NZ South Island

We are having a wonderful time here in NZ with Pauline and Tony, but we are having a terrible time finding computer time - we are all talking and laughing so much and driving and seeing amazing sights! However we have a few moments down here in Southland to wish you all well and say how completely blown away we are by this island! Will try to attach more pics and update more thoroughly when we get to Aukland.

We have driven down the narrowest dirt roads with rocks ready to crash down on us and shear drops the other side to a bridge that they used to Bungy jump from; we have seen glaciers with forest in the same frame; we drove to Milford Sound and enjoyed even more spectacular scenery and were all agreed that Milford itself was actually an anticlimax; we have seen pancake rocks, petrified forest, lakes, mountains, seas of all hues, strange birds like the Kea, sealions and a multitude of different plants etc - it truly is a kind of paradise. Will update better as soon as we can.

There were so many pics from this part of the trip - look at the extras

UPDATE:

There is so much to write about this part of the trip!

We arrived in Christchurch on feb 1st. It was a nice short flight from Sydney,with Peter having a special treat and sitting in the window seat! He usually lets me sit there as he can see past me - its difficult the other way round. The view of S Island as flew over was exactly as expected - they call it the land of the long white cloud - you can actually see a few snow peaks sticking out of the clouds. Christchurch itself gives the impression of space - at this time of the year one can quite see why someone would want to live there.It was a balmy 21 degrees and our hotel room was really nice - an appartment really with washing facilities and a great spa bath which we managed to fill with bubbles - all right Peter, I managed to fill with bubbles!!!. We tried to find Emily Driver at Coyotes bar, but she wasnt working and wasnt answering her phone. We left her a message behind the bar, but assume she didnt get it - shame, sorry Daphne, I was looking forward to sending you a pic!!

We ate at the Lobster Club which we found in passing, and had a superb seafood dinnerand some delicious wine, recommended by the people at the next table who live in NZ for 6 months and UK for the rest.

2nd Feb

Went to the Giacometti exhibition and were bowled over. The behaviour of others was not so good though and we got our knickers in a twist over people taking photos when it specifically says not to!

3rd Feb

Up at 6am - no alarm!!

Taxi to the train station and onto the trans-Alpine train. We had good seats a bar which provided mediocre food and coffee and an observation platform that was crowded the whole way - being a short person with ducks disease, I couldnt see over the heads so we stayed in our comfy seats most of the way. Charlie the ticket collector, rubbish collector and commentator kept us amused with his running commentry and little witty stories about his wife and the history of the railway.The train stopped a few times to allow us to get out, breathe the fresh clean air and take pics. We stopped at Arthurs Pass in particular and passed through many tunnels and over many bridges which were all quite exciting as the train only just fits the tunnels and the bridges all pass over deep gorges and were built a very long time ago!

Tony and Pauline wre waiting for us in Greymouth so we collected the luggage and loadede it into the Volvo and set out to explore. We started chatting like old friends right away - it was nice to see Peter and Tony appear to connect so well.

We visited the Pancake rocks - our first geological adventure of the country, and stayed at the Breakers Guest House which was really really nice - very good call thank you Ginny! The only problem was the wee bitey things but a quick squirt of jungle juice sorted them out!!

4th feb Day 42!!!

We drove south as soon as poss, to get to the glaciers, through virgin forest. we saw lots of dead possum and one live one. Tree ferns and Rata abound. We saw Kea and Tui - both native birds. We stopped at Ross to see the twee reconstructed gold mining village and we came to the Franz Joseph glacier - what a sight! but it was recommended that we went on to the Fox glacier where we got out and took a walk to get close. A beautiful, blue spikey glacier with a cave like hole at the base from which the melt water seemed to come. The stream was blue and icy and fast and the whole thing spaked a discussion on global warming.

We stayed the night near Haast.

5th feb

Another early start - Peter complains but is actually very good!!

The trip up the Haast river valley made us think about the job the old engineers managed to do in these isolated parts. Sheer rock faces, rain forest dripping with water, thundering waterfalls and skimpy bridges. Lichens hang from every surface, which apparently show the cleanliness of the air - certainly everything feels clean and fresh and the clarity of the air for looking through is great. Makes you sleep well - sometimes during the day too. We all took turns at driving.

We drove around lakes Wanaka and Hawea. In Wanaka town we had rather good ploughmans lunches and Pauline and I had 30 mins looking at the shops - and didnt we suffer for it!!

Into the Otago region - grassy rounded hills, lots of sheep and tussock grass. We stopped at the top 1760 m high Crown Range Summit - almost 360 deg views of incredible vistas over the river below and the winelands . The first sheep were driven over this pass in 1861 and the road was only sealed in 2000. The talk turned to gold again and we came down the hills to Arrowtown - a really pleasant, sleepy little place - although P & T were not keen to stop at first - their previous experience less than good. However we all enjoyed our stop here and spent a pleasnt evening sitting in the gathering dusk, eating fishy meals and quaffing acceptable wines. No one has heard of Armagnac here so Peters liver is recovering nicely!

6th Feb

After a shared breakfast on the balcony we were off again towards Queenstown with the intention of looking for a gold panning opportunity. Something went wrong and we found ourselves on the road to Glenorchy with more wonderful views of mountains and lakes and forest. Lake Wakatipu, Mount Earnshaw, etc.Returning from Glenorchy we turned off the road to pass the ski slopes of the Coronet Peak and saw the breathtaking Remakables Range. We then took a dirt road to Skippers Canyon. WELL!! This was scary. the road drops away 100s of feet on one side to the valley floor and solid rock rises on the other side . The road is wide enough for one vehicle with passing spaces. I say solid rock, but actually it seemed to be layered mudstone that was prone to slippage along the layers - very scary - but the most spectacular thing we have seen anywhere!Spectacularly beautiful, wild, raw, clean, untouched. The shotover river passes through the canyon but often so far below the road you cant see it.This was gold mining country and is the setting for parts of Tolkeins Middle Earth. The bridge at Skippers used to be used for bungy jumping, the steep, precipitous even sides of the canyon show much evidence of land slippage - as i said - scary! Tony did a grand job of concentration as he drove all the way there and back so that we could enjoy the views - 5 hours solid and difficult driving!! The weather was absolutely perfect too so we were very very lucky!

Feb 7th

Peter had a wee bit of a hangover and has promised not to drink for a day or two! We found a gold mining place in the Kawarau gorge, wher a reconstruction had been done of the old workings, but where gold is still being worked - so it was a mixture of history and fact and was very well done. Peter was enchanted and spent quite a long time panning and actually found some gold!!He was sooo pleased!

Our first experience of the tackier end of the motel scene left us a little disappointed .

8th Feb

Left as fast as we could and made our way to Milford Sound. Again we were spoiled by perfect weather and unbelievable scenery. IN fact, the road to Milford was so beautiful that our arrival at the end was an anticlimax - the place was full of tourists!! and sand flies which you may realise are not friends of ours!. So we turned round and enjoyed the journey back again. The scenery defies description.More Sheer rock faces, waterfalls cascading 1000s of feet, glaciated snowfields, huge jagged mountains, beautiful turquoise rushing rivers.. The Homer Tunnel had been blasted through a truly humungous mountain and it is only one car wide so you can wait for up to 15 mins to get your turn to pass!

Back to Te Anauand then on. We stopped at the Croydon airfield where we lost the boys for a while - they enjoyed a feast of old aircraft and Pauline and I had a nice cup of tea!!

9th feb

Drove into Gore town where we explored the moonshine museum and a fab art gallery showcasing some of Paulines favourite artists. Check out Trevor Moffat, Nigel Brown, Ralph Hotere, Jacqueline Fahey, Philip Clairemont.

On to Waipapa point (Water - stone) - a lighthouse, sealions, a fresh breeze and a blue blue sea. Our furthest south point - next stop Antarctica!

Curio Bay - petrified forests - an abundabce of trees overwhelmed by volcanic basalt during the Jurassic era some 180,000 years ago.

Matai and Horseshoe falls required quite a long walk on slippy and steep ground but were worth every tortuous step!!. We notice that here in NZ as well as Oz and SA, these sights are often protected from the common man by giving him decent board walks with handrails, to walk on. Actually not all of NZs treasures are protected - we were able to walk on the petrified forests!!

Our search for a bed for the night was fairly disastrous and we went backwards and forwards rather a lot but we ended upin the old hospital - it was really a backpackers place and was virtually empty - only just ready to receive visitors - it was certainly different and actually great fun!

10thFeb

Off to Nugget Point where we saw lots of sea birds - poss Stewrt Island Shags, and sea lions

Sadly there were no beds anywhere near Dunedin where we were headed and we had to make do with a real hole of a place - no-one wanted to actually touch anything!!yuk! Place was called Waihole!

!!th Feb

Sids birthday and Peter was eager to speak to him, and delighted by his eventual chat!

In Dunedin we had arranged a trip onto the otaga peninsular. We saw the Albatross colony which was awesome. unless you see these birds up close you have no true conception of their size - and they seem to be so affectionate with each other , pairing up year after year with the same mate. We also saw fur seals, penguins and sealions and got back to town too late for dinner!!

12th Feb

A long haul north today, stopping to see the round boulders at Moetaki - another geological treat! We picked up some fresh cooked cray fish for supper and eventually stopped for the night in Blenheim, qhere we got some salads and a bottle and had a cosy dinner.

13th feb

Quick brekkie and off into the winelands. We stopped at Cloudy Bay and several other winelands including Allan Scott,Mudhouse, Grove Mill and Sanctuary and Nautilus.