Sunday, 31 May 2009
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
ice 2 of us
We are having a LOT of problems with the slideshow at the moment so we will try and post the best pics like this till we get it sorted....but if you click on fitzpatrick.garry below the picture it should take you to flickr where if you click on " photostream " below the bold fitzpatrick.garry you can see the rest of the pics
Friday, 22 May 2009
The South Island - West Coast
The south Island
After crossing the straight between the two islands we decided to stay in the port town of Picton for the night. Picton itself is a pretty small place, with not much to do so we headed out looking for somewhere to get dinner, and came across “the flyng haggis” so in we went for a pint of tennents...tasting nothing like the real stuff back home lol. The barmaid was originally from Falkirk and knew Rosie's and Noddy's uncle Tony (Porko).
The next day we headed up the coast to the Marlborough sounds ( an area of valleys flooded by the volcanic activity and rising sea levels ) The views here are stunning, as you's will probably see from the 55 million pictures that we seem to be taking. Part of the surrounding scenery is the Abel Tasman national park, where we decided to test our horse riding abilities, on the white sands of the beach. I'm not sure how it ended up like this but arlenes horse was called prince ( for a princess aparenty ) and mine was called kermit the frog ...??? As first our time on a horse we did well, both managing to get them up to a trot, and hanging on for dear lives till the horse had had enough. It was a brilliant afternoon and much better than either of us had expected it to be. :0)
From here we tried to book sea kayaks to move further up the coast ( there are no roads so it was either walkig or kayaks) but the weather turned against us and rain set in for the next 4 days which meant that we had to abandon this and move on to Westport. In Westport we were able to get out to the coast and see a seal colony in it's natural habitat, which was what we were hoping to do in the sea kayaks, so we felt better after seeing them. The weather was still shocking at this time, with snow and hails battering most of the country. The hail was big enough to kill 4 cows that were out in the fields, and the snow was everywhere except the west coast of the south island which was thankfully where we were.
Also in Westport was “shanty town” which is a working museum of what life was like in New Zealand in the 1860's, during the gold rush period. So after panning for gold, and getting to keep what we had found, ( but we are not millionaires just yet ) riding a steam train, dressing up in period costumes to get photo's took, and visiting the many shops including flood hairdressing, and griffin's beehive store we set off on the long drive to Franz Joseph.
The main attraction in Franz Joseph is the glacier which is moving down through the mountains at 2m per day. We decided to go for a half day hike up the glacier, just so we could wear our alpaca hats, and were astounded by how beautiful the ice and the glacier was. The day flew by, and before we knew it, it was time to be heading to the pub for a few well deserved drinks. A few quickly turned in to many, and before long we were entering ourselves in to an assault course / drinking game the length of the bar. So with Arlene on my back, i had to run around the course, stopping for her to feed me drink, then at the end she had to run to the bar and drink shots. A respectable 2nd place was where we ended up, being only beaten by 0.2 of a second by a team of locals...cheats.
The next day ended up being a sore one, red wine, followed by shots and lager are not the best mix, so driving was kept to a minimum, as we headed to Fox glacier ( where they make the mints... only kidding ). After spending the day feeling sorry for ourselves, we had an early night so we would be fresh for going to lake Matheson. This is the most photographed lake in New Zealand, as the still waters and backdrop of Mount Cook are awe inspiring, so after taking loads more photos we were on our way again to Wanaka.
After crossing the straight between the two islands we decided to stay in the port town of Picton for the night. Picton itself is a pretty small place, with not much to do so we headed out looking for somewhere to get dinner, and came across “the flyng haggis” so in we went for a pint of tennents...tasting nothing like the real stuff back home lol. The barmaid was originally from Falkirk and knew Rosie's and Noddy's uncle Tony (Porko).
The next day we headed up the coast to the Marlborough sounds ( an area of valleys flooded by the volcanic activity and rising sea levels ) The views here are stunning, as you's will probably see from the 55 million pictures that we seem to be taking. Part of the surrounding scenery is the Abel Tasman national park, where we decided to test our horse riding abilities, on the white sands of the beach. I'm not sure how it ended up like this but arlenes horse was called prince ( for a princess aparenty ) and mine was called kermit the frog ...??? As first our time on a horse we did well, both managing to get them up to a trot, and hanging on for dear lives till the horse had had enough. It was a brilliant afternoon and much better than either of us had expected it to be. :0)
From here we tried to book sea kayaks to move further up the coast ( there are no roads so it was either walkig or kayaks) but the weather turned against us and rain set in for the next 4 days which meant that we had to abandon this and move on to Westport. In Westport we were able to get out to the coast and see a seal colony in it's natural habitat, which was what we were hoping to do in the sea kayaks, so we felt better after seeing them. The weather was still shocking at this time, with snow and hails battering most of the country. The hail was big enough to kill 4 cows that were out in the fields, and the snow was everywhere except the west coast of the south island which was thankfully where we were.
Also in Westport was “shanty town” which is a working museum of what life was like in New Zealand in the 1860's, during the gold rush period. So after panning for gold, and getting to keep what we had found, ( but we are not millionaires just yet ) riding a steam train, dressing up in period costumes to get photo's took, and visiting the many shops including flood hairdressing, and griffin's beehive store we set off on the long drive to Franz Joseph.
The main attraction in Franz Joseph is the glacier which is moving down through the mountains at 2m per day. We decided to go for a half day hike up the glacier, just so we could wear our alpaca hats, and were astounded by how beautiful the ice and the glacier was. The day flew by, and before we knew it, it was time to be heading to the pub for a few well deserved drinks. A few quickly turned in to many, and before long we were entering ourselves in to an assault course / drinking game the length of the bar. So with Arlene on my back, i had to run around the course, stopping for her to feed me drink, then at the end she had to run to the bar and drink shots. A respectable 2nd place was where we ended up, being only beaten by 0.2 of a second by a team of locals...cheats.
The next day ended up being a sore one, red wine, followed by shots and lager are not the best mix, so driving was kept to a minimum, as we headed to Fox glacier ( where they make the mints... only kidding ). After spending the day feeling sorry for ourselves, we had an early night so we would be fresh for going to lake Matheson. This is the most photographed lake in New Zealand, as the still waters and backdrop of Mount Cook are awe inspiring, so after taking loads more photos we were on our way again to Wanaka.
Thursday, 14 May 2009
The North Island
Since the last update we have been traveling on down through the north island, and have now crossed on to the south island. The first place we stopped was Taupo, which like Routoura, has a lot of thermal activity, so off we went to another outside spa to ease our aching limbs. There were 3 different outdoor pools each at different temps, and the whole palce was set in a lush forest which meant that the birds were chirping in the background as we lay nd relaxed...bliss.
The following day we moved on fully refreshed to Napier on the east coast. Napier was destroyed in the 1930's due to an earthquake, and as a result when it was rebuilt the whole place has an art deco look. One of the only buildings to survive the earthquake was Napier Prison, which is now used as somewhere for backpackers to stay, or you can get a guided tour and find out about the previous inmates. The tour was interesting, and injected with humour... the showers having signs warning you not to drop the soap, the hanging garden ( clothes lines ) being where the gallows once stood, and the guide was able to fill you in on how the inmates went about their daily lives.
Pamerston north was the next port of call, on the way to Wellington, and we decided that we should try to remember what life was like back home, so we headed to the cinema ( and watched defiance - which was AMAZING...). The next day we arrived in to Wellington, after a stop off on route at the biggest car museum in the southern hemisphere. The cars were stunning, from a ferrari monza, to an ariel atom, to a gangsters car with bulletproof windows, opening windscreen ( for shooting out off ) and bombproof flooring.
In wellington we wandered around the shops and stumbled upon a shop selling british food, so Arlene was in her element and $45 later we had just about everything that she had been missing from home - Walkers salt and vinegar crisps, yorkie, highland toffee, chocolate digestives, tins of Heinz tomato soup.
After checking what seemed like all of the pubs in Wellington, we eventually found out where we could watch the old firm game,( the Wellington Irish club ) and on Sat night we set out both full of hope but there was only one happy face at the end of the game, and it wasn't mine.
The next day after recovering, we went and caught the ferry over to the south island....
The following day we moved on fully refreshed to Napier on the east coast. Napier was destroyed in the 1930's due to an earthquake, and as a result when it was rebuilt the whole place has an art deco look. One of the only buildings to survive the earthquake was Napier Prison, which is now used as somewhere for backpackers to stay, or you can get a guided tour and find out about the previous inmates. The tour was interesting, and injected with humour... the showers having signs warning you not to drop the soap, the hanging garden ( clothes lines ) being where the gallows once stood, and the guide was able to fill you in on how the inmates went about their daily lives.
Pamerston north was the next port of call, on the way to Wellington, and we decided that we should try to remember what life was like back home, so we headed to the cinema ( and watched defiance - which was AMAZING...). The next day we arrived in to Wellington, after a stop off on route at the biggest car museum in the southern hemisphere. The cars were stunning, from a ferrari monza, to an ariel atom, to a gangsters car with bulletproof windows, opening windscreen ( for shooting out off ) and bombproof flooring.
In wellington we wandered around the shops and stumbled upon a shop selling british food, so Arlene was in her element and $45 later we had just about everything that she had been missing from home - Walkers salt and vinegar crisps, yorkie, highland toffee, chocolate digestives, tins of Heinz tomato soup.
After checking what seemed like all of the pubs in Wellington, we eventually found out where we could watch the old firm game,( the Wellington Irish club ) and on Sat night we set out both full of hope but there was only one happy face at the end of the game, and it wasn't mine.
The next day after recovering, we went and caught the ferry over to the south island....
Friday, 1 May 2009
Auckland
Sorry for the delay, its not as easy finding cheap internet here:).....
Well after our fab 2 months in South America it was time to leave for New Zealand which we were really looking forward to. After a 13hr flight which i might add after being spoiled in the luxury buses that we travelled around south America in with there lie down beds the plane felt so tiny and definitely didn't have enough leg room, even for ma wee legs,lol
so off the plane we.. well Garry wanted a new camera from duty free, one of these big fancy ones that take better pictures. so after some 45mins picking the one we wanted we go to the bag collection to find that everyone else was gone and our bags had been taken off the conveyor belt... well mines had been and garrys was nowhere to b seen. not a good start!!!!
So after filling out all the forms we headed off to the hostel sure that we were not going to see the backpack again, so Garry now only has 1 outfit, hee!!.... its funny now.
So to the shops we go picking up a few tshirts n stuff but with luck the backpack was returned the next day so yous can imagine how Happy we were:).... and Garry was a few new pieces of clothes better off.
We were staying in the hostel for the first week then for the other 7 weeks we have hired a camper van to tour the rest of the islands.
There is soooo much to see and do and 1st on the agenda was rollerblading(my choice of course) along Tamiki Drive and what an amazing time we had... firstly we get kitted out with our blades that we hired for the 2 hours. It was Garry's 1st time on blades so the woman suggested he does a practice run out in the car park.... and i was very proud of him...., he didn't fall once,lol, but not confident enough to be on them for the 2 hours without braking anything he decided to swap for a bike, hee!!
so off we went, me in blabes and Garry on his bike that had no gears and with his helmet on strolling along the beach front, the sun beating down on us feeling like we were in a film(well that's how i felt anyway,lol)
The rest of the week we just relaxed, went to the pub and had a day out on one of the other islands and planned what we were wanting to do whilst we travelled in our camper van.
Getting the camper van was exciting and after getting all the information on how to work and drive the thing we were off......
1st stop was Coromandel which is where the Hot Water Beach is. It is a beach(obviously) that has volcanic rock 60m below the sand which heats the water that lies below up to 60 degrees and what u do is hire a spade and go digging until the hot water comes through and u make your own personal pool, we had to dig in a few different areas to get the right temperature, some were too cold, others far far too hot but eventually we found the perfect spot and in we went.... it was really busy, everyone searching for the right spot to dig and the steam that came from the water was unbelievable.
We have now travelled down to Rotorua which is famous for its thermal activity and spas... so we had to try one out, a mud bath then a thermal bath would do us just nicely... and how relaxing it was. After that we took a walk through Hells Gate... volcanic rocks and bubbling mud pools, all very nice and interesting apart from the fact that the steam from the volcanic pools smells like sulphur.... and sulphur smells like rotten eggs, yuk!!!
In the camper van we have a fridge, wee freezer, cooker, sink, microwave and all cooking utensils so we have been stopping at nice spots along our traveling to have lunch and are saving money by eating in instead of having to eat out all the time.... and we have a "treat drawer" full of goodies, yummy:)......... tonight we are having fajitas, mmmmmmm!!!!!
Well after our fab 2 months in South America it was time to leave for New Zealand which we were really looking forward to. After a 13hr flight which i might add after being spoiled in the luxury buses that we travelled around south America in with there lie down beds the plane felt so tiny and definitely didn't have enough leg room, even for ma wee legs,lol
so off the plane we.. well Garry wanted a new camera from duty free, one of these big fancy ones that take better pictures. so after some 45mins picking the one we wanted we go to the bag collection to find that everyone else was gone and our bags had been taken off the conveyor belt... well mines had been and garrys was nowhere to b seen. not a good start!!!!
So after filling out all the forms we headed off to the hostel sure that we were not going to see the backpack again, so Garry now only has 1 outfit, hee!!.... its funny now.
So to the shops we go picking up a few tshirts n stuff but with luck the backpack was returned the next day so yous can imagine how Happy we were:).... and Garry was a few new pieces of clothes better off.
We were staying in the hostel for the first week then for the other 7 weeks we have hired a camper van to tour the rest of the islands.
There is soooo much to see and do and 1st on the agenda was rollerblading(my choice of course) along Tamiki Drive and what an amazing time we had... firstly we get kitted out with our blades that we hired for the 2 hours. It was Garry's 1st time on blades so the woman suggested he does a practice run out in the car park.... and i was very proud of him...., he didn't fall once,lol, but not confident enough to be on them for the 2 hours without braking anything he decided to swap for a bike, hee!!
so off we went, me in blabes and Garry on his bike that had no gears and with his helmet on strolling along the beach front, the sun beating down on us feeling like we were in a film(well that's how i felt anyway,lol)
The rest of the week we just relaxed, went to the pub and had a day out on one of the other islands and planned what we were wanting to do whilst we travelled in our camper van.
Getting the camper van was exciting and after getting all the information on how to work and drive the thing we were off......
1st stop was Coromandel which is where the Hot Water Beach is. It is a beach(obviously) that has volcanic rock 60m below the sand which heats the water that lies below up to 60 degrees and what u do is hire a spade and go digging until the hot water comes through and u make your own personal pool, we had to dig in a few different areas to get the right temperature, some were too cold, others far far too hot but eventually we found the perfect spot and in we went.... it was really busy, everyone searching for the right spot to dig and the steam that came from the water was unbelievable.
We have now travelled down to Rotorua which is famous for its thermal activity and spas... so we had to try one out, a mud bath then a thermal bath would do us just nicely... and how relaxing it was. After that we took a walk through Hells Gate... volcanic rocks and bubbling mud pools, all very nice and interesting apart from the fact that the steam from the volcanic pools smells like sulphur.... and sulphur smells like rotten eggs, yuk!!!
In the camper van we have a fridge, wee freezer, cooker, sink, microwave and all cooking utensils so we have been stopping at nice spots along our traveling to have lunch and are saving money by eating in instead of having to eat out all the time.... and we have a "treat drawer" full of goodies, yummy:)......... tonight we are having fajitas, mmmmmmm!!!!!
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