Favourite Statements from Places we’ve Visited

We saw this one in a little Gelatano Pralour in a two horse town on the east side of the South Island. They made fantastic real fruit ice creams for $4.50 (about £2.25)

What a great statement! I think I'm going to keep that one safe along with Rudyard Kiplings "If". Words to live your life by!

This one was from true Mexican joint in Queenstwon. Just enough space to pay for your food and nothing else but they had a whole bunch of Mexican paraphanalia on the wall and this image took my eye........

Christchurch

Beautiful town but still feeling the effects of the earthquake several years ago. Sarah and I arrived late in the afternoon but managed a stroal around the city in the early evening. The old buildings that still stood were wonderful and the stonework from the Art College building was straight out of an old movie set. Unfortunately, it had suffered from the quack. Once again our timing could have been better. The evening we arrived the city was teaming with West Indian and Pakistani cricket supporters. They had a World Cup game on in the stadium just up the road. But the carnival atmosphere was great and very colourful. 

We saw this charming fountain lit up in the late evening just inside the botanical gardens

Able Tasman

One of New Zealand's Great Walks the Able Tasman truly lived upto its billing. We haven't done a true long distance walk along the coast before so this was a real treat. Every day brought a new eye watering view of the Southern Ocean with mountains casting dark silhouettes in the distance and all framed at its base by white sand. 

Each afternon we made camp for the night in a new bay. I had a swim in the sea each day. On the first day a tentative one to see how cold the water was. After about five minuets of standing thigh deep I picked up the courage to dive in the rest of the way. Once in the water and the initial shock over it was very pleasant. Sarah wet her feet on a couple of occasions! 

The walking wasn't hard but very rewarding, have a look at some of the photos. 

On the second morning we had to walk across this bay while it was still knee to thigh high in water. If we waited any longer we'd have missed half the day. It doesn't look much but it's about half a kilometre across. This was the first of three tidal crossings during the walk. 

Can't remember where this was taken but I think it looks peaceful 

Second tidal crossing, the afternoon before we crossed at Awaroa

Around 6:30am the tide was low enough to cross.....

Sarah making the early morning and cool walk across the tidal bay

It's a hard life camping in locations like these.........

2014 H&S Awards courtesy of Dave and Jenny

Thanks to Dave and Jenny for their email regarding the 2014 Health and Saftey Awards. See if you think they made the correct decision?

And the Winners Is ............

South Island NZ

We've been really busy since last we blogged. Had a great ferry trip into the South Island via Marlborough Sound fjord, just like Norway, I imagine. Then over to Nelson, sunshine town (city - mustn't call it a town that means village or hamlet over here). We walked the Able Tasman then through to Christchurch, beautiful city but so much of it is still being demolished, rebuilt or left vacant awaiting building to start. Then onto Queenstown which is where I'm writing this. Today's bus trip let us down as the company Naked Bus sent an email telling us the pickup time had changed but really it hadn't, OOPS!!! Anyway after a few calls were sat in Starbucks drinking coffee waiting another hour and a half for the new bus through to Te Anau so we can do a few hours on the Kepler Track to Brod Bay, tonight's campsite.

View coming out of a wet Wellington!

Once out of 'Welly' and in open water on the Cook Strait the rain pelted down but as we entered Marlborough Sound it calmed and I spent the rest of the journey appreciating the fjord. As we were on the water Sarah stayed downstairs asleep to avoid sea sickness. 

View of Marlbourgh Sound

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday Karen
Only a year between us again so I don't feel so old. Have a lovely day.
All our love and birthday wishes for Thursday.
Sarah & Dave
XXXXXXXX😃🎂🎤Happy birthday🎂🎉🎈

Base Backpackers in Wellington

Our journey from Waitomo to New Zealand's capital was visually rewarding but boy was it loooooooo ong! Unfortunately, the two buses both ran late. The first arrived an hour late into the changeover station and the second was running a further hour late on top, so we finaly made it into Wellington at 10pm last night. Our hostel for the night was at the Base Wellington a true 'young persons' backpackers hostel. Eight stories high with a booming bass sound track from the 3am all night bar in the basement. We were invited but had to decline! 

All we wanted was our beds. Thankfully we were on the seventh floor  but the city night life is coming in through the window. Usually Sarah would be the first to get irritated by the noise but we were pretty tired so we slept through the night without much trouble. 

It's a nice place despite us being two old backpackers who like our peace and quiet. A $5 all you can eat continental breakfast and friendly staff, very helpful. We wondered the streets of Wellington today and found a pleasant city but like a lot of cities nowadays the shops seem to have departed out of town only to leave empty shells, loads of coffee shops and eateries. Some beautiful old buildings, two churches, a New England style house right in the centre of the CBD and everyone pleasant and helpful made for a relaxing day. 

We are just about to depart for the South Island at 7am for the 8:30am ferry. I'm not sure about keeping in touch as we are spending the next two weeks hiking with only the odd stop at civilisation. So hope to keep in touch but might be sporadic. 

View of Wellington harbour from our seventh floor room

Spellbound

We were when we saw these amazing creatures. We spent an afternoon caving in the Waitomo area with gloworms and some other humans. What a beautiful area literally straight out of Lord Of The Rings. Rolling hills through the near distance with sharp volcanic mountains menacing in the distance. We saw Mount Doom (or at least the mountain used as Mount Doom anyway). 

The Waitomo Caves were a thrilling experience, we may be easily thrilled though, lots of interesting background info and sights to see both deep in the caves and the surrounding countryside. 

The campsite was in a great location so a little relaxation in between long bus journeys to and from. We wished we had planned to stay longer. 

Gloworms Caves

Happy Birthday Taio

Happy birthday Taio for Thursday. Hope you have a great day.  

All our love Aunty Sarsh and Uncle David

🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂

The Hakka

Long day's journey from Paihia to Rotarua with a stop over in Auckland, bus drivers a little more cheerful. Very touristy but we are staying out of town at the Blue Lake about 11km out. We have been taking it easy the first day with most of the daytime spent reading. In the evening we arranged to visit a Maori village called Tamaki with hands on experience of the Maori culture. Their traditional culture is based very much on violent confrontation and that's why you get all the face pulling, shouting and weapon twirling. But it runs much deeper than that with thier methods of working with the land and living in a tight community. We leaned lots about where they came from and how they have dealt with the European influx since the 1800's. They seem to have managed the cultural change better than the aborigines in Australia but we did catch some evidence or racial tension on the TV shortly after arrival. Some guy was shouting his mouth off about anyone that wasn't white. 

On the bus to the maori village we all had to choose a chief for our "tribe" as you can expect no one put there hand up, oh, that is except Dave. He didnt have to but as noone wanted to do it he felt obliged! On arrival we the Chiefs (4 buses so 4 Chiefs) had to be challenged by three warriors before peace could be agreed. Then lots of demonstrations of how they teach their young the traditional skills and again Dave joined in and beat three women at pole holding (bad sportsman he should have let one of them win), Hakka practice for later but done in front of everyone. We then had a cooking demonstration and anticipation for food later followed by a theatrical performance from the village. 

Chiefs agreeing a peaceful meeting of tribes, lots of nose touching and Kia-ora (you remember the Orange drink when we were young I don't think they make it now)

Hakka practice (not the most coordinated or frightening of people)

Dave beating three women at a pole swapping game used to improve hand/eye coordination! 

Maori cultural performance with lots of teeth gnashing and sticking out of tongues, and that was only the ladies! This is the ladies performing with the poi( ball on a string)

All this calling him chief has gone to his head, even on the bus home people were thanking him for being a great chief. He's not the scariest of Maoris but got into the spirit of the night. A 2 man tent is just not big enough for me, Dave and his head! The lack of hair is from a recent hair cut not his ever increasing head size. A very interesting night out.

Paihia

Had a lovely three days relaxing, at least after the first night, in Paihia ( pronounced Pa Hi, our bus driver who was a jobs worth corrected nearly everyone who asked him if he was going there). When booking the campsite we thought it would be a lovely spot for quiet walks and right by the sea. Well not on the first night! What we had failed to know was our arrival day was a National Holiday for Waitangi Day (the day the Maori and British signed the treaty document for peace) this year was the 175 anniversary of that treaty. Oh Boy, this is a little village the rest of the year but with 50,000 people all crammed in around the treaty grounds, we were camped at the Waitangi Campgrounds, it was manic. They were partying right through the night so sleep was a bit lacking. The Maori are the ones that do the celebrating in the main. The roads were closed every bit of grass everywhere was packed with tents and vehicles. They clearly had a good time anyway. It calmed downby Sunday so we spent the afternoon in the village with a couple of ladies entertaining us on the piano impromptu, very kind of them. Their were others but these two were by far the best. We ate a kebab for Sunday dinner, better than it sounds and a hand made fruit ice cream for desert. 

We didn't get into the treaty grounds but we did stroll up one night and see if we could sneak in, unfortunately not. However, the place is full of Maori artefacts especially totem poles (not sure if they are described as such by them). 

Left Taz last night.... Australia goodbye. Hello New Zealand!

Hope everyone's well and the colds not too bad. 

Tasmania was cooler than Aus. but still really fresh and much like our summer. They recon this year is there coldest for ages. Since our last post we've kept up the pace with an additional day in St. Helens (beautiful scenery). Treavelled to Scottsdale, camped in a free camp spot with all the facilities provided by the local council (I guess to encourage tourists) unfortunately it's close to the road and logging trucks ran well into the night. During the day we climbed Mt. Stronach and had lunch with the whole of North west Tasmania as our window. 

View from Mt. Stronach

We had a day in Launceston, and had our boots repaired. My fault I'm afraid last year while walking in Sweden we had one very wet day from both rain and walking through deep water so I dried them near the fire in the evening, took about an hour and a half so I moved them closer and it must have weakened the glue on the toe of one boot each, plus melted the side just a little. Anyway the sole came away the day before on these same single boots, one each, so the job needed doing. Launceston City is the second and only other city in Tasmania, relaxed, laid back, plenty of people walking the streets in bare feet! We had a burrito but not as good as Baburitto's in the Trafford Centre. Had a walk around the old colonial architecture, convict built seems to add quedos, and finished the afternoon in Cateract Gorge. 

Cataract Gorge

After Launseston we found another nearly free campground in Gowrie Park, just $5, even then one camper tried to escape paying. We had to laugh it's in the middle of nowhere and just a handful of other people there so I guess this guy thought hey why pay no ones here to take money, you're just supposed to put money in the post box. So around 9pm from nowhere a man on a Segway appears checks who's paid and this guy panics running over to protest he only has a $20 bill so couldn't pay. We sat their giggling as the guy really had a panic on. 

 

Great view from the tent and absolutely peacefull. Check out the view

The following day we walked Devils Gorge and then onto Cradle Mountain. 

View from Devils Gorge

The Overland Track in Tasmania is a well renowned bushwalk but we had chosen not to do this one partly out of principle and partly because it's a rip off. The Tazzi Parks Authority demand a $200 per person fee in order to walk the track plus the standard park entry fee for national parks in Tasmania of $60. They allow only 34 people a day to walk the track! So the first afternoon we walked around the base of Cradle mountain and Dove Lake and the following day we did the first days walk of the Overland Track and then tagged on another track and peak to circle back to our start point. 

Cradle Mountain

Sarah's been missing Stricktly so I gave her my best Brucie impression!

In the evening we had a visitor, cute! So do a Brucie bonus, 'What do you think he was thinking?'

Down the west side of Tasmania we stayed overnight at Queenstown. Once the richest mining town in the world, probably! Gold, silver, opals and pierite now it's just copper but the scare on the landscape is enormous. Over 150 years of mining and blowing the side off all the surrounding mountains. The river that runs through the town still runs orangey brown from it. We arrived late and no one was at the campsite to take our payment, we used the facilities etc. tried to pay again twice in the morning before we left but still the house and office were empty so we did a runner I guess! The next few days we walked up from the other end of the Overland Track at Lake St. Clair. We intended to camp in the secluded hut at Echo Point but by the end of the night this little four bed unmanned hut had 8 people staying in it not including us so we pitched the tent and then another two people turned up! So much for seclusion!

Lake St. Clair early on a misty morning

We saw this burr through the trees. The girth of the tree is so large that with my arms stretched around it I didn't manage to reach half way round its trunk. The burr looks like a bear climbing up the tree

Last day before reaching Hobart again and full circumnavigation of Tasmania, Bushy Park. A little old man called Mike runs his garden as a campsite. He swears like nobody's business and will talk you to death, still refers to 'his wife indoors' who we sadly think was no longer with us as we never heard or saw anyone else. Everything looked homemade, because it was, sheds for kitchen and shower, made out of old bits of wood and metal. The cost was just $7 plus $2 for a shower. To get a shower you filled a 15 litre bucket of mixed hot and cold water to an agreeable temperature, carried it from his outside kitchen to the ramshackle shed turned on a 12 volt little pump and had a trickle shower. I know I made mine too hot but there's no temperature control so I just had to try and avoid the water most of the time while attempting to get a wash. A strange but amusing $2 shower. 

A couple of Oast houses we past near New Norfolk

Final 36 hours in Hobart and 1670km since we picked the car up our time was up in Australia. In total we have driven over 8000km through Aus. Starting in Melbourne and finishing in Melbourne last night before our flight to New Zealand today. In the last 55 days we've traveled right up the east coast of Australia visiting all the major cities, some of the great beaches and mountain areas. Uluru and Kata Tjuta were magnificent. Tasmania is a quiet but inspiring island with laid back people and awesome scenery.  

Hobart from the top of Mt. Wellington