Blogs from Te Anau, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Bonjour à tous La visite qui était à mon programme hier en fin de journée "Glowworm Caves". Je ne sais trop comment la traduire, par ce que même en français j'ai un peu de mal à comprendre. En fait il s'agit d'une sorte vers luisants endémiques qui vivent uniquement dans les grottes de Te anau. On se rend dans ces grottes après 30 minutes de bateau sur le lac Te Anau, environ 70 participants, à l'entrée de la grotte une salle de conférence, pour expliquer le mode de vie, de reproduction de ces bestioles etc etc. Explication en anglais bien sur au bout d'une minute j'avais déjà décroché, un coup de pompe me prend, je me suis presque endormi. Ensuite par groupe de 12 participants, on entre dans la grotte où coule une rivière souterraine à ... read more

One of our unspoken rules is that the driver makes any real-time navigation decisions. Depending on the adventurousness of the driver, this can result in some expected destinations. And no, I am not currently talking about the scurrilous tale that I tried to drive us over a cliff in Spain. Our goal for the day was to follow what is known as the Great Southern Scenic Route along the south coast of the South Island, to Stirling Point, then on to Te Anau, our base of operations for the next couple of days. Stirling Point is in the small town of Bluff, the southernmost town (although not the southernmost point) in New Zealand, and the southern terminus of Hwy 1, which traverses the length of New Zealand. The southernmost point is actually Slope Point in the ... read more

We have reached the furthest point of our journey, almost 12,000 miles from home. Today we travel west to Fjordland National Park. But first, Dunedin parkrun. It has its pros and cons. Con: it starts at 8 am. Pro: it’s in the botanic gardens so very picturesque. Con: it’s steep and prides itself on being NZ’s toughest parkrun. Pro: the view from the top is spectacular. Con: you have run up there twice. The old man has done no running and eaten a significant number of chocolate caramel slices since last week so I am hopeful of catching him up. I manage this on the final uphill but am too wussy on the steep, gravelly downhill and finish 5 seconds behind. We return to the hotel, shower and check out with minutes to spare and set ... read more

I have been told the link on my last blog doesn't work - sorry - here are a few photos I took after the jump and my certificate - the one from the bridge over the edge I had to take with my arm over the ledge and hope as I couldn't face looking The bridge is the first ever Bungy site and is situated in an amazingly beautiful site As for me I have very bruised lower legs that are swollen and hurt when I walk (due to my jumping so badly) So walking round was a challenge yesterday... read more

Today was not expected to be all the exciting, and it wasn't. Just a travel day that required lots of driving and a flight. I was really sad to be leaving the beautiful South Island. I really hoped the North Island could compare. We were up early again, to enjoy breakfast at a local cafe. We ate real breakfasts again with fancy coffees. Someone got some sort of coffee that looked like a giant ice cream dessert. I enjoyed a veggie quiche with a hashbrown potato. Billy had some sort of pancakes smothered in a giant pile of berries that looked amazing. After that, we drove the rest of the way back to Queenstown, dropped off the rental car and waited for our flight. We were so scared of missing another flight that we ended up ... read more