Hanmer, Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve!  And hot and sunny – we played crazy golf in the morning, and I haven’t laughed so much in ages.  This is Rob, trying to get out of the water feature, on the previous hole to the one we were playing – his ball rolled Too Far Back.  “I didn’t bring my umbrella!” he wailed, when he saw where his ball had landed.

The whole course was laid out like a gold town – I’ll draw a veil over my terrible score!  I had fun, so who cares?

It’s all amazing mountain scenery around Hanmer, plus hot springs (which we haven’t bathed in: it’s quite hot enough as it is!) which are the main tourist attraction, summer and winter alike, apparently.  And at an hour and a half from Christchurch, I guess it’s close enough for a day out with the family.

Christchurch to Hanmer

Today we went into Christchurch, which was an odd mixture of sobering and optimistic.  There were a lot of cleared spaces, a bit like English towns post-blitz, and quite a few boarded-up buildings waiting for demolition.  But there were also places like the Re:start retail area, with shops in shipping containers, and public art in cleared spaces.  To me, it felt like a place where the hurt and the rebuilding were happening side by side and entangled with each other.

After Christchurch, we hit the road up to Hanmer (once we’d finally tracked down a supermarket for food stocks), and that was another amazing New Zealand drive: fabulous scenery, nearly empty roads – it did help that the sun was shining again!

  Ate out at Venuti’s, which was nice and near (due to savage bites on my feet, walking was a bit of a problem!), Italian cuisine, and featured garlic, heavily.  Then crashed out: I’ve been having real problems staying awake beyond about 10 pm.  I think it’s all the fresh air…

Coromandel to Christchurch

The road to Thames was just as James Bond as we’d remembered it, but we weren’t as tired, so it didn’t feel quite so hair-raising (or plain fun, if you like haring round bends!).  The views on the way were pretty spectacular.

Flying down to Christchurch was actually just like flying over a map, probably because we weren’t at such a high altitude.  The tip of the South Island was totally recognisable, even to a geography drop-out like me.

We stayed at Centrepoint on Colombo motel – the owner was very friendly, as was everyone we met in Christchurch: I think it’s been the friendliest place we’ve been so far, and in New Zealand, that’s quite an achievement.  Ate out at Venuti’s, which was nice and near (due to savage bites on my feet, walking was a bit of a problem!), Italian cuisine, and featured garlic, heavily.  Then crashed out: I’ve been having real problems staying awake beyond about 10 pm.  I think it’s all the fresh air…

Coromandel, December 21st 2014

Grey skies, thick cloud blanketing the hills: it’s like the Lake District, Rob lamented.  And then a small patch of blue sky appeared, and pushed and shoved at the clouds until the whole sky was blue, blue, blue – and Rob was a very happy man again.  He went off for a walk, and I stayed behind because I’ve been bitten (again!  As usual!) this time on my foot, and walking hurts (grrr!).  But there are worse things to do than sit on a veranda, looking at an amazing view and drinking tea, so it’s only a small complaint.

In the afternoon, Rob drove me to the lovely beach he’d walked to in the morning, and we sat there looking at the blue sky, blue sea and sunshine, occasionally (and rather smugly) reflecting on the fact that it would be the shortest day at home, and here was in fact the longest day.  “I can feel the light levels going up,” has been one of Rob’s frequent phrases – which makes a nice change from “It’s a natural disaster!” as the night comes down at four pm.

Today’s culture has been a visit to Coromandel Museum, featuring a lot of rock samples, some amazingly accurate scales that cost £22 back in 1880 or thereabouts, and some scary pictures showing the scale of Kauri forest logging that went on at the end of the 19^th century. And these trees take forever to grow.

Tomorrow, we’re off to Christchurch, so it’s back along the Mr-Bond-I-think-you-have-made-a-big-mistake road and then to Auckland airport and an internal flight to Christchurch – Rob keeps saying I can’t buy too many books, or we’ll be overweight on our baggage!

Coromandel, December 20th 2014

Today the sun did not shine!  But, as it wasn’t actually raining, we went off up along the 309 – another James Bond style road – to see some of the sights there.  Like a waterfall, where we discovered all sorts of fascinating optical illusions: if you watch the water going down the fall for a while and then focus on the bark of a nearby tree, then it looks like the tree is growing before your eyes.  Totally Dr Who style stuff.

Next stop along the road was a Kauri grove: massive trees that at 600 years old, still only look mature rather than ancient, unlike 600 year old oak or yew trees do.

After lunch, not only was the sun not shining, but it was beginning to mizzle with rain, which meant that going to see the stamper battery was a) a good idea, as it was all indoors and b) didn’t feel like a waste of lovely outdoor weather.  The guy who does the tour and talk is a geologist.  Which means I was expecting a sort of bearded academic enthusiast, with a touch of introversion, perhaps.

Beard: tick.

Academic: tick.

Enthusiast: tick.

Introversion: totally untick.

The guy could have given Brian Cox a run for his money in the presenter stakes, and Billy Conolly a run for his money in the stand-up comedian stakes.  Actually, he mentioned Billy Conolly more than once, so I suspect I know where some of his style came from.

Masses of geological facts, lots of jokes about the Australians and Australia (all at their expense) and quite a bit of mining on the Coromandel history – it was all very lively and entertaining.  As for the 1 hour tours – well, he had no more sense of timing than a Welsh preacher with the Spirit moving him.  Not something to go to if you’re on a tight schedule, but really interesting if you’re not clock watching.

Later on, it poured – stotting off the roof and streaming out of the gutters in a totally tropical way.

Coromandel, December 18th,19th

The general plan for today had been to go to Miranda, on the way to Coromandel, as it’s got a bird sanctuary, but the weather there had been even worse than the weather in Auckland, so we decided to go to the Art Gallery in Auckland instead, and leave later.  They had a Light Show exhibition on (fresh from London apparently).  I don’t think six fluorescent tubes against a wall is actually art, but Leo Villareal’s Cylinder II was amazing.

Then we (well, Rob) drove to Coromandel, in part along a road that would have fitted very respectably into a Bond film – the bit where they’re being chased by baddies, trying to shoot their tyres out!  Hairpin bends, drops at one side: it had the lot.  Except, thankfully, baddies trying to shoot our tyres out.

Today the sun shone!  This made Rob a lot happier.  This is the view from our room (well, it’s sort of like a little semi-detached cottage.  With very poor soundproofing.  Just like being in Headingley again). 

So after eating breakfast on the veranda (seriously civilised: it would be cold and dark in Headingley), we went out for a walk – Rob said he wasn’t driving anywhere today, Not After Yesterday, Thank You Very Much.  And then we pottered round Coromandel, which is a cute little village/town, and had a cup of tea, and read a bit, and did some more not much…Rob might be a human being again by the end of the holiday, and able to face another term of work.

Just for Fiona: I saw 2 new birds, a kingfisher and a spur-winged plover.  Well, I think that’s quite exciting (sad, I know…).

Auckland December 16th-18th

The flights actually all arrived and left on time, but it was still a looong journey!  On the plus side, I finally got to watch Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (brilliant, and as soon as I see it on sale for £3, I’m buying it.  I don’t care if it’s an animation, Rob’ll like it); Guardians of the Galaxy, for the second time, and just as good as the first time; Mr & Mrs Smith, which was okay, and by the end of a 36 hour journey, who cares anyway, The Other Woman, which was so dreadful, I gave up on it – Cameron Diaz must have been desperate for the money and a couple of episodes of The Big Bang Theory.  That made me laugh a lot!

It was a China Southern flight, so the inflight food was…interesting…but the service was really good, and the planes and airport are all pretty new – Guangzhou, in this case.  But you can’t get a decent cup of tea there!

We got to the hotel at about 8 am, on some unspecified day in December (could have been January, for all I knew.  It felt like all I’d done for the whole of my life was travel) and found to our delight that we could go straight to our rooms.  So we booked in for  (an enormous) breakfast, unpacked slightly and fell asleep.  The plan was to sleep until about 1-ish and then get up and go out – the actuality was sleeping until about 5-ish, then getting up slowly and going out in search of food.  Which we found at Degree, in the harbour area: Duo of Lamb, which was big enough for the two of us, plus interesting vegetables and a shared pudding with the most amazing blood-orange sorbet.  It had me thinking, I must try out some new recipes; a resolution that normally holds until I go into the kitchen and realise that trying out new recipes mean cooking something unfamiliar, and I’m not that mad on doing that.

It was raining!  “Where’s my sunshine?” Rob kept demanding – so we went to the museum and saw the World of Wearable Art exhibition, which was amazing – dresses made out of cable ties, wood, recycled tyres, metal -  and, sometimes, conventional things like wool.  That took up the day nicely – as did failing to buy a cagoule for Rob (he didn’t want one that cost £100.  The guy in the shop seemed to think that it was a bit of an insult to suggest that they would sell anything cheap).  This time we ate Italian, down in the harbour area again, at Portofino.  Nice food, but the service was nothing like as amazing as it had been the night before.

January 10th - Auckland, but trying to get home

At the moment, we should be on our way to Kuala Lumpar - or possibly on the Amsterdam by now. We are not. We are still in Auckland (though thankfully not at the airport any more) as the ticket agents messed up the online reservations and we couldn't catch our plane. We're waiting for them to phone back and let us know what they're going to sort out for us - so if you were expecting us back tomorrow, think again! We're now flying from Auckland (11 pm, local time!) on the 10th, to Guangzhou, from there to Chengdu, from there to Amsterdam, and then home to Leeds, arriving at about 10pm on the 11th - local time. We seem to be fitting 30 hours of travelling into 24 hours of time...

January 7th - Queenstown

Good job we made the most of yesterday - today it's tipping it down. Had to do some shopping, and I'm back with my only pair of jeans seriously wet. So as there's no activities to write about, I thought I'd describe the apartment in a little more detail.
It's incredibly well-equipped (said that already, I know) and nicely laid out. And definitely designed by a man. The colour scheme's pretty male (lots of biscuit, brown and stainless steel, with just a little red), but that makes sense, as girly would be a total turn off. No, it's the little details that are so male - like the spindle on the toilet roll holder, which is square. As are the taps. And the plates. And the bowls. And the toilet brush holder. And the settees. And the cupboards in the kitchen are all very high - I can reach the bottom shelf, just, but not the one above! Oh, the lighting too - it's all recessed halogen spots, in square fittings - not a table lamp in sight! I'd still totally recommend the place to anyone over 5' 2", but it is amusing.
It's hard to believe the holiday's nearly over, and a bit sad: it's been the best holiday I've ever had, and I can't imagine ever having a better one. Another holiday just as good, maybe, but not better.

January 6th - Queenstown

The sun was shining when we woke, and it shone all day. So we seized the moment, and went out to the gold-mining centre on the way to Cromwell. Which was fascinating, and I loved it – it’s on the site of an old gold mining area, and was all outdoors. The ground was stony with grasses and thyme growing underfoot – when you walked, the air was fragrant with the scent of it – and blue, blue spikes of flowers among the golden heads of the grasses. It was sunny, and silent apart from the insects in the grass, and the birdsong, and incredibly atmospheric.
A film company had built some replica mining huts a while ago, and they were still there, and gave you a very good idea of how the miners had lived, the conditions they endured in their search for gold.

There were lots of old bits of mining equipment lying around as well, rusting gently in the sunshine. And some bits that looked as though they still worked from time to time – Rob enjoyed the stamping battery, with its system of cams, all water powered.

I enjoyed the silence, the scenery, the colours of it all, the sense of history – and seeing another new bird (I’d thought that would be it now – we go home so soon): Californian Quail, which has an almost Elvis-like quiff on the top of its head!
After the goldmine, we went on into Cromwell (so named by a Northern Irish settler), which has a historic centre. The river was dammed, and the old buildings were going to be drowned, so they rescued them, and have re-created the old Cromwell town centre – or a part of it at least – and used the buildings as art galleries, and a second-hand bookshop. Rob left me in that one on my own…

The drive back to Queenstown was just as spectacular as the drive there, all mountains, and hills – and vineyards. If we were going to be here a bit longer, I think I’d have liked to book a wine tour, but tomorrow’s our last full day here. If we come again, then next time…

January 5th - Te Anau to Queenstown

We left Te Anau in the rain, and it went on raining all the way to Queenstown. Sometimes pouring, sometimes only spitting, but rain nevertheless. Not what the professor ordered! Paused in Kingstown briefly to photograph some railway stuff for Alex – alas, nothing was going anywhere – arrived in Queenstown, unpacked – and the sun came out 
So we spent a very happy afternoon wandering around Queenstown – the public gardens have a golf course on them. Only it’s Frisbee golf, and there were loads of Leon-type lads (and lasses) all going round with their Frisbees, playing the course. Now I’ve seen it all. Queenstown – adventure capital of the world – is full of young lads with shorts, flip-flops and bare hairy legs, all looking very fit and healthy. The other major players are the Chinese, and a lot of the gift shops are setting their prices for the rich Chinese – i.e., astronomical.
The apartment is lovely, with huge views over the lake, and the best equipped one we‘ve stayed in yet – proper kitchen, dishwasher, washing machine, another 6 foot bed (they’ve all been huge, the beds. Good), bath and enormous glassed-in shower. And outside the window, my very own bird reserve – the motel looks to be quite new, and they’ve planted the surroundings with native plants, so there’s loads of birds, bell birds, tui, and I saw another one I hadn’t seen yet, a New Zealand pigeon. As Rob said, it’s like having your own bird hide, but with heating and soft seats.

January 4th - Milford Sound

Today we did go to Milford Sound! And I’ve never, ever, in my entire life, seen such amazing scenery. I don’t have the words for it – Milford Sound is actually a fjord, hand-carved by a glacier at some point in the past, and also added to by various earthquakes from time to time.
The road there was humungeously scenic in its own right, and as for the Homer tunnel, which went right through sheer rock, it was so scary, I asked Rob to do that part of the journey, both there and back. Straight out of a James Bond movie, except that, thankfully, there were no baddies shooting at us from fast moving sinister black cars. Rob was pomming the theme tune though, as we went down the hairpin bends…
We went on a cruise up the sound (or down it, seeing as we went right to the sea), and it was unbelievably amazing. Rob was overflowing with enthusiasm for it for about three hours solid, and as you know, Rob doesn’t often do out-and-out wow-that-was-amazing – that’s more my line. The landscape was on a scale I’ve never seen before – enormous rock faces sheer up to the sky. And so male – nothing female about it at all, despite the vegetation clinging to every available surface.
I’ve persuaded Rob to only add a few of the pictures he took (wait til we get home, and edit this blog some more), but he ran the battery down on the camera again. It wasn’t all him, as I saw more birds – a black-fronted tern ( no picture) and several Kea in the wild (picture), but it mostly was!

January 3rd - Te Anau

It was pouring still in the morning – we decided against Milford Sound, as 5 hours driving in the pouring rain sounded like No Fun At All – and it was forecast to rain there all day. Te Anau was supposed to clear up as the day went on, and it did.
More birds! A takahe – in a sanctuary, but as that’s the only place you can see them, they’re so close to extinction, then we were never going to see it in the wild. Also an Australasian Crested Grebe, complete with babies on its back, and a white-faced heron, also a black-billed gull (seen it before, but only really registered it today). Plus a yellowhammer (introduced!) and three more native birds, but in a sanctuary (Kea, Kaka, and Morepork), and as they can all be seen in the wild, I’m not counting them as real sightings, okay, Fiona?
We went for a long walk round the head of the lake in the afternoon – the wind up the lake is so fierce that it has real seashore waves that fold over and break on the shingle. Once again, the views are fabulous, and going back home is going to be such a let-down, visually!

January 2nd - Te Anau

Today not only the scenery, but also the weather looked like the Lake District. It poured! Non-stop, all day – totally English. So we went shopping, found a second-hand bookshop, bought some food and wine for tea tonight, and generally had a very laid-back day. Which, as we’re driving up to Milford Sound tomorrow, is probably a good idea – it’s 2 ½ hours there and the same back again, but it all sounds too amazing to miss. Must charge the camera tonight – and fill the car, as there’s no petrol available at Milford Sound. And apparently, it’s spectacular no matter what the weather is like, which is just as well, really. Definitely no photographs today…

New Year's Day - Dunedin to Te Anau

Today was mostly travelling - and a lot of driving. I was Very Brave (for me, anyway) and drove an automatic again. We took the non-scenic route, as it was quite a lot shorter, and still had breath-taking views along the way.
One part of the road ran from Clinton to Gore - with a sign at the beginning of that stretch saying Presidential Highway on it. We did wonder if either of the two men had come and opened that stretch...
Te Anau is by a lake, and looks like the Lake District - until you go round the corner and see how far the lake stretches. It's nearly 40 miles long, which is pretty much the size of the Lake District.
We ate out in an Italian restaurant, and I practised my Italian on the (genuine) Italian waiter - who topped up our wine glasses very generously. Can't decide whether this was from pity or not! The food was great though, and I definitely fancy a second trip there.
Didn't think there'd be any photos from today, but Rob went for a walk and got seduced by the scenery, so there are some after all.