Auckland! December 1, 2009

Photo credit: 111 Emergency

Auckland is the biggest city in New Zealand with approximately 1.4 million people, or almost a third of the country’s population (and more than the entire South Island). Auckland has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world, as well as significant populations from Asian countries and India. This makes for a diverse selection of excellent ethnic restaurants.

photo credit: Sandy Austin

Auckland is built around an isthmus, meaning that you are never too far from one beach or another. I grew up walking distance from Takapuna Beach (pictured above) and never thought of that as anything special. Oh what being away from home will teach you about taking things for granted!

Downtown Auckland City reminds me of Seattle, because of the harbor. Perhaps because of the compressed geographic area, downtown is usually humming with people and students from the University of Auckland, giving it a definite metropolitan feel.

Here is a random video I found while searching for something to show the central city. It’s weird. And amusing.

So Auckland is not so much of a tourist destination, in my opinion. The beaches are great and there’s nightlife and shopping, but what we’re really going to be doing in Auckland is EATING. A lot. More on that next post.

New Zealand South Island Rewind – Queenstown to Christchurch via Kurow November 16, 2009

After the night in Queenstown, we make the journey back to Christchurch to fly out from Auckland.  It’s a pretty decent trek (travel time is almost seven hours), so we’ll be stopping in Kurow for a night on the way.

 

 

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On the way up, we pass through some quintessentially New Zealand small towns, such as Cromwell (pop. 4080), an ex-gold mining town and current farming and stone-fruit growing area:

 

 

In the morning we need to make a well-times drive back to Christchurch to catch a flight back to Auckland. Up next: Five days in Auckland to explore more thoroughly.

Candlelight in Queenstown, New Zealand November 2, 2009

I’m expecting that after two days of kayaking and hiking in Milford Sound, we’ll be pretty weary.  At this point we’ll reach the turnaround point in our South Island trip, and make our way back to Queenstown.

That night, we’re going to Onsen Hot Pools, and indulging in the “Candlelight Package.”  It looks like HEAVEN.  I can’t find a photo I can use on here legally, but you need to go to the website and check it out. Onsen Hot Pools are ranked #1 out of #65 Queenstown attractions by the traveler ratings on Tripadvisor.com.  It gets dark late in summer in this part of the South Island so we have to make a late evening booking, but I’m not complaining about long summer days…

New Zealand in the news November 2, 2009

Photo credit: Sandy Austin

 

New Zealand’s been getting some incredible press lately, and well deserved!

 

Check out:

New Zealand Luxury:  Pure and Simple

 

New Zealand Named World’s Most Peaceful Nation

 

New Zealand Makes Lonely Planet’s Top 10

 

 

Milford Sound, New Zealand November 1, 2009

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Milford Sound has received some pretty impressive accolades. Rudyard Kipling called it the Eighth Wonder of the World, Tripadvisor.com’s international survey named it the world’s top travel destination, and Kiwis have designated it their top “Must-Do” destination.

I have never been there.  I am so. Freaking. Excited.  Because it looks like this:

Photo credit: Dawvon

Milford Sound is pretty isolated, near the bottom of the South Island, a couple of hours drive from more populated areas.  Besides the incredible fjord, the Milford Track also ends here.  The Milford track begins 33.2 miles away in Te Anau, and winds through rainforests, wetlands, and an alpine pass.

Photo credit: Celebdu

Walkers are allowed to take a maximum of four days, and only 90 walkers may start per day, traveling north only.  The walk is incredibly popular and these 90 spots can be booked out months in advance.  Guided walks are pricey, but 50 of the 90 are reserved for guided walkers only.

We will be doing some kayaking and walking with Roscos Milford Kayaks. On the afternoon of the day we arrive in Milford Sound, we’ll kayak around Deepwater Basin, then take a guided walk through a rainforest.  That night, we’ll stay at what I think is the only accommodation in Milford Sound, Milford Sound Lodge. A double/twin room is a steal at $NZD80 per night.  The next morning, we’ll be getting up early for a 5 hour kayak around the Sound.  The 2-day combo costs $NZD179 pp.

That afternoon, provided my arms are still functioning enough to drive the car, we’re heading back to Queenstown, for what should be another highlight of the trip.  Details in the next post…

New jewelry made today November 1, 2009

We take a break in our regularly scheduled programming to bring you some of my latest jewelry.

Champagne quartz, yellow crystals, and pale blue topaz

Green crystal earrings

Blue zircon quartz, blue and green quartz glass, and pale blue topaz

Purple and green crystal earrings

Blue zircon quartz, freshwater pearls, and pale blue topaz

Purple quartz glass, freshwater pearls, and white crystals

Kurow to Queenstown, New Zealand October 28, 2009

After Kurow, we’re taking the 2.5 hour drive to Queenstown.

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In winter, Queenstown is the site of an extremely popular ski resort town and Winter Festival . Luckily for us, it’s just as pleasant in summer. It’s also the adventure capital of New Zealand (and perhaps the world, according to Tourism New Zealand).  Queenstown is the place to come for jetboating, bungy jumping, white-water rafting, mountain biking, and heli-everything.  It’s also home to some great food and wine and incredible scenery.

 

Photo credit: AdamSelwood

Photo credit: Satoru Kikuchi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because of my aforementioned fear of heights (more accurately, fear of injury and death), and more prohibitively, the cost of these adventure activities, probably the most exciting thing we are going to do is the luge. Which is still pretty fun.

First you take the gondola up here:

Photo credit: jeaneeem

And then you take the luge down the hill, like this:

Photo credit: Photo Monkey

We have two nights in Queenstown,  before heading onwards to what Rudyard Kipling called ‘The Eighth Wonder of the World’ — Milford Sound.

Driving to Kurow, New Zealand October 27, 2009

Kurow is a little tiny town of 400 people in the North Otago region of the South Island.

 

The center of town consists of one main street (really just a short stretch of the street, a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of deal), which somehow manages to sustain two pubs. My parents bought a teeny tiny cottage and 11 acres here about 12 years ago for a very small sum of money. They fixed up the cottage, rent out the land to farmers, and it’s been their vacation home ever since. They absolutely love it and it’s a very sweet place to totally get away from it all.

 

But let me back up a bit. We’re taking the scenic route to Kurow via Lake Tekapo, which looks like this:

 

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This extends the drive by about 2 hours but it’s well worth it, for reasons like this:

 

photo credit: deanoakley

photo credit: Allan Henderson

 

The Church of the Good Shepherd is built so the altar window is overlooking the lake. The church was built in 1935 and only fits about 10 or 12 pews. Services are still held there regularly, though I’m not sure how successfully the ministers maintain the congregation’s attention with that incredible view.

 

 

 

 

We’ll also be swinging by Lake Pukaki:

 

Photo credit: Stas Kulesh

 

Did I mention anything about the scenery in NZ?

Christchurch October 27, 2009

Ok, so after our brief fling with Auckland, we’re off to Christchurch.

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Luckily, we have a longtime family friend that lives in Christchurch that we’ll be staying with, saving us on accommodation.  We’re staying two nights.

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island, pop. 372,600.  Christchurch is fairly flat and pleasant to get around, and has a fairly dry, temperate climate, especially compared to Auckland.  It can get pretty cold down there in winter, snow is rare but temperatures often reach below 0C (32F)  at night in winter.  Good thing we’re visiting in summer!

First on the agenda is Christchurch Cathedral:

Photo credit: robertpaulyoung

Christchurch cathedral was completed in 1904.  The city of Christchurch was built to resemble Christ Church, Oxford — a city centered around a cathedral and a college.

For a small charge you can climb the tower for a view of the central city.  That sounds like fun, I think that’ll go on the itinerary.

photo credit: Haversack

Next, punting on the Avon River.  Punting is available in two neighboring locations in Christchurch, both right in the central city.  I’ve done this twice before, and it’s very serene to be punted down the river by someone and watch the weeping willows and ducks go by.  They even give you blankets to put over yourself if it’s chilly out.   A 30 minute guided tour will cost you $NZD20.

After all that serene-ness on day one in Christchurch, day two’s agenda is for Adrenaline Forest!

Adrenaline Forest is a high-wire and zipline adventure course.  It takes about 3 hours to do the entire course.  I am bad with heights.  I will probably freak out.  This was my idea.  Good grief.

We’ll need a good sleep that night — the next day has us taking a 6 hour scenic drive to my parents’ cottage in North Otago.

Going to New Zealand… October 26, 2009

photo credit: Sandy Austin

Soon I’m leaving for a vacation with my boyfriend to New Zealand (home!)  I’m ridiculously excited.  The last time I went home was July 2007 so it’s been a long stretch.  A month is a long time but we’ve  got a packed itinerary:  Auckland, Christchurch, Kurow, Queenstown, Milford Sound, back to Auckland, Rotorua, Hahei for New Years,  Auckland.

Let’s start with Auckland…

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We arrive in the early evening.  By that point the time difference won’t be too much (21hrs, so it only feels like 3hrs) so I’m hoping we can shake off the jet-lag and be ready to roll the next day.  We have 2 days in Auckland before we set off on our South Island Adventure.  My parents live north of Auckland so I am hoping to visit these places:

Waiwera Infinity Thermal Spa Resort (better known to the rest of us as Waiwera Hot Pools)

I have to confess — I have never actually been here.  Given that I only learned to swim in the last month (yes, really) I have never been a big fan of outings to pool-type places.  Waiwera is only about 10 minutes from my parents house and I am expecting that the weather might not be great yet so a trip to the hot pools might just be the ticket from our travel-worn bodies.  Also, school will still be in session so we won’t have to battle with the hundreds of children that usually invade places like this.

After Waiwera, we’ll probably have worked up an appetite, so then it’ll be on to Burger Fuel (visit one of many):

photo credit: Sandy Austin

Burger Fuel has the best burgers you will ever taste.  These burgers are gourmet.  My favorite is probably the Burnout — grilled smoked chicken, bacon, avocado, stilton sauce, dijon mustard, salad, relish, and aioli.  Yes, it costs $NZD10.90.  And it’s worth every cent.

I’m also hoping to visit the Albany Olive Press, an olive tree farm near my parents’ place.  I was hoping to give it a plug here, but an internet search only yields broken links.  I hope that doesn’t mean it’s no longer in business.  I visited it once with my parents and had a nice meal in the little cafe.

That, and catching up with my parents and brother, should fill those 2 days in Auckland easily.  Next up:  Christchurch.