Igirisujin
Rachel Borer Joined: January 7th 2006
Logged in: September 30th 2006
Logged in: September 30th 2006
Travel Blog Posts
Well my time in New Zealand is coming to an end but not before I experienced a few more once in a lifetime activities with my dolphin swimming trip and a skydive! The dolphin trip was remarkable. The weather held out and although I was seasick on the boat we were able to enter the water four times to swim with the dolphins as the pod passed through the area the baot was floating in. The dusky dolphins are completely wild and the pod we came across numbered about 200-300 dolphins. Divers were providied with snorkels and masks and we just jumped right in with the dolphins! They were quite inquisitive and responded well if you tried to make noises through your snorkel at them or sing to them. If you swim in a circle then ... read more
Rees-Dart trek
I decided to spend a night in Queenstown and did a hike up to the gondola where there's a luge to have a go on and a chance to take corners on two wheels. Also no policemen around to check your speed (I recently saw 4 different cars on the same day!) The views from the top were great and I got a free ride down in the gondola (cablecar) as no one was checking tickets :-) Next day I headed off to tackle an overnight trek up the Rees-Dart track. I went up the River Dart and there was some wonderful views of the river and nearby Mount Earnslaw which I am told provided film locations for Isengard for "The Lord of the Rings." I stayed overnight in a hut and then came back the ... read more
Routeburn
A blog update! Jessie left today to get to Christchurch which was quite sad. I have really enjoyed travelling together and we have had so much fun. We made it to Milford Sound and did an overnight cruise which was great. ON approaching Milford we were in a cloud and groaned at the terrible viewing conditions but as we descended the winding road to the harbour, things cleared up and the weather held out. We were able to appreciate the spectacular scenery and munched our roast lamb dinner out on deck watching Mitre Peak. Words can't describe the surroundings which were unbelievably beautiful. It really was worth the long drive to get there and afterwards we headed to Lake Manapouri and stayed in a great hostel where the owner took us out on his boat for ... read more
Rotarua
I am now in Rotorua which is a thermal town with lots of hotsprings and geysers spraying boiling hot water into the air and there is steam and the smell of rotten eggs (sulphur)everywhere. I visited the Polynesian spa today and sat and admired the view and the seagulls beside the lake whilst sitting inside the thermal pool. Jessie and I are enjoying driving and went to see glow worms on a bush walk in Waitomo. The worms made the surroundings look like a fairy tale glen due to their amazing blue light. We spent a few days up in the Bay of Islands which had gorgeous clear seas and wonderful scenery. We took a boat trip out around the islands and saw wild dolphins which swam underneath the boat. We are off tomorrow to Lake ... read more
Arrival into Auckland
Hello! I have decided to keep a weekly travel journal on this trip so you can read what I have been up to. Hope you enjoy reading it (but feel free to ignore it completely if you can't be bothered!) I have arrived in New Zealand after the longest flight in the world. It was well over 30 hours via Los Angeles and then via Hawaii after we left Los Angeles to deliver a passenger there who had a severe medical condition which needed attention halfway to New Zealand. Poor Jessie had waited five hours for me at the airport. I'm now in Auckland which was beautifully sunny today and I did the coast to coast walk with Jessie following such a badly signposted path that we were amazed to emerge at the end successfully. It ... read more
