New Zealand Trip - 2006
It was one of our most memorable trip. Its been over an year now. Thanks to Tobi and Margit for their blog www.kiwitraveller.info/blog/ :) We have infact copied the text and images from this blog. But we felt its worth doing it. :)
On 10th February Aby and Feema left and went back to India via Hong Kong and Singapore. Herewidth please find the activities at the end of our trip:
Enjoying the view of the dangerous bubbles in Rotorua Thermal area.
There are not "only" mud pools, but also colourful algae blooms in this acidic water.
We didn't stay long in Rotorua this time but headed towards Hamilton and then via Auckland back to Waiheke.
Of course not without giving our guests the opportunity to eat really good Dosa with Sambar and Chutney in one of the rare and authentic South Indian restaurants in New Zealand.
Nothing tastes better than South Indian food of course. Is it? What about Barbecue? Paella? :) It must come close when seeing these pictures taken on Waiheke where Barbecueing has become a real habit and Paella a real treat for Aby and Feema.
Having seen all the campers on the road, Aby was motivated to become a camper himself...
...but only with the help of the ladies and one experienced female scout - the tent could actually be built .-)
Saying good-bye to Waiheke while visiting our friends George and Judy.
All the best from the "Waiheke-Travellers", have a safe trip home and always know that you are welcome back!
New Zealand is well known for its excellent fishing possibilites. So today we got up early to show our guests trout fishing on Lake Taupo:
Watching a duck family taking a morning dip.
Enjoying the sunrise.
Being excited of the trip :)
Is this the place where we will catch that big fish?
One day I will drive a boat .-)
The fishing was great - but the catching was poor :))
Enjoying the lake just as it is - maybe because of NOT catching anything? :)
A sunday of leisure activities
It's sunday again - although some work had to be done (mainly answering emails) - as usual - we had time for some leisure activities:
Visiting the Huka Falls - close to Lake Taupo.
Watching the international womens tennis tournament.
Watching the boat race on the lake (and trying to keep the ears shut).
Some people used the crowds on the lake shore to get even more attention :)
A hungry swan...
...and ladies...
...waiting for the barbeque to be ready.
Learning the tricks of the trade .-)
From the Backcountry to the Lake
Starting in Palmerston North, we decided to take a different route up North to Lake Taupo mostly using unsealed roads to see more of the countryside of New Zealand. The timings were of course entirely different from what any map would normally suggest, but it was worth it:
Accidentally dropping by a local farming show where sheep and cattle is being auctioned.
Aby was keen to become a (B)Aby again when seeing this little train - but oh - what will the people think seein him in Kiwitraveller? - na ... just kidding :) but it was fun to watch the kids.
One the the views we can get when driving aside the normal roads - a little bit north of Palmerston North.
Everyone needs a small rest then and THERE...
...driving on!
Picnicing...
...makes...
...Aby...
...think! - what if we could stay in Nature always? - Especially seeing all these campers.
Driving through the volcanic plateau in Tongariro National Park...
...before reach our next destination:
Lake Taupo!
A crystal clear water...
...and some good swimmers as leading examples...
...will they make Feema and Aby swimmers, too?
- not this time. Here preferring the Indian bathing "dressing code" (while collecting what? STONES - of course!!)
"Feeeeeema - should we go camping here, tomorrow?"
"Ayyyyyyyyoooooooooo"
cu tomorrow :)
Picnic at the creek
Everyone has to eat - so we decided...
to go for picnic at the creek.
The weather was as good as the food!
Doing the dishes after the lunch.
Feema going after her favourite passion in New Zealand: "Collecting stones"! Aby is obviously very keen, carrying them home .-)
This small "Messenger-Bird" - yes that's its real name - whispered me to take a photo of Margit.
3 happy walkers...
...enjoying the nature...
...two of them planning to spice the walk up a little. Obviously there were no swimming skills required in this deeeeeeep water .-)
The cooks of the evening and their creations of the day.
First time ferry trip for Aby and Feema
Today was entirely dominated by going back to the North Island of New Zealand, thereby using the Interislander car and passenger ferry (a huge ship) again - a first time experience for Aby and Feema!
Just being surprised about the size of the ferry.
Welcome on board the "Kaitaki" or "Challenger".
Saying "good-bye" to Picton or better - the South Island.
After almost everyone on board had the Indian dish "Butter Chicken" (NZ style...), Feema and Aby became hungry as well... but the Indian kitchen is so popular in New Zealand, that unfortunately none of the chickens were left - so no homely feeling on the boat THIS time.
Instead Aby opted for the Children's Menu. We are all in the same boat anyway!
That water bottle is really something special, but HOW TO GET WATER OUT OF IT??
Welcome to the NZ capital city of Wellington!
...of course not without carefully observing how the cars are unloaded from the ship.
View down to Wellington from the cable car top station.
"Happy to be home again" - at least for some time - while being lucky getting served real indian food.
Welcome to Antarctica and -18° Celcius
Todays weather's motto was: Cold.
Why? At first visiting the International Antartic Center in Christchurch...
Thereby riding a "hägglund".
This vehicle even drives in 3m deep waters...
...which didn't help Aby and Feema much when encountering their first minus 18 degrees Celcius!
At least we all had a warming heartly feeling when meeting this real-life seals - used to live in the cold. They didn't seem to freeze a bit!
The lazy boys (or girls...?- we couldn't make out ;)) of the day. NOT us of course!!
Colourful lakes...
Today we had a long drive from Queenstown to Christchurch. Originally we planned to stay somewhere inbetween, but our work and internet connectivity forced us to go the full way up to Christchurch. Never mind - as we didn't miss some of the obvious beauties of the day:
First sight of Mt. Cook, New Zealands highest mountain, covered in snow - but not in clouds :)
Scenic view to Mt. Cook from Lake Pukaki. The special colour of the lake comes from the melting water of the glaciers beyond.
Stone climbing can be demanding :)
Each enjoying in its individual way...
...still marvelling about the colours!
This famous church in Lake Tekapo is called "Church of the good shepherd"...
...boosting truly miraculous views over the lake...
...and remaining Margit's and Tobi's favourite wedding place :)
A relaxing sunday!
This blog may read as if we are on a holiday all the time, but this is not the case. Mostly we will be in motels, writing the blog, answering emails related to one of our online businesses, phoning or meeting with business partners and clients. So we thought that once in a while we also deserve a relaxed sunday. Have a look:
Starting downtown Queenstown with a small stroll around the warf.
...until Aby and Feema spotted that beauty of a boat.
and - within minutes - they were on to it. For a 1 hour Jet-Boat ride in the Kawarau Jet.
We recommended to take some sun glasses and a spray west. By the way: There is not a rubbish bag sitting in the front row :) It is just Aby trying to figure out how to put the west on!
1-2-3 GO!
We couldn't help ourselves and did the wrong thing: Instead of sleeping like this little fellow, we answered what? E-Mails of course...
...until the visibly shaken (better to ask Aby for details of the word "shaken") but happy passengers came back from their trip.
In the afternoon we decided to go for a calm and nice walk through Queenstown Gardens...
...which we thoroughly enjoyed.
This rose with special greetings to all flower lovers!
"Being watched feeding the ducks": Whose face is happier? The kids or the ducklings one?
Couldn't resist to put that photo in here, too ;)
It has become a habit for Feema to collect "things". That can mean lots of "things". In this case it's not stones but pine seeds. Aby is interested of course - as usual!
Viewing the mountains from the gardens...
...until the lake catches our attention again, because two adventurous Indians...
...look back on what they did today already!
Saying Good-Bye to Queenstown Gardens...
...but welcoming a delicious evening in the Queenstown Gondola restaurant.
Observing every move the gondola makes very carefully!
Anyone for Bungee & Swing? Aby?
Never mind - may be next time ;) We were too hungry anyway :)
A worthy final for the relaxing day!
...ayooooooooooooo - of course not without the ride back to town :)
Good night Queenstown!
Queenstown - for little different adventures :)
Today we took the short but beautiful drive from Wanaka to Queenstown. Queenstown is well known for its adventurous activities like Bungee Jumping, Rafting and similar. Here are our adventures:
Watching the Kawarau River Gorge - and getting a first hand idea of what "Jet-Boating" in a river canyon means.
A couple on the edge: Bungee or Jet-Boating?
For Feema it was definitely Bungee!
Naaaa... not really .-) Shopping was more interesting...
...whereas Aby was stunned by the "automatic car washing machine".
- an adventure worth doing while in Queenstown :)
There is a lot of property development going on in Queenstown and apartments are being built all over the place. Lucky for us so we could get a good rate combined with a good view, too!
Cherries taste great! But the real fun doesn't come without the spi.....
Our first day in Queenstown saying good-bye.
Beautiful West Coast
We know we owe you a few stories and pictures - but frankly - down the west coast it was really difficult with internet connectivity. Even in cities like Queenstown and Wanaka - where highspeed internet should be easily available, we were proven wrong. So here we go, the best pictures and stories of the last 3 days:
Leaving the glaciers, we drove down the west coast. Our first stop: A salmon farm in the wild wild west where we took our lunch.
One of the beautiful lakes down the west coast.
Our "Gladiator" of the day. More explanation on request .-)
Stop at "Knights Point", one of the scenic views over to Australia :)
And here another one - more to the North.
Touching the sands and waves of a wild west coast beach...
...not without being bitten by sand flies of course!
"Where the river meets the sea"
Missing the beautiful scenery (again!) - but sleep is also important :))
...and two Kiwis waking them at the right time.
What to do when you first time stand on a trampoline?
Trying...
...learning...
...succeeding!
Today's final stop:
Lake...
Wanaka!
Gold strike!
Today we travelled down the beautiful west coast of New Zealand. The following pictures give some ideas of the things that we did:
At first a visit to a unique old gold mining town: Shantytown!
Left top you can see the historical Bank of New Zealand building, left bottom the church (which is realllllly cold - no heating!) and the big photo shows the Jail :) How nice .-))
In the town, there is a real steam train still operating. Of course we took the ride in that ancient "horse".
The railway goes directly through the west coast thick and native - but beautiful bush!
At the end of the track, looking back to where we came from...
...and Aby, the steam technician, carefully inspecting what makes that engine run!
After stopping in "nowhere" and getting off the train...
...proceding to the gold panning area - at last a strike would be exactly what we need to pay the debts of the trip :) - here watching the demonstration carefully!
Then watching out for the big strike!
"with a little help from the pros"...
...a rich gold vein was struck around 11:45 am -
- which even can be taken home in a glas :) - beaware of Indian customs though .-)
While driving down the west coast, there are a number of scenic and beautiful lakes, for example here Lake Ianthe.
It has become a custom to touch or wash in every pristine water we come across :)
Another impression from lake Ianthe...
...before coming to Franz-Josef-Glacier!
It's a long way to go to the glacier...
...but spirits were high and shoes were "great", so we went for it!
"Fire and ice" - first the gold strike - now an "ice strike".
Feema got a new design idea. It has to do with stones... which have to be carried to India. Aby sharing his 50% responsibility of carrying of course!
The glacier looked so inviting, that late in the evening, we decided to take another walk through the bush.
- that can be quite dark at that time!
But the rewarding view make up for it.
Another view - this time to the coast.
"Sun in the bush"
"Expecting" the next day to be like this :)
Posing on the final outlook of the walkway...
...to say a magical good night or good day to you from the Kiwitravellers!
Despite all bad weather forecasts for the Westcoast, we planned to make a crossing over the mountains from Christchurch through Arthurs Pass National Park to Greymouth.
It was a long but worthy journey - but see for yourself:
Starting in the Canterbury Plains...
...with some very tired passengers. The Jet-Lag still has some grip on them :)
Shortly before Arthur's Pass NP.
Margit enjoying the view.
Feema and Margit in front and a small "nature-miracles-contemplating Aby" in the background.
One of the beautiful sights before the National Park.
... and another one...
...and - another one!
There are a number of small walks in the Park, so I decided to take Aby and Feema for one to a waterfall. The wind was bit chilly, so Margit decided to stay in the nice and warm car this time.
That walk proved to be demanding for them!
Very steep on one side and slippery on the other side...
...but worth the view!
Some more impressions from the walk...
...until finally reaching the car park back over the bridge we came from. The circle mark Aby and Feema watching the waterfall by the way :)
Making our descent to the Westcoast.
...where we first had to take a small meal. As you can see - again McDonalds - but this time it was Premiere for Feema and Aby - so something really special.
The evening was young, so we made our way up to Punakaiki - the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes to see the sunset there.
"On top of the world!"
Good night from the Kiwitravellers!
Greetings from Banks Peninsula
Today started with a looooong sleep for our guests :)) After getting rid of the Jet-Lag we went to the city for an appointment while Aby and Feema had time to make their own way through Christchurch.
Aby studying the map of the inner city to go for a walk...
...but ending up in a boat paddling :)
Feema enjoying it, too!
Then we made our way to the Banks Peninsula, only a short drive from Christchurch. Here a picture of the summit with the "Sign of the Kiwi".
View from the summit down to Christchurch.
View from the summit down to Lyettelton harbour.
Enjoying the view...
...but not without some effort before!
On to the next challenge...
...which was definitely worth the view.
It looks easy, but believe us, the way was quite steep!
Finishing the trip on the beach.
We didn't do that. But we certainly liked to watch :)
Welcome to NZ - Aby and Feema :)
Today we picked up Aby and Feema who will join us on our tour around the South Island. For all relatives and friends or all who want to accompagny us, here come the first pictures:
The plane has landed...
...with two Jet-Lag-shaken passengers :) (or was the shaking from the plane...?)
Although visibly tired when arriving, both regained their strength quickly when visiting the Botanical Gardens.
Feema expanding her flower and gardening knowledge.
A typical flower arrangement in the gardens -
- Trees and Bush accompagning them.
Some boating on the Avon river was our plan - maybe tomorrow?
Flowers...
...more flowers...
...and a couple thoroughly enjoying them :)
After visiting the Cathedral Square with its big and beautiful church...
...where Feema managed to get a brochure in Dutch ;) - the first day of our common journey was over. Cu tomorrow .-)
On 10th February Aby and Feema left and went back to India via Hong Kong and Singapore. Herewidth please find the activities at the end of our trip:
Enjoying the view of the dangerous bubbles in Rotorua Thermal area.
There are not "only" mud pools, but also colourful algae blooms in this acidic water.
We didn't stay long in Rotorua this time but headed towards Hamilton and then via Auckland back to Waiheke.
Of course not without giving our guests the opportunity to eat really good Dosa with Sambar and Chutney in one of the rare and authentic South Indian restaurants in New Zealand.
Nothing tastes better than South Indian food of course. Is it? What about Barbecue? Paella? :) It must come close when seeing these pictures taken on Waiheke where Barbecueing has become a real habit and Paella a real treat for Aby and Feema.
Having seen all the campers on the road, Aby was motivated to become a camper himself...
...but only with the help of the ladies and one experienced female scout - the tent could actually be built .-)
Saying good-bye to Waiheke while visiting our friends George and Judy.
All the best from the "Waiheke-Travellers", have a safe trip home and always know that you are welcome back!
New Zealand is well known for its excellent fishing possibilites. So today we got up early to show our guests trout fishing on Lake Taupo:
Watching a duck family taking a morning dip.
Enjoying the sunrise.
Being excited of the trip :)
Is this the place where we will catch that big fish?
One day I will drive a boat .-)
The fishing was great - but the catching was poor :))
Enjoying the lake just as it is - maybe because of NOT catching anything? :)
A sunday of leisure activities
It's sunday again - although some work had to be done (mainly answering emails) - as usual - we had time for some leisure activities:
Visiting the Huka Falls - close to Lake Taupo.
Watching the international womens tennis tournament.
Watching the boat race on the lake (and trying to keep the ears shut).
Some people used the crowds on the lake shore to get even more attention :)
A hungry swan...
...and ladies...
...waiting for the barbeque to be ready.
Learning the tricks of the trade .-)
From the Backcountry to the Lake
Starting in Palmerston North, we decided to take a different route up North to Lake Taupo mostly using unsealed roads to see more of the countryside of New Zealand. The timings were of course entirely different from what any map would normally suggest, but it was worth it:
Accidentally dropping by a local farming show where sheep and cattle is being auctioned.
Aby was keen to become a (B)Aby again when seeing this little train - but oh - what will the people think seein him in Kiwitraveller? - na ... just kidding :) but it was fun to watch the kids.
One the the views we can get when driving aside the normal roads - a little bit north of Palmerston North.
Everyone needs a small rest then and THERE...
...driving on!
Picnicing...
...makes...
...Aby...
...think! - what if we could stay in Nature always? - Especially seeing all these campers.
Driving through the volcanic plateau in Tongariro National Park...
...before reach our next destination:
Lake Taupo!
A crystal clear water...
...and some good swimmers as leading examples...
...will they make Feema and Aby swimmers, too?
- not this time. Here preferring the Indian bathing "dressing code" (while collecting what? STONES - of course!!)
"Feeeeeema - should we go camping here, tomorrow?"
"Ayyyyyyyyoooooooooo"
cu tomorrow :)
Picnic at the creek
Everyone has to eat - so we decided...
to go for picnic at the creek.
The weather was as good as the food!
Doing the dishes after the lunch.
Feema going after her favourite passion in New Zealand: "Collecting stones"! Aby is obviously very keen, carrying them home .-)
This small "Messenger-Bird" - yes that's its real name - whispered me to take a photo of Margit.
3 happy walkers...
...enjoying the nature...
...two of them planning to spice the walk up a little. Obviously there were no swimming skills required in this deeeeeeep water .-)
The cooks of the evening and their creations of the day.
First time ferry trip for Aby and Feema
Today was entirely dominated by going back to the North Island of New Zealand, thereby using the Interislander car and passenger ferry (a huge ship) again - a first time experience for Aby and Feema!
Just being surprised about the size of the ferry.
Welcome on board the "Kaitaki" or "Challenger".
Saying "good-bye" to Picton or better - the South Island.
After almost everyone on board had the Indian dish "Butter Chicken" (NZ style...), Feema and Aby became hungry as well... but the Indian kitchen is so popular in New Zealand, that unfortunately none of the chickens were left - so no homely feeling on the boat THIS time.
Instead Aby opted for the Children's Menu. We are all in the same boat anyway!
That water bottle is really something special, but HOW TO GET WATER OUT OF IT??
Welcome to the NZ capital city of Wellington!
...of course not without carefully observing how the cars are unloaded from the ship.
View down to Wellington from the cable car top station.
"Happy to be home again" - at least for some time - while being lucky getting served real indian food.
Welcome to Antarctica and -18° Celcius
Todays weather's motto was: Cold.
Why? At first visiting the International Antartic Center in Christchurch...
Thereby riding a "hägglund".
This vehicle even drives in 3m deep waters...
...which didn't help Aby and Feema much when encountering their first minus 18 degrees Celcius!
At least we all had a warming heartly feeling when meeting this real-life seals - used to live in the cold. They didn't seem to freeze a bit!
The lazy boys (or girls...?- we couldn't make out ;)) of the day. NOT us of course!!
Colourful lakes...
Today we had a long drive from Queenstown to Christchurch. Originally we planned to stay somewhere inbetween, but our work and internet connectivity forced us to go the full way up to Christchurch. Never mind - as we didn't miss some of the obvious beauties of the day:
First sight of Mt. Cook, New Zealands highest mountain, covered in snow - but not in clouds :)
Scenic view to Mt. Cook from Lake Pukaki. The special colour of the lake comes from the melting water of the glaciers beyond.
Stone climbing can be demanding :)
Each enjoying in its individual way...
...still marvelling about the colours!
This famous church in Lake Tekapo is called "Church of the good shepherd"...
...boosting truly miraculous views over the lake...
...and remaining Margit's and Tobi's favourite wedding place :)
A relaxing sunday!
This blog may read as if we are on a holiday all the time, but this is not the case. Mostly we will be in motels, writing the blog, answering emails related to one of our online businesses, phoning or meeting with business partners and clients. So we thought that once in a while we also deserve a relaxed sunday. Have a look:
Starting downtown Queenstown with a small stroll around the warf.
...until Aby and Feema spotted that beauty of a boat.
and - within minutes - they were on to it. For a 1 hour Jet-Boat ride in the Kawarau Jet.
We recommended to take some sun glasses and a spray west. By the way: There is not a rubbish bag sitting in the front row :) It is just Aby trying to figure out how to put the west on!
1-2-3 GO!
We couldn't help ourselves and did the wrong thing: Instead of sleeping like this little fellow, we answered what? E-Mails of course...
...until the visibly shaken (better to ask Aby for details of the word "shaken") but happy passengers came back from their trip.
In the afternoon we decided to go for a calm and nice walk through Queenstown Gardens...
...which we thoroughly enjoyed.
This rose with special greetings to all flower lovers!
"Being watched feeding the ducks": Whose face is happier? The kids or the ducklings one?
Couldn't resist to put that photo in here, too ;)
It has become a habit for Feema to collect "things". That can mean lots of "things". In this case it's not stones but pine seeds. Aby is interested of course - as usual!
Viewing the mountains from the gardens...
...until the lake catches our attention again, because two adventurous Indians...
...look back on what they did today already!
Saying Good-Bye to Queenstown Gardens...
...but welcoming a delicious evening in the Queenstown Gondola restaurant.
Observing every move the gondola makes very carefully!
Anyone for Bungee & Swing? Aby?
Never mind - may be next time ;) We were too hungry anyway :)
A worthy final for the relaxing day!
...ayooooooooooooo - of course not without the ride back to town :)
Good night Queenstown!
Queenstown - for little different adventures :)
Today we took the short but beautiful drive from Wanaka to Queenstown. Queenstown is well known for its adventurous activities like Bungee Jumping, Rafting and similar. Here are our adventures:
Watching the Kawarau River Gorge - and getting a first hand idea of what "Jet-Boating" in a river canyon means.
A couple on the edge: Bungee or Jet-Boating?
For Feema it was definitely Bungee!
Naaaa... not really .-) Shopping was more interesting...
...whereas Aby was stunned by the "automatic car washing machine".
- an adventure worth doing while in Queenstown :)
There is a lot of property development going on in Queenstown and apartments are being built all over the place. Lucky for us so we could get a good rate combined with a good view, too!
Cherries taste great! But the real fun doesn't come without the spi.....
Our first day in Queenstown saying good-bye.
Beautiful West Coast
We know we owe you a few stories and pictures - but frankly - down the west coast it was really difficult with internet connectivity. Even in cities like Queenstown and Wanaka - where highspeed internet should be easily available, we were proven wrong. So here we go, the best pictures and stories of the last 3 days:
Leaving the glaciers, we drove down the west coast. Our first stop: A salmon farm in the wild wild west where we took our lunch.
One of the beautiful lakes down the west coast.
Our "Gladiator" of the day. More explanation on request .-)
Stop at "Knights Point", one of the scenic views over to Australia :)
And here another one - more to the North.
Touching the sands and waves of a wild west coast beach...
...not without being bitten by sand flies of course!
"Where the river meets the sea"
Missing the beautiful scenery (again!) - but sleep is also important :))
...and two Kiwis waking them at the right time.
What to do when you first time stand on a trampoline?
Trying...
...learning...
...succeeding!
Today's final stop:
Lake...
Wanaka!
Gold strike!
Today we travelled down the beautiful west coast of New Zealand. The following pictures give some ideas of the things that we did:
At first a visit to a unique old gold mining town: Shantytown!
Left top you can see the historical Bank of New Zealand building, left bottom the church (which is realllllly cold - no heating!) and the big photo shows the Jail :) How nice .-))
In the town, there is a real steam train still operating. Of course we took the ride in that ancient "horse".
The railway goes directly through the west coast thick and native - but beautiful bush!
At the end of the track, looking back to where we came from...
...and Aby, the steam technician, carefully inspecting what makes that engine run!
After stopping in "nowhere" and getting off the train...
...proceding to the gold panning area - at last a strike would be exactly what we need to pay the debts of the trip :) - here watching the demonstration carefully!
Then watching out for the big strike!
"with a little help from the pros"...
...a rich gold vein was struck around 11:45 am -
- which even can be taken home in a glas :) - beaware of Indian customs though .-)
While driving down the west coast, there are a number of scenic and beautiful lakes, for example here Lake Ianthe.
It has become a custom to touch or wash in every pristine water we come across :)
Another impression from lake Ianthe...
...before coming to Franz-Josef-Glacier!
It's a long way to go to the glacier...
...but spirits were high and shoes were "great", so we went for it!
"Fire and ice" - first the gold strike - now an "ice strike".
Feema got a new design idea. It has to do with stones... which have to be carried to India. Aby sharing his 50% responsibility of carrying of course!
The glacier looked so inviting, that late in the evening, we decided to take another walk through the bush.
- that can be quite dark at that time!
But the rewarding view make up for it.
Another view - this time to the coast.
"Sun in the bush"
"Expecting" the next day to be like this :)
Posing on the final outlook of the walkway...
...to say a magical good night or good day to you from the Kiwitravellers!
Despite all bad weather forecasts for the Westcoast, we planned to make a crossing over the mountains from Christchurch through Arthurs Pass National Park to Greymouth.
It was a long but worthy journey - but see for yourself:
Starting in the Canterbury Plains...
...with some very tired passengers. The Jet-Lag still has some grip on them :)
Shortly before Arthur's Pass NP.
Margit enjoying the view.
Feema and Margit in front and a small "nature-miracles-contemplating Aby" in the background.
One of the beautiful sights before the National Park.
... and another one...
...and - another one!
There are a number of small walks in the Park, so I decided to take Aby and Feema for one to a waterfall. The wind was bit chilly, so Margit decided to stay in the nice and warm car this time.
That walk proved to be demanding for them!
Very steep on one side and slippery on the other side...
...but worth the view!
Some more impressions from the walk...
...until finally reaching the car park back over the bridge we came from. The circle mark Aby and Feema watching the waterfall by the way :)
Making our descent to the Westcoast.
...where we first had to take a small meal. As you can see - again McDonalds - but this time it was Premiere for Feema and Aby - so something really special.
The evening was young, so we made our way up to Punakaiki - the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes to see the sunset there.
"On top of the world!"
Good night from the Kiwitravellers!
Greetings from Banks Peninsula
Today started with a looooong sleep for our guests :)) After getting rid of the Jet-Lag we went to the city for an appointment while Aby and Feema had time to make their own way through Christchurch.
Aby studying the map of the inner city to go for a walk...
...but ending up in a boat paddling :)
Feema enjoying it, too!
Then we made our way to the Banks Peninsula, only a short drive from Christchurch. Here a picture of the summit with the "Sign of the Kiwi".
View from the summit down to Christchurch.
View from the summit down to Lyettelton harbour.
Enjoying the view...
...but not without some effort before!
On to the next challenge...
...which was definitely worth the view.
It looks easy, but believe us, the way was quite steep!
Finishing the trip on the beach.
We didn't do that. But we certainly liked to watch :)
Welcome to NZ - Aby and Feema :)
Today we picked up Aby and Feema who will join us on our tour around the South Island. For all relatives and friends or all who want to accompagny us, here come the first pictures:
The plane has landed...
...with two Jet-Lag-shaken passengers :) (or was the shaking from the plane...?)
Although visibly tired when arriving, both regained their strength quickly when visiting the Botanical Gardens.
Feema expanding her flower and gardening knowledge.
A typical flower arrangement in the gardens -
- Trees and Bush accompagning them.
Some boating on the Avon river was our plan - maybe tomorrow?
Flowers...
...more flowers...
...and a couple thoroughly enjoying them :)
After visiting the Cathedral Square with its big and beautiful church...
...where Feema managed to get a brochure in Dutch ;) - the first day of our common journey was over. Cu tomorrow .-)
posted by Aby Varghese at 7:52 PM
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