Mt. Aspiring Hotel Wanaka

... town to the other hostels. We got to the cinema at 8:10 to be told it was sold out and we were late anyway. There was nothing else to do that night, so we retired to our respective hostels, planning to meet in the morning to decide what we could do.

After checking out the iSite, we discovered that the only free or cheap things to do in the area were hikes and Puzzling World, a sort of museum dedicated to, what else, puzzles and illusions. However ...

... Anyway that brings you all up to date with our travels, I'm sure I must have missed out some stuff because I am writing all this so far behind, but if I remember anything I will let you know. I will try and ring Stephen before he goes off to Camp America so I can fill him in on some more of the unsavoury moments of the trip so far, especially one concerning Rob on my birthday which mum already knows! Anyway I hope all is well back home, and I look forward to all your comments. Thanks for reading.

... narrower path). They built the track in order to access Milton Bay, which they planned to build a new city around 1900 called Jamestown. The supply ships (3 total) crashed trying to get into the bay, so they abandoned the city. The McKenzie family stayed behind and were the last people to see a native bird that is like an ostrich only much larger. The hut warden on our second nigtht in MacKenzie Hut was a stand up ...

... of the rings scenes shot here apparently. We walked around Lake Sylvan and back via old tramline. It is a lovely forest walk and we saw lots of birds, and of course the lake. Stopped and had a sitdown at Diamond lake and admired the view - had done enough exercise by this point! Jack drove a bit on the way back but not very fast or for very long and panicked when he saw a car in the distance - which was parked. Jack: My horse was alled Tom and had the ...

Sunday 15th We have a pseudo lie-in this morning or rather the sun wakes us up rather than an alarm. But we get breakfast and tea sorted fairly quickly and get to the start of the Routeburn track for about 10:30am. After parking up and getting our stuff together we head down to the track and chat to a girl from Bristol who is surveying walkers and gives us a sweetie for filling them in. We check the maps and decide to aim for Harris Saddle which is ...

Glenorchy deep in the Highlands The following day, still in glorious sunshine, we drove along the shores of Lake Wakatipu towards the small hamlet of Glenorchy, yet again having to pull over and gaze in awe and wonderment at the view ahead of us. A South African couple who stopped alongside us commented on how "The beauty of this country has to be one of the best kept secrets". Our original intention had been to spend ...

GOT up at about 5am to make the trek to Glenorchy for the Dart River Funyak Safari. Arrived with time to spare; only to be told booking-in is at 8am! After exploring the pulsating metropolis of Glenorchy - which took us all of two minutes - we settled in with a sandwich, at the usurious price of $7, and coffee. Cued by other patrons, we ejected copious amounts of insect repellent onto our hair and every inch of exposed skin. While I'm ...

... staying in.



Tomorrow we were headed to the 'jewel of the South Island', and activity centre of the world: Queenstown!

Bring it on!


Lots of love,


Al & Katie xx

... aan ligt, ligt een eiland dat "Pigeon Island" genoemd wordt in mijn reisboek, maar waarvan niemand om de een of andere reden mij de ligging kan vertellen, laat staan waarom het zo heen. De meeste mensen lijken niet een te weten waar ik het over heb en het komt ook al niet op landkaarten voor. Het zou daarom mijn nieuwe missie worden om het verleden en heden van Pigeon Island uit te zoeken. Terwijl Erika op een van haar wandelingen was, zou dat mijn tocht door ...