Blogs from Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 141

Queenstown was our next stop. This is the adrenalin sports capital of probably the world and is particularly famous for bungee jumping. It also happens to be in a very pretty spot just off a huge lake. We first took the gondola (cable car) up the mountain and went on the luge at the top. We went around five times and Jason reckoned he won every time. Its quite a fast track and we even witnessed a poor Japanese girl come flying off her kart after not slowing down at a big drop. ( Jason didn't think this was funny-not!). The next day we went on a white water rafting trip. We picked the river suitable for beginner's which is the Kawaru river and parts of it were used in the Lord of The Rings (bit ... read more

We hit the westcoast next and headed north to some of the South Island's main tourist attractions, the Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers. Both were stunning and induced lots of talk using words not heard (and never expected to be heard) since GCSE Geography such as "terminal and lateral morraine"!! We were able to get up close and personal to the glacier faces and watch enormous chunks of ice fall into the rivers below which landed with a big echoing boom! After the glaciers, and plenty more geography talk, we continued our drive further up the westcoast. The drive was beautiful and again we found ourselves stopping to take photos far too ofter. We stayed overnight at a couple of campsites next to inland lakes and visited the stunning Hokitika Gorge. Every morning we had to ... read more

At some stage, I was wondering whether to add this trip here because I worried that I could recall some unhappy memories during the trip. Now, I decide that I should not omit this. For it would not be wise for one to forget the past. Nevertheless, the scenery in New Zealand is beautiful and it seems it will be a pity if I am not to post and share the pictures from my trip. My route in NZ was: flying into Auckland, then got a cross-country train to Wellington. From Wellington, I took a ferry to Picton on South Island, where I continued my journey to Christchurch. I then travelled by bus to Queenstown, and from there I had a tour to Mildford Sound before ending my trip. I would say my trip really ... read more

Tja, ik weet het niet hoor… Kan het maar moeilijk zeggen… Nog maar eens kijken op de kalender… Nee, ik heb me niet vergist! Kon het bijna niet geloven, en met mij zowat heel Nieuw Zeeland. Deze zomer is niet te vergelijken met de zomers van de afgelopen paar jaar. Zou je denken dat het heel warm is… nou, niet bepaald. Het is “koud” en regenachtig. Gelukkig was het ontvluchten van het Nederlandse weer nooit mijn doelstelling :-) Afijn, de regen maakte het wandelen van de Southern Circuit op Steward Island ehh… interessant. 4 Dagen lang in de modder stampen, voeten die er na elke dag ouder uitzagen, schoenen die nat waren en bleven EN zwaar aanvoelden. Die 1ste dag nog proberen de plassen te ontwijken door fier als een edelhert op en neer te huppelen, ... read more

Today we had a bit of a lay-in. Well I say lay-in, but we were up at 7am, as today was ‘optional activities’ day. We’d all booked these up with the guys on the Sunday drive from Christchurch to Lake Ohau. I had chosen the two things I wanted to do, even before I’d even come out to New Zealand, the ‘Lord of the Rings 4x4 tour’ and the 12,000 ft Tandem Skydive. I was really excited about today, though when I looked outside, it was very overcast. There were eight of us doing the Lord of the Rings tour this morning, and a few others were doing theirs this afternoon, as they were either bungying or Shotover jetboating this morning. The group this morning were, from my tour, Lisa (a schoolteacher in Sydney), Tania, Jo ... read more