Sydney & Getting to Christchurch
On arriving at Sydney airport (at 6:30am local time) I was still unsure what I would be doing for the day - according to the travel agent in England, I wouldn't be able to get out of the airport. Fortunately for me, she was wrong, and I was able to clear customs and spend the day wandering round Sydney. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't exactly what I was expecting. It was very overcast, with some drizzle. Which turned into rain occasionally.
Due to not having a huge amount of time, I didn't do much apart from walking round exploring, hiding every now and again under cover when I got fed up of being rained on. Eventually I headed back to the airport for the final leg of my first journey, where of course my flight was delayed a little! Upon arriving in Christchurch, I had no idea of how I was going to get to the hostel I had booked - the Lonely Planet suggested buses, which of course had finished running by that point. Perhaps this made me look nervous, for a customs officer decided I looked dodgy and asked me all sorts of questions about my stay! Eventually I managed to get through, and was greeted by Karl & Alice who had changed their plans a little and come to meet me. This made getting around a little easier. After going for a beer and some food, I was very tired and collapsed in my bed, in a dorm with a woman who said I had better not snore, then proceeded to snore loudly for the entire night!
The next day, Karl & Alice talked me into coming Whitewater Rafting - saying that the places offering it in Queenstown, where people normally do stuff like this, end up giving you very little water time, and not very difficult rapids. This place, Rangitata Rafts, had Grade 5 rapids (the hardest ones you can do without being more likely than not to flip the raft) and lasted quite a long time. The river we were rafting on was formed by two glaciers meeting, which meant it wasn't particularly toasty! It was a great day, and I didn't even fall out of the raft. I can't say the same for Karl, he got thrown out when we were messing about trying to get water to flow over the front of the raft for the cameras, after surviving all of the rapids without any problems! Some of our group however (Karl included!) need lessons on which is left and which is right! I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone going to New Zealand - it's had much better reports than the rafting around Queenstown.
UPDATE: Have got some of the photos now! The third one, I seemed to be the only person to hear the "wave to the camera" instruction. The final one is seconds before Karl and 2 others fell out!
Anyway, today I have an unexpected extra day in Christchurch, so I am having a lazy day before starting a backpacker tour tomorrow morning. I'll be heading to Kaikoura to do some whale watching, before heading to the North Island.
Due to not having a huge amount of time, I didn't do much apart from walking round exploring, hiding every now and again under cover when I got fed up of being rained on. Eventually I headed back to the airport for the final leg of my first journey, where of course my flight was delayed a little! Upon arriving in Christchurch, I had no idea of how I was going to get to the hostel I had booked - the Lonely Planet suggested buses, which of course had finished running by that point. Perhaps this made me look nervous, for a customs officer decided I looked dodgy and asked me all sorts of questions about my stay! Eventually I managed to get through, and was greeted by Karl & Alice who had changed their plans a little and come to meet me. This made getting around a little easier. After going for a beer and some food, I was very tired and collapsed in my bed, in a dorm with a woman who said I had better not snore, then proceeded to snore loudly for the entire night!
The next day, Karl & Alice talked me into coming Whitewater Rafting - saying that the places offering it in Queenstown, where people normally do stuff like this, end up giving you very little water time, and not very difficult rapids. This place, Rangitata Rafts, had Grade 5 rapids (the hardest ones you can do without being more likely than not to flip the raft) and lasted quite a long time. The river we were rafting on was formed by two glaciers meeting, which meant it wasn't particularly toasty! It was a great day, and I didn't even fall out of the raft. I can't say the same for Karl, he got thrown out when we were messing about trying to get water to flow over the front of the raft for the cameras, after surviving all of the rapids without any problems! Some of our group however (Karl included!) need lessons on which is left and which is right! I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone going to New Zealand - it's had much better reports than the rafting around Queenstown.
UPDATE: Have got some of the photos now! The third one, I seemed to be the only person to hear the "wave to the camera" instruction. The final one is seconds before Karl and 2 others fell out!
Anyway, today I have an unexpected extra day in Christchurch, so I am having a lazy day before starting a backpacker tour tomorrow morning. I'll be heading to Kaikoura to do some whale watching, before heading to the North Island.
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