2nd Part of Theo's adventures

Hi Readers.
Hi Charlie.

I am going to tell you about New-Zealand, at least what I have discovered of it.

So I (actually me and my family but I'll say 'I' in this article) arrived in Wellington after my quite exhausting and very polluting travel across the world on the 6th of January. At that time all the french students and teachers were in school... I was happy about that, I can't hide it.
So the house I arrived in, the house I was going to be living in for more than half a year, was, and still is up a slope on a hill called Mount Victoria. The house has an amazing view on the harbor and Wellington's city center.

I go and explore the city quite quickly, and since it is quite small (more or less the size of Montpellier) I walk down from Mount Victoria to the harbor and the city center. The first thing I felt and saw was that everybody was relaxed, open and mostly under 30. I thing that's how it got the name of "coolest little capital in the world" !
My first impressions were confirmed during the first week I stayed in the city.

But after only seven days, I go off to explore the south island while it's still hot (seasons are the other way round remember).

So I go to the airport and then, I find myself face to face with Smaug!!! it was really a surprise, the dragon's head was sticking out of rocks. Not far is Gandalf on a giant eagle as in the Hobbit, all three real size (I guess). How amazing. Then I fly off (yes again) to Queenstown, it's a smaller town than Wellington. Queenstown is just by a very long lake called Wakatipu. And it's the world capital for extreme sports!
It's a very touristic town mainly for it's high-adrenaline activities so there isn't much cultural interest in the city. But not far, up the lake, at it's tip, is a city called Glenorchy. It was created in the 1860's and was an important gold mining town at the time, but the business quickly got smaller as the quantity of gold decreased. Apart from that around Glenorchy is the site Peter Jackson used in the Lord of the rings as Isengard! Sadly the tower is gone ;-)

After two days in Queenstown I drive off to the north of the southern island, I pass lakes, small villages and tons of sheep, they were literally everywhere. Day after day I travel clockwise in a big circle through the island starting from the west, going up to Timaru and back down along the east coast where the water was hot enough to swim. I end my tour in Invercargill the south-most city of New-Zealand. Down in the south there are very few people, more sheep and forest, and by the sea there are very long beaches where sea-lions, penguins and other birds come. I can't describe to you what it feel's like being 5 m from a fat sea-lion!

I really loved the wild South island even if what I wrote above didn't show it too much... I also went by Mount Cook New-Zealand's summit and saw a glacier by a lake with icebergs floating in it.
I recommend touring New-Zealand to anyone who is planning to go there.

map

Insengard with something missing

smaug                                    an empty town down in the south                          Gandalf riding an eagle

mount cook glacier                                     the view from my sitting room


Bye Charlie
PS I start school on the 1st of Feb, and I have also created my own blog just about my family's trip to New-Zealand here.