Blogs from Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 16

Drove old, battered hire car west from Picton, route studded with scenic bays to Abel Tasman national park, stopping briefly en route at Nelson for hike to centre of NZ hilltop and a tasty pizza. Walked along the coastal track, with sandy bays, wobbly cable bridges and dense green forest; swam and kayaked in the (chilly) turquoise sea; and cruised to Tonga island marine reserve to visit basking seals. Next headed southeast through mountain passes to Hanmer Springs, relaxing and swimming at luxurious spa resort while trying not to burn in the fierce sun. Continuing south reached small village at Lake Tekapo, eating at excellent Japanese restaurant and watching the sunset with Mts Cook & Tasman in the background. A quick climb to the Mt John observatory for a civilised cup of tea at the hilltop ... read more

Von Wanaka geht es heute in Richtung Queenstown. Auf unserem Weg halten wir wieder an verschiedenen Orten für Fotos. Ein besonderer Zwischenstopp heute ist der Bungeejump aus 43m Höhe. Hier ist der Geburtsort des heutigen Bungeejumpings. Abgekupfert wurde das Bungeejumping von einem eingeborenen Volk, wo die jungen Männer sich Lianen binden und dann eine Plattform hinunter springen müssen um ihre Zugehörigkeit beim Stamm zu beweisen. Von unserer Gruppe gibt es 2 Tandemsprünge. Beide schaffen es leider nicht bis ins Wasser. Als nächstes halten wir an einem kleinen Farmshop. Hier kann man sich Eis selbst zusammenstellen. Meine Variation besteht aus Kiwi mit Joghurt – lecker! Auch wird hier günstiges und sehr leckeres Obst verkauft und da wird natürlich zugegriffen bei Aprikosen, Pflaumen, Nektarinen… In Queenstown angekommen, geht es zum Check-In ins BASE Backpackers. Anschließend wird ... read more

After a day sitting on the coach yesterday I thought I should get some excercise, so today after a good breakfast I decided to take the gondola to the top of the mountain opposite where I am staying. At the top you can watch people hurling themselves off the bungy I might be a bit adventurous but not quite that mad, although I have to say it was fun watching. After a large brownie and a pot of Earl Grey thought I had better head down so decided to walk back!!! The lady in the information kiosk told me that you could indeed do this and told me where to pick up the trail. On my way down people were whizzing past on the zip wire, but as I had done all that before I just ... read more

Best country: New Zealand Best place: Queenstown Best experience: Hard to split whale watching in Kaikoura or helicopter trip to Grand Canyon Best journey: Amtrak train from San Francisco to Chicago Best hotel: Sky City Hotel, Auckland although the suite we had at Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas was stunning but an unfair comarison as it was an upgrade and we could not afford $1000 per night. Best meal: Too many good ones to choose an outright winner. Overall the quality and standard of food in New Zealand surpassed any other country visited.... read more

On 3/1 we said goodbye to Auckland and flew to Queenstown with Air Asia. The flight was 3 hours delayed and even then we missed the call for the flight but we made it in the end. John and Andrea had flown out there the previous day and had warned us about the cold weather but we were not expecting snow on the mountains and cold weather after the sun and beaches in Auckland only 1hr 45mins away! We caught the connectabus from the airport to downtown Queenstown and were surprised to find a pretty town set next to a huge, beautiful lake (Wakatipu Lake) that looked and felt like an alpine village with a definate 'apres ski' feel about it. Unfortunately we hadn't booked the 4star Rydges Hotel with John and Andrea and instead had ... read more