Back Down South Again

This weekend we celebrated a significant birthday for her indoors. I offered a party as a celebration, but she objected saying that..."it's an unnecessary expense..." So instead we headed south for an epicurean extended weekend in Queenstown.

For those that have never flown into Queenstown, it is a difficult approach, descending through a number narrow valleys in the Southern Alps on a computer guided path that passes as close as 0.3 Nautical Miles (1800 feet) to terrain that rises as high as 6000 feet above the airfield.

Anyone familiar with aviation will appreciate the difficulty from this approach plate... 

But the view was spectacular on this fabulously sunny morning (but chilly at -1C). 

On arrival we picked up our rental car and drove directly to Wanaka, where we had a generous lunch before driving back to Queenstown, our home for the next three nights. 

A view of the steamer wharf in the late in the day

A pleasant Thai dinner and a bottle of Otago Pinot Noir rounded out the day.

At latitude of 45°2'1" South sunrise on Sunday was at 0754 and it was a cool -2 degrees C. Again it was a gorgeously sunny day and that weather promised to continue for the rest of our visit. We started the day with a walk around the promontory on which the Queenstown Gardens stand, followed by coffee and cake in a spot in "Restaurant Row".

A bit of retail therapy was followed by a drive to Arrowtown where a walk along the banks of the Arrow River was taken in considerably cooler temperatures, with a heavy frost.

"I'm sure that looks like gold,” she said. But alas it was not!

A delicious lunch in a warm restaurant kept the cold at bay.  A return to Queenstown and aVietnamese dinner finished the special day.

Monday had a slightly cooler start and light breeze dropped the perceived temperature to -6C. A little bit of low cloud shrouded the lake. We decided to drive over to Wanaka again intending to have lunch at another of our haunts. To avoid any possible frost on the Crown Range Road we took the longer route through the gorge so we didn't arrive until just before 11:00. Low cloud kept the temperature low and made it seem a little gloomy, but coffee and cake soon warmed us up and we went for a walk along the lake front.

We changed our minds about lunching in Wanaka and headed instead for the Cardrona Hotel where we had a couple of excellent burgers and spent a couple of hours before returning to Queenstown.

By the time we made it back to Queenstown the clouds were gone, the skies were clear and the sun was illuminating the Remarkables to the southeast.

A few "Happy Hour" drinks and a Thai dinner closed out the day and a fabulous break.

Our departure tomorrow is early and we expect to be turning the key in the door at home by 10:00.

Back Home Again

Our short road trip to the east coast of the North Island is ended with our arrival home today.

While I do recall passing through Napier in the way to a wargames convention in Hastings, maybe in 1984 I don't think I had ever stopped in the place. 

The first thing that struck me was the breadth of beachfront running nearly 6 KM along the eastern edge of the city, before extending even further south towards Cape Kidnappers.  

The city council has also done excellent work in making the waterfront available for all ages, from extensive playgrounds, skate parks, gardens and the fabulous National Aquarium. 

There are lots of great places to dine and excellent wineries, one of the best known being the Mission Estate - the first winery established in NZ in 1851. The winery has some great colonial buildings and a great view back over the city.

Next stop on the road trip was Gisborne, two and a half hours north of Napier. It was another winding road, not as bad as the one Waiouru-Napier, but many spots of roadworks - repairs from the recent wet weather.

Again I had only previously only been here once 30+ years ago and just drove through on the way to a New Year event at Tologa Bay. My first view of Gisborne was somewhat underwhelming, but it was Saturday afternoon and most of the stores had closed. We soon found a place for a drink and something to eat. On Sunday morning we drove a little to the north to Wainui Beach, a 5 kilometer long surf beach. We walked along the beach in brilliant sunshine.

After returning to the city for lunch we went for another walk. This time past the front of our hotel towards the mouth of the river. This is a working port and a ship was busy loading with logs for export.

Behind the ship is the marker recording the spot where Captain Cook set foot on New Zealand soil on 1769. On the opposite shore, where we walked, is the statue to Cook.

A few hundred meters further on is Young Nick's statue honouring the young lad who, from the crow's nest, had first sighted land for Cook and after who the location Young Nick's Head is named.

From here, within walking distance of the city centre, Waikanae Beach stretches into the broad curve of Poverty Bay all the way to Young Nick's Head, fifteen kilometers to the south.

Monday saw us heading towards home. We had decided to break the trip - normally it would have a seven hour drive that would gave brought us back into Auckland in the middle of the afternoon rush and we didn't want the hassle...and its not like we are chained to a schedule. We decided to spend the night at Rotorua. The original plan was to drive north through the Waioweka Gorge, but that route is closed due to storm damage so we had to double back towards Napier then take the Napier-Taupo road. From Taupo it is a short hop to Rotorua. But the trip was plagued with roadworks that made the trip somewhat tedious.

An early departure from Rotorua had us home by just after 10:00 AM.

It's Time to be on the Road Again

Sunday saw another American Civil War game.

Monday morning saw us heading out of Auckland for a few days on a trip to the Hawke's Bay region. Neither of us have been that way for many years - nearly 40 years in my case.

First stop was Taupo. The drive down was pleasant enough with tolerably light traffic. The summery weather of last week had cooled with the arrival of a low pressure system, but the view across Lake Taupo towards to the mountains of the volcanic plateau was spectacular, even if Mt Ruapehu was shrouded in cloud the whole time we were there.

I hadn't spent any time in Taupo since a family holiday in 1971 (apart from an overnight stay on the way back from a wargames convention in the late 1980s), so it was like visiting for the first time. The town itself is pleasant enough with a wide range of eateries and shops. As a tourism centre there is lots to do, although most of it is adventure activities. We chose to visit the Craters of the Moon, a geothermal area. It was a pleasant walk through a gently steaming vents and a couple of bubbling mud pools, although it was cold in exposed places.

After a quick lunch stop we drove the short distance to the Huka Falls, a fifteen meter volcanic rock chute through which the turquoise water of Waikato River gushes and falls some eleven meters in two or three stages. They are not the highest or most volumous falls, but spectacular in their own way.

 

After a stop for a drink in a local pub, we headed back to our hotel and 'took the waters' at the hotel's mineral water spa for about an hour. We considered a walk along the lake shore, but a howling southerly wind kept the air temperature cool. Instead we chose to watch the waves breaking on the shore from our room with a glass or two of pinot noir. After dinner, when the wind had eased, we did get out for a walk along the waterfront with the waves still breaking as though at an ocean beach.

Day three saw us back on the road, heading for Napier, via Waiouru. Locals are probably questioning why on earth am I taking the four hour route rather than the two hour Taupo-Napier route? Simple,  I wanted to visit the National Army Museum at Waiouru.

The museum is much as I remember it from 30 years ago. It covers the full history of the NZ Army involvement in conflicts from the NZ Wars, through the Boer Wars, WWI, WWII, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam,  Afghanistan and Iraq. I couldn't help thinking that it is a shame that the magnificent model of Chunuk Bair, commissioned by Peter Jackson and populated with thousands of 54mm figures, is not housed there. Still, the life sized dioramas still have appeal.

Then it was back on the long and winding road to Napier...and it was long and winding. By 2:30 we arrived in Napier and settled into our hotel for fresh adventures tomorrow.

Offshore Again...Part Two

Day six of our Second Tasmanian adventure saw us heading for St Helens on the East Coast. We drove through some gorgeous countryside: fabulous farmland, dense forests and high hills. The weather was also better, with sunshine and higher temperatures.

A lavender farm enroute was a pleasant spot for a coffee break.

With a population of around 1,500 the pleasant seaside town of  St Helens is the largest town on the Bay of Fires, so named because of the red lichens that grow on the rocks. 

The beaches of the have stunning  white sand which gives the water a beautiful azure blue colour.

After a visit to a local wildlife sanctuary, where we made friends with a few wallabies, we had lunch at a local bar.

After lunch we decided to go for a walk along the bay, but had gone no more than 50 steps when her indoors tripped and fell hard. She got up, in pain, and then promptly fainted. Thankfully two women driving by stopped and one happened to be a nurse. We quickly determined that there nothing was broken, but she had a really bad sprain.  We went back across the road to the apartment for some rest.

While a number of the planned activities on day eight, Thursday, had to be abandoned after the previous day's injury, the drive along the coast to Bichenowas spectacular with more white sand beaches. This is another charming East Coast seaside town about 80 km south of St Helens.

At Bicheno we had an early lunch in a restaurant with superb views over Waub Bay and out into the Tasman Sea...and an uninterrupted 1900 km line to the West Coast of New Zealand.

Friday had us traveling to Hobart, with more gorgeous coastal and country views on a sunny and warm day. We paused for lunch in the pleasant town of Richmond, before continuing on to Hobart. After checkin to the exact same apartment we had last year, we headed out into familiar streets, winding up in a brew pub with the dubious name of Manky Sally's. Then after a little shopping at the supermarket we headed 'home'.

Saturday, our last full day in Tasmania, started with a stroll through hundreds of stalls that make up the Saturday Salamanca Markets. Then we worked our way up to the city centre - which proved demanding for my accompanying invalid. Here we had a bit of shopping planned, but didn't expect to run into tens of thousands of children and parents waiting to see the Hobart Santa Parade! We quickly bought what we were after then exited the area before Santa arrived and chaos ensued. Coffee and cake in a more subdued location followed before returning to the apartment to finish up the last of our lunch supplies.

An afternoon visit to Manky Sally's for a couple of pints and a slow walk around the docks preceded a home cooked dinner washed down with an excellent Tasmanian Pinot Noir.

Tomorrow we will pack up early and be at the airport mid-morning for a noon departure and an evening arrival into Auckland, the end of another enjoyable Tasmanian holiday.