Category: New Zealand – February 2018

Well we have been back now for 10 days and I am back at work.  But it is time to complete the holiday.

Day 20

When we left the boat in Doubtful Sound it was not raining – just and the morning had gone – it was 12pm.  We walked up the hill and back to the car…. which was just as we left it ….. I was a bit worried leaving all our luggage in the car but NZ is so safe…. it was fine.

We set off to Arrowtown and our last 3 days in NZ.  We needed to return to Te Anau northwards before turning east and then north.  It was soon raining and it was really a miserable day and cold.  We had the heater running in the car.  Lunch was the leftover food from yesterday’s lunch – a vegetable wrap and crisps….. and some chocolate.  w did however pass some good stuff ….

As we headed north the weather improved and it started getting a bit hillier and we started to climb…. and then suddenly there was snow on the peaks.

We reached Kingston (not on Thames but on the southern tip of Lake Wakatipu.  it was time for a break and we drove off the road north to see if we could find a cup of tea.  No joy but a beautiful view of the lake and we knew Queenstown and Arrowtown were the other end of the lake.  The remainder of the journey up the eastern side of the lake was nice with the snow adding a magical touch…. it was freezing however.

We eventually stopped for a cup of tea about 4 after Queenstown in a place which was a modern dormitory town Lake Hayes Estate in a bar/restaurant called The Hayes. They had wifi and we suddenly realised we had been out of touch for about 48 hours and the Cyclone (Gita) had been on the news and Charlotte had been trying to make sure we were OK and also had missed her job dramas and interview / phone trouble.  Good to catch up.

We were close to Arrowtown and after some discussion as to whether we should visit a vineyard or not we decided to drive pass Amisfield Vineyard as it was on the way and Hilda had said it was very nice.  It was nice but after getting out of the car and walking in we left – it was a posh restaurant and a wine selling area.  Nothing to do or see on a quick visit.  Time to get to Arrowtown. not an impressive photo to prove it.

We could not arrive at the house until 6 – the owner was at school – and so we stopped briefly in Arrowtown and walked up and down the high street.  Very nice quaint place.  We would be OK here for a few days.

We arrived at our new home for the next 3 nights about 6 and met Annie.  What a scatty chatty lady.  And a lovely little dog. This photo was the next day when the weather was better. Very nice and we chatted and had a cup of tea.  The room was nice, there was an electric heater, and the house had a nice lived-in feel.  Annie suggested a few places to eat and we both had a hot shower, changed and felt ready to explore dinner and plan for tomorrow.

We had a pre-dinner drink in the local pub, The Fork and Tap, (super craft beer) and had a lovely chat to 2 ladies (cousins) from the UK.  One in her early 60’s and the other probably 70 visiting NZ and family.

Dinner was super tapas in La Rumbla where we sat at the bar and had some super food walked down with a good local pinot noir.

Day 21

We decided to head off to Glenorchy at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu.  The drive down there was amazing, lovely snow capped hills / mountains and lots of places to stop and take photos.  The weather had improved and it was warm and sunny – much like a good fresh summer’s day in the UK.  Apparently known to be a super drive …. “If you are self-driving the South Island and only have time to do one scenic drive, this should be it.”  We stopped for a coffee (much have been the 100th+ cup) and a super cake at a cafe and information point called The Trading Post.  They were very friendly and helpful and suggested a couple of walks which we decided to do.

The first walk was to Invincible Mine.  We had a long drive down a gravel track for about 30 mins outside Glenorchy and never saw any clear signs to the walk.  We eventually got to another car and there was a young German couple who told us you could not drive any further without a 4 wheel drive!  We parked and took a look …. there was a stream crossing the road which was too rough to drive through … perhaps the cyclone again.  We walked about a bit wondering where the walk was and eventually decided to walk up the road and wade through the stream.  Boots and shoes off and back on again – the water was freezing – and the walk start was just around the corner.

It was a super walk – about an hour and 1/4 up with wonderful views and some interesting bits from an old mine at the top. The view to the north is Mt Earnslaw which was in Lord of the Rings. The walk down was about an hour.  We did try and walk past the mine up the hill to the snowlike which was only about 1-200 ft above us but we could not find a route which took us much further than about 50 ft higher up so we turned back.

Lunch was a sandwich and some Anzec biscuits bought back in the Glenorchy shop – The General Store.  Over priced. Eaten on the walk.

The afternoon walk was Mt Judeh to Bonnie Jean Hut.  A nice picnic on the way up.

A much longer walk of at leat 2 1/2 hours up.  Quite hard work after the morning and we nearly quit before getting to the hut.  The light was starting to fade when we got down – not dark but late afternoon

.

When we got back no one was at the house and we had a quick shower and headed back into Arrowtown for dinner.  We decided to eat at the Fork and Tap where we started the evening the day before.  All in all a good day.

Day 21

Our last full day and we decided to go to Wanaka as apparently it is very nice and a much less busy place than Queenstown.

We hit road trouble straight away – the shortest road to Wanaka was closed and therefore the only way to get there is a longer loop.  Well the plan was to go to Wanaka so we decided to continue.  We then hit further road trouble – the main road was being resurfaced – and we sat in traffic jams for about 45 mins…. not how we planned to spend our last day.  We nearly turned around a few times but turning round was hard and probably dangerous.  Eventually we got through the road works and actually the drive was very nice through all the vineyard areas in Central Otago – what a lot of pinot!

Wanaka was busy but nice.  A town on a pretty lake full of youngsters.  We parked the car and went to the tourist office to see where we could walk and what to do and then had a coffee (yes more coffee!) at Kai Whakapai Cafe before going to do a walk just outside town up a hill called Mount Iron Track which has amazing views across Wanaka and the hills around.  A good hour and a half up and down.

Lunch was a sandwich by the lake and then we decided to hire some bikes and go for a cycle.  We hired from a place called Green Toad. Strange shop but on looking at the link seems like a better place to hire than some others – anyway the bikes OK and was only $40 for 2 hours.  Getting back on a bike was nice and we cycled around the lake around anti clockwise for an hour to a holiday / camping area on the river feeding Lake Hawae (the lake Wanaka is on).

It was then time to head back – given it has taken us two hours to get to Wanaka.  We decided to try and go back via the route which was closed in the morning and hope the road would be open.  The road goes through a place called Cardrona which is obviously a skiing area but in summer looks dead.  There were conflicting signs as to whether the road was open or not but we decided to go on anyway.  The road got narrower and steeper and there were not many cars but there was the odd car coming in the other direction so we continued assuming the road would be open.  Eventually we got to the top and the view was amazing.

We continued down the other side and passed what was an obviously filled hole in the road (we later found out a massive bounder had fallen on the road which was why it was closed).  The views on the way down were even more impressive and there was a super view point looking over what I know is Speargrass Flat an green flat area surrounded by hills – yet another great NZ view.

When we got back Annie was there with some friends at the back of the house drinking wine and beer (it was Friday and school finished).  We said hello and then went inside to shower.  When we were a bit more presentable her friends had left but Annie offered us a glass of wine and we sat on the deck at he back of the house and helped finish a bottle of wine left over.  Nice chat.

We decided to have dinner at the Asian Fusion place in town Fan-Tan.  Very nice food with another good Pinot Noir.

Day 24

Once we had packed our bags and said goodbye we decided to spend the morning in Queenstown and go up the gondola – The Skyline.  It was a nightmare to park near by but we eventually found a car park and walked 10 minutes – there was a brief queue (about 10 mins) and we are on our way up.  There was a super bike ride down and the bikes could be taken up on the outside of the gondola cars. We had a nice coffee (!)  at the top and had a wander about.

There is a Luge which looked fun and if we had more time we would have had a go.  Anyway we enjoyed the view took some photos and headed back down.  We had about an hour before the car was due back (1pm).  Good thing we got there early (10 ‘ish) as the queue was much longer (I would guess 30 mins) by the time we got down.

We wanted to get some honey so we headed off towards the airport, stopped at a market and looked around but did not see anything we wanted to buy and so went to a supermarket and walked out some 10 mins later with 3 pots of Manuka Honey (2 as gifts and 1 for us).

The car drop off was painless and they were quite uninterested in checking the car in anything more than a superficial way (refreshing) and the guy from the car hire place gave us a lift to the airport in the car we hired.  We walked into the airport at 1 pm in very good time for our 3.25 pm flight to Sydney.

The flight to Sydney went without a hitch and we had a 2 hour stop over – time for a beer and a glass of wine.

The flight from Sydney to Singapore was also fine, as was the Singapore to London flight with the stopover in Singapore being about an hour.

It was about 36 hours by the time we walked in the door at home – having picked up 2 excited dogs and having a 2 hour break at Doug and Sue’s (with 2 more coffees).

We managed to stay awake, walk the dogs, cook dinner but by about 6 B’s eyes were closing and she was off to bed by 7.30.  I made it to about 9.  We slept pretty well considering the time difference (+13 hours) but that was the end to a very very good holiday.

 

 

 

After breakfast we set off from the farm for our overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound hoping the weather would hold for a good trip.  It was very windy still.

We drove to Manapouri via Te Anau (not really via as it was a 60km diversion) to get money and lunch.

The tour departed at 12.30 and we were in good time.  It is a number of steps to get there 1) a boat across Lake Manapouri 2) a coach for 30 mins over the hills 3) the overnight boat.

The cruise was lovely, but with 70 people it seemed so busy.  We did talk a bit to an American couple who were nice but mostly it was on deck enjoying the scenery.  The tour normally has kayak and small boat trips but it was too windy for these.  It was sunny mostly with a few showers.  Doubtful Sound gets over 7m of rain a year and got 11 last year. Wet. We sailed up the sound and were very lucky to see dolphins, an albatross, an amazing rainbow, some seals (at a distance) and experience windy gusting to 100kms per hour.

Dinner was excellent and we retired to a noisy night of rain.  Not sure cruising for us but so pleased to have visited this wilderness.

 

It is pouring with rain when we wake. Predicted but disappointing.  We decided to make an early start and were off southwards by just after 8. Breakfast to be had somewhere south.

After about an hour and half we stopped at a Cafe in a small town in Milton and had toast, eggs and coffee.  By the time we set off again the weather had brightened and we decided to drive the Southern Scenic Route. Lots of driving but worth it.  It was very windy with the start of Cyclone Gita.

We arrived at our Airbnb about 6pm.  Upson Downs Farm. 500 acres, sheep and some cattle, run by Phillip and Rebecca.  We were shown our room for the night a converted shed which was made for farm workers in the 1950’s. Nice.

we were shown round the farm by 4 wheel drive, assisted by middle daughter Kate (about 8).  Very interesting.

we then were ready for dinner which we shared with Phillip, Rebeccca, Kate and youngest daughter Georgia.(7).. who also showed us her 3 lambs and her horse!  Lovely roast lamb and we shared some of the beer I bought and they shared some wine.  A very easy couple to chat to and a super evening.

We the retired to our shed and the sunset.  Nice evening with a lovely family.

We got up for breakfast to say goodbye.  Everyone was leaving at 8 or 8.30, the Canadians to Clyde to cycle to Otago Trail, and Carol, Marion and Gunner to Christchurch Airport.

There were some tears in eyes saying goodbye to Carol and Marion and Gunner.  We will meet again and have talked about cycling West Canada, Patagonia and other places too.

We tidied our bags and got them downstairs and arranged for them to be dropped at the station but no one seems quite sure where the train to Dunedin leaves from!  We had a nice time exploring the Sunday Market, walked down the Quay and saw lots of birds but not the famous Blue Penguins, bought lunch for the train and had a drink at Scott’s (again).  We saw someone dressed as a trainman and got chatting just be for the train was due.  It turns out that he is Harry and has been for 30+ years the station manager, rail yard main and general all things for Oamaru Station. It is private and this is the only station in NZ where a public train goes onto a private track.  He built the track and the platform. The introduced us to Lyle the train conductor who loaded our bags in the goods bit of the train.  We felt quite special.

The train journey was about 3.5 hours and lovely views

.  Fun.  Much better than a bus.

Our car hire guy was at the station when we arrived.  Magnificent station building full of Royal Doulton. He drove us to our hire car and after the paper work was done we drove our Nissan Note to the Airbnb for the night, a nice self contained flat in easy walking of central Dunedin.

We had booked dinner at Etrusco at the Savoy which was an Italian in the old Savoy hotel. Super meal in a lovely old room.  Dunedin has a lot of street art and we walked to dinner following a trails.  See all the photos.

Off the the Deep South tomorrow.

 

 

 

We were a bit late for breakfast and walked into a very quiet room.  Alison dressed up as a Victorian maid serving breakfast and no one quite sure what to do.

Well I sorted that out helping myself to what I needed coffee, cereal, etc and sat down and then realised everyone seemed to be waiting. Whoops?  Nope Ok everyone relaxed then and we had a good breakfast.

After a brief wait for Marina, who had the chance to spend the evening with her ‘sweetie’ boyfriend/I think to be fiancée and we were off again.  Not surprisingly as a 5 Carol, us and Marion and Gunner. I’ll miss cycling with them!

We cycled off ahead of the others and quickly got to the old Elderslie Estate, which burnt down in 1959! Beautiful old driveways and a few stone steps remain. Sad. If we had waited we might have learnt more, the group behind us got 30 mins of history from a local caretaker of what is left. However I am happy to see what remained and refelect on a life long lost gone of 1920 grandeur!

The cycle was short 20km but quite hilly and we kept expecting, well I did!, to see the sea.  We got there in the end with a super slow ride through the Oamaru Gardens.  Lovely!

We finished! A great sense of accomplishment. A trail finished and not just a holiday! Different feeling from Cuba.  See the photo finish!

We visited the Vertical Ventures shop, bought T shirts, were given old stock freebie T shirts. Then then others arrived.

Lunch was in Scott’s Brewery across the road, pulled beef rolls and chips, washed down with beer or cider. Excellent.

Our B&B was not far away and we walked there, with yet another coffee stop at Steam Cafe. The B&B was Oamaru Creek run by Linda and Paul. Nice place but again for sale!

When we arrived they showed us the rooms and I made 2 mistakes 1) I went into their bedroom saying it would be nice to stay in (hearing aid malfunction) 2) fell asleep on the sofa whe they showed potential buyers around.

The house had a nice veranda and just before we were picked up for dinner Carol produced drinks ….. her Tasmanian bubbles for Marion’s birthday. Very nice.

Dinner was at Riverstone Kitchen a 15 min drive north.  The lady who owns it is building a castle in view of the restaurant. It seems she is the “Delia Smith” of NZ however seems to have a strange taste in buildings. We had an excellent banquet especially for us.  3 starters, a main and pudding.

The food was excellent.  Only the behaviour of the head waitress spoiling it with poor customer behaviour after a minor mistake.  Al and Dave ordered an expensive Pinot Noir and mistakenly one of the young waitresses bought 2 glasses and not a bottle.  After some discussion Al and Dave thought they had negotiated both glasses of wine for 2 for 1 as the glass price would be more than the bottle price. About 10 mins later the head waitress comes across saying this was not possible and that she would bring a bottle but they would need to give back the two glasses already poured…. which by this time were half drunk.  She was quite forceful about it despite all discussion. What made it even stupider was that afterwards we worked out the glass and bottle proces were the same.  So they ended up throwing some Wien away for no reason and upset customers.

Anyway nice supper followed by a comfortable bed.

 

This was the last long day.

We were doing two stages today.

We left Western House slight later then normal at 9.15 not 9 to allow the other part of the group to catch up from Kurow.

The route was initially through a vineyard and then along the river and we needed to cross on foot a few dried riverbeds which gave the opportunity to eat some of the wild blackberries.  Yummy. We also stopped to see some Maori rock art.

Our first stop for coffee was Duntroon. Not much there but some nice historical buildings and an old gaol.

The ride then went through some lovely changing countryside but also some more hills.

Our stop for lunch

was after all the hills but before an old railway tunnel.  No pictures of that but we needed to walk through it. We then sneaked in a coffee in a old church in Windsor.

It was then about another one hour to Bunside Lodge and we were well behind everyone when we arrived.  What a house!

Bridget and I were in the old coach house with Marion and Gunner. The house belonged to one of the people who started the frozen lamb trade to the UK.

We had pre dinner drinks in the conservatory followed by dinner in a room full of old Scottish furniture surrounded by candles server by Alison the owner dressed in her Victorian finest! A bit surreal!

 

 

 

Today should be the longest day but thanks to yesterday’s efforts will seem easier even if a little longer.

Both a bit weary but we had an excellent breakfast next door in The Wrinkly Ram and were off by 9.

The day was lakes and dams.  However almost immediately we found out why the pub had been so busy last night.

22,000 lambs for sale, apparently about NZ$100 each so about £1m of sheep being sold to farmers with more grass to fatten for market.

Nice flat ride.

We had a quick tea stop before climbing up to the top of Benmore Dam. A hard climb.

We then cycled round Aviemore Lake for lunch …. lovely place to stop. And a coffee van had been arranged… with a lovely cocker spaniel called Emma.

the next bit was the worst bit of all the riding down the highway.  Some big lorries.  The group was again split and we were staying outside Kurow in a beautiful B&B called Western House run by a lady from Somerset originally. After freshening up we had a wine tasting in Kurow in a place called The Vintners Drop which had wine from Ostler and superbly tutored by a guy called Jim Jerram – nice Rose, Pinot Gris and superb 2015 Pinot Noir followed by a super pizza dinner opposite in the Valley Cafe (which looks awful from outside) done in a pizza oven in the garden.

Woke early and we had both remembered Valentine’s Day! 😍

Today was a longer planned day which due to a navigation error was a lot longer than planned!

After a good breakfast we all set off for what was billed a climb and Marina was due to meet us after 2 hours for a tea break. To cut a long story short we took the wrong turn at the hotel and headed up to the Ohau Ski Lodge. 1000m climbing over 8+ km of zig zag path, very rough, and into cloud.  It was freezing at the top and we only realised after a phone call!  What a view however!Vertical Ventures were very good and after and hours cycle down we were back were we started at about 12.45 having set off a 9 and were offered lunch at the Ski Lodge.  After some discussion we all decided to start again.  After a few minutes one of the Canadian’s Judy decided she had no legs left and her husband, Bruce, also stopped.

After 13km we reached the summit we should have reached.

The ride from this point was lovely with a long stretch of paths some streams and we reached Marina after about 2 hours.

we then had the choice to cycle another 25km or stop and so in the bus.  bridget and I were the only ones who cycled!  Hard work but we can say we cycle the who trail! We were only 10 mins behind the bus. Over 63km rather than 43!

After a quick change we were off to the famous  Omarama Hot Tubs. This was followed by a well earned dinner at the local Omarama Hotel which was full of lots of local agricultural types.  We understand why tomorrow.r

We (B and I, Carol and Marina) had breakfast at a cafe in Twizel https://www.facebook.com/hydrocafetwizel/. I had a fry up but the girls all had muesli. We then joined the others at their B&B which did breakfast and set off for Ohau.  We were staying at Lake Ohau Lodge which is meant to be nice.  It was a good day of canals

and Lake trails and just over 40km (25 miles).

We stopped off for coffee where the canals enter the lake

and had a nice picnic lunch  beside another lake Just alongside Lake Ohau.

The hotel was in a lovely site just above the lake.  We went for a very cold swim in the lake with Gunner and Marion.

The views as the sun went down were lovely.