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Tranzalpine New Zealand
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Tranzalpine New Zealand

A quick weekend in NZ taking the Tranzalpine train across the South Island. Leggi altro
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  • Inizio del viaggio
    27 settembre 2024
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    Anti-aging therapy time

    27 settembre 2024, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    A study I saw yesterday said that travel delays the aging process. This morning I’m taking a dose of my favourite anti aging therapy and flying off to NZ for the weekend. At the rate I travel, I’m going to live forever ✈️😂.

    Was able to sleep in a bit this morning as my flight was delayed by 40mins. That said, me being me, I got to the airport nice and early to enjoy a scrumptious breakfast in the Qantas first class lounge. Went for my usual serve of corn fritters with bacon and avocado, washed down with juice and hot chocolate. Decided against champagne this morning as didn’t feel like a mid morning hangover today. Such a first world problem.

    Nice and busy at the airport today with school holidays and a long weekend filling up the terminal. It’s nice when there is a bit of a buzz of activity but also nice to have somewhere quiet to retreat to. Stunning sunny day out the window too. An avgeeks heaven watching the movements.

    With breakfast complete it’s just an hour left for watching planes out the window before I set off on this next mini adventure. Hope you enjoyed this long weekend mini blog. Next stop, QF133 to Christchurch.    Leggi altro

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    Qantas 133: Melbourne to Christchurch

    27 settembre 2024, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Time to get back in the air. A bit of a delay this morning due to the inbound aircraft from Auckland holding its departure to allow connections from the New York flight. Originally a 9:20 departure, first delayed to 10am, then 10:15. Boarding was quick using the priority lane and soon I was seated in 4F, with the whole row to myself. Winner-winner chicken dinner.

    “We’ve got 2 passengers that failed to board. They have both got checked bags so we’ve started the process of offloading their bags now. I apologise for the further delay” announces the captain as I watch the ground crew offload bags. I always wonder what happens to cause people to fail to board. Missed connection? Lost in the terminal? (Melbourne is too small to get lost).

    Bags offloaded we push back and depart on runway 16 at taxiway E for quick departure to the south. A lovely sunny day to fly, alas with the amazing city views on the other side of the plane. We overfly the south east suburbs and then cross the coast around lakes entrance.

    A lunch service is offered as we cruise over the Tasman sea. Three meal options offered include a beef Burgandy, a chickpea and zucchini something and the Moroccan chicken coccus salad. I probably should have gone the salad but I got the beef. Stewy and temperature hot it was ok but just had that fatty, salty, thick textured airline taste.

    Quite a long time ago Qantas ditched the meal tray with a starter and a dessert for the single dish main only meal. The marketing spin back then was to be able to offer a bigger main serve. I wasn’t sold then and I’m not now. Bring back the little meal tray with a starter side and dessert. Sure there were some cheese n crackers balanced on top, but I really prefer a proper tray service.

    I opted for a glass of sparkling wine with the meal. A cheap Jacob’s creek sparkling - wasn’t great. I regret not having a proper champagne in the lounge instead of this. I washed it down with a coke once the meal service was cleared away.

    It’s nice having the row to myself but it would be nice to have a travel companion on some of these trips. Instead I watch some Emily in Paris, To the Manor Born and a spooks episode (yeah quite the varied taste in that mix).

    The crew started to prep the cabin for landing as we crossed the west coast of the South Island of Nee Zealand. Even through the scattered clouds covered much of the mountains, I could still get glimpses of the snow capped peaks and rough terrain. As my Uber driver later described it, the landscape here is dramatic!

    Once across the mountains (several photos later) we followed a wide river that forges its way through the green plains across the eastern side of the island. A beautifully smooth butter landed and I’ve arrived in a sunny but cool Friday afternoon in Christchurch. Let’s go explore!    Leggi altro

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    Christchurch… 19 years later

    27 settembre 2024, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    It’s been 19 years since I’ve been in Christchurch. Since then an earthquake ripped through the city in 2010/11 making it almost unrecognisable to me during my short walk around the centre of town. Although to be fair all I remember of Christchurch last time I visited was the cathedral spire, visiting a gay bar way too early and eating fudge at a Sunday market.

    The city now has a mix of empty lots, buildings awaiting demolition and a lot of new builds making it feel like a new estate rather than an original city centre. It’s nice but very quiet.

    I did a short walk past the old cathedral where 19 years ago I climbed to the top to take a photo of the city square. The spire is now gone but the square remains. A new flash looking convention centre opposite the square draws my attention which leads me to the river. A few old buildings remain along the nice riverside walk. A large abandoned building (possibly hotel) overlooks the river as it waits demolition while collecting graffiti. Quite the contrast to the new and old around it.

    The new build area includes the riverside markets where I grab some Thai chicken stir fry for dinner. It’s a cool looking building with lots of vendors and a few sit down restaurants. It seems to be the place to be along the river as the rest of the city is very quiet for a Friday night.

    Even though I’ve jumped forward in time today I’m a bit tired and have an early start so go back to my hotel to chill for the night. Tomorrow is a train day across the mountains I flew over this afternoon. Looking forward to a good sleep before then.    Leggi altro

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    22

    All aboard the Tranzalpine 🚂

    28 settembre 2024, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C

    Good morning from a sunny Christchurch on this lovely morning. I had an early morning Uber to the train station this morning to check in for my scenic plus ride across the Tranzalpine train. I was the first to check in and have a set of four seats to myself, forward facing by the window.

    This avgeek has turned luxury train geek this morning. Very excited! After a few pics of the train I boarded the carriage and lol’d listening in to an older couple discussing their seat assignment. Him: “but they told us to sit here” (Spoiler - they didn’t tell them to sit there). Her: “but our seats are 9A and 9C”. 5 minutes of this and they decided to move to their assigned seats.

    A quick introduction from the ‘premium’ cabin attendant and our hot drinks orders for breakfast were taken. A lovely looking menu awaits for an eating journey across the South Island. Time for departure now, next update on the other side.

    “All aboard!”    Leggi altro

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    Tranzapline Breakfast with 😍 views

    28 settembre 2024, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C

    The South Island of New Zealand really is just a non stop picture postcard. The journey started along the flat Canterbury plains as we leave Christchurch. Green paddocks, sheep and the distant snow capped mountains edging closer and closer.

    I’m travelling in Scenic Plus, which offers all inclusive dining in a dedicated carriage. There is also a dedicated outdoor viewing carriage for use only by plus passengers. While we cruise along the plains breakfast is served. It’s a set menu and is nicely paced.

    The starter of strawberry banana bread comes out with choice of hot drink (an oat hot chocolate for me). This is followed by a mixed berry compote with granola and yoghurt. The main dish is a hash with bacon and poached egg. The food is all really nice and hot drinks are topped up on request.

    Between courses I dash to the outdoor carriage to snap pictures of the now mountainous scenery. As we climb through the mountains we travel through tunnels, bursting into even more stunning views as we exit. Crossing viaducts over clear rivers, the scenery is stunning. The breeze in the outdoor carriage is fresh but the views warm me up.

    The app (download before) and wifi stream informative content to your phone to tell the story of the journey and places we pass. One (older) couple struggle with the app as they have forgotten their Apple password. The crew member spends a good 15mins with them helping them out, but without resetting their password they are stuck without the app.

    A picture tells a 1000 words so I’ll let the pics tell the story. It’s just breathtakingly beautiful. Our half way stop at Arthur’s pass allows time to stretch the legs as they attach a couple more locomotives to the train for the steep section ahead. The next section will have lunch so we’re served a pre lunch drink (sparkling for me) before setting off on part 2 of the journey.    Leggi altro

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    Western side of the Tranzalpine Train

    28 settembre 2024, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    The train sounds its horn indicating it’s time to board the train again for the second part of the journey. Service is suspended, toilets locked and everyone is asked to remain seated as we travel through the longest tunnel of the journey. The 8.5km tunnel has a 1 in 33 gradient so two extra locomotives are attached to the train to be able to pull us out in case of emergency.

    The tunnel trip is uneventful and we soon burst into the momentarily cloudier western side of the divide. We loose the two safety locomotives shortly after and then the sun comes back and the lunch service begins. One of the crew is so chatty with people that the service is quite slow. Her boss eventually calls her out on it and she then finished serving the rest of the carriage (importantly including me who had spent 20mins smelling the delicious food but not being able to eat it).

    Lunch is a slow cooked beef cheek that dissolves as I eat it. Accompanied by a mash and red wine jus, it’s delicious! Now a few glasses deep on the sparkling wine (Oyster Bay naturally in NZ), I get some fresh air in the viewing carriage while bopping away to some music. The countryside here has a lot more foliage and patches of denser forest than the eastern side. The clouds are also lower, but still plenty of sunshine.

    After lunch, a pavlova dessert is served which is a fitting end to the meal (even if the dish originates from Australia 😉). We pass a coal mine, which makes sense given the geography, but given NZ’d whole marketing campaign is about pure nature, it seems odd to pass a coal mine. Coal was why this line was built tho, so I guess it makes sense.

    As we approach Greymouth we follow the river that gets wider as we get closer. 5 hours of amazing scenery and lovely food is about to come to an end. Day trippers are advised to board the train again in an hour - which even for me seems like a quick turnaround. I grab my bag and walk (a little tipsily) to my hotel for a well deserved afternoon nap.

    Would recommend (the train, scenic plus and the nap).    Leggi altro

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    Greymouth Seaside Walk 🌊

    28 settembre 2024, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    After a nice little afternoon nap I decided to take a walk along the seaside of Greymouth. What was going to be a short walk to the beach and back ended up being a 7.5km loop past the airport, along the beach, river, wharf and then an early dinner at a brewery.

    Starting with the walk past the airport to the beach I started googling if there was anyway to get airborne from here today. My wallet sighed with relief when I found no commercial or joy flights available. Onto the beach I went. Coming from Australia I relate beaches with sand, but this beach was small pebbles that got smaller the closer they were to the waters edge. NZ being dramatic again as the crashing waves erode the rocks down to small smooth pebbles.

    I passed a bench alongside the beach that said “nudists welcome”. I’m not sure if it’s an offical nudist beach or area, but either way getting sand stuck in your bits is one thing, but pebbles - no thanks. Plus it was a bit cold to get ones 🍆 out today 😂.

    I walked north along the beach back towards the river along a cycle trail. The crashing of the waves on the beach sounded so powerful. Mother Nature at work showing her strength. Once I reached the breakwater where the river joined the sea the sound of the pebbles being rolled around was loud. A sign suggested swimming was dangerous, but supervise your children if you go swimming here. It looked so rough even on this calm day I would be too scared to even consider swimming here.

    Overlooking the breakwater beach is a driftwood house, made of, you guessed it, driftwood. Quite a unique creation with a couple of ‘rooms’ (I guess you’d call them) perched high on the pebble beach. After watching the waves crash for a few minutes I walked along the river back toward the town centre.

    The path direct to the town centre is blocked by the wharf, requiring a detour around a mini harbour and then through the industrial area of town. Not very scenic here, especially the waste water treatment plant, but given I can’t walk on water it was unavoidable.

    Instead of going back into town (I’ll leave that for the morning) I went to Monteith’s Brewery for an early dinner. After eating all day I just got some small venison sliders and a non alcoholic ginger beer. The brewery was ok but the busker / entertainer sounded better when he was on a break. After dinner took a 15min walk back to my hotel and had a lovely soak in the spa bath. A great way to end the day!    Leggi altro

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    A mini Greymouth hike 🥾💦

    29 settembre 2024, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Had the morning to kill before my afternoon bus to Hokitika. Grabbed some breakfast at what looked like a quirky cafe online but ended up just being a pretty basic cafe. At least it was super cheap! Some quick fried eggs and a hot chocolate later I set off to do the easy Lions Walk hike. It’s only 10mins each way to get a scenic view over the town. Online reviews said it was worthwhile, easy and after sitting on my arse all day yesterday I needed the exercise. Why not.

    Once I’d walked the 20mins to the trail head it started to drizzle. Oh well, here now. Jacket on, I was sweating on the inside and wet from the rain on the outside. I am proud of myself that I didn’t once fall on my arse in the mud - but there were a few close calls 😂. The view from the top was… okay. On a sunny day, probably much better. Going down was harder but despite my shoes being caked in mud, my arse stayed mud and slip free. I call that a win.

    Time for a rainy walk across the river to the train station toilets to clean off the mud and dry out my feet a bit. The shoes will need a clean back at the hotel tonight to pass muster with Australian quarantine tomorrow. Of course once I settled into a cafe for some lunch, the sun came out. Typical 😂.

    There’s not a great deal to do in Greymouth town centre on a Sunday (or perhaps any-day). To really see NZ you need a car. I hung out in the cafe for a bit to warm up with a cuppa tea, then had a short stroll around town before my short bus ride to Hokitika.    Leggi altro

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    Hokitika’s Gay Kiwis ?

    29 settembre 2024, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Last time I was in Hokitika (19 years ago) I arrived about midnight after being delayed at Arthur’s Pass for most of the day. I had to scramble to find a bed for the night and ended up staying in a room above the pub. Today, the pub looks like it has had a refresh but otherwise the town looks similar. I’ve only got a couple of hours this time before my flight back to Christchurch this afternoon.

    I check out the glass blowing studio (would like to try that one day), a jade shop (not my thing but impressive) and look at the driftwood Hokitika sign at the beach. With the tourist attractions now ticked off, I settle into a cafe for another cup of tea (peppermint this time). The background music playing in most cafes in NZ seems to be straight out of the 80’s and 90’s. Centrefold by The J Geils Band followed by the Backstreet Boys bops in the background as I relax with my tea.

    I decided the check out the National Kiwi Centre as I’ve never seen a live Kiwi before. I arrived just on eel feeding time which was cool to see. These are the biggest freshwater eels on earth. The kids were able to lay down and feed and pat them which was cute. Then it was off to Kiwi feeding. They have 2 kiwi birds here, which were supposed to be a breeding pair. Thats until said birds turned out to be two males. Gay Kiwis perhaps?

    I was the only one watching them feed so got to chat with the handler for a bit. They release the birds to the wild once they find a suitable territory for the males that has available females. While both birds ate some of the meal, they were both more interesting in digging for worms than the food given to them. I watched them do their thing for about 20mins. Very mindful. Very demure. Alas no photos allowed but I was given a physical photo when I left. Cute.

    With a successful dose of Kiwi viewing, it was time to farewell Hokitika and walk to the airport. Passed the Catholic Church on my walk with was deemed ‘earthquake prone’ with a sign advising not to go in or near. Seems appropriate. A half an hour walk through the burbs and I was chilling at the airport, ready to begin my journey back home.    Leggi altro

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    Appreciating art in Christchurch 🖼️

    30 settembre 2024, Nuova Zelanda ⋅ 🌬 15 °C

    Today was a quiet day. I decided to try and switch to Melbourne time by sleeping in. Alas that didn’t really work as it took forever to get to sleep last night. After a late check out and a lazy brunch in the library cafe next door I decided to check out the arts side of Christchurch.

    First stop was the art gallery, an impressive new building (new like most buildings in Christchurch). Although I don’t ’get art’, I like looking at it as it’s a quiet place, relaxing and peaceful knowing you don’t have to do anything. I preferred the upper galleries which were a bit brighter and colourful. After a wander around the galleries and a bit of meditation in one of the video pieces I crossed the road to the arts centre.

    The Arts Centre is in heritage buildings that were once a university (or maybe still is). Mostly restored post earthquake there are plenty of boutique shops and mini galleries to explore. The quadrangle had some beautiful trees in spring flower and the guest lounge at the observatory hotel looked very comfortable. Quite a nice area to wander and explore or spend a bit of cash (a lot of cash) on some local art.

    So after a few hours of pretending that I know how to appreciate art, I headed off to the airport, wrapping up a lovely long weekend in New Zealand.    Leggi altro

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    Fine del viaggio
    30 settembre 2024