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New Zealand Day 4
Well tonight we are sitting in Queenstown......things didn’t quite go to plan, but that’s OK...sort of. We woke to a familiar sound- yep, rain again! Actually, we think we have this NZ weather sorted- it rains in the morning & then hopefully fines up in the pm. Was raining from before 4am- not heavy rain, more like heavy drizzle, but certainly enough to get you very wet if you were out in it. Which of course meant that hiking up to the Mt John observatory would have been a very wet event- & as Raymond still hasn’t thrown his cold, that wouldn’t have been the wisest thing to do. And as it is pretty cool/cold, aside from shopping (I can do shopping) & then the pub for tea, there really wasn’t a reason to stay. So, the next decision (which gave me nightmares overnight) was- given the weather forecast of rain for 2-3 days, do we take the safe route & head south & then to the east coast back up to the top. This would mean that we wouldn’t do the Milford/Doubtful Sounds or the glaciers. Now you have to know that I cack my pants
when it comes to steep windy roads- I would be beyond shitting myself if it was steep windy roads & pouring with rain! Oh the dilemmas of being on holidays & having to make VERY stressful decisions. My neck has locked up in anticipation of the horrid roads I have conjured up in my brain.
So, we set off south & had to stop at Omarama & have lunch whilst we decided to go right to Queenstown & then back up the west coast (maybe), or left & down to Invercargill & Dunedin & back up the east coast where the driving is very safe......my sort of territory really. After upending my grilled sanga (maybe a sign?) it was decided that we would travel to Queenstown & then seek some advice on the road up the west coast. I/we would be very disappointed if we didn’t do either the ‘sounds’ or the glaciers as that is what the south island is all about. A guy we chatted to at Lake Tekapo said the road up the west coast was fine & in our vehicle would be no problem at all....still not convinced. I really wanted to go to the Cadbury
factory at Dunedin, but as it looks like we would be there on a weekend, you can’t do the full factory tour anyway, but you can do a shortened version....hopefully still with lots of chocolate, which I need like a hole in the head.........still holidays are about wants not needs aren’t they girls???? You think you have enough time to do a lot of things & then you find you have to choose between one or the other- if only we had 6 weeks, or 8 weeks or...
Therefore, as we sit and contemplate our navels (Ray has far too much navel fluff....too much information!) in Christchurch, we are still not too sure as to what will happen. After driving down here today, through Lindis Pass etc, I am thinking it can’t be much worse than that......luckily I was driving, but not assisted by Raymond saying ‘crap- that’s steep..or ‘far out I can’t see the bottom...or just plain ‘shit its steep’! very helpful. Luckily the steep side was the passenger side & I was safe & snug in the middle of the road. I should add that we think the roads are great- certainly a lot better than some we
travel regularly at home. They are certainly wide enough for our home & for semis........can’t imagine why you would want to drive a shortened version of our B doubles on these roads???? I have enough difficulty with our home- aaahhh well- each to their own.
Our trip into Queenstown was ‘challenging’........the driver was VERY challenged not to choke the navigator! I am now very sure as to why I navigate & Raymond drives- he’s bloody useless at navigating (yes, I am one of the few women who are very good at map reading & can even do it upside down....& Raymond has been around long enough to know when I say turn right, I mean the ‘other’ right, not the literal right). Where are we- what road do I need to take & do I turn left or right? Aaahhmmmm well, what road did we pass...hmmm can’t find that on the map...so where do you think we are (by now 5kn down the road).......nup- can’t find that....what road was that????? For f.... sake tell me where to turn & if I need to go left or right. So, strangely enough, we missed the turn we were supposed to make, &
then had to reinvent ourselves as bloody mountain goats who can turn on a sixpence in order to get where we were supposed to go......oh- that was after I had a little dummy spit, found somewhere to pull over ( a rare occurrence) looked at the damn map myself...& oh- surprise, surprise- managed to tell him where he had to direct me to go!!!!!
But, find our way here we did & settled ourself on a nice dry little site. I should mention here that we are thinking of ranking the parks that we have stayed at. Certainly, by far the best was the one in Christchurch...Amber something. The people were great- couldn’t do enough for you. The price included everything. They had bath mats on the floor & even a complimentary hair dryer- how cool is that. The kiwi park at Ashburton was certainly further down the scale...’park where you want’ etc....so most of the sites were in the mud (did I mention it has been raining here).......& then you have the yank that was ‘so tired when she arrived she couldn’t park straight’.....an offer to assist got her realigned....
Then Lake Tekapo....the site fees was $34....plus $2/person for
10 minute shower!!!!! You have to be shitting me- what was the $34 for???? Ah- the electricity that was consumed by our blow heater. I timed the hot water....it took over 1 minute to heat up...less than 9 minutes of hot water (the lights kept going out cause I was the only one in there & once in the bloody shower didn’t register any movement- yep, I’ll leave that one alone)....which was enough, but it was the principle that annoyed me. Yes I could have used our own shower, but...now to Queenstown & bugger me dead- yep $2 for 8 minutes of hot water!!!!!! Grrrrrrrr, this is beginning to really piss me off. I can see me using our shower sooner rather than later.
And what is this with single ply toilet paper- for goodness sake....don’t they know that you will use 5 times more so that your fingers don’t go thru the paper....cheaper to buy at least 2 ply to begin with.
Ah the joys of travelling The park we are staying at is adjacent to the sky gondola ride up to the top of the mountain- tried to convince Raymond that he would ‘enjoy’ the view, but currently
it is falling on deaf ears, so I think I will be making the journey on my own tomorrow (we have booked for 2 nights here). We went down (& I do mean down......several steep blocks plus 66 steps) to a fabulous restaurant where Ray had fillet steak & I had a local seafood platter. I must say it was one of the best meals either of us has had in a long time- curl the mo stuff!! I had local blue lipped mussels (must have been cold- the water is a tad fresh around here), prawns, calamari & salmon- just as well we had those steps to climb & hills to climb on the way home. We also shared a beautiful piece of ciabatta garlic bread. Ray’s steak was flame grilled & amongst the best he has had- cost $130- a glass of wine was $10 each. Still, the service was fantastic & the food superb, so money well spent. I think we have enough left to buy a loaf of bread tomorrow to go wth the vegemite in the cupboard.
Well, the boss is weary (might have been the walk back up the hill, or the shock of
me finding a ‘blue pearl & garnet ring to buy- merely $1,900 odd)- I am on the look out for my birthday gift, but don’t think that will be it sadly. So, hope this finds you all fit & well & that Khaileb had a great 7th birthday- if only we were home to give him lots of chocolate & red cordial!!!! So goodnight all, until tomorrow Ray & Terri XOXOXOXO
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