Bungy Jump Day – Apr 09

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AJ Hackett

Bungy jump day! So we left Glenorchy. It was a promising day. The sky was blue when we rose, but soon clouded over. Drove on back to Queenstown, refuelled and bought 2 -3 days supply of food and headed on to our destination of Omarama.

Our first stop of the day was AJ Hackett, the original bungy jump centre. The set-up is impressive, with a huge hall with food, clothing and booking. Yet you can still walk across the suspension bridge because it is part of a DOC trail. Sorry, I didn’t jump. (I know I shall regret it, but Rosemary whinged and the price ($205) was more than I expected. Almost worst for the jumpers, was the walk back up hill from the river.)

Next it was on the road again to stop to take some photographs at the Roaring Meg power station. I’m sure there’s a beer called that. Next on the agenda was the Goldfields Mining Centre. This looked rather upmarket with jewellery and a wine merchant. We stopped and had a coffee served by a delectable French mademoiselle from Provence.

Next stop was for a 4K walk around the Bannockburn Sluicings Historic Reserve. Really interesting scenery caused by the gold mine works and the hydraulic workings which were used to flush all the worked spoils into the river. Naturalists would say this was a total destruction of the environment, but still it has its beauty and is well worth a visit. The land around here is pretty poor and worthless, until someone invented the grape. Yes grapes and crap soil go well together. Oh and the weather was still holding out. R claimed never to have seen so many thyme plants.

On we drove through some spectacular scenery, then we came to Lindis Pass, and the rain belted down. The intention for the night was to stay at a DOC site in Omarama. Instead it was to be a Top10 site, required for dry cooking and eating. The host of the site said it was due to snow tonight and tomorrow. Let’s see what happens.

A wet morning on Doubtful Sound – Apr 08

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Doubtful Sound

Early rise for us, up, showered and ready for breakfast be 7.00am. The boat had moored for the night in Precipice Cove. Today it was wet and raining with low cloud. The waterfalls we had seen before were now larger. We revisited one on Crooked Arm, it was now spectacular. We then proceeded to Hall Arm where we stopped for a period of silence. Engines off, generators off. It was not at all silent, the sound of rain, the waves on the shore. The Naturalist for the trip said she heard a single bird. A far cry from the days of Captain Cook who said the Island of New Zealand was alive with the sound of bird song. The Naturalist was rooting for a tourist tax to visit Fjordland to help fun conservation.

We learnt of the rare Fiordland brotula fish, Fiordichthys slartibartfasti. The species name is after the Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy character Slartibartfast, who had been one of the designers of the supercomputer Earth and had won an award for his design of the Norwegian fjords. Neat!

We were now soon back moored at 10.0am and transferred back to Manapouri by two busses and the ferry. Still raining, we then headed off towards Queenstown and ultimately Glenorchy. There was some spectacular scenery on the way to Glenorchy along Lake Wakatipu.

The Glenorchy campsite, Mrs Woolly’s Campground, was slightly odd, empty when we arrived, but quite a few sleeper/campervans turned up.  The buildings are all wood and look very rickety, but inside the facilities are pretty faultless. All young people in their 20s. We cooked a very basic meal in the very busy kitchen, feeling old amongst all the 20 year olds.

Cruise of Doubtful Sound – Apr 07

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Fiordland Navigator
Cruise of Doubtful Sound. Today was a lazy start for the day, we had no rush as we were due to start our cruise at midday. A slow shower, a quiet breakfast, no rush as there is not much else to do at Manapouri. Thankfully today it was not raining, the sun shone amongst the clouds. We arrived at the car park and checked in for our cruise arriving before most other people. Bought a sandwich to sustain us until tea time.

Just before midday the previous day’s cruise arrived back. The not very happy looking passengers got off. They almost certainly had a miserable first day. Apparently, it rains 1.5 meters in Manapouri and 8 meters in Doubtful Sound. So if yesterday was wet for us, it must have been torrential for them. At least they saw sun on their morning cruise.

Soon we were whisked away across Manapouri lake to the far end of the West Arm next to the power station. Disgorged into a visitor centre with some information about the power station. A short wait and then on to a couple of coaches.  The drive to Doubtful Sound was on a dirt road that took us up a hill, over a pass and then down to the actual Sound, about 200 meters below Lake Manapouri. The road was built back in 1963 the most expensive New Zealand, built at a cost of 2 dollars a centimetre and 2 years to build instead of the estimated 1 year.

We stopped at various places to look at the Sound, several waterfalls and places where the rivers had decided to change direction. We saw several slips where the trees above, which are basically only rooted is moss on top of the bare rock surface, had slipped away taking out the trees below. These scars start as bare rock, then moss, followed by other small plants take root and then trees.

Near to the boat we stopped, to be transferred to another coach for the rest of the journey. A bridge was out, and we had to file across a small pedestrian bridge, one at a time, to board the next bus for the rest of the journey.

Soon boarded and briefed we set off down the Sound on the boat. We lugged our luggage to the cabin and admired the scenery around us.  Our first stop was in Crooked Arm where we had admired some waterfalls. Here we divided into groups who went kayaking or on the motor boats. Rosemary and I chose the motor boat where we went near to shore and were shown the different trees etc.

Back to the boat then then a quick swim in the Sound to wash myself. The surface water in the sound is not at all salty as it floats on top of the saline water below. The temperature of the water was 16.5C, a little breathtaking.

Soon it was tea time, then it was a soup meal. The weather was now cloudy but relatively calm. We went out in to the Tasman Sea and around the Nee Islets where there were New Zealand Fur Seals basking and swimming. Prior this an Albatross was flying over the sea making itself available for photographs. It was rather dark, so the ISO 256000 photos will never look great.

The sun did its thing and sunk below the horizon unseen, but at least there was a lovely glow in the sky for us.

Supper time now, and a huge buffet supper along with some pricy wine. On the protein side, I managed some roast beef, roast lamb and smoked salmon and green lipped mussels.

Went to bed with some stars shining in the sky.

Roadtrip to Manapouri – Apr 06

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Orange Fungus

We packed up and had breakfast in the kitchen area and were caught by the cleaner who proceeded to tell us her entertaining life story and then showed us around her caravan on site.  After extracting ourselves, we set off for Manapouri just as the rain started. There were dark clouds everywhere, especially along the coast. We were headed initially along the coast and were soon in heavy rainfall. Some pictures of the sea were taken to show the lack of visibility.

Stopped at a fuel station not far after we headed off. This was the first one where someone came out and filled the tank for us. When I paid she asked what we had seen, when I mentioned Dunedin the conversation immediately went to Ed Sheeran, a fan I think.

We had several stopping points en route, most were in the driving rain and got ignored. When we headed North the weather improved. This was fleeting as the bad weather soon caught up with us. It did give us a chance to see the Clifden Suspension Bridge before the rain.

We reach Manapouri, checked where the Real Journeys cruises go from and where we would park. Then it was to find somewhere for coffee, was still to early to check in for a campsite. We found the Manapouri Lakeview Café and Bar, seemingly the only open place in town. Started off with a coffee, then a beer and lunch. Back to the campsite next door and checked in. The campsite has a collection of Morris Minors and other vintage rusty cars.

In between the showers we did manage a quick walk down to the lake beach. Most of the afternoon was spent editing and posting some pictures onto the blog

Dinner was back at the Lakeview Café for some wine. Beers and soups. Hope tomorrow’s weather is better for our cruise.

Mirror & Cathedral – Apr 05

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Lake Wilkie

The day looked mixed, yes blue sky, but some clouds and it had been raining during the night.  Let’s see how the day progresses. Down to the kitchen for our breakfast of coffee, yoghurt, fruit and mixed grains.

Our first destination for the day was Wilkie Lake, called the Mirror Lake at the Campsite to make it a bit more interesting. (Rosemary v insulted cos Wilkie was her nickname at school and certain friends still call her that.) The walk to the lake was through a tree fern forest, the first glimpse was from a platform well above the lake. You then descended down to the lake onto a boardwalk. Access to the lake is very limited. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing again, and ripples broke the mirror surface. It was notable in the 30 minutes we were there how much the wind had risen.

Back in the van we headed to the Cathedral Cave, stopping at a boardwalk en route. The boardwalk at Tautuka Estuary took us down to an estuary with reeds. Not much wild life to be seen. Bit disappointing, could have been good for dragons, but not on a cold windy autumn day.

Cathedral Cave was interesting, a lovely 1K walk down through a tree fern forest which allowed us to see many light effects. Masses of photographs of various light textures to be binned! The cave is large, you walk in one side and walk out the other side. You visit at low tide, two hours before and after. One of the few times I have used flash on a walk.  The waves on the lovely beach were spectacular, especially with the offshore wind blowing their heads off.

Next stop was Curio Bay. We parked in the car park and wondered why we were here, then we saw the notice for the Petrified Forest and the Penguins. We saw the forest, but not the Penguins. The rain did come for a short period of time here. The forest reminded me of the first season of Dr Who with William Hartnell.

Now it was a drive to Invercargill where we stayed at the Beach Road Motor Camp, stopping at the Lignite Pit Café for one of our slowest arriving coffees yet.

Tonight was reasonably warm, the wind dropped and we were parked in a sheltered area, so able to cook and eat next to the van.

 

 

Nugget Point, Jacks Blowhole and then the rain – Apr 04

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Nugget Point

Today started bright and sunny as we left Dunedin for the West. Target was Invercargill, but we had a day in hand as we had decided to give Milford Sound a miss.

Our first stop was the town of Balclutha. I can’t remember why this was on my list. I had noticed the wind had been rising on our journey, a slight skittishness with the van. At Balclutha it was definitely blowing a hooley. Now we had stopped a coffee and cakes were in order along with (for Rosemary) a walk around the local charity shops, mainly the Sally Army in NZ. She bought a pillowcase (eh??).

Back on the road, we passed through Kaka Point and the stopped at Nugget Point. A walk out to the lighthouse showed us the East in sunshine, and the West in grey. The grey of course was steadily advancing our way. This was a good place to visit, loads of seals, in the water and on the rocks, some in very precarious positions. They left us wondering how they could get into these sunny areas until we saw some bounding up the rocks.  Back to the car, we had mainly missed the rain.

Next place was Jack’s Blowhole. A longish walk, and the rain had not yet started. We arrived at the ‘blowhole’, not really a blowhole as we would call it, but still an impressive large hole over the top of a cave.  Now it decided to rain. R was in waterproofs, I was not. I got soaked; R was triumphant, having suggested at the start that I take my waterproofs.

The agenda was now to see Wilkie Lake and the Cathedral Caves. These were driven passed, rain and of course I had not checked the tide for the caves. We stopped for the night at the Whistling Frog Café and Bar which was a renowned restaurant in the region.  I think in the region was the only reason it was award winning, seemed mainly to sell burgers of various varieties, and the only option R wanted was off the menu.  No matter a few beers and a chowder was fine for me, while R ended up with a chicken burger without the bun.  The beers and wine were nice, and R managed a laundry load. Of course, the meal was to save us cooking in their kitchens in the rain. Of course, as soon as we went for our prepranidal drinks in Happy Hour, the sun came out. (Short lived rain showers persisted throughout the night.)

R woke up during the night when a mobile home turned up for the night with lots of banging and shouting. I slept through this, otherwise I would have been really noisy getting up in the morning.

Royal Albatross – Apr 03

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Royal Albatross
Another early morning rain shower which ended before 8am.  As soon as it ended I was up and out, making sure I was in the shower block. The sun was shining and it remained pretty well cloudless for the rest of the day. I can live with the timing of the rain over these last couple of days.

Today was Royal Albatross day on the Otago Peninsula, their only mainland breeding colony. We drove along the coast road, inches from the water’s edge without any barriers. The wind was strong, so there was a good chance of seeing some adults or juveniles flying. Though you can see the flying Royal Albatross from the carpark, we decided to pay the fairly hefty price of $50 each to watch a short film and have a guide talk to us and take us to view the four Albatross chicks. All four fluffy, white chicks were visible. The webcam star chick gave us a good walking display as it waddled through the grass. The chicks spend all their time eating & not moving, so get overweight very quickly. As fledging time nears, the parents cut down on food and encourage the chick to waddle to them for food.

On cue, as we arrived, an adult Royal Albatross flew into view and made several attempts at landing. Unfortunately, the final landing was just below our view line.

An Australasian Hawk also flew around and we saw a ginger tom cat in the undergrowth but at a distance from the breeding grounds.

Glorious creatures, with impressive 2.9-3.3m wingspan.

After the Albatross we headed across the peninsula to Allans Beach. A huge sandy beach which had a few Seals. (Actually, I walked by one thinking it was a log.) We later passed a few estuaries where there ware lots of Paradise Ducks and Variable & South Island Pied Oyster Catchers to photo.

Many beaches were festooned with enormous kelp seaweed. Must have been detached from their habitat by the cyclones. Loads of really bleached out driftwood. Rosemary found a bit which she claimed looked like a duck’s head. Mmmm.

Back to Dunedin, and a Countdown to buy provisions including beer, wine and steak. R wanted to buy a chocolate Easter Kiwi & Egg, but none were to be had.

Dunedin and the Taieri Gorge Railway – Apr 02

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Ed Sheeran in Dunedin

The rain pounded down hard on the roof in the early morning. A little lie-in, and when the rain stopped at 8.30 we got up to shower as did the rest of the campsite. Lots of Ed Sheeran fans in the campsite who had arrived back from the concert at 11.30. Rosemary said they made a lot of noise, I had heard nothing,

After a delayed shower we made it out at 10, to a lovely blue sky. Today we had a walk around Dunedin, or, is it Edinburgh? All the street names are from Edinburgh, Prices Street, George Street, Frederick Street, Hanover Street, Heriot Row, Leith Street. There’s a statue of Robert Burns. The area names are also duplicates, such as Musselburgh, Helensburgh, Corstorphine and we camped next to the River Leith.

A wander around, the purchase of a t-shirt to celebrate Ed Sheeran and his concert here, and then it was lunch. Lunch cos we would be back later than normal in the evening. We duly examined the menus. R rejected the burger restaurants. We finally alighted on Vault 21 which had an interesting menu. A beer, 8.5%, followed by a weaker beer at 5.5%, two plates of yummy food. and we were ready for the train trip. Oh, one thing, we missed noting that there was a 15% additional charge for a Bank Holiday!

Arrived at the wonderful station and caught the tourist trip to Pukerangi through the Taieri Gorge. Some grand scenery and some wonderful engineering with the viaducts and bridges clinging to the side of the gorge.  The whole trip would have been a little bit more enjoyable but for a Spanish couple sitting opposite us who took the cult of selfies to a new level, along with very loud, fairly non-stop talking.

Back at the station, it was now getting dark, so straight on home for some more beers and a frugal supper of sandwiches which had been on sale on the train at the bargain price of $3 each.

Bendigo Gold Mine and Hayes Engineering Workshop – Apr 01

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Ophir, old mining town

Busy day today and the clocks went back in New Zealand, so a possible early start, and dark finish for the day.

Today we were heading to Dunedin, where we heard Ed Sheeran was performing his final three performances, on consecutive nights. Dunedin has a population of 120,000. Ed, in the three days he performed here, was playing to a total of 120,000 people. It seems the city has become obsessed with Ed Sheeran, there was even an Easter Egg Hunt. The aim was to find a photograph of Ed Sheeran inspired street art, your best Forsyth Barr experience (where Ed played) and to snap and tag yourself in front of the Ed Sheeran wall. There were also take off t-shirts on sale in a variety of designs but wait until you see mine.

We packed up on a cool but cloudless day and head East, stopping at various tourist attractions on the way. At one point we saw people sitting out in the wilderness on chairs staring into the valley, we concluded they were cheap skate plane spotters who wanted to watch the Wanaka War Planes in action this Easter Sunday. They had been flying the previous two days, and I think today was going to be a big fly day.

Our first stop was Bendigo, a gold mine. The mine was a small cave in a rather inaccessible place. First we had to cross yet another ford (yeah!), and then drive up some steep dirt roads. Parked on the verge and then scrabbled down into a steep valley. Yes, the mine was there, impressive. We met two other people who had visited the place 30 years ago. They commented on the massive changes here, where once there was scrub, now there were vineyards.

Next stop was Ophir. This was an old mining town with some of the building still in existence.  We had a coffee and cakes at Pitches Store which is an impressive building built during the Gold rush era. The town was a one street hillbilly type of habitation.

A short drive on was the Hayes Engineering Workshop. We hit it on an open day. Country music, BBQ and women spinning were the features to come to our attention. We skirted by this to look at the exhibits. The workshop was founded by Hayes who emigrated to New Zealand from Warwickshire and started making implements which would help him farm. He ended up selling his wares around New Zealand, employing men in the factory and employing salesmen and saleswomen to sell his wares throughout NZ

Nearby we stopped at a gold mine head where there were about 20 cyclists visiting the area, all leaving their bikes on the verge. A quick 20-minute visit and then we were on are way. This time non-stop to Dunedin.

The landscape we saw on the drive was impressive. Driving on mainly flatlands bordered by high hills on either side. Fields had huge crop irrigation systems, like the ones in Norfolk around Thetford, but so much larger. In some places we could see for very long distances to mountain ranges far away.

On arriving in Dunedin, all the parking spaces were gone, kids were all walking in one direction towards the arena. We mad a bee line to the railway station to enquire about tickets on the local tourist train that takes you through a spectacular gorge.

Next to find a campsite. Yes, we could get in despite Ed, though all cabins were booked and only a few spaces available for small campers.

Rosemary saw the owner had a webcam feed running on the Albatross colony, so received yet some more advice for Tuesday when we hope to see Albatross and Penguins.

Wanaka and a treat for Hobbit fans, the Treble Cone – Mar 31

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Treble Cones, A Hobbit site

Slight drizzle this morning. We wanted to head of to find some Keas. The guy next to us suggested the Treble Cone ski area. The Rob Roy Glacier trail was apparently devoid of Kea.

We set off in the direction of the Treble Cone ski area, also a Hobbit film location. The page 113 of Hobbit Film Locations shows an excellent shot of the crags which you can see from the campsite. The picture also shows the area where our campsite is located.

Driving towards the ski area is on sealed roads in what looks like Glenco valley. Spectacular scenery. At the point where the sealed road ends, there is the turn off to the ski area. But the actual road was unfortunately closed. So, no driving up to the cones or seeing Keas.

We drove on then along the unsealed road towards the Rob Roy Glacier trail. The road is in a huge valley which is flank by fields on each side. Sheep and deer are reared here. The bird life was phenomenal, flocks of hundreds of Yellow Heads were in the fields or sitting on the road. They have the alarming habit of flying in front of the car, darting from side to side.

Several birds of prey were spotted, as were spur winged plovers. The other siting were the pairs of Paradise Ducks which live in the Southern Alps.

We continued but as the road deteriorated we came to a sign which suggested if you went on, and it rained you might not get back to where the sign was, near a ford. We (ie Rosemary) hesitated, I walked the ford (well looked it), dithered, then two more campers came by and dithered. I decided to go for it, despite the protestations of R. Made it through with a breeze. And the next ford. On we went and then met a man who said the next ford over the river was too deep and had already caught one car. We hesitated again and were caught up by one of the vehicles we’d seen hesitate at the first ford. They said they’d gone on, when they saw we’d made it ok.

As the rain had started again (closer to the mountain) we (aka R) decided to beat a hasty retreat.  Of course, as we drove nearer to Wanaka and away from the glacier, the weather improved. In Wanaka is was virtually cloudless. That’s mountain weather for you.

In Wanaka we parked for a latish lunch, Green lipped mussels and prawns in a coconut curry sauce. Yummy. Rosemary had a vegetable dish with pan-fried lamb slices. She thought they were a bit tough, which was good cos I got to clean up and I thought they were delicious.

Where we’d parked was a short distance away from the main parts of town. A path wound its way alongside the road. One side of the path was bordered with large square terracotta tiles. Very cleverly, seemingly as part of a Millennium project, the tiles recounted historic events. I think you could sponsor a tile. We ummed and ahhed over some of the content, but what a brilliant way to see history in a timeline.

A bit of a walk around the shops of Wanaka and then back to the campsite for wine and supper.  Quite a pleasant evening, the wind dropped off.