Blogs from South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 4

Surprisingly, we were upbeat away by 7.30am with our goal, Lauder, a trail ride of 50km. Taking the 13km, undulating, windy and narrow River Trail was enjoyable as we were under tree cover for the total ride. The Clutha River with its various tributaries was flowing slowly from Alexandra’s direction. In the wet season The River Trail is totally covered. With the sun rising the rays of light still found it difficult to penetrate the dense foliage. We had visited the Otago region’s largest town, Alexandra, on our previous visit to the South Island and crossed the huge bridge for entry into the town. We had breakfast at the Tiny Goose, purchased Powerade and water and being refreshed, it was onto the railway siding and the old station building of Galloway, 7kms along the Otago Rail ... read more

Departed Perth at 11.05pm arriving in Melbourne at 5.50am. We misread the flight ticket for the next leg as departing from the International terminal at 6.30am. It was a mad rush where we were separated as the call of nature for me was more important than getting on the plane. Jane continued on her merry way, oblivious to her man not tagging on behind. I knew I could read the direction signs however Jane didn’t and began phoning and messaging me from the departure gate. My phone was switched off. Much to Jane’s surprise I did join her, only to find that the 6.30am time was when boarding was to begin! The flight was for 7.15am. We hadn’t slept on either leg and arrived in Queenstown quite tired. Our room at the Hilton Resort and Spa ... read more

This morning we left Richmond where we have spent a fabulous week with our dear friends Robin and Sandra. We have really enjoyed their company and their hospitality but … it is time to start heading home. To fit in some more sightseeing before leaving NZ, we drove west over the Southern Alps on State Highway No. 6. We stopped to stretch our legs at Hope Saddle Lookout and to photograph the Buller River at Gowan Bridge and Kilkenny Lookout. We finally glimpsed the Tasman Sea at Charleston before continuing south along the west coast with stops at Irimahuwhero Lookout and Coghlans Lookout, where we saw two pukeko chicks. Here I think we call them swamphens, which doesn’t sound quite so exotic? NOTE: I am reliably informed by a New Zealander (thanks Robin!) that these chicks ... read more

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas … This morning Tracey helped Robin and Sandra decorate their Christmas tree and was given the honour of placing the star on top. It was also deemed appropriate that an Australian should put the Christmas kangaroo and the Christmas emu on the tree! After lunch we drove into Nelson to take a look at historic South Street. Originally settled in the 1860s, South Street is the oldest fully preserved street in New Zealand that people actually live in. The street features cobblestone paths, quaint Victorian cottages, lantern-style streetlights, planter boxes and white picket fences. It was certainly very picturesque. Our next stop was Christ Church Cathedral, an Anglican cathedral located on Trafalgar Square in Nelson. There has been a church on this site since 1887, but construction of ... read more

A busier day today, there’s been too much lazing around! This morning Sandra and I went to the Sunday market at Gardens of the World, a beautiful venue in itself on such a glorious day. Thinking that the market started at 9.00am we left home about 9.30am and were shocked when we drove straight into the car park at 9.45am where there were plenty of car spots to choose from. For a moment Sandra was worried that she had the day wrong, but it turned out it was only the start time that was wrong … with the market due to commence trading at 10.00am! What a fortuitous mistake, though, it meant that we were able to get close to all the stalls without having to jostle around amongst loads of other shoppers. Some of the ... read more