On The Road…Again.

We had decided to stay overnight near Tekapo Springs in a little farming town called Fairlie (half an hour away and the only accommodation we could get anywhere near Lake Tekapo was either a motel room or a 2br cottage) and go for a hot tub soak the next day before finishing up in Queenstown again. Our little 2br cottage is part of an arable farm and was delightfully furnished with patchwork and timber lined walls and a little wood heater which we used believe it or not. The Red Deer restaurant up the road looked inviting so we had Merino Lamb Shank and Rib Eye Steak for dinner (no venison!), NZ pavlova (soft) for dessert, and an Amisfield SB which was surprisingly similar, on nose if not in taste, to a Marlborough SB.

It was cold enough to light the wood fire (and dry some washing) so we sat without TV, Internet or cards and read for a while before retiring to our country style bedroom, complete with layers of granny rugs and flannel sheets. The view out the window was peaceful if not awe-inspiring.

Morning came, but sadly this Airbnb property was only a BedNoBreakfast. The first village we came to was Burkes Pass where you can buy coffee, garagenalia, and souvenirs. No WC and no food. Unless you count cookies, which I don’t.

One of the most famous photographed churches in the world (and still operational every Sunday at 4pm), Church of the Good Shepherd, happens to be at Lake Tekapo and we couldn’t resist (like many others) getting a few photos. It was surely in a very picturesque location, and I’ve seen a photo of it against a magnificent sky full of stars. Also in this area is one of the best star gazing places in the Southern Hemisphere owing to its remote location I guess.

The church from the lake, and the view from below the church across Lake Tekapo.

The weather had cleared so soaking in the hot springs at Tekapo Springs was on. Sadly the day spa was fully booked 😁 and I felt the water slides not up to Singapore’s Sentosa Island, so hot pools it was. 19 (cool), 36, 37 and 39 degree Celsius pools are offered, and we went from one to another. We enjoyed watching a group of five giggling young ladies taking endless selfies from every angle, literally for an hour or more…we couldn’t help but take one of our own. This view is the better one, trust me 😊

Tony is also a big kid at heart and he enjoyed pressing the buttons to use the kiddie play area. Unfortunately I didn’t research this enough and was expecting natural forming pools, not man-made ones, but they were clean and clear and warm, so what more can you ask. The water comes from two springs out of adjacent Mt John which is then warmed and fed into these beautifully landscaped man-made pools. Apparently they also form natural ice rinks in the winter time, although these days with a little help from a refrigeration plant.

We figured we might see the famous Mt Cook in the distance on our drive back down to Queenstown. We didn’t have a clue on the way up as the weather was foul, windy, rainy and misty with very low clouds. It’s amazing we photographed it on our way north, even though we didn’t know it due to the cloud shrouding its huge bulk. The two photos below are before and after, the one below is zoomed in of course.

We arrived back into Queenstown to find our accommodation most satisfactory. It was booked through AirBnB, but it in fact looked more like a mini-hotel, inside and out. Very comfortable, brand-spanking new and had all the mod-cons you could ask for.

It had great views of Lake Wakatipu from our front door…

After a good night’s sleep we woke up to our last morning, and what else do you do with a spare few hours? Frisbee golf of course! I think I parred one out of 18 holes. Not bad for a beginner.

You have to laugh about some signs don’t you? People are the same everywhere. So are dogs.

Well, I’m sure I’ve bored you to death with all my NZ Natterings. TTFN 🙂

 

Into The Blue

On our last morning in Akaroa, we looked at places for sale as we do wherever we go; could this be our next BnB location (also great for a week away for ourselves). Such a secluded little piece of paradise, and have we come here during the best weather they’ve ever had or what? Not wanting to live here permanently myself (Tony says he could), I did like this cute 2br right on the shoreline but really it was too pokey and had a too-tiny front garden which was still a cool half-million+.

I did think the one above was rather more my size, but it was NFS. There were also some very chic looking modern glass fronted houses higher up on the hills (you can see them to the right of the photo below), and one of them would do too, I’m in love with all kinds of styles. Got to admit views are high on the priority list.

In any case it was a cracker of a morning for a dolphin-watching cruise and we arrived right on time to board Into The Blue. The skipper gave us commentary on the way the Akaroa community and the regional Council are preserving and protecting their wonderful natural assets. In recent years they have undertaken projects such as restoring native flora and fauna, by dedicating marine and land reserves, and encouraging cooperation between commercial operators in the area.

The cruise company guarantees you’ll see the Hector’s dolphins, smallest and rarest in the world, population about 1000. It’s very exciting to see them rolling and playing in the water only a few feet away.

We enjoyed the calm clear waters, and were thrilled to see the dolphins playing around and leading the boat. The NZ fur seals weren’t as numerous, or as curious and active, sunning their fat little bodies on the rocks, and who could blame them? Their population is still recovering from near extinction from the intensive hunting in the 1800s for their beautiful coats.

After a quick lunch stop and trying on some silk clothing at Silk Italia (where I decided that one dress made me look like the side of a house, and the other was a possibility, but it was lined with viscose and why do they do that?), we scoffed some delicious black plum Kapiti ice cream and wished beautiful Akaroa a fond au revoir. Till we meet again.

And so, this mean, heartless wife let her half-centenarian husband play golf again at another club at Greendale ‘on the way’ back down south, with his friend Ole, from Christchurch, who just happened to be a member there too. We arrive at the club and what’s that mean, heartless wife going to do while he plays golf? Why, shopping of course! It was shopping or photograph the cows across the road for two hours.

Looking sharp 422!

And you 725 😬

The only shopping to be had was miles away, so I plugged Darfield into the GPS Jane and off I went. A cup of tea, two tea-towels and a beautiful NZ woollen rug later, I thought I’d head back via Charing Cross. Unfortunately Charing Cross was a sign at the crossroads and that was it. Me and GPS Jane then proceeded to lose anyone who may have been tailing us by turning left, left, and left again, but somehow we didn’t end up back where we started…

One thing that has been amazing, is the number of camper vans on the road! Annette told me the South Island has been set up to be totally easy for camping overnight in self-contained vans, but it is really amazing. The choice of providers is also astounding, and here are a couple of unusual ones.

And…

Wickedcampers had many, many versions of this vehicle, some slogans not repeatable in print 😮

A cool 😎 BnB idea we may pursue back home is the silo-stay. You’ve heard of homestay, farmstay, well, now there’s silostay. We didn’t go inside, but I’ll be doing some research when we get back home. They appear to be one bed/bath, tiny balcony, park bikes string them up for super space saving or security.

Anyone looking for an investment? 😃

Bonjour Akaroa!

We drove through more scenic countryside from Christchurch to Akaroa and were advised to stop at the cheese factory. What kind of village with French roots doesn’t have any chèvre, Brie or even Camembert?!?

The harbour was delightful, bordered by a yacht club, beach boxes and various jetties. It’s only 10-15m deep, which is surprising for a volcano caldera, and even more surprising that 40 cruise ships visited this past summer! These added enormously to their economy, as since the 2010 earthquakes everyone wants to come to Christchurch and its surrounding areas.

We arrived at our hosts’ home in the Rue Grehen, and had our ears assaulted by a bazillion cicadas. I hoped they would quieter overnight. Jos and Stew invited us in for a drink and we sat on their shady deck in the afternoon sun. What a place! I think I died and went to BnB heaven! We did get a bit of a shock though as the room was in the sun all day and so was very hot. We left our doors open and curtains closed and luckily there were no mosquitos.

The Potter’s Croft was a beautiful 2 acre garden paradise with pathways, a pond, a stream, glades and plants galore. It was hard to know where to sit and while the time away. The garden?

Or the breakfast deck?

The local hangout, Harbar, looked the perfect spot on a warm evening, so we ordered food and drinks and waited patiently, and watched the locals as more and more gathered for their nightly get together. The waiter forgot our order twice, why does that often happen to me? I scored a 5min foot massage though as Tony bet they were just busy 😀

The next morning was gorgeous so we walked along the shore to the lighthouse which was relocated from a high inaccessible cliff top and replaced by an automatic light.

We detoured through the Tane gardens above the harbour, through some natural forest and came across the various cemeteries where the pioneers of the settlement are buried. There were two interesting things about these cemeteries: they are split between Roman Catholic and Dissenters in the one place, and Anglican in another (some to the right and some to the left…)and some of the headstones and markers had been damaged and displaced due to the earthquakes and aftershocks.

 

We were followed a ways by a little fantail wren who posed endlessly for photos.

We booked dinner at The Little Bistro, a top achiever on TripAdvisor, which we’d agree with. The food was delicious! A horseradish panacotta for entree, never had a savoury one – yum! Akaroa salmon which melted in my mouth! An unusual way of serving salt though…

 

Cruisin’ In Christchurch

Golf game completed (remember how insensitive and unfeeling I am, ‘letting’ him play golf), I trundled off to pick Tony up and go for lunch and a bit of sightseeing in the city.

I waited in the golf club cafe with a latte, while he waited in the car park. We had walked around the club building different ways, missing each other completely, and he thought our silver 4WD in the parking lot was white…45 minutes later.

We drove into the city area and wound our way past fenced off blocks of what would have been rubble and fallen buildings back in 2010. It’s hard to imagine the devastation and heartache the people living and working here must have felt.

On a lighter note, there’s a particular sign that amused me in the city areas, and we can only say it must mean exactly what it says. In Australia, the sign would say ‘Alcohol free zone 7pm-9am’ or something similar. I didn’t see any cruising on Thursday night, so maybe it only happens on the weekend if the naughty boys don’t observe the rules.

I am voting the Christchurch Botanical Gardens number 1. They’re beautiful, and with the Avon River winding through it’s really something. Not as big as some I’ve seen, but really varied and well looked-after. Gorgeous specimen trees such as the sequoia below and many others I didn’t know. Conservatory buildings and outdoor gardens with themed plantings a truly fragrant rose garden; I could smell the roses from 50metres away!

image2

image3

image4

We decided the Curator’s Cottage was a bit pricey for a casual lunch and found a table at the Antigua Boatshed on the path right on the path so we could watch the world go by. We tossed around biking, canoeing, kayaking, punting and Tony chose rowing – on the Avon River! He even sang to me.

Then it was time to get going to Akaroa, about 1.5hours away.

Sent from my iPad

Oopsies!

We arrived at our Christchurch host’s neat, new and tidy townhouse and had a quick chat with Jeremy before getting ready to be picked up for dinner at Valentino’s (steak and pasta, not punny-titled food – you know by now I’m a food snob). We had our own comfy bedroom, nice bathroom, indoor and outdoor living areas complete with a fabulous selection of books if we had time, and access to the kitchen and laundry if needed, all for $89! I’m telling you, AirBnB is the way to go.  
Tony’s friend Ole took us for a quick driving tour around some of the most devastated parts of the city of Christchurch. My hazy memory of the pre-quake city was confused about what I was looking at, but the only things I can remember are the river and the cathedral square. I didn’t recognise anything else at all, and really there were so many razed and fenced off areas it all looked like a building site.  

The Bridge spans the Avon River at the end of Cashel Mall, dedicated to war heroes

 

Brave retailers have created a container mall, coffee and stalls, about 50/50 food and retail, and there’s even the Gap Filler Transitional Project, which are art, activity and food pop-ups along the three different walking trails created for visitors. These are all aimed at reviving tourism and re-energising the city centre which took the brunt of the 2010 quake, but what of the residents? A good start is probably the social and architectural history project, but so many have moved away from the city, and resettled elsewhere now. It will take a long time to repopulate the CBD with permanent residents.  

Cashel Mall shopping centre which is now refitted containers, a worldwide trend

    

Another project designed to green up the city, creating calming spaces and outlooks

 
Apparently there was another tremor/aftershock last night while we were driving around but we didn’t notice it of course. 
I decided to laze the morning away while Tony played early golf with his friend from Christchurch. Late checkout, tea on tap, good wifi… I hopped back into bed and decided to find an alternative to the Pinewoods Motel for Sunday night on our way to the Tekapo Springs and checked AirBnB again. To my delight there’s a little cottage available! It’s cheaper than the motel, we have a whole cottage instead of an old motel room, and it has charm. We drove past the Pinewood on our way up and charming it is not. 
After several cups of tea, breakfast, checking email, FaceBook and AirBnB, I packed up and loaded the car. I was asked to pop the keys into the letterbox. I wondered why as they gave us the spare set… Anyway, I duly popped the house key into the letterbox on my way to the car, went back for the second load and turned the inside door lock. 
I tried to close the door. It’s a deadbolt. It can only be locked from the outside. With a key. The key I popped into the locked letterbox 😟 I sent a hugely apologetic message to my host (both work full time), and banged the door shut, bolted the front gate and made out everything was fine as I drove away praying no house-breakers would decide to try their luck at number 6a today!

Middle Earth Road Trip

It was just as well we were awake early (9am) as we could hear scraping noises just below us outside and we figured it was time to get going as we had to get to Christchurch six hours away for dinner. I TOTALLY forgot Tony’s 50th birthday was today. For a short time anyway. Well until I looked at FaceBook and it reminded me – where would we be without FB stalking us day and night, reminding us who our friends are and how long we’ve known them, annoying us with invitations, insulting us with their inaccurate advertisements and startling us with inane news snatches.
In all fairness, 1. We don’t do fanfares on birthdays generally, and 2. I did warn him the day before I’d probably forget. I have told him many times, I have RAM. Random Access Memory. So I dutifully said Happy Birthday Darling, gave him a kiss and presumed all was forgiven. But no, the whole sordid story is also on FaceBook so everyone can tut-tut and shake their heads, while wondering how can I be so thoughtless, and do we really want to go down that road? 😳

Back to the main story though.

How good is it on a road trip when you can stop at all the road side stall to buy fruit and other non-norms, park at the viewing points and take the little side roads when you’ve lost track of the time? Fun as. Then you look at the GPS and realise you’ve left zero minutes for inevitably frequent potty stops and snack breaks.

One such stop was not far out of Gibbston (where we had spent two nights in a vineyard owner’s house), at the Roaring Meg lookout. It’s a particularly fast flowing river that generates power through two hydro stations. I love one story about how the river got its name. Gentlemen and miners in the area of the 1880s were obliged to carry their women across the river (which I find hard to believe given its turbulence) and one particular lady named Meg, made such a fuss, they named the waterway after her. The next stream they came to was named Gentle Annie after Meg’s companion who was a bit quieter on the way over. Makes a good story anyway.

 Further on we found the old gold-mining village brother-in-law Gavin had tried to take us to last year. Deborah REALLY doesn’t like winding roads with sheer drops on the side, and decided there was no such place and made him turn around about a kilometre before we could have found it.

This is full scale from a distance-we were too tighht to pay entry fees

 

The budget pulley

 

Old miner shacks, wagons, rope pulleys across the river…I’m happy to say there’s a visitor centre, it’s real, and they sell coffee, beer and food. Something for everyone. She would freak out if I showed her the way the miners used the rope pulleys to cross over the river – there’s the budget or the luxury version. Today we walked across the slightly dodgy bridge.

vintage and rustic chic decor

The cider and juice factory in Cromwell was a must-stop for Tony as he’s a big fan of different fruit juices. He can’t stand all the venues that have encyclopaedic volumes of wine lists, and Coke, orange juice and sparking water for the non-drinkers. Fair enough. We had tastings of all the pure juices, most of which have no added sugar. Apple and raspberry was sooooo good!

We travelled more than an hour through the Lindis Pass in pelting rain, with amazingly foreboding scenery just like in the Lord of the Rings trilogy movies. I can’t believe people were riding push bikes through these mountains, at an altitude of 1500m at the highest point (Wikipedia says 971m so the altimeter on the car may be wrong???…) in the rain! Crazy or keen I’m not sure which.

We stopped for a late lunch (can’t remember which town, and neither can Tony, so there), and decided to stand in the rain waiting for a kebab. The Love Shack could boast of generous serves, but the flavour and authenticity was somewhat lacking. Tony wanted to make up some lost time by eating on the road. Have you tried to feed a sloppy King-sized kebab to a driver while he’s negotiating mountainous and winding treacherous roads in the rain? Neither have I, I simply refused.
The moral of that story was sadly played out further down the road when we passed several ambulances and fire trucks attending a wrecked car off the side of the road. Let that be a lesson. I don’t know if anyone was badly injured, but two ambulances? I think the car transporter in the picture above was involved.It was amazing that the dark, wet weather in desolate craggy mountain scenery gave way after coming through another pass at Burke, that the sun came out, the temperature more than doubled to 20 Celsius, and the roads were dry as if it hadn’t rained at all any time in the past days. There was a nice stone house with lovely trees and land just at the edge of Burkes Pass for sale. I’m just going to check Realestate.co.nz
 Back soon 😉

We lazed around for a bit, decided hiring bikes could best be done another day, and headed into Queenstown for some brunch. We stopped at a cafe by the water right where the TSS (I don’t know what that stands for) Earnslaw, the ‘only coal-fired steamboat in the southern hemisphere’. This advertising would not be well-received by some I’m sure. 

  
Brunch was cottage potatoes with poached egg and corned beef (YUM) and bottomless filter coffee which should have kept me awake till March. We watched the steamer and the people going by when we heard a loud rumble. 
“Is it a plane? Thunder!” Says Tony. No, it was just a wheelie bin trundling along the rough path… His hearing’s going a bit.

My goal for the day had been a ride on the steamer to a farm on one of the opposite peaks, but an hour and a half was too long, so we ditched that idea too. Instead we (by we, I mean Tony) decided that we had to drive to the top of the Incredible, formidable Remarkables ranges to see what we could see. See mountain must climb. 

The weather had started to turn a little cooler, and we knew rain and even thunderstorms were forecast (hence the earlier comment). The views from the side of the road were quite good, although the clouds and mists had moved in and visibility was reduced. It was raining heavily and we were glad to be in Gavin’s 4WD instead of the hire car as there were road grading works being done, and some of the other intrepid drivers decided to turn back. 
  
Sadly there was nothing to see from the top as it was just the ski field carpark, where the ski lifts left from. A couple of climbers were just returning from climbing one of the peaks which they were pretty chuffed about. We were already at 1550m which had taken 30 minutes to ascend by car, so I was impressed by their keenness.

We then decided to window shop in Arrowtown, a historic gold rush village which has tiny buildings and cottages, now boutiques and bnbs, where I found the perfect accent chair; a vintage Scandinavian designer Falcon chair at $3600. That’s NZ dollars so a bit less in Aussie money. Couldn’t get it on the plane, so I had to leave it. As well as the $450 Mongolian lambskin. 

 There’s a new golf and spa resort development close by called Millbrook, that we decided to check out. Because you know, it’s somewhere I could happily live 😉. 
  
We tossed around the idea of buying an apartment, but decided it was probably a bit risky, being so far from home and not somewhere we could get to that easily. Very nicely done, the property is 600 acres of alpine forest and fields, and beautiful stone crofts originally built by a Frenchman in the 1860s. Charming tree-lined avenue leads to a selection of restaurants and resort buildings.

We had dinner at their Millhouse Restaurant last night and the dining experience was the best I’ve had in a long while. The service was impeccable, friendly and totally attentive and informative. Although the amuse-bouche was a strange mix of flavours and there was more apricot than beetroot in the Beetroot and Goat Cheese salad entree, the palate cleanser was delicious and to-die-for which is not the real purpose of said dish. It had the usual sorbet, but also crumbed date pudding and champagne bubbled over it! Wow!
  
My roast lamb main was DELICIOUS and cooked to perfection, mustard sauce coating the accompanying vegetables. My mouth is watering again just thinking about it. Tony was even asked how he liked his duck cooked! 
If you’re into food, you need to visit this resort, if just for the food. 
Numero uno in my book folks

Aaaarrgggh, my nightmare! No screens on the windows + no fan = no air!!! We left the windows open this evening for a nice breeze, only to find mosquitoes and bitey midges coming in uninvited and gathering on the ceilings, drawn by the lights inside our cosy space, as the late summer skies darkened into night. 

I spent 20 minutes squishing bugs on the ceiling with a wet tissue so they didn’t leave gooby marks on the clean green paintwork. Luckily the ceilings are low so I could stand on the bed in my Hello Weekend pjs and cull the blighters. I had a toss-turn night trying to pretend it was cool and breezy instead of warm and stuffy.

In the morning it was rainy and cool, with thunderstorms predicted. We’re supposed to be riding bikes to Arrowtown today.

  
Tony’s friend in Christchurch asked which restaurant we’d prefer for dinner tomorrow night out of Bamboozled (oriental) or Valentino’s (surprise! Italiano!). Here is a selection from the menus as written, no joke. You decide where we went. 

Bruddy Crunchy Sarad (say it fast) – Chinese potato salad in black vinegar, sesame, mild chilli and peanut dust (do Chinese people even eat potato???)

Jong Un Special – Korean marinated beef salad, cocaine, sesame, toasted seaweed (is that beef from Korea??? Never mind the cocaine)

Wei Yu So Dim – marinated chargrilled vegetable salad, minted lemon dressing, Thai yellow curry hummus 

Kris Pee Porn – tempura prawns

Kris Pee Ten Ta Kool – tempura octopus

You get the picture. Some not repeatable.
And from Valentino’s:

Olive Marinate – Selection of olives marinated in fennel, orange, rosemary and garlic. Served gently warmed.

Polpettine Di Cervo – Spiced venison meatballs served with a red wine, basil, garlic and tomato sauce, on fresh made spaghetti

Canterbury 300g Angus Ribeye – Grain finished, aged 21 days served with rosemary roast potatoes, roasted onions, confit tomato, green peppercorn and garlic butter.

It’s a no-brainer. They had me at olives, venison and rosemary roast potatoes. I’m just a bit traditional that way 😜.

Now Departing . . .

The commute through the city was a zoo, especially past the zoo, and took an extra half hour. Jetstar self serve kiosks were down for 20 minutes, then the baggage belts were stopped for 5 minutes, then the gate lounge was changed, and finally the flight departure was delayed by an hour. No not a third world airport, 
But now we’re in the air and have gobbled up the crackers, cheese (apparently bitey?) and the disgusting noodles we only eat when there’s really nothing else to eat. No movies unless you hire an iPad? Who loves economy air travel? Not me, but agreed, these are first world problems.

After a few bumps (nothing like the bone-shakingly rough ride we had last winter) we touched down in Queenstown to a balmy afternoon. The walk out onto the tarmac was short as was the wait for passport control. 

Apparently married women are not allowed to go through Customs unaccompanied: I was trying to make up some of the lost time by getting my hiking shoes vetted for foreign matter, while Tony waited for our suitcase. I was politely told I had to wait for my luggage. And my husband. Do women vote in this country or what???

We experienced peak time traffic as it took 20 minutes to go 500m to the turn off towards our AirBnB accommodation. Apparently we are in the Adventure Capital of the world, and the world definitely wants to turn right onto the Gibbston Highway. On the plane were Danes, French, Germans and even a Lithuanian. Even Aussies.

Our accommodation is in a vineyard that seems to be part of a co-op that leases its grapes to the winery across the road. A great way to live in a nice environment, but not have all the trouble and effort of looking after it all. 
 

Tony exploring our options and testing out the bed.

  

the view from one window

 

Dinner at the Gibbston Tavern was overpriced but the surroundings were interesting, and they had a mini croquet course which we had to play. 1 loss and 1 draw. Not a bad outcome, if we’d played again I would have won. Surely. The venue was made up of several old buildings: an old stables, now the Remarkables Winery tasting shed, a brewery and the tavern itself was built from three containers clad in timber for a very rustic look.

   

click go the shears no more

 

A drive further took us to the Kawarau Bridge built in 1880 over a magnificent gorge, which became the home of AJHackett’s Bungy in the 1980s. Not for me, although there was a zip line too, which I would be tempted to ride if it crossed the river. Luckily it doesn’t.

people come in bus loads to drop the 43m to dip into the river…crazy people

  

at NZ$195 a drop! Definitely crazy.