Author: timdar

One of the well-known outdoor walks is the Abel Tasman.  We didn’t – they can lay on a water taxi as a less rigorous alternative!

Unfortunately the taxi rank isn’t that close to the water …

… but eventually we get going.

Passing by the famous (?) split rock

And catching a brief glimpse of a dolphin family who refused to be photographed.  However, Jo did show us one of the hostels she had stayed in while doing the whole thing properly during a 3 day hike.

When we were on the beach it was very windy which meant some of us got a bit chilly …

… but we’re tempted into the sea eventually.  I should mention that I went in twice but neither was captured, so sighs of relief all round! 

Waiting for the return taxi …

… then a stop for a very tasty frozen fruit yoghurt on the way home.

Off again tomorrow for further adventures, but back to no wifi, so watch this space and wait :o)

Bit of a mooching around day today, so photos follow a bit of a trend:

View from lunch at the house …

… And watching kite surfers on the beach (no, we’re not in this photo!).

Happy Christmas everyone.  It’s Christmas Day in NZ, so we do what one does.

Go swimming wearing Santa hats …

… on a fabulous beach in Abel Tasman.  Then Christmas dinner.

Then a quick trip down to the beach to see the sunset at about 9.00.

It would be very easy to get used to!

Not a lot to say today – mundane stuff such as shopping, admittedly in a fantastic place.  Hardly took any photos today.

Home from home – Aon crops up everywhere, so no escape!

And a nice evening walk around an estuary at Mapua – bit muddy.

It’s a long day of travelling to Nelson today.  First a cup of coffee outside the house,

which is really an old lodge, but nonetheless large and comfortable.

Then a drive through one of the many national parks, stopping for a coffee and a semi-decent selfie,

And lunch.

Get to Nelson and find that the house is absolutely stunning.  It’s hard to do it justice, but here’s a panorama from the living room.  It’s the Pilot’s house, and has fabulous views over the sea, as you can see.  This is by far the best holiday house that Eileen has ever found – Bulls-eye!

And a quick paddle.

Then starting Christmas food shopping, including bread sauce and Xmas Pud.

According to that well-known early riser, Jo.  Anyway, it is 6.15 in the morning and I suggest that we go back and see Lake Matheson.  A very grumpy Jo and Eileen reluctantly agree, and after a half-hour drive and a similar walk, this is what we saw from Reflection Island.  Now we get it!

A quick stop for coffee at the cafe, with Jo very helpfully pointing out Mt Cook (or is it Tasman) – under the circumstances it didn’t matter too much.

And then on to Punakaiki.  Here’s another beach.

And here’s the rocks that everyone comes to see.  Actually, Punakaiki isn’t that special (well at least compared to other places on the west coast), but it is just right to split the long journey to Nelson.

And a couple of us just to finish off for today.

The day started as yesterday had ended – still raining.  So a bit of a lazy Sunday morning until we headed out on a glacier hunt.  Fox Glacier was a non-starter – floods from the rain meant we couldn’t get very far, and even from where we were it was covered in cloud anyway.  By the way, is there any connection between Fox Glacier and the mints of the same name?  They were being sold in the gift shop.

Then off to Lake  Matheson.  It looks and feels like a rain forest, mainly because it is.  The weather didn’t allow our photos to do justice to the most photographed lake in NZ – Google it!

Did manage an artistic (?) view of a fern though.

Really good lunch at the lake cafe, then off to hunt for Franz Joseph Glacier.  Sign below says you can’t get very close due to floods, but very luckily for us they had decided to re-open just before we arrived.

On the way

And here it is, firstly with zoom ..

.. And then without.

Absolutely terrific.  We felt very lucky to have seen it with the sun out, especially as cloud came down shortly afterwards.

So a good day.  Ruben’s birthday, so Jo bought him a cake.  And we said goodbye to him as he heads back to Queenstown and we head north to Punakaiki and then Nelson.

So all good?  Well, still some work on the selfies.  Managed to miss out the whole of the glacier in the background!

Jo wasn’t impressed when she saw it :o)

…but it pours.  We aren’t talking Welsh drizzle here, it’s full on rapid windscreen wiper, 8 hour solid rain!  According to the weather news, we’ve had 4 inches in 12 hours.

So a few pictures of rain today.  Fortunately we had planned to spend most of the day travelling and stopping to see the sights.  We did the travelling but couldn’t see the sights.

A hill in the rain.

Having a picnic in the car in the rain.

Picture of the car in the rain with no mountain or sea views.

No view of mountains from the house.

And so on.  Had a scare when a police car went past with blue lights flashing, but not me this time.

Anyway, forecast for next few days is good – looking forward to a warm and sunny Christmas.

We’ve made it to Wanaka, and this is a day for chilling out before we head to the west coast and more driving.  Terrific house, again, and this is the view as we had breakfast.  Actually, it was the view we had for most of the day – with a balcony like this, why would you go anywhere?

But we did – just a couple of hours gentle stroll by the lake.

Jo and Ruben, though, decided to be a little more ambitious, and here they are (with company) at the summit of Roy’s peak.  It is a 1200m climb from the lake.

If you look at the view from our balcony, they are at the peak just covered by cloud.  Unfortunately they forgot to take a photo of Eileen and me, so we don’t have any proof that we were there … :o)

It’s Saturday morning now, and we’re heading off to Franz Josef shortly.  Not sure how successful the wifi hunt will be …

So let’s start with fines.  I’ve been done!  Left Te Anau for a pretty dull (by NZ standards) 200km drive to Queenstown.  Jo had warned me about the strict enforcement of the 100km per hour speed limit, so I was well behaved.  But when you’re on an empty road and haven’t seen a car coming the other way, the temptation to cut a corner exists.  What I hadn’t allowed for was the car behind taking a photo and emailing the cops.  So blue flashing lights, me deciding the best tactic was to be contrite, and $150 poorer.  Welcome to NZ!

So it had to be lunch of the world famous Fergburger – yummy!

Then from Queenstown to Wanaka – we all climbed this mountain (in the car of course!) and took photos …

.. and photos of Jo taking photos!

But then to Lake Wanaka for a couple of nights – more views!