New Zealand
There are [0] photos and [13] stories about New Zealand
Saturday, 18 Aug 2007 | Views [587]
Today was our last full day in New Zealand. We left Hamilton for Auckland from where we fly to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands tomorrow. En route we encountered a friendly yet festidious traffic cop who punished us for the minor indiscretion of fractionally ... Read more >
Tags: Shopping
Friday, 17 Aug 2007 | Views [877] | Comments [1]
In the city of a thousand smells, Rotorua's most offensive olfactory insults are reserved for the only Maori owned park - the aptly named Hell's Gate . The name of this place - given by our very own GB Shaw - captures its essence. Shaw, upon seeing ... Read more >
Tags: Sightseeing
Thursday, 16 Aug 2007 | Views [739]
We took a fairly long drive this morning, retracing our steps from Monday - to visit some of the things we saw outside our car windows as we sped past on our cross-country trek at the start of the week. First off was the Volcanic Activity Centre in ... Read more >
Tags: Sightseeing
Tuesday, 14 Aug 2007 | Views [678]
Rotorua is New Zealand's main centre of geothermal activity - the underground volcanic rumblings resulting in a whole assortment of manifestations above the surface - from bubbling mudpools, to toasty rocks to bursting geysers. Today we visited Te ... Read more >
Tags: Sightseeing
Monday, 13 Aug 2007 | Views [764] | Comments [1]
Strange - every single station we passed charged 153.9 cents for a litre of petrol. You'd think that if they were fixing the price they'd bump it up a bit - anyhow, we filled our Toyoto Camry with as much of the stuff we could fit and then set out on ... Read more >
Tags: planes trains & automobiles
Sunday, 12 Aug 2007 | Views [653]
Not knowing who Lady Norwood is, was, or will be, we nonetheless took the time to visit the rose garden named in her honour, because Ruth's family home shares a name with that lady. Unlike the garden at no. 76, the rose garden on the hill overlooking ... Read more >
Tags: Sightseeing
Saturday, 11 Aug 2007 | Views [655]
Nelson is the largest urban centre on the north coast of New Zealand's South Island, and as such serves as a meeting point for everyone within a 30 mile radius - particularly at the weekend when the Nelson Market takes over Montgomery Square. Unfortunately, ... Read more >
Tags: Sightseeing
Friday, 10 Aug 2007 | Views [667]
On the advice of our hostess we took a drive today out to Kaiteriteri , a lovely little seaside village - though village may be an exaggeration. Above the village is Kaka Point , a viewing spot at the top of a steep incline, from where you can see ... Read more >
Tags: Sightseeing
Thursday, 9 Aug 2007 | Views [541]
New Zealand is comprised of two main islands, understandably named the North Island and the South Island . Separated by the Cook Straits on the surface and the Pacific / Australian plate intersection at a deeper level, the two islands actually ... Read more >
Tags: planes trains & automobiles
Wednesday, 8 Aug 2007 | Views [558]
A Carrolls type tourist shop that we wandered into in Auckland was selling upside down maps. Arguing that there's no nautral up or down in the planet - they repainted the globe with New Zealand occupying a spot around where we'd normally find ... Read more >
Tags: Sightseeing
Tuesday, 7 Aug 2007 | Views [493] | Comments [1]
The tallest structure south of the equator is Auckland's Sky Tower - a distinctive feature on the cityscape peaking, as it does, at some 328m above the ground. Though we didn't eat there, the Orbit Restaurant at about 200m is a rotating eaterie - ... Read more >
Tags: Sightseeing
Monday, 6 Aug 2007 | Views [470]
Wrecked. Just wrecked. Today was occupied by clothes washing, reading, grocery shopping, cooking and watching some New Zealand TV - the highlights from which were the farewell to the All Blacks who left from Christchurch today for the World Cup in France ... Read more >
Tags: Relaxation
Sunday, 5 Aug 2007 | Views [481]
One more early morning, one more flight. This one a short 2.5 hour hop across the Tasman Sea to the land of the Long White Cloud. They call New Zealand the Ireland of the south, and to be quite honest the clouds and mist are reminiscent of home, as is ... Read more >
Tags: planes trains & automobiles
