Being on the KiwiEx bus almost every day makes it very difficult to write on your blog. Or to distinguish one place from the next. I'll try, with help from my Google map, to give some of the highlights of the second part of my NZ trip.
The South Island of New Zealand is more. More interesting, more beautiful, more activities. More. Whereas the North Island consists largely of rolling green hills, the South Island has more variety, though in general it's more rugged and dramatic. Driving through this land eliminated the need to a book or for sleep - all you have to do is look out the window. A new beautiful panorama around every corner! I still wish I could have done this in my own time, instead of speeding through it in the green dragon. Ah well, such is life.
Queenstown was a definite highligh of the South Island. Its sole reason for existence is the slopes - it's a ski town. It does have a bite to it in the form of adrenaline rushes, including the world's highest bungee jump. I didn't do that one, but I did sign up for the Canyon Swing. Imagine that you're on a swingset at the very top. You have that short moment of freefall before the chain guides you through the rest of the swing. Okay, now imagine you're 109m above ground and that the freefall is 60 metres. That's the Canyon Swing. I decided to do the pindrop: bend over near the ledge and just take a short hop over. I was scared shitless! But I managed to do it... and I don't remember anything from the actual swing itself! I remember jumping, but the rest went by too fast. So I opted for a second swing. This time I went backwards over the ledge. Even scarier! I can remember that jump and it was absolutely amazing. I saw the jump platform rush away from me as I reached a speed of 150km/h! Incredible rush!
Quieter was the trip to Milford Sound (it's a fjord). Did that yesterday and it might just be the most beautiful part of New Zealand. Every good thing about the South Island is there, only magnified. I can't find words for it - I just hope the pictures came out right so I can show what I'm talking about.
Right now I'm at my last stop in NZ: Christchurch. Somehow it feels very English to me, with the Avon river, the building styles, the streets.... everything is just England. Surely Rupert Brooke didn't mean this by "some corner of a foreign field that is forever England", but the words do spring to mind. I'll be here till Sunday, when I'm flying back to Sydney and then to Bali. Bought a guidebook for it just now and I wonder what it'll be like.
