More crazy stuff

Sunday 3rd Feb

Had a decent lie in today for the first time in weeks, and in the afternoon went on the Rock 'n' Ropes course. It is a high-wire walking course, and with my poor balance and uneven weight distribution on my deformed feet this was a real challenge. However the guide was great - he didn't take no for an answer and encouraged us all to do each wire-walk. I started on the one-foot-wire-two-hand-wires and, held on by my belayer, did very well to get to the end. The single-foot-single-hand-wire was more of a challenge as my left foot didn't want to balance anywhere. The rickety bridge and log crossing were worse as my balance was terrible, but all the time you are held on by your belayer below and I got over these. The final challenge was an upward-facing obstacle course where I had to go through, over and under tyres, logs of wood, wires and obstacle and thankfully, due to my upper body strength with all the swimming I do, I could do this one the best out of all our team. What a great afternoon and a non-stressful inexpensive way to have a great deal of fun.

Monday and Tuesday went to River Valley accommodation. The setting was lovely and peaceful, set in a deep river valley with no mobile reception, but unfortunately the beef roast meal had er, moving protein in it, and so this rather destroyed the experience of being in that place. I booked out as fast as I could and got on the bus to Wellington rather than staying 2 nights.

Had 2 days in Wellington: one was exploring the Botanic Gardens, via the Cable Car, and lots of pics were taken. The rest of the city was my type of town - small, compact, friendly, lots of places to rest and people-watch and yet do a lot of photography in a small space. It was also very clean, a complete contract to Auckland. The YHA was also spotless, and full of the best amenities - highly recommended. After this walking day the pain in my feet and legs was horrendous - I only just made it back to the YHA and couldn't put any weight on my feet at all so on the 2nd day, as it was a clear blue sky day I sunbathed and swam on the town beach, and had a thoroughly lazy day.

Friday 8th: the ferry crossing to South Island on the Interislander was like a Norwegian cruise. The scenery was stunning: flooded river valleys, deep green conifer covered mountain ranges, a scintillating deep blue sea and clear blue sky. Wonderful and a great introduction to South Island. Picton was the landing place but we stayed in Nelson, an industrial town, but with ok-ish accomodation

Saturday: before the rain came in, I did a whole day of kayaking up in the Abel Tasman NP. An aqua taxi took us up to Bark Bay and then we had to kayak 20 km back to Kaiteriteri. I was partnered with a seasoned kayaker from Canada and so it was easy for me, although I certainly did my bit and we raced the other crews across the expanses of water between the bays. On the way we saw seals basking in the sun, cormorants shaking out their wings, a little blue penguin pootling along in the dead-calm sea, and listened to the bell-bird and tui singing in the trees of a deserted island. Only us two in our kayak saw a sting-ray glisten as it crossed the sand-bar, and we floated gently past the Split Apple Rock. My shoulders and back were aching like crazy by the time I had finished, but it was a lovely day and I didn't have to walk anywhere for a long time, which was a great bonus for the huge pain in my feet at present.

Sunday: I had a lie in most of the day. Did boring stuff in the afternoon like finances, laundry, schedules, and then met the new driver, Dave, who is SO good and helpful to an older (and decrepit at the moment) Kiwi-Ex-er

Monday: the rain came down ALL DAY, but I did quad biking in the afternoon and got SO wet right through. It was great fun and again thankfully could use upper body strength rather than walking anywhere.

Tuesday: got to Lake Mahinapua on the West Coast. The accommodation was 200m from the deserted beach. I watched my first NZ sunset over the sea and got some great pics which were nearly as good as at Uluru, but not quite. We had the Poo (Mahinapua) pub party in the evening and the fancy dress theme was the letter P. People came as priests, parcels, plants, Pocahontas, Pink Panther, but with my fondness for bears, I bought a little Pooh Bear and hung him round my neck. Everyone loved that and I am sure someone special I know who is very little and only 3 months old, will love to hold and chew Pooh when I get back.

Wednesday (today): reached Franz Josef and its glaciers. Unfortunately it is still raining and so the scenic flights won't be going up tomorrow. It will be a day of kicking my heels for me, but I may be able to do a short walk or so. Depends on the pain in my feet and everywhere else. ggrrrrr

Also feeling very homesick and missing family and friends. It is hard travelling on your own, even if you do get talking to people on the bus and in the hostels. I feel very far away from home and sometimes wish I could change my itinerary. We'll see, but until and unless I can I will have to contain my sadness and get on with the trek as planned.