12th February- An interesting day in Wanaka and Haast

It was a bit grey when we awoke and it was our plan to travel on the road from Wanaka to Haast which we did on our travel last year. This was a beautiful journey last time we did it and that is why we had planned to do it again only last time it was full sun.

It then started to rain as we left the camp site and headed off up through the mountains and via the many lakes which are of huge proportions. It looked very different this time because of the different weather conditions but overall it was a nice journey. We had our home made lunch of bread and cheese in Haast, really exiting to the reader, but good for us and then drove back taking some photos en-route.

We arrived back in Wanaka around 4.30 pm and put our head in the door of the local cinema called ‘Cinema Paradiso’ and there was an interesting film on that night and not only that but they had a small café which was great. So we booked tickets for a film called ‘The Band’ and then headed to the internet shop to do some Blogging and Photo updates.

As we arrived back at the Cinema café they were just bringing out freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and a few minutes later the cinema emptied and people purchased cookies whilst others quickly devoured pizzas and Lasagnes and then ten minutes later went back in to the cinema again. What’s this all about we thought?

We had both ordered Lasagne and then thought blow it lets have a glass of wine as well. It was great music in the background and a good atmosphere with many old film posters covering every little space available. Even the loo’s were covered the same way.

We then entered the cinema to see the film and this place is incredible.

The seating in the cinema comprises of old lounge settees, ex airline chairs, old cinema seats and finally and old Volkswagen open top Beatle where you could also sit. Immediately people started taking photos until the film started which was a film about an Egyptian Police Band that got lost in Israel and their experiences and the people that helped them. It was quite funny in places and we understand that it has won many awards.

About fifteen minutes or so before the film ended, there was an intermission and most people left to obtain their cookies and some people also brought back recently cooked pizzas. Wine and glasses were also allowed in the cinema. Most unusual but this was a very enjoyable evening with a good film, some wine and finally a very good Lasagne.

For information on this wonderful cinema please visit

http://www.paradiso.net.nz/

We do not really like the current camp site as it is ,what you might call, unfinished and it was also very dusty and we believe somebody, perhaps the manager, had sprayed diesel or similar on the paths to stop the dust rising and when it rained you could really smell it. Also the kitchen facilities were a bit basic and so earlier when at the internet café we decided to leave one day earlier from here and stay the night in an HOTEL in Twizel en-route to Christchurch.

So back to the camp we went,it was beginning to get cold again.

11th February- A walk around Wanaka

We took it very slow this morning following a busy day yesterday. We were having breakfast in the communal breakfast room and watching the morning breakfast show on TV and out of the blue they announced the startling news from Christchurch that the local prostitutes are being affected by the world economy and business is very slack and so they are now beginning to offer special deals. Lunchtime specials and reduced rates before six pm are being offered and Noel suggested that they try BOGOF as another alternative..

We walked around town which was fairly quiet although a coach load of Spanish tourists turned up and the general background noise rose dramatically; you can always tell when the Spanish arrive.

We had lunch in a very nice little café with a bowl of soup and an organic slice of carrot cake.

We looked at the local cinema to see what is on and although there was a good choice but actually not what we wanted for last night. We did some shopping at New World Supermarket for the evening’s dinner of salad and then had an early night after looking at the weather report in the internet for the next week which looks very poor indeed and even quite worrying.

We took some photos of our walk around town which will be up on the internet soon.

Let’s hope all the rain talked about will not come as packing up a tent in the wet is not much fun.

Just we got in to bed it started raining, damn.

10th February 2009- Time to leave here

Gosh it was cold again overnight and we awoke with both the outside and also the inside of the tent quite wet as it had rained yesterday and I am not sure I mentioned it before.
So we had a slow breakfast and waited untill the sun surfaced which mostly dried the tent and then we loosely packed it so as to let the sun dry it out whilst it was in the boot of the car. We believe the temperature went down to about eight degrees centigrade which is a little chilly in a tent. However us old ones can cope.
We left Te Anau camp site at about eleven thirty and headed of towards Wanaka via Queenstown. We stopped for lunch at a wayside rest area overlooking the Lake Wakatipu near Queenstown where a German couple had just about all their clothes and sleeping bags hanging up to dry in the warm fresh air. We guess they must have got wet somewhere
We drove through the outskirts of Queenstown and took the mountain route via Cardrona (which is a skiing resort) to Wanaka which takes you high up in to the hills and then down in to the dales and we arrived in Wanaka at about four in the afternoon.
Our camp site this time is about six kilometres outside of town and on a hill overlooking Lake Wanaka and the site that we have has a nice view. This site is not as modern as the last one but is certainly very quiet and also fairly empty as we had a good choice of locations. It took us about an hour to set up everything, we are getting used to this now and its getting quicker each time we do it, and then headed down town for a quick walk around and grab a bite to eat in a local pub of Blue Cod and Chips and a couple of glasses of wine.
It is a full moon tonight so we do not need torches around the site as it is quite bright enough without. And so to bed.

Monday 9th February- Only a month to go.

We got up early, well early for us and left in the light rain to Milford Sound. As we got nearer the rain got harder. Did we tell you that up to 7 metres of rain fall every year in this location and today certainly added to that amount?
The journey from Te Anau takes about two and a half hours with rolling countryside at first then building up to the most beautiful mountains either side of the road. Did I mention the rain? Well it was still raining quite hard when we finally reached Milford Sound. You have to go through a road tunnel which has a steep gradient down and it has a one way system and so in the busy periods is must be very slow.
The clouds on the mountains were quite beautiful to see and together with the mist slowly spiralling through the mountain range the feeling of magic is in the air.
I am not sure if we mentioned that rain at all, but half an hour after we arrived at Milford Sound and finished supping an expensive cup of coffee the rain stopped for enough time to allow us to walk around the lower end of the sound and take some photographs. There will not be much colour but perhaps in black and white they might look good.
We had previously decided that we would not go on a cruise around the sound as it was raining, did I mention the rain, and as our Doubtful Sound trip was so great we felt that a trip on this Sound would be a let down.
We headed back to Te Anau via the mountain pass which rises to almost one thousand Metres through the clouds and back through the Homer (one way) Tunnel. Just outside the tunnel there is a parking area where a group of Kea (birds) are walking amongst the cars in the car park looking for free food. One bird perched on our car wing mirror and started calling for food and then moved on to the road and continued calling. We had to drive away slowly to make him/her aware of the fact that we were leaving and he needed to get off.
We stopped in another camp site which we had noticed earlier in the day which did not appear in our book and actually we did not like it and so believed we stayed in the best one here. We have looked at where the Camping & Caravan Club Overseas Tour operation recommend and they are not far wrong.
Following dinner of Lamb Chops and various other vegetables we headed down town to the internet shop to upload the latest photos and then visit the cinema to watch again the film we saw earlier in the week.
Finally, would you believe it’s still raining and the field is very wet and tomorrow somehow we have to pack up the tent and everything and hopefully head off to a warmer climate.

Note: The fires in Victoria State, Australia have claimed many lives and our thoughts are with those families who have lost family and their home and treasured possessions.

Sunday 8th February- They say the weather changes quickly here

And it really does change fast. Both Jennifer and I awoke in the night to hear very strong winds,(no it wasn’t the salad), coming up over the lake and hitting the tall trees behind us.

This strong wind continued for most of the day and a lot of people who had come for the weekend and intent on staying around until the end of the day decided to leave for home a bit earlier than planned.

We started chatting to a youngish couple, who had a large tent and boat, about the site etc and he mentioned that the view in town is that tourism is down by more than twenty five percent but he felt it was more like thirty five percent. This was based upon a comment from a friend of his who works for the very good tour operator Real Journeys, he said that some of the people are scared of losing their jobs as there are not enough tourists to take around.

We took a walk around the camp site and took some photos before walking in to town to take some more photos along the lake side and also in town. The strong winds and extra cloud cover means that the photos are not at bright as they could be. The town was fairly quiet and once again the ‘Vacancy’ signs were up everywhere.

After about a three kilometre walk we arrived back in the camp site in time for a cup of coffee and catch up with preparing the photos for upload. We then took a quick drive down to the town to the internet shop where we can use the notebook computer and started uploading the photos on our Phanfare Photo Blog and also update the regular Blogger BLOG.

We have also arranged for our camp sites in Lake Wanaka and also Christchurch. We will stay four nights in Wanaka area and then move on for two nights to Christchurch where we are booked on the Trans-Alpine Train from Christchurch to Greymouth and return. It’s an early start as we have to be at the station at 0740, Gosh what time is that.

The wind today has been quite something and blowing at about 40 miles per hour at times but our positioning of the tent meant that it was little affected although just as we prepared for bed it started to rain.

Jennifer cooked Spaghetti Bolognaise tonight and we relented at the last moment and purchased a bottle of red wine, well it is Sunday.

Saturday 7th February- Just moseying around

A latish breakfast, this was the norm in Taipa, and we had decided to visit Te Anau town for some shopping and also find an internet provider who allows you to just dock your own computer as many don’t for so called security reasons.
We were successful and we were able to start planning and booking the next part of our trip. The next stop will be Wanaka or Lake Wanaka to be exact because the site we have chosen is six kilometres outside Wanaka which is fine for us as we like quiet places.
Here we intend to explore the route from Wanaka through some most amazing countryside to a place on the coast called Haast.
We have also booked, but are awaiting confirmation of a site in Christchurch as we are planning a train journey through Arthur’s Pass and it is easier to stay two nights in Christchurch rather than have a very, very early morning and drive for 80 minutes from Akaroa.
Following our internet time we went to a small local cinema which is showing a locally made film by a helicopter pilot who also has a strong interest in photography. The film is introduced by the lady who managers the projector (shades of the Swamp Palace Cinema here) who explained how the film came to be made and that it is only for showing locally although you can buy the DVD.
We both agreed upon leaving that it’s the most beautiful film which shows off the National Park in a most fantastic manner with some stunning photography and also jaw dropping helicopter flying, rather you than me mate said Noel. We have bought a copy of the DVD to remind us of this fabulous scenery so we will be offering regular showings in the Groves version of the famous Taipa ‘Swamp Palace’ called the ‘Piplin House Swamp Palace Theatre and Projection Cinema front room’ or something like that. All tickets will include a glass of good New Zealand wine.
Following a brief stop for a hot pie, a piece of carrot cake and tea we headed off lakeside to look at the boats and enjoy the scenery as the mountains across the other side of the lake are quite something. It’s possible to get a small boat who will drop you off on the opposite side of the lake to experience the ‘Kepler Path’ which only takes a full day. Other walks around here take up to two weeks in the wilderness and you need navigation equipment and also GPS to stop you getting lost.
A small amount of shopping then we headed back for a cup of tea and reading prior to having our dinner of ham and mushroom omelette with salad, boy are we healthy people. We have almost been off the booze for more than three weeks now apart from about four glasses of wine. This almost hurts.

Friday 6th January- Time to sort things out

We had a much better night’s sleep now we have our new underwear and also it was a bit warmer overnight than the previous night.

We needed to organise the tent a bit to make it more homely and provide more ground space and the result after 30 minutes was a positive improvement. We are staying about 1.5 kilometres outside of Te Anau at the Te Anau Lakeside Holiday Park (www.teanau.info) which so far has been up to our expectations. It’s not a huge site but it has a capacity to receive everything from backpackers and small transit type vans up to large Australian built caravans and holiday huts of varying sizes.

Most important is that the Shower and Loo facilities are very good and clean and the kitchens which are complete with large multi user refrigerators and freezers, hobs and even ovens. There are also pan scrubbers and washing up cloths and so you lack nothing. Only the chef is missing.

There are also two large seating areas where you can eat your kitchen prepared dinner, watch the television or use the internet computers which are freely provided assuming you cough up the £ 3.00 per hour demanded by the slot machines.

The site is not that full although it’s the start of a public holiday called Waitangi day which is the day the treaty was signed with the Maori.

During a discussion with the travel agents on our Doubtful Sound day out they mentioned that tourism in South Island, and presumably it’s the same in North Island, is down by up to twenty five percent. That is certainly a lot and it seems to show with many if not most motels showing vacancy signs and when compared to our trip at a similar time last year when most of the signs showed No Vacancy. The world economy is impacting on this country as well as they rely heavily on tourism.

We spoke to Brian who is now back in NZ and back in Taipa in his own house which we guess he will appreciate very much after their amazing travels in South America. We are not sure we would experience all of the things that Brian and Sheila did. We do like comfortable beds etc.

Our tent is very good and we are pleased with our choice and also very glad that we bought the large and very comfortable King size inflatable bed as it makes such a difference to sleep well.

We are still taking it easy after the long tiring drive down here and so we will take it easy until we take a trip up to Milford Sound but we fear that the weather may have changed back to the normal grey and cloudy with occasional rain. So we will go to Milford on Sunday or Monday but as it’s a public holiday perhaps Monday may be better, let’s see.

Thursday 5th February- It got a little cold overnight

In the early hours we both awoke as it had got really very cold indeed and the sleeping bags were not designed for this temperature. So we dressed and then got back into bed and agreed that we must either buy a duvet or at least some cold weather underwear.
So following breakfast we headed into town and purchased some very good Long Johns and Tops to match and hope that they will keep us warm.
We drove towards Lake Manapouri where we are to get the boat out to Doubtful Sound. This is a one hour boat ride on a fast catamaran out to West Arm Manapouri Power Station. We visited the power station which produces energy mainly for an Aluminium Plant based at Bluff some one hundred and fifty kilometres away. There was then a forty five minute coach ride, but with photographic stops it took an hour. The coach driver was the same guy we had on our visit here last time.
We arrived at Deep Cove where we transferred to an even bigger boat which then took us out in to the Fiord or Doubtful Sound.
The weather was absolutely fantastic and when you consider that this area of South Island has between six and eight metres of rain per year compared to three to four metres at West Arm and two to three metres at Te Anau. There are only a maximum of fifty days per year when the sun comes out and we happed to be there this time when the sun shone. What good fortune as the rest of the year it rains all the time if not part of the time. For a comparison look at last years photos.
The trip took about three hours and we saw the seals at their breeding grounds on the rocks on the Sound inlet and then went in to a Fiord called Hall Arm where on the boat they turn off all the engines, air conditioning and generators and ask everybody to turn off cameras and mobiles phones so that you can hear the silence of the wilderness. Bloody great it was too.
Then back on the coach to West Arm and then back on the catamaran to return across Lake Manapouri and then back to our campsite.
We were both a bit tired after a full day and a sleepless night so we had some toast and marmalade and a much needed cup of tea before retiring to bed with our new warm underwear.
This was a really fabulous day and will be remembered for quite some time to come.

Wednesday 4th February- Its camping time

We had to check out of the Hotel by 1000 after breakfast. Our room rate which did include what the Hotel receptionist called a wonderful buffet breakfast was in fact not quite as wonderful as we think. A wonderful buffet breakfast to us conjures up images of past Hotels and lovely hotspots not powdered scrambled eggs with strange tasting bacon.

We did a quick tour of another camp site which we had previously rejected on the grounds they had nicely notified us and explained that on their camping grounds space for tents was very limited. We

would agree after looking around for about ten minutes and then headed off down the lake to the Te Anau Lakeview Holiday Park where we are booked for about six nights. We wandered around the site to find the best location we could and started setting up the tent and blow up bed etc, it took just over an hour. With our other big tent we have at home, perhaps we take too much stuff and then it takes us up to four hours to get ready.

It was now time to head back to town for some shopping and also look at tours to Doubtful Sound. They had space on Thursday and they reckoned that the weather would be very good and so we should go tomorrow rather than the day after. We were unsure as Jennifer wanted to get her ear checked again as it is a public holiday here on Friday and also the doctors would be closed over the weekend.

So we made a quick visit to the Doctor at the Te Anau Health Centre which is more like an old wartime hut than a modern health centre like the one we visited in Christchurch.

Anyway, the Doctor pronounced her sort of fit and well enough to go on the trip tomorrow and so we went back and booked it.

Noel did the food shopping whilst Jennifer was at the health centre and of course he bought more than we needed, but as he said, you never know when an earthquake will come.

The facilities at the campsite (Holiday Park) are very good indeed, they have several lounge and dining areas around the site and also kitchens with about twenty places with cookers where you can prepare your own food and then eat it either there or on your site.

And so to bed after a steak and salad together with a glass of red wine.

Tuesday 3rd February- Look out Te Anau, here we come

We left the Hotel around 0800 hrs and headed off in the direction of Te Anau. This took us via Ashburton where we had a good breakfast and then followed out noses through places like Geraldine, Fairlie, Lake Takapo and Twizel where we stopped for lunch. This is a nice little town surrounded by mountains including Mount Cook. We then went to Queenstown and finally arriving in Te Anau around 6pm after a long and tiring 400 mile drive. It was good that we could share the driving as this mileage is rather long on these roads. There was an awful lot of road works and resurfacing taking place.. The route we took is quite spectacular at times with mountains and plains and lakes and hills and cattle by the thousand.
The Hotel is in the middle of town, which we know from a previous stay, and then went to dinner at the local Ming Gardens Chinese Restaurant which we had also previously used on our last visit here. The food was very good as usual but the costs seem to have increased somewhat.

Monday 2nd February- All aboard for Picton

This was an early start for us today; we had to check in for the ferry at latest by 0930. We had a quick breakfast in the room with the stuff we bought last night in the supermarket.

We joined the queue for boarding the ferry and would make the following comments.

Why is it when you get there early that they seem to load the late comers first and then they are in a position to get off the ferry earlier on the other side. The ferries are all very old and quite ropy really and nothing to be proud of and so when I get a minute will write a letter to the company that operates them.

The first forty minutes of the crossing was quite rough as the COOK Straight is known for high winds but once you get in the lee of the tip of the South Island it got much smoother. Three hours later we arrived in Picton and it was grey and overcast and so no pictures folks.

We headed off for Christchurch which is about 200 miles away but stopped early on for a ‘Subway’ sandwich to give us some strength for the journey. It then started to rain quite a bit but was surprised to see lots of old cars coming towards us. They all looked liked Ford ‘Model T’ vehicles obviously in a rally and some of the occupants looked quite wet.

The road runs along by the side of the sea and you can see from time to time seals and various birds all enjoying themselves. The roads were very quiet from a traffic perspective which made the journey much quicker. We passed through Kaikora Where we intend to visit on the homeward journey for some whale watching ( or at least and attempt at whale watching) and the town is not so attractive but has a high reputation for crustaceans ie Lobster and crayfish which we hope to try.

We arrived at around six thirty at the Hotel where Jennifer informed me that she had some form of ear ache or infection as it was hurting and swollen inside-not good. So following a quick bite to eat at the local Burger King we visited the Doctor and 80 quid later went of back to the Hotel to hear about the bad snow in the South East of UK and our son called to advise of the challenges as he was trying to get to work as the ambulance service was almost at a standstill. Joanne ,our daughter, could not find her car in the snow but also the road was blocked by people who tried, but failed, to get to work. Looks like another quiet day in the UK. In Switzerland all the trains and buses and road would be operating.

It has turned cold in Christchurch which is quite unusual and we had to wear coats. What is happening to this world?

Sunday 1st February- And on to Wellington we go

As we had eaten well the previous evening and also wanted an early start we delayed breakfast until later and left the motel about 0815.
The drive took us through some amazing country side and down some roads that we had previously not experienced. There were plenty of hills and rivers and also many animals. We stopped about 10.00 hrs for breakfast in a small town which must have been competing for the flower of the year show. There were flower boxes and flowers by the side of the road, in fact everywhere.
We went into a largish Café called Ronnie’s and he and his staff were all Chinese. The breakfast was very good and we also bought some sandwiches for lunch.
The journey through Tongariro National Park (which is a World Heritage Site) was really beautiful with the volcanic mountain top covered in snow. Jennifer had read that one of these volcanoes had ‘blown it’s top’ and exploded sending huge amounts of rock for miles.
The rest of the journey was uneventful and we arrived in Wellington around 4.30 pm and checked in to our Hotel in town. After a shower to freshen up we went for a walk to see if the film ‘Australia’ was on but it was not.
We therefore went for a walk along the harbour quay and came across a group of artists carrying out a dress rehearsal for a play entitled ‘Frogs on the Waterfront’ This entailed a lot of talking and people in wet suits painted to look like frogs standing on poles in the harbour making frog noises. They put a group of people on pedaloes and took them off somewhere at which time we left and headed further along the quay looking for the Wellington ‘Wagamama’ restaurant which we eventually found and enjoyed very much.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped in the supermarket and bought our stuff for breakfast which we can have in the room. An evening of TV followed to end off the day. Tomorrow we catch the ferry to Picton on the South Island.

Saturday 31st January- My god what is that!

My god what is that with lights on it. No, it can’t be, but it is, it’s a set of Traffic Lights.

This is the first time we have seen Traffic Lights for almost three months as up in Northland there are none. It was a lovely morning as we headed away from Taipa down State Highway 1 all the way to Auckland. There is a new bit of toll road which we had purchased our tickets on the internet and we are glad that we did as there was a huge queue waiting to use the machines. We stopped for an early lunch at about 1145 at a little café that we have been to before with Brian and Sheila on the way up to Taipa. The quiche with salad was excellent.

Using the motorway over Auckland it took about 35 minutes from one side of the city to the other as there was little traffic, that is to us.

We arrived in Hamilton for our first night stop and stayed at the Park View Motel which was fine as we could go for a cold swim in the pool before going in to town. We wanted to go to the movies and so using the Internet we checked and booked for a new film called ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ but more of that later.

We wandered around town for a while and found a nice restaurant called ‘Tables by the River’ and the food was very nice but a little on the expensive side but we had decided to treat ourselves.

The film was excellent and a true representation of life in the slums in Bombay (new Mumbai) as Noel has been to India several times. The slums are appalling and also the way children are treated.

It’s the story of a teenager who somehow gets to appear on a TV show called ‘I want to be a Millionaire’. It follows his life in the slums from when he is about six years old and how he endures the degradation but at the same time learns a lot from it as a result of a series of incidents which finally provide the answers to the questions in the TV show. It also tracks his meeting a young girl whom as he gets older, he has to find again and eventually they meet up and no doubt get married.

It’s a riveting film and highly recommended but it is hard to watch at times. I think we may see it again sometime.

We got back to the Motel and slept pretty well apart from the odd interruption caused by drunken teenagers walking down the street and young car drivers practising their Formula One starts.