Two albums from Vietnam:
Sapa
Halong Bay
Wednesday 23 February 2011
Tuesday 15 February 2011
Saturday 12 February 2011
Milford Trek
When you imagine the best part of New Zealand, the beautiful and majestic snow covered mountains that are reflected in clear lakes and surrounded by thick forests, you probably imagine Fiordland in the southwest of the South Island. This is the place where the most famous treks are. The kiwis call them great walks, but they also call trekking "tramping", which is a word that is known only in New Zealand.
Thursday 10 February 2011
Gore
Since we decided we don't want to waste anymore time in big cities, we tried to leave Dunedin, which wasn't that easy, mainly because it was hard to find a good spot to catch a ride from. But after a while a very nice (as if there are any other) lady stopped her campervan. During the ride we found out that she was an ex-Kiwi (once a Kiwi, always a Kiwi) that married an Englishman and migrated to the Kingdom, and now visiting homeland. She and her husband had a big farm near Manchester and their neighbors were most of Manchester United players. We were very happy to hear a little gossip about their luxurious lives.
Afterward, we caught another interesting ride. This time from a real Southlander girl with the right accent and everything. Talking to her gave us, once again, a good prospective on people's life in those remote areas. She stopped for us in a town along the way, where we tried to grab some lunch. The restaurant was almost empty, but still it took us more than 40 minutes to get our orders. After all, what do they have to hurry for. We caught our last ride for the day that brought us to the doors of our next HIT family in Gore.
This time our hosts were Allison and Peter, a very lovely couple. They live in a lovely house, full of character, with a huge garden full of beautiful plants and flowers. We were their first HIT guests, and both sides were really excited. Allison is a semi-retired teacher, of the kind that exhausts the kids before they even try to exhaust her. Full of energies. Allison is also a diver that searches for Paua in her free time. After a short introduction and a cold glass of homemade ice tea, we went to explore the town and especially the nice gardens which were close to Peter's and Allison's home. We even met a deer.
We were back right on time for dinner. We found out that Peter was a great chef. That was truly one of the best meals we had for a while, and the best NZ lamb we tasted so far. Alongside with the great meat and the delicious potatoes there were fresh salads straight from their garden. It was so good that Oren even ate the tomatoes that he usually doesn't touch. After the main course there were lots of fruits and a fine smelly cheese, and they even opened a bottle of old whiskey. They really gave us the feeling that we were their most important guests. The conversation that went with the dinner was great too. It was quite strange for us to hear so much sympathy towards our country from so far away. When we asked them what was their reason for hosting Israelis (Is it religion?), Peter said that they just like to have nice people around, nothing to do with their or ours religion.
On the next morning we tried to repay a little for their hospitality by making them pancakes. Afterwards Peter had to go to his quire practice (he was the conductor) so we said goodbye. But when he returned we were still there (it was hard to leave). Later on, after having another meal we really had to say goodbye, not before Peter gave us the recipe for his amazing ANZAC cookies.
We went to the main road and tried to hitchhike to Te Anau. It was a little late, but we didn't wait more than 10 minutes before a couple that was going right where we needed to, stopped. They both worked in a caravan park there, so we even had our accommodation arranged. Too easy…
Tip 1: Did we mention how great HIT is?
Tip 2: Feel free to stop in less popular towns on your way. You will be surprised how many welcoming people you will find there.
Tip 3: If you are in Te Anau and you are looking for a nice day hike, you can do the first day of the Kepler trek, it is lovely. It goes through a very green, fairytale forest by the shores of the Te Anau lake. Just make sure not to start at the DOC office, but at the beginning of the trek, otherwise you will waste time walking through not very interesting scinery.
Afterward, we caught another interesting ride. This time from a real Southlander girl with the right accent and everything. Talking to her gave us, once again, a good prospective on people's life in those remote areas. She stopped for us in a town along the way, where we tried to grab some lunch. The restaurant was almost empty, but still it took us more than 40 minutes to get our orders. After all, what do they have to hurry for. We caught our last ride for the day that brought us to the doors of our next HIT family in Gore.
This time our hosts were Allison and Peter, a very lovely couple. They live in a lovely house, full of character, with a huge garden full of beautiful plants and flowers. We were their first HIT guests, and both sides were really excited. Allison is a semi-retired teacher, of the kind that exhausts the kids before they even try to exhaust her. Full of energies. Allison is also a diver that searches for Paua in her free time. After a short introduction and a cold glass of homemade ice tea, we went to explore the town and especially the nice gardens which were close to Peter's and Allison's home. We even met a deer.
We were back right on time for dinner. We found out that Peter was a great chef. That was truly one of the best meals we had for a while, and the best NZ lamb we tasted so far. Alongside with the great meat and the delicious potatoes there were fresh salads straight from their garden. It was so good that Oren even ate the tomatoes that he usually doesn't touch. After the main course there were lots of fruits and a fine smelly cheese, and they even opened a bottle of old whiskey. They really gave us the feeling that we were their most important guests. The conversation that went with the dinner was great too. It was quite strange for us to hear so much sympathy towards our country from so far away. When we asked them what was their reason for hosting Israelis (Is it religion?), Peter said that they just like to have nice people around, nothing to do with their or ours religion.
On the next morning we tried to repay a little for their hospitality by making them pancakes. Afterwards Peter had to go to his quire practice (he was the conductor) so we said goodbye. But when he returned we were still there (it was hard to leave). Later on, after having another meal we really had to say goodbye, not before Peter gave us the recipe for his amazing ANZAC cookies.
We went to the main road and tried to hitchhike to Te Anau. It was a little late, but we didn't wait more than 10 minutes before a couple that was going right where we needed to, stopped. They both worked in a caravan park there, so we even had our accommodation arranged. Too easy…
Tip 1: Did we mention how great HIT is?
Tip 2: Feel free to stop in less popular towns on your way. You will be surprised how many welcoming people you will find there.
Tip 3: If you are in Te Anau and you are looking for a nice day hike, you can do the first day of the Kepler trek, it is lovely. It goes through a very green, fairytale forest by the shores of the Te Anau lake. Just make sure not to start at the DOC office, but at the beginning of the trek, otherwise you will waste time walking through not very interesting scinery.
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