Queenstown & Dunedin

On Friday we drove from Wanaka to Queenstown, with a very enjoyable stop off at Puzzle World. That place is amazing (no pun intended!). It has a big 3-D maze, then some illusion rooms which totally stuff up your mind. In the 'hall of following faces' you walk around the room & all the eyes from the masks around the edge follow you as you go. It's very spooky! There is also a tilt room, where water appears to run uphill, & if you let a ball go on the pool table it appears to roll uphill & into a pocket. There are also loads of holograms amongst other things.

From Puzzle World it was a short drive on to Queenstown. Again we were staying at a great little backpackers, very close to town with magic views over Lake Wakitipu & the mountains. In the photo below you can see the view from the communal kitchen/lounge.

We only had the 1 afternoon in Queenstown, so couldn't really do any of the myriad of adventure stuff available there, it'll have to wait for the next trip! What we did do is spend a very pleasant few hours at Deer Park Heights. It is a nature reserve high on a hill just out of Queenstown where you can hand feed all sorts of different animals. It gave magnificent views of the surrounding area. It is also on the Lord of the Rings trail as several areas in the reserve were used during filming.

The next day it was onwards to Dunedin, stopping for ice-cream & scenic lookouts along the way...We arrived at the Roe's place in Dunedin at about 3pm. It was lovely seeing them all again. Rich & I started teaching Maths at Bearwood at the same time, 3 & a bit years ago, & he & his family returned to NZ early November. That night was Rach's 40th birthday party (a couple of days after the big day itself...). It was a very good night, although I'd expect nothing less from a party at the Roe's!!! I think we called it a night at about 3:30am... It was really nice to meet lots of their family & friends whom we had heard a lot about.

This morning was suitably lazy, recovering from the excesses of the previous night... In the afternoon we all went for a drive out to the Otago Peninsula for a picnic lunch. The whole area is a nature reserve & there is an Albatross colony there, although we weren't lucky enough to see any flying around. What we did see was loads of seals. One of them kept us very entertained. It thought it was king of the beach, & would huff & puff & 'charge' at anyone who got too close. Now by charge, I mean waddle in a very comical seal manner! We also saw a very very cute Blue Penguin in a little hidey hole in the bank.

Tomorrow for Christmas we are going out to Rach's sister's place near Middlemarch. Her & her husband & their 4 kids have a sheep farm out there & it promises to be a really nice day. We are staying the night there, then on boxing day we will drive to Christchurch for the night.

Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you all have a great time, wherever in the world you may happen to be.

The road to Wanaka...

On Wednesday it was another fairly big drive. We were headed down the West coast to Haast, then over the Haast Pass to Wanaka. Unfortunately we finally lucked out with the weather, & drove most of the day in rain! This was a shame because it was one of the most scenic drives of the trip, & there would have been stunning views of the Southern Alps on a clear day. The first stop was Franz Joseph & Fox Glaciers.

There were also lots of pretty waterfalls along the way, which made a good excuse to get out & stretch the legs. We stopped at the Thunder Falls first... And then the Fantail Falls...We arrived in Wanaka at around 5:30pm & luckily the weather had cleared up a fair bit by then. We are staying at the Purple Cow Backpackers (www.purplecow.co.nz) & it is a fantastic place. It must be up there as one of the best hostels I've ever stayed in. We have a lovely double room with ensuite, overlooking the lake & mountains. Our room even has a TV/DVD player in it, which isn't bad for a hostel! I love Wanaka, it really is a stunning place. It reminds me a lot of Bled in Slovenia, it has the same Alpine resort feel to it. The weather was better today so we had a good look around the town, then in the afternoon we went for a walk up Mount Iron, which gave lovely panoramic views of the lake & surrounding mountains.

Tomorrow we are driving the 100km or so down the road to Queenstown where we have 1 night. Then it is over to Dunedin on the East coast where we are staying 3 nights with the Roe family. The Saturday we arrive is Rach's 40th birthday party, so it should be a good knees up! I'm sure you'll hear all about it in due course...

The South Island

On Monday we crossed the Cook Strait over to the South Island. It was 3 hours on the ferry but we had magic weather for it. The sea was like glass & we got lovely views of the Sounds.

We had a nice look around Picton. I really like the place, it's full of cute little arts & crafts shops. We bought ice-creams (hokey pokey of course, Will has to get the full kiwi experience!) & ate them on the waterfront.

From Picton it was a short drive to Blenheim where we stayed the night with Rachel's mum. On the way we felt obliged to stop in at one of the numerous Marlborough wineries for a bite to eat...

Tuesday was a big driving day, but again we were blessed with glorious weather. Enroute to Hokitika, our destination for the night, we stopped at the Pancake rocks. The blowholes weren't blowing while we were there (we were a few hours after high tide) but they were still pretty impressive.

We arrived in Hokitika early evening. We were staying at a pretty cool (not too mention unbelievably cheap) hostel right on the beach. We stocked up at the supermarket on baguettes, olives, mussels, hummus, cheese etc. & a nice bottle of Marlborough Sauv Blanc & had a lovely picnic dinner on the beach.

More wedding pics

Below are a few more pics from the wedding because I realised that I didn't actually have any of mum & dad, & mum looked lovely, big 'mother of the bride' hair & all!

The Wedding

The wedding on Saturday was a really enjoyable occasion. It was very relaxed & laid-back, nobody really got overly stressed about anything... Jane looked lovely in the dress that mum had made. The wedding & reception were held at Gear House, which is a lovely old homestead overlooking the Porirua Harbour, very close to where Jane & Shane have bought their first house.

I can't remember the last time we've had so much family from both sides together in the same place. It must have been a bit overwhelming for Will meeting them all, but he seemed to cope OK!

On Friday we had a nice day exploring Wellington. We spent several hours at Te Papa, the national museum. it is a very cool place. Tomorrow early morning we are catching the ferry across Cook Strait to the South Island. We're staying tomorrow night in Blenheim with Rachael Roe's mum, then having a HUGE driving day to Hokitika on Tuesday. After that it's a couple of nights in Wanaka which I'm really looking forward to, then 1 night in Queenstown before heading to the Roe's place in Dunedin. More on that later...

Back in Kiwi land

Gidday,

Yes, I know, 2 posts in the same day! I've been spurred into action (cheers Chris...).

Saturday morning Will & I touched down in NZ after 24 hours on a plane, broken up by 2 hours in a transit lounge at LA. My brother landed an hour or so earlier after his 3 day stop-over in San Francisco, & mum & dad were at the airport to meet us & drive us back to Hamilton. It is lovely to be back, but kind of strange after 3 years out of the country. Everything is kind of familiar, yet vaguely different. Saturday was bit of a write-off, we kind of just pottered around, then went down to the local pub to meet up with a few rellies in the early evening. Dad cooked a lovely meal, then we were zonked by about 8pm & ready for bed!

After a good nights sleep, I felt surprisingly good on Sunday. The weather was superb, & Will & I went for a really nice walk around the Hamilton Gardens, one of my favourite places in Hamilton. We then got picked up by mum & the bro, & continued out to Leamington to visit my nana, via a quick walk-around & drive-around of Waikato uni & St Peters school respectively. It was then home for a fantastic BBQ with the kind of steak I can't afford to buy in the UK, & some good NZ wine, which I'm planning on making the most of while I'm back. Have also been loving Monteiths Summer Ale which was a favourite drop before I left...

Monday was the start of our big adventure. Rotorua was the first stop where we caught up with Chris, a good family friend, who sent us off on a 2 hour walking tour of Rotorua. It was great, one of the things Will wanted to see was boiling mud pools, so he was more than happy. It was then onwards to Taupo, via a drive around Reporoa where I grew up. That was definitely strange to visit, I hadn't been back for at least 7 or 8 years. We also stopped at Huka Falls, which always impress me, no matter how many times I see them.

In Taupo Will had his first taste of good ol' kiwi fish & chips (much better than the English version!) & also his first taste of paua fritter, washed down by L&P. We ate them on the lakefront, looking out over a snow-capped Ruapehu.

Finally, a few hours later, we arrived at our destination: Palmerston North. We have 3 days here while Will attends a robotics conference at Massey University. He is presenting his paper today so hopefully it goes well. Palmy wouldn't exactly be where I'd choose to spend 3 days of my holiday, but it got Will a free flight over here, so I can't really complain... We are staying in a hotel right in the city centre, directly opposite a pak 'n' save, so I'm pretty happy! I'm planning on spending this time shopping, sleeping in, & basically just chilling out a bit, as the rest of our trip is pretty frantic!

Thursday evening after the conference finishes we'll drive down to Wellington, then my sisters wedding is there on Saturday. Sunday we'll have a look around Wellington, including Te Papa (the national museum), then early Monday morning we cross on the ferry for the South Island leg of our adventure... No doubt you'll hear all about that later...

Even more rugby...

Two weeks after the England match, I was lucky enough to watch the All-Blacks again. This time the unfortunate victims were Wales, & the match was played at the millennium stadium in Cardiff. I didn't mention this game earlier because it was a surprise day out for Will, who used to live in Cardiff. All he had been told was to keep the 25th November free. In the end I relented & told him about it 1 week before the match, as I wanted him to have a chance to look forward to it. It was a perfect day out, with the only blemish being the AB's not performing the haka. The rugby was absolutely sublime, I can't quite remember the final score, I think it was either 43-10 or 45-10 to NZ. There was everything a fan could want... Loads of tries, huge hits (by the All-Blacks that was, in particular Jerry Collins), a bit of biffo, & even a male streaker totally starkers thrown in for good measure! Below are some pics from the match.