Christchurch

NZ time... Tuesday 31st January.... 5.30pm

After another great breakfast, we went into Christchurch city centre. It was very sad to see the earthquake damage and some examples are shown below (not easy to see the worst damage, as there is a large exclusion zone around the worst hit areas). Real shame no-one is able to get near Cathedral Square or Victoria Square.

The city is trying to be positive and there are a number of initiatives around, one example being "Container Mall" where a Mall has been formed out of old Container Boxes & various retail outlets have started (or re-started) up business.

We then travelled out to Lyttleton. a major port on the South Island close to Christchurch, which also has sufferred badly from the earthquakes. In particular, the Time Ball building (similar to that at Greenwich Observatory) has been completely destroyed.

We then returned to Christchurch city centre to visit the Canterbury Museum. Interesting to visit, with some different exhibits to other museums, including a shell house and a "WOW" a display of fashion made from unusual materials (which Jan really enjoyed).

Next we went to see Mona Vale, a historic house in Christchurch, but sadly it too has sufferred significant damage which was sad to see.

Now back at B&B in time for a drink with Fay & Stephen at 6pm!.....ahead of dinner (at The Old Vicarage) and then packing for tomorrow's journey to Tasmania.

Banks Peninsula

NZ time... Monday 30th January... 5.30pm

Last night, we spent our first night in Christchurch, but neither of us felt the earth move!... Maybe tonight?!

Unlike yesterday, the weather today has been hot and sunny, but windy.

Fay & Stephen cooked a lovely breakfast for us, following which we had another leisurely day driving out along the Banks Peninsula to Akaroa. The scenery on the Peninsula is great.

On the way to Akaroa, our first stop was at Little River, where we spent some time chatting to lady in a craft shop about her earthquake experiences (amazing what they've been through). There was also an art gallery nearby with some beautiful local paintings and sculptures, pity it's not practicable to get some home.

Next stop was at the Cheese Factory in Barry's Bay. Interesting to visit and some great cheese (especially the Maasdam).

Akaroa itself is a lovely little town with beach and harbour nestling around a small bay. It has a strong French influence, having originally been established by french settlers. It is largely picturesque and unspoilt. The only downside being the hordes of cruise ship passengers in town (there were 2 ships parked in the bay).

We had brunch at Trubys on the harbour-side, before having more great ice creams as we walked back to the car. Mike excelled himself with THREE scoops (goldrush, cookies & cream, coconut with chocolate ripple)!

We returned from the Peninsula via the Summit Road and there were some spectacular views.

Now relaxing back at B&B with a glass of NZ Pinot Noir prior to "happy hour" with Fay and Stephen (as they call it!).

Methven to Christchurch

NZ time... Sunday 29th January... 5pm

Woke up to grey low clouds today, so we decided not to drive towards Arthur's Pass as wouldn't have seen the scenery! So, leisurely morning with only an hour and half drive to Christchurch, with coffee stop along the way.

It became drizzly as we neared Christchurch, arriving at B&B around 1pm. The drizzle soon got a little more persistent, so we decided to go to the Antarctic Attraction for the afternoon. A good choice, very interesting place with lots of information and exhibits. Also, there was a Penguin Encounter. We both went into the Arctic Storm room, where the room is at -8C to start with and they then submit you to winds producing a windchill of -18C for about 10 minutes! Had to wear provided jacket (which was needed!) and overshoes to keep the room's snow clean.

Back at the B&B, Stephen & Fay have asked us to join them for a drink at 6pm, before we go out for dinner. Sounds like a good idea and, of course, we accepted!

Twizel to Methven

NZ time... Saturday 28th January...6.30pm

Note.....we have now put on some pictures of Moeraki Boulders and Mount Cook which you might like to go back and see in an earlier post

Intended to have a leisurely day today & it started well with Sean giving us an excellent breakfast, shared with two Kiwis, two French and an American. He had baked some gorgeous savoury scones, pear & ginger bread and apple & banana bread...he even gave us some to take with us for later in the day!

It has been hot & sunny today, although windy in exposed places. Despite the blue skies today, Mount Cook was shrouded in cloud pretty much all over, so we really were lucky yesterday with our views of it.

Sean advised to go up Mount John, near Lake Tekapo (where Canterbury University has its observatories) for the views. Glad we did.

We then drove on through nice countryside, until we reached the town of Geraldine, another of Sean's recommendations. It is a small town, nice to see but we may not have stopped there but for Sean who had told us of a shop that contained the largest knitted jumper in the world AND an unusual version of the Bayeaux Tapestry.

The guy running the shop seemed a little eccentric, but was interesting to talk to (says Mike) (geek, says Jan)... his version of the Tapestry is made of millions of teeth from knitting machine wheels and it's fascinating to see  (says Mike) (surprisingly, Jan agrees, but asks why?!)...the guy also had numerous number/letter puzzles & other interesting items relating to mathematics ...and Mike bought his Cd-Rom version (yawn, says Jan)....maybe some challenges for Dan and Owen when we get home!

Geraldine is also home to Barker's Berry Barn, where local produce can be sampled including juices, jams, jellies, marmalades, chutneys and sauces.

After passing through more pleasant countryside (some very reminiscent of back home), we arrived at our Methven B&B around 3pm to a warm welcome from Irene, plus tea and cakes!

The B&B is actually on a deer farm and Irene has told us that the deer are not farmed for their meat, in fact they are farmed for their antlers which are cut off whilst "live" for use in arthritis medicine...neither of us have heard of that before.

In late afternoon, we decided to do another Bush Walk whilst the weather was so good and Irene recommended the one to Sharplin Falls, so off we went. Well, either we're less fit that a fortnight ago or it was very strenuous, probably a bit of both! The track seemed to climb for ever, but we made it and enjoyed the downhill return!

Planning to go into Methven for a meal this evening.

Dunedin to Twizel (and Mount Cook)

NZ time... Friday 27th January... 11pm

After last night's downpour (it continued well into the night), we woke up to clear blue skies with a few fluffy white clouds and it remained like that all the way to Twizel.

On the way we stopped at Moeraki to see the "spherical" boulders on the beach.

 
Nice scenery en route and we arrived at our B&B around 2pm. It is on a farm and there is a direct view of Mount Cook out of our patio door windows (see below).

Spent a relaxing afternoon on our patio in the sunshine before going into Twizel for a meal around 5.30pm.

We then did the 45 minute drive up to The Hermitage, the hotel near the base of Mount Cook. It was a beautiful evening and we stopped a few times on the way to get pictures of Mount Cook (again we were lucky to see it almost cloud free).

We took some more pictures at The Hermitage and then had a drink in the hotel bar waiting for sunset, as our B&B host in Westport had told us that (in the right light) the Mount takes on a pinkish colour. We weren't disappointed, the sunset was great, as per below!

Rainy night in Dunedin!

NZ time... Thursday 26th January... 9.30pm

Around 5pm it started tipping down and soon the streets outside motel were like rivers!

We had to decide whether to order food in or go out for a meal. By 7.15 it was still persisting down, but we decided to go out & so glad we did.

We went to an Italian restaurant called Etrusco which was excellent (thanks again to Ian for the recommendation). The setting was superb and the food (& wine) was excellent.

When we left the restaurant, it was and still is chucking it down!

Dunedin & Otago Peninsula

NZ time...Thursday 26th January... 5pm

Relaxing day today, in the morning we drove out along the Otago Peninsula, making our first stop at Larnach Castle (they claim it's NZ's only castle, is it?). Originally built by a Scottish Emigrant for his wife...the things some men will do!

It is a charming building and interesting to visit inside (if only there wasn't a cruise-load of Japanese wandering around!). Great view from the top of the crenelated Tower. There are also nice gardens to walk around.

We travelled out along the Peninsula on the high road, which gave great views.

At the end of the Peninsula, there are Albatross and Penguin Sanctuaries, but we couldn't be bothered to do the Tours, due to their length.

We returned to Dunedin via the Lower Road and then spent a nice couple of hours wandering around the city, stopping for a drink in an Octagon bar. The iconic Dunedin building is the Railway Station, pity they let coaches park in front of it!

Te Anau to Dunedin

NZ time... Wednesday 25th January... 9pm

Long drive today for Jan, especially as we decided to go to Dunedin via the scenic south coast route.

Our first stop was at Invercargill, NZ's southern-most city. Pleasant city centre, but a bit sprawly and industrial in places, but a good point to start on the "southern scenic coastal route", on which we chose three places to stop.

First stop was for Curio Bay, interesting to see. Luckily for us it was low tide, as only then can you see the petrified trees in the rock shelf that is normally sea covered.

Next, we went to Purakaunui Falls, short bush walk to get there and worth seeing. Unfortunately, Jan had to drive some 12 Kms on gravel roads to it's location.

Finally, we went to Nugget Point where there's an old light-house, worth seeing but again more gravel road driving for Jan to get there!

We arrived in Dunedin around 5pm. After checking in to Motel, we went to the Octagon & found a bar to watch Andy Murray and have a couple of drinks before dinner.

Doubtful Sound

NZ time... Tuesday 24th January... 7pm

Just back to B&B from a long but very enjoyable day going to Doubtful Sound.

The day started with breakfast at 7.15am, made tolerable by the superb home-made pancakes & maple syrup!

The weather was sunny and hot all day, apparently not that common in this area which has the highest annual rainfall in New Zealand, so we were very lucky with that.

We were picked up at 8.15am and taken by coach to Manapouri, where we boarded a boat for the 60 minute trip across Lake Manapouri to West Arm. The lakeside scenery was great again.

At West Arm there is an incredible Power Station built inside one of the mountains bordering the lake (we were driven in for a tour), which basically uses water from the lake to generate enough electricity to power the whole of the South Island (however, the majority is diverted to run a commercial operation).

After that, there was a 45 minute coach ride up and over the mountains to arrive at a jetty on the edge of Doubtful Sound, where we transferred to another boat for our journey up the Sound. We spent about 4 hours in the Sound, travelling as far as the mouth of the Sound on the Tasman Sea.

Again the scenery was magnificent and, with our boat being the only boat there, it was an amazing experience (especially when outside on deck). There were only 44 passengers and 2 crew on the boat, so lots of room and no hassle.

Notice Jan's new Kiwi Hoodie (poser!) and Mike's new Kiwi Haircut!

During the journey, we also saw a colony of fur seals (on islands  at the mouth of the Sound). a Blue Peguin swimming by the shore and three dolphins swimming alongside the boat.

We were finally dropped back at our B&B around 6.30pm.

One spooky thing.....earlier, at our B&B in Queenstown we met a Danish couple (Karl and Mona) at breakfast, well, we also met them at breakfast this morning here in Te Anau ...and they were also on the same trip as us to Doubtful Sound today!.....we're off to Dunedin next AND so are they! ....but different accommodation there.

Queenstown to Te Anau

NZ time... Monday 23rd January... 8pm

Left B&B and then spent the morning in Queenstown, ahead of the drive to Te Anau.

We spent a very pleasant couple of hours in the Queenstown harbour-side area. After a stroll round, we sat outside on the waterfront at Patagonia's and had their hot chocolate (delicious, probably best ever!) along with their Churros complemented with wonderful chocolate & caramel dips...mm!.mm!

Mike then found a barber's and had his hair cut, by a very nice man.

Less than 2 hour drive to Te Anau, nice scenery but nothing special and we arrived around 3pm.

Walked around town in the afternoon and then went to the Fiordland Cinema for the 5pm showing of a special film made by a local man to showcase this region (he also built the cinema so that the film could be shown here). The film had no commentary, just background music, and lasted for half an hour. The views were stunning and great as a pre-cursor for our trip to Doubtful Sound tomorrow.

We then ate at a local ale house before coming back to the B&B for an early night.

Queenstown - TSS Earnslaw

NZ time... 22nd January... 10.30pm

After relaxing at the B&B in the afternoon, we went back into town to take the 6pm sailing of the TSS Earnslaw from Queenstown across Lake Wakatipu to the Walter Peak High Country Farm. The ship is a 100 year old vintage steamship and was impressive to be on.

Our deal was to have the return trip (about 45 mins each way), a 3 course evening meal (we opted for the served [not carvery] meal which was really good and was served in an elegant dining room, thanks Ian for the advice on that) followed by a farm display of sheep dog work and then a sheep shearing demonstration.

Another good day.

Queenstown & Glenorchy

NZ time... Sunday 22nd January... 3pm

Woke up to these stunning views from our bedroom windows (there was a dusting of snow overnight on the mountain tops in the distance):

After good continental breakfast, we decided to take the 45 minute lakeside drive to Glenorchy, a small community at the head of Lake Wakatipu. Some beautiful scenery again.

Had a walk round Glenorchy, down by lakeside was nice. Weather was sunny but fresh with the breeze off the lake.

On return drive, stopped for Mike to photograph a field full of hundreds of sheep. He chatted to one of the farmers at the field gate & found out they were just about to herd the sheep down the road to another pasture. We waited and it was an amazing sight to see. The farmer even got Jan to let 3 of his dogs out of their cage on the back of his truck!

Once back in Queenstown, we walked round Queenstown Gardens before returning to B&B in mid-afternoon.