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.