Blogs from Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 16

Ou vers le passé, je ne saurais trop le dire. C'est aujourd'hui que se fini mon voyage et tout comme il a commencer, c'est avec une tonne d'avion qu'il va se finir. Je me réveil vendredimatin vers 2h30 a Christchurch, pour prendre l'avion a 6h30 direction Sydney, après un vol de 3h, avec le décalage, il est seulement 7h30. Mon prochain vol est a 15h30 direction Austin Texas, autant dire que je l'ai marcher en lng et en large l'aéroport de Sydney. Mon prochain vol dure un peu moins de 15h et, faites le calcul comme vous voulez, j'arrive a Austin a 13h30 VENDREDI, juin, la journée va être longue.. Une fois a Austin, un dernier vol vers Montréal, de trois heures seulement. Je serais donc a Montréal vers 19h30 toujours vendredi. En comptant tout le ... read more

Wednesday November 20th, 2013. Sydney, Australia to Christchurch, New Zealand. We arrived at Sydney at about 8 am and had to disembark the plane yet again. We cleared security agian and then waited at the same gate (a level higher) to reboard the same plane with the same seats as before. We landed at Christchurch on time and cleared immigration. We had to declare that we had hiking boots with us (bio hazards). The bags went through the x-ray machine and then we were shown to a special area where our hiking boots were very carefully inspected (good job we cleaned them before we left the UK!). In the arrivals hall we telephoned the camper van company who were expecting us. We took a taxi and, after completing all the documents and payment, collected our little ... read more

My tried and proven method for sea travel still holds true!!! Although the Cook Straight was rough, blowing a gale and bitterly cold, I held myself together and didn't embarress myself by becoming sea sick. The secret.... fall asleep as soon as you can in a well ventilated area.... by the time you wake up, not only is the voyage half over but your body has had time to adjust itself to the motion. It also meant that I woke just as we came in sight of the South Island and the mountains of Marlborough Sound. Emerging from the mist, rain and clouds, the ferry slides gracefully between the headlands into bays surrounded by forests and the occasional commercial sea farms (maybe oysters, maybe something else). The waters calm but the temperature seems to have fallen ... read more

Geo: -43.5316, 172.637September 29With 2 free days in Christchurch we decide to head to the International Antarctic Centre which touts an insight into the frozen continent of Antarctica and NZ 's involvement in the research missions. We donned a warm jacket and entered a simulated blizzard which dropped the temp to -14 degrees with a wind-speed of 34 km per hour, and if that didn't wake us up nothing would. We then visited the rescue penguins which was a little lame before viewing a 4D movie about an ice breaker. I'm sorry but this was also somewhat lame with the predictable squirts of water hitting you face and the chair rocking as the boat struck the ice on screen. We had some tickets for a ride on the impressive Haaglund tracked vehicle which took us over ... read more

Heyho ihr alle, nach meinem Urlaub in Thailand, von dem ich noch in einem seperaten Eintrag berichten werde, bin ich nun wieder in Auckland und habe seit Montag mein Praktikum begonnen, hierzu auch spaeter einmal mehr. Zuerst will ich euch meine restliche Reise durch Neuseeland beschreiben und bildlich naeher bringen. Nachdem wir auf dem Gletscher waren ging es am naechsten Tag weiter nach: Wanaka, eine kleine Stadt, die direkt am Lake Wanaka liegt, einem See, der das Ueberbleibsel eines alten Gletschers ist. Hier springe ich wieder vom Bus ab und bleibe fuer drei Naechte. Ich nutze den zweiten Tag um Roys Peak zu besteigen und die unglaubliche Aussicht von dort oben zu geniessen. Der naechste Tag ist ziemlich verregnet und wird zum Waesche waschen genutzt. Von Wanaka aus gehts dann nach Queenstown, etwas groesser als Wanaka ... read more