Blogs from New Zealand, Oceania - page 2398

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Wellington December 14th 2005

Red carpet leading up to the Embassy Theatre

Hot off the press!! Who needs Leicester Square, London when you've got Courtenay Place, Wellington!! After all those other poncy premiers, Wellington's home-grown hero Peter Jackson finally brought his King Kong party back to its home for its REAL premier! We got a decent spot at the beginning of the red capret and saw everyone arrive that we wanted to and a whole load that we really didn't care about. We saw Dan Carter (All Blacks stand-off and Jo-Ann's hunk of the year) and stars from the film like Jamie Bell (previously of Billy Elliott fame), Colin Hanks (who I'm sure is really, really sick of being known as multi-Oscar winner Tom Hanks's son!), Andy Serkis (played Gollum in the Lord of the Rings and plays King Kong) Adrien Brody (previously mostly of The Pianist fame) ... read more

Director, Peter Jackson puts in an appearance

Skydiving!!!!!!

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Queenstown December 14th 2005

My skydiving location

Esther07

I’ve started a new page, because this morning’s adventure pretty much requires it’s own page. I went skydiving. I made the decision the night before and gave myself that evening to groan about how expensive it was. But now it was time to be excited and not think about the price. I was picked up outside my hostel at 8am and went on a 45-minute drive to the town of Glenarchy where I would be jumping. I was the only one there that morning, besides a girl from California who was riding up with me but not jumping. It was another clear day and the scenery was amazing (see the pictures). California girl, my tandem partner (no they don’t let you go alone), and I squished into a little plane, and the pilot flew us up ... read more

Yes, I'm still alive....

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Kerikeri December 13th 2005

Gldngirl

Just a little update today. It's official!!! The bed in the van is made and completed, with enough storage space under it to store a least a couple of bodies (if necessary!) I also went to my boss's house last night to sew the curtains for the van since I spent time this weekend drilling holes in the van to hang the curtain wire. I'll post pictures in a couple of days as I have to wash the curtains so everything that comes in contact with the curtains dosen't turn maroon. After completing the bed on Saturday, Gesche (a nice German girl and potential travelmate) and Michaela (the hostel manager on the weekend) went down to the Fairy Pools behind the hostel for a nice swim since it was about 30 out plus humidity. Not cold ... read more

Kayaked out!

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Fiordland National Park » Milford Sound December 13th 2005

Can you see me?

We are currently exhausted as we have spent the whole day kayaking in Milford Sound. It was great fun and the sound (although technically it is a fiord) is beautiful. We were really lucky with the weather too and despite it being one of the wettest places in NZ (it gets 6m of rain a year) it did not rain once. We spent about 5 hours paddling about which was lovely. We followed the edge of the peaks for most of it and we were able to see seals. There are lots of boats in the sound and they created quite big wakes which were fun to kayak over. Milford Sound is lovely although it is a major tourist attraction. We arrived late afternoon yesterday so we avoided the crowds and were able to go for ... read more

queen charlotte drive

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Marlborough » Queen Charlotte Sounds December 13th 2005

nelson beach

caitlin

chambermaiding is as fun as cleaning could be. we joke and talk all while scrubbing bathrooms and making beds. heh. the women i work with called me 'cheeky' the other day. they explained that it means that i'm a smartass....or something. one of them offered to take me to the local marae which is where the maori people of the area congregate for tribal meetings. think 'whale rider.' it's a real honor to be welcomed onto a marae as a guest so i'm excited. driving the van is fun too. i've made friends with the guys who park next to me: graham and 'grumpy steve' (who isn't grumpy at all....just older). they tell me silly jokes about kiwis and stories about the people who have stayed in their backpackers over the years. i get to laugh ... read more

Our new home

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch December 13th 2005

5 Angus Street

Bryan and Mindy

After staying in Stonehurst Backpackers Hostel for nearly a week, we were anxious to move into our new cottage. For the last time, we jammed and jumped on our suitcases until they squeezed shut. A short shuttle ride later, we were at 5 Angus Street, Sydenham, Christchurch. Although Sydenham is an older section of the city, it appeared cozy and close to the Princess Margaret Hospital, where Mindy was to start working. One would think that upon moving into an unfurnished flat we would first search for furniture; however, we were happier looking for camping gear. ... read more

Queenstown ( part 2 )

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Queenstown December 13th 2005

Not a bungy jump

Sara Nick

So when I went travelling my mum said I should go and do whatever I want... except a bungy jump. Why this was singled out I don't know. Fortunately the idea didn't appeal to me that much anyway. However, it turns out that it's against New Zealand law to visit Queenstown without jumping off something really high, so we opted for the world's largest swing. Basically you're on a bit of rope that's tied to a cable across a big canyon. You leap off a cliff, freefall the first 60m straight down until the rope becomes taut and brings you swinging across the bottom of the canyon a hundred metres below just nine metres above the river. It's fairly terrifying ( for me anyway ). Sara, who implicitly trusts anyone with a staff T-shirt, went for ... read more

The jump platform from across the canyon

hanmer springs

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Hanmer Springs December 13th 2005

Hanmer time

mel andy

12.12.05 Today after breakfast we played some more table tennis because it is raining again as it has been for the last few days, and then drove into town and went on the net. We had another e-mail from the person interested in our van and it's looking promising. In the afternoon we went to the Hanmer Springs Thermal Reserve. These are pools with natural hot water with various minerals and temperatures but set in an unnatural, touristy scene. They were all outside in the rain, but it was still good. They had pools ranging from 30 degrees to 41. The water actually comes out of the ground at 54 degrees before it's cooled down and filtered through earth. It cost $10pp for as long as you wanted, we had a couple of hours. They had ... read more

Doubtful Sound to Te Anau

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island December 13th 2005

Leftwich

The anchor was being raised at 6:30 am and we were getting off the boat by 10:00 am so we were up early. The breakfast buffet was adequate but nothing special. The weather was clear and we had some beautiful scenery as we went through Hall Arm of Doubtful Sound on our way back. The water was very calm and you could see perfect reflections of the mountains, trees, and ferns in the water. We reversed our route and arrived in Te Anau about 12:30 pm. We checked into our room and collected our bags before walking into town to eat lunch and buy some groceries so we could have dinner in our room. It was very hot, probably around 28C (or 82F), but the sun can make it quite hot here. Back at our room ... read more

Back to the beginning...

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland December 13th 2005

Courtney Jo

Well, here I am, back in Auckland where this whole adventure began 27 days ago. I took the overnight bus last night from Wellington...I was thinking this was a brillant idea cuz' I would save the money on a bed...but it was horrible. Eleven hours on a bus and barely any sleep. Oh, well...note for next time. My last couple of days have been great. On Monday morning, I casually woke up after having too many beers in the hostel bar with a Irishman that I could barely understand and the bar staff. Good times...learned a lot about Rugby and Cricket - it's only good to watch the very end - and some other sport played only in Ireland that happens in September. I will have to try and watch it next year. Anyhow, I wondered ... 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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