Happy holidays

Good morning,

 

I apologise in advance for this "spam-like" email but I wanted to send everyone an email and wish them a happy holiday season and all the best in 2008.  I'll be celebrating Xmas in Nelson, NZ and then over to Sydney, Aus for New Year's with Jocelyn and Julia. 

 

For those interested in Episode 2 of my NZ trip, please read below, otherwise, please have a safe holiday and enjoy the weather should you be in Canada and experiencing the lovely snow :)  

 

We drove to Milford Sound bright and early.  Leaving Te Anau, the weather looked like it might be sunny but as soon as we passed over the mountain pass to the western side of the southern Alps, it was raining.  I did a 2.5hr hike with an Irish girl without a raincoat and got absolutely soaked.  It was a great bit of exercise though :)  We drove the extra couple of kilometers to Milford Sound.  We boarded a boat and traversed the 16km of the Sound out into the open ocean water.  En route, we saw both dusky and pesky dolphins and on the way back, we saw a school of bluenose dolphins very close to the ship.  I got a photo of one but we'll see how it looks on the big screen when I get home.  The Sound was beautiful, particulary because of all of the rain - there were cascades everywhere :-)

 

From there I left Te Anau and headed up to Queenstown which is known as the "adrenaline capital of NZ"; you can do any crazy sport you've ever wanted to try.  I arrived and oddly, wasn't compelled to do anything the first day so I wandered around, tramped (that's hiked in NZ speak) the pennisula and just relaxed.  It was perfect.  The following day, I visited the Kiwi and wildlife conservation center in the morning.  For those who don't know, the kiwi is a noctural, endangered bird that can't fly.  It can only be found in NZ and is the reason that it's inhabitants are called kiwis.  I got to see some at the conservation site, watched the Maoris perform and traditional show (I saw the hakka Peter :).  From there, I headed off to do some canyonning.  This involves zipping on a zip line over the canyons, rappelling down into the pools, sliding over rock waterfalls into pools and just all round good fun.  I had a great time though I didn't jump off the 20m high cliff - it looked a little too high for me ;)  In the later afternoon I headed up the gondala for a view of Queenstown and a luge ride.  It was similar to riding in a go-cart without the power - it was strictly powered by the gradient downwards and loads of fun!!

 

I have since arrived in Wanaka (only here for one night) with the express purpose of skydiving!!  Yes, this morning I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane at 12,000ft and free-fell for 45 secs.  It was an awesome experience and the scenery around me was fantastic to look at!!  I'd do it again in an instant.  I've been tramping around local tracks in Wanaka this afternoon and will head off to Franz Joseph tomorrow morning.  I will be heading further north for further adventures as the next week and a bit progress before heading back to Aus. 

 

Again, I'd like to wish you all a great holiday season with your loved ones and all the best in 2008!!  I'll be thinking of all of you as I chill in 30 degree weather in Nelson on the big day ;)  I'm missing shortbread cookies, turkey and homemade butter tarts :(  They don't even know what a buttertart is in Aus...!!

 

Hugs and warm thoughts to all :)

 

Sarah

 

Mom & Dad - I'll get a calling card and will call each of you.  I'll call Dad on Xmas eve night to chat (unless I can Skype but I won't know until later on the 24th as I'm white water kayaking in the AM).  Either way, I'll call first, around 8pm your time which will be 2am for me - ouch!!  I'll also try and call Granny when you and Gail are there after dinner - we'll see how much credit I have left ;)  Mom, I'll call you in the early afternoon on Xmas day as it's a more reasonable time for me - I'm thinking around 4pm your time.  Hopefully these times work for you both... 

New Zealand - the first episode :)

Good day!!

 

I knew that I was in New Zealand when I landed and next to my landing strip was a flock of 100+ sheep grazing in the sun!!  Welcome to the land of 80 million sheep and 4 million inhabitants :) 

 

I landed in Christchurch and in true Sarah travelling style got on a bus the next day for somewhere else :)  (I'll figure out if Christchurch is worth the visit at the end ;)  I headed south on a bus to Dunedin, travelling along the eastern coast.  The scenery was beautiful and I had trouble keeping my eyes shut for even a moment during the journey.  Dunedin involved seeing Royal Albatross, yellow-eyed penguins (nearing extinction), an upclose encounter with sea lions, fur seals, a local brewery, the steepest street in the world (at 1: 2.86m - yes, that's 2.86m up for every 1m of asphalt) and a lovely train ride through the Taieri gorge. 

 

From Christchurch, I got on the "Bottombus" which travels the southern end of south island or the bottom :)  through the Catlins district.   We stopped for some beautiful, scenic stops, saw a petrified forest, I sheared a sheep, made jewellery, checked out some local producers and hoped for a dolphin sighting which didn't occur with an overnight in Invercargill.

 

I've since arrived in Te Anau, at a lovely backpackers, just outside of town.  Te Anau is picturesque beyond words (it reminds me of Lake Louise, though I've never actually been there), with its lake surrounded by mountains, some still snowcapped.  I've arrived here to see both Doubtful and Milford Sounds (which aren't sounds at all but fiords) before heading off to Queenstown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fjord for more on fiords).  Today I travelled to Doubtful Sound, through this beautiful overpass and then into the actual sound, paddling around in a sea kayak and marvelling at the steep rocky cliffs lined with trees and mosses.  Doubtful Sound gets around 8m of rain a year which is one heck of a lot of rain but it allows moss and lichens to grow on the sides of the mountain which then supports the trees.  It was a beautiful place which I am convinced will forever be etched in my memory.  I took some photos, however I know already that they will not be able to capture the beauty nor the sheer magnitude of the place. 

 

Tomorrow I head off to Milford Sound, which is the most visited of the sounds in Fiordland and then to Queenstown which is the adventure/adrenaline capital of New Zealand (and maybe the world!!).  I have completely booked out my travels as it seems that things book up substantially over the holiday season, particularly with Xmas.  I'm not completely convinced that I like travelling all booked but I felt compelled to book everything for fear of missing out.  And for those curious, I can you that I'm scheduled to do some daredevil events but I won't share which yet ;)

 

I hope you are all well - thinking of you over this holiday season :)

Hugs,

S

 

P.S.  For those who have a clue about my camera and lens, I dropped them both today on the boat in Doubtful Sound.  I didn't expect any damage until I opened the case to see that I'd cracked the filter.  Thankfully it was the filter and not the lens - $70 to replace instead of much more ;)