Sommerfields North Island

... than Swansea I would guess. Headed towards Wellington along State Highway 57 and then State Highway 1; on the way, we saw a sign for a nature park in Shannon, so we followed the signs and ended up in a place called Owlcatraz Native Bird & Wildlife Park. Fabulous 3 hours or so, seeing native Owls, North Island Weka birds, huge cattle, ostriches, pigs and fantastic glow work caves ...

... and peck my head! We couldn’t do anything for laughing!! Although Em did manage to get a couple of pics before she shooed it away!! Later she also stroked a wallaby with a baby in its pouch!
An hour and a halfs drive followed, leading us to Hanmer Springs, home of the hot pools. Unfortunately it took us nearly as much time find our hostel!! But once in we went to have a lovely soaked in the steaming hot pools whilst overlooking the snowy mountains, life doesn’t get much better!!

... their cupboards for any old memorabilia. I am exaggerating of course but it could have been much better. Best thing about it was it was easy to get from there to the main road to Wellington. I was anxious to get to Wellington for a couple of reasons, one was to catch the ferry to South Island and the other was to pick up a piece of mail from the Poste Restante. I did have a bit of an admin hiccup in that I lost my credit card soon after arriving in NZ, no major issue as I ...

Teresa's Log
29th July, 2009 - 2pm
Wellington, New Zealand


So its nearly time to leave, like they say that time flys when your having fun. Don't know if fun would be the best way to describe my last couple of months.

Just for those you that aren't sure what I am talking about, here it is in a nutshell.

I am heading over to China to participate in a martial arts exam and then heading over to Hangzhou to do a internship that involves teaching english.

Wellington, North Island, New Zealand teresachan

Final 2 days in Asia were spent in Hong Kong..…possibly my fave city in Asia. Checked in at the Bishop Lei guesthouse in the central area which was close to the major attractions and nightlife. Arrived in the evening and hit Lang Kwai Fong. Had some sheesh ($20!) and a few Tsing tao beers and then got caught in the rain so was stuck in a bar till 2 am watching the Federer Roddick final! Was cheering on Roger with some locals…… ...

... morning……..first lay in for ages which was good and aided the hangover. In the afternoon went to the Skylines hill to do the famous Luge rides. This was quality……you get on a go kart (without the engine) and basically go down a steep hill very fast…….went about 5 times….so much fun! Was also thinking about white water rafting but idea of freezing cold waters put me off…..will save for Australia. Again hit Lava ...

... misch war, sind die Faehren nicht gefahren. D** swell (ich kann es nicht ueb**setzen. Seegang vielleicht? Also, wie hoch die Wellen sind) war 14 m. Wir mussten 2 Tage warten, bis wir auf die Faehre konnten und in Picton war nichts zu machen, auss** ausruhen. Das kann ich inzwischen ebenso gut wie nichts machen od** abhaengen od** Zeit rumkriegen. Und auss**dem gab es im Hostel jeden abend leck**en heissen Schokokuchen mit Vanilleeis ...

... pêche pour la fête du monsieur. Ils se sont informés d'où nous allions coucher et comme nous ne le savions pas trop, ils nous ont gentiment invité à dormir chez eux dans leur appartement du centre ville... Elle est bonne celle là, c'est pas à moi avec mon air de chien renifleur suspicieux hyperactif à qui on aurait offert ça. Mais comme j'étais avec la gentille dame ils se sont probablement dit que je ne devais pas être très dangereux ...

... rsyttämään Suomen hintataso, koska kaikki täällä on todella paljon halvempaa. Ruoka, asuminen, bensa ...siis kaikki. MITEN VOI OLLA MAHDOLLISTA! KUKA SAAKELI VETÄÄ SUOMESSA VÄLISTÄ?!?! Niin, mm. bensa maksaa täällä 0,65€/litra, että silleen! En tiedä satutaanko tänne Wellingtoniin aina jonkun juhlan aikaan vai onko täällä joka viikonloppu tosissaan tälläinen helvatin (hyvällä tavalla) hulabaloo?! Jos biletysmeininki ...

... and said he is making a good recovery. Headed down to Lake Tapou which is rubbish. (Although did an acceptable speed boat thing at Huka Falls (fig.6)) Further adventure nut tickling commenced the next day at Gravity Canyon. Where we did the Fox and the Swing. Check out www.gravitycanyon.co.nz to see how 'rad' we are. I 'screamed like a girl' on the swing. But Panini didn't make any sound as it took his ...