Blogs from Otago, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 25

5..4..3..2..1.....JUMP!!

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Queenstown February 23rd 2006

Hello Wo bist du? I hope everyone is having a great week. For me Life is good . Life is good... Can i say how great it is to finish a 4 day trek in the mountains of Fjordland and have a car to get into and hit the open road. Radio on and the sunshine out... Well. Let's rewind. The Rugby match. Over in Dundin. What a time that was!!.. I'll set the scene. The stadium held about 40,000. Two-thirds of it was covered from the rain, with a civilized, tea drinking crowd. Older folks, Proper. The other third was uncovered and in the rain FILLED with high school, all the college students, and anyone else buying the cheap tickets. That was my section. It was a riotous party for 2 HOURS. They only sold ... read more

Mountains and Mishaps ...

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Queenstown February 21st 2006

Historic Church at Lake Tekapo

NatnKate

Since we last wrote, we've travelled from Akaroa (east side of South Island) to Te Anau via Mount Cook and Queenstown. Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin ... Sunday 19/2 Drove for almost six hours, stopping at Lake Tekapo to soak up the turquoise waters, historic church and coachloads of tourists (last bit was unintentional). Managed to find a quiet spot for a picnic lunch before continuing on our way to Mount Cook. The last hour of the journey passed in a dream as eyes were locked on the mountain (and sometimes the road). Stunning. Drove up to Mount Cook Village for a walk around and much needed break before heading for Glentanner Campsite, some 20kms away. Another cracking view from the 'bedroom' window so we settled down with bottle of the local fizz (Lindauer ... read more

Calling of the Clans

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Dunedin February 17th 2006

JLane

Hello Hope everyone is well. Or as well as can be expected. First......a little shout out to the newest State Champ in the family. Good job Colten!!... and crush them you did. Next year is your year to open some doors for yourself. If you get your ass and head wired together. I am great. I was able to spend some time with our cousin Melissa in Christchurch. She had some things going and was moving soon. Good times with her and her flat mate in Lytellton. Good bar, BBQ, and music. The main street was shut down to vehicles and the whole town showed up for the jam band. Good stuff. I will meet back up with them on the north island. Now here in Dunedin. A sweet college town with many opportunities. Tonight i ... read more

The Masters Games - Basketball, Futsal & The Games Village

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Dunedin February 17th 2006

The Corinthians

Musky

THE MASTERS GAMES - Basketball During the week I offered to help out by officiating two men’s basketball games each day. It was a pretty uneventful affair, and tied in nicely with my physio appointments with Lena. Her name is irrelevant, but in being young and blonde, and paid (by the government, not by me) to massage my thigh, I had to fight pretty hard to stop myself from saying “the pain seems to have shifted towards my inner thigh”. Nevertheless, I reluctantly endured the course of treatment, well, up until the point where she was replaced by Bob (who was neither, young or blonde {or female for that matter} and hence could not provide an appropriate level of service). Anyway, yeah the basketball was pretty dull. Only one Technical foul all tournament, and not too ... read more

Dunedin

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Dunedin February 14th 2006

From the peninsula

alcarney

We arrived on the 12th, taking our time coming down the eastern coast of the island. I am going to publish this now, and fill in the journal later. ... read more

Christchurch to Dunedin

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Dunedin February 13th 2006

Bookey

The last couple of days were a good laugh. I got a lift with a lad called Fabian who is a very efficient and organised and quite serious German. However, it wasn't boring because there were two others in the car for the trip; another German lad, Dave and an Austrian girl, Tina. Dave, despite being German, is very dry and quite surreal; he is extremely funny. We drove down from Christchurch to Dunedin where we camped. I have this account about when we stopped to get some drinking water: Heading south we pulled into a petrol station to get some water. Tina got out of the car and went to the toilet, taking a bottle with her to fill with water. Fabian though took the concept to another level. He took two empty bottles and ... read more

Cycling Central Otago- Part One

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago February 11th 2006

Ready to Ride

UNOMUNDO

Fueled by daydreams and determination, Big K is the perennial adventurer... she just keeps cropping up for more. Few have heard her tales, but most know her next destination point, whether it is the deserts of Sudan, Sydney's sunny harbour, or an outrageous costume party. Big K excitedly joined the cycling escapade from a crackling phone connection in Rwanda....ccchhkkk... "Oh Sophs, New Zealand sounds great...ccchhhkkk.. Count me in!" Any previous notion that she'd concocted in her mind of shipping Nanan over to meet in Mozambique had been tossed instantaneously. Nanan was keen and fit, and so it appeared the bike tour would have to be designed to accomodate the fam. I began researching our options, and much to the delight of the Lancaster Ladies, I found a 150 kilometre trail that seemed perfect. The Central Otago ... read more

A perfect Saturday

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Dunedin February 11th 2006

Our typical tourist pic...

Tina q

When I tested my last participants I got to know this interesting guy from India, Anshul. He had just come to NZ a week ago, so I thought I might as well invite him to come along to a Cricket game on Saturday. - Yes, I confess, at that time I was halfways familiar with the Cricket rules, but that was it. I didn't know, that Cricket is actually a big sport in India... :-) So when he asked me what kind of game it was I tried to explain it to him: "You know the game where the players wear all white..." ooops. I think he wanted to know who is playing and which form of the game it was. Here you go girl, just embarrass yourself! - But him knowing a ton about Cricket ... read more

The Masters Games - Soccer

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Dunedin February 9th 2006

Grants Braes

Musky

February 4th,5th & 6th - SOCCER There are many things that New Zealanders do that should be confined to New Zealand. Walk around barefoot at work… drink shit beer, and think it tastes great.... dance to the Hokey Tokey (not to be confused with the Hokey Cokey)… dress like your grandmother runs your wardrobe… etc, I could go on. However, the Masters Games is one thing that really needs to travel the world. It's kind of like an Olympics for Oldies like myself. The event lasts just over a week and includes a stack of different sports from underwater hockey, to poker, wood chopping, sheep shearing (of course), motorcycling and flying (presumably with some kind of assistance), alongside all your mainstream sports for gimps like me. Although this year’s championships did not include the Hokey Tokey ... read more

The Ingenius Head Mounted Toilet Roll Dispenser

Milford Sound

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Queenstown February 8th 2006

Just in Case

Meesh

Since heli-hiking up Fox Glacier, Cait and I have made our way down the West Coast down into Fiordland. This is the New Zealand that I day-dreamted about my last semester at Wellesley when I should have been studying. Snow capped mountain peaks, crystal blue lakes, glacial fiords, tons of hiking and kayaking. Woohoo! Throw off the shackles of tourist traps and into the wild! We met up with Caitlin's friend from Picton, Alice, a soccer player from Haverford. I can't tell you how nice it is to have someone who is so similar to our backgrounds (athletes from small liberal arts colleges in the Northeast). I know we are supposed to meeting new people, but we've been doing that for 3 MONTHS! It was surprisingly nice to hear someone else who says "like" and "you ... read more

Brief history of New Zealand

The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year...more history

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