tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40818102011-04-21T16:02:17.451-04:00Three weeks in the heart of Kiwi Magic - Godzone - extreme New Zealand's extreme South Island.Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14355261153614364936noreply@blogger.comBlogger71100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081810.post-1064191547248998992003-09-21T20:45:00.000-04:002003-09-25T14:36:45.803-04:00

Day 8 - Dart River 0800-1400 // Queenstown 1900-0520 // Awake at 0600L // ACTIVITIES: Jetboat, Funyak, Clubbin Ferris Bueller said it best. “Life moves pretty fast…and if you don’t stop look around every once and a while, you could miss it”. That’s the idea behind getting up so early, despite being up so late. Sure, I’m tired, and instant coffee doesn’t quite do the trick, but it works. I

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14355261153614364936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081810.post-1057101918217359792003-07-01T19:25:00.000-04:002003-09-25T14:39:05.286-04:00

Day 7 - Various Bungy Locales in the Queenstown area // Awake @ 0730L // ACTIVITIES: Bungy Jumping, Clubbin' Despite my consumption of aspirin mere hours ago, I find myself waking up with a headache anyway. I’m waiting for that coffee to brew in the kitchen – it smells delicious, and holds a vague promise of further alleviating the dull pounding of my forehead. As I join fellow backpackers at

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14355261153614364936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081810.post-2001103532003-04-07T14:50:00.000-04:002003-09-25T14:41:01.396-04:00

Day 6: Wanaka - Queenstown - Wanaka - Queenstown // Awake @ 0700L // ACTIVITY: Driving I wake up early, with a mildly sore throat. The room seems frigid outside my sleeping bag, but no time can be spared. Up and out of bed, I scarf some Muesli bars and search desperately for some coffee. There is none save for the instant stuff, and 1 boiling pot of water later I’m finally “awake”. I take

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14355261153614364936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081810.post-901752772003-01-12T19:44:00.001-04:002003-09-25T16:00:38.103-04:00

Preface: On a relatively warm day in the middle of May – whilst hanging about in my Fort Worth hotel room, I picked up my complimentary copy of National Geographic Traveler and began flipping through the pages. I knew I had a large block of vacation time coming up – 30 days or more – and was eager to go somewhere in the Pacific, though I really didn’t know where in particular. I had vague

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14355261153614364936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081810.post-901752752003-01-12T19:44:00.000-04:002003-01-15T18:16:52.000-04:00

Let’s see if I can make this clearer – less censored – I don’t want to write for an audience I’m not even sure I have. The rest of the story goes something like this: Day 3: Hokitika // Awake at 0930L // ACTIVITY: Cave Rafting I awaken with a stinging sharply painful headache that’s trying to beat the backs of my eyes onto the sweet smelling pillow. The sun is creeping in a little, and the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14355261153614364936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081810.post-901752722003-01-12T19:43:00.001-04:002003-09-25T14:42:06.740-04:00

Day 5 Fox Glacier Tour 0900-1300, Fox Glacier – Wanaka Drive @ 1330 // Awake @ 0645L // ACTIVITIES: Glacier Hiking, Driving I wake up excitedly, before my wimpy alarm ever goes off. For a while, I gaze around the dim purple of the room trying to organize my scattered thoughts. It doesn’t take long to get moving though, and I grab my stuff and cart it out to the car. The sun is beginning to

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14355261153614364936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081810.post-901752742003-01-12T19:43:00.000-04:002003-01-15T18:18:29.000-04:00

Day 4: Hokitika-Fox Glacier // Awake at 0930L // ACTIVITY: Jade Carving I’m in for a treat this morning, in a manner of speaking anyway. I roll out of my makeshift hallway bed around 9:30. It’s not late, but certainly later than I intended. The jet lag has caught up with me I guess, shutting me down for 8 solid hours, and leaving me behind the power curve on an important day. By the

Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14355261153614364936noreply@blogger.com