Taupo: Let's skydive.

View Larger Map

Some things just don't need words.





One of the best experiences of my life.


Got to Taupo on the 8th, am staying here until I leave New Zealand. I fly out of Auckland on Saturday night, will just be taking a bus there Saturday morning, so hopefully the bus doesn't have any problems along the way. Need to box up the bike, organize all my bags, etc; little bit of a hassle because everything here is closed today (Friday, the 10th) for Good Friday. But I'm organized. Should work out.

Fox Glacier to Nelson to Wellington

View Larger Map

Majority of the past two days has been spent in buses. Went from Fox Glacier up to Nelson in one day, about nine hours, then from Nelson to Picton where I hopped on a ferry to Wellington and the North Island the next day. The bus drivers make every effort for passengers to be comfortable; there are brief stops every two hours or so to stretch and use a restroom, and most drivers also give a bit of a commentary on the area along the route so you learn a bit too.

Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki, along the route to Nelson. For some unknown reason the rocks have formed into very distinct layers.

Bike on one of the buses. It was somewhat easier to take the bike on buses on the South Island because one of the companies just had racks on the back of the buses where the bike could be lifted on in one piece, rather than taking a wheel off. But it isn't too big of a hassle.

Chilling with some glaciers.

View Larger Map

Am starting to head up the West Coast. Spent one day at the town of Fox Glacier to do a glacier walk. Weather was dreary; incessant rain, blustering wind, and the ambient cold of the glacier itself didn't help matters at all. The company that took us out on the tour provided us with a complete ensemble of cold and wet weather gear though, so we (there were 8 of us on the tour) were well equipped to deal with the elements.

Definitely not as pretty weather as Wanaka. The West Coast gets hit with a ton of storms coming off the Tasman Sea, and the Southern Alps mountain range (right on the coast) acts as a buffer for the rest of the South Island. The high altitude of the mountains combines with the plentitude of rain to create a couple of glaciers. Fox Glacier and Franz Joseph are the two biggest, about 23km apart from each other. I toured Fox because it has a reputation for being less touristy than Franz Joseph.

The rain did not hinder the tour at all. We spent about 4-5hrs out on the glacier; the highlight of the tour was definitely seeing the giant meltholes, caused by warmer water melting paths and crevasses in the glacier. The guides made sure no one fell in; it was a long way down to the bottom. We were fitted out with clamp-ons for our feet, basically metal shoes with about 15 1-inch spikes in the bottom for better traction on the glacier. In some spots the paths the guides went on had been smoothed out by the rain, so the guides just looked around for where the path should be, took out two pick-axes (one for each guide), and started chopping away at the ice until the formed basic steps.

The glacier valley. At one point it filled the entire valley, but has since receded. It is about 18km long in full.

The climate is so wet that right up until the glacier started there is a rainforest. Had to walk through it a ways to get high enough to climb out onto the glacier.

The group out on the ice.

A melthole. Camera lenses stuck in the rain.

One of the meltholes was so big we got to walk around inside it and through some nearby crevasses. The intense blue color is caused by the ice being deep enough that it has a very low oxygen content.

Some time in Wanaka

View Larger Map

Spent the past few days in Wanaka. Did a monstrous hike up to Mount Roy yesterday; one of the highest hills in the region, peaks at around 1100m. Had company though; had to hitch to the beginning of the hike, and the guy who picked me up also picked up another hiker, Andy, along the way, and then he and I did the hike together. Took around 6hrs altogether; 3hrs up, 1hr at the top, and then 1.5-2hrs back down. It was a killer hill. Rather than a nice, gentle descent, the path took off from the start going straight up. Every time we came to a switchback we would be hoping and hoping that the path would level out, but it just kept climbing and climbing. Partially walked, partially stumbled back down. Beautiful views at the top so it was worth it. Knees were protesting at the end of the day though.










Went the next day to Puzzling World, an enigmatic place featuring a couple of unusual rooms and a pretty big outdoor maze. There were four rooms in all: one with a large collection of holographic images; one with optical illusions; another with 170 faces that appear to follow you as you walk around, which is a little bit freaky; and the grandest, a room where the floor and everything in the room is tilted 15 degrees, a very dizzying spectacle. It was all good fun though. The maze is an elaborate construction of passages and dead-ends; the goal is to find your way through to four towers, one at each corner of the maze. Took me 1hr 2min. A pretty good time, all in all.

The swing is level. The railing is parallel to the floor.

The floor is on a 15 degree slant. I'm standing vertically.

Several days in Dunedin

View Larger Map

Spent the past couple of days in Dunedin, a university town on the East Coast. Took a bus to get here. It was a great town- everyone was very friendly, very nice, there was plenty to do. Ended up staying a couple of days longer than I had planned.

Took a tour of the Cadbury factory- scrumptious! Got a ton of free chocolate and candy bars, always a plus.

Also made an excursion to the local farmer's market. It was the biggest one I've been to so far, probably has something to do with the fact that Dunedin is a pretty large city. Got some plums, apples, and stir-fry greens mix. Delicious.




A festival called the Dunedin Fringe Festival is happening right now. It's basically a celebration of the arts, from Scottish dancers (large amount of Scottish history in Dunedin) to street performers to singers to anything else. The pictures below are from a group called "Bikes 4 Fun." Basically these two guys have built a whole collection of abnormal bikes- recumbents, rear wheel drive instead of front, penny farthings, skateboard-bike hybrids, etc, etc, and rent out the collection for groups. As part of the Fringe Festival, they set up the collection in the middle of Dunedin and just let passer-bys have a go on them. It was really fun to try out a different selection of bikes after being on just one type for the past two months.

Check out the three-wheeled unicycle! Lot of friction. I didn't get too far riding it.

Me on a recumbant.



Scottish dancers.

Street performers- the Twisty Twins (and guy from audience on bottom)

University of Otago campus.

Otago peninsula.

Right nearby Dunedin is the Otago Peninsula, a wildlife haven. I caught some rides with other people staying at the hostel- too far to do by bike. The Peninsula features the world's only mainland Albatross breeding colony. I took a tour, got to see several Royal Albatross chicks and also 5 adult Albatross flying around. Seeing the adult albatross was a little bit unexpected- it was a really nice day, not windy at all, and the guide didn't think any of the adults would be coming back to their nests. Apparently they prefer stormy, cloudy weather. Seeing them fly was extraordinary- they just glide about, barely flapping their wings at all, and soar through the air. Definitely a sight to see. And hopefully good luck for the rest of the trip.

Albatross chicks.

Adult albatross.

More albatross.

Albatross mating cycle.

Otago peninsula- one view.

Went on an excursion up Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world. Would not have wanted to bike up (or down- that would definitely have been a test of my brakes!) it. Went with two Irish guys I met in the hostel. We were planning on driving their rental car up the street, but upon actually seeing it, we decided that their tiny car would be better off parked at the bottom. So we walked. Is this what San Francisco is like?

Baldwin Street- from the bottom.

Nice house on Baldwin street.

View from the top.

Went out onto the Otago Peninsula a second time to go to see these tiny yellow-eyed penguins. And nearly got mauled by sea lions on the way. There were a number of sea lions sitting on the beach, some asleep, some not, but when we tried to go around them some of the males lifted their heads and growled at us. So we took a hike into the sand dunes around the beach, and made it safely past the lions. The penguins were really cute- their nest was at the top of a really steep hill (Dunedin has a ton of hills), and they just hopped and shuffled their way to the top.

View of Sandfly bay- named because of the wind, so strong it makes the sand fly.

Nigel climbing the dunes.

Martin in dunes.

Scrambling up the hill.

A snack.