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.
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.
posted by greg and lucy | 12:02 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home