I did eventually return to New Zealand, four years after my first failed trip. This time I was with my family, road tripping around the South Island. As with all family trips, some days were tense, after being confined to a car for several days with no escape, and by the end tempers were frayed. But I also had some of the most amazing experiences in New Zealand. From my first trip, the best memories I have were near the beginning (the rest were tinged with drama). My favourite part, and still one of my favourite places in New Zealand was the Bay of Islands.
I have always loved the ocean and everything that lives in it. In the Bay of Islands, I took a dolphin cruise. On that day I saw some Pilot whales up close, and for the first time in my life, I saw Orca (Killer Whales) in the wild. Free Willy was one of my favourite movies, and you can only imagine just how amazing that day was for me. I also had another encounter that was very important. On that boat I met a traveller from Canada who told me about the lakes in Canada where you can go kayaking and the Orca will come up around the kayak. This conversation had two effects. The first was an immediate resolve that I would go to Canada and kayak with those Orca one day. And the second, less obvious thing that came from this conversation, was the realisation that there are millions of fascinating people in the world who travel and have adventures, with fabulous stories to tell and that this trip didn't need to be once in a lifetime.
I never really made it to the South Island on my original tour. We crossed the strait, and made it to Christchurch when I was sent home. In what I felt was the best example of karma in action, my relatives continued the tour and got stranded in Invercargill due to extreme flooding and road closures and ended up having to fly home, the rest of their trip ruined.
When I came back with my family, the weather was still on my side, with the sunshine following us around the island in what was otherwise one of the wettest summers recorded. On this trip I had another amazing experience. I climbed the Franz-Joseph Glacier. We hiked from the bus turn around up to the base, strapped on our spike-shoes (I can't for the life of me remember the name of them) and started climbing ice. I honestly have to say that hunk of ice was doing its best to kill me. This wasn't helped by the fact that I had somehow ended up with my brothers spikes. This wasn't such a problem for him, as his were small but still fit onto his shoes and held fast for the whole hike. Mine on the other hand were designed for feet much bigger than mine (my brother measures his feet in actual feet). This meant that every three steps I took made my feet slip out of the spikes. While this wasn't much of a problem when we were walking up the stairs cut into the ice, it became a serious problem when we were required to walk down almost vertical walls of ice. The guide enthusiastically told us to 'trust our equipment'. and then gave a small demonstration running up and down the ice a few times. Needless to say I was not in a trusting mood, having almost fallen several times already on relatively flat surfaces. But I made it up that glacier and back down again, almost in one peice. I did almost successfully fall into a ravine that I'm convinced I would never have got out of alive, but apart from a few slips here and there I made it to solid ground, very cold, rather wet, injured but still alive and having walked an water (conveniently frozen at the time).
Between three separate trips to our friendly cousins in Kiwi Land, I have seen everything the islands have to offer to the casual tourist. I may go back to do something more adventurous, like horse riding through the mountains of the South Island, or hiking the Milford Sound track, but for now, my New Zealand adventures are finished. I have my sights set on more distant lands, and Europe was the first one on my list.
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