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New Zealand – 7 days on the South Island

route included in pdf

On a recent trip to New Zealand to visit a lovely couple and their young son, we had just 7 days to see parts of the South Island.

We came with hopes to see penguins, dolphins and whales, and had originally planned to drive up the east coast as this route would maximise our chances of seeing penguins. But on advice from our friends, we ended up driving from Milford Sound up the west coast, and then across to Kaikoura.

We had the best trip, and got to see the wildlife we had hoped for, not to mention the most amazing scenery. I’m a bit disappointed with our photos, but will post some of them shortly.

In the meantime, I’ve put together a pdf of our route (Hobbits not included), in the hope that it might help you, if you are currently planning a trip to the beautiful Land of the Long White Cloud. The pdf also includes a few of our photos.

scenery enroute to Haast

The times and distances included in the itinerary are rough estimates, and it should be noted that we visited in late October, so plan for longer drives in peak season, when you’re likely to find more camper vans on the roads.

Download our itinerary for the South Island of New Zealand (PDF – 2MB).

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Gollum fishing in Wellington airport

A giant model of Gollum greeted us at Wellington airport, when we landed on 26 October.

model of Gollum reaching for a fish at Wellington airport

The model had been installed over the 3 previous nights in preparation for the premiere of The Hobbit, which will take place on 28 November in Wellington.

Wellington is going all out for the premiere with a Hobbit Artisan Market to be held at Waitangi Park from 24-28 November according to Weta, the  special effects company behind The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

The premiere will be an invite-only event, according to a very friendly gentleman at Weta Cave, who couldn’t wait for the big night. I’m still waiting for my invite.

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Print your own luggage tag at home

printed luggage tag

Printing your own boarding pass has become standard procedure for many travellers, but now passengers travelling from Billund Airport in Denmark can also print their own luggage tags.

Billund Airport claims to be the first airport in the world to offer this service to passengers. The system is meant to benefit not only check-in staff, but also passengers by allowing them to use a dedicated luggage drop-off point, according to the airport.

To use the service you will need to:

  • Print the luggage tag on A4 paper before you get to the airport
  • fold it in accordance with the provided instructions
  • put the tag in a plastic wallet, which is provided at the airport
  • secure the plastic wallet to your luggage.

The service has been well-received according to Anders Nielsen, Vice President Project & Development at Billund Airport.

“People save time at check-in, and they experience no problems with printing the tags”, says Anders Nielsen.

Source: Billund Airport press release (in Danish).

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View of a local in Ruffrè

Franco
Franco spent a lot of time in Ruffrè as a child visiting his grand parents. In this view of local interview, Franco shares his tips about the small village in northern Italy.

Briefly please could you tell us a bit about yourself?

My name’s Franco, I was born in Bolzano and currently I’m living in Bologna (Emilia Romagna) and working in Trentino area. Communication, internet & social media have been my main activities for many years. I love photography, especially nature shots.

I shoot with a Canon Eos 30D, 17/85 Efs, EF 75/300 and with the iPhone when I’m without the main camera. You can find me on Instagram, only with iPhone Shots (giacoz67 user).

Please come visit my Flickr PhotoStream.

How long have you known Ruffrè?

Half of my roots are in Ruffrè. My Grandparents were born here. I’ve been visiting Ruffrè as a tourist since I was a child. So I could say to know this place very well!

What do you like most about Ruffrè?

Ruffrè is a very quiet place, a little town at 1175 metres of elevation, sourrounded by gorgeous forests, lawn and creeks.

Very close to Ruffrè you can find “Passo Mendola”, a gap between Trentino and South Tirol, which became a world famous tourist resort in the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1900. The Emperor Franz Joseph and his famous wife The Empress Elisabeth (Sissy) came here.

Why should travellers visit Ruffrè?

Travellers will find a beautiful place both in the summer and winter. Ruffrè is not a classical example of the mountain mass tourist place. It’s quiet, a great place for photo shooting.

3 km from Passo Mendola you can find Monte Penegal, which gives you one of the best panorama points in the Alps. From Monte Penegal you can see the whole Dolomiti Mountains area. It’s amazing to visit at sunset, the Mountains become red and pink! An incredible show created by nature.

You can also run, ride, ski, skate and many other activities. Last but not least, you get very good food and wine here.

What do you wish travellers would do or stop doing when they visit Ruffrè?

Ruffrè is very close to Passo Mendola, but is less famous. After you visit Passo Mendola go to Ruffrè, then you can continue to the “Non” Valley.

What are your top 3 insider tips for visitors to Ruffrè?

Visit the town of Ruffrè and the church.

Visit the Monte Penegal.

If you’re a motorbiker you should not miss out on a trip from Caldaro to Passo Mendola.

Another “sight” is the Mendola funicular railway, which is the longest and steepest of its kind throughout South Tyrol.

Photos from Ruffrè

Head on over to Franco’s Flickr site for some amazing shots of Ruffrè.

Put your pin in our map

Our View of a Local series consists of interviews with local people in various towns and cities in different countries.

For more information about how you can take part in our View of a Local series, please go to our View of a Local page >>

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The Roman Empire in Sand

I went to the Sand Sculpture Festival 2011 during my visit to Denmark last month.

The annual festival has been running in Søndervig for a few years now, I believe, and the theme this year is “The Roman Empire and its Rulers”.

The artists are from all over the world and I was very impressed by the sculptures! The details are amazing, as should be evident from the photos below by Asta Poulsen.

The festival runs till 25 October, and you can get all the details including entrance fees and opening times from http://www.sandskulptur.dk/frontpage.aspx


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Seychelles – the world’s best ginger ale

Dear SeyBrew, I have just one question for you – when will you start exporting your SeaPearl Ginger Ale to the UK?

I often come back from a holiday, wishing I could recreate some of the delicious dishes that the local cuisine had to offer. For most people this would just be a matter of looking up the recipe and start cooking. I, however, cannot cook to save my life, so I resort to hunting down restaurants who might offer the dishes.

Seychelles was no different – who knew cabbage salad or mango salad could taste so divine? But the one thing I wish I could have brought home with me from Seychelles, is the SeaPearl Ginger Ale. I don’t normally drink ginger ale, but this ginger ale is not only the best ginger ale I’ve ever tasted, it is also the most refreshing soft drink, I’ve ever come across.

Anyone, who knows me, will know that I’m a massive Coke drinker, but I would switch in a heartbeat, if the SeaPearl Ginger Ale was available in the UK.

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Seychelles snorkelling

Our trip to Seychelles seems like a long time ago now, so it’s about time I share a few of our photos from our visit. I’ll spread the photos over a few posts over the next couple of weeks, so bear with me as I trawl through hundreds of photos.

We chose Seychelles primarily for its snorkelling, and boy did we go snorkelling! I spent so much time face down in the water that my back is still two shades darker than my face.

We did most of the snorkelling in the bay of Anse Petite Cour on Praslin, straight off the beach of La Reserve hotel. The bay offers calm water and plenty of fish including the beautiful but very defensive Picasso Triggerfish, the spectacular but poisonous Lionfish, Porcupinefish, various species of Butterflyfish and Angel fish, Surgeonfish, Parrotfish, Trumpetfish and many, many more.

We also snorkelled for a few hours off Anse Source D’Argent on La Digue and off a small beach cove at the Hilton Northolme on Mahe. The water at Anse Source D’Argent was a bit cloudy on the day we visited La Digue, so we didn’t see as great a variety of fish as we saw at Anse Petite Cour on Praslin. The beach itself was gorgeous though.

The water at Hilton Northolme was very choppy when we were there, quite low visibility and only suitable for strong swimmers on that particular day. I found the highest concentration of fish around a group of large rocks situated a good distance off the beach, where a massive group of squid nearly spooked my snorkel mask off my face, as they swam across my path.

We found the best snorkelling, though, around Felicite and Isle Coco. We saw the same species of fish as we had seen at Anse Petite Cour, but at a much higher density. I caught a brief glimpse of a ray as it was swimming away from me at Coco island, where we also got to see a sea turtle.

I’ve extracted a few stills from our snorkelling videos, see below. The videos were shot with a dodgy point-and-shoot through an Aquapac, so please excuse the poor quality. I’ll try to put together a small compilation video over the next couple of weeks, so you can get a better feel of the snorkelling opportunities on Seychelles.

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The Northern Lights Camera

The northern lights (Aurora Borealis) have put on a magnificent show over the past couple of days, judging from the images from the (almost) live camera at the Aurora Sky Station.
Aurora Sky Station website screenshot
Naturally, we would rather experience the northern lights live, but for those of us who are located too far south to see the lights live, the Aurora Sky Station camera takes a snap of the night sky at the Abisko Mountain Station every 5 minutes.

There is of course no guarantee that the camera will catch the northern lights, but the Aurora Sky Station website displays the latest 700+ photos captured, and they often include brilliant shots of the lights.

As I write this, (4 January 2011 at 20:48), the northern lights is putting on the most magnificent display you could wish for, so hurry over to  the Aurora Sky Station website to see for yourself.

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The last coconut

And so the last coconut had fallen, the gecko had lost its tail and the fruit bat was calling it a night. I’m back from Seychelles and will be telling you all about it here, as soon as the hard disk with most of the photos is back from a small detour to Geneva.

Seychelles

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Seychelles Festival Kreol 2010

Festival Kreol Seychelles

As luck would have it, my visit to Seychelles coincides with the Festival Kreol 2010. I’m very much looking forward to the “special welcome” billed for disembarking passengers at the airport on International Creole Day, whatever that may be :).

I’m also hoping to experience some of the festival atmosphere in Victoria, as I wait for my ferry to Praslin, and if I get to snap a few photos, I’ll see if I can post them here.

The festival started yesterday and runs till 31 October. The festival’s official web site seems to be having a bad day, but you can also find the programme on the Virtual Seychelles web site.