Category: New Zealand

Had my first viewing today. Furnished one-bedroom flats or studios aren’t very common and furnished rooms in flats even less so, so I don’t expect to find a place as nice as Education House. Still, I don’t think I’ll send in the application for this one unless I really have to – small, dark, no desk (only a fold-out thingie), no chair, no cooker (you’re allowed to install your own hotplates) and costs more than I pay now. Good thing I have another viewing booked for tomorrow afternoon – the location is less ideal, but it should still be doable (3.5km to uni instead of 1.7km), and it’s cheaper. So keep your fingers crossed, yes?

[tags]accomodation, moving, wellington[/tags]

I spent the whole day on the bus traveling along the coast from Franz Josef, but I didn’t mind at all, as it’s one of the most stunning parts of coastline ever. I’d done the same trip before, but I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing the cliffs, the beaches and ocean…

Now I’m dead tired and think I’ll fall into bed soon. Franz Josef was fun – I used the short amount of time I had there to the best of my abilities and went for some short walks around the base of the glacier. Then I met up with Kevin, a friend I’d met online who works there, and we had a good time. So I’m definitely glad I stopped there – might even have to go back for a real glacier tour one of these days.

I don’t have the time to see anything of Nelson, however, but I already checked out some of the sights last time and I might be back to go to the Abel Tasman National Park that’s very close to here. At the moment it’s incredibly busy – everyone seems to want to use the holidays to enjoy the scenery and the summer weather at the beach.

Tomorrow I’m catching a bus to Picton, where I’ll have a couple of hours to kill before the ferry back to Wellington leaves. So next time you’ll hear from me, it’ll be back at my place… Good night for now! 🙂

I left Wanaka behind this morning and took the bus to Franz Josef, the glacier town, where I’ll spend one night before traveling on northwards. It’ll take me another two days of traveling to reach Wellington, but I don’t mind, as the landscape is truly stunning and we even take photo breaks! 🙂

Yesterday turned out to be lovely, btw – first I walked up Mt. Iron and took in the beautiful panorama, then I chilled out at the lakeside and even went for a refreshing swim. The evening I hung out with the guys from my dorm, talked, played cards and went to enjoy the beautiful Southern nightsky once more. Now I’m in the hostel in Franz Josef and will be picked up by a shuttle to take me to the glacier, so I can at least look at it, although I don’t have the time for a tour.

But the best experience of the whole day? I’d forgotten my rainjacket in Wanaka and had texted one of the guys from Wellington to take it along for me – and then, on a toilet/photo break from the bus, I ran into this very group of guys, traveling by car! So now I have my jacket again, isn’t that something? *g*

Last night was a lot of fun – I ended up watching a lovely fireworks display with a whole bunch of people from the backpackers. It really couldn’t have been better (except that there was no champagne, as you’re not allowed to drink in public over the holidays) and I’m very happy I ended up staying in Wanaka!

Now I think I’ll go for a little hike around the area. I hope all of you will have a good start into 2008 as well!

…and wow, 2007 sure is ending on a high note here in Wanaka! First I went dancing with a couple of guys from the backpackers last night (I went home before they did, but I had such a blast!), then I went skydiving – my second time after Airlie Beach in Australia four years ago, and once again it was an incredible rush!

I just love being so high up, in a tiny little plane where you can see the gorgeous panorama in all its glory, and then hurtling downwards for a short while, secure in the knowledge that a professional has your back (literally, as my tandem master Chris was awesome), until the ‘chute opens and you glide gently towards the ground… This experience will have me smiling for the rest of the day at least!

In the afternoon I went to check out Puzzling World, a giant timber maze and illusion museum. I got hopelessly lost in the labyrinth and finally gave up in disgust – my sense of orientation didn’t do me any good as I kept turning in circles… 🙂

After I’m done here in the internet cafe (the backpackers doesn’t have a computer, unusually enough), I think I’ll head down to the lake for a bit, maybe get an icecream, as the weather is very hot. It stays light forever here – I think the sun went down around 9.30pm last night… Tonight, for New Year’s Eve (a huge party in Wanaka, thanks to which there are hundreds if not thousands of young people from all over New Zealand and the world here), I’ll go to the Cinema Paradiso to see ‘The Golden Compass’ (the cinema is famous for its atmosphere and yummy homemade snacks), and afterwards I’m planning to meet up for New Year’s drinks with some guys from the hostel, maybe have a look at the fireworks and music at the lake.

It’s sure looking to be a good end of the year for me – I hope it does for you, too!

I arrived yesterday around noon, after a beautiful bus trip through the Canterbury Plains and the foothills of the Southern Alps. As soon as I’d gotten settled in, I set out to explore, knowing I only had such a short time here in this valley at the foot of the highest mountain in NZ.

I started to climb to a viewpoint, but realized two things: 1) I forgot to put on sunscreen and the sun here is insanely strong even with SPF 40, and 2) I hate climbing stairs. I like walking, I don’t even mind all that much if it’s uphill, but after 20 minutes of stairs up the side of a hill, I threw in the towel disgustedly. I’d already gotten quite a nice view, so I decided to go explore the valley instead. So, after a stop at the hostel to put on sunscreen (despite of which I got burned – we’re right under the ozone hole here) I did the four hour return walk to the Hooker Valley. This was lovely, absolutely beautiful, ending at the foot of the glacier.

When I got back, I was completely shattered, however, having made the return journey at a very brisk pace. So I used the sauna here at the hostel, which made me feel wonderfully relaxed, and then chatted with some of the women in my dorm. Among them an older Swiss lady (probably in her 60s), traveling by herself and working on organic farms. We’re also going to be on the same bus later today, me going to Wanaka, she to Queenstown.

In Wanaka I’ll spend three nights, which I’m looking forward to (and not just because I’ll be able to do some laundry *g*) – plus, I booked a skydive for tomorrow. What can I say – I’m going to end this year on a high! 🙂

Btw, ‘Aoraki’ is the Maori name of Mt. Cook and apparently means ‘cloud piercer’, which is fitting.

I’ve only been here one afternoon, but it’s a lovely town – very British, in many ways, with cute wooden cottages and impressive stone buildings that used to be churches (or look that way), as well as a river called Avon, closely modelled on the Cam (including punting boats for the tourists). I enjoyed ambling around for a bit, then I got some take-away vegetarian sushi and went to the Botanical Garden. These are really gorgeous – huge trees, a rose garden, a waterlily pond (where I had my dinner), a fragrance garden… The last one is something I don’t think I’ve seen before New Zealand – all sorts of fragrant plants, from roses to kitchen herbs, making walking through a real pleasure for the nose.

Now it’s cooled down a bit, so I’m back at the hostel. I’ll try and go to sleep early, as I’ll have to get up at 6am to get the bus to Mt. Cook. I’m very glad that this is the only time during this trip that I have to get up so early!