Day 341
Thursday 7th February 2008
****************
Will post more pics next time!!! No time now..and uploading pics really does take a lot of time! xxx
****************
Akaroa - Dunedin and onwards (still have another couple of hours to drive tonight!)
Aloha!! We're in Dunedin!!!! A 'wee scottish flavoured town' !! :-)
ANd we've been driving all day!! So labourious! We have stopped to see how the primaries are going in the US...and it looks like Hillary is slightly in front at 52%A couple of hours ago, Obama was in front but now he's sitting at 47%..so it could be anyone being nominated for the final vote in November. Go Hillary! The US has such Exciting politics! Funny, NZ doesn't follow world news much - nothing in the radio and nothing in the papers. Paroquial in a way.
This morning we woke up to a rabbit staring at us...and to the sound of MORE cows in the fields!! I love that sound.....they sort of moo with a scream to end it off. So funny!
The holiday park we stayed at last night had a free to take basket, so we're now stocked up with handtowels and baked beans! We were wondering how to wipe our dishes last night...........when we spotted the 'free to take basket' had some in it. Very cool. T-towel Problem solved. See, you lose some, you win some! Soon it'll be us leaving our goods behind. Again!
We left Akaroa at 9.30 this morning..and got to Lincoln at abotu 10.30am where we noticed heaps of LARGE hedges! They're joined up by a dense amount of pine trees. I've never seen so many 'natural' hedges like this in my life! Every town has it's peculiarities i tell you! As we passed Ashburton, an agricultural town,set against the backdrop of the Southern Alps, we saw more hedges!! Ended taking a pic of these...We also spotted a lot of very large sprinklers..about 500m wide!
We've been in Dunedin now for a couple of hours (Mainly on the net to check email and the election hehe)...and we are heading off again..but will have a look around the town first..
So, will let you know next time..where we end up tonight!!
Thursday, 7 February 2008
KAIKOURA to AKAROA
Day 340 (Gosh! Have we really been away THAT LONG??)
Wednesday 6th February 2008
Kaikoura - Akaroa - Waitangi Day today (New Zealand's National Day!!)
************************
Bob told us Kai Koura means Food & Crayfish in Maori. And with all the estauries, lakes and the Pacific Ocean everywhere, i'm not surprised! We didn't have any cray fish tho! Drats. I feel like some crays!
************************
We left our ducks quacking at us over breakfast and decided we'd drive and stop wherever we saw a campsite and were tired.
It ended up being a place Bob suggested - Akaroa. And what a BEAUTIFUL little piece of paradise it was too!
First we stopped at a couple of wineries along the way. We were determined to buy a white wine to have with our dinner. We've been drinking red wine for so long now, for health reasons, and staying away from the white wine.
BUT....when in NZ...one has to drink the white! IT's superb. We stopped at the Kaikoura boutique winery and ended up having a wine tasting at 10am!!!
The lady opened especially for us, so how could we not! It turned out today was Waitungi Day, New Zealand's National Day..and a public holiday..and the winery wasn't supposed to open until 11am seeing it was a public holiday..but she said since we were there..she'd open.
What a lovely lady! She introduced us to her black persian cat..and told us all about their wines...and said tastings were $4 each but decided we could taste and forget the charge. Consequently, we went away with a delicious bottle of Kaikoura 2006 sauvignon blanc! What a pity they don't export to Australia. If they did, we'd be their customers. It's BEAUTIUFL wine!
We also went to Mudhouse winery and loved the sauvignon blanc there as well! We bought a 2007 bottle. Ohlala...another wine for our Boot Cellar! hehe
Arrived in Christchurch at mid day (got a message from Bob spot on lunch and he was joking.. saying we'd just had lunch...and we had..>! Eerie!! He suggested we go to Akaroa which is why we went!)
Christchurch was a hive of activity. Everyone was celebrating the public holiday and there was a magician telling stories in the 'square'. Was funny watching the entralling looks on the kids faces! It's a popular square called the Cathedral Square. We enjoyed our time there just people watching!
On the way to Akaroa (about 38km' from there) we stopped at a little V in the road, and spooted a little cafe called BLUE DUCK CAFE! Imagine that??? Of course, we had to call in and have coffee and a blueberry muffin! Yummy!
There were a heap of bikies with backpacks there..and on the road out...we saw a heap of campervans. There are SO many touring here on the South Island!
Akaroa is a french provincial town..nestled in the valley...with a beautiful blue, aqua lake..so gorgeous! As we approached the town we saw large olive fields and of course, the bay. SO lovely. We heard a lot of french people talking in the supermarket here...so it must be popular with the french! We passed a little place on the way called Duvachelle and Robinson's Bay as well which looked like two other gorgeous little towns as well..
So many beautiful places here in NZ!
And driving is always pretty. There are no vast distances without something to look at like it is in WA. No wonder people tour and travel here in Camper Vans so much.
We arrived at the Top Ten Akaroa Holiday Park in Akaroa about 6pm (after we did our dinner shopping) when it was still light and set up our tent. Greg asked for a 'quiet site with a view and out of the wind!' and the guy said he did'nt want much!!! But..we were lucky enough to be given just what he asked for! (Ask and you shall receive!!)
Our campsite was situated amongst the trees with a beautiful beach backdrop and alongside some cabins that didn't have anyone in them so we were able to use their table and chairs and their clothesline to air our towels after our showe! We saw other tents parked all in a row, with their cars parked opposite. So impersonal! We felt lucky!
We enjoyed with the steak and sweet potato we cooked on the Park BBQ's! Yep. We went to the Four Square and bought the tenderest steak we could find..and cooked it la divel style! (Argentina) Very nice.
We sat on the bench with our whole tomato, capsicum, and carrot and bread roll, balsamic vinegar and oil on a plastic plate..and wondered how we could cut it with our blunt knives (the carrot and the loaf of bread mainly)..but still. We managed! Whole is good! I think we need a sharp knife..but we just can't keep stocking up our car pantry, only to have to discard the lot when we have to catch the ferry back to Wellington!
One thing i noticed at the shopping centres here in South Island are the PAM products!! I'm not sure if they're available on North Is (didn't notice) but here, the products are on everything...from porridge, to veges, to olives to bread! Popular lady is PAM! We just head for her products now that we've tasted them and enjoy them!
I'm getting used to camping now...and brushing teeth, combing hair, showering in communal bathrooms, having dinner in 'public' and wearing my robe from bathroom to 'house' (tent) and feeling like we're on view all the time.
It's not so bad. It just takes a little adjusting.
If it were a 'holiday' i'd have no problems adjusting at allto camping...but being that we're camping at the end of long travel experience, i think it's more of a challenge. Especially having to buy all the gear to do it..and knowing we can't keep most of it.
But..it's ALL GOOD!
Just can't wait to get HOME!!!!
Oh yeah...tonight..just before we went to bed..we spotted a HEDGEHOG!! I've never seen one of these in the wild..!!!! So cute~ It rolled up in a ball.....with all it's spikes upwards. Very cute. We heard later they become road kill, as do the possums. So sad. Made my night tho!
PS PLAYED UNO!!!!! But didn't make it to 500....so the battle is ON! hahaha (bought UNO in Chile and it didn't have rules..but we printed some out..so we're now playing and love the game! A good 'campside game'!!!
Wednesday 6th February 2008
Kaikoura - Akaroa - Waitangi Day today (New Zealand's National Day!!)
************************
Bob told us Kai Koura means Food & Crayfish in Maori. And with all the estauries, lakes and the Pacific Ocean everywhere, i'm not surprised! We didn't have any cray fish tho! Drats. I feel like some crays!
************************
We left our ducks quacking at us over breakfast and decided we'd drive and stop wherever we saw a campsite and were tired.
It ended up being a place Bob suggested - Akaroa. And what a BEAUTIFUL little piece of paradise it was too!
First we stopped at a couple of wineries along the way. We were determined to buy a white wine to have with our dinner. We've been drinking red wine for so long now, for health reasons, and staying away from the white wine.
BUT....when in NZ...one has to drink the white! IT's superb. We stopped at the Kaikoura boutique winery and ended up having a wine tasting at 10am!!!
The lady opened especially for us, so how could we not! It turned out today was Waitungi Day, New Zealand's National Day..and a public holiday..and the winery wasn't supposed to open until 11am seeing it was a public holiday..but she said since we were there..she'd open.
What a lovely lady! She introduced us to her black persian cat..and told us all about their wines...and said tastings were $4 each but decided we could taste and forget the charge. Consequently, we went away with a delicious bottle of Kaikoura 2006 sauvignon blanc! What a pity they don't export to Australia. If they did, we'd be their customers. It's BEAUTIUFL wine!
We also went to Mudhouse winery and loved the sauvignon blanc there as well! We bought a 2007 bottle. Ohlala...another wine for our Boot Cellar! hehe
Arrived in Christchurch at mid day (got a message from Bob spot on lunch and he was joking.. saying we'd just had lunch...and we had..>! Eerie!! He suggested we go to Akaroa which is why we went!)
Christchurch was a hive of activity. Everyone was celebrating the public holiday and there was a magician telling stories in the 'square'. Was funny watching the entralling looks on the kids faces! It's a popular square called the Cathedral Square. We enjoyed our time there just people watching!
On the way to Akaroa (about 38km' from there) we stopped at a little V in the road, and spooted a little cafe called BLUE DUCK CAFE! Imagine that??? Of course, we had to call in and have coffee and a blueberry muffin! Yummy!
There were a heap of bikies with backpacks there..and on the road out...we saw a heap of campervans. There are SO many touring here on the South Island!
Akaroa is a french provincial town..nestled in the valley...with a beautiful blue, aqua lake..so gorgeous! As we approached the town we saw large olive fields and of course, the bay. SO lovely. We heard a lot of french people talking in the supermarket here...so it must be popular with the french! We passed a little place on the way called Duvachelle and Robinson's Bay as well which looked like two other gorgeous little towns as well..
So many beautiful places here in NZ!
And driving is always pretty. There are no vast distances without something to look at like it is in WA. No wonder people tour and travel here in Camper Vans so much.
We arrived at the Top Ten Akaroa Holiday Park in Akaroa about 6pm (after we did our dinner shopping) when it was still light and set up our tent. Greg asked for a 'quiet site with a view and out of the wind!' and the guy said he did'nt want much!!! But..we were lucky enough to be given just what he asked for! (Ask and you shall receive!!)
Our campsite was situated amongst the trees with a beautiful beach backdrop and alongside some cabins that didn't have anyone in them so we were able to use their table and chairs and their clothesline to air our towels after our showe! We saw other tents parked all in a row, with their cars parked opposite. So impersonal! We felt lucky!
We enjoyed with the steak and sweet potato we cooked on the Park BBQ's! Yep. We went to the Four Square and bought the tenderest steak we could find..and cooked it la divel style! (Argentina) Very nice.
We sat on the bench with our whole tomato, capsicum, and carrot and bread roll, balsamic vinegar and oil on a plastic plate..and wondered how we could cut it with our blunt knives (the carrot and the loaf of bread mainly)..but still. We managed! Whole is good! I think we need a sharp knife..but we just can't keep stocking up our car pantry, only to have to discard the lot when we have to catch the ferry back to Wellington!
One thing i noticed at the shopping centres here in South Island are the PAM products!! I'm not sure if they're available on North Is (didn't notice) but here, the products are on everything...from porridge, to veges, to olives to bread! Popular lady is PAM! We just head for her products now that we've tasted them and enjoy them!
I'm getting used to camping now...and brushing teeth, combing hair, showering in communal bathrooms, having dinner in 'public' and wearing my robe from bathroom to 'house' (tent) and feeling like we're on view all the time.
It's not so bad. It just takes a little adjusting.
If it were a 'holiday' i'd have no problems adjusting at allto camping...but being that we're camping at the end of long travel experience, i think it's more of a challenge. Especially having to buy all the gear to do it..and knowing we can't keep most of it.
But..it's ALL GOOD!
Just can't wait to get HOME!!!!
Oh yeah...tonight..just before we went to bed..we spotted a HEDGEHOG!! I've never seen one of these in the wild..!!!! So cute~ It rolled up in a ball.....with all it's spikes upwards. Very cute. We heard later they become road kill, as do the possums. So sad. Made my night tho!
PS PLAYED UNO!!!!! But didn't make it to 500....so the battle is ON! hahaha (bought UNO in Chile and it didn't have rules..but we printed some out..so we're now playing and love the game! A good 'campside game'!!!
ON THE FERRY TO PICTON, SOUTH ISLAND!
Day 339
Tuesday 5th February 2008
Picton, South Island - Kaikoura
Last night ended up being a really late night!!! It was 2am before i finally went to bed, after blogging on here and packing up the stuff we were to take on the Wellington to Picton Ferry.
We had to do the Big Discard because we were leaving our car at the Wellington Ferry terminal, and picking up a new car at the Picton Ferry Terminal. And so we had to carry all our belongings rather than leaving it all in the car!
And as it transpired, we had to leave the Thrifty Hire Car at a different Ferry Terminal to the one where we were actually boarding. We didn't know there were two Ferry Lines when we were booking our tickets, which we were told to book at least 3 days in advance! When we couldn't book our ferry tickets for Interisland Ferries (where the car was being dropped off) online, so we went with Bluebridge Ferries which had a online booking service..
And yes, they were not situated on the same terminal! Grrrr....anyway, it meant we had to catch a taxi to Bluebridge after we dropped the car off at Interisland Ferries! We could have just driven our hire car onto the ferry and caught the ferry over ourselves and retrieved our car at the other end..but...We did save $400 by doing it this way! (Just a pity about the confusion!)
So..before we left the hostel, we discarded, to our fellow hostellers, our Berlin Kettle (awww, that was our first big kitchen appliance overseas!) and my polysterene head pillow that has been a godsend since i bought that to sleep on long bus, train and flight journeys, three books and some NZ magazines that i didn't get around to swapping at the hostel swap library and a heap of food we did't eat and didn't want to carry with us on the ferry. Oh well. Share and share alike!
It was just as well we got to the Terminal 2 hours before sail time though, otherwise we wouldn't have made it to the other terminal! Gosh, we're such early bees these days....we really do get to places early....all because we don't want to miss our transport~~!! I hope this 'being at places early' continues when we get home! We've always been such late birds in the past!
The ferry finally left at 8am and we arrived in Picton at 11.18am. We watched two movies (Nancy Drew and No Reservations - again!) on the ferry...and it was just as well because it was too rocky and bumpy to be reading..and too cold to be outside admiring the views!!
We collected our car and after misplacing our paperwork they still gave it to us. What's wrong with us..we're being real airheads lately!! I think we've overtaxed ourselves with all the travel we've been doing to think straight really.....
But...onwards we charge!! (like a bull at a gate!)
We ate our fav, Subway, in gorgeous, quaint Picton and then headed off to Kaikoura via a few wineries. Notably the Montana Brancott Winery where the wines were so expensive we decided to pass up the offer of buying a few bottles...hehe The Tasting was great tho!!! Sauvignon Blanc here in NZ is to die for..........ohlala.
We certainly relaxed a bit after that, bought some veges and fruit from a roadside stall (these are in abundance in NZ and it's all so fresh, succulent and very delicoius, especially the stone fruits!) We also decided, at some point, we would hav a BBQ so we bought our provisions for that. An egg slice, some tongs and throwaway plastic plates and bowls. All we need is the steak..and with all the cows about, we're sure the taste will come close to Argentina!
What's this about NZ and Sheep??
It's COWS that we see everywhere!!!!
We also stocked up with cracked pepper, oil, balsamic vinegar and nuts.
That's one thing i love about camping. At every holiday park we've been to there has been a microwave oven, bbq's, boiling water either in a kettle or in a hot machine and there's always a laundry. The fact that we're sleeping in a tent that only has our bed is ok when there are good facilities in the park. We bought some camp cutlery for ourselves - one knife, one fork and one spoon - and have our vege grater, teaspoons and stainless steel cups we bought in Berlin and our pocket knife from Perth, so now we're practically set for camping!
And thinking about it..the facilities are better than staying a hotel! At least there is a kitchen and a fridge to cool the wine..................
And that is something we're going to do tomorrow..visit more wineries...and instead of buying wine in the supermarket (they do that here, as they do in Europe) we thought we'd select our dinner wine..at the winery we visit..
How decadent!
Got to have the wine when you're camping! :-)
We arrived in Kaikoura at 7pm...and we were very impressed by the park. So green and beautiful. South Island is colder than North Island. And it's greener and the little towns are really quaint and more british somehow.
Our camp bay at Beachside Holiday Park in Kaikoura was next to the little lake. We were in a tent area with about 5 other tents. One that matched our Baby Tent. The others were Tent Daddies! (Big 10 man tents). Some of the people we spoke to were camping in same area for more than one day so were pretty well settled, and very well equipped.
It didn't take us long to put up our little tent. We can do it in the dark!!! BLowing up the mattress, using our fan pump, from the car's 12 volt power supply is more of a challenge but we have that down pat too. We blow it up as much as we can to fit it into the tent, then blow the last bit up ourselves!
Battling our way through all our grocery bags is more of the problem!!! We don't have anything to put them in except the plastic bags so they're just sitting on the back seat of our car. Rummaging through our packs that are lodged in the back of boot of our little Corolla is a laugh too! It's cramped to say the very least!
We ate our dinner with the friendly park ducks wadding around us. Very cute.
We slept like BABIES!
Camping is becoming our new way of life.
Tuesday 5th February 2008
Picton, South Island - Kaikoura
Last night ended up being a really late night!!! It was 2am before i finally went to bed, after blogging on here and packing up the stuff we were to take on the Wellington to Picton Ferry.
We had to do the Big Discard because we were leaving our car at the Wellington Ferry terminal, and picking up a new car at the Picton Ferry Terminal. And so we had to carry all our belongings rather than leaving it all in the car!
And as it transpired, we had to leave the Thrifty Hire Car at a different Ferry Terminal to the one where we were actually boarding. We didn't know there were two Ferry Lines when we were booking our tickets, which we were told to book at least 3 days in advance! When we couldn't book our ferry tickets for Interisland Ferries (where the car was being dropped off) online, so we went with Bluebridge Ferries which had a online booking service..
And yes, they were not situated on the same terminal! Grrrr....anyway, it meant we had to catch a taxi to Bluebridge after we dropped the car off at Interisland Ferries! We could have just driven our hire car onto the ferry and caught the ferry over ourselves and retrieved our car at the other end..but...We did save $400 by doing it this way! (Just a pity about the confusion!)
So..before we left the hostel, we discarded, to our fellow hostellers, our Berlin Kettle (awww, that was our first big kitchen appliance overseas!) and my polysterene head pillow that has been a godsend since i bought that to sleep on long bus, train and flight journeys, three books and some NZ magazines that i didn't get around to swapping at the hostel swap library and a heap of food we did't eat and didn't want to carry with us on the ferry. Oh well. Share and share alike!
It was just as well we got to the Terminal 2 hours before sail time though, otherwise we wouldn't have made it to the other terminal! Gosh, we're such early bees these days....we really do get to places early....all because we don't want to miss our transport~~!! I hope this 'being at places early' continues when we get home! We've always been such late birds in the past!
The ferry finally left at 8am and we arrived in Picton at 11.18am. We watched two movies (Nancy Drew and No Reservations - again!) on the ferry...and it was just as well because it was too rocky and bumpy to be reading..and too cold to be outside admiring the views!!
We collected our car and after misplacing our paperwork they still gave it to us. What's wrong with us..we're being real airheads lately!! I think we've overtaxed ourselves with all the travel we've been doing to think straight really.....
But...onwards we charge!! (like a bull at a gate!)
We ate our fav, Subway, in gorgeous, quaint Picton and then headed off to Kaikoura via a few wineries. Notably the Montana Brancott Winery where the wines were so expensive we decided to pass up the offer of buying a few bottles...hehe The Tasting was great tho!!! Sauvignon Blanc here in NZ is to die for..........ohlala.
We certainly relaxed a bit after that, bought some veges and fruit from a roadside stall (these are in abundance in NZ and it's all so fresh, succulent and very delicoius, especially the stone fruits!) We also decided, at some point, we would hav a BBQ so we bought our provisions for that. An egg slice, some tongs and throwaway plastic plates and bowls. All we need is the steak..and with all the cows about, we're sure the taste will come close to Argentina!
What's this about NZ and Sheep??
It's COWS that we see everywhere!!!!
We also stocked up with cracked pepper, oil, balsamic vinegar and nuts.
That's one thing i love about camping. At every holiday park we've been to there has been a microwave oven, bbq's, boiling water either in a kettle or in a hot machine and there's always a laundry. The fact that we're sleeping in a tent that only has our bed is ok when there are good facilities in the park. We bought some camp cutlery for ourselves - one knife, one fork and one spoon - and have our vege grater, teaspoons and stainless steel cups we bought in Berlin and our pocket knife from Perth, so now we're practically set for camping!
And thinking about it..the facilities are better than staying a hotel! At least there is a kitchen and a fridge to cool the wine..................
And that is something we're going to do tomorrow..visit more wineries...and instead of buying wine in the supermarket (they do that here, as they do in Europe) we thought we'd select our dinner wine..at the winery we visit..
How decadent!
Got to have the wine when you're camping! :-)
We arrived in Kaikoura at 7pm...and we were very impressed by the park. So green and beautiful. South Island is colder than North Island. And it's greener and the little towns are really quaint and more british somehow.
Our camp bay at Beachside Holiday Park in Kaikoura was next to the little lake. We were in a tent area with about 5 other tents. One that matched our Baby Tent. The others were Tent Daddies! (Big 10 man tents). Some of the people we spoke to were camping in same area for more than one day so were pretty well settled, and very well equipped.
It didn't take us long to put up our little tent. We can do it in the dark!!! BLowing up the mattress, using our fan pump, from the car's 12 volt power supply is more of a challenge but we have that down pat too. We blow it up as much as we can to fit it into the tent, then blow the last bit up ourselves!
Battling our way through all our grocery bags is more of the problem!!! We don't have anything to put them in except the plastic bags so they're just sitting on the back seat of our car. Rummaging through our packs that are lodged in the back of boot of our little Corolla is a laugh too! It's cramped to say the very least!
We ate our dinner with the friendly park ducks wadding around us. Very cute.
We slept like BABIES!
Camping is becoming our new way of life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
