Monthly Archives: November 2012

Just pulled out of queenstown, some amazing scenery nearby. Finally warm enough to break out the shorts and shirts.

Decided to stay in a campground thursday night to shower up, power up electronics and have a nice thanksgiving dinner with ryan and claire. Enjoyed a great dinner at roaring megs, no turkey to be had but really tasty lamb dishes.

delicious lamb shank special

camp ground spots in walking distance to the town centre

Having a group exercise session this morning, then headed north today towards some glaciers on the west coast of the south island.  Check out some surf spots along the way too.

Spent the night just outside te anau on wednesdsay.  First spot was a bust after we made dinner and we got kicked out by the DOC officer around 930pm.  Freedom camping is outlawed in this part of the island.  Moved on to another doc-approved camping site up the road.  Got a bit of sleep, then up early to drive another couple hours to milford sound.  Its quite a haul to get out there!

Sun is setting around 10pm and rising around 5am, making for nice long days.

Claire worked a few of the tour desks when we arrived and found a nice discount on one at 9am.  Fog was hanging around for most of the boat tour, but got a few nice pics to upload later.  Quite an impressive sight with huge mountains rising out of the ocean, plus seals and few penguins.

Headed back to queenstown for the night and out to a nice dinner for thanksigivng (it’s already thursday afternoon here..)

what a view!

Just passing queenstown and stopped along the lake for a break.

Made our way over from christchurch towards milford sound. Stopped along the way for a break and ended up booking a river rafting trip. More details on that later with pics.. Stopping for the night at lake tekapo. Mount cook mountain range in the background, what a view!

Monday afternoon we found a cozy camping spot down by a river about 15k from the airport.  Started a real nice bonfire, cooked dinner and consumed our delicious wines from nelson.  Drew may have found a new career in glass smelting.

Woke up early to get drew back to the airport.  Couple weeks flew by quick but we had a great time and glad he was able to join us!

Plan on continuing south towards milford sound the next couple days.

“Rattle your dags” is a new zealand phrase to hurry up and refers to a running sheep that has poop stuck to it’s rear.

Dropping off drew in the morning at the airport, so we headed into downtown today. Its an interesting scene with a lot of construction and demolition going on to recover from the 2011 earthquake. Mostly a ghost town other than construction equipment and workers.

rebuilding with intermodal containers

Quick update, our skydiving experience at Abel Tasman was absolutely incredible and we all landed safely! More details and pics to follow, stay tuned…

Had a a great breakfast at the jester house, before heading over to skydive.

Arrived into the town of nelson on thursday afternoon.  Went for a couple hour hike just outside of town, then headed over to a local pub to enjoy a cold local brew.  Found a free campsite to setup for the night.

Woke up friday to beautiful weather, so we drove up to abel tasman national park for a hike.  Took a water taxi along the coast and hiked back out 23 kilometers.  Located a cheap camping site nearby to spend the night.

Woke up saturday to rain and clouds, so planned for indoor activites.  Finally met up with ryan and claire when they drove over from there nearby camping location.  Spent the day at a few wineries and a pub nearby.

Planning on a skydiving trip tomorrow over abel tasman, if the weather cooperates..