From frowns to frolics

I really thought that today it would be tears before bedtime! 

Why? Well, we awoke to thick mist. No wonderful views from our bedroom. No glorious sunshine. No chorus of: 'Oh, what a beautiful morning'! Couldn't even see the sheep in the field next to us! 

What now? We've come halfway round the world just to see mist! 

Anyway, had a lovely continental breakfast (no pictures - they're banned) (seems I go on too much about food) and chatted to Lynne, who's going to cook a leg of lamb for supper, with garlic and rosemary, fresh dug potatoes and broad beans from the garden - whoops, sorry, I'm off on the food trail again! By which time the sun had started to burn off the clouds. So, off to Manapouri. 

Stopped at the roadside at the first sighting of water. 

We had intended to walk part of the Kepler track to Shallow Bay, however, a land slip meant that a diversion was in place and we didn't fancy scrambling round it. So we returned to Frasers Beach where we stopped for a sandwich lunch. 

Even though it's the last day of the school holidays, still no one about. 

This was our lunchtime view. 

We then set off to walk to Pearl Harbour, a short walk through pleasant woodland. 

The views across the lake are quite special. 

Just to prove that it is all smiles and no tears:- 

A glorious afternoon. Even more glorious is that we have booked a day trip to Doubtful Sound tomorrow. This is part boat, part coach, part boat again, on a journey through the Fiordland National Park. 

Driving back home we took a picture of where we think home is at the moment. 

In the middle of the photo there is a dip in the horizon - we are somewhere right out there, miles from anywhere. Believe me, it's heaven! 

Fond farewells

Today, Saturday, saw us bidding fond farewells to Pat & Bill. Bill was so upset that he went off to the Blokes Shed so that we wouldn't see him cry when we finally drove off. Mind you, they could well have been tears of joy as they would be getting their house back to themselves! 

Once again we set off along SH1. Passing through Waihola we saw a sign with: No doctor; No hospital; One cemetery. 

Shortly after, Brigid shouted out: 'Stop the car, I've found a place just for you'. 

Old Sod Cottage! 

This cottage is an original made out of mud blocks and has been restored by a preservation society. They have done a wonderful job and inside is just as it would have been in its heyday. 

We then drove on to Gore where we stopped for lunch in The Thomas Green, a very smart pub. 

I finished my meal with a flat white. This is a white coffee, like a cappuccino but less frothy. 

Gore is a large town with plenty of shops. 

We stopped here to get some supper items to take to our first B&B. We're not sure how it's going to work out because there are no cooking facilities where we are going. 

In the afternoon we had a bit of time to spare so we made a detour to see the Mavora lakes. This involved a drive of about 18 miles along unsealed roads. These are roads that are just gravelly and dusty. What was a red car is now a grey car! Plenty of slip sliding around corners and dust clouds from other cars. But, when we got there, the scenery was out of this world. 

It was around here that they filmed the Silverlode River and Fangorn Forest (below) for The Lord of the Rings. 

Then we drove off into the hills to find our B&B. And look what we found. 

On our arrival, Lynne, our host, greeted us with a welcome pot of tea - picture below. 

Our room is west facing and gets all the afternoon and evening sun. A fact I find strange is that the sun rises on our right hand side and sets on our left. But then, we are upside down here. 

This is the view we will wake up to tomorrow! 

We have a little outside sitting area and I have been promised a swinging chair for tomorrow. 

Here's madam enjoying her afternoon tea. 

And, lastly, our view across the Fiordland National Park. 

There's gold in them thar hills

Friday saw us heading north to the Otago plains in search of the sun. I'm still confused - OK, what's new? - the sun's in the north not the south! Anyway, we set off on SH1 to Palmerston and then went inland to Ranfurly through the mountains. As we dropped down toward the plains, the sun appeared. Yippee! 

Ranfurly is an Art Deco town and they have rallies there where folk dress up and drive around in old cars of the period. None visible when we went there. 

The streets are very wide all over New Zealand. 

After a modest lunch (sorry, no picture today) we set off to Naseby, an old gold town. 

As the sign says, 2000 foot above worry level. 

The Royal Hotel was built with two entrances, one for ladies so that they didn't have to walk through the bar. 

The County Offices now house a small museum crammed full of pictures of residents from the 1800s and old sewing machines, dresses, tools and implements. None in any particular order as the museum has recently been repainted and a request is being made for volunteers to help sort out the displays. 

Many of the original shops remain standing and are preserved for future visitors to see. 

We spent a good time here and walked around most of the town. 

One of the houses on the Main Street is from the gold rush era and has been preserved both by the dry climate and expert workmanship. 

A last look at the town before jumping back in the car to return home. 

Look at those wide streets! 

Our return journey took us through Alexandra and Roxburgh following alongside the Clutha river. The route was quite steep in places as we climbed back into the hills. 

But in places it was so flat that the road just seemed to go on and on. 

Our next move is on toward Manapouri on the west coast. We have booked up an isolated B&B near Mt York. Not sure what we're in for but will try to keep you posted as we go along. 

Our thanks to Bill & Pat for looking after Brigid and putting up with me! Not an easy task but a few beers seemed to ease the way.  

Noah's Ark

Unfortunately it's still raining today! Bill assures me that this just doesn't happen in Dunedin. I think they reckon that it's us that's bringing on the rain! 

Anyway, today we went along the other side of the harbour toward Port Chalmers. To do this we went along three mile hill road which is the back way into Dunedin, avoiding the main road. There are good views on this route, so I'm told! The clouds were so low that we almost drove out through the top. 

The road along the harbour was lovely, snaking around the edges of the bay. At times the shipping channel was only 100 metres from the shore. Here's a picture from the lookout point at Port Chalmers. 

At Aramoana, right at the end of the point, we walked out along the man made causeway to look for seals and penguin. I have an excellent photo of a seal but it is on my camera and I can't transfer it across at the moment. 

Me with legs on! Notice that everyone else is wrapped up to the nines - well it is only 11deg dropping to 9 deg when the rain comes across. We spotted the albatross on the other side of the estuary sitting on their nests. We also saw a family of seals swimming around diving in and out of the seaweed. 

We then met up with Doy who is building his own ark. Yes, an ark! He was pleased to show us how far he has got with construction. He's had a certain amount of trouble with the city planning department over his Ark. At first he was told he could not build a house on the site. He assured them that it was not a house but an ark. Upon inspection they said the plumbing did not comply with city standards. He said that as it was an ark, it didn't need to. They responded that, yes it did. He then asked if that meant his ark was a house - at which point they went quiet and left him alone. The ark is totally self sufficient. He collects rain water for drinking, has solar panels for providing electricity and sells eggs and garlic. Next door to him lives 'Queen Margaret' in a self styled house where every chair is a throne and in the garden is a fairy castle. But, because the authorities said that she couldn't build a castle on her land, it's actually a caravan turned into a castle. 

We didn't meet Margaret but we all agreed that the world is a far better place with people like these. They are both bonkers, living in their own harmless worlds. But I suspect that they are both very intelligent people living their own lives, poking fun at those in authority. 

We then drove up into the clouds again to visit a nearby bird sanctuary. When we arrived, the clouds had come down even lower and, to make matters worse, the cafe was closed for a private function. 

Display board from the bird sanctuary. 

Needless to say, we didn't stop, so we drove on toward Waitau to a garden centre for our lunch. I had a croque madam, toasted bread with ham, cheese and an egg on top while Brigid had a bagel with salmon and cream cheese. By that we mean a toasted bagel with a pile of warmed salmon and a bowl of cream cheese. After that, back home for an afternoon zzzz. 

In the evening we all went to a fish restaurant in Dunedin and had a super supper. Pat had a discount card which meant that one meal was free - can't be bad! Thanks Pat! 

Walking - but a week early

Spurred on by emails about the next Bradwell walk we decided to go on our own walk but a week earlier. 

We set off by car to Brighton. No, not Brighton England, Brighton New Zealand! That's one of the problems over here, many of the place names are English. 

Still overcast but not raining all the time. 

We drove to Kaka Point where there's a bush walk. It's not a long walk, about 45 minutes in total. 

All through the forest trees were identified with little plaques. The first we came to was a fuchsia. 

However it was a bit larger than back home. 

The fuchsia is the tree on the left!

Further along the trail. 

These trees had long creepers hanging down similar to those in the Tarzan films. 

Another interesting tree is the Matai with its hammer market bark. 

On our walk we saw a fantail and were followed along by a bell bird. We may have a video of the fantail but we never did catch sight of the bell bird - well, Brigid might have seen one but she's not sure. There are also sparrows, blackbirds and thrushes around. I'm sure there are more but we couldn't afford to invite Brian or John to come along and identify them for us. 

After the walk, a well earned cup of tea. 

Then back in the car for a drive to see Purakaunui Falls. 

The falls were really flowing fast with all the rain we've been having. 

PS for Brian about beers. I have discovered two beers that I prefer. 

The Black beer is one I discovered in Christchurch (5.2%) the other is the preferred bloke's beer recommended by Bill (only 4% though) 

Rent a family

Today, Tuesday, it has rained on and off all day. The clouds were low and it looked set in for the day. 

So, in order to make the best of the day we went to see Jodie, Bill and Pat's daughter, and the two granddaughters. They seemed glad to see us, especially when they found out we were as daft as Bill and Pat. 

View from Jodie's balcony. 

During the morning we played a card game called "last one out". Don't ask me the rules, I still don't really understand them. But it was good fun. 

Richard joined us for lunch, much of which we took along with us. 

After that we set off for the Royal Albatross Centre where we wandered about among nesting seagull and sea lion, saw albatross in flight and searched for blue penguin chicks. 

We then drove round to Allan's Beach to walk along the sand dunes and look what we found. 

Here's one of the large Maersk container ships leaving harbour. 

Close up it's a very big ship. 

On the way back home we saw a strange sight in the water! 

A horse rider in the middle of the sea! 

Reliably informed by Bill that the bay is very shallow here. 

Then, home for pizza.