Archive for December, 2006

Canyonnnnnnnnnnning!!!

Saturday, December 2nd, 2006 by Brian

Day before yesterday we left Queenstown and headed up to Wanaka, about an hour north, to hang out while we wait for the Routeburn track to re-open. We decided to try something that we saw in a brochure called canyoning. It looks like running down a riverbed with a thick wetsuit on and [...]

The Mighty Routeburn

Thursday, December 7th, 2006 by Jennifer

One of the most popular activities in New Zealand is tramping (hiking or trekkng in Kiwi speak). There are thousands of kilometers of tracks and a network of huts throughout New Zealand and it’s a great way to see the natural beauty of the country. The Department of Conservation (DOC) administers the tracks and [...]

Kayaking looks fun, but…

Sunday, December 10th, 2006 by Jennifer

Mitre PeakTallest sea cliff in the worldWe rescheduled our Milford Sound Kayak trip for the day after we finished the Routeburn since we would be in the area. This was a stupid decision. Within the last week we hiked the Rob Roy Track, went canyoning the next day, started the Routeburn the next [...]

Glaciers and Gourmet Food & Wine

Wednesday, December 13th, 2006 by Jennifer

We finally left the Queenstown/Wanaka area after two weeks of calling it home. We headed up the West Coast to the Marlborough wine region before crossing Cook Strait to the North Island. We stopped at Fox Glacier for a day and took a full-day hike on the glacier.
There are over 6,000 glaciers in [...]

Oprah takes one to her fat head

Friday, December 15th, 2006 by Brian

Today was a mixed bag. We were in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. Our primary mission was to extend our tourist permit until the end of the year so we can stay through Christmas. We entered the country without onward travel from NZ so immigration only gave us 30 days. We [...]

Orakei Korako

Sunday, December 17th, 2006 by Brian

The weather didn’t cooperate meaning we couldn’t do the Tongariro crossing. Instead we cruised out to Orakei Korako which Lonely Planet calls, “possibly the best thermal area left in New Zealand and one of the finest in the world”.
It’s essentially a geothermal area on the edge of Lake Ohakuri with some geysers, [...]

Action Packed

Thursday, December 21st, 2006 by Brian

The last three days have been absolute nuts. I try to let the pictures do the talking but I have diarrhea of the typing-hands – sorry! After the weather didn’t cooperate on Sunday for the Tongariro Crossing, we booked ourselves onto a white water rafting trip on the Wairoa river. This is [...]

Happy Holidays!

Monday, December 25th, 2006 by Brian

It’s 10:30pm Christmas Day here in Auckland. Tomorrow morning we get up and fly to Brisbane before catching a bus to Fraser Island on the Queensland coast. Today we called home with Skype to talk to our families on Christmas Eve (NZ is 21 hours ahead of California). We’ve got some [...]