Blogs from Oceania - page 7048

To get to the east coast I have to go back to Tennant Creek to get on the Barkly Highway. I wanted to stop over in Katherine as I liked the place the first time round. When I checked in, someone was booking a canoe for the Katherine gorge. Having managed to go the whole of New Zealand without doing this I book one too. Up at 6.30am to get to the Gorge in time to sort out my canoe. Unfortunately they gave me one without a motor so it was going to be down to using the paddles. The instructions were go where you want to, and swim where you want to. Apparently the fresh water crocodiles won’t attack you unless you bother them. Ok so there will be no swimming just incase the crocodiles ... read more

Day 25: Rarotonga Another day, another couple of snorkelling sessions. There’s not much you can say about this pastime, really - we both love it, and as long as there’s a new venue we’ll be there. Having said a sad farewell to the top-optional Mazda Cabriolet, we were confined to barracks for our last day, which we used to exhaust the offerings of the lagoon adjacent to the resort. We finally found the giant clams (see Day 21) that were shown on the map. These had thus far proved elusive, insofar as that adjective can be applied to objects irredeemably rooted to the spot. Besides that, extremely large examples of flounder and trevally and huge schools of a kind of zebra fish were highlights. There are no transnational fast food outlets on Rarotonga - no McDonalds, ... read more

Well, I am officially living in New Zealand. I arrived in Auckland yesterday morning after two days of travel. Everything went suprisingly smooth over - three flights and my luggage made it. Way to go Qantas! I got in very early, checked in to my hostel, then headed out for an IEP (International Exchange Program) orientation. Very informative - got my bank account set up, learned about Kiwi life/lingo (it's grab a fizzy here, not soda - that word gets you strange looks) and received some employment direction. I met three other Americans there who I spent the rest of yesterday with (they kept me entertained as I was sleepwalking through the city!). We trekked Mt. Victoria (looking back, I don't know how I did it as jetlagged as I was), had some beers and walked ... read more

Sitting in the Christchurch airport waiting for my flight back to Auckland...starting the 28-hour trip home. It's actually snowing here, so I'm hoping there will be no travel problems. Going from one weather extreme to the other...I'm sure it's nice and warm in AL. Spent the last couple of days here in Christchurch...nice city. Had some great Indian food a couple of nights ago and then managed to get wrapped up in more drinking games at our hostel with a group comprised of a couple of my American friends, a British girl, a Norwegian girl, a guy from Australia, and a guy from Sweden (I think). I'm bringing back all kinds of great and mature drinking game knowledge. I'm so proud. Spent a good part of yesterday at the International Antarctic Centre here in Christchurch, which ... read more

We left Perth and the west coast of Australia - heading for the outback and a few days around Uluru (Ayers Rock). Our flight into Alice Springs was uneventful apart from an announcement that people on the right side of the plane should look out the window now. As we were on the right side we did and was rewarded with a fantastic aerial view of Uluru!! Some people paid fortunes for a helicopter ride but lucky us got the aerial view included in the flights! Next day we had the long drive to Uluru from Alice Springs - before we got there we stopped at the Olgas - a rock formation made from huge domes of rock. Had a walk inbetween two of the domes and they are absolutely massive! Then we headed to Uluru ... read more