Road Trippin' no2.
Heh every one, hope all is well, just another update to make everyone even more jealous, this trip just gets better.......
So we left you last in Wanaka now about to leave for the 2 week road trip, with our hostages in hand we made a move. We started off with driving to the Fiordlands which is home to the mighty impressive Milford Sound, this place is just out of this world. To get there is a long drive next to a lake through random places such as 'knob's flat' then through Homer tunnel and BAM Milford hits you. Imense winding roads through cut through cliffs with lush water falls pouring out of every crack and crevice. Then you get to the sleepy village of Milford with just breath taking tranquility surrounding you. Unfortunatly we could not do the famous milford track (a really sweet 3-4 day trek) because the prices were just through the roof, and the weather wasnt great but thats why they call it the wet lands i guess.
So we decided to cruise on through to the Catlins. So many people have told us how amazing this place is and nothing anyone said even came close to justifying the beauty of this forest wonderland, i was blown away, totally out-there!!! But of course things go wrong and we couldnt find a decent place to camp, it was getting dark, and the rain was in full force. We all got tiried of driving and took our first stop we could find. That night we all crambed into Arja's van and ate a simple but awsome (as usual) meal.The next day we woke up to a sign saying 'Scrub huts corner' -quite fitting we thought.
We then invaded the coast line, first stop was Waipapa point. We got out of the vans and had a strool around. As i was walking around i nearly tripped over 2 pretty big sea lions!!!!! wow man!!!! we were so close to these awsome creatures and they were just chillin out not really bothered by our presence we took some snaps and strolled along the beach, -what a start. We were all so happy, it was an amazing feeling being that close to wildlife in there natual habitat. Slope point came on next a small walk above the cliffs to the most southernly point in NZ.
We cruised around for a few days just checking out various points on the maps that seemed interesting We had a really good night at 'Tautuku Bay' where I kind of turned into nature boy and spent a few hours in the forest collecting fire wood then tie-ing them up with vines to make bundles to carry to camp, unfortunatly the majority of wood was really damp and the fire was abismal but heh still a cool little jungle adventure for us.....
We really wanted to do a tramp in thr Catlins but what a surprise the weather was having none of it!!!! It started raining at a moderate rate then got harder and harder (at this point were trying to cook our 3 breakfasts) then it started hailing- morale was low so we decided to get out of this weather a.s.a.p. and so we had a night in Dunedin, not much to report about Dunedin its just another city, but not as bad as Queenstown!!! DO NOT GO THERE!!!
Any way nic and mans decided to get out of the city and explored the peninsula whilst myself and arja went on a tattoo and piercing mission which leaded us to Mosgiel, a town just outside of Dunedin. We got everything we wanted done and met some truly amazing people in the process (cheers guys).
We then went to catch up with the guys but checked out a couple of places in between that were recomended along the way. One of which was 'Shag point'. We wasnt expecting much but were almost knocked over when we saw all the fur seals, there were loads, it was amazing. There was this one dude who almost stood to attention when i pulled the camera out, when i walked away from him he kept on almost shouting at me so i went back to him and he stoped as i took more photos- i went through alot of film to keep him happy!!!! But it was an unforgettable experience it was so humbling just to be in there presence.
We also checked out these ancient boulders called 'Moeraki Boulders' which is lots of what looks like huge cannon balls just littering a beach front. The whole place a spooky kinda atmosphere all these things looked like crashed U.F.O 's.
Back with the lads now, we caught up with them at Elephant boulders. A place where apparently 'The lion the witch.......etc' was filmed, or so some Japanese tourists told us. However we didnt care for that much the climbing was too good. Arja then decided to head off as she had work back at Wanaka, so we decided to do some detours throgh the middle of Otago (the region we are in). We took on some really hairy roads and put Charlotte to the limit, but she came out on top form (good ol girl). Our last night we camped in literally the middle of nowhere just a huge hilly open space with a border line of 2 differant mountain ranges, there was no civilisation for miles it was so sureal. To finish off the trip we decided to try and walk up one of the mountains that surrounded us, all was going well steadily getting higher and higher, and the snow was becoming deeper and deeper, and then the wind starts showing us whos boss, it was so windy we were all being blown over. Walking became increasingly difficult so we decided to bail it was just getting to dangerous so we backed off. Mother nature seriously can give you a kick up the arse when she wants to.But man did we have some fun up there.
So back to Wanaka but the mission was still not over, we all thought it was time to abuse our livers and get excesivly drunk. The night went exactly as planned. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! what a trip.... check out the pics below, they are in no paticular order. until the next time, tom
So we left you last in Wanaka now about to leave for the 2 week road trip, with our hostages in hand we made a move. We started off with driving to the Fiordlands which is home to the mighty impressive Milford Sound, this place is just out of this world. To get there is a long drive next to a lake through random places such as 'knob's flat' then through Homer tunnel and BAM Milford hits you. Imense winding roads through cut through cliffs with lush water falls pouring out of every crack and crevice. Then you get to the sleepy village of Milford with just breath taking tranquility surrounding you. Unfortunatly we could not do the famous milford track (a really sweet 3-4 day trek) because the prices were just through the roof, and the weather wasnt great but thats why they call it the wet lands i guess.
So we decided to cruise on through to the Catlins. So many people have told us how amazing this place is and nothing anyone said even came close to justifying the beauty of this forest wonderland, i was blown away, totally out-there!!! But of course things go wrong and we couldnt find a decent place to camp, it was getting dark, and the rain was in full force. We all got tiried of driving and took our first stop we could find. That night we all crambed into Arja's van and ate a simple but awsome (as usual) meal.The next day we woke up to a sign saying 'Scrub huts corner' -quite fitting we thought.
We then invaded the coast line, first stop was Waipapa point. We got out of the vans and had a strool around. As i was walking around i nearly tripped over 2 pretty big sea lions!!!!! wow man!!!! we were so close to these awsome creatures and they were just chillin out not really bothered by our presence we took some snaps and strolled along the beach, -what a start. We were all so happy, it was an amazing feeling being that close to wildlife in there natual habitat. Slope point came on next a small walk above the cliffs to the most southernly point in NZ.
We cruised around for a few days just checking out various points on the maps that seemed interesting We had a really good night at 'Tautuku Bay' where I kind of turned into nature boy and spent a few hours in the forest collecting fire wood then tie-ing them up with vines to make bundles to carry to camp, unfortunatly the majority of wood was really damp and the fire was abismal but heh still a cool little jungle adventure for us.....
We really wanted to do a tramp in thr Catlins but what a surprise the weather was having none of it!!!! It started raining at a moderate rate then got harder and harder (at this point were trying to cook our 3 breakfasts) then it started hailing- morale was low so we decided to get out of this weather a.s.a.p. and so we had a night in Dunedin, not much to report about Dunedin its just another city, but not as bad as Queenstown!!! DO NOT GO THERE!!!
Any way nic and mans decided to get out of the city and explored the peninsula whilst myself and arja went on a tattoo and piercing mission which leaded us to Mosgiel, a town just outside of Dunedin. We got everything we wanted done and met some truly amazing people in the process (cheers guys).
We then went to catch up with the guys but checked out a couple of places in between that were recomended along the way. One of which was 'Shag point'. We wasnt expecting much but were almost knocked over when we saw all the fur seals, there were loads, it was amazing. There was this one dude who almost stood to attention when i pulled the camera out, when i walked away from him he kept on almost shouting at me so i went back to him and he stoped as i took more photos- i went through alot of film to keep him happy!!!! But it was an unforgettable experience it was so humbling just to be in there presence.
We also checked out these ancient boulders called 'Moeraki Boulders' which is lots of what looks like huge cannon balls just littering a beach front. The whole place a spooky kinda atmosphere all these things looked like crashed U.F.O 's.
Back with the lads now, we caught up with them at Elephant boulders. A place where apparently 'The lion the witch.......etc' was filmed, or so some Japanese tourists told us. However we didnt care for that much the climbing was too good. Arja then decided to head off as she had work back at Wanaka, so we decided to do some detours throgh the middle of Otago (the region we are in). We took on some really hairy roads and put Charlotte to the limit, but she came out on top form (good ol girl). Our last night we camped in literally the middle of nowhere just a huge hilly open space with a border line of 2 differant mountain ranges, there was no civilisation for miles it was so sureal. To finish off the trip we decided to try and walk up one of the mountains that surrounded us, all was going well steadily getting higher and higher, and the snow was becoming deeper and deeper, and then the wind starts showing us whos boss, it was so windy we were all being blown over. Walking became increasingly difficult so we decided to bail it was just getting to dangerous so we backed off. Mother nature seriously can give you a kick up the arse when she wants to.But man did we have some fun up there.
So back to Wanaka but the mission was still not over, we all thought it was time to abuse our livers and get excesivly drunk. The night went exactly as planned. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! what a trip.... check out the pics below, they are in no paticular order. until the next time, tom
sitting ducks, at Elephant Rocks
Dirty Shakers of Joy all round
The crew, at one of the awsome parties we had at the house in Wanaka
Sunset at one of our camps in Duntroon
Twilight, Tautuku Bay
This is what its all about
Nic on lead, Mans on drums, Tom on bass, man we rock
yup thats Milford
Some poor dude who lost his way
Sea lions at Waipapa Point
posted by nicandtom @ 6:03 PM
2 Comments:
once again a wonderfully painted pic of folks enjoyin' life, you lucky devils. feel quite envious of your exploits.....Zeb
In reply to youre text (just thought its prob costing you to recieve them, sorry!!), im sure you'll love asia as much as NZ, although it does look like youve had a wicked time there. as for the bbq, not got a date yet but will let you know just incase you can come, and also me and jack have a gig oct 21st at the trowel, so put it in youre diary! woo! take lots of care!!! Lil xxxx
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