The Beautiful South Island

Kia Ora!

Our first stop on the South Island was a town called Nelson. We settled into our hostel and went for a shopping run to pick up supplies for our curry meal later that evening. I had seen a building with a sign reading 'Martial Arts Centre' on the way into Nelson. Having been removed from karate training for the past 3 months, I couldn't help but wander over and check it out. It turned out that it was a hired space used by a number of different martial arts clubs in the local area. Being a Sunday, there were no classes but I did run into the shotokan karate instructor, a fellow 3rd dan black belt. We shared a few stories and I spoke to him about my plans to train in Tokyo. It was nice to be on the other side of the world, yet still be able to find other shotokan enthusiasts. That evening, we made dinner and went to a local bar to watch the New Zealand Vs Australia rugby game.

The next morning, we left Nelson to head towards Lake Mahinapua. This journey involved a number of scenic stop off points as we began journeying through some of New Zealand's most beautiful parts. Firstly, we stopped off at Nelson Lakes National Park, surrounded by snow capped mountains, glacier lakes and beech forests. We then stopped off near Westport at Tauranga Bay, to view New Zealand's largest seal colony. Finally we stopped off at the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks. These are cliffs formed from Limestone which over thousands of years have been eroded to resemble giant piles of neatly stacked pancakes. That evening we arrived at our lodge in Lake Mahinapua, owned by the legendary 85-year old, Les Lisle. Les puts on a party every night for Kiwi Experience passengers, consisting of a huge steak dinner, lots of alcohol and a fancy dress theme - It felt like being back at Loughborough's Student Union! The theme was garbage bags. I'm never one to take fancy dress lightly, so I fashioned myself a batman outfit made from yellow and black bin bags. Other outfits included the New Zealand 'All Blacks' rugby team, penguins and pints of Guinness.

After one very crazy night, we woke-up late to make our way to our next destination, Franz Josef, famous for it's glaciers. On arrival, we settled in and wondered around the local village. We spent the evening relaxing at the pub and watching Family Guy. The next morning was a late rise as we spent our second day in Franz Josef. I decided to venture off into the wilderness in order to get some good views of the glacier. This involved me hiking for a few hours, which is never a bad thing, especially since I'll be hiking a great deal more once I get to Nepal. That evening was relatively relaxed again. We participated in a Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament to try and win a free Canyon Swing in Queenstown. Sadly, it was not to be!

The next morning, we boarded the bus for Wanaka. On the way down, we stopped of at Lake Matheson to catch the perfect mirror reflection of Mount Cook in the water. This was followed by a beach stop by the Tasman Sea, where I managed to get my clothes soaked, and a brief visit to the township of Haast for a quick spot of mooning - don't ask! By the time we arrived in Wanaka, we had been treated to a bus ride full of endless beautiful scenery and picturesque views.

That evening in Wanaka, we surprised Dan for his 22nd birthday. We had originally planned on cooking him dinner but decided instead, to visit the pub for their 5$ lasagne deal. Plus, Dan usually does very little during our group cooking efforts, so making him dinner wouldn't have been anything new! Instead, we got him a card and a big cake and celebrated at the bar! Tomorrow I hope to go mountain trekking.

Much love!

Sam