Blogs from Fiordland National Park, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 13

We kept on west for the second part of our trip: tramping in the fiordlands. We started with Queenstown, a nice town famous for adreline activities. Then we went to Milford sound for a boat ride across the Fjords. On the way back we did an incredible walk that led to Lake Marian and we ended our journey by checking out the Mirror Lakes. We headed then to Te Anau to get ready for 2 treks: the Kepler track and the Routeburn. Unfortunately the weather for the Keppler was horrible during 3 days: rain, cold, wind, no visibility... but we made it! The Routeburn was simply magic. During 3 days of great weather, we saw phenomenal landscapes not without reminding us of the lord of the ring: mountains, glaciers, lakes, waterfalls, forests, bridges... ... read more

Saturday, Feb. 20th - Queenstown Sunday, Feb. 21st-Monday, Feb. 22nd - Doubtful Sound (Fiords of New Zealand) Queenstown is known as the adrenalin capitol of NZ - bungee jumping and all - but for us it was a nice relief from our craziness. We took in a view from the gondola, attended an art fair and took a real coal steamer across Lake Wakipuka to a turn of the century English homestead. The town is nestled in the Remarkable Mountain Range with the 50 mile Lake Waikipu providing the backdrop. The town has an Aspen feel except for the fun seekers - who will try paragliding, parachuting or hang-gliding for yucks. We then left for an overnight trip on the Fiordland Navigator - a boat that sleeps 70, on Doubtful Sound - this is the largest ... read more

After an epic three days of travelling (mostly next to wailing babies) I arrived in Curio Bay, New Zealand. The flight to Australia was the highlight because every seat has its own screen with 100s of movies, shows, and music to choose from. I think I got in 3 movies and and a couple of seasons of tv shows. I was so lucky to choose such a interesting place - I was stationed on a narrow point between Curio Bay (home to the largest petrified forest in the world) and Porpoise Bay (a 4 mile long crescent shaped beach home to the very rare Hectors Dolphins). My job wwoofing was to hang out at the campground at the point and convince people to take surf lessons with Nick Smart. Nick was an hilarious 18 year old ... read more

i had a week off while jeff was working in tuatapere so i decided to go on my first overnight hike by myself and do the 60km kepler track in fiordland national park. conveniently, most of the national parks in NZ have a good system of huts that you can book. the huts along the kepler track have flush toilets, potable water, bunk beds and gas stoves. this made it quite a bit easier, as i wouldn't have to carry things such as a tent, water filter, etc... i ended up just packing a daypack with my sleeping bag,4 days worth of food (locally dehydrated meals, biltong, instant oatmeal and granola bars), a minimal amount of clothing, and a headlamp. i left tuatapere on monday and drove north along the scenic highway to te anau( ~ ... read more

This morning we got up and enjoyed the surroundings before eating some breakfast. We were up early, but not early enough to see the sun rise or anything. But it was beautiful out again. The boat has a crayfish pot that they check every morning, so we got to see the crayfish pot being pulled up from the water. There were a bunch of them in the cage....even a small cod shark! The skipper took the shark out of the cage, and tossed it at Adam. It landed at his feet, but he pet him before he got tossed back in the water. After breakfast we started heading back toward the cove. The other ship mate had heard dolphins while she was below deck, and we were able to find them. It was incredible to get ... read more