Tyhjennä haku
9 months Sabbatical
  • Louis Le Poidevin
  • Hannah Clarkson
  • Louis Le Poidevin
  • Hannah Clarkson

9 months Sabbatical

September - October 2019 Lue lisää
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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    To the South Island!

    20. joulukuuta 2019, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    Dropped our home for the last 3 weeks back to Lucky campers.
    Turbulent flight to cold wet Queenstown, not quite the summer we had ordered. We were greeted by an excited Cathers wearing a Christmas Santa springy hat thing, got us into the festive spirit. We drove North East towards Wanaka. The car dipped down to 7 degrees on the way though. Brrr.
    The scenery is amazing, big flat planes with mountain ranges bordering all sides.
    Got to Pete and Cathers house. It's got some epic views over Lake Wanaka.
    Pete was in the pub after his work drinks, so we wandered through town to meet him. Went past the cool blue lake with the mountains behind.
    Found a pissed Pete with his work friends in the pub.
    Had a great few hours socialising. Getting hungry we ordered some burgers for take away and got some brandy to add to some dodgy looking white wine. Made Chardonnay brandy sangria. Which went down a treat. Great first day in the south Island.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Let's get festive

    21. joulukuuta 2019, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Had a leisurely morning around the house, getting things prepped for the 4x4 trip. Packing up everything we needed and making shopping lists. Pete and Cathers had helped to organise a Christmas production through their church. They needed to be there a bit early, so Hannah and I did some shopping around the town. Had a massive ice cream and sat on the lake front until it was time to head to the show.
    Show was great with lots of festive singing and dancing. They had lots of tasty smoked salmon mini pancakes after, so we hung around for a while to make sure that no food was wasted. 😁.
    Off to the supermarket to stock up on food for the trip.
    To keep us in the festive spirit we went home and watched Home Alone. Keep the change you filthy animal.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    2 days of 4x4 fun around the mountains

    22. joulukuuta 2019, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    We were up and away by 6.30am to meet Pete and Cathers friends. But firstly we had to get up and over the range in the way. After 30 odd mins we were off the tarmac and onto the dirt road. The Thomson gorge. Great scenery, we were only slowed down by the gates you have to open and close every few Km.

    Met up with Jimmy and Emily. Jimmy was our guide as had done the trails before. A bit further down the road we met Lois and Ed, a couple who had moved from England 6 years ago.
    With the 3 vans loaded, all occupants filled with coffee we were on our way. These tracks are very cool, they just wind their way up and down valleys, along the top of ridges along the mountains and down through streams you need to drove through. Steep sided drop offs along the way. Some great driving by Pete took us safely through. We stopped off at a spacious hut for the night. Plenty of room for all 8 of us. A kitchen and dining room. Fresh stream flowing past for filling up drink containers.
    Mega error, we only took 4 bottles of beer, one bottle of wine and a hip flask of brandy. Polished them off whilst eating some traditional pasta stodge and playing bananagram.

    Day 2.
    Set off with great views and more great weather. After a few hours we started to head back downhill and back into civilisation. We headed for a lunch spot and had a smoked salmon bagel and toastie.
    There was an old mine next door which had been turned into a lake, so spent some time skimming stones until our arms hurt.
    Here we left Ed and Lois and started heading north with Jimmy and Emily. Went along a valley floor with several river crossings. Then climbed up to the top of a ridge. Again epic views. On the way down to the main road We came across lots of sheep and cows. One of the bulls had the most enormous bollocks I've ever seen! Would not mess with him.
    Made it to the main road and went back to Wanaka.
    All completely pooped we didn't feel like doing much. But some friends were out in town, so went out for a curry then joined then for a G and T. Felt slightly land sick after all the jiggling from the 4x4 journey.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Wanaka lake chill - Christmas eve

    24. joulukuuta 2019, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Hannah had a massive migraine and was being sick, so the rest of us had a chilled out morning. Just after mid day Cathers, Pete and I headed down to meet some friends by the lake. Had a very nice lunch of calamari, loaded fries and jalapeno cheese poppers. Super healthy.
    Hannah had recovered by then, so we headed back to collect her. Decided we would be doing a bike ride for Christmas day so hired a bike from town.
    The lake was looking nice, so we borrowed some paddle boards from some friends and went for a SUP on the lake. I touched the famous Wanaka lake tree about 50m from the waters edge. The wind picked up pretty quickly and it looked like it was about to rain so we paddled back to the beers.
    Then back to the house for a round of Christmas Die Hard and a roast dinner.
    To finish off the day we went to midnight mass for some Carol sing songs. Back home to finish watching Dirty dancing and bed. Tomorrow is Christmas!!    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    It's Christmaaaaassssssss

    25. joulukuuta 2019, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Got up and found that he'd been! Stockings were full above the fire.
    Slapped on the Christmas songs and had some croissants and bucks fizz. Lovely way to start the day.

    Started off for a bike ride around the lake. Beautiful views over the mountains and with the clear blue lake. We took some shot glasses with us, so stopped every so often to have a little bit of wine.
    Stopped in at MJ and Tristans house. Initial plan was to go down to the lake, but the weather was forecast to be cloudy and rainy, so we nipped back to the house and got everything to set up camp at their house for the rest of the day. Ended up playing balls, eating cheese, guzzling wine, bbqing rump steak and soaking in their hot tub.
    Once we were all thoroughly boozed (mainly me) we cycled back home.
    Called the family and had a chat with them whilst they opened their stockings.
    All fell asleep whilst watching Abominable. 2nd time of trying to get through it. Maybe boxing day we will finish it off.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Boxing day - prepping for the trip away

    26. joulukuuta 2019, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Got up and cycled the bike back to the rental place then jogged home. That cured a bit of the hangover.
    Then called the pissed family, whilst they opened their prezzies from me from Amazon.
    Started on cooking brunch of a full english whilst Pete and Cathers chatted with the family. Was gloriously sunny so had food outside.
    Spent the next few hour sorting the truck for our trip, shopping and packing.
    With almost everything ready we went for an hour hike up to Mount Iron. Fantastic views from the top of the lake and the mountains.
    Then did various trips round Wanaka visiting friends and going to a local craft beer place.
    Back home to finish packing and to have some 11 hour slow roasted pork. Yum yum yum    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Journey starts - roof box explosion

    27. joulukuuta 2019, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Did the final packing of the van. Using up all the available space. Checked the weather, and noooo! Torrential rain on the entire west coast. Exactly where we were heading.
    So after a bit of optioneering we changed the plan to head up the middle of the country towards Peel Forest. Which should be away from the nasty bit of wind and rain.
    The drive was going to be about 4 hours to get there, passing lakes and mountains on the way.
    Briefly stopped at Lake Pukaki for left over pulled pork rolls.
    Stopped in at the Church of the Good Shepherd to get the classic instagram shot and walked round a shop with a cool old telescope.

    10 mins after that.... suddenly boom! Roof box exploded in a shower of camping equipment. The wind caught it and ripped it apart, scattering our belongings to the side of the road. Very luckily there was a strong sideways wind so nothing was on the road. Straight away we had a friendly car driver helping out. Then a police man.
    We smashed up the whole top box into little pieces and the very kind police man took away the parts. Just about had enough room to fit all our stuff inside the van.
    Excitement over, we headed to Peel Forest campground. By 6pm we were all set up and enjoying the sun and beers. No rain in sight.
    Hung around playing frisbee and had a curry.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    South Island Journey north

    28. joulukuuta 2019, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Started the morning with a run round Peel forest. Very steep and got the lungs working hard. Got back to the campsite and cooked up some bacon and eggs. Had loads, but cooked it all in case it started to get too hot in the car.
    Refreshed showered and full, we packed up the car. Surprisingly with a bit of careful jiggery pokey, we managed to fit everything in with ample space for everyone. Looks like we didn't need a roof box after all.
    Stopped in briefly to a river to skim some stones.
    Our first walking destination was Castle Hill. A well known bouldering area on Arthurs pass. Very pretty place with boulding for those who have large cohones.
    Next we stopped off at a caving spot. Got our wetsuits on and started walking through. Definitely head torches required in this 500m long narrow cave. Fast flowing water and some fun little climbs. Saw a few crazy people going though, one granny who could not make it up the water falls and kids which looked very cold. For us, epic fun.
    It was 5.30 by now and we still had 2.5 hours to drive until we got to Hans campsite, near the west coast on lake Kaniere. Lovely lake but a few pesky sand flies around, so needed to stay fully wrapped up.
    Got up briefly at 3am to try and take some star photos. But too cloudy.    Lue lisää

  • 9 months Sabbatical
    2

    Up the West coast

    29. joulukuuta 2019, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Started by packing up and skirting along the lake to Dorothy falls. There had been loads of landslides from the massive rain fall a few weeks ago. DOC has been very quick in restoring everything, but scary to see the amount of water that would have been cascading down the hills.
    The landscape is completely different to central south island, with much more lush vegetation, smaller flat plains with hills that rise steeply from them.

    Our first port of call was Hokitika gorge. 15 min walk to the end and back with nice views over a river. But sandflies everywhere. So annoying.
    Then made our way to the seaside town of Hokitika for some fish and chips and doughnuts. Yum yum.

    Rain coming soon, we headed north towards Pancake rocks. The West coast here looks very similar to the East coast of Taiwan. The pancake rocks were cool with a few blow holes spurting up water.

    Then a bit further north to Cape Foulwind to see some seals. Then inland towards Lyell for our campground for the night.
    We arrived in a gorge. Got setup whilst 100s of sandflies tried to attack. They are just the most annoying things!
    To get away we went for a walk. Through thick, steep sided forest.
    Back to cook up some pasta whilst being attacked further. Rain started at 9.30 so that signalled bed time.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Rain or Sandflies?

    30. joulukuuta 2019, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Woke up at about 7.30 to the sound of rain. We could see hundreds of sandflies on the roof of our tent, between the inner and the outer.
    Certainly want to be fully dressed before venturing outside. Stayed snoozing till about 8, hoping that the rain would stop. Eventually decided to get up as Pete and Cathers were outside. Got outside to sunshine and no rain.... what?!?
    When putting down the tent, we realised that the sound of rain was actually just the sandflies landing and taking off. Yuck!

    Got to Richmond, and there was a market on, so stopped for a crepe and cherries. This area is a lot flatter with grassy plains, pine trees and smaller rolling hills.

    Went slightly further west to a bar overlooking Rabbit island for a beer. Very blue water with quick moving tide.

    Drove from Richmond to some shops to stock up for the next 3 days. On the way North West we stopped at Hawkes lookout with great views down the hills to the sea. Onwards past Able Tasman and up to our home for new year in Golden bay.

    Cute little holiday home only 2 min walk from the beach. That will do nicely!    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    New years eve

    31. joulukuuta 2019, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Set off to Wharariki Beach late morning to try and hunt for some ormers. After a 20min walk in through dunes and rolling green hills we made it to a windy beach. No sandflies in sight. Yes!
    I got the wetsuit on to swim out to an offshore island to search for ormers, but the visibility was awful and outward rips, so decided to go body surfing instead. Got joined by some surfers and a few seals for a few waves.
    Pete and Cathers friends MJ and Tristan came and met us. After a few pathetic cartwheels we headed back to the cafe to have iced mochas whilst a peacock pecked around the feet.
    Got back to the house and started the general eating and drinking marathon which new years eve is all about.
    About 11.30 we made it down to the beach to make some shapes with torches and count in the new year.
    Finally made it back to the house and played some acting type games until 3am. Fun!    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    New years day

    1. tammikuuta 2020, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Said goodbye to Tristian and MJ in the morning after a full English. A good way to get rid of the new years eve hangover and start the new decade with a tasty treat.
    Wanting to walk it off we went to the Kaihoka Lakes track. A little lake with some mega wind going on. From there we headed to the northern coast line. Sand blasting at the legs. We jogged back to the car to get the heart rate up a bit.
    Back home to the house to chill out and watch some films for the rest of the day.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Tourist spots around Golden Bay

    2. tammikuuta 2020, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Got up and used up all of the eggs the accommodation gave us in a eggstreme eggstravaganza of mega eggy bread. Yuuuum!
    The aim of the day was to try and hit a few tourist spots around the Golden Bay area.
    We started with Pupu spring, with crystal clear blue water bubbling through the floor.
    Next the grove scenic reserve with jungle and rocks to climb.
    Then off to Rawhiti Caves. About an hour walk in. Dropped my water bottle half way up and had to scramble down the hill to get it back. Sketchy!
    The caves were amazing, with large stalagmites and stalagtites extending down out of reach. Would not want to be in there in an earthquake.
    Needing a bit of a cool down after the walk we headed to Paynes swimming area. Where you can climb and jump off the rocks into freezing cold water. Cold but very refreshing. That marked the end of Golden bay. Heading south past Abel Tasman we bumped into a winery called resurgence. Only 5000 bottles produced per year. We all enjoyed the Sauvignon Blanc so got a bottle.
    Stopped in a campsite in Nelson called Tahuna Beach Kiwi Holiday Park & Motel. With a bit of time to spare we went to the cinema to watch the new Jumungi film.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Exploring nelson

    3. tammikuuta 2020, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Cathers needed to do some work and I fancied doing a factory tour, so we combined the 2 in one and went to PICs peanut butter factory. A very interesting place show casing the story behind the man Pic and how peanut butter is made using only ground up Australian peanuts.
    With work done we went to McCashins brewery for a paddle of ale tasting and lunch. The holiday seems to have taken a turn to mostly revolve around booze and food now...
    We had booked 3 days of Kayaking around Elaine bay in Marlborough sounds. So started the twisty turny road there. Stopped briefly at Goat hill track to take in the views into the bay, then made our way down to the campsite in Elaine bay for the evening.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Kayak for 3 days - Elaine bay

    4. tammikuuta 2020, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Day 1
    Woke up and had an angry person saying we were too close to their tent. 🙄. That was the worst bit of the day over and done with. We checked in with our Kayak hire place just round the corner. Very nice chap gave us the run down of the area and some suggestions of where to paddle to. He said the wind would be fairly nice for the day but said it never has a consistent direction. Something we found out quickly over the coming days.
    We had a lovely sunny paddle for a few hours. Stopping for lunch on a beach. No one else in site anywhere. Lots of mussel farms surrounding the bay.
    We cracked open some hard boiled eggs to find they had not cooked. Turns out you need to keep eggs boiling to make them hard, not just boil and turn off. Who knew.
    A few hours later we found our campsite. People were leaving as we arrived, leaving the place to ourselves. Perfect. I went for a swim and saw 2 big sting rays. Didn't want to get too close. Water was a bit weird with a top layer of fresh and a lower of salty. Which gave snorkelling a weird drunk type feeling.
    With a fire going we played uno and had G and T as the sun went down.

    Day 2
    Packed up the tents. The sea seemed reasonably calm outside our bay, so we made a route to get to our next campsite. Once we got out into the main channel we found the wind was quite strong. Probably about force 5. The plan was to paddle a few miles in open water to the opposite headland. Probably not sensible. So we abandoned plan 1 and headed back along the same route as yesterday, hugging the coast for shelter. It didn't really provide much! Had a few stretches where the wind whipped up and you could barely paddle against it.
    We made a plan to island hop to get closer to the campsite, then surf the waves downwind to get into the bay. This worked perfectly. We arrived wet, and cold. I was definitely enjoying myself, some of the others not quite so much.
    Effing sandflies everywhere, wind then rain coming in so we set up camp quickly and then hid all 4 of us in the bigger 2 man tent. Watched some Netflix and emerged to find a completely still evening. Not a breath of wind. This lulled us into a false sense of security for what was to come tomorrow....

    Day 3
    Emerged from the tent and it was blowing a hooley. Probably force 6 to 7. Straight into the bay and straight into the direction we needed to head.
    Decided to hang around to see if it would die down.
    By mid day there was no change so decided to have a bash at paddling against it. Again island hopping to try and get back to Elaine bay.
    Solid bit of effort required to get us to the Elaine bay entrance. Found ourselves a cheeky sheltered spot just at the entrance to Elaine bay. So had some food before the final slog. Tried once to go against the wind, but Pete and Cathers got spun around, nose picked up by the wind and couldn't steer against it. We turned round to have another bash together.
    This time got the line right and battled through.
    About 45 mins of paddling later we landed back at the slip way. Epic! The wind was so strong it was whipping up into mini whirlwinds. Never seen that before.
    A surprised Kayak owner came down to meet us. He did not expect us to make it back.
    We de crusted with a shower and he gave us victory coffee and cake. What a day.
    Drove to near Blenheim to a campsite for the evening. Finished off by having a meal out at an English style pub. Those ales went down a treat!    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Wine tasting day

    7. tammikuuta 2020, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Picked up some bikes from the campsite and started our cycle wine tour.
    1) Fromm. Pretty average wines all round really. None of us liked any of them. Not a great start. And expensive $10 to $15 tasting.
    2) Villa Maria. Very tasty and free! A great Scottish lady gave us a tasting whilst reminiscing about the UK.
    3) Allan Scott. Reasonably nice wines. The one we all liked was a ginger dessert wine. $5 to taste 3 but some extras were thrown in too.
    4) Whitehaven for food and tasting $5. Not bad wines, but nothing mega which stood out.
    5) Cycled quickly to our last spot. Framingham. Free tasting for 3 wines. All were reasonably nice.
    Villa Maria was definitely the winner.
    Back at the campsite we played Uno and had some Halumi burgers, with a small amount of Jamiesons to finish it all off.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Driving to the West coast

    8. tammikuuta 2020, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Headed down the East coast.

    Stopped into Kaikoura for some cheese tasting and some fish and chips. Cheese was an amazing runny ish blue with a charcoal surround.

    Made our way west, only stopping briefly for coffee etc. After a long day of travelling we stopped in at a campsite in a forest next to a stream. Again reasonable level of annoying sandflies.
    We made a big fire to try and keep them at bay, which mostly worked. Nice bit of pasta for supper.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical
    1

    Franz Josef Glacier

    9. tammikuuta 2020, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Made our way to the Westcoast and started to head south towards Franz Josef glacier. Stopped in to look at Lake Daniells track on the way down. Again amazing blue water, looking very clean and inviting.
    Stopped into a Monteiths brewery for a tasting and got to a campsite near Franz Josef. Set up the tent and headed straight out to Franz Josef glacier walk. A relatively short walk which takes you within a few 100 meters of the base of the glacier. Amazing to see how many meters the glacier has been retreating over the last 100 years or so. Scary to think how much longer it might be around for.
    Back to the campsite for a spot of reading for the girls and watching geostorm for Pete and I.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Back to Wanaka with a few fun stops.

    10. tammikuuta 2020, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    We got up and left the campsite. We headed to Lake Matherson with the aim of getting a photo of the mountain reflected in the water. No such luck today. Too windy and too many ripples on the water. Still a nice walk though.

    We started the route back to Wanaka heading South East. We stopped at one spot which Pete and Cathers knew about with a waterfall you can go under. Got into the wetsuits and walked up.
    Absolutely bloody freezing water. We scrambled along up the rocks to the falls. I climbed over and went behind them. A huge mass of water thundering through. Instant brain freeze. Great fun.

    After thawing out and being eaten alive again by sandflies we moved onto the blue pools. Amazing blue water and great for skimming. Which Pete and I spent about 20 mins doing.

    From there we drove back to Wanaka, unloaded the truck and zonked out. Made some homemade pizzas. Looking forward to a proper bed again.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Costume party and out out

    11. tammikuuta 2020, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    General admin in the morning and early afternoon. Catching up on washing and emails.
    We had been invited to a birthday party, none of us could really be arsed as it was themed. Hannah did an excellent job of going to town and getting a costume for us all.
    Dressed up we drove to the party. Had a great time, at a house with great views.
    At 9ish Cathers drove us home. The plan was to go out out, so we had a small rave to 90s dance hits before going out for more dancing at an Irish bar and a place called Cork which we had been to several times before.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Climbing Mt Isthmas

    12. tammikuuta 2020, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    Had a fairly leisurely morning doing admin and washing etc till about midday. Then set off for a 30 min drive to the base of Mount Isthmas. Pete and Cathers friend Liam joined us for the trip.
    Took about 3 hours to get to the top. With stunning views over lake Wanaka and lake Hawea.
    Strong winds over the top, so we only stayed around for 10 mins or so.
    The way down was actually much harder on the knees. But took us about 1.5 hours to get back.
    Cathers had work starting at 6 ish the next morning, so we had an early night of burgers and How to Train Your Dragon.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Driving towards Milford Sound

    13. tammikuuta 2020, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Left Wanaka with the Mazda which Pete and Cathers had kindly lent us.

    First stop was Arrow town for honey tasting and wander. An old school village which felt much like an American western type set.

    Then a short hop down to road to Queenstown for a pie from Fergbaker. Hannah said the burger place next door called Furgburger was famous. But the line was huge so we couldn't be arsed to wait.

    From there a fairly easy drive to Te Anau camping. We gathered some info from the tourist office and did some shopping. With not much to do in town we had a beer and went to the cinema to watch the new star wars.
    No clouds in the sky when we got out so quite a chilly night.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Milford sound

    14. tammikuuta 2020, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Early start of 5.45am in order to drive up to Milford Sound for our 9am boat tour.
    Very calm still morning with a little mist hanging in the air. We stopped a few times to take some photos, but didn't linger for too long lest we would miss out on the free car park. Got to the boat with 15 mins to spare.
    Boarded and sat on top. Quite a chilly morning, but we had enough layers on to keep warm. Amazing scenery with 150m high waterfalls and over 1000m high walls on either side. The whole trip took about 2 hours with a few points where the captain drove the nose into a waterfall.
    We worked our way back down the Milford road, stopping at a few spots to take some photos, fill the bottle up with glacier water and make some hot ham rolls. Hopefully not too hot as it was just baking from being in the back of the car.
    Saw a nasty crash part way back where a 4x4 had flipped. No idea why.
    Got back to Te Anau and chilled out on beach on the lakeside. Finally managing to catch up on some updates from the last 2 weeks.
    I was feeling like either I had mega hayfever or a bit of a cold, so we retired to the campsite by 7.30.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Te Anau and Glenorchy

    15. tammikuuta 2020, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Got up later as I was feeling a bit sniffley the night before.
    Took a walk to Dock Bay over a hydro electric dam.
    Nice hour long walk with a beach at the end.
    Stocked up on some fizzy sweets and set off towards Glenorchy.
    Arrived and got setup in a campsite. I wanted to have a look at a couple of lord of the rings filming sites, so we set off towards a place called Paradise.
    Saw a tour bus dart off into the bushes so marked that in my head to come back to.
    Great views of mountains from Paradise as you would expect by the name.
    Doubled back to the potential lord of the rings spot. No idea which one it was, no signal to find out and Hannah couldn't be bothered to explore, so we moved on.
    Drove past Diamond lake and onto Isengard from LOTR. Big wide valley with mountains behind which they super imposed the white tower onto. Very cool.
    Back to the sleepy town of Glenorchy for a massive icecream sunday and a walk around the lake edge and through the Glenorchy lagoon.    Lue lisää

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  • 9 months Sabbatical

    Back to Wanaka

    16. tammikuuta 2020, Uusi Seelanti ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Drove past lake Wakatipu, through Queens town back to Wanaka. The drive was amazing, with stunning mirrow views over the lake. Had one moment when we thought we were going to run out of fuel, but the Mazda seems to keep on going on empty 😁.
    Met up with Cathers, went for a swim in the lake and some did some painting. The girls did some colouring in. Very cultured!
    Met up with Pete after he finished work and went to meet Sophie and Aubrey to try some lazer clay pigeon shooting. Great fun!    Lue lisää

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