I just love the peacefulness of this shot and the serenity it evokes. Taken by Fiznatty somewhere in New Zealand, it’s the type of scenery that makes you want to call in sick for the day and disappear into this bucolic countryside with just a picnic basket, hammock, and your best girl.
If you have a similarly inspiring shot you’d like considered for Photo of the Day, be sure to stop by our Gadling Flickr Pool and upload away.
A few months back we reported on a couple of special flights offered by Air New Zealand, one an inflight fashion show across the Tasman from Auckland to Sydney, and also a special gay-themed flight from San Francisco to Sydney in time for the Sydney Mardi Gras.
Now the little airline that could is launching a new service they’re describing as “in-flight concierges”. Basically the idea is have a dedicated person on board the plane whose sole role is to liaise with passengers and handle enquiries on “must-do” activities at their destinations, arranging onward bookings – even advising on wine selection with meals.
The in-flight know-it-alls will begin service on long haul flights from Auckland to North America and Asia in April 2008.
The rest of the world probably looks at New Zealand and thinks we spend our weekends taking part in wacky and wild adventure activities.
Truth be told I’m actually happier at the movies or my favourite microbrew emporium, but with attractions like Auckland’s newly opened Skywalk it’s easy to understand any misconceptions.
In New Zealand’s biggest city you can already climb the harbour bridge (and bungy off it if you’re so inclined) and leap in a controlled fall from the 192 metre tall Sky Tower.
Now the Sky Tower is offering the chance to walk around its summit on a 1.2 metre wide walkway. Of course it’s safe as houses with more harnesses than a bondage convention, but the idea of wandering around in the open being battered by Auckland’s maritime breezes gives me the willies.
Mind you, I also write a regular column on Auckland urban adventures for a local magazine, so I’m just waitiing on a call from my editor to make the highrise journey myself.
Thanks to Skywalk for the pic.
Queenstown in New Zealand is renowned as the adventure capital of the world, but after spending a week there researching for Lonely Planet, I’ve realised some of the resort’s adrenaline fuelled activities don’t necessarily give travellers the best opportunity to experience the stupendous landscapes that surround you like out-takes from a Lord of the Rings DVD box set.
In reality some of the more popular thrill rides like the Nevis Highwire Bungy (anyone for 8.5 seconds freefall?) or the Shotover Canyon Swing are really just too damn fast to take in the incredible scenery that overwhelms every vista. But tandem hang gliding? Now that’s a different story…
I’d done skydiving before, but hang gliding is a whole new gig. Yes, it really did feel like flying as my Argentinean pilot Gerard surfed the glider on the slipping and sliding thermals rising around the ridges of Queenstown’s Coronet Peak.
Still thrilling as hell, and I’ll take fifteen minutes in the air surrounded by the dramatic peaks of the Remarkables mountain range over a sub ten-second injection of adrenaline any time.
Excuse my absence from Gadling for the last couple of months. but I’ve been discovering what’s new and different in the South Island of New Zealand for the next edition of Lonely Planet’s guide to my home country. Normally my LP ventures with laptop and notebook take me overseas, but it’s been kind of cool to poke around off the beaten track in my own backyard.
Between being surprised by the increasing number of great Kiwi microbrews and dangling off a hang glider above Queenstown, the most bittersweet memory is an excursion by inflatable boat onto the waters of Lake Tasman. The lake’s just three decades old, and its increasing size is being fuelled as global warming melts the Tasman Glacier, still New Zealand’s largest river of alpine ice, but 5 km shorter than it was 30 years ago.
The lake’s now a similar length and dotted with icebergs of all shapes and sizes that are continually rearranged by the mountain winds like giant floating chess pieces. The crystalline ice is up to 500 years old, and a lack of air bubbles trapped from earlier centuries produces an almost diamond hardness.
Out on the lake, a surprising late spring overnight snowfall had settled on the icy monoliths, and the gossamer sprinkling was enough to disturb the delicate balance of several icebergs that turned and rebalanced during the early morning.
Beautiful yes, but also a poignant and tangible reinforcement of the impact of climate change.