Posts with tag 'New Zealand'

Cold and Cheery

Me and Matt have arrived in New Zealand!!

After a good last night in Sydney which entailed drinking on the balcony in Bondi and listening to music, we headed off to the airport for our flight to Christchurch. Walking out of the airport it felt for a moment that we were back in Dublin. It was wet, overcast and cold. Not too bad though. It was a change from Sydney and after 7+ months there, any change was a welcome one.

We booked into the hostel and I tried to sleep off the night before. A few quick pictures in Christchurch, and a little walk around brought us to the first proper pub I've been in since leaving home, called the Bard. They had a SUnday lunch which was Roast Lamb, Roast spuds and roast and boiled veg. They even threw in a yorkshire pudding, which we gladly munched beside the fireplace. That night we went into the hostel bar for a quiet few as we couldn't find a tv with the Westmeath match on. Devastated the next morning when I heard the score. Though we had a chance.

Day 2 was the start of the camper van. We picked it up and me not being able to fit behind the wheel of the cool Jim Morrisson one, we had to take the only other one. Its a little bit girly but still cool nonetheless.

When we finally got out of Christchurch (I got good at U-turns at hunter valley), we headed through Arthurs pass. For the 3 hours or so we were on that road we were stunned by what we saw. Amazing scenery, snow capped mountains, streams and lakes. I have to admit it was quiet hard to concentrate on the road ahead. With all those distractions

When we got to Hokitika we were going to stop there for the night and then head to Franz Josef. We had time so drove the extra 2 hours or so. After food we pulled up in a picnic area outside the town for the night. It was cold at times in the van sleeping but not too bad. When we woke we were at a lake with another stunning view. Everywhere here is really relaxed and we are loving it so far. Sitting back and enjoying the ride. All 3 of us, Me, Matt and the van :)

Today its glacier hiking and filing tax returns. We are having fun and being productive. Efficiency!

Until next time,

Brian

This is when we first saw the mountains as we left Christchurch

I have more, some even with me in them. My camera just died so and with our lack of electricity I'm not using my last battery to upload photos :)

Glacier Hiking

The posts are coming thick and fast now but its because I'm dossing on the net while Matt is sorting tax out. When he has that done, I'll just get him to show me :)

Yesterday was glacier hiking! We took the half day option which was probably enough time. The Franz Josef Glacier is massive. When we were a 40 min walk from it, it looked only a 10 min walk away. Was huge. Its an unusual glacier because it pushes down into a valley that has forests with trees and plants that you would associate with a climate that a glacier would not survive in.

It was good fun and really enjoyable to hike on it. Even if the boots and the ice spikes took a while to get used to. When we put back on our runners they felt so light and flimsy. At one point we were walking through a gap in the ice that was so narrow I could barely squeeze through. Matt tried to take a picture but he didn't have enough room to reach into his pocket to take out his camera!

The pictures below are probably better than a description....

Today its off to Wanaka and to Queenstown tomorrow. Bring on the good times!

Later

Brian

Touring, Snowboarding and Other Such Things

After leaving Franz Josef we hit the road again for the drive to Wanaka. We didn't do a lot there. Mainly sorting out our tax returns and just dossing around. When we got there we sussed out a place for us to camp for the night, eventually deciding to stay beside the savage looking lake Wanaka. Like fools we parked on a slant though and it wasn't a very comfortable nights sleep.

The next morning we went to the Puzzle World place outside Wanaka. That was cool. They have a 1.5km outdoor maze and 2 rooms that are cool and disorientating. Sort of like what you get in a Dali painting. From there we spotted a place on the way to Queenstown where I stopped off to practice my swing. Also took in some Archery and I am a dab hand with the aul bow! :)

Yesterday we arrived in Queenstown and got settled. Up this morning to do some snowboarding. It was great fun. A few quick pointers and off we went... well, sort of. The first time down I couldn't stand up. When I did stand up I cam strainght back down in spectacular fashion. Falling while stuck to a snowboard leads to one of 3 things: smack on the kneecaps, back on your arse or a twisting tumbling thing! I did the latter first time. Then was a mixture of the first 2, followed by another of the twisty thing. All in all though was a great day. I got the hang of straight lines, pretty much. Turning and stopping were hit and miss and going in the direction I wanted to was mainly down to luck! Matt was better at it than me. He managed to go down most of tthe big hill onhis board. For me, after I nearly killed Matt (missing by millimeters as Dessie Dolan would say) and then couldnt get the board to go anywhere, I walked most of it and stayed on the training "slope". Funny though.

Until the next great adventure.

Brian

The view of the glacier from about a mile away!

Tales from a Campervan and Beyond

First of all I have two things to mention before I start the post:

1. Thanks a million to Paula and John who showed us around Auckland and let us stay with them. We had a great a time

2. Hello to Mrs. Meecham who I believe is now a viewer of the blog.

Ok so, we left Queenstown to drive to Lake Tekapo for our second last night in the camper. As we got on the road we were confronted by signs that said "Snow chains essential". Unfortunately, we didn't have snow chains and no other choice but to chance our luck and hope that the god morning had cleared the roads enough. When we got to the bad area, there was a bit of snow on the road but apart from a couple of hairy patches the road wasn't too bad. One little tiny wobble at the back was the worst effect it had on us and the van marched on!

When we got to Lake Tekapo however we quickly realised that there was nothing there worth seeing so we glanced at our map and decided that Akaroa would be an alright place to stop. That was a wierd town with all the street names and most of the shop names written in French. We were too cheap to pay for a campsite that night so went in search of a picnic area to park up for the night. That proved harder than it had in other places. We ended up half way up a mountain on a lane going into somebodies farm and nowhere to turn around because the road was too narrow and there was a substnacial drop to one side! Eventually thought we got down and found a picnic area on the opposite side of the town.

After that and 2 days of mainly reading books we dropped the van back in Christchurch. Was a pity to be finishing up the road-trip but I was looking forward to a bed and a bit of space :) Another night in X-Base in Christchurch and then we flew to Auckland where John and Paula, two people that me and Jonny met trekking in Thailand, collect us from the airport. They showed us around the city including a tour of the Lion Brewery, the crowd that brew Guinness in New Zealand, but they had no answers as to why it tastes like piss over here! In the evening we out to dinner and then had a few beers before hitting the hay.

From here we leave for Buenos aires and strangely, we'll be there in about 2 hours! Well at least it will 2 hours later in the day. For us this is the seemingly never-ending Thursday which I think will be about 40 hours long or there abouts due to us crossing the international date line. Technically it means my birthday changes too but we wont worry about technicalities :)

Will update soon with pictures from South America, until then.... Hast luego!

Brian

Christchuch and Dunedin

Just a quick summary of what we've been up to so far.

Arrived in Christchurch last friday, no hiccups on the journey but was ridiculously tired. Journey took about 38 hours from start to finish. We spent the day on Saturday on the Christchurch Gondola, which has really nice views over the city and also over Lyttleton and the harbour there (photos should follow shortly). We did a lot of walking there which was enjoyable but tough beacuse of the heat (30C). One positive effect is that the walk seemed to get rid of any jetlag.

On Sunday we drove to Dunedin. It seems to be a lot nicer than Christchurch, which felt like a overly planned city without a proper centre. Today we did a tour of the Cadbury's factory and myself and Dec watched the superbowl. I wore my Steelers jersey which got me some unwanted attention in the pub we were in.

Anyway, we are off to Te Anau in the morning which is our base for Milford Sound. It'll be the first trip where ill be driving.

Unwanted attention

Well here's what you get for wearing a steelers jersey in Dunedin
http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/other-spor...
It was also in the print version.

For the record, I thought I would be fitting in. I was the only person wearing a jersey. Which made me a target for our american friend and also the photographer.

Dec was just out of shot btw, not important enough to make the cut:)