Queenstown to Glenorchy The road between Queenstown and Glenorchy give some spectacular views. Many movies are filmed in this area (of course lord of the rings.....). While we were there, the movie 'Chronicles of Narnia part 2' was being filmed. I got the key player on photo, see picture. We visited an old gold mining town (Arrowtown) and the place where bungy jump was found out by AJ Hackett (do you remember the MTV broadcasting when they first started? then you'll may be recognize the bridge). We finished our day trip in Queenstown, where we spend the night. Queenstown naar [View Full Entry]

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Wanaka From Fox Glaciar we travelled to Wanaka, nearby Queenstown and -together with Queenstown- the adventure capital of new zealand, bulking of tour offices for paragliding, skydiving, rafting, bungee jumping etc. But for us a nice town to relax and plan the rest of our trip, do our laundry and do some short hikes around town. Wanakaaaaa Wanaka is een leuk plaatsje aan een meer met een paar gezellige cafeetjes. We gaan op een camping staan. Even lekker onze kleren wassen en 's middags een wandeling en naar Puzzle world, een labirint en een aantal kamers die je gevoel van evenwicht [View Full Entry]

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Fox Glaciar (and Pankaiki) On the way to Fox Glaciar and Franz Josef Glaciar we stopped several times for a short track and one of them Pankaiki, or pancake rocks with blow holes. The coast at this point is shaped as a stack of pancakes. The next day we did an organised glaciar track with a group of 8 people. Through the rainforest we climbed up at a higher point on the glaciar. There we walked for 4 hours on the ice on spikes. It was a nice experience and we saw some ice caves. A foolish English guy tries [View Full Entry]

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Abel Tasman National Park These photos don't need any comment. Check out this beautiful place!! Van Levin rijden we in een uurtje naar Wellington, we hebben nog tot 13.00 voordat de ferry naar Picton vertrekt en bezoeken het Te Papa museum, waar de historie van Nieuw zeeland op een leuke manier wordt toegelicht. Bij Wellington steken we over naar Picton, op het zuidereiland. De aankomst met de boot geeft al prachtige views, dat belooft wat voor Abel Tasman. We rijden direct door naar Kaiteriteri, (ook al zo'n leuke naam), vanwaar je het Abel Tasman kustgebied kunt verkennen. we gaan een [View Full Entry]

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Tongariro Crossing Ever since we arrived in New Zealand we have clear blue sky and sun, so untill now we have been very lucky! The weather is also important for the Tongariro Crossing, which otherwise is closed. We started at 8 AM. It was a nice walk with views on the ' Mount Doom', the red crater and blue/turqoise crater lakes. In the afternoon we drove further in the direction of Wellington. We camped at Levin. Tongariro Crossing, volgens de boeken de mooiste one day track van New Zealand if not the whole world. Nounou, die kunnen we niet missen [View Full Entry]

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Lake Taupo From Rotorua we travelled to Lake Taupo. Somewhere in between we visited Wai-O-Taupo NP, again with geothermal pools. But this one was really amazing, much better than Te Puia (except for the 'fake' geiser they turn on theirselves). Lake Taupo en Wai-O-Taupo. Tussen Rotorua en Taupo hebben we het NP Wai O Taupo bezocht. Deze was even tien keer mooier dan die van de dag ervoor. Hele bijzondere kleuren! Vooral de Champagn pool was erg fotogeniek. De champagne bubbels stijgen op in de oranje/groene kleuren en verdampen dan. Daardoor verbleekte het uitzicht af en toe en zag de [View Full Entry]

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Summary in English: We spent 6 days at Rapa Nui, Easter Island, to explore the Moai statues, the beach and the beautiful crater lakes, also used for the construction of the statues. We had a nice time here, rented bikes for three days and made one dive. More info on Easter Island: look at our Chile Total entry. Op woensdag 7 maart vliegen we van Punta Arenas naar Paaseiland, door de inwoners Rapa Nui genoemd, (letterlijk: de grote rots) 6 uur vliegen van Santiago, in het midden van de Pacific. Het eiland is in 1722 ontdekt door de Nederlander Jacob [View Full Entry]

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English summary: After a long busride (5 hours) from calafate to puerto natales we took the connecting bus to Punta Arenas (3 hours) and arrived at 6 pm. We quickly found a hospedaje to spend two nights. We liked the city and the surroundings and spend the day with walking beside the Beagle street and enjoying the sun, salty wind. We went to the museum where we got to know more about the people that lived here at the time it was discovered by the spanish/british/dutch. We also visited the pinguins at Seno Otway. Amazing how these animals (10.000) come back [View Full Entry]

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We take the morning bus from Puerto Natales to El Calafate (5 hours) El Calafate is very touristic with many restaurants, hostels and travel agencies / chops. The next day we visit the main purpose of Calafate: Perito Moreno, a big glacier of 60 meters high and 5 km wide. Very impressive. You hear pieces of ice cracking - falling down with the sound of a thunder, making the water splashing meters high. more info on perito moreno and patagonia: see patagonia total entry. Zaterdag 4 maart vertrekken we van puerto natales naar el calafate. Calafate blijkt super toeristisch vol met [View Full Entry]

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English summary We walked the W-route from Glaciers Grey to Torres due to the bad weather the first (two) days. Torres del Paine.. Helaas is er slecht weer voorspeld... en de eerste nacht in Puerto Natales had het dan ook continue regen. Bij aankomst in het Pargue National Torres del Paine is het droog alleen zo bewolkt dat we op advies van de NP Rangers de omgekeerde W- route nemenen oftewel niet van Torres lopen naar Gletser Grey maar dus andersom. Dag 1 de route naar de Gletser Grey.. het is droog en soms komt de zon door ... de [View Full Entry]

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