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South Island Day 14: Taking It Easy

Catlins Conservation Park, New Zealand


We woke up late. We left late. We meandered along the Catlins Coast at 80kph and annoyed the shit out of everyone behind us and we stopped frequently for tea in random beautiful spots which we admired from the back of the Fun Bus on account of the fact it was freezing cold. It's a nice enough drive though but not something you'd want to go out of your way for unless you just wanted your photo taken at Bluff just to prove you'd been there. Invercargill isn't the most exciting place in the world, not even the Lonely Planet can think of anything interesting to say about it an someone forgot to tell them that Christmas finished nearly two months ago. They still have their decorations up but I guess if you don't take them down you don't have the hassle of having to put them back up again the following year and it gives visitors something to write about your city in their blogs.

Bluff is also amazingly dull but as you gaze over the ocean you can think to yourself, next stop, Antarctica. If you ignore Stewart Island anyway. Which generally everyone does.

There are heaps of things to see along the road to Dunedin if you don't mind pulling off the highway to have a look including NZ's answer to Niagara Falls which were named by a surveyer with "an obvious sense of humour." There's also the petrified forest which is visible four hours either side of low tide. It's a bit like the stromatolites in Western Australia, you know you should ooh and ahh as its something so rare and old but you just find yourself gazing over something not actually that impressive thinking, "Is that it?" before wandering off to photograph some sheep instead.

So it was a pretty uneventful day, we rocked up to a DoC site next to the Catlins Conservation Park and just chilled there for the evening.

I could get used to all this relaxing shizzle ay.

permalink written by  Koala Bear on February 16, 2009 from Catlins Conservation Park, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Tiny Little NZ Road Trip
tagged RoadTrip and SouthIsland

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South Island Day 15: Waiting For Nature

Oamaru, New Zealand


If you go to Oamaru you can either pay $20 to go watch some blue penguins or rock up to a DoC hide at Bushy Beach to watch the rare yellow eyed penguins for free from a distance. I've paid to see penguins before and Nat and Shane didn't want to part with cash so we drove over to Bushy Beach to wait for them. We were told the best time was between 6pm and 9pm but here's the thing about penguins; they don't wear watches. Its not like they hang around in the shallows and as soon as 6 o' clock rolls around they start wandering up the beach, stopping to pose for photographs on the way.

Eventually they did start coming out of the water but the hide really is quite a way from the penguins. What you want to happen is for them to come onto the piece of beach closest to you wearing a red and white pinstripe jacket, do a little penguin dance to a barbershop quartet song and exit stage left waving a top hat and cane. Cleary that's not going to happen unless you stocked up on the shrooms before you got to Oamaru, they come out of the water and make a break for the cliffs leaving you with some photos dots on a beach. Fortunately there was a guy hanging around called Colin who was a self proclaimed "penguin obsessive" and had brought some spare binoculars for everyone to use. He'd also brought an egg to show everyone the size of them, I'm several times the size of a yellow eyed penguin and I wouldn't wanna squeeze that out of any part of me.

We spent a couple of hours there staring at the beach before heading back to town. Apparently, somewhere near the expensive tourist shit you can watch the blue penguins cross the road for free but we'd gotten over sitting around waiting for penguins so we carried on heading north. We'd decided to take a small detour towards Lake Tekapo just to check it out the following day instead of just missioning it to Christchurch because lets face it, you really don't need more than a couple of nights in Christchurch unless you really really like art galleries and museums and catherdrals.

Which we don't. The heathens we are.

permalink written by  Koala Bear on February 17, 2009 from Oamaru, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Tiny Little NZ Road Trip
tagged RoadTrip, LovinIt and SouthIsland

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South Island Day 16: Slow Roasting Our Tender, English Flesh

Lake Tekapo, New Zealand


True to New Zealand form the weather was shit again but we decided to go to Lake Tekapo anyway for a photo opportunity although we figured there wouldn't be much to do in the rain. We cruised along and as we passed the mountains the cloud suddenly cleared, it just stopped at the mountains and we drove into blue skies and sunshine, it was awesome and it was made even more stunning by the gorgeous turquoise colour of the lake. I left Nat and Shane in the township and head over to a Mt Cook lookout about 40kms away next to Lake Pukaki, it gives you this amazing view of Aoraki over the lake which is also turquoise.

All the water in the area is turquoise on account of a sediment in the water called rock flour which was ground down by a glacier. Particles suspended in the glacial melt is what makes it the colour it is blah blah blah, whatever, its pretty. We settled down by the lake for an afternoon of premature aging. I'm not normally into deliberately slow roasting my flesh but the weather hadn't been on our side recently and we'd earnt it after a hectic couple of weeks, plus it was also nice to be able to sit outside and not get savaged by sandflies.

So me and Nat fried ourselves to a crisp. We well and truly toasted ourselves and spent the evening wincing while Shane sat there smugly because he'd plastered himself with suncream.
Before we left we headed to Lake Tekapo Tavern to get a big feed where I was told I was hot by a very intoxicated bogan lady who, for a straight bird, cleary has excellent taste in lesbians. However she also thought me and Nat looked like twins. Hmm, maybe I shouldn't let the old ego go spiralling out of control just yet ay.

Driving out was depressing, we left the clear blue skies and sunshine and drove stright back into the rain, cloud and gloom which we came from.

Ah well, at least if was cold tonight me and Nat radiated enough heat to keep the whole campsite warm.

permalink written by  Koala Bear on February 18, 2009 from Lake Tekapo, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Tiny Little NZ Road Trip
tagged RoadTrip, LovinIt and SouthIsland

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South Island Day 17: Last. Hill. Ever.

Mt Hutt, New Zealand


Mt Hutt is a ski area on the way to Christchurch from where we'd camped so we'd decided to check it out to go for a walk just to get some exercise. There are a few walks you can do so we picked one we had time for paying attention only to how long the walk takes and no attention whatsoever to the pictures of the little men next to the name of the walk. It pays to take note of the little men. Here's a cut out and keep guide to what the little men mean so you don't find yourself trekking up a big hill that seemingly has no end wishing you'd brought a bottle of water and composing angry letters to the DoC in your head advising them that you'd be billing them for a new pair of lungs and could they please install cable cars in some of their walks with the larger inclines thankyouverymuch.

We did Scotts Saddle Track and by the time we got to the top I was puffing like a steam train, even Nat and Shane were looking forward to not having to walk up anymore hills and they could be considered part of the crazy group of people that like stuff like that.

Anyway, once we felt sufficiently exercised we made it to Christchurch and booked into a campsite next to the beach and made vague plans for the next couple of days that didn't involve jumping off or out of anything.

Or, for that matter, walking up any bloody hills.

permalink written by  Koala Bear on February 19, 2009 from Mt Hutt, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Tiny Little NZ Road Trip
tagged RoadTrip and SouthIsland

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South Island, Saying Bye To Nat And Shane: Rained Off In Chch

Christchurch, New Zealand


The last couple of days in Christchurch were pretty uneventful because, you guessed it, it rained so we spent the Friday chilling in the van and listening to the radio. ZM said it was pretty shit weather everywhere apart from Invercargill but lets face it, it was still gonna be cold down there. It was still gonna be fucking Invercargill an all.

We'd planned to be ultimate Christchurch tourists but there's nothing to do here in the rain which resulted in an itinery of tea, tea, supermarket to get milk for tea, tea, beer, beer, tea. Me and Shane headed into town to check out the iSite to see if there was anything we could do to pass the time before heading back to drink more tea.

Nat and Shane left on the Sunday after me and Shane had headed up the gondola to have a look at what Christchurch looked like from a distance. Much better way to see it if you ask me, I'm not a fan of the place at all, its full of idiots. I reckon it'd be what England would be like if all the chavs had money for pimped out cars and spent the nights tearing round and hurling abuse and beer bottles out of the windows. The only difference between Christchurch an Manchester is, in Chch they own the cars as opposed to nicking them.

I chilled here for a few nights while I got all my sensible laundry related shit done before I started the journey back up north to my beloved Auckland. Just in time for winter.

Meh.

permalink written by  Koala Bear on February 23, 2009 from Christchurch, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Tiny Little NZ Road Trip
tagged RoadTrip, LovinIt and SouthIsland

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Well If All Ya Have Is The Rocks...

Punakaiki, New Zealand


Take a leaf out of Australia's book and milk the rocks for all they're worth.



permalink written by  Koala Bear on February 24, 2009 from Punakaiki, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Tiny Little NZ Road Trip
tagged RoadTrip and SouthIsland

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More Compulsory Stuff To Do In NZ

Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand


Nope, I'll never get bored of kayaking but no doubt you'll get bored of me telling you all about it so I'll keep it brief and throw in some pretty pictures for you to stare at numbly.

Abel Tasman is known for its seals and we saw plenty as well as heaps of pups but you know that cute noise that everyone thinks they make? That's not actually what they sound like, its more of a strangled yelp that sounds like they're being clubbed.

Anyway, cloud and choked seals aside it was an awesome day.

permalink written by  Koala Bear on February 26, 2009 from Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Tiny Little NZ Road Trip
tagged RoadTrip, LovinIt and SouthIsland

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Heading Back North

Wellington, New Zealand


After spending an hour sat in my car in Picton wishing they had better radio stations and cursing my obsession with being early for everything I was back on the ferry to Wellington and back to the freak show that is Rowena's Lodge for the night.

Not the most exciting post ever but I just wanted to get the orange line in the right place. Deal with it, bi-yarches.

permalink written by  Koala Bear on February 27, 2009 from Wellington, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Tiny Little NZ Road Trip
tagged RoadTrip

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The World's Most Boring Blog Post

Napier, New Zealand


Quite fitting for a post about a town who's only claim to fame is that it got flattened by an earthquake in the early 30's and rebuilt itself according to the hideous art deco style of the time.

Famous for being ugly. Now there's a tourist attraction a few people I know could exploit.

permalink written by  Koala Bear on February 28, 2009 from Napier, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Tiny Little NZ Road Trip
tagged RoadTrip and NorthIsland

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Waking Up...

Taupo, New Zealand


There aren't many better ways to wake yourself up than jumping 47 metres head first into the gorgeous Waikato River with only a piece of elastic tied round your ankles to slow you down. The Taupo bungy (you know, the one Andi bottled out of coz she's chicken) is New Zealand's highest water touch so it'd be rude not to touch the water and it saves you a shower in the morning.

Feral? Me?

permalink written by  Koala Bear on March 1, 2009 from Taupo, New Zealand
from the travel blog: Tiny Little NZ Road Trip
tagged RoadTrip, LovinIt and NorthIsland

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