Assorted Better Pictures

Auckland airport

Too early! Coffee mandatory.

from my phone

Airport

...here we come.

Yawn.
from my phone

Last 24 hours

Day 36! We've been out exploring a lake this morning. Then lunch, and now (3pm, 2am UK time) we are about to attempt to pack everything back into the two cases in which it came. This might take some time, especially since Sarah came across a NZ cockroach yesterday, resulting in a luggage explosion (and one or two other issues)
I've checked in online, got the boarding passes, so were all ready. The difficulty is that the light clothes needed here are not suitable for heathrow in December....

Tonight is a barbie. It's tough.....

from my phone

Happy Christmas!

I have ticked one of my boxes, a.d have spent Christmas day in tee shirt and shorts. Ham for lunch, and about to have a barbecue. This afternoon, we went for a walk in the woods. The weather is idyllic: temperature 22c, light wind, and no detectable smell of bad eggs....

Happy Christmas from down under

from my phone

Happy Christmas!

I put the shorts on specially!

Last couple of days

Firstly, Christchurch yesterday. We were due to leave at 12, delayed until 12:30. The first quake struck about 13:50, closing the airport, followed by 4 more. We were very lucky to get off...

The problem is that althought they aren't exceptionally strong (the biggest was 6) they were near the surface, and there had been liquefaction. Not good. And it is the last thing the town needed. The recovery looks shaky.

Today we got up early, and headed for Coromandel. We did the Driving Creek railway, built by a potter to get his clay out, it is now a great tourist attraction. Then on to Karangehathi gorge, to explore an old gold mine. And back to Rotorua.

It's now late on Christmas eve here. It's been a hot day. Ive just had my first mince pie, and it seems wrong!

We drove through the attached town today.

Happy Christmas!

from my phone

Rotorua

Bit of a hasty post. Were back in Rotorua, after a lovely flight back from Christchurch. We've just heard they have had another quake: were ok. We just hope they are all ok.

More later.

from my phone

Christchurch airport

All the same! Plastic, and uncomfortable seats.

We got rid of the car easily, and are now waiting for our flight to Rotorua.

Fleur's Place. Desserts

Chocolate brownie (sarah made me) and a strawberry thingy.

The place is gorgeously, styleishly tatty. The service is wonderful, and the prices very reasonable. The three course meal we had, with wine, was much less than English prices.

Fleurs Place

Groper with smoked mussels
Pan fried Tarahiki in almond butter

Somewhat Yummy.

Moeraki Boulders

Today is our only full day in Moeraki. We booked two nights because of Fleur's Place, a renowned fish restaurant in a shack in the village. Were off there at 7 pm.
But we have filled the day well. It's been warm and sunny, so we walked to the Moeraki Boulders along a delightful beach. A brace of Flat Whites sustained us for the return journey, then lunch in our billet, and up to the lighthouse. We spent an afternoon watching fur seals, and the odd penguin.

The photo is of the boulders.

Tomorrow we drive to Christchurch. We drop the car off on afriday morning and fly back to Rotorua for Christmas.

from my phone

Seals and penguins

Dunedin to Moeraki is a short drive. We hit Moeraki about 1.30, even stopping for a shop in a supermarket in Dunedin. Were having to be careful now, because we ditch the car soon and fly back to Rotorua for Christmas.
Today has been cold. We wandered in to Moeraki for a glass of something refreshing when we arrived (lemon, lime and bitters is the drink of the moment) then we headed off to the yellow-eyed penguin colony ( one of two reasons we are here: the other is Fleurs Place, a cracking restaurant in an old fish packing shed in the village. I booked it 6 months ago!)
The yellow-eyed penguin is the most endangered species if penguin. We have struggled to see them so far, but here is easy. They don't mind humans, done carefully. We kept to the paths, and got some lovely images hopefully.

Dinner was "in" (fleurs isn't open on a Tuesday) followed by coffee in our studio room overlooking the Moeraki boulders: theview which adorned our copy of the Rough Guide.

Sarah spotted the attached abandoned toy on the beach. It bears a passing resemblance to JoJo, which our girls will realise is a very important part of Pippas life. She wants to bring it home. However, it seems to have spent several tides in the littoral zone....

Close encounters

We are still on the Otago peninsula, near Dunedin. We decided to spend the day exploring the south side. The north is quiet. The south is dirt roads, sandy bays and real wildlife.
We settled on Sandfly bay, making one abortive attempt which stalled at the top of one huge sand dune. Down is UK, up isn't...

So, round the other way. Just a 50 metre dune this way, so we slid down onto a quiet beach, and walked down to the hide at the other end. We quickly found some yellow eyed penguins, and spent a lovely half hour or so watching them.
Moved outside, and we spotted s huge bull sea lion coming on to the beach. Mark got his camera out, just outside the hide, and started to take shots. Alerted by a slight snuffly noise, he was somewhat alarmed to discover an adult cow sea lion about a foot or so away. Naturally, he moved quickly, for several tens of yards...collecting Sarah on the way. They are not afraid of humans, and can be nasty. She followed us down to the beach, then went for the water, which she splashed in wildly when she got there.

White a scary moment.
We spent last night spotting blue penguins at dusk, so we have mien ticked off blue and yellow-eyed penguins, the royal albatross, and sea lions. All in the wild!

I think that deserves a glass of Cloudy Bay!

Pictures: Sandfly Bay, Otago peninsula

The Otago Peninsula

We diverted from our plans, coming over to thus peninsula on the Pacific coast, instead of spending a few more days in Fiordland. Sarah did the Royal Albatross Centre, whilst Mark took some pictures of the coastline ( the attached snap is just a cameraphone snap )
The Otago peninsula is about 25 miles long, and springs out of Dunedin, which is alarmingly( and charmingly) Edinburgh like. The drive up the peninsula is like Scotland too, and we'll be forced to have fish and chips ("fush ind chups") tonight.
Mark is convinced he has a decent picture of a Stewart island Shag (bird....) so the day had been worthwhile.
Pic is view across Otago harbour, and view from the verandah where we are staying.

from my phone

Doubtful Sound

This was always going to be a highlight, and the weather obliged with a lovely sunny day.

Quite difficult to get there. 30km in a coach to Manapouri, then 30km across lake Manapouri, then 30km across the Wilmot pass in a coach: the wilmot pass road doesn't join up with any others!
And finally into Doubtful Sound. Pretty isolated. Loads of wild scenery, the odd penguin, loads of fur seals on the Nee Islets, at the end of the sound. And most of all, isolation. You'll have to wait for the proper photos but for now, one was taken st the top of the Wilmot pass. One on the sound, and one on the boat coming home.

Tomorrow we deviate from the original plan. Were off to Dunedin, on a penguin and albatross hunt. Hopefully, will see you again tomorrow evening.

Tonights meal wad a smoked salmon salad in the hotel, with a delicious bottle of Allan Scott sauvignon blanc we got for free because they messed up lunch there last week. Had to go, or it would have been excess baggage......

Glowworms & sporks

There is but one way to get to see the glowworm caves, and that is by boat across Lake Te Anau. We'd booked it a few days earlier as an afternoon trip.
We filled the morning with a walk down part of the Kepler Track. One of NZ great walks. The couple of hours we did was idyllic. Prime bush, in sunlight. No one around. Still, silent.

Then on to the local wildlife centre, and our first Takahae.

And finally the glowworms: a complex and slightly damp descent into a cave, then a boat trip in pitch darkness to a cave with glowworms on the roof. Very nice, but very processed feel to the trip, and it wasn't cheap.....

The. Weather has improved. We see the hotel has given us a room with a view, and thus afternoon has been shirt sleeves.

Shot is view from hotel window.

Rain!

Wednesday morning in Fox Glacier was the wettest I have ever experienced. Even opening the car door resulted in a total soaking. So we drove the 200 km or so to Makarora in the gloom.

Makarora wasn't quite an A frame in the wilderness: we were next to the state highway...

Anyway, this morning was bright and sunny. We had a gorgeous run down to Wanaka, which was very smart. Fuelled and bought lunch there, then on to Queenstown: very busy and smart.
We pushed on, having lunch by another gorgeous lake, then to our hotel in Te Anau by mid afternoon, the last 50 km along a deserted highway.

Te Anau is oddly deserted: its not high season: but it seems to be very low season. The shops were cashing up at 4pm.

The hotel is the usual NZ standard. Very clean, well provisioned.

And as I write, it has decided to rain again.

Tomorrow is glowworm caves (!?) and a walk.

from my phone

Fox Glacier

Today dawned beautifully sunny, so we had a delightful drive from Arthur's Pass down to Fox Glacier. The "Glacier Highway" is spectacular and empty. Sections of thick native bush mixed with wide open "flats", and an increasingly spectacular backdrop.
Fox Glacier itself is broodingly powerful. The snout peers st you from the car park. As we walked up to it, we could see and hear great blocks of ice calving from the far side.

Then to Lake Matheson:  this offers the cliche view of Mount Cook, reflected in the lake surface. Not today, for two reasons; mount Cook was in cloud, and the lake surface wasn't calm.

We have also met Kea for the first time. These little buggers (ad a kiwi would say) pull the rubber out of your car windows in their search for food. We moved on quickly.....
Pictures: Fox Glacier, view from Lake Matheson, and cheery Christmas display in white goods shop in Hokitika. The only place selling lunchy things in 300 km.

from my phone

Arthur's Pass

Realistically, the only way over to the west coast from Christchurch. Bit Scottish moor for most of the way, but then we came across these wild lupins.

They look fantastic. But the birds can't nest properly, because the predators hide in the lupins.

Sad, really....

Off across the alps...

Were up to Arthurs Pass tonight, on top of the Southern Alps. Can't remember whether we have internet. If we are silent, we can't connect!

Christchurch

An amazing day. A good look round Christs College, at the earthquake damage, then to the local museum, which I really enjoyed: a lit of Antarctic relics, including Shackleton's 9hp motorized sled and Hillary's tractor, the first motorized vehicle to get to the south pole. And then a snocat from the 1958 Transantarctic expedition. All stuff I read about in books at school.

Then on to look at the earthquake damage in the town: an awesome task. So much left to do: streets of houses at crazy angles, all fed by temporary water 10 months later. Really thoughtful stuff. And a vibrant shoping centre, made entirely from containers( the bug metal boxes on the back of lofties)
Not the usual stuff of holidays. But very interesting.
Pictures are of quake damage, and the shopping centre

from my phone

Christchurch

A short drive down the coast to Christchurch. Where we have a couple of days with friends. A quick drive around the earthquake damage- quite an eye opener: lots of gaps in streets, followed by a lovely drink in governor's bay, then back for dinner.

The picture us the "motorway" into Christchurch. Single lane in each direction. Not obviously a motorway....
from my phone

Kaikoura

The original plan was to go whale watching by boat, but the sea was pretty rough today, so we did the Kaikoura Peninsular Path, which is 11km long, and spectacular in parts. It runs over white limestone, round bays and old whaling stations, past two seal colonies eventually back to the start.

You can see from the pictures that Kaikoura itself looks like a frontier town. Tbd other snaps are taken on the walk.

Kaikoura

We have driven the most gorgeous route from Marahu to Kaikoura, on the pacific coast. Our route wandered through farmland, with distant views of snow covered peaks, past Molesworth Station, at 180,000 hectares the biggest farm in NZ.

Kaikoura is notable for seals, penguins, whales, and lobsters. We were going to whale watch, but the swell tomorrow is big (it comes all the way from Chile) so we shall be landlubbers and do the seal and penguins instead.

We have, however, invested in a lobster. The nice lady split it for us. We have the lemon, the sauvignon blanc, and all the necessary: photograph attached!

This morning started out hot and sunny, but the west coast is cool and overcast as I write (prob abt 15c) so no shirts today.
from my phone

Last nights menu was less distinguished, but as memorable: just outside the park entrance is a caravan, "The Fat Tui" which sells the worlds best burgers. We had one each, and agreed. We want more.....

Kaikoura

We have driven the most gorgeous route from Marahu to Kaikoura, on the pacific coast. Our route wandered through farmland, with distant views of snow covered peaks, past Molesworth Station, at 180,000 hectares the biggest farm in NZ.

Kaikoura is notable for seals, penguins, whales, and lobsters. We were going to whale watch, but the swell tomorrow is big (it comes all the way from Chile) so we shall be landlubbers and do the seal and penguins instead.

We have, however, invested in a lobster. The nice lady split it for us. We have the lemon, the sauvignon blanc, and all the necessary: photograph attached!

This morning started out hot and sunny, but the west coast is cool and overcast as I write (prob abt 15c) so no shirts today.
from my phone

Last nights menu was less distinguished, but as memorable: just outside the park entrance is a caravan, "The Fat Tui" which sells the worlds best burgers. We had one each, and agreed. We want more.....

..and the tremor was a rel earthquake!!

Abel Tasman - and Rain

Firstly, bit apologies for lack of posts and email and pictures: The internet here just sucks, and I can't get the pics off the camera to post.

We did the Abel Tasman Coast Track today - in torrential rain. Out via water taxi (very wet), then about 15 km through lovely bush, except it poured all the way. The trip should have been golden beaches, and turquoise inlets, with native exotic bush. But we got to the end, via several wet tidal crossings, and then had to take our walking shoes off again to get int he water taxi

The native bush is fabulous - but 15 kms of it is a bit tedious, with glimpses of wonderful beaches beyond.

We're now back, via the internet room, to drying everything out - passports, cash (at least we know now why NZ uses plastic notes), before we go out for something to eat,

The Kiwis seem to use "buggered" in a much more respectable way that we do - a TV reporter used it last night of the Eurozone economy on TV. The internet here is buggered and so, at present, is the weather. Tomorrow is "showers" (today is "rain"), then we move to Kaikoura. We currently have whale watching booked, but that might not happen (especially if it's too wet....)

Anyway, hopefully more, with some pictures, on Thursday late or Friday, when we move.

Yeah.....

Love it or hate it......:)

Yum!

from my phone

Someone has to do it...

It's been a tough 24 hours. First there was the earth tremor about 7.30 last night. Rumbly, and about 15 seconds. We shot out from our "unit" but everyone else carried on and ignored it totally. Hi-hum.

Anyway, today dawned wet and cloudy, so we decided to go wine tasting in Marlborough. This was tough. The home of whither hills, Oyster Bay, and, of course,Cloudy Bay. We called in at Cloudy Bay early on, with the palettes still fresh. Opening with the Sauvignon Blanc, Sarah thought it was "ok" (if you like whites you'll know Cloudy is rated as one of the best in the world...). Anyway, we bought a bottle then popped over the road to Allan Scotts for another little sesh, and decided to stay for lunch. Mark managed a dozen green-lipped mussels, Sarah a chicken pate, all for about 19 pounds- and they threw a bottle in as well because the service was very slow. So we have had an excellent lunch, and we have 2 good bottles of sauv. Blanc. to go at before we fly back.

It's been a tough day. Tomorrow we move on to Abel Tasman national park.

The Queen Charlotte Trail

We originally intended to spend 2 days, starting at the outer end (think captain Cook) but that end is just bog, and the forecast tomorrow is poor. So we decided to do the inner end, which is native bush, and spend tomorrow round the wineries.

We set off into tree ferns and podocarp forest, listening to bellbirds and GUI. Below us, turquoise bays of white sand glistened in the sunshine. The path, easy, wound its way up go a commanding viewpoint, where we abandoned it.
Native NZ bush is just a fantastic privilege to walk through. There isn't too much of it left. It's other-wordly.
The pic is the lunch stop.

The view from the billet

It's so good we decided to eat in, watching the tide and sunset.

I just had to fix the internet for the motel, so I reckon that entitles me to another upload!

Pics from a lovely crossing

Cook Strait starts out normalish, but the last half hour or so, in the lovely area north of Picton is just fantastic. Beats even Bergen.

Crossing the cook strait

We've been in this one before. It's the Pride of Cherbourg, an old Brittany boat,  now called the Kaitaki.

Wellington

As we drove south the traffic has got progressively heavier. We had to pay to park the car today - in Wellington, and we had to deal with things like traffic lights, which have not been very evident so far. We've done Te Papa, and the next decision is where to eat. It's an early start tomorrow, to get an early ferry over to south island.

The nice man at the motel had a no vacancy sign up- the first one we've seen. But he thought we had booked 4 rooms.....

Sandcastle Motel

We've holed up for a couple of days north of Wellington, on the Tasman sea. A dramatic coast, sweeping sand beaches, lots of sea and, of course, spectacular sunsets. The beaches are deserted, apart from the odd 4x4
the sandcastle motel was built by the present owner about 30 years ago. It's almost on the beach, and looks like a sandcastle, or Luke Skywalker's house if you follow the genre.

We arrived in a rainstorm. But today has been increasingly lovely and we are about to eat dinner, listening to the waves crash on the beach.

Some very odd birds around, too.

Lake Wairarapa

More stunning scenery. Now in a motel in the dunes on the west coast, watching the rain fall over the Tasman sea.

Wildlife and south

The Mount Bruce Wildlife Centre is the Department of Conservation's effort at preserving a viable popuation of Kiwis (The furry bird) and other endangered wildlife, so we thought it was worth a pop on the way down. We arrived about 1PM,and the nice lady behind the till said that their white Kiwi - the only one inthe world - was about to go to sleep so would we like to run in and see it and yes, we could pay later. So we did. How often would that happen in the UK?!

We were introduced to native eels, Kakas,and a lot of other stuff- all being readied for release into what little remains of the native bush on North Island. Kakas - large, odd looking parrots - are especially delightful birds

And the n on to Masterton. We've spent the early evening reading in the sunshine, eaten a salad. The Motel rooms are adequate - decent double bed, sturdy chair, good bathroom and cooking facilities, only this one doesn't have any cooking.

We stopped off in a tiny little two-bit town on the way  - with a goreous example of Kiwi thouhtfulness at one end of the main street - a large red sign

WRONG WAY

it proclaimed.

And it was right.The shenanigens needed to get back onto the state highway were protracted.

State Highways are lovely two lane roads. One lane in each direction. They are lovely because you need about one car per 10 minutes. In the rush hour...

I'd pt a picture up, but the computer isn't recognising the SD card.....

Gannets (revisited)

Cape Kidnappers, jus down from Napier, is the biggest Gannet colony in world accessible by land fro human habitation.. And the only way to get there is 9 km along a beach, squeezed between low and high tide by tractor, and then km back. Great fun, very rough and lots of gannet pictures. Was able to stand right next to the birds, and they didn't bat a beak at me.

 Then off to Te Mata; a huge hill with stunning views across most of Hawkes Bay

The local chip shop provided the evening meal. I had garlic king prawns (and chips!), with a perfectly respectable salad. washed down with a local Hawke's Bay red. The place is crawling with vineyards.

I am falling around wih the kiwi sense of humour.

Card in a shop: "Old age is in the mind, The trip is to stop it seeping down into your body"

But we are still jet lagged, and need to sleep early!

Good news- got my phone working, so can post some pictures to the blog easily :-)

Down under where the swans are black...

..and men walk on the ceiling.

Been busy in Napier  - Art Deco Trail, some fantastic buildings and lots of pictures. Managed to sunburn myself slightly - can't get my head around the christmas decorations in the shops and the heat. Hawkes Bay has its own microclimate which is hotter than most of th rest of NZ.

Also managed to find and record our own first anticlockwise sundial, which is quite a thing for Mark- I've been wanting to spot one of those for years. Pure geek.

We went shopping for supper tonight, intending to eat it, but discovered that the local "chippy", which is actually a fresh fish outlet for the Hawke's Bay fishery, offers real fresh fish and chips for less than foe wet fish cost. Ideas for what to do with several bunches of asparagus on a postcard, please.

Road sign of the day: "Merge like a Zip". How are you supposed to drive after reading that?

Card ot the day: Good friends are like thighs. They stick together most of the time.

I like the kiwi humour.

North Island

We now  have internet properly - we've moved to Napier, on the east coast, in a motel. Wet morning, but it's now HOT and SUNNY and I can't get my head around it being nearly Deceber. I'm sitting in the motel room in short sleeves - the door is open, and Sarah is dozing on the bed. 

We spent wednesday doing geothermal stuff - absolutely fascinating geysers, and ponds of all different colours - particularly memorable was a large and smelly lime green one

Really weird vegetation - We did Huka Falls near taupo today and went for a walk, We came across a bird making a noise like a squeaky gate, and the tree ferms (all the native species are evergreen) are really weird

The scenery on the drive  from Rotorua to Napier is stunning. Just endless miles of fantastic vistas. We did volcanic stuff yesteray with John and Rob, and met up with our old friends Dave and Denise from Loughborough for  a natter before they went off for a Hangi in some Maori village. We were all in Rotorua last night

Tomorrow we stay in Napier, and do the art deco trails.The centre of Napier wasflattened in a earthquake in the 1930s, and was rebuilt inart deco style. Napier has its ownmicroclimate, and it's currently hot and sunny. The motel is clean and lovely, so we're al very happy.

The shops have christmas decs in,and sarah has set her heart on bringing back a sparkly kiwi to hang on ours.

Rotorua

Hairy Tropical Thunderstorm in Singapore delayed our arrival there, and the take off, but a 100mph tail wind across Australia got us to Auckland in record time. In half an hour early - which was good, because 22 hours of flight is enough, in my humble opinion. NZ is a LONG WAY!!

Sarah thought Singapore was hot and humid.I agreed!

Collected at the airport, efficiently, by John and Rob, collected the car - again efficient, a smart little Toyota Corolla, and a slow drive across gorgeous grassland  - dairy country  - to Rotorua. We stopped en route at a Garden Centre for coffee, which could have been Percy Thrower's in Shrewsbury, except for the exotic vegetation on sale. The Flat Whites are very reviving, and Sarah has had several today.

Slept like a log, and woke to some strange sounding bird noises.

Today, Tuesday, has been volcanic pools and Maori culture in Rotorua. All in balmy early summer climate. The roses are out, the skies are blue, it's warm: probably shorts weather.

We can get cheap deals on the Rugby World cup too - everyone is still wearng All Black shirts. Lovely thing to bind a nation together.

Ah well, off to a afe on top of a mountain shortly. Then it's early bed.

Monument to capitalism

We made terminal 3, and we rejoice in perfume

from my phone

The search for stuff to read

The never ending search for stuff to read on the flight(s). I've been putting this off (and so has Sarah).

Steve Jobs' Bio, by Walter Isaacson is, of course, for a geek, a must read. So I bought that. Then I got hold of "Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know", Ranulph Fiennes' Autobio.

But what next? A bit of serendipitous browsing led me to Captain Cooke's Journals (we're walking from Ship Cove via Furneaux something to somewhere else - Queen Charlotte Sound was clearly used a fair bit during the early explorations - Furneaux commanded HMS Adventure, which accompanied Cooke in 1773) so Project Gutenberg delivered those for not very much and bits of them will be well worth reading.

Don't feel I'm quite there though....

Suitcases

There's a suitcase on the floor of our bedroom. It's got a little friend- a daysac. And in the suitcase is an ever increasing pile of clothing. Living for 5 weeks out of 20kg + 5kg is going to be "interesting", especially since the 20kg includes a netbook and camera gear and so on.

I've also just realised that 24 hours + 4 hours on the plane involves 4 consecutive in-flight meals. I might well be pining for a Satsuma (or should it be a Kiwifruit) when we land. But, allegedly, Singapore Air are very very good.

The nice Car Hire people dropped me an email reminding me I was paying them lotsa wonga for a nice car, which was, actually, rather good of them.

Getting slightly excited.. I also realised that I have never crossed the equator before (I suspect Sarah hasn't either)

Planning

Stardate 20110604 (4th June) : Spent the last week planning it - and booked the flights. So we're leaving London Heathrow on the 19th of November, and heading off, via Singapore, to North Island. Long debate about whether to break at Hong Kong, but it added a bit to the flight costs, and shortened the purpose of the holiday, so we haven't. It's straight there.

Still got a few places to book, and a few other things to sort out. But it's all looking rather smart. The general plan is

** Landscapes
** Animals
** Wilderness
** Bit of walking.

The walking will be all rather tame, though. But we have avoided those ghastly guided tours round animal sanctuaries (I hope!)