. . . . home, where nothing seems to have changed !
Sunday, March 9, 2008
. . .and home again
The long haul home, Auckland to Los Angeles in just under 11 hours, and then a day of respite on the Grand Canal, Venice Beach before heading out to Canada and home . . .
. . . . home, where nothing seems to have changed !
. . . . home, where nothing seems to have changed !
Monday, March 3, 2008
Last day . . .
A last trip on the green bomber . . . Auckland City’s (excellent) ‘Link’ bus service (wake up Kingston Ontario !!)
Lunch by the harbour – Greenpeace ‘Rainbow Warrior’ in the background . . .
. . .and a huge ‘thank you’ to friends John, Patricia and Kerie (Journeys International – check ‘em out - www.journeys.co.nz ) for preparing and smoothing our way for our month in their country. Thanks mates !
Lunch by the harbour – Greenpeace ‘Rainbow Warrior’ in the background . . .
. . .and a huge ‘thank you’ to friends John, Patricia and Kerie (Journeys International – check ‘em out - www.journeys.co.nz ) for preparing and smoothing our way for our month in their country. Thanks mates !
Farewell Queenstown
Liftoff from Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu, and farewell South Island. Great memories, and am sure we’ll be back one of these days.
Back to Ponsonby, Auckland for a final couple of nights, and Ponsonby Road with its eclectic mix of cafes and restaurants.
Sunday evening at Mission Bay, and a stroll in the park . . . .
. . . an evening with friends -John, Natalia the Russian Princess, Peter, Derek, Maralyn and Jeanie . . .
. . . and a feed of that never-to-be-missed NZ specialty, green lipped mussels !
Back to Ponsonby, Auckland for a final couple of nights, and Ponsonby Road with its eclectic mix of cafes and restaurants.
Sunday evening at Mission Bay, and a stroll in the park . . . .
. . . an evening with friends -John, Natalia the Russian Princess, Peter, Derek, Maralyn and Jeanie . . .
. . . and a feed of that never-to-be-missed NZ specialty, green lipped mussels !
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Glenorchy and Lord of the Rings country
Looks like the weather has finally turned true ‘West Coast’. But it doesn’t detract from anything, and we took off from Queenstown to Glenochy for lunch, and possible sightings of Hobbits.
No Hobbits unfortunately (at least nobody without shoes, so couldn’t really check – sorry Austin), but a fabulous lunch. Would highly recommend the steak ‘sammi’ at the Glenorchy Café, viz : toasted home-made bread, piled with – lettuce, rib-eye steak, bacon, sautéed large cremini mushrooms, salsa, all topped with a fried egg, and garnished with ‘jus’ and home made cold slaw. Wow ! Sammis will never be the same again !
The road back to Queenstown, along the shore of Lake Wakatipu, and more waterfalls . . . .
The evening view from our hotel balcony . . .
No Hobbits unfortunately (at least nobody without shoes, so couldn’t really check – sorry Austin), but a fabulous lunch. Would highly recommend the steak ‘sammi’ at the Glenorchy Café, viz : toasted home-made bread, piled with – lettuce, rib-eye steak, bacon, sautéed large cremini mushrooms, salsa, all topped with a fried egg, and garnished with ‘jus’ and home made cold slaw. Wow ! Sammis will never be the same again !
The road back to Queenstown, along the shore of Lake Wakatipu, and more waterfalls . . . .
The evening view from our hotel balcony . . .
Doubtful Sound, Fiordland
Queenstown is the centre for so many outdoor activities . . . but as we’re not into mountain climbing, bungy jumping, hiking, para gliding, or extreme sport mode, we elected to take a day trip to – no, not Milford Sound – but Doubtful Sound.
Actually fiords, not sounds, Milford is by far the busiest and most ‘touristy’ . . .a little like Niagara Falls on a bank holiday weekend. We opted for Doubtful, quieter, and easier to reach. Perhaps also more entertaining, in that it included a boat ferry across Lake Manapouri, followed by a half hour bus ride over Wilmot Pass, up into the rain forest to Deep Cove, where we embarked on our cruise of Doubtful sound.
Located in the temperate rain forests of the west coast, Doubtful Sound was ‘discovered’ by the indomitable Captain Cook. The guy really got around !
Rain forests mean lush vegetation, and almost always wet atmospheric conditions.
A never ending cycle of water falling, from rain, to mountaintop, to waterfalls, innumerable species of moss simply clinging to the rock surfaces (little or no soil), and everything growing out of it, from ferns to enormous (up to 300 years old) mountain beech trees.
Our first view of Doubtful Sound, from way above on Wilmot Pass . . .
. . .and first glimpse of our ship (look closely . . you’ll see the road, way down there, and the ship just offshore)
Finally aboard, and ready to absorb the almost untouched environment . . . .
. . .along with the locals
Far out (18km. away!), towards the ‘mouth’ of the fiord, the Tasman Sea. And our last sight of it – at least this time around.
Fiord cliffs and waterfalls, up to 1,000 meters high – true distance being impossible to capture on film.
Our return down the fiord . . something ominously beautiful, almost “Rings” like.
After our cruise, we re-boarded the bus back across Wilmot Pass to Manapouri Power Station, a massive hydro facility built underground, and taking advantage of the drop between the Lake and the Sound. Plunging through a two kilometers long tunnel hewn and blasted out of the mountain, our bus delivered us to the generating plant 200 meters below the surface. The generating station was started in the 1960s, and services the Tiwai Aluminium Smelter with power equivalent to supply the whole of Auckland.
Back above ground, and into our rental car headed for Queenstown. En route, we encountered the Kingston Flyer, with a full head of steam, and about to depart.
Actually fiords, not sounds, Milford is by far the busiest and most ‘touristy’ . . .a little like Niagara Falls on a bank holiday weekend. We opted for Doubtful, quieter, and easier to reach. Perhaps also more entertaining, in that it included a boat ferry across Lake Manapouri, followed by a half hour bus ride over Wilmot Pass, up into the rain forest to Deep Cove, where we embarked on our cruise of Doubtful sound.
Located in the temperate rain forests of the west coast, Doubtful Sound was ‘discovered’ by the indomitable Captain Cook. The guy really got around !
Rain forests mean lush vegetation, and almost always wet atmospheric conditions.
A never ending cycle of water falling, from rain, to mountaintop, to waterfalls, innumerable species of moss simply clinging to the rock surfaces (little or no soil), and everything growing out of it, from ferns to enormous (up to 300 years old) mountain beech trees.
Our first view of Doubtful Sound, from way above on Wilmot Pass . . .
. . .and first glimpse of our ship (look closely . . you’ll see the road, way down there, and the ship just offshore)
Finally aboard, and ready to absorb the almost untouched environment . . . .
. . .along with the locals
Far out (18km. away!), towards the ‘mouth’ of the fiord, the Tasman Sea. And our last sight of it – at least this time around.
Fiord cliffs and waterfalls, up to 1,000 meters high – true distance being impossible to capture on film.
Our return down the fiord . . something ominously beautiful, almost “Rings” like.
After our cruise, we re-boarded the bus back across Wilmot Pass to Manapouri Power Station, a massive hydro facility built underground, and taking advantage of the drop between the Lake and the Sound. Plunging through a two kilometers long tunnel hewn and blasted out of the mountain, our bus delivered us to the generating plant 200 meters below the surface. The generating station was started in the 1960s, and services the Tiwai Aluminium Smelter with power equivalent to supply the whole of Auckland.
Back above ground, and into our rental car headed for Queenstown. En route, we encountered the Kingston Flyer, with a full head of steam, and about to depart.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Mount Cook to Queenstown
On the road again, but this time off the beaten path, and along Bullock Train trail . . . a route suggested by our B&B host. The ‘trail’ is in fact a road constructed alongside the canal system built in the 1960s to move water from Lake Tekapo down a chain of lakes, and through a total of 7 hydro generating stations, providing power for most of New Zealand. An awesome engineering feat!
Not built exactly for tourism or other purposes, the canal and road also provide a self contained body of water for enterprising salmon farmers. So we not only enjoyed the spectacular views of the Alps, but purchased fresh smoked salmon for our picnic lunch that day.
And finally, an unrestricted view of Mount Cook, highest peak in New Zealand.
Our road continued, up through Lindis Pass, on our way to Queenstown . . . .
. . . and another breathtaking view from our hotel balcony.
Not built exactly for tourism or other purposes, the canal and road also provide a self contained body of water for enterprising salmon farmers. So we not only enjoyed the spectacular views of the Alps, but purchased fresh smoked salmon for our picnic lunch that day.
And finally, an unrestricted view of Mount Cook, highest peak in New Zealand.
Our road continued, up through Lindis Pass, on our way to Queenstown . . . .
. . . and another breathtaking view from our hotel balcony.
Lake Tekapo
Lake Tekapo, home of the University of Canterbury Observatory on Mount John.
No matter where you point the camera, there’s a view to be had.
Glad we’ve got digital . . . . we’d have never made it this far if we’d been buying film.
The inevitable wayside flowers, wild lupins this time. ‘Darn!’ says Maralyn, ’can’t get them to grow in our garden’.
And yet another stunner of a sunset, this evening from the balcony of our B&B.
Stayed up late this night, stargazing. Viewed the Southern Cross for the very first time, otherwise few constellations we recognized, except for Orion on the horizon, which we can see at home. Only here, he’s upside down!
No matter where you point the camera, there’s a view to be had.
Glad we’ve got digital . . . . we’d have never made it this far if we’d been buying film.
The inevitable wayside flowers, wild lupins this time. ‘Darn!’ says Maralyn, ’can’t get them to grow in our garden’.
And yet another stunner of a sunset, this evening from the balcony of our B&B.
Stayed up late this night, stargazing. Viewed the Southern Cross for the very first time, otherwise few constellations we recognized, except for Orion on the horizon, which we can see at home. Only here, he’s upside down!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
