Ali Hits NZ! (one of many!)

I seem to attract adventures where ever in the world i visit, and my latest trip to NZ was no exception!

i knew it was going to be a different trip from the very start, for the first time in 2 years i had a travel companion who's known me all my life... my cousin, 28 still living at home, never been on a plane before, meets world traveler!

the adventures started before we even were let lose in the country..

We set off bright and early from sydney to Christchurch, which was a relatively uneventful trip...

arriving just after lunch...

Excitment bubbles with the first sight of New Zealand

On the way through customs, B not trusting me and not wanting to be apart of some boarder security tv show decided to declare all that she had in her bag.... being a packet of mints!
the lady was like "is that all?" trying not to laugh..
but for some reason they trusted us enough to let us into the country... yay

B & I at christchurch airport: The adventure begins

found a taxi and head to our jailhouse hostel for the night, i love YHA places, they're so varied, wouldn't you take the opportunity to stay in a converted prison if given a chance...

Jailhouse accomodation, we had our very own cell for the night

It was awesome, the rooms were converted cells, so they were pretty cramped, and came complete with a hatch, and a metal cell door, the toilets took the cake, they were those clear plastic ones that you can have all sorts of things in them, these had rings and rings of barbed wire... very cool

Wandered our way into town, the hostel was a fair way out, so we got to enjoy a nice walk out in the park and along the river, wandered around in the beautiful botanical gardens, and around town.

Always happy to clown about in a cute little phone box, how could i possibly resist when i came across this one!?!

Christchurch Cathedral in all it's glory in Cathedral Square

After wandering about for a few hours we decided to head out to the Heathcote Valley to ride the gondola to the top of Mt Cavendish because it was such a glorious day. We were rewarded with some spectacular views out over the Lytteltown Harbour and New Brighton

the spectacular view from the gondola over looking New Brighton

Headed back down the gondola's after marveling in the wonders of the views on offer, we were met with the question of how to get back to town...
after waiting about for 45 mins with no signs of buses, we were told that after 6pm we had to get out on the road and flag down buses otherwise they wouldn't stop at the gondola... mmm
so to th road we went, and i was brave enough to jump out in front of a bus... luckily it stopped just in time, otherwise i would have been a squashed possum!

Had Dinner before walking back to the hostel, i love how it was still light nearing 10pm..

The next morning we were up packed and ready to set off to catch the transalpine train over to Greymouth.

After organinsing the free shuttle the night before we were picked up just a mere 3 mins before the train was meant to depart... but managed to catch the train by the skin of our teeth...

Having seen many pictures and heard many stories of how beautiful this trip was i couldn't wait.
I have to say i was speechless when we got our first glimpse of the snow capped Southern Alps, Gorgeous! (such a sucker for mountains!)

met up with Anne and Dennis our korean seat mates on our trip, who decided me and B looked more like mother and daughted much to B's disgust (lets just say there's 3 yrs difference!)... had a lovely time playing charades as we couldn't understand what each other was saying...

the scenery was just breathtaking...

Spent a lot of my time on the back viewing platform getting thrown around from side to side and into rails and the like, but i ended up with some delightful photos... it was freezing out there though... and did wonders for my hair as you can see!

bad hair day anyone!?!

Arrived into Greymouth around 1pm, where we collected everything and headed up to our hostel for the night. stayed at the Kaianga-ra YHA, which had a bizzare toilet for midgets... i swear it was less than 30cm from the ground!

before headed out to Punakaiki, famous for its Pancake rocks, which i just fell in love with on sight... such a nature buff i am... being a calm day the blow holes weren't blowing at all, but i still was mesmerised with the rock formations (100's of pictures later i still don't have enough!)

Punakaiki (pancake rocks)

From there we headed up the road where we walked down the Truman track to this little secluded beach, which was gorgeous too... though after taking a dip in the water the rocks (aka kiwi sand) really hurt to walk on... ouch

The beach

Before heading back into town... wandered about trying to take in the sights... seems the Town clock was a big draw card to this fine little coastal town...

started to rain a bit, so we ended up forgoing the BBQ at the Brewery in favour of a quaint little restraunt we found close to the hostel where we wittled away the hours before heading back..