Blogs from Mackenzie District, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 2

From Stupid Hostel Owners to Clever Sheepdogs

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Mackenzie District March 25th 2009

Then we moved on to Adrenaline heaven - Queenstown. We had tried to do a skydive over Lake Wanaka on the way down to Queenstown it would have been very impressive especially with Mount Cook in the background but alas the weather was too windy and too dangerous. On to Queenstown. We happened to mention to our driver the hostel we had booked in Queenstown and he was horrified. It was the highest rated hostel in the BBH guide for Queenstown so we assumed it was a safe bet. The driver warned us away from the place. We didn't know who to believe. We suspected that the driver was possible trying to steer us towards one of the Magic Bus affilliated hostels and away from the competuition. But what if he was right. We were waiting ... read more

Mackenzie Country

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Mackenzie District December 17th 2008

Boulders on Moeraki beach

Liz G

I'm getting progressively more behind with this blog, it's over 5 months since I was at this stage of my NZ journey. I'm not sure where the time has gone. Anyway, this part of the story was really the last chapter in my circuit of South Island - it was almost time to fly to Melbourne for Christmas. We left Dunedin and drove along the coast, stopping for a while at Moeraki to see the boulders which are strewn along the beach - my lonely planet tells me they were formed millions of years ago around lime crystals within the surrounding mudstone, for which I will just have to take their word. After Moeraki we arrived in Oamaru, which looked like an interesting town, with lots of impressive old buildings built from the local limestone - ... read more

Another weekend away

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Mackenzie District January 16th 2008

Trek

Anne Marie Thompson

I'm not sure how long all this gallivanting will last, but I'm certainly enjoying it! We took a long weekend to go tramping and jet boating, and it was brilliant :-) We hiked into Canyons Creek and over to the Ahuriri valley (near Omarama). The first day was a beautiful walk, and at the end of the day, we found a lovely camp spot next to a waterfall and pitched the tent - it was lovely to just decide that was where we were camping and stay there, and there was nobody else to be seen. The second day was more of an adventure, we had to do a lot of route finding once we got over the pass (I say "we", I mean Duncan), we were making up our own route and it turned out ... read more

Day 4 - Lake Tekapo & Mt Cook

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Mackenzie District December 25th 2007

Lake Tekapo

MandEm

Another failed attempt at a sleep-in. However, Santa had been. There was the Yahtzee game that looked suspiciously like the one Emma bought in Akaroa. And Santa had bought Emma the BBC production of the Lord of the Rings in a 13 CD Audiobook. She was most pleased with this as she had wanted it for a long time. We had breakfast in bed, and then made our way to Lake Tekapo to go to the Church of the Good Shepherd for the Christmas Day service. This is a very famous church, as it has a very beautiful altar. Rather than any sort of stained glass, it has clear glass over the altar with an unspoilt view (with the exception of tourists poking the heads in the way) of Lake Tekapo and the surrounding mountains. Again, ... read more

Lake Tekapo

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Mackenzie District June 1st 2006

The van

Amanda and Chris

We picked up the van yesterday and after a long drive out of christchurch we ended up at lake tepako, it was dark when we arrived, but this morning in the sunshine, it is just out of this world! We had a walk along the lake and the water is sooo crystal clear, and still and quiet, the lake is surrounded by a ring of snow capped mountains whcih reach all teh way up to the sky -simply out of this world. It is about 10 degrees, and there was even a frost on the grass this morning. We went up Mount john which is just next door where there is an observatory and it was really cool up there, you coudl see laods of the lake which is an aqua blue colour, hope it comes ... read more

It's mountain time...

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Mackenzie District March 25th 2006

Soobee

Had intended to do a tour of the vineyards while in the South Island, but kept running out of time. We therefore decided to do our own tour in Nelson on St Patrick's Day by ordering a different New Zealand wine each time we went to the bar. Navigating the ladder of my top bunk proved interesting when returning to the hostel in the early hours! Fortunately the next day was pretty much a full day on the bus with no activities so we got to catch up on some sleep! On the way to Greymouth, we stopped at Cape Foulwind to see the Kekeno fur seals, passed through Buller Gorge and stopped at Punakaki for views of Pancake Rocks. Greymouth is just an overnight stop which is just as well as there's nothing there so ... read more

Brief history of New Zealand

The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year...more history

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