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Official Travelers' Thread
So I thought I'd make a thread for anyone interested in traveling, seeing as how I'm in the process of planning a trip to New Zealand. I'll be heading out in early May, and staying until the end of August. Hopefully I'll be able to find work at Treble Cone ski resort, the next best thing would be working in Wanaka, where i'll be living for the majorty of the trip. Seeing as how any kind of job training for the ski restort wouldn't start until mid june, that leaves me with about a month of guarunteed down time. I've thought about spending some time on the north island, maybe trying my hand at surfing (i'm aware it'll be winter, but hey, I'm canadian, cold water doesn't bother me). I know there are a lot of new zealander's on this board, so do any of you have any suggestions of what to do for the first month I'm there? I'd really like to see as much of New Zealand as possible, so any thoughts would be great. Keep in mind that I'm looking to do this as cheaply as humanly possible, like any student traveling to a foreign country.
That said, anyone else got any big trips planned? After New Zealand, my next stop (probably 2 years down the road) will be a backpacking trip through southeast asia, thailand, laos, and china being on the list. I've actually been to thailand before, but I was 7, so I could hardly appreciate the experience. As for countries I've been to so far, the list would be (in random order): Canada (obviously), parts of the US, Austria, England, France, Italy, Thailand, the Bahamas, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Holland, Sweden and Iceland. So post your travel plans, your experiences, and pretty much just anything related to traveling you can think of. |
I'm goin to Vegas in April, drinkin, gamblin, maybe a show at the Joint or H.O.B. if anyone decent is in town. Should be cool
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nice, road trip or are you flying?
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flying, it would take me forever to drive. I hate driving
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come visit australia, the gold coast mainly. not much snow to ski on but there are waves
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haha, I love driving, although only if there's other people in the car. there's another thing I'd love to do, go with 3 other friends and do a road trip from calgary and down through the US, stopping at a bunch of ski hills, and basically living like bums.
and I'd love to visit australia, but money is gonna be really tight, so I don't think I'll have the funds to travel in between. |
not my style, if I have to walk for more than 20 yards to get a drink I am thoroughly inconvenienced. Furthermore I cannot live like a bum, I am needy and dependent on my creature comforts
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damn.i wish i was old enough to travel. its one of my few dreams i have. i wanna go on the road just like jack kerouac in his book ' on the road'. take 50 dollars in my pocket and head off on a bus west.
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50 bucks wouldn't get me across the street
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haha, i'm all about "roughing it" (I use that term losely, truly roughing it for me is setting up a tent in the middle of nowhere with nothing but what you can carry on your back) when I travel. I can't do the whole lounging-at-the-poolside-while-a-waiter-serves-me-drinks thing. Even if I had the money to support it, those kind of vacations bore the hell out of me.
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^ i agree. something that is more an adventure than a holiday. but in future i do plan to head to ummm...somewhere in BC, canada. my aunty and uncle go there every year and they bring me back hilarious shirts that say 'roots'. you canadians have root shops? awesome stuff.
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^hahaha, "roots" is a huge brand up here, they designed our olympic team's clothes for the past two years. This year it's gonna be the Husdon's Bay Company that does it. But if you're going up to BC, I'd highly recomend a sailing trip around the saltspring islands. Some of the most absolutely breathtaking scenery i've ever seen, and I've been to a lot of amazing places around the world. I did a week long sailing trip around through the saltsprings when i was 15 through school, and it was one of the most fun trips i've ever been on. Such a cool atmosphere and just so much to do. It's also pretty much the pot capital of canada, so if that's something you're interested in, it's definitely a plus. If not, well, try not to breathe in too deeply.
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excellent stuff. pot central. also i wanna go to rome, greece and egypt and definately other hot places, cause unfourtanately cold weather kills me (no joke) up until im about 20 or so years old, so canada is a long way off.
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come to Lon-dump Ontario, I'll show ya where they sell the crack yo!!
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Is South Africa a common place of interest in America?
Id suggest South Africa - magical. To have so much wild life all around you is something one cant even describe. I guarantee whoever goes there will continue going there for the rest of their life. Kruger National Park - effing awesome |
I'm going to New York, Washington D.C and a quick stop in Philidelphia. [pretty much an excuse to sing the fresh prince of bel air theme tune]
I'll report back :3 |
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the english
I find it terribly amusing how the english so rely on pubs!
If theres a pub next door it doesnt matter where the holiday is. My b.friends mom was in Australia for 3 weeks. Moaned that it was boring because there were no pubs around! Hello, youre in Australia. Stuff the pubs, get out and have fun (without alcohol)!!! bazaar |
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I'd recommend checking out Queen Charlotte Sounds, these are located at the top of the South Island and are pretty spectacular. I can't say much about the town though as it's pretty low key but definitely the scenic stuff up that end is fabulous. If you can't see any reason to go up there just for the Sounds, thats where the Ferry is situated too so maybe on your way from the South to North islands you might get to check them out, just passing by. Also, by Wanaka where you're staying is a place called the Fiordlands. These are pretty beautiful. Then a little way up the West Coast from where you are is the Fox Glacier. I've been there once and it's an impressive sight. Just a big block of ice haha. And further up still, along the West Coast, above a town called Greymouth is a place called Punakaiki, which has the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. I'd post pics but it requires effort so heres a link to some visuals.http://www.punakaiki.co.nz/photos.htm Nelson is a fantastic tourist town. This is roughly top left of the Sth Island. Um Queenstown I'm sure you'll check out, another great tourist place apparently. Kaikoura, is 3/4 up the East of the Sth island and about 2 hours North of Christchurch. Kaikoura is a great place to see some whales. I think they do fairly cheap tourist trips out to have a glimpse of them. Thats a brief layout of the South Island I don't know as much about the North Island but I could recommend you some places when the time comes:D |
Rotorua has mud pools and exciting things to do, Queenstown is the tourist town, Aucklands there for shopping, although I think Christchurch is just as good. I havn't really travelled around NZ so I'm not full of ideas, but I am very keen to do some travelling myself after Uni!
Good thread! /mentioning New Zealand! :D |
thanks for the suggestions everyone. So far, as far as my trip goes, I've got it down to this (this is all assuming I can get a job at Treble Cone). Arriving in Aukland in middle of may, staying there for two nights at least. The reason behind this is that I'm going with a program called SWAP (students working abroad). They're helping me out with a work visa, job contacts within new zealand, and, two free nights in aukland when i first arrive. After that, I'm gonna try and check out a few cliff jumping spots, hopefully I'll meet some people that are willing to come with me. One of them is at rainbow falls in the bay of islands, 80-90 feet, so I've decided I can't pass that up. I've been looking into it, and despite being a really touristy place, the bay of islands really looks like something I want to check out. I'll have about 3 weeks to travel around the north island, and then I'll take a plane from aukland to wanaka begining of june. Once there, job training for treble cone will start up, and I'll have to find some kind of living arrangements that are more permanent than backpackers lodges and hostels. merkeba, I'm assuming you live in on the south island, how's the surfing off the coast in the winter?
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yeah, if I had a little more time for this trip, I'd definitely check out australia too, but school only leaves me a 4 months window. haha, 4 months never seemed so short a time before.
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I have travelled through most of NZ and it is a beautiful country - both north and south islands. I'm not sure what you mean by a "better,more grown up Australia"??? Jibber - check out Te Anau on south island. Tis beautiful and not too far to then check out Milford Sound. Spectacular scenery. |
their govnerment isnt run by a childish ass kisser. so i meant laws and stuff. and ruling
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I have done a little bit of travelling and although I love spectacular natural scenery, I also love the big cities. I always try to stay right in the heart of a city so I can get the feel of the city (also, roughing it in a tent doesn't appeal to me at all - sorry jibber!)
Some cities I've been to include (I'll pick only one per country otherwise I'd be here forever): NYC - (pre 9/11) I was terrified about going here but I absolutely loved it! It truly is the city that never sleeps. London - Need to go back here as one week was not long enough. So much to see and do here. Berlin - Ultra modern and nothing like what I expected. Friendly locals. Paris - Took my breath away. Everything I expected it to be and more. Amsterdam - Weird city with weird people smoking weird stuff. Felt uneasy here but enjoyed my stay all the same. Dublin - Although Australia was such a long way away, I felt the most at home in Ireland. The Brits may have discovered our country but we definitely get our sense of humour and welcoming hospitality from the Irish. Edinburgh The Scots sure know how to party. The castle was definitely a highlight. Auckland A smaller version of Sydney Sydney last but not least, my most favourite city of all. Flying into Sydney you get a fantastic view of the harbour and beaches. |
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So the final-ish plands for the trip are:
arrive in Auckland around may 10th, and spend about 3 days there. Catch a bus up to Paihia and spend about a week traveling around that area (90 mile beach etc etc). Catch a bus to Rotorua and spend 5 or 6 days around that area, the catch a bus to Napier, where i'll spend a few days, then fly down to wanaka from there around may 31st. Then, i'll have a few weeks to find a place to live, and start job training, and most likely be living on ramen noodles and kraft dinner. Travel around wanaka will depend entirely on the time i can get off of work, how much money I have left, etc etc. so those are the plans, and I've become completely obsessed with this trip, woot. |
Would like to backpack through Asia.
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I'm going to France and Spain spring of '07 for 10 days.
Getting trashed every night. I know some people here probably live in France. Hit me up and we'll have a good time. |
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nice, if I ever get my pictures from Iceland and sweden uploaded I'll post them here.
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You'd better, or else there will be trouble. Because I want to go to Iceland one day.
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haha, in that case i'll get on it. at some point. be prepared to spend a lot though, even if you backpack and stay in campsites and hostels, everything there is so expensive, but the good thing is that its such a small country, so you can get around and see a lot in a relatively short time. Go to Reykjavik for sure, I've been to tons of beautiful cities around the world, and reykjavik remains my favorite by far. Also, I'd suggest going up and visiting some of the northern towns, I saw Akuereyri, small-ish town way in the north, and Husavik, only a few hours drive away, which was amazing, because that's the village my family came from. I actually saw the exact farm that my great grandfather lived on before he came to canada with his mom and two sisters after his father died at sea, it was really something. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking, so take tons of pictures. It's impossible to describe how strange the landscape is until you see pictures. Basically there's every kind of landscape you can immagine all within an hour or so drive. definitely go to iceland, you wont be dissapointed.
and I just realized I forgot to include india in the places I've been to, i'll post some of those pics too. |
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haha, good plan franscar. anyways, here's a few of the pics from iceland, i probably have about 100 in total, these are just some of my favorite.
some of the scenery within about 3 hours drive around reykjavik: |
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