Queenstown

Queenstown was so wet that we were stuck inside for about three days and I had to try and dry everything I owned on the last and only sunny day. 

:(

Glaciers

After Nelson we went south, to the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers. No camping here; I think all the sites that used to operate were closed down because it rained so much no one dared camp anyway. Without getting a guide the glaciers were inaccessible, but we hitchhiked up to each one and did the hour long walk from the carpark to within sight of the glaciers.

Nelson and Abel Tasman

After leaving Christchurch we got on a bus with our camping gear and headed up to Nelson. After a few days lounging around and going to the beach we caught a water taxi up to Abel Tasman National Park on the recommendation of my friend. It's less than 23,000 hectares and is NZ's smallest national park, but it felt deserted as we hiked from Bark Bay to our campsite, only meeting a few people on our way back out the next day.

 Happy campers! I think Alfie is too tired to smile here.

Christchurch and Springfield - our first workaway

Into New Zealand! Our first 24 hours here were a bit hectic; we slept in Auckland airport to catch the morning flight to Christchurch the next day, but if anyone is planning it I can recommend their benches in the viewing platform for a relatively undisturbed night. 

We had a workaway placement lined up for Christchurch, so after a few hours wandering around the fairly destroyed town, we got a lift out towards Springfield to help on a farm (not an oyster farm unfortunately).

After our second day we got day though, we got snowed in so out duties sort of degraded to babysitting rather than helping our round the farm. Nevertheless we had a great time and the family made us feel so welcome for our first week in NZ. workaway for the win guys.

Katoomba Mountains

On our last day in Australia we caught the train out to Katoomba to get a peek at the Blue Mountains. The most famous feature around here is the Three Sisters, a rock formation in the second picture down. The legend of the Three Sisters is that three girls of the Katoomba tribe fell in love with three brothers of the neighbouring tribe. However, inter-tribal marriage was forbidden, and a tribal battle ensued. The three sisters were turned to stone by their father, a tribal elder, to protect them from the fighting, but he was killed before he could change them back. This story is claimed to be an Indigenous Australian Dreamtime legend, but a wee bit of internet research has told me it might just be a story made up in the 1920s to add tourism interest to the place. Nonetheless, it's great area for taking a walk and the path meanders from viewpoint to viewpoint.