After the big Doubtful Sound trip, it seemed like I should get away and stroll in the hills for a bit, so here I am in Wanaka. Scenic? I should coco. It's pretty gorgeous around here, just by the Mt. Aspiring national park, with the lovely Lake Wanaka surrounded by mountains. Many people have told me how much they like Wanaka and I can see why. It's a fantastic place to just chill. I would dearly love to come back here when the snow comes in and the ski/boarding season kicks off . . .
Yesterday, for some unknown reason, it seemed like it would be a good idea to walk up to the peak of Mt. Roy, which is not far from my campsite. The walk is a vertical climb of 1300m (which is 30% higher than Ben Nevis), but the actual track just goes on and on! My legs ache this morning, so it's a day of relaxing coming up. I may have to go to the infamous Cinema Paradiso in town. Apparently it's something of an experience, since there are no seats as such, just bits of furniture and a Morris Minor (which you can sit in to watch the film). You can also order meals and beer and just take it into the cinema with you. Should be a pleasant evening!
I hope everyone is in tip top form, so take good care and I hope you like the new photos.
January 30, 2005
January 27, 2005
The best 100 quid I ever spent . . .
What on earth do I tell you about my trip to Doubtless Sound? It was spectacular, fantastic, superb, and really quite good!
The trip was with "Chris and Diane" and was on a boat with only 6 berths and as it turned out there were only 5 of us. It started with a trip across Lake Manapouri, our skipper (Chris) picking us up on the other side of the lake. We were driven over a fabulous road, which at 12 miles long worked out at 100 NZ dollars per inch to build! It's not even tarmac, it's only gravel.
Chris loaded us up onto his boat (which is lovely) and then set out onto the Sound. Just so you know, Doubtless Sound is ten times larger than Milford Sound and gets to 430m deep. It's huge, remote and just as nature intended. The area is "blessed" with up to 7 metres of rain a year, making it real rainforest area. Despite this, it was all clear blue skies and sunshine when we arrived and stayed like that all day.
Chris proceeded to take us around the whole of the Sound, including going out to the Tasman Sea, cooked us fabulous food (including crayfish and venison) and took us to top fishing spots. I shocked and slightly unnerved myself by catching a shark which was probably about 5 foot long! We caught other stuff too and had fresh sushi, straight from the Sound.
At 6:30 in the morning, just as we were setting off after mooring up for the night, we saw dolphins and soon had four or five large dolphins swimming along with us, jumping about and racing around the front of the boat. The other people on the trip were two nice german ladies and a couple from . . . Bristol! The Briz couple, Simon and Alex(andra) were really cool and helped the time fly by. All in all, we were at Doubtful Sound for about 23 hours, which passed by more quickly than I ever could have imagined.
I am now skipping Milford Sound for the moment, since I am reliably informed I will most probably be dissapointed if I go straight from Doubtful Sound. Should anyone be thinking of coming to NZ, I simply cannot recommend this trip enough. It was an experience I will treasure forever.
The trip was with "Chris and Diane" and was on a boat with only 6 berths and as it turned out there were only 5 of us. It started with a trip across Lake Manapouri, our skipper (Chris) picking us up on the other side of the lake. We were driven over a fabulous road, which at 12 miles long worked out at 100 NZ dollars per inch to build! It's not even tarmac, it's only gravel.
Chris loaded us up onto his boat (which is lovely) and then set out onto the Sound. Just so you know, Doubtless Sound is ten times larger than Milford Sound and gets to 430m deep. It's huge, remote and just as nature intended. The area is "blessed" with up to 7 metres of rain a year, making it real rainforest area. Despite this, it was all clear blue skies and sunshine when we arrived and stayed like that all day.
Chris proceeded to take us around the whole of the Sound, including going out to the Tasman Sea, cooked us fabulous food (including crayfish and venison) and took us to top fishing spots. I shocked and slightly unnerved myself by catching a shark which was probably about 5 foot long! We caught other stuff too and had fresh sushi, straight from the Sound.
At 6:30 in the morning, just as we were setting off after mooring up for the night, we saw dolphins and soon had four or five large dolphins swimming along with us, jumping about and racing around the front of the boat. The other people on the trip were two nice german ladies and a couple from . . . Bristol! The Briz couple, Simon and Alex(andra) were really cool and helped the time fly by. All in all, we were at Doubtful Sound for about 23 hours, which passed by more quickly than I ever could have imagined.
I am now skipping Milford Sound for the moment, since I am reliably informed I will most probably be dissapointed if I go straight from Doubtful Sound. Should anyone be thinking of coming to NZ, I simply cannot recommend this trip enough. It was an experience I will treasure forever.
January 25, 2005
In Doubt
Well, actually I'm camped at Lake Manapouri at the moment, but tomorrow I am off to Doubtful Sound. Although Milford Sound is the Fiord which is most famous, the people I have met and the locals tell me Doubtful Sound is better, it's just that Milford is more accessible. And so my trip will take me accross Lake Manapouri by boat and then over the most expensive stretch of road in NZ (only accessed by boat and only goes to Doubtful Sound!).Then I will spend the remainder of the day and the night on board a small boat cruising around Doubtful Sound, fishing, drinking beer etc, before heading back on the following day. Should be great, especially since the sky is blue, the temperature is gorgeous and the forecast is for more of the same.
Just so you know, yes I saw penguins, seals, sealions etc and the Catlins coast really is very quiet. Hardly anyone around, petrol stations which only open from 9am to 1pm and don't open at all on Sundays and empty roads. I also went to the southern most point on the South Island, so I can tick that off the list! Anyway, got to go and sit in the sun. Be good one and all . . .
Just so you know, yes I saw penguins, seals, sealions etc and the Catlins coast really is very quiet. Hardly anyone around, petrol stations which only open from 9am to 1pm and don't open at all on Sundays and empty roads. I also went to the southern most point on the South Island, so I can tick that off the list! Anyway, got to go and sit in the sun. Be good one and all . . .
January 20, 2005
Scotland?
Crikey, I now know what I need to do to generate lots of comments. It seems that jumping off a bridge with an elastic band tied to your ankles does the trick.
It's great to hear from my mum as well as Chas and Carol. I hope you're all very well (and get well soon to the George St collective). By the way, there's skiing down here as well you know - just not much of it at the moment.
I would also like to thank Anna for the interesting dry stone walling gift shop information, but I will obviously be opening my own virtual walling experience with real cheese improvements to be added in a further extension to the initial "pleasure dome" as time and funds allow, a gift extravaganza is built in and will soon be available in cake form.
Anyway, I am now in Dunedin, which has a very scottish feel to it. The rest of NZ swears that the people here have a scottish element to their accents, but I haven't heard any of it yet. To add to the scottish feel, it has stone buildings (unusual in nz) as well as the steepest street in the world - check out the Guinnes book of records if you are doubtful. I arrived here yesterday via the plains of Rohan - also known as central Otago. A beautiful area with bizarre landscapes and huge views towards the southern alps.
Today I will be off to explore Dunedin before heading off around the Catlins coast to Invercargil. The Catlins coast is supposed to be one of the least visited areas of NZ with wild beaches, penguins (not the chocolate ones), dolphins, sealions, whales and many other creatures not generally seen in the north sea. Whether I will get to see any, let alone photograph any remains to be seen. From there I may head to the Fiordlands - Milford Sound and all that business.
Since I'm heading to the back country, I doubt I'll get email access again until at least Invercargil, which will be a few days. In the meantime, have fun doing whatever it is that you are up to!
It's great to hear from my mum as well as Chas and Carol. I hope you're all very well (and get well soon to the George St collective). By the way, there's skiing down here as well you know - just not much of it at the moment.
I would also like to thank Anna for the interesting dry stone walling gift shop information, but I will obviously be opening my own virtual walling experience with real cheese improvements to be added in a further extension to the initial "pleasure dome" as time and funds allow, a gift extravaganza is built in and will soon be available in cake form.
Anyway, I am now in Dunedin, which has a very scottish feel to it. The rest of NZ swears that the people here have a scottish element to their accents, but I haven't heard any of it yet. To add to the scottish feel, it has stone buildings (unusual in nz) as well as the steepest street in the world - check out the Guinnes book of records if you are doubtful. I arrived here yesterday via the plains of Rohan - also known as central Otago. A beautiful area with bizarre landscapes and huge views towards the southern alps.
Today I will be off to explore Dunedin before heading off around the Catlins coast to Invercargil. The Catlins coast is supposed to be one of the least visited areas of NZ with wild beaches, penguins (not the chocolate ones), dolphins, sealions, whales and many other creatures not generally seen in the north sea. Whether I will get to see any, let alone photograph any remains to be seen. From there I may head to the Fiordlands - Milford Sound and all that business.
Since I'm heading to the back country, I doubt I'll get email access again until at least Invercargil, which will be a few days. In the meantime, have fun doing whatever it is that you are up to!
January 18, 2005
Bouncy bouncy
If you want to see grace and style in action, go to www.ajhackett.com.
From the home page, click on "Daily Photos".
On the next page choose the Kawarau Bridge bungy site.
In the media search box type in the following: AJHK501171804645
Nice eh?
You can also search for another photo with the same identifier, except replace the final digit with a 6.
Hope you enjoy them! Don't buy any though, 'cos I've already got them . . .
Sarah and Sally left this morning (nursing classic NZ hangovers) and I will be moving on from Queenstown tomorrow, not sure where to yet. I'll be back here to do the big day trip sometime in Feb, when it's all quiet.
By the way, if anyone wants a job, there is an opening with "safari of the rings" driving a Land Rover round the local LOTR filming sites giving guided tours. Tempting! Take care my lovelies.
From the home page, click on "Daily Photos".
On the next page choose the Kawarau Bridge bungy site.
In the media search box type in the following: AJHK501171804645
Nice eh?
You can also search for another photo with the same identifier, except replace the final digit with a 6.
Hope you enjoy them! Don't buy any though, 'cos I've already got them . . .
Sarah and Sally left this morning (nursing classic NZ hangovers) and I will be moving on from Queenstown tomorrow, not sure where to yet. I'll be back here to do the big day trip sometime in Feb, when it's all quiet.
By the way, if anyone wants a job, there is an opening with "safari of the rings" driving a Land Rover round the local LOTR filming sites giving guided tours. Tempting! Take care my lovelies.
January 16, 2005
The extreme capital of the world
There is no shortage of daft things to do in Queenstown and it doesn't take long to find out just how many ridiculous things are available. I have now decided which ones I should participate in - more in a couple of minutes.
Sarah Loo and Sally arrived in town yesterday from Wanaka and we continued where I had left off on saturday, which was watching rugby and quaffing a few beers. Over this weekend there was a national seven a side rugby competition in town. Being a charity event, it was free to go and watch, which suited me just fine! The standard of the rugby was high and I even recognised a few names out on the pitch. A great way to pass a couple of days, especially with the added entertainment of somewhat intoxicated crowd members creating extra spectacles. The best ones were the british guy who was trying to get a mexican wave going and the kiwi who gave impromptu "dance" leadership for a rendition of YMCA before the finals.
This morning Sarah and Sally are off on the Shotover Jet Boat ride - high speed stupidity through the local gorges in the river rapids. Then this afternoon I will be doing the one and only original AJ Hackett bungy jump from a very scenic bridge. That is to be my first daft thing in Queenstown.
There is also a trip I am planning to do, but may come back after the main holday season is over. The trip will be my big lavish expense, which all happens in one day. I will ride out on the Shotover jet boat to Skippers Canyon, where I then get transported to the top before a 1 hour single track mountain bike descent back into the canyon. Once I am back at the bottom, I will get picked up by helicopter and flown out over the mountains! Pretty cool trip huh?! I think I'll get the bungy out of the way before I worry about exactly when to do the lavish one.
So what have you all been up to? What is happening out there in the big wide world? Tell me everything, all at once . . .
Sarah Loo and Sally arrived in town yesterday from Wanaka and we continued where I had left off on saturday, which was watching rugby and quaffing a few beers. Over this weekend there was a national seven a side rugby competition in town. Being a charity event, it was free to go and watch, which suited me just fine! The standard of the rugby was high and I even recognised a few names out on the pitch. A great way to pass a couple of days, especially with the added entertainment of somewhat intoxicated crowd members creating extra spectacles. The best ones were the british guy who was trying to get a mexican wave going and the kiwi who gave impromptu "dance" leadership for a rendition of YMCA before the finals.
This morning Sarah and Sally are off on the Shotover Jet Boat ride - high speed stupidity through the local gorges in the river rapids. Then this afternoon I will be doing the one and only original AJ Hackett bungy jump from a very scenic bridge. That is to be my first daft thing in Queenstown.
There is also a trip I am planning to do, but may come back after the main holday season is over. The trip will be my big lavish expense, which all happens in one day. I will ride out on the Shotover jet boat to Skippers Canyon, where I then get transported to the top before a 1 hour single track mountain bike descent back into the canyon. Once I am back at the bottom, I will get picked up by helicopter and flown out over the mountains! Pretty cool trip huh?! I think I'll get the bungy out of the way before I worry about exactly when to do the lavish one.
So what have you all been up to? What is happening out there in the big wide world? Tell me everything, all at once . . .
January 14, 2005
Big country
As promised, here I am in Queenstown. What can I tell you about the south island after only a couple of days here? Well, it's certainly beautiful, it's huge scenery, so far it's warm and it's more varied than I was expecting.
The journey over from the north island is only about 2 1/2 hours, and the last hour is spent slowly cruising through tree covered hills in bright blue water - this is in quite a large car ferry remember! Apparently whales and dolphins (whales and dolphins, yeah) are quite often seen in the sounds, but they must have been on holiday when I was coming through. From leaving the ferry, you are almost immediately in the Marlborough wine region, which is dry, hot and sunny. The rolling hills are covered in straw coloured grass, wafting gently in the hot breeze. It was certainly the hottest I have been since arriving in NZ and so there was not much stopping done, the cooling breeze from whipping along on the bike was far too pleasant! The petrol pump man (yes they still have them here) at a garage I stooped at was obviously bored, because he told me that he had just measured the tarmac temperature at 51 deg C - that's mighty warm.
Gradually the land becomes greener until the flat agricultural land around Christchurch surrounds you. I met a fellow motorcyclist on the ferry who has offered me a place to stay in Christchurch, plus a trip to his local boozer and a blast with the local biking club. Friendly people over here you know.
My first night was spent at Lake Tekapo, which has obscenely blue water. I mean the water is actually blue - it's full of minerals which give it the colour. The lake is also surrounded by hills and mountains, with no sign of civilisation to be seen. It's a gorgeous spot. It was windy getting there though and I took quite a battering up the pass on the way . . . .
The scenery just gets more and more spectacular to the point where I will not even attempt to describe it, I'm going to try to get some piccies posted up instead. If there are none, at least you'll know I tried.
Ok, I've got to go and investigate the bungy options, catch you all later.
The journey over from the north island is only about 2 1/2 hours, and the last hour is spent slowly cruising through tree covered hills in bright blue water - this is in quite a large car ferry remember! Apparently whales and dolphins (whales and dolphins, yeah) are quite often seen in the sounds, but they must have been on holiday when I was coming through. From leaving the ferry, you are almost immediately in the Marlborough wine region, which is dry, hot and sunny. The rolling hills are covered in straw coloured grass, wafting gently in the hot breeze. It was certainly the hottest I have been since arriving in NZ and so there was not much stopping done, the cooling breeze from whipping along on the bike was far too pleasant! The petrol pump man (yes they still have them here) at a garage I stooped at was obviously bored, because he told me that he had just measured the tarmac temperature at 51 deg C - that's mighty warm.
Gradually the land becomes greener until the flat agricultural land around Christchurch surrounds you. I met a fellow motorcyclist on the ferry who has offered me a place to stay in Christchurch, plus a trip to his local boozer and a blast with the local biking club. Friendly people over here you know.
My first night was spent at Lake Tekapo, which has obscenely blue water. I mean the water is actually blue - it's full of minerals which give it the colour. The lake is also surrounded by hills and mountains, with no sign of civilisation to be seen. It's a gorgeous spot. It was windy getting there though and I took quite a battering up the pass on the way . . . .
The scenery just gets more and more spectacular to the point where I will not even attempt to describe it, I'm going to try to get some piccies posted up instead. If there are none, at least you'll know I tried.
Ok, I've got to go and investigate the bungy options, catch you all later.
January 11, 2005
Wellington(s)
New Zealand's capital, Wellington. What a nice town, a relaxed and cool kind of place. I've been here for a couple of days and tomorrow I hop on the 8am fast ferry to the south island - the world of big scenery and extreme foolishness.
I've enjoyed my few days here, despite the fact that sleeping in a tent is not as comfortable as sleeping in beds, as I was doing for most of the time while hanging out with Brizzle chums. Wellington is home to Peter Jackson and was the base for most of the Lord of the Rings filming. Since lots of it was carried out very close by, it's easy to wander into areas used as film sets; in fact the infamous place where the hobbits first hid from a black rider is about five minutes walk from where I am camping and five minutes in the other direction is the cinema where the world premiere of the last film (Return of the king) was held. At the moment King Kong is bening filmed here, but I haven't stumbled into anyone famous or seen a single huge gorilla yet.
There is lots here for the non Lord of the Rings fans as well. The Te Papa museum, which is devoted to the history of New Zealand is really superb and would easily take up half a day of anyone's time. I'm also off this moring to visit the New Zealand parliament and may relax on the beach this afternoon!
The next couple of days will mainly be spent travelling down the south island. It seems to be best to start at the bottom end of the island - while the weather there is relatively warm. Also if I'm to meet up with Sally and Sarah Loo before they leave, Queenstown is not far from the bottom of the island.
I hope to be able to get a few more photos up in the next week or so, so you will not have to be content with merely my usual mumbled rubbish.
So, of to parliament I go. Have fun, the next installment will be from the south. Take care one and all.
I've enjoyed my few days here, despite the fact that sleeping in a tent is not as comfortable as sleeping in beds, as I was doing for most of the time while hanging out with Brizzle chums. Wellington is home to Peter Jackson and was the base for most of the Lord of the Rings filming. Since lots of it was carried out very close by, it's easy to wander into areas used as film sets; in fact the infamous place where the hobbits first hid from a black rider is about five minutes walk from where I am camping and five minutes in the other direction is the cinema where the world premiere of the last film (Return of the king) was held. At the moment King Kong is bening filmed here, but I haven't stumbled into anyone famous or seen a single huge gorilla yet.
There is lots here for the non Lord of the Rings fans as well. The Te Papa museum, which is devoted to the history of New Zealand is really superb and would easily take up half a day of anyone's time. I'm also off this moring to visit the New Zealand parliament and may relax on the beach this afternoon!
The next couple of days will mainly be spent travelling down the south island. It seems to be best to start at the bottom end of the island - while the weather there is relatively warm. Also if I'm to meet up with Sally and Sarah Loo before they leave, Queenstown is not far from the bottom of the island.
I hope to be able to get a few more photos up in the next week or so, so you will not have to be content with merely my usual mumbled rubbish.
So, of to parliament I go. Have fun, the next installment will be from the south. Take care one and all.
January 07, 2005
Gnuing
Sorry it's been so long since my last waffle - before christmas I know. So what have I been up to? Well, friends from Brizzle arrived in Auckland over the festive season. First of all Sally and Madelaine arrived on Christmas eve, just in time for eating and drinking too much on the day itself. Then Sarah Loo (not her real name) arrived the day after boxing day, just in time to set off on a New Years camping trip.
We headed from Auckland to the lovely Hahei for the camping trip, which was temporarily disturbed by a day of pouring rain on the day before New Years eve. While we were in Hahei, we met up with Tris (who lives in Geneva) and Julie (who ives in Briz). It was really good to see them again and seemed somewhat surreal to be meeting up with them on a campsite on the other side of the world, despite the fact that it was all planed. Fortunately, the sun was back out in time for new year celebrations and we generally ambled about, crashed out on the beach, ate ice creams and relaxed before a restaurant dinner on new years eve and a stroll on the beach. A bit different from the normal freezing cold and rain at home!
From Hahei we headed down to Rotorua for a short stop over, before continuing down to the Tongariro National Park, which was the base for the next daft idea! We spent the following three days travelling down the Whanganui River in caadian canoes. For someone who has never been in a canoe before (me), there was a certain amount of apprehension involved. The main reason for the apprehension is that once you set off on this trip, there are no roads out until you reach the end. You are travelling through a stretch of the river where the only access is by boat and you really are in the middle of nowhere. Also, for much of the time, the river is running through a deep gorge, so there are no handy "beaches" on which to stop.
As it turned out, Sarah Loo and Sally were the only team to come out of their canoe, which happened towards the end of the first day. We were all very lucky in that a Jet boat (the only one we saw that day) happened to come up the river just a couple of minutes after the incident. The jet boat along with Andy and Sarah managed to sort them out, while yours truely was busy trying to just keep a canoe going in roughly the right direction . . The whole trip was an experience well worth the time and effort. The scenery was spectacular and the area had a wonderful sense of isolation.
We are now in Napier, soaking up the sun. Sally and Sarah Loo headed off to the south island just after the canoe trip, Tris and Julie headed off before the canoe trip, Andy and Sarah have just left to head back to Auckland, so now it is just Madelaine and myself. We are going to head back to the Tongariro in the hope that the weather will be good enough for the Tongariro crossing walk to be open. Then I will be heading south and Madelaine will be heading north. Either way, I'll be back to just me, the bike and my rucksack in a couple of days . . . .
Well, that's all for now. I hope you all had a fabulous time over christmas and new year. I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to the whole family on christmas day, but I was thinking of you all. Take care everyone and I'll be back in touch from Wellington before long.
We headed from Auckland to the lovely Hahei for the camping trip, which was temporarily disturbed by a day of pouring rain on the day before New Years eve. While we were in Hahei, we met up with Tris (who lives in Geneva) and Julie (who ives in Briz). It was really good to see them again and seemed somewhat surreal to be meeting up with them on a campsite on the other side of the world, despite the fact that it was all planed. Fortunately, the sun was back out in time for new year celebrations and we generally ambled about, crashed out on the beach, ate ice creams and relaxed before a restaurant dinner on new years eve and a stroll on the beach. A bit different from the normal freezing cold and rain at home!
From Hahei we headed down to Rotorua for a short stop over, before continuing down to the Tongariro National Park, which was the base for the next daft idea! We spent the following three days travelling down the Whanganui River in caadian canoes. For someone who has never been in a canoe before (me), there was a certain amount of apprehension involved. The main reason for the apprehension is that once you set off on this trip, there are no roads out until you reach the end. You are travelling through a stretch of the river where the only access is by boat and you really are in the middle of nowhere. Also, for much of the time, the river is running through a deep gorge, so there are no handy "beaches" on which to stop.
As it turned out, Sarah Loo and Sally were the only team to come out of their canoe, which happened towards the end of the first day. We were all very lucky in that a Jet boat (the only one we saw that day) happened to come up the river just a couple of minutes after the incident. The jet boat along with Andy and Sarah managed to sort them out, while yours truely was busy trying to just keep a canoe going in roughly the right direction . . The whole trip was an experience well worth the time and effort. The scenery was spectacular and the area had a wonderful sense of isolation.
We are now in Napier, soaking up the sun. Sally and Sarah Loo headed off to the south island just after the canoe trip, Tris and Julie headed off before the canoe trip, Andy and Sarah have just left to head back to Auckland, so now it is just Madelaine and myself. We are going to head back to the Tongariro in the hope that the weather will be good enough for the Tongariro crossing walk to be open. Then I will be heading south and Madelaine will be heading north. Either way, I'll be back to just me, the bike and my rucksack in a couple of days . . . .
Well, that's all for now. I hope you all had a fabulous time over christmas and new year. I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to the whole family on christmas day, but I was thinking of you all. Take care everyone and I'll be back in touch from Wellington before long.
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