Advertisement
Published: September 10th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Well, it's been a while since we last blogged back in S. America. We now find ourselves in a new country, New Zealand and another continent, although we're not entirely sure what it's actually called; is it Oceania, Australasia or something else? (Maybe someone can help...) We have a room with a view, we own a car (our first ever as it happens), we have pets, we own snowboards, we know how to snowboard (give or take), we've parachuted off a hill, we've done lots of tramping (I'll explain) and we've even done some paid work! Yes, it's safe to say we've settled down in a "home away from home". Firstly, our new abode... Well we live in Queenstown, adventure capital of New Zealand (maybe even the world), in the South Island. We have a room in a big house in the suburb of Fernhill which we rent off an English couple who have made a home here and very much landed on their feet with multiple businesses, multiple houses, a jeep, a boat etc. etc. etc. Basically they're not doing too badly for a couple who are so laid-back they are horizontal. Check out
Our Home using this link.
The house is massive and we rent one of five rooms in the main house (there's also a separate section for the owners and a three bed flat below). Our housemates are all really sound - predominantly Brits but Japan and France are also represented. There are pets included in the package; a Dulux Dog called Cujo (who's not a psycho) and a matching cat named Minky, although we've taken to calling him Stinky instead, much to his displeasure - he's a moody little bugger!
The house is a 30 minute walk up a steep hill from the centre of Queenstown so we decided a car was needed to do the uphill work.. along came Lady Caipirinha (named after the Brazilian cocktail as her previous owners were Brazilian) - a red 4WD Honda Civic Shuttle with muscle! Visually, she has attitude but under the bonnet, she packs a little less punch but she can handle rough icy roads without the need for snow chains and she's big enough to fit 4 people including snowboarding gear - perfect.
When we're not enjoying everything Queenstown and its incredible surrounding landscape has to offer, we're either chilling in the huge living
room in front of the 50" TV complete with Sky and a PS2, soothing the muscles under the double-header shower, cooking up some concoction on the granite surfaces of the bells and whistles kitchen or enjoying the incredible views from our heated double bed... Need I go on? It's fair to say, life's pretty good right now. To make you 9 to 5-ers feel a little better, we are working as well. Well, they call it work... A day here, a day there - we spent three days doing a traffic survey near Wanaka which basically involved us sitting in the car, tunes blaring, counting the odd car passing by. In fact, it's so lax that this two-person job is easily managed by one whilst the other sleeps off a late night in the passenger seat. Still, the extra cash is useful as snowboarding and extreme sporting doesn't come cheap. The extravagances of Queenstown are plentiful and although the British Pound goes further, it doesn't go quite far enough! Between the work we also managed time to explore what Wanaka has to offer, something we'd originally planned on doing more fully as it was our initial plan to live there.
Unfortunately a lack of jobs and long(ish)-term accomodation scuppered that idea but the traffic work took us back so we were able to enjoy the delights of the local terrain and of course, Puzzling World, a mad fun-filled place brimming with trickery and mind exercise. We spent around 3 hours in there, 2 of which were spent trying to navigate the Great Maze outside, which we wondered at one stage, whether we'd ever find the exit. We probably walked for nearly 3 km and found every dead-end going, generally walking round in circles intermittantly dispersed by comments such as "I'm sure I recognise this...". Anyway, we did eventually escape and we got a few interesting and comic photos to vouch for us being there, which you can enjoy (or not).
Queenstown's surrounding landscape is a playground for adrenaline junkies. So far we've concentrated hardest on getting to grips with snowboarding on the four available snowfields in the local area; Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Cadrona and Treble Cone. Initially we had lessons from a snowboarding instructor buddy (for free!) which really helped with the technicalities of turning and stopping! After our first lesson we bought all the gear - perhaps
Our New Home
Hopefully the good people at Google don't mind me using their map here. Check out the link in the main text to see this in Google maps where you can zoom in and out. a bit of a gamble but we thought it was a good investment and cheaper than renting long-term. For the first week we were definitely a case of: all the gear but no idea. Now, I think we're both reasonably proficient and the learning curve is starting to really accelerate upwards after overcoming the initial bum bruising and wrist twisting. We have tell-tale bruises but apart from that we've avoided any major bumps (touch wood). Perhaps by the end of the season we will be able to ride like the locals in town - discussing snow conditions with knowledge and living for the "powder days". People in Queenstown have powder clauses in their work contracts which give them mornings off to enjoy these legendary days!
Beyond the snow, we're still waiting for the right time to bungy - watch this space - and other such tomfoolery. We're wimping out on sky dives for now - maybe in the North Island when we get to Lake Taupo. As a taster, we've paraglided off a large hill (2,000 feet) which we both agreed was an amazing experience (check out the video of Laura).
Like I mentioned earlier, we've done a
The Break of Dawn
From the plane flying from Auckland to Queenstown. bit of tramping and have much more planned ahead. No, we're not living in boxes, eating food out of bins and dressing like Benstead. We're trekking or walking or other variants, across the countryside. Along the way taking in the incredible beauty of the snow capped mountains, blue lakes, red beech forests and tussock covered hillsides. The area is also home to numerous Lord of the Rings filming locations and as the advertisig says "if you want to find orks, elves and hobbits watch the movies.. if you want to find Middle Earth, come to New Zealand". Queenstown and around is predominantly Rohan (from the second movie) and so every so often we reinact a scene at a location for photographic and hilarious, effect. Have a look at a few of the links below for the locations we were given and see some of the photos and see if you recognise the places. Both Laura and I enjoy our new house so much though, that we're unwilling to do multi-day treks involving nights in huts, until we've officially left the pad. For now, we do day walks (usually loops) of which there are plenty to keep the appetites whetted.
Queenstown - Now That's A Sunset
Beautiful colurs viewed from the Hippo Lodge hostel. Walter's Peak is in the centre and Cecil Peak's to the left. One final thing, travelblog is now hosting videos so we've added a few which are linked at the top - you'll see the little icons... enjoy.
Deer Park Heights - Rohan Closeburn - Amon Hen Paradise - Orthanc The Remarkables - Dimrill Dale Arrowtown - Ford of Bruinen
Advertisement
Tot: 0.07s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 7; qc: 26; dbt: 0.0308s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
The Taylors
non-member comment
Settled but daring in NZ
So good to see your new blog from NZ. Photos are fab and so are the video clips. What next? Paragliding, Snow boarding and the dreaded Bungy jumping - are you trying to scramble your brains Tom? Glad to see you are actually staying in the same house for more than a couple of days! Keep the blogs rolling!