Blogs from New Zealand, Oceania - page 2525

Today we had a bit of a lay-in. Well I say lay-in, but we were up at 7am, as today was ‘optional activities’ day. We’d all booked these up with the guys on the Sunday drive from Christchurch to Lake Ohau. I had chosen the two things I wanted to do, even before I’d even come out to New Zealand, the ‘Lord of the Rings 4x4 tour’ and the 12,000 ft Tandem Skydive. I was really excited about today, though when I looked outside, it was very overcast. There were eight of us doing the Lord of the Rings tour this morning, and a few others were doing theirs this afternoon, as they were either bungying or Shotover jetboating this morning. The group this morning were, from my tour, Lisa (a schoolteacher in Sydney), Tania, Jo ... read more

Alarms were set for 4:30am this morning. It was a good job we didn’t go to sleep any later than we did last night, otherwise we’d have really struggled. Breakfast was at 5:30am, so we had an hour to get ready. I don’t know how all the girls managed. There were four of them in each of the rooms. They must have had to get up a whole lot earlier than us, so that they could all get ready in time. Anyway, we were all done, so went and had our ‘brekkie’. Everyone looked half asleep still, including me. Had some cereal and juice, and by 6am we were all up and ready to hit the road. We had the ‘morning song’, as usual and left for Milford Sound. Milford is only about 20 miles ‘as ... read more

In Tauranga!!! Man it seems we cannot get away from this place!! So, off we went to Napier about 10 days ago. We got there, everything was kool with the hostel we stayed at, we got jobs doing apple tree thinning(cutting small or damaged apple's off etc) and we were going to stay for a month or so, but then we got a job offer to manage a hostel in Turangi which is just outside of Taupo, in the Middle of New Zealand, near the Tongariro crossing. So we decided that it would be a great opportunity to get some experience etc and off we went again, to Turangi! We got to the hostel (Bell Bird Lodge) on the Monday last week, and by the evening had negotiated a deal with the owners for free accommodation ... read more

He hoi, Vorige week walvissen en dolfijnen gezien in Kaikoura. Aangezien ik niet zulke goede ervaringen heb met het varen op open oceaan, had ik voorzorgsmaatregelen getroffen. 2 Pillen tegen zeeziekte. Nou, ik heb het geweten hoor. Vlak voordat we met de bus naar de boot werden gebracht, begon het me te duizelen. Het voelde alsof ik dronken was en ik liep dan ook wankel. Tijdens de boottocht heb ik echter nergens last van gehad. Het is, dat de gids zei dat het een walvis was… Wat ik zag was een grijs, bewegend oppervlakte van zo’n 20 cm boven het water en ongeveer 1,5 meter in lengte. Af en toe blief zij (hoe ik dat weet?) wat water omhoog. Dan te bedenken hoeveel er onder water moest zijn! Het werd een beetje interessant op het moment ... read more

Mr. Belkin informed us that we are on a very tight schedule. We can take carry on luggage only; this can basically fit two pairs of pants, a couple of shirts, a jersey, sox, boxers and toiletries. We are also instructed to travel in pairs. My travel companion’s name is Julian. He is a hippy who spent three months in The USA about five years ago, yet still speaks with an American accent. He is harmless enough and we get on pretty well. I count myself lucky; I was told the other pair loathed each other. One deserted the other on a Moscow street one mid winter night, without passport, ticket or money. The police ended up taking the distraught tourist to the airport where she found her travel companion in the nick of time. ... read more