TravelStream™ news feed for member starkey on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/starkey en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 02 May 2009 13:07:18 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218605580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218605580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218605580/tpod.html Sat, 02 May 2009 13:07:18 -0400 Hello From Tomorrow (New Zealand)

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Te Anau, South Island, New Zealand

Today is bungy day.

We woke up and had breakfast as we held back the excitement of jumping at 3pm. We decided to play outdoor mini golf which was across from the indoor mini golf since the weather was much nicer today. Once the time came we headed up the Gondola to the top of the hill to take advantage of our 5 Luge runs before the bungy jump. The Luge in Queenstown was not quite as fun as in Rotorua but we still enjoyed it.

5.4.3.2.1. Bungy!!!!

3pm came around and both Mike and I jumped off "The Ledge". A.J. Hackett has four sites in NZ and this is the second highest. You can check it out online if you just search for "The Ledge" in Queenstown NZ on youtube or google. I've just added video of our jump.

What a rush.

We then raced down to Te Anau to hopefully see Glow Worms. We just made it and headed across the lake into the cave system in Te Anau. No photos or video were allowed in the Cave but it was an amazing experience. What a day.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218864720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218864720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218864720/tpod.html Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:29:01 -0400 Hello From Tomorrow (New Zealand)

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Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand

Both Queenstown and Wanaka were both beautiful towns. We woke up to snow in Wanaka which was really nice and then headed down to Queenstown. Queenstown is more popular with the Skiers and a larger town in general. We went to Puzzling World in Wanaka on the way which was fun. Such amazing scenery in this area.

We then stopped at the world's first bungy site just outside Queenstown. We debated jumping then and there but decided to jump from "The Ledge" instead the next day because it was a bit higher and it would also allow us to run and jump which the bridge would not.

We booked a hotel on the Lake with very nice views and then played some indoor mini golf in town as it was raining. We hoped that on jump day the weather would cooperate. We caught another movie at the nicest theater I've ever been in. Leather seats with stone walls and a balcony. We could not wait for the next day as we knew that it was bungy day.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218456000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218456000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218456000/tpod.html Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:23:06 -0400 Hello From Tomorrow (New Zealand)

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Wanaka, South Island, New Zealand

Glaciers were amazing but I only have photos of Fox Glacier up. I'll add Franz Joseph photos when back in the states. Spent most of the day driving and viewing Glaciers. Very nice drive but quite long before we arrived in Wanaka that night.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218308400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218308400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218308400/tpod.html Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:21:30 -0400 Hello From Tomorrow (New Zealand)

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Nelson, South Island, New Zealand

Crossed Cook Straight on a beautiful day and then took the short drive to Nelson. The Ferry was a bit rough for the first 45 minutes but then smoothed out. Overall a very cool experience.

Nelson was a wonderful town with lots of small town charm. We spend the afternoon there and watched a film at their small (and I mean small) theater. We counted 50 seats I think in the theater we were in. We spent the night in a real nice local hotel. I wish we had more time here in Nelson but we had to get on the road early the next day.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218778680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218778680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218778680/tpod.html Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:12:55 -0400 Hello From Tomorrow (New Zealand)

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Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand

more to come
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218865140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218865140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218865140/tpod.html Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:39:36 -0400 Hello From Tomorrow (New Zealand)

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Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand

more to come
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218692100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218692100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218692100/tpod.html Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:36:36 -0400 Hello From Tomorrow (New Zealand)

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Invercargill, South Island, New Zealand

more to come
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218175320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218175320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218175320/tpod.html Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:05:49 -0400 Hello From Tomorrow (New Zealand)

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Wellington, North Island, New Zealand

We arrived in Wellington around 6pm after pushing through Palmerston North and not stopping for lodging in that city as planned. It was cold, windy, and rainy as we arrived. It took us almost 3 hours to find a decent hotel within the budget. We finally settled on a place that overlooked the harbor and was quite a nice room. We went out that night as our hotel was right in the heart of downtown. The party scene was happening and the streets were loud. We decided to watch a movie on a gigantic screen at the Reading Cinemas. Mike hadn't seen Dark Knight yet and I was up for seeing it again. The first surprise was assigned seating which I guess is common in most of the world outside of the US. Lucky for us we had pretty nice seats to view Christopher Nolan's latest masterpiece.

After the film we headed back to the hotel to get some rest. The next morning we took a short walk in the rain to the Te Papa Museum. It looks so big and modern from the outside but we couldn't believe how elaborate this place would be once inside. We spent 3 hours inside and had a great time. By far the nicest museum I've ever seen, it must have cost a ton to build. The nice part was that admission was totally free.

We then had lunch at a local pizza joint called King Pizza and caught some of the Saints vs. Cardinals pre-season game in Arizona. It was the first time we've seen American Football since the huge disappointment last year against the cheatriots. We did a few other things in the city and then headed back to the hotel to rest as we have been going non-stop to this point. We had to wake up early to catch the inter-islander as we made our way to the south island. Wellington reminded us both of San Franciso with the hills tall buildings. Off to the south island.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218114000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218114000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218114000/tpod.html Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:43:12 -0400 Hello From Tomorrow (New Zealand)

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Napier, North Island, New Zealand

Napier was a small town on the coast and we arrived in the late evening. The town was pretty much empty since it is mainly a summer town. Much of the town had Art Deco architecture and it was a nice change. We had dinner at a local spot called breakers and played a game of pool inside. The next day we took a short bike ride on the Napier boardwalk. It was a clear day and the beach was not real sandy but instead covered in very smooth dark rocks. I actually really liked this town but there really wasn't much to do here in the winter so we headed on. We actually drove from Napier to Wellingtown which was quite a long drive.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218027600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218027600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/starkey/2/1218027600/tpod.html Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:39:05 -0400 Hello From Tomorrow (New Zealand)

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Taupo, North Island, New Zealand

Our days in Taupo were amazing. We started off this day by taking an hour walk at Craters of the Moon. It was a geothermal site and was so peaceful. Well worth the walk and trip over.

We then did the Huka Falls jetboat ride which was incredible. You race at 50-60 miles per hour in a jet boat doing 360 spins as you go. We then slowed down to view Huka Falls from the water. Amazing and a lot of fun.

At noon we checked out the local grade 5 rapids which are controlled by a dam and it's only open 3 times daily.

We had a bite to eat and then took a sailboat trip out into Lake Taupo. This two and a half trip was one of the nicest most relaxing parts of our trip. I think Mike and I would both like to take up sailing in the near future! Our skipper David, was very informative and kind. We even were able to sail the boat for a while. Near the midway point we were able to view the Maori carvings done on the flat rock in the lake. It was a very windy and cold day but I wouldn't change a thing. Perfect Day!
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