So after tramping Able Tazman......

....and whale watching in Kaikoura.....
....I went to meet my friend Richard in Wellington. Wellington is a pretty cool capital with nice parks and museums etc (all the stuff a good capital should have) and I am now in New Plymouth (where Richard lives at the moment). It is a really cool town by the sea with some of the best surf around and it is under the shadow of this spectacular volcano......
..... Its so beautiful but it makes it rain here a lot, tut tut. This is however one of the only places i the world that you can ski on the mountain in the morning and surf in the afternoon. Good eh?

I would also like to point out...

...that within the space of a week (and only a few hundred miles) I went from this.....


...to this....



....how crazy is New Zealand????

Failed to Mention Nelson...

Protected, unprotected tree, Motueka, New Zealand (see how all the bark has fallen off)


Boat on beach, Motueka, New Zealand.


Perfect Shells, Motueka, New Zealand


Closeup of boat, Motueka, New Zealand.


Shipwreck, Motueka, New Zealand.


Ok so in the rush of trying to fit evrything into my last entry I practically missed out Nelson. I stopped there (over easter weekend) between the Glaciers and the Able Tasman treck. It is my favoutite city in NZ so far, really chilled, beautiful, arty and just generally really nice feeling, I stayed in this really small hostel that semed more like staying at your grandparents house than a hostel, it was really nice, the owner even took me to a local town fair (just the sort of outing you would go on with your grand parents), it was a bit like the balloon festival without the balloons!!! Nelson is also the geographical centre of New Zealand and there is a nice walk up a hill which is the exact centre and you wouldn't believe how much of new Zealand you can see from that single point. From Nelson I went to Motueka (of which there are some photos above) and spent Easter Sunday and Monday relaxing by the beach there and taking lots of photos as it being Easter everything was shut, of course with it being out of the hottest weekends of my trip so far I wasn't going to complain about being forced onto the beach, especially not a quiet in tourist filled one. From there I went on to do the Able Tasman treck as mentioned before, a cool treck with several crossing that are tide dependant, if you don't reach certain beach crossing at the right time you have to swim (quite a challenge when your on a 3 day tramp with a backpack full of a tent, food and hopfull dry clothing etc.). Anyways that fills that gap in.

Too Much To Catch Up On

Ok, it has been way to long since my last entry to catch up on everything I have been doing. To get a good idea check out my flickr page... www.flickr.com/photos/joseph_bolt although that is still asbout 3 weeks behind. I have done so much since my last entry. I met some really cool guys in Wanaka that I traveled around with, we got in the local paper for swimming to an island because some woman thought we were drowning and called the police. We had a great time together, did the Routburn track, another amazing walk athough it was windy and rainy and it even hailed on us at one point. The last day of the track was glorious though and we ran back the way we had gone the previous day to see the amazing sights we missed. We also got drunk....a lot! I have also visited Christchurch and been to the Frans Josef glacier and walkied up it, that was pretty cool. I also worked there for a week waiting for the weather to clear. I then at last SKYDIVED! over the Fox glacier, one of the bext experienced ever. I visited Athurs pass and climbed my first mountain that went higher than plants can grow, the view was spectacular. I have just finished doing the Able Tasman treck, a three day hike around the coast along some beautiful beaches and saw seals in the wild for the first time. A baby seal came up to see me when I was chilling on a rock, it was a really special moment. I am currently in Kaikora. I went whale watching today and saw, 3 sperm whales, a few Seals and a pod of around 150 dolphins!!!! Anyways that is a very brief description of what I have been doing, there has been so much more but I can't afford to spend the money on the net writing it all up. I have already overspent in NZ, and will soon be looking for a job to make some of it back. I am also planning to stay in NZ a couple of months longer than initailly planned cos its SO cool and I am only half way through.
Love you all,
Joe

Wanaka Pic

Just a photo of Wanaka to test new filter on camera.

Killing Time

The weather has taken a turn for the worst and I am killing time waiting for it to clear because I am wanting to do a skydive over the fox glacier and the won't do them when the weather is like this. I had a very short and uneventful stay in the very small and dull town of Milford Sound (nice landscape but there is only 1 shop, 1 bar, and 1 cafe and everything is expensive because there is no other choice). I was there because I needed a rest after the beautiful Milford track and took a cruise around the fiords but it rained and I couldn't see much. I then headed back to the homely Queenstown for a couple of nights and decided to head for Wanaka while the weather is bad as it is on route to the Fox Glacier. Wanaka is pleasent and chilled out but I just feel like I am wasting time here. It is nice to get stuck into my book and take it easy but I am really in the mood for some action, but hey the sun can't be expected to shine everyday.

The Milford Track

Wow!!! Wow, wow, wow!!!!!! A couple of days ago I finished doing the Milford Track, a 4 day trek through some of the most amazing landscape. It is surpossed to be the best walk in New Zealand and one of the best in the world and I can now see why. It was SO amazing!!! You normally have to book at least 6 months ahead 'cos they limit numbers on the track but I got in the day before because somebody cancelled! How lucky am I?? It is definately one of the highlights of the trip so far....one of the highlights of my life even. It was really hard work. 33.5 miles with a full backpack on but totally worth the pain. I even climbed up and over a mountain!!!! How cool is that? The views and atmostphere at the top was impossible to describe, I literally climbed upto and over the clouds. Simply bliss. You may get a hint at how beautiful it was from the photographs but they are nothing to the real thing. Heaven.