Times flying fast...

... can you believe it, only a week to go!
Started the day cloudy and overcast with a spot rain mid-morning then cleared to another warm sunny day ;o)
I wasn't sure what to think of Invercargill, it had all the markings of boring old Swindon or Reading, but actually, not withstanding the poverty in the area, the place does have character! That said, it wouldn't be on my top ten places to live in or visit again!
We spent the morning mooching around the museum and art gallery out of the rain and took a drive out to Sandy Domain after lunch. Sandy Domain is a large park area, similar to the Cotswold Park at South Cerney, with lots of walks and great scenery. It was great to be able to wander about listening to the silence, only broken by bird song, with not another soul in sight for several hours! Twice we came across a NZ Falcon feasting on some rodent it had killed, but every time I went for my camera it flew off! Must be camera shy!
Also came across some bright and colourful fungi in the woods!
I finished the day by going out for the day whilst Deb stayed in to paint her nails! All in all a nice relaxing day.
Moving on to Dunedin tomorrow, again following th southern scenic route. Looking forward to this bit as it takes us through The Catlins, an area of outstanding beauty...
P.S. Debs birthday tomorrow, Tuesday.... yep, April fools day ;o)))))

War Of The Worlds - The Sequel...

Came across these concrete platforms whilst out for an evening drive. Reminded me of the the film; The War Of The Worlds!

Sun set from Oreti beach...

Watching the sun go down from Oreti beach

Trip to Stewart Island

Weather report; clear and sunny without a whisper of wind. You can tell it's Autumn here now, geting a little cooler in the mornings. Should be ideal for the ferry crossing to Stewart Island this morning though.Up a little earlier for both of us today to make the 9.30 ferry from The Bluff, about a 30 minute drive from the motel and an hour crossing. A nice drive down the coast road and into what is clearly one of the poorer areas of NZ. A lot of derelict properties and just general signs of low income family homes. You wouldn't call Invercargill itself a full on tourist destination, it's mainlhy agriculture and industry. As a tourist it's more a place to base yourself for Stewart Island, The Fjords and The Catlins. That said there are some lovely areas bordering Invercargill, namely Oreti beach where we watched the sun set and the areas directly behind the beach and south of Invercargill where there are huge expanses of Wetlands.The ferry crossing was uneventful, just enough swell to make it interesting rather than uncomfortable! Pulled into Stewart Island a little early and jumped straight onto an island tour bus to show us what was what. Of course their was the usual tour guide that jovially told us all the stories about the island, with a little embelishment I expect!We then has fish and chips for lunch, freshly caught Blue Cod, tasted lovely ;o) Then spent a nice leisurely few hours wandering around some of the local coves around the small and only town of Oban (Most things down here are named after Scottish things and rather weirdly they speak with a mixed NZ / Scottish accent!).Back on the ferry later in the afternoon for the trip back, for an even smoother ride back over. Apparently it was about the calmest day they'd had this year! Suited me, within 10 minutes the gentle rocking action had my head nodding, and Debs, and we were soon having a few winks sleep!Popped up to the top of the Bluff on the way back to check out the panoramic views around and then back to motel to have something to eat. Finished the day watching the sun set from Oreti beach. The sand is so hard you can drive along it quite easily. This beach was where parts of the film "The Fastest Indian" was filmed. FOr those of you that don't know, "Indian" refers to the motorcycle, not the race of people! A great story, I watched the film on the plane over!

Into Invercargill

Blimey, I've finaly caught up on the blog!
We were expecting rain today, never got any, in fact turned out to be a beautiful day for the drive down from Queenstown to Invercargill on the Southern Scenic route. This involved a slight detour as the drive straight down to Invercargill is just shy of 200KM, but taking a detour across to Te Anau means you can track down the edge of the SOuthern Alps but clock up a further 100KM. Well worth it though, another memorable drive along a virtually deserted road.
Stopped off In Te Anau for lunch and watched the toursist buses on route to Milford Sound disgorge their cargo for photo opportunities at the lake and then back on again 10 minutes later. I'm glad we're travellling independently, I couldn't face being herded around like sheep!!! Of course we're not as independent as the camper van crew but Deb does expect a few little luxuries (I'd be happy with a tent!) ;o)
Pulled into Invercargill mid-afternoon and settled straight into the motel. Popped out to the local supermarket to get some groceries and low and behold they didn't sell alcohol! I'm not sure whether it's unique to this town or not, whether there is a drinking problem or something, but in the end to get Deb a bottle of wine meant tracking down a licquor store. She did look like an alcoholic walking
out with her bottled wrapped in a brown paper bag though ;o)))
Fingers crossed for another nice day as we are taking the short ferry ride over to Stewart Island tomorrow, looks like it might be a little breezy though ;op I'll let you lnow how we get on later...

Chillin' in Queenstown...

Couldn't resist an early start to catch the sun coming up over Lake Wakatipu, the weather reports looked great and I did my homework for the location using Google Earth. Turned out pretty good, check out the blog. Got the usual strange looks from the early morning joggers and dog walkers!
I actually ended up on the lake beach on the golf course, you couldn't find a more picturesque situation for a golf course if you tried! Apparently the bus load of Japanese tourists that turned up at 7.30 am to play the course also thought so!!!
Back to the motel for breakfast and pick Deb up and head up to the cable car that takes you up 500 metres of one of the local peaks to a local lookout point. Deb is getting blase about these cable cars now, although she still refused to do the short ski lift to the top of the luge track they have up there. Great view of the lake and Queenstown below, well worth the trip. You can also have dinner up there and catch the sunset but we had other things to do and rain was forecast for that day so it was unlikely we could get a decent view later on.
Took a ride out in the afternoon to visit a view spots, generally just had an easy afternoon to chill a bit. Then in the evening I treated Deb to gourmet fish and chips on the lake front! Followed by a visit to a bar where everything is made of ice and the temperature is maintained at a fairly constant -7 degrees! Well and truly chilled now!!!
Eventually it did rain today, not until we had got back to the motel. First rain for 11 days, not bad going so far!

Good morning Queenstown!

A nice shot out over Lake Wakatipu towards Queenstown / Frankton.

Deb wanders off in Arrowtown again...

A nice lazy start to the day, well for me anyway, didn't get up for any morning pictures today. All packed up and ready to move on yet again! We seem to be rattling through the days like nothing at the moment. At least we have 3 nights in Invercargill and 4 in Whangarei to settle in a bit more.
Drove away from Twizel with the sun shining and Mt. Cook in my rear view mirror! A nice short steady drive today, via Wanaka for lunch and then Arrowtown for an afternoon snack and finally Queenstown. I ummd and aahd whether to stay in Wanaka instead of Queenstown this time around as we really liked Wanaka last time we visited. In the end I think we made the right choice, there was still stuff we wanted to do in Queenstown. Both Wanaka and Arrowtown are great little towns and will worth a visit.
I managed to keep track of Deb in Arrowtown this year, after last year when she went wandering off and I couldn't find her, I kept her in my sights at all time!
Got into Queenstown middle of the afternoon, found the motel straight away, I know Queenstown like the back of my hand now! We were pleasantly surprised to have such a nice view even though we were back from the lake shoes. That said, as Quenstown is surounded by mountains I suppose a great view is inevitable!
Nothing exciting tonight, a quick walk round town to see whats changed - not much really - and then a bite to eat before a fairly early night...

Deb goes swinging!

Apparently this was the first time Deb went swinging, I don't believe her.... ;o)))

Within touching distance of Mt. Cook

After the helicopter flight anything else this day was going to be an anti-climax, but fortunately the scenery and great weather kept things on a roll. We continued on up Mt. Cook road taking snapshots along the way until we got to Mt. Cook village, almost within touching distance fo the mountain itself!
We picked up some touristy type info that showed where the best walking track were and headed off to see what we could find. First thing we found was a great swing bridge, apparently this was a first for Deb, first time over a swing bridge! She conquered her fear and went straight over no probs with me eghing her on ;o)
Then to cap it all, 20 minutes later we came upon another one, at which point she called it a day. I think it was the cliff edge you had to walk a long first that dissuaded her!!!
After returning from this short walk we headed up towards the Tasmin glacial lake where you can see break away huge chunks of ice floating on the lake. Quite a surreal landscape really!
A nice steady drive back to the chalet where we had a bite to eat and then on up to Lake Pukaki to watch the sunsetting and iluminating the tip of Mt. Cook. All in all a great day...

Building up an appetite...

What conditions do you want for a helicopter flight into the highest peaks in NZ? How about clear blue skies, small fluffy clouds for interest and a light wind to make the flight a just a little bit interesting...... bingo, exactly what we got, could not have wished for anything better! I can't believe how lucky we've been with the helicopter flights both this year and last year.
Deb was so excited, I think she would be happy to go up in a helicopter even if it just went round and round and circles. It didn't even bother her she had to get up at 6.30am to get to the take off point. We had about 30 minutes flying time then 5 minutes on the snow walking around at the top of one of the peaks. Deb was on such a buzz when she came down she even managed to tuck into a full English breakfast afterwards.
I'll leave this post here as we packed so much into this day it'll be a book on it's own... the foot of Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman, the Tasman Glacier and another lovely sunset, will all be covered in a seperate blog entry soon...
P.S. Did I remember to say Deb was on cloud nine, literally, from the flight this morning.... oh yes, I did didn't I! ;o>

First glimpse of Mt. Cook

Well we managed to find a shopping mall for Deb, of all places it was a Westfield! Don't we have those in the uk? Whatever she was a little disappointed with the fashion stuff, other than the odd up to date store most others were still in the 80's! Anyway there were a few sales on to clear out summer stock ready for there autumn / winter collections so Deb found a couple of bits. I even found myself a pair of shoes, I work on the principle if something fits then I buy it as I never know when I'll find something in my shoe size again!
Done by late morning so we headed out of Christchurch for Twizel. Bit of a boring drive to start with across the flat plains then up into the hilly stuff. Again, roads were great and we were blessed with warm sunny weather ;o)
As we had a clear day we took the opportunity to grab a few shots of Mt.Cook (Aoraki) - the highest peak in NZ - in case it clouded over and we never saw it again whilst we were in the area. From over 30 miles away it still looked impressive. We also took the opportunity to nip in the information center and book a helicopter flight for the next morning, fingers were crossed we had better luck than with the whale watching.
On to the motel, actually a small ski chalet style cabin. Quite nice, I would use the word bijou, but it had everything we needed and so far the most comfortable bed ;o) Deb has some pictures of the kitchen, it has to be seen to be believed, photos will be online in the next day or so.
Deb rustled up a tasty pasta thing and then out to watch the sun set over the mountains and then bed...

Leaving Sumner ;o(

Sorry, I'm a bit behind on the blog, been enjoying ourselves out and about doing things! Last morning in Sumner, Deb doesn't want to leave, well the apartment we were in at least. She had settled right in and would love to have packed it into her suitcase and popped it out at the next stop so she had all the same creature comforts of home. We've gone right from one extreme to another, a nice big open plan apartment to a diddy little ski chalet with a kitchen the size of a shoebox. For all of you that know our cottage this kitchen we have is the same size as our downstairs bathrooom!
Had time to have a quick walk across to the beach for half an hour before leaving and caught a nice sunrise. The beach here faces north east so it get the sun right from sunrise through to late afternoon. Of course that probaly sounds odd to everyone at home? North facing getting the sun, well yes being in the southern hemisphere everything is upside down. Even the water drains down the plug hole the opposite way!!!
That's it from Sumner, next stop shoppping mall in CHristchurch for Debs quick retail fix...

Deb's gallery is now online!

Lot's of pictures of Joe in his native habitat!!!

You can get to it directly here:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinkpotamus/collections/72157614903012325/

Didn't we have a luverly day the day we went to Akaroa...

Well we decided, actually me really, to take a drive round to Akaroa... and what a drive, HUGE scenery round every corner. The best way to describe it would be to take the Lake District and plonk in right on the Cornwall coastline!
In fact the scenery was so great I really struggled to capture the enormity and beauty of it on camera. So in the end I didn't bother trying too hard and just enjoyed the drive. Of course the glorious sunny weather helped as well, we seem to be catching the weather right again this year, although there is forecast of some cloud and rain for a day or so in 4/5 days then pretty much good weather right through until we head home.
Akaroa itself is lovely, a quaint former French colonial town dating back to the mid-1800's. Lots of colourfully painted feather-boarded wooden houses and one of the most fabulous churches I've seen in a long time (See gallery in a day or so).
I won't say too much as it's time for bed, but rather let some of the gallery pictures do the talking.
The whole day has been an anniversary to remember...
P.S. Deb got some more retail therapy in today! Plus I promised she could hit the big shopping mall in Christchurch tomorrow morning before we head up to the mountains. Don't understand it myself, why spent time shopping which you can do in the UK when there's all these amazing places to go, do and see!!!!! Oh well, woman thing I guess?
Might be offline line for a few days when we reach Twizel, a one horse village at the foot of Mt. Cook!

Anniversary day trip

Spent the day at the quaint former French colonial town of Akaroa, more to follow...

Another sunny day in paradise...

Arrived in Sumner, south east of Christchurch, mid-afternoon with the sun shining. It's a lovely little village set into a north facing bay with what seems every piece of hill side dotted with the most amazing properties. Deb fell in love with several of them and had mentally moved in and started picturing herself living here! At some point while we're here we will get up on the hilltop to check out the views. Just round the corner is Mt Pleasant which has views right across Christchurch, the Canterbury Plains and onto the mid-region Alps.We have an aprtment this time, rather than a motel which we have used most of the time. It's a modernised brick building, it's quite unusual to have brick as ordinarily most residential buildings are either wood or of a pre-fabricated material, so this suggest it must have been a commercial building at some point. Considering it's less than 100 metres to the beach it was probably something to do with the shipping industry? Whichever, it faces north and the sun was flooding over the veranda into the open plan kitchen / dining / louge area as we walked in the door.We finished the day with a stroll along prom and beach to take in the atmosphere, a mix of mediteranean, california and south coast England.Woke this morning to another sunny day and as it's our anniversary had a lie in bed, well to at least 7.30 that is! Put the kettle on and sat on the veranda warming in the early morning sun watching the joggers and cyclists out and about. I'm writing this looking out over the beach as Deb does her hair. Not sure where we're going today, made no plans for a change, may just have a drive out to one of the bays round here and chill for a while.... catch up with you all later.P.S. Thanks everyone for the cards... love to you all back home.

Moonlit stroll on the prom

Loverly warm evening for a stroll along Sumner prom. Really missing the weather at home............ not!

Earning a living!

Deb loves it here so much she's already looking for ways to earn her keep!!!

Time to move on...

Up and about early as it's time to move on ;o( Quite sad, I did like it here and there's so much more to explore. As usual I took advantage of Deb beautifying herself and had a last stroll around the wharf and caught a few of the sunrays as day broke. Great photgraphic spot here, views out over the seal colonies for
the sunrise then views acros the bay for sunset.
Packed the car and set off on to the next part of our journey, Sumner just south of Christchuch. As we saw the city last year we plumped to stay on the coast, good call, it's the perfect seaside town...

Night fishing on Kaikoura pier

Father teaching his son the art of casting a line....

Cloudy day in Kaikoura

Well today should have been whale watching out in Goose Bay of Kaikoura peninsular but unfortunately the weather was against us. I think Deb was secretly happy, just the thought of bobbing up and down on the waves was making her queasy! Typical the first windy dull day since we've been here and it was the day we didn't want it! Oh well, plenty of other things to do and see round here. So a mooch round the shops before a spot of lunch then a mystery drive out into the hills.
Later on we had a wander along the sea front and wharf to get some fresh air then settled down for the evening watching the sun set from our motel room. The motel was set 25m from the sea front with spectacular views across the bay up into the surrounding mountains.
We both really liked Kaikoura and it would certainly be a place to return to if we came back to this side of the world!

Went for an evening stroll...

...along Kaikoura wharf to burn off a few calories.

Seal hunting

Got up to catch the sunset, not much happening so took a few pictures of the seals... Whale watchin later today, fingers crossed, weather looks a bit iffy.

Driving the west coast

Started the day with the clouds creeping over the hills, by mid-morning it cleared to another beautiful hot sunny day.
Packed up bright and early and checked out by 10. We're already into our routine, Deb's sorts her hair out, muggins here does the washing up and packs the car! Bit sad too leave Nelson there is so much to do and see round here, you could easily lose a month here alone. Looking forward to this drive though, plenty of twisty stuff up through the heavily forested hills then down across the Marlborough plains and then down the eastern coastline.
You could tell it's a Bank Holiday here, lots of vehicles towing boats and caravans all heading for the northern coastline. Last chance break before the winter begins for earnest I guess. Once we came out of the hills the Marlborough plains opened up before us, mile upon mile of vineyards with some of the worlds best wine being produced in the area.
We took a number of short breaks along the way to stretch our legs and of course grab the odd photo or two. (Should be able to get some posted in the next day or two as we have internet access here at Kaikoura). Stopped for lunch at a roadside cafe before joining the coastline. Last year the drive down from Queenstown to Franz Josef was one of he most memorable drives for me, this stretch down to Kaikoura was to be the first and hopefully not last memorable ones of this year!
With the coast right on our left, at points literally feet away, and the Kaikoura range towering over us on our right it was an awesome sight. The surf was breaking onto the rocks and for many stretches 100's of seals basking on the rocks. It was easy to spot the seals, just look for the groups of tourists gathered at the side of the road taking photos - us included!
As we approached Kaikoura the sea mist began to roll in, looked really odd, mist hanging on the sea but blue sky above! That's NZ for you!!!
As we came into Kaikoura I knew immediately two nights wasn't going to be enought here, and later on after a short stroll around the headland confirmed my thoughts. This place is a photographer and nature lovers heaven, with fabulous scenery at every turn and wildlife posing for photographs!
Will stop now as it times to head out for some food. First meal out since we've been here, not sure why but haven't been that bothered this year to stuff our faces every evening. That time will come as we get to our anniversary, Deb's birthday and the chocolate shop in Queenstown.... ;o#

Scorching weather on the Spit

Guess what? Yep, it's bright and sunny again today. It turned out to be a scorcher in the end, must have been up in the high 20's, both me and Deb are sporting red necks this evening!I woke up real early this morning, so decided to make the most of it and had a quick shower and breakfast and jumped in the car and nipped down to the beach to grab some photos of the early morning rays. Turned out to be a bit too cloudy so the sunrise was a bit flat but managed to get a couple of shots in. I will get the photos posted soon enough but wil wait until we've got broadband / wireless in the room otherwise I have to pay to use an internet cafe.Once Deb was ready we set off for Farewell Spit, the northern most tip of the SOuth Island. The route took us along the coastline the ducked inshore for a bit as we circumnavigated the Abel Tasman park, up through some high passes then back down to the coastline for the final stretch up to the spit. We got up pretty at one point during the journey, in fact up above the clouds! We have some great shots of the cloud filling the valley floor, looked just like a big bowl of white candyfloss or cotton wool!As we got closer to the Spit there was a huge number of NZ Black Swans wading around in the shallows by the shoreline, easily several thousand of them. I made the mistake of not stopping there and then to take some pictures, thinking I would catch them on the way back. Didn't work out though as by the time we were heading back the tide had gone out and in places the beach / mudflats must have been as much as half a mile wide so no chance of seeing the swans close up.We had some lunch in the cafe at the SPit, sitting on the veranda over looking the very picturesque sand spit. They claim this to be the worlds longest spit, somewhere in the region of 35km long. They've done the sensible thing here though by strictly limiting who can go on the Spit to ensure the wildlife is undisturbed. If it had been in the UK it would have been developed for housing!After lunch we went for a stroll, well it was a stroll for me but a bit more arduous for Deb. Of course it included climbing the biggest hill in the area at the hottest time of the day, followed by a slog across some sand dunes to check out a beautiful fine grained white sandy beach. Like most of the beaches round here, no more than a handful of people on it.Took a steady drive back to Nelson and finished the day by picking up some fish and chips from the harbour side. Fish freshly caught that day, tasted wonderful.Final night in Nelson tonight then up sticks and drive easterly to Kaikoura. What with it being Easter we have already booked ahead for our whale watching trip at Kaikoura on Saturday. You should have seen Deb's face when they offered us 07:15! In the end we plumped for a lunchtime trip, should give the wind a bit more of a chance to build up the swell! Would have loved to do the early trip, what with us being on the eastern side of the island we could have watched the sunrise as we headed out to sea. Won't stop me getting up though as the motels right on the beach so it will be nice to have a stroll first thing... will let you know how the trip goes.

Waiting for Deb to get ready...

Popped out early morning to kill an hour or so before setting off for Farewell Spit.

Relaxing in Nelson

Woke to another bright sunny day, forecast was looking good for the day ;o)
I took advantage of Deb spending a leisurely hour or two first thing to get herself up together by going out for a walk. COuldn't resist heading for the nearest hill and engaging mountain goat mode and scuttling up to the center of NZ. Well that's the claim to fame for Nelson, it's the geographical center of NZ! And what fabulous 360 views around me, full panoramic view of Nelson City and surrounding hills with the sun just climbing up over the top in the East.
It was a bit like Piccadilly Circus on the way up though, with people of all ages out either running, cycling or just tramping up the hill. They're a fitness mad bunch round here!!!
Got back down to the motel just as Deb was finishing off her hair and then we set off for a stroll round Nelson City. A nice little City, hardly city by size but by virtue of having one of the most architecturaly interesting cathederals I've seen. I will post some pictures up to the gallery when I get time.
You could tell Deb was geting over the jet lag, straight into retail therapy mode and managed to pick up some nice artwork / jewellery and clothing! I managed to drag her screaming and kicking from a studio specialising in hand blown glass and then of all things next door, the jeweller that made the rings for the Lord Of The Rings movies! I have a feeling we may be revisiting one of these before we leave Nelson!
I picked the hire car up in the afternoon, should blend in well with the locals, dinks, dents and scratches all over it. Runs well enough though, as you would expect with it being a Subaru, so felt right at home. The added bonus being it is FWD, so should do well on some of the tracks I plan on exploring on our journeys...
Had a drive down to one of the local beaches here, and it was massive, the best part of 400M from sand dunes to shoreline and as far as the eye could see. There was a light breeze blowing which the wind and kite surfers were making the most off - cue photo opportunity for Joe! COuld have done with a longer lens but hey ho I wasn't going to drag a massive great lens all the way to NZ. I may be able to get back here either early in the morning or for sunset as it was very a very photogeniec area.
Enough for now, need to head out and grab some food and find somewhere to upload to the blog and gallery. Bye for now...

Here we go again, the 2008 trip!

Well here we are again, can you believe it was a year ago since we were here last! Where does the time go? Arrived ok into Nelson, all flights linked up fine and other than a 30 minute delay getting out of Heathrow no problems. Transitting through Hong Kong was fine, seemed a bit pointless to me though. All they did was offload us, put us through departures and sit at the gate for an hour before getting back on the plane. I guess it gave them time to refuel, tidy up and restock with food again.
We managed to get the seats we wanted, near the back with just the two of us side by side so no-one to bother us. It was a newish plane so the latest on-demand entertainment and the new slimline seats which give more legroom. My only complaint were that the seats were a little hard, I guess they need softening up a bit or I need to put some weight on! We both managed to get a bit of sleep on both the long legs of the journey, although I probably got an hour or so more than Deb. I have a routine I get into that works for me on these longer flights. Have a couple of glasses of red wine, some dinner and a movie by which time the food and wine has kicked in and my eyes close!
Not much to see on the long legs of the flights, even coming into land in HK was dull as their was mist hanging over the city which blanked out most of the lights. However, the hop down from Auckland to Nelson was great, nice clear sunny skies so we were able to see the whole of the western coastline before swinging across to come into Nelson. Landed early afternoon with the temperature in the mid 20's with a light breeze and bright sunshine. Certainly made a change from the cold UK weather we left behind.
Settled into the motel ok, it's a little basic, but clean, spacious and ideally located beside the river and just one block from the city center. No internet access so I'll have to use one of the internet cafes in town. Found the supermarket just 200m down the road so stocked up on the essentials and had a quick snack before stretching the legs round town to try and stay awake before hitting the sack in the evening. The bed was very welcome that night...