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Published: April 5th 2009
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Well we've quite a lot to tell so I'll try to make it as brief as I can, which most of you know is not very brief. Before the olds arrived we had St Patrick's Day of course which was great craic - the city of Wellington immersed itself thoroughly in all things green - we headed to Molly Malone's once I'd finished work. They had a tent set up with bands playing and a bar so we sang loudly along to the Waterboys, Pogues and even U2. We did a bit of bar hopping then but made our way back to Mollys to round the evening off. I had cleverly booked the next day off work and did very very little. Paulie had to go man his spatula but he was alright....
Mam and Dad arrived in Wellington on 25th March and had a great week buzzing round the city and so did we, meeting up with them every evening for fodder and a restrained few pints after work. We had Fush and Chups in Paulie' s place one evening and got to see Lily in all her glory, roaring at a customer for attempting to use a coupon
and then coming over to politely chat up Dad. If I was Mam I'd be raging. We also went to see the Kings of Leon before we left which was a great gig.
On 1st April we rose at 6am (yeah I know, I didn't know I was capable of that either) to head off for the ferry and had a lovely crossing to Picton (although I did puke). AT Picton we wandered about the town which takes all of 10 minutes and then got the Tranz Scenic train to Christchurch munching on kit kats (nice one Ma) and trying not to get blown overboard on the viewing carriage. We had our meal in Christchurch and the next morning were up early again to get the Tranz Alpine train to Greymouth - the scenery was fantastic and many a picture got took and kit kat was had - pics will be put up soon. A merry group of Canadians and Americans were on the carriage with us - a group who go to the World Figure Skating Championships every year and then go off on a holiday together. One of the more obnoxious of the group loudly informed us
where they were all from and then informed us that 'Bob is the joker of the group'. Oh Dear. Thankfully Bob didn't rise to the challenge. She also loudly announced later that she could name every one of the great lakes. Wow.
ONce we arrived in Greymouth we boarded the coach for Fox Glacier. Mints? No.
Again, indescribable scenery on the way and the town itself is beautiful, surrounded by gargantuan mountains. We were staying in cute little cabins with perfect views. The next morning we headed off for a long walk up to see the glacier - we walked for about 3 hours with a few water stops along the way. The sight of the glacier is breathtaking - at one point we came accross a suspension bridge and paused for quite a while to take in the view of river (with silver hue), glacier and mountains surrounding us. Absolutely gorgeous. Dad enjoyed freaking myself and Mam out by rocking the bridge and going 'whoaaaaaaaa'. There's no need for it. There were also maps etc marking where the Glacier used to be and how much it has receded which is a whole lot. Mad to think one
day it wont be there at all.
We got back to our cabins for downtime and BBC World News who seemed to want us to know about Michelle Obama's every outfit. Never mind the fact that the only solution the G20 can come up with is to print a trillion or so more dollars and throw them into a vortex.
Back on to the coach the next morning and off to Queenstown through, again, stunning scenery and past the two huge lakes - Wanaka and Hawea. I've never seen anything like it. It's Lord of the Rings country alright and astounding in its scale. We've had brilliant weather since Mam and Dad arrived too making the tops of the mountains really clear in the morning and misty in the evening - both picture perfect. WE arrived in Queenstown yesterday and it's beautiful - the huge
crystal clear Lake Wakatipu surrounded by to The Remarkables mountain range. The town itself is very cute and we had a lovely meal and then got steamboats in Pog Mahones last night (Brendan playing the spoons along to a band belting out Killers and Kings of Leon hits - oh he's versatile). Today myself
and Paulie went for a big walk round the park/lake, ate some delicious ice-cream and are now going to head home for a cup o tea, perhaps a kit kat and some updates on Mrs Obama's threads.
Tonight we're going up on the gondola (which is actually a cable car but those crazy Kiwis call it a Gondola) to see the views from the top of a mountain and watch the Haka performed for us. Mam and Dad spent the day wandering about too and I wouldn't be surprised if they are off bungying as I type (the oldest man to do it was 94 so that's putting it up to them.) We're hoping to meet up with Suz and Scooter ( who I lived with in London) this evening and will be coming back to Queenstown when the old pair have left. Tomorrow we're on to Te Anau via a cruise from Milford Sound. So far, so brilliant.
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