The view from our window at the hostel was superb and we were both up early enough to see the sun rise over the ranges and bathe the lake with a soft pink glow. Mt John is about 800 m above the Village of Tekapo, the Mt John Observatory is operated by he Canterbury University and is at the very top. Apparently it is one of the few places in New Zealand where the atmosphere is clear enough and where there is no interference from the lights of a town to make it possible to view the stars by huge telescopes. it only operates at night so we not able to star gaze but we took the drive to the top of Mt John just to see the view, a full 360 degrees of the Mckenzie ... read more

Some of you may know that I have a passion for vintage aircraft, in my early twenties I had my Private Pilots Licence, but that lapsed after I got married and was no longer able to afford to fly and pay a mortgage at the same time. I can still recall my Dad taking us to the Airshows at the RNZAF Airbase at Ohakea near Palmerston North, this was in the 60's - 70's and I recall that one of the first jet aircraft that the RNZAF had was a De Havilland Vampire, this was where I first saw the Vampire. Well today I have seen it again the first time since those Ohakea Airshows, not bad for an aircraft that was first flown by the RAF in 1946, almost 62 years later and still a ... read more

It was up early for the sailing at 08:25, we had to be in line by 07:25. I woke Mum to say goodbye and then Madge and I headed off towards Wellington along familiar highways of my childhood. McKay's crossing that notorious fatal accident railway crossing is now a flyover and apart from some roadworks near Paekakariki it was a good run till I caught up with the tail of the Wellington Motorway slow traffic, I thought is was only Auckland that had this problem. The Kaitaki ferry was already berthed and was bathed in sunshine. Not a breath of wind (most unusual for Wellington) and all was looking good for a calm crossing. Once on board the ferry, Madge went rather quiet. I think the thought of being seasick finally shut her up. The Kaitaki ... read more

DUNSTAN ROAD 2 TO MOA CREEK VIA THE SERPENTINE CHURCH Ever since I have owned a 4WD, I have wanted to visit the Serpentine Church, its claim to fame is that it is the highest church in New Zealand, thats in altitude not religious order, it sits in a lovely golden tussock basin an hour or so drive off the Old Dunstan Rd along a deeply rutted track at about 1030 metres or thats well over 3000 feet, the site is only accessible by 4WD vehicles and the road is only open for a few months of the year, for most of the winter the area is covered in snow. The church was built at the forlorn site of the Serpentine Goldmine. The Serpentine Union church opened in July 1873, the minister was late attending ... read more

OAMARU TO NASEBY ViA DANSEYS PASS & NASEBY VILLAGE After leaving Sue and Ivans, somehow we got lost in the back roads of Reidstown and ended up heading south towards Herbert instead of West towards the Danseys Pass , Sheryll was navigating at the time at the time (say no more). On the way to the pass we travelled through Livingstone another old gold mining area that my Roberts family had been associated with, however there is very little to show for the fact that it was once a busy town, we pulled in off the main road and drove around some of the roads, checked out the cemetery and located a memorial to a distant realtion on the Lory side of my family We stopped at the Danseys Pass Hotel for some lunch and ... read more