South Island Almost Complete 2

I wrote this 2 days ago .... now in Wellington. will try to do an update on today later, but this wouldn't post 2 days ago, so will post now.....

More Day 5

So I lied. I didn’t go luging after all. We made it to the start of the gondola, but came across a sign that read “You can’t leave the town without making a stop at the city”. It was such a good slogan …. And it was the slogan for a mini golf place that we just had to go check it out. It turns out that it was the most creative and amazing minigolf that I’ve ever seen. So much detail, so many options. A ski hill, a roller coaster, and a candy factory were just a few of the main highlights that we saw. The funny thing about it was that it required no skill at all as you just hammered the ball into a hole and then the ball would go in one of 3 tubes, and then you’d end up in bizarre places….

We got back to the lodge a little lateish. Just after 8 and went to order our pizzas (it was a special pizza night for contiki people), but they were out of pizza???? How do you run out of pizza? All you need is dough, tomato sauce and cheese.

Day 6

Oh geez, Back to the driving. Let’s see, we head off at 7:30, and drive for 2 hours, stop for 30 minutes. Drive for 3 more hours. Stop for 5 minutes, Drive for 2 more hours until we reach Fox Glacier. I decided to do a Heli-hike. We were helicoptered up the glacier in stunning fashion. The pilot was banking very hard to the left, then very hard to the right, and then headed straight for a cliff before lifting at the last second it was quite exhilarating. I had some pretty good spills, and the song "I keep bleeding, keep keep bleeding" became my song for the glacier hike.

Day 7

Just driving from Franz Josef to Christchurch. Very boring day. The tour manager was in a hissy mood. He wouldn't play any dvd's for us. It's his last day. New one for the north island tomorrow.

For the last 4 days I haven’t been feeling the best. Most noticeable is that I have lost my voice. I kinda sound like Super Dave when I talk. Also have quite the cough and cold. I never suffered any kind of cold in my 7 months in Australia, what’s the deal?

Day 1

After the exciting trip back to Christchurch, we officially began the tour. By that I mean we drove and drove and drove and drove. So far the South Island is lot like British Columbia and the Yukon. Mountains, oceans, forests …. Etc etc. We had a look at the Southern Options (skydiving, bungy jumping, helicopter rides, etc etc) and had to make our selections. Tough to do on the first day. We stopped in a town with the World’s Largest Jersey. No one was interested enough to actually see it. Then off to a few of the major lakes. Lake Tekapo, Lake Ohau. We spent the night at a lodge on Lake Ohau. There was ping pong, pool, drinks and party time as we all broke the ice. Quite literally. Well not really.

It’s an interesting group of people. It is dominated by English people. Quite a few Americans, Australians, and Brazilians. A couple Japanese, Scots, and Singaporeans. I’m the only Canadian, and I think there is an Austrian.

Day 2

Did I mention long drive??? Well this was another one. Lake Ohau to Milford Sound. About 6 solid hours of driving Yeah! The scenery was quite spectacular, especially the “Homer Tunnel” that we passed through before the quick descent to the Sound (actually a Fjord). We went for an overnight cruise in Milford Sound. The weather was absolutely terrible. Cold, windy and rainy. Although the rain did create some nice waterfalls!!! We went on a little tour of the sound. The fjord was spectacularly breathtaking. We were able to get on kayaks and paddle around. Some people spotted penguins. Since we got soaked from the rain while kayaking, myself, and a few of the girls decided to jump off the boat into the ocean. Let’s just say the water was FREEZING. You don’t realize how fast you can swim until you go in cold water. Fortunately there were showers on board the boat. The luke warm temperature felt like burning.

Day 3

More Driving? You bet ya! We went the same route back from Milford Sound to Queenstown. Another solid 4+ hours of driving. Before actually reaching Queenstown, we stopped at AJ Hackett Bungy jump to cheer the brave souls that went for the first jump. It was quite entertaining. Our Lodge in Queenstown had a wicked hot tub with an even better view. After an evening hot tub session, the group went up the Gondola to overlook of the city for a group dinner. Then followed up the dinner with a dance party at one of the night clubs.

Day 4

No Driving!!! Well just a little. To get to the site of the Routeburn track where several of us went on a 6 hour hike. It was quite fun. There were a couple Canadian girls along the trek to, so everyone bonded well. After the hike, it was more hot tubbing, followed by dinner at the Lodge. Then, it was off to Minus 5. An bar made entirely of ice. I went up and bought my ticket. The ticket was handed to me, and I put it in my wallet so I wouldn’t lose it. The cashier then gave my change back to me, noticed I didn’t have a ticket, and gave me another one. I was then able to pass that on to one of the girls for a free trip into the bar. The bar was cold. Too warm up, we had a dance party at the pub across the street. It got very heated.

Day 5

Today. This morning I decided to go extreme and do something I’ve never done before …..

Horse Back Riding. Myself and two guys from the tour went to a local stable and saddle up. Did someone say Brokeback Mountain … the Thrillogy? “I wish I could quit you”. That was quite fun. I got put in the back of the line and was stuck behind a slow horse that farted. Everytime I got my horse moving fast and trying to pass, the horse in front would cut me off. All day long it was intense battle. I finally passed it, and then the Guide said I had to go to the back. Lame.

That’s all so far for the day. Some of us are planning to go up the gondola again to do some Luging. Then back to the hotel for a party session. I’ve been a bit sick. I think it might have been the freezing cold temperatures of Milford Sound’s water. Tomorrow we leave Queenstown to go to Franz Josef. I’m planning to do a Heli-hike up on the Fox Glacier. After that it is back to Christchurch for a night. I’ll try to get some photos uploaded that day (Thursday night NZ time) from the Xchurch library. Then it’s off to the North Island. I have one friend I went to university with who now lives in Wellington. So I will hopefully get a chance to meet up with her for a little bit.

Boyd Out.

On Tour!!! First Stop .... Christchurch???

I just started the Contiki tour, and unbeknownst to me. The first stop was .... well .... Christchurch. How can that be a stop when we are already there??? I guess some people got in last night, and the meeting point was outside the city, so they get an hour to roam around. I on the other hand have seen what I need to see, so internet time!

I'm a little tired as our room played several "Sleeping Games" last night. No, there was no FREEEEEZE, but we did play the animal game and the country game. You name an animal, and then the next person has to name one with the last letter of the previous one. There were 4 British girls (Britches .... they liked that!) and a Yukon guy. We were up til about 3 with that one. Good times.

On a positive note, it is sunny and supposed to break 20 C today. Wahoo. On the road to the Lake Ohua in 30 minutes. By for now!

What a Relief .... to see Relief!

I'm HOME!!!!

Or at least it feels that way. It was quite exhilirating to see real mountains from the plane. It has been a while! Christchurch is very much like Victoria. It's got about the same population, the same English charm in the downtown, the smell of flowers everywhere ... AND .... IT's POURING RAIN!! The temperature was around 18 this afternoon. In Australia, I'd be freezing, but for some reason it's quite comfortable here. Another thing I noticed was the intensity of the sun (it was out when I first arrived) was nowhere near that of Ozland.

I went for a bit of a stroll around the block in the hour or so I had before it rained. It's not a long walk anywhere. I ended up in the Botanic Gardens and they had an Excellent display of Dahlias!!! G-man would be in Heaven!!!

Some Photos of Christchurch here

The backpackers I'm staying at has wireless internet at $15 / day. Are you freaking kidding me!!!! That's $450 / month. I could understand $5/day but that is a little steep if you ask me. I then remembered what Matt Finn had told me when he first moved to Perth. "If you want free internet, go to the Library". So I crossed the street, literally! Just a 2 minue walk, and into the library, and voila, FREE INTERNET! I'm Liking Christchurch Already. Hopefully this library strategy will work throughout the trip.

For those of you trying to figure out what time it is here (Dad) ... I am 21 hours ahead of you. Or you can just add a Day, and subract three. Right now it is 7:45PM on Wednesday for me, and 10:45PM on Tuesday for you! .... Go get me started when Day Light Savings Changes though ...

New Zealand Literally!

Holy Christchurch! I'm leaving the Land Down Under to go to A Land Even More Under. I guess I should now change the name of this site to something more Kiwi-ish, but that just takes too much time. I've been in Oz for almost 7 months now, and am looking forward to seeing a new country. I'll be doing a 15 day tour of New Zealand. I start in X-Church (christchurch) before heading to Milford Sound in the south of the South Island. Then head to Queenstown before heading to Wellington in the North Island. I continue up north to other towns: Rotorua, Waitomo, Bay of Islands, and then finish in Auckland, where I will spend my Easter Long Weekend. I'm really going to need that Long Weekend. Travelling is very tiresome.

Last Night, Russell Peters was Great. He had the place in stitches. Also performing were Jo Cor and Ahmed Ahmed.

My 3 internet will no longer be available to me until I get to Brisbane, so I probably won't be updating very much, and may not get pics up for a couple weeks. I'll have to track down some wireless locations. Starbucks anyone?

"Be A Man .... Do The Right Thing!"

Updating from Melbourne. The last couple days have been good. I headed with Claude to watch some pro beach volleyball at South Melbourne beach on Sunday. It was very good. Explored downtown a little. Find out there was another Canadian in my room from Toronto. He used to play OHL for the Mississauga Ice Dogs (i think) and played with Jason Spezza. Don Cherry was the coach for a little as well. He hated him. I didn't impress him by my performance with Scoff's Hockey Shop in Grade 6.

On Monday, I woke up to a great surprise. An early morning Blackhawks vs Canucks game. There is nothing like sleeping in bed listening to the Hawks destroy Vancouver. So good. Then I got up and headed back downtown. Someone gave me this "Free Edge Experience" ticket on top of Eureka Tower. Eureka Tower is the world's tallest residential complex, and I went up to the lookout on the 88th floor. It took about 30 seconds to get to the top, and the guides said it was the fastest elevator in the world. Personally, I found the elevators at BC Hydro to have faster acceleration. Anyway, this Edge Experience thing was absolutely ridiculous. You go into this glass cube, but they tint the windows so you can't see out. They then put on some sound effects and the cube moves out over the "edge". Then a big CRASH (sound effects), and you can see out the glass. Yes it was cool to be able to look straight down, but it wasn't like it was entirely glass. There were beams that made up about 60% of the floor. No cameras were allowed in so that they could take your picture and charge you $15. Sometimes things just get way too touristy, even for a tourist. Seeing the city from above was still pretty cool.

The Edge
Later that evening I met up with Holly (friend from Perth in town for a few days) and a couple of her friends for a night on the town. I think we went to a Chinese, Vietanese, and Malaysian. A great combo!

Today, I'm going to take it pretty easy. Do some washing. Get my gear together for the flight tomorrow to Christchurch. Later tonight, I got tickets to an Indo-Canadian comic named Russell Peters. He is playing about a 3 minute walk from my hostel. Very convenient. Should be a fun night. "Be a Man, Do the Right Thing"

Added a few more pics of The Edge and Eureka tower to the Melbourne Pics

Mel-boring

Well not quite .... it's very interesting in Melbourne. My first night at the backpackers in St Kilda was very interesting. Hahahaha, I just think back and laugh.

Anyway. Spent the day hiking around the city and parks with the last person I still see from my Adelaide to Melbourne tour. The guy's name is Claude and he's a 40 something guy from Switzerland. Not too much exciting, saw the Australian Open stadium, the Melbourne Cricket Grounds (unfortunately we missed a cricket match last night and footy match at Telstra dome as well. "d'oh".) Also checked out the Botanical Gardens, and walked through the city. Melbourne is very artsy fartsy. Everywhere you look there is a unique statue or building. It's quite nice.

Tonight I saw sunset at the beach at St. Kilda, came back for a few beers, and may go back down to the backpacker pub for a few more. There is a toga party, so the girls are looking very nice.

I'll start updating photos on a Melbourne Page.....haven't done much yet though