The Sulphur Man

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After all the action of the previous days we needed to chill out a little and recooperate. We're not as young as we were when we started this trip and the bones are creaking a little. So we set off over the Lewis Pass (our last icy journey over the Southern Alps probably) and down the other side to the little town of Hanmer Springs. Managed to get blocked in by a load of cows on the way.

You probably don't think I treat Mrs Deane enough like a princess so I took her to the thermal springs here for a treat. We spent two hours scampering between all the thermal pools. There are 9 thermals and 3 sulphur pools that range from 35C to 41C. The reason we had to scamper was that it was darn cold inbetween the pools. Lovely relaxing afternoon though with the snowy mountains as a backdrop to our steaming hot baths. My skin feels revitalised I'm sure.

For the evening we managed to make it down to Kaikoura and booked in for our whale watching the following morning. We were along at the whale watching place at 10am and we watched a documentary about the wonderful lives of whales. Once that was done it was out to a bus and over to the boat. We managed to see a New Zealand fur seal and a pod of dolphins before we even set off which is always a bonus. As we headed out to deep ocean a pod of 100 dusky dolphins swam alongside us in our wake. For the next two and a bit hours we then chased whales round using our very high tech sonar sophistication (a microphone on a stick dumped in the water). We picked up one whale's clicking and we were off after it. We then stopped, rechecked and went in a slightly different direction. Then the same thing again. And again. Finally we lost his signal which is good because it means he was on the way up. We waited with baited breath and he finally popped his head up. We pulled alongside and watched him huffing and puffing for 15 minutes before it was head down, tail up and he dived. Very cool. We then caught another whale's signal and we just had time to repeat the entire experience with this second one before heading back to shore.

Once ashore it was time for lunch so we headed to a seafood bbq stall up the road for some crayfish and scallop sandwiches. Kaikoura apparently means to eat crayfish so we had to have some while we were here.

And after them, we went over to a seal colony. We joined them in their natural habitat - yes, the carpark. Three of them brazenly sunning themselves blocking the way for anyone wanting to drive in. And they stink. Really badly stink. We saw another half dozen on the rocks and they also stank. They looked kind of cool though.

Our last entertainment of the day was some sheep shearing. Performed by Paul Daniels (or a very close relative). He was good though and taught us all about Drysdale sheep farming, we got introduced to Ram Man (his Ram) and all the friendly sheep dogs too. Paul has only got 300 sheep (out of 40million in the country).

We then set off north , driving through the night. We had to do this as they have shut Highway 1 between the north and south during the day. A bit like shutting the M6 at Stoke. At least it would stop the Southerners getting up to Manchester.

The following day was a nice relaxing rest day. We had a stroll round Lake Rotoiti in The Nelson Lakes National Park and then headed off to Motueka for the Abel Tasman National Park. On the way we had some lovely toasted marshmallow biscuit sandwiches. Nature had other ideas when we got to Motueka as it was pouring with rain. We decided to head instead to Nelson. We stopped on the way in Richmond and went to the info place. Two old dears (far more interested in their crosswords) seemed to tell us there was nothing here so we moved on. Just started raining again as I write this. This is supposed to be a sunshiny place.

We stayed at a caravan park in Nelson for the night and prepared ourselves for another rest day. We have been rushing about so much it was nice to have a base for a day or two. We had a long lie in and walked into town to view a few simple sights and shop a little. We saw one of the oldest streets in NZ (about 1860's - dead old), saw the cathedral and wandered the shops. We then went to see the one ring. Yes, my precious - Nelson is home to the jewellers who made the one ring. They actually made over 40 rings so its not really one ring at all and since the film came out they have made thousands of replicas for people. We took in a matinee movie, Oceans 13, which was a bit lame but entertaining nonetheless and then headed to a couple of pubs for some beer & pool followed by a ruby and bed.

And yesterday was the real reason we were in Nelson. Mrs Deane's wine tour plus a brewery for me. It didn't kick off until midday which enabled us to have a lovely satisfying lie in (which also got rid of the rain too) and we were picked up by Marion at just after 12. There were six of us on the tour which turned out to be really good. Wine measures were extremely generous and we actually learnt more about the tasting than previously.

First up was Grape Escapes where there were two wineries. We sampled their delightful wines over a cold platter (very tasty). There was also a distillery tasting place and we had some g&t and a blackcurrent liquer (bit like port). The gin had just won a best in the world type award so have a look out for Nelson gin in the future. We then headed on to the next winery up the road where the measures got very generous. And then the fourth winery where we got more generous measures along with some bread, olives and olive oils. All very fine wines from Nelson.

And our final stop? Harringtons brewery. The home of Lord of The Rings beer. Yes, these guys brewed the actual beer used in filming. It's only 1% to stop the actors getting tipsy but is actually very nice. It's a watered down version of their stout called SobeRing Thought. Get it? We also saw behind the scenes at the brewery including the actual vat the beer was brewed in. A very fine brewery that had over 20 different drinks to sample. As such my beer count has rocketed. 150 looks like it may now be too easy.

On our tour we met a nice couple (Paul & Tanya) from Auckland so on our way home we jumped out at their stop for a seafood extravaganza. Excellent restaurant and we chatted whilst eating tuna, scallops, crabs (big uns), swordfish and calamari. We've arranged to meet up in Auckland next week on our way out of New Zealand which will be cool. See you next week.

And that's all from us for now. S'thee later.

Dave & Mrs Deane

P.S. The Nelson area is the home of the New Zealand Hop, world famous for it's fantastic beer properties hence the large number of beers sampled this time...

Beer 125: SobeRing Thought, New Zealand, Draught, 1.0%, 7.0, The one true beer. Shame it was only a watered down version and had a very small kick

Beer 126: Harrington's Stout, New Zealand, Draught, 5.0%, 8.5, This is what the one true beer was watered down from and it was superb

Beer 127: Wobbly Boot, New Zealand, Draught, 5.0%, 8.0, Another stout with fine character

Beer 128: Matson's Premium Dark, New Zealand, Bottle, 4.0%, 7.5, A tasty if unspectacular stout

Beer 129: Mac's Brewjolais, New Zealand, Draught, ?%, 7.5, A new beer from Mac's, another fine one

Beer 130: Green Man Lager, New Zealand, Bottle, 4.8%, 7.5, Organic beer that was ok

Beer 131: Harrington's Wheat Beer, New Zealand, Draught, 5.0%, 7.5, A good start to the long tasting session at the brewery

Beer 132: Harrington's Ginger Beer, New Zealand, Draught, 4.0%, 8.5, Just like the Marble ginger beer back home but with more ginger, mmmm

Beer 133: Harrington's Pale Ale, New Zealand, Draught, 5.0%, 6.5, Nowhere near as good as it should have been

Beer 134: Harrington's Workingman's Shandy, New Zealand, Draught, 6.5%, 8.0, Nothing workingman like about this beer, maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much

Beer 135: Harrington's Doppelbock, New Zealand, Draught, 8.0%, 8.5, A stonking percentage and my favourite beer at Harrington's. A nice fruity kick

Beer 136: Harrington's Autumn Ale, New Zealand, Draught, 5.0%, 6.5, Were told this was great, it was a bit average

Beer 137: Harrington's Big John, New Zealand, Draught, 6.5%, 8.0, A fine name for a beer and tastes good too

Beer 138: Harrington's Milford Street Stalker, New Zealand, Draught, 8.5%, 8.5, Named after a guy who is trying to stop the brewery opening a shop in Milford Street - excellent beer

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