Christchurch to Queenstown, South Island

A wander round the retro shops, and a visit to the art gallery of sleepy Christchurch and we were ready for something more exciting! So it was off to the lush, green Peel Forest (where much of Lord of the Rings was filmed, fact finders) to hurl oursleves down some grade 5 rapids with Rangitata Rafts. God, we're so hardcore. With the sun shining, the clean, clear waters were an unbelievable aqua colour, and so pure that you can drink straight from the river. Great fun - although we don't have any photos as it must be said that the Kiwis are a bit canny when it comes to draining the tourist dollar. $38 dollars for a photo CD?? You can bog off.

We took advantage of the glorious weather to head inland to the mountains and the lakes and spent a couple of days taking in the views and basking in the sun around Lake Tekapo. But Kristian had picked up a flyer for Puzzling World in Wanaka and was desperate to get there at all costs. Ooooo and what fun we had trapped in the bloody maze for over an hour! After he'd exhausted himself with all the excitement, I put him down for a little nap and soon we were hitting the bars, soaking up the lake views & the cool, laid back vibe. We really liked it here - lovely people, great bars, snow in winter, water sports in summer. Perfect.

An hour further on & we arrived at Queenstown, "the adventure capital of New Zealand". Think of a high adenaline sport and you can be sure it's on the menu here. Think of a number, double it, times it by 20, and that's how much it'll cost you to do it! Hmmmm...we were becoming slightly irked by the rentless attempts to get us to part with our cash. Take for example the offer of a photo of us GETTING ON a cable car. Not of us suspended over Queenstown in a cable car. No. Just a photo of us getting ON a cable car amidst the concrete and winching machines. Only $30. Excellent. We'll have three. Honestly, who buys this shit??!
Still, daylight robbery aside, we loved Queenstown nestled between the mountains and the lake. And while we couldn't quite pluck up the courage to do a bungy jump, we enjoyed watching other braver souls screaming their lungs out while suspended 1400 metres over the city! And we have to mention the fabulous Fergburger - probably the finest burger we've ever encountered. Yum.