Archive for the ‘South Island’ Category
August 19th, 2006 | 
Author: After the whale watching experience we decided to head for New Zealand’s North Island and the capital city of Wellington. There was more scenery to explore on the north coast of the South Island around Nelson etc, however, we had already seen plenty of scenery and preferred on this occasion to stick to our rough itinerary. From Kaikoura we headed up the west coast to a town called Picton where we picked up the Interislander ferry which would take about three hours to reach Wellington. Read the rest of this entry »
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Having finished with our time in Christchurch we headed for Kaikoura, New Zealand’s premier whale watching destination. Once again we had opted to stay in the YHA. This one was another of those small hostels which doesn’t allow much room if you want any time on your own. It also suffered quite badly from Sea Kelp Flies which managed to invade the kitchen area towards dusk. These flies were kind of docile types as though they had been born out of season. You daren’t leave any food uncovered because the flies would quite literally drop into it as they did with the soup and marg, yuck! At one point one of the other guests put on one of those electric fly killers with the blue light which attracts them. The stench of the flies getting zapped was awful, they must’ve been really meaty ones!
We booked the whale watching with the aptly named company ‘ ‘Whale Watch’ for the following day. We also looked into the possibility of doing a swim with the dolphins but there were no trips running. I could be wrong but I think the dolphins are found more readily in the summer months. Read the rest of this entry »
Whilst we were driving from Franz Josef back to Christchurch we had heard on the radio that the All Blacks would be playing Australia in the Philips Tri-nation Bledisloe Cup. Not only did we hear they were playing in Christchurch when we would be there but they still had tickets, so on our way back to Christchurch from Franz Josef we stopped at an information office where a kind lady looked up the details for us. The game was being held at the Jade Stadium in Christchurch. The ticket prices were essentially for either covered or uncovered seats. Well we picked the cheaper seats in the Tui stand (Tui is a Kiwi beer) but I tell you that the view was excellent. We were situated behind the try line and just to one side of the posts. The weather remained good and we sat back and watched as the All Blacks whipped Australia. Read the rest of this entry »
There are a number of places to go ski-ing in New Zealand, a majority of these are located on the South Island although there are a few places on the North Island too. The various ski fields available vary considerably, some are just what are referred to as club fields whereas others are more like full blown ski resorts. I’m not entirely sure what the club fields consist of but I guess these are managed by a club and are probably the sort of places where they don’t have any chairlifts and you have to walk up in order to ski down. Obviously the club fields weren’t on our agenda. We decided that if we were going to try out some ski-ing that we wanted some fairly decent slopes, and in the end decided on Mount Hutt. Read the rest of this entry »
Our original plan had been to do a full day’s hike on the glacier and then I would do another day of ice climbing. However, several events changed this. We’d met a couple who told us that they’d been badly treated by one of the companies. Apparently they’d got so far but when it came to getting onto the glacier proper they couldn’t go on because of the weather conditions. Unfortunately the company sounded like it didn’t have a policy in place to deal with this. Not only were they not prepared to refund all or part of the cost they were also allegedly very rude to these people as well. In another case we heard from a German guy who’d booked himself on one of the trips with the same company. He was all paid up and ready to go but when he got there in the morning he was told he couldn’t go. Apparently one of the Kiwi Experience coaches had come in the previous night and the company had wanted their booking instead of his. For some reason they couldn’t accommodate him plus a few others and the Kiwi Experience lot as well, so they just said he couldn’t go. Not the best way to run a business is it! I think that the tour coaches have a bit of a deal that when they turn up and they end up getting first dibs. With this in mind we chose to go with one of the smaller companies. Read the rest of this entry »
Having seen all the sights based around Te Anau, we made our way to a place called Wanaka on route to Mount Cook and Lake Tekapo. We stopped on route in Queenstown for a spot of lunch. Queenstown is quite a large and built up town. All year round people base themselves here to take part in some of the adrenalin sports activities which are available and during the winter it also becomes a base for skiers and snowboarders alike. There are plenty of shops and restaurants, but other than that there aren’t many other reasons to stay, unless of course you’re taking part in one of the aforementioned activities. Read the rest of this entry »
I couldn’t write about the Doubtful Sound trip without a mention of this fantastic eco-friendly power station, the largest of its kind in New Zealand. The underground power station and its generating units are housed in a cavern some 200 metres below the surface of Lake Manapouri. Access is either via the two kilometre access tunnel which is the way we went in, or by a lift that travels underground from within the control building.
It was interesting that the original turbines were ‘Vertical Francis’ types built by the Harland Engineering Company in Scotland, however these have since been replaced with new turbines which have been manufactured by General Electric Canada Inc.
So how does a hydro power station work? Read the rest of this entry »
Doubtful Sound is located south west of Te Anau with the cruise starting at Manapouri which is only 30 minute’s drive from the centre of Te Anau.
We drove down to Manapouri and once again checked in at the Real Journeys booking desk in their office in Manapouri. Unfortunately the weather had taken a turn and it had become quite cloudy in contrast to the weather we’d had for our Milford trip. The first part of the journey was across Lake Manapouri itself. There wasn’t much you could see to be honest as the cloud just seemed to hang over the lake like a magnet to a piece of iron. In fact in parts it was so misty and cloudy it was a complete whiteout and the boat had to be navigated by radar. Eventually we reached the end of the west arm which is where the hub of the magnificient hydro power plant is located. From here you go ashore where a coach takes you over to Deep Cove via the Wilmot Pass where the cruise of Doubtful Sound begins. Read the rest of this entry »
The New Zealand Glowworm (Titiwae) are native to New Zealand and are distinct from others elsewhere in the world. Their Latin name is Arachnocampa Luminosa. “Arachno” refers to their spider-like ability to spin silk which they use to catch insects. “Campa” means lava and “Luminosa” means light producing.
Basically the glowworm glows in order to attract insects towards it which then become trapped in the larvae ‘Fishing Lines’, see later, and are then eaten. The glowworm’s life-cycle has four stages – Egg; Larva; Pupa; and Fly with the whole cycle taking place in about 10 – 11 months. Read the rest of this entry »
There are a few glowworm caves dotted around New Zealand with the most prominent one perhaps being the Waitomo Caves. I had read reviews of the Waitomo Caves in a magazine and whilst they were reported to be good it also suggested the tours are overpriced. However, we had our glowworm cave experience absolutely free because of the special deal which we were able to take advantage of. Normally NZ$49 we both felt that as far as cave experiences go, this was pretty good and was far from one of those naff experiences you can sometimes get.
The trip starts with a 35 – 40 minute cruise directly from Te Anau to a large cave system known as the Aurora Caves located on the western shores of Lake Te Anau. The glowworm caves themselves are located in the lower part of this 6.5km Aurora Cave System. Read the rest of this entry »