Blogs from Greymouth, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 7

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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Greymouth July 17th 2010

I took the train from Christchurch to Greymouth, east coast to west coast, crossing South Island, New Zealand. I don't seem to have time to write lengthy descriptions and will let the comments on the pictures describe the journey. This train ride is suppose to be one of the best in the world in terms of scenery. You can decide. The cool winds made riding in observation carriage challenging and the wet morning may have dulled the landscape for the first two hours.... read more
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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Greymouth June 17th 2010

Our third week in New Zealand started with an early start, leaving Taupo we were heading across the country, east to Napier. The drive took a good few hours and we arrived in time for brunch. The Napier of today is the silver lining of the dark cloud that was New Zealand's worst natural disater, the town was rebuilt after a deadly earthquake hit it in 1931, which caused huge city altering fires. We strolled around the town looking at the Art Deco style buildings which are visited by architects from all over the world, wondered through the centinial gardens and took some photo's on the beach. After popping into the information centre we decided to visit the old Napier Prison, which swayed us with the slogan "better than alcatraz.'' A slighty misleading slogan but the ... read more
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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Greymouth May 12th 2010

After our time at Abel Tasman, we made our way to Glenhope to stay for the night. The hostel had a great warm fire and even a record player. The next day we headed out to our destination. While driving towards Greymouth, we stopped and took a picture of the the Buller Gorge Swingbridge which is 110 meters long. See picture below. The drive to Greymouth was very scenic as we drove through the edge of the Kahurangi National Park which had some great views of the mountains. While in Greymouth, we stayed at a hostel for a week and worked for our accommodation. It was a pretty sweet deal as we got lots of cool perks. Duties included tidying up the hostel and reception duties. The manager left the hostel in our hands while he ... read more
Us at Brewery
Noah's Ark Hostel
Fox Glacier

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Greymouth May 1st 2010

I drove from Nelson down to Westport, but I didn’t spend the night there. I wasn’t impressed with Westport. It kind of felt dirty. On the way to Greymouth I discovered the most beautiful secluded beaches. In classic NZ style, I just turned a corner and there they were. They appeared out of no where. The mountains meet the sea. My camera battery died, so I tried to capture the beauty using the webcam on my laptop. I looked funny running around and pointing my computer at things. It's worth mentioning that I found peace and comfort at a YHA hostel that I didnt even stay at. On the way to Greymouth there is a little beach town. Before I reached the town, still in the mountainous hills, there was a YHA. It was hidden and ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Greymouth April 30th 2010

When we arrived on the site last night, the last thing John said as we parked up was ‘it’s a bit boggy, but we should be ok if it doesn’t rain’. Famous last words! It rained all night, and I lay in bed for quite a while worrying that we wouldn’t be able to get out in the morning, but of course, we had no problems at all - thank goodness. We had planned to go to the Glacier villages today to book in to a Glacier visit tomorrow, but the weather isn’t looking too good and we’ve been told it would be better to wait until Sunday. So the choice was either sit around and relax all day, or go somewhere else. So that saw us setting off for Arthur’s Pass, which meant backtracking slightly. ... read more
This Little Piggy's Been Shot! (Twice!)
Michelle's Amish Quilt
Kea Removing Our Ariel!

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Greymouth April 29th 2010

Yes, today I finally put my flipflops away and took to the walking boots again! The weather is damp and slightly chilly at times - at other times the sun shines through warming us up nicely thank you! The view out of the van this morning was nothing short of spectacular - slightly misty with the sun shining down on the waves and the cliffs - it was absolutely glorious. An added bonus was the cute birds from last night - flightless indigenous weka came around as soon as we opened the van doors (in fact, one tried to get into the van) and as I was sitting outside eating my bacon sarnie, I kept catching movement out of my eyes - they were coming up so close. We probably broke a few rules by treating ... read more
Cute Weka
View from Lighthouse
Seal Colony - Fighting

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Greymouth April 19th 2010

19 04 2010 The day dawned bleak and grey. We had no food and it was dull and cool outside. Wendy was not keen on getting out of the warm nest she called bed. However we got up, showered and prepared to face the world. The journey today was to Greymouth. We went through a lovely mountain range and tropical forest which was wet. We did stop off for a breakfast in Hari Hari. Having sat down and ordered our lovely brekkie a load of backpackers arrived. They probably had enough for 2 coffees and a muffin between them. The sight on their faces as our breakfast, eggs, sausages, beans, bacon pot of T for 2 and toast etc made it more enjoyable. Having suitably armed ourselves against the rigours of the day we carried on ... read more
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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Greymouth April 10th 2010

Back on the stray bus and I had one of the same drivers as I had before which was cool. We had a long drive ahead of us to get to Barrytown. We had to drive back to Motueka and then down past the Lewis pass. We stopped along the coast and did an hour walk all along the coast and saw a few seals. It was beautiful there! Pictures Barrytown is a blink and you miss it kind of place. We stayed at a place that is a pub/hostel and is known as Bazvegas haha. SO cheesy but it’s a stray stop so they usually always have a dress up party there. There was a whole room full of just clothes and stuff you could dress up in. I got to know 2 girls from ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Greymouth April 3rd 2010

Vandaag 4uur over gedaan om van Nelson naar Greymouth te rijden, een plaatsje aan de westkust. Plaatsje stelt niet zo heel veel voor met 10.000 inwoners, en was helemaal verlaten nadat de winkels sloten. Hotel geregeld met laundry service. Blijkt dat je zelf je was moet doen! Toch maar even gedaan. Laat in de middag een biertour gedaan bij Monteith's, een NZ biertje...met een groepje 'die hards'(engelsen) blijven hangen om toch die entrance fee van 15NZD er uit te zuipen... ... read more
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Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Greymouth March 8th 2010

2/3/10 Quite day at Reefton - a bit cool today! Lovely surprise visit from Les and Christine, Bill and Yvonne (Fire Chiefs, Kerikeri and Kaikohe). They knew we were in SI, but no idea where, and happened to see our 4x4 in the camping ground - how amazing is that! They had been in Christchurch at the National Fire Service conference. 3/3/10 - Drove up to Reefton lookout, where we met the MacKay twins, (do you know any adult twins in their late 50s who still address EXACTLY the same) - we do now! They were very nice and gave us lots of info about the area as they had hunted and felled trees and cut tracks all over the area. A one and a half hour loop walking track at Alborns Mine proved to be ... read more
Howard and Us
Big River Mill
Big River Ghosttown




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