TravelStream™ news feed for member vicki.illsley on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/vicki.illsley en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 18 Jul 2009 05:03:41 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1247054918/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1247054918/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1247054918/tpod.html Sat, 18 Jul 2009 05:03:41 -0400 An Adventure of a Lifetime

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Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand

As soon as i arrived in Christchurch i got a good feeling about the place. Even though it was city, which ive found dont interest me much, i felt that id be happy here a few days. On the first night i walked to get some food for dinner and i noticed that this city was not a boring logo land like many other cities. The building had character, to be honest they were very english, but even so, it made the city look much nicer. There as a museum and Art Centre near my hostel which reminded me a bit of Oxford University buildings, and there were building like you find in Stratford (sorry guys i cant remember the name, where the buildings got black beams and white in the middle, i should really know this).

During my time there i walked around the city admiring the building and went to the botanitcal gardens in the city centre. I went around the local markets and enjoyed a really good Street Performance show. I spent ages walking around the Canterbury Museum and checked out some of the local art gallaries too.
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Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand

Back in Queenstown i was just waiting for my next bus to Christchurch really, thats the problem with travelling in the winters theres not a bus every day.

During my days of waiting i walked around part of Lake Whakatipu enjoying the views over the lake to the snow capped mountains in the distance.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1246449555/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1246449555/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1246449555/tpod.html Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:16:22 -0400 An Adventure of a Lifetime

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Milford Sound, South Island, New Zealand

From Queenstown we traveled south to Milford Sound and had a cruise through the sounds.

In the evening we stayed in a quirky little camp. The cabins were from the 50's when miners used to use then. There was a small camp stove fire place thingy, no to sure the proper term. The girls i was sharing the cabin with brought some marshmellows and using forks toasted them in the stove, while also burning there fingers, lol.

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Wellington, North Island, New Zealand

I didnt do any touring around Wellington as im coming back up to Auckland via Wellington again i decided to 'do' Wellington on my return trip. Therefore i had 1 night then got the ferry across to the south island the following morning.

The ferry trip was lovely, you have pretty views of the coast throughout the whole trip and once you reach the south island you travel through the Marlborough Sounds for aobut an hour before reaching Picton Harbour.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1246449623/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1246449623/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1246449623/tpod.html Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:55:14 -0400 An Adventure of a Lifetime

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Stewart Island, South Island, New Zealand

The ferry ride over to the island was 'calm' or so i was told, it was actually fairly bumpy but the views were lovely and the sunset was a deep reddy orange colour which was awesome to view over the sea. I also saw my 1st few Albertros.

Stewart Island is such a pretty place, lots of walking tracks and lovely views. I walked around part of the island one day, but was stopped a bit by how muddy some places were so i turned around, theres getting muddy and there getting knee deep in mud which i didnt fancy.

Unfortunately weather didnt stay nice for long and one day i tried to go for a walk but got wet and blown away by the wind so just chilled out in the hostel instead.

The day i left the island, i was wondering if the ferry would be going as the wind was really strong and sea rough. The ferry was running. In the dock you could see it bouncing up and down fairly high, i knew it was gonig to be an interesting trip. I found the first few miuntes fun on the boat, going up and down the waves. Then it got even worse and was making my head light. I was gripping onto the back of the seat infront of me so hard. It easied slight when we got sheltered by some island then the waves came back in force. Some crashed into the boat so hard and loud it sounded as though it was going to break the boat. I wanted to capture a video clip of the waves but didnt wanna let go of the seat infront. I dont go on rollercoaster for a reason, i dont like then, but i didnt have a choice about this rollercoaster. And lucky for me (not!) the ride was an hour long. Oh how glad i was to be on dry land again.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1245984720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1245984720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1245984720/tpod.html Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:54:36 -0400 An Adventure of a Lifetime

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Queenstown, Otago, New Zealand

I got to Queenstown at a good time, it was the beginning of the Winter Festival to celebrate the opening of the ski fields.

The first night i got there, there were fireworks and live much out on the harbour front. The following morning there was a carnival parade through the streets, which was very impressive so a small place like Queenstown it was quite a big parade. On another day they had events on at the harbour front, such as a drag race and swimming competition in the lake. The people must have been mad to do that though, apparently the lakes about 11'c and it was 2'c outside, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1245668425/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1245668425/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1245668425/tpod.html Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:38:03 -0400 An Adventure of a Lifetime

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Wanaka, South Island, New Zealand

Most of the time while i was in Wanaka there was very low cloud covering the mountains, luckily on the last evening the clouds clearing in time for sunset, which made the lake look much prettier than before.

I went along to a place called Puzzling World! Its a entertainment place which has lots of optical illusions and a bit maze. The aim of the maze if to find all 4 corners then find your way out again. Well it only took me 20 minutes to find all the corners but it took me another 30 minutes plus to give up finding the exit, and i used an emergency exit instead, opps! :-)

Then i tried the optical rooms, which were very crazy. There were some 3D pictures which were alright, then there were sculptures which looked like they followed you around the room. There was a room which was on a very steep slant and made you feel very drunk, it also made things look weird, like water flowing up hill, a spirit lever look wonky but it was actually horizonal. At was all very cool.

In the evening i went along to a to the cinema. The 1st time to a cinema on my own, oh well, i was adviced it was must so i went along. The cinema was groovy. There were sofas as seats, or you had the option of a car with custions inside at the front of the room, or plane seats at the back of the room. They had an interval, which im not used to, so i grab a cupa tea and a cookie, and i got the tea in a proper mug. It was so much like being at home watching a pirate dvd, but your watching it on a massive scene and its all legal. Cool!

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1246651784/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1246651784/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1246651784/tpod.html Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:14:15 -0400 An Adventure of a Lifetime

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Makarora, New Zealand

From Franz Josef, we travelled around the mountains to see Fox Glasier, Mt Tazman and Mt Cook from the ground. We also went to Lake Matherson which is a famous mirror lake which these mountains reflect in to. Its gorgeous.

We travelled along the coastal road, stopping every so often to check out the rock formations and watch dolphins playing in the shore.

In the morning we woke to a thin layer of fresh snow on the ground and snow in the air. The flakes became bigger during breakfast but as we drove away from Makarora they disappeared completely.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1245440912/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1245440912/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1245440912/tpod.html Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:53:51 -0400 An Adventure of a Lifetime

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Barrytown, South Island, New Zealand

On the way to Barrytown we stopped at a coastal lookout called Pancake Rocks. They are wierd rock formations, where the rocks look like thin layers of rock lying on top of each other, or pancakes lying on top of each, hense the name.

At Barrytown i was hoping to do some Jade stone carving. However once we got to the workshop we were shown the shapes we'd be able to make in the 4hrs we had to work in. They were really simple shapes, like circles, rectangular, there was not enough time to do any moari shapes which they advertise. We were all pretty disappointed with that then we were told that we could give it a go but they were having water problems and you needed water for the carving, so there was no guarentee youd finsih it. No of us wanted to risk wasting money on something we may not be able to finish so we went back to the hostel.

A little later on a bone carving workshop was starting. I was umming and arring bout doing that instead. I thought it would be cool to have a necklace of something that i carved myself but the thought of carving cow bone and wearing it round my neck just didnt appeal to me. But i went along to the workshop anyway to have a look. There you were able to do more arty things with the carving as it was much easier to carve. But when i found out the price i decided i didnt want to spend $55 on something i wasnt that keen on doing.

So instead i went for a short walk along the beach, cos you couldnt get far along the beach. Then went back to the hostel and chilled out..well got bored waiting for our bus to leave at midday. You see appart from carving workshops, jade, bone and knife carving (which takes all day) theres nothing else to do in Barrytown.... no ill chance that statement....theres nothing in barrytown! Its only a tiny village with a pub, where we stayed, the workshops, and houses, thats it!

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1244606400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1244606400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vicki.illsley/1/1244606400/tpod.html Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:45:57 -0400 An Adventure of a Lifetime

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Abel Tasman National Park, South Island, New Zealand

The one thing that i really like about new zealand so far, especailly as my moneys running short, is that theres plenty of walks to do, which cost nothing.

Abel Tasman has a lovely coastal walk, which can be days long but i walked for 2 and a half hours before turning round to ensure i was back at base before dark.



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