tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3498456801369683582023-11-16T07:51:20.086-08:00New Zealand Trip January 2013Stuart Dolbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07632179595555036363noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349845680136968358.post-30390574548717473232013-01-20T22:17:00.000-08:002013-01-20T22:17:05.245-08:00January 21st..... Best Monday InYears21st January 2013
We awoke to a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky and crisp mountain air nipping at our ears. We had a half hour to kill before heading out to the quad bike ride so we grabbed some breaky and walked along the bay.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQslCC4EdIUVFZo3ROO6fBuPN3ziP5gwpmT9iYulfE9K8jniyqZB_WbGv4kVDwdctf58crmbEaNflAMpMtItS8EQ95Vgtm2eKDjPxhdAIhjhqhyphenhyphenrhY_Uf5zjXH2fqDkttYbnpoKks3CbTY/s1600/1BayMorning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQslCC4EdIUVFZo3ROO6fBuPN3ziP5gwpmT9iYulfE9K8jniyqZB_WbGv4kVDwdctf58crmbEaNflAMpMtItS8EQ95Vgtm2eKDjPxhdAIhjhqhyphenhyphenrhY_Uf5zjXH2fqDkttYbnpoKks3CbTY/s400/1BayMorning.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtYmFfFQLiyj03pS6aRY_o11tD4z9e-LwH-bsvcD4jtj7-quIkMVRDvBu_GgO0Z4CoaPMmJRP6WnlzRathf_U-rae1Ya-OMMOpICFWo_rbSf5A0Q1S3UiiQZgA_4tLTRwgLDyfPjv-cKKK/s1600/2Baymonring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtYmFfFQLiyj03pS6aRY_o11tD4z9e-LwH-bsvcD4jtj7-quIkMVRDvBu_GgO0Z4CoaPMmJRP6WnlzRathf_U-rae1Ya-OMMOpICFWo_rbSf5A0Q1S3UiiQZgA_4tLTRwgLDyfPjv-cKKK/s400/2Baymonring.jpg" /></a></div>
It’s official, I’m allowed to buy us all quad bikes now, Jodi had a ball. They spent the first half an hour seeing how to split the groups up, so I didn’t see Jodi much while we were out there, she was in the “not so fast group” on a little automatic CanAm while I was on a little Suzuki.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttBh4aw_R2IiFrW7gKzM96KYRbxmLH_UFTnMIaZpsTSezI2E9tK0yYYqOpJ8wFbOzcyr9gqlB0yh3iB9peV-Om7D9nj-IdMzY7IUte36v4vmqsxv6de4YQ7P4-Rljy9f1DI-mbymcoU0o/s1600/3QuadJodStu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttBh4aw_R2IiFrW7gKzM96KYRbxmLH_UFTnMIaZpsTSezI2E9tK0yYYqOpJ8wFbOzcyr9gqlB0yh3iB9peV-Om7D9nj-IdMzY7IUte36v4vmqsxv6de4YQ7P4-Rljy9f1DI-mbymcoU0o/s400/3QuadJodStu.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitltJIRJskwVuZwkv8nFHJdsm4bA8QYiwugjJDkt3iVSbbloavBajNumv4jGYGIZjp82yKFU8c0hukkK9EckbWOAO03NbgR8z3FQNoo3UTWEuLzcJQ1axkcuz4cxfxLVW-GKzEMomZ3e9p/s1600/3QuadJodi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitltJIRJskwVuZwkv8nFHJdsm4bA8QYiwugjJDkt3iVSbbloavBajNumv4jGYGIZjp82yKFU8c0hukkK9EckbWOAO03NbgR8z3FQNoo3UTWEuLzcJQ1axkcuz4cxfxLVW-GKzEMomZ3e9p/s400/3QuadJodi.jpg" /></a></div>
Being a bike rider I kept stuffing up the brake, throttle and gears. A bike is 1 down 5 up, the quad is 5 up with neutral at the bottom. The left lever is the rear brake, not the clutch, there is a thumb throttle not a twist grip.....
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoJvI60mHI463Jq9kSwsfuKQF6kqA39PWEnMV7b4LDLU7jpLDiIQVMuEQmde2Gtuf1swX0Bc39e4Jx2gPuuLZ_-QfdDPM1LC1loIEmmfQayod8nORF6DqegorlXVlnL9hVpOcdpgH88ake/s1600/Quad1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="309" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoJvI60mHI463Jq9kSwsfuKQF6kqA39PWEnMV7b4LDLU7jpLDiIQVMuEQmde2Gtuf1swX0Bc39e4Jx2gPuuLZ_-QfdDPM1LC1loIEmmfQayod8nORF6DqegorlXVlnL9hVpOcdpgH88ake/s400/Quad1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1iGg1LmLqQ4EYq4yreAXINsrK_oHlJ9StkKqpc8f_XSUVABcS05kTbqcEk_2fM9_9gFwFh4DQ6MGguyvRlOV_tvmBQ2Se0mU-xOFe7SHf56tbpooyXPOuQXj2W4kFyNqsCWTzmCvqMJK/s1600/Quad3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="204" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1iGg1LmLqQ4EYq4yreAXINsrK_oHlJ9StkKqpc8f_XSUVABcS05kTbqcEk_2fM9_9gFwFh4DQ6MGguyvRlOV_tvmBQ2Se0mU-xOFe7SHf56tbpooyXPOuQXj2W4kFyNqsCWTzmCvqMJK/s400/Quad3.jpg" /></a></div>
After a quick “do’s and don’ts” we were off into the hills, creeks, gullies, cow paddocks and whatever else we could find on this 11,000acre property.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhASIbhX-Y4KuOBoRhPMAVTzBNP6EW29JepJn1oaMpg5myb2rZiw2DuMyNFYuKcbemGdOiH7OIRv1KZw1AofMLCSSSPUoi700hA0lwxQAuNCNspvw1PD6-OGZfMzc42Ms3SNkbrxSZvhTRC/s1600/Quad4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="216" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhASIbhX-Y4KuOBoRhPMAVTzBNP6EW29JepJn1oaMpg5myb2rZiw2DuMyNFYuKcbemGdOiH7OIRv1KZw1AofMLCSSSPUoi700hA0lwxQAuNCNspvw1PD6-OGZfMzc42Ms3SNkbrxSZvhTRC/s400/Quad4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9K4zdrJfXqihQuoUlG_e9oCGSJZbJU39lFVYGOXOthgYH7rrPmlH5bvAXuyoKBNDZclXtR3OMbKfDoZ9v6fdTtwkg2nn4lTXQxS6JZ57PBrw8OW7i33A823XY5vroWj-KEFoDhdoV9S7U/s1600/Quad6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="231" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9K4zdrJfXqihQuoUlG_e9oCGSJZbJU39lFVYGOXOthgYH7rrPmlH5bvAXuyoKBNDZclXtR3OMbKfDoZ9v6fdTtwkg2nn4lTXQxS6JZ57PBrw8OW7i33A823XY5vroWj-KEFoDhdoV9S7U/s400/Quad6.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZaOlSvw3IAT8v1KVHH36uaRwUQ2_IMy6h9jgfMfYrO_z8c0WjiVnKzttAz-sP6cSDVnFTld3W6JRmf8YKlnd9lsPai0PaTWKblAk-nrKMFHyCLZYdV5IQ1CEDePSX5waQeHaU_XBLL5dR/s1600/Quad8Wheelie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="226" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZaOlSvw3IAT8v1KVHH36uaRwUQ2_IMy6h9jgfMfYrO_z8c0WjiVnKzttAz-sP6cSDVnFTld3W6JRmf8YKlnd9lsPai0PaTWKblAk-nrKMFHyCLZYdV5IQ1CEDePSX5waQeHaU_XBLL5dR/s400/Quad8Wheelie.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmoBBE0jBfQDWLLzIM72OaDExSvDi4OYbR2qBrZy_M0Zzb-LeBhin3rg3O4IlG3FfqF4ixloiw6MAfAJZC8rhG2n4zccMHA7yRJzQ7hd1ZXTEcC7ZG1vAB1X_odDoBNTSjdKuDRg7E0iz/s1600/Quad10Hilltop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="222" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmoBBE0jBfQDWLLzIM72OaDExSvDi4OYbR2qBrZy_M0Zzb-LeBhin3rg3O4IlG3FfqF4ixloiw6MAfAJZC8rhG2n4zccMHA7yRJzQ7hd1ZXTEcC7ZG1vAB1X_odDoBNTSjdKuDRg7E0iz/s400/Quad10Hilltop.jpg" /></a></div>
We were back in town on the bay for a drink by 1.30pm.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhym5UxIGUkH0P2NnhctTFegZn3uWT36SvDRui9lT88_2GRq6YRzqIkEwvBfNbUQp0kMAUYs6P4D5Zfh_8MnVl9haOv9gXUy93meJjD4Be2po10RqCyY7L8QTvCkG6k-sCyh5WoEGoSm55f/s1600/4JodiLunch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhym5UxIGUkH0P2NnhctTFegZn3uWT36SvDRui9lT88_2GRq6YRzqIkEwvBfNbUQp0kMAUYs6P4D5Zfh_8MnVl9haOv9gXUy93meJjD4Be2po10RqCyY7L8QTvCkG6k-sCyh5WoEGoSm55f/s400/4JodiLunch.jpg" /></a></div>
Mmmmm.... what to do next..... how about paragliding, you bet.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMqfB3Smrg4nq4v-bdts8SX6UW9Q0MScfaTaisWUw8xCKyycbmfasjfyIvXtZfcDLOTaJfbRGiCMnW7WAGmjQNaN_G0tJ-jb_UlzyeWEZfmoxIcU_QhE-b0AuEtSjxoc9H0ubaN7m5cNqd/s1600/4.1StuPara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMqfB3Smrg4nq4v-bdts8SX6UW9Q0MScfaTaisWUw8xCKyycbmfasjfyIvXtZfcDLOTaJfbRGiCMnW7WAGmjQNaN_G0tJ-jb_UlzyeWEZfmoxIcU_QhE-b0AuEtSjxoc9H0ubaN7m5cNqd/s400/4.1StuPara.jpg" /></a></div>
That’s me, I have video footage to put up later. Let me tell you that paragliding is a hoot, after a slight anxiety attack when I looked down and realised we were 2000’ above Queenstown I calmed down and just enjoyed the flight.
We were back at the harbour about 4.00pm too early to head back to the motel .... what to do....how about a Jetboat ride across the lake and up the Shotover River, sounds fair to me.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtSw0Yv0b77DixoQBenBQtaGqW75hzTswSPjvqPurAW94RY6pvCUsXK_NqyuMSr_8B8yirPor6cfY1cO87HuBU6rivn4mFVHnq-lHGhkJfk_GQylX8I0bK3DbcRXOjkZNh7nZDg4VA7nMk/s1600/5Jeyboat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtSw0Yv0b77DixoQBenBQtaGqW75hzTswSPjvqPurAW94RY6pvCUsXK_NqyuMSr_8B8yirPor6cfY1cO87HuBU6rivn4mFVHnq-lHGhkJfk_GQylX8I0bK3DbcRXOjkZNh7nZDg4VA7nMk/s400/5Jeyboat.jpg" /></a></div>
Well, tomorrow we fly back home, Jodi doesn’t want too, I keep telling her I’m going to print a heap of photo’s and make a collage with the caption under it saying “this is why we work”.
It’s been a huge 12 days looking back, we’ve ticked a number of things off the list but we’ll be back, guaranteed, this place is awesome.Stuart Dolbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07632179595555036363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349845680136968358.post-47459463484555457002013-01-19T21:09:00.000-08:002013-01-19T21:09:01.016-08:00back to QueenstownJanuary 20th
There’s only one kind of day to have over here....huge...
We left Te Anau about 8am, it was a bit cold, windy and overcast, not much of a day really but the scenery soon puts you in a better mood, Jodi reckons she is suffering scenery fatigue again, too much to look at so she reads a book while we drive along, she’s left it up to me to take photo’s now.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJCfCEHQ5FRYxBS4CnNmczUA0BoJnvARajSHSri-CMZJACNfW-EiutrQGn_nEvCca3Q19EYJSsgDLHxyZ518zx0q4Mk3Rs6tAAKSqS_4yC_60D6hBJZyY3zS71GRSBU_tGtIsOTrK95K2M/s1600/1TeAnauRainbow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJCfCEHQ5FRYxBS4CnNmczUA0BoJnvARajSHSri-CMZJACNfW-EiutrQGn_nEvCca3Q19EYJSsgDLHxyZ518zx0q4Mk3Rs6tAAKSqS_4yC_60D6hBJZyY3zS71GRSBU_tGtIsOTrK95K2M/s400/1TeAnauRainbow.jpg" /></a></div>
The sunrise and sunsets are both drawn out down here at south of Tasmania, it gets dark about 10pm and it’s not really sunny until about 8.30 – 9.00am, hence you can get some good light pictures without getting up too early.
On the way back to Queenstown I snapped these ones of the hills.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhah8iEcN3-Xbq6I9zPIzZmPnxxXD_SHSXlJOKXx6kwoB8wjwr8i25P__vkA5jPASY6Z0UbbIP3Cq0dEZf_lFwpAlvI6tV7hU7W0EQUqzersA72X4U3pJCHKJSkkSO0lDN97fY34dtB8Lic/s1600/2LeavingTeAnau.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhah8iEcN3-Xbq6I9zPIzZmPnxxXD_SHSXlJOKXx6kwoB8wjwr8i25P__vkA5jPASY6Z0UbbIP3Cq0dEZf_lFwpAlvI6tV7hU7W0EQUqzersA72X4U3pJCHKJSkkSO0lDN97fY34dtB8Lic/s400/2LeavingTeAnau.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpY_YwQVztROjwBIO3l1KVp-ShJAePr_wfyEv_jqTQsaiPOT7b4mJVRmIpdpYPzGAjkCkBrIX70UdrSQhSYhtYmqoXqRyOs80EHGycTwPAiQ8vMS3mjocqnRyNMzf0wrRQCWhvZf88CTe/s1600/3LeavingTeAnau.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="168" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpY_YwQVztROjwBIO3l1KVp-ShJAePr_wfyEv_jqTQsaiPOT7b4mJVRmIpdpYPzGAjkCkBrIX70UdrSQhSYhtYmqoXqRyOs80EHGycTwPAiQ8vMS3mjocqnRyNMzf0wrRQCWhvZf88CTe/s400/3LeavingTeAnau.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8dUIOg6xacNp_5K55Oop1mDytv3EBYcCoj3HRz5SwwSnCHKjpRm00iLWS-NP4OdBm0B_2e_vKivia63aJ5l74ROBMQQwXNu4zyHLSQZnDfiMFJJoIx_pE4_sWDZLT06c8EWeyZgN7hCDr/s1600/5Hills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8dUIOg6xacNp_5K55Oop1mDytv3EBYcCoj3HRz5SwwSnCHKjpRm00iLWS-NP4OdBm0B_2e_vKivia63aJ5l74ROBMQQwXNu4zyHLSQZnDfiMFJJoIx_pE4_sWDZLT06c8EWeyZgN7hCDr/s400/5Hills.jpg" /></a></div>
I also managed a crop inspection, so guess this is a work trip after all hey.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJVDo4SrrJvbqaGrww7JK3QNTsMcrAIQ3NvgE1x0L5mIbdoFL2YDvgarRT4KSonZrSohbis5idrwjTvICJygrUJGtHH2HMBNy_5FyKZQ338YvmH1ToChLu6ZrlqxYAyYMszP9x6G8iWHx/s1600/6Canola.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJVDo4SrrJvbqaGrww7JK3QNTsMcrAIQ3NvgE1x0L5mIbdoFL2YDvgarRT4KSonZrSohbis5idrwjTvICJygrUJGtHH2HMBNy_5FyKZQ338YvmH1ToChLu6ZrlqxYAyYMszP9x6G8iWHx/s400/6Canola.jpg" /></a></div>
Even saw a few of the more intelligent local up close again.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1uLrxrBrpN6o190zJFDIb4T9EFVLZnBuRMPfpagh2Jm7cB9OZnIElR97PLbooVxfzkDTIIBYVgkPgoQBRE8F5wEa5-OO79c2rTuCEoG9Uz06xQXyUZl2X6DNFv9jJlHwhuS1PoAARZMF6/s1600/4Sheep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1uLrxrBrpN6o190zJFDIb4T9EFVLZnBuRMPfpagh2Jm7cB9OZnIElR97PLbooVxfzkDTIIBYVgkPgoQBRE8F5wEa5-OO79c2rTuCEoG9Uz06xQXyUZl2X6DNFv9jJlHwhuS1PoAARZMF6/s400/4Sheep.jpg" /></a></div>
Also found my next business already setup and ready to buy... seriously doubt it would pay as good as boring old grain brokerage but I’m thinking the life style might help compensate the lack of income.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikLpSUXiloi5G-WNaNZW6nLxDSgPO8YDShrv9rmzP3QneymI2xUXUJl4LUdWAc2KOi_Ef4ENmKIiMyLIRaAznrdXQ0V79JSWCbO2cUFqQJkEKqNb2YfkBexeiQRzOj00RGGkHJ1-9Ootqd/s1600/7Stus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikLpSUXiloi5G-WNaNZW6nLxDSgPO8YDShrv9rmzP3QneymI2xUXUJl4LUdWAc2KOi_Ef4ENmKIiMyLIRaAznrdXQ0V79JSWCbO2cUFqQJkEKqNb2YfkBexeiQRzOj00RGGkHJ1-9Ootqd/s400/7Stus.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ndLQFi7TE9FhJUZVSzZcGYjwYyvG8xaacXahTC68HmE9Px2vHRtfoXEKKsPbw_c_ncwnUKZKX1MKLyCQ90G6P1kPBAbMkO8NDAgJMHi6eUUij3kXTvNPeeh90LOv2ozmJn81gS00uGGW/s1600/7Stusshop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ndLQFi7TE9FhJUZVSzZcGYjwYyvG8xaacXahTC68HmE9Px2vHRtfoXEKKsPbw_c_ncwnUKZKX1MKLyCQ90G6P1kPBAbMkO8NDAgJMHi6eUUij3kXTvNPeeh90LOv2ozmJn81gS00uGGW/s400/7Stusshop.jpg" /></a></div>
This is a great pic of the southern reaches of the lake out the front of Queenstown.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImGiIk1wwcdtJkGAL40QsRMmUpG6WM-rMb25sgv1MfZYmzsQUUpuMEVCqMngD7baC9rBcaUIARtQP4jo-JIHb8VL8IiNWT1gp8RzwN17oCYapP4GDkq8VMV4d50pdok05qRZmXo9OhvvD/s1600/8wakatipo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImGiIk1wwcdtJkGAL40QsRMmUpG6WM-rMb25sgv1MfZYmzsQUUpuMEVCqMngD7baC9rBcaUIARtQP4jo-JIHb8VL8IiNWT1gp8RzwN17oCYapP4GDkq8VMV4d50pdok05qRZmXo9OhvvD/s400/8wakatipo.jpg" /></a></div>
We had an hour or so to kill before the bus left for the jet boats so we cruised around the main streets, Jodi checked out the opposition over a cup of coffee.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_NJn6d-HvCCi-6c34eUCf_85ThZC6JB9NSLtjtcBxqEiMYGwQej2pGkGuZJdeFzkzKoLL_N76asJZj4ZH_jOGUm242SZNwI14ThNtsV99A-NGXkwE_ZX6ZF4tLP1iacDLEOgjcyLeWsmm/s1600/JodiLollies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_NJn6d-HvCCi-6c34eUCf_85ThZC6JB9NSLtjtcBxqEiMYGwQej2pGkGuZJdeFzkzKoLL_N76asJZj4ZH_jOGUm242SZNwI14ThNtsV99A-NGXkwE_ZX6ZF4tLP1iacDLEOgjcyLeWsmm/s400/JodiLollies.jpg" /></a></div>
We also found this gallery promoting this animation, it’s based around these dog / human things that live in the area, apparently Disney has bought the rights so it might be on a screen soon.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkiqSXyoPkB0OOmtKQf1J1krpSZmTNI2GYSxiPaecpmXPtGpt7XiJa7TCv2P_a0W1_O7q0XvvG6bmpkUvImhg6mLxd-gR1S8-gflagIvNXM0TGcxjCsqgkmFMCQILQGFW-rBnMdp8UkkPv/s1600/DogBook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkiqSXyoPkB0OOmtKQf1J1krpSZmTNI2GYSxiPaecpmXPtGpt7XiJa7TCv2P_a0W1_O7q0XvvG6bmpkUvImhg6mLxd-gR1S8-gflagIvNXM0TGcxjCsqgkmFMCQILQGFW-rBnMdp8UkkPv/s400/DogBook.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg0iTXlHfgZmUrzOzRAYx9K5XOttvvUuYXJJ6wqLyW_PXmLzUNrA09Bnzypyxhn9Gl35pQLQm7Vhxns4dIkU8bP-vSe-7SgJ9bgg_SWJiwetJvBkOw5TNQmirr6mgMgU3tCvwwNJSDba14/s1600/DogSki.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg0iTXlHfgZmUrzOzRAYx9K5XOttvvUuYXJJ6wqLyW_PXmLzUNrA09Bnzypyxhn9Gl35pQLQm7Vhxns4dIkU8bP-vSe-7SgJ9bgg_SWJiwetJvBkOw5TNQmirr6mgMgU3tCvwwNJSDba14/s400/DogSki.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj677LhcxAxYSnpgUc6HgDyUkoAGTIXlbuJwMR7Mw2uEz51T-JejXwFn4hqYJ1voiG2nkqWvI-CcOG1DOHZYmhcobN-roHMbD93ayvmaEL948Y2Xc0MAwLTa-I7LLpIQnpPypphcWMNcCXa/s1600/DogTough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj677LhcxAxYSnpgUc6HgDyUkoAGTIXlbuJwMR7Mw2uEz51T-JejXwFn4hqYJ1voiG2nkqWvI-CcOG1DOHZYmhcobN-roHMbD93ayvmaEL948Y2Xc0MAwLTa-I7LLpIQnpPypphcWMNcCXa/s400/DogTough.jpg" /></a></div>
Around illivin fifti we jumped on the bus to take us to Skippers Canyon to go jet boating. The ride through this goat track to the Shotover river was better than the jet boats.
This is the view from the top before we head down into the canyon.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikP8XK3F83Qc-gn6xwgBIk2TWq4e-X4xI8nHsY40J7Jw1d-iacbwc4n5dRnW6zEm7yg_lOJV5vtf3SBBMoMKxDEBVCtaC-OSmB8IPbPdwLFo4-HfOZsrlHL9UXPc56lj_H3wmYZd4bj7x2/s1600/RemarkablesPanorama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="92" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikP8XK3F83Qc-gn6xwgBIk2TWq4e-X4xI8nHsY40J7Jw1d-iacbwc4n5dRnW6zEm7yg_lOJV5vtf3SBBMoMKxDEBVCtaC-OSmB8IPbPdwLFo4-HfOZsrlHL9UXPc56lj_H3wmYZd4bj7x2/s400/RemarkablesPanorama.jpg" /></a></div>
Some of the road had 100mtr cliff to the left and 100mtr rise the right and the road was about 12’ wide.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7uWZDvIJsomB1D3zZNkFNF-kIcC58KzFfg7A3_hbMrOs4ND-WrFLhWBeR8QEB6hAKjQmjB3xNdfHeFjJSBzU78ltp7V2722RfRh3ZAs_vFZy1FNHWD3LYvltJi7PuZDuoGk-kGhvQyDpw/s1600/9Road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7uWZDvIJsomB1D3zZNkFNF-kIcC58KzFfg7A3_hbMrOs4ND-WrFLhWBeR8QEB6hAKjQmjB3xNdfHeFjJSBzU78ltp7V2722RfRh3ZAs_vFZy1FNHWD3LYvltJi7PuZDuoGk-kGhvQyDpw/s400/9Road.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65GITtLDqx-7_u_XwwXX5gRnc0O52DMvvql0ZvOzCuy1pKP0YYsRU-os_xYZmAN0T3PKdYTK6j7wOnF8VOwN5u3YeS0NDBU2oxDwGuST5RlTK4ERsRIAKM5x6IlvFchOHe91Nltcv7cQN/s1600/10Road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65GITtLDqx-7_u_XwwXX5gRnc0O52DMvvql0ZvOzCuy1pKP0YYsRU-os_xYZmAN0T3PKdYTK6j7wOnF8VOwN5u3YeS0NDBU2oxDwGuST5RlTK4ERsRIAKM5x6IlvFchOHe91Nltcv7cQN/s400/10Road.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoynV7GZKH2b6LRtF8yoWjKXyVglUN2JGqGQHlKXbsuiUXSrNjVblqftUcZKJ05O7Msd5sRObtfJkNvpFoQ57Omqh-Qa-IVOnuIwhZdR9D8dManj5Yke_MtaprZ_FYvmn97gfjYA2ec1Nq/s1600/11Road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoynV7GZKH2b6LRtF8yoWjKXyVglUN2JGqGQHlKXbsuiUXSrNjVblqftUcZKJ05O7Msd5sRObtfJkNvpFoQ57Omqh-Qa-IVOnuIwhZdR9D8dManj5Yke_MtaprZ_FYvmn97gfjYA2ec1Nq/s400/11Road.jpg" /></a></div>
We strapped on the life vests and jumped on the boats and done a 9k run up the river, it was fun but I thought he was sparing the ponies a bit myself, I had the GoPro filming it so I’ll post up some vids later.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdlDdxsijQNByis4g0WSvjnBCSgCtRr0ECGD-8mA6tYTQh9QlBafoBpT712aHPY8rViBFawNWiPoEgwLabORLM5D3ltejVqDbC_WBklmmEiTH8aZi_dJWXD8irchuP4GEWfGgTGkwhl95/s1600/12StuJodB4boat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdlDdxsijQNByis4g0WSvjnBCSgCtRr0ECGD-8mA6tYTQh9QlBafoBpT712aHPY8rViBFawNWiPoEgwLabORLM5D3ltejVqDbC_WBklmmEiTH8aZi_dJWXD8irchuP4GEWfGgTGkwhl95/s400/12StuJodB4boat.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0UVq53QHnwxqcsgBTi8vMnPXdOD9TPeGBsyxRfN1c8siObU1Uv-pzr2AIHC39pM6uvW7Oh-RdzDIUItsGNams9njNexqqtDHZchqEf4VkP0KFBcSzCttHC1swu3poKG2ipd5p6TAEbBS/s1600/JetboatJodi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="263" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0UVq53QHnwxqcsgBTi8vMnPXdOD9TPeGBsyxRfN1c8siObU1Uv-pzr2AIHC39pM6uvW7Oh-RdzDIUItsGNams9njNexqqtDHZchqEf4VkP0KFBcSzCttHC1swu3poKG2ipd5p6TAEbBS/s400/JetboatJodi.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9UMU70pzWcg_a9Zx-t_Tc95YGobp9V9Qo618RO2Kx4gw4s5bHdAbMtaSM9LLxVTCL21tk52h7pSW-KP5QMuBXMY5zE8bRMBmYD7NonU60fkDs54UTo1RrZOwKcAjiwGx7Z_f9XD5JJKfd/s1600/Jetboat4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="231" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9UMU70pzWcg_a9Zx-t_Tc95YGobp9V9Qo618RO2Kx4gw4s5bHdAbMtaSM9LLxVTCL21tk52h7pSW-KP5QMuBXMY5zE8bRMBmYD7NonU60fkDs54UTo1RrZOwKcAjiwGx7Z_f9XD5JJKfd/s400/Jetboat4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjABrwLHylGXxiQdKWjZZWnlDVh60X4Hg-Dsx2IV1W0KdM61LNiifXgM_zXDrC6wCFtqZ5bVSotIZM00vjGlLUzY4lY3k1psCpuc7ZNe93loo4sS2aGKAX0DkFE7sNkM3usxW2RztngSTN/s1600/Jetboat1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="223" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjABrwLHylGXxiQdKWjZZWnlDVh60X4Hg-Dsx2IV1W0KdM61LNiifXgM_zXDrC6wCFtqZ5bVSotIZM00vjGlLUzY4lY3k1psCpuc7ZNe93loo4sS2aGKAX0DkFE7sNkM3usxW2RztngSTN/s400/Jetboat1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTREgMyt_IaEbzNWlmFnfP6TZ1E8sH99hlfmcEe3PtwYBMylNIyKJdq1E46P2wgGK2SyuiN1KUlZQrgogHMQo_1RnysYIzpo-U0HXbV9PEiP6d4IsJJdcQsVJyXi1YqHttPvq0LOc7r-G5/s1600/Jetboat2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="223" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTREgMyt_IaEbzNWlmFnfP6TZ1E8sH99hlfmcEe3PtwYBMylNIyKJdq1E46P2wgGK2SyuiN1KUlZQrgogHMQo_1RnysYIzpo-U0HXbV9PEiP6d4IsJJdcQsVJyXi1YqHttPvq0LOc7r-G5/s400/Jetboat2.jpg" /></a></div>
Back off the boat we headed to a area to have a good look at the canyon we just boated down before heading back to town.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQ3xj3Q2kKlDwZI5ovDraqDbDA7swUxG2ibcG_mRzSePxoQtxGO-jGMll5ykSJ_C5gtBz6PYVlcHOqoOe8VIiVEIvi7cBrfXdeZCBfPoFx_NfK4F259bxHtIlStalJ4zXW6by0YBHnzPc/s1600/SelfyShotover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQ3xj3Q2kKlDwZI5ovDraqDbDA7swUxG2ibcG_mRzSePxoQtxGO-jGMll5ykSJ_C5gtBz6PYVlcHOqoOe8VIiVEIvi7cBrfXdeZCBfPoFx_NfK4F259bxHtIlStalJ4zXW6by0YBHnzPc/s400/SelfyShotover.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixUrUm2QnvjufnO1OnQxFGzlwT3VYdOK91QC0AN39EZZ8Daf76Ggwd4btH3XYZ5OWmvlj0i5BTuiEk0Tl1qRDzyJmg2pja51kUXzHQjfLudfZOUpOe4V0eNHAZVmTPpcAXenG2mBZzKMvz/s1600/JodiCanyon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixUrUm2QnvjufnO1OnQxFGzlwT3VYdOK91QC0AN39EZZ8Daf76Ggwd4btH3XYZ5OWmvlj0i5BTuiEk0Tl1qRDzyJmg2pja51kUXzHQjfLudfZOUpOe4V0eNHAZVmTPpcAXenG2mBZzKMvz/s400/JodiCanyon.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbP0FENUhm6ID9lu_p6XtnLd8mglPfyZ8Ydb5RIZPnEzib8IMteJoXVeyC9zbVbs-9wLYJH4ymH_0TaVBUTHN3mj-ql36gN2JuJhr6sKmGknjPRJm3TXgPl33xnqngPDYVbJCf2AXdKAGf/s1600/ShotoverCanyon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbP0FENUhm6ID9lu_p6XtnLd8mglPfyZ8Ydb5RIZPnEzib8IMteJoXVeyC9zbVbs-9wLYJH4ymH_0TaVBUTHN3mj-ql36gN2JuJhr6sKmGknjPRJm3TXgPl33xnqngPDYVbJCf2AXdKAGf/s400/ShotoverCanyon.jpg" /></a></div>
After a slight run in with the motel about room allocation I got over my case of the shits and settled on what they gave us, it’s better than the last one they gave us a couple of nights ago but still nothing like what I thought the travel agent had booked, I think next time I’ll just book it all myself so I don’t get the disappointments with the rooms I’ve had this trip. The motel dude let it slip and said "these are the rooms we allocate travel agent booking", implying they get the shit rooms !!!.
This is the view we have tonight, better than the compost heap and chook shed the other day but still not what I was expecting.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWfCLmItT1WBaoZWFd5SwY4kG7eW_OhHnSudJFF5gWwG9OzSNn6YTakzBGK1lvm32DYq3gNuHJt1KZ8YmxQUsJNx7WNc_WBEbNl5x-UMbGrxJMjVzJFCwbTb__v6u-2zFYDlpEcfm7SXDa/s1600/RoomView.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWfCLmItT1WBaoZWFd5SwY4kG7eW_OhHnSudJFF5gWwG9OzSNn6YTakzBGK1lvm32DYq3gNuHJt1KZ8YmxQUsJNx7WNc_WBEbNl5x-UMbGrxJMjVzJFCwbTb__v6u-2zFYDlpEcfm7SXDa/s400/RoomView.jpg" /></a></div>
We’ll we are off quad biking through the mountains tomorrow morning and if the wind dies down I might have a crack at tandem paragliding or get a chopper ride to the glaziers, we’ll see.
Stuart Dolbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07632179595555036363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349845680136968358.post-40743631709375125602013-01-19T00:49:00.000-08:002013-01-19T00:49:53.216-08:00Te Anau 19-1-13Saturday January 19th 2013
We drove about 170ks SW of Queenstown to Te Anau today.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZTevCXfps1h5FJzr3EISmM7Lmhbad656tQ1WzpEIAH-uCIHdkJiA0ub3bUY9e3TI4s36qzsb454BH3jnHDuaDhtoNwkRgy8-C9hqOQm-uWIYg_s0b2i2UzWLgKKU8-Th6_wnJEBpj_ey/s1600/Campervantraffic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZTevCXfps1h5FJzr3EISmM7Lmhbad656tQ1WzpEIAH-uCIHdkJiA0ub3bUY9e3TI4s36qzsb454BH3jnHDuaDhtoNwkRgy8-C9hqOQm-uWIYg_s0b2i2UzWLgKKU8-Th6_wnJEBpj_ey/s400/Campervantraffic.jpg" /></a></div>
There is some very good grazing country around here, lots of sheep, cattle and dear.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dKjHJycL_-Zs1THvzh6cvQVcZgIbnbGy2KcnIibNvZ0GRCf7XGXAVxN6mCJyJ7xyQQ049WpNa0mFsie1wCDznYAatG6HrULwx9icVSD23WV6I7AnvacZenN40hfNN8tV0CVoAjI2MDa-/s1600/Grazing1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dKjHJycL_-Zs1THvzh6cvQVcZgIbnbGy2KcnIibNvZ0GRCf7XGXAVxN6mCJyJ7xyQQ049WpNa0mFsie1wCDznYAatG6HrULwx9icVSD23WV6I7AnvacZenN40hfNN8tV0CVoAjI2MDa-/s400/Grazing1.jpg" /></a></div>
Yet another beautiful town on another beautiful lake. This place is much more laid back than Queenstown, the scenery is not quite as spectacular but pretty impressive all the same.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvB1btU1MwpUlWrpUcwXxfme8a5XOiJDThsZ7nbhIeLCGlotG7NusX9NOegVHvD7Gfw8uwXUz071wNHxSw5l84Yph19ob-a6q1pcwwt4tz3yOOUJLJEN8rb79BlnHsYBiNyGSXlGEBGgFs/s1600/3LakeChoppy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvB1btU1MwpUlWrpUcwXxfme8a5XOiJDThsZ7nbhIeLCGlotG7NusX9NOegVHvD7Gfw8uwXUz071wNHxSw5l84Yph19ob-a6q1pcwwt4tz3yOOUJLJEN8rb79BlnHsYBiNyGSXlGEBGgFs/s400/3LakeChoppy.jpg" /></a></div>
Te Anau is basically the gate way to Milford Sound, initially I had full intentions of driving to Milford Sound and spending the night at Te Anau on the way back but as it turned out we were both sick of driving and getting stuck behind camper vans and the day was less than ideal. Rain early cleared but only due to the fact a roaring southerly pushed it out.
We drove around the town for a while and fell in love with the laid back nature of the place. We ended up in the burbs where all the new houses were getting build. There was an open house so we called in and had a look, it was a nice little holiday house about 20sq on a small 800mtr block worth about $350k,so comparable to Gunnedah, with the currency converted to AUD it would work out around $280k............anyone interested.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4l9RX1A8-levH6dMHwDaDsZ_9L3eRr7LxNFiYq1k-sI8DaI-vDmkeamRpLwnNKQqtM6nnfg89qXF1Ogc7zXF3gFI-KEZU6cCjtCbGXsIdeu4es6gquxC0HFMwSf8dqlNHrTyxCiGFcVQI/s1600/Plane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4l9RX1A8-levH6dMHwDaDsZ_9L3eRr7LxNFiYq1k-sI8DaI-vDmkeamRpLwnNKQqtM6nnfg89qXF1Ogc7zXF3gFI-KEZU6cCjtCbGXsIdeu4es6gquxC0HFMwSf8dqlNHrTyxCiGFcVQI/s400/Plane.jpg" /></a></div>
I called the local water plane and he said it was too choppy to take off at Te Anau and way to choppy and pouring rain at Milford Sound to land so we just bailed on the idea today and headed back to the room for a lazy afternoon, well when you get the spa suite you may as well use it.
After a nice meal we walked along the edge of the lake as long as we could in the cold wind and grabbed a few pics. I’m glad I bought a good jumper this afternoon or I would have froze.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGeCKVo4psA7pt_m-WqQrEq5WolBn190iUTHqbj9KtQSV2J9EDtgDmTFcGNkhJV9ta-59UGixHrXdgAOW77AhBl8MaaCy4uPpXOSOKU90uVV7LXoQrI3JVR8WMdmX0bMMkQUUWUCGSX1O-/s1600/1OutFront.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGeCKVo4psA7pt_m-WqQrEq5WolBn190iUTHqbj9KtQSV2J9EDtgDmTFcGNkhJV9ta-59UGixHrXdgAOW77AhBl8MaaCy4uPpXOSOKU90uVV7LXoQrI3JVR8WMdmX0bMMkQUUWUCGSX1O-/s400/1OutFront.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKj56NHQgnv2jX6_f40NQjCzoowSF38KW2_y2H0e_s5mC-LJWWnepyMek2MXqPKu9fxqzL_r3M_JmJcoSpSYIuZ13QvGJmg1R3XXhp7nlg_4ElSL52Dbcm7a7ZnE0EiHAs_imW3EwBOJfS/s1600/2lakesunset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKj56NHQgnv2jX6_f40NQjCzoowSF38KW2_y2H0e_s5mC-LJWWnepyMek2MXqPKu9fxqzL_r3M_JmJcoSpSYIuZ13QvGJmg1R3XXhp7nlg_4ElSL52Dbcm7a7ZnE0EiHAs_imW3EwBOJfS/s400/2lakesunset.jpg" /></a></div>
While shopping this afternoon I found these two guns, the first one is set up for night hunting while the damage on the second one was done when the riffle was fired when it had frozen.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZ02isbVggGL-OtZJCSt1iqTGOxUhnJ8GK0zewGhWPQg4S5WQKcEwgBqyjMkuwluc1LJQUFhxUXWqpjrGVAQVd6ttP2NqI2jBXuPoS35Ag-QK0IOn3MQc0tUcbHBZje3ESv3-t8K_Hyet/s1600/Riffle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZ02isbVggGL-OtZJCSt1iqTGOxUhnJ8GK0zewGhWPQg4S5WQKcEwgBqyjMkuwluc1LJQUFhxUXWqpjrGVAQVd6ttP2NqI2jBXuPoS35Ag-QK0IOn3MQc0tUcbHBZje3ESv3-t8K_Hyet/s400/Riffle.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihv95YBothThgWBEzhxgrfudjqJG6n8VXcSgc8Hh2O_Wjqs7nT_EF4PwFuvwtP8xrnLekUTiYqakzw-huOY8CqQS36GkKSl0up2BO8PbK833pvvVC8QFzQgyqM5PvPtro0lAPgSIZ7DilR/s1600/BarrelSplit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihv95YBothThgWBEzhxgrfudjqJG6n8VXcSgc8Hh2O_Wjqs7nT_EF4PwFuvwtP8xrnLekUTiYqakzw-huOY8CqQS36GkKSl0up2BO8PbK833pvvVC8QFzQgyqM5PvPtro0lAPgSIZ7DilR/s400/BarrelSplit.jpg" /></a></div>
Stuart Dolbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07632179595555036363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349845680136968358.post-86598113739354291142013-01-18T00:15:00.000-08:002013-01-18T00:15:14.161-08:00January 18thFriday January 18th
Queenstown.
It was another brilliant day to wake up to, NZ still amazes me, at every corner there is a postcard picture for the taking.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__hDgxio21IzT1p38gYvEBEJsM-ip22UftYM9kyHq3KH74rzvBQn576wkqmaBIhf0yby8l7cDx6O4dtlCikzSx_vMW00nZI_ujK4brNVjFyJz8CArhPkY-hAchqDUpxNsebZQe_P4ZLfE/s1600/1Goodmorning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__hDgxio21IzT1p38gYvEBEJsM-ip22UftYM9kyHq3KH74rzvBQn576wkqmaBIhf0yby8l7cDx6O4dtlCikzSx_vMW00nZI_ujK4brNVjFyJz8CArhPkY-hAchqDUpxNsebZQe_P4ZLfE/s400/1Goodmorning.jpg" /></a></div>
I wasn’t looking forward to today as it was the day we had the canyon swing booked it.
I had failed to read the voucher correctly the night before and assumed we had between 9 – 12 to get the jump done. We were supposed to be at the jump pickup at 9.00am
The phone with the navman failed again, it’s going in the bin when I get home, so we took a while to find the office for the canyon swing, we’d missed the bus, now those that understand vertigo may think I done this intentionally but I can assure you I didn’t.
Anyway, after a bit of talking we managed to get the next bus out and we were on our way to the swing...... yay..... -___-
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho2p0qJBkmk__Ji6d6ydIiMNZAIDqqh29ehmU2lPvRpJlvUwX1I8Q3odtzY9kFpLlLHRE3Kl-0m6jNMZnG8vc97fiEoQbMMw6if3IIEX7DTJOs3Yq75RIoI4e0QvkZOg5wrbzDkhnYjP2E/s1600/2Van.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho2p0qJBkmk__Ji6d6ydIiMNZAIDqqh29ehmU2lPvRpJlvUwX1I8Q3odtzY9kFpLlLHRE3Kl-0m6jNMZnG8vc97fiEoQbMMw6if3IIEX7DTJOs3Yq75RIoI4e0QvkZOg5wrbzDkhnYjP2E/s400/2Van.jpg" /></a></div>
Before we go any further I have to tell you straight up I failed, it just simply terrified me, so I bailed, no if buts or maybe I just straight up said, no way, don’t even try to convince me otherwise, this ain’t happening. I’ll hand my man card in at customs next week, whatever just get me off this platform.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeY-lUOQuXf4eayzDRloQi60aZWpnTIH9SBW2rMAY00eDt7cJS-LgE2Dx18TlIMaE_rw_3bBdnto-dBmLo8L0z-IjnbNSTM3wFIgj8ZYjyN2VAkflLbGbBWEXcTnDsimQy8ZPb6wVPZZiF/s1600/3Sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeY-lUOQuXf4eayzDRloQi60aZWpnTIH9SBW2rMAY00eDt7cJS-LgE2Dx18TlIMaE_rw_3bBdnto-dBmLo8L0z-IjnbNSTM3wFIgj8ZYjyN2VAkflLbGbBWEXcTnDsimQy8ZPb6wVPZZiF/s400/3Sign.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTDZtI6ujKKdD6AezGZ4W0OXjYkZPlR62uylja0_06DIKl5YNPlSmcV3ehO3EF2bAczC54KPvDFpGa1uDmVOtdol14GhnZTDThrsbsfmHRyEkWq8QFO0W1g25Aroh67DD8yjXU6vNAgyH/s1600/4SwingPlatform.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTDZtI6ujKKdD6AezGZ4W0OXjYkZPlR62uylja0_06DIKl5YNPlSmcV3ehO3EF2bAczC54KPvDFpGa1uDmVOtdol14GhnZTDThrsbsfmHRyEkWq8QFO0W1g25Aroh67DD8yjXU6vNAgyH/s400/4SwingPlatform.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0oCIhuSVftz8Es_jNXfJUqfLfohpQQgOfIoiTB6z7bxIgOLWeteggr4GLmBg8UcjAcceUsibvP7imQtd9OMAx1HO9r7LBjWqFABTKa2lrCRqQSvYpR7Jqu5qazyFuYDFffXLvhEzGsm4/s1600/5keepcalm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0oCIhuSVftz8Es_jNXfJUqfLfohpQQgOfIoiTB6z7bxIgOLWeteggr4GLmBg8UcjAcceUsibvP7imQtd9OMAx1HO9r7LBjWqFABTKa2lrCRqQSvYpR7Jqu5qazyFuYDFffXLvhEzGsm4/s400/5keepcalm.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPKegN_8mKH6LVIHDiCIoTKDVpuidYwRLSh_yWGU2hnIUyDYu01IRKgg3pFKSAgDZKuyHlnwwFa0S43T0JL14efcO0pwsJ2dPLfoXVEu6luIxbyPi4CQbUbup0TwIzuj9WLYGUtAVmW1Y/s1600/6fuckthat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPKegN_8mKH6LVIHDiCIoTKDVpuidYwRLSh_yWGU2hnIUyDYu01IRKgg3pFKSAgDZKuyHlnwwFa0S43T0JL14efcO0pwsJ2dPLfoXVEu6luIxbyPi4CQbUbup0TwIzuj9WLYGUtAVmW1Y/s400/6fuckthat.jpg" /></a></div>
Now Jodi on the other hand just strapped up, clipped on and jumped off ....... twice... once forward and once backward, all this is on video and I will get it uploaded once we get some decent line speed.
She screamed, swore and cursed so I’m not sure if Youtube will give the video an R rating or not but she seemed to really enjoy it......
She’s a legend ok, I’m not, I simply don’t give a f$%k ok.
We cruised back into Queenstown around lunchtime and headed up to the gondola and luge and wasted a couple of hours luging up and down the mountain, this is way more up my alley than jumping off stuff, Jodi got sun burnt and had a continually bored look on her face but managed to find fear in the chair lift, it doesn’t figure to me, jump off a cliff Jodi, hell yeah, but ooo, arrrr the chair lift is so frightening it gives me pins and needles in the feet, seriously I find this women hard to figure out some days.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAr-2gZk1u6VAsGlScqxRy8YH8s5Dm2CP9zfzNJmdCQQMOPUTeqWo40crj6VSQYrG35q0Yvq9Kk4DhWnPxvpVUvkv9H1wCWMXqpeQSJm6yXOezyN8RMUJBELO7yPc3-dnbq96n8X-wIaV7/s1600/7.1QueenstownJodi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAr-2gZk1u6VAsGlScqxRy8YH8s5Dm2CP9zfzNJmdCQQMOPUTeqWo40crj6VSQYrG35q0Yvq9Kk4DhWnPxvpVUvkv9H1wCWMXqpeQSJm6yXOezyN8RMUJBELO7yPc3-dnbq96n8X-wIaV7/s400/7.1QueenstownJodi.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4cusmbXS0NIyMdjYHMy4fF0KxRZRLs4AGtpmjplnLLFVg7yO-WAcKNPiV0MlHRY3_fRNxkj7yHmit7RY5xFpObarKx6te4qvYNXGZYfZhgGosJ2jkCf-ll1t7TfL9p9gJD99aFlgIayjf/s1600/7.2QueenstownStuJodi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4cusmbXS0NIyMdjYHMy4fF0KxRZRLs4AGtpmjplnLLFVg7yO-WAcKNPiV0MlHRY3_fRNxkj7yHmit7RY5xFpObarKx6te4qvYNXGZYfZhgGosJ2jkCf-ll1t7TfL9p9gJD99aFlgIayjf/s400/7.2QueenstownStuJodi.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmhwRl8-nf6shywSkoTdRoDMDgUzEIHt0iqXdNYXUURhOjG9rqDh4MQ6U4GO-SR_udcwYSElLnITu_P6OIDShP8lotubub9Ir1eK2DVN-DOUA4RyPrlBkGw5a6QbglKG_uzQ0tkGM0dKph/s1600/7.3Lugetrack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmhwRl8-nf6shywSkoTdRoDMDgUzEIHt0iqXdNYXUURhOjG9rqDh4MQ6U4GO-SR_udcwYSElLnITu_P6OIDShP8lotubub9Ir1eK2DVN-DOUA4RyPrlBkGw5a6QbglKG_uzQ0tkGM0dKph/s400/7.3Lugetrack.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-8uUvmQBb4LJiGJ-vVO8Zj6i6D_mfRwqEBHEtf23kpCimmV76ZEcXofT6jEaybDRn13kzyQuaOJYYzDurKV9lGw-YjGgsmWVwEIT5EjBcOhCEgVo5fyvtfoVKdh4FB02k49IjkL0lPOer/s1600/7Queenstown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-8uUvmQBb4LJiGJ-vVO8Zj6i6D_mfRwqEBHEtf23kpCimmV76ZEcXofT6jEaybDRn13kzyQuaOJYYzDurKV9lGw-YjGgsmWVwEIT5EjBcOhCEgVo5fyvtfoVKdh4FB02k49IjkL0lPOer/s400/7Queenstown.jpg" /></a></div>
Jodi is looking to do a fair dinkum bungy the day before we head back, it will be this one
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh11pPnZwnbX5MTWf42o7mWhlyK9AGKBB6VeB97_AVzbh4u-PiWq4wA_yi7lrWYA29A9uKKqazU6jSCMa3XPzdUFuhFsWh9XKDIYvrZ3qbYiROdvk-4g4pSegTQKJPiB5lr4A0TiXtjRR_Q/s1600/7.4Bungy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh11pPnZwnbX5MTWf42o7mWhlyK9AGKBB6VeB97_AVzbh4u-PiWq4wA_yi7lrWYA29A9uKKqazU6jSCMa3XPzdUFuhFsWh9XKDIYvrZ3qbYiROdvk-4g4pSegTQKJPiB5lr4A0TiXtjRR_Q/s400/7.4Bungy.jpg" /></a></div>
or Nevis. Apparently Nevis is the highest in the southern hemisphere. ( she just looked Nevis up on the net as I was typing, she’s not so sure now, we’ll see, she does appear to be a little deranged.. lol..).
The harbour here at Queenstown is awesome, like everything else. We watched a bunch of 15lb rainbow trout getting fed and then jumped on a boat for a quick tout of the inner harbour, I’m pretty sure the local real estate agent sponsored this guy.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj12MryboluC9Q9pg61DnqujGHjzK0zgvJnNZRivDECHrZJNL7xH0KzFeDg8QTp0o6ja8ydRQQHWdwg4EK_1WS3lGgheaxMPkxyIQbVWHgOdpcOCjGRzYTJXJ4fZ8S5R03w93LEb6o2Namt/s1600/9Harbourheadingout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj12MryboluC9Q9pg61DnqujGHjzK0zgvJnNZRivDECHrZJNL7xH0KzFeDg8QTp0o6ja8ydRQQHWdwg4EK_1WS3lGgheaxMPkxyIQbVWHgOdpcOCjGRzYTJXJ4fZ8S5R03w93LEb6o2Namt/s400/9Harbourheadingout.jpg" /></a></div>
I saw the golf course you talked about Don, but I ran out of time to do a round today, maybe on Sunday or Monday after the jet boat ride.
We are off to Te Anau tomorrow, we will book a heli tour for the morning and look at the Sounds and Glaziers and then take it easy tomorrow afternoon.
Our lodgings.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZWU6WzXkmH7y78EDEqLT0pBhv7r8ge42WJrOGF6THB9bccqprq_X5QFAy0jv6nwuBBwcujjuA_-SY57nLLiP_ceELeE4LOdoPmowWwQDE2bfXuNxEUuZew5Ame8x5CE39QyXwGgGyfXh/s1600/8Copthorne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZWU6WzXkmH7y78EDEqLT0pBhv7r8ge42WJrOGF6THB9bccqprq_X5QFAy0jv6nwuBBwcujjuA_-SY57nLLiP_ceELeE4LOdoPmowWwQDE2bfXuNxEUuZew5Ame8x5CE39QyXwGgGyfXh/s400/8Copthorne.jpg" /></a></div>
Stuart Dolbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07632179595555036363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349845680136968358.post-27665501890836849352013-01-17T00:53:00.000-08:002013-01-17T00:53:12.735-08:00January 17th 500ks in 10 hours17th January 2013-01-17
Hokitika to Queenstown.
It was the longest driving day today, about 480ks but it took us about 10 hours.
We left Hokitika around 8am and headed south along the coast, it was looking a little cloudy after raining all night so I wasn’t expecting the scenery to be as good as I hoped. Lonely Planet had rated the drive from Hokitika to Haast as one of the top ten drives on earth, so I was really looking forward to it.
It wasn’t long before we got into some mountains, these mountains over here are like nothing I’ve seen before and they really make you feel a little embarrassed about calling our humble termite mounds mountains at all.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLxyt7jPsiRbyudx_TxE9xb_KiZtyvsAMG0ijSkEZMfbIPXp-PFHm7uiwFSzt_KzmbdqGQpVWGoY2T3xRQvUjoga7gQ0vzU2uPj5_6JpD5kYPOphl7E8E6BFJjE37QjaSLp5UPh6IGDhc/s1600/1LeavingHokitika.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLxyt7jPsiRbyudx_TxE9xb_KiZtyvsAMG0ijSkEZMfbIPXp-PFHm7uiwFSzt_KzmbdqGQpVWGoY2T3xRQvUjoga7gQ0vzU2uPj5_6JpD5kYPOphl7E8E6BFJjE37QjaSLp5UPh6IGDhc/s400/1LeavingHokitika.jpg" /></a></div>
We called into the Fanz Joseph Glazier on the way past, the weather was poor so we just went on a short walk. I have to tell you the cliffs either side of this glazier are amazing, photo’s just don’t do it justice.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1WU00W4QUh5nWJPpAWW4cfW7ehbzFC1BWAqh7kBlS6mgGt2TOkdDB0Kza9la3G8OcaFI0J68debuQkTDPhqL3MVBM4z7BofSN8poXZH7tzyPnNjBy1O5M8Y5uQIvwCySqLkKrtM6qqcg3/s1600/FranzJ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1WU00W4QUh5nWJPpAWW4cfW7ehbzFC1BWAqh7kBlS6mgGt2TOkdDB0Kza9la3G8OcaFI0J68debuQkTDPhqL3MVBM4z7BofSN8poXZH7tzyPnNjBy1O5M8Y5uQIvwCySqLkKrtM6qqcg3/s400/FranzJ.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYfcl7T1ghHl4LOCqntQSlituShtlBxI-7pRf0POGCEZmKSvGzieu8f93XOrq5rF_ruxSmqJLOildKODz32lXwuAu4VPG024vL8GdapGznWjntN3GNk7_iM0V6fVF32uZsHx_omYPzvpn/s1600/2PoolFrazJos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwYfcl7T1ghHl4LOCqntQSlituShtlBxI-7pRf0POGCEZmKSvGzieu8f93XOrq5rF_ruxSmqJLOildKODz32lXwuAu4VPG024vL8GdapGznWjntN3GNk7_iM0V6fVF32uZsHx_omYPzvpn/s400/2PoolFrazJos.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXUVeRUF0BDSmTo2whmLgURcTDGKfYjA8VLZklgjuarxosO6QmpUHIXUclaoGtdyQDdfZE1I00f9InQC4KDXNwQAmClxqb57cgkzRhs1G_QZTaW0Ll1132v8fa_YVYj0_Bn3WmLM_2ytwl/s1600/SthFranz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXUVeRUF0BDSmTo2whmLgURcTDGKfYjA8VLZklgjuarxosO6QmpUHIXUclaoGtdyQDdfZE1I00f9InQC4KDXNwQAmClxqb57cgkzRhs1G_QZTaW0Ll1132v8fa_YVYj0_Bn3WmLM_2ytwl/s400/SthFranz.jpg" /></a></div>
About 30ks down the road was the Fox Glazier, we pulled up and jumped out off the car into an icy 10C gale, we quickly found a few jumpers and headed up the valley on what looked like a easy enough walk from the car park..........that soon changed.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyKgwe1VxshOzb-Iwo7oBuyNjpdqbQG1jPUnsPKfyT9MWdsJGtzeb6H3mQLO9AnOOAgBYlKMY5ALI-KpIK6nyBZ-pzF64-ScrjU7j0SFOL8qHiHMNLxdmqfrLUjCVLRjGq3kC57wkdUvy5/s1600/Foxmountainsleft.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyKgwe1VxshOzb-Iwo7oBuyNjpdqbQG1jPUnsPKfyT9MWdsJGtzeb6H3mQLO9AnOOAgBYlKMY5ALI-KpIK6nyBZ-pzF64-ScrjU7j0SFOL8qHiHMNLxdmqfrLUjCVLRjGq3kC57wkdUvy5/s400/Foxmountainsleft.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRzQLmuW0umEYDYxlCP17YDs0wkGkB9KpAXVLLeKZ5VxJ7YuX8u1PkHEogNbb6Kv3yfhfKcbgJ3_LO7bN_lAqiqFEI44KDpe49F8JObJ_CXwhlngBI8NWxl7NR5ixMR13tpjq9kYc-4ss/s1600/Foxstu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRzQLmuW0umEYDYxlCP17YDs0wkGkB9KpAXVLLeKZ5VxJ7YuX8u1PkHEogNbb6Kv3yfhfKcbgJ3_LO7bN_lAqiqFEI44KDpe49F8JObJ_CXwhlngBI8NWxl7NR5ixMR13tpjq9kYc-4ss/s400/Foxstu.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg31hbaoxV1zqgc0EMTWyg5ZoZzHIIB6utna0-5w5_grGBq-zXkQHDzlkircGhZZuj_SCbZojjNNkxluYlaP7NMLlSNBCO-C92zTXkjUsLMBeNf3PTivuxiIaToW9TSE1Uzcee7uhAQ1SLQ/s1600/FoxGla1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg31hbaoxV1zqgc0EMTWyg5ZoZzHIIB6utna0-5w5_grGBq-zXkQHDzlkircGhZZuj_SCbZojjNNkxluYlaP7NMLlSNBCO-C92zTXkjUsLMBeNf3PTivuxiIaToW9TSE1Uzcee7uhAQ1SLQ/s400/FoxGla1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIJ8AtVDFjUqXX3EJTGPCKQolShU60xELTFNbpu2zISti0vG_-l9ROfzXoXChPjv5uChXMT_E5jjbI7oJdleseaVAxDe5Us72wDiBtdasbZ7nkm6r7CUHMTb5PbxOXuC5UOYMrwjc0Q2NE/s1600/Fox3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIJ8AtVDFjUqXX3EJTGPCKQolShU60xELTFNbpu2zISti0vG_-l9ROfzXoXChPjv5uChXMT_E5jjbI7oJdleseaVAxDe5Us72wDiBtdasbZ7nkm6r7CUHMTb5PbxOXuC5UOYMrwjc0Q2NE/s400/Fox3.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3inm2vuqoqHNQWtrmRx6lHicZ0ye9jqOhyphenhyphenKQraFZBmvDW7XkIfLCrhq1-YJGIptRfHUsz18SVVIzsn1kYUSoEIT3rBOxWpH0eHNuMdWzULo0mXKKkX0Q4M6RVGFSWSvWJCOQNT6irVTwA/s1600/Fox2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3inm2vuqoqHNQWtrmRx6lHicZ0ye9jqOhyphenhyphenKQraFZBmvDW7XkIfLCrhq1-YJGIptRfHUsz18SVVIzsn1kYUSoEIT3rBOxWpH0eHNuMdWzULo0mXKKkX0Q4M6RVGFSWSvWJCOQNT6irVTwA/s400/Fox2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimuo5DhPqRz-f4TcnM3VgTlNfcft15XRDJKQ8WCrk8EqKdFtYqw_9Ox4nXsxg6NGX_oW2CqJHQ2Pg-AS_FEwkIlaqBJCEC347r85f196-5y7ucWfT8fDVM7Sn08J0gzSVgBl6aNoNMRrSN/s1600/Foxselfy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimuo5DhPqRz-f4TcnM3VgTlNfcft15XRDJKQ8WCrk8EqKdFtYqw_9Ox4nXsxg6NGX_oW2CqJHQ2Pg-AS_FEwkIlaqBJCEC347r85f196-5y7ucWfT8fDVM7Sn08J0gzSVgBl6aNoNMRrSN/s400/Foxselfy.jpg" /></a></div>
After almost doing a lung we got to the general unguided viewing area, took some pics while we regained some breath and cruised back down to the car park.
Back on the road we headed further south to Haast, fuelled up for NZ$2.52/ltr....mother of god fuel is dear here. We found a nice pub and grabbed a typical pub feed for lunch, I think we’d earned it after the glazier walk.
A quick look in the car park made me a little envious, I’ve said it about 500 times since I got here but I give you my word I will make it back here with a bike one day.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR7PaA81LmzzN1eOScoyn_zVf6CnR33zS5f3ACEFJGHjuRHqJxpsLcrRWSQjfsCpeGEDYGmaoza1nufwh8-r_4mn03gdHttey3u70r5bDxz70TMloTRmWKxLAz3cToG69RVFRcfXy0WbH1/s1600/BikesHaast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR7PaA81LmzzN1eOScoyn_zVf6CnR33zS5f3ACEFJGHjuRHqJxpsLcrRWSQjfsCpeGEDYGmaoza1nufwh8-r_4mn03gdHttey3u70r5bDxz70TMloTRmWKxLAz3cToG69RVFRcfXy0WbH1/s400/BikesHaast.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJprXtS15P2VhHlllyL7vhRI0ngZa5NBu2O_GOcikCeW4WpHP91e0jgaeZFn2rfkXSXBut8jhcXC8tfXkVgxT8iyLDRrfSpu-IvFmMyDPNlNC0mkEpx10AnYPvsBxhEaEt-h9-XQ66HZnF/s1600/HaastPub.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJprXtS15P2VhHlllyL7vhRI0ngZa5NBu2O_GOcikCeW4WpHP91e0jgaeZFn2rfkXSXBut8jhcXC8tfXkVgxT8iyLDRrfSpu-IvFmMyDPNlNC0mkEpx10AnYPvsBxhEaEt-h9-XQ66HZnF/s400/HaastPub.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYNABg_ky-YhlviJoxrro6jdN8XJ8FnpxEIXU9fyMuVhBrGtUpwcUeXVFIphVQ4INnmFdDkBufbENFAoUY2x1RtifCezlhZjKzEZ7zvpV-JgZ9RVesf6ZTkaV-0dSL0NqnHGhjCueX4r-i/s1600/HaastPubFire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYNABg_ky-YhlviJoxrro6jdN8XJ8FnpxEIXU9fyMuVhBrGtUpwcUeXVFIphVQ4INnmFdDkBufbENFAoUY2x1RtifCezlhZjKzEZ7zvpV-JgZ9RVesf6ZTkaV-0dSL0NqnHGhjCueX4r-i/s400/HaastPubFire.jpg" /></a></div>
The weather got much worse as we began to drive east into the mountains, I was bitterly disappointed as I’d really been looking forward to seeing the Haast Pass with the snow capped mountains either side, we grabbed a few pics but really nothing to write home about.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57P10soSROWHrc8kPl5Ce3wjE8vdyry1mBeeSwnUWsVs7ith_ZIUzC-ta5Z_3-i6lyJhzrwHPtjjrys2A0eAEwNSFLUOSX2w9AN2a0qfaYj5FUvm1PzK33p_ChBV37TzIDDvk9q-I9UdM/s1600/HaastQtn1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57P10soSROWHrc8kPl5Ce3wjE8vdyry1mBeeSwnUWsVs7ith_ZIUzC-ta5Z_3-i6lyJhzrwHPtjjrys2A0eAEwNSFLUOSX2w9AN2a0qfaYj5FUvm1PzK33p_ChBV37TzIDDvk9q-I9UdM/s400/HaastQtn1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqcc6hEctZ84dVVfdh_a_sefA_0Iub6drm-1W5NncaEXLZ55JEZoF8gREU9CcoO6gF_3oq9SKujteHY48uOngJMkLuGC96PB6WW859NSIBC9Mc3MagevccPWlYEj8q8YgB2bFT-DRyueLv/s1600/HaastQtn2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqcc6hEctZ84dVVfdh_a_sefA_0Iub6drm-1W5NncaEXLZ55JEZoF8gREU9CcoO6gF_3oq9SKujteHY48uOngJMkLuGC96PB6WW859NSIBC9Mc3MagevccPWlYEj8q8YgB2bFT-DRyueLv/s400/HaastQtn2.jpg" /></a></div>
As we came out the eastern side the rain cleared up and the views were just postcard images everywhere you looked, I just can’t write words that do the scenery here justice so I’ll just post a few picks of the first and second lakes we came across.
The mountains either side of these lakes make anything I’ve seen before look like ant hills, they are huge, rugged, rocky snow capped monsters.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG8Bo4s6Ncwuha_fWN9bkjajy2uaw2kzr9PoXXYeGHlQYxArpr-vU2Q8uD50Zhde4jn_fapnEhzqRAV5znvXiESuCHgO3mebTftWM1lnCPVRuuunHyn2ccq_Enm3c90flioqJKFYJuUK2F/s1600/Lake1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG8Bo4s6Ncwuha_fWN9bkjajy2uaw2kzr9PoXXYeGHlQYxArpr-vU2Q8uD50Zhde4jn_fapnEhzqRAV5znvXiESuCHgO3mebTftWM1lnCPVRuuunHyn2ccq_Enm3c90flioqJKFYJuUK2F/s400/Lake1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVq8UR0_mmOOJIb3iRlzZ1Ugxv1iWgdU93hFESql_nXJBZm7uHhDIPa9y1EK4MsFZOmvJLsVtBWQYYChTNAWY5My72RVoSw-gVHDXeMSLIzqrfzh5ZLpnQ5WdVeIAKsyiFwRi1UwatygrF/s1600/Lake1Stu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVq8UR0_mmOOJIb3iRlzZ1Ugxv1iWgdU93hFESql_nXJBZm7uHhDIPa9y1EK4MsFZOmvJLsVtBWQYYChTNAWY5My72RVoSw-gVHDXeMSLIzqrfzh5ZLpnQ5WdVeIAKsyiFwRi1UwatygrF/s400/Lake1Stu.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG133rueK3d8S6ngK_XHSBk_5RxRJ0-E6d8ChnPKHhvd4Vs0AQ5Ggp5_HvxY8vbYBUlF4TPaZEcTgZSYzxQlTNx2ajNLYalxcs8_EFaK-A5cVTUeVBlw2q9yVQ6BxHLC6HOgfVzjh25JBt/s1600/Lake2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG133rueK3d8S6ngK_XHSBk_5RxRJ0-E6d8ChnPKHhvd4Vs0AQ5Ggp5_HvxY8vbYBUlF4TPaZEcTgZSYzxQlTNx2ajNLYalxcs8_EFaK-A5cVTUeVBlw2q9yVQ6BxHLC6HOgfVzjh25JBt/s400/Lake2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju3GkvvGvJRPiUlTxxXa44ntfepWFBbCdR9nCDJzp8UdhSSjEbcJO_dExWTeWCWgZZBZG2XGZ-W1V10Nj2_Y5F8iVnZXBOjdo3gvxDbpT42NMTM59R5B0y2K7bja_exBqwKobd2Kd64tAJ/s1600/Lake2east.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju3GkvvGvJRPiUlTxxXa44ntfepWFBbCdR9nCDJzp8UdhSSjEbcJO_dExWTeWCWgZZBZG2XGZ-W1V10Nj2_Y5F8iVnZXBOjdo3gvxDbpT42NMTM59R5B0y2K7bja_exBqwKobd2Kd64tAJ/s400/Lake2east.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNqrMYDK6rr42Btqsix8BJIFZY8t2LM6L1VVtRihlQuESjr_exCFFRBDidy5kg3SCvKZAr3-BdACnSjSoi4jobeSLzOaLhgiGEOdTlA_4DbjegDusrvoZg9oM9-PvMh901TkJGPyHNGHi/s1600/Lake2Grazing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNqrMYDK6rr42Btqsix8BJIFZY8t2LM6L1VVtRihlQuESjr_exCFFRBDidy5kg3SCvKZAr3-BdACnSjSoi4jobeSLzOaLhgiGEOdTlA_4DbjegDusrvoZg9oM9-PvMh901TkJGPyHNGHi/s400/Lake2Grazing.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSZqe_mdqcTBLJ9BvBfy1N2rOUwcpomhGnk7Ep65VCx3dykovxba78KN6ufm5m7nxJK4Sz5Kl4egWq9UYFmdiVBXeVAXXYs0uNMzOqohiKPb2ftMcrT_TYo3B7v0n9JfXO419y1vUEciaL/s1600/lake2roads.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSZqe_mdqcTBLJ9BvBfy1N2rOUwcpomhGnk7Ep65VCx3dykovxba78KN6ufm5m7nxJK4Sz5Kl4egWq9UYFmdiVBXeVAXXYs0uNMzOqohiKPb2ftMcrT_TYo3B7v0n9JfXO419y1vUEciaL/s400/lake2roads.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaHWgBdU9fGKShRL_G70nz3qa0WVHzIm0FqPLEpfm8qOUHiL6-hROnMr9EG92ibYYeiYcc7yKc2rdm8cs8HVDKsAjitUxuqvGCkQQZ4ISKVJelEXOURDmsWIdRC4Vu2Y_obqslFT-wPMwJ/s1600/Sheep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaHWgBdU9fGKShRL_G70nz3qa0WVHzIm0FqPLEpfm8qOUHiL6-hROnMr9EG92ibYYeiYcc7yKc2rdm8cs8HVDKsAjitUxuqvGCkQQZ4ISKVJelEXOURDmsWIdRC4Vu2Y_obqslFT-wPMwJ/s400/Sheep.jpg" /></a></div>
We took the crown valley into Queenstown, there were a number of signs telling us the road was open, I was wondering what they were on about, it’s the middle of summer. Now this road was awesome, twisty smooth flowing corners gradually climbing higher and higher, then at the peak you are greeted with a sharp descending switchback to the bottom, beautiful stuff.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwa-BCdaooW0DfQrzq3gO0vC5mBxMHMS06TNPLc1-tKtklT-u2LUQ9F9ZrRxlK6qGx2tdPTWVTC3OLJE1BFLbWHPopu6j2OxOO6WPxxyU7sRC-pMWGp6KM3-PK6nO4ETjx4Qe1zb0DGYbt/s1600/Qtwnhill1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwa-BCdaooW0DfQrzq3gO0vC5mBxMHMS06TNPLc1-tKtklT-u2LUQ9F9ZrRxlK6qGx2tdPTWVTC3OLJE1BFLbWHPopu6j2OxOO6WPxxyU7sRC-pMWGp6KM3-PK6nO4ETjx4Qe1zb0DGYbt/s400/Qtwnhill1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5TCrrdByLsHpp08iz3OHDN0oRBOuKjOG289ESGmfrP8s3KFypDdEo9Nc1pEozyqjJIs72TLdK-CFKdUlaPw61-GIJ63gXbovYUhQsE7JR47xhhWf2Kp7ZsABRg4qn26AE0KM-44tDKaZ/s1600/Qtwnhill2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD5TCrrdByLsHpp08iz3OHDN0oRBOuKjOG289ESGmfrP8s3KFypDdEo9Nc1pEozyqjJIs72TLdK-CFKdUlaPw61-GIJ63gXbovYUhQsE7JR47xhhWf2Kp7ZsABRg4qn26AE0KM-44tDKaZ/s400/Qtwnhill2.jpg" /></a></div>
After getting lost in Queenstown, what a rat race, rabbit warren this place is, we found our room. I quickly headed out and walked 50mtrs down the lawn out the front of the room to snap a couple of pics.
I like this one the most, this little house is surrounded by multi story resorts and million dollar houses.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU28jUHnN_rmnFFJDo_mt8FvHP2b4ZSbN9Y91r-_nCEAuRYrv_KmJFZqIHu4b7jX-4wTKJ-FSUvc5N-oct2VxQrd3GHmJzBjZ3idf14-X-GX2seqgnCTS0lkCsxftegFa4VRWgr4JlEuNK/s1600/qtnlakeoldhse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU28jUHnN_rmnFFJDo_mt8FvHP2b4ZSbN9Y91r-_nCEAuRYrv_KmJFZqIHu4b7jX-4wTKJ-FSUvc5N-oct2VxQrd3GHmJzBjZ3idf14-X-GX2seqgnCTS0lkCsxftegFa4VRWgr4JlEuNK/s400/qtnlakeoldhse.jpg" /></a></div>
Well it’s about 9.30pm here, I still can’t get used to this twilight, you could play a round of golf outside and not worry about losing a ball but all the same I’m shagged and after a few icy cold CC’s and a great feed I’m ready to hit the hay.
Can’t wait to see what Jodi has me jumping off tomorrow.
Stuart Dolbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07632179595555036363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349845680136968358.post-17150453280136141602013-01-15T18:32:00.001-08:002013-01-15T18:32:46.346-08:00Jan 16th Picton to Hokitika16th Jan Picton to Hokitika
I’d been looking forward to this drive and the one tomorrow from Hokitika to Queentown, the roads are a bit tiring as they seldom have straights for you to relax on but the jaunt from Blenhiem to Murchison was a blast today.
Sunrise over Picton Port from the motel window, about all the Mercure at Picton had to offer.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxZai8kNKnxLFC2XpVu3XuVbyeCRVE4sgDRFd8Ml1vW-3TbuGfvaBahDou2_pjmXlSrBpUMp9ZxvbRH2vmMC0qtauHl-FG3PVls14Pg0jFGJVmDqzMlOdoDxw046PiSmGgW-fNNQ7bphF/s1600/1Morningpicton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrxZai8kNKnxLFC2XpVu3XuVbyeCRVE4sgDRFd8Ml1vW-3TbuGfvaBahDou2_pjmXlSrBpUMp9ZxvbRH2vmMC0qtauHl-FG3PVls14Pg0jFGJVmDqzMlOdoDxw046PiSmGgW-fNNQ7bphF/s400/1Morningpicton.jpg" /></a></div>
I have no idea what these are, anyone ? They looked a little like agapanthus heads ?
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBVlpeL71C4vBdF_4Z4ySxiiB9j-ucMAjMQSz4KtgJG8omdhu1NO83IaW4UwBHhhEQ1UhVs4ktoLDFBXZ29Cbdv6crbVIE3ce-hF9Eag0ECQUjmRQNdAL6UpDMPJcRg5Ttwa3CJdO_rOKU/s1600/2PomPom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBVlpeL71C4vBdF_4Z4ySxiiB9j-ucMAjMQSz4KtgJG8omdhu1NO83IaW4UwBHhhEQ1UhVs4ktoLDFBXZ29Cbdv6crbVIE3ce-hF9Eag0ECQUjmRQNdAL6UpDMPJcRg5Ttwa3CJdO_rOKU/s400/2PomPom.jpg" /></a></div>
There were wineries on both sides with irrigation fields where there were no grapes the scenery was amazing.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZa78Egy6f6lDc-tyQFzcv4nyU1P3ZIvWnKih2TXOZ8_sGkhMS5jwSne00Z0d2XXtQHsOtjfu599UVhQfUKX-tnJsvD57zzj_7Cz5sfLFbralD3vXOHzIHAEv3jfxsHwJlrnAWMqO9IwhG/s1600/3WairauValley1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZa78Egy6f6lDc-tyQFzcv4nyU1P3ZIvWnKih2TXOZ8_sGkhMS5jwSne00Z0d2XXtQHsOtjfu599UVhQfUKX-tnJsvD57zzj_7Cz5sfLFbralD3vXOHzIHAEv3jfxsHwJlrnAWMqO9IwhG/s400/3WairauValley1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzMhnHjOls5yVYQ_vjwbvvQliXOtJxD1OVeOhrpVDmbno06IvwDuJiKeuhmjMR4fPeX4jsgrX8ajKu5Z0vL9SkQDannJx2o2eU_X09n4NZdHsrVM0KjailRiVzeKziXrEmCmg1AP4EUxa/s1600/4WairauValley2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzMhnHjOls5yVYQ_vjwbvvQliXOtJxD1OVeOhrpVDmbno06IvwDuJiKeuhmjMR4fPeX4jsgrX8ajKu5Z0vL9SkQDannJx2o2eU_X09n4NZdHsrVM0KjailRiVzeKziXrEmCmg1AP4EUxa/s400/4WairauValley2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51xLL1AZaohpxGQThfVHPuU6PH8RW4MNhb787Iq2VkuWnMBYpva8fMiD7fpsI1DgEkorrfb70JOkrJjXB69LxJgESQo-eMuVsh1gH52HpJnLgHXHo0gatkkKTWA9yGeZphozWyLm2oJVK/s1600/6WairauValley1StuDrive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51xLL1AZaohpxGQThfVHPuU6PH8RW4MNhb787Iq2VkuWnMBYpva8fMiD7fpsI1DgEkorrfb70JOkrJjXB69LxJgESQo-eMuVsh1gH52HpJnLgHXHo0gatkkKTWA9yGeZphozWyLm2oJVK/s400/6WairauValley1StuDrive.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbVWukHHK6cSUJUWD4uNCFlxX0D1RYO66f3JppR0MAnd5b7EXTyOiqHnquKwXXmv4Q2BhdD7IjLjb5aaQmF40qogPo_uN41aidDS81DTnnyQRuFAj87VO-rzV34ySBDfANNI-rpOyR2po3/s1600/Pivot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbVWukHHK6cSUJUWD4uNCFlxX0D1RYO66f3JppR0MAnd5b7EXTyOiqHnquKwXXmv4Q2BhdD7IjLjb5aaQmF40qogPo_uN41aidDS81DTnnyQRuFAj87VO-rzV34ySBDfANNI-rpOyR2po3/s400/Pivot.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimWZ5rcsaGm7FgsGTkTD8ru_1AsFFUyK8ai4MjiPNLjc1ml_l5-UEWTtxU8UBRGHg1ETg-m9uhbpP-nomQ0XnoRxiYmPV8mrScD5e0JrQ5HuEOU33vYXDKQ5CSSBQa4f84Wsepx9T5AXJR/s1600/7Mountain1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimWZ5rcsaGm7FgsGTkTD8ru_1AsFFUyK8ai4MjiPNLjc1ml_l5-UEWTtxU8UBRGHg1ETg-m9uhbpP-nomQ0XnoRxiYmPV8mrScD5e0JrQ5HuEOU33vYXDKQ5CSSBQa4f84Wsepx9T5AXJR/s400/7Mountain1.jpg" /></a></div>
The further up the Wairau Valley we got the better the scenery become.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvg8zk1bIGPk1UtMuG_b7NiXZpc2fjAWcCW2aABMY8ihPav7mFbgXGz6oixoXFHKeADIG95HmVMUaQ-UDUUPo0PYPNl1xevEsIdEY3HrjwileSt1PvyUlCfxxoDefkJ4YYSqc6XTbR83eZ/s1600/9snowsheep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvg8zk1bIGPk1UtMuG_b7NiXZpc2fjAWcCW2aABMY8ihPav7mFbgXGz6oixoXFHKeADIG95HmVMUaQ-UDUUPo0PYPNl1xevEsIdEY3HrjwileSt1PvyUlCfxxoDefkJ4YYSqc6XTbR83eZ/s400/9snowsheep.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqkwWciSZutJ5kaGK71x_D9Tqg4Sfi8OqSZJr5Jb7XVsl5i6XbI3PgCkxEewrvB6-0OPtSoR6fYBOcP3QrjS3YbksWnoY0wO5TXrdY5FHjCs9VBBgpw25u7YxTxpw1om-JUG_p3oKl2BAu/s1600/8SheepPlaque.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqkwWciSZutJ5kaGK71x_D9Tqg4Sfi8OqSZJr5Jb7XVsl5i6XbI3PgCkxEewrvB6-0OPtSoR6fYBOcP3QrjS3YbksWnoY0wO5TXrdY5FHjCs9VBBgpw25u7YxTxpw1om-JUG_p3oKl2BAu/s400/8SheepPlaque.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Oi7Lly1kOjgGHxHVFYatJunufXst9K_0vYWsm633HFEmYoXLI2e5dT3jw3UHQIG71He9cscHEFLV6KQ4D5QxCGDTi0p904ahWDG6Ni9iuDzk5lsNg-7p5U5s2w6V9hw14p5_7uraKep6/s1600/10snowsheep3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Oi7Lly1kOjgGHxHVFYatJunufXst9K_0vYWsm633HFEmYoXLI2e5dT3jw3UHQIG71He9cscHEFLV6KQ4D5QxCGDTi0p904ahWDG6Ni9iuDzk5lsNg-7p5U5s2w6V9hw14p5_7uraKep6/s400/10snowsheep3.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEeyqbqr6pCGQsYQQ_xW9b49Jk1-G9n_3m2ZzgopLoC8OGC6y05fyHGRXiDw5i-XGiG3yKqx4w-gzbVjDhw9XYHvQnVTPq8XA1BNchTecJAZ56mbuAr7tHScC9PnsNKkfil1RyL0gGA-6/s1600/trucksign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLEeyqbqr6pCGQsYQQ_xW9b49Jk1-G9n_3m2ZzgopLoC8OGC6y05fyHGRXiDw5i-XGiG3yKqx4w-gzbVjDhw9XYHvQnVTPq8XA1BNchTecJAZ56mbuAr7tHScC9PnsNKkfil1RyL0gGA-6/s400/trucksign.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj980-oEh4WESccAS1ERsWhVIU5H9G8P4aLg1cuMb0GFPz6Jh7I4z0x5SwG-6WLsWmqZvXGtaaO140NdEWFP9SC6mMyZyIlC_fuJNjLa2ObGMYHaX3zxrrasJlM7IcaRpOMn4zda0Hqbo-E/s1600/WairauValley4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj980-oEh4WESccAS1ERsWhVIU5H9G8P4aLg1cuMb0GFPz6Jh7I4z0x5SwG-6WLsWmqZvXGtaaO140NdEWFP9SC6mMyZyIlC_fuJNjLa2ObGMYHaX3zxrrasJlM7IcaRpOMn4zda0Hqbo-E/s400/WairauValley4.jpg" /></a></div>
See the snow in the back ground. We’ll see a lot more of that tomorrow, hopefully the clouds will be gone by then too.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpGUpkjQiqH2BdT3Y73RaCHcRhLxLs6wrWbfO7Dcg681CCMCgKa1jXy_5BS0r83_3uABlwHi2r9dKUrezqunw8lNK17eR90s-MwnbNi146Q5QSM6vwY-6ICBslUlk7Agjc-_LmbshEBGZ_/s1600/StuSheep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpGUpkjQiqH2BdT3Y73RaCHcRhLxLs6wrWbfO7Dcg681CCMCgKa1jXy_5BS0r83_3uABlwHi2r9dKUrezqunw8lNK17eR90s-MwnbNi146Q5QSM6vwY-6ICBslUlk7Agjc-_LmbshEBGZ_/s400/StuSheep.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8_zLQZ4TvrJFw2nGiznLWxIB9jtxdvx5UywJNR7jUwZ_6uV6drtj5MBkZg6KO_iB38IvGGVZdNyskawz6jKo-2Lu0RF-pc7qzFWyNXGqoQbziAuWrPxr9NLui5dc6n4HEsfqCElci9rx/s1600/WairauValleyNearMurch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8_zLQZ4TvrJFw2nGiznLWxIB9jtxdvx5UywJNR7jUwZ_6uV6drtj5MBkZg6KO_iB38IvGGVZdNyskawz6jKo-2Lu0RF-pc7qzFWyNXGqoQbziAuWrPxr9NLui5dc6n4HEsfqCElci9rx/s400/WairauValleyNearMurch.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcTymie2xrHtGc4cQ4f2LMMRZa-VTHZFEOdfjBhch06MK3DqptZeFp_27Z0OwX6OxrQ_5wSq0BJfI19E3db_ffdYiWLlLGH2ah8sNe4ZGkMRx4AZ9zeKlUA_4jZN8jtt3dknJf_C13jw3E/s1600/WairauValleyNearMurch2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcTymie2xrHtGc4cQ4f2LMMRZa-VTHZFEOdfjBhch06MK3DqptZeFp_27Z0OwX6OxrQ_5wSq0BJfI19E3db_ffdYiWLlLGH2ah8sNe4ZGkMRx4AZ9zeKlUA_4jZN8jtt3dknJf_C13jw3E/s400/WairauValleyNearMurch2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixiKYVg6tFOsCuLsluqALimXSIC3toLedlhwDavzOMbMOxJqKs1Kq3aJ2B2yGotZyl2KZO3WHXRmVMKHVOzrOhT4A8QSfQV5WBIiiZ-Johqarplnfswwx5ieccj1DQ7NyPG065LW_9oP2g/s1600/Mountainfaults.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixiKYVg6tFOsCuLsluqALimXSIC3toLedlhwDavzOMbMOxJqKs1Kq3aJ2B2yGotZyl2KZO3WHXRmVMKHVOzrOhT4A8QSfQV5WBIiiZ-Johqarplnfswwx5ieccj1DQ7NyPG065LW_9oP2g/s400/Mountainfaults.jpg" /></a></div>
We eventually pulled up at Murchison and had a break.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSVBcqVQFuPSEQvM18Ix-3yb-10H30yRzon0xFbq1rrHjW9g328-PzcAG0DYxq1rFggk_vZ9hxV-R1SYilAIGzVdaxF4zkUAzNPWTKZOacmkWZ1EM203c1J5qQnATM1Td5zTvGiJtm3ous/s1600/MurchSign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSVBcqVQFuPSEQvM18Ix-3yb-10H30yRzon0xFbq1rrHjW9g328-PzcAG0DYxq1rFggk_vZ9hxV-R1SYilAIGzVdaxF4zkUAzNPWTKZOacmkWZ1EM203c1J5qQnATM1Td5zTvGiJtm3ous/s400/MurchSign.jpg" /></a></div>
Not far past Murchison was the Buller Gorge swing bridge, we stretched our legs here for half and hour and then got back on the road.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU9hfAf8ygoaqsrJthWS_biAkbbPYhW3Lp1ME4TsWm8jnvB5mahYSl5P1T0L6cfrPNm3eomPVhajp2oMHICLq2QUDynaouDiDnsj1BDGBx_Jan3iluIcxYsBVO4VWliZMkQVMCZ5wl9Pr-/s1600/Bullergorge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU9hfAf8ygoaqsrJthWS_biAkbbPYhW3Lp1ME4TsWm8jnvB5mahYSl5P1T0L6cfrPNm3eomPVhajp2oMHICLq2QUDynaouDiDnsj1BDGBx_Jan3iluIcxYsBVO4VWliZMkQVMCZ5wl9Pr-/s400/Bullergorge.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTnwq_AmrwJWK1lDiDsWk9-zF40nHWf1FsMfsJ0z579ZerB6DOU2CM5UuZ4OmGUQ6Ek7xhqhah8mBQQryfMKQQYxBBpYa0SFRPTAKblhEomuRh8zXd0fNbBZOKAP-6iDyeRVnnMvAgm6bv/s1600/SwingBridge2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTnwq_AmrwJWK1lDiDsWk9-zF40nHWf1FsMfsJ0z579ZerB6DOU2CM5UuZ4OmGUQ6Ek7xhqhah8mBQQryfMKQQYxBBpYa0SFRPTAKblhEomuRh8zXd0fNbBZOKAP-6iDyeRVnnMvAgm6bv/s400/SwingBridge2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBvo8Ml1nK-Asp5_fPdFVH7rn9AO8_G5vLY969Wda4YRWx-N84PlTWxiK2pG2zhNac0IHwRyMkKXkC1wmVFefFePyrEdChp0YsYiK6KzQNa5lzHEAP6oJW9hujK2cGiudwz-16iwF_98O_/s1600/SwingBridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBvo8Ml1nK-Asp5_fPdFVH7rn9AO8_G5vLY969Wda4YRWx-N84PlTWxiK2pG2zhNac0IHwRyMkKXkC1wmVFefFePyrEdChp0YsYiK6KzQNa5lzHEAP6oJW9hujK2cGiudwz-16iwF_98O_/s400/SwingBridge.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDkPbPNXF78ocrmPK00rah8bg4eIY9gCFrUY0FuafmVxReos0Hsixl5aoc7IwVJp79ynwgJE-jsRh_2V3FxguZpxzXFEpybf3vX0GuYYQ8kcNTsVa9M6zyKHz3sRZWYfJl8Uj_pSlG_B7/s1600/StuBridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFDkPbPNXF78ocrmPK00rah8bg4eIY9gCFrUY0FuafmVxReos0Hsixl5aoc7IwVJp79ynwgJE-jsRh_2V3FxguZpxzXFEpybf3vX0GuYYQ8kcNTsVa9M6zyKHz3sRZWYfJl8Uj_pSlG_B7/s400/StuBridge.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ixgi8xZJ6Xo8DoucdAw_c-PpsPOauQIBJLNuvNp2s30W1__heZzkY8007QoMdMwsKIEF-UsfDDjDUR4zFTDcPoyoQCvSpdL9RTGegXxFX54RzCsaUn_w-bFb0zqEL5JuOZfdpsEuUUn-/s1600/JodiSwingBridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ixgi8xZJ6Xo8DoucdAw_c-PpsPOauQIBJLNuvNp2s30W1__heZzkY8007QoMdMwsKIEF-UsfDDjDUR4zFTDcPoyoQCvSpdL9RTGegXxFX54RzCsaUn_w-bFb0zqEL5JuOZfdpsEuUUn-/s400/JodiSwingBridge.jpg" /></a></div>
Hey Steve, found you a new excavator and truck while we were there.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYHg4UfwceNb_p5PXXjgv2yFET8tV_lbuzg4wCO7IWPs942sX5xNbSV04Yj6PQol7V5ocLTi1xKTwj3ySBl_cDRFmV_FxUDzsfBW8MtXhyc045a75F1eUxbWBvxfGOoIMIE02q4BAuIhxu/s1600/Backhoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYHg4UfwceNb_p5PXXjgv2yFET8tV_lbuzg4wCO7IWPs942sX5xNbSV04Yj6PQol7V5ocLTi1xKTwj3ySBl_cDRFmV_FxUDzsfBW8MtXhyc045a75F1eUxbWBvxfGOoIMIE02q4BAuIhxu/s400/Backhoe.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-fdhrol-SwPhgZijfkzzRBd-6cQBtYcmFNcSAjgE_ulob4Y_rAL-K-PuWNmgM53sVxjU9TVSnK9BMPR66FPyRwd66P6Lod1Rf7LpoRJl5scQU1gqK9wYLbdQIcNPkUO9TISi6S39eGjvF/s1600/Truck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-fdhrol-SwPhgZijfkzzRBd-6cQBtYcmFNcSAjgE_ulob4Y_rAL-K-PuWNmgM53sVxjU9TVSnK9BMPR66FPyRwd66P6Lod1Rf7LpoRJl5scQU1gqK9wYLbdQIcNPkUO9TISi6S39eGjvF/s400/Truck.jpg" /></a></div>
The lodging at Hokatika are ok, it would be better if it wasn’t 13C and windy, it really is like winter here today.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGLD0i5DTY2Wpj0gRYSHteXxT4sm7wTYAQNUOs56UtE0iJns1bdThMCjrq98mU0piGJMO1xab7qRZUlasQUwtM6KdyOIt7wHu65661ZhEQwPDGtXLNQ2BnCESxE-8pOTOlP85PpNfanrV/s1600/Lodge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlGLD0i5DTY2Wpj0gRYSHteXxT4sm7wTYAQNUOs56UtE0iJns1bdThMCjrq98mU0piGJMO1xab7qRZUlasQUwtM6KdyOIt7wHu65661ZhEQwPDGtXLNQ2BnCESxE-8pOTOlP85PpNfanrV/s400/Lodge.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP9T0hB8zQ8CdYo2MnOoKKdvw6eKx2UxQOaXPC7hypw6mtGRcTFzgYzkvw_DsqcxSaYSYsyEWSXd_joAXp7Mclw5cRLCJ_y8YvGC4MbmN2O1x0-I7xQWaURcSXzDeMTWh54ONrNRbAdsUq/s1600/beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP9T0hB8zQ8CdYo2MnOoKKdvw6eKx2UxQOaXPC7hypw6mtGRcTFzgYzkvw_DsqcxSaYSYsyEWSXd_joAXp7Mclw5cRLCJ_y8YvGC4MbmN2O1x0-I7xQWaURcSXzDeMTWh54ONrNRbAdsUq/s400/beach.jpg" /></a></div>
Stuart Dolbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07632179595555036363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349845680136968358.post-25550225486556175072013-01-15T18:00:00.000-08:002013-01-15T18:00:21.267-08:00January 15th Napier to Picton15th Jan Napier to Picton
Napier was a great place, perfect room overlooking the beach but it was time to hit the road again. We grabbed a buffet breakfast in town at this place.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkKqIkd-BJY5Nu5D8wHc1XE11Q0Svlm8rSSDz1V_GHAXy-5V56HPMNLAjJZOg82r62wUXI4FH2IbYNu_PBJm_OlX8xLPAbRmvoqXCUBb1z0thXPz54TaXVwYUxIHtK35GCZv9wDmOkrEzg/s1600/NapierBreaky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkKqIkd-BJY5Nu5D8wHc1XE11Q0Svlm8rSSDz1V_GHAXy-5V56HPMNLAjJZOg82r62wUXI4FH2IbYNu_PBJm_OlX8xLPAbRmvoqXCUBb1z0thXPz54TaXVwYUxIHtK35GCZv9wDmOkrEzg/s400/NapierBreaky.jpg" /></a></div>
It was a pretty uneventful drive through rolling grazing country until we got to Featherston where we crossed the ranges before dropping down into Wellington.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZC5fVHH2mAiMWK_SMm0GKKBqKnxj3ZudQ39id-bx6dQoUFptw6qek0otVKKXXuMV2EyM8lAqy5ZFI_1-uXVtVBGbR0RQW1bhEQcy3Qmiktt8EWdBazIlC8neHags0tK5x34PLOc44jJ7A/s1600/PahiatuaPlane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZC5fVHH2mAiMWK_SMm0GKKBqKnxj3ZudQ39id-bx6dQoUFptw6qek0otVKKXXuMV2EyM8lAqy5ZFI_1-uXVtVBGbR0RQW1bhEQcy3Qmiktt8EWdBazIlC8neHags0tK5x34PLOc44jJ7A/s400/PahiatuaPlane.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieU2ygfQh8DXxfh8Cx0UPrRAmgJRMeKRZb0Sv-rBt7drlvcEfyGGHP5xd2pC_HbZWL1KqiNaLuxBRjtziSgDehJBq55RLDpPhQnxrpGbl8NOpvBS5EgaaBkdfAsQiupYXMvKwq88bZpVcf/s1600/FeatherstontoWellington.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieU2ygfQh8DXxfh8Cx0UPrRAmgJRMeKRZb0Sv-rBt7drlvcEfyGGHP5xd2pC_HbZWL1KqiNaLuxBRjtziSgDehJBq55RLDpPhQnxrpGbl8NOpvBS5EgaaBkdfAsQiupYXMvKwq88bZpVcf/s400/FeatherstontoWellington.jpg" /></a></div>
We ended up sitting around the ferry terminal for too long and the longer we sat there the more anxious Jodi become, she can jump off tall building but ask her to take a 3 hour ferry ride and she’s a mess.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOHCpNIOuaIkeiWgbx5gkhpc-Io9gZkiYuOkncMq9k0528OfJy5LEn39KrMC6za9RoVQ_-W-DyiWWCT1_Kv2XMSNoU9QIYiBBuDE7VpYXfmf6B1VK4EqlvcgE18LfXgxbpEKFpHQIn7eMd/s1600/JodiTerminal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOHCpNIOuaIkeiWgbx5gkhpc-Io9gZkiYuOkncMq9k0528OfJy5LEn39KrMC6za9RoVQ_-W-DyiWWCT1_Kv2XMSNoU9QIYiBBuDE7VpYXfmf6B1VK4EqlvcgE18LfXgxbpEKFpHQIn7eMd/s400/JodiTerminal.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQFnr7oblqip0O7jiDO1iMw5wDU_4nRNjA78WTuWmz0f6kWBqDXe48T83ZTi70kASJRzVj2Mty3Nlm1sSuzsfD9Ts0x6ggcJiUnz4ovyKJi-ZynwLwUMfVwSRgGKj_iXXe_YSW0SCiY-dr/s1600/FerryTV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQFnr7oblqip0O7jiDO1iMw5wDU_4nRNjA78WTuWmz0f6kWBqDXe48T83ZTi70kASJRzVj2Mty3Nlm1sSuzsfD9Ts0x6ggcJiUnz4ovyKJi-ZynwLwUMfVwSRgGKj_iXXe_YSW0SCiY-dr/s400/FerryTV.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwOpuMKMsoYqLHwFdJ6cD8VDIDmd0TiCaw4NShMTUar7ZWB1EogsiFOC9r_5VB0FqdRbuSQlDyAh3ZUuIi7hFB7KyOt98ckUv9vcoh7L0CcRxykJk9OVv2Y46J7sBYTKZ0mz8ziNaE7GbZ/s1600/OurFerryDocking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwOpuMKMsoYqLHwFdJ6cD8VDIDmd0TiCaw4NShMTUar7ZWB1EogsiFOC9r_5VB0FqdRbuSQlDyAh3ZUuIi7hFB7KyOt98ckUv9vcoh7L0CcRxykJk9OVv2Y46J7sBYTKZ0mz8ziNaE7GbZ/s400/OurFerryDocking.jpg" /></a></div>
The further we got out of Wellington Harbour the rougher it got and people were dropping like flies, even some of the staff were hurling before we were too far off the coast.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhatltWiL6InR7pUg0TS-Zkx5iDheJyeiA-0Ur_5-dmibZpV9qa_63guwzlYp8cibzlpvbi5erw2kAIGuGlG6IHAu3BR4UwRo156u8cceBlEMl1nh2SjOjSJHi5DhZ_9C7jzpp3LD3BPmU/s1600/JodiWorried.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhatltWiL6InR7pUg0TS-Zkx5iDheJyeiA-0Ur_5-dmibZpV9qa_63guwzlYp8cibzlpvbi5erw2kAIGuGlG6IHAu3BR4UwRo156u8cceBlEMl1nh2SjOjSJHi5DhZ_9C7jzpp3LD3BPmU/s400/JodiWorried.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjslujE6U3SK7r1xiZTLUWaFJXdNu_i0sizYC4jcqk_pT4TriM1y-iGeAHUQ9Zoi6D9OrMWSBr3-KvJ4Vuk4twUuer3xT9RvpBXVcwHxWtof9fSbuDzxbInnM5bMlYqRMDP5yJ-H0vW1Lx5/s1600/GettingRough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjslujE6U3SK7r1xiZTLUWaFJXdNu_i0sizYC4jcqk_pT4TriM1y-iGeAHUQ9Zoi6D9OrMWSBr3-KvJ4Vuk4twUuer3xT9RvpBXVcwHxWtof9fSbuDzxbInnM5bMlYqRMDP5yJ-H0vW1Lx5/s400/GettingRough.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUIlUZkxEajsZ-oEt2LOpjQZx2-mv6Jrwi3JdYueP5KpMv_axPp-65yJMNT2iByHm7eYuo-d77F1fEMyaKIbL5LQaVGGpjknTQu43WWTsDZCxjzeRn8n0MEiZQOUs3i7L_fYtayPhwu7s/s1600/Jodinothappy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUIlUZkxEajsZ-oEt2LOpjQZx2-mv6Jrwi3JdYueP5KpMv_axPp-65yJMNT2iByHm7eYuo-d77F1fEMyaKIbL5LQaVGGpjknTQu43WWTsDZCxjzeRn8n0MEiZQOUs3i7L_fYtayPhwu7s/s400/Jodinothappy.jpg" /></a></div>
The wind was roaring and the waves were crashing onto the highest windows, I thought it was awesome, I’d never been on a large boat in that kind of weather before. Glasses were smashing at the bar, hell my Canadian Club and Dry even took a dive off the table while I was out watching the waves.
Jodi turned for the worst and joined the dying on the outer deck.
Eventually the water began to calm as we pushed into the Malbourough Sound and headed towards Picton.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-kjiBlnScP0Rjv-tlfUDF04Xn6U_qnAEpNhUFzzq8EwRuBU11egc0y7imfazWpB5q6QLTmquO16CjEuyWTV5Ukxbbe5OB8a5XiIiWxWR9I-DeEoawYofuz5bdoSfT9lADZIT9p_EOLgBD/s1600/MalbSound1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-kjiBlnScP0Rjv-tlfUDF04Xn6U_qnAEpNhUFzzq8EwRuBU11egc0y7imfazWpB5q6QLTmquO16CjEuyWTV5Ukxbbe5OB8a5XiIiWxWR9I-DeEoawYofuz5bdoSfT9lADZIT9p_EOLgBD/s400/MalbSound1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW0W677l1W1YEYJmOR5JwYMHmi34lphCKIyJ1ygmjtHb6iJqvU69RN8u7t49tpodP0w2OoNofkEFLNv4Yq0VfujuzMQpHPkcoRmh-XnU36oFez7tvMGqcsF1u9d10aoAGdRNuPf4xhou_H/s1600/MalbSound2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW0W677l1W1YEYJmOR5JwYMHmi34lphCKIyJ1ygmjtHb6iJqvU69RN8u7t49tpodP0w2OoNofkEFLNv4Yq0VfujuzMQpHPkcoRmh-XnU36oFez7tvMGqcsF1u9d10aoAGdRNuPf4xhou_H/s400/MalbSound2.jpg" /></a></div>
Jodi come good as the water was as flat as glass.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0JnRVb7s_j-jV6L0W_Vhbx1QT7zLZzkIkJU_QZHc0DULSI29PIP-6Xkhed9SFB0UqiXyMW1WN66j8mmNPvh494HOS6TXWo_pY-_9IX5bIdPqYhT5dtcgzhFxkuW-ri0qnqo0YKjEhDkQM/s1600/JodiBetter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0JnRVb7s_j-jV6L0W_Vhbx1QT7zLZzkIkJU_QZHc0DULSI29PIP-6Xkhed9SFB0UqiXyMW1WN66j8mmNPvh494HOS6TXWo_pY-_9IX5bIdPqYhT5dtcgzhFxkuW-ri0qnqo0YKjEhDkQM/s400/JodiBetter.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju5LkedY-BQMWbLbgDmgTHwfc54M29OnhZfUMkUGSMrDPabh1txaAYZEDny6SLr0pciMBYjm0Xwo7A1B6WQWj5yhSNBEo0YCIFCEv9IRN10sp8NAo1jdjHVEfxcwMTCwpBxJkK-LaAkcxr/s1600/Picton1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju5LkedY-BQMWbLbgDmgTHwfc54M29OnhZfUMkUGSMrDPabh1txaAYZEDny6SLr0pciMBYjm0Xwo7A1B6WQWj5yhSNBEo0YCIFCEv9IRN10sp8NAo1jdjHVEfxcwMTCwpBxJkK-LaAkcxr/s400/Picton1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhosvbGptkn3x1Fq4P6po1u-Wyi7j3xzPngG206HG2BpawOeLNR9eaBjFOcIV5R_BL9IB6xzQpwwGKWNxzHIL0hGp-YsyxKRPmqO1v0a-03AWeJeJyKm5gNnK6l8aQNFz8B_vIORXRyjTeU/s1600/Picton2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhosvbGptkn3x1Fq4P6po1u-Wyi7j3xzPngG206HG2BpawOeLNR9eaBjFOcIV5R_BL9IB6xzQpwwGKWNxzHIL0hGp-YsyxKRPmqO1v0a-03AWeJeJyKm5gNnK6l8aQNFz8B_vIORXRyjTeU/s400/Picton2.jpg" /></a></div>
We were late into Picton, I grabbed the new hire car, a bloody Toyota Aurion ( I’d grown fond of my XR6), it was about 9.10pm when we booked into the room at the Mercure, I was informed that the dining room closed at 9.00am and there was no room service ????.. We headed up the three flights of stairs with no help on a rain soaked steel staircase wide enough for a pigeon and found our room, this room was something out of the early seventies......smelt a little like it too and I’m pretty sure the mattress and pillows were the original ones too, in summary it was a sh*thole.
We found an Irish pub with a meal about 10.30pm and quickly ate our fill and headed back for a well earned sleep.
Stuart Dolbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07632179595555036363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349845680136968358.post-81046343404601469112013-01-13T22:04:00.001-08:002013-01-13T22:04:54.073-08:00Jan 14th NZ Trip Rotorua > NapierJan 14th Rotorua to Napier
We left Fartville this morning and headed southeast to Taupo and on to Napier. We called in at a glass blowing shop / cafe for a coffee and Jodi bought an over priced paper weight, we watched some glass blowing and had a coffee and some lemon slice and got back on the road.
As we got closer to the coast the mountains become very spectacular, they are much steeper than the Aussie mountains and much less rocky, and the vegetation on them is very dense too.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicAoIFWG_A9TerRRldC8XUtg9DKJCDT_GwD6Etrhm37twpK9qulkqFBVfmc3iPbpWiU3Yq4VcBArhme3_TUVVDknaHwC7hWdb51maLjWPElVqPVBHlz6D9b4exdZWTA7szjlxclcy3Pb1-/s1600/Road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicAoIFWG_A9TerRRldC8XUtg9DKJCDT_GwD6Etrhm37twpK9qulkqFBVfmc3iPbpWiU3Yq4VcBArhme3_TUVVDknaHwC7hWdb51maLjWPElVqPVBHlz6D9b4exdZWTA7szjlxclcy3Pb1-/s400/Road.jpg" /></a></div>
I’m still in love with the roads over here and will definitely head back over here with a bike one day. The traffic is the one thing that spoils it a little, the maximum speed is 100 in most places but most tend to drive between 70 – 90kmph, and with all the mountains it’s often hard to find somewhere to pass in the falcon.
Up in the mountains it was 17C but as we descended towards Napier the temperature quickly rose to about 31C over the course of about 20km. The locals were “dying” in the extreme heat.
Napier was virtually destroyed by a earthquake and fire early last century, it was quickly rebuilt over a couple of years and the majority of the CBD is full on art deco design, it’s like taking a step back in time and it makes for a much more interesting township. Other than the main street and beach front the town is simply a working timber port / holiday resort if I had to compare it to somewhere I know I’d say Esperance but with much more interesting buildings.
We grabbed a room at the Pebble Beach Motel, it’s great, large room, spa, ocean views, king bed the works. After looking at a few things to do we realised we were running out of time so headed into town for a squiz.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitQhyphenhyphenKfvOr48GX5wBgni52fhmsgfGKmI2XuFCIdo40PjNpFf6vL6DWCRpuQgr4O7YJylcvaByWIfRrDj25m2vGUvmV3oALhCuG1UD9wvXdxbYoqaqyfkh8qBo3VvjWHKhHRrzml6nHIf05/s1600/PebbelBeachMotel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitQhyphenhyphenKfvOr48GX5wBgni52fhmsgfGKmI2XuFCIdo40PjNpFf6vL6DWCRpuQgr4O7YJylcvaByWIfRrDj25m2vGUvmV3oALhCuG1UD9wvXdxbYoqaqyfkh8qBo3VvjWHKhHRrzml6nHIf05/s400/PebbelBeachMotel.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisSgJP2QdDWjq14_U31kjCqKeeCxsJ-ou8_w1SUaghbMFSvGpuHbRFEBX8TqoWWoWaStDMS1_6r3ulibQY4EjBTb0PbC_-fh4k16f12q-dtyv8AT3ZP-_GOqHADYaW5SmWy10k_regX8mh/s1600/Room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisSgJP2QdDWjq14_U31kjCqKeeCxsJ-ou8_w1SUaghbMFSvGpuHbRFEBX8TqoWWoWaStDMS1_6r3ulibQY4EjBTb0PbC_-fh4k16f12q-dtyv8AT3ZP-_GOqHADYaW5SmWy10k_regX8mh/s400/Room.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZvChL6yjK2XuKHL8Qvcek3pycfXTydnJcVNLYJy0aKu5BOdUU83sAjQehFUzeQdDm331ErCvl5CXnt8CN5vI97ekgLJmCd8nClnuRzQHUqOmxhfLau8A4wPH_qaiD3hVBrmO8GRmMR1y/s1600/Bed+Spa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZvChL6yjK2XuKHL8Qvcek3pycfXTydnJcVNLYJy0aKu5BOdUU83sAjQehFUzeQdDm331ErCvl5CXnt8CN5vI97ekgLJmCd8nClnuRzQHUqOmxhfLau8A4wPH_qaiD3hVBrmO8GRmMR1y/s400/Bed+Spa.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz80kAJZXsnBOdkwFIuG0EMCcBdGH6OEn-fEFdNHS7Yo6fAmf-agYo7T7-0OWEJA9hjt0yTpHKrjiDCv8RggqGje8SYmrATtxvFMEjg27IaV_Wa53Y1wOzqrXAAfDhJMm2AQqo7axT99kT/s1600/JodiShop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz80kAJZXsnBOdkwFIuG0EMCcBdGH6OEn-fEFdNHS7Yo6fAmf-agYo7T7-0OWEJA9hjt0yTpHKrjiDCv8RggqGje8SYmrATtxvFMEjg27IaV_Wa53Y1wOzqrXAAfDhJMm2AQqo7axT99kT/s400/JodiShop.jpg" /></a></div>
We passed the “road train” or the Hawkes Bay Express (HBE) on the way around and tracked it back to the Tourist centre and decided to take the 4.00pm 30 minute tour. It’s basically a tractor hidden under a make shift train engine towing a few small replica carriages, it was knocked together by a couple of farmers a year or two ago it’s actually very well done.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcLX_ylJTdS01Kb62quVpJP_yQK4C-0aEIirePr1oK6ZDEe3nrgt7TpEWIvHKGtYv5Y-t0pI34E2OQtzJOV7PqDtTy-i1330K7zW6kmtqTzhN4HZs4jHo7tcdr9pmcS95JnJO1z-byhxE/s1600/HBE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcLX_ylJTdS01Kb62quVpJP_yQK4C-0aEIirePr1oK6ZDEe3nrgt7TpEWIvHKGtYv5Y-t0pI34E2OQtzJOV7PqDtTy-i1330K7zW6kmtqTzhN4HZs4jHo7tcdr9pmcS95JnJO1z-byhxE/s400/HBE.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjsXUcQgU_LbghAqrptebIAqT14pTdgJ1_EE-yVT8RgTctOOVlrVv0bU7c2bOSVxOV4Z2PEedhWiv_F0B_mEHY5PVxypiv85jjVW5zvFn9bZ6VGPVySfYnm18sXe-KekzBRf7r_7dkBEZ7/s1600/JodiHBE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjsXUcQgU_LbghAqrptebIAqT14pTdgJ1_EE-yVT8RgTctOOVlrVv0bU7c2bOSVxOV4Z2PEedhWiv_F0B_mEHY5PVxypiv85jjVW5zvFn9bZ6VGPVySfYnm18sXe-KekzBRf7r_7dkBEZ7/s400/JodiHBE.jpg" /></a></div>
The guy doing the tour is a bit of a unit as the one we took is more suited to the kids but being late in the day and after the Bridgumentary at Auckland the other day it had just about the right amount of information in it.
We had a quick stroll along the beach and gardens and spotted a hogs breath across the road, wow, I thought I was suffering from a food coma last night, well hogs breath and me have like a long term commitment and I wasn’t about to let the relationship down.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-x8-7KRNe4Tt52e04_66ioKtAwcWp4axKfjgQpghyl3Aa8B6OCCwAeHa4hhnTOLS7m2F9HNwMwAsuRmojvxXG5BOOX4wX78mxU8_JFXI71DNC10DuU1Km4ivDGJLVo7Fsit7p0oWYqWtu/s1600/JodiHogsBreathe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-x8-7KRNe4Tt52e04_66ioKtAwcWp4axKfjgQpghyl3Aa8B6OCCwAeHa4hhnTOLS7m2F9HNwMwAsuRmojvxXG5BOOX4wX78mxU8_JFXI71DNC10DuU1Km4ivDGJLVo7Fsit7p0oWYqWtu/s400/JodiHogsBreathe.jpg" /></a></div>
Once again Jodi took about 10 pictures to my one so she’ll make a post directly which I’m sure most of you will find infinitely more interesting than mine.
We are off to Wellington and across the channel to Picton tomorrow and preparing to start out travels of the south island. On a side not we done nothing that made my blood pressure rise today, didn’t jump off anything, swing off anything or look death in the eyes, hence I will probably be able to sleep tonight.
Stuart Dolbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07632179595555036363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349845680136968358.post-10158723947704894442013-01-12T23:57:00.000-08:002013-01-12T23:57:15.514-08:0013th Jan 2013, Day 3Jan 13th.
Another sunny day with a maximum of about 25c. I took this pic about 7.00am from our room over looking the lake.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMGgRwQO8AkUv47HjZduucmP03LyWA6LUrr-ilouzbUfvaF25E6MSJ_VhRRqlF1AYo0EqfNIPEcGQ0GfN8pE29P1_scwV1B1h6eCBV2dgEoRHYEUDbpQDCooqRfcqerKdIK27bvb6tfx8W/s1600/MorningRotorua.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMGgRwQO8AkUv47HjZduucmP03LyWA6LUrr-ilouzbUfvaF25E6MSJ_VhRRqlF1AYo0EqfNIPEcGQ0GfN8pE29P1_scwV1B1h6eCBV2dgEoRHYEUDbpQDCooqRfcqerKdIK27bvb6tfx8W/s400/MorningRotorua.jpg" /></a></div>
It tried to rain early but was never more than a very light sprinkle.
We headed out to NZ Off Road about 20ks out of Rotorua. There is a 1.2km cart track there that was built about 2 years ago, it's tight but fun. I have some GoPro footage that I'll post once I can get back to a decent computer. Jodi was slow, I mean in a ten minute session I lapped her twice. I managed to set the second fastest time this week at about 1-14, the carts were just your typical hire carts with the honda engine, the proper carts can run around in the mid 50sec.
After the carts we headed out to Waimangu Volcanic Valley, it was cool walking through a volcanic rift valley that is still very active. It smelt like a massive fart and was a little opressive in places but very interesting.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvL9OkLD3rsolQpCHdDepx9dlHCZq3yzYN3rzCxFT9mkPgC7zxqFTcjo6vM-Bes0v8gDyttP3ErN6hTTt5Xm9u9m1ch63NSAL5t9K0chC1aP7gOcXwlmkHOhrw6KKab2ET4su12cErcujB/s1600/Wanga1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvL9OkLD3rsolQpCHdDepx9dlHCZq3yzYN3rzCxFT9mkPgC7zxqFTcjo6vM-Bes0v8gDyttP3ErN6hTTt5Xm9u9m1ch63NSAL5t9K0chC1aP7gOcXwlmkHOhrw6KKab2ET4su12cErcujB/s400/Wanga1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ei70_Z8DWxntit_Ygt5GQQvDc7ZpNKmThIOuArppeAs-uEFLOPbFpEJpUJG6TRpmQBz_VhtwnLEJoDLAp7eFKyprH2Rvdrtu2mwMwJ9iSsW_1nUGb3f5yOqX8zz4GoMhV6UfHm3qlmU1/s1600/VolcanoLake1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ei70_Z8DWxntit_Ygt5GQQvDc7ZpNKmThIOuArppeAs-uEFLOPbFpEJpUJG6TRpmQBz_VhtwnLEJoDLAp7eFKyprH2Rvdrtu2mwMwJ9iSsW_1nUGb3f5yOqX8zz4GoMhV6UfHm3qlmU1/s400/VolcanoLake1.jpg" /></a></div>
The track was mostly downhill and followed the creek down to the lake.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUKBgNEtCzALPHQWhGb-aG3m9Ha2NJWoqBwBDB0Xky2iyi03EX_6OoITrQWV1bHanKjcRn0SC_UjKoBDmAhcQLV0QAp5RUvN575ekAjAoR0Syy0jc00j2fsTyWdx0ci8MtRbCEAXx_FTIM/s1600/JodiTrack1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUKBgNEtCzALPHQWhGb-aG3m9Ha2NJWoqBwBDB0Xky2iyi03EX_6OoITrQWV1bHanKjcRn0SC_UjKoBDmAhcQLV0QAp5RUvN575ekAjAoR0Syy0jc00j2fsTyWdx0ci8MtRbCEAXx_FTIM/s400/JodiTrack1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzjKJ324gFxp8eE8c6QcfPkIrNcDJPNhqEaFoad7ZwaiZkNM7Wy0jWs7opKl4zQ685TzHHpMAHk-7dfOI6K8NjxZzNZbEliVGRelUmqkzjKXFribA8dzfbruv34D0Lxw07OtVqMvACRS6V/s1600/VolcanoCreeksteam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzjKJ324gFxp8eE8c6QcfPkIrNcDJPNhqEaFoad7ZwaiZkNM7Wy0jWs7opKl4zQ685TzHHpMAHk-7dfOI6K8NjxZzNZbEliVGRelUmqkzjKXFribA8dzfbruv34D0Lxw07OtVqMvACRS6V/s400/VolcanoCreeksteam.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq69p16WKFgamLTUEVkZlYueL16mMhkUmrwmd5HZrCoOvxB1DPC8gkXy8pzzbZhMqV1f4p_z5HR6B1BJWj2sZEkxvL4ZJoEez7dEUHLPzu9FrFKwzLntOy-aYh73aqTNxNBtb-nPVLK2O2/s1600/VolcanoCreek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq69p16WKFgamLTUEVkZlYueL16mMhkUmrwmd5HZrCoOvxB1DPC8gkXy8pzzbZhMqV1f4p_z5HR6B1BJWj2sZEkxvL4ZJoEez7dEUHLPzu9FrFKwzLntOy-aYh73aqTNxNBtb-nPVLK2O2/s400/VolcanoCreek.jpg" /></a></div>
We took a boat tour out in lake Rotomahana, the actual crater created by the last eruption in 1886. The lake was around 125mtrs deep at the deepest point, it had a few vents and things around the banks but like everything we've seen here so far it was very beautiful.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx0eJk2WiuEHE1Pk7lvoyoAZExdO5F8kk8BkBiQ8vXf4rpVL63vpmPcsm3WBG23DHNqPif5WXcXFXHdNIAx_xYqoDGX_lOzxdq1LM-o784MS9DWl3VDd-2ddlHh46ktjQqiaZf14fSXF8y/s1600/StuJodBoat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx0eJk2WiuEHE1Pk7lvoyoAZExdO5F8kk8BkBiQ8vXf4rpVL63vpmPcsm3WBG23DHNqPif5WXcXFXHdNIAx_xYqoDGX_lOzxdq1LM-o784MS9DWl3VDd-2ddlHh46ktjQqiaZf14fSXF8y/s400/StuJodBoat.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXwSDnMwaYRWsTywfIoTt3BOS9GnmHA2WgGj9lnBbfLxlwcSIwwZ4sCqRURjYR5P-nF5B-kONlZEfwtBI6OzlrF_32n_M9cO1_yEfzsQdm0l7n705zabBxDsh02-hXFFSNIfAYg4QBjFQT/s1600/JodiBoat1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXwSDnMwaYRWsTywfIoTt3BOS9GnmHA2WgGj9lnBbfLxlwcSIwwZ4sCqRURjYR5P-nF5B-kONlZEfwtBI6OzlrF_32n_M9cO1_yEfzsQdm0l7n705zabBxDsh02-hXFFSNIfAYg4QBjFQT/s400/JodiBoat1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg18W_oYecUcpCXCnK-TtUK_OHZfg5X2vo4x3cxtOHFlqpOI5Q1ldO9JVG_cbtqKdKLpTvZwiUeLY34gwpt4-fwF6MqTtYL-xN6-f90PKA-PPrVwXts1-n6BkMFuj1g-DqFZkTqjRmODqtY/s1600/JodiSteamVent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg18W_oYecUcpCXCnK-TtUK_OHZfg5X2vo4x3cxtOHFlqpOI5Q1ldO9JVG_cbtqKdKLpTvZwiUeLY34gwpt4-fwF6MqTtYL-xN6-f90PKA-PPrVwXts1-n6BkMFuj1g-DqFZkTqjRmODqtY/s400/JodiSteamVent.jpg" /></a></div>
We got to the Gondala ride up the mountain at Rotorua around 4.30pm, just the right time, the crowds were small and the temperature was back a bit.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafy_XeCiFb9r3StnOl7hgzfTEaRgKrEunhv89x6eXBZnXSRUGUXOhlZAIzTpUl1aBUraaCWqdgHdorbfkhjzoGyCO-2zyHan8_1pqiWA3e-laRpoREZP_kkakDy4dxxHB7G-9K7NqFBA8/s1600/JodiGandala.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiafy_XeCiFb9r3StnOl7hgzfTEaRgKrEunhv89x6eXBZnXSRUGUXOhlZAIzTpUl1aBUraaCWqdgHdorbfkhjzoGyCO-2zyHan8_1pqiWA3e-laRpoREZP_kkakDy4dxxHB7G-9K7NqFBA8/s400/JodiGandala.jpg" /></a></div>
After we got to the top we went straight to the skyswing, you sit in a steel frame ball thing, get hoisted up about 25mtrs and then you pull a rope to release the pulley and you drop..... fast.... very fast, the sign says 150kmph in 2 seconds, but like most things over here I'm starting to think actual facts are of very little importance but all the same it's fast, once the initial free fall shock is over you just swing back and forth a few times and they winch you in and off you go to the next ride.
I had the GoPro on for the Luge rides down the hill, they are fun, I'll post some vids later. They are pretty hard to roll and there is one track you can get it air bourne too. I tried to push Jodi down the hill a bit faster most of the time, that was worth the price of admission in itself.
It was a big day, we are both tuckered out.
Off to Napier for a relaxation day tomorrow.
Stuart Dolbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07632179595555036363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349845680136968358.post-51185756275007825522013-01-12T00:22:00.000-08:002013-01-12T00:22:07.853-08:00Day 3 NZ TripI didn’t sleep well last night, every time I closed my eyes I saw the view from the Skytower looking down, thus waking me up in a cold sweat, I don’t think Jodi yet understands just how much heights effect me.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9lh_zGO0pIaYcXYZrw8J7rnN453cqk_W6nAYyTupC-k3BJWZF3tu1k7qfnHLUNIU9iNlsZ4GyVJSRPY_c-DXoLc4f3xecXqRyZXT8q-3sD7A1sXK3qWZ37b9f6J3IpuzRaAb0EgB2UJ2M/s1600/Bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9lh_zGO0pIaYcXYZrw8J7rnN453cqk_W6nAYyTupC-k3BJWZF3tu1k7qfnHLUNIU9iNlsZ4GyVJSRPY_c-DXoLc4f3xecXqRyZXT8q-3sD7A1sXK3qWZ37b9f6J3IpuzRaAb0EgB2UJ2M/s400/Bridge.jpg" /></a></div>
Anyway after a few good hours sleep I was back up and we were getting ready for the Auckland Harbour Bridge walk.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZB9JsZNQkGBWwv4fUGE-H7fDZwfD0r8ngDLo0nGQlpfe1hz05UIho2RwgHbr3jBNrqlXcKzeU-bNE3Ii_IfDGeaeos3K8Q12W_-1ZVqz2CBarjw99YoCvAehX2PXx1vCKLEdh6VvAFpF/s1600/BridgeShop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPZB9JsZNQkGBWwv4fUGE-H7fDZwfD0r8ngDLo0nGQlpfe1hz05UIho2RwgHbr3jBNrqlXcKzeU-bNE3Ii_IfDGeaeos3K8Q12W_-1ZVqz2CBarjw99YoCvAehX2PXx1vCKLEdh6VvAFpF/s400/BridgeShop.jpg" /></a></div>
Well walk is a bit of a loose term here, it was more a documentary, or as I termed it a bridgumentary, the tour guide was a unit, his statistical recollection and his mathematics were both of equal credibility. This didn’t take much away from the walk though, it’s about a 2k span, with the highest point around 45 – 50mtrs above the water. It was entertaining but to stretch it out to 2 hours was a bit of a push.
car's / Bikes seen from the Bridge.
Vantage
Corvette
Belair 57
MVF4
996
and a few others, that's one of the more enjoyable facets of city driving, you get to see cars and bikes you normally don't see in NWNSW.
The most entertaining part of the walk is standing opposite the bungy platform and watching the punters jump. The have a little room attached under the highest part of the bridge, if the guys in charge get it right the jumpers will just dip their finger tips into the water.
We were back on the road around 12pm and heading to the Waitomo Glow Worm caves just south of Hamilton.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbMhr-QfAhGEclkhfxKfHWsrEyB_Vkw0AydavNDPszDGktJov9TEr4UwvfZ-vyQDuas7UmYSpOTyuJZxkCv-A2q8kJKo6acbm-EyTCS85fLrlmWS19LQigY9BBmilzC-XiuXDiSVnZEgkL/s1600/Sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbMhr-QfAhGEclkhfxKfHWsrEyB_Vkw0AydavNDPszDGktJov9TEr4UwvfZ-vyQDuas7UmYSpOTyuJZxkCv-A2q8kJKo6acbm-EyTCS85fLrlmWS19LQigY9BBmilzC-XiuXDiSVnZEgkL/s400/Sign.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLwgT2b8XciakZttNtvosj4mzP7XdGh8WidBsOW2cAKLbYTMho7HUOpDqEyQ2EnJ4F3SYiEnt4sPcT6GMh43FCygtoaBm_a1aVbZqF73dUTuL7QrUoO_UBu6Vlc7ibyhH5SRj-qckgQcBA/s1600/BigApple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLwgT2b8XciakZttNtvosj4mzP7XdGh8WidBsOW2cAKLbYTMho7HUOpDqEyQ2EnJ4F3SYiEnt4sPcT6GMh43FCygtoaBm_a1aVbZqF73dUTuL7QrUoO_UBu6Vlc7ibyhH5SRj-qckgQcBA/s400/BigApple.jpg" /></a></div>
We managed to just make the 3pm tour which lasted about an hour. The cave was about 30mtrs deep and at its largest cavern had a ceiling about 16mtrs tall.
I’d never seen glow worms before, they are very pretty, the cave operators, like almost every tourist attraction we have been to so far do not allow photography.
At the caves they simply take your picture for you, on a blue back ground as you walk in and them superimpose you over some “typical” cave shots and sell it to you for some ridiculous amount on the way back out. The shots are that stupid they are funny, sun clearly shinning down on your arms and face and the cave in the background....... seriously man... !
This is a shot a couple took for us, the only one we were allowed to take as we left the caves.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6XRqYuG_mZlItxe0lltWh3kmNtnPlYdj81pIrH4zPvhX89O5lnF7iDR7CUaQu66bcP4nSh9o2awqb4k4UBdjX1NZo6iduHQrgWd4kwHKwQvUT5_8gYkegBvk8I8si1WyUot-vGBV1eI4/s1600/Cave+end.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6XRqYuG_mZlItxe0lltWh3kmNtnPlYdj81pIrH4zPvhX89O5lnF7iDR7CUaQu66bcP4nSh9o2awqb4k4UBdjX1NZo6iduHQrgWd4kwHKwQvUT5_8gYkegBvk8I8si1WyUot-vGBV1eI4/s400/Cave+end.jpg" /></a></div>
So we ticked the caves off the list and headed the 90ks to Rotorua. Everyone said staying at Rotorua is like staying in a permanent fart, it does smell but it not really that bad. It’s actually a very beautiful town.
The roads need a special mention, they are awesome, I wish I was on the bike, miles and miles of great sweepers so far, very much Tuono country.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDLz9kNN8fnBKFMDtnQ02luBTNSjf6pLQb1dted_tr3oz6oFj9CpIZex5HVfqT9_F5yISKv9A0wvbwVGTua3W2M1My6wsoJG5s_NFMeFcUyTxys5LWDCsmORyEza70Q5dGz3EMR2zKXPU/s1600/TeAwamutu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDLz9kNN8fnBKFMDtnQ02luBTNSjf6pLQb1dted_tr3oz6oFj9CpIZex5HVfqT9_F5yISKv9A0wvbwVGTua3W2M1My6wsoJG5s_NFMeFcUyTxys5LWDCsmORyEza70Q5dGz3EMR2zKXPU/s400/TeAwamutu.jpg" /></a></div>
Tomorrow we are doing, Karting, luging.... and probably jumping off something, we’ll see. We are doing some volcanic valley boat tour too.
I'm suffering a bit of food coma at the moment after savaging a $52 / head all you can eat buffet. Until tomorrow.Stuart Dolbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07632179595555036363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349845680136968358.post-73124859608800743342013-01-10T20:38:00.000-08:002013-01-10T20:38:27.718-08:00Day 2 NZ Trip, Auckland.We done the Skytower jump today, I wasn't that impressed as I suffer from a fear of heights.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM1Pj6ZlgzLHr-HS8AsKCzLM7NkW6yiYtS9yd_ug_DVnfzwz3jGDyvsp6M5ek0I4PvrWHeb_WsfJGpJrsKndvWGQg2Hdd3ZwOhMHnwLrhwd6X2vp07eYFfppkjTomWHKvS0jUgUuaRmwyf/s1600/Skyjump.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM1Pj6ZlgzLHr-HS8AsKCzLM7NkW6yiYtS9yd_ug_DVnfzwz3jGDyvsp6M5ek0I4PvrWHeb_WsfJGpJrsKndvWGQg2Hdd3ZwOhMHnwLrhwd6X2vp07eYFfppkjTomWHKvS0jUgUuaRmwyf/s400/Skyjump.jpg" /></a></div>
I bailed on the first attempt, once I looked over the edge no matter what the brain said was ok the body simply said, "mate... are you crazy". So I bailed out and let another guy and Jodi jump. Jodi loved it, she wants to do it again this arvo, well she can have that. I define it as shear terror overload, followed by thoughts of well....more terror basically. this is what you see looking down, see that target looking thing way down there, well it's only 192mtrs away.... -_-...
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixzLkbh0607HriAPix-bwmNVFGMJuTmbCc4_eXGx-N4WnWZv-XdcqpR9TqMR2m2Trz7VyKXw7PTvwjhFLAiu_HztEqznWHBXPO2HujoZqH5uS4YLvG9ijrQA9PjyGI5YdsaM6hPAZScK_T/s1600/JumpedHere.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixzLkbh0607HriAPix-bwmNVFGMJuTmbCc4_eXGx-N4WnWZv-XdcqpR9TqMR2m2Trz7VyKXw7PTvwjhFLAiu_HztEqznWHBXPO2HujoZqH5uS4YLvG9ijrQA9PjyGI5YdsaM6hPAZScK_T/s400/JumpedHere.jpg" /></a></div>
Anyway after that we were keen (read I) for something a little more sedate, so we headed out to an Aquarium, I suppose there are only so many thing you can do with an aquarium and it was a bit like seen one seen em all. Saw some big lobsters, I took a photo but without something to put it into scale they didn't look that impressive in the pic, they were probably close to 2' long and almost as round as a AFL ball.
Here is a picture of a fully dressed penguin.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwlaGJnLHqz9kRGyMgPpQPsYK1lzg0oX46xQkrMoPIdyfGoN74lr6vrAszUg8FRyZvMCu6J090gYMjg1lO0Tcch90sM2GcjB8YCt26KzMVG20TOPP3P7TbwFv6qJX5MfNm1EBp-tv41C4/s1600/Penguins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwlaGJnLHqz9kRGyMgPpQPsYK1lzg0oX46xQkrMoPIdyfGoN74lr6vrAszUg8FRyZvMCu6J090gYMjg1lO0Tcch90sM2GcjB8YCt26KzMVG20TOPP3P7TbwFv6qJX5MfNm1EBp-tv41C4/s400/Penguins.jpg" /></a></div>
Here is one undressed.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7z-CM-f7cSKzDDfDuv1DciM4REKYHdwP6qop4fk9Aw3tCwzDOIufHuKcAJaf6pCSGjXHe046nEd1KC0zx9vb46na8JMZ82gWF0fNkCcef2E7tcm7Wnp23uv3fZ1an95AzNLhIRuvCd7px/s1600/PengSkell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7z-CM-f7cSKzDDfDuv1DciM4REKYHdwP6qop4fk9Aw3tCwzDOIufHuKcAJaf6pCSGjXHe046nEd1KC0zx9vb46na8JMZ82gWF0fNkCcef2E7tcm7Wnp23uv3fZ1an95AzNLhIRuvCd7px/s400/PengSkell.jpg" /></a></div>
We came back to the motel and had a feed and a power nap, hence the blog update, we are doing the bridge walk in the morning, Jodi might want to bungy jump off that too, after the skytower I imagine it would feel like jumping off a bale of hay..... we'll see. After the bridge walk we are heading down to some caves and across to Rotorua for a day.
I'm not sure if you can ring me on my normal number, maybe just send me an email if you are chasing me. Jodi is laying on the bed reading pamphlets on things to day, she just said we missed the judging of Miss NZ Bikini, I think it actually starts at 9.30pm, I better go and see if I can find that brochure before she throws it out.
Till next post.
Stuart Dolbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07632179595555036363noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349845680136968358.post-63851205984544048862013-01-10T20:02:00.001-08:002013-01-10T20:02:33.166-08:00My New Zealand Experience - By JodiStu and I haven't done a big holiday now for a few years.
We have both been busy with our businesses,
and our slow periods are at completely different times of the year
so we have never been about to decide on a date...
or locations for that matter!
But with New Zealand holidays being relatively affordable at the stage
and after lots of people from Gunnedah have come back raving about the place
We decided to give a New Zealand holiday a go.
So this is our first big Holiday post children
For a small town girl like myself, the whole international flight thing was very exciting!
We flew out of Tamworth into Sydney
and Stu let me have the window seat god bless him! :)
Although I did allow him to lean over me to pear out the window (Wedding Singer Reference)
It was all cloud after we got over the ranges and didn't see much until we got into Sydney!
Always blows my mind seeing the Urban Sprawl.
The international airport was such an eye opener!
Duty Free grog!! OMG, is it really that big a thing!
There were tonnes of it!
All kinds of Grog!
Then we flew from Sydney into Auckland.
Once in the sky it was cloud all the way until flying into Auckland when we weren't far off the ocean!!
The movie I watched was "Pitch Perfect". Great Movie!
It was nice to be welcomed into New Zealand with traditional singing and the Tiki Sculptures
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLe5jfppLpolF6zPKqUgsGacIf0P0UcGCR27Lyvdd4fqPR_AZR1sl14JshvMeReYym246R4F8-D1UVEpFbd70CUqltkiopNonY8V2F-rxQ42q0MHlpJAghS1jbkqmO_Y_sfLrrY11sNmqD/s1600/IMG_3842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLe5jfppLpolF6zPKqUgsGacIf0P0UcGCR27Lyvdd4fqPR_AZR1sl14JshvMeReYym246R4F8-D1UVEpFbd70CUqltkiopNonY8V2F-rxQ42q0MHlpJAghS1jbkqmO_Y_sfLrrY11sNmqD/s400/IMG_3842.jpg" /></a></div>
We rented a car and came straight to the Sky Tower Motel
We ordered room service
and I went straight to sleep.
Slept from about 7pm to 11.30pm
Got up and had a shower,
and went back to bed until nearly 8am and woke up so tired!!!
You would thinking after living on 6-7 hours sleep a night, 14 hours would have been brilliant!
Nope!
Our first activity for today Friday was to walk to Sky Tower.
We had already pre paid it, and arrived to find that it was closed for maintainance!
So typical.
Maybe you would like to do the Sky Tower Jump instead?
Stu had no intention of doing the jump,
but I thought we are better off just doing to jump as it would take forever for any refunds to work their way though the system, and we got the jump for the price of the walk which was nearly a 40% saving!
So I told her yes, we would both do the jump!
Stu went as white as a ghost!
He has issues with heights
and after being crook from the flight all night,
it wasn't really his choice activity for the first thing today!
But he was a trooper!
I on the other hand was beside myself with excitement!
Poor Stu
He decided to go first, and get it out of the road!
But once he was at the front of the plank.. he freaked and had to come back!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpun-3OqjPiKSaWPwE_6nido3J2hyphenhyphenT-u8QZOgZYbN8JqjBvHTWa72lQLfiLK0BmTo1okJMsMt_4_tgDxLVbK3m1-y_typlhzBtdC4_ImC0J7L9GrLFrsz0O1THb2M_WlLmv7ngFWfyc5Vh/s1600/P1660683.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpun-3OqjPiKSaWPwE_6nido3J2hyphenhyphenT-u8QZOgZYbN8JqjBvHTWa72lQLfiLK0BmTo1okJMsMt_4_tgDxLVbK3m1-y_typlhzBtdC4_ImC0J7L9GrLFrsz0O1THb2M_WlLmv7ngFWfyc5Vh/s400/P1660683.jpg" /></a></div>
So the other guy with us jumped!
He was pretty freaked to, but just did it!
and then it was my turn!
I was so excited!
There are so many safety checks!
and the harness is on really tight!
What concerned me most was my weight of course,
but also the pressure of the harness and being bruised.
But everything was as tight as it could go so there were no worries about being snapped or jolted or any of those things.
I was guided up to the plank
and all the gadgets attached,
lots and lots of checks.
You had to hold two poles either side of you,
and lean right out over the plank.
I think this was the scariest part as the cord is pulling you forward so hard.
The guide stands behind and counts you down.
3
2
1
Jump!
I didn't jump but, I stepped!
and you just step into nothing.
There was an initial fall of about 5 metres
and then they stop you for photos!
I had no idea at the time cause I didn't see them,
but they stop you right in front of the observation deck so everyone can check you out!
How embarrassment!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuleZLwJXtB6XN9SZ0TqQxI6NgOqB9TVjEtuQfMapMN0MTmqa7QwGrcq9JPJpHXXK9Qz2ewFcjc7rhzF564dhRMJvizHwB2Q_bYGzESf6Ssn2pcljqTOg-QmgMvEiFq_OovwTFU0VcdYm/s1600/IMG_7518.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="262" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuleZLwJXtB6XN9SZ0TqQxI6NgOqB9TVjEtuQfMapMN0MTmqa7QwGrcq9JPJpHXXK9Qz2ewFcjc7rhzF564dhRMJvizHwB2Q_bYGzESf6Ssn2pcljqTOg-QmgMvEiFq_OovwTFU0VcdYm/s400/IMG_7518.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKOWjNR-R8TKK0gYjLbb2AxT4TNMeRvZ5j0i4R0ufFHkCQEQLznglMylNQ69JBjLCAxWp7dKhkLpu22g0r9MewliWmnnPnHOzu99o4QMKCw8-YKqJ5_epSh47g67Wm42LwHUxJtrVd6EYV/s1600/P1660680.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKOWjNR-R8TKK0gYjLbb2AxT4TNMeRvZ5j0i4R0ufFHkCQEQLznglMylNQ69JBjLCAxWp7dKhkLpu22g0r9MewliWmnnPnHOzu99o4QMKCw8-YKqJ5_epSh47g67Wm42LwHUxJtrVd6EYV/s400/P1660680.jpg" /></a></div>
Then they just drop you the 192 metres.
I was a little shocked at first
but then got right into and and screamed with excitement!
I had a good landing like I was supposed to!
And then just waited for Stu!
They sent him off backwards this time with his eyes closed.
He recons he just had to separate himself from the jump and he says he didn't enjoy it!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4dM8C4VuNWEZv1KlPfwH1zyl9wViA-FWZJmN_OWnWhXbP37eWyVcBmy3l_xNsAGro4i1RX9l9AU2o7xAOUh7h3cwRaiQH_iaykx029c7912MlAi0fkLCWwedUgdtGqC-o14qmuKokvTBq/s1600/P1660687.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4dM8C4VuNWEZv1KlPfwH1zyl9wViA-FWZJmN_OWnWhXbP37eWyVcBmy3l_xNsAGro4i1RX9l9AU2o7xAOUh7h3cwRaiQH_iaykx029c7912MlAi0fkLCWwedUgdtGqC-o14qmuKokvTBq/s400/P1660687.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilL_CCYhta5ykuxbZUiW3mrVlrFGN-3PVs2_gdD9EdaXnFHP32N6x_6rq6d1ImSXtm641-ZdHvhRvTNxPF3mcikkM4n1eDpec-hWTdO5MTOQ6a5pAwPDTJO2WxN-YF2Qh7ZjiXFwT0WTOp/s1600/P1660689.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilL_CCYhta5ykuxbZUiW3mrVlrFGN-3PVs2_gdD9EdaXnFHP32N6x_6rq6d1ImSXtm641-ZdHvhRvTNxPF3mcikkM4n1eDpec-hWTdO5MTOQ6a5pAwPDTJO2WxN-YF2Qh7ZjiXFwT0WTOp/s400/P1660689.jpg" /></a></div>
I think looking back, he will be glad he did it!
I personally cant wait to do it again!
I jumped of the tower and have the certificate to prove it! :)
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8iESNZfhZ9icE1InqyNiKA9PiQrVTAi2werAkTI-35qj4ndgG9wTUQSqno8Mtan4U7HR6zq70DUNfhpUt-4eWHsf5W2s0bWDsLpoBiHPqqIh4NWJl-UvC49OB_n4DXcH39PkBizmZ16EE/s1600/IMG_7522.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="277" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8iESNZfhZ9icE1InqyNiKA9PiQrVTAi2werAkTI-35qj4ndgG9wTUQSqno8Mtan4U7HR6zq70DUNfhpUt-4eWHsf5W2s0bWDsLpoBiHPqqIh4NWJl-UvC49OB_n4DXcH39PkBizmZ16EE/s400/IMG_7522.jpg" /></a></div>
After that we went out to Underwater World.
Its kinda like the one at Coffs Harbour, nothing at all like Sydney.
But funny enough, this thing really freaked me out!
I dont know whether it was claustrophobia or what
but I was dizzy and felt sick the whole way around...
Weird I know!!
But they had this rotating wall of snow thing.....
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh79bW6IQa-1PQOab92rjx-SKyem82J2Nz5jTm3OvHJX0uEdqCJa3sJDZPrPFOPynR6Cb8PLyqM50wlUvgPuWS4nYS1z_NcH-iZX-xPGVXIHnTxh9f4stBQJq79_vjeH__7J7gMvgSqHTr/s1600/IMG_7402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh79bW6IQa-1PQOab92rjx-SKyem82J2Nz5jTm3OvHJX0uEdqCJa3sJDZPrPFOPynR6Cb8PLyqM50wlUvgPuWS4nYS1z_NcH-iZX-xPGVXIHnTxh9f4stBQJq79_vjeH__7J7gMvgSqHTr/s400/IMG_7402.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2A6QCzYuaSgqQAUsd4Y0UiBSQ0V9vZvUyLUD5OF5CipTtixhjYnj-ss1-8XYfBJBSb9qxE8d2XK1iYvddaRgHWSEvZ4x8lgCqe0vVw36KIjzCr-eeaXq0_reI9-waGNg2LitQt8vqt8_b/s1600/IMG_7405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2A6QCzYuaSgqQAUsd4Y0UiBSQ0V9vZvUyLUD5OF5CipTtixhjYnj-ss1-8XYfBJBSb9qxE8d2XK1iYvddaRgHWSEvZ4x8lgCqe0vVw36KIjzCr-eeaXq0_reI9-waGNg2LitQt8vqt8_b/s400/IMG_7405.jpg" /></a></div>
The penguins were worth the trip!
They were so cute!!
I was holding up the paper to the glass and they would try to eat it!!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hl-YkgIyprJ6r7szmAKzB6gNj1A84lPeYQo600pjeuRbgmCv7v3hvQ-_vMNwGdhzKfbPibGBrBOt_kW49YfklrPWjggAp0uts2tPGDMzL6L-a3RQr7VeZ_FDQcrFSavF2uJXSVnzwzPz/s1600/IMG_7412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hl-YkgIyprJ6r7szmAKzB6gNj1A84lPeYQo600pjeuRbgmCv7v3hvQ-_vMNwGdhzKfbPibGBrBOt_kW49YfklrPWjggAp0uts2tPGDMzL6L-a3RQr7VeZ_FDQcrFSavF2uJXSVnzwzPz/s400/IMG_7412.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsmWH9ntmxMlthYwnI1vz-6wLZksyPmvVgFTsYy0foeYpLVGdKZ2Jz5jhKTaOsjQ96yzolR1xIZNmBXFr5jjuJ9WzsGSaLOZXdtVNzzLwIoJaDKodwfvUguCSy_Fz_knnZq2HuDv7P2lRn/s1600/IMG_7408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsmWH9ntmxMlthYwnI1vz-6wLZksyPmvVgFTsYy0foeYpLVGdKZ2Jz5jhKTaOsjQ96yzolR1xIZNmBXFr5jjuJ9WzsGSaLOZXdtVNzzLwIoJaDKodwfvUguCSy_Fz_knnZq2HuDv7P2lRn/s400/IMG_7408.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUN-YpjuluUCeWPOOnoOLgYIGHo1retpVl6MNYaE9qC4M2mJ3VGEtoK2DD73L4Qqj1z_mAc9D0rIDG5t8zjfCW4EgbMfD1WK6Dqre3SgZXUj1vGzwb85fBkriHENO_vUgjIVSe8rGKCING/s1600/IMG_7422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUN-YpjuluUCeWPOOnoOLgYIGHo1retpVl6MNYaE9qC4M2mJ3VGEtoK2DD73L4Qqj1z_mAc9D0rIDG5t8zjfCW4EgbMfD1WK6Dqre3SgZXUj1vGzwb85fBkriHENO_vUgjIVSe8rGKCING/s400/IMG_7422.jpg" /></a></div>
And some sharks...
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvav7-XX2Tn_swb3C6DyJp1didyxG9sGI_WOhrG6A6aABB3-LI5gmOYPnK-WbMlVbRX3Sr3S_qaTlWPrFqk9k_ZSupYk1I2jWpouxSdf6biYh26d6WjDAAYHgIRMj5p7KBmkvOBTHPEGkD/s1600/IMG_7473.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvav7-XX2Tn_swb3C6DyJp1didyxG9sGI_WOhrG6A6aABB3-LI5gmOYPnK-WbMlVbRX3Sr3S_qaTlWPrFqk9k_ZSupYk1I2jWpouxSdf6biYh26d6WjDAAYHgIRMj5p7KBmkvOBTHPEGkD/s400/IMG_7473.jpg" /></a></div>
The Aquarium looked out over the Auckland Skyline
So we took some photos of that was it still astounds us that we jumped from that tall building there!
(I have no idea what I am doing in this photo?)
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJcOGz2ndPPT3JXhyphenhyphenBvNmAdntxj7ew_8Qu3952vW_wxExpq8blhJR4zQp2y9c9St9dhcDSXfiCNZMOAZI3mxIq5FitsbVx9YFqt89r6cTMYgD56Rr9bRrFe8PijyolSjPDv9AbBf_uP0AW/s1600/IMG_7479.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJcOGz2ndPPT3JXhyphenhyphenBvNmAdntxj7ew_8Qu3952vW_wxExpq8blhJR4zQp2y9c9St9dhcDSXfiCNZMOAZI3mxIq5FitsbVx9YFqt89r6cTMYgD56Rr9bRrFe8PijyolSjPDv9AbBf_uP0AW/s400/IMG_7479.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2tpjx-Ak3LFDMf_GNn7K0rEqlB0I2wLOck9VdrfYCqh3NdbaFllwOnVo2dB3qmOkXfbOfYYoc0HiJDaVOunIeUQZU92HUmXAC7r2TV7zmbqHJQ6OuK83gwagpbHsl03gwGSX6bC8puHLG/s1600/IMG_7485.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2tpjx-Ak3LFDMf_GNn7K0rEqlB0I2wLOck9VdrfYCqh3NdbaFllwOnVo2dB3qmOkXfbOfYYoc0HiJDaVOunIeUQZU92HUmXAC7r2TV7zmbqHJQ6OuK83gwagpbHsl03gwGSX6bC8puHLG/s400/IMG_7485.jpg" /></a></div>
We come back to the Tower and went up to the observation deck to see if we could watch some more jumpers, but they were done for the day!!
Tomorrow we are doing the bridge walk...
Which after doing the Harbor Bridge walk a few years shouldn't be a problem at all...
But I'm thinking, I probably should jump off that too!
Stu doesn't agree!
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB7Nq-W5mCeJTo9FYcaeZA50LtTl4sKA-Yipw01S2AHq1PqLJfNIpTRtTxBsvIDnQcw2z1HmOvHO40Qadxeu-1RkD7FiOlbLCgdV75Mx8VYyJ17U-WJazL38iyumCoO-_4sUcYxlyGGklZ/s1600/IMG_7497.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB7Nq-W5mCeJTo9FYcaeZA50LtTl4sKA-Yipw01S2AHq1PqLJfNIpTRtTxBsvIDnQcw2z1HmOvHO40Qadxeu-1RkD7FiOlbLCgdV75Mx8VYyJ17U-WJazL38iyumCoO-_4sUcYxlyGGklZ/s400/IMG_7497.jpg" /></a></div>
More updates tomorrow.....
Stuart Dolbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07632179595555036363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349845680136968358.post-21528726218176601552013-01-09T23:16:00.001-08:002013-01-09T23:16:52.639-08:00NZ Trip Day 1We decided to stay overnight at Tamworth to save getting up at some ungodly hour to make it to the plane, we had the 6.30am out and... well it can take some of us a little longer to get ready than others.
It worked out fine and I must admit the Golf Links Motel was a good choice, nice bed, good shower and the road noise was next to nothing, it may not have all the bells and whistles of the Power House but for $119 a night it was money well spent.
So we got to Tamworth air port a little early and everything flowed well with the local guys managing to book our baggage right through to Auckland, even though we flew Qantas and Air New Zealand and yes our bags were waiting for us when we got there...always a bonus. We scoffed down a toasted sanga and got on our way.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzqVHf95IUf6NH8ks2n7R6lLGNevC39DY3ZfX8T8GbuQN3F0j2njb3vDrNS1-t-1G7Iw1go_jUacc8fMwssK1xpkD6hXeE6di4Q2turpfMZl750SmzKHxGkqjfeCjspXks6G9npPQyPLPa/s1600/StuJodTwh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzqVHf95IUf6NH8ks2n7R6lLGNevC39DY3ZfX8T8GbuQN3F0j2njb3vDrNS1-t-1G7Iw1go_jUacc8fMwssK1xpkD6hXeE6di4Q2turpfMZl750SmzKHxGkqjfeCjspXks6G9npPQyPLPa/s400/StuJodTwh.jpg" /></a></div>
It was startling how dry things looked from the air, not much green until you get down into the SE corner of the plains and then only a small percentage of what you would expect to see this time of year. In true form the cloud hung to the eastern side of the ranges.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoF9gE_VYTZr9JoPFHZt1xOBrdmo07S9iDnvWFnylmX9ouFOgv4xw0l6XjdpVqeXJ9mnEysC7qZYSf3Yzdm6lTzn23XnECpF3fYyperuVGBmY1hzotkdwWrRAMoLcUGHtNYIcrh_apnhWS/s1600/RangesCloud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="299" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoF9gE_VYTZr9JoPFHZt1xOBrdmo07S9iDnvWFnylmX9ouFOgv4xw0l6XjdpVqeXJ9mnEysC7qZYSf3Yzdm6lTzn23XnECpF3fYyperuVGBmY1hzotkdwWrRAMoLcUGHtNYIcrh_apnhWS/s400/RangesCloud.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEips8THc_sNOutf9NNItLk9xmuHnFnhAAHVoFeUjG5QIfL3y7uthQtW6YGhr2-Yb27GX0BDf41xLz7_AriIIftG8EVxO8sXQZ7xcIOK9_dsByWcMzsWl3FbRq-7f_G6JHZTO593lMUAhR1g/s1600/LPPranges.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="299" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEips8THc_sNOutf9NNItLk9xmuHnFnhAAHVoFeUjG5QIfL3y7uthQtW6YGhr2-Yb27GX0BDf41xLz7_AriIIftG8EVxO8sXQZ7xcIOK9_dsByWcMzsWl3FbRq-7f_G6JHZTO593lMUAhR1g/s400/LPPranges.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYfxfcYtWmTVkniKXyEU_1I8EBT6feyKaZ5dq4TVN6nfjkUDePMNBo82gwzVQnOtEzsZ4dTRO_NIDiJ4_tzRorUVayATcgZikE1lNPwoDW4ka4UifRl21vmCCysj1y0UwG5tIz_u3w5JKV/s1600/SydneyAirport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="299" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYfxfcYtWmTVkniKXyEU_1I8EBT6feyKaZ5dq4TVN6nfjkUDePMNBo82gwzVQnOtEzsZ4dTRO_NIDiJ4_tzRorUVayATcgZikE1lNPwoDW4ka4UifRl21vmCCysj1y0UwG5tIz_u3w5JKV/s400/SydneyAirport.jpg" /></a></div>
We got into Sydney around 8.30am and needed to kill a few hours so we done what most people do.....checked through and had a good look around the duty free shops.
The bottle shop has an impressive range.
Emelia has a liking for Jim Beam, it appears the good brewers in the US have heard and mixed a blend just for her.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg742FYU0Z0IgxR4YMet75y149JfyU9hb0uHWh35eK0QdVin1O9c7vIqCe-Q47pLOdDM1OJh-SD1mNICYBZM9IjHLIW0hFiz4wAFOadmUGlRE3iaEI7H7EtkG4gsCU9zu0OCj6rOmur_tq2/s1600/JimBeam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg742FYU0Z0IgxR4YMet75y149JfyU9hb0uHWh35eK0QdVin1O9c7vIqCe-Q47pLOdDM1OJh-SD1mNICYBZM9IjHLIW0hFiz4wAFOadmUGlRE3iaEI7H7EtkG4gsCU9zu0OCj6rOmur_tq2/s400/JimBeam.jpg" /></a></div>
The duty free guys also had and impressive range of Canadian Club, something I love and something you don't see a lot of apart from the bog stock blend at the local Liquorland.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpn5DF-YJN4xWoAVziXPXtk4zyUvoNRGUlsoIKrnzzeCYTTIclfScl6LHa7bH31IEZEyiM2UgH82Fb1Netd-lAaZDCL3wXi4PhK_gLDUXwlUyUSL4bIG4DzXt-nSv0oz4grpVK4dprN2xZ/s1600/CCduty+free.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpn5DF-YJN4xWoAVziXPXtk4zyUvoNRGUlsoIKrnzzeCYTTIclfScl6LHa7bH31IEZEyiM2UgH82Fb1Netd-lAaZDCL3wXi4PhK_gLDUXwlUyUSL4bIG4DzXt-nSv0oz4grpVK4dprN2xZ/s400/CCduty+free.jpg" /></a></div>
We also found this budget buy Johnnie Walker.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpb_XslYqY1EVi3hEnTBfLDBIbfksuYocbVDrlhWdGJShuC4lKCBPmNB4cVRPX1zHGmgE8BqV-kmbZJZ9OW6pnDI7qSQk0qiwZ136rp8m5W1lTmKqMdgc-sQl9e-_0X2p6HaicbRgBlfE/s1600/JonnyWlaker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="299" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpb_XslYqY1EVi3hEnTBfLDBIbfksuYocbVDrlhWdGJShuC4lKCBPmNB4cVRPX1zHGmgE8BqV-kmbZJZ9OW6pnDI7qSQk0qiwZ136rp8m5W1lTmKqMdgc-sQl9e-_0X2p6HaicbRgBlfE/s400/JonnyWlaker.jpg" /></a></div>
I have to admit it, well .. mainly because Jodi will also be writing in this blog and will no doubt take the piss out of me for it too, but you see I'm not the best flyer, I tend to get a little unstable........ well to give you an idea I'm not sure if this is welcoming us into NZ or a scan of my lower intestine.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZR-ngbuhMyZ2IYOFILzb3TnpcbqG6sf742WmpyVLhUC-QUISi3ECkjj0M1HpwNGCzrMrHqCcroFUvQgBbNy441PwlYVZLktcOCDqkkfh6CABpUtIMY641nUBM-YXeO4UHn5fD_u8ydukf/s1600/AirportExit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZR-ngbuhMyZ2IYOFILzb3TnpcbqG6sf742WmpyVLhUC-QUISi3ECkjj0M1HpwNGCzrMrHqCcroFUvQgBbNy441PwlYVZLktcOCDqkkfh6CABpUtIMY641nUBM-YXeO4UHn5fD_u8ydukf/s400/AirportExit.jpg" /></a></div>
Anyway that is the boring stuff out of the way, we start tomorrow with a Sky walk at Skycity Motel (where we are staying), that should be great fun, I'm a bit worried as you see flying and heights are about the only two things that really bother me. We have bungy planned for next week so I guess I best just harden up and get over it hey.
Stuart Dolbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07632179595555036363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349845680136968358.post-48073659613112156872013-01-06T21:05:00.000-08:002013-01-06T21:05:21.931-08:00NZ Trip Jan 2013Jodi and I haven't really had a trip of any substance away for a few years and nothing without the kids for many years. So we bit the bullet and bought tickets to New Zealand and will head over to the land of the long white cloud for a couple of weeks in late January.
We'll take plenty of pics and try and keep this blog up to date as we go, Jodi is a mad blogger and I'm sure she'll take a million photo's being the scrapbookaholic she is.
That's all for now, more to come as our little adventure kicks off.
StuStuart Dolbelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07632179595555036363noreply@blogger.com0