Blogs from Hokitika, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Okarito is een klein plaatsje aan de kust. Héél gezellig! Je kan hier ook een gids huren om 's nachts door het bos te wandelen om de zeldzame Kiwi vogels te bewonderen. Je moet er wel een hoop centen en engelengeduld voor over hebben om ze te bekijken maar ze moeten wel de moeite waard zijn denk ik! De kiwi vogels (daar zijn de Nieuw-Zeelanders naar genoemd , en nee niet naar het kiwi-fruit!) zijn uiterst zeldzaam. De dieren zijn tussen een merel en een kip , want je hebt er verschillende soorten in. Ze kunnen niet vliegen en zijn héél schuw! Nu heb je er in Okarito een kleine 300 nog over. De DOC probeert de kiwi vogels te beschermen door de moeders en hun eieren over te plaatsen naar het vogel bescherm centrum in ... read more

March 15, 2011: WOW……beautiful sun again this morning here in Nelson!!! We had a great breakfast, said our goodbyes to those backpackers we had talked with last night, loaded the car…..and after refueling the car once again……still at over $8 per gallon, we headed south/southwest towards Greymouth, on the Tasman Sea along the western coastline of New Zealand. We had not driven an hour yet….and all of a sudden we became socked in with low hanging clouds, fog, drizzle, and then rain. This we were not used to having during the past few days since we arrived. We made a stop at the longest suspension bridge in New Zealand and make our way across it both ways…..with a small 15 minute walk through the bush and trees and dripping rains. One part of the walk was ... read more

Sup Everybody! It's been a stunning pattern to always seem to report things accomplished here as "one of the coolest things of my life", but this last tramp proved the point with gusto. Just yesterday, I was walking down the giant Frans Josef Glacier, easily being one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It was a constant feeling of exhilaration from the combo of doing something a little dangerous, while still not ever feeling like you were going to die. We had some knowledge of what we were doing, and most of the gear people would suggest, but still conquered the Glacier and hiked up it to a remote, seldom used hut (Castle Rock) sitting on a ridge line with amazing views. According to a few calculations we could muster between us, an estimated ... read more

We set of very early from Te Anua to catch the early sailing on the "Sound" which was 120 kilometers away. The only traffic that we seen on the 90 minute journey was one police car going the other way and one poor soul who had a flat battery and waived us down to see if we had any jump leads. No luck sadly. The route is said to be only suitable for confident drivers but was not a problem, some twisting mountainside parts but no worse that we had already encountered. The one notable feature however was the Homer tunnel which is a rough cut tunnel through the mountan that is single track and has a 15 minute interval traffic light. The sailing on the "Sound" was a clear highlight of the trip to date. ... read more

We have been camping (in the nissan) outside hokitika for 2 nights, yesterday we bought some meat and planned for a bbq. to late we discover (when the meat is already bought!) that one time use bbq doesnt exist in NZ, like anywhere!! aaaarrrggghhh!!! so plan B was frying the steaks in the lid of the gas stove, this is not to recommend,. we ate our plates in silence,, thinking the salad dressing was the highlight. we decide to go for a small walk, we followed a track called swimmers beach,, a half an hour bush walk and we arrived at the water, the beach was infact only the path leading into the water! ha ha, beach my arse..... we had a skinny dip in the brown water, feeling more dirty than before the bath! only ... read more

The Lake Matheson image is in every book, on every postcard and framed on every wall because it is THE picture that reflects New Zealand. They don't make it easy to obtain it for the mirror image is at it's best only at dawn/sunset and there is a 35mins walk to one of the viewpoints so it was essential to get up at 6am. There is a usually a crowd of keen photographers all waiting for the perfect breathtaking moment the mist clears and the lake stills. It took us 5 visits over 4 days. The tour groups come in their droves at 8am. By then the sun is too high for a decent photo. The 2nd night we struck gold on a very cloudy day with wind and as soon as the sun set ... read more

The unique designs and forms of New Zealand jade Pounamu has special significance for the Maori. The Maori believe that Pounamu absorbs the 'mana' or spiritual power of its wearer. The Maori also believe that a piece of Pounamu will always yearn to return to its source in the rivers and mountains. New Zealand jade carving is unique in its designs and forms. We owe this to the Maori who have refined techniques of working with the stone over a long period of time. We can trace their use of Pounamu back to the twelfth century. Because of its extreme hardness, Pounamu was used by the Maori for weapons and tools. It was also prized by the Maori for jewerly - pendants and earrings and soul protection. Many of the designs are contemporary interpretations of traditional ... read more