Blogs from Wanaka, Central Otago, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 2

My first real New Zealand hike is one of my favorites so far. This was the hike with the 5 fords on the dirt road to the trail head and my famous and inspiring friend Traci from Alaska and another girl Leah from Canada (a born again Christian engaged to be married upon her return to the states) described in a previous email. The weather was a bit cloudy and we missed a lot of the views on the way up but it made the way down that much more fun. Looking back at my diary, my anxiety about my health has certainly diminished since this early point in my trip which is encouraging. After the hike Traci and I went for an obligatory beer in town (which turned into a few) and then ravaged the ... read more

Finding Matt Marshall Matt came to New Zealand to "find himself". I love that. Now, although Matt hasn't directly said that out loud you just know it. What he did say was "I don't know what I want to do, or where I'm going.. blah...blah..blah..." at this point, most people including myself shut off. It's a defensive mechanism that saves everyone a lot of time and heartache. We get the idea Matt. But to really seal the deal, at the start of the trip whilst in Central Otago, Matt said "I fancy doing a WOOF." Working on an Organic Farm. As I understand it - you spend the day picking fruit and vegetables and they give you food and a place to stay. As if that wasn't enough "finding yourself" material he then told us of ... read more

Caute! Uz je tu februar, asi aj u vas:) Tu sa detom skoncili letne prazdniny a nastupuju do skoly tak vsade citame hesla Back to school a pod. :) My sme sa presunuli z Queenstownu do Glenorchy, kde je zaciatok vela znamych chodnikov, vela z nich vedie udolim a to nas nebavia tak sme si vybrali tie co vedu po kopcoch alebo aspon na nejaky kopec. Tak sme navstivili Mt. Alfred, z ktoreho je paradny vyhlad na okolite kopce a udolia siroke jak novozalandska krava :) Tych je tu plno a uz nam lezu na nervy lebo sa nechcu uhnut z cesty a vsetko o..ru. dokonca na nas uz jedno tela chcelo zautocit, ale sme sa nedali :) A tam sme spravili aj jednodnovy vylet na Roterburn track tentokrat z druhej strany a oplatilo sa. Potom ... read more

Hi everyone! Last time, I promised pictures of glaciers and here they are. Quickly first though, we did a little day hike around Lake Matheson. It's a famous spot for viewing Aoraki Mount Cook, the tallest point in the country. Nearby is Mount Tasman. Both are named after major European explorers who helped discover of New Zealand. January 26th marked Caitlin's 23rd birthday and her first in New Zealand with perhaps more to come in the distant future. As a birthday gift, I had gotten a bottle of Marlborough sauvignon blanc that we drank the night before our adventure. Combining this hangover with my intense (but waning) fear of heights and Caitlin's fear of anything loud and mechanical (just teasing, actually, it's of helicopters), we were asking for a rough ride. To complicate matters, I had ... read more

Det gar inte lang tid innan det borjar klia under fotsulorna efter en ny vandring och vi har hittat annu ett bergspass som vi vill klattra over. Vi beger oss darfor till turistorten Wanaka, som ligger vackert vid en sjo, och har Mount Aspiring National Park nara. Nu har det dock borjat regna lite igen och darfor avrader informationsbruden fran att borja klattra annu. Vi avvaktar vaderrapporterna ett par dagar. En av vilodagarna agnas at "Puzzling World". Ett smaskaligt nojesfalt med en jattelabyrint som vi springer runt i nagon timme. Linnea hittar ratt forst och vinner den interna tavlingen. Dar finns aven tuffa illusionsrum, dock svara att beskriva, och en massa olika kluriga pussel som man kan motionera sina gra med. ... read more