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Saunders’ Down Under

marraskuuta - joulukuuta 2018
Australia and New Zealand 2018 Lue lisää
  • 45jalanjäljet
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  • MatkaajaSaunders’ Down Under
    Päivä 22

    Rain, Sun, Rain, Sun, Repeat

    5. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Woke up to pouring rain this morning, thinking it may hinder our plans for the day to drive up to Abel Tasman National Park to hike along part of the Coastal Track (which is what they call trails here!). After a light breakfast at our hotel, it seemed to be clearing up a little so we decided to go for it! We drove the 64kms from Nelson to Marahau, where the trail begins (or ends depending which route you take!) and experienced blue sky, rain, more blue sky..... well, you get the picture!! The trail starts out along the beach with a short bridge and boardwalk, then changes into a well maintained trail, with beautiful trees and plants - a true New Zealand rainforest, with streams, creeks and waterfalls! In parts, there are beaches right alongside the trail, and in others, after gradually hiking up, they seem to be miles below! The first beach we came to was covered in lovely shells, so of course, we had to make a beach sign to commemorate our trip and leave for others to see we’d been there!

    We continued along until we got to Apple Tree Beach and headed down to take a look. When we got to the beach, there was a lovely bird in distress - someone told us he had a fish hook in his wing. Minutes later, a man got off a boat, approached the bird and threw a net and tarp over him, and proceeded to remove the hook! I asked him what type of bird it was, and he told me a Cormorant, and showed me the large hook he’d removed! The bird was a little slow after “surgery”, and it’s wing seemed to hang down, but he walked away and appeared to be ok. We’d hiked the trail for a few hours at this point, so decided to head back on a water taxi with a group of other hikers. The boat was typical of any water taxi, until we arrived at our destination. At this point, there was a tractor waiting for us in the water just off the beach with a boat trailer attached. Our boat went up onto the trailer and we were driven in to the beach by the tractor! Then, our boat driver hopped onto the tractor and drove us the half km up the road to the water taxi rental place and let us all off in the parking lot! We’d never seen anything like that before!!

    We got back to where we’d parked the car, and there was a nice little cafe right there, so we popped in for a quick lunch before heading to our next destination. We had seen a place on the map called Split Apple Rock, it was a short detour on our way back to Nelson, so we went to take a look. This was one of those beaches far down from the road, so we made the trek down to see the rock - pretty cool! Not many people on this beach, but it too was lovely. Of course, having come down a ways from the road, we then had to hike back up!! Didn’t take too long and we were both glad we’re in somewhat decent shape to be able to do this (ha ha).

    Headed home to our hotel, then got changed and out for dinner in lovely downtown Nelson - it really is a pretty little town and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed our stay here!    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaSaunders’ Down Under
    Päivä 23

    Nelson to Picton

    6. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Had a nice continental breakfast at our hotel in Nelson (one of the nicest places we’ve stayed in on this trip), and went downtown for an hour or so for a last look around before hitting the road to head to Picton. The distance between these two towns is only about 114kms, but because of all the winding roads, and stops at lookout points, it took us a while to get here! Some beautiful scenery along the way, and we took the Queen Charlotte Pass road along the coastline so we could drink it all in! We arrived at our hotel around noon, and since it was too early to check in, left the car there and went for a walk around town - which doesn’t take long cos it’s a very small town at the northern most tip of the South Island. We went down to look at the ferry terminal where we will be leaving on the Interislander ferry tomorrow to head for the north island - had to get a pic of Dave “driving” the ferry!! We were going to go into the aquarium to see the blue penguins, but when we asked at the desk, the guy told us they were all out of penguins 😳. Not much point in going there then! Instead, we decided to have a quick lunch, and went to this little bakery that specializes in pies - and I might add the most delicious pies I’ve ever tasted! We then decided to check out the mall in town - if you can call it that! There were maybe 3 stores and a grocery store and that was it! I think by this time we’d seen all there was to see in Picton, so we came back to the hotel to rest for a couple of hours - with all the driving and walking of the past couple of days, we needed some down time. We had noticed on our trek through town that a pub called the Thirsty Pig had happy hour between 5 and 7, and a reasonably priced menu, so decided to go there for dinner. I think everyone who lives in Picton had the same idea, as it was packed and very loud - of course, the meat draw was a big attraction to the townsfolk, I’m sure!! 😂😂. They had a great British menu, so I threw caution to the wind and ordered the Bangers and Mash - and every bite was worth the gazillion calories! So that’s Picton - a small but pretty little town.... with no penguins!Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaSaunders’ Down Under
    Päivä 24

    Off to the North - on a Ferry!

    7. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Up early today to check in and line up for the Interislander ferry to take us from New Zealand’s lovely South Island to Wellington on the north island. The whole system for loading the ferry was very smooth, and since it appears reservations are required for all travellers, we were fully loaded and on our way about 10 minutes ahead of schedule. The first part of the trip, leaving Picton, was through the beautiful calm waters and islands of Queen Charlotte Sound, and the scenery was very similar to ours in BC, with the exception of the amazing turquoise water here (photos don’t do it justice!). Once we got through the islands, we were out in the open water of Cook Strait, into 3 metre swells - the boat was listing pretty good and keeping balance was a challenge at times! Once we got into the harbour before Wellington, it calmed down again and we arrived at our destination around 12:30pm.

    Didn’t take long to find our hotel, so we checked into our lovely room then took off on foot to explore Wellington. There is a lovely waterfront walk right in the downtown area, so we took in all the sights and sounds of that area. We got our bearings pretty quickly and found the places we will be visiting over the next couple of days - the Wellington Museum being one of them. It’s huge and we’ve heard very interesting, so looking forward to seeing that. We walked up to a funky pedestrian only area called Cuba Street, full of neat stores and restaurants, headed back down to the waterfront and to our hotel to chill out a bit before dinner.

    We decided to take a break from the usual restaurant food for dinner, and instead went to a really neat food court in Capital Market where we sampled some amazing Asian dishes. Stopped at a local outdoor pub for a glass of wine on our way back, then returned to the hotel to prepare ourselves for a busy day tomorrow!    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaSaunders’ Down Under
    Päivä 25

    Touring the Windy City....

    8. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    ... and not Chicago! This is the also the name given to Wellington, and it certainly lives up to it! So today is Dave’s New Zealand Birthday and we started it out with an awesome buffet breakfast at our hotel - with enough food to last us till dinner! We walked along the waterfront to the New Zealand Museum (or Te Papa in Māori) and spent a few hours in there looking at the exhibitions. It was very interesting to see how immigration to New Zealand began, and has changed so much over the years, from the 1800’s when people either came here from Australia to explore, or on ships from far away, to the 40’s when Europeans were escaping persecution as a result of the war, to the 50’s and 60’s where the government encouraged immigration and offered jobs and housing and a lot of British people took advantage of a new life. One of the art exhibits was a cool “brick” wall where dry erase pens were supplied and people could add their sentiments - which of course I did! As we were leaving the museum, the local Salvation Army Band was playing Christmas carols in the foyer, with the audience singing along, so we stopped to watch for a while (and couldn’t help messaging our kids to reminisce on “Merry Christmas Mr. Bean! 😂😂).

    Next we walked through town to where a cable car took us up the hill to the Botanical Gardens in Wellington - glad we didn’t have to make that hike up, and the cable car was pretty cool! We toured around the gardens and enjoyed the view from high above the city. The walk through the gardens is all downhill, ending up at a pretty rose garden, the town cemetery,and the parliament buildings. One large memorial was to a man named Richard Seddon, who was originally from a town close to a Liverpool, emigrated to Australia, then to New Zealand’s west coast to make his fortune in gold, and eventually became the Premier of New Zealand. His story is quite colourful and makes for an interesting read, especially since he had no formal education beyond the age of 12, but obviously, he was a popular leader!

    We had a look at the Parliament buildings, and the interesting building next door called the Bee Hive, which houses the office of the Prime Minister and cabinet offices, as well as a large conference area. On the opposite side is the Parliamentary Library - a totally different looking building! We talked to one of the security guards outside Parliament, who told us a little about New Zealand’s current Prime Minister, Jacinda Adern, who became PM at the age of 37, and is the first PM ever to have a child while in office. He told us she is quite popular with the people of New Zealand, and that many appreciate the younger views she brings to running the country.

    We headed down to have a look at the old railway station, just down from parliament, then after walking over 12km came back to the hotel for a rest! We then got ready and went out for a nice dinner for Dave’s Birthday! Funny how on a Friday night, this area of the city is hopping with people, but on a Saturday, it’s like a ghost town! The hostess in the restaurant explained to us that on Fridays, everyone stays downtown after work to go for drinks and dinner, but that Saturday is their slowest night of the week! Good thing cos it was pretty easy to get a table! 😜. Happy Birthday Dave!    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaSaunders’ Down Under
    Päivä 26

    Wellington on Wheels!

    9. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    For the previous day and a half, we had seen so much of Wellington on foot, so decided that today, we’d take a drive to see more of this lovely town. We started out by heading up a winding road to Mount Victoria Lookout, and at the top, were treated to amazing 360 degree views of Wellington. There were a few informational signs at the lookout, and one of interest showed an map indicating that the next stop directly south of where we were standing, was Antarctica! We drove on to Shark Bay where we stopped for a while to watch planes taking off, as it was right at the end of the airport runway - right across from us on a hill, was an interesting Wellington sign, depicting the reputation of being a Windy City! Next we drove around Point Halswell on our way to a pretty seaside town called Scorching Bay. There was a cute cafe there with shell murals on two of the walls to one side. Really nice beach in this bay too, with lots of families and sun worshippers taking advantage of the sunny day.

    We continued along the coast road to Breaker Bay and then on to Moa Point, where the other end of the airport runway starts right at the edge of the ocean. Interestingly, the runway has a road and tunnel going right underneath it! We got out of the car and decided to wait for a plane to come in for landing, and minutes later, were in luck as one flew in from Fiji. It was so close, you could almost see the people inside the plane - so I waved just in case they could see me! We kept going along the coast for a bit longer, then decided to head inland through some pretty towns on the way back to our hotel. We got back then decided to go down to the waterfront and check out the Wellington Museum, a much smaller place than the New Zealand Museum we were at yesterday, but very interesting, as well as interactive. We learned a lot about the history of Wellington, including a 100 year dateline of how the city has evolved and changed over the years. There was a nautical area with a few photo opps (😉), and the history of the Māoris in Wellington. Out for a quick dinner then back to our hotel to rest up for tomorrow’s road trip to Napier - and wine country!!    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaSaunders’ Down Under
    Päivä 27

    North to Napier

    10. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We left Wellington at 8am this morning to head to Napier in the Hawke’s Bay Area of New Zealand’s North Island. We drove through rolling hills with lots of sheep and cattle and the views were stunning. Our first stop was about 2 hours out of Wellington at a place called Palmerston North. This is a beautiful town, home to Massey University, renowned for its agriculture research, as well as being recognized in Australia, the US, Canada and Britain for its veterinary medicine program. The town is centred around a beautiful square with thousands of flowers, lovely buildings, and a great shopping area. Even the ducks like it here - we saw Mama and her babies taking a stroll through the square! We stopped for a photo opp at a town called Dannevirke, which was founded in the late 1800’s by Danish, Norwegian and Swedish settlers.

    We continued on through farmland - lots of corn and squash, and eventually vineyards, before arriving in Napier around 1pm. We stocked up on a few groceries, checked into our hotel then went to explore the town. In 1931, Napier and nearby Hastings were hit with a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that destroyed the downtown areas, killed 256 people and injured thousands. Napier came back from the earthquake with a clean slate and fresh land to build on. One hundred and eleven new buildings were constructed in the downtown area between 1931 and 1933. The vast majority took their cues from Art Deco, the era’s cutting-edge architectural trend which today gives the town its quirky, fun vibe. Every February, there is an Art Deco Festival in Napier, and many stores sell vintage clothes from the Great Gatsby era so that locals and visitors can participate in the festivities! There is a lovely waterfront flower garden, a pavilion used for shows during the summer months, and a black sand/gravel beach - so unlike the beaches we’ve seen along the New Zealand coastline so far! After a long walk and a bite to eat, we came back the hotel to do some research on the famous Hawke’s Bay Wineries we plan to visit tomorrow!    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaSaunders’ Down Under
    Päivä 28

    A Tasting we will go!

    11. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Got up to another overcast day today but we don’t let that stop us! We drove up to a lookout point called Bluff Hill with a great view over the other side of Napier - a town called Ahuriri - the log dry land sort and container port. There was a small cruise ship approaching shore while we were there. We then drove down to Perfume Point where there is a cool little lighthouse, then walked into the town of Ahuriri to have a quick look around. From there, we headed south to a town called Hastings - another place that suffered lots of damage from the 1931 earthquake and has been rebuilt. We walked around the town - saw Santa on his “sleigh” driving around, the Christmas decorations and some cool little stores on the Main Street - they actually still have K-Mart here, but forgot to get a pic! We grabbed some lunch then set off to find some of the famous Hawke’s Bay wineries!

    The first winery we stopped at was called Pask, and the lovely manager, Mel, was very informative and gave us some very nice wines to sample. We started talking to her about the Kelowna wineries we’ve visited, and it turned out she knew a friend of Jeff’s from Beaumont winery, who has been here and travels all over trying new wines and visiting wineries! Small world! I picked up a bottle of Chardonnay at Pask - looking forward to trying that! Our next stop was Te Awa winery which is on the Gimblett Gravels - this is an area where an earthquake diverted the river leaving behind gravel type soil, which creates perfect drainage for growing grapes. We each got to taste 6 different varieties of wine here (hic) - good thing they’re small samples! We crossed over half a block down the road to Trinity Hill Winery, also part of the Gimblett Gravels, and I have to say, some of the best wine we have tasted in the area! In all 3 places, I tried the whites and Dave the reds, and we both agreed at Trinity Hill, all of the samples we had were amazing! Dave bought a bottle of their Syrah, which he really enjoyed in the tasting. As I said, it’s a good thing the samples are small, as we had a 40 minute drive back to Napier after all these shenanigans!!

    We decided to go back over to Ahuriri for dinner to a place we’d found in a brochure called The Jandal, which looked to have some pretty good menu items. As you can see from the photo below, it’s a good thing we got there early..... ha ha!! When we first walked in, there wasn’t even a greeter, server or bartender, and we had to cough a few times before anyone realized we were there! Nevertheless, we had a pretty good dinner, and by the time we left, one other couple had arrived to eat - must be the weather, or maybe cos it’s only Tuesday here 🤷‍♀️. Back to our hotel now for a rest and to plan tomorrow’s adventures!    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaSaunders’ Down Under
    Päivä 29

    Found Penguins ..... and more Wineries!

    12. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    Woke up to another cloudy day, but had already made plans to go to the National New Zealand Aquarium, and got there when it opened at 9am - what an awesome place, and yes, they had penguins!! We walked around for the first half hour looking at the fabulous displays, reptiles, stingrays, and one of which actually has two Kiwi birds who were chasing each other and having a great time! It was very dark in their display as they are nocturnal birds, so getting a photo was a challenge! Got one dark one, but also got one of a stuffed Kiwi and her large egg! At 9:30, it was penguin feeding time - what cuties these are! They are actually blue (or “little”) penguins, native to New Zealand and are so sweet and quite tame. One in particular is named Dora, and she has been raised in the aquarium since she was very small and loves human interaction - what a fun little penguin she is! They all have names and their own personalities, as noted by the “naughty” and “good” sign posted in their pool area. At 10am, it was fish feeding time in the “reef” and a diver actually comes and hand feeds the fish in that area which was really cool! We stayed for about another hour, seeing a huge sea turtle, sharks, a moray eel, piranas , beautifully coloured tropical fish and more stingrays.

    Next stop was downtown as Dave wanted to get a haircut - he found a barber shop on the Main Street and had a great time chatting with the two kiwi barbers - one was an Everton fan, the other a die hard Liverpool fan, with lots of memorabilia at his workstation - had to get a pic of that! We stopped for a quick lunch, then headed off to check out a few more wineries. Went to Urban Winery first, about 10 minutes from where we are staying. So nice to talk to the people serving at these places - they are all very knowledgeable about the products, and also love hearing about BC and our wine districts. Next stop was Mission Estate - a former church and now a lovely winery which still has a chapel and beautiful gardens in addition to the vineyards. Our last stop was a Church Road Winery, just down the road, and after our tasting, we sat outside to have a glass of wine, and the sun actually came out - yay! As we were sitting outside, we both commented on how similar the Hawke’s Bay wine area is very similar to the Okanagan wine district.

    After another busy day, we had a Mexican dinner and are now preparing to hit the road again tomorrow to our next destination - Rotorua!    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaSaunders’ Down Under
    Päivä 30

    Rotorua - mountain biking Mecca?

    13. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    Well, according to what Dave’s heard it is! We left Napier around 9am to head for this “Mecca” 😜! Stopped along the way at Lake Taupo - a lake created by a volcanic eruption over 26,000 years ago, which is about the size of Singapore and actually more of an inland sea than a lake! We continued on to Rotorua, in an area known as the Bay of Plenty, but before making it to town, stopped at Mountain Biking Rotorua so Dave could check out the trails and get some information for the ride he’s booked tomorrow. Chatted for a while with a very helpful local named Zac, who passed on lots of his knowledge and pointed out some of the best tracks (trails) for Dave to ride! We then drove into town and found the city centre and tourist info to get some maps. Walked around the pretty downtown area for a while, had a quick lunch and by the it was time to check into our hotel. We have a lovely view of Lake a Rotorua from our room.

    After settling in, we took off on foot to explore the nearby park and lakefront area. Rotorua is a town created by another volcanic eruption thousands of years ago, and is known for its major geothermal activity, including geysers and hot mud pools. Walking along the lake, we witnessed bubbling, steaming pools and the distinct smell of sulphur, due to the hydrogen sulphide emissions. As we walked along further, the smell diminished and the lake became clearer with more bird life and lovely tree lined trails.

    After a long walk, we came back to the hotel to get ready to go downtown for the weekly Rotorua night market. We got down there just after 6pm, and.... nothing!! No street market, no crowds - hmmm! We asked a lady who was just closing down the Starbucks (yes, they close at 6 here??!!), and she said the market was cancelled because of the threat of heavy rain and lightening storms! 😳. It was a little cloudy, but warm, and not a raindrop or lightening bolt in sight, but, oh well! We continued down the road to a place called Eat Street - a whole covered city block chock full of restaurants and bars - and an amazing vibe! We stopped at Macs Steakhouse for dinner, and after that, went across the road to a brew pub where Dave had a great dark beer and I had a glass of wine. Walked back through town to our hotel - Dave will be mountain biking tomorrow so wants to get a good sleep. Me - maybe some shopping and a manicure!! 😂😂😜    Lue lisää

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  • MatkaajaSaunders’ Down Under
    1
    Päivä 31

    Dave's excellent adventure!

    14. joulukuuta 2018, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    So Dave was up bright and early this morning to head for the hills and fulfill his bucket list dream of mountain biking in Rotorua, New Zealand. He drove out to MTB Rotorua, rented his bike and took to the slopes for 3 hours, riding intermediate and advanced trails and thoroughly enjoying himself. Some interesting trail names along the way (of course, the spelling snob in me picked out an error, but maybe that’s how they spell lobotomy here - 😂😂😂!). So glad he got to do this as the weather was looking iffy for today, but it turned out to be a lovely sunny morning and perfect temps for his ride!

    While he was gone, I had a bit of a leisurely morning - cup of coffee, feet up, catch up on news, then took myself off to my 9:30 nail appointment in downtown Rotorua! After that was done, I browsed some of the stores along the many side streets, and shocker - bought NOTHING!! LOL!

    I got back to the hotel around noon and Dave was back at 1, so we went for some lunch and more wandering around the stores - got Dave’s Christmas present at one of the bike shops, then back to our place for a rest.

    We decided to go back to Eat Streat (again, their spelling 😜) for dinner, and when we got there, there was a brass band playing Christmas Carols, which was really nice. Such a cool place down there, and we had a really nice dinner, walked around a bit more, then back to the hotel for some well deserved rest!    Lue lisää

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