Sunday, January 04, 2004
So the new year gets into full swing. We managed to sandwich the festivities with Dolphins on one side and Penguins on the other. We had to go to this grandstand at dusk to watch rafts of Blue Penguins hop out of the water. It was magical. We couldn't take any pictures as the flashes hurt their eyes and would stop them coming back to this colony. We took this instead.....
After camping in the botanical gardens near the penguin colony we drove down to see the Mororaki boulders. According to the Rough Guide one the "dont misses" of New Zealand. I'm not putting up a picture. It's some rocks on a beach - they are uncommonly round I admit but rocks on the beach none the less. From here we turned inland towards Queenstown the Extreme Sports Capital of NZ, the world even! We booked into the YHA and did some laundry.
The next morning we drove up to Glenorchy which is where the Routeburn Track starts. This is one of NZs best treks. We were planning to do the lot but the campsites had been booked out for a while. We did manage to get a pitch for the first stop. The guide advised us that we could then leave our packs at the campsite the next day, walk to the summit of the track, turn around and walk back down again, pick up our packs and make it back to Glenorchy. OK then.
When we arrived in town we discovered the world famous "Glenorchy Races" were on. We had to have a quick flutter. Was surprised that the first race was the "walk, trot and gallop" and the second was the "saddling race". It is a kind of cross between Glorious Goodwood and a school sports day. Loads of fun but we lost our $1 bets. My horse just kept going round in circles and Naomi's jockey couldn't get on his mount.
So anyway we headed up to the fist campground, the Routeburn Flats. It has to be the most beautiful campsite in the ground but you'll have to look at Naomi's blog to see it.
We had it to ourslves for most of the day with others only turning up at around 5 pm. I lit a fire with damp wood. I was very proud and content. In the morning we packed up our tent and headed up smelling like kippers. It was a quite tough and the weather was foul, the views at the end were non-existant but it was still fantastic. A great sense of achievement and chaffing. This is the view looking down on the campground.
Today we were supposed to go out on "Funyaks" - a jet boat ride up the Dart River and then inflatable canoes back. The weather was so bad we cancelled and drove back to Queenstown to mooch and let our legs recover. I'm sneaking in a quick trip on the Shotover Jet boat for 4 this afternoon weather permitting. Well it is the Extreme Sports Capital of the World.....
After camping in the botanical gardens near the penguin colony we drove down to see the Mororaki boulders. According to the Rough Guide one the "dont misses" of New Zealand. I'm not putting up a picture. It's some rocks on a beach - they are uncommonly round I admit but rocks on the beach none the less. From here we turned inland towards Queenstown the Extreme Sports Capital of NZ, the world even! We booked into the YHA and did some laundry.
The next morning we drove up to Glenorchy which is where the Routeburn Track starts. This is one of NZs best treks. We were planning to do the lot but the campsites had been booked out for a while. We did manage to get a pitch for the first stop. The guide advised us that we could then leave our packs at the campsite the next day, walk to the summit of the track, turn around and walk back down again, pick up our packs and make it back to Glenorchy. OK then.
When we arrived in town we discovered the world famous "Glenorchy Races" were on. We had to have a quick flutter. Was surprised that the first race was the "walk, trot and gallop" and the second was the "saddling race". It is a kind of cross between Glorious Goodwood and a school sports day. Loads of fun but we lost our $1 bets. My horse just kept going round in circles and Naomi's jockey couldn't get on his mount.
So anyway we headed up to the fist campground, the Routeburn Flats. It has to be the most beautiful campsite in the ground but you'll have to look at Naomi's blog to see it.
We had it to ourslves for most of the day with others only turning up at around 5 pm. I lit a fire with damp wood. I was very proud and content. In the morning we packed up our tent and headed up smelling like kippers. It was a quite tough and the weather was foul, the views at the end were non-existant but it was still fantastic. A great sense of achievement and chaffing. This is the view looking down on the campground.
Today we were supposed to go out on "Funyaks" - a jet boat ride up the Dart River and then inflatable canoes back. The weather was so bad we cancelled and drove back to Queenstown to mooch and let our legs recover. I'm sneaking in a quick trip on the Shotover Jet boat for 4 this afternoon weather permitting. Well it is the Extreme Sports Capital of the World.....
