Blogs from Picton, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 11

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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton August 23rd 2009

Sunday morning turned into a bit of a scramble for getting the ferry. It seems that since I have arrived in New Zealand I have taken on a much more relaxed attitude to travelling, I think it is mainly down to everything being so much more like home and therefore easy over here. Anyway I was still sat having my breakfast at 9am which was fine apart from we had to be at the ferry terminal for 9.25am..... Anyway I left my bags with Steve in the hostel dining room as I went to collect the Starlet from her parking spot. It was only on my way to the car that I remembered how far (and I mean far!) we had parked her away on the Friday afternoon. So a 15 minute jog later and I ... read more
Cook Strait looking to the South Island
Coming in towards Picton along Queen Charlotte Sound
A scenic view on the way to Havelock

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton July 26th 2009

Phew - New Zealand is proving to be just as hectic as Australia. I only had two weeks in the South Island but managed to pack lots in by travelling with the Magic Bus. Loads of sightseeing and activities, mostly involving blue skies, crisp blue ice and snow. A brief summary: Christchurch - v English wee city, pretty church and the trams trundling passed Tranz Alpine train - Christchurch to Greymouth, wet in the East coast...dry by the time we arrived in the West coast...typical NZ weather Greymouth - visited THE attraction, a tour of Monteiths brewery with LOTS of tastings Franz Josef - really got to know this glacier. Did a heli-hike AND a full day trek including iceclimbing for the first time. This will be my main memory of the South Island. Amazing experiences ... read more
Pulling a pint
Amazing ice on the Glacier
Aerial view of Franz Josef

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton July 16th 2009

Day 87 (Thursday 16/07/09, NJJ) Left camp just after 10am. Drove through Nelson on way to Blenheim. We decided to do a Marlborough Valley Wine Tour although as Jamie was driving only I could drink. We visited an information centre at a local wool shop and we were shocked by the place - it's the untidiest shop ever, piled high with papers, wool and bric-a-brac so that we could hardly walk. We struggled contain our giggles at the sight of the place. On to the wine tour, we picked 4 wineries and went for tastings. I was slightly tipsy by the end. We wandered around Blenheim next and Jamie bought a PSP. We drove on to Smiths' Farm Holiday Park in Picton. We were given fresh banana and chocolate muffins to greet us, they were still ... read more
Jamie stroking a kid

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton July 14th 2009

more pictures and stuff as we travel through NZ. in the last couple of days weve crammed in allot of hikes and other activities like Zorbing and tastings. nothing really crazie to mention, just loving all the scenery and fresh air, today we took the ferry over to the South island. we are going to trek through here for a couple days, Hitting some LOTR treks, and doing a bungie jump in Queens town. END July 15th still trekking through!! found some amazing coast lines populated with tons of seals. They have no quams when approched sloooowly. Helene has a different Method, approch quickly and eraticaly. so we almost got ambushed by a couple seals that were really pissed. We made it out alive. As we continue to head allong the coast line we take a ... read more
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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton June 26th 2009

The 3 hour ferry crossing between Wellington on the North Island and Picton on the south is a very pleasant experience. Especially the last half hour or so, when the boat ventures into Queen Charlotte Sound. I enjoyed it so much, I decided I'd stay a night in Picton for a bit of a mosey around, rather than scoot straight off on a bus elsewhere like 90% of people from the ferry (official statistic folks). So, that required finding a hostel. Potentially a tricky task, made easy by one simple bit of advertising. The Villa was offering (and I quote) "Free apple crumble every night". Suddenly, there was no decision to be made, I left my stuff and went for a walk. Actually, first I went to the supermarket to get a packet of crisps, then ... read more
Queen Charlotte Sound
Queen Charlotte Sound
Queen Charlotte Sound

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton June 14th 2009

14/06/09 Sunday Day 303 Check out was early from the hotel so we had a lot of time to kill at the ferry terminal. Our ferry from Wellington to Picton was at 2pm. We arrived into Picton around 5.20pm and checked into our hotel, YHA Picton. Nice place. Small with only a couple of rooms. Picton itself is tiny. It’s got a huge harbour area though. After getting some supplies we headed back to the hostel to eat. We got chatting to a group of 3 that were also travelling. One of the girls was from Belfast, the other from Dublin and the other lad was from Middlesbrough. Tomorrow we’re going to see if we can book a boat trip and accommodation for the Queen Charlotte walk, a 71 kilometre hike over 4 days. All of ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton May 31st 2009

Hey all, sorry about the delay. its been a little more then a week since my last post, but hopefully no one really noticed that.... Anywho, to bring everyone up to date: Last sunday, May 24, i ended up breaking down and buying uggs. Its friggin cold here!!! If you check out a map, you'll see that NZ is located fairly close to Antartica, so i feel justified and that i havent utterly failed at the Canadian ability to become immune to certain types of cold. They are a dark brown colour, the middle size, and because they were hand made by the local workers, are only a size 8 (and yes, i do feel petite because of that). When you convert the price to Canadian dollars, their a steal, but a lot of things in ... read more
Kairkora adventure 133
Kairkora adventure 111
Kairkora adventure 127

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton May 30th 2009

Queen's Birthday Weekend - May 30-June 1 - Ugh, this is the abbreviated version, as I wrote for an hour and lost it all!! Friday May 29th - Sydney left yesterday for Wellington with her drama group. They are competing in the Sheilah Wynn Shakespeare competition. Gregg and I opted to stick around Timaru Friday night so that Graham could go to Brayden's for a birthday dinner, Avery could go to Blake's birthday party and we could go to Boy"s High to see and hear "The Musical Island Boys", a International award winning Kiwi barbershop group. They were only in their 20s and fabulously entertaining! Saturday May 30th - This meant a 4am departure from Timaru in order to catch our train to Picton that leaves Christchurch at 7am and requires that you check in at ... read more
Me and the boys in Picton
Marlborough Sounds
Lisa and Gregg

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton April 13th 2009

Easter Monday. So up early and off to the ferry! Good job it was only a few minutes walk from the Hotel! Another nice day! Arrived in Picton early (about 10.45am) after stunning views through the whole journey. Went to the place where I had sent a mail to book a trip the night before and the woman said they don't do that one anymore only one for $80 and longer. I said "know any others cheaper?" she said no - customer service often hasn't reached here yet! So I went out and into the next place and they sold me one for $55 - up and round the bay and back. Then walked up to Ruth's and it was sooo hot!! Found it no worries and her bro' was just leaving on the 1pm ferry! ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton March 15th 2009

Picton OK. Enough with the weather! A SE Arctic wind that keeps the temperatures low and the rains coming is haunting us. That didn’t dampen our welcome by the local population where each passenger going ashore was presented with a small boutonniere. Since we carry approximately 1600 passengers, the work that went into this lovely greeting is extraordinary. Today I head to Ships Cove where Captain Cook first landed in 1770 and then returned again and again as it provided everything he needed to reprovision and careen the vessel. A natural spring provided fresh water and the Maori were friendly and helpful. There was a shallow slope where the vessel could be beached to clean the hull of barnacles and apply tar and pitch to the hull. On the way we saw shags (cormorants), gannets and ... read more




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