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!?