http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania , New Zealand , South Island , Central Otago en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:09:31 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:09:31 +0000 Sorry its been awhile since I've posted. I've been working for about a month straight. I've had three days off since Easter Weekend. Today was one and the previous one was 17 days ago. We've been working 1012 hour days 7 days a week. Over the last 5 days we've each had one day off. I don't think we will see another day off until we are done here. We will finish in a week from today. Then http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Cromwell/blog-398576.html On slopes above the Lowburn Valley north of Cromwell is an unusual and fascinating home. It is filled with art and the laughter of its owners Sally and John. It was a wonderful place to stay.As we arrived the angles and shapes in the house design stood out in stark relief in the hot late summer sun. Sally and John are enthusiastic about their art and they have some very wonderful pieces displ http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Cromwell/blog-382290.html Saturday March 14 2009 The Otago Central Rail Trail A little after 830 I meet Mike at Altitude Adventures we gear up meet a couple from Boston and head out. He will drop us at a point on the trail called Ida Valley. It is 50k from this point back to Alexandra. The clouds are big and fluffy but gray and we are hoping they burn off as forecast. Right away I am glad I brought my windbreaker http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Alexandra/blog-382100.html After a 13 hour plane ride I arrived in Queenstown at 910am on Saturday March 7th. My flight was uneventful with only minor turbulences over the pacific until the last 10 minutes before we landed in Queenstown. That was like a rollercoaster rolling right rolling left sudden dips and lifts. Its a really small airport so we were the only plane there.Matt the winemaker of Akarua picked me up a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Cromwell/blog-381515.html A cheap shot but who can resist taking the puss out of the keewee accint It's not so easy in fact well nigh impossible to be cynical concerning the South Island's environmental backdrops. For a bloke normally averse to sitting behind the wheel I've taken quite a shine to slowly cruising amongst New Zealand's majestic alpine scenery. Every bend in the road leads to the requisite oohs and aahs f http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Wanaka/blog-378895.html So we were in Wanaka from February 1012th and had a fairly relaxing time. Wanaka is a gorgeous town because it's set in the valley next to a giant lake and it's surrounded by mountains. We didn't do too much while we were there because we were recuperating from all of our activities in Franz Josef. The night we arrived we walked around the town and then had a group bbq with the people on our bus http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Wanaka/blog-374003.html Well it has been a while since the last update but as no one has chased us all getting bored now we thought we would wait till we had lots to tell.Well we left you just after Ianrsquos parents left us. After saying goodbye in the airport we headed south to Central Otago on the work trail. We had already confirmed some work in Queenstown but had trouble finding reasonably priced accommodat http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Cromwell/blog-362959.html With heater running all night we awoke next morning to a warm comfortable motorhome. That was until I opened the door and stepped outside onto a layer of lovely white fresh snow and the temperature touching around minus three degrees. Even though it was so cold the sun was shining bright causing the snow to melt very quickly. With such a beautiful morning we were anxious to get on the road ea http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Wanaka/blog-316357.html April 14 April 22 2008. Central Otago adventureWe flew from Wellington to Christchurch 29 oneway fares to experience a Southern hemisphere autumn in one of the most beautiful areas of NZ.Emily found a relocation deal online with the vehicle rental company Jucy who market themselves as the best secondtier rental company in NZ. We got a campervan an RV the Jucy CHARGA. It was a 3 http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-271427.html CROMWELLOur home for the next 4 days in Cromwell was the Police Holiday Home as the weather had turned a little bit cooler it was nice to be out of the caravan and staying in a home. It was intended to be a relaxing time but we did manage to get in some local 4WD trips and a trip to Queenstown. The new Cromwell town is situated on Lake Dunstan which is a man made lake as a result of the Clyde Hy http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Cromwell/blog-267914.html Sheryll and I have been coming back to Naseby for holidays for over 10 years now. The first time was with all of the 3 children and we were booked into a Miners Cabin which is basically 4 walls and a roof around a double bed the guys were meant to be sleeping in a tent beside the Cabin. When we arrived it had been raining for about 3 hours and there was about 3 inches of water flowing through t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Naseby/blog-262600.html MT BUSTER AND MT KYEBURNLast year when we were staying at Naseby one evening it turned very cold and we awoke the next morning to a dusting of snow on the Mt Ida ranges behind the Motorcamp we looked up out topographical maps and tried to work out a way of getting closer to the snow. Mt Buster just in behind Naseby is where it all seemed to have happened so we rugged up and headed off towards t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Naseby/blog-262269.html PANNING DREDGING FOR GOLD AT NASEBYNaseby is a unique old gold mining town of about 86 permanent residents and about 280 homes of which most are holidays homes or as they are known in the South Island Cribs. It was the location of a Gold Rush to the Hogburn stream in the 1860's and it was to here that my Gt gt Grandfather Charles Roberts came after leaving the goldfields of Victoria Australia. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Naseby/blog-262263.html Decided to spend the day in Geraldine and not use the car Before breakfast went on the Pioneer Walk which went up and down hills for about an hour. Saw some interesting homes and lots of beautiful rosesWalked to Geraldine and went shopping tasted cheese saw chocolate ate icecream visited the rose gardens walked through the Domain and by the pool then back to the motel for lunch through http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-252097.html Today went for a walk before breakfast along the Clutha River a lovely 14km walk from Alexandra to Clyde we parked up and walked about 4kms one way and then back for breakfast total of 11500 steps.Went to Clyde a little old fashioned village and took a look at the hydro dam while we were there fascinated by the colour of the water a really deep turquoise blue. Took lots of photos a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-251804.html Today we set off from Dunedin after a final walk at St Clair. Drove to Millers Flat for lunch and then stopped at Roxborough Hydro Dam. Drove on to Alexandria and booked in at 230 easy driving 100kms per hour all the way with hardly any traffic and nice roads too. Nice motel really clean and host Dene very helpful and friendly. 38 degrees in Alexandria today so stayed at motel and swam in http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-251732.html We have had our minds blown by wildlife and the harsh winds hitting the south Island of NZ direct from the Antartic. The Van is still going just about and we are in high spirits. Carrying on from the last entry we gave the new wheels a good old wash down and filled her up with supplies from NZs equivalent to Lidl PAK N SAVE. On the first day's voyage we didn't get too far from C Church about http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-251479.html Well we are now wrapping up our five weeks at Denny's Orchard before moving on from our Alex and Clyde homes. To share more about what we actually do there we took the camera in for a closer look at how cherries and pears are processed. Below you can see the process a cherry goes through in the packing plant from being sorted graded stems separated then down the cleansing 'waterslides' be http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-247044.html So after a nice two days off with many kms and petrol we were back at work switching from peaches and apricots to cherries in full swing. With the new direction we also got new work mates. It could have started off more smoothly the first two days with the new crew were rendered useless as the graders were not doing a good enough job for export standards. Therefore on the day we were suppo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-243713.html After helping the orchard get caught up on the fruit backlog our first seven days of work was rewarded with two days off and a 5kg box of 2nd grade cherries we thoroughly enjoyed both. We took to the road straight from work to explore some of the treasures Central Otago has to offer. First stop was Cromwell where we met Duane and Charlotte at a neighbourhood pub for some supper and to share fr http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-243696.html