Bright, Victoria, Australia
I'm now in Bright, Victoria. Bright is located in the Alpine National Park area of Victoria, about 600km south of Sydney. It is a small town, of just a few hundred people, but since this is a major tourist area for south Australia, there are lots of resturants, shops, and a lot of activities. I will be here until next week, when I will return to Sydney, then back to Auckland for another week.
Aoraki / Mt. Cook National Park
This is the most incredibly beautiful place I have ever seen. It is peaceful, quiet, and surrounded by the majesty of the Southern Alps. The tourist areas are all located in the valley, which is flat for miles; the result of ancient glaciers. The mountains surrounding the valley, including Mt. Cook, are still arrayed in their winter finery - the hanging glaciers look like giant snowy highways. Hiking up to Kea Point gives an incredible view of Mt. Sefton, The Footstool, and Mueller Lake (whch was formed by a glacier) with Aoraki Mt. Cook in the background. It is very quiet at the point, which sits high above the lack, but occasionally you can hear a thunder like sound, from high up in the mountains - the result of minor avalances on the upper mountain.
I hiked up the Hooker Valley Trail from the campground, taking about 4 hours to do the trip. The trail has two hanging bridges which must be crossed, both over the Hooker River. These bridges are not for the faint of heart, since they are barely wide enough for one person, and the wind can blow quite hard here. After passing these bridges, the trail follows the river until it reaches Hooker Lake. The lake still has small icebergs floating in it from the glacier that feeds it. I managed to shoot about 8 rolls of film, and 30 4x5" transparencies, which I will post after my return, on my website.
Queenstown - 10 October
Now in Queenstown. I'll post later about it.
St Bathans - 9 October
Drove up from Palmerston this morning on Hwy 85, through an area known as the "Pigroot". There was snow up in the high country, but the roads were dry. St. Bathans is an old gold mining town. Photographed the town, and "Blue Lake" - with snow covered mountains in the background.
Moeraki Boulders - 8 October
The Moeraki Boulders are quite impressive as I expected them to be. They are scattered along a small section of the beach, quite a few are broken - natural causes. The weather wasn't particulary nice. No rain, but cloudy and cold.
There is a beautiful fishing village by the same name nearby, where I went for dinner. A place called Fluer's - quite well known around the area. See:
www.fluersplace.com. My waitress ordered my drinks and dinner via a WiFi Palm Pilot - quite unknown for NZ. Ordered the Venison Medallions glazed with a cherry and lime sauce, over garlic potatoes. Of course, a glass of Speights Gold to finish everything off.
Camped at the Moeraki Boulders, hoping to catch the sunrise. The weather cleared up, overnight, so I got the shots I wanted.
This really is stunning country, rolling hills, covered with sheep everywhere, snow covered mountains in the background.
Christchurch - 7 October
Arrived in Christchurch and went to pickup the motor home - the thing is a monster almost 7 meters in length. I left Christchurch for the drive down, spending the night next to the Waitaki River along the way. It started raining along the way, and rained overnight.
Auckland - 7 October
Arived in Auckland to a beautiful rainbow over the runway. It had just finished raining and everything was fresh and clear. The flight was comfortable, no problems with luggage. Boarded another flight for Christchurch, another full flight. Also, boarding was a rugby team, which I found out later was the Auckland team going to play Christchurch (I think they won). The North Island was pretty cloudy; once over the South Island everything cleared up.
My Schedule
Well, I am almost out of here for a while. My schedule is as follows:
- 5 October - Leave Honolulu on Wednesday evening, arriving in Christchurch, NZ on Friday morning, October 7th.
- 7 October to 15 October - Tour the South Island, mainly in the Otago and Queenstown area.
- 16 October - I will then fly to Sydney, Australia. Drive from Sydney to Bright in the Alpine National Park area.
- 17 October to 26 October - Tour the area around northern Victoria.
- 26 October - Fly back to Auckland, where I will tour the North Island until the 1st, then fly back to Honolulu.
- 30 October - Visit with my friends Sean and John in Auckland.
- 31 October - My last day in New Zealand I will be staying in downtown Auckland to look around the city a bit.
- 1 November - Leave Auckland for Honolulu.
- Arrive in Honolulu on October 31st at around midnight.
I will be taking lots and lots of pictures.
First Post
Aloha,
This is my first post. I will be leaving for New Zealand on Wednesday, October 5th, 2005 and will post details of my travels as I go. I hope you will visit this page, so I can share my travels with you.
Thank You.
