Glacier walking in South Island

About as far from England as you can possibly get, yet culturally very similar I visited my sister when she was living there and took an opportunity to see a bit of both North and South islands. I had come from the height of Hong Kong summer so the drop in temperature was a bit of a shock but I got to ski on a new continent which was cool. My sister joined me for part of my trip and we did a bit of a road trip on the North island. Famous these days for being the location for the ‘Lord of the Rings’ films it is beautiful, and it’s relatively small size means that it’s easy to see a lot in a short amount of time.

When: July 2004

Where: North Island: Wellington, Napier, Rotorua, Auckland. South Island: Queenstown, Milford sound, Christchurch, Canterbury

Who: alone and with my sister

How: I flew into Queenstown (from Hong Kong) and out of Auckland, On South Island I took buses and the fantastic cross alpine train from west to east coast. On North island we hired a car and drove around.

Weather: it was winter and cold! some clear skies and some rain.

Food: western style food

Sights & Activities: Skiing in Queenstown (very limited runs compared with Europe), Puzzling World, Christchurch (really liked this town), Wellington (fabulous Antarctic expeditions exhibition), Rotorua (who knew such colours could be produced without the help of toxic waste!), the art Deco architecture of Napier

Surprises: despite the temperate climate many houses are built of wood and are not insulated! Super cold inside.

Tips: