Skinner
JSS Joined: June 19th 2008
Logged in: August 9th 2011
Logged in: August 9th 2011
more about life in the places I visit. I have learned that it is the little unexpected things that
happen in the course of a trip/vacation that often end up as the best memories. I strongly
suggest reaching out to "locals" on Trip Advisor and other sites. They are hands down your
best source for planning.
Travel Blog Posts
Might be more fun flying in this
Well today is travel home day. Can't think of anything very exciting about sitting on planes and in airports for over 18 hours. Since I'm flying East I leave here at 3:30 PM on Monday and get into LAX at 6:30AM on Monday. Two more short flights and I'm in Kansas City at 6:45 PM on Monday. Only a little over 3 hours after leaving Auckland. Woooooho I'm a time traveler!... read more
from the rail trail
No, NO! not the end of those days. Saturday the 5th Taupo to Auckland. Oh mama, could this really be the end, to be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again? Dylan Unfortunately another day of multi hour driving, but the last one. Raining, sometimes very hard. The Ironman competition is in full swing and the cycling course runs right by my motel and through the business district. Great fun to actually see an international event. About 11:00 I head out for Auckland. Nothing much to tell. Arrived in Auckland around 3:30 and only missed one turn, found the street and hotel fairly easily. The Auckland City Hotel is a typical basic type of hotel you might see in NYC but definitely not one of the big chains. Recently completely remodeled and very modern.. ... read more
the beginning
Friday March 4th – Into the Shire - Happy Birthday Travis Frodo: You're late! Gandalf: A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to. Ah yes, to be a wizard! Today I drove a road that Ron had mentioned that few “tourists” encounter. Known as the Forgotten World Highway, it runs through an area of rough terrain eventually passing though a tropical gorge to the Town of Taumaranui on the western edge of the central mountain range. Unlike the south island, all the mountains on the north island are volcanic. As you can hopefully see from the pics this really is the “Shire” as depicted in the LOTR series. Halfway along this highway sits a small town of Wahagamomona (easy for you to say) Several years ago, ... read more
What can I say
Thursday March 3rd Surfing Highway 45 Let's go surfin' now Everybody's learning how Come on and safari with me….the Beach Boys Today I have a short and enjoyable drive from Wanganui to New Plymouth. The drive is around the western “horn” of the north island. This area was formed by a very large, extinct, volcano called Mt Taranaki. The photos don’t express the grandeur of it. The landscape is littered with what appear to be lumpy hills that are really the remnants of the explosions from the mt. The coastal area is covered with wide flat beaches with sparkling black sand. This is the home of highway 45, or the Surfing Highway. Every town has a surf shop and it’s own beach. The surfer in my shots was on a beach at Opunake, one of the ... read more
As I outlined earlier - today (yesterday) was a travel day 4 plus hour drive from Mt. Cook to Christchurch then a plane to Wellington and shuttle bus across town to the rent-a-car facility to pick up another car and drive to Wanganui. 14 hours total. If you want to fantisize about driving really fast come here where distance is metric. the speed limit is 100K (60 mph) I was driving 120 and 140 at times. Not that that isn't a little fast at home. ... read more
Saturday Feb 26th “That's it! You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college!” And so Saturday started off much like Friday ended. Clown College. I wasn’t having any luck with the Internet connection so I just decided to go ahead and leave Queenstown and head for Clyde. I got to Clyde in plenty of time to get my gear into two Panniers that were provided as a part of the bicycle package for the Rail Trail. At 1:00 Gretchen showed up with the van and trailer to take me to Ranfurley. Little did I know that this 45-minute drive would take the better part of 2 hours? It turns out a big part of her job was dropping off and picking up bags at various accommodations along the trail. At ... read more
I appear to be having problems up loading my pics - likely the blog site server - I try later. Tuesday night - still no photos.... read more
Spin does there trail
Sunday Feb 27th First day on the rail trail Bobby: I'd like an omelet, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce. And a cup of coffee. Waitress: A #2, chicken salad sand. Hold the butter, the lettuce, the mayonnaise, and a cup of coffee. Anything else? Bobby: Yeah, now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven't broken any rules. Waitress: You want me to hold the chicken, huh? Bobby: I want you to hold it between your knees. Scene from 5 Easy Pieces You may be too old to remember these lines from the Jack Nicholson movie. They are appropriate here because I can’t avoid mentioning what is a very ... read more
B&B in Lauder
Not nearly as far today but a lot of fun. Go through a number of towns, coffee and a really good blueberry/raspberry muffin at the first stop. The second stop is Cato Tavern. It's five o'clock somewhere. Then on through Alexandra and Clyde. Get into Clyde around one so I turn in my gear have lunch and head down the road. On my way to Mt. Cook. Have to make a stop in Wanaka to pick up some wine I left behind at Jo's. Decided to stop at a travel agent to see what it would cost to come home early. Got it worked out more easily than I thought but took over an hour and a half. On down the road to Mt. Cook, a three hour drive. Got in late, ate and went to ... read more
Organic Beers
Obviously long since back from NZ but found this one page of photos I didn't publish. particularly fond of the sticker on the urinal wall. ... read more
