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Published: August 3rd 2009
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Queenstown
Just amazing the combination of the lake and mountains. Can you imagine seeing it in real? My stay at Dunedin was around three days. One of the days I went to the Otago Peninsula. I took a local bus and started walking from the point I got out. There I found a walking track going through the hills and from many points I could watch the sea banging on the cliffs. It was so beautiful to see. After walking for around three hours and getting back to the main road I saw a sign for the turn to the Larnach castle. It is the only castle in New Zealand and was build 150 years ago by a wealthy banker from Australia. He came to New Zealand when the gold rush started. Later on I learned more about the history of the gold rush in the Settlers Museum of Dunedin. I was surprised by the beauty of the castle on the outside as well as on the inside. All kinds of wooden carvings and special features. You can definitely see that it must have cost a fortune to build. After visiting the castle I decided to walk back all the way to town. I think that took me around three hours again but a worthwhile walk. Another day
Walking track
All the colors of green. in Dunedin it was so cold outside with the strong wind that I went to the cinema twice. It was just a day that it is better to stay inside. Dunedin has three cinemas all around the central square and with fierce competition. So the prices to see a movie are low and there were a lot of movies playing because of the film festival that just started. Of course I went to the Art Gallery of Dunedin. The combination of all the interesting things that are displayed and the free entrance always makes me visit them. In Australia as well as in New Zealand now. I especially liked the photo exhibition of an Iranian photographer. It was about Iranian life. So special when you can make photo’s like that with such beauty. After Dunedin I went to Queenstown. It is pure magic when you see the mountains and the big lake in front of them. All the colors, so amazing. Changing every second reflecting on the white tops of the mountain and in the water of the lake. And in combination with the fierce clouds that run with an amazing speed through the sky. In Queenstown I did a
walking track through the mountain and stayed for one day to go the next day to Wanaka. It was around a two hours drive by bus and again I enjoyed the scenery and nature. The same day I walked the millennium walking track and was surprised by the views over lake Wanaka and the snowy mountains. That was yesterday and today I arrived in Frans Joseph. It was a five hour drive by mini bus and luckily I was sitting in the front seat next to the driver. If you would ask me to do that trip again I would definitely say yes again. The magic of the landscape. If you remember the Lord of the rings movies: picture yourself driving through that landscape. This afternoon I walked to the Frans Joseph glacier. I think I have never seen so many colors of green on the walking track. And when I stopped and watched the mountains it was just like if they were approaching me while I was standing still. And waiting for Frodo to come running out one of the bushes with his ring. By the time I got to the glacier it began to rain. But I forgot all about that when I saw the glacier and the surroundings. It took my breath away.
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