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Fiordland: Doubtful Sound (New Zealand)
by claireelizabeth
We were travelling around New Zealand in January 2009, which is New Zeand's summertime, the weather was perfect, not too warm. We stayed at a hostel called 'Barnyard backpackers' which is at the gateway to fiordland, you must stay here its not like a regular back packers, you have private ensuite cabins with shower, toilet, there are ... tea making facilities in the room, it was very clean and the views were stunning, there are communial cooking areas, in the form of a large kitchen with 3 cooking/sink stations, plenty of equipment. The backpackers is 5/10min down the road from Te Anua, where we caught our day drip to doubtful sound from. We used a company called 'Adventure Manapouri', they are a really great, small company, they have a maximum of 10 people in any one group. Its a very personal experience. You start the day by boarding a small boat to cross the most beautiful lake in the world, Lake Manapouri, this is about a 30 min crossing, its just breathtaking! you then reach the mainland where you change into wetsuits in the information center, it has good changing rooms and lots of fantastic information on the wildlife, history and scientific background of the area! You join with your Kayak instrutor who takes you on a 30 min bus ride through the most untouched rainforest, you are served complimentary tea/coffe or hot chocolate and biscuits on the way, you arrive have a simple instruction on how to get into the Kayak etc then off you go, you are kayaking for about 2 hours till lunch, when you leave the kayaks and eat your lunch on a boat, remember you fly repelent, you dont realise there are any sandflys there until you stop! You then kayak for another couple of hours in the afternoon. The guide is extremely knowledgable and can answers all your questions. You then meet up and head home.
Take a waterproof casing for your camera, to take on the kayak, we got sound amazing shots! We saw fur seals! The whole experience was one of the best things I have ever done, you must do it. Doubtful sound cannot be reached by road easily, if at all, there certainly arent any cars, just an old track which our bus took us along. You have to reach it by boat and bus, that means unlike Milford sound which is swamped by tourists this experience is toatoly peacful and unspoilt, we saw one other kayaking group all day! It really is like Jurrasic Park, moss dripping off the vast ancient trees! Take spare warm clothes and wooly hat and gloves as the boat ride home is a bit chilly! Oh and dont be put off if its raining as thats when you see the sound come to life, all the cascading waterfalls fill and flow wildly into the sound! A must see in New Zealand! Take me back!!! Oh I also nearly forgot to say, I hadnt Kayaked before, it doesnt matter if you have or not, its easy to pick up and they are very experienced instructors, you feel very safe, its also not a strenuious kayak, very steady!
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National Parks in Australia (Australia)
by mizzy
I went to my first australian national park last week.
The Blue Mountains is about 45 mins drive from Coogee, I went with oz experience in a small mini bus. For 95 dollars you get a guide, transport and lunch for one day.
We had to leave at 6.45 am to be picked up. After briefly stopping at the ozexperience office ... to register we were taken to a small town at the beginning of the blue mountains.
We got breakfast, had a little look around, there wasnt really much there to see and then got back on the bus.
We went to a clearing and saw 3 kangeroos, one was a baby. We went right up close and they were so cute! That was definately the highlight of my week!
For our first trek we went to see a huge waterfall. The walk down was quite scary as theres no rail or anything and theres a huge sheer drop down! The waterfall was very pretty, although out guide seemed to spend more time stopping on the walk to look at nature and didnt give us very long at the actual site.
We then trekked back up what seemed like thousands of big steps to our lunch. Lunch was pasta salad, cheese or ham roll and fruit and a cereal bar. We all stocked up so we had extra for breakfast the next day.
We were then driven along to our second walk. Our tour guide although very knowledgable wasnt very interesting as he repeated himself a lot.
The second walk involed going down 600 steps to see the 3 sisters formation. Apparently 3 sisters wanted to marry people from another tribe, but then the elders didnt want them to. They were put on the mountain, and were cursed to stay there. The moral is to always listen to the advice of elders. It made it a bit more interesting than just looking at 3 rocks.
Another cool thing was that theres a huge overhang where the miners had carved out rock. If you face the rock in a big group and shout, it echoes all the way across the ravine. It was a really cool trick that you would miss if you went on your own.
We saw a bush fire in the distance which was huge, it got bigger as we drove away, and you could see the smoke from sydney
We then caught the miners train which goes vertically up the mountain side. It was scarier than a rollercoaster as theres nothing holding you in. Its really fast, and you are sort of hanging on hoping you dont fall forward. Its only held on by a cable, and its very rickety looking. Half way up you shoot into a cave. Before that you do get a great view but if you have a fear of heights like me its probably the longest minute ever.
After a stiff drink after the scary train we got back on the bus and were driven the 2 hours back to sydney. Im glad I went on a guided tour as it makes you see more, and they know a lot about the area. The worst part is that I didnt think we spent long enough at the sights.
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Blue Mountains National Park (Australia)
by jaygami1986
This next review is on my time on The Blue Mountains National Park, located in Sydney Australia. A few friends and I had decided to hire a van and take a tour of the national park, as we had been recommended it by several people we had met along the way. I am usually a fan of national parks; it gives you a chance to take in the scenic ... view, it gives you a chance to relax and unwind if you have had a busy week, and you even get to see some wildlife. It's a great experience, which allows you to camp overnight, whilst also have a magnificent driving experience.
History & Park Info:
The park covers 267,954 hectares, which included several mountains and rivers along the trek. The highest point of the park is Mount Werong (1,215 m), and there are some breathtaking views from the top. The area became a national park in 1932, and ever since has become a tourist hotspot for people who like walking and hiking.
How to Get There:
There are several ways to get to the national park; you can either take a car, or a van through the major highways, which leads you into the park entrance. Public transport is also available from many stations across Sydney, all taking you towards the park.
This park is near...
Katoomba (2 km, 5 minutes)
Penrith (9 km, 15 minutes)
Lithgow (20 km, 15 minutes)
Sydney (50 km, 90 minutes)
Fees and Opening Hours:
The park is open from 8:30 am in the morning and closes at 7:00pm daily, the fee to enter the park if you have a car or a van is $7 per day and is operated by a coin machine, so it might be useful to have some change on you at the time.
The Park and Tours Available:
The park has several tours that are available for visitors to take part in and this is truly a great experience as it allows you to get an in depth view of the natural beauty of the park and its surrounding areas. The guides also give you some information about the wildlife you might see there, what plants and trees there area, and some general information about the park, which you may not have thought about. The tours are also a great way to meet like minded people, who you can enjoy the day with.
The main tour has several key features which include a guided bush walk, a night time spotlighting tour which gives you a detailed tour of the park once it's dark, allowing you to really get a feel for what the park is like during the night time.
There are several other detailed tours, which charge you for the experience, these include a detailed tour of the underground caves present within the national park, The Scenic Railway tour which takes you around the old train tracks within the park, also giving you some insightful historical background about the area. You can also opt to watch a documentary in one of the visitor centres, which gives you a detailed background of the park, which the first settlers were on the grounds and how the parks transformed within the last 250 years.
If you do some research before you go its worthwhile booking a tour with Blue Mountains Tourism, which again offers a wide variety of packages for things to see and do within the park. They also offer some great accommodation if you choose to stay the night in the park.
The website listed below gives you some great info on where you can find a place to stay, thus making you journey more pleasant and memorable.
Great Blue Mountains Drive is a self service driving opportunity which allows travellers and hikers a chance to drive around within the park, I often found this to be more of a family orientated and thus only take it if you're willing to spend hours and hours of driving.
My Experience:
I had a brilliant time when I went to park; there was so much to simply see that we had to cover the park over a period of three days. The tour operators picked us up from or hotel and took as to the entrance of the park. One of the first things that hit us was Jamieson Valley, which was a vantage point and overlooked a magnificent view of the horizon, the sun was glaring down on us, and all we could see was the rich green trees, which looked very moist and rich. You also get to see some rock formation, which really emulates the beauty of the park and its surrounding area.
We carried on with the tour and we came to some very key points such as the nearby rivers which are located towards the bottom, it's a long walk down, and it's a great feeling when you finally get to the bottom and see the clear water, which on a sunny day allows you to see you reflection against it.
The next point of stop was Three Sisters rock formation at Katoomba. It's one of the most iconic parts of the tour and consists of three rock formations with and earthy texture to them, overlooking the surrounding park, which has mass amounts of trees. It was at this point that we got ourselves comfortable and had some lunch, which we had bought with us. It's important to note that anything you bring with you must be taken back, they done accept littering and it would be a shame to see litter so be considerate.
I could go on about the tour for hours, but I don't want to make this review to extensive, however if your going to visit the park, its always worth doing some background information on what you want to see etc.
Happy Travels.
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