Spring time on South Island.. and it's snowing?!

Yes, it really has been snowing. What a shock to my system after six months of largely dry, hot weather!

Actually, when I landed in Christchurch to start the Flying Kiwi tour, it was reasonably sunny. I met up with the bus and the group near the airport. Four of us joined that day, but it is a hop on / hop off type of tour so some people had joined up beforehand. At the moment, we are 20 people - mainly English, and also some Americans and Germans. Ages range from 16 to 60ish, but most people are 20s and 30s and mostly people travelling by themselves. Lots of really nice people. The bus has a trailer attached for the bikes, tents, food and cooking stuff.

The first afternoon was a drive to a camp site near the Rongitata River. The countryside is beautiful (so good to be out of the city) - lots of lush green grass, rolling hills and spring lambs playing. I haven't seen so much green since leaving the UK that's for sure!

First night's camping was okay. Nice and cosy in my sleeping bag, but the wind got stronger and stronger during the night. The noise of your tent flapping in the wind is not entirely conducive to a good nights sleep! However, despite the weather, our white water rafting trip was still set to go ahead that morning. As we drive up the mountain to the put in point, it starts to snow. And I do mean proper settling snow! Who would go rafting in the snow on a glacial river? Well they do in NZ so away we went. It was a battle to maintain circulation in one's feet and hands but the adrenalin of going through the rapids does help. The guide did stress that given the conditions, the aim was definitely to stay in the raft and not flip over. Sadly, it didn't quite work out that way.. On the final grade 5 rapid (the highest grade), it went horribly wrong for our raft as we flipped pretty much as soon as we entered it. Not good when the rapid is around 350m in length, the white water is raging and it is absolutely freezing. Ah well, we lived to tell the tale so it was okay in the end. I don't think my body temperature has ever dropped that low before - very painful trying to regain feeling in my hands which were like blocks of ice.

The plan to bush camp that night near Mount Cook was abandoned given the dreadful weather conditions. More driving snow as we stopped off for a photo stop by Lake Tekapo so we stayed at a proper lodge with nice warm cabins to sleep in. Although some brave souls in the group did still opt for tents - crazy people..

Today we were planning to do a 3 hour hike by Mount Cook but again that wasn't possible - the route was closed due to snow. We found a shorter hike to do instead. So strange tramping through ice and snow and wearing all my cold weather gear - I knew I'd been carrying it around with me for the past six months for a reason. Although it's cold, the weather is better today so hoping to do a cycle ride later into camp on the beach. The scenery so far has been simply stunning. Incredible snow capped mountains, blue / green glacial lakes, etc. Loving NZ!