Here are the logs for my trip to New Zealand. It's babbly and sometimes there are fragmented sentences and thoughts. Basically copied directly from my travel journal, so excuse the switch in tenses. I'll try to link to any interesting sites/locations and YHAs. Enjoy!

December 4, 2003
Where: Picton, Nelson, & Nelson Lakes, South Island
Accommodations: The Yellow House YHA, Nelson Lakes

Woke up at 5am. Took a shower and stuff. Caught the 8am Lynx ferry to Picton. Stopped and have a lovely breakfast in Picton at the Seabreezes cafe. Highly recommended. Drove to Nelson and saw "Underworld," and I think I am still one of the few people who actually liked the film.

We tried to find the YHA, but apparently Yellow House YHa isn't in Nelson. It's in St. Arnaud, Nelson Lakes, which is like in the middle of bloody nowhere and over an hour from Nelson. Nevermind the fact that the place is a hole and a bug trap. Unless you like camping outdoors and being eaten alive by sandflies, don't go there. Ever.

I think we were just all pissed that there was basically nothing around. Had a fruit and candy dinner by the bug-infested lake. ow. Came back to the YHA, listened to music and was asleep by 9:30pm - it was still light out.

Welcome to the South Island. Feh.

December 5, 2003
Where: Greymouth, South Island
Accommodations: Kainga-Ra YHA

Very, very long drive to Greymouth. I do wish I could help with driving, but since I can't I'm gonna try to pay for gas and stuff 'cause I feel bad. Finally in Greymouth, which is an Oneonta-ish town with some nice shops so after lunch I'm gonna have a walk down.

And back from my trip down to town, which was probably not a great idea since I just spent $120. My $60/day budget is going down the toilet. Eek! I did buy a nice jade carving from the Jade Boulder Gallery and a few paua pieces - matching necklace and earrings for mom. When I got back to the YHA, I had a short nap. Stace made dinner. During dinner there was random talk about how amusing it would be to wait in line at a con to get Dom's autograph just to tell him we didn't really want it and was really just interested in how he was and to say hi. Hee!

After dinner, we went to town for some ice cream, which we ate at a scenic lookout. There was a really nice view of the city. We drove around trying to find something to do, but everything was closed. Went back to the YHA, played ghetto!Jenga and went to bed.

December 6, 2003
Where: Westland National Park, South Island
Accommodations: Franz Josef Glacier YHA

It's fecking raining. All my crap is in the car because we didn't want to drag everything up three flights of stairs. Actually, that was probably a good idea considering it's raining and we won't have to drag it back down when we check out. Today we're driving to Haast to see the Franz Josef & Fox Glaciers. It's a good 2 hour drive, so I'm hoping Dee, who's sick, feels a bit better and up for the drive. Note to self - buy Andy Serkis' Gollum book.

Franz Josef Glacier was nice. We drove to the glacier area and took a few walks. Then we went to Lake Matheson (Lake of Beer! I think.. well, it looked like beer, but I don't remember if it was this lake) and had a nice little walk. Since we had time, we also went to Fox Glacier, where I ran out of film. Did manage to take a couple of nice pictures though.

December 7, 2003
Where: Haast, South Island
Accommodations: Haast Highway Accommodation

Left Franz Josef kind of late as we weren't in too much of a hurry to get to Haast. On the way we stopped at Knight's Point, Ships Creek, and Haast Beach. The Gates of Haast is beautiful and you must see the pretty water. Snapped some nice photos of Mt. Cook and the Southern Alps. The hostel was closed when we arrived, so we drove around and stopped at the Roaring Billy Falls. Had lunch at a nice cafe.

After checking in to the hostel, we pretty much all had a long nap -- which was occasionally interrupted by children running above us. Also.. there's a creepy couple following us. I am not amused. The woman was standing outside the shower and asked Dee if she was done yet.. but there were free showers and she wasn't waiting to take a shower.. Right.

For dinner we had ramen and a small fruit salad. Tasty. Running out of cash. Need to start using plastic.

December 8, 2003
Where: Wanaka, South Island
Accommodations: Wanaka YHA

Drove to Wanaka and did loads of sightseeing. The creepy couple had followed us again, but at least we had our own room. So, yeah see lots of images for all the fun sites. Saw things like Treble Cone, Mt. Aspiring, and Lake Wanaka.

I need to write entries on the same day otherwise I'm going to forget what happened. Like now.

A bit after sunset, we decided to visit the local cemetery to see if there were any interesting tombstones. There weren't, but there was definitely a creepy redneck vibe coming from the house, so we left pretty quickly.

Oh yes.. Puzzling World sucked and wasn't nearly as amusing as Rotorua's 3D Maze.

December 9, 2003
Where: Queenstown & Glenorchy, South Island
Accommodations: Queenstown YHA Glenorchy Motel

On the way to Queenstown we stopped at several sightseeing/Lord of the Rings type places. We went through the Cardrona Valley to see some sights -- totally didn't see anything and I think Ian Brodie was lying. We also stopped in Arrowtown, just outside of Queenstown, and found the Ford of Bruinen (FoTR) and the Gladden Fields (FoTR). All by ourselves without a guide. Ha!

Got to Queenstown. The YHA wouldn't let us check-in until 2:30pm so we wandered around the city. Went to a souvenir shop an bought a few things. Saw a shop with jade carvings on sale and I thought I would go back later, but... we'll get to that part. We still had time to kill after lunch so we took a steam boat cruise around Lake Wakatipu, which was nice.

So.. to the YHA. They put us in a mixed 8 share dorm room. Uhm. NO. That was not what we asked for when we booked. Even a 6-share we could have handled. Everything else was booked so Jay, the uber-nice guy at reception, was trying to get us anything, but basically everything in Queenstown was full. Te Anau didn't have anything either. So we got us a refund and we drove to Glenorchy. Tried to find a B&B and the only one free was a double room and the third person could sleep in her kid's room. Uh... no.

After driving around, I picked a motel that looked.. iffy. But we were getting crabby with the no decision thing, so yeah. Of course, once we were there and got shown to our room...*dies* So gorgeous. I think it was like $190/night but there was TV, our own bathroom and mini kitchen. And room service! It was such a luxury to have after a string of dingy hostels.

Spent the rest of the night in our snug motel room watching TV. There was a lovely Return of the King special and then we watch Whose Line is it Anyway? which Dianna hadn't seen before.

This was definitely the start of our bizarre banjo/"Deliverance" jokes. It's so wrong.

December 10, 2003
Where: Queenstown & Glenorchy, South Island
Accommodations: Queenstown YHA Glenorchy Motel

Day two in Glenorchy/Queenstown. Booked tickets for the Dart River Safari - $150, but I think it'll be worth it. (They have pictures.) If it goes through Arrowtown, I'll be amused because we were there yesterday. After booking, we were going to drive around, but most of the roads were gravel and really bad for the car, so no. Randomly - Powerade water makes me gag. Thankfully there's a hot pot here so I can boil some water. I need to find an internet place so I can check my account and e-mail. I should call mom, but people are napping and we're leaving soon. I go home in 10 days. I like NZ, but it'll be nice to go back home. I think I could like in Wellington, but it still doesn't feel like NY. I guess I'm an eastcoaster. heh. Tonight we're going to Queenstown for dinner at the Skyline. Probably going to stop at Twelve Mile Delta on the way to see the spot where Gollum caught the coneys. I should work on my tattoo design.

Okay, so no dinner at the Skyline. They were full. Hi, remember to book ahead for the buffet dinner. Not that they said to make reservations when we called. Right. We took a gondola ride up then back down and went to the FatzCat Italian restaurant by the wharf. It was really good. Walked around Queenstown for a while. Went back to the motel. Gone to bed.

December 11, 2003
Where: Queenstown & Glenorchy, South Island
Accommodations: Queenstown YHA Glenorchy Motel

Today we had a big travel sightseeing day. Big props to Dianna for driving on all those gravel roads. We hit Twelve Mile Delta first so we could see the Ithilien location - which we found pretty easily, but couldn't find the spot where Sam & Gollum discussed coneys. Then we went to the Mavora Lakes - 40km on gravel roads - what was there? Fangorn Forest and the breaking of the Fellowship! And the edge of Fangorn where the Rohirrim burnt the Orcs. Except we didn't want to jump the fence and walk to the exact spot because we're pretty sure there was a sign for the local rifle club and.. there goes that banjo again.

At North Mavora Lake, we found the general area of Nin Hithoel and the spot where Sam & Frodo crossed the eastern shore for their journey to Mordor. I say general because even though we followed the direction in the Location Guide book, I have some doubts as to whether we really were at the area. Oh well. There was a cable bridge that I went halfway across before I freaked a bit and turned back. I made the mistake of looking down and the flowing water made it look like the bridge was tilting.

Takaro Road had more Fangorn Forest area. It was a private road, so we basically parked on the side and took some photos and hoped a gun-toting woodsman didn't come out after us.

Deer Park Heights was the best place. There were tons of Lord of the Rings locations, all from Two Towers. You get a piece of paper with the locations marked on it, pay the $20 toll to get in, and you're on your own. My favorite spot is the lake/pond the Rohans passed on their way to Helms Deep. So cool. Watch out for the rabbit holes. Shut up.

Tomorrow we go to Twizel and Mt. Cook. Hopefully Dee gets enough sleep and isn't tired. Twizel has a tour of the Pelennor Fields location we may do.

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