tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61920840334501902762024-03-19T13:33:36.223+10:00Ian's RamblingsAttempting to keep you all up to date with my life.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.comBlogger173125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-68933953677412199602018-05-06T16:54:00.001+10:002018-05-06T16:54:52.989+10:00Choroidal serous retinopathyOn 3 April 2018, I went to see my ophthalmologist. This is something I do regularly.<br />
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In 2005, I experienced an odd visual problem. Yes, 2005 was a long time ago, but I still remember it well. I was on my first teaching prac at the time. One evening, when I was trying to write up my day's notes and prepare for the next day, I noticed a strange spot in my vision in my left eye. There seemed to be a small ‘bubble’ distorting whatever I was looking at behind that spot. Something a little bit like this…<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfKYenfak3Eo7maf2cedWntyyDzAFX3smbgt2af0TvC-P4okC1xDayOM_wId4JgyBfhnqj_0wkD-NeRDuaa__OAVpo9o73VQlJ9ypIPmF-DcDVGxYs968cm0folSb1RjHvo3g4xXYcCWA/s1600/visual+bubble.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="84" data-original-width="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfKYenfak3Eo7maf2cedWntyyDzAFX3smbgt2af0TvC-P4okC1xDayOM_wId4JgyBfhnqj_0wkD-NeRDuaa__OAVpo9o73VQlJ9ypIPmF-DcDVGxYs968cm0folSb1RjHvo3g4xXYcCWA/s1600/visual+bubble.png" /></a></div>
Ok, it's hard to draw. That's not quite right but it gives you some idea. Anyway, I put it down to my stress and tiredness (prac teaching is<i> very </i>hard work) and went to bed. The next morning it was still there, but it seemed to gradually fade over the following days.<br />
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Then a few years later, I noticed another interesting effect in the same region of vision in my left eye. A kind of wrong-colours and shimmering effect. You can read about this <a href="http://polymath74.blogspot.com.au/2009/08/retinal-pigment-epithelium-defect.html" target="_blank">in a blog post I wrote in 2009</a>, including another attempt to show you what I saw with an edited image. My ophthalmologist at the time (not the one I saw recently) suggested it was some kind of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) defect, but wasn't sure what might have caused it.</div>
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Over the following few years, I noticed another patch appearing in my right eye, closer to the centre. The visual appearance changed gradually. Both eyes now have several spots with problems, some bigger than others. Let me try another vision-map like the one in <a href="http://polymath74.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/visit-to-see-eye-doctor.html" target="_blank">this progress report blog post from 2011</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-aP2-wpoWptzo-IJ9zuamz7dGME1JVOWNy5p7xN08xmVd6QSW_tHiFctDQpn66hgR10Fb3sUKhAncXQytuQvkopoFJnu2ipJHkQQJ5pJJ_ouwr7-EHocJFbbjKHf7EdE3f9lMDGnJmk/s1600/vision+issues+2018.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="543" data-original-width="943" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-aP2-wpoWptzo-IJ9zuamz7dGME1JVOWNy5p7xN08xmVd6QSW_tHiFctDQpn66hgR10Fb3sUKhAncXQytuQvkopoFJnu2ipJHkQQJ5pJJ_ouwr7-EHocJFbbjKHf7EdE3f9lMDGnJmk/s400/vision+issues+2018.png" width="400" /></a></div>
Ok, that's not perfect either, but again it should give you some idea. Notice that I've drawn this as I see it, which is actually opposite to how things are normally done in the medical field. Normally these things are done ‘as the doctor sees it’ looking at you.<br />
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The shimmering has now reduced but occasionally reappears; when it does, it usually lasts a few days. Colours are not right in these areas. Lines and shapes are distorted through them. I also see some reduced-contrast flare if there's direct sunlight falling across my eyes (eg. if the sun is rising or setting to the side).<br />
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Anyway, when I went back to the ophthalmologist recently, he made a suggestion about what might have been going on. He said it could be something called choroidal serous retinopathy (CSR). I looked this up and I think it does describe my symptoms. (Actually, most of what you'll find with <a href="https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=active&q=choroidal+serous+retinopathy" target="_blank">a google search</a> is central serous chorioretinopathy, which is basically the same thing only near the fovea, which is the part of the retina behind the centre of where you look—the + signs in my diagram above.)<br />
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<<technical bottom="" down="" follows="" if="" interested="" not="" re="" scroll="" section="" the="" to="" you="">></technical><br />
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What evidence is there that this might be my problem? I'm glad you asked. Here's part of the OCT scan taken of my retinas at my ophthalmology appointment in April:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-LZbqI3Jpc4oa8CgvIn6023JtNADN_5_85dIfKi4L7GjcsbXKIsZB-VWoH_prZ1RQxPEYkGgnMKPv5GfwzFjTa8R12_EGllGmPwh9iN5V1kYceXDVNeUTIPaWD_jx3Y8W7l-0KnK8CI/s1600/Ian+OCT+20180403-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1017" data-original-width="1600" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-LZbqI3Jpc4oa8CgvIn6023JtNADN_5_85dIfKi4L7GjcsbXKIsZB-VWoH_prZ1RQxPEYkGgnMKPv5GfwzFjTa8R12_EGllGmPwh9iN5V1kYceXDVNeUTIPaWD_jx3Y8W7l-0KnK8CI/s640/Ian+OCT+20180403-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Ok, so maybe you don't know how to read one of these. I already had some idea since doing some research after my first OCT years ago, but reading <a href="https://newgradoptometry.com/complete-list-ocular-diseases-optical-coherence-tomography-oct/" target="_blank">this page</a> helped enormously—go read it if you're interested in more detail than I talk about here.<br />
<ol>
<li>These images are ‘standard’ medical imaging, so my left eye is on the right, and my right eye is on the left.</li>
<li>The small thumbnails at the top are retinal photos with lines indicating how the machine scanned my eyes. The middle row is a horizontal scan (cyan arrow in thumbnail). The lower row is a vertical scan (magenta arrow in thumbnail).</li>
<li>N/T in the middle row is Nose/Temple. Looking left to right, the right eye scan goes from temple (side of face) to nose (middle), then the left eye scan from nose (middle) to temple (side). The centre of the page shows the head of the optic nerve, corresponding to the blind spot. When you look for it in your vision, the blind spot appears towards the outside from the centre, but remember the image on your retina is inverted; the nerve is actually closer to your nose.</li>
<li>Similarly, S/I in the bottom row is Superior/Inferior, ie. top/bottom. That is, the top of the retina is on the left in the scan, and the bottom on the right. Again, remember that this is the opposite of what you see: the top of your retina sees the bottom of your vision, and vice versa.</li>
<li>Finally, the dip in the middle of each scan is the fovea. The centre of your vision has much higher resolution (actually ‘acuity’), meaning many more light detecting cells. The shape of the retina here is to make room for this.</li>
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Now we're ready to look for evidence. Here's the part of my left eye scan between the fovea and the optic nerve:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmu-5OCXgerhW6y0NNkdO-e6GCMkTM8BIznyY23tjPsy3A2fdbndswuZNrKp9n3GQOAGBOwE43LN9tcaaBdbj3111UaWOx3y6vnUv98UH-WLXUKEsrhBJPImn489562ByQZXbnG3IjJyw/s1600/Ian+OCT+20180403-2+left+csr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="229" data-original-width="750" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmu-5OCXgerhW6y0NNkdO-e6GCMkTM8BIznyY23tjPsy3A2fdbndswuZNrKp9n3GQOAGBOwE43LN9tcaaBdbj3111UaWOx3y6vnUv98UH-WLXUKEsrhBJPImn489562ByQZXbnG3IjJyw/s400/Ian+OCT+20180403-2+left+csr.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The highlighted sections (and maybe also the bit with a dimmer highlight) correspond approximately with where I see visual issues in my left eye, out from the centre towards the blind spot. The left-most section highlighted here certainly looks to me (a non-expert) like the OCT examples for RPE CSR from <a href="https://newgradoptometry.com/complete-list-ocular-diseases-optical-coherence-tomography-oct/#Central_Serous_Chorioretinopathy_on_Optical_Coherence_Tomography" target="_blank">this page</a> I linked to above.<br />
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And here's my right eye scans near the fovea:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAjM2W_Emngb3FkBHHE5MgDg93xhXtt01VfOG-20dDdl2ow7u5nnaTXyGhwYFt_6WujJk1AZo4IUfQ22nIs1a2U-vBCluW3AYYn2fa7jkLQchDMQUlSeoncIAPe9bcWg6uhx5TpqszbXU/s1600/Ian+OCT+20180403-2+right+csr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="532" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAjM2W_Emngb3FkBHHE5MgDg93xhXtt01VfOG-20dDdl2ow7u5nnaTXyGhwYFt_6WujJk1AZo4IUfQ22nIs1a2U-vBCluW3AYYn2fa7jkLQchDMQUlSeoncIAPe9bcWg6uhx5TpqszbXU/s400/Ian+OCT+20180403-2+right+csr.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Again, the highlighted sections correspond to my visual issues in my right eye, just outside and below the centre (so inside and above the fovea on my retina).<br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Whew! That was pretty technical.</span><br />
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So what does this all mean? Well, interestingly, two potential causes <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">stood out for me from my research: stress and steroids. </span>(Actually, they're correlated with CSR, but not necessarily causal.)<br />
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Stress. My life is quite stressful. Teaching is stressful (and prac teaching, when I first noticed a problem in my vision, even more so). I'm also a middle leader at work (head of faculty). And I'm studying part time. Maybe I need to reduce my stress. But how—what should I change?</div>
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Steroids. I've been using corticosteroids for asthma since I was a teenager. I use corticosteroids to reduce my rhinitis. I also use topical corticosteroids at times to treat eczema and a variety of related skin problems. Probably not something I can easily avoid.</div>
Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-81304416923119181422018-05-03T18:26:00.003+10:002018-05-03T18:44:16.908+10:00I'm backIt's been a while (ok, a few years!) but I've decided to come back here. I've been doing so much reading, for my studies. And I've been doing so much consuming—maybe even too much. I've deactivated my Facebook account for now (gasp!) to stop myself wasting so much time there. Instead, I want to create. I need to get better at essay-style writing (for my studies) and the best way to get better at that is to practice: that is, to write.<br />
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I don't know how much time I'll be able to set aside for writing. But I want to do more. I want to write more.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-59917217760549530572012-09-24T17:43:00.000+10:002012-09-24T17:43:53.853+10:00Land ownershipToday was settlement day: We now own 4+ acres of vacant land in Logan Village!<br />
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We started looking back in April. Our weekends for a few months there consisted of going out looking at various houses and blocks. Almost every place we saw had something wrong with it: house too small, land too swampy, neighbours too close. We found one place we liked in Logan Village, but God had other ideas: We were outbid by another buyer. We found another place in Logan Reserve, but the land was a bit sandy and we would have had to do some work to the house as well (building in underneath).<br />
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We kept going back to this one vacant block, on the hill on the eastern side of Logan Village. And in the end, we decided we should just buy it and build our own house. So that's what we're doing.<br />
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It's a steep block (about 26°). But the views are fabulous, out to Flinders Peak.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhICGQRUHGsWhTKRPO0KD9od7sJE7TiCKzoJ6V1Psh5TUB9MvgdVfRAZ6ut29nEXB33436v-iU4wAfC1x_It9UXuP5MbkTS6jotz39Zb1dr4GdkhRUzTfBsLnfAJh0dw3srDj8hFfokoAE/s1600/IMG_20120909_121701.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhICGQRUHGsWhTKRPO0KD9od7sJE7TiCKzoJ6V1Psh5TUB9MvgdVfRAZ6ut29nEXB33436v-iU4wAfC1x_It9UXuP5MbkTS6jotz39Zb1dr4GdkhRUzTfBsLnfAJh0dw3srDj8hFfokoAE/s320/IMG_20120909_121701.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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So now we just have to clear the lantana and other weeds, build some fences, design a house, get Council approval, …Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-50543880218162136732012-01-22T21:08:00.001+10:002012-01-22T21:23:39.375+10:00We bought a zoo!<div><p>Saw this movie today with Laetitia. It's about a single father and his two kids who need a change from their noisy and stressful city life, so they buy a house on many acres .. that just happens to have a zoo.</p>
<p>It's also about a family struggling to cope with the grief of losing a wife and mother.</p>
<p>And it's also about courage, adventure and (of course) true love.</p>
<p>It's a beautiful movie. Do yourself a favour and go see it.</p>
<p>(And either movies are getting deeper or I'm getting sappy in my old age, but I cried - several times.)</p>
</div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-29671597703563557182012-01-13T21:00:00.014+10:002012-01-15T21:52:36.694+10:00Auckland and home!<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">We drove south back to Auckland along Highway 1. A toilet stop in Whangerei turned into a delightful exploration of a lovely park, including a chicken(!) and a pukeko wandering about. For my Australian friends, the pukeko is like a larger and less timid version of our moorhen - here, try this video. (Sorry, no sound; the only sound recorded by my camcorder was the mower in the background.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy3Z2Q_1qmKhg0W8zxcVvm7wWwonbwCcJFk62Pk7SHTWGv5nlzkIhWPG2p8Ze8KxknntSefICUPOnZJd_TRDQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Lunch was a picnic beside the road in Wellsford. Eventually we made it to the Airport Harbour View Motel, across the bay from the airport. Our room was spacious and clean with a galley kitchen and a large ensuite. Our hosts (“under new management”) were very friendly and helpful. Highly recommended, if you have your own transport (it’s a couple of kilometres from the Onehunga Mall).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">We went out for dinner to the Curry Leaf Indian Restaurant in the mall, after discovering in response to our inquiries that they only cook in vegetable oil. The meal was delicious and good value for money. Also highly recommended!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">In the morning we packed our bags for the last time and put aside all the things we didn’t want to take back with us - cooking items mostly, and a little left-over food. Our friends Jacques and Sarah came to meet us at the hotel and collected these things, and then we went with them to a café for morning tea.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY0k965t36P4a6xO9576LSua6A7iXIw_NuZ1aEvz7LqXolTyHxugcqJfNherAalQmYi0-owDyyAhEPgBxCMv_WmzopNGx3ghEhkt6cjxOlZx6Kyu5_tWkp99x6qi9zRMuUMlOMXhddHhQ/s1600/20120113-DSC_7451.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY0k965t36P4a6xO9576LSua6A7iXIw_NuZ1aEvz7LqXolTyHxugcqJfNherAalQmYi0-owDyyAhEPgBxCMv_WmzopNGx3ghEhkt6cjxOlZx6Kyu5_tWkp99x6qi9zRMuUMlOMXhddHhQ/s320/20120113-DSC_7451.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Finally we went to the airport and returned our car. We had driven it 5525km in thirty days.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">We left Auckland at a little after 3:00pm and arrived almost four hours later at 3:50pm, getting back the three hours we lost on the way to Christchurch a month ago. My parents picked us up from the airport, and we met Laetitia’s parents at the Loving Hut at Mt Gravatt for dinner together before going home.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Onehunga, Auckland, New Zealand-36.9227811 174.78519719999997-36.9382611 174.76299869999997 -36.907301100000005 174.80739569999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-12593627516755406132012-01-12T15:00:00.015+10:002012-01-15T20:47:30.574+10:00Paihia<div class="MsoNormal">On Tuesday morning we drove north from Auckland. We turned off the main highway to go to the Kauri Museum at Matakohe, stopping for a picnic lunch in Paparoa, the town before that. We were very pleased to see a sign in the park in Paparoa celebrating Christmas as Jesus’ birthday.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Kauri Museum is <i>excellent</i>. We spent about three hours there and felt rushed. Seriously, you could spend an entire day there! They have so much information and so many displays. It’s wonderful. Just do it!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFqHACrqHmUkaSo4BNSTyi3ZFOICVUI4DIgLYjAKlMnuEfo4Kjwn6XPgTxLRJq2bfHL3fCgeB79ztyFSZP8q9U3iuJ7Yd7p623TiGAKRzcDbIk5Qdcls_PvJBLcV_1ZygwgHMU5JWqK0/s1600/Ian+with+the+Balderston+Kauri+slab_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCFqHACrqHmUkaSo4BNSTyi3ZFOICVUI4DIgLYjAKlMnuEfo4Kjwn6XPgTxLRJq2bfHL3fCgeB79ztyFSZP8q9U3iuJ7Yd7p623TiGAKRzcDbIk5Qdcls_PvJBLcV_1ZygwgHMU5JWqK0/s320/Ian+with+the+Balderston+Kauri+slab_0001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMuLC_jwv7mmZeux0UqeINYodZaKR6CtNz_s7HMpG-W0BRDf7ea6DSF9ZM8p75VrW9OLzeQEebRrV8VHZ55vA-afxH2BKBbmh7y4JK4aA2YqAxnnsoXgeS9O7lhiLf0B2n4cGoo-MYk6Q/s1600/Laetitia+in+front+of+Kauri+log.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMuLC_jwv7mmZeux0UqeINYodZaKR6CtNz_s7HMpG-W0BRDf7ea6DSF9ZM8p75VrW9OLzeQEebRrV8VHZ55vA-afxH2BKBbmh7y4JK4aA2YqAxnnsoXgeS9O7lhiLf0B2n4cGoo-MYk6Q/s320/Laetitia+in+front+of+Kauri+log.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">However we were due in Paihia so we eventually had to leave. We took the back road north from Paparoa, after asking for directions and advice a couple of times. It was a lovely scenic drive, not only shorter than returning east to Highway 1 first but also had little traffic.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In Paihia we stayed two nights at the Marlin Court Motel at the eastern end of town. Our room was spacious with a full kitchen and ensuite; highly recommended. Dinner was cooked in the room both nights.<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7l2rhyphenhyphenBVBeFZkRfhDZTNc2AyRfnP-689Udhn-ub0_FeWW7ZMhscq_gq7fRsNXpae7yunl7TYFOkJVfgfLUK0c5QnCER4doauro3jnw3LqtD0ElQIs9st7Xt0u1x70exe4dRrwE2KhK8U/s1600/DSC_7338.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7l2rhyphenhyphenBVBeFZkRfhDZTNc2AyRfnP-689Udhn-ub0_FeWW7ZMhscq_gq7fRsNXpae7yunl7TYFOkJVfgfLUK0c5QnCER4doauro3jnw3LqtD0ElQIs9st7Xt0u1x70exe4dRrwE2KhK8U/s320/DSC_7338.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">On Wednesday morning we checked out St Paul’s Anglican, an old stone church on the esplanade, before making our way to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Somewhat tired from several cultural experiences already we chose not to spend NZ$25 each to go in; instead Laetitia bought a very informative book for only NZ$20. We tried twice (once from each end of the road) to get to Mt Bledisloe but unfortunately the road was gravel, which our hire car insurance wouldn’t cover. We visited Haruru Falls just west of Paihia, noting the brown tint to the water and guessing that to be due to tannins from the trees upriver.<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIbMZA0QILJyczL586ZC5AJeZif2y16IRfkWbPAsaUdmgxls45i9Y93KXb-L90WEBTt2wNuOm50feoAwrMZ3e4JFfntwbXUWES-MWXrDbBqvubybwKXyF27HOA_7CFwBR9AXreL5wSIs/s1600/DSC_2631.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIbMZA0QILJyczL586ZC5AJeZif2y16IRfkWbPAsaUdmgxls45i9Y93KXb-L90WEBTt2wNuOm50feoAwrMZ3e4JFfntwbXUWES-MWXrDbBqvubybwKXyF27HOA_7CFwBR9AXreL5wSIs/s320/DSC_2631.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Laetitia bought fish and chips in town and we returned to our motel room to eat lunch and have a nap.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the afternoon we drove across to the west coast. (So amusing to be able to drive across the country in less than two hours! Okay so you can only do it this close to the northern end.) We wanted to see Tane Mahuta in Waipoua Forest, the largest living Kauri in New Zealand. And it is amazingly big, 1250 years old and 50m high! Yet at 14m in girth it is only small compared to some of the older ones that once grew here (as we discovered at the Kauri Museum). Such a huge and beautiful tree. Well worth going to see.<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeS7YvtNDLkEkZn52S24FCSRUY1fp-fdFT-NdyDIZ-EPvj_ZbnUk-iAPxXhcLFLXJgNFpVQcTNW-JSd9wCrsXZxBg5IWf2RN4Tg2C5d7mQ9W2CZ6WVW1PQZ8UEOrpi4EBAbvAbz2X0BZ8/s1600/DSC_2655.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeS7YvtNDLkEkZn52S24FCSRUY1fp-fdFT-NdyDIZ-EPvj_ZbnUk-iAPxXhcLFLXJgNFpVQcTNW-JSd9wCrsXZxBg5IWf2RN4Tg2C5d7mQ9W2CZ6WVW1PQZ8UEOrpi4EBAbvAbz2X0BZ8/s320/DSC_2655.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you see me at the bottom of this photo?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">On the way back we paused at Hokianga Harbour for some photos, as the cloudy, drizzly mist was a little clearer than it had been on the way through earlier, and we also turned off to see Rawene where the ferry goes across to Kohukohu on the northern side. We finally got back to our hotel at 7:00pm.<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiccNXz9aLx7_Kz94HYHSLCtNQDqKflikXlmtA-y3q0Mt9dTY2ZN97YTyqUZR4sCMcznwVlAJUuIpyWGxTJ669auxZ8CM5VYaVY_rAhX-meJdr-Fhp65f92khyphenhyphenvg2GES6AAN6pdM7yfPOQ/s1600/DSC_7430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiccNXz9aLx7_Kz94HYHSLCtNQDqKflikXlmtA-y3q0Mt9dTY2ZN97YTyqUZR4sCMcznwVlAJUuIpyWGxTJ669auxZ8CM5VYaVY_rAhX-meJdr-Fhp65f92khyphenhyphenvg2GES6AAN6pdM7yfPOQ/s320/DSC_7430.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">On Thursday morning we headed south again, the end of our holiday in sight.<o:p></o:p></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Paihia, New Zealand-35.2806679 174.09103449999998-35.2999569 174.06824999999998 -35.2613789 174.11381899999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-42619990394244594012012-01-10T15:00:00.004+10:002012-01-11T20:36:43.475+10:00North Shore Auckland<div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrgGDPasXgjzVHbdca1tbXe5CHg0uEQxz6vrC019kPJIY_skOewjdCAGcmzPE4TKX2tKZs1KIJPv1-v37cRivHgZ_vbQ95C5m5UGDhnPbmtzRQFDlU6EdnaNr4QHSrGDkbZTncwAbiPTQ/s1600/DSC_2284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrgGDPasXgjzVHbdca1tbXe5CHg0uEQxz6vrC019kPJIY_skOewjdCAGcmzPE4TKX2tKZs1KIJPv1-v37cRivHgZ_vbQ95C5m5UGDhnPbmtzRQFDlU6EdnaNr4QHSrGDkbZTncwAbiPTQ/s200/DSC_2284.jpg" width="133" /></a>Monday night was spent at Albany Fairview Heights B&B in the North Shore area near Auckland. Our hosts Craig and Karen were very friendly and helpful and it was a delightful experience - highly recommended.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After a short nap we drove back into Auckland to see the view from the Sky Tower. Arriving at 6:02pm we serendipitously found a park on the street (Victoria St) only a block away in a section that was a Clearway until 6:00pm and then free parking (free!) until 8:00am the next day! Equally serendipitously we found a Loving Hut opposite the Sky Tower (also on Victoria St). We really like the Loving Hut in Brisbane (in Mt Gravatt), so we were very happy to give this one a try. It was quite nice, and all vegan of course, although not the same as the one we’re used to.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The view from 220m up the Sky Tower was, of course, spectacular.<o:p></o:p></div> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAy_ZJujxN4f7C-ETpDIJDLfl-dvK-qXweuM2hVCgxfbbDW3JqXeFldsROYqB4rI7uHAkJBmUlWDpR6wteTxtQKtGrrbWMYzG0wfD42BBpz0WGkQfPJWX1mIoKGmgSLt52q8A-GBI9pK0/s1600/DSC_7310.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAy_ZJujxN4f7C-ETpDIJDLfl-dvK-qXweuM2hVCgxfbbDW3JqXeFldsROYqB4rI7uHAkJBmUlWDpR6wteTxtQKtGrrbWMYzG0wfD42BBpz0WGkQfPJWX1mIoKGmgSLt52q8A-GBI9pK0/s320/DSC_7310.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyspVNyw0DB2yE_koqAf9vhUQ8Waz9mGVSkBI12M9MtYOAa2-doIcCmzU8TSKW5SkhVpgPvy6fHt8GXgeJZY61Z2EZbhdycvodFJVhnTr3kYJmT0abFIQIaidKhlFWTLbudGtsasB_cv4/s1600/DSC_2309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyspVNyw0DB2yE_koqAf9vhUQ8Waz9mGVSkBI12M9MtYOAa2-doIcCmzU8TSKW5SkhVpgPvy6fHt8GXgeJZY61Z2EZbhdycvodFJVhnTr3kYJmT0abFIQIaidKhlFWTLbudGtsasB_cv4/s320/DSC_2309.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Fairview Ave, Auckland 0632, New Zealand-36.7132273 174.7151708-36.7179573 174.7120003 -36.7084973 174.71834130000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-14712533680472998562012-01-09T15:00:00.010+10:002012-01-15T20:49:17.040+10:00Coromandel<div class="MsoNormal">On the way north we stopped in Maunganui, hoping to see the MV Rena on the Astrolabe Reef, but either it was too far or the weather was too cloudy and drizzly - probably both. However we did have to cross carefully to the beach as the esplanade was being used for a half-triathlon!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Once we got to the Coromandel Peninsula the roads through the forests were steep and very twisty.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Arriving in Tairua we discovered the reason for the long lines of traffic - there was a food and wine festival. Avoiding that, we stopped at the info centre to check our planned route, since two out of three of our maps said the road we wanted was unsealed. (Not to worry as it turned out, it had been sealed four or five years ago. What does that say about those other, only recently-obtained, maps!?)<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Laetitia bought some hot chips to help against the chilly wet weather and we drove a short way further to Hot Water Beach where we ate our lunch in the car, watching the rain fall and the tourists on the sand and in the surf. Apparently you can take a shovel and dig yourself a hole in the sand, where you’ll find warm water from a natural spring. We were there at low tide, but the weather was far too unpleasant (wet, windy and cold) for us to try it ourselves - not that anyone else seemed at all deterred!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then we drove on around the peninsula to Coromandel town. The last part of the drive includes a steep climb with many, many turns over a mountain pass and a scenic lookout at the top. Unfortunately we were in the clouds from about a third of the way up, so we didn’t bother stopping to look at the view.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We stayed two nights in a self-contained unit managed by Pottery Lane Cottages. Our unit was very spacious with a lounge and full kitchen and even a (free!) laundry! Unfortunately the bed sagged and in the end we found the couch in the lounge was at least as comfortable as trying to sleep with both of us in the bed.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We cooked dinner in our unit both nights.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The first morning we spent resting and doing some laundry (free!). We walked into town and found some delicious red lentil soup for lunch at Chai Tea at the bottom of the hill on the western end of the main street. Laetitia discovered quilt supplies at Stapleton’s at the other end of town (nice, friendly service - by a man!).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After lunch we went for a short drive. We had intended to go to Long Bay but that appeared to need access through private property so instead we went to Wyuna Bay. We also went for a walk along the Kauri Block track up to the Pa Lookout since it was a good day for a walk - overcast and cool but not raining. It was quite a steep climb and we were astounded when a group of cyclists passed us, carrying their mountain bikes up the stairs with them! The view from the top was fantastic.<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JmsHAavO10jXcFqMrMjCS-c4coNJLNfYjNC1-2ZYHCMZFu2e2ycfpXzdJU1OzKn3A7RXkpmAOiYxymSMr3gwAZx4wDrgYk22x62smFAMv0qlJuQ0FHl98hwsJNVCmWGFOjAVtTcTK6c/s1600/DSC_7176.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-JmsHAavO10jXcFqMrMjCS-c4coNJLNfYjNC1-2ZYHCMZFu2e2ycfpXzdJU1OzKn3A7RXkpmAOiYxymSMr3gwAZx4wDrgYk22x62smFAMv0qlJuQ0FHl98hwsJNVCmWGFOjAVtTcTK6c/s320/DSC_7176.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQt5515sUIF85ApUf5u1uBCRFpd8NIhoGHvNHeaP8pMQ6Iwnvsmu9RNA4vZi152E56qOuD-my_OHGxVFHCxyUNb7T9Bfm2X126tUh7ZyIfyfFPFa0ewkGA0Y1WCWUud2U3kcAbGMxy30/s1600/DSC_7193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQt5515sUIF85ApUf5u1uBCRFpd8NIhoGHvNHeaP8pMQ6Iwnvsmu9RNA4vZi152E56qOuD-my_OHGxVFHCxyUNb7T9Bfm2X126tUh7ZyIfyfFPFa0ewkGA0Y1WCWUud2U3kcAbGMxy30/s320/DSC_7193.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Returning to town we spent a couple of hours catching up with email etc. before dinner.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The following morning we had to go to the Post Office. Laetitia posted the quilt material she had bought, back to herself in Australia, and I had to organise a pre-paid bag to send to the place we stayed in National Park because I had left my phone charger there. They will put it in my pre-paid bag and post it to me back in Australia. Sigh.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The cloud cover being lighter and higher than when we’d arrived, we decided to have another try at the scenic lookout on the hill on the way into town. So we drove up the steep switchbacks and were indeed rewarded with a beautiful view both ways (east and west) from the top. Well worth doing.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiIuk342vwBJ5HxCW2DsmnjevyovDGnuM7-tiTc68tOaYLJ7ORhA3a_syV6Nm_rKUMaPebWoQgLxolX_GJhxqxeqhchfMGvR9mV1KolPkQxRuHKvsYKPpVl4njd_JeG0qIIXtb0EV8JIE/s1600/DSC_7206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiIuk342vwBJ5HxCW2DsmnjevyovDGnuM7-tiTc68tOaYLJ7ORhA3a_syV6Nm_rKUMaPebWoQgLxolX_GJhxqxeqhchfMGvR9mV1KolPkQxRuHKvsYKPpVl4njd_JeG0qIIXtb0EV8JIE/s320/DSC_7206.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">The drive south along the west coast of the Coromandel Peninsula was beautiful, winding along the coast. </div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_XJdrNvz82u7U210gP7QtQJ555fEcuBvOcO5KEzIm9c_pnxpGYqCUgFJm9TndSAz9UlAT2CcJ6F4-C9lHFxW0eRsevaT_fnOuox0PvRjRT1B2TBNriTEmZvEbM0t2r_5yR1m7Of_HshI/s1600/DSC_7225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_XJdrNvz82u7U210gP7QtQJ555fEcuBvOcO5KEzIm9c_pnxpGYqCUgFJm9TndSAz9UlAT2CcJ6F4-C9lHFxW0eRsevaT_fnOuox0PvRjRT1B2TBNriTEmZvEbM0t2r_5yR1m7Of_HshI/s320/DSC_7225.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>We stopped in Thames for lunch, which we ate under a large tree outside one of the two old churches there made from Kauri wood. That one was closed, but the other (St George’s Anglican) was open and so we had a look inside there after lunch.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then it was west and then north heading to and through Auckland.<o:p></o:p></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Coromandel, New Zealand-36.761287 175.49812780000002-36.806657 175.4355868 -36.715917000000005 175.56066880000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-45599236294682175762012-01-07T15:00:00.002+10:002012-01-11T20:28:45.350+10:00Maketu<div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2cWny_rRQohhylz3_GB0ZTyMjjCchuSDDbusJ0F4RFjM3brEvXoldv3c2VaEEXx28BjnxY-HnEZmoyUGiGd0f4fS1gCExPpRPKBXL7bxwt3J_KpLW7ezr2ULkz0yAdo-VXHT7C34J4ho/s1600/Maketu+Centennial+Memorial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2cWny_rRQohhylz3_GB0ZTyMjjCchuSDDbusJ0F4RFjM3brEvXoldv3c2VaEEXx28BjnxY-HnEZmoyUGiGd0f4fS1gCExPpRPKBXL7bxwt3J_KpLW7ezr2ULkz0yAdo-VXHT7C34J4ho/s320/Maketu+Centennial+Memorial.jpg" width="211" /></a>We stayed the night at Maketu Hilltop Holiday Park in a self-contained studio with ensuite and small kitchen. It was quite comfortable, if a little small. The park is pet friendly - they even have several resident cats, dogs, horses and birds! (We only actually saw one cat and one dog, plus another visitor’s pet dog.)<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Before dinner we drove down to the beach and checked out the memorial to the first Maori canoe arrival in the north and then one of the oldest churches in the region (closed, unfortunately, so we could only look from the outside). The sunset was lovely (the beach there faces north-west). Dinner was left-overs.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the morning we left early for our long drive north up the east coast.<o:p></o:p></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Maketu, New Zealand-37.7595572 176.45194029999993-37.777362200000006 176.41758829999992 -37.7417522 176.48629229999995tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-39452066368333286802012-01-06T15:00:00.011+10:002012-01-11T20:25:26.245+10:00Rotorua<div class="MsoNormal">On arrival in Rotorua we paused briefly at the lake, where a couple of boys were first feeding and then getting chased by a dozen black swans and a sizeable flock of seagulls, before checking in at the Union Victoria Motel. Our room was large with a full kitchen and the motel had its own mineral spa and hot pools as well as a warm swimming pool. Recommended.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Let me start by saying that although the sulphur smell in Rotorua is unpleasant at times, it’s not nearly as bad as I remember.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After checking in we went for a drive to see the redwoods and a couple of lakes just southeast of town. The redwoods are on a reserve with a ridiculous number of walking, biking and horse tracks marked out. The visitor centre has maps and of course souvenirs. We decided to do the shortest course, the Redwood Grove Memorial Track, which took us somewhat longer than the suggested thirty minutes (because we stopped so often for photos, I assume). The trees were beautiful: thick (2m), tall (up to 70m!) and quite red. The bark on the larger trees was thick and deeply grooved (like, I could bury my hands in the grooves).<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ZFZ139fV0H0bTVdaKMF_id1ocFOuc5sT6KR6Zn-CKWq82bBjKLwx55qLxFG9gEY-Kosc2shA5Ww2rGGHgrSYM1azT-RSr_7o21qlcq6yMy_PbGoo6WPIT3_V4ONOQZXy6LPRw1GbAuk/s1600/DSC_1808.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ZFZ139fV0H0bTVdaKMF_id1ocFOuc5sT6KR6Zn-CKWq82bBjKLwx55qLxFG9gEY-Kosc2shA5Ww2rGGHgrSYM1azT-RSr_7o21qlcq6yMy_PbGoo6WPIT3_V4ONOQZXy6LPRw1GbAuk/s320/DSC_1808.jpg" width="214" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5QhvSeSDGEr3WizWT7Y7X6SdhJbYfLqK6cpqOr2Z10Mr2Vzx7WMHCBesPoPW_BBX5aF2cY3l8n5so3Qk090wh1XVidaSK7XqFoPASKFAM5wGkFv2V4YtnHbgTdU_d6e94EpYsFZgRv1E/s1600/DSC_7020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5QhvSeSDGEr3WizWT7Y7X6SdhJbYfLqK6cpqOr2Z10Mr2Vzx7WMHCBesPoPW_BBX5aF2cY3l8n5so3Qk090wh1XVidaSK7XqFoPASKFAM5wGkFv2V4YtnHbgTdU_d6e94EpYsFZgRv1E/s320/DSC_7020.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">The park was evidently a popular place for local joggers and families as well as tourists.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Blue Lake and Green Lake are just a bit further away along the same road. Their Maori names are much more creative, referring to stories about the lakes. Blue Lake (Tikitapu, named as the place where the daughter of a high-born chief lost her sacred greenstone neck ornament) had many boaters, waterskiiers and swimmers. Green Lake (Rotokakahi, named “lake of the shellfish”) is a Maori sacred site and boating, swimming and fishing is prohibited.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We returned to the unit and cooked our own dinner. Plenty left for tomorrow too - good!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the morning Laetitia tried the motel’s hot mineral spa (too hot and too smelly!) and then the warm pool outside (much better). Then we headed to Te Puia, a thermal area at the southern end of town, where we spent the rest of the day.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Te Puia is built around the traditional village site for the Maori tribe who run the place. Our entry fee included a “cultural experience” which consisted of a traditional tribal greeting (weapons, fanfare, singing and an offered fern leaf) followed by an invitation into their hall (after we removed our shoes). Inside they gave a show with more traditional greetings followed by some singing and dancing, including inviting audience participation.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We then went on the guided tour. I was pleasantly surprised by how knowledgeable our guide was and all the interesting things he told us about. We visited the weaving and carving schools which they have been running there for about forty-five years. Women and some men spend a year in the weaving school, while only men take three years to learn carving. We saw the kiwis in the kiwi house (although this of course was not our first experience in such a place, since we visited the Bird Wildlife Park in Queenstown). And we saw erupting geysers and boiling mud pools.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After the tour we lunched on our sandwiches (they have a café but don’t mind if you bring your own food; you can also go out to your car - or even drive into town - and re-enter later the same day with your ticket). </div><div class="MsoNormal">Then we walked around the park on our own, taking our time and seeing the other cultural displays. There are several old geysers there, many of which still steam although extinct, and one which although dormant for many years has been showing increasing signs of activity.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The boiling mud pools were just as weird as I remembered.<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggFsRA4ABS6TwBGJEP_K_3VELLkyqTdLio8wLBKTym41EGRAgqHGG_DFXs1MxcwG9WmXOn7Kq8XfyR3zOBZT9UA2R1CiK6YuBfvcAq85hyL3OpA1-pc9OE6nSQPL7MVxOtaevtKiezUZk/s1600/DSC_7091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggFsRA4ABS6TwBGJEP_K_3VELLkyqTdLio8wLBKTym41EGRAgqHGG_DFXs1MxcwG9WmXOn7Kq8XfyR3zOBZT9UA2R1CiK6YuBfvcAq85hyL3OpA1-pc9OE6nSQPL7MVxOtaevtKiezUZk/s320/DSC_7091.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSz8FATTtudvXuQVRtrRJS7sRxbxWwyxUFEomQ-q7td-BizG5d24Za_I3hMqOJozc709IMDmmyr_ZrVLcvgc_1dUGn4mNx17EBClVqnxRnWWAkwhFPmeQ8PAFu1kHL2bDC3k9SCqBKyoY/s1600/Ian+near+geysers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSz8FATTtudvXuQVRtrRJS7sRxbxWwyxUFEomQ-q7td-BizG5d24Za_I3hMqOJozc709IMDmmyr_ZrVLcvgc_1dUGn4mNx17EBClVqnxRnWWAkwhFPmeQ8PAFu1kHL2bDC3k9SCqBKyoY/s320/Ian+near+geysers.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">When we arrived at the active geyser area there were two geysers going. To our surprise, they did not stop while we stood and watched - and walked around and watched - and sat and watched - and walked around some more. They just kept going and going and going! Far from the promised “erupts twice an hour” it seemed to be one continuous eruption for at least half an hour. I’ve never seen one going off like that before. Finally, just as we lost patience with waiting and started walking away, it began to peter out.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br />
</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Much</i> more exciting than Old Faithful at Yellowstone.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And then we drove away towards the coast to the north.<o:p></o:p></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Rotorua, New Zealand-38.1368478 176.24974610000004-38.257185299999996 176.11204510000005 -38.0165103 176.38744710000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-40741428899704747742012-01-05T15:00:00.020+10:002012-01-15T20:46:26.360+10:00Waitomo<div class="MsoNormal">We arrived at the Waitomo Caves at lunch time, and the information centre (“the only place in town offering unbiased advice”) was quite busy, so we ate our sandwiches on a park bench first. We booked tickets for a couple of tours, deciding in favour of shorter experiences, and paid $2 extra for a very informative walk through and twenty minute movie in the discovery centre right there - very worthwhile.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Glowworms are not actually worms but rather the larval stage of a fly, and they are hungry, carnivorous beasts! About an inch long, they drop several silk threads down from their nest along which they spread sticky globules. Other insects flying up from the water below are tricked by the glowing lights into thinking that the glowworms are actually stars, and they fly upwards - and get caught on the sticky threads! And yes, they even happily eat other glowworm flies.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We then checked in to our accommodation, Waitomo Caves Guest Lodge B&B. Our hosts there (Colin, Janet and Gypsy the dog) were very friendly and quite happy to give us some useful, biased advice about food and activity options around town. Janet also gave us a tour of their lovely garden the next morning. Highly recommended!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We did the Aranui Cave tour at 3:30pm and then the (“world-famous”!) Waitomo Glowworm Caves at 5:00pm.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Aranui Cave is huge and beautiful, filled with spectacular limestone features. It’s quite well lit and easily accessible, and our guide was friendly and well-informed. We saw the Pacific Rim “Ring of Fire” fault line from below and above (a little scary!) with some very long stalactites hanging down (the longest apparently four tonnes of stone!).</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA-gXSZqlj0_PIYdyw7NMoapXcSFfNGU0ruWOUcAURwdW4MnQTzwz3VNV5_M8cmaygEu7lHa3JS_yI4862_n_qUwwS2LsBlRVD9PPZTmrJEXwLNo3VlIsa0iuKu5KBHaW7B-Q_ZQV6bOo/s1600/DSC_6909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA-gXSZqlj0_PIYdyw7NMoapXcSFfNGU0ruWOUcAURwdW4MnQTzwz3VNV5_M8cmaygEu7lHa3JS_yI4862_n_qUwwS2LsBlRVD9PPZTmrJEXwLNo3VlIsa0iuKu5KBHaW7B-Q_ZQV6bOo/s320/DSC_6909.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">The Waitomo Glowworms were <i>amazing</i>. I was not expecting it to be particularly exciting (having seen them before as a child) but the boat ride in the dark and quiet, the cave ceiling all lit up with glowing points of light, the reflections off the water, .. I was blown away.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Each tour was about 45 minutes long, and both are definitely highly recommended!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">For dinner we checked out a number of options. The newish restaurant across from our B&B, the Huhu Café, was reputed to be very good and able to cater for special needs, however the chef was very busy when we dropped in during the afternoon to ask and said he wouldn’t have time to prepare anything special for us. Several other places couldn’t serve us what we needed. But eventually we found the Morepork Pizzeria up the hill behind Curly’s Bar, where I had a “vegetable stack” (really more of a skewer than a stack) and Laetitia had fish, chips and salad. It was delicious.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At dusk (i.e. around 9:30pm), at the recommendation of our hosts, we grabbed torches and went a short way along the Ruakuri bushwalk - and saw glowworms on the cliff walls and under trees around the river. The moon was close to full, so the real stars were not very bright - it was easy to see how insects might get confused about where the stars and sky were.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh59MX2wObQ_JLU9CaY-ITyWKwJZtoa-wgIh4zkxRJpnnpPaJsIaiFxUjBfretnBtdVyQ-XwTA6HpJvX_fOjLob6M-KnQ2blYGxYT_xHe3G3Q4Voentrkl3SrRm_vIptValinGN8BFk0Sk/s1600/20120104-DSC_6946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh59MX2wObQ_JLU9CaY-ITyWKwJZtoa-wgIh4zkxRJpnnpPaJsIaiFxUjBfretnBtdVyQ-XwTA6HpJvX_fOjLob6M-KnQ2blYGxYT_xHe3G3Q4Voentrkl3SrRm_vIptValinGN8BFk0Sk/s320/20120104-DSC_6946.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvHB_uJre2FdchZJkCwX8PqpxfP8g64oGSZzHeEgRA8KkgntL8YFOIcM8eR5ts0gjouVROidt5Lr_mcIdTj-vP8zQeHqn0kaDZMAyH3u5KJXAHz0txtzuM6pXeZ6pFRS6LAhKErac-AA/s1600/20120104-DSC_6949.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvHB_uJre2FdchZJkCwX8PqpxfP8g64oGSZzHeEgRA8KkgntL8YFOIcM8eR5ts0gjouVROidt5Lr_mcIdTj-vP8zQeHqn0kaDZMAyH3u5KJXAHz0txtzuM6pXeZ6pFRS6LAhKErac-AA/s320/20120104-DSC_6949.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
The next morning we returned to the Ruakuri walk to complete the full circuit in daylight. The natural tunnel through which the river flows was quite spectacular, and the path goes through some smaller natural tunnels as well. There were many steps on the walk, though, along with some steep inclines, and we were quite tired out by the end.<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsn8W_AAXrSOED9dikVA9tnw3aOaNJq9XNXTjfqmcynbTaeOjra1rKGrxRBoGdaNC9QE1L4kZhj0avw4vOsbbw3Ik83lnqCvQlE_3lI3MIuLSx0DLBDeYkN6_EQHo3VfXOKtO6M5B4GaU/s1600/DSC_6982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsn8W_AAXrSOED9dikVA9tnw3aOaNJq9XNXTjfqmcynbTaeOjra1rKGrxRBoGdaNC9QE1L4kZhj0avw4vOsbbw3Ik83lnqCvQlE_3lI3MIuLSx0DLBDeYkN6_EQHo3VfXOKtO6M5B4GaU/s200/DSC_6982.jpg" width="132" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpXgBfZ2fsju8ktFNQiUQ-O6brzmJeO26EzVC5T9vIRs5x8A1UYf7H9wqoAFt-Kgwnm4OuB3sJyMQ7bK_vk5WK8cgbW5Y4rpezggKPPzLXvH2DrUkzASlTERq4hFqmEWZ_1Z__sEqKi8/s1600/DSC_1614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpXgBfZ2fsju8ktFNQiUQ-O6brzmJeO26EzVC5T9vIRs5x8A1UYf7H9wqoAFt-Kgwnm4OuB3sJyMQ7bK_vk5WK8cgbW5Y4rpezggKPPzLXvH2DrUkzASlTERq4hFqmEWZ_1Z__sEqKi8/s200/DSC_1614.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi61TZvLlFy4YW1Y__Pm2s642g3JKKyWHAtFl-6AMO9nf6hJXS2t0hgPWekAmBejn68XTsziDtE8egi1YQ3GD4Mwu-tl5UTkub0wgGNMguv-gukxTep-E9Fv0JBCLtadrZgElgwPxKbYeE/s1600/DSC_1746.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi61TZvLlFy4YW1Y__Pm2s642g3JKKyWHAtFl-6AMO9nf6hJXS2t0hgPWekAmBejn68XTsziDtE8egi1YQ3GD4Mwu-tl5UTkub0wgGNMguv-gukxTep-E9Fv0JBCLtadrZgElgwPxKbYeE/s200/DSC_1746.jpg" width="133" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_BujIqyc06KwjI8LuO_AqKlL-NME3GPputKryeMr71-iXic7Cg1ZE1QWlVF7n5ZSZYezyDZX1MTbSA-N_QNV088gtD3xfsbhMZ4IVsQ8gkwylFrIUIIdWCJXuQaHj23sMbybKGHwHjRM/s1600/DSC_7005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_BujIqyc06KwjI8LuO_AqKlL-NME3GPputKryeMr71-iXic7Cg1ZE1QWlVF7n5ZSZYezyDZX1MTbSA-N_QNV088gtD3xfsbhMZ4IVsQ8gkwylFrIUIIdWCJXuQaHj23sMbybKGHwHjRM/s200/DSC_7005.jpg" width="132" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Our hosts recommended State Highway 30 “all the way” to get to Rotorua, which turned out to be a delightful scenic drive indeed. We stopped for lunch in Whakamaru, where we enjoyed a delicious pizza along with great friendly service and conversation at Fred’s Pizzeria. Very highly recommended!<o:p></o:p></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Waitomo Caves, Waitomo 3977, New Zealand-38.260916 175.11253299999998-38.3957045 174.87907349999998 -38.1261275 175.3459925tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-12982475871920771082012-01-04T15:00:00.019+10:002012-01-06T19:10:22.055+10:00Tongariro National Park<div class="MsoNormal">On our way north from Wellington we stopped for lunch in a town called Bulls. We’re not sure whether it was named after a person or an industry or what! However we were most amused by the clever puns they had put on signs and murals around the town.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0polmUc1JilHYz3GXUWBPaM_vbG0jLDjpvFIcxJ4Ej28tVjtKIe0yK7RetEBy8MDPTLPwDDQlMnw3coU_MBFxq-DzQ-lrLNnRdniXNbzfISA9pEronkUFRTEHj8A4hfN4AO-ZQUi_K5Q/s1600/IMG_20120102_123819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0polmUc1JilHYz3GXUWBPaM_vbG0jLDjpvFIcxJ4Ej28tVjtKIe0yK7RetEBy8MDPTLPwDDQlMnw3coU_MBFxq-DzQ-lrLNnRdniXNbzfISA9pEronkUFRTEHj8A4hfN4AO-ZQUi_K5Q/s320/IMG_20120102_123819.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We stopped again briefly in Taihape (“gumboot capital”!?) for groceries. Laetitia got some material from The Quilted Gumboot (friendly, not the cheapest but not unreasonable).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As we arrived in National Park (that’s the name of the town) we had a lovely view of Mt Ngauruhoe, a.k.a. Mt Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies. Unfortunately we didn’t see the top of the mountain again the next two days!</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIOwS833QGRpTK1HF_7HDS_6vMvF3obi0WlCeIxun7N_nK_txXR5RDNl-lZifmXo0LvWtyeuX_cNjViLDEaU1_lsW5DFv-pzvPveG70bz1nVk2HdV2cG3tEXwduLhVDwKLHWax4d27wXA/s1600/DSC_6722.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIOwS833QGRpTK1HF_7HDS_6vMvF3obi0WlCeIxun7N_nK_txXR5RDNl-lZifmXo0LvWtyeuX_cNjViLDEaU1_lsW5DFv-pzvPveG70bz1nVk2HdV2cG3tEXwduLhVDwKLHWax4d27wXA/s320/DSC_6722.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>There are many volcanoes and old craters in the area, several of which are still quite active.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">We stayed at Plateau Lodge, a backpackers type of place on the north side of the town. We really enjoyed the fellowship of cooking in a large communal kitchen and eating in the common dining room and lounge area with many other guests. Our own room was small but comfortable. Highly recommended!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The main reason people visit National Park is to go hiking (or “trekking”). The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is supposed to be one of the best one-day hikes in the world, and we can quite understand why (other-worldly volcanic terrain, native forests, views from 2200 metres, opportunities to summit two active volcanoes..) however we did not feel we were quite up to the challenge at the time, and besides the weather was.. unpleasant. We did go to the visitor centre at Whakapapa Village and discovered that the chairlifts were not running due to the poor weather forecast (cloudy with increasing rain). We tried the road up to the base of the chairlifts anyway, but decided to turn back after going about a third of the way because although the landscape was amazing we were already in the clouds and it was getting darker, wetter and colder by the minute. Those staying at Plateau Lodge who did the Crossing told us that evening that indeed they did not see the great views (visibility was apparently about twenty metres) - but still they felt it was worth doing! So perhaps on a future trip (when we’re a bit fitter!) we’ll plan to spend a week in the area and wait for good weather.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimiEzmeKBL6Vf7llg_HxgNyCr7MOhRGKDSi7mjfxqMXWvqx05L830CvtOjobSLiX4SEGVFZ49s2SmLRhVu3z7TdvoYMvzFTr62t-4Gt3HfIVq85-iinsz3J6aLqL7TJwNqAMNCVJydoiI/s1600/DSC_1461.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimiEzmeKBL6Vf7llg_HxgNyCr7MOhRGKDSi7mjfxqMXWvqx05L830CvtOjobSLiX4SEGVFZ49s2SmLRhVu3z7TdvoYMvzFTr62t-4Gt3HfIVq85-iinsz3J6aLqL7TJwNqAMNCVJydoiI/s320/DSC_1461.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Instead we did a shorter walk just off the road up to Whakapapa, and then we drove to the south end of Lake Taupo and back. Lake Taupo is <i>big</i>. <span style="text-align: left;">Apparently it (along with Lake Rotorua) is in fact an old caldera, i.e. large volcanic crater lake. (Must’ve been big volcanoes, eh!?)</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QiMmn1FasMws5KDVvZ8NxnfigRioOWq9N2oJzpQiMySt3zUJwPzeYCZGtpEHry4-3rQT3r-MMd_ZVIz4oyLQS2daci97KjZv6ytqWCH8xFvcNjpCRKeeeIIqbTanm14wpL1PNhh0Bag/s1600/DSC_6796.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QiMmn1FasMws5KDVvZ8NxnfigRioOWq9N2oJzpQiMySt3zUJwPzeYCZGtpEHry4-3rQT3r-MMd_ZVIz4oyLQS2daci97KjZv6ytqWCH8xFvcNjpCRKeeeIIqbTanm14wpL1PNhh0Bag/s320/DSC_6796.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We also stopped at a “thermal area” in Tokaanu, where steam was rising from the ground between the houses (also from a few places on the mountainside way above) and we saw a small geyser, some boiling mud and a few beautiful hot pools. Trout come there to spawn! They must like it hot.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx0dxmlIuAgNPfPHq66udC1j5aiemVGMYVS4IWUugAeQlrm_xHVh6hP8KKrBcpt22S9CABainlSD2avDLaJdrxamXLhuuf205vbmmXF83Apgn5wGkwSeaZWPxu9-49aodljXvfmuFHiZ8/s1600/DSC_1519.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx0dxmlIuAgNPfPHq66udC1j5aiemVGMYVS4IWUugAeQlrm_xHVh6hP8KKrBcpt22S9CABainlSD2avDLaJdrxamXLhuuf205vbmmXF83Apgn5wGkwSeaZWPxu9-49aodljXvfmuFHiZ8/s320/DSC_1519.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpEjoVxDPoshPPBxlph6U8_13e3l5aFieiUayjCYcnPtcUS2moeTvTUMDzmip4x4Fa5eO2-mgdq9e2XJlOjKnF7Tj4HMXAu3Mr0w4Ls-bWDWumwOV5ZUq1yHfi8D9zu4wAe7b3vzBQpo/s1600/DSC_1522.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpEjoVxDPoshPPBxlph6U8_13e3l5aFieiUayjCYcnPtcUS2moeTvTUMDzmip4x4Fa5eO2-mgdq9e2XJlOjKnF7Tj4HMXAu3Mr0w4Ls-bWDWumwOV5ZUq1yHfi8D9zu4wAe7b3vzBQpo/s320/DSC_1522.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">We left on Wednesday morning, heading north again.<o:p></o:p></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0National Park, New Zealand-39.1726002 175.40184950000003-39.2273737 175.31615450000004 -39.117826699999995 175.4875445tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-60919373325592309432012-01-02T15:00:00.022+10:002012-01-04T05:50:37.706+10:00Wellington<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KpcVdV4LbDs/TwNazFpDTgI/AAAAAAAAA4o/R5W6zWmFbxk/s1600/DSC_1224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KpcVdV4LbDs/TwNazFpDTgI/AAAAAAAAA4o/R5W6zWmFbxk/s200/DSC_1224.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">The drive along the north-east coast of the South Island was beautiful in the morning light. The clouds of the last few days were clearing and the road winds along with hills on one side and a steep drop to the ocean on the other. We paused at Ohau Point to see (and smell!) the seals far, far below on the rocks just above the surf. There were even a few younger pups there - very exciting! One of them seemed to be chasing a seagull, and kept getting disappointed when it flew away.<o:p></o:p></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">We were due in Picton an hour before our ferry departed at 1:10pm. Since we arrived about an hour and a half early we went into the centre of town and Laetitia checked out The Dog Box, a quilt and craft shop on the main street (friendly, decent prices even without the 20% off on the day we were there). We also drove a short way up Queen Charlotte Drive to the lookout and enjoyed the views out across the sound and back over the port to the town. We could see our large ferry docked and waiting. There was quite a lot of boat traffic in the sound.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n0CS926zOW0/TwNa2OvkFXI/AAAAAAAAA4w/CtjB56778yM/s1600/DSC_1255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n0CS926zOW0/TwNa2OvkFXI/AAAAAAAAA4w/CtjB56778yM/s320/DSC_1255.jpg" width="213" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SnCCIk-QvgY/TwNa77uVXlI/AAAAAAAAA5A/-RJ2q0KW4pU/s1600/DSC_6655.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SnCCIk-QvgY/TwNa77uVXlI/AAAAAAAAA5A/-RJ2q0KW4pU/s320/DSC_6655.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">When the time came we drove onto the ferry, parked as directed and went upstairs. It’s quite a large boat with several lounges, cafés and bars. We started on the sun deck on the roof, but moved down to the recliner lounge after a while when the wind got too cold for us. The crossing takes about three hours and the scenery is spectacular, especially in the sounds and the harbours at both ends.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3UPFSATT-Wo/TwNa5HBJiTI/AAAAAAAAA44/Szv4IGXiVic/s1600/DSC_1347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3UPFSATT-Wo/TwNa5HBJiTI/AAAAAAAAA44/Szv4IGXiVic/s200/DSC_1347.jpg" width="133" /></a>When we reached Wellington we drove off the ferry and tried to find our hotel. It turns out there are two Mercure hotels and of course we went to the wrong one first! (Fortunately the other was only a couple of blocks away.) We think we were in the older one; our room was comfy enough for a small motel room but the building had a kind of old and tired feel to it.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Looking for dinner we walked down to and then along Cuba Street. The Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurant was unfortunately closed, however we did find a handful of other options and decided on a simple (and cheap!) meal from a Turkish kebab shop.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next morning after checking out we drove into town to see the Old St Paul’s Church. When the new cathedral was built (which we also paused to have a look at - only the outside unfortunately, as it was closed since it was a public holiday) the old building was no longer needed as a parish church. It became dilapidated and was going to be demolished, but there were big protests at the idea, so instead the government bought the building and it was restored. It’s quite plain on the outside, but inside the timberwork in the ceiling and the stained glass windows are really beautiful.<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1yglgADcdFk/TwNbCmHNInI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/o-qoOPUgi_g/s1600/Outside+of+Old+St+Paul%2527s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1yglgADcdFk/TwNbCmHNInI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/o-qoOPUgi_g/s320/Outside+of+Old+St+Paul%2527s.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e8U7j4Fb-yU/TwNa_BKAoQI/AAAAAAAAA5I/KttzYQjXbWw/s1600/DSC_6702.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e8U7j4Fb-yU/TwNa_BKAoQI/AAAAAAAAA5I/KttzYQjXbWw/s320/DSC_6702.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">And then we drove away to the north up Highway 1.<o:p></o:p></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Wellington, New Zealand-41.2864603 174.77623600000004-41.4045453 174.62746550000003 -41.1683753 174.92500650000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-22489765724921761582012-01-01T15:00:00.018+10:002012-01-04T05:42:02.039+10:00Kaikoura<div class="MsoNormal">Arriving in Kaikoura in time for a late lunch (and far too early to check in), we drove through the middle of town and decided after some dithering to try the Thai Siam for lunch. All the options we saw were quite expensive; it’s evidently not a cheap place to stay (we paid NZ$125 a night) nor eat out. Our lunch was tasty enough, but not really worth the price. Laetitia tried abalone (NZ paua in fact) and says the flavour was indistinct.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After lunch we checked in to our accommodation, the Comfort Inn Mediterranean Motel at the north end of town, and then visited the local quilt shop, A Patch of Country (good range of fabrics, friendly staff, more expensive - says Laetitia). For dinner we snacked in our room, which was spacious enough with a small kitchenette (full sink, microwave, electric frypan but no other hotplate).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the morning we enjoyed a 40-minute guided tour of a limestone cave just to the south of town with a garrulous and enthusiastic guide. This cave was discovered by accident when the wall of the limestone quarry outside fell through. Probably there are many other caves in the area, but nobody has bothered looking for them.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jGbLJEmX7Jg/TwNY5_F1d0I/AAAAAAAAA4E/0H0JCOdznlg/s1600/DSC_6499.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jGbLJEmX7Jg/TwNY5_F1d0I/AAAAAAAAA4E/0H0JCOdznlg/s320/DSC_6499.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IOv7eLz5YvQ/TwNY8gdj5xI/AAAAAAAAA4M/2qqsqx4iJwE/s1600/DSC_6519.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IOv7eLz5YvQ/TwNY8gdj5xI/AAAAAAAAA4M/2qqsqx4iJwE/s320/DSC_6519.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aXcivrij8eM/TwNY2zBjmbI/AAAAAAAAA38/aZW2D4olEL4/s1600/DSC_1101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aXcivrij8eM/TwNY2zBjmbI/AAAAAAAAA38/aZW2D4olEL4/s200/DSC_1101.jpg" width="133" /></a>We had lunch in town at Coriander’s Indian Restaurant, a remarkable find on the main highway rather than in the busy and expensive town centre. Our satisfying meal cost us less than $NZ40. Highly recommended.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-izxDeNjn-QM/TwNZC6pikuI/AAAAAAAAA4c/fE5ltSbaT1w/s1600/IMG_0149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-izxDeNjn-QM/TwNZC6pikuI/AAAAAAAAA4c/fE5ltSbaT1w/s320/IMG_0149.jpg" width="320" /></a>After lunch we drove out to Point Kean to see the seals. The tide was out but starting to come back in, and we walked out over the rocks following the fishy smell. We saw three seals, one male moving around a bit and two females sleeping, as well as a variety of birdlife. In the car park there was a mother duck with three ducklings, all quite bold in looking cute and hopeful.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jenEfgYoFuQ/TwNY0xshq1I/AAAAAAAAA30/nN8BnK5Kd_M/s1600/DSC_1093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jenEfgYoFuQ/TwNY0xshq1I/AAAAAAAAA30/nN8BnK5Kd_M/s320/DSC_1093.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Then we drove just northwest of town to the lavender farm, where we enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the scent-heavy gardens. Already a little tired beforehand, the rich lavender in the air was enough to make me feel very sleepy, so from there we returned to our motel and I had a nap.<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i7EbJUOc4as/TwNZAH_EkqI/AAAAAAAAA4U/OUrZwmotuGs/s1600/DSC_6603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i7EbJUOc4as/TwNZAH_EkqI/AAAAAAAAA4U/OUrZwmotuGs/s320/DSC_6603.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">We had originally thought we might go whale-watching but the miserable weather (cold and occasionally drizzly) and the expense put us off.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Dinner was a stir-fry cooked in our room.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next morning we left early because we had a ferry to catch just after midday.<o:p></o:p></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Kaikoura, New Zealand-42.4008174 173.68138599999997-42.7299449 173.11563699999996 -42.0716899 174.247135tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-71299505426427904362011-12-30T15:00:00.012+10:002011-12-30T17:42:10.740+10:00Amberley<div class="MsoNormal">Leaving Fairlie we took the alternative route towards the east, which wound down through several valleys onto the Canterbury plain where we turned north onto Highway 1. At Ashburton we stopped at Annie’s Country Quilt Shop (friendly, good range of material, good prices, according to Laetitia). Once we were out of the hills, the roads became long, straight and flat - and thus a constant challenge to stay awake!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When we reached Christchurch we returned to the Welcome Vegetarian Chinese Café for lunch. We chose different meals and enjoyed them just as much as our first dinner in New Zealand.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We then continued driving north through increasing drizzle and reached Amberley around 4pm and checked in to Delhaven Motels & Caravan Park. We were in a “standard motel unit”, which was large, well lit by the many windows and had a full kitchen. No wifi on site (but the library down the road provides free wifi). However the shower (as we discovered later) suffered somewhat from a lack of water pressure; it was a very thin stream of variable temperature, and we’re glad we didn’t have to be use it in cold weather. <i>Not</i> recommended, especially if you’re going to be there in winter!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Given the dreary rain Laetitia decided to stay in while Ian went to check out the library’s free wifi and Amberley Beach. The beach was almost deserted, only one person walking their dog - hardly surprising in that weather - cold and grey, a mix of stones and dark sand.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eGpVZqK8hqA/Tv1rEevJS8I/AAAAAAAAA3o/YjYGs88C4SU/s1600/DSC_6488a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eGpVZqK8hqA/Tv1rEevJS8I/AAAAAAAAA3o/YjYGs88C4SU/s400/DSC_6488a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After our filling lunch we just snacked in our room for dinner.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GbBhRIMFur0/Tv1p2HPmCiI/AAAAAAAAA3c/GQhaUlrF9UM/s1600/Wriggly+road+sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GbBhRIMFur0/Tv1p2HPmCiI/AAAAAAAAA3c/GQhaUlrF9UM/s200/Wriggly+road+sign.jpg" width="200" /></a>The next morning we decided to take the inland route to Kaikoura, along two legs of the “Alpine Scenic Triangle”. We had originally intended to check out Lewis Pass but all we would have seen would have been the inside of a cloud. However the second half of the drive, northeast from Waiau down to Kaikoura was indeed very scenic, a beautiful road winding around and along the sides of wide, steep-sided valleys, down into several gorges and across old one-lane bridges before climbing up again, surrounded by green hills and flowering trees and sheep and cattle farms. Highly recommended!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hK4qr52JwoU/Tv1pzF1l7CI/AAAAAAAAA3U/SHf_n9fL_0Q/s1600/On+the+way+to+Kaikoura+-+landscape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hK4qr52JwoU/Tv1pzF1l7CI/AAAAAAAAA3U/SHf_n9fL_0Q/s320/On+the+way+to+Kaikoura+-+landscape.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3lNb_ckFPc0/Tv1pxDuz3mI/AAAAAAAAA3M/4yTves9TZ0M/s1600/Long+one+lane+bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3lNb_ckFPc0/Tv1pxDuz3mI/AAAAAAAAA3M/4yTves9TZ0M/s320/Long+one+lane+bridge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Amberley, New Zealand-43.156419100000008 172.73007659999996-43.203119100000009 172.66940709999997 -43.109719100000007 172.79074609999995tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-42964165707302669692011-12-29T15:00:00.019+10:002011-12-30T17:30:58.688+10:00Fairlie<div class="MsoNormal">Our next two nights were in Fairlie, 60 km west of Highway 1 on the way to Lake Tekapo. We stayed at the Pinewoods Motel where the managers are a friendly Christian couple. They offered to upgrade us for the first night only (unfortunately they were fully booked on the second) but we declined because we didn’t want to have to move our things between rooms the next day. Even the smaller room was quite comfortable, with a spacious bathroom - highly recommended. We cooked our own dinner in our room and spent the night in, reading and resting.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1Cp_V6pYcqo/Tv1ncxlZYOI/AAAAAAAAA2g/-z6tq9Wzngg/s1600/DSC_6434.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1Cp_V6pYcqo/Tv1ncxlZYOI/AAAAAAAAA2g/-z6tq9Wzngg/s320/DSC_6434.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HLwMhE-RXf8/Tv1nhvzcdqI/AAAAAAAAA2w/hv908O9OhLA/s1600/DSC_6455.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HLwMhE-RXf8/Tv1nhvzcdqI/AAAAAAAAA2w/hv908O9OhLA/s320/DSC_6455.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On Wednesday we enjoyed a lovely sleep-in and then made lunch to take with us on our drive. We headed north-west to Lake Tekapo and the town of the same name, then further west to Twizel at the southern end of Lake Pukaki. We decided not to go to Mt Cook on this trip. We loved the wildflowers growing along the road, although they’re actually considered weeds, and we weren’t the only ones; we spotted several tourists cutting heads to take away with them. On the way back through Tekapo we stopped to check out the historic church building, currently being used by three different congregations (Presbyterian, Anglican and Catholic). Dinner was again cooked in our room.<o:p></o:p></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yN5LU0u1CnU/Tv1nfJLRnTI/AAAAAAAAA2o/8i2O41FL7ZI/s1600/DSC_6448.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yN5LU0u1CnU/Tv1nfJLRnTI/AAAAAAAAA2o/8i2O41FL7ZI/s320/DSC_6448.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-scNmwppHlC0/Tv1nkFaMUPI/AAAAAAAAA24/KxRK0tnf3wQ/s1600/DSC_6464.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-scNmwppHlC0/Tv1nkFaMUPI/AAAAAAAAA24/KxRK0tnf3wQ/s320/DSC_6464.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Fairlie, New Zealand-44.0991203 170.82911409999997-44.2935163 170.55692259999998 -43.904724300000005 171.10130559999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-75976627426678223682011-12-27T15:00:00.056+10:002011-12-29T06:43:02.331+10:00Dunedin<div class="MsoNormal">Some years ago our friend Allison moved from Brisbane to Dunedin. Her mother Cherry is also staying with her temporarily.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We found her place without any trouble, on the side of a steep hill (like most streets in Dunedin!). Indeed, her house is quite high up above street level, with quite a steep walk to get to the front door. Several exhausting trips later, we had our things in our room (actually Allison’s bedroom!) and were ready for Christmas Eve.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bzoGmxICJfM/Tvt6Aw-XciI/AAAAAAAAA04/8rXCELtqcTg/s1600/Playing+TTR+Nordic+with+Allison+Brown+in+Dunedin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bzoGmxICJfM/Tvt6Aw-XciI/AAAAAAAAA04/8rXCELtqcTg/s320/Playing+TTR+Nordic+with+Allison+Brown+in+Dunedin.jpg" width="320" /></a>After briefly meeting a couple of her friends who dropped by, we played some games including Ticket to Ride and had a simple dinner. We were pretty worn out after our long drive from Gore.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On Christmas morning we got ourselves up in time to go to church. We had chosen a likely one just a couple of blocks down the road by looking on the internet the night before. Of course, we didn’t know whether the website was up-to-date nor whether the Christmas Day service would be at the usual time of 10:00 am…<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We wandered down the street (“down” being exactly the right word in this case), going a little past the New Life church we were aiming for to also check out the beautiful Anglican building on the next corner. The Anglican service had started at 9am, so we were far too late for that. We walked back to New Life and went in at about 9:50 - and discovered that they’d started already! Ah well, not to worry. It turns out they’d started not long before, and indeed their website was quite out of date.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oYPmzwAXAYU/Tvt52xYIyVI/AAAAAAAAA0o/8DrSszRniJ8/s1600/Christmas+morning+present+unwrapping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oYPmzwAXAYU/Tvt52xYIyVI/AAAAAAAAA0o/8DrSszRniJ8/s200/Christmas+morning+present+unwrapping.jpg" width="200" /></a>Nevertheless they were friendly and welcoming and we enjoyed the service. Then of course we had to walk back up the street - and then the front path and stairs! - to get back home to Allison’s.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Christmas lunch was a quiet get-your-own affair, because she’d invited friends over for a big Christmas dinner. We opened some presents, and handed over ours for Allison (some Australian bubbly wine). In the afternoon we played more games, first with Allison and then with her friends when they arrived. Cherry prepared the meal and Allison and Cherry even made their own Christmas bon-bons!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MAzAOZpyM1M/Tvt5xwT4mNI/AAAAAAAAA0g/Pfe5WG-eIxU/s1600/Christmas+dinner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MAzAOZpyM1M/Tvt5xwT4mNI/AAAAAAAAA0g/Pfe5WG-eIxU/s200/Christmas+dinner.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Dinner was delicious! Cherry had made us a nut loaf to go with the roast vegetables, as well as a date loaf with extra fruit (making it more like a Christmas pudding) served with soy ice cream. We were well fed, and the company was cheerful. A fabulous evening!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On Boxing Day we made ourselves a packed lunch and headed out to the Otago Peninsula. At Taiaroa Head at the very end there is a wildlife reserve, the only place in the world apparently where albatross nest on a human-inhabited mainland. These are Northern Royal Albatross, weighing about 8kg and with a wingspan of around three metres. Taiaroa Head has also been of military significance for both the Maori and European people here.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NJEpWKgMKUY/Tvt7bVK-1NI/AAAAAAAAA1c/eGX-eVbKk14/s1600/DSC_6185.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NJEpWKgMKUY/Tvt7bVK-1NI/AAAAAAAAA1c/eGX-eVbKk14/s320/DSC_6185.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The road out to Taiaroa is narrow and winding along the very edge of the Peninsula - a beautiful drive.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ewararZafGA/Tvt7OkE5QgI/AAAAAAAAA1E/nSbksICnZRU/s1600/Albatross+on+nest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ewararZafGA/Tvt7OkE5QgI/AAAAAAAAA1E/nSbksICnZRU/s320/Albatross+on+nest.jpg" width="320" /></a>The reserve is well protected and you can only go past the visitor centre as part of a guided tour. The visitor centre itself has a large gallery full of interesting details and lovely photographs. We did the Unique Taiaroa Tour which included a short informative video about the albatross followed by a walk up the (steep!) hill to the observatory, then a walk further up the hill to Fort Taiaroa. We were there in incubating season and from the observatory we saw one albatross sleeping on a nest. They also showed us live video from a camera around the corner from where we were, of three others also sitting on their nest. Solitary animals at any time, they were all quite a way from each other. Mother and father take about week-long turns either incubating or out at sea feeding. Apparently the young, when they are mature enough to fly (mid next year), will spend their first five years entirely at sea, not once making landfall! When they eventually return to where they hatched, they’ll have their juvenile tag replaced with an adult tag and will then be closely monitored. We also saw a colony of shags (what we would call cormorants) and a few spoonbills.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">On the way up to the Fort we had to walk past a seagull colony. It’s funny, you never really think about seagulls nesting, but obviously it has to happen somewhere! The young chicks were absolutely gorgeous, cute little fluffy things with dark feathers (or speckled as they grew older) and far less bold and brash than the adults. The parents were understandably very protective and nearly burst our eardrums with their loud warning calls.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0LQmIaXFNDI/Tvt7TI7SJrI/AAAAAAAAA1M/MlGWtPvKqxE/s1600/Albatross+on+nest_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0LQmIaXFNDI/Tvt7TI7SJrI/AAAAAAAAA1M/MlGWtPvKqxE/s200/Albatross+on+nest_0001.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Inside the Fort we were impressed by the “disappearing gun”, which is raised hydraulically to fire its 100 lb (!) shells then lowered back underground for reloading. We also got to see another nesting albatross not far from the windows of the observation post, which were about at ground level and about a foot high.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We had our lunch outside (watching carefully to avoid seagull droppings) and looked out from the cliff on the eastern side - to see a seal rolling in the water far below! We also saw some black ducks, but no penguins from where we were (apparently they nest a bit further around).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gYwgFUTev3s/Tvt7XDc554I/AAAAAAAAA1U/iDtJLLyCf5w/s1600/DSC_0570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gYwgFUTev3s/Tvt7XDc554I/AAAAAAAAA1U/iDtJLLyCf5w/s320/DSC_0570.jpg" width="320" /></a>Then we set off for Larnach Castle, the only castle in New Zealand - which claim we found amusing; does Australia even have <i>any</i> castle? This one was built by an Australian whose parents were Scots. The current owners are trying to restore it and have done a good job of making it an interesting tourist attraction, as well as revitalising and extending the surrounding gardens. We did the (self-guided) tour of the castle itself, enjoying the eclectic décor, lovely tiled floors and kauri wood furniture, hanging spiral staircase (plus the tight twist up to the tower) and the view from the top. Actually, all the bedrooms get a very good view.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal">In the garden we followed the Native Plant Trail. We liked the detailed information in the brochure and enjoyed the “hunt”, managing to find all but one of the marked plants.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then it was time to head home. Dinner was left-overs from the night before. We played a game of Bolivia with Allison.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next morning it was time to pack our things up again. Several more trips up and down the steep front path! We said our goodbyes, then went off to see a couple more things before leaving Dunedin.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EDYfbwhPwoo/Tvt57mzKasI/AAAAAAAAA0w/6ovjaHMW5e8/s1600/Laetitia%252C+Ian+%2526+Allison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EDYfbwhPwoo/Tvt57mzKasI/AAAAAAAAA0w/6ovjaHMW5e8/s320/Laetitia%252C+Ian+%2526+Allison.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">The train station down near the docks is a lovely brick building from 1904, with tiled floors and stained glass windows. The train waiting there to take tourists up Taieri Gorge will have to wait until another time for us, unfortunately.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t3GLawH8oCY/Tvt-crR1pHI/AAAAAAAAA2M/Fo80rUj42TU/s1600/Dunedin+Railway+Station.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t3GLawH8oCY/Tvt-crR1pHI/AAAAAAAAA2M/Fo80rUj42TU/s200/Dunedin+Railway+Station.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Then we drove north past the botanic gardens (pausing briefly to wash the seagull poo from the day before off our windscreen) to the lookout atop Signal Hill, and then around to Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world! (According to Guinness at any rate.) Yes, it was <i>very</i> steep. Somehow just <i>seeing</i> it was a challenge, so up it we had to walk.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sV6XY25aO-E/Tvt-PfCbWXI/AAAAAAAAA10/AHXHJWCyqzQ/s1600/DSC_6360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sV6XY25aO-E/Tvt-PfCbWXI/AAAAAAAAA10/AHXHJWCyqzQ/s320/DSC_6360.jpg" width="212" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dpNEV1JndYg/Tvt-kMXrFrI/AAAAAAAAA2U/iKY54Nia84M/s1600/Ian+on+stairs+to+get+up+Baldwin+St.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dpNEV1JndYg/Tvt-kMXrFrI/AAAAAAAAA2U/iKY54Nia84M/s320/Ian+on+stairs+to+get+up+Baldwin+St.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">And then finally we left Dunedin, stopping for a picnic lunch soon after and then again to see the Moeraki Boulders, which are most interesting spherical stone boulders scattered along the beach.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oR7bTdOnims/Tvt-TkuQpxI/AAAAAAAAA18/AK3H3dRNmpw/s1600/DSC_6384.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oR7bTdOnims/Tvt-TkuQpxI/AAAAAAAAA18/AK3H3dRNmpw/s320/DSC_6384.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gre1nWkmVpo/Tvt-YGGkrkI/AAAAAAAAA2E/C27ep_uZ2FE/s1600/DSC_6385.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gre1nWkmVpo/Tvt-YGGkrkI/AAAAAAAAA2E/C27ep_uZ2FE/s320/DSC_6385.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Dunedin, New Zealand-45.8787605 170.5027976-45.939819 170.3462246 -45.817702 170.65937060000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-17307311223390046342011-12-24T15:00:00.019+10:002011-12-27T06:49:37.627+10:00Gore<div class="MsoNormal">On Friday morning we drove south from Te Anau to take the scenic coastal route to Gore via Manapouri, Tuatapere and Invercargill. We had a picnic lunch at McCracken’s Rest, the most south-westerly point of the New Zealand state highway network, with a lovely view over the ocean towards Antarctica. The wind was fresh but (somewhat surprisingly) not too cold. Every now and then an albatross or three would drift by (Southern Buller’s mollymawk, a small albatross), plus the usual seagulls. We even saw a few dolphins playing in the surf way below.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uSAIl8r6Z9k/Tvjc8ODQeCI/AAAAAAAAA0M/Zog_sOVS8OY/s1600/McCracken%2527s+Rest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uSAIl8r6Z9k/Tvjc8ODQeCI/AAAAAAAAA0M/Zog_sOVS8OY/s320/McCracken%2527s+Rest.jpg" width="320" /></b></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><b><br />
</b></div></div><div class="MsoNormal">We took a detour south from Invercargill to go to Bluff. We checked out Stirling Point and the sign at the start of Highway 1. We also went up Bluff Hill - up a <i>very</i> steep road that our rental car struggled with a little. The view from the top was fabulous.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QzLu4aihY_Q/Tvjc-XB4DOI/AAAAAAAAA0U/fqKWAOgHS5A/s1600/Stirling+Point%252C+Bluff+-+sign+post+and+Ian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QzLu4aihY_Q/Tvjc-XB4DOI/AAAAAAAAA0U/fqKWAOgHS5A/s320/Stirling+Point%252C+Bluff+-+sign+post+and+Ian.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div><div class="MsoNormal">When we eventually got to Gore (at 6pm!) we found our accommodation, the Oakleigh Motel, and decided we were too weary to go out for dinner, so we snacked in the room instead. It was a large and comfortable suite and the hosts were very friendly. Highly recommended.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next morning Laetitia discovered a quilt shop right across the road from the motel! Unfortunately it was closed for Christmas. She was very disappointed.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-10fVg6yg4so/Tvjc2jx-m5I/AAAAAAAAAz8/kpnwAhJsIww/s1600/Laetitia+discovers+a+closed+quilt+shop+-+Gore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-10fVg6yg4so/Tvjc2jx-m5I/AAAAAAAAAz8/kpnwAhJsIww/s320/Laetitia+discovers+a+closed+quilt+shop+-+Gore.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Gore’s claims to fame include country music (sister city to Tamworth in Australia) and trout fishing. We checked out the various monuments in the centre of town before heading east to Dunedin.</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KX3i-D3vdw8/Tvjc0QewveI/AAAAAAAAAz0/fU2v7dpcWBg/s1600/Laetitia+at+NZ+Guitar+-+Gore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KX3i-D3vdw8/Tvjc0QewveI/AAAAAAAAAz0/fU2v7dpcWBg/s320/Laetitia+at+NZ+Guitar+-+Gore.jpg" width="212" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k1AOq3vM-Pk/TvjcxUsNXjI/AAAAAAAAAzs/mL6FEg9sXmk/s1600/Ian+fishes+for+Brown+trout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k1AOq3vM-Pk/TvjcxUsNXjI/AAAAAAAAAzs/mL6FEg9sXmk/s320/Ian+fishes+for+Brown+trout.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Gore, New Zealand-46.098799199999988 168.94581900000003-46.363860199999991 168.67273300000002 -45.833738199999985 169.21890500000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-8875471629138209012011-12-23T15:00:00.060+10:002011-12-30T17:16:58.592+10:00Fiordland<div class="MsoNormal">The drive from Queenstown was long and in parts straight and flat and boring so we were quite tired when we arrived in Te Anau. We checked into Fiordland Great Views Holiday Park and were really looking forward to three nights in the same place! We stayed in our room for that evening, cooking dinner ourselves.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_LmxRZ-oEpM/TvTQbNzqCzI/AAAAAAAAAyY/Qn5qhDyRl4g/s1600/DSC_5743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="211" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_LmxRZ-oEpM/TvTQbNzqCzI/AAAAAAAAAyY/Qn5qhDyRl4g/s320/DSC_5743.jpg" width="320" /></a>The next day was our Doubtful Sound cruise. We were picked up from the gate and taken to Manapouri, where we boarded a boat to cross Lake Manapouri to the hydroelectric power station at West Arm. Our trip included a “tour” of the power station, so we got on our bus and they drove us down into the bedrock. Yes, the power station is deep in the rock; it’s a long drive down a steep (1 in 10) dark spiralling tunnel. The “tour” basically included a few minutes on the viewing platform and a short explanation of how it works. There’s actually not that much to see; the station is remotely operated from the surface. But the tunnels and stories were interesting and worthwhile.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">After we climbed back out, the bus took us up over Wilmot Pass to Deep Cove on Doubtful Sound. The driver’s stories about the pass were very interesting. The road was built specifically for taking the machines to the power station; they thought that would be cheaper than taking everything to Bluff on the south coast and transporting it to by road to Manapouri and then across the lake. However, as our driver put it, “Fiordland had other ideas” and the road ended up costing about $2 per centimetre in today’s money! It’s a steep (1 in 5!) and winding gravel road but it’s actually very good (it had to be, to support the very heavy machinery they had to truck in). It was paved with gravel made by crushing the waste material from the tunnels dug out for the power station.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P4KQLLus7iY/TvTQdxeFtXI/AAAAAAAAAyg/2If6cC4jN3U/s1600/DSC_5787.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="422" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P4KQLLus7iY/TvTQdxeFtXI/AAAAAAAAAyg/2If6cC4jN3U/s640/DSC_5787.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Doubtful Sound itself is actually a fiord (carved by a glacier), not a sound (carved by a river). Our boat took us along the fiord out to the Tasman Sea, then back again, with a couple of excursions around islands and into one of the arms. We were able to get close to a fur seal colony on rock islands at the mouth of the fiord and saw rare dusky dolphins on the way back.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gkmQxDB7Yxk/TvTQjSL0bXI/AAAAAAAAAyw/4hXX3gkHAwg/s1600/DSC_5879.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gkmQxDB7Yxk/TvTQjSL0bXI/AAAAAAAAAyw/4hXX3gkHAwg/s200/DSC_5879.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ITLFUT17f9E/TvTQVsRgTBI/AAAAAAAAAyI/_QkIiY3muVo/s1600/DSC_0069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ITLFUT17f9E/TvTQVsRgTBI/AAAAAAAAAyI/_QkIiY3muVo/s200/DSC_0069.jpg" width="134" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The weather was spectacular, sunny and breezy and warm. Apparently this is rather unusual; it’s more common to see four seasons in one day, and the average rainfall is 3m at Deep Cove and 8m at the mouth, with a record recently of 16m in one location. However when we were there it hadn’t rained for three weeks (the locals were calling it a drought) and the many waterfalls were just small trickles or not flowing at all. Nevertheless the views were spectacular and it was a lovely day out.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ne4scI4eANE/TvTQ1VG4Y0I/AAAAAAAAAzg/sTnClWQszYU/s1600/DSC_9995.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ne4scI4eANE/TvTQ1VG4Y0I/AAAAAAAAAzg/sTnClWQszYU/s200/DSC_9995.jpg" width="133" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eAhfTrVAnQo/TvTQgtvNyUI/AAAAAAAAAyo/_d6kK3FOjgw/s1600/DSC_5797.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eAhfTrVAnQo/TvTQgtvNyUI/AAAAAAAAAyo/_d6kK3FOjgw/s320/DSC_5797.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">On our return to Deep Cove we took our bus back over Wilmot Pass, boat back over Lake Manapouri and then were dropped off back in Te Anau where we had left-overs for dinner before collapsing in bed from exhaustion.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">The following day we drove north to Milford Sound. We stopped several times along the way and saw a range of landscapes including beech forests and lakes (all with many sand flies).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zsCbc2jNvKo/TvTQm-VQWhI/AAAAAAAAAy4/K_071uUlwCo/s1600/DSC_5975.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zsCbc2jNvKo/TvTQm-VQWhI/AAAAAAAAAy4/K_071uUlwCo/s200/DSC_5975.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UZkAbfX5qUA/TvTQppQKagI/AAAAAAAAAzA/deul0tL4b1M/s1600/DSC_5977.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UZkAbfX5qUA/TvTQppQKagI/AAAAAAAAAzA/deul0tL4b1M/s200/DSC_5977.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Ian especially enjoyed the Homer Tunnel, a 1.3km long tunnel carved through the mountain. (This next photo is a re-creation of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/polymath74/2336419029/" target="_blank">one taken on his previous trip to NZ when he was a child</a>. The tunnel is now controlled by traffic lights instead of signposted times.)</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sLViKwTFiII/TvTQYiLy3zI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/Doa8Bkf9tU8/s1600/DSC_0155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sLViKwTFiII/TvTQYiLy3zI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/Doa8Bkf9tU8/s200/DSC_0155.jpg" width="134" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Milford Sound also looked beautiful, and we had a picnic lunch at the waterside (amidst a cloud of sand flies) before driving back to Te Anau. Dinner was another room-cooked meal.</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w9Oqo0Xuz9s/TvTQs4GJaFI/AAAAAAAAAzI/O4cN4weHgis/s1600/DSC_6008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w9Oqo0Xuz9s/TvTQs4GJaFI/AAAAAAAAAzI/O4cN4weHgis/s200/DSC_6008.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qgx0UaV_-V8/TvTQwLdTfII/AAAAAAAAAzQ/ww_ZohzJSOU/s1600/DSC_6014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qgx0UaV_-V8/TvTQwLdTfII/AAAAAAAAAzQ/ww_ZohzJSOU/s200/DSC_6014.jpg" width="132" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">We really enjoyed the accommodation and friendly hosts at Fiordland Great Views Holiday Park and the Doubtful Sound Cruise - both highly recommended!<o:p></o:p></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Te Anau, New Zealand-45.4144515 167.71805300000005-45.5751695 167.49829350000005 -45.253733499999996 167.93781250000006tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-63644519438988471092011-12-20T15:00:00.015+10:002011-12-30T17:17:17.212+10:00Queenstown<div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YGnSIMzTnkU/TvRHM9qFp8I/AAAAAAAAAxY/_re3T47eTDI/s1600/Sitting+in+front+of+lupins+at+Skyline+gondola.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YGnSIMzTnkU/TvRHM9qFp8I/AAAAAAAAAxY/_re3T47eTDI/s320/Sitting+in+front+of+lupins+at+Skyline+gondola.jpg" width="320" /></a>We stayed at the Sherwood Manor Hotel on the highway between Frankton and Queenstown. After checking in we headed into town and found the Skyline gondola and Kiwi Birdlife Park. The gondola was still operating until 9pm, so we went up and also took a ride on the luge at the top. Great fun!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Dinner was left-overs from Wanaka.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next morning we decided to pass on the jetboats and instead spend a few hours enjoying the excellent Kiwi Birdlife Park. We saw their kiwis (what <i>is</i> the plural, anyway?) which they house in special buildings where they artificially switch day and night (because kiwis are nocturnal). They were cute, surprisingly large and very active, running about scratching and pecking at the ground. The park also has a selection of other native birds and also some tuatara lizards. We enjoyed the Conservation Show which also included some introduced Australian animals (a possum and a rainbow lorikeet) which are pests in New Zealand.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">For lunch we got a take-away from Freiya’s Indian Restaurant (delicious food and quite cheap - highly recommended!) in the centre of town, and took it to the beach by the lake in Frankton, which was pleasant and quiet except when planes took off overhead from the airport right behind us! The view was spectacular.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CfzGQb1-F6k/TvRKjaawVuI/AAAAAAAAAx8/jfg2lIO7B4g/s1600/DSC_9874.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="329" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CfzGQb1-F6k/TvRKjaawVuI/AAAAAAAAAx8/jfg2lIO7B4g/s640/DSC_9874.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TFnm0_zxZ4o/TvRIEf0x7yI/AAAAAAAAAxw/8c2Y5l4I6ys/s1600/Garston+sign+post.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TFnm0_zxZ4o/TvRIEf0x7yI/AAAAAAAAAxw/8c2Y5l4I6ys/s200/Garston+sign+post.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="134" /></a>Then we headed south towards Lumsden before turning off west to Te Anau. We stopped briefly in Garston (apparently “New Zealand’s most inland village”, pop. 106) to taste-test and buy some small pots of local honey.<o:p></o:p></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Queenstown, New Zealand-45.0311622 168.66264350000006-45.0585172 168.59179200000005 -45.0038072 168.73349500000006tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-46315530464598615422011-12-19T15:00:00.035+10:002011-12-30T17:17:45.298+10:00Wanaka<div class="MsoNormal">On arrival in Wanaka we were reminded of one of the reasons we had wanted to stay there: Puzzling World. We stopped briefly to check opening times for the next day, then went on to our accommodation, Manuka Crescent Motel. This was a lovely place away from the main road. We especially liked being upgraded to a larger suite. We did a load of washing (expensive but necessary), hanging the clothes on the line just outside for a few hours in the wind until dusk (9pm, remember!) before bringing them inside to finish drying in the room overnight. Dinner was cooked in our room again.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ycTb4fYrT4/TvREejb0P1I/AAAAAAAAAwc/hRf1kLHp7ak/s1600/DSC_5605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ycTb4fYrT4/TvREejb0P1I/AAAAAAAAAwc/hRf1kLHp7ak/s200/DSC_5605.jpg" width="200" /></a>Ian went to the shops for supplies while Laetitia kept an eye on the laundry. He brought back a pack of fresh peas in their pods, which Laetitia shelled while he started cooking. It’s something that can be done while thinking about something else or even watching TV, however she doesn’t intend to make a habit of it as it’s rather time consuming, which isn’t conducive to a quick meal.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The next day we went to Puzzling World. The great maze took us over an hour and introduced us to many people (other maze walkers). Yes, I’m sure we did walk at least the average four to five km! You have to find your way from the entrance near the centre to each of the four corners (in order, for an additional challenge) and then back out again to the exit near the start - which is almost as hard as finding the corners!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fGEHQK2MeNY/TvREmA_lF2I/AAAAAAAAAw0/y_KHLhPGDhM/s1600/DSC_9490.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fGEHQK2MeNY/TvREmA_lF2I/AAAAAAAAAw0/y_KHLhPGDhM/s200/DSC_9490.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A2IVO3cO2Jg/TvREjYeFkZI/AAAAAAAAAws/I6E4onI_LBM/s1600/DSC_9458.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A2IVO3cO2Jg/TvREjYeFkZI/AAAAAAAAAws/I6E4onI_LBM/s200/DSC_9458.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then we visited the illusion rooms, which were very impressive, but quite hard to describe. You just have to go there yourself, I guess!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sl-PSqT7bWk/TvREgykBpGI/AAAAAAAAAwk/FG_wEUHolQ8/s1600/DSC_5635.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sl-PSqT7bWk/TvREgykBpGI/AAAAAAAAAwk/FG_wEUHolQ8/s400/DSC_5635.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We went back into town for lunch, finding suitable take-away fare at a kebab shop on the esplanade, and took it away from the busy centre of town to a quieter spot on the beach by the lake to eat.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2aNygODVHjw/TvREo4JIv7I/AAAAAAAAAw8/FN2LH_dZA6I/s1600/IMG_0115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2aNygODVHjw/TvREo4JIv7I/AAAAAAAAAw8/FN2LH_dZA6I/s320/IMG_0115.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">On our way out of town, we visited Christofer Robyn Quilts, where Laetitia browsed the wares and we asked for advice on which route to take to Queenstown. The Crown Range route sounded more like us, so we took that option and indeed very much enjoyed the views as we descended in many switchbacks down from the pass. Apparently that’s the highest sealed road in New Zealand, at 1076 m, and it was only sealed in 2000.<o:p></o:p></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Wanaka, New Zealand-44.6968866 169.1314258-44.7562941 169.03953679999998 -44.6374791 169.2233148tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-88895294217864718852011-12-18T15:00:00.013+10:002011-12-30T17:17:45.302+10:00Haast<div class="MsoNormal">Our next night was spent in Haast, a coastal town just before the highway turns inland. We stayed at the Heartland World Heritage Hotel, which was a nice place with lovely lawns and a delightful cool breeze. No fridges in the rooms (apparently Haast is not connected to the national grid, so electricity is at a premium) but they stored our cold bag in their cooler for us. Not feeling up to driving into town to find somewhere to eat, we asked at the hotel’s restaurant, and the chef was happy to cook something suitable (and quite large portions) at a very reasonable price. Highly recommended.<o:p></o:p></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">After dinner we went for a short drive down the coast road towards Jackson Bay. Our plan had been to look for seals or penguins, however at our first stop along the beach we were promptly attacked by swarms of sand flies so we decided to curtail our drive and head back to the hotel.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K0cLdBgSIdk/TvRCOsOWEOI/AAAAAAAAAwI/G5d31MfZrZI/s1600/DSC_5509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K0cLdBgSIdk/TvRCOsOWEOI/AAAAAAAAAwI/G5d31MfZrZI/s200/DSC_5509.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">We’re still getting used to the latitude here - we got back to our hotel around 9:30pm, in time to watch the sunset!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7qMaQFpxWdo/TvRCSvLyp7I/AAAAAAAAAwQ/GpJfGTr8mgQ/s1600/DSC_5556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7qMaQFpxWdo/TvRCSvLyp7I/AAAAAAAAAwQ/GpJfGTr8mgQ/s320/DSC_5556.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">In the morning we drove east to Haast Pass. At the top, there’s a walking track up to a lookout. Not allowing ourselves to be put off by the steep switchbacks we could see, we grabbed our cameras and water bottles and set off. It was a <i>very</i> steep climb that took us 31 minutes, only a minute longer than the suggested walking time on the sign at the bottom, including several short stops and a rest on the seat provided half-way to catch our breath. But the view from the top was good. Walking down was a bit tricky on the sometimes loose gravel!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We stopped for a picnic lunch soon afterwards at a rest stop near Camp Flat overlooking the Makarora River.<o:p></o:p></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Haast, New Zealand-43.8811066 169.04243740000004-44.0375476 168.75137440000003 -43.7246656 169.33350040000005tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-81160231165237487012011-12-17T15:00:00.014+10:002011-12-30T17:17:45.307+10:00Glaciers<div class="MsoNormal">On our third day we drove south along State Highway 6 to Franz Josef. We had wanted to do a few walks up to lookouts in Greymouth before we left, but with the low-hanging clouds and continuing drizzle we decided there wasn’t much point. We also stopped briefly at Shantytown, just south of Greymouth, to check out the tourist attraction there, but again decided against spending $30 each to wander around in the drizzle.<o:p></o:p></div><br />
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g_S3tc80370/TvQ-mb2emAI/AAAAAAAAAv0/F_TZtRbrTTs/s1600/DSC_5279.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g_S3tc80370/TvQ-mb2emAI/AAAAAAAAAv0/F_TZtRbrTTs/s200/DSC_5279.jpg" width="132" /></a>We stopped for lunch at Hokitika. We checked out the Jade Factory as well as the views from the lookout at Sunset Point, at the head of the river. The weather was starting to clear by this point. Unfortunately the Jade Factory no longer runs the make-your-own jewellery carving course, so Laetitia had to cross that off her wish-list. We took a short walk through a patch of regrowth forest called Bushman’s Rest, then had a picnic lunch.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The drive down the coast included more and more steep inclines - up one mountain, down the other side, a one-lane bridge over a river, then up the next mountain.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When we got to Franz Josef we checked in to the Top 10 Holiday Park, which was excellent, and, with the weather continuing to clear and a sunny forecast ahead, we booked ourselves in for a heli-hike onto Fox Glacier the next morning. For dinner we had a stir fry cooked by ourselves in the kitchen next door to our room. What a pleasure to have a “home”-cooked meal!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MY60-aBDWDI/TvQ84CM9yKI/AAAAAAAAAvQ/MHFMPSMIbws/s1600/DSC_5450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MY60-aBDWDI/TvQ84CM9yKI/AAAAAAAAAvQ/MHFMPSMIbws/s200/DSC_5450.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KdFVR33H2ek/TvQ_8aHMP7I/AAAAAAAAAv8/3pv_yFb7-Rk/s1600/DSC_5451_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KdFVR33H2ek/TvQ_8aHMP7I/AAAAAAAAAv8/3pv_yFb7-Rk/s200/DSC_5451_0001.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
The next morning dawned beautiful and sunny, with patches of drifting fog obscuring and then revealing different parts of the rugged mountain peaks. We headed off to Fox township and checked in for our helicopter ride. It was amazing! They flew us right up close to the walls of the valley and did some tight swooping curves over the glacier. We got to see right down a deep, deep hole into a waterfall down under the glacier! Then we landed on the ice. They gave us crampons to attach to our boots and a walking pole, and we set off up the glacier. Spectacular! It was a bit tricky to begin with, but after a while we got used to how to step to keep the crampons spiked firmly into the ice.<br />
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We saw ice caves, crevasses, a small lake atop the ice. (Yes, the water was cold!) The top surface is white where the sun has warmed it and the structure is disturbed, scattering the light, but the solid ice underneath is quite blue.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hHhfSGZ54Lk/TvQ8-3VYd6I/AAAAAAAAAvo/OOR4g8entZA/s1600/DSC_9229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hHhfSGZ54Lk/TvQ8-3VYd6I/AAAAAAAAAvo/OOR4g8entZA/s320/DSC_9229.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">After a few hours the helicopter came back to pick us up and we returned to the township below. We had lunch there at the Cook’s Saddle (delicious, not too expensive, friendly service: definitely recommended!) before driving on southwards along the coast.<o:p></o:p></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Fox Glacier 7886, New Zealand-43.4644799 170.0175878-43.4939294 169.9014793 -43.4350304 170.1336963tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-17598441325007365062011-12-16T15:00:00.000+10:002011-12-30T17:18:12.830+10:00Greymouth<div class="MsoNormal">Our second night was spent in Greymouth on the west coast. It lived up to its name, with overcast skies and intermittent drizzle. The breakwater at the head of the Grey River was supposed to have “views of Mt Cook” but all we saw were clouds. However the surf was spectacular, huge waves crashing into the breakwater and throwing spray up and over. The “beach” consisted entirely of rocks and stones, huge slabs of limestone (you can see why they used to mine it here) all the way down to small rounded skipping stones. The retreating waves were <i>very</i> noisy as they washed back off the beach.<o:p></o:p></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hq2gXjEKOo4/TvQ50Yg5s1I/AAAAAAAAAu8/gdUqYGccedA/s1600/DSC_5234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hq2gXjEKOo4/TvQ50Yg5s1I/AAAAAAAAAu8/gdUqYGccedA/s320/DSC_5234.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We stayed in the Kingsgate Hotel on the esplanade (along the Grey River, not the ocean) and ate at Priya Indian Restaurant. The hotel advertised itself as “hotel accommodation at a backpacker price” - well if that was a backpacker price then we’re glad we’re not backpacking!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com1Greymouth, New Zealand-42.4503925 171.21076229999994-42.5221885 171.16029279999995 -42.3785965 171.26123179999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6192084033450190276.post-36689291392277023682011-12-15T15:00:00.001+10:002011-12-30T17:17:45.311+10:00Christchurch, New Zealand!<div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U7uN24PjqlQ/TvQ3mREuAnI/AAAAAAAAAt8/7vpZIgFLO8A/s1600/Flying+into+Christchurch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U7uN24PjqlQ/TvQ3mREuAnI/AAAAAAAAAt8/7vpZIgFLO8A/s200/Flying+into+Christchurch.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>We flew into Christchurch on Wednesday afternoon. We left Brisbane at 9am, where it was already over 20°C heading for about 28°C, and arrived three hours later at 3pm. Don’t you love travelling between different time zones? (But not to worry, we’ll get those three hours back on the way home again!) When we arrived it was grey, about 18°C with a stiff breeze making it feel closer to 10°C.<o:p></o:p><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">We sorted out a local prepaid SIM card for Laetitia’s phone, then called for a pickup from our hire car company (Apex). They gave us a manual Nissan Sunny for just under $40/day, with an Interislander ferry ticket included (for the car only; we have to pay extra for ourselves).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
We stayed the night at Tui Lodge Motel. They upgraded us to a larger room, and the lady running the place was very friendly and helpful. They had beautiful roses in the gardens in front of the rooms. Unfortunately the pillows were a bit lumpy and there was an unpleasant musty odour wafting around the back.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r3xeobT0Tgo/TvQ4SgyZksI/AAAAAAAAAuo/mOGDncubv5Y/s1600/Just+part+of+the+Chinese+Vegetarian+menu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r3xeobT0Tgo/TvQ4SgyZksI/AAAAAAAAAuo/mOGDncubv5Y/s200/Just+part+of+the+Chinese+Vegetarian+menu.jpg" width="150" /></a>For dinner we went to the Welcome Vegetarian Chinese Café, which we spotted while buying some groceries and our hotel host said she liked when we asked her about it. It was fantastic! The menu has a symbol to mark dishes that <i>aren’t</i> vegan, and they don’t cook with capsicum at all (which Laetitia was very pleased about). The food was <i>delicious!</i> Highly recommended: it’s on Wharenui Rd at Riccarton Rd.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
The next morning we took a little drive around Christchurch, seeing the fenced-off areas in the city where so many buildings were damaged in the earthquake earlier this year, and stopped for a walk in the Botanic Gardens in Hagley Park. It was beautiful there. We especially enjoyed the giant pine trees.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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Then we drove off to the west along State Highway 73 through Arthur’s Pass. The scenery was (of course) beautiful. Lush green forest, high mountains and wide valleys, many one-lane bridges. The rivers were quite clear water rushing over rocks and pebbles.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vH9QbRlKTeM/TvQ4U_flZuI/AAAAAAAAAuw/I9UszpOoMco/s1600/Kea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vH9QbRlKTeM/TvQ4U_flZuI/AAAAAAAAAuw/I9UszpOoMco/s320/Kea.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br />
At a rest stop on the eastern side, just after one long one-lane bridge (long enough to have a passing bay in the middle!) we saw our first Kea. It was fat and green and curious. It was so fat it waddled! Later, in Arthur’s Pass itself, we saw many more. They are as cheeky as their reputation, and yes, they are definitely very interested in door seals! We even saw a couple staying on car roofs for a few seconds as the cars drove away.<o:p></o:p></div>Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07911562671347204743noreply@blogger.com0Christchurch, New Zealand-43.5320544 172.63622540000006-43.6544069 172.42638240000005 -43.4097019 172.84606840000006