I'm in Queenstown, wasting time and uploading pictures, so I thought I would share with you the links. West Coast to Hokitika Road to Wanaka and Puzzle World Glenorchy Milford Sound Doubtful Sound Oh [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well today I'm in Te Anau... not Queenstown as originally intended. That is why you didn't get any pictures today... I'm sorry. I can't upload pics from anyplace in town. But I did catch up the blogs. I may go back tomorrow and upload pics. It depends on what time I get out of here. I have to be in Picton on Saturday morning and its 17-18 hours away. Oh and if you are reading this, you should know that I've typed like 6 blogs today, so you read them all if you want... the first one I typed today is [View Full Entry]

---

---

I first arrived in Te Anau on the 5th of April and promptly took off for Milford Sound, driving up the Milford Rd....spectacular is all I can say. At one point you go through a tunnel, that is over 1KM long. It goes right through this vertical wall of rock. I really couldn't see any way up and over this wall at all, it is sheer. In Milford I did a day's sea kayaking trip.... once again... spectacular. I really can't describe in words what I saw. I hope my pictures do, we'll see. Also it was rainy and cloudy my [View Full Entry]

---

---

Tuesday morning awakes to find me still in Glenorchy. My original plan was to head to Queenstown early today, do the internet/blog and upload pictures gallor. And then watch NCAA basketball finals, live at 1PM!!!!! Well you all know that didn't happen. I was originally all stoked to be watching March Madness... and the opportunity to watch the finals. I watched the first 5 minutes of the LSU/UCLA game on Sunday and I realized I just didn't care. Its funny, I've tried in OZ, Philippines, and here in NZ to convince people how great March Madness is and that the NBA [View Full Entry]

---

---

I mostly bypassed Queenstown. The schtick on Queenstown is that people either love it or hate it, as near as I can tell. It has the vibe and feel of Jackson Hole and is about the size. I headed on up to Glenorchy. Glenorchy is an even smaller town at the head of Lake Wakatipu and the base of Humboldt Mountains. It is also the place where a lot of the tourist activies from Queenstown head and is the starting point for all kinds of treks. But since I wasn't trekking, I decided to go horseback riding. I went on the [View Full Entry]

---

---

So with no water on the West Coast, I elected to boogie on down south. I did drive by touristing of both glaciers. The weather wasn't really worth spending lots of time. It wasn't raining, just misting and cloudy and bad visibility. But beautiful scenary none the less. The best scenary may have really been between Haast and Wanaka. This drive was just amazing. The drive is through a river valley, with Mt. Aspiring on the right and I have no idea what mountains on the left. At one point I just had to stop taking pictures because I wasn't making [View Full Entry]

---

---

No, this isn't about me making out with some green space alien or anything like that. Hell its not even about me making out with anyone. Its Friday night and I find myself camped at Lake Mahinapua, about 10Kms south of Hokitika. Since Tuesday when I left Murchison I have just been driving the West Coast. Went up to Karamea... and camped on the beach, listening to the waves Thunderously crash. I also went and visited some limestone arches that were way cool. One was called the Gates of Moria. Not sure if it was used in the movie or not, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Today I'm in Murchison on the S. Island. Its the kayaking center for the South Island. Unfortunately there isn't any water. Yesterday I did a very low water run of the Earthquake section of the Buller River. Like everywhere else in the world, the kayakers are hoping for rain. Alot happened in my last week on the N. Island, but I'm going to share that later. I want to wait until I can upload some pics with it, because... well I don't know I just want to. But I thought I would talk a bit about driving in N. Zealand. I've [View Full Entry]

---

---

So I left Rotorua on Sunday afternoon and drove over to Waitomo Caves. Here I went blackwater rafting. It really isn't rafting or even any rapids. The trip starts with a 35Meter Absail (repel) down into this cave. Then we did a flying fox ride (zip line) in the pitch black dark. After tea, its time for the water, tubing on flatwater that is.... oh yeah and looking at glow worms back sides. Glow Worms are very popular tourist attractions around here. So this is what the guide imparted to us about glow worms. 1) they are really maggots of flies, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Yesterday I had another run of the Kaituna, this time in a Phat that I had borrowed. The day before I spent the whole day at the play hole trying to get my confidence and roll back. I think I finally got it. At the end of the day I was getting windowshaded and cartwheeled all over the hole but I wasn’t swimming. So what follows now is somewhat of a trip report for the Kaituna. First off the Kaituna is like no other river I’ve ever paddled. It seems to me to be like 1km of the Narrows on Section [View Full Entry]

---

---