Dunedin to Te Anau

We arrived in Dunedin on the evning of Good Friday. New Zealand still retains that quaint idea that most shops etc. close on Good Friday & Easter Sunday & on the Sunday that includes pubs & buses.
Saturday we were sightseeing in the City. Lots of pictures of churches etc. We also walked up what is supposedly the steepest street in the world - Baldwin Street. We are not arguing.
Easter Sunday is Otago holiday parade which we managed to miss because we had an alternative appointment doing a tour round Speight’s brewery & in the afternoon on another of Pat’s must do’s on the Taieri Gorge railway with yet more stunning views out into the countryside to Pukerangi.
On Monday we left the campsite in Dunedin to head further south but before leaving the area we visited Larnach Castle, the only castle in NZ, but really it is more like a small manor house with a tower. Nothing like Windsor or Edinburgh. Interesting though! William Larnach, a banker & politician, who built the castle, eventually committed suicide with a single shot to the head whilst in the Parliament building. Some of our politicians could learn from this.
In the afternoon after driving down every unmade gravel road Pat could find we arrived at Pounawea in the Catlins where we stopped for the night. The Catlins is a lovely area of rolling downs & forest & we stayed at a lakeside camp. That night, however, the fog gathered over the hills & then slipped down over the lake and we could not see a thing.
It was still foggy & damp the following morning so we set out for Invercargill. The weather gradually picked up & we stopped at the Matai & McLean waterfalls & also Niagara Falls. As the board at Niagara says, the guy who named them must have had a sense of humour. We also had our first run in with sheep on the road. On to Curio Bay, an area of scientific study as it contains a petrified forest & fossils dating back to when Austarlia & NZ were part of the same continent.
We had booked a tour to Stewart Island for Wednesday & when we woke to find the fog had come down again we feared the worst. However, as the bus got closer to Bluff ferry terminal it lifted to give a brilliant sunny day. The crossing is 22kms & takes about an hour. It can be pretty rough but not today.
The Island is a lot bigger than we thought with 85% of it being National Park. A population of 300 - 400 is guarded by 1 policeman whose main job involves rescuing lost walkers. It has a 6 hole golf course with a club house nicknamed the tractor shed. Apparently it is easier to get planning permission for a tractor shed than a club house.
There are beautiful views at almost every point & we saw blue penguins, mollymawks (a relative of the albatross), wekas, fantails, bell birds, tuis. A bird watchers heaven. And the weather seemed to good to be true.
And so it was. The Thursday was overcast with drizzle on & off but still calm for the return crossing.
Friday 28.3 we left Invercargill with it still raining, to take the scenic route to Te Anau.
Pictures of car disappearing over the top of Baldwin St. Larnach Castle, Sheep & us on Stewart Island.

New Zealand - Christchurch to Dunedin

Where to start?
What a beautiful country. Mind you it helps that as yet we have seen only 1 nights rain. We arrived in Christchurch on 14.3.08 late afternoon & booked into our hotel at the airport for the night before picking up our camper van the next day.
On Saturday after picking up the van we spent the day in the City just taking in some of the sites.
Sunday we decided to take the van out for a spin and went to the Banks Peninsular which is just to the south east of Christchurch to Akaroa which is the oldest town in NZ. It is also the one place that the French landed to try to colonise the country not realising that the English were already there. The English, being the good guys that we are, allowed them to stay and this can be seen today as some of the streets & shops have French names.
Monday we went on the Christchurch gondola which looks out over Lyttelton harbour & Banks Peninsular. The top of the ride is situated on the rim of an extinct volcano so, of course we had to have a walk round it. The whole of the peninsular was formed by a volcano which apparently erupted for 1.5 million years.
Being St.Patricks day we ventured to the nearest pub in the evening. It seems that all kiwis have Irish ancestors judging by the numbers there. Just like England!
Tuesday was one of Pat’s must do days. The Trans Alpine Scenic rail ride from Christchurch on the east coast to Greymouth on the west coast. It was spectacular. From the dead flat Canterbury Plains up into the foothills of the Southern Alps over rivers & gorges into the mountains themselves. The only thing missing was snow. That will come no doubt.
Wednesday we just toured round in the van as far south as Geraldine & Timaru and back to Christchurch. We would have done more but, not for the first time, managed to lose ourselves trying to get out of the City.
Thursday we upped sticks from Christchurch to head for our next stop at Omarama. On the way we made an unscheduled stop at Rakaia Gorge where there was a jet boat just about to leave so we jumped on for a thrilling 45 minutes or so doing 360 deg. spins & coming so close to the rocks you thought you could touch them. From there we progressed on to Fairlie, Lake Tekapo, Lake Pukaki & Twizel to our destination. Both lakes are an amazing blue colour caused by the refraction of the suns rays off of rock sediment suspended in the lakes.
Omarama is very small-just a few buildings at the junction of 2 highways but it’s claim to fame is gliding & it has held the world gliding championships.
Friday we set off for Dunedin via Lochs Benmore & Aviemore. Stopped off at Duntroon to see Maori cave paintings & Elephant Rocks (see picture) & continued on to Oamaru with its historic buildings & Moeraki to see the Boulders (see picture). Then on to Dunedin where we are staying for Easter.

Hong Kong 2nd half

On Monday we went on an organised trip into the New Territories. This area is less densely populated than HK itself although there are still many tower blocks. We were told that in these blocks each appartment can house 5-6 family members in 2 rooms. Each floor can have 20 appartments and there can be 30 floors. Imagine the whole of Deanshanger in 1 block.

We saw the Yuen Yuen Institute which incorporates temples to 3 religions, Taoism, Confusianism & Buddihism & also Fanling walled village the walls of which are the backs of houses built facing inwards for protection from invadesrs, wild animals etc. There are only 2 entrances & inside the walkways are so narrow that 1 front door faces the opposite & the residents can literally shake hands without leaving their houses. In summer the temperatures can reach 42 deg. C & humidity 90%. No wonder the youth of the village are moving to the city.

On Tuesday we went to Lantau Island to see the village of Tai-O which has many house on stilts. From there we caught a bus to Ngong Ping to see the big Buddha & Po Lin monastery. We had 3 bus journeys on the island through the mountains. On the outward journey to Tai-O we had a tyre blow-out. Scary! The driver just got out kicked it a couple of times & continued.

Wednesday we had a lazy day going to Shek-O on HK island. Alan, with these place names you could speak the language.

On Thursday we are packing for the flight to NZ.

Pictures of Yuen Yuen Institute, Tai-O and the Wisdom Walk, Po-Lin monastery

Hong Kong half way

Monday: Arrived hotel 18.30 Room OK went out and immediately got lost. But found a street food bar and ate sitting on a stool out on the pavement.

Tues: Went over on Star Ferry to HK Island and wandered to get our bearings - still as noisy and manic as last time.

Wed: Went to Aberdeen on bus and had a trip round the harbour on a sampan, then went on to Stanley and sat on the prom. In evening went to Happy Valley for the races (couldn't work out how the betting went so did't place any bets - saved a fortune as all our horses seemed to have three legs).

Thurs: Caught Ferry to Cheung Chau Island - Great place walked round part of Island for several hours then sat and had dinner over-looking the bay. No cars on this island but lots of bikes and boats bit different from HK - see photo:-

Fri: Ocean Park (Theme & Aquarium come zoo) Good, but more or less the same as any other.

went on to Stanley Mkt and stayed for an 'Indian' meal. (made a change from Chinese)

Sat: Macau - Walked for England up & down hills up steps and down slopes. Absolutely shattered by end of day we didn't even have the energy to put a dollar in the slot machines. Striking the difference between the locals standard of living and the casino haunting visitors. The opulance of the hotels and casinos and the shanty towns the locals live in.

Photo Peter at the temple of A-Ma Macau

Still at home 1/3/08

But we leave tomorrow from Heathrow at 21.15 Will update this bloq approx. every 7-10 days depending on availability of internet connections.

P&P