Franz Josef, Queenstown and Milford Sound (New Zealand): ice, skydiving and breathtaking views

11 March - 18 March 2011

After the incredible Abel Tasman National Park, we headed to Franz Josef. A spectacular Unesco World Heritage on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Franz Josef is famous for its glacier. And the must-do is a full day hike on the glacier, what I of course did.

8 hours hike among which 6 on the glacier, a definitely unique experience. Of course we had to get prepared with 4 layers on the top, a rain coat, trousers and rain trousers, gloves, hats, thick socks, super heavy shoes and of course crampons. Ready to go!

The feeling of walking on a glacier is amazing. Air is so pure and fresh, ice so white and beautiful. The hike was exhausting, 12km in total, but a memorable souvenir.

The second day, i decided to skydive at Fox Glacier, which is another glacier, 25 km away from the first one. After a 20 minutes flight above the glaciers and Mount Cook (the highest mountain in New Zealand) and amazing landscapes, I jumped out of the plane with Greg, my tandem. 12000 feet high, around 3700m, 45 seconds of free fall and then 5 min of slow landing, another great experience.

Enough crazy activities, I was time to relax and visit Queenstown. Located on the West Coast of the South Island, with the Lake Wakatipu, the city was small but so beautiful. The weather was sunny so for 2 entire days I walked around, sat at cafes reading, shopped, ate sushis, had delicious ice creams and world known burgers, walked and walked... Wonderful time in Queenstown.

On a day trip, I joined a tour to Milford Sound which is a fjord, most famous tourist destination in New Zealand. It runs 15 km inland from the Tasman Sea and is surronded by rock faces that rise 1200m and even more on both sides. It also has several beautiful waterfalls. It was so amazing that it is very difficult to describe it so, one picture is worth a thousand words...

After Queenstown, I continued my trip on the East coast of the South Island. Still more beauties to discover...

Next stops: Lake Tekapo, Tongariro National Park and Coromandel (New Zealand).

Rotorua, Wellington and Abel Tasman (New Zealand): volcanoes, national parks and amazing scenery

26 February - 10 March 2011




New Zealand wasn't planned in my initial itinerary but when I knew I was going to Australia, i thought New Zealand is just next door, just go for it. So here I am.

I started in Auckland, North of the Northern Island. Nothing much to see, just a big city. A bit of shopping and lots of asian restaurants...
I decided to travel with Magic Bus, a hop on hop off bus, going to most of the main places on both islands, very convenient. It was also a good opportunity to meet people.













New Zealand is famous of its volcanoes. only one remains active on the White Island. But still on the North Island, especially in Rotorua, there are plenty of geysers and geothermal pools with bubbling pools, sometimes reaching more than 100 degrees. Of course I didn't take my mud spa in one of those but it was quite hot though. They say mud spa is good for your skin so I jumped in with 4 other strangers. My skin hasn't really changed but it felt really good.

I also joined a local show with Maori people, the indigeneous people of New Zealand, sharing their way of living. Very intersting altough quite "wild". The funny part is when at the end of the show, some of the Maoris go home with the same bus and explained to me that they live in town, have cars and have other jobs during day time...




Wellington, the capital of New Zealand with its cable car. That I took of course. Chinese people love cable cars wherever they go, they will jump on it... Also called the Windy City and this is so true. It was freezing there. Me and my flip flops and summer tops, I had to invest in winter clothes.


Despite the fact that it was very cold and rainy, Wellington is still a nice city with the all the government buildings, shops, museums among which a great museum, Te Papa, certainly the best I have ever seen. 6 floors about New Zealand origines, environment, wildlife, fashion, emigration, fotografers, etc, etc.










Time to move to the South Island. We took a ferry for 3 hours, beautiful journey.
We arrived in Nelson, a pretty little town, which is the gate to the Abel Tasman National Park.

Abel Tasman National Park, A wonder. We took a boat along the coast and then walked about 12 km back to the main entrance of the park. On the way of the coast track, it was just stunning. All the views on the turquoise water, the golden beaches, sculptured granite cliffs and much more. One among many of the nice surprises I had about New Zealand.

Next stops: Franz Josef, Queenstown, Milford Sound (New Zealand).

Melbourne & Adelaide (Australia): Kangaroos, koalas and Great Ocean Road

15 February - 26 February 2011

After a few hours driving from Canberra, we arrived at the Wilsons Promontory National Park located at the southernmost part of Australia. The Park is famous for its wildlife, its bays with the white sand beaches and for its stunning views from the summint of the Mont Oberon. We decided to see all of it.

First day, we succeded in finding 14 kangaroos, quietly eating the grass. On TV and on pictures, they look really cute, well it is exactly the same in real...

The second day, after a long and painfull walk to the summit of Mont Oberon, we were standing in front of gorgeous views, breathtaking...

We ended our trip to the park with a visit to the white sand beaches.

This park was definitely worth the effort...

We reached Melbourne on the 17 of February. Two days in a big city. Guess what the Chareuntakul sisters do? They shop!!! Clothes, souvenirs, postcards, Melbourne was definitely the right place for it. Lucky we stayed at a friend's place. A comfortable bed, a private bathroom, some privacy, internet and excellent food, that was exactly what we needed after 10 days of noisy and dirty dorms...

Time to move on. Next destination: Great Ocean Road. The road not to be missed in South Australia. A sequence of beautiful white sand beaches, famous rocks and forrest with plenty of little cute koalas sleeping on their tree.

After the Great Ocean Road, we passed by several small towns. We experienced a night in a very old and crappy caravan, went to the movie, saw the Blue Lake at Mont Gambier, ... And finally, we arrived in Adelaide.

3 days without the rental car, a realy pleasure. We didn't rest that much. We even took a bike and rode 30 km to reach the beach. With David (a guy we met on the way to Adelaide who was hitch hiking). Almost just the 3 of us on the beach, picnicking, swimming and relaxing... Great day!

For our last evening in Australia, we decided to end like we started, with a big and delicious chinese dinner. And after dinner, party time!

I only slept 1.30 hour that night but it was good fun.

New Zealand, here I come!

Next stops: Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington (North Island, New Zealand)