Glaciers, golf and good times

The blog has almost caught up with current events, there is just one road trip to tell you guys about, and then we're finally done with all the old stuff! The road trip in question lasted for 10 days, started in Christchurch and ended in Queenstown, and had three passengers besides myself: Giigan and our newlywed good friends Juuso and Eeva. They opted for a slightly different honeymoon: no isolated pacific island resort for them, instead they flew all the way to NZ to visit us, which we appreciated a lot since we couldn't attend the wedding.

Queenstown - who wouldn't want to gaze upon a sight so breathtaking on their honeymoon?

The planning of the road trip was more or less entirely in the hands of me and Giigan (the bride and groom naturally busy with preparations for the ceremony and subsequent celebrations), and we tried our best to combine attractions we hadn't seen ourselves before, but still keeping the standard top-notch.

In hindsight, I think we can say that we succeeded and even surpassed the expectations. At least a terrible feeling of nostalgia swept over both myself and Giigan as our dear guests finally had to return home. But I should not get ahead of myself; there's 10 action-packed days to walk you through before we reach the end! Since we did do a lot of stuff, I'm going to keep it as short as possible, but still split the story into two blog posts in order to avoid the birth of an essay out of this.

Right, so part one is hereby commencing.

After nearly 40 non-stop hours in an airplane, Juuso and Eeva arrived in Christchurch on 24th March. Needless to say, they were feeling tired, dirty (NOT that kind of dirty!) and unfortunately, feeling the symptoms of an emerging flu. The comforts of the suite d'Amour we had booked for them at a hotel in Christchurch for the first night were undoubtedly much appreciated, even though the complementary bottle of sparkling had to be saved for later use. Most of this first day we just spent catching up and then going early to bed, since we had an early departure the next morning.

Day 1 of the actual road trip consisted of driving most of the day, destination the Franz Josef glacier on the West Coast. Once there Giigan, Eeva and I went to have a look-see at the retreating glacier, while Juuso felt too drained to make it out of our motel room. Both the Franz Josef glacier and the nearby Fox glacier (which all four of us got to see the following day) were very impressive, alas global warming doesn't bode well for them.

Juuso and Eeva in front of the Fox glacier terminus.

Day 2 was intentionally also a day of much driving as we continued south along the coast until the road cut inland towards Wanaka. We did have time to stop at a few places along the way. Fox glacier was one of them, as well as Lake Matheson, across which you can have splendid views of Mt Cook/Aoraki and the glacier on a clear day. From the beach at Ship Creek we got to admire the acrobatic skills of a large pod of dolphins, and in Haast we enjoyed a traditional lunch consisting of fish 'n' chips.

Our accommodation in Wanaka was superb: a modern apartment with a double and a twin bedroom, a large living room and a more than passable kitchen. We stayed for two nights and got to take full benefit of our temporary home the next day as it was raining most of the time. We did go to the Rippon vineyard for wine tasting and a game of GolfCross, but we had to suspend play after only three holes. In short, GolfCross is a Kiwi invention which is basically like golf, but the ball is in the shape of a rugby ball and there are goals instead of holes. The objective is to hit the mini-rugby-golf-ball through the goal using the least amount of shots possible. Because of the shape of the ball, you can in fact control the trajectory, spin and fade/draw of the ball like you were a pro by just adjusting the angle and rotation of the ball on top of the tee (all shots are made from tees).

Eeva teeing off on the GolfCross course. A goal can be seen to the right in the background.

While the rain was pouring down the rest of the day, Giigan and I prepared a four course dinner for the evening. How does strawberries, brie and Moët & Chandon champagne sound for starters? The rest of the menu was a bit more arduous for us chefs though.

Strawberries, brie and champagne for starters.

The morning of day 4 saw us teeing off on the Wanaka Golf Course - a lovely course in the middle of some astonishing scenery, you'll no doubt concur. After a pleasant game devoid of any serious injuries, although the new Mrs tried very hard to have her arm pulled out of its socket during two shots, we continued to Queenstown.

View across Wanaka from the golf course.

We spent two nights there. An eight bed dorm at the YHA Lakefront hostel sufficed to us backpackers, while the newlyweds occupied a suite in the "slightly" more luxurious Hotel St Moritz. Since our guests were curious about life in a hostel, we arranged an excursion to the lovely premises. Coffee and tee was included in the tour. Satisfaction wasn't guaranteed though, as one participant made the (to us) hilarious comment: "I couldn't live in a hostel anymore". Luckily for him, there are places that have dropped the "s". :-D

The excursion wasn't, however, our main activity in Queenstown. On day 5 we rode the gondola under a spotless blue sky to the complex on Bob's Peak. The views of the Remarkables mountain range and Lake Wakatipu from there are unsurpassed. Just like in Rotorua, there is a luge track at the top of the gondola. We had great fun racing each other down the sealed track propelled by gravity alone.

Giigan on the Luge. The Remarkables mountain range in the distance.

Check the PHOTO GALLERY for more pictures and a more detailed narration of the first half of the road trip. And stay tuned for the second half which will be published within a couple of days or so.