Milford: Sound!

Sorry in the delay in posting but we have been in the back of beyond without internet access and without sunshine. Yes, the rain seems to have finally caught up with us over the last few days so we've been holed up in the camper van staring out at puddles and reading books. We did manage to make it to Milford Sound before the rain though and it was pretty cool. We stayed in a place called Moke Lake which is near to Queenstown and Su took this nice photo :

The next day we drove to Milford Sound and got on a boat called "The Friend-Ship" for a two and a half hour journey around the Sound (actually not a Sound but a Fiord). I guess the "Good Ship Lollipop" was in for repairs. Here are some photos:

It was a bit cloudy that day but you get the general idea - lots of steep cliffs and mountains on both sides and lots of waterfalls.

We then got back to the camper van to find it dead - we left the lights on but a set of jumper cables soon had us back on the road to a place called Lake Gunn which is near to Milford Sound and I took this as the sun disappeared (little did we know that we wouldn't see it again for a while) :

Yep - so it's been raining pretty much ever since. We celebrated the lovely Su's birthday (she's 21!) with a bottle of bubbley and junk food and we even managed to buy a Mississippi Mud Pie for Valentines day. Believe it or not (especially after the last blog), we still have some left. This is our last evening in New Zealand - we fly out to Sydney, Australia tomorrow for 4 or 5 days of soaking (and I mean soaking) up the sun and getting the chill out of our bones. If the weather isn't good there then a letter to the Prime Minister will be written. A stern letter at that. New Zealand is such a fantastic place, that if you get a chance to visit, do. The people are extremely friendly and the scenery is so good that we have to stop yourself taking it for granted.

Australia here we come!

Extreme Queenstown and Extreme Eating

We've spent the last few days knocking around Queenstown - "Extreme capital" of New Zealand, where you can do everything from Extreme Bungee (up to 134 metres high), Extreme Sky Diving, to Extreme Jet Boating. I had already Bungeed before, and Su had done both a Bungee and a Sky Dive, so after a day of Extreme partying, and a day of Extreme Hangover recovering, we decided to do the Shotover Jet Boating, and the Luge.

The Shotover Jet is a jet-powered boat (3 tons!) that rockets you down the Shotover river at speeds up to 80 kilometers per hour, narrowly avoiding canyon walls, and spinning 360 degrees in it's own boat length! Crazy stuff!

The boat only needs about 4 inches of water to operate on and is powered by twin V6 Buick engines. The twin Hamilton Jet units thrusts out 800 litres of water a second. We recommend it!

Afterwards we got the Queenstown Gondola to the top of Bob's Peak to do the Extreme Luge! Good craic, but tame after the Shotover Jet. The Luge is a three-wheeled cart that you plummet down a winding track on and then get a chair-lift up to for another few go's.

Here is me and Su on the chairlift:

All these activities pale in comparison to what came next. It was time to show these Queenstown folk what "Extreme" really means. Jumping off a 134 metre bridge with an elastic tied to your legs, or jumping 5000 meters out of a plane, or anything else like that doesn't even come close to Extreme Buffet eating. In our defence, we hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast - and they had a deal on. So - we went down the Gondola, changed into appropriate clothing for a dinner out, and went back up the Gondola to eat them out of house and home. It was supposed to be a six-course meal (I counted 7 courses but maybe one was a choice...). Making sure our trousers were nice and loose, we began:

The soup course was first: we had a choice between Mushroom soup and Cauliflower and Blue Cheese soup. Needless to say, I had both. With bread. I know what you are saying "Foolish to fill up with bread at a buffet" and normally you'd be right - but my jeans have been loose lately so I needed to sort it out. And I was only getting started.

Next came the Salad course: I had Green Salad, Pasta Salad, Sweet corn, Potato Salad, Olives, Cous cous, Beetroot, Egg and Rice Salad, Mediterranean Salad, Feta cheese, Jalapenos, and Lardons. It was all very nice. Su was tucking into her main course by this stage.

Next was the Seafood and Cold Meat platter course featuring: Salmon, Mussels, King Prawns (just the one big one for me), Prawn cocktail, Salami, Ham, Pastrami - all served with condiments. Just to clarify - I'm not naming what was available - I'm naming what I had (both the same up to now). Su was getting to the desserts at this stage - which I must admit is her specialty.

Then the Hot Entrees: The choice was Chicken in Capsicum sauce, Pork belly in Honey Sauce, Fish in coconut sauce, Venison curry, and creamed potatoes. So I had Chicken in Capsicum sauce, Pork belly in Honey Sauce, Fish in coconut sauce, Venison curry, and creamed potatoes. The staff were beginning to notice now. And they were beginning to look nervous.

Now for the Hot Carvery: Roast New Zealand Lamb served with boiled potatoes, noodles, broccoli, creamed pumpkin, carrots and peas. Again, very nice!

Don't worry - I had left room for dessert. Su, by this stage, had been through most of the dessert cart and I could see what was available. There was really way too much to mention here but she sampled the Chocolate Mousse (naturally), the Creme Brulee (sp?), the Vienisan Slice, Chocolate Truffle, and the Chocolate/Almond cake.

I went for the Creme Brulee, Pavlova, Choc Mousse, Fruit Salad (for the health), the Carrot Cake (also for the health), Tiramisu, followed by hot Fruit Crumble with Creme Anglais (I had to go up a second time). The plates were clean when I finished. The staff were diving for cover by this stage thinking I was going to explode at any second.

Su was looking a little bit green now so I only made one trip to the Cheese board. It was a little pathetic anyway as all the cheese was a bit mank looking, so I settled on one cracker and some blue cheese, which I crammed into my mouth as Su dragged me away.

There was tea and coffee aswell but at that time of night we thought it might keep us awake. I did manage to break away and grab a banana from the fruit bowl on the way out though.

Can I say to any of my family reading this: if you are ever in Queenstown and plan to have the buffet dinner at the top of the Gondola, don't use the name McGrath to book it as there's a very good chance our name is blacklisted up there. In my defence, we are backpacking and have to stretch every penny...

I do realise the similarities to Homer Simpson though so no need to mention it.