As I mentioned before, a new period in my trip here started. I am now traveling with an Israeli guy that Shiri & me met a few weeks ago. We discussed a bit and decided we have similar plans, we are both very flexible with the time, and we are both ready to spend money on wine, good food, etc... The only thing is that he did a lot more hiking than me, and now I am planning to do them too! No more only easy walks :-) And the first "test" was right in the beginning: the Avalanche Peak track [View Full Entry]

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The French also wanted to colonize New Zealand but when they got here they found that the British came here first. They still had one settelment on a fine bay in Banks Peninsula. The town is called Akaroa and is famous for good French bakeries. The backpacker I stayed in is called "Chez la mer". Well, that's about it with French things there... I took a cruise in the bay to see dolphins and it reminded me too well of my days in the Navy. I was sick and when we came back I couldn't taste any Croissant! What a dissapointment... [View Full Entry]

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I am now back in Christchurch for 2 hours, ending one period of my trip and starting another. The last 2 days were full of hard work, but as always - also a lot of fun. I drove 700 km in these 2 days, from Dunedin to a beautiful place called Mt Cook, and today to Christchurch. Mount Cook is the highest mountain in NZ. The glaciers I visited 2 weeks ago belong to the same area but there is no access from one side to the other, just a long drive around the mountains. So Yesterday I finally arrived to [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday was Shiri's last day here. Unfortunately it was also the most uneventful... Dunedin is not very interesting. We strolled in the town, saw another botanic garden with an aviary (birds zoo), we had some music in the park, nice lunch (in a restaurant for a change). This morning we kissed goodbye and she started the long journey home. Then I started the short journey to Otago Peninsula. It's a peninsula close to Dunedin with some nice things: first, the only "chateau" in NZ. Real lovely one, build about 130 years ago by a show off reach banker (financed by his [View Full Entry]

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We read in the book about the fossil forest in Curio bay. You have to go there only on the low tide. We did. We started to look for some fossils and saw nothing. And then we read the sign there and understood is a fossilized forest. Now, that was amazing. You can actually see the shape of the trees, you'd think you see wood but it's all rocks. And then Shiri calls me, and I here something like "Pinguin". I rushed to where she was, and there was he: a lonely pinguin, just standing there, very still. It was the [View Full Entry]

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In the southern town of Invercargil we visited the wierdest museum I have ever seen. It has under one roof: the town information center, some art stuff, living lizards (in glass cages, don't worry) and some exhibition about the islands under the 45 degrees line with stories about ship wreckage and castaways... one museum. And there was more I just don't remember. Is this the effect of the deep south?? We are still having great weather, haven't seen rain in days, and down here at the south, next to the sea it's so great. You see so much blue sky from [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday after I spent 2 hours in the Internet place, we went to see what's going on here. It's the first town here that is not asleep at 10PM. We went to a bar, I had 2 beers, we danced, everything was very happy. I hope it's not the only place in NZ like that... Today I did the jet boat ride. That was FUN!!!!! It's a boat that goes really fats on the river, and it's unique in the ability to turn very quickly, on the spot, even 360 degrees. So the driver gets close to the rocks and gets [View Full Entry]

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Girls, I need to share this with you. The Kiwi guys (meaning New Zealand guys) are gorgeous!!! I already told you about the guy at the underwater observatory. He still has no competition, but today the jet boat driver wasn't bad at all, and lots of other guys you see around. So what's the secret? The hall in the Uzone? But who cares, come and enjoy it too... [View Full Entry]

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I was waiting impatiently to get to Queenstown and do the luge, remembering the great "luge d'ete" in France and the huge one in Austria. Well here it's different and I didn't like it. What a shame... I am so disappointed! So, yes, we are finally in Queenstown, the city of high Adrenalin activities. We took the cable car (Gondola they call it) to the mountain next to town, where you see signs that are "so Qtown": Luge right, Bungy left, Paragliding here... We only did the luge but enjoyed watching the rest of the adrenalin stuff. Tomorrow I do one [View Full Entry]

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We are so lucky. Milford Sound and the Fiordland in general get about 6 meters of rain per year. But we had a real nice day! The way from Te Anau to Milford Sound (which is actually a fiord but for some reason all fiords in NZ are called sounds) is 120km long, with many nature atractions on the way. We stopped in several places for short walks in beautiful scenery. Then we cruised the fiord. It's a nice one but it's really nothing compared to Norway, with all the respect. The Geiranger (I hope I remember the name correctly) is [View Full Entry]

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