Finished our first day of skiing today, and are we sore!
It's surprising how many little muscles you never knew existed around your knees.
I took to the board and Danica ski's.
It was great fun, early start, snow chains, lots of snow and lots of people.
We are heading back tomorrow to do another day, then it's back to Christchurch (again!) and then finally back home to our own bed, and work unfortunately ;)
Hopefully we can get some pics uploaded when we get back - yes it's a poor effort, but a spanner got thrown into the works when the laptop died on us. Ahh well, I can vouch for the quality, the D60 has done a lot of leg work on this trip.
August 16, 2008
August 15, 2008
Dunedin, cause I am full already
Dunedin was a nice little seaside town. We finally got to eat the fabled NZ fish and chips, and it's not all they make it out to be.
First stop was to the Cadbury factory, and they don't had out as much free chocolate as they did back when I saw the Tasmanian branch.
Aside from that we drove alongside this lake at about 40kph for an hour to get up to the Otago Peninsula to see Albatross/Seal/Penguins, with only the seals making an appearance unfortunately.
After that we saw the only castle in NZ, which was nice albeit windy.
Now comes the drive back to Christchurch, drop the Fun Bus off (oh what a great time we have had), then pop back down the way we came to get to Methven (Mithvan for the locals) for some skiing/boarding.
First stop was to the Cadbury factory, and they don't had out as much free chocolate as they did back when I saw the Tasmanian branch.
Aside from that we drove alongside this lake at about 40kph for an hour to get up to the Otago Peninsula to see Albatross/Seal/Penguins, with only the seals making an appearance unfortunately.
After that we saw the only castle in NZ, which was nice albeit windy.
Now comes the drive back to Christchurch, drop the Fun Bus off (oh what a great time we have had), then pop back down the way we came to get to Methven (Mithvan for the locals) for some skiing/boarding.
August 12, 2008
Fox Glacier > Queenstown
Another long drive but also an abundance of awesome scenery. The GPS sent us down the scenic track which was pretty cool but it was also hella windy and a little unnerving on the final stretch where we went down this big mountainside with about 6 hairpin turns (like the ones you see in car ads (second gear all the way down - MW)). I think our pots and pans may have gotten a bit battered.
Queenstown was very much a tourist spot. All about who had the best and most expensive ski gear. The stores basically operate on a 'give us your wallet' scheme. In any case, we forked out the dinero to go bungee jumping (well, Mark jumped, I took a bungy swing ride instead). We had it pretty well timed so that Mark jumped then had enough time to get winched back up etc to see me do my drop, so yeah.
They also had this really cool luge track that we had a whole bunch of rides included in our bungee tickets for, so we spent a good part of the rest of the day getting a ski lift type thing up to the top of a hill and riding back down on these little luge pods, skidding out because the track was all icy from the snow. It was awesome :)
We have a heap of pictures to upload once we cull a few.
Tomorrow is the drive to Dunedin, Scottish historic region, or something like that. We are going on a tour of the Cadbury Factory then going to see giant albatross and penguins and a castle. Sounds reasonably Scottish to me.
Queenstown was very much a tourist spot. All about who had the best and most expensive ski gear. The stores basically operate on a 'give us your wallet' scheme. In any case, we forked out the dinero to go bungee jumping (well, Mark jumped, I took a bungy swing ride instead). We had it pretty well timed so that Mark jumped then had enough time to get winched back up etc to see me do my drop, so yeah.
They also had this really cool luge track that we had a whole bunch of rides included in our bungee tickets for, so we spent a good part of the rest of the day getting a ski lift type thing up to the top of a hill and riding back down on these little luge pods, skidding out because the track was all icy from the snow. It was awesome :)
We have a heap of pictures to upload once we cull a few.
Tomorrow is the drive to Dunedin, Scottish historic region, or something like that. We are going on a tour of the Cadbury Factory then going to see giant albatross and penguins and a castle. Sounds reasonably Scottish to me.
August 10, 2008
Christchurch > Fox Glacier
Well, our second day in Christchurch was somewhat better. We managed to get a replacement HD for the macbook but have to run Ubuntu on it until we can get it home and reinstall OSX.
During the course of the day we made our way to the Gondola that takes you right up to one of the mountain peaks overlooking the town and got an awesome view of the valley, Alps and ocean. It was pretty freaking cold, and started raining, but then... It was snowing! It was pretty awesome. Then we went to see the penguins at the Antartic Centre. We just missed feeding time but there were still plenty of penguins out and about to take pictures of. So, yay!
It also snowed again overnight and a little more during our drive to Fox Glacier. The drive took us about 6 hours, and there was loads of beautiful scenery on the way. At one point we could see the ocean, farmland and the southern alps all in one. Crazy.
Today we did an all day hike out onto the Fox Glacier and it was just amazing. Nothing I can say about it really does it justice so hopefully when we get some internets working on the laptop we can upload some pictures and share it with you.
In any case, its time to retire to the fun bus. Our legs are like jelly and I think we are both in great need of a hot chocolate and some rest.
Tomorrow we drive to Queenstown - land of milk and bungee jumping.
During the course of the day we made our way to the Gondola that takes you right up to one of the mountain peaks overlooking the town and got an awesome view of the valley, Alps and ocean. It was pretty freaking cold, and started raining, but then... It was snowing! It was pretty awesome. Then we went to see the penguins at the Antartic Centre. We just missed feeding time but there were still plenty of penguins out and about to take pictures of. So, yay!
It also snowed again overnight and a little more during our drive to Fox Glacier. The drive took us about 6 hours, and there was loads of beautiful scenery on the way. At one point we could see the ocean, farmland and the southern alps all in one. Crazy.
Today we did an all day hike out onto the Fox Glacier and it was just amazing. Nothing I can say about it really does it justice so hopefully when we get some internets working on the laptop we can upload some pictures and share it with you.
In any case, its time to retire to the fun bus. Our legs are like jelly and I think we are both in great need of a hot chocolate and some rest.
Tomorrow we drive to Queenstown - land of milk and bungee jumping.
August 08, 2008
New Zealand Ahoy!
Well, we've been in not so sunny NZ for under 24 hours and a few things have already gone wrong:
- Macbook died (probably the HD).
- My blue hair dye burst open during the flight (but was luckily contained within the toiletries bag) and I had to take a shower with the contents to clean it all off. Incidentally this particular holiday park has a nice blue stain to remember us by.
- It's raining and cold.
- I think I has lost my beanie. I can't find its.
Once we sort the laptop situation out (maybe) we can post some pictures.
Today we explore Christchurch and hopefully see some penguins *squee*.
- Macbook died (probably the HD).
- My blue hair dye burst open during the flight (but was luckily contained within the toiletries bag) and I had to take a shower with the contents to clean it all off. Incidentally this particular holiday park has a nice blue stain to remember us by.
- It's raining and cold.
- I think I has lost my beanie. I can't find its.
Once we sort the laptop situation out (maybe) we can post some pictures.
Today we explore Christchurch and hopefully see some penguins *squee*.
March 12, 2008
It's been a hectic few days since we got back but I've finally found the time to sit down and think about how I can possibly sum up the past four weeks.
In a few words, it can be simply put as "the best marathon trip ever organised". I look back now on when I originally booked everything in, and I know that I didn't really make any definite plans on what I would do or what I wanted to see - I think doing most things on a spontaneous basis is what made it better. Instead of it being a "now what do we NEED to do today" it was more of a "what do we WANT to do today?".
I can't really say how it was per say. Anyone who has traveled overseas before can probably understand that the experience is your own and to try and share that with people back home is hard. All I will say is that the photo's don't do things justice. Multiply the "gee, that looks pretty" factor by a billion and then maybe, MAYBE, you'd be close to how it felt to see it all first hand.
That said, it was over all too soon. Already we're preparing to throw ourselves back into work (I have a performance on 5 April that I need to get ready for and Mark is back at work today) and adjust to normal life. The one thing I have found weird is talking entirely in English again. I had gotten used to using French and what little Japanese I know.
Inevitably I am already attempting to figure out when I can go again ;)
I hope you all enjoyed reading along with us. Its been fun, and its nice to have a record of our thoughts and travels. Already things are starting to fade in this goldfish memory of mine.
In a few words, it can be simply put as "the best marathon trip ever organised". I look back now on when I originally booked everything in, and I know that I didn't really make any definite plans on what I would do or what I wanted to see - I think doing most things on a spontaneous basis is what made it better. Instead of it being a "now what do we NEED to do today" it was more of a "what do we WANT to do today?".
I can't really say how it was per say. Anyone who has traveled overseas before can probably understand that the experience is your own and to try and share that with people back home is hard. All I will say is that the photo's don't do things justice. Multiply the "gee, that looks pretty" factor by a billion and then maybe, MAYBE, you'd be close to how it felt to see it all first hand.
That said, it was over all too soon. Already we're preparing to throw ourselves back into work (I have a performance on 5 April that I need to get ready for and Mark is back at work today) and adjust to normal life. The one thing I have found weird is talking entirely in English again. I had gotten used to using French and what little Japanese I know.
Inevitably I am already attempting to figure out when I can go again ;)
I hope you all enjoyed reading along with us. Its been fun, and its nice to have a record of our thoughts and travels. Already things are starting to fade in this goldfish memory of mine.
March 10, 2008
Tokyo Photos
Are here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/24532281@N04/sets/ - because there is too many to post in with whit notes below. There is three sets so far; the Shinkansen (super fast train), Kyoto Temples and Kyoto Rock Garden.
Also some of the shots are not pro work as I was getting a handle on the camera and what not, there is a few others as well that I need to resize and make smaller to they won't take forever to download to you!
We didn't get to go into the Imperial Palace in Kyoto as you need to apply for access.
And we didn't allow enough time to go see the Monkey Park and the bamboo forest, mainly because it takes 2 hours to get up to Kyoto, and we left Tokyo a tad too late.
The temples we saw were HUGE! They are all made of wood as well. You can't get into them so we just wandered around and took some pics and admired them. Here is one shot;
I liked the rock garden a lot, there was no grass there, it is all moss. There was a few cherry blossom's coming out as you can see, and there was some of what looked like conifers that had been trimmed to be just the main trunk with a little head of needles - very neat.
A sample shot;
And this is the Shinkansen - 2 and a bit hours to travel over 500kms, it was super fast;
Go check out the sets I posted above, they will be worth it I promise! :)
More stuff later.
Also some of the shots are not pro work as I was getting a handle on the camera and what not, there is a few others as well that I need to resize and make smaller to they won't take forever to download to you!
We didn't get to go into the Imperial Palace in Kyoto as you need to apply for access.
And we didn't allow enough time to go see the Monkey Park and the bamboo forest, mainly because it takes 2 hours to get up to Kyoto, and we left Tokyo a tad too late.
The temples we saw were HUGE! They are all made of wood as well. You can't get into them so we just wandered around and took some pics and admired them. Here is one shot;
I liked the rock garden a lot, there was no grass there, it is all moss. There was a few cherry blossom's coming out as you can see, and there was some of what looked like conifers that had been trimmed to be just the main trunk with a little head of needles - very neat.
A sample shot;
And this is the Shinkansen - 2 and a bit hours to travel over 500kms, it was super fast;
Go check out the sets I posted above, they will be worth it I promise! :)
More stuff later.
We're home!
Landed yesterday morning, as Tokyo is only 2 hours behind it was a minor time/sleep lag to deal with.
It is great to be home, back in my bed, catching up with friends and what not.
I have done about 4 loads of washing since I got back and cleaned the suit case out. Also I tried a few of the scotches I bought, they are delightful!
On the flip side, my fridge died yesterday morning, and due to the service centre stuffing around they can't fix it till tomorrow :(
I am just going through some of the Tokyo pics we took with the new Nikon and will upload them soon.
It is great to be home, back in my bed, catching up with friends and what not.
I have done about 4 loads of washing since I got back and cleaned the suit case out. Also I tried a few of the scotches I bought, they are delightful!
On the flip side, my fridge died yesterday morning, and due to the service centre stuffing around they can't fix it till tomorrow :(
I am just going through some of the Tokyo pics we took with the new Nikon and will upload them soon.
March 08, 2008
On the final stretch
A little over 6 hours till we leave Tokyo, and another 15 odd till the official end to The Holiday.
We have a heap of stuff we need to catch up on so expect some post home-arrival updates with pictures and stories and what not.
But for now we must go and pack and make sure we are not over the 42kg weight limit - we did need to go get some little wheely cases to take on the plane with a few bits and pieces ;)
We have a heap of stuff we need to catch up on so expect some post home-arrival updates with pictures and stories and what not.
But for now we must go and pack and make sure we are not over the 42kg weight limit - we did need to go get some little wheely cases to take on the plane with a few bits and pieces ;)
March 07, 2008
Midnight Snack Run: Tokyo edition!
There is something about walking around to the convenience store, buying noodles, cookies, nuggets and drinks and then coming back to the hotel room to consume it with an Asahi.
(It's 0130 here.)
So far we have wandered around Tokyo, specifically to Akihabara where all the electronics are (think Paddies markets for computers), and Harijuku where the alternative area of the city resides.
Both have been interesting and great to see, but nothing amazing - we had some high expectations which has kinda been the problem in most places that we have been (bar Paris).
Tomorrow we are going to head to Kyoto to check out the temples and whatever else we find. We also picked up a Nikon D60 DSLR yesterday which will get it's first workout on the day trip so expect some snazzy pics! :)
(It's 0130 here.)
So far we have wandered around Tokyo, specifically to Akihabara where all the electronics are (think Paddies markets for computers), and Harijuku where the alternative area of the city resides.
Both have been interesting and great to see, but nothing amazing - we had some high expectations which has kinda been the problem in most places that we have been (bar Paris).
Tomorrow we are going to head to Kyoto to check out the temples and whatever else we find. We also picked up a Nikon D60 DSLR yesterday which will get it's first workout on the day trip so expect some snazzy pics! :)
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