Christian & Mari Down Under: April 2007

River sledging

We survived the river sledging. To get what this sport is all about, have a look @ the below pictures taken from todays outdoor adventure.

A little nervous - but yet all ready for some serious fun!

Enjoying river life from our boards

On our way down Kawaru river

After finishing the surfing we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon in Queenstown

Pizza and beer marked the end to a fantastic holiday

Hiking to the Ben Lomond summit, Queenstown & a few other shots

We bring you a few pictures from our stay in Queenstown, where everything is jolly good so far. Tomorrow we're going river sledging. Since our parents probably will get worried if we provide details about this sport, we won't do so. Pictures and report will come 2morrow!

From a little pitstop along lake Wakatipu

Mari showing the latest fashion in beautiful surroundings.

Shot from the car - on our way to Queenstown.

Autumn moodes in Queenstown.

As always, Christian has trouble standing still

Today we hiked in beautiful weather up to Ben Lomond, a 1678m peak just outside Queenstown. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy (and possibly envy:))

We were here, on the top of Ben Lommond

Mari enjoying the mountains, the view and the sun

Someone has placed this bench in the middle of nowhere. Dunno why, but we had a little rest before the final climb towards the summit.

From the trail leading to the summit

Only 20 minutes to go? Good!

Mari was very happy as we reached the top of Ben Lomond

Christians head @ 1678 + 1.8 m above sea level

View from the top of the summit. In the background you can see Queenstown and Lake Wakapitu

Ready for adrenalin & white mountains after penguin failure

After spending a lot of hours driving to and couple of nights sleeping in Dunedin, we are now in Queenstown for the final three days of our midsemester travelling. Here we'll go hiking to Ben Lomond, an 8-10 hrs tramp which pretty much about climbing straight upwards to get a nice view of Queenstown and its surroundings. What we'll do the last day is yet to see, but bungee jumping, river sledging, skydiving are some of the opportunities! :)

Dunedin was supposed to be the ecological peak of the trip - we had made major plans to see sealions, penguins, albatrosses and seals - all of which Dunedin is famous for. But unfortunately, the weather gods were in a really baaaaad mood - we had snow and gusty winds through the entire stay. And when the weather is bad, none of the animals come ashore. So all we ended up seeing was a lonely (but indeed cute!) yellow-eyed penguin taking shelter in the forest from the horrible weather. But at least we got to stay at a really cool backpacker - The Bus-Stop. And, as the name suggests, a bus is what you get when you order a double room at this place. Phil & Isabella, the managers of the place, have transformed a bus from the 50s into a cozy unit. So as the weather was just awful, we spent our time in the bus in front of the woodfired oven.

On this picture, there actually is a penguin - the only one we saw during our stay in Dunedin! Can you spot him?

Christian scouting for penguins and other sea creatures on Victoria Beach

Victoria beach is quite beautiful - with or without sea lions

Mari in front of the Dunedin church, praying for nice weather and cute penguins

An "I was in Dunedin"- pic

Chillin' out inside our bus

This is where we slept while in Dunedin! Cool, or what?

Mari about to conclude that her prayers were a waste - no sea lions, penguins or albatrosses ever made it to the beach during the horrible weather.

Midsemester break: Hiking in Wanaka

After two intense weeks @ school with midsemester tests, assignments to hand in, papers to write ie working 24/7, the midsemester break was warmly welcomed when it finally hit us on monday. We'll be spending the next week in the very southern part of the south island. With Adrenaline Capital Queenstown as our base, we'll try to explore as much as we can of the Otago area. The next couple of days we'll spend in Wanaka

Wanaka is a town in the Central Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated at the southern end of Lake Wanaka, adjacent to the outflow of the lake to the Clutha River. It is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. Wanaka is primarily a resort town but has both summer and winter seasons and is based around the many outdoor oppurtunities.

We are primarly here to hike and maybe do some mountain biking and/or rock climbing. Yesterday we warmed up with a 2hr hike to Mt. Iron, and today we did an 8hr tramp to Mt Roy and Mt Alpha. Some pictures are found below. So far,we've been really lucky with the weather. Autumn is coming to New Zealand, which means we are prepared for rain- and snowstorms the next week.

Christian on his way from Mt Roy (in the back) to Mt Alpha

The mandatory "Jihaa! I made it!"-picture

Mari enjoying her lunch on top of Mt Alpha

Hmmm...where shall I go now?

Some of the climbing up to Mt Alpha was pretty steep - and very fun!

Mari on her way up the steep slopes of Mt Roy

Christian having a rest behind a rock

LoTR-inspired posing.

Mari on the top of Mt. Roy

I could get used to views like this

Our breakfast view. No kidding, this is what it looks like from our backpackers'.

Purple Cow Backpackers, our hostel in Wanaka

Mari on her way up Mt. Iron

Christian thinking about how much more he loves being outdoors than indoors having midsemester tests

On top on Mt. Iron monday afternoon

Christian showing off holding a house with his thumb in front of Puzzleworld.

Something baaaaad has happened

"Black Sheep" is a low-budget NZ splatter movie that was released a couple of weeks ago down under. Since the sheep in NZ are just as much a national icon as the kiwi, we gladly went to the movies to be entertained. I think the director meant black sheep to be a seriously frightening horror movie, but it ended up being a big laugh! I'll definitely bring the DVD when I get back home. Meanwhile, here are a few screenshots: