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Central Otago Travel Blogs

Background: The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year, the British began the first organized colonial settlement. A series of land wars between 1843 and 1872 ended with the defeat of the native peoples. The British colony of New Zealand became an independent dominion in 1907 and supported the UK militarily in both World Wars. New Zealand's full participation in a number of defense alliances lapsed by the 1980s. In recent years, the government has sought to address longstanding Maori grievances.

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By BJones
May 15th 2009

Work One Week Left Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Central Otago » Cromwell

Sorry its been awhile since I've posted. I've been working for about a month straight. I've had three days off since Easter Weekend. Today was one and the previous one was 17 days ago. We've been working 10-12 hour days, 7 days a week. Over the last 5 days we've each had one day off. I don't think we will see another day off until we are done here. We will finish in a week from today. Then its off to traveling. I've been well, no injuries or colds. I've been learning a lot about wine making, working in the cellar, [View Full Entry]

By Skinner
March 16th 2009

The Rail Trail Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Central Otago » Alexandra

First tunnel

Saturday March 14, 2009 - The Otago Central Rail Trail A little after 8:30 I meet Mike at Altitude Adventures, we gear up, meet a couple from Boston and head out. He will drop us at a point on the trail called Ida Valley. It is 50k from this point back to Alexandra. The clouds are big and fluffy but gray and we are hoping they burn off as forecast. Right away I am glad I brought my windbreaker/rain jacket. In the wind it is just plain cold. We start off down the train trail and after a while I am [View Full Entry]

By APB
March 16th 2009

A house of Art, Cromwell Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Central Otago » Cromwell

The house that Sally and John built

On slopes above the Lowburn Valley, north of Cromwell, is an unusual and fascinating home. It is filled with art, and the laughter of its owners, Sally and John. It was a wonderful place to stay. As we arrived, the angles and shapes in the house design stood out in stark relief in the hot late summer sun. Sally and John are enthusiastic about their art and they have some very wonderful pieces displayed, not the least of which is the house itself. The many corners and many roofs evoked the feel of a jumbled cluster of buildings. As the hillside [View Full Entry]

Wonderful Colours in the Kawerau Gorge, near Queenstown

By BJones
March 8th 2009

I'm Here Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Central Otago » Cromwell

Queenstown Airport

After a 13 hour plane ride I arrived in Queenstown at 9:10am on Saturday March 7th. My flight was uneventful with only minor turbulences over the pacific until the last 10 minutes before we landed in Queenstown. That was like a rollercoaster rolling right, rolling left sudden dips and lifts. Its a really small airport so we were the only plane there. Matt, the winemaker of Akarua, picked me up and gave me a guided tour of the road to Bannockburn. He pointed out which rivers were good for rafting, which rivers still had gold in them (all of them), the [View Full Entry]

By colvinyeates
March 4th 2009

Petrol - one dollar suxty sux point sux sux cints a leetre. Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Central Otago » Wanaka

A bridge to Rob Roy Glacier

A cheap shot but who can resist taking the puss out of the keewee accint? It's not so easy, in fact well nigh impossible, to be cynical concerning the South Island's environmental backdrops. For a bloke normally averse to sitting behind the wheel, I've taken quite a shine to slowly cruising amongst New Zealand's majestic alpine scenery. Every bend in the road leads to the requisite oohs and aahs from the front seat. One easy hour out of Christchurch and the full roll call of scenic boxes are being ticked off: . precipitous mountains - tick. . waterfalls that hang like [View Full Entry]

By Carole and Lindsay
February 15th 2009

Wanaka Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Central Otago » Wanaka

Lake Wanaka

So we were in Wanaka from February 10-12th and had a fairly relaxing time. Wanaka is a gorgeous town because it's set in the valley next to a giant lake and it's surrounded by mountains. We didn't do too much while we were there because we were recuperating from all of our activities in Franz Josef. The night we arrived we walked around the town and then had a group bbq with the people on our bus. It gave us a chance to say goodbye to that group since most of them were leaving Wanaka a day earlier than us. Later [View Full Entry]

By Ian and Pru
January 13th 2009

Back to work again... Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Central Otago » Cromwell

Mt Cook (at lake Tekapo)

Well it has been a while since the last update, but as no one has chased us (all getting bored now??) we thought we would wait till we had lots to tell. Well we left you just after Ian’s parents left us. After saying goodbye in the airport, we headed south to Central Otago on the work trail. We had already confirmed some work in Queenstown, but had trouble finding reasonably priced accommodation, so found another job on arrival in the area, it was working on vineyards mainly in a small town called Cromwell. We also managed to stay on, one [View Full Entry]

By Banburn
August 26th 2008

Day 4 - Lake Tekapo to Wanaka Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Central Otago » Wanaka

Crossing the MacKenzie Basin

With heater running all night, we awoke next morning to a warm comfortable motorhome. That was until I opened the door and stepped outside onto a layer of lovely white fresh snow, and the temperature touching around minus three degrees. Even though it was so cold, the sun was shining bright causing the snow to melt very quickly. With such a beautiful morning, we were anxious to get on the road early to take full advantage of the magnificent weather we were lucky to be experiencing. After a quick breakfast, we were on our way to Mt Cook. The road out [View Full Entry]

By Pinky and The Brain
April 23rd 2008

Our trip to Central Otago region of South Island Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Central Otago

Rakaia River

April 14 - April 22, 2008. Central Otago adventure! We flew from Wellington to Christchurch ($29 one-way fares!) to experience a Southern hemisphere autumn in one of the most beautiful areas of NZ. Emily found a relocation deal online with the vehicle rental company Jucy, who market themselves as the "best second-tier rental company in NZ." We got a campervan, an RV -- the Jucy "CHARGA". It was a 3-berth van and the camper part was pretty cool. The only real drawback was that it was an older model of Toyota truck and mechanically the vehicle had definitely seen its better [View Full Entry]

By MuzzaT
April 5th 2008

Cromwell Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Central Otago » Cromwell

Cromwell

CROMWELL Our home for the next 4 days in Cromwell was the Police Holiday Home , as the weather had turned a little bit cooler it was nice to be out of the caravan and staying in a home. It was intended to be a relaxing time but we did manage to get in some local 4WD trips and a trip to Queenstown. The new Cromwell town is situated on Lake Dunstan which is a man made lake as a result of the Clyde Hydro Dam damming the Clutha and Kawarau Rivers. The original Cromwell town was flooded by the dam [View Full Entry]

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