Cardiff snaphsots

Cardiff Castle, view to the West from in the grounds

Kathy at the Royal Horticultural Society Show, Bute Park April

Kathy out the front of Y Mochyn Du (the Black Pig)

Squirrel in a tree by the Taff

Matt at Llandaff Cathedral

Matt near the civic buildings, Boulevard de Nantes (Cardiff)

Kathy on the "Taff Trail"

On the walk from our place through Bute Park into the city

Matt's snapshot of Cardiff Castle from his morning bus stop



View of Cardiff Castle from Bute Mark, April 



Kathy in Bute Park, early May


Kathy walking through Bute Park, early May

Oh yeah baby, hello Cardiff!

Cardiff – the first weeks

We’re going to love this town!

North of Barry, view from Brynhill Bungalow

Our first Saturday (Easter Saturday) happened to coincide with a pair of big rugby matches at Millennium Stadium in the Heineken Cup - quarter finals(or was it EDF Energy Cup - the knockout version?). So, Cardiff was buzzing with the fans of 4 teams, only one of whom was Welsh. Everyone was happy and giving each other gentle stick, but nothing viscous as would happen with kiwi fans. It was a lot like the Rugby World Cup in Sydney in 2003. We were wandering around looking for somewhere to have a late breakfast (at about 11am), and saw people having beers. Matt said it would be rude not to. But we left it until after breakfast, Kathy thinking that beers on empty, jetlagged tummies would not be a brilliant idea (plus we had appointments with real estate agents). Party pooper.

After breakfast we wandered about a bit. The weather was cold,

Fog on the Port Road, Barry

but much, much better than the day before.

Chilly walk up Brynhill Lane

That said, we were in a pub later watching the rugby (as you do) and it was raining. Hard. Then we decided that the ‘rain’ on the screen looked funny. We turned and looked out the window and it was snowing!!

Snow on the hall skylight, Tanglewood

We were pretty lucky, as England and Scotland got the worst of the weather. Apparently this was the worst Easter weather-wise in the UK since 1938. We weren’t worried, though. We just thought it’s part and parcel of late March in Wales. Anyway, we wandered around and found heaps of little lane ways and bits and pieces around the place, and then we decided we was thirsty. So we went into our first Welsh pub. There was method to the madness, as the first of the rugby matches had started. It was ok, and we watched the first half of a match with some reasonable beer.

The next day we had an appointment to view the first of a load of rental properties. So it was back in to Cardiff, then had to walk down to Cardiff Bay. We went down a bit early to scout out the place and have a look-see, but made the mistake of walking down Bute Street. We were getting a little concerned about the place – it was grubby and miserable looking.

Butetown - let's not live here

Then we crossed an intersection and the whole place changed – cleaner streets and better cars. We mentioned this to the letting agent and she thought we were very brave walking down Bute Street. Apparently it’s a bit of a bad lands area. So now we know.

We got shown around a few places, but nothing really grabbed us. We were looking at 2 bedroom apartments, and were just not impressed with anything we saw, but it was giving us a good idea of what we were in for. The Canberra property market really has messed with our sense of perspective in terms of value.

After viewing some properties, we popped in to a pub for a think about what we’d seen and a drink. We decided to head back in to Cardiff and have another wander and find some different pubs. So we did. Hey – it is us after all!

The next day we were taken on a bit of a drive by Grant, Matt’s cousin, around the Barry and the area. We had a drink in the oldest building in the area. It was a lovely old pub with a thatched roof and very low doorways. It just goes to show what a change the change to nutrition and health care has made to the lives of the Welsh. Even Matt had to bend down to go in through the door ways… ;)

During this time we’d also discovered Tesco, the closest supermarket to where we’re staying and bought a few essential supplies and something to eat. We’re going to have fun finding new brands of stuff. The marmite here’s different, though…

We’d also found the Cardiff Markets. It looks as though it’s going to be a good place to shops, with lots of butchers and delis, and other things we like buying. The fish shop there is just stunning. Beautiful looking fish, and it didn’t look as though it was too expensive.

Tuesday saw Matt’s first day at work (and he’ll post some thoughts on this in a separate page)

And what was Kathy doing while all this was going on? House hunting and job hunting and wandering around Cardiff. She found all sorts of places she’s going to shop at, both food and clothes and other bit and pieces. She also wandered around Bute Park for a little bit, but it was fairly noisy as the groundsmen were topdressing lawns and mowing.

The house hunting was more successful than the first week of job hunting. On Thursday she announced to Matt that she’d found the perfect apartment in the Century Wharf complex in Cardiff Bay. Then she startled him on Friday by announcing that she’d turned that one down and had her heart set on a house in a suburb called Pontcanna. Let me tell you, she had a real hard sell with that. Until Matt walked up the road and saw the area, and then walked in to the house with the letting agent. It’s perfect. 2 bedrooms, a 2 up 2 down house, and bigger rooms than anything we’d seen previously. It’s also in an area which has everything we wanted to experience in Cardiff. There’s at least 3 pubs in easy walking distance, cafes and restaurants are close by, as are other shops. It’s about 20-30 minutes walk from Cardiff Central Bus Station, which is pretty good going, or when the weather’s off there’s a bus service which has a stop quite near the end of the street. It’s perfect, and Matt made a grovelling apology to Kathy for doubting her. We move in the weekend of 5 April.

The job hunt is going slower, but Kathy’s not too worried about that yet. She expected it. Now we have somewhere live she can concentrate on that. C’mon – give a girl a break! Didn’t she do enough finding accommodation?!?

'Bye Canberra

The middle of March came around quickly, yet in some respects (like work) it dragged

and dragged

and dragged...

Kathy[that is not her above] was a trooper in doing most of initial the leg work Canberra side for the move, but Matt (eventually) proved to be a big help, especially with weeding the pavers by hand, and pulling down the pergola and hauling it to the skip. Oh Matt of course organised the UK side work details, which were still in a state of flux 17 January, and after a couple of false starts, during which a certain young lady added some extra ventilation to our spare room, Matt finally sorted out visas.

Next came the joy of packing, over two and a half days it all got sorted. Matt and Kathy tag teamed the removalists, each taking time off work on different days to guide and direct the lads.

With removalists all finished, we said a sad goodbye to our home in Canberra, and spent the weekend staying at Rob and Linda’s place (thanks guys!).

An enjoyable Saturday evening followed, where we had a farewell dinner at our favourite restaurant (Mezzalira). We had a great time (Matt introduced the term photonic sneeze reflex to a few people – and now there’s another blog!), but it was sad at the end as we stood outside and said “bye” to our dear friends amongst a never ending round of hugs.

After finishing up a couple of loose ends (cleaners, Foxtel and the like) we found ourselves all sorted by Monday 17th March (to be sure), and – going against type here! – spent half the day at a “Turner to Constable” exhibit at the NGA, and then a brief introduction to the High Court.

Matt took his Dennis Denuto snapshot in front of the entrance “I’m shitting myself”. Matt thought this a great laugh, since in the previous few months there was a great deal of concern that the High Court might be part of Matt’s work life under another set of circumstances.

Anyway, after bumping into Deez (yay!) at King O’Malleys (it was St Paddy’s afterall), we finally called it a day, and the next morning we headed off to Sydney, and said goodbye to Matt’s Mum and Dad. Then … Cardiff!

'Bye Nyawi place ...

'Bye Canberra ...

West Coast, Blenheim and homeward bound

Wednesday 6 February

Waitangi Day, and we’re off to Haast. It was another beautiful day as we headed off from Queenstown and up over to the West Coast. We drove over to Wanaka via SH 6, which was exciting for the first half an hour or so. It was extremely twisty-turny as we headed up the pass to Cardrona. Thank goodness the whole road wasn’t like that! The thought of meeting a large vehicle coming the other way caused Matt to loose a few more hairs…

Once past the nasty stuff, though, the road was a lot better, and we were able to see more of the scenic stuff. When we got to Wanaka we had a stop for a bit at the lake. Matt decided that the water was so beautifully clear that he’d have to have a quick mouthful. Kathy wishes she could go back in time and say “don’t do it, Matt!!!” He had an upset tummy for the next 2 days. Serves him right.

After a pause in Wanaka (also picking up some supplies for lunch), we pushed on to Haast. You could almost tell to the meter when we moved from the King Country to the West Coast. Everything appeared to suddenly get a lot more lush, and the vegetation changed. You could almost imagine Ents striding across the land.

Haast was pretty lame. We stayed at the Haast World Heritage Hotel, but we think it’s called that because it’s right on the edge of the world heritage area. It’s geared up to coach loads of British tourists, complete with dining hall and a piano in the ‘lounge’ for sing alongs. Our room was terrible. Apparently the Hotel has recently changed hands and is undergoing an upgrade. It seriously needs it. At least the bathroom had been brought in to the 21st century, but the rest of the room was 1960’s West Coast blah. The door to the room only just shut, and there was only 1 light above the bed, and one in another part of the room. The bed was, naturally, in the darkest part of the room, which made reading impossible. There were no chairs in the room, but 1 double and 1 single bed, so we had to sit on beds to read. We did attempt to go outside and read in the evening light (which was beautiful, if chilly), but forgot our insect repellent and were eaten alive by the simply MASSIVE sandflies. They just loved nibbling on Kathy’s ankles, and thought crawling up the legs of Matt’s trousers was a great lark.

The best thing about Haast (apart from leaving the next morning) was a drive we took further down the coast to a small fishing settlement. There were great stretches of straight road, framed on either side by tall trees right up close to the edge of the road. It created a rather surreal tunnel effect, which was really beautiful. The fishing settlement at the end of the road was and end to the journey. We wandered out to the end of the jetty, and watched the black oyster catchers scuttling about in the shale on the beach. While the end of the journey was a bit ho hum, the journey itself was fantastic.

Advice to other travellers – push on to Fox or Franz Joseph townships, unless you are stopping off at Haast to do serious tramping/bush walking.

Thursday 7 February

Today was a big day in the car. We drove to Greymouth from Haast, but had a lot of stops along the way. We went to both Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers, with Franz Joseph being the more spectacular of the 2. As we drove up to both glacier terminals (technical term for the end of the glacier), it was amazing to see just how much both have advanced and retreated during the period of European habitation of New Zealand, and also to see how much the surrounding forests have regenerated over a couple of hundred years. Matt reckons Franz Joseph glacier was exactly what he imagined a glacier to look like, and is glad he got over his disappointment at Fox.

On the way to the glaciers we also finally got to see Mt. Cook – well, the back of him anyway. It was pretty cool to see him poking his head above all of the surrounding mountains (at long last, said Matt!).  "Light the beacon of Minas Tirith!" says Matt

The drive on to Greymouth was pretty amazing, again. It seems like a much warn adjective, but it’s true. The West Coast of New Zealand is just as amazing to look at as the rest of the country. It’s just different scenery, that’s all. We also got to drive along parts of the road which looked out over the Tasman sea. Lots of dead possums on the road as well. This coast has possums as road kill, the other has bunnies. An interesting view to the predominant type of pest in that part of the world.

We were amazed, as we drove along, to be passing many groups of cyclists going the other way. After a little while we found out what was going on. You can now do a guided bicycling tour of New Zealand. You have a support vehicle, which also carries all your kit, and you are sent off as a peloton to complete that day’s ride carrying only what you need for the day. Crazy, if you ask me, but most of them looked as though they were enjoying it!

The closer we got to Greymouth, the more vehicles we saw carrying mountain bikes and kayaks. Kathy wondered aloud if there was a training event on for something daft like the Coast to Coast. Close, but no cigar. When we checked in to the motel we found out that we were there on the eve of the actual race! Matt was astounded to learn what the race actually is. For those who don’t know there are 2 races within the event. Both of them follow the same course, but one is a 2-day event and the other is a 1 day event. What happens is the participants start off on a beach just outside Greymouth, then they run, cycle and kayak over the Southern Alps to a beach just near Christchurch (Sumner beach) on the other side of the Island (hence Coast to Coast). There are mad men and women who come back again and again for this punishment. But, it’s been going for over 25 years, so there must be something to it. If you want to find out more, here’s their website: http://www.coasttocoast.co.nz/ . The motel emptied out the next morning very early, as most of the other guests were either participants or support crew, but we didn’t really hear them heading off. These guys are certifiable. They’re really, really crazy.

Friday 8 February

This was our last day on the road. Blenheim here we come!

After a close encounter of the idiot kind near the petrol station (hey – remember those give way rules, guys – I don’t care if you always pull out that way there, and have done since time immemorial, there are always other road users about), we headed up SH6 towards Westport, stopping off at a couple of places along the way to look at the view. It was spectacular! The coastline along this stretch of road is just stunning – very rugged and windswept. We detoured to Westport to have a quick stretch of the legs and to pick up some food for the rest of the day before heading inland through the Buller George towards Blenheim.

The drive today was one fraught with all sorts of excitement, from Matt’s decision to overtake a campervan just as a truck pulled on to the road from the shoulder (go on – I wasn’t going to hit it, said Matt. Yeah, but you weren’t sitting in the passenger’s seat watching the wing mirror nearly get swiped off the car by the van, said Kathy!  Matt here: nearly in this case means safely)), to one lane bridges at the bottom of hair pin corners. On the approach to some of these you really had to use the Force, Luke, as you couldn’t tell until you got there who was supposed to give way, or see the approach to the bridge at the other end. The civil engineers who designed these roads must have had an absolute field day deciding just how to scare road users! We also had our most amazing escape from disaster this day as well. Driving along at 100km/h on a straight stretch of road and some idiot farmer decides to pull out from an intersection without looking. Thank goodness for all the braking technologies in that car! If it hadn’t been for Matt’s quick reaction time and the assistance of the brakes we could have ploughed straight into that guy. He didn’t even acknowledge that we were there as he drove past us, despite us flashing headlights at him and tooting the horn. The worst of the damage (once we’d recovered from the shock) was a sore neck due to minor whiplash for Kathy, as she’s been sitting sideways in her seat taking a photo of the mountains. Honestly, the driving we saw displayed by what we can only assume were locals in the South Island was horrific. And they reckon tourists cause most of the accidents. Yeah, sure….

Another oddity on the road was rail bridges. These were 1 lane bridges shared by vehicles and trains, with the tracks down the middle of the road. That’s right – not a separate level, or vehicles on one side and trains on the other, but sharing the same span. The signage said “this way has right of way, except if there’s a train – they have right of way regardless”. What the…?!? Ah, those crazy Kiwis!

Once through the twisty stuff, we hit Marlborough and the countryside changed. It almost felt like home it was so dry and flat. Matt was able to play around with the cruise control on the car, which he felt was fun.

After checking in to the motel, it was off to pick up our tickets for the food and wine festival the next day, and drop the car off.

Saturday 9 February

Today was the big day. After an abortive start, we finally got to the Taste Marlborough festival!

The day was lovely – sunny but not too hot, and a gentle breeze when you needed it. We started the day with bubbles you do), and went on from there. Pinot tasting for Kathy, and all sorts for Matt. Kathy did get a bit cranky with people (how was I to know they were in the queue? There was a big gap between them, all huddled in a group, and the next person – I mean, really! (Matt: no cutting, and that means you, Miss Cutter), and the atmosphere on one side of the grounds didn’t match the relaxed feeling on the other. Muttonbirds singer guy was fun though.  There also wasn’t enough shade provided. But the wines were mostly very nice, and the food was great. Favourite food was the roasted shank of wild goat or venison. I’m not sure we had a favourite wine, though.

We headed back to the motel before either of us started getting too messy, and had a palate cleansing ale before dinner and a not too late night.

Sunday 10 February

Our last full day in New Zealand, and the weather went off. We were catching the train from Blenheim to Picton, and then on the ferry to Wellington. Until we got on the ferry, it wasn’t a good day.

Once we got to the railway station, we were told we didn’t need to check in and exchange our travel vouchers for seating allocation or anything and the people at the ticketing office could not, and would not, store our luggage. So we were stuck on the cold, wet and windy and very dirty platform at Blenheim railway station for about 2 ½ hours (or, at my count 1 hour : Matt). Then when the train did arrive, we were told we should have got a seating allocation, and the steward was cranky because he was told there were only 2 passengers at Blenheim, and he ended up with 5.  Hey – not our problem! So we were eventually found seats (and thank you to the lovely couple we sat opposite for continuing to stretch out their legs under the table between us, and putting all their luggage in the luggage racks above the seats so that we had to basically huddle in our seats for and uncomfortable 25 minutes), and were off. The ferry trip, though, was quite pleasant. Although it wasn’t fine it wasn’t a rough crossing, and we made it in to Wellington quite happily. An early night after dinner in the hotel, as we had an obscenely early start in the morning.

Farewell, New Zealand – we had a lovely time.  (Matt: best holiday ever!!!!)

Queenstown

Saturday 2 February 2008

After we finally found our hotel (the woman who answered the phone when we rang for directions has clearly never had to give directions before!) and checked in, we caught the bus back in to the township and had a wander around. The bus service here is fantastic. We could pick up a bus right outside the foyer entry at our hotel, and for $4.50 each could get a return ticket for the day into the town. If you wanted unlimited trips, including in to Arrowtown it was $13, but for our purposes the return ticket was sufficient. It stopped at most of the resorts and hotels on the way into town, and stopped at a central point. They ran every half an hour during the day up until fairly late in the evening. All the drivers were friendly, and didn’t mind the dumb questions tourists asked them.

Anyway, a quick wander around the town, and down to the waterfront ensued. More “oh my god” scenery.

By this time, we needed suitable refreshments, and walked back to an Irish bar, with the best views of any bar in town. A few bevvies there sitting in the sun refreshed us suitably. We also found out that they were replaying the England v Wales match the following afternoon. Well, we knew what we’d be doing tomorrow afternoon!

Dinner that evening was at a nice little, indoor, restaurant, just behind where the TSS Ernslaw docks. After a nice meal, it was back to the hotel for some zzzzz’s.

Sunday 3 February 2008

Breakfast this morning was at a place recommended by the Lonely Planet folks. And it was well recommended – if you are in Queenstown, you should have breakfast at Vudu. Breakfasts were hearty but not huge, so they didn’t leave you wanting to have a Bex and a nice lie down afterwards, but you were sufficiently fortified for the day ahead.

Thus fortified, we walked up to a bird sanctuary – the Kiwi Birdlife Park - which is next to the lower terminal for the gondola. The sanctuary is well worth the $30 per head entry fee. We were a little worried that it might be a bit lame after the first enclosure didn’t reveal it’s tuatara to us, but the next display – Kiwi House No. 1 certainly made up for it. They’re speedy birds! Kathy can understand why loose dogs love them so much – they’d be fun to chase. It was fantastic to sit there in the gloom and finally see them sniffing around, and running about – and they do run! The rest of the sanctuary was great after that.

We finally saw tuatara, but baby ones. We also saw kea, shovellers, blue ducks with ducklings, black stilts, other duck species, parrots, and 2 of the saddest New Zealand Pigeon Kathy thinks she’s seen in a long time. They didn’t really have a big enough enclosure (Matt: boy those birds are big – every time I see them I wonder what they taste like on the BBQ). Apart from that, it was great. We spent a lot longer there than we anticipated, but enjoyed it.

After the birds, we went up the gondola. It was spectacular! The view as you go up and down is simply jaw dropping:


And yes, Matt did stand up and take that photo! And now he knows why you don’t stand up in the gondola cars!

The view from the top is absolutely stunning:

It was so beautiful – just awesome, in the truer sense of the word.

After heading back down, we decided some fortification was in order, and so headed off. We went to the old court house building for a late lunch – the place was appropriately named ‘Guilty’ for fantastic tapas. We then went across the road to the Speights ale house. This place didn’t really grab us. It was trying to be a really swish brewery pub (if anyone reading this has been to the Malthouse, or Macs Brewery Bar in Wellington, it wanted to be like that, or any of the Monteiths tap rooms), but failed. It looked as though it was doing it on the cheap, and it showed. Just as well we weren’t hanging around, as we had rugby to watch! So, it was back down to the Irish pub for the biggest bollocking English rugby has had for a while! Go you good things! The fantastic result for the Welsh aside, it did show us the difference between Southern and Northern Hemisphere rugby watchers. The crowd was predominantly from the UK and Ireland, and very well mannered and well behaved. We were quite rowdy in comparison. We might have to tone our enthusiasm down a little in UK pubs, if the behaviour of the backpackers was anything to go by. (Matt: remember the pomms in Sydney for World Cup in 2003? I think those young boys in Queenstown were an exception) After more food at the Dux de Lux Queenstown (and more beers…), it was again back to the hotel for restorative sleep.

Monday 5 February 2008

Today, after a late-ish breakfast at a nice French style café, we went for a walk in the Queenstown Gardens. The Lonely Planet describes it as “lush and peaceful”, and so it is, but it is also full of lovely walks. The best takes you right around the peninsular that the gardens are on, and then back up into the formal gardens. On the day we did it, that was a good thing as it took us out of a sharp, cold, wind. It was still beautifully fine, though. Apart from the various walks, it looked as though it was also part of a Frisbee golf course, and it also appeared popular with the lunchtime runners from corporate Queenstown (yes, we did have a later start).

When we finally wandered back in to town, we bought tickets for the TSS Ernslaw, one of the things on Kathy’s “must do” list. A light fortifying lunch, and it was time to catch the boat!

The TSS Ernslaw (TSS stands for Twin Screw Steamship) has been plying the waters of Lake Wakatipu since 1912, and she runs for 11 months of the year (she’s out of commission for 1 month for repairs and maintenance). In the past she used to carry passengers, freight and livestock up and down the lake, but now she just carries passengers from Queenstown to Walter Peak Station and back again. (see http://www.realjourneys.co.nz/ for more info). The round trip takes about 1 ½ hours, and we really, really recommend it. While the wind was too cold for us to sit outside in comfort, the trip sitting inside was really toasty. It comes from the Ernslaw being a coal powered steamship! They’ve opened her up in the middle of the top deck, so you can stand and look down at the firemen and engineer doing their job, or you can actually go into the engine room and watch them at work from the walkways over the furnace and pistons. It was very, very cool. Well, hot actually, but fantastic nonetheless (that’s becoming a really worn out word, isn’t it?). The trip there and back was just stunning. We didn’t opt to do the farm excursion options, but plenty of others did, so there were less on the trip back then on the way over. If anyone is familiar with the Muttonbirds and their song “Ngaire”, they will appreciate it when we say “I’ve seen a lot of new shoes today”. One of the passengers was from New Jersey, and boy, was her accent a stereotype! What is it with American’s and gum?!? I know many cultures chew the stuff now, but please! Ah well, each to their own.

Dinner that night was at a nice Thai place, after wine at a nice winebar away from the waterfront. Matt paid for having his tom yum hot the next day, though!

Tuesday 5 February 2008

Today, we decided to take things easy. A late breakfast (much heavier than the past couple, but Kathy had pancakes – it was Shrove Tuesday after all!), a gentle wander, then we sat outside our favourite Irish pub. Kathy wrote up text to copy in to this blog, and we both sat and read our books. We set up a gentle conversation with a busker who was working on the waterfront opposite us – we both had an aversion to the gulls being fed by others! Naturally, we did have to give him a ‘donation’…

Dinner that night was at a fantastic waterfront restaurant. Lots of fresh seafood – including whitebait and Nelson oysters…

It did our souls good to have a day not doing much. Although it might sound from what we’ve written above that we’ve spent most of our time in Queenstown boozing (and we have spent some time it’s true), for us a holiday is also about taking time out and not doing much. Up until today we hadn’t had that opportunity. We have not done any of the adventure sport activities available to us in Queenstown – that’s not our style. We’ve enjoyed a lot of good Otago pinot noir (and to our fellow wine wankers – yes, we have a fave and yes, we have the details of the Australian distributor!), and we’ve sampled some of the gentler pleasures that Queenstown offers. We’ve looked at the stars at night. We’ve sat and watched the sun setting over the Remarkables – both from the waterfront in town and from our hotel. We’ve sampled the pleasures in various licensed establishments. We’ve sat and looked at the scenery. We’re not as poor as we perhaps could be. But this is a town we should, and will, return to. (Matt: 4 nights, no hangovers, the Queenstown tourist bureau will be upset!)

Other impressions of Queenstown – most of the employees in the hospitality industry are not Kiwis. Predominantly Poms, but also Americans and Western Europeans. To hear the New Zealand accent really jarred. Queenstown is really a place which will take a huge chunk of your cash. A really huge chunk. But it’s also a place where you can have a heck of a lot of fun.

Christchurch to Queenstown

1 February 2008

Today we picked up our rental car. We decided to rent a larger car than we have in the past, and as the day progressed we were very glad we did.

We managed to get out of Christchurch without too many wrong turns! (Matt: OK only one – stupid one-way / no-entry sign outside the car rental place – can’t even blame the navigator here, it was me who had the directions!!) State Highway 1 south of Christchurch is a very, very dull stretch of road. The only things to enliven it were our horror at the driving habits of some New Zealanders, and the road works. Matt was doing the driving (it’s only 3-ish hours to Twizel), and was horrified at some of the things he saw. The car we have is a 6 cylinder 4.0 litre beast, and had fantastic acceleration, but the Kiwi’s don’t seem to appreciate that when you are overtaking, you are supposed to be going faster than the vehicle you are overtaking before you pass, not just as you catch up! The speed limit for the open road is 100kmph, and in many areas it just simply isn’t safe to travel that fast. We had wiener-heads overtaking us at 120k’s just before blind corners, and the like. “How can he see around the corner?” “He’s using the Force, Luke…” We were very glad to get off SH1.

Heading inland to Twizel (via Mackenzie country) was – yet another – eye opener for Matt. The Canterbury plains – very much Canberra-like actually in colour and sparsity of vegetation on cultivated land (but with more bunnies and birds of prey) – gradually gave way to more and more hills. “Look Matty, crinkly bits!” Very hard to understand that settlers chose to live there to raise sheep, given the wealth of land across the Tasman around that time.

Of course, by this time, rain set in (hey, it’s NZ). Road was Ok in the big car, and we had a good stop at Lake Tekapo. Its bright, milky blueness was amazing – all from its glacial schist base. We had to compete at the Church of the Good Shepherd with the inevitable tour coaches (fortunately we seemed to be going against, rather than with, them), but it was still pretty spectacular. Matt asked the daft question “why is there a large window behind the altar?” Erm, so you can apparently reflect on the natural glory created by God (if that is what you believe) – or more likely so that you have something to look at during a boring sermon! By the time we hit Lake Pukaki the weather had turned to shite. Kath said that a mountain was there “Really Matty, really!”. But even a return visit the next day was a cloudfest. Twizel was very “Canberra Suburb” like, mostly because it was designed as a “planned town” in the 60’s to service the construction of the hydro-electric scheme, of which nearby Lake Dunstan and the Clyde Dam form a key part. A very Belconnen feel too - the “pubs are in the shopping centre” layout. We were glad we got to Twizel when we did, and the weather really closed in, making us glad we brought that warm weather gear with us! Our motel in Twizel was actually the best accommodation we have had in NZ (Aspen Court) up till this point. Clean (no mould! no mould!), bright, big, open. Nice people too.

We battled through the weather to the pub, and watched the local lads (country boys – pick those who had been to boarding school!) try to hit on the bar girls, meanwhile it was happy hour with 2 fer 1, except for some wines. (Matt here: that's buy 1 and get 2, whether or not you want 2 - hey, they were very adamant). The lads were hitting the rum and coke a bit too hard, and didn’t appear to be making much headway! After a couple of warming drinks, we went to a local restaurant for dinner, which was nice but not spectacular.


2 February 2008

Today, it was off to Queenstown, after an abortive trip back up the road to Lake Pukaki to see if Mt. Cook was showing his head. Again Matt drove, with Kathy in charge of the photography. The drive through from Twizel and over the Lindis Pass is just spectacular!

Lots of ‘crinkly’ bits, and lots of “oh my god” moments. (Matt – I swore to myself I wasn’t going to do it whilst driving, but there were so many blind turns into the most gorgeous passes that had postcard perfect backdrops – I literally gasped, much to Kathy’s enduring giggling). The weather also held. At Twizel it was a little cloudy and cool, with the clouds clinging to the peaks in a beautiful way (unless you’re up in them, then it’s a bitch), and the further we went south, the better the weather got.

We stopped for a late coffee/early lunch at Cromwell. We had a wander around the “historic village “, which was really only buildings moved when Lake Dunstan was filled, and was pretty lame. Still, we had a nice sausage roll each (well, nice the first time, but not as it repeated on us!), and sat and watched the guys water skiing and wake-boarding on the lake. A much better place is Arrowtown. Another “must do” on anyone’s list when they’re down this end of the country. Very pretty, and a bit quaint, but soooo much better then Cromwell (Kath called poor old Cromwell “a lame to fame”). We wandered about Arrowtown, and walked along to the remains of the Chinese settlement. That was really good, and it was a bit sad to read about the way in which the Chinese miners were treated. Mind you, in 100 years time how will we be judged by our descendents?

After wandering through the Chinese settlement, we walked up to the Arrowtown cemetery. It was a little disappointing, as there were no graves prior to the 1890’s, so we did wonder where the gold era graves were (All the signs said it was part of the Chinese display but it was the actual current-era Arrowtown graveyard). But it was also sad. That said, if you didn’t die from accident, childbirth or war you did tend to have a good chance of living a long life, and if you were a woman you could live up to 20 years longer than your spouse of (another) 12 years younger (go women!! Matt – go lonely women). The graves of children are always sad to see, but that sadness was alleviated by watching the rabbits running between the graves!

From Arrowtown (and the ‘oh my gosh’ scenery) it was on to the breathtaking beauty of Queenstown. This town has to be one of the most beautiful places either of us have ever been to. The Remarkables are just that – remarkable. It is so beautiful here.

Fast forward : On our last day we heard a pair of yanks say “this is the most beautiful place I have seen in my entire life” – and neither Kathy nor Matt could object to that. We tried, but its simply true. It’s not the most picturesque, not the most remote - it just has something! If you are not moved by Queenstown you have no heart. Come here at least once, whoever you are! It’s amazing (more next post!). (Kath - Mind you, Matt lived in Wellington for 2 years and didn’t come here at all – Matt, I love you but you are a bit of a dick sometimes! Matt – yep, my words exactly, what a dopey bastard!)