Nelson to Picton

Our last day on the South Island! We left Nelson to drive along the Queen Charlotte Drive beside the Pelorous Sound, passing through Havelock home of New Zealand Green Lipped mussels.

Picton is at the head of The Queen Carlotte Sound. The ferry leaves here for Wellington, taking an hour to exit the Sound before heading out into The Cook Straight. The scenery can only be described as a cross between the West Coast of Scotland and the Norwegian Fjords. Havelock is the home to the famous Marlborough mail boat run, this is the mail delivery service to remote homes and inlets accessible only by water. Trampers (walkers) catch the mail boat out to campsites and hike along the Queen Charlotte Hiking Trail. The sailing here looks wonderful - you could sail for days without coming across another person let alone another boat!

I have included a link to the Marlborough Sound info site http://www.destinationmarlborough.com/

Abel Tasman National Park

Abel Tasman National Park

Nelson is the gateway to The Abel Tasman Park on the Northern tip of the South Island, with the final piece of land called Farewell Strip inhabited only by seals and albatrosses. Of all the places that we have been to on our journey so far Nelson is the one place where I would really like to settle. The town is a mixture of quaint old buildings mixed in with modern, Saturday sees the town hosting a regular market for local products - a great place to have breakfast!

Today we drove north up the coast into the Park along Highway 60 which hugs the coast up to Marahau where the road turns into a single lane road for another 90kms or so. We stopped off for lunch at a small place called Kaiteriteri which is situated in a stunning bay surrounded by Rimu forests and emerald sea. The beaches are stunning white sands littered with sea shells and drift wood. We all agreed that it felt like being in the Mediterranean or the Caribbean - only better!

Kaiteriteri is the starting point for the Abel Tasman Sea Shuttle, this takes backpackers and local residents out to bays and inlets that are only accessible by sea. We are surprised by the amount of people that live in these way off places, everyone seems quite happy to leave their cars in lock ups on the quay sides and take off on their boats into the back of beyond. Ok if you like solitude and NO internet!

We came across a small helicopter hauling driftwood off the beach – couldn’t quite fathom out why they were using a helicopter but he seemed to be having fun. Beats pushing a wheelbarrow up to the local woods I guess!

Blenheim to Nelson

Today we drove north up over the mountains to Nelson leaving the vineyards behind us. Not many photo ops today as it was misty up in the hills but hopefully we will get some tommorrow as we head up to the Tasman Sea.

Nelson is lovely - it has a kind of old world charm about it and loads of yachts! this evening we went for a Japanese meal - talk about a small world! We travel to the other side of the world, drive 100kms out to a remote town - go into a Japanese resturant only to be served by Bernadette from Launceston in Cornwall! Spent most of her life in Plymouth!

Will update more tommorrow - Robb is kicking me off the laptop as he wants to talk to Heather!

Christchurch to Blenheim

We left Christchurch this morning for a 350 km drive North along the East Coast of the South Island.

We left Christchurch on the flat lands surrounded by the Southern Alps and head North up Highway 1 - well they call it a highway but to be honest its only like a UK A road - but with no traffic! When you come across a bridge it's only one lane across, so you have to wait for what ever is at the bridge first.

Our first stop was at Kiacora, this is well known for Whale and Albatross sight seeing. Well we didn't see either but we did come across a colony of seals lounging on the rocks. They didn't mind Robb getting in amongst them for a photo session – in fact it even appears that they were quite happy to pose for the camera.

As we came closer to Blenheim we entered the famous vineyards of Marlborough, I'm sure that most of you at one point or another will have drunk wines from this area. Our 'home' for tonight is a lodge in the middle of a vineyard with views up into the Marlborough Hills. It's quite cold here tonight, there’s snow on the hills up here and it feels cold enough to snow, yet other days with us further south it has been warmer.

I'm still trying to get my head round the directions here! In the Northern Hemisphere I have a really good sense of direction, but since arriving 'upside-down' it's gone to rats! Still can't get used to the sun being in the North - I would make a cr*p homing pigeon down here!

Photo's will come tomorrow - the internet here is driven by 'roaches'!

Arthur's Pass

Ok - so just when you think that the scenery can't get any better it goes and bites you on the bum!

Today we went up to Arthur's Pass which is North of Christchurch nearly 4,000 feet up into the Southern Alps. This is where lots of Lord of the Rings was filmed - but then where ever you go in NZ most of it has appeared in Lord of the Rings Trilogy at some point. The forecasted snow was just sleet and only lasted for a few minutes. It took us 3 hours to drive up to Arthur's Pass, which is a one horse township, if you have ever seen Northern Exposure - you've seen Arthur's Pass!

In NZ they have a wild parrot called a Kea - supposedly an elusive little b*gger! Well as you can see we came across several in Arthur's Pass sabotaging people's cars! If you've seen raccoons rumaging in bins then just transpose them to big parrots the size of chickens and you have the Kea. Upon leaving the cafe after lunch Nigel fixed some left over chips to the roof of Mike's car - unfortunately they had all done a runner - but the chips didn't despite a 3 hour drive, sleet and driving rain the chips remain!

Hanmer Springs

Wow - Just when I thought that it couldn't get any better!

Well we have arrived in Christchurch on the South Island. I thought that the North Island was awesome but as Robb promised the scenery in the South Island surpasses even that. I can not even beging to explain how beautiful this place is - the photo's and my descriptions can not do this place justice.

Today we drove up to Hanmer Springs in the Southern Alps. When you first leave Christchurch you drive through the vineyards, we came across several wines that we have drunk over the years.

We started our day off with a Jet Boat ride through 'Thrill Seekers Canyon' - and yes it did live up to it's name! We were doing 90kms an hour through narrow gorges with inches to spare between us and the canyon walls, with the odd 360* turn thrown in. Sitting in the front was pretty awesome, especially whenn you can see the walls of the gorge looming up in front of you wondering when the heck you are going to turn!

After all that it was a relief to soak in the sulphor springs at Hanmer. Water comes up from underground in a series of pools that you can soak in - what a relief after the bone crunching of the boat ride. Reeks of sulphor though but clears the sinuses!

Tommorrow we are hoping to go up through Arthurs Pass in the Southern Alps, but tonight they have forecast snow - so we shall wait to see what the morning brings!

Gravity Canyon

Sunday 20th September

Sunday we drove 3 hours up to Gravity Canyon to do the Flying Fox and Bungee jump. Gravity Canyon is in the area of NZ where they filmed Middle Earth for Lord of the Rings - the scenery is awesome - no it wasn't digied - it really is that awesome!

Gravity Canyon is 300 feet deep and the Flying Fox is a wire that is suspended above the canyon with an aerial runway along it 300 feet high. This is where you can also Bungee Jump, Jame sand Chris did the tandem jump which is the highest tandem swing in the world (80m), Robb has already done a bungee so he gave it a miss this time. Nigel and I didn't do it this time but we are going to do it when Ben and Sonia are out in November.

I have included a clip of the boys doing the Flying Fox. Tommorrow we are off to Christchurch for a few days - will send photo's!

Just a few words to the guys who are graduating tommorrow - I will be thinking of you and will be expecting loads of photo's! AS wishes she was there with you - I will be thinking about you!

Off to the South Island

We are getting ready for our trip to the South Island on Monday. Tommorrow we are off to the Wairrapa Valley to visit the vineyards and a spot of wine tasting. Our journey there will take us over the Rimataka's again - a white knuckle ride with breath taking views if you have the courage to look over the edge.

Tonight has been the All Blacks versus the Wallabies (Australia) so Welly has come to a standstill, luckily the All Blacks won - so we will have a bunch of happy Kiwi's in the morning. This country lives, sleeps and breaths Rugby!

Lowry Bay Main Ridge Walk

Sunday afternoon we all decided to go for a gentle afternoon stroll! So we took oursleves off to the 'Look out point' above Wellington Harbour - where we came upon the 'Lowry Bay Main Ridge Walk' only 40 minutes there and 40 minutes back. So 11/2 hours later, after much swearing and cursing, dehydration and 374 metres climbed we arrived at our desination - a wooden bench plonked in the bush - occupied by 3 ladies who had marched on past us and were having a picnic! Is this it???? Oh great! now we've got to hike all the way back!

OK - so we've done it now - not doing it again!

Ben has given me grief for not updating sooner - so this one is for Ben!

This week we went on an epic trip to the Wairapa Valley via Palmeston North and the Rimutaka Forest Park. The Wairapa Valley is home to one of New Zealand’s biggest wine producing areas, unfortunately we didn’t have time to stop for a wine tasting this time. The valley is set in the flat land in the middle of a mountain range and consists of flat vineyards and rolling farm land. Its Spring here so the fields are full of New Zealand lambs - who eventually could end up on your Sunday Lunch plates sooner or later! The lemon trees are full of lemons, but as far as I can make out I think that the lemon trees produce all year round. If some of you can remember the Thorn Birds (perhaps just us oldies!) the homesteads are very much like the one on there.

As you leave the Valley you climb up into the Rimutaka Forest Park, this is the high mountain range that you can see from Steph’s balcony, last week there was snow fall overnight up there and the tops were covered in snow – it looked incredibly beautiful with the sun shining on it. The road is soooo twisty and turny, full of switch backs, I found it easier to keep my eyes shut (Robb was driving!) – the drop offs are phenomenal and there are no barriers! The road is often closed when there are high winds – which means if you commute to Wellington you have to endure an extra 3 hour journey home.

We also went up to the Mount Victoria Look out high above Wellington this week – I have included a photo from the viewing platform. Unfortunately it was an overcast day so we couldn’t see across to the South Island – but on a clear day you can see over to the mountains and the Queen Charlotte Sound.

One thing I have to mention are the Speed Cops out here – all fatherless people! They are so strict with the speed limits out here – no kidding! The fastest you can go is 100km (65mph) and boy do you have to stick to it! The b*ggers hide in clapped out old cars and cruise the highways and housing estates. So it’s Driving Miss Daisy from now on! Oh and by the way – Steph got nicked this week!

There was also another small earthquake just off the Kapiti Coast just up the road – we all missed it again!

First Week in New Zealand

Well we have been here for a week now – and to be honest we haven’t stopped! How can I describe Wellington? Well we think that it is very much like Halifax in Nova Scotia where we used to live in Canada. It has the same feel to it that Halifax had and the people and their attitudes are all very similar. The landscape though is very different! If you have ever seen pictures of San Francisco then you will have a good idea of how hilly Wellington is, the architecture is very much the same with clapboard houses.

Robb has acquired a new car, he is now the proud owner of a 2001 2ltr Mitsubishi Gallant. As of yet Nigel and I haven’t bought a car – we are allowed to use his! It feels strange going back to driving an automatic, I drove it today and kept wanting to change gear.

Until our visa’s come through we are loathe to look at houses although we have been driving round the different suburbs trying to get a feel of the neighbourhoods. We are still trying to get our heads around living on top of a volcano and fault lines – we are amazed at how their homes hang of the edges of cliffs. One bl**dy good quake and they are all going to slide down the mountainside. We went into the ‘quake demonstrator’ today to show newcomers what it feels like– holy crap not looking forward to the first one – feels like walking on jelly! Most people wire their appliances to the walls – saves them flying across the room in a quake – I guess the problem comes when the wall comes flying across the room with the fridge freezer attached to it! Wellington averages at least one a week!

On Saturday we went for a 14km hike to ‘Worlds End Beach’ – there’s nothing between you and the South Pole – bar a few penguins! The wind comes straight up from the Antarctic – Chilly! The beach was full of Paua shells – so beautiful! the locals make jewellery from them. Talking of penguins – the road to the airport is full of signs telling you to be aware of Blue Penguins crossing. They come ashore and nest under people’s house across the road, I’m sure some of you must have seen them on the TV.

I can’t not mention the ‘All Blacks’ – Ben would never forgive me! We are hoping to get tickets to the Wallabies versus the All Blacks (Aus v NZ) – a bit like watching England play Scotland. They are playing at the Cake Tin on the 19th September just down the road from where Steph lives – so if we do photos will follow no doubt Ben!

The photographs are the view from Steph’s balcony, a view from Worlds End Beach across to the snow tipped mountains on the South Island – no penguin ones yet!

Almost forgot - We had an earthquake!

Hey forgot to report - we had an earthquake the second day we got here! 5.2 on the Richter Scale. Shame we were in the car when it happened so we missed it - b*gger! Seems as though it is a regular occurance so no doubt we will get one sooner or later. Bit disconcerting when we are living in a house balanced on a cliff edge above a gully.

Day 2 In the Land of the Hairy Hobbit

Arrived in New Zealand the day before yesterday – so as you can imagine we have been running around like blue a*sed flies! Great to finally get here and glad to see the back of aeroplanes.
Well what do we think of the place? Well it is just as we imagined only sooo much better – its just as you would wish England could be. Our first afternoon we went with Steph up to the Botanical Gardens to stretch our legs, travelled up on the cable car as the gardens are high above the city. What great views! And seeing that it is the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring it felt like an English summer day – well I think I can put up with that! Some of the flowers already out were wonderful – the daffodils, snowdrops and lilacs are all beginning to come out – feels strange seeing them at this time of year.
This morning we went car hunting for Robb, he’s found a Mitsubishi Gallant that he’s keen to buy – think he’s keen to get a decent car as Heather has got her heart set on having a beaten up old truck that she can bomb around in. She hasn’t seen the size of the hills here yet!
This afternoon we drove up on to the Kapiti Coast via Battle Hill, think Robb was quite taken with the lifestyle plots up there as he quite fancies living ‘in the woods’ as Heather wants chooks and ducks! If any of you have seen pictures of NZ rolling hills – that’s exactly what it’s like. We got to the top of the cliffs over looking the beaches and were paid a visit by a local glider pilot who buzzed us for a short while – waving as he flew just a few metres away.
Went for a walk along Waikanae Beach, it felt strange to hear crashing waves along the beach as the rollers came in – haven’t heard that for years. In the distance we could see the South Island and the hills of Marlborough Sound. Strange to think that just past that is the bottom of the world – Antarctica and penguins. Oh and talking of strange – yes water does go down the plug hole the wrong way here!