Articles from this Category
27 August 2012
We landed on time at Tongatapu shortly after 1100. Our connection to Vava’u was in less than three hours which would be enough time on a good day (and touch-and-go in case of a delay). As it turned out, we got through immigration and customs very quickly as we had no checked luggage. We shuttled […]
4 September 2011
Today we took what was described as one of the most beautiful rail journeys in the world … the TranzAlpine from Christchurch to Greymouth on the West Coast, passing through the Southern Alps including Arthur’s Pass. As it was spring, we could see the mountains were still beautifully snow-capped. It was sunny and the snowy […]
3 September 2011
The heart of Christchurch is one of few places in New Zealand that looks old … this is a fairly young country compared to, say, Europe. The city centre had a good collection of buildings that made New Zealand look like it had some architectural history. Unfortunately a lot of this was destroyed in the […]
27 April 2011
We woke early and counted the hours till we would fly out to Invercargill. It had been cold and wet in Stewart Island, especially in the place that we had been hosted in. Our flight to Invercargill departed at 0830, with a leisurely connecting time for our flight to Christchurch where we would connect to […]
26 April 2011
Peter operates the ferry from Golden Bay to Ulva Island, where there are various nice nature trails … the bird-song here is pretty amazing. You can see and nearly touch tiny Fantails, chubby Kererus and clucking Wekas. If you scuff your shoes on the ground, some birds will fly down and try to look for […]
25 April 2011
The day started off miserably … it was very cold (for us anyway), and it kept raining on-and-off. We tried hard to stay warm. Fortunately the sun came out to play later in the day and we were able to walk to Oban and grab a couple of delicious meals (for lunch) at he wonderful […]
24 April 2011
Kim has a former teaching colleague, Peter, that moved down to Stewart Island many years ago. We had talked about visiting but it hadn’t happened … until now. We flew from Auckland to Invercargill (via Christchurch) and waited for what was meant to be three hours for our 20-minute flight from Invercargill to Stewart Island. […]
10 April 2011
On the return train journey back into Dunedin, Air New Zealand rang to say that our flight had been delayed. The first leg to Christchurch was delayed and we’d miss our connection to Auckland. The kindly rebooked us on an earlier flight non-stop to Auckland. We hopped of the train near Mosgiel, which was closer […]
10 April 2011
We left the hostel and ate nearby before walking to Dunedin’s Railway Station. The rail journey to Middlemarch took 2h30. For most people, the journey was the destination as the route took us through rugged gorges, impressive viaducts, clear rivers and green pastures. But some people opted for a one-way journey so they could mountain-bike […]
9 April 2011
Today we flew down to Dunedin … Edinburgh of the South, as it is New Zealand’s most Scottish city. As we approached the town centre, the shuttle driver told us that the railway station was the second most photographed building in the world! Hhmmm! So, it is more photographed than the Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower […]