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Jayne Eckersall
Jayne Eckersall

Jayne Eckersall

traveled in 14 countries Read more
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  • Greatest Adventure Yet....
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    Melbourne in 25,000 steps👣👣

    February 21 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    First day in Melben (as they say here in Melbourne). After breakfast in the hotel, we ventured out to see what this city has to offer. Apart from people and traffic, both lots of, not much else; but (hopefully) we could be wrong. We went out walking to check on where Avis Hire Car 🚗 was located after getting sidetracked in the market, about a 30-minute 🚶‍♀️ 🚶‍♂️. After which we caught the vintage tram for the free circular tour around the outer ring of the city centre. Unlike the usual tourist tram, it was packed when we got on with standing 🧍‍♀️🧍‍♂️ room only. Getting off at the Victoria Harbour ferries berth expecting to see a bustling harbour esplanade and boat trips up and down the Yarra River. There was nothing apart from some modern sculpture depicting a cow 🐄 upside down in a tree 🌳. So we waited for a tram 🚊 to take us back to civilisation and people. Getting off the tram 🚊 at Flinders Street Station, we wondered by the river, taking in the hustle and bustle, the bars and the cafés, we walked 🚶‍♂️ 🚶‍♀️ back into the city centre.Read more

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    Train Day..... 🚆

    February 20 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Up before the larks this morning (do they have larks in Australia 🇦🇺) anyway it was early 05:00 am, to get our train 🚅 to Melbourne. By 07:15, our bags 🎒 are checked in with no weight issues - thankfully 😅 and we are sat in our luxurious 1st class carriage; 1st class means comfier seats and extra legroom 🦵 🦵. Ist class does NOT mean available Wi-Fi, electrical charging points, and / or complimentary refreshments or alcoholic or even nonalcoholic drinks. Anyway, it's not as if we are here all day, only for 10 of the 24 hours a day has 🤣. To be fair to NSW TrainLink, the timetable said departs at 07:40, and that is the time we left 🚆
    As the day and our journey continued, it quickly became apparent that today is a good day to travel with only the rare glimpse of blue skies through the low clouds ☁️ that kept the morning damp. The day did brighten up when, after 2 hours of staring 👀 👀 out of the train window, we spotted our first wild kangaroos 🦘🦘🦘 jumping through the countryside.
    Stopping at Goulburn station, there were dozens of white cockatoos.
    The day brightened up shortly before 12 midday, not because the train staff started taking orders for the hot lunches available, but the sun also came out 🌞
    Around about a dozen or so kangaroos later and some 60 minutes after first seeing the Melbourne skyline, we finally arrived at Melbournes Southern Cross Station and our destination at 19:00 some 30 minutes later with no delay - repay available 😭😂 But hey during our stoppage we got to see a dozen or so kangaroos 🦘🦘🦘🦘    Read more

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    Sydney Opera House

    February 19 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    A slow start to the day as we only had 2 things of note 📝 in our calendar 📅 14:45 Tour around the Sydney Opera House and 18:00 Dinner 🍽 ETC.
    Late morning after packing and checking that the suitcase weighs less than 20kg, we ventured out along our usual route to the harbour area, stopping off at the occasional retail outlet to window shop. Walking around the outside of the opera house makes you appreciate the vastness of it and the tremendous engineering skills involved not only with its design by Danish architect Jørn Utzonfor the more famous outside structure and Australian architect Peter Hall who designed the internal features, but also it construction over the 14 years it took to complete.
    Our tour took us inside the two main theatres. The 1st and main theatre blows your mind as you sit down and gaze around the incredible auditorium, with its perfect acoustics.
    When the tour finished, we walked back into the city via the Royal Botanical Gardens and back to our hotel for a quick freshen up and change of clothes before heading out for our evening meal of Butter poached Cowra pork cutlet and Potato Gnocchi with feta, basil pesto, pinenut, tomberry and pecorino.    Read more

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    Back to the Future

    February 18 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Today was a very special day for me as we were catching the ferry ⛴️ from Sydney's Circular Quay out to Manly Bay, just 20 minutes along the waters edge. It's special because in 1912, two of my Great Uncles emigrated here from Preston, and if you look at the photos below, you can probably understand why they did!! 🏄‍♂️🏄‍♀️🏖🌞 😂
    We spent quite a few hours in Manly (not as many as we will on the train to Melbourne) as the main downtown area only consists of several streets with shops, bars, cafes and ice cream 🍦 parlours. We had a pleasant stroll along the sea front watching 👀 the surfers 🏄‍♀️ 🏄‍♂️ and the surf 🌊. Further on, we came across a group of divers preparing to explore beneath the sea. We carried on walking to another little beach ⛱️ full of sun worshippers and swimmers 🏊‍♂️. On the way back towards the town along the same pathway we watched a group of school 🏫 children having a lesson......surfing ..... ain't life a beach!
    On the ferry back to Sydney just as on the way out, we were treated to fabulous views of Sydney's Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
    Back at the hotel, we checked into our new and hopefully fully functioning room where all the lights don't turn themselves off, and you have to go and open the bedroom door to reactivate the lighting 🤞🤞    Read more

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    Blue (Monday) Mountains ⛰️

    February 17 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    A very early start this morning, 05:30, so that we could be down in the lobby for our eat-in takeaway breakfast box 📦 which was a real waste of time and money 💰 (a small croissant, a small pot of yogurt, pear 🍐 and an apple 🍎). Little did we know this was how our day was going to pan out........ 😕😩😭
    We were the first ones at the Hilton Hotel, and funnily enough, also on our tour were 4 Americans who we had seen at our hotel in Hokitika, New Zealand 🇳🇿. By 07:30, we are off with just 2 more pick-ups to do before leaving Sydney for the Blue Mountains. An hour later we were at our 1st stop; Featherdale Wildlife Park, where we would have the chance to feed a Kangaroo; if only the Chinese hadn't fed them by the time we got there and hold a Koala bear and have a photograph again if only the Chinese hadn't got there first and tired the Koalas out first!! But hey, 35 minutes queueing up, and we had our photograph and then had to run around the park to try and see as much as possible; Tasmanian Devil and the Blue Penguins 🐧 (others we didn't get to see) in the remaining 20 minutes at the park. We then drove off into the Blue Mountains, stopping again just over an hour later at Wentworth Falls. After 20 minutes or so, we stopped again at Jamison Lookout before stopping again at the Three Sisters. After that we had 45 minute lunch stop at A small town called Leura; which truly isn't long enough when you don't know where to go what to eat and when you do order, they bring you the wrong food!! We then drove onto Mount Blackheath, which overlooked grassy farmlands that really would make ideal golf courses. Talking of which Australia has the most golf courses per person than anywhere else in the world. After this last stop, we went in search of wild Kangaroos, finding 3 🦘 of them. After stopping off at a service station for 20 minutes to buy water, we headed back to Sydney, arriving back at the Hilton shortly before 18:30.
    It was a very enjoyable day if sitting for hours on a cramped coach being tossed about on shoddy suspension is your thing. In a nutshell, too much was crammed into the day, and not enough time allowed for seeing (& having a photo with) Koalas and lunch. 👎    Read more

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    Sydney Walkabout 🚶‍♂️ 🚶‍♀️

    February 16 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    First full day in Sidney 🇦🇺. After breakfast, we did the usual walk 🚶‍♂️ 🚶‍♀️ to get our bearings and find out where the Hilton Hotel is ready for our early start in the morning. 10 minutes walking, so that's OK 👍. Carrying on walking down the street from the Hilton is Westfield shopping centre. So in we went, just to see how it compares with the Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford, London. Apart from top of the range designer shops such as Prada, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, etc, there is also the Sydney Tower Eye. So after a shortish wait and even shorter lift ride, we were soon in the 19th floor Observation Deck, 309 metres above the ground. The 360-degree viewing platform offered fabulous views around and across the city.
    After literally coming down from our breathtaking view, we walked along Pitt Street and onto the harbour for another fabulous view of the Sydney Opera House across the harbour.
    Walking back to the hotel to get freshened up, we headed out to Chinatown for a good healthy meal, as Jayne would say. But first, I wanted to see the award winning Squashed Brown Paper Bag building before we ate our Pork Stir Fry in Oyster Sauce and Chicken Pad Thai. 😋😋    Read more

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    Ka kite New Zealand & G'day Oz

    February 15 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    After checking out of the hotel 🏨 and a healthy breakfast at the local cafe, history began repeating itself as today; we say goodbye (or Ka kite) to New Zealand, we have only gone and bought another bag 🎒 a lovely red one that should hopefully alleviate our problem when leaving Sydney for Melbourne on the train 🚆 and any single bag cannot weigh more than 20kgs, so we need another bag to decant and distribute some weight.
    History carried on repeating itself at Christchurch Airport as our flight ✈️ was delayed again but fortunately only by 30 mins and by 5:00 pm we were taxiing down the runway. After a smooth flight over the Tasman Sea 🌊 we flew over Sydney Harbour and treated to our first sights of both the harbour bridge 🌉 and Sydney Opera House. After some time getting through passport control, immigration and collecting our cases, we were met by our driver to take us to our hotel in Sydney's Darling Harbour in his Tesla Model X and it's Falcon wing doors. Boy, did we feel special, sat on elegant single leather seats arriving outside our hotel, and the doors open upwards!!!    Read more

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    Happy Valentine's Day 🥰

    February 14 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    What to do on Valentine's Day when you are away on holiday 🤔
    First, go out for a nice breakfast or brunch something healthy or something delicious, decisions, decisions???
    Secondly, there is present shopping and wives love a new bag to go with each different outfit so off we went looking for a bag 🎒 to match a holiday outfit. Of course, the bigger the bag, the more can be taken on that special occasion, but we didn't get one!! Cakes were another alternative, but no! So we just did a bit more sightseeing around Christchurch and once again visited the cathedral that they can't afford to rebuild and restore.
    Later that afternoon, we went to church ⛪️ again, but to be honest, the pizza 🍕 wasn't that heavenly this time, and the duet who were providing background music were a bit ..... boring, to be honest. So we left, along with a third of a pizza 🍕 and half a bowl of chips 🍟.    Read more

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    Going to church ⛪️

    February 13 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Later in the afternoon in Christchurch, we 🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️ decided to go to church ⛪️, and we were so glad we did. We had one of the best times in New Zealand 🇳🇿 and definitely the best pizza 🍕 we had ever tasted anywhere.Read more

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    Ssssh..........

    February 13 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    It wasn't too early in the morning when we left Kaikoura for our journey back to Christchurch, but we still felt we had to be quiet leaving town for fear of waking the local residents apart from of-course the early birds; Oystercatchers and white-faced Heron, oh! and of course, the young pups!!. We drove back the same route as we had arrived up and down windy mountain roads, only this time the drive was far nicer in the blazing sunshine. About halfway, we stopped for a coffee ☕️ and cake 🧁 break (well coffee ☕️ and pie 🥧 break for me) in a small town called Cheviot. Arriving back in Christchurch, we checked back into our 1st hotel 🏨 here; Rydges Latimer, after dropping all our luggage 🧳 off, I returned the car 🚗 to the rental company and my driving in New Zealand was complete with a total of 1,528 km or or 955 miles driven during our 17 days of car hire.Read more

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    Downtown Kaikoura

    February 12 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    After the whale watching I met up with Jayne and after dropping the car off at our accommodation The White Morph Motel we walked back along the coast into Kaikoura; through a lovely memorial garden, to look for something for lunch. We found a little cafe on the other side of town that was just closing, so we managed to get a takeaway of buttered date scones and coffee and ate them in the cafe garden.
    Walking back to the motel a little while later we walked along the pebble beach where perched on rocks were scores of seagulls and the odd Shag or Cormorant as they are commonly known in the UK and a lone fur seal resting on it's own rock.
    We then returned to the never-ending queues at the bar of the Strawberry Tree for another meal of Bar-B-Q'd Brisket for me and a Crayfish Omelette for Jayne.    Read more

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    A Whale of a Time.

    February 12, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    The meeting time was 10:45 for my 11:15 whale 🐋 watching 👀 excursion, and the sole reason we have driven to Kaikoura is that I really really hope I see one 🙏 🤞🤞.
    At 11:15, we all piled onto the bus for our short drive down to the harbour and the whale watching boat 🚢. We were soon off and racing to the point that a couple of Sperm Whales were last seen. Just as we arrived, I glimpsed the whale dive down and saw his tail in the air ever so briefly before it disappeared.
    Whilst curling around waiting for the whale to surface, we were entertained by a couple of Albatross doing fly pasts. Then, the Sperm whale reappeared and stayed on the surface or just below for quite a while. Then, we were informed that the Sperm whale had been joined by a couple of Orcas or killer whales. Needless to say, the whole boat was excited by this unexpected treat. And then we spotted their dorsal fins. The time was quickly getting to the point when our excursion was coming to an end and if by rehearsal the Sperm Whale arched it's back and performed a deep dive providing us all with the iconic tail photograph 📸 📷.    Read more

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    Back on the road again...🚘

    February 11 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    After an enforced slow morning as in trying to complain to Kiwi Rail about my suitcase we finally got around sorting ourselves With the schedule for our final few days of our New Zealand trip gone to pot, we checked out of the Distinction Hotel in Cathedral Square and walked to pick up our Hire Car. Expecting it to be a Mitsubishi, we were given another but newer Toyota RAV4 Hybrid with less than 10,000 kilometres on the clock. After driving back yo the hotel, we made our way out of the city and onto the SH1 towards Kaikoura. Crossing the Waimakariri River we drove through many small town, up narrow windy roads and the occasional look out position but as today was rainy 🌧 with low cloud ☁️ it wasn't worth stopping to check so we ventured on arriving shortly before 2:00 pm just 3 hours later at our accommodation where fortunately our room was ready for us, and just up 1 flight of stairs! After opening our suitcases; we no longer bother to unpack or pack now. We strolled into town for a look around. Again, it's only a small seaside town (by England standards), but there appears to be plenty of shops, bars, and restaurants. After stopping for a coffee ☕️ we went back to the hotel 🏨 to get the car and see where I had to be tomorrow morning for my whale 🐋 watching 👀 excursion. We then returned yo the hotel before walking back into town for something to eat at The Strawberry 🍓 Tree. Where unusual for Jayne and I, we both chose the Catch of the Day, some local fish 🐟 that really was delicious 😋.Read more

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    All Aboard but Overweight...🚂

    February 10 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    After breakfast, we took our time checking out and loading up the car for the last time ........ until tomorrow morning. We are in Greymouth, hire car 🚗 returned, bags 🎒 checked in; without a minor disruption when we had to lose 1kg out of one of the bags to meet the 23kg limit. Australia 🇦🇺 🪃 is going to be fun with only 20 kg each on the Sidney to Melbourne train 🚆.
    After having got a coffee following the train check-in, we had a walk around the town of Greymouth, and just a few minutes later, we were back where we started in the cafe and had another drink. Safe to say, the only thing here in Greymouth is the Tranzalpine train 🚆 out of here.
    We had a quite enjoyable 5 hour rail trip through the mountains rising from sea level up to around 920 metres. The journey listed as the 6th best in the world 🌎 is probably far better on a sunny day and not on a day that is grey with lots of low overcast clouds passes through 19 tunnels and over 4 viaducts. As the journey started to flatten out and we hit the plains of Canterbury as we came to the end of our pleasant 224 kilometre journey. As a journey it is so well organised, as we pulled into Christchurch there was an announcement that all checked in bags could be collected from the front of the train as it came down a conveyor belt after being unloaded from the baggage car. We found a number of Christchurch Touring Company representatives who were picking up numerous passengers. After collecting our luggage 🧳 we headed over to them and then into their minibus and headed to various city hotels. When we arrived at our hotel at the Distinction Hotel we then discovered our new 19 day old suitcase was damaged!!    Read more

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    Happy in Hokitika......

    February 9 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    A massive shout out to our hard-working travel company who have swiftly got us out of the hell hole in Fox Glacier into a beach front view hotel 🏨 in Hokitika. We left Fox Glacier in a cloud but relieved; Fox Glacier is probably alright if you like hiking 🚶‍♂️ 🚶‍♀️, but not really for sun worshipping tourists like us. Not such a pretty drive as other parts of the South island as we travelled through dense bush with scattered milling and farming settlements. There were quite a few photo opportunities with lake reflections, and as we approached Hokitika, the landscape began to open out. Hokitika is a small seaside town; population 3,250, on the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It was established as the result of gold mining in 1864. It was a centre of the West Coast gold rush and grew very quickly. Hokitika' pebbly beach leads you into the Tasman Sea, which is part of the Pacific Ocean. The beach is strewn with driftwood, many of which have been collected and sculptured together. We had a lovely walk along the beach towards what looks to be a ship, but it's only false ant the only thing real is the anchor ⚓️ which belonged to a ship called the Tambo which ran aground here in 1866. There are numerous shops here, including a lovely glass blowing shop that allows you to watch the glass blower at work during the week. We bought a couple of souvenirs of our trip, a blue penguin and a Kiwi. Heading back to the hotel, we sat in the balcony with a glass of wine just listening to the waves crashing a shore. Rested and hungry, we changed and went for dinner, Salmon for Jayne and I went for a lovely local white fish called Hoki. Afterwards, there was almost a lovely sunset before we went back to the hotel and fell asleep 😴 to the sound of waves of the Pacific OceanRead more

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    No, we don't Wanaka leave !!

    February 8 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We reluctantly left Wanaka on a lovely sunny morning to begin our drive to Fox Glacier. After driving about 45 mins we stopped off for breakfast at Lake Hawea. It's a good job we did as we didn't really notice any other options for food etc during the remaining 250km!!
    Quite a pleasant drive up stopping for the photo opportunity along the Lake Hawea Road. As drove on up into the Haast Pass stopping a couple of more times to view the waterfalls, the first being Fantail Falls and slightly further on Thunder Creek Falls. It was after this stop that the weather changed for the worst with driving rain 🌧 making the drive less than enjoyable. We finally arrived in Fox Glacier around 15:30, where our day got decidedly worse. We checked into our hotel the Heartlands Hotel of which there are 2 both called the same and run by the same people. Hand on heart can't say for sure but our hotel looked the worst!! Built in 1928 and Restored in 2007, the hotel states it proudly continues its tradition, with modern comforts. Call me picky but I would argue against that statement!! So here we are in an unattractive hotel which if you said was basic would be a compliment. In fact im sure the receptionist smirked when she saw our suitcase and said your on the 1st floor ...... and we don't have a lift!! After heaving the case upstairs we went gor a walk around town to see what delights would behold for the next 3 nights. 5 minutes later we were back we had seen the pub, all 4 hotels, a grocery store, petrol station and 3 buildings selling helicopter flights. Anyway after an SOS call to our in-country agent we are only staying 1 night and moving on to Hokitika FIRST thing in the morning    Read more

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    Wanaka Wandering

    February 7 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Woke up this morning to a slightly cloudy but warm day. After a lazy hotel breakfast, we took the 20-minute walk into the town of Wanaka. A small town with 12,400 residents wrapped around the edge of Roy's Bay on Lake Wanaka. There is evidence of early Maori settlements here well before the invasion of Europeans who claimed the land for farming. Speaking of Europeans, Jayne and I aren't the first tourists here as early tourism can be traced as far back as 1881, when a paddle steamer started trips to the head of the lake Wanaka is now a destination hot-spot for year-round recreational activities, on land, on water, and / or in the air summer or winter.
    We walked 🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️ along the dirt track foot path alongside the lake, doing our best to avoid the mountain biker's 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♀️, whilst gazing across the lake at the snow-capped mountains 🏔. We took a photo stop at the Wanaka tree, which is the nickname of a willow tree located at the southern end of Lake Wānaka. The tree grows alone in the water and is a popular destination for tourists, especially those from the far east; whose mantra seems to be why take one photo when you can take a dozen!!!! Anyway, I managed to get a couple of quiet times and a nice couple even took our photograph 📸. As we carried on into town, the sun 🌞 came out, and we came across a pathway documenting the history of New Zealand and major world events up until 2000. Unfortunately, there isn't really a lot to see, unless you want to hire mountain bikes 🚲 or buy expensive clothes 👚💰, so after a coffee, we ambled back to the hotel. But not before having another quiet moment beside the Wanaka Tree for a photo 📷. We also saw a proposal beside the Wanaka Tree. After he had finished and hugged her, we all applauded and assumed she said YES. After some light refreshments on the patio bar at the Edgewater hotel, including a coffee for Jayne in a disposable cup (you ate it when you had finished your coffee ☕️). We walked back into Wannaka for a meal of pumpkin salad 🥗 for Jayne and grilled Mediterranean Blue Cod 🐟 for me before walking back to Edgewater, some 20,585 steps later. 🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️    Read more

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    Wana go to Wanaka...

    February 6 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    After checking out shortly before 10:00 am we found ourselves in a short queue of Bank Holiday (today is Waitangi Day and recognised as the most important day in the New Zealand's history) traffic, which fortunately soon turned off and left us with a clear road ahead. We have left an overcast and cloudy ☁️ Queenstown and are now travelling 72 miles to the lakeside town of Wanaka. We were recommended to take in Arrowtown (Māori: Kā-muriwai); a historic gold mining town located on the banks of the Arrow River (Māori: Haehaenui), on our way out of Queenstown We spent a good hour looking around, drinking coffee ☕️ in the sunshine 🌞 before returning to our car via a stream where tourists were panning for gold!! Back on the road and deciding not to take the same route we had taken into Queenstown we headed for the Crown Range, a hilly, windy with incredible views not only looking back on Queenstown but the surrounding countryside. Around 2:00 p.m., we arrived at the Edgewater Hotel 🏨; nestled in the Southern Alps, with its lawns stretching down to the edge of Lake Wanaka. Whilst checking in, we were asked who's birthday it was as we had been upgraded to a lake🏞 View. We were also provided with chocolates 🍫 and a couple of free drinks 🥂🍷 in the bar to celebrate.Read more

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    Today's Up in the Air ....... not!

    February 5 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Up bright and early, showered, shaved, and breakfasted, eagerly awaiting 08:45 to phone and check the weather conditions on this beautiful Wednesday morning in Queenstown. Only to be told it's not a beautiful morning in Milford, there is low cloud, and the trip is off 😭. My early morning start turned out to be a relaxing day. After going into town to claim my deposit refund for my excursion and saying no countless times to other options off Milford Sound Fly Over, a Glacier trip and no I don't want to go this afternoon thank you ........ give me a refund 🤑. So what to do? we went back up to the Skyline where the gondola is and went next door to the Kiwi Park. Along with 4 Kiwi's, we also saw a number of other NZ native birds; Kaka, Buff Weka, Red Crowned Kakariki and a Kereru or Wood Pigeon and a Tuatara; a lizard like reptile. On the way back to our accommodation after enjoying another tapas at Soda our favourite lakeside bar where we can relax, eat, drink and people watch, we passed the queue that no matter when you pass is always there with people waiting to buy food from Ferg's. Queenstown is the only place in the world you can buy Ferg's Food despite offers from major worldwide distributors. What's so special, I couldn't say but I was told that you get a menu from Fergs Bakery, then queue to go into the Fergs Butchers to order your food, then wait in Fergs Bar until your order is ready.Read more

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    In a Gondola, and Just NO Cornetto....🍦

    February 4 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    After the LOTR Safari we made our way back to our accomodation for a bite to eat before venturing into downtown (literally - the hills are that steep) Queenstown making our way to the Gondola🚠 ride, which takes you 480m up over Lake Wakatipu to the top of Bob’s Peak. Up there you enjoy spectacular views of Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, Walter and Cecil Peak, and, of course, Queenstown ⛰️ and also the daring hang-gliders🪂 jumping off the mountain. After coming down, we headed into Anita's Gelato for well deserved ice-creams. Walking further down the hill, we came across the usual tourist places offering excursions where I booked a fly 🚁- cruise🚢 - fly🚁 trip by helicopter for a cruise on Milford Sound. By coach, this is an all-day (10 hours) excursion, but Jayne didn't fancy it, so flying it was only 4 hours. Wandering through this relatively small lakeside town we came across street sellers selling fresh oysters, and fruit etc.After a lovely meal in an Italian restaurant we made our way UP-hill🧗🧗‍♀️ as the sun-set back to our hotel as it's another early start for me in the morning.Read more

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    Journey to Middle Earth

    February 4 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Woke up early this morning as we were meeting our Nomad Safari guide for a trip into Middle Earth; as Hollywood would have us believe: some of the film 📽 🎬 locations around Queenstown used in Lord of the Rings. It was a lovely tour; even though we had never really watched any of the trilogy or the Hobbit, as the scenery was fabulous. Our tour guide, Phoebe, was brilliant, stopping quite often to allow photos 📷 and to explain what scenes had been shot and the imagery used to actually change what we were seeing. At the refreshment stop, she gave out cloaks, swords, and daggers so we could reenact the scenes that Jayne and I didn't know while she made teas and coffees ☕️🍰 for everyone.Read more

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    Done in Dunedin......

    February 3 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Leaving Dunedin around 10:00 am this morning we took a leisurely drive out on State Highway 1, driving parallel with the ocean but couldn't see it until we arrived at Milton then taking the SH-8 towards Central Otago and Queenstown. We crossed the Taieri Plains and travelled on a "Pleasure Beach Big Dipper" style of road to the Clutha Valley and Lake Waihola where we stopped for a photograph. After driving for just over an hour we stopped off in an old gold mining town called Lawrence for a coffee and a scone. Carrying on we drove through Roxburgh, a chief town of Central Otago and the centre of an irrigated orchard area, yes we have finally hit fruit and more importantly wine country. We also stopped for more photographs at the large and impressive Hydroelectric Power Dam. Continuing our drive through large and modern towns called Alexandra and Cromwell we then followed the river; Kawarau River; which has a famous 10-storey bridge built in the 1880's; the Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge, and is the birthplace of Bungy Jumping, into Queenstown on the shores of Lake Wakatipu and our accommodation at the Garden Court Suites and Apartments; where we had been given an upgrade overlooking the lake for Jayne's birthday. We had travelled 280 miles in a leisurely 5 hours including stops. After checking in and unpacking clothes for 3 days we walked down the hill into Queenstown itself where it was Happy Hour in the bar by the lake so helping the local economy we had a couple of cold beers and some tapas in the sunshine.Read more

  • Greatest Adventure Yet....
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    Dunedin's Heritage

    February 2 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    After yesterday's tour, today was a more sedate walking 🚶‍♂️ tour of Dunedin's buildings and architecture. The 1st building of note and perhaps the most famous; well the most photographed is Dunedin railway station 🚆; built in 1906, in fact it is the second most photographed building in the southern hemisphere, after the Sydney Opera House. Across the road is the no longer used Dunedin Gaol, built 1896 & operating as a working prison for men & women until 2007. It is now used for adventure games where people pay to go in and are actively encouraged to escape by solving puzzles. Another well-known building in Dunedin is the Speights Brewery established in 1876 and is brewed for longer, thus reducing the amount of carbohydrates by 75% of other leading beers brewed in New Zealand. - I wish I had had a pint now instead of a half if it's healthy!! 🍺Read more

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    The Tour Guide....

    February 1 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Today was the day of our own personal tour guide in the form of a friend from over 40 years ago; Alison. She picked us up from our hotel at 09:00 and drove straight over to the Otago Peninsula to see the Sea Lions 🦭 on the beach and we arrived just in time to see one young seal chase a couple of surfers🏄‍♂️🏄 away from the water 😆. We then carried onto Harrington Point for another photo 📸 opportunity of the magnificent landscape before arriving at the top; Taiaroa Head and the Albatross Sanctuary, where i felt small when compared to the wingspan of this mega sea bird . Unfortunately, we didn't see any Albatross, but there were endangered red beaked seagulls nesting there. I did think 🤔 about asking if they needed a Seagull supplier, but the cost in fish 🐟 and chips 🍟 to feed them wouldn't be acceptable!! 😅 Heading back to Dunedin, we stopped off to look at the gardens of Larnach Castle 🏰 built in 1871.
    Alison then drove us around the outskirts of Dunedin, showing us various sites of interest that Dunedin holds a claim to fame for being pioneers for in New Zealand before stopping at Baldwin Street which is the World’s Steepest Street, before dropping Jayne and I back at our hotel. Before we said our goodbyes, Alison recommended a South American restaurant for our dinner that night and what a lovely restaurant it was with fabulous food and wine to be had. We shared the Focaccia Bread, then Jayne had the Cannelones, which was Uruguayan style pasta with spinach, mushrooms, walnuts, and mozzarella wrapped in savoury crepes with a creamy sauce. I, of course, went for the Argentinian style Beef Fillet with potatoes gratin, green beans, sautéed in garlic, chimichurri butter, fresh chilli and reduced beef jus. We finished this off with Tahitian Vanilla Ice-Cream. Before watching the Chinese New Year Firework display from our hotel bedroom window.    Read more

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    On the road again.....

    January 31 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    I'm not saying that driving on New Zealand's South Island is easy but it is very pleasant especially when you come to a signpost that says Dunedin (our next destination) 110 km and the car sat-nav saying turn left in 107 km!!

    After just over half an hour, we saw a signpost for the Moeraki Boulders that are found on Koekohe Beach and definitely worth making that early left turn. The boulders appear to be perfectly formed spherical shapes, and measure up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) in diameter, and are estimated to have taken 4 to 5.5 million years to grow. Before we went down to the beach, we had a breakfast snack of Croissants filled with ham, cheese, and tomato accompanied by large coffee whilst we watched the wave of the South Pacific Ocean roll onto the beach.
    After going down to the beach and marvelling at these phenomenon, we headed the car back onto the State Highway 1 (SH 1) which is the longest and most significant road in the New Zealand road network, running the length of both the South and North Islands. Before leaving the Moeraki Gift Shop, we were told to venture off the SH1 and take the scenic road into Dunedin, and my was this good advice! We stopped off at Shag Point on the Matakaea Reserve and saw Sea Lions basking and playing in the sunshine. After stopping off for a comfort break and visiting a garden centre on route in Waitati, we arrive in a busy and bustling downtown Dunedin around 4:00pm. After checking into our room, we were greeted with a welcome to Dunedin note from our Travel Counsellor, Rebecca, Birthday card and a platter of cheese and biscuits from the hotel.    Read more

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