Blogs from Glenorchy, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 4

Queenstown to Glenorchy The road between Queenstown and Glenorchy give some spectacular views. Many movies are filmed in this area (of course lord of the rings.....). While we were there, the movie 'Chronicles of Narnia part 2' was being filmed. I got the key player on photo, see picture. We visited an old gold mining town (Arrowtown) and the place where bungy jump was found out by AJ Hackett (do you remember the MTV broadcasting when they first started? then you'll may be recognize the bridge). We finished our day trip in Queenstown, where we spend the night. Queenstown naar Glenorchy Vanuit Wanaka reden we naar Queenstown om van daaruit de scenic route naar Glenorchy te nemen. Het wordt behoorlijk bergachtig, dus veel remmen... dan begint de auto te stinken en de remmen te roken. ... read more

Much of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed around Queenstown, and there are many tours capitalizing on this. We were recommended one that included a jetboat ride - Dart River Safaris. The tour was really fun - it started with a bus ride to Glenorchy and lunch. On the 45 minute bus ride, a small boy of about 8 started talking with J and thought he was super cool. The rest of the trip he kept running up and telling J what he had just done. After lunch we rode an off road vehicle around to various LOTR locations. Then we hiked around an old forest and arrived at a jetboat dock. Our jetboat driver was really cool - he zipped the boat right next to large boulders and did 360 turns, splashing our ... read more

After several days of disappointment due to weather and over booking we finally managed to go skydiving at 12 000ft. What a day it has been!!! Stunning scenery and blazing sunshine! the slight more nervous Laura: Surprisingly I wasn't too scared which for those who know me will know that i have worrying about everything down to a fine art. I had checked mum and dad and i was covered on my travel insurance phew! I felt like a giggly school kid about to go on a big adventure I was laughing, gigglying and jumping about. Jen was very surprised! Think because of the cancellations earlier in the week i didnt really think it was going to happen so i didnt have time to worry about it which was great!! Free falling for 45 seconds was.............. ... read more

Taking a break from hectic Queenstown, Ian and I decided to go horse riding. The road to Glenorchy was amazing, right on the cliff edge with a beautiful relective lake below. The horses that the riding company own are actually film stars. They were in Lord of the Rings and used by the riders of Rohan. How lucky were we to be surrounded by famous horses! On the trip which was in a place called Paradise (very appropriately named) we actually got to trot through areas that were film locations for Lord of the Rings. We stopped by where Boromir dies after such a well fought battle and having heaps of arrows pierced into his body. We also rode through the forest where Galadriel lives, the part where she goes all scary looking with her bright ... read more

Tuesday morning awakes to find me still in Glenorchy. My original plan was to head to Queenstown early today, do the internet/blog and upload pictures gallor. And then watch NCAA basketball finals, live at 1PM!!!!! Well you all know that didn't happen. I was originally all stoked to be watching March Madness... and the opportunity to watch the finals. I watched the first 5 minutes of the LSU/UCLA game on Sunday and I realized I just didn't care. Its funny, I've tried in OZ, Philippines, and here in NZ to convince people how great March Madness is and that the NBA is shit. (I think I've succeeded on the 2nd part.) But since being here I've realized that March Madness is great because of the hype. If you aren't around to take part in it, then ... read more