Category: Uncategorized

Sunday, 14^th January 2018

 

What a great surprise we had this morning! As soon as I opened the curtains and door onto our balcony, I was greeted with beautiful sunlight and blue skies with some wafts of white clouds…….. The yacht marina immediately looked completely different and there were people around getting ready to take their boats out! Today we were due to leave Nelson and continue our trip to Blenheim so that tomorrow we can catch the ferry from Picton to Wellington. What a great way to end our trip on the South island – sunshine and warm temperatures rising to 27 degrees. This morning we did not take any sunny side up eggs – we had the real thing outside and were eager to go out and enjoy it all!

 

After breakfast we loaded our bags into the car and set off. It was 10 am and well within our schedule. I was the co driver today so I had enough time to plan our stops. The distance between Nelson and Blenheim is only 115 km and if we had driven straight through it would only take some 1.5hrs. However we had quite a few sightseeing stops and we only arrived in Blenheim round about 15.00

 

Leaving Nelson on the State Highway 6, our first stop was at the Founders Heritage Park, which we had missed yesterday due to the bad weather. But this morning, we had the perfect weather and there were loads of families with their kids all heading towards this park. It was only when we were inside that park that we knew why it was so busy – there was an old timers exhibition which also included a cargo plane from the 1950’s We were drawn initially by the windmill but all the old buildings were actually moved to this park from various areas around Nelson and whether the building was a house, shop or fire station, everything was well kept.

 

After spending about an hour here, we were again on our way and our next stop was at Pelorus Bridge. A pretty little green forest tucked away and running down to the River Pelorus. This forest had remained because a town planned here ( that’s why the bridge was built in 1865) never materialized and now it’s a great site for picnics, swimming in the river and now also known in the neighbourhood for being chosen by Peter Jackson as a site for his film the Hobbit.

 

On the road again – but not for long as we soon hit our next point of interest – Havelock! This is a pretty little town where mussels – especially the green shelled mussels are farmed. This town has proclaimed itself as “the Green shell Mussel Capital of the World”, thus enough places to try out this type of mussel!! We ended up at the Mussel Pot on the high street and choose 2 delicious ways of steaming the mussels – Gerry had them with a white wine and cream sauce and I had mine with garlic, herbs and tomato sauce. Of course we exchanged some of each others mussels and both were exquisite!! We also took a walk down to the harbour and besides mussel trawlers, there were quite a number of yachts berthed here – apparently the mussel farmers must be doing extremely well!!

 

Our final destination was approaching but also the vineyards of the Marlborough region. Marlborough is New Zealand’s largest grape growing and wine making region with 65 wineries, 290 grape growers and 4,054 hectares in grape production. Nearly all of the wineries welcome visitors for tasting sessions and many have a cafe or restaurant on site. Sauvignon Blanc is the region’s specialty, but wines made with Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are also highly acclaimed. As we’re driving, we did not stop to do any wine tasting.

 

Finally at our destination – we found our cottage – The Vine Cottage –a very quiet place outside the town of Blenheim. Our host, Iain preserves his own peaches, plums, nectarines and cherries – looking forward to tomorrow’s breakfast as he will have these fruits served.

 

When we were settled in, we decided to go on a drive to Picton – just to check out where we have to take the ferry tomorrow. A very pleasant drive and within half an hour we were at Picton Harbour, a very pretty place and also having a museum (which was closed) specifically dedicated to The Edwin Fox, the oldest merchant ship and the oldest surviving ship that brought immigrants to New Zealand.

We had a short stroll along the beach and later on after driving round to the next cove we came back to one of the café’s for ice cream! By that time it was close to 7.30 pm and we finally made our way back to our cottage. 

This was such a lovely day and we were so thankful that we were finally blessed with great weather!. Looking forward to tomorrow and our start of our trip to the North island!

 

 

 

Wednesday, 11^th January 2018

 

Woke up to yet another day of rain – my idea of going for a morning walk on the beach was blown away – so we took our time having our showers and getting coffee and fruit ready for our meager breakfast – we were off by 9.30 am as today we had another long drive through the west coast highway to Franz Josef Glacier some 230km! We were hoping that the weather would be somewhat drier but we had no such luck and to add to it all, we had fog and mist that we could hardly see the mountains. 

Before getting out of Haast, we filled up the car once more with petrol and we thought we could get some coffee here – but no such luck! However we did walk down to the beach and saw the great waves – one of the guys on the beach told us that he had seen some dolphins swimming – but we couldn’t spot them! So we continued our drive and indeed it was scenic enough but the mountains were covered with low hanging clouds and then the rains came – even heavier than yesterday – and of course I was the designated driver today as well!! I’m thankful that the rental car is brand new clocking only 1500 km when we picked it up at Queenstown airport.

 

Our first stop was at a Lookout post over the dunes on one side and the mountains on the other – Ship’s Creek – stunning views from the lookout tower and several walks either into the dunes or to the swamps – but as soon as we started walking, we got bitten with sandflies so back to the car to get our Deets insect repellent.

 

After this stop we drove some 20 km and finally we found our breakfast – or brunch – place – A salmon farm with a café. We had the most superb Egg Benedict with smoked salmon and a great cappuccino!

 

After our breakfast and some walking around we continued on our trip and had another stop at Lake Paringa – such a beautiful lake with beautiful reflections. This was a free camping site as well and there were a few tents and campers around. An interesting warning was that if there was a lot of rain , the lake waters could rise high into the grounds and campers should take note of that – well in this case, campers alongside the lake did not expect this to happen!!

 

Back in the car,  we finally made it to Franz Josef Glacier! And amidst the clouds we could finally get a glimpse of the glacier, high above! But it was still raining so we made our way to the Top 10 Holiday Park where we were booked in for 1 night. Our plan was to be able to go up to the glacier the same afternoon but it was raining constantly so no such luck. We did some grocery shopping to have some stuff for breakfast and after walking around the township decided to stop for a beer for Gerry and a ginger beer for me. In the meantime we were getting puckish so we thought we would do just like the Kiwi’s and have an early “tea” – seafood chowder, which really warmed us up!

By the time we had our meal, it stopped raining and we thought that now we had a chance to go up to the Franz Josef Glacier. We drove to the base and there we saw that because of the swelling waters, we could only get a far as 750 meters from the tip of the glacier. Unfortunately the rain started all over again and by the time we got back to the car, we were completely drenched. The weather gods have not been really kind to us!!

 

When we got back to the holiday park, we arrived at the same time as our neighbours who turned out to be also Dutch and the men started talking and found out that that both had been sea faring! So while I was writing up my blog, they enjoyed a beer together …….. 

 

It was early to bed as tomorrow we’re off to Westport and that is some 275 kilometers drive up the west coast – will prayers help to get good weather tomorrow?????

Tuesday 9^th January 2018

 

13 JANUARY 2018 – TODAY UPDATED MY BLOG WITH PICTURES – ENJOY!

TODAY’S BLOG IS WITHOUT PHOTOS DUE TO THE POOR INTERNET PROVIDED AT OUR MOTEL! WILL ADD THEM ON ONCE I HAVE BETTER CONNECTIONS!! HOPE YOU CAN ENJOY MY STORY WITHOUT THE PICTURES – ONLY TEMPORARY!

Had our breakfast again outside our Gypsy Vanner – warm and sunny and said goodbye to the house pets, Oscar the terrier and Victor the cat! We were ready to take on the long drive from Te Anau up to Haast on the west coast. When planning this trip I had looked up the distances and I registered 287km in 3hr.50mins.

Well at the end of the day we had done some 356 km and taken some 6 hours to get here including all the stops we made to take pictures, have coffee, visit the toilets (which I must say are really modern and clean all over NZ) and have lunch.

We started driving at 9.45 am and left sleepy quiet Te Anau quite easily – no traffic jams here – perhaps only when there are a number of campers touring around – otherwise quite alone on the road. Again I was the designated driver for the day with Gerry making an excellent co-pilot!  

Our first stop for coffee was at Garston having switched onto another highway (highways here are main 2 lane roads). Although a tiny little village with only 108 residents and a hotel and excellent public toilets, we found an information board (outside the toilet area – just in case you needed to wait!) describing the village as a gold mining village which started off with 2 sheep farmers setting up their farms here. Also notably is the fact that Garston, as a village stands right in the middle of New Zealand! Another fact the coffee was excellent!!

 

We continued driving along the Highway 6 and for the third time drove along Lake Wakatipu on our way to Queenstown. In Kingston we stop to fill up the car and then continued along the scenic route – we did stop one time and this was at The Devil’s Staircase – appropriately named due to the lookout punctuating the winding road and sheer rock formation leading down to the lake. Today the view was magnificent as we had clear skies! Incidentally this is the third time we are driving along the lake – first time with Ralph and Eve on our way to Queenstown, second time when we came down to Te Anau and now on our way up to Haast.

Continuing our drive, we sidetracked Queenstown and made our way to Wanaka where we would stop for lunch. Our hosts at Te Anau, explained to us that there were two ways of getting to Wanak – over the mountain range or round the mountain range – well for us we thought both would be good and did not make much difference in the time we needed to get to Wanaka. Anyway our GPS took us over the mountain range with Mount Cardrona reaching 1.936 meters. This road had so many hairpin bends and we kept on climbing till we reached one point where we stopped to take pictures and admire the views. Way down below lay Queenstown on the Lake Wakatipu – this was really a spot on top of the world with mountain ranges and golden rolling hills beneath us. Actually this pass, the Crown Range Summit,at 1.076 meters above sea level, is the highest sealed road in New Zealand. In 1860 W.Reese and and P.von Tunselman were the first Europeans to cross this pass in search of good pasture grounds for their sheep. Early in 1863, gold diggers used this route to get to towns such as Arrotown and Skippers diggings.

We continued from here on a descent and came to the quaint little village of Cardrona This was a popular place during the gold rush when its population rose to over a thousand – now it’s a sleepy village with hotel and only wakes up when the ski season begins.

Our next stop was at Wanaka – what a pretty lakeside town this is! Similar to Queenstown but more laid back – although there are quite a number of holiday resorts built on the outskirts of the town. And to our great relief, it was bright and sunny and temperatures reached well over 26 degrees. We sat outdoors to enjoy a salad lunch and of course Gerry had to have his vanilla ice cream as a desert. This was a late lunch and after a little walk along the lakeside, we just relaxed under a tree before setting off on our final leg of our journey for today! 

We were now wel on the way towards the Haast Pass with enough bends, high and low roads with waterfalls and gushing springs all the way. I imagined we were in Jurassic park, all the luscious ferns and various tints of green foliage surrounding the roadways – which dinosaur would we soon come across?

At one point we saw, what we thought snow up on the mountains but getting closer, we saw that these were melting waters – we had to get out of the car and the noise of the rushing waters was thunderous! A couple of photos snapped quickly and we were again on our way towards the ocean. After 2 hours we arrived in Haast but we still had a long way to get to our motel which I though was on the beach – well in actual fact it was but because it was so grey and rainy, we couldn’t tell the difference between sea and sky – We certainly could hear the waves crashing on the shore!!

Got ourselves settled in our motel and after freshening up, we thought of taking another drive to Jackson Bay – some 20 km further down – ands here we actually saw the Pacific Ocean! Mission accomplished!

Back at the motel, it was an early night – tomorrow we’re off to Franz Josef Glacier and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the weather gods will show us some clemency!!

 

 

Monday, 8th January 2018

It was an early start today and the weather seemed quite promising for our trip to Milford Sound on the west coast of New Zealand. Actually Captain James Cook chartered the map of New Zealand on his first visit in 1769-70 but completed ignored the fjords of Milford Sound ( for the rest he was quite accurate!!)

Today the activity of the day was a Wine Cave Tour of New Zealand’s largest and most innovative wine cave. So this meant that again we had to set our alarm clocks for an early start as by 9 am we were out of our hotel and were walking down the hill to Queenstown town centre where we were going to be picked up – but first coffee and toast at Starbucks! We were picked up punctually at 10.am and were off for a half hour drive to the Gibbston Valley Road situated between two ranges of mountains. On the way a commentary by our knowledgeable chauffeur.

We were being driven to the site: Gibbston and Bendigo sub regions which have a semi continental climate with temperatures rising to 30 degrees centigrade during daytime and 5 degrees at night. Apparently these are perfect conditions for the vines. Alan Brady – an ex TV presentation in New Zealand started his vineyards back in 1983 when New Zealand had no wine history and grew his winery to being one of the finest and largest in NZ.

On arrival we were met by our guide, Jolande, a very pleasant and knowledgeable Asian young lady, who took us first to the oldest vineyard – Home Block. She explained that  fruit from this historic Home Block Vineyard produced the Central Otago’s first commercial vintage in 1987 and was recently certified organic by BioGro New Zealand. Gibbston Valley’s 2014 vintage is their first to be certified organic. Home Block’s high-quality fruit is used in several of  single vineyard varietals including Le Dulcinée Gewürztraminer, Le Fou Riesling and Le Maître Pinot Noir. Interesting to know that one vine in that block produces initially some 18 bunches of grapes but these are trimmed down to 8 in January so that the vine can concentrate on putting all its energy to those bunches of grapes – and to produce one bottle of Pinot Noir! The vineyard in this block has some 16.000 vines which means an annual production of 16.000 bottles of Pinot Noir! No wonder the New Zealand wine is so expensive!!!!

Our next stop was wine tasting in the wine cave! Apparently the wine cave is manmade as dynamite was used to explode in the mountain and create a cave which is some 30 meters deep and 4 meters wide. As soon as we went in there, we could breath in the wine fumes which we quickly got used to! There the wine tasting began – we had four different wines starting with a Sauvignon Blanc, followed by Riesling ( which I did not really like as it was somewhat sweet) and then a Rose’ which was very pleasant and finally the Pinot Noir.  It’s a good thing we had breakfast as I would have been quite drunk – mind you Gerry helped me with the drinking as I was continually emptying my glass into his.

 

It was a good thing that after the wine tasting we were having lunch, as we had worked up quite a good appetite. Our lunch was also paired with a glass of wine that would go with the choice of our meals. While I went for a starter and a main, Gerry, Eve and Ralph went for a starter and a desert.It was very pleasant sitting outdoors for our lunch and the food was exquisite of taste and fine in presentation – actually a work of art!! Our choice was as follows:

• Roast vegetables, hummus, Ras el Hanout, labne  – my starter
• BBQ lamb rump, smoked eggplant, heirloom tomato, feta, coriander – Gerry’s main dish
• Market fish Cioppino, mussels, clams, rouille, sourdough – my main dish
• Free range chicken, charred witlof, caraway, capers, mustard, nasturtium – main dish for Eve and Ralph
• Dark chocolate tart, salted caramel ice cream, espresso mousse, hazelnut praline – dessert for Eve, Ralph and Gerry ( and I had a wee taste of the salted caramel ice cream!)

Just before lunch, I had enough time to visit the Cheesery and after tasting different sorts of cheese which compliment various wines – and beers – I bought a few samples to take back to the hotel as Gerry and I were planning to have Eve and Ralph come over to our suite and enjoy a few beers and cider for the ladies and enjoy all this on our balcony!

Back in Queenstown, we asked our chauffeur to drop us close to the gardens – after that food and wine we needed a good walk – not only to get rid of the calories but also to sober up a bit……

These gardens are sited on a small peninsula on the shoreline of Lake Wakatipu. It is considered one of the finest locations imaginable for a public garden. … The Gardens have strong associations with the history of Queenstown, having been established in 1887 by members of the town’s first Borough Council The first two trees planted at the garden were English oaks in 1866 by the first Mayor of Queenstown to commemorate the incorporation of the borough, but it wasn’t until 1867 that the gardens were officially opened and the major planting began.

Back at the hotel, we took time to freshen up before Ralph and Eve came over to visit – it was the last evening together and it was good that we could just relax on our balcony with the sun fading away. Friendships have made and renewed on this trip and we are truly grateful to both Eve and Ralph for showing us around and certainly for Gerry to go down memory lane together with Ralph – and Eve! Thank you and Au Revoir where ever on this globe!

 

Friday 5th January 2018

After a great night’s sleep in the super luxurious Villa Motel in Invercargill, we made our way to the first cafe on the way to have our breakfast. We had some 187km to drive along winding roads and the plan was that we should take some 2.5 hours to get to Queenstown, in time for our excursion by the mountain gondola (cable car) ride  for lunch and to admire the view over The Remarkables  (mountain range) and Coronet Peak.

Our breakfast was at Lumsden, a sleepy little village of a few streets; also called Oreti (Māori)  Lying in a gap in the surrounding hills, it is the location of a major junction halfway along the north- south road from Queenstown to Invercargill, where it is crossed by the east-west road from Gore to Te Anau. We stopped at Cafe Route 6 which was very much like an American cafe from the 1950’s with juke box and a half Buik acting as a bar indoors! I am getting accustomed to variety of scones made in New Zealand – and this time I had a spicy sun dried tomato scone with a cappuccino. According to Eve we were on track re timing so once we were on the way, we had another break  to take pictures when we reached Lake Wakatipu.

 

It took us well over an hour to reach Queenstown and then spent some time trying to find a parking place close to the entrance to Gondola cable car. We were lucky and within 10 minutes of arrival we were walking up to the entrance to exchange the voucher for tickets – there was already a long queque but it moved easily. The trip in the cable car went off smoothly and it was ever so quiet as we were going up the mountain side. Once on top we had time to admire the stunning views – even though it was cloudy and grey, the views were still magnificent. There were some other Dutch people who volunteered to take a picture of the four of us and turned out quite good. Then was time for lunch and while the food was good, the restaurant was so packed that it was ever so difficult trying to get to the buffet tables…….

Once we were back at the car parking, we all made our way to the airport as we had to pick up our rental car – actually a mistake on my part as I had not changed the pick up date to Sunday as Ralph and Eve had planned activities for us till Sunday. But in hindsight it’s no problem as that means when we check out on Sunday, we just get the car out of the garage and start driving to our next destination – Te Anau. 

I must say it was quite exciting driving driving in a totally new Automatic  Toyota Corolla and of course on the left hand side of the road – mind you I was already used to this driving as I’ve driven often in Malta. Anyway back in Queenstown, we all checked in to our hotel – The Scenic Hotel Suites & Resorts. Perfect hotel, even though we had to walk up and down hill to get to the town centre!! Our (Dutch) legs are not used to walking hills……

After checking in, we went on a drive – according to Eve, this was an extra tour as we were being such good travelling companions – and we went to visit the gold mining town, Arrowtown. This is a charming town and only some 20 minutes away from Queenstown.This mining town sprang up in the 1860’s when there was a rush for gold in the Arrow river. The main street building are all restored as well as the little miners’ cottages off the main street.  Once the gold ran out, the town became a fading rural backwater and as there was no pressure to replace the old building with newer houses, Arrotown kept its heritage. This meant that in the turn of the 1900’s Arrowtown was more or less a ghost town! Then in the 1950’s Arrowtown experienced a comeback and the historic buildings have all been restored making it a pleasant place to wander around!

After our visit to Arrowtown, we got back to our hotel to freshen up and later in the evening strolled down to Queenstown centre and had a lovely walk around – the town is very touristic but it was good to feel being part of it all. There is such an easy going feeling – families, young backpackers and also citizens falling into our age bracket – everyone mingled together in a relaxing way.  And now looking forward to tomorrow’s activity – visiting the Gibbston Valley Wine Cave Tour! Goodnight all!!

Tuesday, 2^nd January 2018

 

Another busy and interesting day getting to know how the first settlers came to Dunedin and how they began building Dunedin to be the wonderful city it is today. We also took a train journey in the afternoon to the Taieri Gorge – a railway built in 1870’s to link the central Otagu agricultural areas with Dunedin. 

We started off the day with again a good breakfast prepared by Eve and Ralph (he’s the fried eggs champion!) and then drove down to Dunedin Train Station area. We’ve been blessed with another wonderfully warm and sunny day so our walk around was quite pleasant. Today it’s also a public holiday in NZ – Most probably the kiwis need an extra day to recuperate from their January 1^st celebrations??? Anyway this meant free parking close to the station and the museum we were visiting! Also all museums have free entrance which make them accessible to everyone, however we did leave a donation!

The Toitū Otago Settlers Museum is a museum of social history dedicated to telling the story of the people of Dunedin and the surrounding area, whose character, culture, technology, art, fashion and transport shaped New Zealand’s first great city.

It is set out chronologically, from the first Kai Tahu explorers right up to modern times. The museum traces the development of the City of Dunedin and the province of Otago.

The museum has fourteen themed galleries with interactive displays and powerful narratives tracing the human history of the area, from the earliest settlers to the most recent arrivals.

It is most fascinating to see how the early Scottish settlers sailed to Dunedin and how they started building the city – most of the settlers were Presbyterians from Edinburgh and in fact the town would have been called New Edinburgh as many of the buildings look as though they have been plucked out of the old town. One of the exhibition rooms was built as a ship transporting the early settlers across the ocean waves and their shipboard experience: how they lived on board through storms, sickness, fights and love till they arrived to Dunedin.

We were able to experience the rough passage of migration, the boom period of gold, the glamour of Victorian Dunedin and the changing world of transport and technology! Our visit was only a couple of hours but we could have spent much more time – there is so much to see and experience. 

Before we went to our next event of the day, we had coffee and a snack at the outdoor museum café. We thoroughly enjoyed sitting outdoors enjoying the sun, although it took quite a while to get our coffee……

We strolled to the train station which was only a few meters away from the Museum and after exchanging my voucher for the tickets, we spent some time looking around the station – unfortunately I could not take any pictures of the building outside as there were a number of tourist busses parked outside and they spoilt the view. However indoors it was magnificent – it was as though time stood still! The foyer and booking hall’s elaborate ornamentation is bathed in a soft golden light that reinforces the wealth of the city of Dunedin at the time.

Dunedin Station is an example of the city’s wealthy inheritance and in its prosperous years handled some 100 trains daily. Construction was started in 1903 and officially opened in 1906 . The combination of over the top decoration and the intricate use of contrasting dark basalt and white Oamaru limestone earned its architect the nickname “Gingerbread George”.

Nowadays, a farmers market runs in Anzac Square just outside the station every Saturday morning; unfortunately we are leaving Dunedin before we get to see the farmers’ market. But we did get the sightseeing train which runs from the station through the Taieri Gorge this afternoon. 

The trip to Pukerangi is 58 km and we slowly climbed some 250 meters on the way along the gorge. One of the largest wrought iron structures in the southern hemisphere is the Wingatui Viaduct, which is some 190meters long and 47 meters high above the Mullocky stream. The other structure of such magnitude and containing so much wrought iron is the Eiffel Tower in Paris

Today is 1^st January 2018! I have celebrated New Year’s Day in many different countries but I never thought I would be doing this in New Zealand and together with, now our very dear friends, Eve and Ralph. And today was a very special day as today’s tour in Dunedin was to include Gerry’s Memory Lane – places where he had lived and been to when he lived in Dunedin and friends with the “other” Dutch boy, Ralph. And to add the fun of going down memory lane, we had fantastic warm and sunny weather!!

The first memory that Ralph drove us to was King Edward Technical College where both Ralph and Gerry attended school and became friends. Well as the story goes, when Gerry arrived in New Zeland, he did not speak any English, so he was allocated to Ralph, the other Dutch boy, so that he could help him to adjust to his new surroundings. And that’s when their friendship started!! Photos taken and anecdotes told!

Then Ralph drove us to the first place where Gerry had lived together with his parents and brother, Rob back in 1959. Gerry knew exactly which street it was and the house was still standing there on a corner – This was located on Cosy Dell nr 4 and of course when we were out of the car and walking around, Gerry was full of stories of what had all happened during those days – they had a neighbor at the back of the garden who came from (then) Czechoslovakia who guarded his fruit trees at night as the possums searched for ripe fruit.

Well after taking some pictures here we went onto memory nr.3

We drove along the North East valley on the North Road to get to the second house where Gerry had lived with his family. But before getting to North Road 462, we stopped in front of the steepest street in the world – also mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records – Baldwin Street! Of course there were quite a number of (Asian) tourists visiting and taking pictures

Driving further on the North Road, Gerry asked to stop at a certain point as this was where a pathway led up the hill to their second home. So we all got out of the car and climbed this really steep hill which left me out of breath! I can imagine as a kid you wouldn’t have a problem climbing this pathway but as a 65 plusser, it was quite strenuous!!

The pathway was quite overgrown with bushes and Ralph thought that Gerry had got the wrong place but no – Gerry was very certain and we arrive to North Road 462. The house was tucked away among all the shrubs and trees so we could not get a good look at it and being New year’s day we were not going to disturb the residents!!

Ralph then took us to the next stop – Signal Hill – however this is not a place they came to as kids so this was a new memory for all of us. The hill is some 330 meters high and is capped by a monument to the New Zealand Centennial of 1940, a large structure including two large bronze figures representing “History” and “The Thread of Life”. Although commissioned for the centenary of the signing of the  Treaty of Waitangi (signed between Maori chiefs and the British crown) the monument was not constructed until the 1950s, owing to the enforced strictures of World War 2. A large stone from Edinburgh in Scotland, is also incorporated in the monument.

Our next stop was at South Street in Cavensham as this was the third house where Gerry’s family moved to, however due to the new highway built behind the housing area, Gerry was not able to locate the house, but we will be going back to search for this house on  another day before we leave Dunedin.

We drove further to St. Claire – the beach where the boys used to go swimming. This looked completely different to Gerry as there were houses built along the beach front but the scenery was fantastic. The sea was rough especially as the tide was in but we were not going to get wet again so we walked away from the sea front and drove to the next  hilltop: Mount Cargill. This again was a very high point having Dunedin sprawled below.

We had fantastic views even though the wind was very blustery but we managed to take some great pictures and take in the great views.

Our final stop was back in the city of Dunedin and this time at the University Campus – not that Gerry attended this university! He had already left New Zealand prior to finishing High School here. The University of Dunedin has magnificent buildings and started accepting students in 1871 making it the oldest university in New Zealand and the third oldest in Oceania. The campus was very quiet as all the students are away for their summer holidays and apparently this is also noticeable in the city too as normally it is buzzing with students.

After our Down Memory Lane tour we went over to Kim and Murray’s house for drinks before getting back for our dinner at Eve and Ralph’s place. This was an exciting day for all of us but certainly most of all for Gerry as he could re-live those adventurous years he had spent in New Zealand. Thanks Eve and Ralph for making this day happen!

 

 

 

 

Sunday, 31st December 2017

Today it’s the last day of the year and we spent it with Kim (Ralph and Eve’s daughter) and Murray, her husband. They were taking us for a drive to Oamaru and then onto Moeraki to view the boulders laying around on the beach.

Kim and Murray picked us up round 9.30 am  and driving through Dunedin, Gerry was reminded of his years that he lived in Dunedin. The first sight he had was of King Edward Technical College and he immediately wanted to get out of the car to take a picture but he was stopped by Kim as she made him aware that this would be on tomorrow’s tour with her parents – that was the Down Memory Lane Tour!

We had a pleasant drive through the hills, and although the weather was wet, the luscious emerald green meadows and clusters of fir trees along the road were a great sight to watch. After about an hour on a scenic route, we arrived in Oamaru –  a seaside town which has caught on the uniqueness of being so Victorian. Down  by the harbour, the Victoria Precinct is a treasure trove of once neglected buildings now filled with offbeat galleries, fascinating shops and other hip venues and museums.

In order to escape the rain, we visited a the Steampunk HQ – a museum which imaginatively  up cycled ancient machines and industrial clatter of the last century.Oamaru is an ideal setting for Steampunk art and activities, given the wonderfully preserved and thriving Victorian buildings. Examples are machines like those in the writing of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, and in tv shows such as Dr. Who.
The building was originally called Meeks Grain Elevator and was built in 1883. Oamaru was at that time a flourishing sea port, and bigger than Los Angeles.

After walking along the market and the coastline, we made our way back to the car to continue our drive. The next stop was at Moeraki – a Maori name meaning “a place to sleep by day” – which gave us a clue as to the pace of this little fishing village. This was one of the first European settlements in New Zealand. The reason we were here was to see the huge boulders lying off the beach. These  are a large collection of spherical boulders scattered along the beach. Normally these boulders are best viewed when the tide is low, however when we got there, it was high tide and in no time, we were quite wet! But none the less we enjoyed exploring these boulders.

According to Maori legend, the Moeraki boulders were once food baskets and gourds used by ancient people aboard a famous canoe. When the canoe crashed, however, its survivors were transformed into the area’s surrounding hills, while the baskets and gourds became these gray, round boulders.

Scientists, on the other hand, offer a different idea as to how these curiously round rocks came to be. Millions of years ago, the rocks were hidden inside the area’s cliffs, but as erosion occurred, they were gradually revealed. Essentially, the sandstone-type rock was held together with calcium carbonate, while an extremely slow chemical reaction gave them their unique roundness. Finally, after about 60 million years, the stones became the fantastic landmarks they are today.

Finally back on dry land but completely soaked, it was time to have a bite to eat so we headed to Hampden for the “world’s best fish and chips”.

This little fishing village is famous for its blue cod fishing and in fact the taste of our fried blue cod was heavenly! It had stopped raining by now, so we could sit outside and enjoy our meal and Gerry could enjoy his “puff” – smoking his rolled cigarette! Here in NZ, it is ever so difficult to find places where smoking is allowed and it sometimes seems that Gerry is being isolated from the rest of the public…

 

Once we were feeling much better after our delicious meal, we made our way back to Moeraki and headed north to visit the Kaiks Wildlife trail which led to a lovely little white wooden lighthouse at the edge of the cliff. Katiki Point Lighthouse (built in 1878) stands on Katiki Point Historic Reserve.

The lighthouse keeper’s house is used as a private rehabilitation centre for sick and injured penguins and other birds. The centre is run by Katiki Point Penguin Trust. The trust and its volunteers protect penguins from predation by trapping feral cats, ferrets and stoats.  

From here, we walked towards the cliff edge and looking down to the beach, we spotted a number of seals lazing on the beach while the huge waves beat against the rocks. I was really thrilled to see these seals and started taking pictures of them, but Kim spotted a whole load more seals just lazing around on another beach and on the cliffs. This was so incredible – we were walking among all these seals and they just lifted their heads out of curiosity and then just went back to lazing around. We also spotted a number of seals swimming gracefully in the waves and then just as we were walking back, we also spotted a family of yellow eyed penguins. This was such an amazing experience………

 

Saturday, 30^th December, 2017

 

Our good night’s sleep was disturbed with a number of calls Gerry got on his phone from Europe!! We have to learn to put our phones on “Do not disturb” mode before we go to bed, as it is most annoying to be woken up………

Anyway, it was an early start – Eve suggested that we hit the road by 8 am so we were ready and packed by 7.50 and I think Eve was rather impressed. Mind you, our alarm clock went off at 6 am!!

Ralph had a route planned for us today:

• Lake Tekapo
• Mount John Observatory

 

We drove some 400km but first we had to get to Lake Tekapo, which was some 90km further away.

Lake Tekapo is surrounded by mountains and is situated in the MacKenzie Country (named after James –Jock MacKenzie who was a sheep rustler and brought his flocks through this country in 1840’s). This lake is a result of the hydropower scheme back in the 1950’s and now the township is a holiday resort facing the lake and the backdrop of snow-capped mountains. One of the sights at Lake Tekapo is the little church of the Good Shephard. which has a window behind the altar offering a divine view on the lake and mountains.Apparently, this is such a romantic spot that even Chinese couples come here to get married!

 

When we left Lake Tekapo, Ralph drove towards Mount John. This is a mountain of 1.029 meters height with an observatory with day and night tours provided by the Mt John University Observatory. The private road wound up the mountain and once we were up at the summit, the views were just magnificent.

 

 

 

Lake Tekapo has one of the most spectacular night skies in the world. The clarity and sheer numbers of stars visible to the naked eye amaze visitors from all over New Zealand and the world during Lake Tekapo’s night.
Lake Tekapo’s night sky has interested more than just the visitors. Canterbury University operates a astronomical observatory on top of Mt John, overlooking Lake Tekapo. The clear skies and low levels of local light pollution have helped astronomers put Mt John observatory on the international map with observations and discoveries of the southern sky. Unfortunately we were not able to stay overnight and anyway that night was a cloudy one!

 

Once we had visited both Lake Tekapo and Mount John Observatory, we continued our drive towards Dunedin. This was really amazing! Beautiful green hills, winding roads and hairpin bends. It was all too much to take in and this resulted that I had a few naps in the car!!

 

And then round about 6pm, we had arrived in Dunedin! This is the town where two young Dutch boys became friends many decades ago. Ralph and Gerry are still friends and now have the time to fill in the gaps…….. When we settled down and freshened up, we drove over to Kim and Murray (Ralph and Eve’s daughter and son in law) to meet up with the family and have dinner there. It was a very pleasant evening – meeting old friends and making new ones!