Blogs from Invercargill, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 3

With the sun retreating and the grandeur of the alpine mountains sliding away behind us we drove into the very pleasant rolling hills of the Central Otago Region. Yellowed grasses waved in the breeze and sheep covered every hill. It is beautiful countryside and as we meandered along the small back roads in search of a campsite we came across the so called 'Elephant Rocks'. Tucked into a valley these huge boulders do look as if they are crouching animals huddled together. It was used as a setting for the recent Chronicles of Narnia film, and its easy to see why. No houses in sight for miles and miles, only acres of green green pastures speckled with amazing rock formations, the perfect setting for a fanatsy film. After a few wrong turns where we found ourselves ... read more

Had a bit of a lay in this morning, I ended up on the leaky air bed so was pretty much on the floor when I woke around 6am, and couldn’t get back to sleep. Helen went to pay the woman at the office for another night’s camping, think League of Gentlemen and you’ll have an idea of what she was like, very friendly though. Site itself is not too bad at all, excellent shower this morning, although to get hot water, or into the kitchen, you have to enter a 4 digit code! The weather has been pretty much non stop rain since we headed out this morning, we, of course, had our track day session, so we stopped at the hospice shop (which was open!) and got a spatula, the only thing we seem ... read more

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

One thing that I find infinitely interesting about traveling, is that one’s perceptions of one’s path become much clearer in the moment. When you start stepping in the wrong direction, whether it be down a certain road or as simple as making an illogical purchase at a store, it seems that the world steps in much faster to let you know you are making the wrong decision. Likewise, When one is making the “right” decision, the world seems to blossom at one’s feet. However subtle; the signs are there, and if you listen, that will keep you on the straight path to travelers’ success. (I wonder why this subconscious sort of understanding becomes so hazy in the day-to-day of our more settled lives? It certainly is not that it is absent, just harder to tune into ... read more

After leaving the UK for the last time we soon found ourselves back in drizzly old Auckland. We were exhausted after a 26 hour flight from London via Hong Kong but it felt flippin fantastic to be back home. It was a weird feeling which was to stick around with us for the next couple of weeks as we readjusted to life back in NZ. I think it was a mixture of relief at the fact that we were back home, and excitement at beginning the next stage of our lives. We were really glad to have Shylah pick us up at the airport and take us out to her house in Waimauku, just north of Auckland, to spend a couple of days getting over the flight (I don’t think we would have been able to ... read more