Monday, April 23, 2007
Arrived!!!
Hey Guys.
Well after spending a few days in Christchurch we took a road trip up to Nelson as we wanted to go to the Abel Tasman National Park. We had an amazing day there. As the National Park is a coastal one you need to get a water taxi to a bay or cove of your choice then you can do a walk through the forests and get picked up from another bay which is what we did.
The weather was awesome and we had a really lovely day, well apart from the pesky sandflies.
The water taxi at Kaiteriteri.
Rope bridge on the walk from one bay to another.
A rather awesome looking cove.
Torrent Bay
Split Apple Rock.
Then we headed south to Franz Josef to see the glacier. We did plan to do a heli hike where a helicopter drops you off on top of the glacier then you hike for a bit before being picked up again but the cloud had come in and they had grounded all flights. It was a shame as it would have been amazing but I had already done a glacier hike last time I was in New Zealand so I wasn't too upset.
This is the Buller Gorge and New Zealands longest rope bridge which Vic and I walked over. We are tough. Although not tough enough to stop in the middle to take a photo of the gorge beneath us..
Me at the Franz Josef glacier. Note the evil cloud stopping us from choppering in.
Glacier at Franz again.
So after seeing the glaciers at Franz and then at Fox we drove down to Queenstown where we are all going to be staying now for the next 6 months. After driving a little over 2300 k's (about 1400 miles) in just 7 days I was happy to finally arrive at our final destination!
Now the long and stressful task of finding jobs and houses starts. It is sensible to get a flat or a house as they are actually cheaper than staying in hostels which is cool. It's quite cold down here too.. It is mid autumn now and the snow should be arring pretty soon!
Nic, Babs and I (Babs is dutch gal we met in Franz Josef and has come down to QT for a few days) drove to the Arrowtown autumn festival on Saturday which was nice, it was a stunning day and nice to relax and sit by the river in the sun.
Arrowtown main street.
The parade.
My battery went dead but all you missed were Fred Flintstone, Austin Powers and some marching bands..
Earlier in the day we chilled by the river. Which was icy cold by the way.
Nic and Babs.
Autum colours.
Me by a house in the chinese village in Arrowtown, where they came for the gold rush years ago. There were loads of these tiny houses all over the hills.
My car, I don't think I have posted a photo before. Briefly named Sebastian by Carly from back in the Mount but it didn't really catch on. 1989 Mazda Capella. Retro.
This is just something I did quickly showing where I have been. The blue dots are places I have been so far. The red arrow on the north island is where I lived in for a couple months 'Mount Maunganui' and the red arrow in the south island is where i'll be living from now on until I leave New Zealand. 'Queenstown' my new home.
Hope all is good.
Andy
Well after spending a few days in Christchurch we took a road trip up to Nelson as we wanted to go to the Abel Tasman National Park. We had an amazing day there. As the National Park is a coastal one you need to get a water taxi to a bay or cove of your choice then you can do a walk through the forests and get picked up from another bay which is what we did.
The weather was awesome and we had a really lovely day, well apart from the pesky sandflies.
The water taxi at Kaiteriteri.
Rope bridge on the walk from one bay to another.
A rather awesome looking cove.
Torrent Bay
Split Apple Rock.
Then we headed south to Franz Josef to see the glacier. We did plan to do a heli hike where a helicopter drops you off on top of the glacier then you hike for a bit before being picked up again but the cloud had come in and they had grounded all flights. It was a shame as it would have been amazing but I had already done a glacier hike last time I was in New Zealand so I wasn't too upset.
This is the Buller Gorge and New Zealands longest rope bridge which Vic and I walked over. We are tough. Although not tough enough to stop in the middle to take a photo of the gorge beneath us..
Me at the Franz Josef glacier. Note the evil cloud stopping us from choppering in.
Glacier at Franz again.
So after seeing the glaciers at Franz and then at Fox we drove down to Queenstown where we are all going to be staying now for the next 6 months. After driving a little over 2300 k's (about 1400 miles) in just 7 days I was happy to finally arrive at our final destination!
Now the long and stressful task of finding jobs and houses starts. It is sensible to get a flat or a house as they are actually cheaper than staying in hostels which is cool. It's quite cold down here too.. It is mid autumn now and the snow should be arring pretty soon!
Nic, Babs and I (Babs is dutch gal we met in Franz Josef and has come down to QT for a few days) drove to the Arrowtown autumn festival on Saturday which was nice, it was a stunning day and nice to relax and sit by the river in the sun.
Arrowtown main street.
The parade.
My battery went dead but all you missed were Fred Flintstone, Austin Powers and some marching bands..
Earlier in the day we chilled by the river. Which was icy cold by the way.
Nic and Babs.
Autum colours.
Me by a house in the chinese village in Arrowtown, where they came for the gold rush years ago. There were loads of these tiny houses all over the hills.
My car, I don't think I have posted a photo before. Briefly named Sebastian by Carly from back in the Mount but it didn't really catch on. 1989 Mazda Capella. Retro.
This is just something I did quickly showing where I have been. The blue dots are places I have been so far. The red arrow on the north island is where I lived in for a couple months 'Mount Maunganui' and the red arrow in the south island is where i'll be living from now on until I leave New Zealand. 'Queenstown' my new home.
Hope all is good.
Andy
Friday, April 13, 2007
Christchurch
Hello. Sorry for the lack of blog lately but i've been super busy recently.
Right lots to get through! Firstly back to mid March and I finally climbed Mt. Maunganui, it was the day before my birthday and I was waiting for the gang to arrive from the Coromandel. Gorgeous day, nothing really to do. No excuses.. So I did it. I climbed it, finally, and Oli here is the photographic proof! The view of the town is pretty awesome too.
On top of the world! I realise I didn't need to duck so low but I had the camera resting on a rock and the auto timer on.. Also hence the stupid face..
Mount Maunganui! Was my home for a good couple of months.
Then it was my birthday!
Me and Nic
Son, Nic and Trent
My favourite photo of the night, being made by Nic to drink a pint of water before I was allowed to have a shot.. I did as I was told. Not that it helped mind..
Vic and I then spent a few days in the Mount chilling, beaching, celebrating various
birthdays and eating out way to much..
Then I left the mount and headed for my little trip to Sydney. Had the most awesome 2 weeks and i'll never forget them. Firstly I went and met Oli at the zoo, we had a great day looking at the animals and various deadly spiders..
Oli and a Giraffe
Simba..
Some Meerkat's doing their thing.
Then I met up with Oli again in Collaroy up on the northern beaches where he was living and then we walked along to Narabeen in the afternoon and met up with Net and Kim which was cool to see them again.
Kim and Net
Me, Net and Kim
Oli, myself, Kim and Net actually looking rather sober..
Then Jonny arrived and we had a great few days seeing the sights, we did the Opera House, the Botanical Gardens, did the Sky Tower, Jet Boating around the harbour which was pretty amazing but not at all advised when hungover, lots of shopping.. We also of course had to check out the nightlife!
The bridge.
The house.
Sky Tower
With Kath.
With Jonny!
My latest tattoo up close as requested!
Sydney is by far my favouirite city in the world and me and Jonny have been talking about coming out here when i'm done in NZ for a year and just living and working in Sydney. We met people who were doing it and loved it, so thats definatly on the cards. I'll come home until this trip is fully paid off though! But maybe sometime in 2008.. We'll see though!
So after Sydney I got back to Auckland, drove 1000km non stop straight from the airport down to Christchurch where i'm met back up with Vic and Nic! So i'm in the South Island now and it is bloody freezing! I also met up with Ian from back at the mount in ChCh last night, he is doing well and it was cool to see him again!
Yeah so you have probably seen that I cut all my hair off, it was just getting annoying and long and looked terrible all the time, I reached my goal of getting it all tied back in a pony tail in under a year though so that's handy to know.. Hmm maybe not. Anyway it had to go. I feel so much lighter now..
Hope you had an awesome birthday John. Missing everyone stupidly. Keep sending photos and stuff! Loving it! Also I am an unofficial uncle as I found out today that my old best friend from school, Leanne had a baby boy a few days ago - 'Jacob'! Congratulations Leanne. Can't wait to see bubs and buy those incredibly cute tiny shoes you see in shops and go awwwww.
Peace. Andy
Right lots to get through! Firstly back to mid March and I finally climbed Mt. Maunganui, it was the day before my birthday and I was waiting for the gang to arrive from the Coromandel. Gorgeous day, nothing really to do. No excuses.. So I did it. I climbed it, finally, and Oli here is the photographic proof! The view of the town is pretty awesome too.
On top of the world! I realise I didn't need to duck so low but I had the camera resting on a rock and the auto timer on.. Also hence the stupid face..
Mount Maunganui! Was my home for a good couple of months.
Then it was my birthday!
Me and Nic
Son, Nic and Trent
My favourite photo of the night, being made by Nic to drink a pint of water before I was allowed to have a shot.. I did as I was told. Not that it helped mind..
Vic and I then spent a few days in the Mount chilling, beaching, celebrating various
birthdays and eating out way to much..
Then I left the mount and headed for my little trip to Sydney. Had the most awesome 2 weeks and i'll never forget them. Firstly I went and met Oli at the zoo, we had a great day looking at the animals and various deadly spiders..
Oli and a Giraffe
Simba..
The Snow Leopard was pretty awesome too. I caught him running through this waterfall here.
Some Meerkat's doing their thing.
Then I met up with Oli again in Collaroy up on the northern beaches where he was living and then we walked along to Narabeen in the afternoon and met up with Net and Kim which was cool to see them again.
Kim and Net
Me, Net and Kim
Oli, myself, Kim and Net actually looking rather sober..
Then Jonny arrived and we had a great few days seeing the sights, we did the Opera House, the Botanical Gardens, did the Sky Tower, Jet Boating around the harbour which was pretty amazing but not at all advised when hungover, lots of shopping.. We also of course had to check out the nightlife!
The bridge.
The house.
Sky Tower
With Kath.
With Jonny!
My latest tattoo up close as requested!
Sydney is by far my favouirite city in the world and me and Jonny have been talking about coming out here when i'm done in NZ for a year and just living and working in Sydney. We met people who were doing it and loved it, so thats definatly on the cards. I'll come home until this trip is fully paid off though! But maybe sometime in 2008.. We'll see though!
So after Sydney I got back to Auckland, drove 1000km non stop straight from the airport down to Christchurch where i'm met back up with Vic and Nic! So i'm in the South Island now and it is bloody freezing! I also met up with Ian from back at the mount in ChCh last night, he is doing well and it was cool to see him again!
Yeah so you have probably seen that I cut all my hair off, it was just getting annoying and long and looked terrible all the time, I reached my goal of getting it all tied back in a pony tail in under a year though so that's handy to know.. Hmm maybe not. Anyway it had to go. I feel so much lighter now..
Hope you had an awesome birthday John. Missing everyone stupidly. Keep sending photos and stuff! Loving it! Also I am an unofficial uncle as I found out today that my old best friend from school, Leanne had a baby boy a few days ago - 'Jacob'! Congratulations Leanne. Can't wait to see bubs and buy those incredibly cute tiny shoes you see in shops and go awwwww.
Peace. Andy
