Blogs from Otago, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 37

Hi all! Just a wee update to let you know that we're OK and still having a great time in NZ. We left the glaciers last week and drove further south to Wanaka, a lovely holiday town on the shores of Lake Wanaka (of course!) and surrounded by snow-capped hills. Wanaka was by far the coldest place we've been by far, which wasn't helped by the lack of central heating in our otherwise great backpackers. They did have spare blankets I'm happy to say! We spent most of our time in Wanaka chilling out (in both senses of the word!), except for spending one morning at the fantastic Puzzling World, a one man creation of weird illusions and the most fantastic maze. We spent a happy hour trying to complete the maze, which meant finding the ... read more

For those of you very faithful readers, and especially those who like to read and see things in order you will have to forgive me (Elizabeth) as I am just starting to get the hang of this blog thing. Tanya has done such a wonderful job over the past few months I had some pretty big shoes to fill!! I'm learning so hang with me and I'll get you the story and sooner or later it will all fall into order!! (Tanya is doing a good job of coaching while she continues her travels!!) ... read more

Elizabeth and I arrived in Queenstown after a short flight from Christchurch. Queenstown is located in the South Island of New Zealand and is absolutely picturesque despite it’s bone-chilling temperatures. I am certain that Lake Wakatipu (or “the hollow of the sleeping giant”) is one of the reasons I enjoyed taking in the views of Queenstown. It's also a popular spot for risky water activities, bungee jumping and sky diving. Hiring a car for the day and allowing Elizabeth to escort us around Glenorchy and Paradise while driving on the “wrong” side of the road in the “wrong” side of the car was enough to get my heart rate pumping. No, not really- Elizabeth did a great job-much braver than myself! We found a nice café in Glenorchy (about a 45 minute drive from Queenstown) where ... read more

After a couple of nights in Oamaru, where we were lucky enough to see 7 rare yellow-eyed penguins from a hide above Bushy Beach, we continued on our drive south towards Dunedin. We stopped off at the famous Moeraki boulders and spent an afternoon at Shag Point (lots of NZ fur seals, two more yellow-eyed penguins and large colonies of Steward Island and Spotted Shags). Just before we arrived in Dunedin we decided to spend one night in the gloriously named "Seacliff Asylum"...we'll paint you a picture: ...black stallions roaming wild...sheds full of 1920's rusting cars...the ruins of seacliff mental hospital...rumours (found on the internet) that 37 women died there in a mysterious fire in 1942...no locks on the doors...a strange door into our room blocked by a wardrobe whose back had been bashed in (apparently ... read more

howdi from NZ Its been a while since the last one, entirely due to my own laziness, so this one's gonna be a belter. I've now been 2 weeks in NZ, still entirely in the south Island. For most of the time, Cat and I have been driving round all the sites. Let me divulge some of the highlights that we've seen/eaten/drunk/swam with. Christchurch: a cool town that gets bigger and better everytime I go back there. There's loads of places to eat and drink, which is great 'cause the food at the YMCA reminds me of college. A jazz festival is starting up. My mate Rob who I'm going back to stay with wouldn't forgive me if I didn't use the word 'chic' when describing the place. We didn't stay long here as we were ... read more