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Thread ID: 67390 2006-03-26 09:17:00 long drive down south drcspy (146) PC World Chat
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440896 2006-04-15 08:06:00 Apologies pctek. Totally misread you post. Makes a lot more sense after your second note. Scouse (83)
440897 2006-04-15 21:18:00 Well the trip: Left Cambridge and drove to wellington stayed overnite in the hutt valley then
caught the BlueBridge ferry to SI . Nice boat and the coffee and tea only $1 each very good . Was a

lovely afternoon for a boat ride sunny and calm .
Got to Picton about 4 . 30pm and started by drivin the Queen Charlotte Sound road, this is quite
pretty bit of scenery, saw some masochists on bycicles - they sure had big muscles (those
south island hills do that to ya) . Stayed in Havelock at a motel behind the MusselBoys shop
was really nice country setting . Very peaceful . Had dinner at the mussel boys of course, If I
recall correctly I had garlic bread and - mussels . They dont give you a LOT for your $16 . 95
and they aer very small but they were nice .

Next day off to Nelson to have a look at the market and a little tikitour before visiting my son
who is a farmer in ummm . . . . . . tapawera . Was good to catch up . The missus liked Nelson it's

pretty .
We're not into 'art' or wine so didn't bother staying to 'do' the wine trail or look at all the
pretty but overpriced 'art' . After visiting my son we carried on down country to Westport .

Looked
at all the touristy things on offer there but most of them involved walking, the missus managed

to
stuff up her back the day before we left when she was packing the heavy suitcases lol ouchy so
that put walking tours off the agenda which is a pity because there are a LOT of 'walking' tours
down south many of which get you a really marvelous feel for the country and a damn good
look at the scenery . Oh well . Thought about a helicoptor/boat trip but decided to leave that
till later in the peice, anyway we're pretty happy just lookin at the scenery .

So . . . . . next day drove outta Westport and decided not to visit 'cape foulwind' as it didn't seem
to be an attractive option, (joke) .

Off down the west coast, a stop at Punakaiki of course to wander round the very well made track
and marvel at the pancake rocks and the boiling water in the holes . Then drive further down the
coast . Wasnt the best weather but not actually raining . I cursed myself for not bringin my
fishin rod as the coast looked lovely and wild and tempting .

We visited 'Shantytown' it was raining, very well set out little place and had a nice lunch at
the cafe thingy there then went on the little steam train they have . Ran from shop/display to
next etc thru the rain and yet is was really quite enjoyable .



Next stop was Franz Joseph
glacier where I had convinced the missus that a helicopter ride up the glacier was the way to
go as I've done it twice before and know it's awsome . But dammit, that weather again stopped

that
idea there was nothing flyin due to low cloud . So we did a gentle walk most of the way into the
glacier, (being slow and careful cause of the missus's back) . It was pretty impressive .
Couldn't think of anything else worth doing there so back into the car and off to the next place
Fox glacier where we drove into see it and that too was impressive, especially the height and
steepness of the surrounding hills which were disintegrating into huge rockslides, bit scary lol .

Phew! it's only day two and we were half way down the coast . Anyway after a coffee at Fox from
our trusty thermos and a bite of some home made bikkies we headed off further down thru Haast,
and finally stopped in Wanaka . Getting to Wanaka we arrived at Lake Hawea where the missus
finally exclaimed that she loved the scenery here . I've been there in both summer and winter
and I have to agree . Anyway Wanaka . Found a motel a short distance from the town center and
unpacked the car then went for a lovely walk around the town center . Saw a shop called '
'bits and bytes' which seemed to be the only noticable puter type shop there I think they did
repair work but didn't go into ask . Had a nice dinner in the town then went back to the unit
to watch sky tv and relax our sore bums . Next day we drove round the lake a bit and went for a
closer look at mt Aspiring which had a bit of snow on it . . . looked very impressive . The missus
perused the Real Estate shop windows and I could see wheels turing lol she'd love to live there
We went to 'puzzle world' which is very cheap to enter and well worth a look .

After our 'homemade' brekkie of bacon/eggs we drove to queenstown .
I've been round the SI before three times but had never been over the cardrona road so we took
that . Initially it's pretty mild and I was beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about,
y'know, signs saying no trailers/caravans etc . . . . . . . well finally found out at the queenstown end
the road descends to queenstown/arrowtown area VERY steeply indeed . Was telling the missus about
brake fade on a vehicle once goin down Mt Hutt when I noticed that I was having to put my foot
harder and harder on the brake with less and less result, so I stopped and we got out for a look
at the scenery and a cuppa from the thermos . Yes I could definitely smell the brakes . Whew!
Glad we stopped . I can see what all the fuss is about now, I would NEVER even consider trying
that hill on a winters day with snow etc . There are all these 'bays' to pull into to put on
your chains . I can see why . Even with chains I'd be VERy reluctant to drive that particular hill
in snow conditions its hellisly steep . So be warned . Anyway made it down the hill in one peice .
Went to Arrow town for a look as people had said it was wonderfully pretty, well it was with
all the autumn colours etc . Had a look at the little stone huts the chinese gold mining workers
had stayed in and marvelled at the strength of the human spirit . Damn they looked so cold/basic
and etc but to those poor buggers it woulda no doubt been far superior to the alternative

whatever
that was . . . . . . Also wandered round Arrowtown itself, bit of a tourist trap but was exceptionally
impressed with the museum only $5 to get in and amazingly full of excellent displays showing what
life was like back in the old days . . . . . . . neat one indeed !

Ok then we carried onto Queenstown which my wife didn't really like it is too 'cityfied' and
we were not there to look at stuff like that . No snow on the Remarkables at that time . . . . went
for a bit of a detour around the lake to look at Glenorchy and had lunch there then back to
Queenstown . Decided not to bother with the gondola as we'd had enuf of heights coming down
cardrona road lol, so drove out of Queenstown, got mixed up and ended up goin the wrong way .
So back we went and then carried on the correct road . A few Kms from Qtown we struck some road
works and a 30km sign . . . well I carried on in my normal style as everyone else in this country
does and was driving at about 50km (i mean how often do you see someone actually doing 30km in
one of those areas ?) came to the place where they were actually doing the work, patching the
road and a young man stopped me with the lollypop sign then wandered over to us . . . i wound down
the window as it appeared that he wanted to say something: "did you notice it is a 30km zone"
'yeah - so ?' "Well you were doin about 80-100" (patent rubbish - I was NOT the missus woulda
been throwing a fit if I'd tried that) "do you want to kill one of US?" . . . . . . at this point I
didn't say what I was thinking but would have liked to which was: 'well i hadn't considered
it till now but I must say I'm getting tempted' . . . . . . GGGRRRRR anyway . . . . . he let us go but
didn't bother to speak to the car behind me who had been following me at the same speed as I
had been doing . . . . . . . GGGGGGrrrrr again . . . . . ah well . . . . .

soooooo, off to Te Anau . I remembered this town as being set into a nice little hole between
mountainous stuff and having some water beside it . Quite scenic . SEt up in a motel and then

made our own dinner and thought of what to do the next day . It was low cloud there also which
made flights anywhere a no-go . So decided to goto Milford and take a cruise round the sounds .
Lovely road to Millford tho quite a distance from TeAnau(120km) I understand in the winter it's
often closed by avalanches and I see why, the hills that surround the road are VERY steep indeed
and snow would slip off with ease . And I know how cold it gets there in the winter Ive been in
TeAnau in winter . The Millford tunnel was a bit freaky for a first timer, it's quite steeply
sloping downwards in the direction of Millford, and reasonably long . I thought of the bus
that caught fire in there a few years ago and thought 'hope it dont happen today' . . . you come
out of the tunnel seemingly about halfway up/down a huge cliff face and then drive a wiggly
'switchback' down to the valley floor, (shades of cardrona here it's pretty steep and has
plenty of hairpin bends) . After the tunnel it's not far to Millford and that's a tiny little
place with plenty of parking for tourists which would be most of it's industry . Very nice
pub/eatery there where we had lunch while waiting for the boat . I'm always fascinated by the
thought that for all those buildings etc at a place like that they had to transport everything
thru there by road/water whatever and its interesting how much effort someone has gone to in
order to deal with that . Even making that road/tunnel woulda been a major!!! WEll there were
several boats tied up but ours wastn' there anyway it soon appeared, i've forgotten the name now
but it was a single hull of reasonable size, 50ft at a guess ? . . . very comfy and free tea/coffee
and a nice drive round the sound and out to the ocean entrance of the sound . then Back with
commentry on the way . We only took the 1& 1/2 hour trip which after doing it I felt had been
exactly perfect . Again clouds precluded any flying . . . . .

Having got back to TEAnau we went driving round the place and the missus looked at the new
subdivisions etc, the sections on offer would have fantastic views in teh winter of snowy hills

etc but , my wife really prefers Wanaka as a possible place to move to . . . Had dinner at a
restaurant very nice . Ok next day speedo reading 2333km so far we went off down the road with
intentions of getting to Invercargill/bluff . I wanted to see the manapouri powerstation so
we went off to manapouri but buggered if I could find anything sayin 'powerstn this way >>>'
so gave up and drove off to INvercargill .

The Scenery gave way from wild west coast stuff to the gentler rolling hills and farm type of
country around this area . Personally I like the wild stuff we get enuf of the rolling hills etc
up here in the waikato . . . anyway got to Invers and drove down that Loooooonnnnngggggggg main st,

(must be about 10km lol), and passed thru so that I could get to Bluff so my wife could finally
experience the end of the earth, (well nz anyway) . Got to bluff to find that the hill had

changed in the last couple of years they haev built a really good viewing platform on the top of

it . This gives you a great 360 degree viewing of the area . Looked north and thought . . . . . 'only a

couple of thousand kms to get back home' Then we went back to invers for lunch and had an

excellent feed and I got a haircut . The missus went into a real estate shop and gotta map and

some ideas and we drove around Invers lookin at real esate, thinking 'hmm . . . ' not a bad little

town to live in . . .

Back in the car and off up the road with intentions of visiting 'our very own PressF1 "PCTEK"

. . ' but dammit due to not noticing the signs or something ended up bypassing her place entirely,

(Sorry for that I was looking forward to meeting a real Pf1'er) . REalised a ways up the road but

by then . . . oh well . . . next stop Dunedin .

We got to Dunedin on a Friday nite . . . . . well about on rush hour actually . . . . . busy busy place .

Drove thru exclaiming at the archetecture, (my wife is 'into' buildings etc) and found a motel

where they gave us accomodation suitable for about six people lol . Well it was nice to have room

to swing a cat/dog or whatever lol . Went back to town after settling in and parked up for a walk

around . . . . . again busy busy place . Walked round central for a while just lookin at the shops etc

and trying to decide what/where to eat . We're a bit limited with whats eatable cause the missus

has a gluten/wheat allergy and has to be very picky with what she can eat . Can be a bit hard to

feed sometimes . Oh sure she can eat basic meat/veg but steak/chips/salad gets boring pretty

fast . Settled on what looked to be a very nice seafood place but although it was largely empty

was told ' not booked - sorry come back later' . . . so went elsewhere and ate . . . . . . then wandered

round a bit more then back to motel to flop .

Next day went down town to look round was gonna go look at 'larnarch' castle and the albatrosses .

In the process I went past the railway stn to show the missus this wonderful old building and

discovered they had a craft market so we went in to look . Noticed the taieri gorge train waiting

on the platform so we grabbed a couple of seats on that instead and had the 4 hour, (two hours

each way) trip down the Taieri line . It was fairly cool I LIKE trains and teh scenery was pretty

mean with steep drops, high scary bridges etc the guy doing the commentary was pretty good at his

job too and made it interesting . Nice ride . Time we got back we decided to go wandering roudn

the shops instead so that's how we spent the afternoon .

My wife hadn't seen enough snow so we decided to goto Mt Cook . Decided to travel thru Alexandra

etc cause it's more scenic so headed out of Dunedin, (tried to find the castle etc first but got

lost and gave up lol) we went south a few Km's then headed inland was about 300km to Twizel .

Fantastic roads long wide well sealed and little traffic . Went past the clyde dam and was amazed

at the fact that Clyde itself is about 5 seconds downstream of the dam, wouldn't want to live

there if that dam broke . . . . . . . . . finally got to Twizel and booked into a motel then drove off up

the road another 50km to Mt Cook . Bit cloudy but was really nice to see the REAL mountains/snow

etc . very worth the look, again I'd have liked to do a flight over but the clouds prevented that

dammit . Next day headed to Chch . Thru Tekapo etc again a lovely drive with snowy mountains

around us and etc was real nice cruise . Stopped at TeMuka home of pottery for a breif look . Got

to the edge of chch and thought . . . . . . nah . . . . . this city is too much, neither of us are

particularly 'city' people so we decided to detour to Akaroa . Hmmm . . . . . hilly drive reminiscent

of cardrona again steep/windy etc . Akaroa very nice little place scenic and lovely view on a

sunny afternoon . Found a motel and went walkies . Very much a tourist trap town but nice and

pretty .

Next day we drove into chch itself as I had arranged to pickup a part from ROB SILVERTECH,

(PF1'er) got a map and found him near brighton beach . I spend a few mins talking to rob and a

quick look at his workshop in the garage, (reminds me of my workshop Rob) then he suggested a

small detour to see the famous brighton pier . . . . . . impressive pier . After that we avoided the

city completely and drove off to Kaikoura .

Just south of Kaikoura we started to see seals on teh rocks and took a few pics . Got to the town

and went up the hill to the lookout it was a beautiful day and a magic view . Found our

accomodation and then went for a look thru the town . Smallish place bit of a tourist trap . I

had a stuffed shoulder, (just woke up with it grrrrrr . . ) so got a lady to do a bit of a massage

on it and then we went driving to see what we could see . . . . . nice place . Had dinner of crayfish

was ok but smallish, nice however it cost $90 for two halfs . . . . . . oh well it was kinda something

we HAD to do . Next day wandered around and thougth about going whale watchign but never got

there so I bought a hand line and went fishing off the wharf in the hope of catching dinner

lol . . . . . . fat chance . . . . . all I caught was nothing at all . . . . . anyway it was a real relaxing day

and lovely weather . Had a magical dinner at a 'stonegrill' place was interesting they bring out

the plate it's a long narrow thing with salad and chips on each end and in the middle a square of

some volcanic stone about 10"x10" and 1" thick and its HOT . . . the meat sits on this and it's NOT

cooked when it arrives lol . . . . . . was a bit taken'aback but they said just turn it over and slice

as you go . Was the best meal we'd had anywhere very tender and I highly reccomend it . . . . . go on a

wednesday they do two for one deal and so it's essentially half price . . .

Following that the next day we drove off to Blenheim could still see snowy mountains all the way

on our left so that was cool . . . . . found Blenheim to be VERY busy, (this coulda been cause it was

easter) and they had a market day on so wandered round that for a few hours and looked in the

real estate windows . Now a lot of folks would 'do' the wine tours but we're not realy into that

so we just enjoyed the town drove around a fair bit and looked at everything etc . Cooked our own

dinner . Could possibly consider living in Blenheim it's nice .

Finally off to Picton to catch the Ferry which was booked for 7pm . Got to Picton about 10 . 30am

and simply had a wonderfully cruisy day . later on we realised we could have gone on a 4 hour

boat tour round the place and wished we had realised that and done it however the day had passed

and it was too late dammit . It was a beautiful day and the harbour was very very pretty with

lots of boats going everywhere .

Got on the ferry and had a very easy trip back to wellington it was real pretty coming into the

city at nite . Off the boat at about 10 . 30pm and drove thru to cambridge arriving at about 5 . 15am

tired but happy to be home, greeted by our two cats . Unloaded the car but didn't go to bed till

crashed in mid afternoon just shattered . I woke a couple hours later in a complete daze but came

right and stayed up till about 9pm then slept like a baby . . . . . and so . . . . . here I am typing up what

seems to be a small book

overall we had a nice trip we did little of the 'touristy' stuff cause we're not that into it .

Just enjoyed the country and scenery mostly . Travelled 4980km in 15 days and it cost about $1

per km all up . Would reccomend it to anyone .

PHEW ! Now for a short rest to get over my holiday and then back to fixing puters . Groan . . . i'm

sure in about a years time I'll need another holiday . . . . dunno what/where but any suggestions are

welcome . 		drcspy (146)
440898 2006-04-15 22:11:00 Getting to Wanaka we arrived at Lake Hawea where the missus
finally exclaimed that she loved the scenery here .

soooooo, off to Te Anau .

I wanted to see the manapouri powerstation so
we went off to manapouri but buggered if I could find anything sayin 'powerstn this way >>>'
And I live so close to both now! Yay!

The power station is up West Arm .

Here's something that annoys the hell out of me .
My friend in Ngapara (30k west of Oamaru) has her sister from Akld down for a couple of weeks . Sister has never been anywhere in the South Island except Oamaru . Suggested they go up to Wanaka as its only 200Km, friend said no, its "all the same" . :groan:

Oamaru - Wanaka!!!!!!!! :groan: 		pctek (84)
440899 2006-04-15 22:12:00 !!Aucklanders!! need one say more lol drcspy (146)
440900 2006-04-15 22:39:00 The end of the world is just south of the Bombay hills,

Its true ask any Aucklander 		beama (111)
440901 2006-04-15 23:12:00 Thanks for your "Just Back" report drcspy, glad to hear that you enjoyed yourselves .

That snow that you saw on the Kaikoura Ranges was freshly dumped last Saturday night . It is unusual to have snow there at this time of year and I see that our Southern Alps have also had a dumping this week already . 		FoxyMX (5)
440902 2006-04-16 00:36:00 yeh we were a week early to see 'good' snow but what we did see was cool......i've been south in deep winter anyway and seen what REAL snow is like, (piled six feet high on the roadsides by the graders and covering EVERYthing you can see)....... drcspy (146)
440903 2006-04-16 01:02:00 The end of the world is just south of the Bombay hills,

Its true ask any Aucklander
the Auckland person who thinks that - its the one from Oamaru. 		pctek (84)
440904 2006-04-16 11:20:00 Great report Drcspy and my apologies for not extending an invitation. I thought you'd be in Invercargill at Easter and we'd be away.

The South Island is magnificent but large. I'm impressed with the distances you covered. I'm in Arowtown right now and it's one of my favourite places in the world. Glad you enjoyed it. 		Winston001 (3612)
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