DanielStuart.ie » Road Trip

New Zealand Update

admin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:16:25 +0000

Well well… it’s been an awful long time since I have managed to get back to updating my website. I’ve been able to update Twitter easily enough as I can update it from my phone via text. But I just didn’t have the time and net connection to update this blog!

A lot of stuff has happened since my last entry. It’s going to take me many more to fill you in on what I’ve been doing and how awesome our New Zealand road trip has been.

Here’s a quick overview on what we’re been up to:

Went to Milford Sound
Snowboarded at Treble Cone
Left Queenstown and started our road trip
Hiked Franz Joseph Glacier
Kayaked in Abel Tasman National Park
Wine tasted in Cloudy Bay vineyard
Saw a lot of seals chilling by a car park.
Got the Ferry from the South Island to the North.
Met up with my good friend James in Wellington
Went white water rafting
Saw a geyser and smelt some eggy geothermal activity in Rotorua
Went Caving, abseiling, tubing and saw some glow worms.
Ate some sushi
Got to the northern tip of New Zealand at Cape Reigna
Tried sandboarding!
Saw some wild dolphins
Sold the van in Auckland and made a fantastic profit!

At the moment I’m compiling a google map with the route we took, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to share it easily but I will go in more depth at some stage.

Here’s a few pics!

Will update again soon!

NZ DIY Camper Van Conversion

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:39:51 +0000

Over the past few days my girlfriend Trish and I did some camper conversion work on our Toyota Hiace we bought last month.

We took out the bed that came with it and decided to make a new one down the back, nearer the boot. We also made up a tall storage unit for our stuff and there is also plenty of storage under the bed too!

Today we did some work on the floor; we got a thin piece of MDF, cut it to shape and stuck on some simple lino tiles so it can be cleaned easily! Looks great!

Hopefully we will make a bit of a profit on it when we sell it on and hopefully it will make a great New Zealand road trip vehicle for more backpackers.

We have a few little bits and bobs left to do now but that’s mainly it! Can’t wait to hit the road and explore this amazing country!

Check out the photos!

Queenstown to Glenorchy Video

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:23:42 +0000

Check out this little video I put together from a few bits of footage from the road trip I took the other day with my friends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WqTLKLQigo

Queenstown to Glenorchy

admin — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:31:59 +0000

Yesterday, my friends and I went for a lovely drive from Queenstown to Glenorchy as we were spending a day off the slopes. The drive took about an hour and it brings you through some amazing lakeside views of Lake Wakatipu. With a camera in hand I was very snap happy taking photos from the car window as we headed north.

We had a nice little picnic in Glenorchy by the lake and then proceeded further north to a place called Paradise, where there were lots of sheep and back country roads. Also, some of the Lord of the Rings and X-Men Origins: Wolverine was filmed up there. We had to turn back when we the road got a bit more suited for 4×4 vehicles as we didn’t want to do any damage to our van.

On the way back we stopped off at Bob’s Cove, a really nice secluded bay. We had a bit of a walk around there and climbed up to a look out point. By this time the sun was going down so we had to head back to the car before it was completely dark.

We hopped back in the car and headed home.

Check out some of the photos I took