Back in Wellington

We had an early start on Tuesday morning, to drive 28 Km to Dunedin airport from downtown, fill the rental car's gas tank, drop off the rental car and make our 9:10 AM flight to Wellington.  

Our 13 day visit to the south of the South Island had taken us in a 1900 Km clockwise loop and we were back where we started. The car was still in one piece and we are all still speaking to each other so we can declare the holiday a success. 

The flight home was uneventful, and after taking the Flyer bus to Petone and a taxi from there, we were back at Margaret's by lunchtime. 

We have had a couple of nice warm days since arriving back in Wellington, and today is warm but windy after a very blustery night. 

When we visited Noeline this week, she told me that I have a good-sized corporation, which I initially assumed was just Noeline being muddled, but eventually figured out that she was talking about my stomach. Back at Margaret's I googled the word "corporation" and learned that it is an old word for paunch. Who would have thunk?  So now I am not just eating for one, I have to feed the corporation. 

Today we visited the Lower Hutt Farmers' Market to pick up the week's vegetables and fruit, and then went for a walk and coffee with some of Margaret's friends. 

Tonight Marlene and I are going to see "The Railwayman" at the local movie theatre and then out for dinner, as Margaret is having dinner out with some friends. 

Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand

Many cities are built around a central square, but Dunedin planners got carried away and designed their city around an Octagon. Thankfully they did not try and bring roads into all sides of the Octagon, and only 4 roads actually meet at the Octagon. We stayed one block from the Octagon so we were very central. 

As this was not our first visit to Dunedin, we didn't feel a need to do a lot of sight seeing within the city, but we did take advantage of the morning to do some shopping for necessities for ourselves and extras for our grandchildren. I managed to fit in a quick visit to the Dunedin Library and Margaret and Tricia visited the Otago Museum....great scones in the cafe!

After lunch we headed east of the city on the Otago Peninsula. We had some great views of the harbour and city from the hilltops along the peninsula. 

Our destination was the Royal Albatross Colony on Taiaroa Head at the northeastern tip of the peninsula, where we had booked a tour, hoping to see some albatrosses. 

The albatross is like a giant gull with a wingspan of up to 3 metres (10 feet), weighs 8-9 Kg, can fly up to 120 KPH, and spends half of its life at sea - it may stay at sea for 5-7 years at a time. I was impressed. 

Taiaroa Head has been a key defensive position since Maori times and has housed modern weapons since 1888 when there was believed to be a threat of a Russian invasion. 

Our tour provided much info on the albatross and we spent 30 minutes in a hide watching the nesting and juvenile birds. We were lucky to have a really windy afternoon, as the albatrosses love to fly in strong winds. 

After the albatross viewing our tour took us through the gun emplacements and I got to rotate the 6" (18.5 ton) gun around on its platform....with a little help from hydraulics. 

Tired and cold after our afternoon outdoors we headed back to the city and a last dinner at a Thai restaurant. 

Dunedin is home to the steepest street in the world but we saw it on our last visit here. However the view below caught my eye on View Street, right next to our hotel. 

Tomorrow we fly back to Wellington and semi-reality. 

Cromwell to Dunedin

It was only 7 C when we woke up in Cromwell this morning and as we left town we could see fresh snow on the surrounding hills....yes, in February. It is likely to get worse before it gets better as Cromwell is forecast to have a low temperature of 3 C tonight and 0 C tomorrow night. Brrrrr.  

We followed highway 85 from Alexandra to Palmerston with a couple of side trips. 

Our first stop was in St Bathans, an old town on a 27 Km loop off highway 85. The town was originally a gold mining town in the 1860s but is well past it's glory days. There were many old buildings of interest, but we also enjoyed the Blue Lake. 

A short distance down the highway we made our second stop at Naseby, where, according to Tricia, the local cafe served great Black Forest Brownies. The cafe was very busy and although the brownies looked good we opted for the generously sized Date Scones, which were most delightful. 

I also couldn't resist taking a picture of the advertising on the side of a building in Naseby, as in my parents house you either drank Tiger tea or nothing at all. 

It was then back on the road, heading to Palmerston, which pales in comparison to Palmerston North, where Margaret, Tricia and I were born. Finding no park in which to enjoy our lunch, we headed south towards Dunedin and ate in another little picnic area off the highway, of which NZ has an abundance. 

We were all very happy to arrive at our motel in downtown Dunedin, just one block from the Octagon, and to enjoy a hot cup of tea as the day did not really warm up much.

Later we walked to a supermarket for provisions and then had a 45 minute walk after dinner, before settling down to an English detective show on TV. 

Tomorrow we plan to spend the morning in the city and then venture out to an Albatross colony in the afternoon. 

Cromwell, Central Otago, New Zealand

The day in Cromwell started out sunny and warm and so after rejoicing that Canada defeated the USA in Olympic hockey we decided to do a longer walk in the morning before it got too hot. Being the driver, I got to choose the destination, and off to Bannockburn we went. 

The trail wound around an old gold mining area which was actively mined in the 1860s. As we walked in the hot sun with not a tree in sight, feeling like we were in Arizona or the badlands of Alberta, it was hard to imagine that the area was once covered in trees. 

We visited various sites around the valley where the miners dammed the creek for sluicing, the remains of Stewart town where the fruit trees were loaded with pears (not ripe enough to eat yet), and areas where the miners dug, panned, etc. to find the elusive gold. All very interesting. 

Today's gold is liquid and comes from the vineyards of the many wineries in the area, taking advantage of the north-facing slopes and the intense sun to produce their crop. 

After an hour and a half in the sun we decided to head into Bannockburn town for a drink. There were only two choices - the pub and "The Kitchen", and we reluctantly settled on The Kitchen, a cafe that served great looking food. We each settled on a date scone with homemade strawberry jam and the caffeine of our preference, which we enjoyed at a table that benefited from a cross breeze between two doorways....luxury!

Having exhausted the sights that Bannockburn had to offer we headed to Cromwell Old Town where we found a shady spot by the lake to enjoy our lunch. 

We then spent a lazy afternoon back at he motel, reading, browsing the web, and napping. The ladies were back out walking after dinner but I stayed behind for more cerebral pursuits - the puzzles in the Saturday newspaper. 

Tomorrow we are taking a somewhat circuitous route to Dunedin so that we can check out some of the Central Otago Rail Trail. 

Gore to Cromwell

We started the day with a visit to the Gore Art Gallery (well some of us did) and then we hit the road for the drive to Cromwell. 

First stop was Tapanui where Margaret was to visit an ex-work colleague. It turned out that he was out of town on a school camping trip, so we had a coffee at the Chisel Cafe before returning to the road.

Around Roxborough we stopped at a couple of fruit stands and picked up fresh peaches and apricots.  We really like the "sails" that are used throughout the country to provide shade from the fierce southern sun. 

A little later we found a picnic area beside the Clutha River and enjoyed our lunch which included some of our fruit purchases. 

North of Roxborough the scenery changed, becoming much more rocky, the fields much drier, and very few trees growing on the hills. 

Temperature was about 29 C when we arrived in Cromwell and it was very windy. Thankfully the wind has died down now and it is a beautiful warm evening.  If I cannot sleep tonight I can always count sheep. 

Te Anau to Gore

Today was a travel day with not too much to report. 

We left Te Anau around 10 AM heading to Gore which is only about 140 Km away. We had a brief stop in Lumsden for me to participate in a work related call and meanwhile the ladies walked Main Street and had a coffee at a local cafe (such hardship).  

Between Lumsden and Gore we stopped at a roadside picnic area and enjoyed our sandwiches beside a stream. 

Gore was a pleasant surprise. It is a river city and according to the signs it is the "Brown Trout Fishing Capital of the World" and "New Zealand's Country Music Capital" not that either really appeal to me. 

It was a very warm afternoon with sunny skies and the temperature above 30 C. We walked along the river into town and checked out a few stores, most important for me was getting a screwdriver to fix my $10 glasses. The screwdriver cost me $10, so now I have a $20 pair of glasses, that don't fall off my nose when I look down.  

It was too hot to cook so we dined on deli ham, pineapple, potatoes and salad. 

The plan for tomorrow is to check out the art gallery, visit an ex-work colleague of Margaret's at Tapanui School, then on to Cromwell, keeping our eyes open for fresh fruit along the way. 

Hopefully there will be more news to report tomorrow. 

Magnificent Milford Sound

Having being told to allow 2 3/4 hours for the 120 Km drive to Milford Sound, we left the motel at 7:30 AM. The traffic was very light, with no buses, and the road is excellent for the first 90 Km, so after a 6 minute wait at the one-way Homer Tunnel, we arrived in Milford Sound at 9:15 for our 10:15 cruise. 

The Homer Tunnel was an interesting experience - it is about 1.2 Km long and has a 10% downward slope towards Milford Sound. The tunnel is unlined so has lots of water dripping down and the road surface was quite uneven. You emerge on the Milford end into a snow shed, and are then faced with a series of hairpin turns to take you down into the valley....slow for the buses and nerve wracking for the tourists. 

Milford Sound settlement consists of two lodges and the dock for the various tour operators. You have to park 10 minutes from the dock, and surprisingly there are no cafés and no gift shops in the dock area.  Remarkable to still have a place were you don't have to exit through the gift shop. 

Our "cruise" was about 2 hours and the naturalist was very good at explaining what we were seeing and some of the history of the area. We got up close and personal with several waterfalls that cascaded down from hanging valleys and saw a penguin and two lots of fur seals. We also learned that Milford is a fjord not a sound, if you really want to get technical about it. The sound is well hidden from the ocean, with Captain Cook in 1769 thinking it was a bay, and it taking another hundred years before anyone realized that it was a sound / fjord. 

The weather was somewhat overcast making a lot of my iPhone photos fairly dark, but these should give you some idea of what we saw. 

No visit to Milford Sound would be complete without taking a photo of Mitre Peak from the end of the sound, a scene as iconic to Kiwis as the view of Lake Louise from the chateau is to Canadians. It would have looked more impressive without the cloud cover. 

On the return journey we had a 5 minute wait at the Homer a tunnel, time to get out of the car and take some photos. 

We stopped at a couple of spots along the road home, including The Chasm and Mirror Lake, but still made it back to the motel by 4 PM. The Chasm was a very deep river channel carved out over thousands of years and Mirror Lake is of course very reflective when there is not a breeze blowing. 

Tomorrow we are off to Gore. 

Invercargill to Te Anau

I have to begin with an addendum to the Stewart Island post (spousal pressure) - As we approached Stewart Island, we past the Ti Ti Islands where the local Maori have gathered Muttonbirds (Sooty Shearwaters) for more than 700 years.  These islands are also home to large colonies of NZ Fur Seals, which in turn are a favourite food of the Great White Shark. 84 Great Whites have been tagged in the area and it is estimated that 100 frequent these waters at this time of year. So not the best place to go swimming, especially if you look like a seal. Cage diving with the Great Whites is offered in the area, but we passed on the opportunity. 

In other news, yesterday we drove from Invercargill to Te Anau, stopping briefly at the Clifden Suspension Bridge, the longest suspension span in NZ when it was completed in 1899.  It was also the location of the mouth of an underground river which was interesting to see. 

After a lazy / working morning we walked to the hydro control gates at the south end of Lake Te Anau. We found it very warm after our previous week's weather but apparently the high today was only 19 C. 

On the way back we visited the Wildlife Centre to see the Takahes, a nearly extinct flightless native bird, which is slowly increasing in numbers. 

We also spotted a bicycle which would be the envy of the Qualicum biking group - it seats 7. You saw it here first folks. 

Tomorrow we have an early start for the 2   1/2 hour drive to Milford Sound - we need to get on the road before the buses as although it is only 120 Km it is a slow drive. Hopefully I will stay awake to post tomorrow night. 

Stewart Island, New Zealand

This morning we took the 9:30 ferry to Stewart Island (Rakiura), arriving at Oban in Halfmoon Bay at 10:30 am. The ferry was a catamaran and the crossing was very smooth. 

Stewart Island, New Zealand's third largest island, is home to 400 permanent residents and has only 30 Km of roads, so we opted to not rent a car for the day. 

After a visit at the local Department of Conversation (DOC) office to get some directions, we headed off on a self-guided walking tour of the Oban area. 

First stop was Observation Rock to take in the views, and then we walked on a combination of roads and bush tracks to the end of the road at Thule. 

Our first wildlife encounter was a NZ Wood Pigeon (Kereru) perched on a tree next to the road. 

After a sandwich on the beach at Thule we headed to Deep Bay where we saw a Stewart Island Weka on the beach. 

We then made our way back over the hills to Oban, pausing for photos of the town from Peterson Road. 

The coffee was almost as welcome as taking the weight off our legs for a while, and we then checked out the local cemetery and the Bathing Beach. 

While walking back into town we spied a Kaka feasting on a piece of fruit on the deck railing of a cottage. 

With a little time in hand we took in a local movie called "A Local's Tail" and we even got to meet Lola, the star of the show. 

The skipper of our return ferry seemed to be in a hurry to get home and made the crossing in 45 minutes, but it felt more like a roller coaster than a ferry. I wouldn't want to be doing it on a rough day. 

We have now arrived back in Invercargill and I am hurrying to get this posting done before I fall asleep.   I guess today was one for the birds. 

Tomorrow we head to Te Anau. 

Invercargill, Southland, New Zealand

We had a lazy start to the day....well at least those who did not have to work had a lazy start to the day. 

Our first stop was the Southland Museum where we enjoyed the exhibits, but most of all we enjoyed the Tuataras. The Tuatara is a lizard-like reptile that is found only in New Zealand and the museum breeds them. The oldest resident Tuatara, Henry, who is believed to be about 130 years old, was being shy but we did manage to see several others despite their ability to blend in with their surroundings. 

After a coffee and date scone at the museum cafe we then walked around Queens Park which had some beautiful gardens, an aviary, children's park, etc.  The Winter Garden was particularly colourful. 

After lunch we headed out to Bluff, the trip being a dry run for our early morning visit tomorrow when we catch the ferry to Stewart Island. Bluff is at the southern end of State Highway 1 which runs North - South through the whole country. 

The town of Bluff, which was first settled in 1824 (early for New Zealand), is fairly run down but there are some beautiful walking trails around and over the bluff and we walked the coastal trail for about an hour. 

No visit to a coastal fishing town would be complete without enjoying fish and chips out of the paper, so dinner was Blue Cod and chips before heading back to our motel in Invercargill. 

Owaka to Invercargill

As we sat enjoying a leisurely breakfast, I read online that the Cathedral Sea Caves were only accessible for one hour either side of low tide and low tide was only an hour away. So we hurriedly finished breakfast, packed the car, paid for the motel and raced to the caves. 

We paid the toll ($5 each) to access the path to the beach and headed down to the cave. The tide was still well out so thankfully we were able to go into the cave. The cave is V-shaped with two openings to the sea, with a total length of 199 metres, and is one of the largest known sea caves in the world. We were impressed with what time and tide had achieved. 

With no time constraints after leaving the caves, we took a slower drive to Matai Falls, accessed via a 30 minute bush walk.  Not massive by any stretch of the imagination, but nice nonetheless. 

After two outdoor activities, my passengers were screaming for coffee, so we headed back to the Niagara Falls Cafe, were we ate yesterday. Along the way we passed Tautuku Beach. 

By the time we reached Invercargill we had put the rain behind us and we were able to enjoy some late afternoon sunshine. The forecast is better for the next few days. 

Owaka, day 2

The weather was wet and cold today but we made the most of the day regardless. 

Our first stop was Curio Bay which was in the news last week as a surfer was attacked by a Great White Shark here. He survived but his board had some large teeth marks in it. Our reason for visiting Curio Bay was to see the petrified forest and yellow-eyed penguins. The petrified forest did not look much like a forest (see photo below) but we did see one penguin at a distance.  

Next stop was Slope Point, the southern most point of the South Island. We can say that we stood on this southern point, but we did not stand on it for very long, as although it is roughly halfway between the equator and the South Pole it definitely felt much closer to the South Pole today. 

To warm up we stopped at the Niagara Falls Cafe and it was definitely the highlight of the morning. It was in the middle of nowhere and did not look like much from the road, but it had great coffee and tea, tasty slices and the meals looked wonderful. I definitely recommend it. 

We ate our picnic lunch in the parking lot at Purakaunui Falls and then did the short bush walk to view the falls. After all the rain the river was running a little dirty. 

The day was still young so we visited Cannibal Bay and then walked over the headland to Surat Bay. These bays are home to the New Zealand (Hooker) Sea Lions and we saw many sea lions on the beach. The highlight was watching a large sea lion trying to prevent a younger sea lion / seal from getting to the ocean, and chasing it on the beach. We had the adrenaline pumping as we tried to stay out of their way. 

Buoyed by our sea lion experience we decided to return to Nugget Point and try and see some more penguins, but despite spending an hour in the hide, we only saw one penguin, and again it was at a distance. 

Our warm dry motel was very welcome at the end of the day. 

Tomorrow we head to Invercargill. 

Owaka, South Island, New Zealand

Today, Margaret, Tricia, Marlene and I flew to Dunedin to begin our 13 day mini tour of the southern South Island. 

Our destination on day 1 was Owaka (place of the canoe) on the Southern Scenic Tour. We stopped for a late lunch in Balclutha where we also stocked up on groceries as Owaka would need at least one more horse to make it a one horse town. 

We checked into our motel around 3:30 pm and after the mandatory cup of tea we headed out in the rain for our first exploration of the area. 

First stop was Nugget Point, home to a lighthouse that has been in service since 1870. Thankfully the rain held off while we walked to the lighthouse and back. 

On the walk out to the lighthouse we saw fur seals on the rocks and several different types of seabird. 

Back in the car we stopped at a viewing hide for the yellow-eyed penguin, but the penguins did not return while we were watching, so after about 15 minutes we headed to Kaka Point, were we did a half hour bush walk. We saw one tree losing its bark, which reminded us of B.C.'s arbutus tree. 

By 6:30 pm our tummies were rumbling and we headed back to the motel for a gourmet dinner of lamb chops, potatoes and salad. 

Not a bad start to the holiday!

Wellington, New Zealand

Our flight to Auckland was unusually fast, arriving an hour early at 4:30 AM, I thought that perhaps the pilot had a hot date to get to, but he suggested that the cause was favourable winds.

The entertainment system on board gave some trouble during the flight and had to be rebooted several times.  I captured the photo below during a reboot, showing that the system uses the Windows CE operating system - Microsoft strikes again!

It was still dark when we arrived in Auckland, but a warm 18 degrees C, so we enjoyed the 20 minute walk to the domestic terminal.  The flight to Wellington was also on-time and unlike our last two Wellington landings, the weather was calm and sunny, and the approach was over the harbour, giving good views of the City.

My sisters, Margaret and Tricia, met us at Wellington airport and we headed out to Margaret's in Koro Koro, where we have been staying all week.  I never tire of the harbour view from Margaret's front window.
 

The week has been busy, with visits to my two nonagenarian aunts, and a visit to Tricia's house at Cross Creek.

Both Auntie Noeline and Auntie Bridie looked better than I anticipated.  Noeline is thinner in the face, but otherwise much the same as last year, and still has a keen eye for what people are wearing and their hairstyle.  Bridie is paralyzed on her left side after a stroke in December, but is still able to talk and shows no sign of giving up on life.

Thursday was Waitangi Day, the anniversary of the treaty between Britain and the Maoris in 1840, and also the 98th anniversary of my Mum's birth.  We drove over the Rimutaka Hill to Cross Creek to have lunch with Tricia and to plan our impending family trip to the South Island.  We made good progress on the trip planning and have since booked all of the accommodation. 

Since Thursday the weather has turned to custard - the temperature has been down to the low-teens, with very gusty winds and rain.  After 3 days of it, we are ready for some sun.  Marlene just got up and said it feels like Groundhog Day.  But hey, it beats -7 and snow! 

Over the weekend we got together with my nephew, Adam, and his family, and also with my cousin, Shelwyn and her husband, Colin.  We are certainly keeping the cafes in business, and Marlene is enjoying her lattes.

On Wednesday, the four of us will set off on a two week tour of the southern South Island, so hopefully I will something more interesting to share next week.

But, in closing, I saw the following on a sign for sale in a Petone store - "Since light travels faster than sound, people may appear bright until you hear them speak".  How true is that?