Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Well the weather has turned pretty crap here the last couple of days. So much so that the only sensible thing to really do is something based on the water like rafting or boarding since you're gonna get wet anyway... But when was I sensible huh?
Queenstown is looking like it's a cool place to be if you've got loads of money to burn on adrenaline-stoked stuff, like bungy jumping (possibly back on the cards), water-rafting or -boarding, or paragliding. Day to day it's looking a bit bleak.
The ski season is looking promising. The resorts don't open until about June 10 but I looked out of my dorm windown across the lake this morning and up to the mountains on the other side, and they are all topped with snow! Fingers crossed it keeps coming...
Suz xx
Queenstown is looking like it's a cool place to be if you've got loads of money to burn on adrenaline-stoked stuff, like bungy jumping (possibly back on the cards), water-rafting or -boarding, or paragliding. Day to day it's looking a bit bleak.
The ski season is looking promising. The resorts don't open until about June 10 but I looked out of my dorm windown across the lake this morning and up to the mountains on the other side, and they are all topped with snow! Fingers crossed it keeps coming...
Suz xx
Friday, April 21, 2006
News from Queenstown
Last Sunday Maggie and I went to the airshow "Warbirds over Wanaka" which was pretty cool. There was lots of aerial acrobatics and demonstrations, the best of which had to be the fuel dump by the F-111 plane - I got some great photos which I will post fairly soon as I've not got too much room left on my memory card. We went into Wanaka town in the evening and seemed to hop around every bar that was open! We started off in an Irish bar for dinner, then moved on to an ale house with views over the lake, then on to another Irish bar, and then back to the first Irish bar. There weren't too many places open on Easter Sunday - which Maggie and Ray thought was wierd as no-one had to go to work the next day so they figured people would be taking advantage. But no, the town was pretty dead. We did meet some cool people who were up from Dunedin for the weekend for the airshow and will definitely catch up with them when I head down that way.
On Monday we (Maggie and I) walked up to the Puzzling World. This is one of those places where pretty much all you say is "how did they do that?", but it did answer some of the questions I'd had in Lord of the Rings in respect of how they had a guy who was over 6 foot playing a dwarf smaller than a hobbit without too much digital trickery. There were also these wierd portraits where it was like someone had pressed their face into a sheet of plastic and let it mould to their features - so they were indented into the wall - but yet they looked like they were leaping out at you and they followed you all around the room. There was also a room where everything was at an angle and they had those wierd black and white line thingys on the wall so as soon as I walked in those line thingys started moving and I felt sick - so Maggie had to go through on her own. It completely freaked me out.
In the afternoon we caught the Magic bus on to Queenstown. So far it seems like there's lots to do here if you have the money to spend ...
So far we've been jetboating up the Kawarau river which was great fun - thank god Maggie persuaded me to wear a waterproof as I ended up sitting at the side of the jetboat and got pretty soaked on some of the 360 degree turns! We then went up the gondola to the luge - which is the same thing I did in Rotorua. We went down 5 times without coming off once - and one point the track looks pretty much vertical when you get to the top of the peak and is followed quickly by a 180 degree bend - so we were lucky to stay on the track cos we decided we liked going down that bit pretty fast... We also hit the casino to play blackjack and came off slightly better than we went in.
On Wednesday, Maggie and Ray headed out to Milford Sound. This part is already covered by my Magic bus pass and they were hiring a car to do it, so I've stayed on in Queenstown. I spent Wednesday and Thursday chilling out not really doing much, then on Friday I met a guy called Paul in the hostel who is from the UK but now has residency out here and restores old warbirds - and we went on a steamship tour down Lake Wakatipu which is the lake that Queenstown sits on. We also hit a local pool club where we came out pretty even, then ate fergburgers (yum - gourmet burgers - although (Nat and Austen) the burger we had at the Novotel in the Docklands is still the best), then played blackjack in the casino where I doubled my $20 which I used for my entry into the ice bar that was downstairs. It's a vodka bar where everything is made from ice, even the glasses you drink out of, and is set at a rather cool minus 5 degrees, hence the name "Minus 5".
Anyways, Paul left to return to Auckland this morning so I'm going to spend the rest of the weekend chilling out and trying to plan a few days out to Te Anau, Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound for maybe next weekend.
So that's pretty much what I've been doing for the last week. Will write more when I have more news...
Take care everyone, and a belated Happy Easter to you all.
Suz xx
On Monday we (Maggie and I) walked up to the Puzzling World. This is one of those places where pretty much all you say is "how did they do that?", but it did answer some of the questions I'd had in Lord of the Rings in respect of how they had a guy who was over 6 foot playing a dwarf smaller than a hobbit without too much digital trickery. There were also these wierd portraits where it was like someone had pressed their face into a sheet of plastic and let it mould to their features - so they were indented into the wall - but yet they looked like they were leaping out at you and they followed you all around the room. There was also a room where everything was at an angle and they had those wierd black and white line thingys on the wall so as soon as I walked in those line thingys started moving and I felt sick - so Maggie had to go through on her own. It completely freaked me out.
In the afternoon we caught the Magic bus on to Queenstown. So far it seems like there's lots to do here if you have the money to spend ...
So far we've been jetboating up the Kawarau river which was great fun - thank god Maggie persuaded me to wear a waterproof as I ended up sitting at the side of the jetboat and got pretty soaked on some of the 360 degree turns! We then went up the gondola to the luge - which is the same thing I did in Rotorua. We went down 5 times without coming off once - and one point the track looks pretty much vertical when you get to the top of the peak and is followed quickly by a 180 degree bend - so we were lucky to stay on the track cos we decided we liked going down that bit pretty fast... We also hit the casino to play blackjack and came off slightly better than we went in.
On Wednesday, Maggie and Ray headed out to Milford Sound. This part is already covered by my Magic bus pass and they were hiring a car to do it, so I've stayed on in Queenstown. I spent Wednesday and Thursday chilling out not really doing much, then on Friday I met a guy called Paul in the hostel who is from the UK but now has residency out here and restores old warbirds - and we went on a steamship tour down Lake Wakatipu which is the lake that Queenstown sits on. We also hit a local pool club where we came out pretty even, then ate fergburgers (yum - gourmet burgers - although (Nat and Austen) the burger we had at the Novotel in the Docklands is still the best), then played blackjack in the casino where I doubled my $20 which I used for my entry into the ice bar that was downstairs. It's a vodka bar where everything is made from ice, even the glasses you drink out of, and is set at a rather cool minus 5 degrees, hence the name "Minus 5".
Anyways, Paul left to return to Auckland this morning so I'm going to spend the rest of the weekend chilling out and trying to plan a few days out to Te Anau, Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound for maybe next weekend.
So that's pretty much what I've been doing for the last week. Will write more when I have more news...
Take care everyone, and a belated Happy Easter to you all.
Suz xx
Friday, April 14, 2006
Who guessed...?
Update from Wanaka...
This is the second time I've created this post now so I hope I remember what I wrote before..
So my big plan for Thursday was to go skydiving. I'd originally planned to take a helicopter ride up Fox Glacier to see Mounts Tasman and Cook, but realised that for not too much more money I could jump out of a plane too. And it was amazing. Seeing the mountains up close was cool and I got some great pictures (I was allowed to take my camera along on this one rather than paying $x for the privilige). It was a 12,000 feet jump, the same as the one at Lake Taupo, but I was more aware of everything as I knew what to expect. Strangely I was a little more apprehensive for this one, but I still couldn't wait to do it. The company that did it was much more personal than the factory line at Taupo which just made it a better experience. The only downside was that the straps cut into my underarms a wee bit and I now have red marks there - and it's still a bit sore. And I had to adjust my own straps in mid air to make myself more comfortable, rather than the dude behind me loosening a few things and making me drop the longest inch of my life.
In the afternoon, one of the guys from the hostel, Chad, took a few of us out to Gillespie's Bay - while he searched for firewood we played with his dog and had a great time.
We ended up having to stay in Fox another night as we couldn't find any accommodation for Friday night in Wanaka. And it was kinda touch and go whether we could stay in Fox... luckily they had a cancellation, otherwise we would've had to head back to Franz Josef and spend the night there.
Today we've arrived in Wanaka. We plan to spend tomorrow at the airshow and get in lots of drinking time. I'm travelling with an Irish lass called Maggie at the moment so methinks we'll be hitting an Irish pub... It's all great stuff!
So it's all going well with me, how's it going at home? Write with your news, you know my email address.
Hugs,
Suzi xxx
This is the second time I've created this post now so I hope I remember what I wrote before..
So my big plan for Thursday was to go skydiving. I'd originally planned to take a helicopter ride up Fox Glacier to see Mounts Tasman and Cook, but realised that for not too much more money I could jump out of a plane too. And it was amazing. Seeing the mountains up close was cool and I got some great pictures (I was allowed to take my camera along on this one rather than paying $x for the privilige). It was a 12,000 feet jump, the same as the one at Lake Taupo, but I was more aware of everything as I knew what to expect. Strangely I was a little more apprehensive for this one, but I still couldn't wait to do it. The company that did it was much more personal than the factory line at Taupo which just made it a better experience. The only downside was that the straps cut into my underarms a wee bit and I now have red marks there - and it's still a bit sore. And I had to adjust my own straps in mid air to make myself more comfortable, rather than the dude behind me loosening a few things and making me drop the longest inch of my life.
In the afternoon, one of the guys from the hostel, Chad, took a few of us out to Gillespie's Bay - while he searched for firewood we played with his dog and had a great time.
We ended up having to stay in Fox another night as we couldn't find any accommodation for Friday night in Wanaka. And it was kinda touch and go whether we could stay in Fox... luckily they had a cancellation, otherwise we would've had to head back to Franz Josef and spend the night there.
Today we've arrived in Wanaka. We plan to spend tomorrow at the airshow and get in lots of drinking time. I'm travelling with an Irish lass called Maggie at the moment so methinks we'll be hitting an Irish pub... It's all great stuff!
So it's all going well with me, how's it going at home? Write with your news, you know my email address.
Hugs,
Suzi xxx
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Glaciers...
Well, we made it out to the terminal face of the Franz Josef glacier on Monday - and it was quite impressive. It spurred us all on to make adventurous plans for Tuesday. My friend Em and her boyfriend Ben booked an ice climb - which looked far too strenuous for little old me - and I booked myself onto the Heli Hike. We all had a fab day and got some great pictures.
For the heli hike, we were lifted up the glacier to about I guess three quarters of the way up the glacier. The views were amazing. We then tied on our talons and hiked for about 2 and a bit hours over the ice and through various ice formations - through some simple crevasses and holes and - the highlight for me - sliding on my arse (yes, it's getting another workout here) down and through an ice cave/tunnel. That was an amazing experience - I so wish I'd dropped my camera through to our guide, Shaun, who was waiting at the other end to take some pictures. There were a few hairy moments, like where the guide had walked safely over some loose snow only for me to follow and for my boot to end up in freezing water up to my ankle - and those boots weren't as waterproof as I'd have liked - (one unfortunate woman ended up going in up to her waist) and when Shaun was happily hacking his way ahead only to find that he'd hit a dead end! He hit two dead ends in a row at which point all confidence we'd built up with the snow talons moving over the ice had almost evaporated and I started to get a bit worried. Thankfully on his third try he hit paydirt and led us through to the cave/tunnel, so we carried on and had a whale of a time.
By the time we came down I could already feel that my thighs were slightly sore so I headed straight for the hot tub at the hostel - heaven. A young girl from Christchurch on her school holidays came in and joined me, and then 4 guys from Belgium came in. Twas rather cramped in there I must say. I really hoped it was gonna do the trick and loosen up my muscles but no, today (Wednesday) I've been really sore and really don't like to go up and down stairs.
We drove here to Fox Glacier this morning. I said goodbye to Em and Ben and checked into my hostel - the Ivory Towers - a slightly grand name for an average place. Still, I tried to head out to the terminal face of the glacier but didn't quite make it. The landscape is more rugged than at Franz Josef and we had to cross a new river that was gushing a bit and then a crack in the ground which looked a bit beyond the capability of my legs at the moment. I did get some impressive views though. Fox isn't as big as Franz Josef but it's still pretty spectacular.
I've made my plans for tomorrow which I'll write about next time so will be staying here for another night. Then hopefully I'll be heading to Wanaka on Friday and maybe catch some of the "Warbirds over Wanaka" airshow that is on this weekend. But since they're expecting upwards of 80,000 people to visit over the three days I'd better go and book my hostel bed and make sure I can stay there - if not, it'll be on to Queenstown.
Gotta go, internet time running out.
Suz xxx
For the heli hike, we were lifted up the glacier to about I guess three quarters of the way up the glacier. The views were amazing. We then tied on our talons and hiked for about 2 and a bit hours over the ice and through various ice formations - through some simple crevasses and holes and - the highlight for me - sliding on my arse (yes, it's getting another workout here) down and through an ice cave/tunnel. That was an amazing experience - I so wish I'd dropped my camera through to our guide, Shaun, who was waiting at the other end to take some pictures. There were a few hairy moments, like where the guide had walked safely over some loose snow only for me to follow and for my boot to end up in freezing water up to my ankle - and those boots weren't as waterproof as I'd have liked - (one unfortunate woman ended up going in up to her waist) and when Shaun was happily hacking his way ahead only to find that he'd hit a dead end! He hit two dead ends in a row at which point all confidence we'd built up with the snow talons moving over the ice had almost evaporated and I started to get a bit worried. Thankfully on his third try he hit paydirt and led us through to the cave/tunnel, so we carried on and had a whale of a time.
By the time we came down I could already feel that my thighs were slightly sore so I headed straight for the hot tub at the hostel - heaven. A young girl from Christchurch on her school holidays came in and joined me, and then 4 guys from Belgium came in. Twas rather cramped in there I must say. I really hoped it was gonna do the trick and loosen up my muscles but no, today (Wednesday) I've been really sore and really don't like to go up and down stairs.
We drove here to Fox Glacier this morning. I said goodbye to Em and Ben and checked into my hostel - the Ivory Towers - a slightly grand name for an average place. Still, I tried to head out to the terminal face of the glacier but didn't quite make it. The landscape is more rugged than at Franz Josef and we had to cross a new river that was gushing a bit and then a crack in the ground which looked a bit beyond the capability of my legs at the moment. I did get some impressive views though. Fox isn't as big as Franz Josef but it's still pretty spectacular.
I've made my plans for tomorrow which I'll write about next time so will be staying here for another night. Then hopefully I'll be heading to Wanaka on Friday and maybe catch some of the "Warbirds over Wanaka" airshow that is on this weekend. But since they're expecting upwards of 80,000 people to visit over the three days I'd better go and book my hostel bed and make sure I can stay there - if not, it'll be on to Queenstown.
Gotta go, internet time running out.
Suz xxx
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Snow!
Well... I can see it at the top of the mountain at any rate...
I'm in Franz Josef at the moment. I travelled down from Nelson on Saturday to Greymouth ... which wasn't exactly the liveliest town on the planet... We went on a tour of the brewery there - Monteiths - and learned all about how beer is made, and then got to try all of the ones they make, followed by pulling our own pint of the one we liked the most. So that was two pints of beer before we left the brewery, plus inhaling the fumes inside. Then we went on to the Railway Hotel where we had a BBQ buffet and a free mega pint. All that plus the tour for only $20 - bargain. So we had a few drinks and played a few games of pool before realising that we would have to be up at 7 the next morning and that we were actually pretty knackered and drunk. And it was only 10pm. And there were only about 10 people in the bar - on a Saturday night. Apparently it would have been heaving if we'd stayed around, but we just couldn't quite believe it.
Yesterday (Sunday) we travelled down here to Franz Josef, via a jade workshop and a gold panning place. I decided not to do the gold panning given that I would have had to have about 50 goes to get enough for the tiniest pair of stud earrings.
We arrived in Franz Josef at around lunchtime yesterday, and the weather was not good. All the helicopter rides and kayak trip were cancelled because of it. Basically Franz Josef is a really small town at the foot of a glacier. So the scenery is stunning (when it's not absolutely tipping it down and the cloud is high), but it has a tendency to rain like you wouldn't believe. Which it did. After we'd decided to take a bus out to the foot of the glacier and go for a bit of a walk to see it a bit closer, since we didn't fancy doing an actual hike up the glacier that afternoon. Big mistake. Within 20 mins we were soaked to the skin (well my legs were anyway, I had a kagoul on top) and decided to turn back - but the bus wasn't due back for another hour and a half so we had to blag a ride with a bus that was taking some insane hikers back into town. Phew!
Today my friend is due into town so I'm gonna meet up with her and her boyfriend and see what we can do today. I'm hoping the weather holds so the helicopters are still working. I'll keep you posted.
Suz xx
I'm in Franz Josef at the moment. I travelled down from Nelson on Saturday to Greymouth ... which wasn't exactly the liveliest town on the planet... We went on a tour of the brewery there - Monteiths - and learned all about how beer is made, and then got to try all of the ones they make, followed by pulling our own pint of the one we liked the most. So that was two pints of beer before we left the brewery, plus inhaling the fumes inside. Then we went on to the Railway Hotel where we had a BBQ buffet and a free mega pint. All that plus the tour for only $20 - bargain. So we had a few drinks and played a few games of pool before realising that we would have to be up at 7 the next morning and that we were actually pretty knackered and drunk. And it was only 10pm. And there were only about 10 people in the bar - on a Saturday night. Apparently it would have been heaving if we'd stayed around, but we just couldn't quite believe it.
Yesterday (Sunday) we travelled down here to Franz Josef, via a jade workshop and a gold panning place. I decided not to do the gold panning given that I would have had to have about 50 goes to get enough for the tiniest pair of stud earrings.
We arrived in Franz Josef at around lunchtime yesterday, and the weather was not good. All the helicopter rides and kayak trip were cancelled because of it. Basically Franz Josef is a really small town at the foot of a glacier. So the scenery is stunning (when it's not absolutely tipping it down and the cloud is high), but it has a tendency to rain like you wouldn't believe. Which it did. After we'd decided to take a bus out to the foot of the glacier and go for a bit of a walk to see it a bit closer, since we didn't fancy doing an actual hike up the glacier that afternoon. Big mistake. Within 20 mins we were soaked to the skin (well my legs were anyway, I had a kagoul on top) and decided to turn back - but the bus wasn't due back for another hour and a half so we had to blag a ride with a bus that was taking some insane hikers back into town. Phew!
Today my friend is due into town so I'm gonna meet up with her and her boyfriend and see what we can do today. I'm hoping the weather holds so the helicopters are still working. I'll keep you posted.
Suz xx
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Nelson Ahoy
Just a quickie blog to let you all know what I've been up to.
I've spent the last two weeks in Wellington waiting for a tax number to come through so I could head on south and get some work for the winter. I had a great time in Wellington and met some lovely people, but staying there for two weeks was rather stretching things a bit.
I did pretty much all the tourist things there... I went to the top of Mount Victoria for a 360 degree view of the city, went up the cable car to the botanical gardens (... not that I actually made it into the botanical gardens... Wellington is the windy city and at the top of the cable car it was even more windy... so I made it as far as the restaurant for a beer...), went to the zoo... twice... the second time I went to feed the red pandas - they're sooooo cute and just crawled all over me to get their lunch... piccies soon I promise but I need to fill up my camera memory card a bit more first, met up with an old friend, went to the museum, to the cinema, to a few bars, to the rugby, and on a Lord of the Rings tour (brother - stuff coming your way from that one).
Anyways, my tax number came through on Monday so I said hasta la vista to Wellington and headed down to the south island on Tuesday. Given that the wind had been howling around and banging the window of my dorm room all night I really thought I was gonna toss my cookies on the ferry crossing, but it was so calm, and the views as it came into Picton were to die for.
So I'm now in Nelson which is a lovely little city with about 80,000 people.
Yesterday (Wednesday) I went up to Able Tasman National Park. We took a coach out to Kaiteri, and then a boat up to Torrent Bay, and walked about 12km back to Marahau. Bloody knackering. If that's an easy walk, I really am not ready to do the Tongariro Crossing...! Thank god there was a nice bar waiting for me at the end of it as for the entire last hour of the walk all I'd been seeing in front of me was a nice cold pint. You know in cartoons when people get really hungry they start seeing people as steaks or something? - I was like that but with beer. Heaven!
This morning (Thursday) I went on the skywire which is a wire suspended over a canyon, you sit in a cage-type thingy drop down about 150m across the canyon at about 100kph. See, I've not given up the adrenaline rush just yet.
I'll post more news when I have it. Hope everyone is well and taking care. Email me all your news!
Love Suz xx
I've spent the last two weeks in Wellington waiting for a tax number to come through so I could head on south and get some work for the winter. I had a great time in Wellington and met some lovely people, but staying there for two weeks was rather stretching things a bit.
I did pretty much all the tourist things there... I went to the top of Mount Victoria for a 360 degree view of the city, went up the cable car to the botanical gardens (... not that I actually made it into the botanical gardens... Wellington is the windy city and at the top of the cable car it was even more windy... so I made it as far as the restaurant for a beer...), went to the zoo... twice... the second time I went to feed the red pandas - they're sooooo cute and just crawled all over me to get their lunch... piccies soon I promise but I need to fill up my camera memory card a bit more first, met up with an old friend, went to the museum, to the cinema, to a few bars, to the rugby, and on a Lord of the Rings tour (brother - stuff coming your way from that one).
Anyways, my tax number came through on Monday so I said hasta la vista to Wellington and headed down to the south island on Tuesday. Given that the wind had been howling around and banging the window of my dorm room all night I really thought I was gonna toss my cookies on the ferry crossing, but it was so calm, and the views as it came into Picton were to die for.
So I'm now in Nelson which is a lovely little city with about 80,000 people.
Yesterday (Wednesday) I went up to Able Tasman National Park. We took a coach out to Kaiteri, and then a boat up to Torrent Bay, and walked about 12km back to Marahau. Bloody knackering. If that's an easy walk, I really am not ready to do the Tongariro Crossing...! Thank god there was a nice bar waiting for me at the end of it as for the entire last hour of the walk all I'd been seeing in front of me was a nice cold pint. You know in cartoons when people get really hungry they start seeing people as steaks or something? - I was like that but with beer. Heaven!
This morning (Thursday) I went on the skywire which is a wire suspended over a canyon, you sit in a cage-type thingy drop down about 150m across the canyon at about 100kph. See, I've not given up the adrenaline rush just yet.
I'll post more news when I have it. Hope everyone is well and taking care. Email me all your news!
Love Suz xx
