Te Anau Backpackers Lodge

Saturday 16th February 2008: Arrived here about 8pm afetr getting a lift with our friend Jochen, who had just done a 143m bunji jump! Great to get a lift and not be on the horrible coach! We unloaded and ate, soo hungry, and then went for a walk in the dark to see the town and the huge lake it is named after. Sunday 17th February 2008: So, we had a walk around the town in daylight to go to a few shops and get some information about the sounds etc, we are hoping to come back this way in a few ...

Spent the night at a backpackers hostel - actually the only place you could spend the night in Milford Sound. We had a great spot to park, by a mountain river, the only trouble was there was no power. In fact, the only power to the hostel was from a generator and at 11pm that was turned off, so lights out had a whole new meaning here! They had a great lounge though stuffed full of new settees, and it was warm!! (Yes, we cherish the simple pleasures!) At the end of the evening, we wandered off...

Well, we're alive! What an experience. I chose to bungy at the home of bungy, the Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown where AJ Hackett first starting running jumps. The bridge is 43m above the river. There are two other jump sites in Queenstown now, both much higher, but I wanted to do the original (nothing to do with it being the least high of course!). Mr Ellis kindly volunteered to tandem jump with me otherwise I don't think I would have stepped off the bridge. So, early Tuesday morning we found ...

Sea Kayaking Fiordland (Oct. 28-29, 2000) The alarm went off at 4:30 am on the morning of our departure for Doubtful Sound. That's really early. We somehow managed to get ourselves organized and fed and at the departure point by six. We left our car behind and climbed into the minibus just as it was starting to get light out. As we picked up the next passengers, the sunrise was starting to create some colour. When we made our last stop, it was absolutely beautiful. It seemed like the whole sk...

The morning fog rolls ever so slowly across Lake Te Anau. The air is damp and cold. The fog is so thick this morning that I can't see the mountains on the far side of the lake, but they are in the forefront of my mind at the moment. The Kepler Mountains, covered in snow. Even with the mountains hidden by the fog right now, it is still a scene of unrivaled beauty. It's quiet here, stop-you-in-your-tracks quiet, the kind of quiet that instantly lets you know that you are somewhere special. But ...

Fri Mar 6 We start the journey later than expected due to celebrations of the previous night. But soon we leave civilization behind as we drive into the dry Lindus Valley and Pass winding up and down in hairpin bends alng roads that are single lane with passing places. It's a bit hairy. I'm glad Elinor seems to be comfortable doing most of the driving. Then along beside the deep Kawarau Gorge where you can take a jet boat along the river and bungy jump into oblivion - or that's how it seems t...