Today’s my last day in Queenstown. It’s been a quiet few days, with the exception of a day trip yesterday to do the luge (think Cool Runnings meets Mario Kart) and paragliding (where you jump off cliff with an open parachute and float down to the ground). Both were tons of fun, though a little […]
This is for real…I was looking for something to accompany my shepherd’s pie last night at the grocery store, and when I found this, I had to try it out. Maybe this is a manifestation of the strange kiwi sense of humor I’ve been hearing about. But, I have to admit, now that I’ve tasted […]
After a couple days, I think I’m starting to figure out the weather patterns in this town. It rains in the morning and clears up in the afternoons. New Zealand, like Australia, has a few spots that have no ozone layer, so is advised even on cold and rainy days. Bizarre, but I’m not taking any […]
The 7:30 bus was brutal, but in the eight-hour bus ride, I managed a few hours of sleep. Queenstown is the home of recreational bungy-jumping and an array of other local extreme sports. Two of the nearby rivers offer class IV-VI rapids, which I’m tempted to check out before I leave on Wednesday. For now, […]
In retrospect, I would have spent another day or two in Christchurch…the music scene is great! Arriving on Friday afternoon, I headed out to see some of the local bars/restaurants featuring live music.
My first stop was the Blue Note, a small cafe on a pedestrian mall two blocks from the city center. My waitress (Juliet) […]
The bus ride from Picton to Christchurch was much better than the Auckland-Welly. The bus was air-conditioned. The driver was pretty cool, giving a commentary of the towns we passed, noting which towns had interesting histories and which ones didn’t. On our lunch stop, I got a plate of nachos from a local cafe and […]
Yesterday I caught the inter-island ferry across the strait between Wellington and the town of Picton. Picton is tiny and gorgeous…it sits on the edge of the harbor and is surrounded on all sides by green, steep hillsides that are almost completely undeveloped. With the change in season, the weather fluctuates between sunny/warm and windy/rainy. […]
Like yesterday morning, it’s raining again. It’s also really cold here (by my recently subtropically-adjusted standards). I’m torn between wanting to go out searching for breakfast (I’m starving) and hoping it’ll warm up in a few hours, making it worth the wait (and hunger). Either way, I have to tough it out. When did I […]
After a quick stop at Brucie’s for some bus munchies, I dashed across the street to the bus station just in time for our requisite pre-board check-in. As it turned out, this was not necessary…people were milling about in a state of chaos that took two bus drivers 30 minutes to sort out. The bus […]
Auckland has been fun, but it’s time for me to move on to greener pastures. After exploring the Ponsonby neighborhood last night and wandering southward through the Auckland Domain to see the Auckland Museum, I’m ready for some new sights.
Ponsonby is an old, semi-ritzy neighborhood that sits on a hill with great views of downtown […]