off to NZ with stella and tony

ok its not a good way to start with stella getting a cellulitis of her right ankle only 2 days prior to travelling to NZ , just over her scar from her previous fracture 3 years ago - where she still has a pin in place , ok antibiotics organised

27/02/09

we get up relatively early for most of us ( tony not included) and head off to the airport
we stock up with additional antibiotics for stella if the current ones arent working
off we fly to Christchurch
first minor problem is encountered when Lindsey leaves the duty free wine at customs and we dont discover this until after we have left customs
had to retrieve them from a special window
apparently set up for such events
this is most a unHyde like activity

We pick up the car and head down to Akaroa about 90 mins on the coast, a lovely french english village - the english arrived 2 days before the french and set up their flag - but they only knew about it because the french had told them thats where they were going and they got caught in a storm which the brits managed to avoid!
we had booked into a B and B - garthowen http://www.garthowen.co.nz
it was a good indication of the level of accommodation that we had managed to book the previous weekend.

 

we headed off to tea at Ma Maison - akaroa salmon , pork hocks and steak with a good amount of nice NZ booze

28/02/09

we had a full cooked breakfast the next day before heading off to the small shopping centre where stella discovers the only camels we found on the trip - they were duly purchased
we headed off on a boat trip for the arvo - to look at hector dolphins and seals.
the weather managed to behave during the trip but deteriorated later after we had had dinner - the worse storm in two years - ian and i slept through it!
As usual we had booked the accommodation at the last minute - mainly through our reliable wotif but hadnt realized that there 3 weddings the weekend we had chosen to visit this small hamlet of akaroa - garthowen only had one room available on the second night so they put up ian and me in their spare room - not usually rented out and it was well and truely sound proofed with no window and at the bottom and the back of the house - hence the reason for us not hearing the storm

01/03/09


 

The weather improved the next morning and we set off looking for the summit road - the views were wonderful - see picassa album but we almost lost tony in the wind
back to chrishchurch airport
this occasioned the next minor hiccup - ian had taken the garthowen bedroom key - so he put it in a post bag and posted it back
boarding the plane was interesting - invercargill is obviously considered a low risk destination , and for the second time in my life i boarded with no security check once on board they told us they would in due course do the safefy check and then proceeded to inform us that they may need to cancel the flight due to safety concerns regarding the wind - however the propellers started to turn - yes it was a smaller plane but not a baby plane and we proceded to go to the runway - but no safety procedures were went through - so we were flying off to invercargill into a high risk flight with no safety check !!!
the flight seemed to go over the sea rather than the usual inland route as per the airline book and it was very smooth
stella was met by a wheel chair and we went off to locate the car - a toyota diesel prado this time - fitted us in well with all our luggage although stella and tony managed to travel with only one case between them - ian and i could never do that!
invercargill decided to show us that it could rain in NZ
tea was at the local seafood restaurant - probably the only average meal we had for the entire trip

02/03/09

the next morning we set off for bluff - oyster season started yesterday and bluff is where they land from the boats - well we couldnt miss that could we
the seas were too rough for the boats to go out that day , so we feasted for morning tea on day old oysters - wonderful
today we lost trust in our GPs - a depressed melancholic woman we were heading back to invercargill from bluff when she detoured us onto a dirt road - only to put us back onto our main road after about 10 mins - with me abusing her and telling her that she was stupid - probably didnt help her depression but reminiscent of jim telling katie off in the uk
once back at invercargill we started off for te anau where we were staying that night
we chose the southern scenic route http://www.southernscenicroute.co.nz/default.asp

the rain managed to settle as we drove along and we pulled in at tuatapere - the sausage capital of the world for lunch at the pub - i chose the sausage pie
we stopped off at the borland nature walk for a wander leaving stella in the car looking after her ankle
te anau continued to supply us with sunshine and we pottered around the small souvenir shops

 

tea was at the hotel restaurant - venison for me on this occasion

03/03/09

We had booked an overnight cruise on the milford sound this evening but it was cancelled on short notice so we changed to the 3 hour cruise instead with a bbq lunch- was the right move milford has sunshine for 9 days per year and we got one of them
http://www.redboats.co.nz/milford-sound-cruises/869/Discover+Milford+Sound.aspx

the views were once again spectacular we were bathed in sunshine and managed to get stella onto the top deck so that she could enjoy all the views

 

we returned to te anau stopping along the way to look at views etc
dinner that night was from the local chinese food shop - not bad especially the sweat and sour fish

04/03/09

the next morning we set off for queenstown both ian and i like queenstown it has yet again wonderful views and a Mediterranean food market which ians drools over
we were temporarily diverted by the kingston flyer steam train before heading to queenstown it self
Tonys friend barry had recommended the road to glenorchy so we set off - found the pub for lunch - peas pie pud for tony and me

 

we will go back for walking another time too much to do and not enough time - met one couple who had spent 8 weeks in NZ and still hadnt had enough time to do all that they wanted to do

lovely steak for tea cooked by ian and use was also made of the washing machine and dryer

05/03/09

off to the lake for a steam boat trip for the morning - TSS Earnslaw http://www.realjourneys.co.nz/Main/TSSEarnslaw_WP/

 

once again the good weather god was smiling down upon us - managed to get stella outside again to enjoy the views
tony and i managed to enjoy a beer as well

lunch at one of the wharf restaurants sitting out in the sun

arrowtown was on the agenda for the afternoon an icecream for stella and me coffees for tony and ian
akaroa salmon cooked by ian for tea

06/03/09

today was our longest trip - heading off to the glaciers via haast and today it showed us that it could rain in new zealand we saw water falls galore coming down from the mountains coming down next to the road and spraying over the road wonderful

 

we stopped at haast pub for lunch we had previously stayed there for the night - when we went with the kids and had a reasonable meal
we were advised that there may be a wait - we were prepared for that but not for the bus of 40 people who arrived about 15 mins later and then were served prior to us about an hour later we complained the next couple complained but little was done
finally stellas ploughmans arrived sans cheese- whats this i asked - a ploughmans i was told wheres the cheese i asked - "shit" was the response and the plate was removed to later come back with quite nice cheeses tony and i had another pie pud - not quite as nice as the glenorchy ones but not bad and ian had a wonderful seafood chowder

the torrential rain continued almost til we reached the fox glacier
we were able to drive up the road this time - last year it had been washed out with over 400mm of rain in one day!

glenfern view villas for the night and tea in a local cafe - served by an argentinian
traveller

07/03/09

thought we were in for rain again to day as we headed off to hokitika but it held off most of the day
the scenery changed to more farming rather than spectacular mountains

 

we went on a baby paddle boat at hokitika and found white herons for tony
Rimu lodge was tonights accommodation

http://www.rimulodge.co.nz/

came with the family dog - deesha liked to sit on peoples knees in the evening - to make them feel at home stella was especially favoured
tea at a restaurant overlooking the sea - seafood platters for ian and i - wonderful
ian decided to try and drive off with the key again - but was stopped by the owner who realised what he was trying to do - key was duely handed over

08/03/09

our last full day - we headed back to christchurch for the night through arthurs pass
stopped to watch the tranzscenic train - it hooted us as it went passed to say hello
stopped to look at waterfalls - were welcomed by 2 kea birds - one sitting on the car roof quite reluctant to get off even when we tried to drive off

 

the sunshine welcomed us on the other side of arthurs pass and we drove down to christchurch able to let stella and tony enjoy the views

we checked into huntley house wonderful accommodation to complete our trip - found on wotif again so about 60% of its usual price



ian did himself really well with the accommodation
we lunched in a cafe next to the avon river in the centre of christchurch and then went to explore the catherdral and shops
dinner was back at huntley house - steak with cheese to follow again washed down by NZ wines

09/03/09

up at 4am to get to the airport by 5am - stella had a wheel chair provided and full attention from the pacific blue airline staff couldnt fault them
a smooth flight back to melbourne where christian met us

think we all had a wonderful time

next time frannie and jim can come i think- ian and i want to go back again to explore some more

Stella turned 75 on Monday so we all invited ourselves down for last sunday - lunch
Ian and i headed down on the saturday to help prepare the food
We detoured via david jones food hall to pick up some crumbed veal cutlets for tea and stopped off at the mornington shops to pick up supplies
Sunday morning - the whole family arrived including krumm who doesnt like to miss out on sundays at mt martha

 

We had the usual feast of salads meats a slow cooked veg cassarole and then lindseys rice pudding and belinda did a wonderful lemon pie
We ate drank and made merry
Think Stella wasnt too exhausted to celebrate her birthday again the next day

 

 

 

Ian and I had fish and chips for tea the local shop down stairs from the flat now produces more than acceptable chips
And I was brave and ran up the person with an ad in the local shop for another car spot in the building basement - and hired it so no longer do ian and i have to fight over who parks in the street we will now start fighting over the car parks as the second one is under the building opposite but still much more convenient than on the street and having to remember to move it before the clearway restrictions start

Simon was holidaying for a week at Apollo Bay - well Marengo really so it was decided it was time for an invasion. Ian Emily and i packed the car and headed down for the weekend.Emily would stay with Simon and the kids whilst Ian had booked us into Captains on the Bay in Apollo Bay for the Saturday night.
We went on the new geelong ring road and then up to the Princes Highway and made good time to get down to apollo bay late arvo.
We sound simon using my iphone gps my car gps didnt recognise the house address - will have to get that upgraded - also doesnt recognise the east link in melbourne - keeps telling me that i am driving through a paddock
We checked the cricket scores and headed down to the beach for some boogie boarding- well the kids and em went boogie boarding the "adults" sat on the beach supervising.
We then had an hours walk to apollo bay and back along the beach - wonderful sunshine although slightly cold.
A barbque tea was the order of the day sausages steak salad and home made chips washed down with this years jimmy watson's gold award red - would help if i could remember its name.
A game of back yard cricket completed a pleasant day - we were ably helped by a local border collie which was voted the best player of the day- fielded beautifully and then would drop the ball at the wicket keepers end before running off to be ready for the next ball.
Ian and i headed back to Captains for a nice bath.
We had bacon and eggs for breakfast before ian ran back to simons in the morning and i took a more leisurely walk back to simons. He em and jacob were up and the girls appeared slightly later.
More boogie boarding for simons family while em ian and i walked back into apollo bay to pick up lunch supplies and the car which we had left at the motel.
Back to the beach in the arvo before the car was packed and we headed across country back to ballarat. At least the gps knows where ballarat is!
spag bog for tea - a pleasant way to end a pleasant weekend
will post photos later after i have worked out why the home mac refuses to put them on - i hate macs!!!!

does a trip to matts place at warragul count as a trip - i guess it does
ian and i left from ballarat early this morning in separate cars
we met at berry st to load up my car with em liesl krumm and mike a friend of ems.
We off loaded mike at heidelberg and headed down to warragul
the sat nav in my car doesnt recognise the new east link so we travelled off road for a while
belinda and matt had done themselves proud beef chicken roast vegs salad and then one of belindas wonderful crumbles for dessert
we all admired the revovations.
The lounge in particular really compliments the house and will give them tonnes of more space.
Krumm enjoyed the kids and ember and jarah. He slept all the way back home to berry st
I have left my car with em - she is borrowing it for a couple of days to go to phillip island to stay a few days
ian and i finished the day with fish and chips. The chips have improved considerably , they have always done good fish

first blog

We have just returned from our new zealand holidays.
We travelled daily and packed into a fine tarago van all six of us liesl from south africa ant em jessi ian and my self.The van did us well. We could pack all of our bags in the boot space mainly becos liesl knows how to travel light - her bag only weighed 6.9 kg. congratulations liesl mine was the heaviest bag but i travel with all the electrical equiptment to keep the family going - the power packs to cameras phones ipods and the car ipod speaker connection.
we landed on wednesday at christchurch after leaving melbourne at 10ish. allowing for the 2 hour time difference,we landed at about 4 and we went off to collect the van and headed over the mountains to greymouth for our first night - the scenery was magnificent and the roads excellent.
we ate at a Speights ale house and had a wonderful meal and then retired to bed.
Thursday morning we explored greymouth a cute town on the west coast. Then we headed off down the west coast to Haast via the Franz Josef glacier. The Fox Glacier wasnt able to be viewed as the road had been washed away after 400ml of rain on the monday we were happy to have avoided that downpour!
The kids all were impressed with the glacier even though we werent able to get up close to it . It had the usual blue glacier colour and was quite impressive. We lunched and continued on our way to Haast.
Haast has a population of about 0. well may be a few more but it isnt very big. We, ie em liesl and i did the 4km walk back from the beach and we all dined in the pub attached to the motel.
Friday morning saw us head off towards queenstown down some of the most spectacular roads and scenery that we saw on our trip. We lunched in Wanaka a small lake side town - very swiss like - just needed the cows with bells.
Ian out did himself picking the apartment in queenstown. The views were out of this world and the kitchen facilities wonderful.
Jessi had elected to cook that night so we went exploring for a supermarket. Ian managed to find a mediterranean supermarket and jessi found the ingredients to cook a fish and vegetarian feast. The colours of the food were magnificent. It was washed down with some fine local new zealand sav blancs.
We had hoped to fly down to milford sound to do a cruise the next morning but this was cancelled due to high winds so we booked a road trip down the skippers canyon road and then a jet boat ride. The jet boat ride was uniformly enjoyed whilst the road trip inspired different degrees of terror in the different people on the trip. Ian and I had done it 30 or so years ago and knew what to expect. A dirt road single vehicle track with long drops on the side of the road down to a valley.
We all survived and went on to enjoy the jet boat trip. Photos will be posted on picassa later.
We then headed off to Lake Tekapo. Once again ian did well with his choice of accommodation.
We had chinese for tea and slept well .
We packed the car for the last long drive and set off for christchurch the next morning. We stayed in the middle of christchurch and had home cooked seafood pasta and salad for tea after a pub meal next to the avon river for lunch.
We were up at 4am today to catch the plane home and now are all exhausted.
Ant and jess are off to japan on wednesday and i have to be at ants place at about 4:30am to drive them to the airport - all a bit exhausting.
Unlike frannies blog, this blog will only appear for holidays and trips. Enjoy