New Zealand
There are [472] photos and [27] stories about New Zealand
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Friday, 1 Feb 2008 | Views [526] | Comments [1]
Perhaps more than any other country, New Zealand was the one i wanted to visit. Yet for all its beauty and dramatic landscapes I've been ready to leave here for a couple of weeks. NZ caters for the backpackers incredibly well - travel, bookings and ... Read more >
Tags: conclusions?, island
Wednesday, 30 Jan 2008 | Views [288]
I said I'd give Wellington another chance - what were we thinking not to like it last time Tony?! This place is great! I'd needed to use a flight credit somewhere, and I've been rapidly running out of time to use it. To get to New Zealand i had to ... Read more >
Sunday, 27 Jan 2008 | Views [319]
They are quite a mouth full for such little places. Seaside villages, just up the coast from Wellington. I'd hoped to go to Kapita island, a 'nature reserve' full of some nice birds - I'm sad i know. It was not to be though, if it wasn't busy i could ... Read more >
Tags: island
Wednesday, 23 Jan 2008 | Views [290]
Watch the whales, swim with the dolphins, picnic with the seals or catch the tail end of a cyclone and spend a day dodging showers and cowering from the wind. It was REALLY windy. The strange thing is - I'm not that upset. But more of that another time! ... Read more >
Tags: wildlife
Saturday, 19 Jan 2008 | Views [857] | Comments [1]
I know my sense of direction isn't that good, so I'm not surprised i couldn't find the steepest street or my way to the Otago peninsula. I remember I'm in the southern hemisphere, rotate my head around and it all eventually works out... the peninsula ... Read more >
Tags: wildlife, island
Saturday, 19 Jan 2008 | Views [379]
A record breaking town...allegedly. I've heard so many claims to fame that i take them all now with a pinch of salt. My best claim is joint first place, as overall 'athlete' on a sports day when i was 7. For this impressive achievement i won a gold ... Read more >
Thursday, 17 Jan 2008 | Views [364]
It's strange to be back on the road again. Stewart island has been my 'home' for nearly 4 weeks and it's been a year since I've stopped in one place for that long. Adjustment and fitting in become middle names when travelling for so long though. My ... Read more >
Tags: conclusions?, island
Tuesday, 8 Jan 2008 | Views [922] | Comments [1]
Quote: This track is suitable for fit, well equipped and experienced trampers. Mud is widespread and often deep and thick on the track, regardless of the season. Track times are an indication only and extra time should be allowed in adverse conditions.... Read more >
Tags: trekking, island
Sunday, 6 Jan 2008 | Views [452]
Described as a 3 day moderate to difficult track, this was my chance to get out in the bush and see kiwi's - the brown flightless bird kind i should add. The first walk went quick - the signs give generous times and i had the weather with me, it wasn't ... Read more >
Tags: trekking, island
Sunday, 6 Jan 2008 | Views [448]
I came to Stewart Island for some quiet time with nature, my books and to catch up on some sleep. So it didn't quite go to plan. New mates, Christmas dinner with some locals, golf lessons from experts, a lovely stay with an Octogenarian (I'm currently ... Read more >
Tags: island
Wednesday, 19 Dec 2007 | Views [322]
I never thought I'd end up here - I've obviously been a bad boy: riding motorbikes without a licence, speeding, not paying parking tickets, being devilishly handsome (OK that's stetching it) and being very selfish. The month with Tony went very quickly ... Read more >
Tags: On the Road
Monday, 17 Dec 2007 | Views [582]
Christchurch immediately feels great: historical buildings, wide streets and cycle lanes, huge parks, cafes and restaurants, people punting down the river, an amazing botanical garden - it's not named the garden city for nothing. I spend a few days ... Read more >
Saturday, 15 Dec 2007 | Views [638]
We'd booked this train journey through the mountains awhile ago. It claims to be one of the most scenic journeys in the world - with the sort of scenery we've gone through in the last few weeks it's not too hard to believe. Our luck seems to have changed ... Read more >
Thursday, 13 Dec 2007 | Views [550] | Comments [2]
So who in their right mind adds several hundred km's of driving to their journey just so they can visit Starbucks!? When Tony heard that the one in Invercargill was the worlds most Southern Starbucks his eyes lit up. He was willing to get on a bus and ... Read more >
Monday, 10 Dec 2007 | Views [1538] | Comments [2]
Tony is sat opposite me hogging an atlas I've just borrowed as we enjoy the last couple of hours of an overnight Doubtful sound cruise. Ben our nature guide is telling us to join the 'real' world by putting down our cameras, switching off our mobile phones ... Read more >
Tags: wildlife
Sunday, 9 Dec 2007 | Views [325] | Comments [1]
Tony booked this Great Walk months ago - it was the only way the we could guarantee a walk in this area. Milford Sound is just too popular. Our early planning hadn't gone so far as to work out transportation for the beginning and the end of the track, ... Read more >
Tags: trekking
Wednesday, 5 Dec 2007 | Views [234]
Well - Wanaka, Queenstown and Te Anau. The drive to Wanaka is one of the best I've ever done - simply spectacular. I love the little town too - mountain vistas and a huge lake. Queenstown is the adrenaline junkies centre of NZ. Bungee, skydiving, ... Read more >
Sunday, 2 Dec 2007 | Views [299] | Comments [1]
Golden Bay, Greymouth, glaciers, and great big blobs of bird poo on my head. That makes 5 times now: birds 3, bats 2, Shane 0 - we were sat outside, enjoying a well deserved cup of coffee. The ironic thing is that Tony had offered me his seat due to ... Read more >
Tags: trekking
Wednesday, 28 Nov 2007 | Views [461] | Comments [2]
Another gorgeous sunny day and another of the amazing great walks - a coastal path through bush forest, past golden beaches and blue bays. I'm running out of adjectives and superlatives. We travel from Nelson in the morning, park our car to leave overnight ... Read more >
Tags: trekking
Monday, 26 Nov 2007 | Views [235]
We bid goodbye to our friendly Fawlty Towers, after they have of course 'accidentally' overcharged us and 'accidentally' tried to rip us off. We have a long way to drive today. I say we - I'm doing the driving and Tony is playing the music and navigating.... Read more >
Friday, 23 Nov 2007 | Views [429]
It's another long drive through amazing scenery, while listening to great music and partaking in our favourite past time of taking the p out of each other. Lake why have a banana (our only way of remembering it) or Lake W as I'll call it, is another ... Read more >
Tags: trekking
Tuesday, 20 Nov 2007 | Views [445] | Comments [1]
The northern circuit is one of the 9 great walks of NZ. A 4 day trek past stunning volcanic peaks (Mt Doom from LOR's), azure blue lakes, sulphurous hot springs and knackered fellow trekkers. I'll ignore the fact that my fellow trekkers are nearly ... Read more >
Tags: trekking, volcano
Sunday, 18 Nov 2007 | Views [806] | Comments [1]
Mud pools, geysers, glow worms, hot spa's and the Maori cultural centre of NZ - of course i wanted to come here. Coming here takes us through jaw dropping scenery that makes me realise England is just a little bit green, but not very much really. The ... Read more >
Friday, 16 Nov 2007 | Views [269] | Comments [1]
I'll stick by my original impression of Auckland, it doesn't hold up well to expectations when you first step off the plane. I now realise there are a lot of really nice parts around the centre - Devonport for example is just delightful. Huge parks, ... Read more >
Wednesday, 14 Nov 2007 | Views [622] | Comments [1]
Did you know that Poor Knights Island, a marine park just off the east coast of the top of the north island, has some of the best diving in the world? Jacques Cousteau apparently believed it to be the case, and of course whether or not that's true, it ... Read more >
Tags: diving, island
Sunday, 11 Nov 2007 | Views [481]
If the rest of my time in NZ is like this then I'm in serious trouble, wow oh wow, I love this place. It's simply a beautiful bay overlooking some of the many islands in this region. The beaches are a long, golden curve, the surrounding countryside a ... Read more >
Tags: diving, island
Thursday, 8 Nov 2007 | Views [433] | Comments [2]
Kia Ora - it's just for me and mah dawg... Youse ull find Auckland a bit different to what you expect eh bro. At least i know i did; uninspiring architecture, poorly planned, badly laid out, steep hilled, hobo central city. City of Sails - only if ... Read more >
