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Wednesday 12th March

Well final day and on way home this afternoon. I don’t have to be at airport until 1300 earliest. Plenty time to pack etc without panic or getting up early😁. The hotel has let me have a free late checkout until 1230 which was nice. Today it will be windy and getting worse with rain this pm. As usual my usual good fortune with everything when travelling has persisted. As I leave the weather goes bad. The hotel receptionist said the rain is NZ crying cos I’m leaving 😏. Still a lovely sentiment 😁.

This trip I tried to pack for 13kg or less and did it. (After making some purchases I am sure it is significantly heavier. Will be interesting to see what I weigh in at checkin today😏).I have learned some further lessons and hacks to improve my experience and management of clothes especially for my next trip which will be longer and more challenging.

My experiment with e sim data was well worth it. I bought 21 days unlimited data (more than I needed on this trip but it was an experiment) which worked out daily as a better deal than roaming or just relying on free wifi. Reasons are the data is unlimited rather than set amount, i have access to my own number if needed,can use anywhere rather than having to find a place with wifi to get onto internet(which with my geographical challenges feels safer😂), I can make calls through WhatsApp and messenger etc using my e sim data, as it uses connections to local providers I get the strength that provider gives rather than the weak and slow free wifi networks that seem to be the norm, and no bill shock.I hope it works as well in the eastern countries of Europe as in NZ. I still need to try data driven calls eg WhatsApp calls I didn’t use in NZ because my home number provider has wifi calling which worked in NZ.

The only downside was that some of my streaming apps wouldn’t work which is apparently associated with the ip address attached to the e sim they say. They come up as that provider eg Britbox not available in this country. I might have to ask some of my IT savvy relatives if I can get around that😂.

Although part of this trip was to trial strategies for travelling light and safe it was primarily to see and experience things in NZ I had not managed on previous trips. The choice of The Sir Edmund Hilliary Explorer tour was perfect. Covered off on all the places I wanted to see and did it in comfort whilst giving me the best possible access and information to and about sights and experiences. I can’t recommend this tour enough. Extremely well organised logistics both overall and daily. Even though a tour size much higher than I prefer (2 buses of 40 people each with 3 guides and 2 drivers) it didn’t feel big and didn’t feel like a dot in the ocean of people. The guides had organised it to ensure it felt more personal than the numbers suggest by their actions and planning. We also had a good group with no really annoying people. I got so much more in depth information and experiences of the many places we went than I ever would have trying to cover the same program independently. Plus I got 5 train rides, some short and some longer but all an experience in themselves.

Well the trip from Wellington to Perth has been very good generally. Lovely taxi driver, nice business lounge Wellington and checkin and security fast. Had a lovely American woman of 40 sitting next to me (I had aisle seat which is my preference.) we talked the whole trip and 3 and a bit hr flight flashed by. We arrived in Sydney 10 mins early but it then dawned on me that I had to go through security and customs in Sydney and THEN do the transfer to the domestic terminal which means hot footing it to the domestic transfer area with my luggage and re check it in then do security then get on the bus to take me to domestic airport for the Perth flight. Again the travel fairies were with me and my suitcase was the first one off the Wellington flight (in fact it was the first and only one and I was gone before any others appeared🤣). The cue in immigration was usual dogs dinner but definitely an advantage knowing how to work the smart passports process (which many didn’t )but I dodged a couple of people jams and found ones that were free so that part was fine. Only glitch once I had found the carousel was that I had no idea and no signs as to where the customs. Asked and was told but you need to be in The know as i couldn’t see any signs. Any way got the bus and all well. Qantas lounge entries all over the place but finally found the entrance to Narnia😂. Been there short while and though I heard a weak call for Perth flight flashed so checked at desk and this harpy Qantas women says I called it several times and it is on final boarding and they were waiting for me. She was very snippy!! So in panic I rush to the gate very apologetic and turns out it is not my flight. Mine is later. If I had checked the flight number before I ran because of the harpy and/or noted the gate number was different to the one I had it wouldn’t have happened. Any way back in the lounge now waiting comfortably 😁. Oh BTW my suitcase was under 2kg heavier than when I left which surprised me,felt heavier.

Made it on board for Perth with my proper lay flat little pod. I am exhausted and wanted to sleep but the service of food and drink makes it hard. Idid finally get to lay down but didn’t sleep but was great just to stretch out. We left half hour late but managed to get to Perth on time. My transport picked me up and home at last!

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More Westwood

I did tend to photograph the ones I liked or were quirky and not the truly gross ones.

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More Vivienne Westwood

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ODs and sods

If posts disappear it is just my shaky hand keeps touching the button to mark a post mature audience only🤣. When I see it I rectify as none of my posts are remotely saucy🤣🤣.

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Tuesday 11th March

Today is my last full day in Wellington and I am off home tomorrow afternoon. It is also the Cruise ship day so may be interesting 😏. Today I just found out that I could have avoided all those steps and hills I conquered the last 2 days and caught a lift at the back of the hotel down to an arcade that leads into the flats! Anyway might help me today as I navigate myself to the tour start point!

Had to be the pick up point 0930 but got there just after 9😂. Fortunately just in front of Maccas so got a coffee and sat inside out of the wind facing the railway station and where I was to be picked up. Also has toilet so perfect pick up😂. The wind is pretty strong but apparently on the lower scale of average or more that they usually get. I decided not to bring my wind proof jacket as temp 18 the and up to 21 with 70% humidity so no big wind chill and in bus or covered most of time. However everyone else seems to be rugged up! There was just one bus after another labelled cruise ship transport and another equally large number of tour specific buses for the cruise ships. It has been near gridlock in the city all day. I could see as the harbour was very close to where I was waiting. The traffic was ridiculous! My tour was late but one of the drivers came and met me and kept me company while waiting for my actual tour bus which was very good customer service! Apparently it was taking 20mins just to get off the port! The tour bus was one of the small buses rather than a big coaches which was a nice surprise. Very good tour of Wellington outside of the city and great commentary which could hear cos size bus. Had a couple of photo stops as well. What spun me. And the rest of the bus was that on narrow very winding and precipitous roads the locals(who have nowhere to parke cos houses on side hill)all park Willy nilly all over the roadside including on blind corners! There aren’t even any no parking signs! Driving on those roads is an act of faith and explains why the tour bus is a small bus😂. Many of the very posh suburbs opposite the water are on hills so steep they have their own funicular instead of steps. There are 125 such private funiculars in Wellington. Cost about $20k to build to required standard and $800/ year for a safety inspection (done by the local government and firies)

We saw the suburb of Miramar which is the centre of the film industry in NZ is including studios and Weta which I mentioned earlier. It is the least likely looking film centre! Apparently it was a bit industrial and state housing but has definitely been gentrified. Peter Jackson has a nice but not out of sync with the neighbourhood home here. The majority of people in the area work for the film industry. Jackson banned paparazzi from the whole area when he was filming to help protect the locals from their intrusions and,to,prevent it going from a nice suburb to American style Hollywood.there are about 2000 employees just for Weta. James Cameron the Canadian director also lives here in NZ but is a resident but not citizen (I think that is how it goes)because he failed to meet a paperwork deadline😏. The film industry is big here and at a premiere of Jacksons 3rd film literally half the population of Wellington turned out! Apparently after the release of the first Lord of the Rings there was an 800% increase in tourism! Obviously the infrastructure didn’t cope but they have adapted since. At present the size and numbers of cruise ships has been an issue. Last season the numbers were in the 100’s this year under hundreds and next season even less. They are also looking at restrictions on numbers tourist coming off boats not just number boats. You only had to be anywhere in Wellington today to see the impact of these cruise ships. Apart from the traffic and clogged access to tourist things even Woolies just down from me had queues as long as 2 aisles to checkout! The queue to by tickets for the Cable car was about a block long down the street clogging the pavement.I should say we had our tickets so skipped the queue. Still over 30mins to get on board and to be honest it wasn’t impressive. In fact disappointing. I expect great views and there was more tunnels than views! However you can walk back down via the botanical gardens but I had to come down with the tour bus which picked us up at the top. If the wind hadn’t been so strong and the tourists so thick I might have done the walk.

A few other titbits: there is a bay called Worser Bay because on the hill overlooking it used to be sat a man whose job it was to report weather via radio to the city and his grammar wasn’t great and when the weather deteriorated he told them “it’s getting worser and worser🤣” and so they christened the bay that in his honour!

NZ has had 3 capital cities. One lasted a year but I have forgotten the name and the Auckland. However the South Island, the least populated of the 2 islands was making noises about breaking off onits own and they wanted to placate them. Picking a capital more accessible to them was necessary but the kiwis couldn’t quite get around to it so they asked an Australian to choose the site of the new capital and he picked Wellington. They blame us for their having Windy Wellington as the capital😂.

Nowadays Māori is a compulsory language aside from English to learn until you are 13. Now 30% of NZ speaks fluent Maori.

I have now retreated to my hotel room with a doughnut and a cup of tea rather than stay on the streets! I might venture out later.

A couple of Panoramas off the tour today. Weather looks threatening but apart form wind no issues.

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Monday 10th March

Had a reasonable night after finally wrestling the air con into submission. Like shower adjustments and light switch positioning each air con adjustment has its own peculiarities and until you master them you can freeze, boil or be blown away 😏. Took my time this morning as the only booked thing I had was Te Papa (the Museum of NZ) and you can go any time. At breakfast I came across a number of my people from my tour who were staying here for a few days and I met more at the museum. Turns out there are 2 cruise ships in tomorrow with combined 5000 passengers descending on the city! That news did tempt me to fit everything into today but in the end decided I wasn’t going to push myself to do that so tomorrow should be interesting!

The weather is beautiful again👏 so off I went with my trusty Google maps directions on my phone. Well as per usual even with that I got lost and turned a 15min walk into a 45 minute walk 😏. On the bright side I did see a lot of Wellington 😂. As I didn’t have a set appointment and the weather was lovely it was fine. There is a bit of the city they seem to be doing up and rebuilding. They have the old Town Hall all braced and covered for renovations and all around it are building sites making tons vibrations which can’t be good for what appears to be an unstable old building like the old town hall!

Once I reached the Te Papa and got inside it was wonderland. Entrance other than for traveling exhibit is free to NZ citizens but we foreigners have to pay but it is worth it! It is the most interesting and well presented museum I have seen and you could be hours in each exhibition. The place was full of school kids as it is set up to allow kids and adults to be interactive. The exhibitions are of the geological history, the animals and birds evolution, Māori life and culture, climate change,immigration plus a really excellent exhibition of NZ and Gallipoli. Here they have the Weta workshops which is where all the props,creatures,costumes were created for Lord of the Rings and other Peter Jackson movies. They do this for film and TV plus location based experiences eg themed attractions and exhibitions. The Gallipoli exhibition at Te Papa used them to include 2.4 metre high figures of soldiers etc in different positions throughout the exhibition. They are so lifelike! If you ever come to Wellington I can recommend it. I am sure all the Grandchildren would absolutely love it! There was also a short term exhibition of Vivienne Westwood jewellery. I decided to see this and it was mind blowing. I am not a fan of Westwoods clothes and found her rather bizarre. This exhibition really nails how bizarre she was in her politics and world view and her motivations for her clothes and jewellery designs. Although the emphasis was on her jewellery there were a few of her clothes. The exhibition has photos of her, her life story and her clothes, motivations etc. like walking through a constantly changing light and sound show but really interesting as it really tracks her personal and design evolution. A very complex and driven woman who teamed up with an Austrian (I think) called Andreas Kronthaler who, if the jewellery he designed for her is any indication was just as bizarre as her😁. The exhibition had a huge number of her jewellery on display. There was also information on her influences. The most interesting to me was her use of the 18th century as a major influence and she sought her inspiration from the Wallace Collection which she enthuses about in a video they show of her explaining why. She called the Wallace Collection the greatest art school in the country and insists all her work experience student go there! She tells them that all the skills needed to make the items in the collection have gone and we won’t be able to repeat them cos we didn’t have the artisans. She used much of the colours of the sevres porcelain colours for her clothing especially. She was also inspired by the art of Boucher (I had never heard of him) and Fragonard’s paintings (another one I hadn’t hears of !) especially The Swing. It was really interesting to hear her talk about 18th century art as given her Avon guard reputation it is not the sort of thing you expect.

The jewellery seems almost entirely large and bulky and like her clothes must be challenging to try to wear😂. Many of the earrings look like they weigh so much they would tear off your ear lobe🤣. There was some finer pieces but they were in the minority. Some pieces are beautiful even if not practically easy to wear and other pieces were almost amateur looking and some were bizarre and or ugly! I am still not a fan but this exhibition made me realise that she was an intelligent, complex,bizarre, driven,creative woman who seemed to definitely dance to her own drum. It has left me with a new found respect for her.

Couple of the more demure examples. I will post a lot more photos of her jewellery for your interest.

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Sunday 9th March

Today we caught the interislander ferry from Picton to Wellington. As ever my travelling good fortune continued with the weather was sunny and warm and the crossing very calm. Surprisingly, at least to me the ferry was relatively empty. Plenty of space seating wise and no parking lot of cars waiting to board! The walk way onto the ferry was interesting, looked like a series of containers stuck together and was full of trip hazards and included a significant number of fairly steep steps. Some of our group feigned disability to get disability access and avoid the stairs😂. Otherwise your usual car ferry. The views were however gorgeous and we even saw the little Hector’s dolphins frolicking around the ferry. We arrived early than intended because the crossing was so smooth and the whole luggage and hotel transport went seamlessly. My hotel is obviously very old and a little worn and big but still has the necessary and is convenient for access to touristy things. Biggest issue for me is the hills!! Everywhere you go from here is down and up hills and stairs. To get to the “flats”and town from here involves going up and down some very steep hills and steps. The ones I seem always to do are called Plimmer steps. There is simply no way to get in and out of town without tackling multiple stairs or hills. My legs tremble every time they see the Plimmer steps🤣. Had had a big lunch on the ferry so decided to visit Woolies for snacks for dinner in my room. Had a drink at the hotel bar and bought a bottle of wine before going back to my room. I plan to eek the bottle out over the next 3 nights😁.

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Odds and sods

I wasn’t able to post photos at the lake “cruise” in Mt Cook with the blog for that place so hence their being a bit random. I must also make special mention of sandflies! Mosquitoes don’t seem to be an issue but the sandflies definitely are. They are sneaky things as they make no noise like mosquitoes so you can defend yourself,they don’t hurt when bitten mostly and the itch occurs the next day! Give me mossies any day(never thought I would ever say that🤣). Needless to say this ra;t is due to the fact that I have been visited by them several times!!

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Saturday 8th March

Today was another trip on the Costal Railways train from Kaikoura to Blenheim. The usual picnic lunch and drinks voucher on the train. There were a couple of tours once we arrived but I opted for a quiet afternoon on my own in Blenheim. Lovely little town which I wandered around and walked along on their river path. Got back to hotel just after 1330 and was able to check in and when I got to my room my suitcase was there waiting for me. There has been a bit of a running commentary on my record of getting rooms with best views and facilities. I can debunk that now as my room is on the ground floor overlooking a small car park with 2 EV charging stations just outside my window! This hotel and last nights are not top standard? 3 star but perfectly adequate for an overnight stay. The group has had to be split up for accommodation tonight as neither Blenheim or Picton could accommodate the full group. So our last final catch up as a group will be on the inter island ferry which we all catch tomorrow to our final destination, Wellington. Once the ferry arrives the tour is officially over. I am staying in Wellington for 3 nights.

This hotel also has a happy hour and a choice of 3 happy hour cocktails so I will definitely be there😁.

Not to early start wise in am so should be fine.

I did have a walk around Blenheim and especially around the well developed river precinct and went to the local art gallery. In the gallery I found a painting of the river and surrounds in the morning and the artists use of light was amazing. I have got his and another artists name so I can look them up and see if all their paintings are as impressive (at least to me).

Shows you how calm the crossing on the ferry was even in open ocean.

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Friday 7th March

Had to be on the bus with our bags ready to load at 6am😬. No breakfast (which we got on the train aircraft like). Very comfortable 3.5 hr ish trip on the Coastal Pacfic service with usual great scenery. Arrived at our destination of Kaikoura. From here we had nominated one of 4 optional tours. I went for the whale watch which was starting from the station area as soon as we alighted the train so no issues. We were bussed 5 mins down road to where the Whale Watch boat was moored and loaded on. They had warned us before we committed that today was very rough and they wouldn’t take kids under 5,pregnant woman, anyone using walking aids or anyone unsteady on feet. I was expecting it to be wild but while we had a big swell and at time the boat moved very fast to get to the whales I enjoyed it. However although I have never been seasick the build up led me to get seasick tabs and ginger chews just in case. Needless I have both items un opened😏. Still better to be prepared and not coast on my previous good fortune. We’re in fact a number of sick people. We did see a Sperm whale and I got some photos. We also saw some Hectors dolphins which only occur in NZ . Much smaller the the bull nosed ones we are used to but very cute and playful. Didn’t bother photographing them though as move faster than a whale and I would have undoubtedly ended up with photos of the sea and nothing in it😂.

We have then had the rest of the day to ourselves which is welcome after such an early start. We are all tired but as we approach the last few. Days we all agree it has been an excellent tour. We have covered a lot of ground and seen so much( without the bother of organising our accommodation,meals and transport all of which have been of excellent quality). There is no way an individual would attempt to or even be able to achieve the distances covered and the quality of experiences unless you had more time. Although you do get a bit tired of the bus at times it is those long days that allow us to have so many experiences in such a short time. The tiredness at the speed of the trip is the price paid for the quality and extent of the experiences in a short time frame. As one woman said, we will forget the tiredness and long bus rides like we forget the negatives of childbirth (at least the woman🤣) and remember what wonderful experiences we have had.

Dinner tonight was an our last as a full group and we had some fun with tongue in cheek awards etc. We had all been to the bar happy hour and several of us had the happy hour cocktail which was delicious 😁. So dinner was pretty mad!

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Thursday 6th March

Today we were on our way back to Christchurch and nearing the end of our trip on Sunday. As usual it is a day trip broken up in short hops. As usual the scenery changed as we came off the McKenzie plains and into the Canterbury Plains. Lots of interesting facts shared with us but can’t remember them. When you are busy enjoying the experience and there is information and sights flowing it is impossible to remember everything. We have had an increasing number of new cases of the respiratory virus and some gut virus as well. As one gets a bit better another goes down😞. Doing my best to keep out of the line of infection and doing preventative things but not masks. They are not very effective at keeping bugs out but would have been nice if a few of the diseased wore masks longer and used better quality masks(or any at all!!). Still so far so good for me🤞.

Our first stop was at Tekapo. A lovely lakeside tourist town. Very popular and you can see why when you see the surrounding.

We then moved onto the largish town of Geraldine. Older town but interesting. We had an excellent lunch,again innovative,varied and healthy and provided by a local Cafe. We then had some time to look around and I found the perfect crew neck button cardigan made from NZ wool but made in Italy. There are also a lot of lovely knits made with merino/possum/silk mixes. Beautiful to feel but significantly more expensive than the pure merino products. This trip I will have to re name “the Woolies trip”🤣. There was also a lovely church there with stained glass windows and a big organ. On the chairs could be seen the occasional knitted knee rug which I assume the locals provide for themselves to counteract the cold and keep them focussed🤣. Might also be left on the chairs between services to bags there favourite seat😏.

We then had a quick stop at a town called Rakaia whose claim to fame seems to be a giant trout (which I have dutifully taken a photo of!

We then reached Christchurch and got the history especially of the 2 earthquakes with the last one being the most devastating. The thing that struck me was the length of time it has taken for people to get the basics of living back(months for sewage and water). Worst was the decisions on which areas had to have all the buildings demolished and which were repairable. The resultant issues with getting insurers to pay up are still going on. Some people are still waiting for settlements to be agreed. One hotel just got permission for repair of their destroyed hotel rather than completely demolished. Apparently the very centre of the city fared the worst because the city was built on mudflats and swamp so it was very vulnerable. All the new buildings have been built to with stand an 8 + on the Richter scale (the last earthquake was 7 point something). Slowly the buildings which survived are being retrofitted to improve their resilience in a quake. A sort of outer suburb of Christchurch had a bigger than 7 earthquake at the same time as Christchurch with no damage due to being on much heavier well drained soil. We did a tram ride so could see what survived , what has been re built and what still has to be rebuilt or repaired. The people were given the opportunity to suggest things they wanted in the rebuilt so some of the issues in old town have been removed.eg street design that caused wind tunnels.

Apparently during the period where so much of the city buildings had to be demolished the city was closed and had armed guards and fences to prevent entry and this went on for months. All the city workers and government employees within the area had to be relocated.

It is impressive how resilient the population has been and also on one hand how quickly so much has been rebuilt but sadly how much more still has to be done. Perfect eg of the latter could be seen from my hotel room. That was the Anglican Cathedral. It has huge iron supports to stabilise it but they have run out of money to complete the restoration. The building has been deconsecrated and stays that way until funds to continue the repair are available.

Very early start tomorrow so dinner and bed!

The tram we went on and the poor beaten up Anglican Cathedral which I looked onto from my room.

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Wednesday 5th March

The hotel, The Hermitage , we are staying at for 2 nights is to die for at every level. The hotel has been here in one iteration or another since the 1880’s ish. It has been rebuilt a number of times and this iteration is relatively new. It has different level of accommodation but where I am as are all those on the tour is the 5star end.stunning rooms in which even the bed and desk face Aoraki Mt Cook through a picture window. It you weren’t experiencing it you would think it was a painting you were looking at. In fact an artist apparently when asked to describe both the brown mountains and this view said it just reminded her of a painting or a photo and not real. An excellent description I reckon.

The rooms have all the components of 5 star. The food is likewise outstanding especially if you like salmon and seafood. They do meals buffet but this buffet choice and quality is something I have never seen. I am not going to cover every food option other than to say whatever your food preferences or dietary restrictions there is something for you. They also have a cafe which runs during the day for lunch etc. they also have a museum which is focussed on the pioneers of the area who opened it up , the hotels history and a big section on Sir Edmund Hillary. We got free entry to that and this evening we have a 45min talk from Sir Edmund’s son Peter which I supposed to be excellent.

The big excursion for today was the Glacier Explorer Cruise. As we didn’t have to meet for that until a bit later I didn’t set an alarm as getting to breakfast between 7&8 seemed no problem. I woke at 7am and levitated out of bed. Mountain air seems to improve sleep! Got to breakfast in 15mins! Had some time when I got back to sort my kit for the “cruise”. Given the title I assumed some cruise boat as this was to occur on a glacial lake created by the Tasman Glacier which looms over the lake with bits falling off at times into the lake. We had been told we had to walk for 1.5 km to the lake on loose stones etc with some slight inclines and we needed to do that walk in 25 mins or less. A bus ride of 10 mins took us to the starting point of said walk where we had to put our backpacks into big locked boxes as nothing other than what fits in your pocket allowed on boat. We were then issued and donned our life jackets.

Here I should point out that I had been warned it would be colder than anything we had experienced to date so I donned my new big brown pure wool jumper I had bought a few days earlier and managed to just zip up my water/wind proof jacket over it. By the time the life jacket was added I looked and felt like the Michelin man! It was in this outfit we did the 1.5 km walk in hot sun and no wind. I was boiling by the time we got to the lake😂.

The reason I opted for super warm was that just after breakfast in seeking some advice from one of our guides who had been on it I discovered that my interpretation of “cruise” being a boat was well off. It was much more adventurous! Turns out we went in groups of 13 in Zodiac type boats which go fast and manoeuvre well. Turns out that many of those going on this “cruise” were under the same misapprehension as me and didn’t find out until they saw the boats! A lady sitting with me on the boat told me afterwards that she hated speed boats although she hid her fear well,!. I loved it and it was an awesome experience. I did have my own mini adventure in that while we were sitting in the boat listening to the safety’s briefing I put my mobile for a second on the spare seat and at that moment she decided to demonstrate what a sudden change in speed or direction could do and my mobile disappeared. Talk about heart sinking. I thought it had slipped under the motor into the water but when I looked into the engine bay area there it was in an inch of icy water!! Good old I phone , I rescued it, dried it off and it hasn’t missed a beat😅. At least I have seen icebergs without going to Antarctica (albeit on a smaller scale). The weather was sunny and no real breeze so ideal conditions. 2 days ago they had about a metre of rain over 2 days! We have free time now until the 6pm talk from Peter Hilary followed by dinner. We then need to sort ourselves to leave early in the morning for our next destination and hotel. Tomorrow will be day 10 so 4 more days before tour ends in Wellington on Sunday 9/3 when we arrive at Wellington. Will as usual post photos to posts as able.

The talk from Peter Hilliary was very interesting and entertaining. He is an excellent speaker and he mixed his fathers, his and even some of his son’s exploits climbing. He has a unique insight into climbing at that level and into the drive behind Sir Ed(as he seems to have been called!). Climbing Everest seems to be a Hilliary right of passage as Peter and at least one of his sons has also done it. He is in fact a very experienced climber himself. He has climbed with his father and been encouraged by him. He has lived in his shadow but still carries on his father’s work in supporting the trust that provides schools etc in Nepal.

The top right of Mt Cook was the view through my room window! Glorious to lay and watch the sun set and rise in this view!

BTW I was told the room I had was $700\night without meals and we got breakfast and dinner x 2!

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Tuesday 4th March

Today was a travel day but as usual broken up into a number of stops. The first part was on the same tourist heritage train we used last time. Still left from the beautiful Dunedin Station but going in the opposite direction to our last trip and this time all on Kiwi Rail lines rather than the heritage train company lines.we had the usual excellent commentary with more information than I will ever remember! The scenery was as usual beautiful and really showcased the beauty of this country. The trip was a couple of hours.The train took us as far as Oamaru. This town is famous for Whitestone which is a type of sandstone I think. The buildings were all built in it a fortunately they have been preserved and repaired. It means some really lovely buildings all over the town but the area we went to was the Victorian Precinct. I small one way street with old buildings that have been used for all sorts of little shops and eateries. Not at all pretentious. We had our picnic lunch pre provided by one of the cafes and we sat on little tables and chairs in the sun eating. We then had time for a part walks along a very long jetty about500mtrs from the Victorian Precinct and also a park with some tree carvings. I will post photos when I can. It was then on the bus for several hour to get to Aoraki/Mt Cook. The theme of this drive was the hydro power infrastructure in the region. Some interesting especially the lakes but most of us felt it would have been better if we had cut a lot of those visits and got to Aoraki Mt Cook earlier. However the change in the mountains we noticed was stark. They are brown, devoid of vegetation and pretty intimidating! The only green we saw was where fields had been irrigated. Otherwise whole landscape shades of brown. It looks like an alien landscape. Once we got closer to Aoraki Mt Cook we saw the effects of glaciers, the towering peaks including Mt Cook itself with clouds moving endlessly tempting us with an opportunity to see Mt Cooks peak. Apparently it is only out of the clouds one in three days and often only for a short time and then disappears again. So seeing it in full glory especially for anytime is a huge win. (Spoiler alert! We saw it without clouds in full sun for 2 days👏). We were told the names of the other peaks but forgotten. Anyway all gloriously impressive.

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Few Dunedin facts

Dunedin is the Gaelic word for Edinburgh, has about 130k population,20% of which are students of Otago university. The architecture is Victorian and Edwardian and well preserved. A really pretty city and worth staying a few days.

An observation Not related to Dunedin: I have noticed the volunteers on the trains and other areas as well as our bus driver and the tour guides are all retired (mostly) professionals. They are lawyers, chemical engineers, architects,have Masters an PHD’S.

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Monday 3rd March

Today we went on the Taieri Gorge to Pukerangi train. The train leaves from Dunedin Station which in itself is a piece of art. Will post some photos. So beautifully restored and maintained including the gardens. This train is actually owned by the local council who run it and maintain it. It is not a Kiwi Rail train but does use a short section of their rail but majority of the trip is on their private tourist train rail and infrastructure. We actually had a private trip just for our tour so didn’t even have to share! The trip is about 5 hrs return and you travel through some amazing scenery. There is a very informative commentary with some fascinating facts about the area from the farms/stations , the floods and landslides, gold and a lot of social history about the people. Of course I haven’t remembered any to write about but some may come back to me and I will add them. We had our usual packed lunch on the train. When we reached Pukerangi the engine has to be moved so we can head back so we were able to get off. Greeting us were a few locals who brought their kids down to see the train! Also an enterprising lady was selling local honey, photos and paintings and home made knitwear. Only small amounts and she is a local. I saw a brown wool jumper (the only one) and just had to have it. The lady had spun the wool herself and knitted it. Funny how I just fell for it so bought it! Suspect it will be too big but 🤷. Once we arrived back it was straight on the bus for a half our drive on a very winding road with spectacular views which wound up the mountain to Lanarch Castle. It isn’t really a castle but as you will see from the photos I looks a bit like one. It is surrounded by award winning grounds which are a whole tour in themselves (I did get to walk around some of them and they are outstanding.). The house was built and owned by a wealthy NZ man who was quite entrepreneurial and had a very fascinating family history. The house was derelict when it was bought in about 1967 by a newly married couple from Wellington who were having a belated honeymoon in a Combi Van and came upon it. It is now beautifully restored to its former glory including much of the original furniture which has been tracked down over the years and returned to the house. I will write more tomorrow as I need to go to be as 5am rise tomorrow!

Back a day later to finish this post but might take a. Purple of days to get all the photos in due to limit I can post per day. The house/castle is amazing at so many levels.To see the level of craftsmanship in everything, the entrepreneurial and forward thinking of the owner in its design, the persistence of the current owner to re over the original furnishings which had been sold off many years ago, the current owner’s commitment to re create and restore it to its former glory both house and garden and her ability to make a business out of it as well. Also the history of the original owner who built the house and his family is a cross between Downtown Abbey and Days of our Lives.

The original owner was William Lanarch and built in 1870’s. William had 3 wives and ended up committing suicide in his 60’s. The family seemed to be quite dysfunctional. Google them and the castle to get the full story. Well worth it. I don’t have time or energy to type it out here😏. I didn’t take any photos inside as needed to keep listening to guide who was excellent and anyway photos just don’t do it justice. Will post a few of what I did take which are exteriors and garden. At the end of the tour had a high tea and self guided tour of gardens. As the castle is at the top of a mountain the views are spectacular.

Lanarch castle and grounds a view on way up and from gardens.

Dunedin station and garden.

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Sunday 2nd March

Today we left Te Anau on our way to Dunedin. We left at 0830 and didn’t arrive until about 1630. Having said that we did have the usual usually 2 holy stops. Some longer and more interesting than others. Stops are for passenger comfort stoop (think toilet and coffee😁) but the driver is required to stop as well. Our first stop of any length was at Mandeville. We had a few things to do here which included lunch. There is a very good aviation museum (Croydon Aviation Museum)of mostly World War One plans but others as well. They also do restoration of the old bin planes and you could do a tour of the restoration facility which I passed on! The same are also has the Waimea Plains Railway home of the Roger’s K92 Steam locomotive. Lovely man who heads up this enterprise is brimming with enthusiasm and although the train was y going when we came they have lot of plans. We also had lunch there sitting outside in the w arm sun. Have to say the meals incl the lunches which I often packed lunches have been excellent and different. Almost gourmet!

Our next stop was the town of Gore. The town before Gore is called Clinton so the locals call them piece of highway between the 2 tows “the presidential highway”😂. Being Sunday Gore was not exactly rocking but we did get into see the art gallery. They did have a collection of a well known NZ artist but forgotten his name. He tended to team up with a poet and mix poetry and art and his paintings seemed very abstract and in dark colours. Can’t say I was impressed. They had a lot of international statues and bits and where they came from I have no idea. Certainly not what you would expect to find in a little country town in NZ. We also got to go to their museum in Gore which is really dedicated to Hokonui Moonshine Museum and is dedicated to the period of prohibition in NZ and the temperance movement in the area and of course the inevitable Moonshine activities! Really an excellent and well researched bit of social history. Gore is also famous for trout fishing and is the Tamworth of NZ. So of course the town has a Big Trout and a Big Guitar!!

Our last stop before Dunedin was at the Council Offices for a place called Balclutha which is named after the Clutha River. The Shire office building is new, impressive and has multiple uses. It houses the tourist information, locals services, a cinema and lots more. Has to be seen to be believed and could be a model for some of our City and Shire offices. However the big takeaway for me is that I got a choc top icecream (remember they have a cinema there so of course they sell choc tops! ). These choc tops were double scoop!! Couldn’t believe the towering chocolate covered thing she gave me! Very nice too. Another thing we could duplicate😂.

We finally made it to Dunedin and had a lovely dinner in a separate dining room to the hoi poloi. This hotel is extremely upmarket. The rooms are large with microwave and cups, plates etc and every room has its own washer and dryer(behind a discrete door in the bathroom. ) Dunedin is a lovely city and has lots of really old architecture. Unfortunately we aren’t here long enough to see it.

We have unfortunately had some people come down with a virus. There are about 5 so far.😬

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Saturday 1st March

Today we went to Doubtful Sound. We had a choice between this and Milford. I had been to Milford so chose Doubtful despite never having heard of it😏. Turned out to be inspired choice,! I personally think it was much better than Milford. Milford is impressive with towering mountains but is just an open body of water so very like the Norwegian fjords. Doubtful is very different. Still lots towering mountains and waterfalls but there are a plethora of small islands and rocky areas so much more interesting. Also the drive to Milford from TeAnau is 4 hour each way. Doubtful is a mix of transport and all interesting and you get a bonus boat ride. You take a 20min bus ride to where a ferry takes you across Lake Manapouri from where you take a 50min bus ride through the Fiordland national park. The bus leaves from just next to the Power station , the workings of which are mostly underground. Primarily the power is sent to an aluminium smelter with the remainder going to the grid. I won’t go into the history of its construction but worth googling! The road was built to get heavy items to the construction of the Manapouri hydro power station and is now used to get buses to the Doubtful sound cruise site and by those brave enough to come for a bit of camping while fishing including with boats!

We had all been a bit disappointed that rain was forecast (not an unusual occurrence in an area that averages over 10 metres rain a year! However it has been drier than usual so the locals welcomed the rain and we did too when we realised that the rain meant waterfalls that had stopped or were reduced were now running. So the rain was a bonus. The boat for the cruise is very nicely set up with food and barista. Offer. We had a very substantial packed lunch provided but the coffee was welcome! You could go outside in the elements (read rain and wind)and then come into the warm and dry. The views were to die for and the whole experience so amazing. I will post photos but nothing really expresses how awesome it was. The captain stopped the boat in a quiet bay like area, turned off the engines and the commentator encouraged us to be silent and stop taking. Photos and just drink it in. It was wonderful to hear birds and wonder T the glory of what surrounded us. Because it is not as known as Milford we were the only boat in the area bar a couple of small what looked like fishing boats and one that does an overnight on the boat in the sound which I think would be great.

Once cruise finished we returned to the hotel by doing what we had done to come but in reverse. Arrived back tired but happy, had dinner and to bed.