Chelsea Gateway Motor Lodge Westport

... and rocks in the river, so we obviously got stuck on a tree straight away. We did the jetboating just as the sun was setting so the sunset over the river was beautiful. We had a quiet night in and watched a movie. The next day started with a coastal walk, where we saw some seals. I've seen lots of seals now, enough perhaps to last me a lifetime. The New Zealanders love their seals. Seals are the laziest of all sea animals. The don't play with beach balls like ...

... the glacier via pre carved ice steps with spikes (crampons) on our boots so not to slip. Its tiring and very steep, but amazing climbing up with ice walls either side and we got to go through a small ice cave. Both glaciers are melting but its unclear if they are receding or not, at the moment, but they have been receding since the earliest records were kept. Franz glacier from the front looks dirty due to an explosion from a build up of water behind a huge pile of ...

... driving down here is pretty scary. No matter what the speed limit is, it is almost impossible to reach the maximum. If we did, we would fly off a cliff, a bridge, or hit oncoming traffic around the very sharp turns. I don't think they have anything but very sharps turns here. - Saw Huke Falls in Taupo - very cool. Not so much waterfalls - its more of a massive amount of water being forced through a narrow gorge. - Drove to Hawk's Bay ...

19/02/09: Départ très matinal de Nelson pour rejoindre Greymouth en bus. Le trajet est plutôt agréable : nous longeons la côte Ouest de l'Ile du Sud. Plus nous descendons, plus le paysage me rappelle les côtes bretonnes. Il est vrai que la pluie qui nous accompagne durant tout e voyage accentue d'autant plus la ressemblance... Petit aparté sur les conducteurs de bus Nouvelle-Zélande : ils racontent ...

... Paradise (where it was shot) as unmade road for 25k.Not a raod to take Shelly on. so we found ourselves a lovely walk to do around Lake Rere. 5 Hrs return hike. The route took us passed Grennstone river on the way out which has Jade green pools and the a few meters along ice blue water. To many rapids for rafting so will leave that for another day. We scramble over lands slides and rock falls and over streams ...

... via helicopter to the reception! Similarly though, they<br>had the exact same number of people as we did and also had a vegan<br>wedding cake, and Lizzy, aside from looking like a tall blonde runway<br>model, didn't even wear a white dress, and loves snowboarding ...

... and 25 twisty km from Picton. This tiny hostel (someone's house with a couple of extra rooms) boasts a stunning view over the sound - when the owner went out for the evening (Kiwi trust for you!) our TV watching was limited to Shrek 2 as we just couldn't concentrate much due to the view. We enjoyed a walk on the track and being able to fall off it and straight for a cup of tea - the car got two day's holiday! The only slight fly in the ointment was the ...

... en loofbomen en dat schijnt erg bijzonder te zijn. <br>Onze bestemming was dan ook een uitzonderlijk hostel: onbereikbaar voor auto's (deze moest je aan de voet van de heuvel staan; bagage werd met een quad naar boven gebracht) lag het tegen een heuvel, in een tropisch regenwoud, maar met uitzicht op zee en met verrekijkers klaar voor gebruik voor het spotten van kleine Hector Dolfijnen. Het was er echt prachtig! Wauw. Als ik niet zo'n eind omhoog zou ...

... through an incredible 2.5 kilometer long cave system, working our way past stalagtites and -mites, white columns and climbing waterfalls. Awesome, absolutely fantastic. We were underground for 5 hours and completely lost track of time or direction.When we emerged we were soaking and happy in the knowledge we had just experienced something special. Thank you Jen for your many good tips such as this one that have enlightened our travels so far. <br><br>We then ...