Blogs from Otago, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 28

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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Queenstown January 13th 2006

Hello all! Well we though we would have to stretch out the remaining 1.5 months here in new zealand by working a while, but thats not what dan was thinking the other day. We were just sitting there and dan says "why don't we just go to Austrailia?". I was a little hesitant at first but I warmed up to the idea. Pun not intended. I decide on a whim most times and within a day we all had tickets to Oz. We are going there for the last month of our trip before returning to NZ to fly back. We have a basic route now and we are planning to meet up with people there which is kinda weird. So we rap up a few things here and then we fly from auckland. We ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Queenstown January 13th 2006

well well well. stories to tell, lots to smile about, and memories to last a lifetime. this will probably be my last post in the great land of New Zealand. 2 and a half months are now in the books as we embark on the next leg of this journey of ours. when the idea first sparked about travelling to NZ, i didnt think it would actually happen. i was 17 at the time, drinking red roaster coffee with andy at the covent garden market. the caffiene count was up and our young minds were at work. the idea to travel opened up a whole new road for us to go down. we brewed up ideas such as camping in the mountains becoming reality. as i sit here today in queenstown, the heart of the south ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Queenstown January 12th 2006

Well, being in Queenstown was a pretty cool thing, i got to do the bungy jumping the skydiving and hangout with some way cool people. Meeting Cal (and though his name is Carl he prefers to be called Cal so thats how i am referring to him from now on) was a particular bonus and i probably would not have done my thrilling first bungy jump if he had not done it first. Anyway for my last full day in Queenstown i was booked on a Shotover river combo, which is a package that includes a ride on the Shotover Jet (a way cool speedboat) and white water rafting on the same river. Sadly due to lots of overnight raining the trips were all off, this was a big disappointment because i had gotten up early ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Queenstown January 11th 2006

day 9. mainly a few photos to tell a few other things or two... everywhere the scenery is stunning, just variations on this fact, changing frequently, as does the weather, not NZ's finest summer it can be said. note to Vic - and thanks - your jacket was inestimably appropriate on Sunday when I broached a walk in the Mt. Cook National Park, to Kea Point. Great walk. Climate was bracing. Wind, not infrequently, stopped me dead in my tracks. I am sure on the return leg I could easily have cracked the world 100 metres record, though wind assistance of about 60kms would have ruled out official recognition. went on jet boat 'cruise' down Dart River yesterday, again presented with awesome sights, rolling and steep mountains, mountain peaks dusted in snow and at times shrouded ... read more
Jetboating on the Dart River
Busker in Queenstown
Sunbaking in Queenstown

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Queenstown January 11th 2006

You may have noticed that the last blog was a bit light, especially on the pics. Well, we've found that the South Island of New Zealand is a bit of a technological wasteland. The last entry took four computers and ten dollar coins (most of the computers here are coin-operated) to get anything up. Right now, we're typing on a machine that we're pretty sure was last used by Matthew Broderick to play Global Thermonuclear War with Joshua. The last blog difficulty occured in Nelson, which turned out to be the first disasterous travel day of our trip. It was everything you could ask for: the hostel lost our reservation and the only room left in town was twice as much; by the time we went to grab some of the local seafood, the only place ... read more
Climbing Ice
The Hills of Lake Wanaka
Mt. Cook and Lake Masterson

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Queenstown January 11th 2006

I am starting to feel that maybe i had some kind of natural adrenalin junkie, it seems that no matter how scared i get at doing these extreme activities i just want to keep doing more of them because of how it feels to actually do them. As an example, having done the bridge bungy and the skydive i decided i wanted more and went and booked myself on to the Nevis Highwire Bungy, which is three times the height of the Bungy jump i did earlier. The bridge bungy had been 43m (110 feet) wheras this bungy jump was 134m (440 feet) and its extremely daunting at just the thought of it, in fact i had trouble sleeping 2 nights before doing it and not just the night before, but that just made me even ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Queenstown January 11th 2006

A 'Barcelona moment'???.... in 1997 I had a 'perfect' moment at a market in Barcelona, sitting at a simple food stall, eating a gorgeous meal with a very nice white wine, food, colour, people, a nice buzz... as I said, just 'perfect'... and could not be planned... today at Waitari Creek Winery, 30kms or so out of Queenstown, with tastebuds pushing for encounter and having winetasted at a couple of other wineries and eschewed dining at 2 larger, classier wineries, I wound my way down the dirt road to find an old timber church, now restuarant and tasting room. It sits not far from the foot of mountains, with most helpful and friendly staff. My wine tasting found me strongly allured by a 2003 Pinot Noir, an achievement for the wine, as the Pinot Noir (red) ... read more
Barcelona moment 2
Barcelona moment 3
Barcelona moment 4

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Queenstown January 10th 2006

Mellan vandringarna vilar vi ut i turistorten Queenstown, inklamd mellan bergen vid en vacker sjo. Vi lagar trasiga damasker, gor inkop och skaffar oss tillgang till nasta vandring. Vi aker aven upp i linbanan och tittar pa utsikten, samt i souvenirbutiker. Vi passar pa att gora civiliserade saker som att titta pa tv, ga ut och ata och ga pa bio. Eftersom som Queenstown ar aventyrssporternas mecka kanns det som vi maste prova pa nagot av det ocksa och valjer whitewaterrafting i "Shotover River". Naturligtvis har det dock regnat massor igen och eftersom raftingbolaget anser det for farligt att genomfora turen blir den installd, suck. Vi tar dock annu en vilodag i solen vid hamnstranden och sloar och kollar pa kringresande jonglorer/eldslukare.... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Dunedin January 10th 2006

I went surfing last night. For those of you who have an interest in oceonography it was an 8ft swell with a 13 second period (ie 13 seconds between each wave, measured about 50 miles offshore), thus producing very big and heavy waves. I took these pics, but unforunately they don't really do it justice - but let's just say it was big, it was heavy and it was definately G-narly. Yes, with a capital and hyphenated G. So, I paddled out (took a handful on the head as usual) but made it in about 10 mins - pretty good by my standards. Sat out back in peace for about 5 minutes. Saw a set coming - took all three on the head trying to get out past them, then had a decision to make. The ... read more
Nang tastic
Second's Beach
My friends daren't look

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Queenstown January 9th 2006

let us see. yeah, worked! place bout to close - 11.00pm. must go. good day. gorgeously sunny. i chilled. found good coffee. read novel - thanks Peter and Mim. booked places, events etc. washed clothes! hope all are well. ciao Bernard... read more
More hills
Church of Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo
Congregation view from church




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