Here we are relaxing in the Cathay Pacific Lounge, sipping Champagne and being waited on. We could get used to this! We have sampled the fabulous 'cooked to order' noodle bar, trying our first ever custard bun...can highly recommend it. Flight at 6 o'clock, hoping there are some good films to pass the time!
After a long and tiring journey we arrived safely in Hong Kong to mist and rain. This is the view from our room on the 33rd floor. We didn't realise it was Chinese New Year until yesterday. We are now looking forward to a shower and some food before heading out to see the New Year festivities. Kung Hei Fat Choi (Happy New Year) to you all.
We went to see the parade for the Chinese New Year but the crowds were so bad we couldn't see a thing and were being pushed along with the crowd. We gave up and went exploring nearer to the hotel in the end. We got to experience the MTR (mass transit railway). The train is enormously long and one single corridor. The train didn't seem too crowded although we didn't get a seat but the station was heaving with people all going to see the parade. Once away from the crowds we had a nice stroll around Mong Kok. The temperature was a very pleasant 19º C. The photo was taken just before we were hemmed in by even more people.
We had wanted to visit the Peak, but as it was overcast with a lot of low cloud, we decided to visit the Chi Lin Nunnery instead. This is a large Buddhist temple complex in Diamond Hill, Kowloon, rebuilt in the 1990s according to the Tang Dynasty architecture. When we arrived, the sun started to break through the clouds and it was 21ºC, which was unseasonably warm for January, which is their coldest month averaging 12ºC. The atmosphere was very calming, with serene music playing, and Buddhist chanting relayed by speakers at the Great Hall. There were two main squares, with smaller temples where the locals were praying, as well as the Great Hall (photos not allowed), where devotions were also taking place. All the temples had magnificent gold buddhas as well as fruit, vegetables and flowers on display, including the largest and most perfect chrysanthemums we had ever seen. The Great Hall had the largest buddhas and the biggest displays of all. We received a good luck charm and a sweet as we passed through the great hall, and outside the temple, vendors were selling charms related to your birth year.
Across the road, and attached by bridge to the Nunnery, is the Nan Lian Gardens, which was a joint project between the Nunnery and the Hong Kong government. Again, this is built in the Tang Dynasty style, with hills, water features, trees, rocks and wooden structures. We loved wandering through the many paths and marvelling at the landscaping with its artful placing of rocks, trees and water. The Pavilion of Absolute Perfection is painted in gold, and sits in the middle of the Lotus Pond. There is a very large pond filled with huge koi carp and a restaurant behind a curtain of falling water.
As the weather had improved, we decided to visit the peak after all, but when we got to Hong Kong island the clouds had returned and it started to rain quite heavily. The queue for the Peak tram was huge so we decided to call it a day and headed for home (via the shops!). The Langham Place mall has the longest escalators within a shopping mall in the territory, rising 250 ft.
Back at the hotel we enjoyed a glass of Champagne along with some canapes before heading out again.
Being Chinese New Year, there was the big fireworks display in the harbour in the evening. We went early, but not early enough, and got caught in the crowds. Following the throngs, we were herded towards the harbour but there was nowhere we could get a good view. We decided to go back to the hotel and tried to get back across the road, but the police had closed off all entries, and directed us to a place where we could cross, but there was deadlock with the crowd. We turned back to try a different route and finding this less crowded, but equally closed off by the police, we found a clear spot where we could see some of the firework show. The whole show lasted 23 minutes, and was very noisy! Judi didn't manage to get any good photos though as our view was obstructed. All in all it was quite an experience though.
Today was a bit of a washout. We woke to a heavy mist which soon turned to rain and scuppered our plans to cross the harbour on the ferry and visit the Peak. We spent some time at Victoria harbour where we spotted this junk...the highlight of our day! After that we sought refuge in the shopping mall but soon left because of the crowds. Hong Kong is suffocatingly crowded because of the Chinese New Year. We rounded off the day with champagne back at the hotel, which lifted our spirits.
A leisurely breakfast before packing for the flight to New Zealand later in the day. We left our luggage at the Hotel before making a flying visit to the History Museum. It was very dismal and foggy in the morning, but looked like improving whilst we were at the Museum, so we took a walk to Victoria Harbour for a final visit. We considered a ferry trip, but the weather had closed in again and it didn't seem worth it. We heard loud drumming as we walked back and went to investigate. It was a Lion and Dragon Dance Team performing the Lion Dance in one of the upscale shops. This dance is performed in many places over the Chinese New Year and is believed to attract blessings and good luck. The shop had "hidden" around the store many envelopes containing coins, and the lion danced around to find these. There was also a ritual of feeding the lion with lettuce (what a mess on the floor!).
We were sad to leave the hotel, which had a signature scent that we really liked. This wasn't available to purchase though. We were able to have a final drink there before being whisked away to the airport for another long flight. We have to say that the Cathay Pacific lounge at Hong Kong Airport isn't a patch on that at Heathrow!
It's a really long day when you catch a flight the night before, land in Auckland in the early afternoon, then catch another flight to the north. We picked up a hire car that we will use in the North Island, changing to a different one when we take the ferry to the South Island. Not a lot of the day was left when we got to the Appledore B&B. The hosts are very friendly and spent some time suggesting ways we could make the most of our time in Paihia. The view from our room (The Studio) is amazing. We were told that there hasn't been much rain for several weeks and the scenery isn't as green as usual and the river is quite a bit lower too. We finished the day with a trip into Paihia just as the sun was going down and had steak at the Alfresco restaurant, which had been recommended to us (and we ate al fresco as it was so warm). Jet lag is biting and find we drop off at a moments notice at odd times in the day!
During our stay in Paihia, we booked a traditional Maori "hangi" (a feast) at the Waitangi Treaty grounds. This also gave us entry to the treaty grounds with a guided tour and a cultural show. We really enjoyed the guided tour - the guide was a Maori descendant of James Busby, the British Government's first representative in New Zealand, and was extremely knowledgeable. We were amazed at the great waka (war canoe) that needed 76 men to control it, but could seat over one hundred. This waka weighs 6 tons, twelve when soaked with water and fully loaded with men. Apparently a naval frigate clocked the waka doing 27 knots on one occasion! The Treaty ground is getting ready for Waitangi day on 6 February. The treaty is regarded as one of the founding documents of New Zealand, and many Maoris come to the ground on Waitangi Day.
The cultural show started with a traditional Maori challenge before we were admitted into the carved meeting house for a short display of Maori fighting skills, songs and dexterity. In the evening, we returned for the hangi. The hangi is a cooking pit that is filled with hot rocks, and a basket containing the food, wrapped with local vegetation and herbs, sits on top blanketed by damp sacking. The food roasts and steams and picks up its flavour from the vegetation and herbs. Three gents had to volunteer as our local chiefs then we were taken through the forest to the painted house, but there were Maori challenges on the way. In turn, each of our chiefs had to face a Maori warrior who performed a series of scary attacks, including scary faces and noises. There were calls and trumpeting hidden in the forest at this time. After the attacks, the warrior placed a small branch on the floor and our chief had to retrieve this whilst looking the warrior in the eye and not smiling or laughing (none of the party were allowed to smile, laugh or talk either). The final challenge was in front of the meeting house, where three Maori warriors challenged our third chief. At the end, as tradition dictates, our chief rubbed noses with the head Maori and we were allowed in the house for a Maori concert, fun and laughter. One of our chiefs was American and there was some good banter about Donald Trump! The concert was brilliant with stories, songs and dances in the Maori tradition. After the ceremony we went back to eat our hangi. Food was plentiful - seconds were offered, and there was a very good dessert too.
Temperatures climed to 28ºC and the early clouds soon gave way to plentiful sun.
Another hot day - temperatures reaching 31ºC. A visit to the mission station at Kerikeri had been recommended by our hosts in Paihia. The mission house is also known as the Kemp House (after the longest residents), and is the oldest still standing building in New Zealand. Nearby is the stone store, built around the same time. The mission station was one of the first places where Maori invited paheka (white Europeans) to live with them. The guide told a fascinating story about the history of the house and the people who lived there, together with the Maori living in the nearby pa (fortified village). Kemp was a blacksmith and lay preacher and he fashioned all the metal fixtures and fittings in the buildings. One of his decendants refused to have electricity in the house, considering it the work of the devil. The house is built next to a river, and to build it, they had to fell kauri trees from 16km up-river. These were pit-sawn and the planks hand finished and tongue and grooved and used for floorboards as well as the outside walls. They are a remarkable piece of work considering the poor tools at the time. We had a very nice lunch in the cafe on the site.
After Kerikeri, we drove to "the hellhole of the pacific", Kororareka (or Russell). This was the trading centre of New Zealand, full of drunken sailors, harlots, criminals, etc. Nowadays it is a beautiful, peaceful town. The locals here are not connected to the water supply so collect rainwater. It has been very dry and the forest is like tinder. We saw firefighters attending a bush fire with helicopters on the way to Russell. We settled in to our accommodation then Time for relaxation with a wonderful meal and a glass of wine on the bay before going back to the B&B to socialise with the other guests.
A four hour cruise around the bay of islands was the order of the day. Up relatively early to catch the boat at 9am. The sea was very calm, the sky was blue - no trace of clouds, and the temperature was headig towards 30ºC although the boat's passage created a welcome cooling breeze. The motors were suddenly cut and the captain announced a sighting of dolphins ahead. Another boat had found the dolphins, but on seeing our boat, they swam over to play around and under it. As we gently motored along, they kept pace and were clearly enjoying themselves. All the dolphins were known to the captain and they had names, the baby dolphin was called "french toast"! Fantastic seeing these creatures in the wild where they can live easily to 50years, and sometimes 80 or 90 years old. Compare this to captivity, where they are lucky to live to be 10 years old - such a dreadful shame. We spent a long time with the dolphins before turning back on course through the islands. The final stop on the outward leg was the hole in the rock, which we sailed through. This was a tight fit for our boat and the captain did an excellent job of riding the swells through it. We saw some penguins swimming on the surface - but at a distance. On the way back we stopped at one of the islands to stretch our legs and take in the marvellous views.
After lunch, we visited the Pompallier Mission, which was run by the french. The mission building had a purpose in publishing bibles and religious tracts in Maori. We saw all parts of the process they used, from compositing to binding, and from the tannery to production of leather covers. There were also many references to the origins of common sayings today. One of these is "to coin a phrase"; the printers used quoins (French) to set up the sentences. The typeface was kept in type cases, one above the other - hence upper and lower case. There were several more (e.g. first impression).
We took a walk to "Long Beach" - sandy and a great view aross to the islands, befor returning for dinner and drinks overlooking the bay. Then back to the B&B to enjoy wine on the terrace which also looks over the bay. Unfortunately this was cut short as mosquitos decided we were their supper.
After a leisurely breakfast on the veranda overlooking the bay enjoying socialising with our fellow travelers, we set off for Auckland. The drive took longer than expected; the traffic was fairly heavy due to the bank holiday weekend. We saw quite a few bikers and some custom cars heading North, possibly for Waitangi Day festivities. We stopped for a leg stretch and quick meal at Whangerei, but still had a long way to go. There is a toll motorway a few miles outside Auckland but there is a scenic detour that adds a few miles and minutes to the journey but is well worth it.
So, it was around 5pm when we got settled in the hotel and set off into Auckland to explore. There is a bus that does a circular route, fare 3.50NZD for any number of stops. We got off at the sky tower and watched a couple of people "throw themselves" off the tower. Looks scary but it is a controlled descent. Just as scary was the sight of people walking round a narrow walkway near the top of the tower. The walkway has no rails around it, but the walkers were harnessed securely and were leaning out at crazy angles. You wouldn't get either of us up there! After an evening meal of fush and chups (and beer) at the crab shack, we took a ferry to Devonport, which is a lovely village. We climbed to the top of Victoria mount for a view of darkness falling over the city.
Temperatures were a couple of degrees lower than Russell, with the night being a relatively cool 19 degrees. As we head South we'll need our fleeces, and probably our waterproofs from time to time.
Well, it's a Bank holiday, the last day of the school holidays, and a cruise ship is in port so it's crowded everywhere. New Zealand has 4.7m people and one third live in Auckland, so it was probably not the best time to visit. We decided to take a short cruise (40 mins) to Waiheke island to get away from the buildings and the crowd, but it didn't work! Nevertheless it is a beautiful island with pretty bays and beaches and many wineries. We took a hop-on/hop-off bus to visit a couple of wineries for a tasting. Whilst the wine was good, we didn't think it all that special. The bus drove through the Whakanewha regional park (it has really is pronounced fukanefa!). The weather continues to be hot, with clear blue skies and temperatures in the high twenties. The sun is really fierce here and sunscreen, a hat and keeping in the shade recommended by all the locals. On our return, we explored Ponsonby, the area we were staying in. It is known for sophisticated shopping and dining, but it was a public holiday... We did find a very good Italian restaurant with excellent pizzas and local beers. We went back to base to relax as we need to be up early tomorrow for the drive to Rotorua.
Woke up to a grey day, with cooler temperatures, cloud cover and a threat of rain. It was a welcome 21ºC with no hot sun. After a leisurely breakfast (we'll be doing this every day, I can tell you), we set off for the long drive to Rotorua. Whilst the straightforward and probably quicker route is via State Highway 1, we took a recommended alternative route that was more scenic - at least after the first hour. Auckland seems to go on for ever, with fairly heavy traffic, followed by a period of just flat farmland. Eventually, the landscape became more interesting, with some gorgeous views over many hills and valleys. The weather improved along the way, with sunny intervals and temperatures as high as 29ºC. We stopped in Tirau for lunch in the "Bugger Cafe", which is a homage to the word "bugger" as said when something goes wrong. There are numerous photos of planes, trains, boats and automobiles in sticky situations that elicit the word; there are many quotations (including Prince Philip - "bugger the table plan, give me my dinner"); wedding catastrophes, etc. They sell merchandise such as the T-shirt "Keep calm and bugger off". We nearly bought his for a friend and if you are reading this, you know who you are! Anyway, we did what the T-shirt said and set off for Rotorua, taking a short detour to see the Blue Spring at Te Waihou Walkway. This is an amazingly clear river with water so pure that it supplies around 70% of New Zealand's bottled water, as well as providing the water supply for Putaruru. There are signs saying no swimming, but some people can't read as we saw at least two enjoying the waters.
There was only another hour's driving before we entered the gates of our hotel, drove up the long, winding driveway, and were met at the entrance. Our. At was whisked away to be parked, and the luggage taken up to our room, whilst our host told us about the local sights and restaurants. What a surprise when we saw our room! Judi was delighted and now wants to spend the rest of the holiday here! It is enormous, with a huge walk-in wardrobe, and dressing area, two comfy armchairs with footstools, a spa bath; I could go on! It was getting late, but we managed a drive to the geothermal area (too late for entry anywhere) to get a taste (or do I mean a smell?) for the hot pools and boiling mud. Steam rising and smelly everywhere, we looked at Whakarewarewa, the Maori village in the middle of all the steam, heat and smells. Again this was closed, but amazing that they live in those conditions. We drove into Rotorua for dinner on "Eat Streat" (sic.), a covered pedestrian area flanked by many restaurants and bars. Just outside on the memorial park is a bicycle tree - a sculpture made from dozens of bicycles.
So much to see and so little time to fit it all in! Today saw a change in the weather with a top temperature of 19 degrees, overcast and some light drizzle; a cold wind picked up in the evening meaning our coldest night so far - fleeces on! We thought about going to the Hobbiton movie set, but you really need to book in advance, and with the journey time plus the time we knew we'd spend there, thought it would detract from other things. So, we spent a long time at Te Puia, the geothermal site. Here they have a rescue and breeding program for kiwi with a nocturnal viewing area where we saw the female in very low light. It is a real shame that she is kept in captivity with such a small environment, but the keepers do ensure they get regular mental stimulation.
Te Puia is home to the Pohutu geyser, which spouts around twice each hour, attaining heights of up to 30 meters. It didn't disappoint and we saw the display several times. Near the geysers are a set of hot rock steps. Sitting on these is like the heated seats in a car, and really nice on a cold day. The geyser drains into the highly alkaline bluey pool where temperatures range from 30 - 50 degrees and is regularly used by the inhabitants of the neighbouring Maori village. There are superheated steam vents that occasionally blow under the water and contacting these for a split second would cause third degree burns. There are plenty of boiling mud pools and steaming water. The smell of rotten eggs permeates the air, and the rocks are stained white, yellow, red and black. A rusty brown fungus grows on the trees and bushes around some of the pools. One of the pools of boiling water is used to cook food for guests. Another steam vent is used as a hangi to also cook over and this food is served in the cafe. We saw the modern hangi being prepared in a brick pit, with rocks being heated by wood set alight from propane torches. This was for the evening hangi dinner and concert. They have a very ornate waka taua (war canoe), but very much the junior of the one at Waitangi as this can only hold 30 men
The site also houses the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute with carving and weaving schools; we had a long conversation with one of the carving students. It takes three years to learn the basics of wood carving and then the real learning starts! A huge carving was being completed to go to Gallipoli and two students were working on a huge piece to adorn the new carving school, which was under construction. In the weaving school, a woman was making a cloak for a baby, adorned with peacock feathers. We also saw how quickly cords were fashioned from flax leaves. The Maori village of Te Whakarewarewa adjoins Te Puia and once was part of the attraction. Unfortunately there was a dispute between the government and the Maori and a locked gate appeared overnight between the two places. There are signs that the two attractions will become one soon.
After Te Puia, we went for a walk around the Redwood forest. Majestic trees, very quiet and peaceful with good tracks to walk. We spent an hour here before going to Hamurani Springs. It is remarkable how clear the water is here. The cold wind was getting up by this time, so we headed of to the City centre for our evening meal (snapper is delicious!). We had our first sight of the gorgeous sunsets that NZ is famed for whilst visiting the Government Gardens. They must love bowling here judging from the number of greens!
Tomorrow we drive to Napier - hope the weather is a little kinder!
How sad to leave the Hamurani Lodge. We enjoyed the stay there, with very friendly staff and a fabulous room. We got a personal send off from the manager and his assistant. The day started overcast and cold, but gradually brightened up as we left Rotorua. We stopped for a while at Wai-O-tapu to look at the best mud pools we have seen so far. We had lunch at Taupo, with good views over the lake, but there were dark clouds over the mountains. The drive to Taupo was a mix of boring flat land and some interesting scenery, but from Taupo, things started to get interesting as we climbed into the mountains. The sun disappeared behind the clouds, the temperature dropped to 10 degrees and it started raining, with some heavy downpours. The rain and mist prevented us from seeing what must have been a great view, but it got drier as we entered Napier at about 3:30. Our hotel is on the seafront overlooking Hawkes Bay. The hotel was the first stop with access to a washing machine and drier, so it was a laundry afternoon (and evening, but the laundry room got locked up with a load still in the machine). For our evening meal, we went to a Speight's Ale House. Speight's was founded in Dunedin in 1876 and brought their beer to London in 2007. The landlord was really helpful in guiding us to the right beer (out of eight) to suit our taste. Judi had their famous lamb shank and Andy had the snapper (again); both were really good.
The problem with spending two nights in a place and then moving on is that you can't get under the skin of a place. One of the days is taken up with travelling, although there are sights to see, and there isn't much of the day left to explore. We find we go to bed early so we can make the most of the day. We'll be able to relax more when we have a longer stay - first one is at Nelson in a few day's time.
A better day today - woke up to clear blue sky and 17 degrees, which warmed up through the day. We went into Napier city this morning to see the Art Deco buildings it is famous for. There were a lot of vintage vehicles driving through the city, with the drivers dressed in 1920's clothes. You could hire these cars for 600NZD a day. The city is full of Art Deco buildings, but many are spoiled by the shop conversion or the "for lease" signs covering the windows. The marine parade is delightful to walk along, and there are a few good restaurants along its length. The beach is small grey pebbles, no sand, but the view is amazing.
We booked a wine tour for the afternoon - it's what people come to Napier for! We used "Grape Escapes", with a small party of twelve, all from UK, except for two Americans. We had a great time visiting four wineries, Sileni, Ash Ridge, Ngatarawa and Church Street. All very different, but showcasing the wines of Hawkes Bay. Sileni is one of the biggest wineries in the area, making wines in bulk and exporting to different countries including the UK. The host was very knowledgeable about the wine business and we had six wines to taste. Ash Ridge is a small winery owned by an Englishman, who was an investment banker with no detail knowledge of wine making when he emigrated to set up the winery in 2000. His wines have won awards, including best winery in Hawkes Bay in 2014. Hardly any is exported and the six wines all tasted great. At Ngatarawa we had seven wines and a substantial cheese platter with obligatory wine. Church Road is one of the oldest wineries in New Zealand, dating from 1897 (Mission Estate dates from 1850). Another six wines were tasted here, including our first sparkling wine. We all enjoyed each other's company so much that the tour ran late so we only managed four wineries; five would have been possible, but not as much fun!
Our guide was very knowledgeable about wine and about Hawkes Bay. He told us how the earthquake in 1931 changed the geography of the area, With an uplift of 2 to 4 meters adding 40 square kilometres of sea bed to dry land. Napier was flattened and this earthquake remains NZ's deadliest. We learnt how to pronounce some Maori words, and drove over the Tutaekuri river, which means "dog poo river" in Maori (don't ask why).
Ate a good breakfast at the Nosh cafe before settling off at 10:30 on the long drive to Wellington. Had to refuel first at an unattended petrol station; you pre-authorise with a card before filling up. There are a couple of possible routes to Wellington from Napier. One is more mountainous, through Masterton, with lighter traffic. We opted for the flatter route via Palmerston North. The first part of the journey had very light traffic, some flat farmland and hills in the distance. It soon became more interesting as we got closer to the mountains, and we had good scenery on both sides. The highlight was passing through the Manuwatu Gorge, which was simply stunning. We stopped for lunch at a Speight's in Palmerston North. There's nothing else to stop there for, although we did spot Roxanne's Bordello across the road from the Speight's! We continued to drive down the Kapiti coast, and the traffic got heavy as we joined SH1 into Wellington. We finally arrived around 4:30, and after settling in to the hotel we went for a walk into the city centre. On the way, a lady fainted and fell to the pavement. She came to after a few seconds but was still groggy. We and her companion helped her up and a passerby called for an ambulance.
We walked down to the wharf, where the entrance is dominated by a large, artistic canopy. We had to say we much preferred Wellington to Auckland. The restaurants were full as it was Saturday night, so we made a booking for later and went to ride the Wellington cable car, which climbs the hill for a good view of the city. It passes through a couple of tunnels lit by dynamic led lighting, showing a variety of effects and images including the NZ flag. We ate at the Crab Shack, both opting for different dishes based on tarahiki (a white fish similar to cod). While we were queueing to pay, a fireworks display started up outside, and the cashier invited us to go outside and watch; we went back inside to pay after it was all over. It was part of the Wellington Chinese New Year celebrations, and we enjoyed it more than the display in Hong Kong. for a start, we could see the display, the night was clear and there were no crowds. What a splendid end to the day!
Woke up to low cloud and strong wind. One of Judi's friends comes from Wellington and is visiting family there. She and her and her husband picked us up from the hotel to show us the sights. We first drove through the city where our hosts pointed out interesting buildings such as the Beehive and Parliament, the Maori boat shed, and Te Papa, the museum of NZ. The boat shed was built to house the Maori waka, but they have moved it elsewhere and so far have refused to give it back! We then went to the Victoria Mount lookout to get a 360 degree view of Wellington and surrounds. It was extremely windy up there, and threatening rain, but our hosts pointed out many things we otherwise wouldn't have known. On the docks we could see a couple of container cranes; one of these was dislodged from its tracks in the recent earthquake and now presents a problem. To reseat it needs a large crane, but the weight of this could damage the wharf. In the meantime, alternative arrangements are in place for handling the containers but throughput is severely affected. We could see the "tin can" or "cake tin", which is the new rugby ground. On the other side of the Mount is the surprisingly busy airport, in a very small space. A new control tower is being built on a nearby retail site due to lack of space. Our hosts drove round the coast showing the many bays, some sheltered from the northerly wind. These had names like Scorching Bay and Worser Bay. We stopped for lunch at a great new cafe (hosts recommendation), before driving back through Miramar where we passed Peter Jackson's movie studio. There was a huge lot with a giant "green screen" on three sides. They dropped us off outside Te Papa and we said our goodbyes. Te Papa is an exciting museum, and we spent some time inside their Gallipoli exhibit, dedicated to the ANZAC participation in the campaign in the First World War. A series of individual stories were introduced by giant and very lifelike tableaux featuring an individual soldier or nurse. The figures were three or four times life size, and brought home the horrors of war. In the art section of the museum was an exhibit dedicated to Snowdon's leaks - some very technical stuff here, but well presented. Te Papa itself is an interesting building; it is built on earthquake absorbing rubber blocks and you can see these in an underground exhibit.
Whilst walking back through the wharf, we came upon the story of Paddy the Wanderer. He was an Airedale terrier owned by the daughter of a seaman in the 1930's. When she died at age three, Paddy took to wandering the wharf and was adopted by the taxi drivers. In his old age, he had a bed in one of the sheds. When he died, the taxi drivers drove his coffin in procession through the city, led by a traffic officer. We ate a really good meal at "Dockside", one of the many restaurants on the wharf before going back to the hotel for an early night -we have an early ferry crossing to the South Island in the morning.
A wild and wet morning for a ferry ride! We got up early to take the 9am sailing, check in at 8:10. It was very windy, and the board said moderate sea state with a one metre swell. We were in the premium lounge with a hot breakfast and comfy seats. Despite this being listed as one of the most beautiful ferry rides in the world, we couldn't see much through the mist when we set sail. The crossing wasn't too bad, just a couple of minutes heavy swell, but the wind kept up right into Picton. The weather did improve, and we enjoyed the views as we sailed for about an hour through the Tory channel to dock at Picton. We had to drop our hire car at Wellington, and picked up a Toyota Highlander for the South Island (not as fuel efficient as the Corolla, but well equipped). The sun came out in Picton and the temperature gradually improved as we drove along, reaching 24 degrees - quite an improvement on the cool and blustery Wellington morning
The drive from Picton over the coast road was the most scenic so far! Very winding, slow roads with lookout points giving amazing views over bays, sounds, hills and mountains. We stopped many times just to gaze (and take photos)! We could look across a few hundred yards of water to see small villages nestling in areas of green grass just under the mountain slopes. After the coast road, there is a long stretch driving through wooded mountains - not as winding or slow as the coast road through. Passing through Nelson was very slow, with long traffic queues, we were just into rush hour. We passed through Nelson into wine country and arrived at our next stop at 4:15. This is a lovely B&B on the Bronte peninsular, with a great view over the Waimea inlet to the distant mountains from our balcony. We have four nights here so it will give us a chance to relax. We did just that in the evening when we drove a short distance to Mapua for a really good dinner. Mapua is a very small town, with a good number of eating places on the wharf. We ate in a restaurant with a good view if the inlet through its windows.
The weather wasn't bad today, warm sunny intervals and a high of 22 degrees. Unfortunately, Judi put her back out this morning and was in agony and could hardly walk. So we were late down for breakfast, and took our time eating and chatting to our hosts. We decided the best course of action was to have some down time so after some rest and exercises, we went to Rabbit Island for a gentle walk. On the beach there were two horses being taken for a swim; they were enjoying it! The two girls with the horses were trainee vets, having completed two years of a five-year course. The horses were called "Mate" and "Spider-Man"; Mate was swimming for the first time, but Spider-Man was an old hand. Rabbit Island is clearly a school trip favourite, as there was a class-full enjoying a mass frolic in the sea!
After our walk, with Judi's back easing, we went for lunch at a very nice cafe in Richmond, followed by a spot of wine tasting. The wines from Nelson are a different character to those from Hawkes Bay; we need to try more to see which we prefer. To add insult to injury, Judi was stung by a bee as she got back in the car. Not really feeling like going out for dinner, we ate in, accompanied by a glass or two of wine and the view of the distant mountains as the sun went down.
Today we booked a scenic cruise to see the Abel Tasman National Park. We chose a full cruise as neither of us felt up to walking a couple of hours or more and this left from Kaiteriteri. The weather was good, with plenty of sunshine and very little wind, so quite smooth sailing. The park is the smallest in New Zealand at 225 square kilometre, although it appears immense when sailing its coast. The boat passes many golden beaches with hardly anyone on them, and you can spot walkers hiking up and down the trails. We took a look at Split Apple Rock (a winery is named after it), and our guide told us we were lucky to see the split as it closes up at night! Fur seals were next to be seen, lazing on rocks at Adele island (were they "rolling in the deep"?). Anchorage is a sheltered and safe Bay, with a few boats moored in it. Apparently there were 90 boats moored there on New Years Eve. Further up is Sandfly Bay and Mosquito Bay, but they don't have an insect problem. In between these bays is Bark Bay, and the boat stopped to fill up with fresh water that is pumped from a clear mountain stream. Several passengers filled their water bottles from this - it is perfectly clear and pure. On the way to Tonga Quarry, we saw a set of arches carved into the stone by wave action. The largest can easily be walked through at low tide, and weddings are often held there (so the marriage is on the rocks before it's even started!). Tonga Quarry produced granite for a short period, some of it was used in Nelson for the steps at the head of Trafalgar Street. Wharf rock is so named due to its use to moor boats to take sheep from the coastal farmers. Cottage Loaf Rock is named for its shape and was once used for target practice by the New Zealand navy; they took three shots at it and missed every one! The most northerly point of the cruise was Totaranui, where we got twenty minutes ashore to stretch our legs whilst the captain and guide had their lunch. The return journey was held up at one stop whilst we waited for a kayaker who was late and took some time retrieving their backpack from the kayak as well as taking off the life vest. Seeing many dead trees, we were told that these are pine trees that are deliberately poisoned so that native trees can re-establish. Back at Kaiteriteri for a spot of lunch, taken leisurely, before driving back to base.
It really feels like we are on holiday now; we have not been dashing from place to place to see something different, just taking it easy and relaxing. Today was another warm sunny day (23 degrees, no wind), and we walked around the property for the first time. There is a small jetty overlooking the inlet, and with the tide being out we noticed several tiny sand crabs scuttling about below us. Following this leisurely start, we drove to Nelson. We thought Nelson seemed a nice place, although we didn't have time to see much of it. Walking past Nelson College for Girls, we noticed a huge old eucalyptus tree, planted in the 1850's, which has a circumference of 18 m around the base, part of which had totally enveloped a wooden fence post. We saw the Cathedral, built in 1967, which had an interesting design for the organ, which was sat on four wooden pillars. Otherwise it was nothing remarkable and you could se some minor evidence of earthquake damage in a few places. Near the Cathedral is Jena Hansen, the jeweller who made the rings for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Several such rings are on display, including the movie ring. All the items are unique, being hand crafted in the workshop behind the sales desk. Judi was taken by a pair of earrings, but they didn't suit when she tried them on.
We had to leave Nelson and head off to Wakefield to visit one of Judi's Flickr friends. They were a little tricky to find, being some way off the main road. They have a very large property with amazing views, and have worked wonders in transforming bare land into woods, gardens and pasture. They have two marvellous, gentle dogs and we spent the afternoon wandering the property, chatting and enjoying their generous hospitality. We decided to eat out at Mary's, and Andy got to sample yet another of the New Zealand fish species. So far he has had John Dory, hapuku (or groper), tarakihi, snapper, and cardinal. There was a spectacular sunset as we left the restaurant and headed back for our last night in Bronte.
First, a postscript to last night - on leaving Mapua and driving up the Main Street in the dark, we saw a youth kayaking down the street! Yes, there was enough water in the road to do this; it looked like a burst tank in one of the properties as there was quite a flow of water coming out of a gate and rushing down the road. Quite unexpected!
Today it was goodbye to sunny Nelson as we checked out to drive to Blenheim in the heart of the Marlborough wine region. The sun was trying to break through the cloud as we left, but spots of rain appeared as we drove through Nelson and this turned heavy as we went. In the mountains we came to a standstill for ten minutes for some roadworks on a bend. It looked like a bank had collapsed under some logging work and this was being cleared up. We had followed a lorry for nearly all the way from Nelson - they certainly run at quite a speed here and don't really hold you up too much. We were happy keeping well back out of the spray. The rain did mask much of the scenery on the journey, particularly in the mountain section. As we came into Blenheim, the sat nav (maps.me on the mobile phone), suddenly stopped displaying the map although was still giving directions; we had to stop for a quick reset!
It was still raining heavily when we arrived at Peppertree, our next stop. It didn't help with the locals saying it doesn't rain much here and they haven't had rain for ages - the hillsides are all brown. As we had arrived fairly early, we decided to visit the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre, just 15 minutes from where we are staying. This is a fantastic place full of interesting exhibits and we could have stayed longer if closing time hadn't intervened! Although there is a WW1, a WW2 and a classic car exhibition, we only had time for WW1 as it was so engrossing. Peter Jackson (the film director) has sponsored much of the exhibition, providing both exhibits and expertise. The first aircraft we saw was a Caprioni CA22, dating from 1913 and an original (most of the other aircraft are good reproductions). There were two large holes in the wing and we asked whether they were bullet/shell holes. It appears that "some clown " put their fist through it to gain handholds when the aircraft was being installed! As this is one of Peter Jackson's personal collection, he couldn't have been best pleased. There was a good exhibit showing "Grid's escape" (Grid was the nickname of NZ air ace Keith Caldwell). The display shows an amazing episode in Caldwell's story in which he managed to regain control of his SE5a fighter after it was crippled in a mid-air collision, managing to stabilise it by placing himself half in and half out (mostly out, standing on the wing) of his cockpit for just long enough to nurse it back to the lines and jump clear just as it was about to crash. Caldwell survived his fall, and the war, and was C.O. Of RNZAF Base Woodbourne for the first half of the Second World War! Apparently the English didn't issue parachutes as they were worried that pilots would eject too early and destroy otherwise serviceable and expensive planes!
We had an exceptionally good dinner in Blenheim in "Mia" (Made In Aotearoa), where Judi declared it was the best meal she had had since arriving in NZ. The staff are amazing with an excellent sommelier (also the owner) who selected a personalised flight of wine for each of us. After our meal, the executive chef (and business partner) came out and spent 20 minutes chatting with us. We wanted to book again for tomorrow, but the waitress had a look and they were fully booked. A word with our friendly chef soon fixed a table for us at a reasonable time. We had asked our host to book a wine tour for tomorrow, but it seems a darned cruise ship is in port and they have booked everything up (what pests - we hate cruise ships!), so we have made alternative arrangements for a private tour. We'll let you know how that works out tomorrow.
Yesterday's heavy, continued rain had abated somewhat this morning, and we just had a shower whilst having breakfast. We went into Blenheim for a short while in the morning, but there isn't much to see. We got a quick snack for lunch and then drove back to Peppertree for our wine tour. As we said, all the scheduled tours were booked by the cruise ship, so we hired a "driving Miss Daisy " taxi to do our own personalised tour for the same price. Dawn was our driver, and we let her choose the itinerary. She selected smaller wineries that didn't charge for tasting as some of the larger ones do. First stop was the chocolate factory, for some samples and a view of a batch being made. Next was Rockferry, where we were attended to by a chap with an amazing moustache! We tried a sparkling rose, Pinot blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot noir (2 varieties), and a "sticky". All were very nice, but we really liked the Pinot Gris and bought a bottle. Next stop was No 1, who only produce sparkling wine - we tried four good examples. We then stopped at Giesen, where we had a cheese platter as well as tasting six wines, a sticky, and their American Pale Ale on draught. Penultimate stop was Wairau River, where we learned from Dawn that Wairau is Maori for many rivers. We tried four wines here and met another couple from Hertfordshire who were touring in a camper van. They said it wasn't ideal for a number of reasons, and although the theory was you could stop anywhere, this wasn't the case in practice. Finally we drove to Wither Hills winery where the views were supposed to be spectacular; unfortunately a heavy shower of rain started just as we were arriving and you could hardly seen the hills. We did visit the barrel hall - a large cellar full of oak barrels with the smell of oak heavy in the air. Throughout the day's drive we passed acres and acres of vines, and a large number of vineyards. The rivers were high after the rains, with flooding in a couple of places. We managed largely to miss the wine tours, so the tasting rooms were fairly empty. We had a good time, but missed the camaraderie you get on a scheduled tour (thanks cruise ship). In the evening there was another social gathering at Peppertree, with a glass or two of the proprietor's Chardonnay, then we went to MIA again where Judi had lamb and Andy had venison, supplemented by a flight of wine each. Judi had sparkling wine, Andy had full bodied reds. Early night for the long drive to Hanmer Springs in the morning (about 340km - probably five and a half hours plus stops!).
A much nicer day in Blenheim today as the sun came out just in time for us to leave! After breakfast we did a tour of the gardens surrounding Peppertree. There were fruit trees, olive trees, grape vines, bee hives, a duck pond, flowers and herbs. We packed, said our goodbyes and set off just after 10:30. We passed acres of vines along the first part of the journey, which was mostly straight and level, with very few other cars on the road. The view gradually improved as we approached St Arnaud and we made a short detour to Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson National Park. It was cloudy and we felt a couple of drops of rain. There were a few people messing about in motor boats and kayaks but it wasn't very busy. The water was crystal clear, but we were pestered by midges. There were plenty of good scenery on the rest of the route and our next stop was Murchison in the blazing sun (27 degrees), where we found a very good cafe for lunch (the rivers cafe). We had a very nice lamb and mint pie with chips. The pie was huge, with plenty of meat and a few peas and potatoes. The next stop was the Maruia falls, which were pretty spectacular after the recent rain. Looking at them, it seems that an even greater flow is expected in the rainy season. The downside of taking photos from the best viewpoint was the little black biting flies ( not sure whether they were midges, mosquitoes or sand flies) that flocked to our exposed skin. Some frantic application of deet and ointment on the bites was needed! We got stuck behind a slow lorry for some of the way, with no places to pass. There were also a lot of roadworks on the route which slowed us down so we finally arrived at Hanmer Springs just after 5pm. We decided to eat at the hotel restaurant, but they said they had a large group coming in so we couldn't eat now but could book for 7:30. Just after we were seated, the tour group arrived; this somehow meant we had to wait almost an hour for our food! Not best pleased.
Woke up to sun and clear blue sky. The temperature soared to 29 degrees before we left. We took a walk round Hanmer Springs, which didn't take too long as it's not very big. We explored the old hospital from the outside; it's all closed up with some vandalism and a tumbled down chimney. The hospital was built in 1916 as a convalescent home for soldiers, making use of the healing properties of the hot baths that Hanmer is famous for. The hospital was in use until 2003 as a drug and alcohol dependency treatment centre. Unfortunately it looks like it will be sold for development soon. Looking through the windows you could see the unusual nature of the almost circular wards, with radiators in the middle of the ward (well, spread along the radials). You could see the nurses hostel, with the individual rooms, communal areas and the spacious grounds and get an idea of how nice it would have been to work there. Whilst we were deep in the grounds, the fire siren mounted on the fire station went off. It was very loud and continued for several minutes. We didn't know what it was for, so we quickly made our way back to the main road to see what others were doing. Art way back, it went off again! It turns out that the fire station is manned by volunteers from all over the village and the loud siren is to summon them for a shout. One engine had already left and the second was being stood down after the volunteers had been called.
The views at Hanmer Springs are stunning, made all the better by the weather, and we stopped a few times to admire them. The Ferry Bridge, built in 1887, spans the Waiau gorge, with the Waiau river some 31m below. See this link for some good info and pictures http://www.bristol.ac.uk/civilengineering/bridges/Pages/NotableBridges/Waiau.html. This is "the gateway to Hanmer Springs". We couldn't find a place to safely stop to take a photo, but pulling into a car park just after the bridge. We still couldn't see it, but one of the jet boats roared along under us (missed it for a photo). The fantastic scenery continued for a few miles, and the outside temperature climbed to 32 degrees before we approached Christchurch. As we got closer, we could see what looked like smoke on the horizon, but this was fog! The temperature dropped sharply to 19 degrees in the fog and it was overcast and cool when we got to the hotel. The room we were allocated was cold, so we turned the heating up - to no avail. We also had a view of bushes right up against the window. We complained that the heating didn't work, and also tat we didn't have a view. We were moved to a top floor room with working heating and a great view! The hotel is next to Hagley Park and we went for a walk in the late afternoon sunshine. It is mating season for the cicadas and they were making a fair bit of noise in the trees. Apparently once hatched, the larvae burrow into the ground, where they stay feeding for two to five years before emerging for their final moult. We could see the empty skins at the bottom of the tree trunks. The park has a large botanical garden, and we saw a small part of this before returning to the hotel for dinner. Tomorrow promises wall-to-wall sunshine, so we plan to walk into the city centre.
Having three nights in Christchurch, we opted for a lie in and a leisurely start. After a filling buffet breakfast in the hotel, we walked through Hagley Park to the city. The weather was gorgeous, clear blue skies and temperatures set for the high twenties. The route took us through the botanical garden and we spent some time in the conservatories admiring the tropical plants, cacti, carnivorous plants, and an excellent flowering display with the biggest begonias we have seen. The walk took us past the old Arts Centre, which is housed in the Canterbury University buildings. Ernest Rutherford, who was born in Nelson, studied for his BA and his Masters here and there is an exhibit called Rutherford's Den. The buildings themselves were damaged in the 2011 earthquake and are still under repair. There is a tram service that passes here, providing a circular city tour, although having three nights in Christchurch, we decided not to do that today. Instead, we continued to walk and passed the new art gallery, which is an interesting new structure. We walked on to the city centre, where the scale of the earthquake damage was readily apparent. Demolition and building work was going on everywhere, even after so many years. The Cathedral suffered badly in the earthquake and had to be partially demolished, other than that, it hadn't been worked on, was in ruins and was still crumbling. Apparently the City Council want it restored to its former glory but the church can't afford it and would rather build a new one, although they have agreed to consider reinstatement. When the earthquake struck, it was thought that 30 people were trapped inside; the fire brigade rigged up a tube to get inside, but found no one. Dotted around the city are several art installations, including "the chalice" in the Cathedral square. This is a huge conical affair built to celebrate the new millennium and the 150th anniversary of the founding of Christchurch. Behind Cathedral Square is the tramway depot and New Regent street, with a variety of cafes and shops. Not far away is the Restart Mall, a mix of shops and eateries largely built using old shipping containers. There is another art installations in the middle of this, comprising three figures made of metal sheet and struts (sounds crude, but they look fairly good). Building is everywhere and we had to keep crossing to the other side of the road to get to the "185 Empty Chairs" exhibit, which commemorates the people who died in the 2011 earthquake. Their ages ranged from 5 weeks to 87 years and the chairs represented their individuality. This was quite a moving display. Just north of this is the "transitional Cathedral ", or "cardboard Cathedral ". This was designed by a Japanese "emergency architect " and is made of cardboard, wood and steel, with a polished concrete floor and a polycarbonate roof. It is light and airy and warm - not like most churches! It is designed to last for 50 years and is very safe, being built to 130% of the current NZ earthquake code. It was getting late, so we walked back through the city and the park to our hotel. On the way we were amazed at the number of cicada skin cases at the base of the trees. We counted over a hundred on one, and there must have been many more. No wonder the sound of their calls is so loud!
The day started fairly cloudy and after another filling buffet breakfast, we again walked into the city. We decided to search out some street art, which is now very much a part of Christchurch. The city is fairly compact and it doesn't take long to walk from end to end (it's just under 2km Square, so takes less than 25 mins). We decided against the tram as we had already seen the places it visited and we wanted to go elsewhere. The sort of street art we were interested in was art installations (sculptures etc.) and large murals on the sides of buildings. We walked through Hagley Park again, but this time came out at Victoria Park where there is a floral clock. The town hall is also there and is being repaired and extended after the earthquake , so this may be why the clock is in a state of disrepair. There is an art installation nearby called the Arcades, which is a series of interlinked tall wooden arches, reminiscent of a cathedral. We found a "dance-o-mat", which was an outdoor dance floor with glitter ball , lighting and speakers controlled from an ex-laundromat washing machine; you put your $2 in and could dance the night away. This is one of the "gap filler" projects, part of the regeneration initiative. Apparently Prince Charles and Camilla used it on their Royal Tour in 2011. Another gap filler project we saw was the "Super Street Arcade ", which is a small platform with a giant joystick and two giant buttons with a 5m screen mounted on the building opposite. With the help of a couple of friends you could play retro video games on it! We found plenty of street art near the Cathedral and then made our way down the High Street, which is really just a building site at present. Again, lots of street art on the way, particularly at the bottom end. We stopped for a snack at C1 coffee shop, where you can buy "pneumatic curly fries" and have them delivered (in a package) via a series of pneumatic tubes to a point nearest your table. The water is dispensed from a Singer sewing machine! We found plenty of street art around Tuam and St Asaph streets, including a building with a musical score on its side wall. Some of this marvellous art is in danger of being covered up by the building work. The bus station was an interesting building. On the way back, we visited St Michael and All the Angels church. This was the third church to have been built on that site and was clearly made to last. It is an impressive wooden structure that has survived the major earthquakes without damage. The current church was Christchurch Cathedral before the one in Cathedral Square was built. The bishop promptly moved into the new Cathedral as the bishops chair there was much more comfortable than in St Michaels, leaving the original chair behind. The church has a lofty wooden roof, supported by huge wooden pillars. The stained glass is in excellent condition and the organ pipes are well paid, although these have been refurbished. The weather had improved as the day wore on, with plenty of warm sunshine. We finished our day by walking back through the botanical gardens and eating al fresco in a restaurant near the hotel. Back to do the blog and pack for our drive to Lake Tekapo in the morning.
Had a leisurely morning as checkout wasn't until 12. Stoked up with the buffet breakfast (we love the fruit, cereal and yoghurt, followed by a cooked breakfast that seems to be the norm in NZ). A very cloudy start to the day and only 20 degrees when we set off, having decided to take the scenic route to avoid traffic. After getting out of Christchurch, we were often the only car on the road on our side. There was mile after mile of arrow-straight road so cruise control came into its own. The first part of the journey was through the Canterbury Plains - flat and full of wheat fields with the occasional field full of sheep or cows. The scenery changed after we went through the hamlet of Windwhistle and crossed the Rakaia Gorge. The approach is a surprise as we crested a hill and saw a huge green valley carved by ancient glaciers spread out below us. The river Rakaia is sourced from glacial melt and is a milky blue. The colour of the river and the grey of the mountains made for a great piece of scenery. Unfortunately it was still cloudy, and low cloud at that, so we didn't get a view of the Southern Alps as this was obscured by cloud over the foothills. We stopped at Geraldine for a bit of lunch and a leg stretch. There is another tranche of straight lonely roads until we got closer to Tekapo, when the skies cleared. The scenery changed again and the foothills became mountains and we could see the majesty of the Southern Alps stretched before us - some of the peaks still with snow. The journey had been full of surprises and the last one was Lake Tekapo itself. It was hidden until the very last moment, when, with clear blue skies above we saw the expanse of blue water that was the lake. It really is fantastic to see, with the mountains surrounding it, and the feature known as Tekapo Saddle the only bit that had cloud sitting on it for the rest of the day. Our apartment has two floors - the first time on this trip, and there is a guest laundry on site, much needed! We made use of the cooking facilities we have and ate steak tonight. The area is a "dark sky" reserve and the air is pure and clear; we were lucky with clear skies, so saw an amazing amount of stars. The Milky Way was plain to see, but the constellations were unfamiliar apart from an upside down Orion and a very bright Sirius high in the sky. Sitting down to write this blog, we noticed that last night's entry had been truncated. This was extremely annoying as it happened twice the previous night, requiring a couple of rewrites. It had to be done again before today's entry. So if you have already read last night's offering, go back and look again. It's hard to remember what was written and there probably is some missing.
We got up early to catch the sunrise and the golden glow on the mountains. It was colder than we expected (11 degrees) and although we had walked to a good site, there were a few return trips to get sweaters, a fresh battery, and coats. After the sun came up, we returned to the villa and had a diy breakfast, having bought fruit and yoghurt the previous evening. The NZ breakfast is good, but there is a lot of it and we needed a break! We had a good variety of New Zealand fruit, but the shock was that the kiwi fruit came from Italy! In Tekapo, walking and viewing the scenery are the big activities at this time of year, so we took a walk to see the scenery. There is a very small stone church overlooking the lake; just before we got there a coach load of Asian (oriental) tourists arrived and mobbed the church (why do they all take selfies all the time?), so we walked around until they went. Close by is a sheepdog statue, erected in 1968 as a tribute to the collie dog, without whose help grazing sheep in the mountain country would be impossible. Tekapo is in Mackenzie Country, named after a Scottish shepherd turned sheep stealer, who used to round the sheep into the valley with the help of his dog. When he was caught, his dog continued to move the sheep to confound the police until he was caught in turn. When we returned to the church it was empty. Photography inside the church was forbidden, which is a shame as behind the altar is a large picture window with an enviable view of the lake and mountains. We drove to Mount John, which is a high summit (1,029m) next to Lake Tekapo with stunning 360 degree views over the valleys to the Southern Alps. The road up was extremely steep, narrow and winding with scary drops, one of us had to get out of the car halfway up and wait for the other to return (no prizes for guessing who). This was disappointing, as it is a toll road and the gatekeeper said it was "not too bad"! (He lied!) The weather was scorching today with no cloud overhead, no wind and temperatures of 26 degrees; at 720m above sea level this feels really hot. We had a "chill out" afternoon and cooked an evening meal before heading out for one last view and a chance to catch the sunset.
It was another warm sunny day in Tekapo when we left. We had to check out early along with a couple of coach loads of Asian visitors. We debated whether to take a 2 hour detour to Mount Cook, but as we only had one night in Oamaru, decided to get there early - wrong choice (not a lot to do there, especially on Saturday when many places are closed)! The drive was straight forward other than the Pareora Gorge road. This has a few steep twisty sections with drops to the Gorge below. The Gorge and scenery was beautiful. Whilst we had empty roads for the most part, the last section on state highway 1 was a little busier, but with long straight sections. Stopped to fill up with petrol at another unattended station - just a couple of pumps and a pay machine. Arrived at the hotel early; luckily our room was ready, and after lunch in a cafe, we went exploring. The wind had increased and turned cold, and the sun was soon lost behind dark clouds. Oamaru is fairly small but has a nice Victorian shopping area. Oamaru is also the capital of "steampunk", which is based on imagining inventions the Victorians might have created for the modern world (think technology powered by steam). Steampunk HQ is housed in a Victorian grain elevator, and is a gallery full of fantasy works based largely on (steam) machinery. It is an interesting place to spend an hour or two. One of the items was based on a large pressure cooker manufactured by Thomas Newman & Sons of Baldock, Herts (close to where we live). Behind this is the Steam and Railway Preservation Society (their sheds were closed)and there are a few rusted examples of engines that look like they have been pulled from the sea, or at least unearthed from somewhere. Scott's brewery is on the waterfront with a good range of craft beers on sale. Lots of folk were drinking their Nineteen 05 beer, but we had a glass of their Harbourmaster IPA, at just over 7%, fairly strong, and a glass of Boulder, normal strength. The brewery is behind the bar, with a good size drinking area. The smell is good, although stainless steel and aluminium abound. Judi was keen to explore the shops, particularly one owned by a craftswoman called Purple, who makes amongst many other things, leather "belt wraps", a belt with lengths of leather that form a sort of open fronted skirt. Very clever, and they look good. Whilst Judi was absorbed in this, after the strong IPA, Andy had a nap on a comfy sofa! There were lots more interesting buildings to look at, and there is also a blue penguin colony. The penguins return to their nests as darkness approaches and you can book to have a grandstand view. There are a limited number of seats close to the penguins, and more further away. Booking was advised, but photography was forbidden. As it was cold and raining, we hadn't booked, and you couldn't take photos, we gave this a miss. We were hungry, so went back to the hotel for dinner.
After mixed views on the breakfast at Oamaru (Andy had a huge full breakfast, which was quite good; Judi had eggs florentine, which were quite poor), we set off on a cold and cloudy morning (only 11 degrees). Soon after leaving, the scenery got reasonably interesting and we stopped at Moeraki to see the famous boulders. These are like huge marbles, are about 60 million years old and sit on the beach. There is a car park with an alpaca enclosure and a cafe at the entrance to the beach, but they have an honesty box with a $2 charge to use the path and stairs. It says the charge is to maintain the access. As usual, there was a coach load of Asian tourists mobbing the scene, standing on the boulders having endless photos taken in different poses. It was difficult to get a good picture of the boulders without anyone near them. We had lunch at the cafe and could see some dolphins in the sea. By the time we finished eating, the sun had come out, the coach had left and the beach was less packed. There was a chap trying to surf unsuccessfully in the relatively calm water and the dolphins were playing all around him! The drive to Dunedin was pretty quick compared to the other journeys we have had and we got to our hotel early. We are staying in St Clair in a hotel on the esplanade with a good view of the pretty beach. It is a surfing beach and there were plenty of good waves and a few surfers trying their hand. The sun was now shining in an almost clear sky - hot in the sun, but with a cool breeze only 17 degrees in the shade. We drove into Dunedin city centre - easy free parking on Sunday for a look around. Dunedin is hilly and boasts the worlds steepest street (Baldwin Street). It has a good number of Victorian and Edwardian buildings still standing- most in excellent condition. The railway station is splendid and mainly used for tourist trains. We decided to walk the street art trail, as this is an interesting way to see the city. We didn't get to finish it as we were sidetracked a number of times by the buildings. Speight's brewery is in the city centre and they have provided a drinking water tap, mounted on a barrel of course, for large public to use. Speight's have a brewery tour, but we had missed the last entry. On our return to St Clair, the surf was up with a lot of surfers in the water (no dolphins this time). We had dinner in a lovely Italian restaurant and this proved to be the best value meal we have had on the trip so far, we couldn't believe the prices, quantity and quality.
One last look at the beach and the many surfers before we set off to Invercargill. We took the easy route via SH1, as the route through the Catlins might have had the dreaded steep twisty roads with steep drops. The scenery wasn't as good as it might have been, but still some pretty hills to look at on leaving Dunedin. The highlight was a stop at Gore for lunch. By chance we parked in a Countdown (supermarket) car park that was behind the Thomas Green pub. As we were looking at the chalk board outside the entrance, a parking warden came by and told us what a good place to eat it was, and that they would be obliging with the menu. We got a really warm welcome when we went in with helpful and cheery service (what a contrast to yesterday). The food was easily adapted to our tastes and was delicious. The staff were really friendly and chatty and we had a long chat with the waitress. We highly recommend this place, a shame we couldn't go back for dinner. From Gore to our B&B was long straight roads and flat farmland; not very interesting. Invercargill is also not that interesting. It does have a number of Edwardian, Victorian and Art Deco buildings, spoiled in many cases by the shop fronts. There is a large, pretty park that we wandered around in the sunshine. We had clear skies for most of the day, but temperature in the shade was only 18 degrees. We had an excellent meal at Louie's restaurant on Dee Street, ranking as one of the best we have had in NZ so far. So plenty of down time today, and a lazy morning planned for tomorrow, before a drive to Te Anau.
Left the B&B with some good recommendations for the route, things to see and a good restaurant at our next stop. We decided to take the Southern Scenic route to Te Anau. It was cold and some light rain for the first 20 minutes of the drive, but the skies cleared quickly and we had the wall to wall sunshine we are used to. The first stop was Riverton Rocks, and the wind started to pick up. Next up was Cozy Nook, a small fishing village of a very few huts (one called "polyfiller villa"). It is a sheltered cove (real name Mullet Bay) but it was really windy when we arrived with big waves crashing onto the rocks outside the bay. We stopped at a couple of other viewpoints to admire the scenery before stopping at Tuatapere (pronounced two-a-tapper) for lunch. We didn't like the look of the two or three bars/cafes we saw first so drove on a short way before finding the Last Light Lodge. This had an excellent restaurant as part of its accommodation offering, with very helpful and obliging staff. The food was really good and we chatted to a couple from Staffs who spend 3-6 months each year in NZ, house sitting. They were with a couple from New Zealand and we got some tips on the route ahead and to do Doubtful Sound instead of Milford Sound. The route was very scenic and most of the time we were again the only car on the road. We did see three old Riley 4s driving in the same direction, stopping at all the viewpoints and sights. When we arrived at the B&B we found it was a historic building. It was built in 1936, used as a convent until it was purchased, relocated and renovted. There are photos showing how it was cut into four pieces, loaded on lorries, transported and rebuilt on site. After settling in, we went to Manapuri to book the Doubtful Sound cruise, and also one of the activities we want to do in Queenstown (discount applies!). Went out for a meal in what was supposed to be a good Italian restaurant, but Judi's pasta was tasteless and Andy's pizza was soggy in the middle. The manager apologised, saying the head chef was off so his understudy was cooking - not a great excuse.
Today is the trip to Doubtful Sound. Why Doubtful Sound instead of Milford Sound? Well it's ten times bigger, and much quieter and some say more beautiful. Judi wasn't feeling well when we woke up; could have been the meal last night, or something earlier in the day, so she stayed behind for a rest and Andy went on his own. The trip started at Pearl Harbour (really) in Manapouri. There is a 50 minute boat ride across Lake Manapouri to a staging point. It was quite cloudy and cool, and the weather looked worse in the direction we were headed in. Nevertheless it was a scenic ride and everyone remembered to put plenty of insect repellent on, and bring warm clothing. At the staging point, we transferred to three coaches for a 45 minute drive over the mountains. Our driver was a bit of a joker - he said he had seen someone squishing sand flies against the window and as an indigenous species these were protected! The road is gravel, but well compacted, and cost $2NZD per cm to build. It was laid to enable construction of the huge underground hydroelectric power station, which is at the staging point. This power station can supply the electrical needs of the entire South Island. As we ascended into the mountains, the cloud got closer and it started to rain, although not heavily. We were told that the average yearly rainfall at Manapouri is 1m, whereas in Doubtful Sound it is 7 to 9m and it has 200 rainy days per year. When it rains, there are many waterfalls all over. We passed one that the driver said was called "bus wash" for obvious reasons. We also drove over a creek that passed under the concrete road through large ducts about 10 ft below. When it rains, the road becomes a ford (warning signs each end)! We couldn't see the Sound as we descended as it was shrouded in cloud. There is a signpost near the bottom of the road pointing to the "Golf Course"! (There isn't one of course!). Waiting for the boat in the Sound (at Deep Cove) we were plagued with Sandflies again. Once we set off, we could see the majesty of the Sound, even though the mountains were shrouded in cloud. The cloud didn't completely cover them, but lent a somber mood through the veils and wisps of cloud here and there. Plenty to see and photograph as we made our way to the Tasman Sea (where it was decidedly chilly). We stopped very close to a rock covered in fur seals; there was also an albatross skimming the waters. On the return journey we were lucky to see three rare yellow crested Fiordland penguins swimming by the boat (got some very out of focus pictures on Andy's IPhone!). The weather had improved by the time we got back to Deep Cove, and the return bus journey gave us a great view of the Sound from above. The whole trip was around seven hours long, but the boat on the Sound was fabulous, with an excellent crew and commentary. It was warm in Te Anau when Andy returned, sunny and 22 degrees, what a difference!
Said goodbye to our host in Te Anau and set off on the scenic route to Queenstown. The road was fairly flat and largely empty for most of the way, until we joined State Highway 6. The road round the east shore of Lake Wakatipu (on which Queenstown sits) winds in and out and there are some good viewpoints. Just before Queenstown airport there is a single lane bridge that is traffic light controlled. A new bridge is being built alongside it and this is where the traffic queues started. Apart from Auckland, we hadn't seen traffic this heavy in all the time we have been in NZ! We crawled past the airport where more roadworks were being done, and arrived too early at the resort for check-in, so drove into Queenstown (more traffic queues!) for a look around. The centre is quite compact, but has pedestrian areas; the main action is by the waterfront where a small concert was taking place. A guitarist with a really good voice was playing a selection of old favourites. The good restaurants seem to be located around there. We are here for a week of relaxation, so did some shopping to fill the fridge. Our apartment is huge. There is an open plan kitchen, living, dining area and large balcony, to suit six people; our unit is one bedroom, but adjoining single lock-offs can be opened to make a three bedroom unit). In comparison, our bathroom is tiny and storage space is limited. Bi-fold doors open wide onto the balcony and the view from there and the picture windows is really fabulous. We walked into Queenstown along the lakeside path; the travel agent told us it was a fifteen minute walk - more like 30 minutes walking briskly. An Italian restaurant on the lakeside has pizza at $15, but only from 4-6pm; there is also a restaurant selling take away fish and chips (5-7pm), and a floating bar where you can byo food! We certainly like Queenstown so far.
It is great not having to get up early for breakfast, to check out, or to dash off to see a sight or do a tour. We had a really lazy morning with a late breakfast just because we could. Made sandwiches for lunch before strolling into town to look round the shops. We picked up some leaflets for wine tours, which we may do later in the week. The morning had started quite chilly, but it had warmed up by the time we got out. For dinner we had decided on take away fish and chips to eat on the byo food floating bar, but the wind had got up and there were some large waves on the lake. The floating bar was corkscrewing about badly, so we thought better of it and ate on dry land. We had missed out on a beer with the food, so we sampled the Macs Green Beret pale ale in the "Pub on Wharf" - very nice! A leisurely walk back completed a relaxing day.
Today we drove to Arrowtown. It's an easy 20 minute journey to what used to be a gold mining town. Although the town is much expanded from the gold mining days, there are many buildings that have been preserved or restored, particularly down Buckingham Street. This street has many shops and eateries, you are definitely spoiled for choice. Whilst there are the inevitable coach parties, it didn't seem too crowded. At one end of the street is the Chinese village, dating back to the 1880's, which is where the Chinese miners made their homes. The information boards there tell a fascinating story of why the Chinese came to Arrowtown, the racial hatred they faced, and something about their lives. There are a few restored buildings along a track as well as some foundations of old dwellings. It was sobering to see the spartan conditions they endured, and the simplicity of their small huts. With reference to specific individuals, the stories came alive; for instance Ah Lum owned the store and acted as the "bank" for the miners. When the large social hall collapsed, social activity was centred around his store. The town gaol is currently closed for restoration work (including making it earthquake safe), but had been used as recently as 1989 to lock up some unruly revellers on New Years Eve! There were quite a few old buildings that had their own particular story including a couple that were physically moved. We had another sunny day with temperatures in the low twenties and quite enjoyed Arrowtown.
Last week we booked a trip to Walter Peak whilst we were at Manapouri. We walked into Queenstown to cruise Lake Wakatipu in the TSS Earnslaw to get there. This is a Twin Screw Steamship built in 1912 in Dunedin, then dismantled, loaded onto a train and transported to Kingston (on Lake Wakatipu), where it was reassembled and set to work. Originally a cargo ship that spent most of the time moving sheep and cattle around, it is now used for tourism, working a 14 hour day in summer and eleven months each year. It is driven by two steam engines powered by locomotive-type boilers. The engine room has been opened up, with a gantry for tourists to get a close up view of the engines and the mechanics and stokers working below. On the cruise, we learned that Lake Wakatipu is the second longest in NZ, has a depth up to 410 metres, temperature of 12 degrees and curiously the water level rises and falls every few minutes, sometimes by up to 20cm. The early settlers flipped a coin to see which side of the lake each would settle on. William Rees got the Queenstown side (with the gold and consequent boom), whilst Nicholas Von Tunzelman got the area now known as Walter Peak (with snowstorms, stock loss and money troubles). There are streets, buildings and hotels named after Rees in Queenstown, and Cecil Peak and Walter Peak were named after William's son, Cecil Walter Rees. Walter Peak was subsequently owned by the Mackenzie family, who turned it into a thriving sheep farm. We had a "gourmet BBQ lunch" in the Colonel's Homestead, reconstructed after a fire in 1977. It was certainly a feast, as much as you like buffet style with a bewildering array of delicious breads, salads, meat, vegetables and dessert, all washed down with a Queenstown beer! Out of all the cooked meats, the chicken and lamb were extremely tender and tasty, the sausage was also very good. After a very filling lunch, Peter, the farmer, took us round the farm to tell us a bit about sheep farming and the use of dogs. In the past, Peter had been a herdsman on a ship bringing new livestock to New Zealand. They don't do this now; they just ship fertilised ova to be implanted in a sheep. He had two old dogs, Keen the huntaway and Belle the collie, to work the sheep; these were too old to work the mountains, where a handful of shepherds typically work ten dogs each to round up the sheep. The country they work is steep foothills and they use two types of dog; the border collie and the huntaway. The collie works by eye contact, whilst the huntaway barks to "hunt sheep away". The latter is invaluable in steep country herding when flocks disappear from view. Peter demonstrated their use on a flock of sheep, mainly by voice commands, using the dog's name to differentiate. It was fascinating to see the dogs work as they knew what to do without detailed commands. Peter then gave a demonstration of sheep shearing. At Walter Farm they have three species of sheep; the Merino, bred for its wool, and the Romney and Corriedale bred for meat and wool for textiles. Apparently only the wool from a Corriedale sheep in its first year is used for clothing, wool from older sheep is mainly for carpets. Top shearers can manage 400 sheep in an 8-hour day; there was a shearing contest in Invercargill a few weeks ago and the winner did 20 sheep in 18 minutes (judged on both speed and quality). The farm also has Scottish Highland Cattle originating from the Queen's Balmoral herd. There was a (wool) spinning demonstration to watch, then we boarded the Earnslaw for the cruise back to Queenstown where we strolled round the shops before walking back to the apartment.
There was a strong southerly wind blowing this morning and it was quite cold. We had booked a wine tour today of the central Otago wine growing region. This area is known primarily for Pinot Noir due to the cool climate, but some white wines are also made. Our first stop was Amisfield winery (this used to be a sheep farm, with the first vines planted in 1999), where we had our tasting in the sun (it was getting warmer), given by a Scotsman called Jamie, who had a great wine and viticulture knowledge. We started with a gorgeous sparkling wine, followed by a dry reisling, a rose and a Pinot noir. All were delicious and Jamie answered all our questions knowledgeably. We drove along the Gibbston Highway, following the Karawau river, we came upon the famous A J Hackett bungy jump, A J Hackett became famous as the (looney) man who jumped off the Eiffel Tower in 1987 attached to a piece of elastic. We fancied a go at bungy jumping, but our tour guide refused to stop the bus (if you believe that...)! We had a scenic drive down the Karawau Gorge to Bannockburn, where a large number of wineries are situated. Next stop was Carrick for lunch. We had a platter with a selection of meats, salmon, green-lipped mussels, cheese, dips, pickles, spreads and breads, washed down with a premium wine of our selection. It was a lovely place to eat, with a view of the Carrick Range behind the cellar door. A short drive away was Domain Road, a small and relatively new winery with a recently built tasting room with large picture windows giving a marvellous view over one of their vineyards to other wineries in the valley. Again, we sampled some lovely wines, white and red (Pinot Noir is the only red grape currently grown here), and had a good chat with the owner. This area is also the stone-fruit capital of NZ, and on the way back we stopped at Jones's fruit stall, a large building selling a bewildering variety of plums, apricots, peaches, nectarines, peacherines (yes really), etc., as well as vegetables, dried fruit and nuts. The last stop on our route home was Waitiri Creek, a boutique winery with its tasting room in an old Presbyterian chapel. This chapel had been moved in one piece from its original home about 200km away! It sat in lovely grounds bordered by some of the most massive poplars you have seen. The winery is quite small, only producing around 5000 cases a year and they had already run out of their most popular Pinot Noir, so we got to taste the reserve instead. We were quite tired when we got back, so we had an uninspiring meal in the on-site restaurant. It had turned cold again, but the fancy remote control gas fire wouldn't work, and the resort staff couldn't get it going, so we have a small fan heater instead.
Last night was very cold here, temperatures plummeted to lower than three degrees. When we looked outside this morning we could see snow on the top of the distant mountains. It was a clear blue sky and the snow had gone by the afternoon. Although we had been to Arrowtown, there were a few things we hadn't done (and some shopping to do), so we went back for lunch at the Arrowtown Bakery (famous for their pies). We took a short walk by the river, finding the spot where Jack Tewa (known as Maori Jack) found the first gold nugget. It seems that Jack was not interested in gold, and William Rees (the founder of Queenstown) didn't want a gold rush to interfere with the shearing, so he asked Jack to keep it quiet. Eventually, a chap called Fox claimed the honour, and the settlement was originally called Fox Town, before being renamed Arrowtown. We spent ages in the Lakes District Museum there, which is one of the best museums we have seen. It is housed in the original Bank of New Zealand building, which was built to properly keep the gold safe (there is a story that one policeman was guarding gold worth $5m at 2010 value in a tent!). Lots of stories about the area, life there, the people, their struggles and much more. They have a splendid collection of artefacts from those early settlers, including the Chinese and downstairs is taken up with mock-ups of the buildings in town, such as the blacksmith, printers, bakery, schoolroom, and more. Judi bought some jewellery made of silver and Paua shell. The Paua is a large sea mollusc with a pretty blue mottled shell - called abalone elsewhere and ornery in the U.K. We took a diversion on the way back to the Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge to see the bungy jump. Unfortunately it closed just as we got there, so no jumping for us today! There is a really good viewing platform with a bar called "liquid courage", and a set of zip wires for those adventurous souls who can't pluck up the courage to do the jump. The wooden bridge was built to shorten the route to get to the goldfields and was in a state of disrepair when A J Hackett did his bungy jump. The first commercial bungy site was established here by A J Hackett and Henry Van Asch, and the bridge became a conservation site and was restored.
We planned to go to Cromwell today, and this took us past Lake Hayes. It was a beautiful day, clear skies and hardly any wind, so we stopped to admire the view of the hills reflected in the lake. At many of these pretty places you can see bride and groom being photographed and this was no exception. we left Lake Hayes and soon came upon the A J Hackett bungy jump, so we stopped a while to watch the proceedings. You see all sorts on the jump platform, from the confident to the downright scared. One girl was definitely scared and very reluctant. It took the jump master a long time to get her settled enough for the jump and she let out a big scream as she fell. She got a big round of applause from the spectators. We saw one tandem jump - the girl seemed more eager than the boy. On the way to our destinations, we caught a glimpse of the area where "sluicing" was done by miners to wash down alluvial deposits from the hills to extract gold. Several cables were strung across the Kawarau Gorge to Support "bosun's chairs", so the miners could cross the Gorge. We arrived in Old Cromwell in time for lunch, eaten under an umbrella by the river - the sun was too hot to sit in for any length of time. It was a very pretty and peaceful spot, hardly any other tourists around. Cromwell sits on flat land where the rivers Kawarau and Clutha join together and is now in the heart of stone-fruit country. The Clutha and Kawarau rivers were dammed for hydroelectricity, creating Lake Dunstan and raising the river levels. Cromwell's old main street was submerged beneath the new lake, but not before some buildings were moved and others recreated in "Old Cromwell ". It isn't very big, but it is well done and a lovely place to spend an afternoon. On the way back we stopped at Roaring Meg (a name familiar to those of you who know Stevenage). Roaring Meg is the name of a stream that tumbles noisily down the side of the Gorge when in full flow. It's power has been tapped for hydroelectricity, with a dam at the top and a pipe feeding water to the power station below. Since this is our last night in Queenstown and our last night in New Zealand, we walked into town for a meal. We chose the right restaurant as the food was really good, as was the Christchurch pale ale! We had left things a little late and walked back along the lakeside path in the gathering gloom, lit only by moonlight. Tomorrow we fly to Australia!
The travel arrangements today were not good for sightseeing. We had an afternoon flight from Queenstown, which didn't give us enough time to do anything after check out other than admire the scenery for one last time. Queenstown airport is small and friendly, and gives an excellent view of the aircraft as they land and are serviced. With a flight time of three and a half hours, we got to Melbourne fairly late in the day even allowing for the two hour time difference. Our first stop is Ballarat, so we had a one and a half hour drive as well. The drive from the airport in the tail end of rush hour was a complete contrast to the driving we had become accustomed to in New Zealand; too many cars all rushing and barging their way through. The scenery was nothing spectacular to start with - too flat. As we got closer to Ballarat, some of the landscape reminded us of the hilly parts of NZ. The only brush with excitement was a police road block for drug and alcohol testing; they pulled over five cars in front of us and waved the sixth and our car through. They certainly do this seriously and in force, there was a big bus with "police drugs" on the back. Our hotel is a huge let down in every way possible from the one we have just left; no view, small, dark and dingy, minimal facilities, the only exception is the bathroom, which is a little bigger. Tired out after travelling, all we managed to do in the evening was walk to the supermarket for some essentials; we asked where the wine and beer aisle was and were told that there was a "bottle-o" in the corner of the store - oh well, a new language to learn!
There is a bakery 5 minutes walk from our hotel, so we got some really fresh food for breakfast - baked on the premises. Ballarat's major attraction is Sovereign Hill, a living museum depicting life in a gold mining town. Whilst many of the buildings are reconstructed, they are true to the plans and paintings of the town that was there during the gold rush. It covers quite a large area and feels pretty authentic. There are a number of people playing historical parts, dressed and acting as they would have in the past. There are also a good number of tradesmen such as the smithy and the wheelwright who produce items for sale; the wheelwright also restores horse-drawn wagons. One area shows the gold diggings and the conditions and we listened to stalk about the conditions the miners lived under. One area was laid out as a Chinese camp, with a temple, a shop, meeting place and living accommodation. Gold panning could be done on the Creek flowing through the site. There are a few demonstrations throughout the day including trips down the mine, gold pouring and candle making. A wagon drawn by a team of horses gives rides round the town and there is even an old-time bowling alley. At one thirty the redcoats arrived, first marching around the town then firing their muskets (extremely loud!) as a show of force to keep the town in order. There is a display of steam machinery , some working to pump out the mine, powered by a couple of large boilers. Plenty of shops were set up either for show or to sell authentic looking articles. There is so much to see and keep you occupied there that we stayed until closing time and still hadn't experienced it all. After we returned to the hotel, we took a walk into Ballarat town centre. There is a plethora of old buildings there, some with a colonnaded front, others with ornate canopies, but all looking well preserved. The streets are wide, and so far we haven't seen much traffic. This is a long weekend in Australia, as it is Labour Day holiday on Monday, but even so it seems quiet. We had a laugh at one of the street signs, a large red sign saying "wrong way - go back" on the one-way streets. This evening we found a really good wood-fired pizza place for dinner - delicious!
After checking out we went to the Ballarat Begonia Festival, which is held yearly on the long weekend, so we were lucky to see it. They have a greenhouse with displays of enormous begonias of many colours, but the festival is much more than just flowers. It is held in the botanical gardens adjoining lake Wendouree, is free to enter, free park and ride and free tram rides. There are a number of food vendors, entertainment, displays, craft stalls etc. and it is crowded. There is also a parade down the main street on Saturday (we missed that). After a couple of hours there, we left on the route to Warrnambool; the scenery has no comparison to that in New Zealand, being largely flat farm land, and very long, straight roads. We did pass through a couple of areas of bush with warnings of kangaroos, but we didn't see any. We stopped for lunch at a small place called Lismore, the cafe doubled as an antique shop and the ladies running it were very friendly and obliging with our choice of food. We later passed the Camperdown racetrack (not five miles long, only 2km!). Warrnambool is quite a pretty place by the sea with lots of green spaces and our motel is better than the last place. We decided to visit Port Fairy, but it was closed! There was a music festival over this weekend (30,000 people expected) and the town centre was closed to traffic with cars parked in any space they could find. Huge camping areas had been set up. It was impossible to find a parking spot at any reasonable distance from the centre, so we gave up, had a look at the sea and came back to Warrnambool. We thought we would take a look at the maritime village at Flagstaff Hill, but it was closed. Amongst other things, this is the winter home of the Marmaras, dogs that protect the blue penguin colony on a nearby island from predators such as foxes. We went to Warrnambool beach, where we had just missed the Victoria junior surf life saving championship. Lots of competitors from all over Victoria, with many clubs and trailers loaded with surf boards. There were still a lot of junior surfers in the water, but the excitement was over. The long weekend meant that the motel restaurant was closed, but a few places a short walk away were open for dinner. On the way we heard some curious bird song - this was the Australian Magpie, they are quite different from the Eurasian Magpie and their call is very different too. Here is a link if you would like to hear it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYEYc8Ge3nw There were lots of magpies around town, on the rooftops, in the trees, on the traffic lights - all over the place! We saw some at the beach too. Another day without many photos.
A sunny morning in Warrnambool; as it was Labour Day the restaurant was closed so we had to have a pre-ordered breakfast delivered to the room. It was enormous, hot and fresh and set us up for the day. First stop was Tower Hill reserve, where native wild animals roam free inside the extinct volcano cone. We saw emu, wallabies, a koala up a tree and heard more melodious song from the magpies. Despite lots of signs saying don't feed the wildlife, one person thought it fun to feed the emu through the car window so his passengers could get a good picture. The weather had closed in with low grey cloud cover when we joined the Great Ocean Road at Allansford (close to Warrnambool). Our first stop was the Bay of Martyrs near Peterborough. This is the start of the area known as the Bay of Islands (totally different to that in the North Island of NZ), being a series of rocky stacks close to the coast. Not a lot of people were there, but the weather wasn't great. After a couple of coastal stops, next was the Grotto, a large hole in the rock at the bottom of what was a sinkhole and reached by steps. Pretty scenic and again not crowded. Next up - London Bridge, which used to be a pair of arches until one span collapsed in 1990, marooning a couple of people on the new island. They now call it London Arch, but the signs still say London Bridge. Round the corner from this - the Arch., then a lunch stop at Port Campbell before meeting up with all the crowds at Loch Ard Gorge. This is the place where a ship from England was shipwrecked with only two survivors; the story is told in a Sound and light show at Flagstaff Hill in Warrnambool. Since this attraction has a large car park, coaches full of Asian tourists come here so they can spend some time taking selfies and many pictures of each other standing in front of the views. There were even some foolhardy people crossing the barrier to pose on the very edge of the cliff. The next attraction was even more crowded, the Twelve Apostles, although there are only nine now following a storm. Although we did have a spot of drizzle earlier, the sun came out for a while. We watched the helicopters making a packet taking tourists on a scenic view of the Twelve Apostles. Time was passing, so we decided to push on to Apollo Bay. This bit of the Great Ocean Road ought to be renamed the Great Road, because it isn't near the ocean. Instead it winds upwards through the Otway rain forest, and we were soon in the clouds, with fog, mist and drizzle. Eventually it drops down towards Apollo Bay, first passing through the pretty Mount Bay before rounding the point to Apollo Bay, our next stop. The sky had cleared over the sea, but looking back inland we could see ominous low black clouds hugging the tops of the hills; they stayed there fortunately. We rounded off a day of wildlife viewing by seeing a good few galahs around town and a couple of huge manta rays cruising around the harbour.
Woke up to a much better day, clear sunny skies, but with a definite haze. Got some good tips from our host on what to see, so drove back through the Otway Forest and stopped at Mait's Rest, named after Maitland Bryan, the first forest ranger, who used to rest his horse there. This is a pretty little walk through the forest and fern filled gullies. There is a boardwalk that takes you through the prettiest parts, where there are giant ferns spreading their fronds over your head. The dappled sunlight plays on the boardwalk and lends a beautiful light to the gully; it makes you think of dinosaurs! Massive trees fill the rest of the forest, some covered in moss and epiphytes, with large person-sized hollows made by their roots. We then drove to Cape Otway, down that road you can expect to see a few koalas- we didn't spot any on the drive down. What we did see was swathes of dead trees, killed by koalas extensively feeding on them. Cape Otway has the first lighthouse in Australia, significantly reducing the number of shipwrecks in the Bass Straits. We climbed to the top (Judi almost made it the whole way, but the steep ladder at the end was too much); it was very windy on the walkway round the top. There was also a secret radar station there at the time of WW2, helping to spot Japanese submarines. The radar station was linked through a telegraph station close by. We had a talk from an aboriginal descent about their customs and culture, but boy could he talk! We politely left after nearly an hour! Driving back we saw a few cars parked in the verges and groups of people looking at the tree tops. Of course, it was a koala but it was right at the top of the tree, which was very tall, so we only got a view of its behind! When we got back to Apollo Bay, there was low cloud shrouding the hills again, and it stretched down to the harbour.
Great day for a drive today with clear skies and a warm wind - 24 degrees when we set off. This was the second half of the great ocean road and was more like what we had expected, driving along the coast with views of rolling surf, sandy beaches, rocky coves and blue sea. The strong wind was whipping spray off the top of the waves, the sun was reflecting off the sea and it looked beautiful. Stopped at Carisbrook Falls, which entailed an easy climb up a mountain path. Unfortunately the low rainfall meant that it didn't look spectacular - a bit disappointing really. We stopped at Lorne to admire the beach and the vast number of surfers there. There was a van and trailer from a surf school there - don't they learn anything else? We stopped to have a look at Loutit Bay and Airey's Inlet as well as the Split Point lighthouse (34m high). Had a great lunch at a cafe in Anglesey that was celebrating its first birthday. After Anglesey the rest of the journey to Melbourne was quite boring, being mostly the M1 motorway. We have quite a nice apartment on the Southbank, although nowhere near as huge as the one in Queenstown. We had to drop the hire car off and we took a walk back through the city, dropping in on Victoria Market on the way - it was being set up for the evening (Wednesday summer night market) and there were tantalising smells as the food stalls prepared for service. We had to get to the Apple Store before they closed as the charger for Judi's Mac burnt out yesterday, so we couldn't stay. It is pretty hot here, with a temperature of 33 degrees in the shade. In the evening we went to the Meat and Wine Co for dinner - you can guess what we had! It was delicious and we highly recommend this place. Before we ate, we were treated to the gas brigades (fireballs) on the promenade outside the Crown Casino. These fireballs erupt from stone columns on the hour and are very impressive. It was very pleasant walking around at night in the 28 degree heat! Rain is forecast for most of the day tomorrow, so it will be a little cooler.
Well, it wasn't a rainy day after all. There was rain in the early morning, but it had stopped when we went out, leaving a cloudy day. The city transport system has a number of trams and rides in the central city area are free. We took one of these to the Victoria Market and had a good look around. It seems you can buy most things here and vendors of similar products are grouped together. There is an area for fruit and veg, with a separate bit for organic produce. Meat and fish are in their own hall, and deli, bakers, take away, etc. are in another. All the produce looks really good and fresh. You could spit all day looking round the market, it's so big. Took the tram back to Federation Square for a look around. There is an Atrium which was set up for a beer tasting; it was just trade only but would be open for the public later (at great expense!). There is a city circle tram (free) that tours the perimeter of the city with a commentary on the sights; we took this but Judi fell asleep for almost the whole journey! The skies had cleared and the sun was out. We walked through the city to do a spot of shopping, walked through the Chinese quarter, saw some street art (which was not a patch on Christchurch, looking more like graffiti). We finished with a visit to the Skydeck on the 88th floor of the Eureka building (thanks for the tip Pat!), and watched the sun go down. The view is terrific and although we could see for miles, some haziness prevented a long distance view. The Skydeck has as an optional extra, "the edge", which is a glass cube that slides out from the side of the building - not good for those afraid of heights! We walked along the Southbank, both before and after dinner, seeing the gas brigades close up this time. The F1 circus is ramping up, tonight we saw the merchandising tents being put up on the promenade; there is even a Michael Schumacher branded products tent. We have decided that we like Melbourne!
A lazy day today. We did a bit of shopping in Melbourne in the morning, and being Paddy's Day, there were quite a few street musicians/bands playing here and there. One band was performing in front of the largest H&M store you have ever seen. It is housed in the old GPO building along with a number of eateries; there is also a new H&M building alongside. The horse and carriage rides were also out in force. Several pubs and eateries had Paddy's Day events. We caught a tram to St Kilda to meet our friends (and neighbours) Debbie and John whose holiday meets up with ours for a few days. St Kilda used to be a bad area full of prostitution and drug problems, but has been cleaned up a lot and is a nice seaside getaway from Melbourne. We heard that the problems had not all gone away and were advised to watch our valuables. In fact, whilst we were having cake and a drink (one Road is famous for cake shops), a disreputable character leant on a bollard right next to our roadside table looking for a chance. He was there as long as we were, and when we got up, he moved off to follow us! We saw more dodgy behaviour near an ATM as well. St Kilda has lovely beaches and today had a strong wind blowing that was ideal for the many kite surfers in the bay. We watched them powering through the waves and leaping high into the air. The pier there is 1km long and at the end of it is a breakwater that is home to a colony of little fairy penguins who nest there overnight. We saw one penguin nestled amongst the rocks in daytime; it could have been hatching an egg, but mid March is rather late for that. There are over 1200 penguins in the colony, most are protected from the public by a fence and with good reason. Most don't read the signs and we saw people clambering over the rocks to find them. You can also bet that some will use flash at night as well. We passed Albert Park on the tram, but didn't have time today to visit; you could see that preparations for the opening race in the F1 season are well advanced. Supping a beer over dinner (the rather tasty James Squire 150 Lashes Pale Ale), we noticed an interesting story. James Squire was the colonies first brewer and he was tried for stealing the ingredients to make his beer. As punishment, the judge ordered 150 lashes, as well as two barrels of Ale! He was a far better brewer than a thief!
Judi is part of a community on Flickr, an internet photo sharing site. There is a group that regularly meets in and around Melbourne, and they had arranged a meeting to coincide with our visit. We were picked up at our apartment at 8am by Lisa, accompanied by Jenny, and were driven to the Dandenong Ranges. The meeting place was the Piggery cafe, next door to the Alfred Nicholas memorial gardens. True to its name, there is a small piggery there, with two piglets - bubble and squeak. We saw our first close-up kookaburra here, sitting on the barbecue grill. Apparently he was a regular (one of two) and had been enticed by a tasty piece of sausage. After exchanging greetings with everyone else as they arrived, we sat down to breakfast before walking next door to the gardens to take photos. Alfred Nicholas formulated and patented the aspro painkiller, and set up the garden as part of his estate, Burnham Beeches. The garden has several interlinked paths winding down the valley under a canopy of immense Mountain Ash trees and large ferns. These trees are not the European Rowan, but are a variety of eucalyptus that grows over 80 metres tall - the second tallest tree species in the world. We heard kookaburras laughing at us as we entered the garden and started our descent towards the lake and saw a couple of Rosellas (parrots) flying around. It has been quite dry, so the waterfalls we passed were not spectacular, but with hardly any breeze, the lake was like a mirror reflecting the boat house perfectly. The ornamental bridges across the lake were quite pretty, but being early autumn, there wasn't a lot of colour around other than green, which frustrated some of the photographers. We climbed back up several steps (the equivalent of climbing 27 floors!) to the Piggery Cafe for lunch, followed by group photos and a farewell to the the other photographers. Lisa and Jenny took us to Sassafras, a short distance away, which is a pretty hamlet with a variety of shops and tea houses. So time for a little shopping (and exchange of gifts) and a last minute cup of tea before being driven back to our apartment.
Today was hot and humid, with the temperature climbing rapidly to 33 degrees with high humidity. We loaded up our MyKi cards and took a couple of trams to Albert Park to see the F1 track. Although we couldn't get into the pit lane, we walked alongside it watching the lorries deliver the containers of equipment to the pits. There were numerous Ferrari containers and Williams and Mercedes loads were being delivered. The number one pit had Hamilton and Bottas' names displayed of course; there was a lot of activity there and around the track. Cables were being laid and the giant TV screens were in place. The safety car was being unloaded too. Public cars were still using part of the track, but there were diversions in place preventing use of the full track. We walked half of the track, it was very hot and humid, so slow going; we then caught a tram to St Kilda for a spot of lunch, some shopping and some sightseeing. A few aging bikers roared up noisily as we got there, and there was a bit of excitement with a police car apparently stopping a tram. There was a Sunday market on the Esplanade, and Luna Park was open with the attractions in full swing. A sign outside said it was designed by the people who built Coney Island attractions in the USA, and it is the only example of a rollercoaster with a brakeman. With it being a gloriously hot Sunday, the beach was packed, as was the grassy area behind it. There was a group of drummers playing on the walkway; very loud and accomplished. We walked to the pier and watched the kite surfers again. In the distance were several parascenders very high up in the air. The breeze didn't seem strong enough for either of those activities. Another tram took us to the shrine of remembrance, which was originally dedicated to the Australian servicemen who died in WW1. An eternal flame and WW2 memorial were dedicated by the Queen in 1954. The shrine has a marble stone of remembrance with the words "Greater love hath no man" engraved upon it. The design is such that at 11am on 11th November, the sun shines through an aperture in the roof and illuminates the word "love". We finished the day with a walk through the Botanical Gardens, which are quite lovely even though early autumn means not a lot is in flower. For our last evening meal in Melbourne, we went to the Meat and Wine Company to have our tastebuds tittilated again. Packing tonight for a midday flight to Sydney tomorrow.
It was raining in Melbourne this morning as we took a taxi to the airport. We were flying Virgin Australia and we have never seen such a disorganised bag drop! We did the self check in and put the tags on the bags then joined a slow moving queue to get to the check in desks. The speed wasn't helped by a speedy queue for those who had turned up late, or were stuck in the bag drop queue when their flight was called. We had a 45 minute wait until we were seen, and there didn't seem to be any point to the self check in because it was such a lengthy process. It was good weather for the takeoff but a bumpy flight in places. We caught the train into town; the station is a four minute walk from where we are staying. Sydney was dry and warm, they have had so much rain this month with more due this week (let's hope it's not too much). We are close to the harbour, the Sydney harbour bridge and the Opera house. We took a walk to the Opera house, stopping for a bite to eat on the way and to get our Opal travel cards. After wandering around the Opera house and Circular Quay, we went to the Shangri La hotel, 36th floor Blu Bar, where we got seats by the window with a marvellous view overlooking the bridge, Opera house, and Harbour. We had a delicious cocktail, Tropical Paradise, consisting of vodka, mango, coconut and passion fruit - yummy! Just before 9 pm there was a ten minute fireworks display just beyond the Opera house; we had a great view!
Bayview was our ultimate destination today. Judi's school friend and Androulla and her husband Sean live there and had arranged to meet us at Manly ferry terminal. Despite an overcast start, the sun came out as we walked to Manly beach. Sean drove us to the North Heads for a great view of the Sydney skyline, then we drove up the coast with views of many pretty beaches such as Dee Why, Narrabeen and Mona Vale. We drove up the peninsula to Palm Beach and Station Beach where Home and Away is filmed; they were filming on the beach as we arrived. We ate lunch in the Boathouse on Palm Beach, chatting and drinking beer in the hot sunshine. Afterward we went to Sean and Androulla's house in Bayview, where we met Stan, their pug cross dog - quite a character. While we were chatting outside, the sun disappeared, dark clouds rolled in and it started to rain fairly heavily. After a while the rain stopped, but started again as a thunderstorm got nearer. This time there was a really heavy downpour; from their house you can see the other side of the bay, but the rain was so intense that the view was entirely blocked out for quite a long time. This was the first really heavy rain of our holiday so far, and boy did it make up for it - must have been several centimetres. After a really great day, Sean drove us back to our apartment in Sydney, over the Harbour Bridge, so we got a close up view of it.
With a glorious sunny morning, we did some more exploring Sydney. We wandered around "the Rocks", which is the site of the first European colony in Australia. Of course it was known as the place where all the convicts arrived, and they had an outbreak of bubonic plague as recently as 1900. Despite the threat of demolition, many buildings have been restored, and this area has a number of cobbled lanes to wander down, with many shops and restaurants. Sydney's oldest pub, The Fortune of War, dating from 1828, is in the Rocks. Afterwards, we went to the Strand Arcade, which is a Victorian style arcade, with three levels of shops. There are some very interesting shops here, such as the one selling a variety of locally made spice mixtures from various countries, and the cobbler who makes a variety of leather goods as well as innovative leather shoes. We walked to Darling Harbour, which has a variety of good restaurants as well as ticket sales for attractions that you need to catch a ferry to. The sky was darkening by this time with distant lighting flashes and rumbles of thunder, so we quickly made our way to the Queen Victoria Building, which was built in the late 19th century to house a market place. Today it is a shopping centre with a number of items of interest. There are two large clocks suspended from the ceiling; the Australian clock and the Royal clock. The Royal clock activates on the hour showing animated scenes from English history including the battle of Hastings and the beheading of Charles I. The Australian clock displays scenes from Australian and aboriginal history and shows the date, day, hour and minute on rotating rings, the hour and minute also shown on a regular clock face. Near the central dome is displayed a sealed letter from Queen Elizabeth II to be opened in 2085 by the mayor and read to the people of Sydney. By this time, it was raining heavily, although with signs of abating, so we returned to our hotel where we met an ex-colleague of Andy's from MASS - David Owen, who now lives in Sydney. After a few beers with David and a good chat, we found a Meat and Wine Co restaurant and did what would be expected of us!
We took a chance with the weather today, caught the Manly ferry and got picked up by our friends for a day in the Blue Mountains. Although cloudy, it looked like it may clear up - after all the forecast was wrong yesterday morning. As we got closer to the Blue Mountains, the skies turned grey and it started to rain. Our first stop was the Wentworth Falls, where all we could see was fog. We stopped in Leura for lunch (saw some colourful parrots) and then in Katoomba at Echo Point, where we could just glimpse the outlines of the three sisters through the rain, mist and fog. Further along, we halfheartedly stopped at the Katoomba falls before deciding to give up and go for a drink at the Hydro Majestic Hotel in Medlow Bath. This used to be the spa hotel visited by Sydney gentry in the past and has been recently renovated. We caught a glimpse of the mountains through a gap in the fog. If you want to see what we missed, just google "blue mountains" and look at the images! Calling the day a washout, we went back to our friends' house for some supper before being driven back to our hotel.
We had a bit of relaxation this morning, with a late start. It was raining again as we headed for the botanical gardens, and there were on and off showers until late afternoon. The botanical gardens are really nice, with a lot of bird life. There were a lot of cockatoos in one particular tree, and also on the ground and on people under the tree. Several ibis were strutting on the grass, and mynah birds were all over the place. We saw eels and fish in the pond, with a board saying they drain and clean the pond regularly, but the eels always reappear; young Ella had been spotted wriggling their way to the pond from the harbour! In one part of the gardens, scary looking spiders had built webs in the trees and spanning the space overhead. We walked down to Hyde Park and saw a contingent of police on horseback riding up the road. After a bite to eat at the Queen Victoria Building, we met our friends and walked back to our hotel. On the way we stopped at the Marble Bar under the Hilton Hotel. As its name suggests, the room is clad in marble and has been left in its original glory when the Hilton was built. The Chinese premier arrived in Sydney today, and there was a large police presence, including the police horses we saw earlier, to protect his hotel and the meeting place. The roads were lined with welcoming Chinese, with a few low-key protesters kept out of the way. Chinese dancers were also performing. Being a Friday night, we found it difficult to get into the good restaurants and wandered around a bit before finding one that suited. With only two days of our holiday left and the unusually wet March, we are keeping our fingers crossed for fine dry weather!
After a bit of shopping in the Rocks, including a look round the Saturday market, we walked to Circular Quay. Sitting at the dock was an immense passenger liner, the Celebrity Solstice (1041 ft long, 2850 passengers); it dwarfed all the boats in the harbour as well as the International Passenger Terminal building. We caught a ferry to Watsons Bay; this is where the famous Doyle's seafood restaurant sits right by the beach. We didn't eat there, preferring a salad at a Greek restaurant instead. Watsons Bay is part of Sydney harbour, but a few hundred yards away are cliffs overlooking the Tasman Sea. This rugged part of the coast is called The Gap, and has been the scene of many suicides and is well fenced off. Whilst we were enjoying the various lookout points, we noticed people at the edge of the rocks to the south of us (maybe 600 yards away), and a couple of police cars, lights flashing, nearby. As we descended from the lookouts, more police arrived to search on our side of the cliffs, possibly alerted by reports of people on the edge. Next we took a bus to Bondi Beach, just because it is famous and has to be done. The sun had totally disappeared by the time we got there, but there were still a lot of people on the beach and in the water. The surf rescue team was out in a boat rescuing people - we saw them pull three girls into the boat and ferry them to shore. There was a group of youngsters learning to surf in the shallows, beaming smiles of triumph when they succeeded in riding the board a few feet. At one end of the beach is a skateboard park; we spent some time watching the advanced skateboarders doing amazing things in what seemed to be a drained swimming pool. We rode a crowded bus back to the city and walked round Hyde Park, taking a look at the ANZAC memorial and reflecting pool, then a look at St Mary's Cathedral (there was a service taking place, so we didn't stay). We walked towards the Town Hall and as we got nearer we noticed police on horseback, police motorcyclists, riot squad cars, and a lot of noise! The Chinese premier was about to leave the Town Hall and the roads were lined with Chinese well-wishers with flags an messages of welcome. There was a group of protesters chanting to the beat of a drum, protesting the continued Chinese occupation of Tibet (since 1950!). It seemed that the premier left via the back door, so wouldn't have seen any of this. While we had a brief shower as we were walking about, it was a dry and pleasantly warm night, so we ate al fresco overlooking Circular Quay and the now deserted International Passenger Terminal.
Hurray! A sunny day in Sydney with no rain! We had planned to go to the Hunter Valley with our friends today, so the good weather was a bonus. Another cruise liner was in the harbour today, the Voyager of the Seas. This ship looked smaller than the one docked yesterday, but it is only 20ft shorter and carries 288 more passengers (and didn't look as smart or impressive). We went by ferry to Manly again to meet our friends, and were driven north to the Hunter Valley through some lovely scenery, including a cow and a calf taking a cool bath in a pond. First stop was Wollombi for a drink and a look round a local shop. The road is a bikers trail and the pub had a long line of motorcycles outside. The first stop charged for wine tasting, so we drove across the road to the Hunter Resort, where Lisa McGuigan wines were on offer. We had a great tasting experience (no charge) with whatever we liked from their extensive list, and had quite a laugh with the server, who introduced us to some new wine experiences; Hunter Valley is home to great Semillon wines, and we tried that and a number of other varietals. One surprise was a sweet moscato, tasty on its own, but with a whole new experience when a dash of lime juice was added. The dessert wine was a muscat - Christmas pudding in a glass! We were all impressed and bought a few bottles. We found a couple of places that charged for tasting, including one that made chocolate - yummy tastings! We went to the Audrey Wilkinson vineyard, where there was also a charge, but the views were magnificent. Final winery of the day was McGuigan (free tastings), yes we were at Lisa McGuigan's winery earlier, but this one is owned by her father Brian. Somewhat surprisingly, we all preferred Lisa's wines. Being hungry, we stopped at the Ourimbah RSL (Returned Services League) for dinner. The RSL is like the British Legion clubs, they have good food and drinks at quite low prices and visitors are welcomed free (just show your driving license). There was one on Bondi Beach that we noticed yesterday. This being our last night in Sydney and the last day of our fantastic holiday, we said goodbye to our friends, but hope to see them when they come to the UK in September.
It's the end of our wonderful holiday and time to travel home, hang about airports and get confused with the time again! Judi's back went again this morning, but didn't seem too bad after breakfast. Left Sydney in glorious sunshine - looks like we will miss a spell of good weather. Got to Sydney airport in good time but found the check-in desks didn't open for one and a half hours! We used the Qantas lounge, fairly big and well stocked. Our flight left more or less on time and got to Hong Kong early - but Judi's back didn't hold up and she was in agony getting off the plane. It didn't help that the walk from the arrival gate to our departure gate was very long - it's about 1.5km, helped by the travelators but still took half an hour! The Cathay Pacific lounge is very good, but the layout is a little odd and we missed out on the noodle bar! The flight to Heathrow left on time, and got in early - we were one of the first planes to land just after 6am. This meant a speedy passage through passport control and our bags came off really quickly. Home by 7:30 - it feels like we've been away for much longer that two months.