So I have now been doing this travelling thing for just over two weeks and I have to say I am enjoying every minute of it. I am just about getting the hang of NOT looking at the bedsheets when we arrive at a new hostel and just in general feeling a little dirty all the time! I also like to wear rubber gloves when I am doing the washing up at home so that my hands stay clean, but here no-one uses gloves and I don't want to be the English girl with the pink rubber gloves on so I have decided against slipping them on every time I wash up a glass or plate! Probably not the best way to fit in with the travelling crowd! I do however like to use a lot of anti-bacterial hand gel, I would shower in it if I could, it is a god send and helps to keep my mind at ease that I am not going to get some hideous form of salmonella from some dirty, greasy, smelly 18 year old boy who doesn't know the difference between cooked chicken and uncooked chicken.
One thing I have noticed however that is a Little unnerving is that EVERYONE seems to have no idea about personal space. Someone is constantly breathing down your neck or is right in your face when they talk to you! It is lovely to talk to you- but I don't really want to feel your breath on my face thanks!! Especially since you haven't cleaned your teeth since last July! I was slightly apprehensive about the cleanliness of the hostels but if you don't look too close most of them are okay, it is just the people you need to be weary of. Some people have NO personal hygiene at all. What is wrong with people, did your mother not tell you to put the toilet seat up when you are going for a wee? URRRGGGHHHHH!!
Another thing that travelling alerts you to is how rough you look without any make up on, I am beginning to overcome this though and I am sure at some point in the six months away, I won't care??? Well I hope so....
Anyway, enough of me rambling on about nonsense let's get back to the South Island. So, after Queenstown we travelled up the West coast of the South Island to visit the Franz Joseph glacier. We had an 8 hour coach journey from Queenstown to Franz and met a couple (although they are not together) who we ended up spending quite a lot of time with! We were staying in the same hostel as them so we ended up just chilling the first evening watching Lord of the Rings with our free soup from the hostel- although personally I can't stand the film!
Franz Joseph itself was a little on the quiet side and the actual town reminded me of a small Russian settling about 20 years ago, although I haven't actually visited Russia so my theory could be and probably is wrong.
The second day we did a half day hike over the glacier and got some great photos while we were up there! It was quite a hard core hike actually that lasted for 4 hours. I had to get our guide to help me over some crevasses as well as I had the shortest legs in the group! A tad embarrassing but hey ho. We had a really good day though and afterwards we went into the hot pools at the bottom of the glacier which were so relaxing. Here is a little treat for you of me in the ice cave that we had to climb through! Yes I know I am looking good!
Here are a couple of pictures of most of the glacier, although it is so big it is hard to see the scale of it and to be honest they don't really do it justice.
Afterwards, we all went for a pizza and a pint for $12 and then went to a little shindig at one of the other hostels! All in all a good day. The next trip was another long one; all the way to Nelson and it took around 10 hours on the coach. We were with the other couple though so that made it a bit more tolerable. We stopped at a little town and they were having their Christmas parade so naturally I got my photo with Prince Harry, Kate and Will!
The next evening we went for an Indian in a cute little restaurant called The Indian Cafe with our new 'friends' and then headed back to the hostel to drink on the green bus in the middle of the hostel grounds next to the swimming pool- even if it was the colour of pond water.
The next day we went for a walk in Abel Tasman National park and it was absolutely beautiful. When we got there though we realised that everyone else had trekking boots on, walking poles, a jacket, trousers etc... James and I rocked on up in flipflops with shorts and t-shirt! It turned out that we were okay though as there was path for most of it. We did get some odd looks though!
After Nelson, we headed on to Picton which is where you get the ferry to the North Island. Picton itself was nice but it was kind of spoilt by the weather. We stayed at a 5 star hostel just outside of Picton for the first night and it was lovely. We practically had the whole hostel to ourselves so we cooked a nice meal of noodles and veg and then just chilled out. They had a spa but it was temporarily out of order- typical! Would only be when we were staying there! The next night we spent back in Picton ready to get the ferry across to Wellington. All in all the South island was incredible. Everywhere you look there is something different to see and do. I think so far Queenstown has been my favourite but I did have a great time at the glacier oh and everywhere else we went. I can't choose.
So we are off to the North Island now ready for Christmas but we have a lot to do and see in the North Island, as well as meeting up with various people so I think it is going to be a busy couple of weeks. I can't wait.......
Speak soon xxx
Oh and something incredible happened last night but I will have to wait until we blog about the North Island for that bit of brilliance to be revealed... watch this space.
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