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elgarbo posted:
Love this one.
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Jan 19, 2017 12:35
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thetzar posted:I'm going to be in NZ in March-April. You've picked the perfect time of year. For one thing it's a little off-peak so there won't be so many people around. Weather-wise, Summer officially ends with February but the nicest weather here is often early-mid Autumn. The hot days won't usually be as hot but the sun tends to be more consistent. That said, as an island nation our weather is very changeable at the best of times so bring gear for all weather, especially if you're heading somewhere remote and/or hiking. A lot of tourists (and sometimes locals) underestimate our conditions and it's not unusual to hear of them running into trouble/going missing/dying of hypothermia etc. Be sensible, research conditions ahead of time, be prepared for anything regardless of the forecasts. They also tend to be involved in a lot of road accidents. I guess they get careless on our relatively uncrowded roads, so drive carefully! quote:I'd love to hear any South Island recommendations. I've done the South Island fairly extensively so I can help with this. General advice for anywhere in NZ: If you're into walks/hikes of any length keep an eye out everywhere you go for the yellow and green DOC (Department of Conservation) signs which mark everything from five minute strolls to full day walks to multi-day hikes. There are some great little-known gems that aren't advertised anywhere that you can stumble across just by keeping an eye out for those signs as you travel. The times on the signs are generally worst-case estimates for really unfit people or poor conditions. Or people like me who stop to take photos all the time. Usually you can expect to finish them a bit faster if you want to, sometimes considerably so. All the larger centres and many of the smaller ones have DOC offices which are great places to go for information on activities and conditions without being activity/accommodation sales centres disguised as information centres like you find in many touristy places here. Also don't spend too much time in our bigger towns and cities. Some of them are nice enough, some are not so much, but none of them have much to offer that you couldn't get from bigger cities pretty much anywhere else in the world. NZ is all about the countryside and it's loving amazing and you should spend most of your time in NZ looking at it. Especially in the South Island. That said, food, coffee etc can be pretty hit and miss in smaller towns and rural areas, so don't feel bad if you want to spend a few days in the cities enjoying the fruits of civilization. Just don't expect to find London or New York here. More location-specific stuff divided vaguely and arbitrarily by region: The middle bits, ie. Inland Canterbury/Inland Otago: All the Southern lakes are beautiful, especially Tekapo, Pukaki, Wanaka and Wakatipu. The Mount John Observatory near Lake Tekapo has amazing views of the surrounding countryside. Avoid the poo poo overpriced coffee though unless you're desperate. Aoraki/Mt Cook (our highest mountain) is a great, if somewhat expensive, (although camping might not be so) spot to stay for a night or two and has some great day/half day walks and some longer hikes too. I'd strongly recommend the Hooker Valley walk there. It's ~3 hours return and suitable for pretty much any level of fitness. A little bit of a climb at the start but mostly flat and lots of boardwalk. Amazing views the whole way with a glacier terminus lake at the end with icebergs and poo poo. All three passes (Lewis, Arthur's and Haast) from the West Coast to the other side of the mountains are great drives with spectacular scenery. Arthur's Pass has an eponymous township in the middle with a bed&breakfast or two and possibly other accommodation and some great shorter walks. Towards the Eastern end of Arthur's pass is Castle Hill. Lots of crazy-big rocks in the middle of a farm which you can walk around and check out. Cooler than it sounds. One of the smaller ones looks like a penis from the right angle. Hehe. Nelson/Golden Bay/Abel Tasman/Marlborough, ie. the North of the South Island: This area has the best weather in the country and amazing beaches. The closer ones to Nelson tend to be more crowded but the further out you go the less that will be the case. Kaiteriteri in particular is incredible. If you go to one beach around here go to Kaiteriteri. Lots of really cool little townships in this area too. Motueka is a great place to stop for lunch or maybe stay for a bit. Marlborough is wine country, so if you're into touring around vineyards and stuff that's a great place to do it. Further South/Inland is the Nelson Lakes region. There's not a lot there. Some nice lakes but not as spectacular as the bigger ones down South. Lots of hills and some nice scenery. Not bad if you want to get off the beaten track and explore but nothing I'd call a must-see. That said you'll pass through here anyway if you're going between Nelson/Blenheim and the West Coast so the lakes are worth a look if you're not in a hurry. Oh and the Marlborough Sounds are spectacular. If you're coming to the South Island from Wellington I recommend taking the ferry over rather than flying because you get to cruise through here. West Coast: The whole West Coast is really lush and green and beautiful but the reason for that is that it rains like a motherfucker (the prevailing winds carry in all the moisture from the Tasman Sea which runs into the Southern Alps and gets dumped on the narrow strip of coast between the mountains and the sea) so be prepared for that. Also mosquitoes. In spite of that it's a must-see. Toward the northern end of the West Coast are the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki which are worth a look. There are also Fox and Franz Josef glaciers further south. Avoid spending any unnecessary time in Greymouth unless you're jonesing for your crystal meth fix. South/South-West: Queenstown is a beautiful alpine town and the adventure capital of the country where everyone goes to skydive/paraglide/bungee jump/white water raft etc. It's also a total tourist trap and ridiculously expensive. If you're not into the adventure stuff you can probably give it a miss or just spend a day or two (or less) checking it out. Even if that is your buzz you can do all of the above activities in other parts of the country without being gouged for literally everything. Don't do the loving gondola unless you're some combination of rich/very unfit/lazy/in a hurry to see the view. It's really overpriced and there are walks both to/beyond where the gondola goes or up neighbouring Queenstown Hill which are completely free and provide equal or better views. Fergburger is a famous burger joint in QT. It's apparently amazing but gently caress if I'm gonna queue for 30 minutes to an hour just to order a burger. I don't care how good they are, they can't be any better than any number of great burger joints here in Wellington where I can order near-immediately and then sit the gently caress down and have a beer. Neighbouring Arrowtown is also really beautiful, especially in the Autumn, and much less touristy than QT, relatively speaking. Well worth a visit if you're in the area and the bakery does great pies (or did when I was there last). Fiordland National Park is our remote southwestern wilderness. Mostly very inaccessible but there is the famous Milford Sound (you know it's famous when it's made it into Civ 6 as a natural wonder) which you can drive to, or do a boat cruise if you have the money. There's also the famous Milford track which gets you there if you're into longer hikes but I'm pretty sure you're already too late to book that one as it tends to be booked out very quickly every season. There are also the Kepler and Routeburn tracks in the same area. You might still be able to book in for those if you want to do them but I can't guarantee it. I can say that I've done Kepler and it was amazing and Routeburn is supposed to be even better. Te Anau is the local centre for Fiordland-related activities. The glowworm cave tour that leaves from there is a really cool activity. Also in the deep south is the Caitlins Forest Park and the neighbouring coastline. It's another beautiful area in a really unique and wild kind of way that I find hard to articulate. Curio Bay down there in particular is worth stopping at for a look. There's a petrified forest, penguins, sea lions, weird and cool rock formations etc. Avoid Invercargill if at all possible and if you do go don't stay at Sparky's backpackers, that guy is weird af. Otago: has a lot of rugged rolling hills and yellow grass and rocks and farmland which is kind of cool in its own way. Oamaru is a smallish town randomly famous for its steampunk community and steampunk museum. So yeah if you're into that it's there. Dunedin is the largest centre in Otago and I think the second-largest city on the island. It's known as a student town and at least at some point had/maybe still has the largest number of bars per capita in the country. If you're in town there's a Scottish tapas bar somewhere near the Octagon (the central "square" of the city) which sounds weird but it's actually really loving good. I can't remember what it's called or what street it's on but ask a local or just get your google on. The Moeraki Boulders between Oamaru and Dunedin are worth checking out if you're passing through that way. Canterbury: Canterbury is dominated by the Canterbury Plains which are the largest area of flat land in the country and imo the most boring part of it, being covered in repetitive farmland. You can avoid the plains if you're passing through Canterbury (take the Inland Scenic Route), unless you want to visit Christchurch for a spot of disaster tourism. The city is still rebuilding from a big quake a few years back. It's come a long way but still has a ways to go. Interesting to see in its own way but don't expect a fully-functional city. Some great photographic potential though. That said, if you fly into the South Island, you're most likely flying into Chch as it's the biggest city in the SI with the biggest airport and the cheapest place on the island to fly to from pretty much anywhere. If you do visit for whatever reason and like craft beer, I'm gonna plug my friend's bar The Institution on New Regent St because it's really cool. The Restart Mall is a shopping mall built in shipping containers as the first thing to open in the centre-city post-quake. Quite cool and worth a look if you're in town. Sumner and New Brighton if you wanna hit the beach. The latter is an interesting area populated by some colourful characters. Also worth checking out for a day or so if you visit Christchurch is nearby Akaroa on Banks Peninsula. Originally a French colony, it still has streets called Rue [Whatever] and is a really cool, quaint little town and the peninsula itself is much more interesting than the plains with some amazing views and lots of tiny bays to explore. About half an hour north of Christchurch there's a little town called Waikuku Beach just off the Main Road. The beach is nice in a slightly rugged windswept sand dunes, tussock, driftwood and seashells kind of way and there's a river estuary, a camping ground, swimming holes, surfing, fishing etc and it's off the beaten tourist track. It's where I grew up  Not suggesting you go out of your way to go there but it's a nice spot if you want a break from the road or an alternative to staying in the city for a night or two. Another, more out-of-the way, but also more interesting location in North Canterbury is Gore Bay. Be sure to check out the Cathedral Cliffs if you visit. The coast north of the Canterbury plains (Kaikoura and surrounding area) is really rugged and beautiful too but was recently hit by another large quake which closed State Highway 1 for some time. There's ongoing repair work there which still closes the road sometimes. Not sure when that's due to be finished so check ahead if you plan to travel that way. More inland in North Canterbury is the alpine town of Hanmer, famous for its natural hot pools. Despite occurring naturally, they are very built-up and touristy, but nonetheless well worth a visit to have a soak and relax and take in the surrounding mountains. My parents recently celebrated their anniversary in Hanmer and highly recommend Eden restaurant.quote:A camper van is likely in my future, though I've never done that before. Are reservations needed at most overnight sites? I traveled by car and stayed at hostels so I'm less help here. Freedom camping areas are a thing in some places, so there's that. As mentioned you're off-peak a little so I'd guess you can probably get away without booking at some places, especially more off-the-beaten-track ones. Better safe than sorry though, check ahead if you can. On that note, phone reception is far from universal in NZ so don't count on being able to get online anywhere that's not a population centre of decent size. Do your research and bookings from somewhere civilised. As mentioned above, you definitely need to book the more popular multi-day hikes (ie the "Great Walks") but many of the lesser-known ones work on a first-come first-served basis for bunks in the huts. Again, research ahead of time. Wafflecopper fucked around with this message at 15:35 on Jan 19, 2017 |
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Jan 19, 2017 13:45
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Wafflecopper posted:things Holy poo poo dude, THANKS.
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Jan 19, 2017 19:04
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Re: New Zealand chat I traveled by campervan around the South Island during February and never needed to book ahead anywhere. All the major towns had commercial camping grounds that were entirely pleasant and I also stayed at a few DOC camp grounds that were effectively free (a ranger was supposed to come around and collect a fee but I never saw one in any of the nights I stayed there.) Anyway, content:  Dubbo by Michael Garbutt, on Flickr
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Jan 19, 2017 22:17
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elgarbo posted:Re: New Zealand chat Good content.
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Jan 19, 2017 22:55
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thetzar posted:Holy poo poo dude, THANKS. Haha no problem. I didn't intend to type so much but as you can probably tell I love the South Island and as it turns out I love posting about it. I kept thinking of things to add and what was meant to be a relatively short post with a few highlights turned into a giant rambling effortpost. If you're coming to the North Island as well and passing through Wellington I'd be happy to meet up for a coffee or beer if you want to pick my brain or just hang out and shoot the poo poo.
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Jan 19, 2017 23:15
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Wafflecopper posted:Haha no problem. I didn't intend to type so much but as you can probably tell I love the South Island and as it turns out I love posting about it. I kept thinking of things to add and what was meant to be a relatively short post with a few highlights turned into a giant rambling effortpost. If you're coming to the North Island as well and passing through Wellington I'd be happy to meet up for a coffee or beer if you want to pick my brain or just hang out and shoot the poo poo. That'd be awesome, but I'm going to be on the South Island the whole time. Thanks for the invite, let me know if you're traveling down there.
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Jan 19, 2017 23:33
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removed.
Revolucion fucked around with this message at 20:37 on Nov 29, 2020 |
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Jan 20, 2017 13:29
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 Phuket by Tom Olson, on Flickr
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Jan 20, 2017 13:51
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Karl Barks fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Jan 20, 2017 |
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Jan 20, 2017 18:40
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elgarbo posted:Re: New Zealand chat This is inspiring to me!
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Jan 20, 2017 20:34
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murk posted:This is inspiring to me! Thanks! Anyway, let me introduce you to a little place called Cactus World...  Gilgandra by Michael Garbutt, on Flickr
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Jan 21, 2017 00:24
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Wired recently spotlighted a photographer named Marilyn Mugot who has a pretty great series of urban night shots of city scenes in China. If you haven't seen her work yet: http://marilynmugot.com/project/
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Jan 21, 2017 00:35
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 Sunset in County of Grande Prairie, Alberta by Steven Sarginson, on Flickr
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Jan 21, 2017 08:23
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thetzar posted:That'd be awesome, but I'm going to be on the South Island the whole time. Thanks for the invite, let me know if you're traveling down there. Now that you mention it I'm gonna be in Chch around the 3rd of March for a wedding. Not sure if I'll have any spare time or if you'll be around at the same time though.
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Jan 21, 2017 09:30
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elgarbo posted:
really digging your last few posts
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Jan 21, 2017 13:11
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 Bangkok by Tom Olson, on Flickr
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Jan 21, 2017 15:16
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 yawatahama to beppu by Max Piepenbrink, on Flickr  untitled by Max Piepenbrink, on Flickr
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Jan 21, 2017 19:54
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Here's some more Cactus World. Gilgandra by Michael Garbutt, on Flickr elgarbo fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Jan 21, 2017 |
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Jan 21, 2017 22:54
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 Chiang Mai by Tom Olson, on Flickr
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Jan 22, 2017 10:01
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Road trip... Somewhere out past Armatree by Michael Garbutt, on Flickr
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Jan 22, 2017 22:33
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Jan 22, 2017 23:01
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I put these out in the dusty world before they were fully dry.   Edit: tried to correct colors a little more, but this XA seems to have this blue vignetting in certain situations. Could be a development thing. SMERSH Mouth fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Jan 24, 2017 |
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Jan 23, 2017 04:25
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New Zealand chat: if you go to Dunedin (you should because Albatrosses!) there's an Italian restaurant there called Etrusco. Make a reservation and absolutely go. Ranks up there with the best restaurants I've ever eaten at in Italy. Seriously, the food is phenomenal.
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Jan 23, 2017 05:50
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 Chiang Mai by Tom Olson, on Flickr
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Jan 23, 2017 09:11
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Please enjoy some 35mm minimalism.  elgarbo fucked around with this message at 11:12 on Jan 23, 2017 |
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Jan 23, 2017 11:06
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a cyberpunk goose posted:
I really like this one.
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Jan 24, 2017 05:16
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Wafflecopper posted:Now that you mention it I'm gonna be in Chch around the 3rd of March for a wedding. Not sure if I'll have any spare time or if you'll be around at the same time though. Too early for me, I'll be around from March 27 to April 9. HookShot posted:New Zealand chat: if you go to Dunedin (you should because Albatrosses!) there's an Italian restaurant there called Etrusco. Make a reservation and absolutely go. Ranks up there with the best restaurants I've ever eaten at in Italy. Seriously, the food is phenomenal. Cool, thanks!
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Jan 24, 2017 06:27
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 Chiang Mai by Tom Olson, on Flickr
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Jan 24, 2017 09:57
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 Untitled by Jason Martin, on Flickr
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Jan 25, 2017 03:09
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 Fortitude Valley
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Jan 25, 2017 04:15
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 Heritage Park
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Jan 25, 2017 04:20
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Jan 25, 2017 04:23
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 Chiang Mai by Tom Olson, on Flickr
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Jan 25, 2017 08:37
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 DSCF1551 by Maciej, on Flickr
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Jan 25, 2017 09:05
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 Taren Point by Michael Garbutt, on Flickr
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Jan 25, 2017 12:34
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elgarbo posted:
Really loving good.
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Jan 25, 2017 15:11
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you are on fire elgarbo
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Jan 25, 2017 15:20
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Jan 25, 2017 17:43
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| # ? Jun 5, 2024 10:17 |
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thetzar posted:Really loving good. Karl Barks posted:you are on fire elgarbo Thanks!
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Jan 25, 2017 21:11
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