Home -Nothing Changes!

We arrived home on 16th January 2008. It's now 20th March and we are all doing what we were doing before we left i.e Lucy is at the hospital, I am at JPM, and the children are at school. It seems very tame after all the adventures that we have had. Still we will see what happens!
We have to catch up with the blog as we have been to OZ and SE Asia since last we wrote.

July 2007 Wanaka

June drifted into July we are still skiing almost daily but in the back of our minds is that we don’t have long before we are on the move again.

It is quite sad really, we have got used to living here and just staring to meet people and feel settled and we have to pack our bags and move on. We won’t miss the freezing mornings with ice on the inside of the windows, where getting up is difficult as it is icy out of bed and you know the loo seat is going to be freezing! Not being able to do the washing for days on end as the pipes into the back of the washing machine are frozen solid, and being cloaked in a blanket of dense fog for days on end.

However the thick frosty mornings are really pretty, the log burner is brilliant once it warms up and it’s all worth while when the fog clears and the sky is brilliant blue and who wants to do the washing anyway?

We had an outing last week to Nasby. A small town about 2 hours away from here. They have an outdoor ice rink and an indoor Curling rink, and never having done Curling before we suggested to Peter (flight instructor) and his family that we give it a whirl. The journey there was an experience as we ran into a bad patch of ‘black ice’ Peter skidded and hit the bank, Greg swerved and managed o get past him without touching him but his daughter Jamie ran straight into the side of Peters car and now there is a huge dent in the front door, no glass in the door, smashed lights and bent dashboard! Fortunately no one was hurt, just a bit shaken. I ran up the hill to flag down a truck which we knew wasn’t far behind us before it came sliding down the hill and wiped us all out!!!

We decided to continue with the planned excursion which was great fun. The ice rink was small but empty. They had some metal chairs that the children sat on and we pushed them around the ice. Some hockey sticks which we all played chair hockey with and a great time and lots of laughter was had by all.

Next we had a go at Curling. After putting rubber soled overshoes on we had to push 20kg granite stones down the ice and try and get them to stop n a circle at the other end of the rink. Nice block of granite but apart from that Alistair & I thought it was rather like watching paint dry in a fridge! Greg enjoyed it and I have suggested that he join a bowls cub when we get home! Rowena was actually quite good and managed to get her stone in the correct place.

It’s Rowena’s birthday soon. She is very excited about it and has told almost everyone in Wanaka, we are now on a ‘count down’ which started at 43 days and is now down to 4!!

THE birthday dawned and after a best wishes announcement on the radio, (just to make sure that all of Wanaka knew it was her birthday) we headed once again to the slopes. Rowena and Alistair had decided to try snowboarding for her birthday, so Greg & I decided to have a refresher lesson. 15 mins. Into the lesson I noticed that there was a message to contact Ski Patrol about the children. I skied down the mountain at the speed of light, my best run so far, to find Alistair tucked up at the first aid post as he had been feeling ‘sick’!!!! Made a miraculous recovery once I got there I might add!!!

By the afternoon he was back to normal and while Rowena used his snowboard lesson I had my ski lesson.

All too soon it was time to pack up our things, ship off the excess to UK , say goodbye to all the fab people we had met over the last few months and head off to Christchurch.

We travelled up to Blenheim to visit the WWI fighter pilot museum and then down to Kaikora and took a helicopter trip out to see the Sperm whales out to sea.

Amazing creatures, then dive to 2000m and stay for up to 40mins and then surface and stay for 10mins before repeating the process.

Once backing Christchurch we stayed the night with Will, Julie and family, thanks very much, lovely dinner and comfy bed…Keep in touch

And then to Australia…..

June 2007 - Still in Wanaka

We have settled in well, spread ourselves around and getting used to all the space..

Most of the time we have been in Wanaka I have spent everyday walking from the bank to the police station to try and sort out our van sale!

The business cheque I was given in Auckland bounced! After ‘phoning the chap daily and despite assurances from him that he will pay the money in, none was forthcoming. Therefore I went to see the police, never even been inside a police station let alone have to give a statement etc, it took another couple of weeks and the threat of a visit from the Auckland police, but eventually all the money has been paid- Thank goodness, otherwise we would have been coming home sooner than planned!

June is much the same as May really, very slowly we are meeting people, Greg’s instructor invited us to Sunday dinner when we met him and his wife in ‘New World’ supermarket. We spent a really lovely evening with them and were fed with a huge joint of roast pork. They only live up the hill from us so we walked there and back under a clear starry sky.

One afternoon the children and I went to an open air pool complex, heated to 33oC, I sat in a nice warm pool for a couple of hours reading my book and they spent the time playing catch and chase; we were the only ones there.

We have met an American family who are now living in NZ and spending the winter in Wanaka, they home school and have 2 girls 6&9. We have seen them a few times and Rowena seems much happier having a friend.

Still travelling here, there and everywhere for Alistair’s rugby games, Greg says he needs to get ‘Stuck in more!’ but he is enjoying himself at the moment and if in the future he doesn’t get stuck in then he will learn.

The days are getting progressively colder and the mornings frostier, we have log burner on all day, I try to keep it going overnight but have only been successful twice.

21^st June- shortest day, mid winter, SNOW…..

It started at 11.30 and by lunch time we had 3.5cm, that afternoon 11cm and by bedtime 12cm. (Thank you Alistair)

I had to work out how to put our snow chains on… okay what I really did was flutter my eyelashes, play the dim female and ask a bloke that was walking by to help!!

Once we got home the children wanted to try out their skis, so they put them on and skied up and down the road for an hour or so. It was lovely, lots of glittery snow, it was almost dark by the time we managed to haul them inside.

Just settling down to have our ‘upside-down plum cake and ice cream’ for desert and we had a power cut! Did we know where the torch was?- No! Did we have any candles? No, actually wait a minute we have some to keep to mosquitoes and sand flies away, they were fine…!!

This morning the snow is starting to melt, but another fall is forecast.

Cardrona ski resort hasn’t opened, inspite of all the snow we had, hardly any fell on the mountain. So opening day was postponed.

Still we did quite a bit of school work, trying to get in credit for when we eventually get to go skiing.

I took the children to the climbing wall for an afternoon of fun, I had a coffee! They spent the time scaling one wall after another. They have a Clip’n’ Climb session, where they put on a harness, are shown how to clip on to an automatic belay and off the go. They love it. Alistair spent most of the time speed climbing up one wall trying to beat either himself or the clock, Rowena climbed the wall in the dark, with only a small UV light to guide her.

Eventually yesterday Cardrona opened, the children and I got up at the crack of dawn and drove the 45 mins to the ski field. We found where they were going to meet for their lessons and I was told to go away! No parents were allowed in! So I wandered around like a spare part for an hour until my lesson started.

Now bearing in mind that I haven’t skied since before I had Alistair and then only 3 times I was very impressed with myself! I joined the beginners’ class but was told that I was too good and needed to go up one!!!

By the afternoon it was starting to come back to me and by the end of the day I could get down from the top of the mountain quite respectably.

Alistair and Rowena are doing snow plough turns and really enjoying it, Alistair says that skiing has risen to 2^nd place on the leader board of his favourite sports- guess what is first! They can’t wait to go again.

Next Day Raining all day in Wanaka, Snowing in Cardrona with high winds, Cardrona CLOSED. What a disappointment.

Cardrona opened the next day again and has been open to some degree since, still hoping for a good snow dump as the snow is getting a bit thin here and there.

Good snow, 25cm in 24 hours on the mountain now all open and we are skiing every day, getting better daily…

We are skiing almost every day, Alistair & I have streaming colds so we took a day off and sat by the fire learning about scale. He is much better at Maths than I am, what takes me minutes to work out he does in seconds.

All the Cardrona runs are now open and so long as you avoid the weekends then the slopes are not that busy. The school holidays end 14^th July so it will be even quieter.

I have started baking bread, without my bread machine, it’s so easy and really nice, much better than the horrid stuff they have here. Just like Mothers Pride!

Sorry- We are still alive!

Just a quick message to apologise for not publishng the blog! Believe or not I have been very busy!! Anyway, hope you enjoy the posts below!

May 2007- Wanaka

What to do? Knowing that we have 3 months here and probably not going to see much of Greg or if we do, we won’t talk to us because his head is buried in a book studying g.k.w about aeroplanes….we need to find some things to do.
After discussing it with the children we decided to see if we could get them into the local school for a few weeks, not because I don’t think I am doing a great job, but just they can meet some other children.
So off to the localest school, no room, try the main primary school. After talking to the head she said that they would need a study visa, immigration dept wanted $120 each and it would take a few weeks… we only wanted to send them for a few weeks..!! So no go!!
Next place to meet children, after school clubs??

This has proved more successful, Alistair & Rowena have started Karate, Rowena joined the Gymnastics class, a bit basic but she enjoys it, and importantly will get some badges, she already has a T-shirt! After a couple of weeks the teacher asked her if she would like to stay for the next class which is the display class, they do routines and perform them periodically. You can guess what she said! After the first class she was doing cartwheels, handstands, flips on to or rather off the trampoline, and had a wide grin!!
Alistair has decided that he has gone off football and prefers rugby! I wonder who, if anyone has influenced this change of heart?
After talking about the fact that just because he goes training will not automatically mean he will get on the team, he returned from the first training session to tell me he had a game on Saturday!
So we duly trooped off to the rugby ground and watched him tear around the pitch, his first ever game, he touched to ball once, but he enjoyed himself. Since then we have travelled to Queenstown to watch him play surrounded by snow covered hills and then this weekend we attended a 7’s tournament in Alexandra, another trip of 80km to watch under an inversion fog (for those who don’t know what it is- look it up!!! That’s what my father would say!) Just as they almost finished the fog cleared and the sun beat down on us.
We have joined the library and the librarian is very nice and lets the children use the internet for free to do some schoolwork so they won’t have to sit in the garage to do it! The garage being the only place that the internet will work as we are down a dip below some terraces left by the retreating glaciers!
When we were there this week, Rowena got asked if she would like to help with the under 5’s story and craft group so from next week she is going to. She is looking forward to it immensely.

The weather is lovely here, even if it is freezing in the morning it clears up by 10’ish and the rest of the day is clear and sunny, we are doing lessons outside on the deck and got quite red noses the other day. We had rain the other night and in the morning the mountains around Lake Wanaka looked as if someone had been out with a sieve and some icing sugar! Most of it has melted now but the higher mountains are still covered.

We have signed up for ski passes in preparation for the season which starts on 26th June!!
We had a huge pile of firewood delivered and the children and I spent a backbreaking afternoon stacking the logs beside the garage and sorting out suitable kindling. Greg was far too busy studying to help….!!?

There aren’t a huge number of places to walk here as most of the land in private, however we have found a few walks to go on. We left home mid morning with the intention of climbing Roy’s Peak, a mountain which lies on the edge of Lake Wanaka. It was freezing at home and we were dressed accordingly, once at the foot of the mountain the temperature had risen several degrees and we were over dressed! Anyway we decided to carry on up. The path started almost vertical for 3/4of hour then flattened slightly, however after a further hour of climbing we were still 2 hours from the top and it was just too hard! (I have never given up before…!!) By the time we got back to the car our knees were knocking and shaking together, I am glad we didn’t get all the way to the top… Greg is talking about having another go, I think not!

We have had the warmest May since records began and it has been lovely.
Greg went solo in May and now has clocked up several hours and is doing false landings and circuits. Gaining confidence daily. He now has 3/6 exams under his belt he says they are the easy ones.

The children discovered some bike jumps near here and Rowena in particular is getting more confident with her jumping, one of her wheels actually leaves the ground. Alistair is much more cautious.

And so we move into June.

April 22nd – 29th

We left Christchurch and travelled up the East coast, stopped in a little site near Blenheim for the night. The following day up to Picton and caught the afternoon ferry to Wellington. Calm crossing watched 2 films on the way, Rowena wondered why the films were always about “loving”….
We arrived in Wellington at 5.30pm and drove to the Te Papa Museum car park, there is something nice about revisiting places as you know where to go.
It was just getting dark, Rowena suggested going to play 10 pin bowling, so off we went it passed some time. When we got back to the van we realised that the house battery was dead so we had to go for a drive to recharge it. I wasn’t feeling very comfortable about staying at the carpark as it is in the middle of town and I felt rather venerable. Anyway there is no where else to stay in Wellington so it had to do, 2 other vans arrived during the evening so I felt a bit better, I still didn’t go to sleep until after midnight!
The following day someone told me that a few days before some local thugs had poured solvent on the tyres of a van there and set light to them…..!!!! SO pleased thay I foundout after we had stayed!!
Along the West coast, familiar route to Turakina beach (piano beach of Jan) stayed at the same campsite (only ones there but I was fine with that) Then on further north, stayed in a park over property belonging to a chap who was blind but used to make Western saddles and run the local Rodeo!
Then further towards Auckland staying at some hot springs where the children spent ages on the hot water slides and I sat in the hot pools reading my SE Asia guide book.
Last night in the van- Spent packing things up, eating the last bits & pieces and final sleep.
Took Van back to RV Motors collected our cheque and got a taxi to the airport.
Good flight to Queenstown took 1hr50 mins. Greg met us at the airport and we drove back to Wanaka.
Thus endeth a chapter…….!!!! What’s next…..???

April 16th – 22nd – Departure of Harry and Mum

The children and I left Wanaka and travelled sedately to Christchurch, booked into the campsite did some shopping for supplies and awaited the gathering of the clan.
Greg and Harry arrived late afternoon and then we went to collect Betty & John from the airport.
They had had an enjoyable time but it had been so hot!
Had an early start on the Monday morning, Betty & John decided to stay in Christchurch and have a potter around and we took Harry to Hanmer Springs for a day of relaxation and soaking! It was a bit cooler than when we went last as we left Christchurch but by the time we arrived there it was pleasant enough to sit around by the waters edge while the children spent about 3 hours going up & down the slides. They had a great time and resembled prunes when they got out!
Returned to Ch-ch as it was the final night, so checked that all the bags were ready and went out for a farewell dinner.

Leaving day- A,R & I took the car back to the rental agency and Greg took the others to the airport, with plenty of time to spare. When we got there everyone was rushing around in a panic as they had bought the flight time forward by 2 hours! Good job Greg is so cautious and arrives early. It meant, though that we had hardly anytime to say goodbye and they were gone….
We sat at the airport for a while and had a cry and then got on with it!
The first thing we had to do was get the windscreen sorted out as we had collected lots of stone chips in the last few months, some rather large ones, also the brakes had been getting increasingly worst, so off to the garage. Windscreen no problem, booked it in for a few days hence, the brakes- well.. The cylinders had blown and the chap said that really he wouldn’t drive it anywhere as it was too dangerous. They would need to keep it overnight as it required striping down, as we didn’t fancy staying in a garage for the night we retired to a local hotel, and were treated to a slap up breakfast the next day.
Come Saturday 21st Greg & Alistair went to a Ruby match between the Hurricanes and Crusaders. Rowena & I went to see a film- Mr Bean, she liked it, I thought it was dreadful!

The next morning it was another parting of the ways, this time, Greg to Wanaka and us to Auckland to return the van.

Blog missed from March!!

Aspiring and beyond!!

Sitting in Wanaka with Mount Aspiring National Park in the distance beckoning, I suggested to Greg that we do an overnight walk to Aspiring hut and stay overnight and then, for Alistair and I to go on the following day to another hut and stay, to return 2 days later.
We checked out at the Dept. of Conservation office where we could go and were given two options. From Aspiring hut you can walk further up the valley and then choose whether to go up one vertical side of the mountain to Liverpool hut or the other vertical side to French Ridge. Both were about 2 kms up but the climb to French Ridge would take 3-4 hours as it was 1000m above, the other to Liverpool hut (a tin shed) would only take 2 hours.
On balance French Ridge sounded the best as the hut was much better and there was a warden there and a radio.
We got packed and away we went. The walk to Aspiring was along a wide valley floor which climbed steadily all the way, not steep but constant. The Matukituki River ribbons down the valley, with lots of pebbles along the bank and in the middle and the river constantly splits. Grassy meadows on either side of the river.
After about 2 hours we arrived at Aspiring hut and sorted out ourselves a bunk, there was
huge kitchen and seating area with gas stoves and running water. After dinner we went to
bed after speaking to some of the other people about the best place to go.
Early next morning we got ready to move on, there were 2 other women also going to
French Ridge so we all set out at the same sort of time.
Greg & Rowena went the other way.. with the arrangement that we would either see them
at the road end the next evening or, if for any reason we couldn’t get to the hut then we
would see them at about lunchtime.
The walk followed the valley along the river crossing at some quite hairy swing bridges,
the river is a lovely blue colour because of the very fine particles that have washed out
from the glacier.
We followed the path through beech forest and across wide flat meadows with Ragwort
in it and waterfalls falling down the side of the mountains, the further up the valley we
went the more glaciers we could see hanging from the mountain tops.
At the place we had to decide whether to carry on up or not we stopped and looked at the
weather.The mist was rolling in over the mountain tops, the wind was really high and to
top it all it started to rain! We, the other 2 women as well , decided to stop and wait for a
while because when we got out of the bush line wewould be really exposed and if it was
very windy I didn’t really want to be up there with Alistair with a heavy pack.
Although it stopped raining the wind was still high so we regrettably decided not to go
up. Alistair was devastated and so upset! Instead of going straight back to Aspiring hut
we decided to walk on to Scott’s Bivvy which was a further 2.5 km further up he valley.
It was a really hard walk, we left one pack at the path junction and I just took mine with
our lunch and wet weather gear.
The path climbed up out of the tree line and on to scree along by the river. Fantastic
views with mountains all around us didn’t seem that far to Mt Aspiring with all the snow
on it.
We had to cross a particularly high swing bridge with just a floorboard plank to walk on!
We eventually turned back as we had a long walk back to Aspiring Hut. Picked up the
other pack, very relieved to find that someone hadn’t ‘borrowed’ it, and headed back the
way we had come. Typically the weather had changed and it was now crystal clear up
towards French Ridge with blue sky and little wind.. Oh well we will have to do it
another day…
I was so pleased to see the hut, as we had been walking from 8.30 and it was now 6.30!
Alistair ran the last bit back so as to be the first there, I didn’t have the energy to assure
him that there was no way that I was going to get there fast!
Stayed the night at Aspiring and then walked down to the car park the next morning to
meet Greg and Rowena, who were just setting off to go up to Rob Roy Glacier. Never
one to say “No” we went with them.
Rob Roy Glacier was up in a steep valley it took 2 hours of continually up to get there but
was lovely. It hung, all around us, and water poured off the edge as lovely waterfalls. By
the time we got back to the car I was exhausted, Alistair on the other hand had heaps of
bounce left!

All in all it was a good trip, Alistair is now desperate to do another long walk for 3 days
and 2 nights, then one for 4 days and 3 nights then one for 5 days and 4 nights …..

April 9th – April 15th – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom!

Lucy says........
What to do with our guests. Greg Had planned an exhaustive programme (exhausting as well!!) The first morning in Wanaka was so cold that we all had breakfast with our coats on!!
We decided to familiarise every one with Wanaka walked into town along the lake front. It was a lovely day, bright and sunny and warmed up quickly once the sun came up and that has been the pattern since.

The following day we drove out to Mount Aspiring Valley and walked along the valley towards the Aspiring Hut, again a lovely day however we turned back before we got to the hut as very black clouds were looming, although they came to nothing.
Later in the week we moved to Queenstown, over the mountains and Betty & John looked after the children for the day while Greg Harry and I went for a Quad bike ride.
Now, having been, (what 5 months ago?) on a Quad bike, I quite happily agreed to go…. It turned out once we got there that we had been booked onto an Adventure tour… I was starting to get nervous…
Fortunately we were given our own guide who was really understanding of me. We started going around the paddock then set off along a road and progressed to muddy puddles, mud, more mud and steep hills with mud and huge holes in them with mud.
By the time we had finished 3 hours later we were very muddy but it had been really good fun.
Alistair & Rowena had had a good day with Grandma as she had let them have whatever they wanted for lunch..!!
That evening we all went for a buffet at the restaurant at the top of the gondola. Wow, what a spread! The Children had a lovely time going up again and again to choose things to eat.
Friday morning saw an early start for Betty & John who were flying to Wellington at 8am for a few days to stay with John’s friend. Once at the airport they were told that as it was very cloudy there were no planes flying so they would have to wait, eventually at 12.30pm they left!
We returned to Wanaka. This was the beginning of the end trip for the van; the plan was for the children & I to take the van to Auckland while Greg came back here to start his course.
We left on Saturday to travel back to Ch-church leaving Greg & Harry here to go mountain bike riding and watch the rugby.

April 2nd – 8th – Arrival of Harrison Ford!

Greg Says……
Mon 2nd – Last night we found ourselves at this campsite at Leighfield Beach north of Christchurch, where we were the only campers! We parked on a site overlooking the sea, and after Alistair and I had bee for a run settled down to watch our movie on Movie Night! Some say this is the highlight of the week, and look forward to from the minute the film finishes the previous week!
Anyway, we awoke; well Lucy woke up at 7am to a brilliant blue sky with a beautiful sunrise over the Pacific. The rest of us stayed in bed, and did not get up till 9.30am….disgraceful I hear you say! I guess we are all so tired out with the constant move from campsite to campsite, so we stayed here another day. The day consisted of lessons for the children and reading for the adults……..I can’t remember when I spent the whole day reading! Alistair finished his book ‘Watership Down’, Rowena and I listened to the iPOD, with Row dancing to ABBA! Lucy finished her ‘Claire Francis’ book, and started and almost finished ‘Born Free’, and I have been reading ‘Nine Lives’ by Alan Deere, who was a WW2 RAF Fighter pilot (it’s really good!).
Towards the end of the afternoon we had some kicking practise with the Rugby Ball, and then the hardy ones i.e. Lucy, Alistair and Rowena went down to the beach as the sun went down to do some water colours……by this time the wind was cold, very cold!! I thought I’d catch up with the blog!
Winter is nearly here, and the sun disappears at around 6-6.15 pm these days. It can still be hot during the day, but it does get cold at night. The nights have been generally clear of clouds, and last night the full moon was out. It was so bright it almost felt like day! The sky is full of stars, there are some which we recognise from the North, but a lot in the South that we don’t, I suppose we don’t look at the sky so much at home?
Spent the rest of the week pottering around doing things around Christchurch. Greg needed a medical for his flying and then a blood test. We drove out of Ch-ch towards the Banks peninsular and found a lovely place to stay where we were the only ones. It was a bit spoilt as we were driving on diesel fumes as there are never enough petrol stations in this country. However we limped into one just in time!

Also did a trip to Hanmer Springs, about 1.5 hours north of Ch-ch. Spent the best part of a day reading while the children slid down the water slides until they resembled prunes and soaking in the hot pools which ranged from 35-41oC, al under a lovely blue sky.

We popped into see Will and Julie who used to live next to us in Bournemouth before moving out here a year ago. We just looked them up in the ‘phone book and turned up! We were invited to dinner the next day and spent a very pleasant evening with them.

Greg picked up Harry, Grandma & John from the airport on Saturday morning , took Harry to a rugby match that evening and then they made their way to Wanaka on Sunday.




“The Splinter Group”

Alistair, Rowena and I left Greg in Christchurch and journeyed towards Wanaka. We stayed in a POP for the night, the middle of a field next to someone’s house in the pouring rain! I didn’t go to sleep until 1.30 am, I don’t like it on my own!!
The following day was overcast and drizzly so we didn’t get to see Mt Cook as we passed, all the mountains were covered in cloud.
We did see 2 lovely, quite different lakes, L.Tekapo a lovely clear lake surrounded by dry orange/yellow hills and presumably mountains behind and L.Pukaki, another huge lake but this one was a beautiful opaque turquoise blue. The reason for the colour and cloudy appearance was the fact that it has very fine a colloid suspended in it from where the rocks are worn down by the glaciers.
We arrived in Wanaka in the late afternoon and unloaded to van, we have so much stuff!! We will have to have a garage sale before we leave!!!
Next day it was ‘normal’ household duties making beds cooking and shopping to be ready for our visitors.
Hasn’t Harry grown!!! He had a sore throat when he got here which made his voice sound really deep, but as it got better it wasn’t as deep as first thought!

Had a roast dinner, first in NZ, Beef & Yorkshire puds which were a bit burnt on the bottom, will have to get used to the oven.

March 26th – April 1st – Christchurch NZ….feels like home!

Lucy says...........

Greg is getting quite good with his “headlines” isn’t he?

Feeling sore from playing soft ball and an invitation to come to Glenorchy School anytime, we left Middlemarch.
We had a dilemma, we have to change our plane tickets in Christchurch, also want to go to Mount Cook, opposite directions!! Which way to go? The weather forecast was cloud & rain for Mt. Cook, so it had to be Christchurch.
Journeyed up the coast and stopped at the Moeraki Boulders, these are large spherical boulders sitting on the beach. I have been here before, but again, like everything else they are quite different. I thought there were lots more of them and the sea covered them, (Greg has since suggested that I might have been there at high tide! Oh, didn’t think of that!! Thick or what??)
Found a place, Katiki Point, that had a hide just above the beach and stayed for ages (mainly because it was freezing outside, no, not really) watching the seals lolloping across the beach and playing in the sea. It was supposed to be the main hide-out of the Blue Penguins, the biggest colony in NZ, but we only saw 2, so either they are in danger of extinction or they were swimming out to sea somewhere!!
Stayed the night off the main highway by the beach, with the noise of the waves in one ear and the state highway 1 in the other.

It was further to Christchurch than we thought, got there the following evening and stayed at an expensive campsite, when I asked how much the site would be he said $46, Wow I said, that’s expensive, straight away he changed it and said, for you I could do it for $36, (was he a kitchen or double glazing salesman in a former life or perhaps of Indian descent!!??) Spent the evening with our fingers in our ears as the freight railway line was the other side of the hedge!! Fortunately the trains stopped between 11pm and 5.30 am!

Into Christchurch the next day to find the Qantas (didn’t realise that Qantas didn’t have a U after the Q) office we had been told was here, wasn’t! So went to the airport to see if we could change our tickets. The Qantas ticket clerk said we could but in the middle of sorting it out her computer went dead! So we have to do it over the ‘phone.
Mission now accomplished we leave NZ 29.7.07 and fly to Sydney.

That evening we went for a walk down the road to see if we could find a bottle shop for a crate of cold beer. On coming out of the bottle shop Greg was lured into a bar next door and we ended up having dinner there. Rib eye steak, chips, salad, fried eggs, a huge plateful for $6.50 (approx 2.75 pounds!!)

We decided that as we had been blasted recently by the icy winds from the Antarctic we would check out the Antarctic Centre, a museum thing all about it. It was brilliant, we were in there for about 3 hours, I could have stayed much longer. The best bits for A & R were firstly the “Snow room”, a room with snow in it! You had to enter through 2 lots of doors and put on rubberised overshoes and parkas, the temperature inside was -5 oC (if anyone knows how to do degrees C with the o up in the air, on the computer please email me fordgp@googlemail.com) Inside there was an igloo, a storm tent and Rowena’s favourite, a slide made out of huge ice blocks that she spent practically all the time we were in there sliding down. Every so often they simulated a storm with the wind dropping the temperature to -25oC. IT WAS FREEZING!! We put 2 parkas on the next time we went in!!
They have a penguin pool with Blue Penguins, much smaller than the Yellow eyed ones we saw the other day, they are rescue penguins. We watched them being fed.
There was a huge amount of information there about the Antarctic, lots of things that I hadn’t realised, eg, It rarely snows, most storms are wind storms. There was a fantastic film documentary made, I should think in the 1970’s, about over wintering at Scott Base, all the chaps had long hair and beards (reminded me some what of Greg!) and huge framed glasses!

I made a pact with Greg, if he let me go to the Christchurch craft market, I would go to the Air Force Museum with him!!
Alistair and Rowena came to the market with me and we had a good poke around, Alistair is very interested in all things Maori, and bought himself a greenstone necklace in the shape of a Maori club (which he tells me is used to club Mutton Birds, to eat!) this is to add to his other one in the shape of a Maori fish hook, which dragged the south island out of the sea in Maori legend.(it means courage) He avidly reads all the Maori legends at DOC offices, bookshops, and libraries. And we also got some sheep wool to do some felting. Finished products may be sent to particular people……!!
Found a food alley with lots of stalls selling ethnic food, had scrummy lunch of falafel, beef and chicken kebabs and Alistair had a fried dough pizza.
Then to Air Force museum which was actually quite interesting, WWI &WWII from the NZ perspective. Home front NZ style. There were also 3 flight simulators; even I had a go on them!!
Moved on up the coast a bit, as the weather is really lovely. Children went in the sea; I got bitten by sandflies for the first time in ages, found a nice little site next to the beach.
Alistair has discovered watercolours he was given some w/c pencils and a pad for Christmas or birthday by I think Catherine, thanks. He spends a lot of time finding things to paint..!

Winter is coming!

Here is the weather we have had, hot and sunny, and also cold and snowy. Both these pictures of Lucy were taken in summer in December! One in the Coromandel, and one in Tongariro National Park.

What can we look forward to now!!!

March 19th – March 25th – The Riders of Rohan!

Greg says.....
Mon 19th – The weather changed, and we got beautiful clear skies, and sunshine. However the wind was strong again with gusts up to 90 km's in a westerly direction (from the west). We were cycling West so felt the wind! Alistair and I took the first cycle today, and we let Ranfurly knowing that we had a distance of 25 km to over. The first bit was straight, but with the wind and a slight incline it was quite tough. We knew that we only had to cycle about 5 k’s until we reached the highest point. It took us about half an hour to get to the top at Ida Burn, which is 618 meters above sea level. We were both relived at this point because it was all downhill now. After posing for pictures by the monument stating this was the top, and the other one stating that we were positioned at 45 degrees south, we started our downhill section. Surprisingly this was very easy! Even with the wind against us we could cycle with no difficulty, as now the incline was going down.
The scenery here is lovely; there are mountains in the distance and farmland in between. It is a dry environment, and you can see the scorched grass in front of you creating the yellowy brown colour of the landscape. It really is a wilderness as there is nothing man made on the horizon except for the boundaries around the fields. I really fell in love with this part of central Otago, and look forward to returning.
Every now and then you pass small hills on each side of the trail, which have large rocks strewn across them. This was the Backdrop for Rohan and the Lord of the Rings, and many scenes were shot here.
Alistair’s stint finished at Oturehua, and Rowena and I then cycled on for another 9-10k’s until we got to the Ida Valley. Rowena is not the willing cyclist that Alistair is! She was glad to reach her destination! Although the scenery is more or less the same, you cannot get bored with it. The mountains appeared to be getting bigger as the track inclined downwards.
Alistair and Lucy took over at Ida Valley and rode to Lauder, where we met them briefly for a cup of tea and encouragement. Rowena and I went to Omakau to sort out the Campsite, and they joined us there later.
That evening Alistair, Rowena and I played some rugby on the pitch there, and witnessed the most amazing sunset. The clouds were the loveliest clouds you can imagine, and were coloured red, and then purple by the setting sun, however I didn’t have much time to admire, as I was in a middle of a Rugger game (as I was constantly reminded by my two Rugby stars!)
We took note of our achievements that day, and by far the star of the show was Alistair who not only had ridden about 48 ks, and then took part in a game of Rugby!! Well done Boy!
Tues 20th – After a short night sleep (well it seemed short) Rowena and I set off from Omakau to ride the short way to Chatto Creek. Now this really was easy, it was another cloudless sunny day, and the wind had dropped. The ride was downhill, and the scenery was just awesome! We rode across wooden bridges which cut across deep valley’s and on tracks which cut through the hills and turned at 90 degrees left or right.
We stopped at Poolburn, which is around the place where a scene of the LOTR was shot, the bit where Morwen sent her children off to safety before the Orcs attacked her village by the lake. Then we continued our quest to finish our stage with an invigorating ride down to Chatto Creek. It really was a lovely ride; the temperature and weather were perfect. When we got to Chatto Creek we realised that Rowena ad only ridden 46k’s in total, so we decided to ride another 4 around where the van was parked. This seemed to take forever especially with a child who was not keen on doing this! Still we managed it!
We swapped riders, and left Alistair and Lucy to ride onwards through Rohan and Middle Earth!
We met again in Alexandra, which is a lovely little village/town, which has a clock positioned on a mountain in a similar way to the Hollywood sign in LA. Rowena and I found a great Butchers shop, where we bought some homemade Pork Pies and some bread. The owner used to have a shop in Kensington, and moved back to NZ some 9 years ago. He was also Tom Willis’ uncle (Chiefs Hooker and potential All Black).
Meeting the riders in the car park near the river, we handed out the pies. These were the best pork pies I have ever had, yes even better than Melton Mowbray. They were made with fresh Organic pork, and still warm from the oven….my mouth is watering as I type!
Lucy and Alistair rode onto Clyde using the difficult rue by the river, and we met them at Clyde campsite, next to the rugby club.
After a beer and some wine we totted up the total distances ridden by each of us….
Alistair = 123k’s, Lucy = 85 k’s, Greg = 80 k’s, and Rowena 50 k’s.
Alistair did particularly well, and did the most distance. However we were all winners, as we all enjoyed every minute of the experience.
Wed 21sth – We left Clyde and made our way back to our favourite place in NZ…..Wanaka. On the way we dropped in to a nice café in Tarras, and had nice cup of coffee (the standard of coffee here is good, but differs from place to place. Tarras was good). After a trip to the Airport and a meeting with Peter Hendriks we went off to Glendhu Bay.
Just so it’s noted, we have extended our visa here till August, and will be saying in Wanaka. I (Greg) am doing a Private Pilots Licence, and Lucy and the children (and me some of the time) will be doing some skiing. Peter, who is the instructor from Classic Flights, has a Tiger Moth and I hope to get a flight in this as well as the training plane.
Thurs 22nd–Not much to report today, we strolled around Wanaka, and booked into a new campsite in town, the Kiwi camp. We arranged to see a couple of houses for rental, all of which are nice but two couldn’t do the timeframe we wanted and were more expensive.
Fri 23rd – Another day of strolling around Wanaka, catching up on lessons, and visiting the library. Alistair and I watched the Blues against the Waratahs in the Speights pub I Town. Stayed at the Kiwi Camp.
Sat 24th– We made our decision today to stay at a house in Abertown. The address is 17 Bernard Road, Albertown, RD2, Wanaka.
We drove down towards central Otago, and on the way down to Clyde we stopped and had a cold swim in Lake Dunstan. Alistair did a little fishing, but didn’t catch anything. The Kiwi’s use this lake for all kinds of water sports; we saw divers, water-skiers, jet boaters etc etc… It is a man made lake which flooded valley including the train track which used to run along side the road, and any buildings. The Clutha River runs into one end of the lake, and at the other, just before you get to Clyde, there is a large Hydro Electric Dam. We continued through Alexandra, and found a Tavern at Chatto Creek which allowed free camping in the car park. Perfect for me, because I could have a pint, watch the rugby, and then stay for free in the car park only a few meters away!
Sun 25th – We left our parking spot at around 9 am, and made our way along State Highway 85. On the way we thought we would stop and do the children’s lessons at the ‘Blue Pool’ at St.Bathans. This is a lake which was formed from a quarry. It didn’t look that blue, but it was a nice spot all the same! The village of St, Bathans is a quaint old village dating back to the late 1800’s, and we had a nice cup of coffee in the ‘Vulcan Hotel’, which was similar to going into an old country pub. It seemed that this was the place to go on a Sunday, as there were lot’s of Kiwi’s with their Motor Biked, and Bicycles turning up for lunch and a drink, as we were leaving. It was a bit like going to Pamp Hill near Wimborne, for a Sunday lunchtime drink!
We went back to SH 85, and drove to Hyde for Lunch, where I had a great idea, why didn’t Alistair and I cycle from Hyde to Middlemarch (about 30k’s). I thought I would get a derisory response, but he was most enthusiastic! Oh well it was my idea I suppose!
Alistair and I departed on our bikes after lunch. Lucy and Rowena, relieved that they weren’t cycling departed in the van soon afterwards.
Our first stop was 8k down the track, where in 1943 there was a bad rail crash. One of the locals( his brother was killed in the crash at the age of 19!) told us that the drivers and guards had been drinking, and probably fell asleep, so they approached a bend at 120 km’s, when they should have been going 60km’s, therefore the train left the tracks at the bend and crashed. This chap who was telling us the story was tending the memorial garden, and as he told us about the crash and his brother, you could see that he was upset and annoyed that it happened, even though it was 63 years later.
Alistair and I arrived in Middlemarch after a ride of about 2 hours, and popped into the local pub for a well deserved pint (he had a coke!). It was Country and Western night, and it seemed that the whole village had turned out. The streets were empty, no traffic, no people, but when we went inside the pub it was full of people. There was lot’s of noise and drinking, Country and Western music blaring out, and lots of people dancing. It was like being in the centre of Bournemouth on a Friday night!
We got the campsite where we met the girls. A school from Glenorchy had turned up, who were due to ride the rail on Monday. There were 2 teachers (Mrs Grant, and Miss Reid), 2 parents, 4 girls, and 1 boy. The whole school only had 16 pupils! Anyway we played Softball with them, and then retired to our van for tea and Movie Night. We all look forward to Movie Night, and tonight we had ‘James Bond’ again! I never get bored with 007!
The nights are now beginning to draw in, and it’s getting dark at 6.30pm. It can still be hot in the day, but it gets cold at night. We are still managing to wear our shorts but are not sure for how much longer.

March 12th to18th – Dunedin and Otago Rail Trail here we come!

Lucy and Rowena Say:....
My go again, this is getting a bit of a habit…
The following morning the children did a bit of work about the dolphins in Curio Bay. They are quite special as they don’t get fed here but are always around and come in really close to the shore and will even swim between you.
I am not one for getting in the sea at the best of times, unless it is really warm, like in Fiji or have a thick wet suit on, however the thought of having a dolphin swim next to me tempted me!
It was freezing, but after a while once your feet and legs had frozen and you had no feeling left it wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately I got knocked off my feet and lost my prescription sun glasses , so if David Attenborough makes a series about the blind dolphins of Curio Bay …….
I know we are not far (relatively speaking) from the Antarctic, but I didn’t expect to wake up the next morning to find the temperature had dropped from 28 degrees to 4 degrees! The weather had changed during the night with torrential rain and Southerly winds, I woke in the night and all I could think about was that the children’s body boards had been left propped up next to the van. I couldn’t go back to sleep, Greg seemed unwilling to go and check on them so….I found them the other side of the campsite! It was much warmer inside than out!!
We wandered along the beach the other side from Curio Bay and found a couple of Yellow eyed penguins huddled behind rocks to keep out of the wind and a petrified forest, where you could clearly see the tree trunks that had fossilised where they had fallen and hundreds of tree stumps. I am sorry but it was much more spectacular than the one at Lulworth Cove.
That night we stayed at an amazing cap site, even more amazing as we were the only ones there. It had a fully equipped kitchen, brand new, so I indulged in a cooking frenzy making crumble, a cake, some bread and Rowena cooked tea for us, grated courgette, onion and cheese, fried like an omelette, Yummy.
Still very cold.
.
Arrived in Dunedin and treated ourselves to a night in a cabin as we were so cold. It had a heater.. we kept it on all night, lovely.

Wandered around Dunedin, and got persuaded by A&R to do the tour around the Cadbury factory, Greg was convinced when he found out that they gave you samples, not quite a brewery tour but next best thing.
It was quite interesting they explained how you got different types of chocolate ie dark, milk and white. And we all got our chocolate samples....
Went to see a very nice man in the Immigration office, who as it wasn’t very busy and extended our visas for a further 3 months, so we can now stay here until end on August, but we do need to enter Australia by the 23.8.07, so we won’t stay that long. But we are thinking of trying to find a house to rent for a couple of months and stay in one place for a while.
Headed out of Dunedin to Middlemarch to start the Otago rail trail the next day. Stayed at a campsite called Blind Billy’s no prizes for guessing how it got its name!!

The Otago Rail Trail follows the old Railway line between Middlemarch and Clyde, which was part of the line between Dunedin & Queenstown and is 151 km long! Rowena and I were doing the first leg which is 27 km! The reason for this is because Alistair has decided that he wants to cycle the furthest so he has chosen to do the longest sections.
It was cold and then it started raining, then hailing, fortunately we happened across a railway workers hut and took shelter from the elements. Once it eased off we continued on to meet Greg & Alistair at the first station. I felt sorry for any other bikers as they didn’t have their own moving refreshment station like us (didn’t feel sorry enough to invite them in for a coffee!!)
The Rail trail is a great track as it’s basically in the middle of nowhere. It runs through a valley along side the Rock and Pillar Mountains. The landscape is very bleak with grass covered mountains around you. The colours though, were beautiful…when the sun was out they appeared different shades of green, but when the sun when in the vegetation changed to a deep dark green, but the grass was a yellowy brown colour.
We changed over riders at Hyde, after 27km and then Rowena and I drove to Ranfurly where we were staying the night and waited for a very windblown Greg & Alistair to turn up!!

By Rowena
Mummy and I started at the campsite in Middlemarch and went to the first station , that was Ngapuna then we went to Rock and Pillar and met Daddy and Alistair, we had a cup of soup while we waited for the rain to stop.
After that we went on to Hyde and met them again, It was very windy and we stopped in a shelter to get out of the wind and rain and hail.
We drove down to Ranfurly and found a campsite and I did my Maths and we went to meet Alistair and Daddy.

March 5th – March 11th – Swimming with Dolphins!

Greg Says……
Mon 5th – We got up early and moved out of the Doc site. We made for the Skyline Gondala and Luge in Queenstown. We went in the Gondala to the top, and were looking forward to the Luge ride. To get there we had to go on a chair lift up again to the start area. We were not disappointed, the Luge ride is great, and as we were there when it opened, there was hardly anyone around. Alistair and Rowena talked us into to having two more goes each!! It was great! Apart from the Luge there are great views over Queenstown, and the lake. There are also other things that people can do like Paragliding, helicopter rides, Mountain Bikes and some tramping.
After two-three hours we came down on the Gondala, and spent the afternoon doing food shopping, and a few more necessary things.
We left Queenstown, and travelled down the side of the lake to the Kingston Motor camp.
Tues 6th – Got up late and had a nice cooked breakfast, just what the Doctor ordered. However we later found that out toaster was left there!! I guess that’s how they get all the things that are in the kitchen like cups, plates, knives and forks etc etc.
On the way south we passed the Kingston Flyer, a steam train from the beginning of the 20th Century. It reminded me of the trains they had in the wild west, with a big kind of skirt on the front of it. We caught it just as it was leaving Fairlea station.
We continued down the road to Manipouri and booked in at the Motor amp there. It’s a really nice site with a good kitchen, and facilities. They collect Morris Minors here, and they were strewn around the campsite. They also had a tree house and an underground tunnel. However on arrival the children couldn't make use of the play areas as it was pouring with rain. It was the first rain that they had had in 36 days, and it lasted for the next 2 days!
Wed 7th – Today it rained all day, but we managed a trip to Te Anau, where I bought some nice warm sheepskin slippers…..Oh what a difference slippers make!! We also booked onto a boat trip on the Milford Sound for Friday. That night we stayed again, in the rain, at the Manapouri campsite.
Thurs 8th – We awoke to a day where it was not raining! It was a nice day today, so we travelled on towards Milford Sound. It’s a beautiful scenic drive through the Earl Mountains on one side and the Livingston Mountains on the other, passing some lovely lakes on the way. One of which, Lake Gunn, was where we stayed for the night in the DOC campsite. This was a very small site, but you could , if you were early enough, park right beside the water. We were not early, so we parked in the car park, but we did have a view of the lake. The campsite was full very quickly, but a number of other cars and vans camp down to check for space, and all had to turn around and manoeuver back out again! Still, once it settled down, we had a nice quiet nights sleep.
Fri 9th – We got up at 6 am today, so that we could leave at 7.30 am to drive to Milford. We were due to get on our boat at 8.55 am , and had to check in at 8.35 am
After parking, we got there dead on time, and the boat left. Within about 10 minutes there was a shout that there were some dolphins in front of us! We all rushed to the bow(the front) and sure enough there was a pod of Bottle Nose Dolphins. They played around next to our boar, and you look down under the bow, and see them swimming under it. They were so close that it felt like you could reach out and touch them! We moved to the stern (the back), and they were surfing on the wave forged by the boat. They also were jumping out of the water, it really was the highlight of the trip! We continued along the Sound, seeing mountains rising straight up out of the water to around 1000/1500 meters, waterfalls falling 160 meters, New Zealand Fur seals, and just beautiful scenery!! It was well worth the trip! Afterwards we drove back to Te Anau, and stayed at the Kiwi Camp.
Sat 10th– Drove down through the mountainous countryside to be suddenly confronted with the Ocean in front of us. The landscape changed from the scorched dry land to luscious green lands. Was this an omen for things (rain!) to come? We drove on to a lovely free overnight sight at Colac bay, where we parked about 10 feet away from the beach. The children played on the beach all afternoon, at last using the body boards that they had. However the most fun they had was throwing stones into the sea, or trying to land them on a big rock without the bouncing off. We had a peaceful night, apart from the waves crashing in on the shingle beach!
Sun 11th – My Birthday today. I don’t generally celebrate these anymore, but for some reason I awoke at dawn, and saw the most amazing sunrise. The sub was red, and as it rose up the red reflection shone off of the shimmering sea! Perhaps this was a special day after all! After breakfast, presents and cards we drove to Invercargill where we found a great restaurant for Lunch. Fed and Watered Lucy took the wheel, and we departed for Curio Bay, a place where you could see Dolphins. We got to the campsite on the hill above the sandy beach, and decided to go in search of the famous Dolphins, the man in the campsite office said we would see them without fail The children brought their body boards, and promptly went in to play with them, and then we waited for the arrival of the sea mammals. We must of waited about 20 minutes, and then they arrived. We were all in the sea, and they swam within 10 feet of us, it was awesome. I can now say that the Dolphins came to see me on my birthday!

19th-25th February,

Sorry this is out of order and should have appeared before the post below!!! Still it's a tiring job this travelling lark, you know!

Lucy says....

Oh goodie it’s my turn to do the blog again…! I am so glad that Greg does this most of the time as it is very time consuming and with all the washing and cleaning and cooking I have to do as well as supervising the children when they are doing their school work I just don’t get the time…..!!

Travelling south from Greymouth we passed through remains of the Gold rush, there are lots of small towns or settlements that would have been much larger when gold was around.
We stopped at place called Mitchell’s Gully which was a mine that had been in the same family for 100 years or so and was now a museum. A rather “alternative” chap runs it now. We had a wander around, they used to use mercury to “absorb” the gold and then somehow evaporate the mercury to leave gold- beyond me. I think it was called alluvial gold mining.
We also visited an old shanty town museum and had a ride on a steam engine and had a go at gold panning, we all got some! It’s now in a little bottle.

Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers are about 25km apart; they come down the mountainside to about 200m above sea level. Because of the glaciers, there are 2 small townships which are there mainly for tours and helicopters trips. So…well you have to have a go- I knew Greg wouldn’t be able to resist it!!
It says in our guide book- “Julie Andrews sung- The hills were alive with the sound of helicopters…!”

The weather was fine, so we walked from the car park to the bottom of the Franz Josef glacier kitted out with 3 layers, as advised, and carrying our crampons!
At the terminal moraine we all stopped and donned said crampons and stated up the steps that had been cut in the ice for us by the guide. Because we were the first group of the day she had to recut the steps. It wasn’t difficult, as I thought it would be, as there was a lot of hanging around while the steps were cut. It was cold though, the wind whistled down the glacier. If you have been to the ice cave at the Mer de Glace in Chamonix then there isn’t a comparison, however the ice formations were really different and the fact that you were walking across the glacier and up & down the crevasses was special. And I have never worn Crampons before!!
We spent about 2 hours on the ice in total and then walked back.
Greg was seduced into booking on to a helicopter flight for the next morning, it was going to be weather dependent.
Next morning it was too misty to go and after waiting for the next flight which was also too misty we moved on to Fox Glacier in the hope that it might be better down there. It wasn’t but might get better next day…
Next morning we had all systems go, climbed into the helicopter, Greg & Rowena managed to get the front seat! The flight went up the path of the glacier and we landed on the neve at the top for a short walk around then back again twirling from side to side- Yuk! The ice was a lovely blue colour and there were huge crevasses.
That night we all went for a run around L. Mattheson which has a lovely refection of Mt Cook and Mt Tasman. Primarily the run was and attempt to get away from the sandflies!!
We stayed in a café car park and awoke the next day to find a Japanese tourist bus parked about 6inches from us.

Travelled on down the coast and turned in land to Haast Pass, not very exciting, no view, but down to Lake Wanaka.
What a difference between the east & west side of the Southern Alps. The west being very green and the east, extremely dry and brown.

Finished my bit, it has taken me ages!!! (it’s now the 6.3.07)

Feb 26th – March 4th – Wanaka – What a great place!

Greg Says……
Mon 26th – We stayed at the Glendhu Motor Camp last night, and left it at 10am hoping to go for a walk to the Rob Roy Glacier. However the road on the way was less than average with big ruts and bumps. We made it about 20 km along it, before we met a Ford, which looked a little precarious to cross! Typical Ford! So we turned around and went back towards the campsite, when we came across another walking opportunity going up the track to the Rocky Mountain, another hour 20 minutes. It was up hill! Still it was worth it as the views were amazing from the top over Lake Wanaka, and into the mountains, well worth it. Even the children agreed. Alistair got his watercolours out, and created his interpretation of one of the mountains, so we can put this on the wall when we get home! We stayed there for about 30 minutes before going downwards, it was quite a trek going down….we didn’t realise how far we had climbed!
We got back to the campsite exhausted, well Lucy and I did anyway! The children found the energy to go the play park again!
Hopefully it will be a quiet day tomorrow.
Tues 27th – This was a quiet day in Wanaka, you know a bit of shopping, and a bit of sorting out. We booked a car to take us out the mountains, as I was not going to go along that road again in the Campervan! After we had chosen our 4wd Nissan Terano, we made a trip out to the airport to find out about a trial Helicopter lesson. Unfortunately they could not fit me in till Saturday, still that as ok. The biggest problem was trying to get Lucy to agree to me taking the lesson, so basically the hard work was already done! So only 3 full days to wait until Saturday/
Wed 28th – Today was the start of our big walk to Aspiring Hut in the National Park. Our packs were ready, and very heavy! We drove up the 30km bumpy, and stony road to the DOC car park. The drive was actually quite enjoyable in a 4wd, I felt like a rally driver sliding around on the gravel!
We parked the car and started our walk at about 11am ish. The sun was shining, and it was hot. On the way we passed the swing bridge to the Rob Roy Glacier walk, then joined the 4wd track along the side of the river. Nothing much happened until we spotted a couple of helicopters. They came zooming in over our heads, and landed nearly in front of us. We walked on, but they appeared to follow us, and then hover above us. Scary as we felt that they were after us! They were, in fact, only getting their bearings to start spraying the sides of the mountains around us, to try and stop the growth of weeds etc. Still it was quite exiting! We continued on the walk, and after 2 ½ hours we got there feeling extremely hot and bothered. We settled into our overnight room, or dorm which slept around 16 (it ended up that us four and two other blokes stayed in the dorm that night), and then got to know some of the other trampers. The first three people we met came from England originally, but had moved to NZ a number of years ago. There was a lady from Kent, and another from Portsmouth. Then there was Don Douglas from Portsmouth too, who actually knew someone who I know from Bournemouth Rugby Club - Dennis Eveleigh. They used to be in the Navy together, and played in the second row together. That night was spent going to bed at 9pm, and waking up at 5.30am!
Thurs 1st – Next morning we had breakfast, and Rowena and I left to go back to the campsite. We left Lucy and Alistair to continue their walk on further up to French Ridge, which was a tough challenge. It was kind of strange leaving without them, but we got on with it all the same! Rowena and I went back to the campsite, where we cleaned up,and then went to Wanaka for a look around However we found that we had been to most of the shops already, so we didn’t do much. Although I did have my first haircut since last summer!
Fri 2nd – Today was the day we pulled the explorers out of the bush! We drove up to the Aspiring car park, and got ready to go for a walk before they got back. However before we could go, we spotted two bedraggled figures coming towards us. It was Alistair and Lucy! They had not gone for the walk up to French Ridge, as it was too windy, so they went to Scott’s Bivvy, and then back to Aspiring hut for the night. Only a walk of 6 hours! Anyway, we decided to walk up to the Rob Roy Glacier which was only a walk of 1 ½ hours! It was tough! All up hill, and it was difficult for Lucy to keep going. Anyway, we did it, and Lucy and Alistair accomplished a total walking day, today, of 5 hours plus. Their total walk was about 25 miles, so they did well!
Sat 3rd– Saturday was here at last! Helicopter lesson only an hour or two away! I called at 9am to check if it was ok for the weather, and it was. It was a beautiful sunny day, with no wind. We dropped off the rental car, and went to the airport, where I met Simon Spencer-Bowyer, who was the owner and pilot for my flight. After telling me what the controls were all about, he let me lift the helicopter off of the ground. It is a very difficult machine to master, as you have your feet on pedals which turn you left or right, your left hand is on the throttle, and lever which lifts you off of the ground, and then your right hand is on the control which lifts or drops the nose! Phew I remembered! My first exercise was to try and get it to hover…..well it’s not as easy as it looks! I didn’t o too badly though, and kept it fairly central. We then flew out away from the airport to the Clutha river, and it was my job to steer us down the course of the river keeping us at the same height as the top of the trees! Again easier said than done, but managed to do it of a fashion! Then it was back to the airport to land, I mean I had to land it! With a bump we landed. The lesson took 40 minutes in the air, but it seemed like 30 seconds! I would really like to do some more……please Lucy!! After this we had lunch in nice restaurant in Wanaka, then went to the cinema. However this was no ordinary cinema, this one had settees instead of the normal cinema seats, there was a VW Beetle converted into seating, and there was the old cinematic cameras which flickered the film onto the screen. At the intermission freshly cooked chocolate cookies and coffee was served. It was a great experience, and very enjoyable, oh yeah and the film was ’Charlottes Web’.
We left Wanaka having had a really nice week in a lovely town.
Sun 4th – We stayed at the Frankton Motor Camp, which was really not very nice! After getting up we moved quickly out of the camp, and drove into Queenstown. This was another day where we went round the shops really. There’s not much here in the shops to get exited about except for all the adventure activities that you can do like Quadbiking, Mountain Biking, Paragliding, Bungy Jumping, White Water Rafting, Jet Boating, and a number of other things.
Tonight we stayed at a Doc site next to the lake. It was a nice spot, but didn’t have any facilities. Still we enjoyed a quiet night.

Feb 12th – 18th – Goodbye to Tom, Gila and Lisa

Greg Says……
Mon 12th – We left Kaiteriteri, and moved to Nelson. At lunchtime we went with Thomas, Gila, and Lisa to a restaurant called the ‘Boat Shed’ in Nelson Bay. It was a nice place which specialised in a fish menu. Lucy had Thai Crab cakes, and I had Crayfish. Alistair had Marlin, and Rowena Blue Cod and Chips. It was really nice, and we all felt satisfied when we left. After a trip into Nelson for some shopping we went to the biggest campground in New Zealand and Australia by the harbour in Nelson. It has an exercise track around the outside for 2 km’s, which Tom, myself and the children completed before dinner! Tonight was a delayed Movie Night for the children, and they watched ’Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’! The adults had a quite time socialising with the children kept quiet in front of the film!
Tues 13th –After breakfast it was time to say ’Goodbye’ to Thomas, Gila and Lisa. It was very sad, and we had a tear in our eyes! We had spent a lot of time together for the last 6 days. Thanks to them for a great time, we are left with lots of great memories.
We went into Nelson for some more supplies, then headed out to Wakefield to go and see Lucy’s friend Linda. Lucy and Linda were flatmates in London, and travelled together on a number of trips.
We got there at about 5.30pm, and stayed the night. Linda has a lovely house with her husband Greg, and children Jesse, Annie and Sophie. Alistair and Rowena enjoyed playing with Annie and Sophie in the 4 acre wood that is part of their land, and with their horses. The house itself was built in the late 1800’s and has heaps of character. (Kiwi’s say ‘heaps’ all the time!). They are currently building a new kitchen, and guest bedroom, and it will be even nicer when finished. It’s the kind of house I would like with lots of space inside, and also all around it. It is set in the country, but only about 2 miles from Wakefield.
Wed 14th – We left Linda’s and Greg’s house and drove to Murchison. Thanks to Linda for a nice evening.
At Murchison we stayed at the Riverview Campsite. The drive here was lovely, through the Buller gorge. There are high mountains on each side of the gorge, which are a lovely lush green colour. The river Buller gushes down beside the road, and there is good rafting around here.
We arrived at the campground, and set up. Alistair, Rowena and I went for a run, and then a swim in the river. You have to be careful after you swim in certain rivers to wash the swimming togs thoroughly, due to the Didymo outbreak. Didymo is Algae which spreads easily, and cogs up the rivers.
Anyway, all that aside, we had a nice bit of exercise and a swim. We fully deserved our diner when we got back to the camper!
Riverview is a nice campsite by the river, with the sites in between the trees. There is a lovely bush walk through to the golf course which we ran on.
Thurs 15th – Today we went to the six mile drive walkway. Luckily it wasn’t six miles long, it was just that distance from the main road. We had a nice walk through the bush to the river and back again. Afterwards we drove to the swing bridge which is the longest in NZ, across the Buller river. It was good to go across the bridge which is suspended about 100 feet above the river. The bridge is quite strange to walk on as it moves! Rowena decided to come back over via the zip wire, which only took about 30 seconds and cost $10, but she enjoyed it.
By the time we got back to the same campsite as the night before it was time for lessons, then dinner, the bed
Fri 16th – We left Murchison and mad our way down the Buller Gorge towards Westport. On the way we stopped and picked up a Hitchhiker. She was from Hamburg, and was working at a backpackers in Punikaki. We dropped her on the road South, and went into Westport. It’s quite a nice little town, which has no Warehouse, no MacDonalds, or any other big chain, it’s really quite refreshing! Anyway, the main activity was getting Alistairs hair cut, so he looks like a boy again, and not a girl! We decided that the Top 10 campsite called ‘Top 10 Seal’ was the best place to stay for tonight.
Also, it was a day of exercise, so Alistair, Rowena and I (Daddy) went for a run along the beach to the mouth of the Buller River. It was about 3km’s there, and the same back. In retrospect it was a bit far for Alistair to run, but he eventually did it! Rowena was cycling, so she was ok. It was a really lovely run as the evening temperature was just right, and when we got to the mouth of the river, we were entertained by dolphins, commonly known as Hector’s Dolphins. This was the first sighting of several in the next few days! We limped home satisfied that we had done our exercise, and that we had seen the sea mammals.
Sat 17th – We Stayed in Westport Top 10, again, today. Lucy got up early at 7am and went for a cycle with Alistair on the same route as our run the previous night. The dolphins were there again, and gave another show to the cyclists! Rowena and I were woken to warm hot cross buns and coffee! Later we went to the Cape Foulwind Walkway. This was a lovely coastal walk, which reminded me of the Purbecks, although the sea was a beautiful turquoise colour, and there was a seal colony at our destination! Alistair and I ran back to the van, but really it was too hot to do this, but we did it anyway! When we got back to the campsite, I went for a cycle with Rowena to see if the dolphins were there, but we got there a little later than the night before, and they were not there…..never mind!! The highlight was Rowena trying to ride with no hands, which she did for at least 2 seconds!! She still needs to practise, and she’ll eventually get it!
Sun 18th – Alistair and I got up at 7am, and cycled, yes you’ve guessed it, to the mouth of the river to see the Dolphins. We saw them today, and it was the perfect farewell to the area for us! We returned the compliment of hot cross bus and coffee, and the day started well again! Later we went to the Pancake Rocks at Punikaki. These rocks are shaped like pancakes one on top of each other, and have formed some fantastic shapes. Guess what….we saw some more dolphins, this time jumping right out of the water and flipping back into the water. Today we had lunch on the beach with the seagulls feeding them our leftovers. We arrived later at Greymouth and went in search of LOW COST Camping, but couldn’t find it! So we ended up in South Beach, where there was just enough time for homework and then bed!