Blogs from Glenorchy, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Queenstown a jeho okolí je jako stvořené pro adrenalinové sporty. Ten, kdo se v nich vyžívá si dnes přijde na své. V naší skupině se našli odvážlivci na dvě takové aktivity, a tak jsme měli nakonec podívanou všichni. Nejprve šlo o bunjee jumping. Náš kolega Martin se nemusel nechávat přemlouvat, aby ho zavěsili na lano a nechali skočit z mostu do rokle. Dokonce na laně skákaly i v párech, tak zřejmě je to bezpečné :-)! Své dojmy jsme pomalu vstřebávali ve zlatokopeckém městečku Arrowtown, které nejenže vlastní zbytky bývalé čínské osady, ale jinak je perfektní kopií staroanglického městečka. Zde se někteří účastníci zájezdu mohli vyřádit v tzv. "shopování" neboli nakupování dárečků. Měli zde úžasný obchůdek s cukrátky všeho druhu. A s průvodkyní Petrou jsme zašli na místní specialitu "Seafood Chowder". Je to smetanová polévka s plody ... read more

After our few days in Fiordland, our time on the South Island was drawing to a close. We had just a few days left in which to get to Christchurch before we flew out. It is fair to say that Queenstown hadn't really impressed me and we hadn't planned to spend any more time there. However the road from Te Anau took us back through the area and we spent a few hours retracing our steps to find One Ear. We found him in the late evening at the Twelve Mile Delta Campsite. When we had visited Queenstown a few days earlier we had not had time to get to Glenorchy, a small town at the head of Lake Wakatipu. We had really wanted to visit here because of its reported beauty and because it featured ... read more

It would be rude to come to New Zealand without indulging in at least a little bit of nerdy Lord of the Rings tourism. With this in mind, I decided I was going to go on a trip to the place they filmed the Misty Mountains and Lothlorien Forest scenes, and obviously I was going to do this on horseback so I could pretend to be an elf princess. Unfortunately in a burst of overexcitement when I first arrived in Queenstown, I had made the potentially unwise decision to book this horse riding trip the day after downhill mountain biking. I woke up a little apprehensive, unsure if my knees or my bum could take it. Horse riding seems to be a big thing in New Zealand, but I have minimal experience of things equestrian. That ... read more

Friday 29th November, 2013. Glenorchy Lagoon Walk, Otago, South Island, New Zealand. We woke up at Kinloch Lodge and had breakfast. D had been for a walk while M slept and a local had advised that the weather was going to turn and it was going to rain later. We had intended to go hiking up the Routeburn track which is one of the top 10 walks in the world. However, it was 4 hours return to the first hut and we were worried about the weather turning as we had no survival gear or beacons or anything. We decided it would be prudent to abort. We travelled back down the 9 km of dirt track and went around the head of the river. Here we saw some perfect examples of glacial drumlins which were being ... read more

Scenery... read more