Melbourne, Wollongong and Sydney

12/02
The morning is gone quickly as we have to take a plae at midday so we do a quick shopping in Alice Springs around town then drive to the airport, we dsay bye bye to our fun 4WD then it is a long flight back to Melbourne.
We pick up the new car, the last one here, we will then use public transports, and back to our little hostel in Melbourne. We spent the eve watching tv and I eat lots of nutella!!Naughty me...nice to chill out and do nothing...

13/02
We sped the morning in the Queen Victoria Market, the mother of all Melbourne markets. I leave quiuckly as I decided to do the cheesy Neighbours tour!!Yes!!!! Fab goes to the barber, gets his hair cut, then shops for a bag in the Crumpler factory. I have an OK time, atching the sopa set, meeting some member sof the cast,. seeing the street, the famous Ramsay Street!!How cheesy is that!!!
WWe met aain around 6.30pm whee we leave Melbourne and reach Albury at 11.30pm. Such a logn drive to reac Syden, going to taketwo days....We find a motel as we are too tired to drive more. We need to be in Wollongong at Amy and Dion's on the 14/02. Luckily enough, we get a nice room at discounted price, nice t have a bit of luxury: an esnuite bathroom!!
We reflect on the bushfires, we saw the desolation, the consequences of those horrible fires in the north of Victoria, desolated empty burnt lands, very depressing...

14/02
We leave the motel around 10.30am, drive all day along the Hume Highway. we do a little stopover to see Jervis Bay under the pouring rain, one of the most stunning spot in east coast, white sand and blue water apparently...We found everything grey and it is a bit depressing!! We see some dolhins in the grey sea...nice! We drive off to Wollongong to Amy and Dion's. Amy is a friend of Fab from wor, and she moved back to Oz a year ago. We meeet up with Baby Sofia. We hae an amazing dinner, Dion is a real chef! The house is beautiful and it is nice to be with friends in a home. we are only 82 kilometres south of Sydney.we chat, drink and eat until 2.30am, we talk about travelling, life, baby, Oz, etc. A relaxed time for us!

15/02
We have a good morning, very chilled, we ae being pampered, Dion cooks us some pancakes, with fresh fruits and honey. It is pouring rain again, funny to be in Oz and see so much rain, remindsus of London!! But it feels very tropical here if a little cold. We chat till 2pm, then make our way to Sydney. Was so good to catch up and be in a home, and be looked after!!
It rains the wole journey, we just have time to go and see the Sydney Harbour, the soul of the city. We get a glimpse of the Sydney Opera House, such an icon in Oz and the nice Harbour Bridge, built in 1932. We then drive over the bridge to Tanya and Mike's in an affluent northern suburb, Mosman. Tanya is our friend Cara ' sister, so nice to be welcomed in another home!! It is a beautiful Federation house. We meet up wit the kids, William and Lara then have a nice dinner, finding out more about themselves, their experience of Oz, quite inspiring. Again nice to be with people in a very homely atmosphere.

16/02
We start the day, relaxed, doing our washing machine and chatting with Mike about life here, we then drive off to Bondi Beach. Bondi Beach is one of Australia's most famous beaches and among the world's most well-known beaches!!Funny to go there! Miraculously the weather cleared up on another one of Sydney's icon and we get to see it with a bit of sun...won't last tho!!It is a cool place, shabby chic, a great beach with impressive waves. Lots of surfinghere, surf life saving was started in Australia and the Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club was formed in 1906. We sart the long coastal walk from Bondi to Coogee along the clifftops via Bronte where we have lunch in a lovely cafe. We see may swimming baths, panoramic views, big waves. But is now pouring rain again and badly, we are so wet!We fight with the wind. How funny to be in of the sunniest spot of Oz under the rain! we watch the rain, the sea, we talk about sharks, a shark attacked a surfer here yesterday, almost severing one of his hands. It was one of the first reported attack in 80 years on Bondi!!
The walk back is exhausting, we are wet and a bit fed up!!!We stop over at the skate park (weather cleared up again on Bondi!!!), Fab feels he wants to ride again, nice to watc tem , they are really good! We observe the joggers, there are so many of tem, eery body is fit and healthy, running around the bach, impressve!!!A real cliche but a nice one...people go running before or after wor, the beach lifestyle seems nice. We go back home and have a nice dinner with Tanya and Mike, nice to be with people, to hear about their experience here as expats. Bed time.

17/02
The morning is very relaxed, we have a chat with Mike, then he drops us to the ferry, we ride to the city, it is nice to be on the water, there are great views of the Opera House, the bridge, the harbour, nice. We decide to do a bit more visits ad walk around the Rocks, the site of Sydney's first European settlement, many old buildings, wharves, old pubs...nice walk in an interesting part of town, we learn about the history, the wharf workers, te bubonic plague in 1900, the construction of the bridge. We then walk to the Opera House along the waterside, it is such an amazing building from every angle, there are so many tiles, it feels light, airy and so ahead of its time. Revolutionary really and such an incon in the landscape! We both reflect on how architecture can influence the feel and vibe of a city, defining it deeply. We have a light lunch close to the water, then we take a ferry to Manly, despite the bad weather ad grey clouds. Nice ferr ride, atching the water, the beaches, it is a really nice laid-back suburb with great views of the city, the harbour and apparently an amazing coastal walk to do but we are unlucky and it starts pouring rain so we rush to get the bus and back to Mosman to get our car back. We drive to Epping where our friends Nadia and Keith live. so cool to see them in their place, we spend a great eve, chatting, catching up, remembering our trip to the Cook Islands, Keith bbqued for us and it is great to be together. Late night then off to bed!

18/02
We have a good breakfast and time with Keith, then we drive to Newtown on the way to the airport, it is a nice suburb, edgy, trendy, with many shops and restaurants...a good bohemian vibe...nice litte stop before rushing to jump in a plane, we are now off to Cairns to do our diving course!

The Red Centre

8/02
We go to the airport very early and spend a long time waiting to get in our low cost flight to Alice Springs. Not as much space as previously, my back has been painful for the last few days and the big lady behind me keeps pushing her knees into my seat... pure joy! After 2 and a half hours of flight we land in Alice Springs, the capital city of the Northern Territory, change our watch, the time is different here as the country is so big... get our bags back and get the rented 4WD!! We have been upgraded for free and get a BIG Nissan Patrol!!! We are planning to do lots of tracks as we want to see few sites and leave the sealed roads. Very exciting!! After driving Pepe for a month, Fab is pleased of his new car! We drive to the cheap motel, very old and dated, quite dirty but again we get an upgrade and get a shower in our room. The motel is dirty really, old carpets, dated equipment but it was the cheapest in town and we know why!! We got for a walk in Alice to buy some food and see the town, despite the heat, it is around 39-40 and the sun is really killing us... We stop to buy a hat for Fab and get some fly nets to protect our faces as the flies are MAD and all over the place, hundred of them relentlessly attack us!!
The town of Alice Springs is the product of 19th century pioneers who opened up Australia’s interior. It is supposed to be a modern outback town, the base to explore the region. It is Sunday so everything but tourists shops are closed, we wander around the little streets but our impressions are not great... Many Aboriginal people are in the streets, begging or resting, looking very dirty and poor, a lot of them drunk... The shops seem to be owned by white people and the exploitation of the Aboriginal culture seems very strong... Maybe we are mistaken but it feels like the communities are very separate. We go back to the motel, have a late lunch then decide to drive to explore a bit. We go to the West MacDonnell Range, a mountain range stretching east to west for 400 kilometres around Alice, we drive to Standley Chasm, to see this narrow cleft in the Range. But have to pay to get in... It is owned by some indigenous communities and we will found out that all is about tourism here and making money... People have to find a way to make a living in this vast land... We don’t like having to pay to see some nature, but hey... We go for a little walk, the heat is bad and the flies are crazy, Fab is carrying a bag that is soon covered with flies, we are glad to have the little nets on our faces!!! It is beautiful, the rock formations are red, orange, very impressive with cathedral-height walls, creating a nice passage in the rocks. The colours are strong, ochre, fiery, with beautiful sun reflections. We drive again for a while on sealed and unsealed roads, the landscape around us is glorious, we go to the Ellery Creek Big Hole, a nice waterhole but don’t stop for long, we drive back to Alice and the sunset is amazing, the Ranges offer spectacular scenery with changing colours, the desert is really red and fiery, it is truly beautiful and feels peaceful. I connect a lot with that nature, it feels strong, harsh and intense. Inspiring, also for Fab who takes many pictures, we reflect on the significance of the land, on the Aboriginal culture, how the people are the custodians of the territory... We both want to find out about their culture but not sure how as everything seems to be touristy and not really authentic... I like the idea that they connect spiritually with their places, how it is feeding their arts... So different from what we have seen and the physical state of the people we saw today... We found out that the town has a massive problem with alcoholism and domestic violence, apparently mainly in the Aboriginal communities. It has now being declared a DRY TOWN! It is illegal to consume alcohol in public within the town boundaries except in bars or hotel... The take away purchases of alcohol is also restricted... All that to make the city safer... The heat is still on, it is now 8.30, it is probably 30 degres, we were hoping for a cool evening but that is not the case. A bit of food, we chat to a Spanish couple who came to Australia for a research project on penguins we tell them about NZ. We then get ready for tomorrow as the drive to Kings Canyon will be unsealed and we need to be ready for the big outback adventure... very exciting!!

9\02
We wake up early and manage to leave the hotel around 8.30, it is already 31 degres and very dry, we first drive to Hermannsburg to get our travel permit to drive onto Aboriginal lands. It is a small village, with an historical element, it used to be a Lutherian mission and one of the first ‘towns’ in the region, we see some missionary houses and get the permit to drive on the Meerenie Loop which winds west from Alice to Wattarka National Park (Kings Canyon). The morning is a real adventure, driving on unsealed roads, seeing rugged mountains, the desert is greener here, we are both surpised expecting it to be very dry. We will find out later tat there has been some rains, the flora is quick to develop and it is very green, arid type vegetation, with red sands. Challenging driving route but very fun! It takes us the all morning till 2pm, we stop few times to take pictures, to look at wild horses, we even see a wallaby or kangaroo, jumping around! We finally reach the resort were we are staying in the Park, it is the only facilities here, we get a small lodge in the campsite (a concrete small room with no bathroom) but there is a pool in here so we might use it... But it still to hot to do anything... We have a quick lunch then Fab naps and I write... We are here to do some walks and see Kings Canyon, in the George Hill Range. The National Park is supposed to be great with nice tracks, nature, rim walks and creek walk with nice views of the Canyon walls... We buy some juices at the resort shop and spend half an hour chatting with Simon, from Brisbane, he gives us some tips and advice on his region and where to see the sunset here... nice. Around 5ish we go for a walk around the Canyon, we do the easy walk on the canyon floor, he mountain range is beautiful and it is a really nice easy walk, we see many birds, many plants, trees with white trunk, admire the rock formations, we then decide to drive to a better spot to see the sunset over the Range. We spend an hour or so on the roof of our 4WD car, watching the sunset on this mountain, colours change, Fab takes many piccies trying to capture the gradual colour changes of the rocks, the moon is nearly full and looks striking, there is a nice breeze, it feels so nice, the serenity and peacefulness of the landscape really touch us. We both feel very happy, it is nature perfect... Back to our little lodge, for a quick meal of Chinese noodles and cheap soup, as we are waking up at 5am to walk to the rim of the Canyon and see the sunrise... Apparently it is a wonderful walk, quite rocky but worth doing... Bedtime, trying to avoid crossing dingoes (wild dogs running around the campsite!)...

10/02
Hard to wake up at 5am, I still manage to get a shower and a quick breakie, we drive to the Canyon at 5.45, it is dark but also bright as the moon is so full, we both feel sleepy but excited, few coaches and 4WD cars are already there... It is popular! The nice breeze keeps us cool and we won’t suffer from the heat until 9am, good!! It is probably ‘only’ 27 degres right now!! The beginning of the walk is not easy, a big rock climb to the rim of the canyon, many steps, I feel breathless and tired but keep going, Fab is taking millions of piccies already... The sun is slowly coming up, we reach the top and start walking along the rim, we are rewarded with marvellous views of the canyon and of the National Park. We are only 900 metres above sea level but it feels higher, the sheer red rocks start changing colours and being lit up by the sun, truly beautiful, there are many different levels, we walk around for 3 hours, seeing rocky formations, waterhole, the river bed, the garden of Eden, a little oasis with native plants dating back from prehoristorical times... Amazing... Nice to see the sunrise light up the canyons walls, it is magnificent. We slowly go down the hills, the walk is over, it is 9.30am And the sun starts to be really hot and we are baking on those red rocks... The sun starts to bake us... We can check out at 11am so decide to go to the pool to refresh ourselves, nice little dip, a shower then we jump in the car... Off to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park... After 3 hours drive, under the sun, in the desert, we reach our destination, the Ayers Rock resort. Nice drive, but a bit monotonous, the desert is green, lush with many red rocks and sand, some valleys, plains, nice though, we stop at Curtin Springs, a working cattle station in the desert... And finally see the ROCK, Uluru, from far away, it is big but not that big, a huge monolith standing 348 metres high and red! The resort is the only place to stay in Ayers Rock, it is very commercial, 6 hotels, and a campsite, 23 kms from the Rock, we are here to see Uluru of course, probably the most famous natural landmark of Australia, the big rock, an icon really but also a place of great significance to the Aboriginal people, a very spiritual place but te national park has also other sites to see. It is said that the Aboriginal have inhabited this region for at least 50 000 years. The local Aboriginal the Anangu people are the traditional owners of Uluru, the park is jointly managed by them and the government. We reach our little cabin, nice, but a bit dated, a little wooden house in the campsite, we go for a drive around, try to find some food, it is funny and commercial, a town has been created around this rock, and just to service tourists, weird... We are planning to go for the sunset and tomorrow wake up early for the sunrise walk, around the rock, it is a long walk, around 10 kilometres. We decide to chill out until 6ish, when the sun is not so hot anymore... Fab naps, again, he is tired, I write on the terrace protected by my face net... I look weird but the flies are even worse than in the Canyon, they relentlessly attack you... We are both impatient to see the rock from close. Around 6.30, we go to the view point, a car park where we end up with few other people waiting for the sunset. The atmosphere is nice, we settle on the roof of our car, Fab chats with a guy from Singapore, I look at this monolith, impressive. Slowly the sun falls, the shadows evolve, distort themselves, the light changes. The rock turns red, ochre, it radiates, it's pretty spectacular. We are both touched by so much beauty... Funny to think it is just a big rock... but much more in fact... The night falls, the cars leave the car park, we stay there, chat to the ranger, and suddenly the moon rises over Uluru! There is nobody here, and we are amazed by the rise of the moon, it is full moon, we are lucky!! An incredible moment! After this brilliant eve, we go to bed early as we have to wake up at 5 am to see the sunset... It's going to be hard!!! The room is filled with insects and the camping toilets have information panels on venomous snakes, fun!

11/02
Hard to wake up, we rush to arrive before sunrise on Ayers Rock-Uluru, a race against time... We're vampires this morning, arriving before the sun! We stop along the road to see the sunrise: the rock is burning, it is different this time, red, intense, the desert landscapes become red, it is really magical and we suddenly forget how tired we are!! We then start the 'base walk', hiking around the rock, uber motivated!!! 10kms!! It is 7am and we are happy to be standing here, early and first on the scene!! The sky is deep blue, the sun begins to bake but a slight breeze spares us from heat and flies! We walk around, find the rock caves with Aboriginal rock paintings, see the sacred places closed to visitors, and observe the vegetation so close to this amazing monolith. It is beautiful and very quiet, we meet few people, it is still too early. The Park has been classified World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987 for two reasons: its biological and geological as well as its cultural significance. Uluru is bigger than it seems, masses of rock like waves, dunes appear at every turn, the forms are different, the colours too, the textures, shapes also... Very impressive! The beauty here is pure. The walk is a bit long, we stops few times, find the place where idiots climb the rock despite the fact that it is an offense to the aborigines, and such a lack of respect for cultures drives me mad!!! Uluru is very important to Aboriginal culture, it is a holy place, here as elsewhere, nature and culture interact, they are permanently connected. Because for these people, there was no difference between nature and culture, between past and present: everything comes from the Dreamtime, the time of the Dream and all returns to it. For the Anangu people, the Dreamtime is called Tjukurrpa. Katja Tjuta and Uluru were not places to live but places of passage and ceremonies. Anangu tribes were nomads who walked for miles in search of water and food. Their sacred law told them how to maintain the landscape and protect its resources. Unfortunately the tourists demand to climb is very high, the Anangu urge visitors not to succumb to this temptation. The access road to the summit is one of their sacred routes... After this beautiful walk, we visit the cultural centre which gives us an insight on those people, exterminated by the first European invaders. A culture closely linked to land and ancestors. Whole generations of Aborigines have been destroyed, with no culture and heritage. We understand better now the people we saw in Alice Springs, the legacy of a program of eradication... We browse the shops, owned by Aboriginal people, we talk about paintings and their meanings, do some shopping!
Then we drive to Mount Olga, Kata Tjuta, a group of rounded rocks, which are older than Uluru, in the same national park. We do a small walk but the heat is terrible and flies assail us... A picnic in the car and we hit the road to Alice Springs, 450 kms to do: thanks for the air con in the car!!! We want to arrive before 7pm to chill out tonight and rest before the flight to Melbourne tomorrow. Long drive on the dusty roads across the desert, we exchange about this experience. For me especially the Red Centre is the real Australia, the huge red sand dunes, stunning gorges, desert are fantastic. We both love the region very diverse and huge, very inspiring. The natural beauty of these places, their mythological footprint touched us, we hope to return one day to contemplate those places again. Arrived around 7pm, back in our little urban oasis in the desert, we find our motel room and go for a naughty Mac Donald tonight (bad!)... Time for bed!

Melbourne and the heat!

6/02
The morning is gone so quickly, we use the free internet at the hotel and plan the rest of our trip to Australia: booking our diving courses in Cairns, booking planes, cars etc etc. This is time consuming and frustrating, we are impatient, and want to explore the city but this time, we have to plan to do less and relax more…
We go food shopping, have some basic lunch in a food hall, the concept can be found here too, as is the strong presence and influence in Asia, very similar to New Zealand! We go for a wander around the centre, Federation Square, a great place with interesting architecture and modern buildings. It's hot now so we decide to visit the Ian Potter Center, part of the National Gallery of Victoria. We see some 'Aboriginal art', and a fantastic exhibition of photographs of Rennie Ellis, an Australian photographer who took more than 200 000, documenting Australian life in the 60-70ies.

Then we go exploring the city, using the free tram - City Circle - which encircles the city centre: Flinders Street, Flinders Street station, main railway station and a Victorian monument typical of Melbourne, the Harbour Esplanade, the Yarra River, Spring Street etc etc. We're a bit lazy, we stay in the tram and listen to the comments on the city. This feels like an American city, the blocks, the vibe but with a strong Victorian influence. The CBD (downtown) is very small, our small backpacker hotel is well located in the centre, near Chinatown. Our first impressions are good, Melbourne is a busy, buzzing city, very bohemian, very cosmopolitan, quite trendy and relaxed at the same time. The cafe terraces, the galleries, exhibitions, small bars, well rather nice ... The evening is quiet, more Internet and planning. I watch my Australian soaps, nice to see them here and not in London!! We try to rest but there are several bars in the street and Australians are feeling festive… Everybody seems to fear tomorrow, temperatures will apparently go up 45 degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in Melbourne! It's hot today but it's weird to think that tomorrow will be a day of OVER heat!

7/02
After a short night, we spend the morning in the hotel to finish our bookings (we leave tomorrow morning for the desert and the red centre, so we must organise the rest of the trip), do laundry ... the temperature seems to rise but the fan in the room somehow reduces heat. It is getting late, we want to go to St Kilda beach, an area of Melbourne that is reputed to be very lively with cafes, bars and restaurants everywhere. We leave the hotel around 1 pm and it is the big shock: it is extremely hot, the wind blows and is hot! It feels like walking in the breath of a giant hair dryer and hot! We hide in the shade, we can walk but after two minutes, it is a real effort, crazy! After half an hour of tram, we arrive in St Kilda, nice neighborhood, we are fighting against the heat but visit the city, nice shopping streets, lively cafes, people go for some air in the restaurants and bars.... Very bohemian but very Australian also ... after a quick lunch in a Japanese, with air conditioning (happiness), we go to the beach, it's funny, everyone wants to feel fresh and is in the water, covered with sunscreen ... the sun is very hot, very tough, the wind is burning and there is a sandstorm on the beach! Not fun ... we remember the news yesterday and the TV images of London in the snow ... a surprising contrast!
We spend time in the water, we watch the people, the beach... then we go for a mini walk to a small bar, there is a rock concert. Nice to listen to some music and chill out in the bar…but it is really too hot, we are able to return into town, take some pictures, look at the bakeries! We have never been so hot in our lives! I remember Egypt, the desert heat, but the heat here is far more overwhelming. We go back to our Japanese restaurant for a coke and wait for the storm! The sky darkens, the sky is grey, blue, beige, very special, but no rain, we go back into town with the tram, back in the city centre. The temperature drops, it is about 28 degres but we are finally feeling OK... whew! A little walk, we buy some pizza and back to the room, we will rest tonight. We are tired, Billy Elliot is on TV, and we are leaving very early tomorrow morning. The day was hot, suffocating, temperatures have reached 46.7 degrees in Melbourne, it was the hottest place on the planet today: mad! Unfortunately, many fires broke out in the bush and 14 people lost their lives, many firefighters are still mobilized, a real disaster. Temperatures are falling but the firesnwill probably take a few days before being extinguished.

Christchurch

04/02
We wake up early, we clean the van, we sort out the bags, we are giving Pepe back to its owners. On the way, we stop by the Coachman, our hotel tonight, a large Victorian building of four storeys where we store our bags on the way.
Some complaints later (we are able to get a refund for 2 nights of van) we go back into town for an afternoon of shopping. Christchurch is full of souvenir shops ... difficult to find something else, it is very touristic... It takes a while to find a more sympathetic Christchurch, gardens, Victorian houses etc. etc. The buildings are low rise and Victorian, many in stone. Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island and the 2nd largest city in New Zealand. It is known for its cathedral, gardens, parks, museums. We knew the city was very British, but we are both surprised by this influence... The museums and official buildings although recent are similar to some English churches, we could be in England, with canals, boats-punts as in Cambridge, red telephone booths etc etc ... Very different from the rest of New Zealand. The weather is grey today and it is cool.

We go for a wander, we are getting used to the cit, slowly, it has 400,000 inhabitants, a 'great' city here, but the centre is small enough, we quickly get a feel of it, waling around. It is actually very good. After the great outdoors and wildlife , a gentle immersion before the real urban environments of southern Australia, good for us. Last dinner in NZ, a Thai restaurant, then we go for a digestive stroll on the main square in front of the cathedral and in the cultural district. Back in our room for a small glass of champagne, before a good night. Our first night warm, in a real bed, with no bugs, wind, humidity for a month. It is very pleasant, we get re-accustomed very quickly to a minimum of comfort, but we miss something…yes the good old Pepe... we will remember this van fondly!!

05/02
Again we wake up early this morning, after a real good night sleep in our (large) room, it has four beds (but we are just two !!!!). We ge the bags ready, go to the post to send a parcel, back home... We decide to spend the last morning in the Museum of Canterbury, and then depart for the airport.
We are stuck in the airport for two hours. The plane that we should take is victim of a bird attack (!). Apparently, a plane crashed in Boston few weeks ago for the same reason...quite serious! We need to change aircraft, a brand new airbus. And once again, we receive an upgrade (we have more space for our legs, good). Fab is happy! 3 and half hours later we touch the Australian soil in Melbourne. It's hot and clear here. We go for a small bus ride, the city resembles an American city, highways, motorways, an impression of grandeur, a huge change from the cities in New Zealand. We arrive at our hotel located in the heart of Melbourne. A little faded, a small room without bathroom, but the Internet is free! A great luxury for us as we have to do lots of planning and booking...

We go for a quick walk through the neighbourhood, the CBD, the city centre, we are tired but not hungry, we ate again in the plane around 4pm, so off to bed and no alarm clock tomorrow, no specific program... Ah, idleness, finally! We still have these desires to see everything, learn, explore everything but we need to do less... Not yet clear and easy but our pace is slowly changing...

South Island Fiorland to Otago Peninsula

30/01
After a restful night and more browsing on the net this morning, we drive to Queenstown, the drive is nice again with many fields, green pastures, fields and mountains, still very few houses....it feels isolated! We see no people but tourists stopping to take piccies of the scenery. The one thing we see all the time is what we call sheep fields!!! Hundreds of sheep scattered in plains or hills, from far away they look like little rocks…but are sheep...amazing to see the number of sheep, there is a joke that there are more sheep than people in NZ. It must be true as there are only 4.5 millions people in that country and it feels like we have seen many more sheep!!!
We see sheep and cows and mountains and hills, green hills...That will become a private joke, every time we drive we count the number of sheep fields...
It is nice to arrive in Queenstown, a busy little town, fairly international, we hear lots of accents, it seems very cosmopolitan, many people come for the adventures and stay here, in this action packed little city...it is the adventure's capital of the country where everyone comes to do bungy jumping, skydiving, jetboating, etc etc...it is a nice town on the shore of a lake as well, very scenic but quite hectic. We do some shopping, Fab needs new walking boots as his are painful and they have to last six months...There are lots of people, many young coming to do adventure activities...we watch a video on the nevis highwire jump, where people jump from 134 metres high, really scary! We both feel tempted to do something mad but then decide to do it somewhere else!!!
it feels nice to be in a city again, we have a nice stroll, we even have a Thai lunch, big change from our home made sandwiches... then we hit the road again to drive to Te Anau, the town entry gate to the fiord land, we do some food shopping as there will be nothing in the area, complete wilderness...The drive to the entry of the Fiordland National Park is great with many misty peaks, cute lakes and a real remoteness feel... no house or human here...in the middle of the way, we stop for the night in a conservation remote campsite, on a very nice green field, there is only one tent and us, the Totara campsite in Fiordland. This part of the country, the Deep South is protected as a World Heritage Area, with glacial fiords, dense rainforest, it is supposed to be raw wilderness and it is!

31/01
We feel lazy again this morning but have to sort out our bags. As we have been infested by bedbugs...We are now sleeping in a plastic bag cover and in silk sheets that protect us from the bugs but they probably are in every cloth we have, oh joy!!! So we clean, sort out the bags, it is a nice morning alone in our quiet campsite, very pleasant. We then drive to Milford, the scenic road is amazing apparently but we are unlucky as it is completely foggy, we can't see more than 2 metres in front of us, stressful on a mountain road in a big van....After a tortuous long road, we reach the Homer tunnel, a one way tunnel of 1207 metres, it is small and very dark. Fab feels very uneasy driving it and starts having claustrophobia symptoms, not a nice feeling....the tunnel has been carved by men and is the only way to access fiorland. We stop after the tunnel and we decide not to cross it again tonight and stay in Milford for the night...we have a walk on the township, go and see the sound, magnificent, with imposing peaks. We sleep at the Milford Sound Lodge because it is the only place there! Feels nice to have hot showers, to cook in a kitchen, we spend the eve, chilling out, Fab writing, me reading in the big lounge, amongst other travellers.

01/02
We book a small Milford sound cruise, it is the best way to see the fiord and cruise through it. it is A nice small boat, we are only 9 people as it is early morning. We chat to a German girl, she has been travelling around for 4 weeks, we exchange tips and marvel at the fiord. She tells us about a rape that happened in a campsite close to here, quite scary...
The fiord is simply stunning, it is inspiring and feels exceptional, Fab takes so many piccies! We cruise through the fiord and see lots of peaks, luxuriant rainforest clinging to rocks and mountains, all washed by many small waterfalls. The Mitre peak dominates the skyline. It has been raining heavily this night so the peaks are full of rainfalls, some are temporary and will dry in two hours. It is a gentle start of the day, with magnificent views, we see more dolphins close to the falls, and we even get a muffin on the boat, I am happy!!!
We then decide to tackle the tunnel as Fab is worried he will feel uneasy again... this time, he managed to overcome the claustrophobia feeling and feels OK driving through it, what a relief. I really wished I did take my driving test before leaving London! We stop for a picnic then go for a long walk-climb in the Milford region, the Key summits walk, a steep ascent to see many peaks and lakes, it is truly beautiful, we really want to come back to walk the Milford Track (4 days walk, 54 kms). We drive the alpine road again to Te Anau, and this time we enjoy it much more as it is sunny. It travels through impressive alpine scenery. We stop to admire the valleys, the summits, the waterfalls. We do more driving as we want to get closer to Dunedin, we drive to a very muddy campsite, looking more like a building site...I start feeling uneasy, what the German girl told me didn't help....A car with two men stops next to us and I am now worried...what if? They move their car but then come close to us again around 1 am and I start panicking....We both won't sleep much, checking the car!! But at 6am, the both leave...and we fall asleep...till 10 am...silly me, anxious for nothing!! They were probably campers too tired to set their tents in the middle of the night, under the rain than thugs!!!!!!!!!!!

02/02
We drive to Dunedin, a city proud of its Scottish heritage, with lots of Victorian buildings, we decide to not stay here as we will soon be in Christchurch and in big cities. We go and go visit the Otago peninsula, which stretches along the southern end of the Otago Harbour, it is very close to Dunedin, it is a nice scenic drive with small bays, green fields, mini beaches. Cute. This place is also known for its wildlife...We go to the Albatross centre but decide not to pay to see the colony, we saw some flying at sea in Kaikoura and it as great...we don't want to pay to see some more but enjoy reading about them, they are so endangered, mainly because of human fishing and long lines...It makes us more aware and from now on we will be cautious when buying fish...it will have to be dolphins and albatross friendly! We then go to Sandfly bay, where we walk in sand dunes and see some ...sea lions!!!! A mother and its pup playing in the sand, so close to us, truly magical!! By chance, we meet some conservation volunteers on the beach and they tell us the baby is only 1 month old and he is special as he is the first one to be born on that beach!! We feel very privileged to see them playing in the sun!! We continue walking seeing seals and more sea lions o the beach, then we reach the viewing hide (hidden in the dune) to observe the penguins!! Nice to seat there, chat to the volunteers, they tell us about the different penguins, the seals who love the rocks and the sea lions who love the sand. We wait, we wait but see nothing, the volunteer advises us to go to another beach, close to where we were planning to camp...so we leave the beach and lucky us, just at the end of the beach, we see two small penguins and they are yellow eyed penguin, one of the world rarest penguins!!!! Slowly, we sit down and watch them, mum and chick are coming back from the sea to their nest!!! A true moment!!! Touching AND magical to see those amazing animals so close to us, free and undisturbed in their natural habitats. We drive to the other reserve, in Moeraki, through a mountain road, the Highcliff road, quite impressive...sea and mountain again. As soon as we arrive, the lighthouse keeper tells us we only have 5 minutes as the reserve closes when the lighthouse lights up...it is around 9.30pm so we rush but from the hide, we see more seals and two penguins, coming out of the sea and walking along...amazing!!! We then drive to another to see more seals and penguins. After a little drive on gravel road with nearly no petrol (tank is nearly empty and we couldn't find a petrol station so late), we arrive safely at the conservation campsite, Trotters gorge. So funny to drive on gravels roads in the dark for 10 minutes in the middle of nowhere and suddenly be surrounded by few other campers!!! Late dinner and off to bed!!!

03/02
We wake up late again and decide to go for a beach walk before leaving the area, so we go back to Moeraki to see the Boulders, some weird big rounded rocks, looking like big balls scattered on the beach, nice walk then we managed to find some petrol and make our way to Oamaru, it will be our last stop before Christchurch. We stop there for lunch and walk around the cit, it is a very historical little town, with many limestone buildings, it was very prosperous in the 19th and could have been the capital...funny to see little streets and stone buildings as we have seen so few on them, most of the architecture in the country is made of wood, even the old government buildings in Auckland! We visit a whisky cellar, we see some arts galleries, then make our way to CC, a long drive, the last one as we are giving back our Pepe, our campervan tomorrow morning! We find a campsite in Christchurch, no free camping here! The eve is spent writing, washing our clothes and getting ready...one more day and we are off to Australia...