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Week Fourteen
Drove from Christchurch to Kaikoura for a long weekend - the views were amazing on the road there, green mountains, snow tops peaks crashing pacific waves hitting the coast!
Had lunch at the marine encounter cafe - where you catch the boats out to see whales and dolphins - good grub too seafood chowder and salmon fishcakes.
Carried on up the coast to Picton and the scenery just kept coming - after a full day driving we camped up at Picton at the head of the Queen Charlotte Sound. Soaked up some cheap food and expensive beers before a very cold night camping - need more blankets at this time of year!
Sunday headed to Kenepura Sound which was spectacular another of the Marlborough Sounds - the weather gorgeous as you can see the few photos we got before the camera battery ran out. we have mental pictures though! Past the 'bachs' that dot all along the Kenepura Sound - they are holiday homes or huts for bachelors to get away and fish sail etc originally but now the name includes some pretty fancy waterside mansions. A long 6hrs drive home to CHCH - thats Christchurch to us locals. Saw seals on the way home (loads of them) on the rocks near Kaikoura a good end to the weekend.
Week Fifteen
Packed the car and headed south this time for Dunedin on our big trip to Fiordland. Stopped in Oamuru a penguin haven but there were none! You have to come at dusk to catch them on there way in after a hard day at sea. Saw the Moeraki Boulders too which were very impressive. 65million years old!! (See the picture attached to the diary entry - thats them)
Stopped at Dunedin for the night and caught some jazz at the Robbie Burns pub.
Onto Milford Sound its a long way! We stopped in the last town on the way there (Te Anau) to check when the last trip out on the sound was that day - it was 3pm, it was now 1.20pm we were told it was a 2.5hr drive. Headed off anyway just in case! Swiftly drove (not that swiftly honest) through the breathtaking scenery (more Lord of the Rings) and through the Homer Tunnel - dark, long, downhill, unlit, untarmaced, and with a few leaks - to Milford Sound there by 2.55pm. Plenty of time for the boat at 3.15!!! It was wet out there in the sound and windy but pretty spectacular too! Even saw some penguins in the water and a couple of seals on the rocks!
After a night in Te Anau headed for Queenstown - adventure capital of the world. Town was gorgeous by the lake and mountains. Decided we had to take on the Shotover Jet boat, before more jazz (seems to be following us) at the opening of the town's jazz festival by the lake.
Took in Lake Tekapo on the way home - very picture postcard very blue - see the pic.
Week Sixteen
Another long weekend this time a national holiday one. Chilled - no money spent it all last weekend. Watched LoftheRs tried to spot the places we'd been to last week - like the shotover river!
Week Seventeen
After a long week at work ok it was four whole days! - headed to the Belgian Beer Cafe in CHCH for a meal. Very good place highly recommended to any visitors despite the price of beer, R had some Moreton Bay bugs! P had mussels, lots of them and some Belgian fries. Mussels were massive, bugs were a little small.
Sat - Halloween party with Stu from P's work. Had good laugh headed to Sullivans (irish pub) did a bit of a jig into the early hours. Sun - After a long lie in decided to watch LotheRs 2.
Week Eighteen
Headed to Arthur's Pass for another look, this time in the sun, took a picnic and headed for a tramp! Thats a walk/hike to you and me. Walked up to the Temple Basin skifield - no snow though - but some good views. Tea and muffins in the pub after.
Sunday, headed to the art gallery and arts centre - chilled out under a tree (well Paul did - having a nap) Brighton beach for Guy Fawkes fireworks that night - 10 mins of fireworks 2hrs of traffic jam hell just to get home.
Week Nineteen
Warrant done on car (Alice) all good some new rear brake pads a few quid ($$$) Chilled out and in the evening headed to Stu's friends place for a few drinks, saw a movie, etc...
Week Twenty
Canterbury A&P show week (this is when the country meets the town, lots of veg and cattle showing, who's got the best looking cow etc) - decided to get out of town and zoomed off to the West Coast to Franz Josef Glacier. Got to campsite in Franz and paid up and went to pitch up to realise that someone (R!!) had separated the poles from the rest of the tent. Anyway got the money back and headed off to find a backpackers, they all seemed to be full! After a few trips up and down the village we found a bed for the night. Well at least we were out of the rain!!!!
Up early to go out on the glacier - it was wet - so we thought it might be called off but no they're used to rain. Apparently it always rains on the west coast! Ieuan (our guide, welsh bloke - did you guess) took us and a bunch of aussies, americans, brits, and norwegian student 'kiwi experience' types - bit like a school trip! Singing and all! Got our crampons on and headed up the ice. Very wet - did i mention it was wet! An amazing experience, the glacier was weirdly blue/green because of the rain - washing the frosty white top surface off. Soggy sandwiches on the glacier for lunch. After a well earned pint and chips at the local pub (where we managed to dry off a little) we headed north for Hokitika.
Sunday, Saw a good few greenstone/jade shops in Hoki. Headed north to Greymouth - yes it was Grey - then Punakaiki - Pancake Rocks - which were v interesting, missed high tide for the big blow from the blow holes but the rough weather brought in some decent waves and a good few big sprays. Rachael saw a 'Kiwi' but i think it was really a Maori Hen bird thing a 'weka' maybe!!!
Drove through the Buller Gorge very green and lush! and back over the Lewis Pass through mountains to CHCH. Arrived home late evening a little tired and damp.
Week Twenty-One
Sat - As were are a little skint from last weekends adventures, decided to venture closer to CHCH. Headed off to a local Sat market, after a search for the market - we were told it wasn't on until tomorrow - Doh!!!. Anyway headed to a little town called Lincoln as i was told it had lots of arts and crafts shops - one to be exact, not much else there but managed to find a quaint cafe for lunch. In the evening wandered over to our local park "Hagley" (sorry Botanic Gardens) for the yearly "Xmas in the park" not very eventful - lots of children and annoying drunken youths. So didn't stay for very long.
P suggested going to a local Italian for a meal "The Bicycle Thief" (apparently the restaurant won some award for the architectural design of the building). The place was very arty - small windows which gave different aspects of the outside, displaying trees, the sky etc... Due to the lack of natural light it was very dark inside, we both felt as though we were in a different country, with the foreign music playing in the background and the darkly lit alcove tables.
Sun - Decided to go for a drive to Diamond Harbour (about an hours drive from CHCH). The weather was a little wet, but as soon as we got to the harbour the sun came out. Went for a tramp along the cliff edge overlooking the sea and Godley Point on the other side. There are numerous harbours formed from a very old volcano on the South Island. Amazing views once again. After our short tramp, strolled around a few arty shops and then onto the Godley House restaurant for a pot and tea and scones. Sat in the garden with a view of the harbour and relaxed (it had a very Grand old English Country House feel - especially with the tea and scones).
Week Twenty-Two
Sat - As we've only got 3 weekend left before xmas we need to fit in as much of the South Island as we can so decided to head off to Oamaru to catch the penguins we missed on our last trip down there. The last time was a flying visit on the way to Dunedin, so hopefully this time we will head to the sea at dusk to see the blue penguins come in after a long day at sea - looking forward to it.
Travelled down to Oamaru, scenary was amazing as always. Arrived at Oamaru set ourselves up at the campsite, then headed off to see the Yellow-eyed penguins firstly (the rarer of the penguins species). There is a bird watching tower set up at the top of cliffs overlooking the beach in order to see the penguins coming in. We were lucky enough to see them upclose - near the fence along the track upto the tower. Took at few pics and the penguin seemed to be posing.
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