Blogs from West Coast, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 4

Geo: -43.3891, 170.182 After checking out of the hostel and I waited outside for the bus at 9.20. The Newman's coach was supposed to pick me up from YHA at 9.39 am but at 9.55, I saw one Newmans bus going straight towards the main stop near the lake so I panicked and I called the Intercity bus as I thought they had forgotten me as I was the only one person being picked up from YHa. The idea of being stranded was very daunting but I was very relieved when they told me that the driver was late. After 15 mins, I was finally on the bus and I got a window seat but than many people got on at Ardmore st at the lake and the bus was full, I was lucky to get ... read more

Geo: -43.4643, 170.018The only reason people go to Fox Glacier is the overpowerig presence of Mount Cook, Mount Tasman, Fox Glacier, Franz Josef Glacier and all the accompanying stuff of mountains and snow.And the best way to see all this is by helicopter - given their ability to fly high and slow and land on the snowfields high in the mountains.So we squeezed into this little helicoper together who two other passengers and the pilot and up we went. The photos speak for themselves really. Mountain peaks clad in snow, glaciers, mountain huts high on the peaks, getting out onto the snow. All brilliant stuff - you can tell from Peter's smile he thought this was much the best way to get up a ountain, not all that walking stuff.On our return we found our rather ... read more

Joepie, na vijf weken appels plukken mochten we weer het fietsje op! Dat was duidelijk even wennen. Veel schuiven op het zadel de eerste uren en wat gevoelige lichaamsdelen de eerste dagen. Ook de in gedachten gestelde bestemming voor de eerste dag niet helemaal gehaald. Een uur langer aan het klooien om onze (nieuwe) bagage op de fiets te krijgen en een gemiddelde snelheid die wat tegenviel sloegen we onze tent veel eerder op de route op dan we dachten. Lucky us: het was de laatste dag dat de camping open was en we waren de enige en laatste gasten van het seizoen:-). Luck stayed with us. Ondanks dat de westkust van het zuidereiland de meeste regen krijgt van heel Nieuw -Zeeland hebben we heel veel heerlijke zonnige dagen gehad. Alleen de laatste dag, een record ... read more

9. November 12, von Takaka nach Greymouth Wir brechen bei schönstem Reisewetter beizeiten in Takaka auf. Wir müssen nochmals über die Takaka Hills, mit ihren vielen Kurven. Das bedeutet, schon zu Beginn eine Stunde Fahrt für etwa 60 km Weg. Wir tanken erst in Motueka, weil wir ja nicht den zusätzlichen Benzinbalast mitschleppen wollen. In Motueka wird dann aufgefüllt und dann geht´s weiter über Breaburn (kennt Ihr die Apfelsorte?), Dovedale, Woodstock, Tapawera. Die Fahrt, weit abseits der viel befahrenen Verkehrswege bietet tolle Landschaften; weite Weidegebiete, Weinanbau, saftige Weiden, Hügelkämme, die noch wenig grün sind, Bäume mit frühligsfrischem Blattgrün, Büsche, Sträucher und Bäume in voller Blüte, Kirschenplantagen, Apfel- und Kiwiplantagen, wilde Flussläufe und kleine Siedlungen. Wir fahren in ein Tal, ins Golden Dawn Valley. Die Hügelabhänge sind bedeckt mit den goldg... read more

GLACIERLAND TO WESTPORT We decided to slow our pace of travel, and moved on north, stopping at a town called ROSS. There were big gold strikes here in the mid 1800s, and we went around a one hour heritage walk around the old mining area. The visitors centre will show you how to pan for gold, and you can buy pans and try out your gold prospecting for real in the local creeks. You might say all the gold will have gone, but there is a commercial mining company on the edge of town still mining for gold – AND, it it believed that there is $700 million worth of gold in the gravel under the town. The mining company wish to relocate the whole town to get access to it, but have been turned down ... read more