Glenorchy, Routeburn Track November 24, 2008 The road from Queenstown to Glenorchy is very twisty and narrow with several one-lane bridges, but it is also one of the most beautiful roads I’ve ever been on. It runs alongside Lake Wakaputi, which would be nice enough, but add in mountains, green meadows, waterfalls, and wildflowers and you get something pretty special. Today was even cloudy and it was still pretty. On a blue sky day, it must be too much to take. One end of the Routeburn Track in Mt. Aspiring National Park starts near Glenorchy, which is one of the reasons [View Full Entry]

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Milford Sound, Queenstown November 23, 2008 We left Te Anau at 7 AM to avoid all the tourist buses that crowd onto the road between Te Anau and Milford Sound after 9. This road is full of spectacular scenery including huge glacial bowls that today were full of waterfalls. There were only 8 people on our Milford Sound cruise. A “two-for-one” voucher for this cruise had come with our rental camper, so of course we had to do this. Mitre Peak in Milford Sound is one NZ icon that is on almost every NZ travel ad, so it can’t be missed. [View Full Entry]

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Fiordland and Doubtful Sound November 21, 2008 It was a short leisurely drive from Invercargill with a couple of scenery stops before we rolled into the tiny town of Manapouri and the area of NZ known as Fiordland (that’s how it’s spelled, no “j” in fiord). We had always planned to take a short cruise in the famous Milford Sound, but so many people we have met in NZ have raved about the Doubtful Sound cruise that begins in Manapouri that we decided to check it out before heading north. The only parking we could find was a fair distance from [View Full Entry]

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Stewart Island November 19, 2008 We left Invercargill at 8 to drive the 30 minutes to the southernmost point of the South Island to the town of Bluff where we were to board the fast catamaran ferry to Stewart Island. We were early so we hung out in a café owned by a lady from Buffalo, NY. She ended up in NZ after a divorce. She had quite a story to tell and we were good listeners. The ferry ride was an hour, but seemed like much longer. It was a rough sea today. The waves rolled up over the boat [View Full Entry]

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Invercargill November 18, 2008 Traveled a very short distance today, we took our time finishing up the Catlins region. We like this coastal area with the rugged beaches. We took one hike to a couple of waterfalls. The falls weren’t memorable, but the walk through an ancient rimu rainforest was. We had a pleasant lunch in Papatowai and stopped at the Lazy Gypsy, a crazy little shop where the owner makes all kinds of little automata. Not sure if that’s the right word, but he makes little things that move and do strange things when you push a button or turn [View Full Entry]

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Moeraki Boulders, Dunedin, Otaga Peninsula, the Catlins November 17, 2008 Got an early start out of Oamaru and as usual we didn’t get very far, but packed the day with good stuff. First stop was at the Moeraki Boulders. These are strange rock spheres that are strung along a beach. We thought we’d be there a short time, but they were so interesting we stayed an hour. We drove on to the town of Dunedin, kilt stores and a giant statue of Robert Burns in the city square (actually an octagon) are clues to its Scottish heritage. We went into a [View Full Entry]

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Oamaru November 16, 2008 A day that started out rotten ended up just fine. So here’s what happened. We woke up at beautiful Lake Tekapo to howling winds and gray skies, the sort of day you’d normally stay inside and read a book. But we got up anyway, had our coffee, etc. We were packed up, in our seatbelts, and Joe couldn’t turn the key in the ignition. It wasn’t the engine or the battery, the darn key just doesn’t turn. This had happened a couple of times before, but after a few goes at it, it would turn. In less [View Full Entry]

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Lake Tekapo, Lake Pukaki, Mt. Cook (Aoraki) It was a very casual morning drinking in the view and coffee with our campmates…Scottish folks to the left, Dutch to the right. We did decide to take off late morning and had breakfast for the second time at our new favorite café in New River. Joe had a bagel and lox and I had a decadent white chocolate/boysenberry muffin. We ended up at Lake Tekapo which is turquoise colored by glacial silt. The place is teeming with wildflowers and people. We are amazed to see so many swimmers and water skiers in that [View Full Entry]

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Back in the Jucy Camper Club November 13, 2008 You all would have had a good laugh watching us lug our stuff back to the Melbourne Airport at six in the morning. The hotel was so close it made no sense to get a taxi, but just far enough away for us to work up a sweat. We were told that since it was an international flight (NZ) we should be there two hours ahead of boarding time. We walked to the JetStar check in counter and not only were we the only passengers in sight, but the Jet Star [View Full Entry]

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Note: Sorry it's been so long since our last post. It's been impossible to find the time and place to get on the internet lately. Melbourne in the Rain November 7, 2008 It was overcast this morning when we caught bus #220 across the street from the caravan park to go to the Melbourne City Center. Around noon it started lightly sprinkling, then around four it rained off and on and it’s 8 PM and still raining. Rain sure makes it harder to enjoy the day, but we managed to see what we wanted to see with the exception of the [View Full Entry]

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