Emily Levy
Hi Friends! This is my travel blog so you can keep track of me and I can keep track of myself. Let me know what you think. Much love.Emmalemma
Travel Blog Posts
May 2nd 2007
check back for pictures....... The last few weeks have been special ones and have returned me safely and somewhat sorrowfully to Auckland, where I began nearly six months ago. I went sky diving in Taupo, walked the Crossing (Mt Doom from the Lord of the Rings) with my friend Sarah from the Rainbow Lodge, spent two days running around Auckland with Jesse, hiking volcanoes, searching for kabobs in the maze of an unknown city, kissing in the grass on top of Mt Eden surrounded by 360 degrees of sailboats and Asian tourists, catching up with my old flatmate Andrew from Wanaka over coffee at tiny cafe renowned for a visit paid by Clinton several years ago, spending time with my lady friends from the Queen Charlotte Track and enjoying several nights and many meals with the ... read more
April 19th 2007
I have less than three weeks left in New Zealand which is longer than most people take for a a years worth of holiday, but to me it feels like the beginning of the end. My last stop is a town called Lake Taupo which is a lot like Lake Tahoe except on a smaller, New Zealand scale. I work at the Rainbow Lodge hostel in the mornings cleaning and changing beds in exchange for a room. Scrubbing toilets is painless compared to looking at myself in every mirror, in every room. I work a few evenings a week at an Irish Pub in town. It makes me miss my Bar of Baltimore days. Lucky for all of us, it's no longer in existence. I've also been babysitting for my boss's 3 year old son ... read more
March 31st 2007
They call it windy Wellington and the weather was indeed less than lovely but the city itself is irresistibly charming with its hundreds of cafes spilling their fashionable kiwi executive type patrons onto the sidewalks carrying their coffee and morning snack of choice. As the capital of New Zealand, Wellington is not only physically situated near the countries geographical center (at the southern tip of the north island), it is all a true center of art, culture and entertainment. The countries national museum, Te Papa (meaning container of treasures) holds a position of prominence on the water front and attracts thousands of visitors annually. Admission to the museum is FREE so I spent a few hours each day wandering through this massive and impressive exposition of NZ culture. The museum tells the story of NZ ... read more
The Queen Charlotte Track
Published: March 25th 2007Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Marlborough » Queen Charlotte Sounds
March 25th 2007
My last stop on the south island was one I had been long anticipating. The Queen Charlotte Track follows the arms of water and land reaching off the tip of the south island and into the Cook Strait (the body of water between the two islands). The water is the brightest of blues (almost as brilliant as my friend Jesse's eyes...if you have met him or seen pictures, you understand the comparison). The slivers of land look like bobbing scones topped with heaping spoonfuls of pesto. A delicious view! This track is "flash", as the Kiwis say for "special" or "fancy" because you stay in hostels along the way instead of in rustic back country huts. For 10$ the ferry that takes you to the beginning of the track will carry your bags on ahead ... read more
March 23rd 2007
Kaikoura- a seaside town, with black pebble beaches and a rugged mountain range spanning the horizon was a perfect package of a week. I heard through another backpacker that a hostel called the Dusky Lodge in Kaikoura offered easy work for accommodation. After a quick phone call I was on the bus, arriving at the Dusky in time fold laundry for two hours to earn my keep for the night. The hostel was enormous and so there were actually 13 of us "cleaners" on staff. It was a really international crew (a few Germans, a Spanish couple, a lovely guy named Daniel from Chile.....). The only other American was a guy, also named Daniel, who had been living in Boulder for 4 years but was originally from Boston. I had met "him" a million times ... read more
March 14th 2007
Note to self: When in New Zealand a forecast of a "Southery" means a front blowing in from Antarctica. With no other land masses to buffer the currents, this translates to very cold, wind and rains. Tired of the city lights and in spite of this forecast my brave young friend Elisabeth and I decided to go tramping for three days. Feeling adventuresome, we went to a map shop in Christchurch and unable to find exactly the route we were looking for, pieced two maps and several routes together to form what would be our tramp. In retrospect it is clear that this tramp didn't exist more formally because it wasn't very dynamic in its scenery. We left the maps in the store which we later (while thrashing our way through brambles and bush) sorely regretted ... read more
March 14th 2007
Very cool city. I could totally live here. However, Im not feeling particularly inspired to write about it at the moment as I have just taken a bus to get to this cave of an Internet cafe in the pouring rain which has reminded me of one of my perhaps quirkiest phobias- wet, enclosed, crowded spaces (this also includes things like wet tents with people I don't love in either a familial or romantic capacity, indoor pools, locker rooms, public showers AND public transportation in the rain). YUCK. EWWWWWW! Can you see me squirming?! I should have walked!! This evening is actually the first time I have taken the bus in the four days I have been here. Sometimes I prefer to walk only because buses can take me further afield and get me more lost, ... read more
March 4th 2007
After two months of trying to meet up, my friend Rachel and I spontaneously ended up in Queenstown at the same time and on the day of a festival at a nearby winery. The weather was gorgeous and we spent the day dancing, drinking wine and catching up on two months worth of traveling. We camped in a field nearby and I actually ended up sleeping outside the tent under the stars which was lovely until the sand flies woke me up this morning. Today we went out to breakfast and shopped at an outdoor market and this afternoon we are driving three hours north to Mt Cook where Rachel has been living. I think later this week I will take a bus to Christchurch but Im looking forward to a few days with a good ... read more
Fiordland
Published: March 1st 2007Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Fiordland National Park » Te AnauMarch 1st 2007
Hello! After spending 7 of the past 8 days hiking in the New Zealand bush, I arrived back in Queenstown this afternoon, which feels a bit jarring with its multiple streets (like 4...hahah) jammed with picture snapping tourists and neon signs designed to compel you to impulsively throw yourself out of a plane or off of a bridge. Actually, I am quite glad to be here. Queenstown is definitely a hub for travelers, locals, and all sorts in between and vibrates with the excitement of people experiencing and seeing things for the first time. It is a busy town but you can easily jump in the lake or climb up a mountain and be away from it all in moments. Three other backpacking friends of mine are serendipitously here currently as well (as I discovered in ... read more
February 16th 2007
Such an amazing day! I thought I was signing up for a walk in the park but this was a full day of playing on an enormous glacier. I'm not sure what the technical term would be but what comes to mind is ice mountaineering. Hahah. Our guide was actually NUTS. I'd say as a rough estimate, ten times more hard core than any of the cliff jumping adrenaline junkies in Jackson. Cliff (ironically), our guide was lanky and didn't speak much but knew every crack and cranny of Franz Joseph Glacier. Our group of ten were all equipped with crampons and ice axes and we scrambled, squeezed, climbed and repelled through a wonderland of ice mazes, tunnels, and crevasses for 6 hours. It was a bluebird day and the ice shone an equally brilliant blue, ... read more
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