Page 13 of Dr Gwen Travel Blog Posts


Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Murchison November 27th 2010

Wednesday morning was a fairly late start. It was very nice to be in a room without snorers for a couple of nights! We gave our new friend a lift down to the West coast then turned north. As on the Stray bus the West coast is simply stunning, forest clad mountains on one side and rugged coast on the other. We stopped a few times to admire the view & pick up more fuel & food but our main stops were again the Pancake Rocks & the Capefoulwind Seal colony. It amused me that we also passed 2 Stray buses on the way although the only driver I saw wasn't one I knew. We then headed inland from Westport & followed Buller's Gorge up to a lovely little farmstay hostel the other side of Murchison ... read more
West coast bays
West coast hills


Tuesday we had the whole day in Arthurs Pass so we pottered along a few of the shorter walks including the Dobson Nature Walk (& a little of the Otira Valley as it looked pretty!), a brief stop in the DOC office for postcards & more walk info then up to the Devil's Punchbowl Falls - quite a lot of steps to go up but the fall was beautiful. We paused up here for our picnic lunch then scooted back into the village to grab ice creams before tackling the longer walk up Bealey Valley to see The Chasm!!! Very pretty but it really doesn't deserve that name! We continued up the hill as the DOC guy told us there are lovely views from the top, & he was right. Beautiful views from a grassy clearing ... read more
Sundews!
Devil's Punchbowl Falls
Mountain stream


Monday morning we were up & ready to go soon after 9am. My foot is still sore so Julian is doing the bulk of the driving (sorry!) - except for the high mountain passes, I'm doing those! We were not far down the road from the rafting lodge when I noticed the fuel guage was low & the light on. Ah. So we drove back 17km to Geraldine & found a petrol station to top up at, whilst there we also stocked up from the local supermarket too. We then set off along the Inland Scenic Route up through Mayfield, Pudding Hill & Springfield then further up towards Arthur's Pass. We stopped off several times to admire the view or take short walks. Noticable were the Rakaia River where we had lunch, a pretty grassland DOC ... read more
Rakaia River
To the mountains...
Mountain

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Geraldine November 27th 2010

So Sunday morning we headed up to Peel forest to find the Rangitata Rafting Company. Here we were given tea & lunch before getting geared up for rafting. We spent over 2 hours rafting down the Rangitata River over rapis graded 1 through to 5 which was great fun - no one fell out or capsised although I did loose my paddle at one point - oops! It was drop it or hit Julian around the head with it as everyone dived to the left! We also got a chance to go swimming down the river & also to jump into the water from a couple of rocks - one a few metres above the river & the other around 10m above the water! That was rather terrifying but good fun! After this schenanigans we were ... read more
On the river
Paddle as hard as you can!
Down the rapids

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Akaroa November 20th 2010

Friday morning we had a slight panic when Julian couldn't find his passport (it was in his pocket all along apparently) then went to pick up our hire car before meeting very briefly with Taniamaree to exchange greetings & hugs. We then drove over to Akaroa via Lyttelton enjoying the high views downn to various little bays. Be also stopped briefly at Birdlings Flats - a pebble beach that looked slightly surreal! We got to Akaro, checked in then decided to go for a brief stroll before supper. We ended up getting Fish & Chips to eat on the sea front (locally caught fish) then walked back the scenic route up & around the back streets & grassy spaces. One road was a little steep & stoney & we slipped a little bit along it at ... read more
Flowers amid the rocks
Safe harbour
Rolling hills

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch November 20th 2010

Returning to civilisation we headed to Christchurch where many of us were parting ways so we went out for a pub quiz that evening. We came in middling, not bad as I think we were the only non-regular team there! I even got the bonus question right by recognising part of the painting Night Watch due to a certain book my Mr Pratchett!! Also met up with Justin again as our Christchurch stays ovelapped. Apparently there were aftershocks whlist I was there but so small I didn't feel them. Julian arrived in New Zealand on Wednesday so I went to find him, get him some non-aeroplane food & deposit bags at the hostel before setting out again to explore the botanical gardens before finding a nice pizza place for supper. Thursday we wandered around the town ... read more
Paua house
Exercise time!
Reflections


Sunday we were off on adventures heading up to Mt Cook - where no Stray bus has gone before! This involved some navigational aid from myself & Pete in the front! We visited Omaru on the way - the Steampunk Capital of New Zealand - aka Penginville! Here most of us didn't pay to go in & see the Blue Penguins in their nests, & apparently it wasn't a great view anyway. We all took some photos of the steampunk statues in the town & discovered the location of the whisky distillery! We also saw some round rocks on a beach! The drive up to Mt Cook was fairly interesting - we passed a couple of hydroelectric dams - the water in them a brilliant shade of aqua due to the suspended particles gathered up by ... read more
Oamaru tractor
Moeraki Boulders
Waitaki Powerstation

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Invercargill November 20th 2010

So Taniamarree showed me around the local area - Bluff, Riverton, etc. I visited the Southern most point of mainland New zealand, the very windy Bluff Hill and a beach with invisible nesting seabirds! I also wandered around Invercargill myself visiting Queen's Park & the aviary and a couple of nice little shops too. I also got invited to a home BBQ which was very tasty & a fun evening, although the beach was a tad on the windy side!! :) Saturday morning I met up with the Stray bus again heading over to Dunedin. First stop was to visit some local sealions, most of which were dozing happily but one didn't like us on it's beach very much! We also found the McLean Falls (as recommended by the hostel lady) which was quiet impressive! And ... read more
Odd aviary inhabitant!
Sleepy sealions
McLean Falls


So Tuesday we met up with Daisy then picked up the rest of that bus load from their hostel in Invercargill before heading the scenic route up to Te Anau stopping at a couple of nice beaches (Fraser Beach & Gemstone Beach) then stopped for tasty pie at Te Anau before head on up to Gunn’s Camp – a lovely site with small huts sleeping 6 each in two rooms with a small communical area inbetween with a table, chairs & stove for heat. There was a separate shower block and a kitching/common room block where Daisy cooked us all Bangers & Mash! We climbed up a cool hollow tree near the camp and visited the local glow worms after the generator got turned off for the evening. I was nacked but the group ended up ... read more
Beach hut!
Gunn's Camp
Local humour!

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Stewart Island » Oban November 9th 2010

So we said goodbye to a sleepy Debby & left Queenstown early on Daisy's Stray bus doing the south loop. We drove non-stop down to Invercargill & through to Bluff where we arrived at the ferry terminal around 9am to check in foir the 9:30 ferry. Myself, Justin & Gwawr (or Dawn) were the only ones from the Stray bus heading over here - I think beacuse the ferry costs so much! We are staying at a lovely little place here with lots of nice people, myself & Gwawr are here for a few days but Justin only had one night on the Island so we went for a walk around the town. This island isn't tiny but the town is only small & the roads don't extend into the national park. Unfortunately I don't have ... read more
Oban & Halfmoon Bay
GIant chess set!
Halfmoon Bay




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