fog. It still made for an impressive photograph though. When I tried to book myself in for a helicopter ride to the top of Fox Glacier, and around Mount Cook and Mount Tasman, I was told I would have to wait until the conditions improved, as there were blizzard conditions on the mountains. After waiting for four more days, and watching the weather deteriorate further, I decided to cut my losses and departed for Christchurch, my last port of call.
Slightly miffed, I arrived in Christchurch financially better off, as I had intended on spending my last bucks on my Fox Glacier heli-hike. Instead, I consoled myself with shopping, and of course socialising. My Canadian pal, had accompanied me to Christchurch, and we had a few benders together, the last one of which culminated in her being taken to hospital, in the middle of the night, to have all the alcohol she had drunk, pumped out of her stomach. Meanwhile, I had remained in bed in a comatose state, oblivious of the drama, and I awoke the next day wondering where she had gone. No major damage was done, and I took myself off to the airport to prepare for my departure back to Perth, Australia.
More drama occurred at the airport, as I was stupid enough to pass through customs without taking any cash out of the bank. I thought that I would be able to use my bank card to purchase duty-free by EFT-POS, but I wasn't able to because it was an Australian bank account. Having being refused permission to return past customs, a nice young officer, made the offer of taking out the cash for me, if I trusted him with my card. More fool me I said yes, however this was for two reasons, the first being that I only had twenty four dollars left in my account, and the second that I did not want to return to my beloved in Perth, empty handed. When the customs officer returned with my card, he claimed he could not get any money out, so gathered I had miscalculated and must have spent the last of the money in my account. It was only when I got my bank statement a month later in Perth, that I was able to see that my twenty bucks had been taken out at Christchurch airport, though certainly not by me! Moral of the story - never trust a man in uniform!
