Blogs from Central Otago, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 7

Well, after spending I few days in Christchurch I am back in Wanaka. The bus trip yesterday was horrible because the driver felt the need to talk about the hydroelectricity situation in New Zealand full stop. Very annoying, especially when all I wanted to do was get a nice nap in. The weather here in Wanaka is beautiful. It is very odd to me that it is November, with this kind of weather it should be May or June, not November--Christmas is going to be strange . . . Anyway, today I started the hunt for jobs. I have turned in about four resumes and I am waiting till later this afternoon to visit several more restaurants/bars that open around 4. It is difficult not being with the tour because I am on my own now, ... read more

testing out our journal before we leave!... read more

Hello all! I have been on the South Island of New Zealand since Sunday. We spent Sunday night in Nelson, quite a cute little town that is boasted as having the most sunny days in New Zealand. On Monday we moved on spending most of the day on a beach near Nelson and went to Westport for the evening. Tuesday we drove along the coast eventually stopping at Lake Mahinapua where we stayed at a small pub and had a fancy dress party. Franz Josef was the place to be on Wednesday and then yesterday we arrived in Wanaka where Laura and I decided to stay and relax for a day. We were supposed to have a free day in Franz Josef, but being that the town is really small, Laura and I came here and ... read more

We boarded the Cougar Line boat at Picton on a damp dismal morning with our bikes and headed for Resolution Bay near the far end of the Queen Charlotte Track ever hopeful that the weather gods would shine on us again. On arrival an unpromising push up a very steep track took us out of the bay - with over 45km to go that day we were all hoping it wouldn't be typical! Fortunately we quickly joined the main track which looked much more rideable. From there we headed up and over to Endeavour Inlet and then round the various smaller bays. By lunchtime the sun was out and things were looking good. We pressed on aware that we were still less than half way. At the midway point the decision was to either take the ... read more

We've covered a lot of ground since we updated yesterday. While still on the Banks Peninsula yesterday, we visited the Maori and Colonial Museum in the tiny town of Okains Bay (the next bay over from Le Bons Bay, where we were staying) on the recommendation of our host Garry. When we got there, the only person in the office was a funny little girl who was humming to herself and watching us but not talking. We wandered around a bit, looking for a more official museum staff, but realized when the girl followed us around, that she was it. She was clutching some money and informed us "my mum's gone to the store and left me in charge." So we paid her and she proceeded to show us around the museum, a collection of small ... read more

Wanaka - 9.9.2005 Wanaka je akcne mestecko situovane pri fajnom jazere medzi horami. Piatok bol oddychovy den po turistike.. cez obed sme si prenajali dvoj-kajak a pobehali po jazere .. Chvilu nam trvalo kym sme prisli na to ako si pri kazdom zabere padlom nenaliat na nohy liter vody.. ale vystupili sme uz relativne suchi. Poucenie na neskorsie casy je ze nie je dobre prenajimat si otvorene kajaky, ale len uzavrete.. Vecer sme boli v miestnom kine co nam poradili este x-dni dozadu v Arthur's Pass. Wanaka sa totiz pysi velmi vychytanym kinom kde maju namiesto klasickych kino-sedadiel stare rozhegane sedacky, stolicky, kresla a dokonca aj VW-Beatle v ktorom sa da sediet a pozerat film.. Hned pri vchode je skvela kaviarnicka kde robili vsakovake drinky a piekli dobre vyzerajuce kolace.. Kusok divne bolo ked v polovici ... read more

Nedela - 4.9. Christchurch again - vyborne miesto na doplnenie zasob, ci uz potravinovych alebo vystrojovych. A samozrejme to znamena aj skvely cas straveny s rodakmi - najskor obed s Kuzim a Karou v Asian Food Courte (tu sme sa dozvedeli ze stiplave jedla vymrstuju deti z mamkinho lona :)) a potom krasna prechadzka po plazi v ChCh. ...este musime Christchurch viac poobjavovat... Pondelok - 5.9. Nabaleni potravinami (zaberaju takmer cele zadne sedadla) sa vydavame smerom k Mount Cooku - najvyssi vrch NZ obklopeny mnohymi ladovcami. Po predoslych skusenostiach usudzujeme, ze je to najvhodnejsie miesto na skialp (kedze zima je tu tento rok v nizsich polohach velmi skupa na sneh). Cestou sa zastavujeme v Peel Foreste, co je nejake odlahle miesto po ceste do turisticky znameho Quenstownu. Tu vyrazame na kratku 3-hodinovu prechadzku, ktora nam trva ... read more

Arrived in Wanaka today after having a fairly slow morning. Quite wet again, though is dry at this precise moment. Stopped to see a big beasty waterfall at a place called Thunder Creek, quite nice to see. Just having a chilled afternoon in Wanaka before heading for Queenstown tomorrow!... read more

I left Chirstchurch this morning and drove south for the All Blacks game. I decided to take a longer, inland route so I could see the lakes and go to Wanaka and Queenstown. I was very happy that I did that........... read more