We decided to roll out in the afternoon and head to Nelson Lakes National Park on the way. We stopped at Lake Rotoiti for a few photos then continued on to Greymouth, where we would meet up with a Dutch girl we met in Nelson. I've been to some boring drab looking towns since I've been in New Zealand.. but Greymouth is the champion of champions when it comes to boring lifeless cities. I hear it isn't as bad as Westport (which we purposefully passed by), but the only thing to do in Greymouth is visit the brewery and even that didn't seem too exciting.
We stayed at a hostel called DUKES, which was ok, pretty nice atmosphere and beds (and FREE POOL!.... GER 4 - CAN 0 =( ). If you couldn't guess we only stayed in Greymouth for one night and departed as soon as we could in the morning. The highlight of the stay there was in the McDs late at night they gave us cheese burgers with quarter pounder patties and buns... delicious. We then set off to Hokitika, which looks like a town straight out of an old western. On our way to Hokitika we stopped in Punakaiki to see the pancake rocks and the blow holes. They looked pretty cool but it was a crappy day so we only stayed for about half an hour to take pics and walk around.
After that we went straight to Hokitika, it was pretty nice and the hostel we stayed in, Drifting Sands, was really quaint and nice; it also backed right onto the beach (literally right out the backyard). I took the time here to just chill out, bought a vball for future use, and took a walk on the beach where I saw a seal just chillin catching some sun. We had a really nice dinner here as well, BBQ lamb, chicken, corn, and veggies. That night we stayed in and had a few drinks, the stars were really visible that night because there was no moon; it was really amazing, nice night.
The next day, Ralf and Eva decided to stay behind for one more night and catch up later, so Konni, Andy, and I set off for Franz Joseph. Oh our way we decided to stop at the Hokitika Gorge, this place was really cool. The water was a weird milky blue because it w as run off from the glaciers (see pics for wowness). There was also a swing bridge which was pretty fun, haha. We left from there and continued on to Franz Joseph.... on our way we got a flat tire! OHNOZ~
So here we are, stranded in the middle of no where, no phone reception, flat tire and no tools to change it. We had the jack but the used car they bought didn't have that thing that takes the wheels off (shows how much I know about cars, don't even know what its called...). Anyway, we were basically effed and stranded in the middle of the road. Konni set off to try and find some service for his phone so it was just Andy and I left waiting by the car. By the graces of Allah/God/The Spirit of the Universe a service man drove by and helped us out. He changed the tire and gave us a name of a good place to get a new one on (didn't want to drive all the way to Franz Joseph on a spare). So we head back into Hokitika and tried the mechanic he suggested, we had some special tire that they didn't have and would have to order....so we tried the next place...same deal..Finally we got to the last place and this guy actually tested the tire to see what was wrong and found out it was just the valve that was broken. He did a quick $40 repair on the valve and we were off again. I wish I could remember the name of the place so I could give it a shout out.
The problem with driving between really small towns in New Zealand is the lack of phone service. I like to pre-book my hostel rooms to ensure I have one for the night (remember that time in Auckland?) but with no phone service we just had to hope for the best when we arrived. We got to Franz Joseph a few hours later, and it was surprisingly small. It was basically two streets, it had 2 bars and 1 atm machine (there was a sign on the machine saying that this was the only one). Right when we got to our hostel, Glow Worm, I decided to do a skydive. I already knew I wanted to do one in Franz Joseph because you get to see the highest mountain in NZ and the glaciers. So right when we checked in we signed up for a skydive that afternoon with Skydive Franz .... I was quite pumped. We quickly grabbed some food and they picked us up at 5:30pm for our dive.
Konni and I went together, and once we got to the air strip they gave us a BRIEF run through of what was going to happen, I had an interview with my camera man and we hopped in the plane. I got the full package with photos and a DVD of the jump, so I was out of money for 24hrs but it was WELL worth it. My jump master Leigh, girl who jumped with me on my back, was about 5"2 so it was really funny going with her. She said it's better that shes small because then we can go faster. I can't really describe what it was like, going up was a bit scary but the view was so beautiful, then once you jump it only feels like you're falling for half a second then it feels like you're flying. You can't hear ANYTHING while you're falling, I was yelling as loud as I could and I couldn't hear it. Then Leigh pulled the shute and we just glided down. She let me steer for a while which was fun, doing turns and stuff was really cool. Then once you hit the ground you just want to do it all over again. I can understand why some people travel the world to follow the skydive season, very addictive. I'm not sure how I will top this anywhere else in the world, the feeling of the skydive plus the scenery was just breath taking. EVERYONE SHOULD DO THIS!
I am waiting for them to send me the link to my DVD which they will host online. I'll post it as soon as I get it.
The next day we are off to see the glaciers (Franz Joseph and Fox)..already seen them from above, why not up close =P
Peace & Love
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