And the photo upload continues to give me unspeakably frustrating trouble. If you think you've only seen me be nice and friendly just put me in front of a computer to see how quickly that can change. It makes me a very angry Barbara. But it is good for me to learn to persevere. So here are some outlines of south island adventures with pictures hopefully to follow at some later date when the equipment decides to co-operate.
We took an evening ferry from Wellington across the Cook Strait to Picton and drove for and hour before crashing in the car for the night. That should read...camped out in the car...or slept in our wee run-about...or something other than crash and car in the same sentence! Ha! and we are fine.
The next morning we toured around the Marlborough Sounds - a famous wine region in New Zealand. First bought a dress for the vet ball at the end of July....had planned in advance to do a bit of charity shopping rather than bring a dress over. Managed to find a particularly pretty red two piece thing but was feelingly unusually optimistic and bought it despite the fact it is about two sizes too small! Haha! so the slimming begins for the next 3/4 weeks to try and make it look like something. Hmm. but the diet starts tomorrow. Perpetually! We visited a couple of wineries including Cloudy Bay. You will probably know that I am not one who appreciates wine and so had mentioned to Hannah in advance that she should try whatever was on offer and i would drive. But in what may be the beginning of a new chapter in my life i discovered wines i actually liked. So we reversed the plan and i tried everything that was on offer and Hannah drove! Not as brave as it sounds though because it was only tasters...a wee drop in the bottom of the glass...so i got to spit out the ones i wasnt keen on (charming!). But on reflection, i may not be following a new direction as a wine connoisseur because typically, the ones i liked are totally unaffordable. Roll on the rich man who wants to keep me in the manner to which i would like to become accustomed! So the Cloudy Bay vineyard was good craic and i stocked up on the dry crackers to absorb the wine. The thing you have to remember was that this was just after breakfast which is all a bit much for one who doesnt like or drink wine! But on we soldiered to the next winery - the mudhouse. Tried a couple of wines here - not wildly keen on them but did like the liquers in the little shop next door. Hmm. You could fill a cabinet with them...and unsurprising for me they were very sweet and calorific. After these we had a lovely lunch (venison burger :o) yum yum) and plodded out to the coast and had a look at the actual cloudy bay bay. Then drove to Kaikoura to find a youth hostel....finding hot showers and a roaring fire at 'The Lazy Shag'! haha!
So on Wednesday we went to look at the seal colony and went in search of penguins but no joy today. Found some beautiful Paua sheels on the beach though. Sometimes the beauty of creation is just overwhelming. I suppose that shouldnt be just 'sometimes'... Well, we enjoyed the beach anyway. We bought a Crayfish from the shop at the small local port and scoffed that on the beach...driving on to Christchurch we found a place called New Brighton and went for a run (check us out!)...found a BRILLIANT youth hostel with free everything apparently!...washing machines, duvets, hot chocolate, DVD's, open fire. AND it was Ladies only! What more could you ask for...so slept ate and well and next day looked around Christchurch....the Cathedral, botanic gardens, museum, did a little shopping - got Hannah an equally pretty but also slightly challenging dress for the formal. Went to the 'Canterbury' outlet store but was a bit disappointed with their range. Next we went to the Queen Elizabeth II park and swam lots of lengths of their Olympic sized pool and had a laugh doing some 'Aqua-jogging'. You can find yourself working quite hard - its a shame you look so ridiculous when it can actually be such a good workout. Managed to eat before hitting the road again and slept in the car in Timaru.
this morning we did a spot of shopping in the Swandri Factory shop...it is a New Zealand brand of outdoor clothing - hardwearing, warm and reasonably smart looking stuff as well. Hannah could get kitted out in her whole vet gear here....but we both made small investments...a little jacket that will be useful in Glasgow next year (waxed and waterproof!)...and the lady assures me they last for years and years. So i'll test her on it. En route to Dunedin we had two tourist stops - one at Oamaru...a cute coastal town - quite sleepy and somewhere you might think of retiring to, but with a lovely feel about it...like the lost village in 'Big Fish'. But from here we went to a hideout to spy on 'yellow-eyed penguins'...and right enough after waiting for an hour in a freezing cold shed we spotted 5 little boys coming home to roost (or whatever penguins do). They were very cute struggling out of the surf and waddling up the beach - lovely to see them in their natural environment - but it was a cold wait for them. Next stop was the Moeraki Boulders which are fascinating geological features sitting at the edge of the beach. They apparently form in the same way as pearls but with minerals that result in these huge boulders. It is a shame many of them have been 'souvenired' over the years...those that were in any way possible to be removed have been pilfered. Our ability to ruin this world we have been given to take care of never ceases to amaze me. I read a great quote from Nelson Mandela at a 'Make Poverty History' stand: 'Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made but it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.' It seems like a mammoth task...but i thought of this verse that '...with God all things are possible...' So the rocks were inspiring.
And on we trundled to Dunedin (translates from Celtic as Edinburgh) where we eventually found a hostel (again with an open fire :o) :o) :o) loving it on these cold winter nights!). Went for a wee run round the town and back for dinner...and so to bed...i have kept myself away from my beauty sleep but i can hear it calling to me...a real mattress! Luxury :o) Tomorrow we will probably look around the Scottish-Kiwi city....go out to the coast to see the lighthouse, the albatross and maybe more penguins...and find somewhere to watch one final crushing defeat in the last match of the Lions-All Blacks series. Rock'n'roll.
one final quote i found in the museum...'Travel is not new-people have always wanted to go to different places.' Funny eh?
We took an evening ferry from Wellington across the Cook Strait to Picton and drove for and hour before crashing in the car for the night. That should read...camped out in the car...or slept in our wee run-about...or something other than crash and car in the same sentence! Ha! and we are fine.
The next morning we toured around the Marlborough Sounds - a famous wine region in New Zealand. First bought a dress for the vet ball at the end of July....had planned in advance to do a bit of charity shopping rather than bring a dress over. Managed to find a particularly pretty red two piece thing but was feelingly unusually optimistic and bought it despite the fact it is about two sizes too small! Haha! so the slimming begins for the next 3/4 weeks to try and make it look like something. Hmm. but the diet starts tomorrow. Perpetually! We visited a couple of wineries including Cloudy Bay. You will probably know that I am not one who appreciates wine and so had mentioned to Hannah in advance that she should try whatever was on offer and i would drive. But in what may be the beginning of a new chapter in my life i discovered wines i actually liked. So we reversed the plan and i tried everything that was on offer and Hannah drove! Not as brave as it sounds though because it was only tasters...a wee drop in the bottom of the glass...so i got to spit out the ones i wasnt keen on (charming!). But on reflection, i may not be following a new direction as a wine connoisseur because typically, the ones i liked are totally unaffordable. Roll on the rich man who wants to keep me in the manner to which i would like to become accustomed! So the Cloudy Bay vineyard was good craic and i stocked up on the dry crackers to absorb the wine. The thing you have to remember was that this was just after breakfast which is all a bit much for one who doesnt like or drink wine! But on we soldiered to the next winery - the mudhouse. Tried a couple of wines here - not wildly keen on them but did like the liquers in the little shop next door. Hmm. You could fill a cabinet with them...and unsurprising for me they were very sweet and calorific. After these we had a lovely lunch (venison burger :o) yum yum) and plodded out to the coast and had a look at the actual cloudy bay bay. Then drove to Kaikoura to find a youth hostel....finding hot showers and a roaring fire at 'The Lazy Shag'! haha!
So on Wednesday we went to look at the seal colony and went in search of penguins but no joy today. Found some beautiful Paua sheels on the beach though. Sometimes the beauty of creation is just overwhelming. I suppose that shouldnt be just 'sometimes'... Well, we enjoyed the beach anyway. We bought a Crayfish from the shop at the small local port and scoffed that on the beach...driving on to Christchurch we found a place called New Brighton and went for a run (check us out!)...found a BRILLIANT youth hostel with free everything apparently!...washing machines, duvets, hot chocolate, DVD's, open fire. AND it was Ladies only! What more could you ask for...so slept ate and well and next day looked around Christchurch....the Cathedral, botanic gardens, museum, did a little shopping - got Hannah an equally pretty but also slightly challenging dress for the formal. Went to the 'Canterbury' outlet store but was a bit disappointed with their range. Next we went to the Queen Elizabeth II park and swam lots of lengths of their Olympic sized pool and had a laugh doing some 'Aqua-jogging'. You can find yourself working quite hard - its a shame you look so ridiculous when it can actually be such a good workout. Managed to eat before hitting the road again and slept in the car in Timaru.
this morning we did a spot of shopping in the Swandri Factory shop...it is a New Zealand brand of outdoor clothing - hardwearing, warm and reasonably smart looking stuff as well. Hannah could get kitted out in her whole vet gear here....but we both made small investments...a little jacket that will be useful in Glasgow next year (waxed and waterproof!)...and the lady assures me they last for years and years. So i'll test her on it. En route to Dunedin we had two tourist stops - one at Oamaru...a cute coastal town - quite sleepy and somewhere you might think of retiring to, but with a lovely feel about it...like the lost village in 'Big Fish'. But from here we went to a hideout to spy on 'yellow-eyed penguins'...and right enough after waiting for an hour in a freezing cold shed we spotted 5 little boys coming home to roost (or whatever penguins do). They were very cute struggling out of the surf and waddling up the beach - lovely to see them in their natural environment - but it was a cold wait for them. Next stop was the Moeraki Boulders which are fascinating geological features sitting at the edge of the beach. They apparently form in the same way as pearls but with minerals that result in these huge boulders. It is a shame many of them have been 'souvenired' over the years...those that were in any way possible to be removed have been pilfered. Our ability to ruin this world we have been given to take care of never ceases to amaze me. I read a great quote from Nelson Mandela at a 'Make Poverty History' stand: 'Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made but it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.' It seems like a mammoth task...but i thought of this verse that '...with God all things are possible...' So the rocks were inspiring.
And on we trundled to Dunedin (translates from Celtic as Edinburgh) where we eventually found a hostel (again with an open fire :o) :o) :o) loving it on these cold winter nights!). Went for a wee run round the town and back for dinner...and so to bed...i have kept myself away from my beauty sleep but i can hear it calling to me...a real mattress! Luxury :o) Tomorrow we will probably look around the Scottish-Kiwi city....go out to the coast to see the lighthouse, the albatross and maybe more penguins...and find somewhere to watch one final crushing defeat in the last match of the Lions-All Blacks series. Rock'n'roll.
one final quote i found in the museum...'Travel is not new-people have always wanted to go to different places.' Funny eh?
posted by Barbara at 6:08 AM
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