Travel Blog Posts
February 4th 2007
Hello! After the last blog, Bishop and I spent another day in Dunedin and saw the only castle in NZ, Larnoch Castle. It was built by a wealthy banker and politician in the late 1800's who had a very rough family life which probably caused him to take his life. After Dunedin, we headed west to Queenstown, our final destination. This town is much more "Americanized" than anything else we've seen in NZ. The stores and restaurants are open late (in other cities, they stop serving dinner around 9:00) and there's much more activity going on. On our first day there, we went paragliding, a truly beautiful experience. It was a little disconcerting to be running down a mountain, but it's really great when you realize that your feet are no longer on the ground. We ... read more
Milford Sound and Fiordland then east
Published: January 30th 2007Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Milford Sound
January 31st 2007
Hello again! After I last wrote, Bishop and I headed into the Fiordland area. No, I didn't misspell Fiordland. :) There have been several examples as we've traveled that we've noticed interesting differences in the spellings of words both the US and NZ have in common. We spent the day on 1-27 kayaking on the Milford Sound. We were a little disappointed that we couldn't rent our own kayaks and go out on our own. Instead, we had to take a guided trip. We found out that due to the extremely volatile weather in this part of NZ, no vendor will rent kayaks outside of a guided trip. Anyway, while there, we again enjoyed beautiful sunshine and calm winds, an unusually fair day for that area. The hard thing to grasp is how large these mountains ... read more
Christchurch to the West Coast then South
Published: January 26th 2007Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » West Coast
January 26th 2007
Hello there! Well, 1-23-07 started off with us heading west from Christchurch. We were headed through Arthur's Pass, which based off of my other experiences in some of these mountains, I was a little worried about. The road turned out to be much more tame than expected. We were able to see some beautiful mountian views, even some with snow on the top. They also have beautiful wildflowers on the side of the road (lupines, I believe) that are a beauty to look at and have a sweet fragrance. We made it through the mountains with no trouble and headed for the coast. We traveled along a beautiful coastal road that afforded some beautiful views of the Tasman Sea. We were able to stop at a beach in a little town called Rapahoe. The beach was ... read more
January 22nd 2007
Hello again! I'm not sure when I'll have internet access again, so I thought I'd send a quick update on today's activities. Today Bishop and I left Christchurch and headed about 1 1/2 hour south to Akaroa. We were planning to swim with Hector's dolphins, ones only found in New Zealand. It was a beautiful, warm day, so we were very excited. Well, our expectations were far exceeded. We donned our wetsuits and joined the small group on our boat (there were 8 of us in all) and headed out into the bay. After only a few minutes, the captain of the boat found some dolphins and we all slid into the water. The dolphins were very curious and swam all around us. There were about 5 of them, which is the typical size for a ... read more
North Island to South Island
Published: January 21st 2007Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch
January 21st 2007
Greetings!! I arrived in Auckland with several hours to wait before my campervan was ready. The flight wasn't all that bad and I was able to get some sleep. After getting used to driving on the other side of the road and sitting on the opposite side of the van, I made my way out of Auckland and headed north. I made a slower start than expected, so I wasn't able to make it all the way to Cape Reinga - the northernmost point. Instead, I stayed the night at Paihia in the Bay of Islands. I took a cruise and enjoyed the scenery. The weather was nice, but a little overcast, so I'm sure that hampered some of the beauty. There was a huge private yacht anchored in the bay that we all were amazed ... read more
January 13th 2007
Hello - I have decided to create this travelblog to keep everyone updated on my progress in New Zealand. I leave tomorrow (1/14) for three weeks to New Zealand. At first, three weeks seemed like more than enough time. Now I'm not so sure. I am renting a campervan which will give me the freedom to travel around the country with the most flexibility. I will post updates (and hopefully some pictures) as I am able. Here's a brief idea of where I might end up: 14 Jan 2007 - 16 Jan 2007 - Too much time in the air! 16 Jan 2007 - Arrive in Auckland, head north to view sights of northern island (Bay of Islands, Cape Reinga) 17 Jan 2007 - Waitomo caves (they have caves lit by glowworms), Lake Taupo Take ferry ... read more
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