Frid 11th March – Last day (on holiday that is) !

Still here despite Tsunami warning still being in place. Today all the talk here is, when they will experience their “big one”. Apparently Vancouver is situated smack bang on the San Andreas fault line; a fact of which we were unaware! (Really MUST do more research next time)

Today here, it’s been rainy - very rainy. It’s said that if it isn’t raining here, it soon will be, and we believe them!

Despite the chilly rain, we made for the foody highlight of Vancouver’s attractions: Granville Island, as we felt we should at least look at all the gourmet delights on offer there in this buzzing epicurean market centre (thankfully is a covered in market!)

What a delight - even if we couldn’t take full advantage of it as a) we’re not self-catering, and b) we’re off to the airport first thing tomorrow.

Take a look at the wonderful produce on offer here….

Then had a nice lunch at Bridges - one of the on-site restaurants

Pan fried Artic Char & veg (no chips)



Sockeye Salmon, roasted veg (and a few chips)

Topped off our visit with a visit to the Microbrewery on the Island

And after a warming sauna, tonight we’re packing and having a picnic with our market finds

                        Tiger Blue Cheese, walnut bread, fig relish, stuffed olives. Nice

So….. it’s goodnight from me; and it’s goodnight from him.

See you in the UK, if we’re spared!

 

Friday 11th March - am

 Cairns was hit by Cyclone Yasi 2 days after we flew out;

The same storm followed us to North Island NZ and caused quite a lot of water damage in NZ shortly after we arrived – roads washed away; railway lines disrupted; homes flooded;

We left Christchurch a week before their terrible earthquake;

Passed through Wellington just before they experienced several large tremors;

Now, we awake this morning to news that Vancouver is on Tsunami watch following the huge Japanese earthquake!!!

 Mr & Mrs Jonah are returning to a district near you soon!  You have been warned.

Thurs 10th March – Vancouver explorer day

Are now totally used to having more than one small space to shuffle around in, and are taking to this apartment-style living like ducks to water!

And having got bored with opening and shutting doors, and striding around a lot – managed to go out into the chill and spend the day exploring, with the help of the tourist bus – a hop on, hop off affair that gets you around the city

We even managed to hire bicycles and cycle round Stanley Park – mostly in the rain, but hey – that’s what it does here!

And then of course, we had to have some fast food to replace expended calories

Huge plate of Nachos - to share

OK, not entirely healthy - but very nice!

Spent the afternoon walking around China Town, then in the sauna & jaccuzi back at the hotel  (only to warm up you understand!)

Then rounded off the day with a lovely Thai meal

Green curry Jumbo prawns & Scallops - Yum!

Delicious - and much healthier!

Wed 9th March - The Longest Day Ever!

Check this out because it feels very weird.

We left Auckland at 8pm on the evening of Wed March 9^th, flew for 13 hours across the Pacific and arrived in Vancouver at midday on Wed March 9^th.

Yes that’s right we arrived an unbelievable………..……… 8 hours BEFORE we took off!

Sunrise, crossing the International Dateline

 And we can certainly recommend Air New Zealand – it’s a pretty good airline to fly with. In Premium Economy we had loads of space; very comfortable seats, and good service. (Better than Virgin, which was pretty good anyway).

We’ve now spent a few hours getting used to living in a hotel suite rather that the limitations of a campervan, & then been out to have a bit of an explore.

We’ve left behind the sunny skies and mid 20’s of NZ for dense clouds and a rather chilly 9 degrees in Vancouver. (Probably good training for getting back to the UK).

Wandered down to the Waterfront to watch seaplanes coming and going.

Seaplane landing in Vancouver harbour

Generally got the feel for the city (which feels agreeably empty of people after the crowds in Aukland) and had a couple of beers. Ate on the way back to the hotel before an early night on the longest day we’ve ever had.

Aukland

So, what do we think of  Aukland, having spent  a day and a half here?

 To be honest, not a lot!

 OK, the Sky Tower is impressive and gives the city it’s one unique landmark. After that, we’ve been scratching around to find a big wow factor here.

 (Maybe we’re just not big city people - although we loved Hong Kong, Sydney, Wellington......)

We did a self-guided walking tour of the city yesterday, and then escaped over the water by ferry to the North Shore, where we discovered the lovely “village” of Devonport - a quiet escape with views to the city across the water

Today Rick enjoyed a visit to the Maritime Museum, and we had a lovely lunch here overlooking the harbour - but we’re ready to leave now & looking forward to exploring Vancouver

Sunday 6th March – Kauri trees NZ’s great natural resource – oops!



Te Matua Ngahere - Father of the forest, and 2000 yrs old



The Kauri tree is a relative of the pine, differing in the fact that it produces high quality, knot-free timber but takes a long while to do it. NZ was knee deep in these arboreal monsters until the settlers arrived.

In a way, it was understandable that they started clearing the trees – they had been “sold” land unseen, and arrived to find no townships; not even any roads – just deep forests. Once they started clearing the lands, they discovered the kauri trees produced remarkable timber; light, strong, pliable and virtually indestructible. What started as a necessity, soon turned into a lucrative business venture for many.

 Unfortunately, no-one realised at the time that the trees were slow growing ( 150 years to mature to anything of any size) most were felled by the turn of the century; and those they missed with the axe they burnt accidently.

The cleared land produced only poor grazing land in Northland,  which still looks poor and uneconomic even today.  The surviving small pockets of forest are now belatedly protected, with a just few  monster-size trees remaining to remind us of their magnificence – together with  photographs and memories.

 Another NZ biological cock-up .




We spent the morning looking at the surviving trees in the Waipoura Forest, Northland;  and the afternoon in the Kauri Museum which brilliantly records the history, machinery and people of the great logging era. It’s the sheer size of these trees that impresses;  together with the very high quality of the timber.

The area north of Auckland isn’t the most attractive bit of NZ, but you have to travel it just to experience this amazing/tragic part of the development/deforestation of the country.

5th March - Opo, the dolphin

Discovered this little memorial statue today whilst travelling from the Waitangi treaty grounds over to the West coast - all rather touching.

In the summer of 1955, a dolphin appeared in the bay here in Opononi – a tiny little hamlet on the West coast of Northland. The children were captivated as it was so friendly and sought out their company to play. In fact it became a national celebrity as it spent the whole summer in the bay, playing with children, giving them rides, and performing tricks with beach balls.

Sadly, it was killed by unknown dynamite fishers the following year, the locals being so upset that they commissioned the statue in Opo’s memory.

Saturday 5th March – Waitangi Treaty Grounds – the Cradle of NZ

The first British resident, James Busby, came to live here in 1833; sent by the British Government to stabilise the bay area which had reputations for lawlessness by Europeans, and tribal fighting by Mauri’s.

By the time he left in 1840, he’d largely sorted out the locals; re-established order with the drunken sailors, whalers & convicts, and brokered several peace agreements with warring Mauri tribes – also raising a family in his spare time! And all without any soldiers to bring any authority, a great example of a true diplomat. His reward, predictably, was being replaced by a sailor for the big occasion and a battle to secure his land rights which lasted the rest of his life. How horribly familiar!

This area is now protected by the nation and recognised as the birthplace of NZ as we know it.

It poured with rain for most of our visit, but nevertheless, is still an impressive and beautifully restored reserve which means an awful lot to the Maori people.

The massive waka (war canoe) holds  120 warriors, and needs a minimum of 76 to keep it under control. Is made out of 3 huge kauri trees, and comes out once a year on Waitangi day – 6^th feb. Believe it or not it was clocked at doing 30 knots by a naval vessel as it strained to keep up with Princess Di on her official visit with big ears.

One of our number having a go juggling poi at the Maori cultural show! Oh dear, I thought co-ordination and multi-tasking were female talents!

Thurs 3rd & Frid 4th March – Relaxing in the beautiful Bay of Islands

Have been based in Russell for a couple of days in the beautiful Bay of Islands, on the East coast of North Island. This is a laid back sailing / fishing coast, full of lovely old colonial-style houses. Picture perfect and not a bit like it’s disreputable past. It was once known as the “hell-hole of the Pacific”, and described by Charles Darwin as “full of the refuse of society”

Drunken sailors, whalers and convicts on the run have since departed, taking with them the orgies on the beach, leaving this tranquil little town to sleep by the sea. The little wooden church is the oldest in New Zealand, still going strong with only the odd musket-ball hole to remind you of its past.

Spent Friday on the bermuda-rigged 40” yacht – “She’s a Lady” – sailing round the Bay of Islands in the sunshine.

And ate Catch of the Day -  Mahi Mahi fish - on Kumara rosti (sweet potato)  at the local eatery at the end of the harbour as the sun went down. Perfect

forgot to take a pic of supper until demolished- but the view was almost as good!

Wed 2nd March –We’ve been in Hot Water today!

We’re now on the Coromandel Peninsula, East of Aukland, and spent the morning at the beach.

Hot Water beach!

Yep – for 2 hours either side of low tide, you can just dig a hole and it fills with hot water! Neat!  

The downside is, it gets quite busy here, but you have lots of new friends, all industriously digging away

Eventually, you just need a break – for a read

And a bite of something delicious  to keep body and soul together

best latte yet!

and a full english for the workers

Our cultural bit of the day was a little tramp to a grove of huge indigenous Kauri trees – now endangered in NZ , as the early settlers did their best to cut them all down. They protect are left the few that are left. Better late than never!

Mon 28th Feb - Rick’s Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Reputedly the best one-day walk in the whole of NZ!                                                        

The accepted wisdom in walking mountains is to get up early, get the best views before the cloud and the rabble arrive, and avoid the heat of the day. So having positioned ourselves in the best position to do the walk, Rick was up at 5am and started walking at 6.10

There is however the odd day when clouds hang to the peaks until mid-morning and then clear to give all the late starters all the best views – oh bugger.

The walk was challenging due mainly to the demanding terrain and the strong winds howling around the crests of the saddles. Poor visibility didn’t help but even so the scenery is impressive. Flat paths across craters of different hues, sulphur springs, the evidence of pyroplastic flows and even the odd waterfall. (Not that you’d want to drink any of the water in the streams on these particular hills). The low cloud scudding around the craters gave the feeling that a band of orcs could appear at any moment.

However what didn’t appear was Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom from the Rings) or Mt Tongariro.

                                                          Ah well can’t win them all.

Sat 26th Feb - Wellington

We did a really fascinating guided walking tour of Wellington today, accompanied by 2 very knowledgeable and enthusiastic Wellingtonians, Christine and Glen.

Wow, what a vibrant city; the centre has been completely re-sculpted and made open and accessible to the populous, with wonderful areas joining the city , via the new civic square and wacky bridge system, to the harbor areas. Old buildings beautifully preserved, and even moved into prime positions, and new whacky ones erected to make a complete mix of styles which somehow all seems to fit together in an eclectic building “soup”.

This city is MAD on rowing as a sport, and the heats were on for the big Dragon boat race day soon coming up, which made it all even more vibrant.

Also found a perfect lunch stop – the “Backbencher”, a pub with a sense of humour just opposite all the government and parliament buildings. The walls were decorated with spitting-image-like models of their politicians, all being lampooned in various unflattering situations. Great fun.

Food wasn't bad either!

Backbencher-burger

Two other things of note:

The city has the largest wooden building in the southern hemisphere, possible the world, in immaculate condition and still in use. Was the old Government building, and is now the law school.

 It also has the second ugliest cathedral we’ve come across. Pink concrete this time!

We would have loved to stay longer, but time is getting on, so we’ll just have to return someday and explore further. For now, we’re heading off towards the Tongariro mountains.

When in Picton..........

The locals all seem to eat here, at Gusto, so who were we to argue!


This is their "Morning Glory"!

Bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomato with pesto & potato wedges, with toast.

Glorious indeed!

 And for the REALLY naughty one:

Bacon & plantain fritters on french toast with berry coulis and maple syrup.

Oh, it was aweful! No REALLY!

 And this is our friendly neighbourhood Cicada  (sorry about the spelling) helping to read the paper

But at least we had a nice walk to work it off – out to a bluff overlooking Picton harbour

                                       In fact, we’ve decided we could live here quite happily 

a nice little bungalow

                              and a sail boat in the harbour

But time presses on, and we must set off - just about to board the ferry back to Wellington & North Island

Another "best in the world" for NZ. ??? - but they WERE good

Havelock - is apparently the Green-Lipped Mussell capitol of the World! So we just had to try it for lunch 

Green-lipped mussel chowder for Rick

Sat and Pepper Squid salad for Sue

We have to agree - the mussels are pretty good. And HUGE!

Now arrived in Picton, and about to explore........

Wed 23rd Feb – Cathedral of the day; Church of the day; and Deal of the day

We think we have found the ugliest Cathedral in the universe - Nelson!

Building a Cathedral  in the 20^th century would always be a choice between ancient & modern, but you would finish it wouldn’t  you? Quite a lot of this one seems to be missing

                                                         Short and squat at the front,  

with a rear tower which would be more in keeping with a fire-station practice tower!

Placed in pole position overlooking the main street of the town, but, sadly, built by committee. It was started in 1925, but work was delayed; then they started arguing about design - ? should they stick to the original plan, or go more modern??  BIG mistake!

The resulting hybrid was finally finished in 1965, consecrated in 1972, and, in our opinion, should be demolished ASAP!  Nil points!

However Nelson itself is delightful in a laid back way, and the 200km from Greymouth to Nelson is a road to die for. Not quick but very, very scenic (and that’s from the driver).

Find of the day has to be  “The Free House” a  quirky pub serving hand-pumped ales in an old church. They even encourage you to bring your own food, drink their ale, and listen to their live music.  Nice!

check out http://www.thefreehouse.co.nz/

However - our  deal of the day was  the cinema in the evening!

 In need of a bit of R & R, we saw 98% of  “The Kings Speech” before the film broke  2 mins from the end, and we got our money back – result!   

Tues 22 Feb - The Bushman’s Café at Pukekura, & driving North

It seems frivolous somehow to report on our day as if nothing had happened - most of this was written before we were aware of yesterday's quake, so with much thought, will carry on as usual.

We started our day yesterday with a rainy trip to see Fox Glacier, which was very impressive despite the drizzle


Then started to drive north up the rugged and wild west coast

Around noon, we stumbled across this place -->

Giant sandfly at entrance to most non-pc cafe in the world

Boy, oh boy, did we find a brilliant quirky lunch-stop!

The most delightfully non-PC people we have ever come across.

The Bushman’s café specializes in “road-kill”.

Their motto:   You Kill ‘em: We’ll Grill ‘em.

On the menu today….. Road-kill toasted sandwiches; Bambi-burger; Road-kill Possum Pie; etc, etc.

You get the picture. Most entertaining!

Rick had a regional speciality – whitebait fritter sandwich.

(Am afraid I was boring and had a cheese scone).

Loved the place – very off the wall in such a nanny state – very refreshing.

Just before we left the wild and rugged west coast, we came across these amazing rock formations at Punakaiki

They’re called the Pancake Rocks  (nice layers – mine’s with maple syrup) and blowhole

Christchurch Earthquake

We were very sad to hear,  yesterday afternoon of the terrible earthquake in Christchurch.

It sounds as if the place has been devastated – and the news reverberates particularly with us as we were there less than 2 weeks ago, and can remember well (and have visited) most of the buildings where, at the moment, they are still searching through the rubble for survivors.

War memorial next to the Cathedral

Rick  climbed up to the top of the cathedral tower which has now fallen through, with people inside

Lyytleton Harbour from gondola top - epicentre of yesterday's quake

And the epicentre of the quake was on Banks peninsula, where we spent an amazing couple of days watching wildlife, sailing out to watch Hectors dolphins and albatross, driving round the rim of the “old” volcano which formed the peninsula bay.

We feel deeply for the people in trouble there, especially those bereaved.

Safe and well

Just a quick message to let you know that Sue and Rick are OK - I had a call from them early this morning. They left Christchurch two weeks ago and were on the opposite side of the island at the time of the earthquake. I'm sure they will send a fuller update as soon as they reach an internet facility.

Sarah :)

Still raining

The heavy rain that started about midday yesterday continued until 4am this morning  -and is now mere grey drizzle, for the moment.

When it rains here, the dry gravel river beds all turn into foaming torrents. There is so little soil in the high ground that rainfall comes straight off the hills and fills the riverbeds in minutes.

We’re off to try to spot a glacier through the murk!

Biggles in Siberia

Only a complete idiot would go flying in a very mountainous area in low cloud and drizzle – enter Rick.

I squeezed myself into the impossibly small cabin of that little yellow plane together with 3 other loonies and a slightly overweight pilot and took off into the murk. In the seat next to the pilot the sights were spectacular and given a special effect with the low cloud.

After 25 mins  we landed on a 100m cart track in the middle of the Siberia Valley.

We then had to ford a river of slightly chilly water (up to your thighs) before starting our 3 hour tramp through the rainforest to a river bank where 2 dead trees would signify the spot where a jet-boat would pick us up. (Actually there was a large notice as well saying imaginatively “Jetboat pickup.” Which helped enormously)

Had it been clear and sunny instead of raining and cloudy it would have been amazing, however despite the weather it was still pretty good, and as they say here, “Yis, but if it hadn’t been raining you wouldn’t have seen all the waterfalls!”

Tramping

No – don’t worry. We haven’t suddenly taken leave of our senses and started looking for down-and-outs to adopt. That’s what the Kiwi’s call walking, or, more correctly, hiking.

Woke to unexpectedly sunny skies again today, so we did manage that walk in Mount Aspiring National Park after all. Thought you might like a peek at the great views from the Diamond Lake circuit

Got back JUST before the rain started! So, felt justified in a bit of a cheating supper at the local – blue cod & chips and the odd ale!

Rainy Day - Sat 19th feb

Just so you don't think all our days have been full of sunshine, let us assure you - today has been WET!

We spent the first few hours in a dear little museum in Arrowtown - an old goldmining town with many original buildings from the late 1800's



Then we set off North towards Wanaka..... and it started to drizzle!


On ou drive north, we passed by another bungee site where exciting things were going on!

Then got to Wanaka… and set off for a walk.

Arrived at the walk start point

Watched the rain get heavier

Made a cup of tea

Turned around, back to our (very nice camp site)

And made use of the facilities……. Hot showers, jaccuzi, sauna,  nice lounge with kitchen & large TV (with rugby on more or less constantly)… what more could we need. God bless drizzle!

Who says we're not flexible!?

Queenstown - and Eddie the Eagle!

No doubt about it, Queenstown certainly lives up to it’s reputation of the most picturesque  town in NZ,  situated on the shore of the beautiful Lake Wakatipu, and completely nestled beneath the rugged peaks of the Remarkables, a stunning alpine range.

We did all the “normal” things here; a trip across the lake in TSS  Earnshaw ( a century old steamship); a trip up the Skyline Gondola to admire the views over town, lake & mountains;  and of course a local wine tasting tour.

BUT, besides showing off how pretty it is, Queenstown is also famous for it’s action-packed adventure opportunities – you can do anything from bungy jumping, skydiving, paragliding, jet boating, white water rafting, kayak rapids, canyoning, river-surfing. Anything, in fact that involves adrenaline and scaring yourself to death!

This is the local bungee jumping bridge!

But the bungee did'int appeal..............so, Rick decided he'd try a spot of Paragliding this morning!!!!

Absolutly loved it. Has now booked up another adventure for Sunday.

Watch this space!

Tuatapere – the Sausage capitol of NZ!

Yes! I KNOW we had sausages the other day, and this is meant to be a gourmet trip – but we couldn’t pass up the chance to try these now could we? The only surprising thing was that there wasn’t a huge fibre-glass sausage  displayed at the entrance to the town!

Nice Spicy ones - not as good as Skipton rd butchers though!

 

Tues 15th Feb - Doubtful Sound

Named after Captain James Cook’s comment (he was only a lieutenant then) when passing the  sound’s entrance to the Tasmin sea in 1770 – he thought it too sheltered and commented it was doubtful if they would be able to get out again if they sailed in there.

How right he was – it is HUGE (3 times the size of the more famous neighbour Milford Sound ) and easterlies rarely blow, so if they’d come in, in the Endeavour, they may well have been stuck here for ages, and not gone on to make more discoveries!

Majestic peaks rising out of clear waters. How lucky to come here on such a perfect day!

Milford Sound - Mon 14th Feb

Lovely!

Spent the day driving the Te Anau to Milford Sound route, and exploring surrounds. Spectacular scenery.

Catlins – the Cornwall of South Island - Sat/Sun 12th & 13th Feb

cute juvenile yellow-eyed penguin at Roaring Bay, waiting for mum to feed him!

  Catlins - Full of rugged cliffs, ancient forests, wild uninhabited beaches, yellow-eyed penguins, NZ fur seals and sea lions, not to mention countless varieties of birdlife, waterfalls, Jurassic vegetation and a petrified forest.

Pity it’s so bloomin cold!

Did no-one tell the New-Zealanders it was summer here??!!

 Still, supper of Venison Sausage & mash warmed us up

  We kept the type of sausage a secret from our field of neighbours for the night! Oops!