Glenorchy and Paradise

A couple of welcoming female orcs?

Glenorchy is very big in the Lord of the Rings as it nestles at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu, surrounded by the snow capped Misty Mountains of the story.It wasn't until late 1862 that settlers arrived followed by about 3000 european gold prospectors who turned up to not find very much and soon moved on.It stayed pretty much wildness country until 1980 when about 50 prospectors mined for scheelite an ore used to make weapons grade tungsten finally gave up.So it stayed until it was rediscovered by Peter Jackson in 1999 when he was looking for a location for Middle Earth.We discovered a female pair of would be orcs welcoming us to the area.

Queenstown and Wanaka

On the road to Milford Sound

Queenstown & Wanaka

Queenstown from above courtesy of the cablecar

Our lovely property was about halfway between Frankton  and Queenstown on the western side of the Frankton arm this meant we had sun in the morning but we were in shade from about 4 pm as the otherside of the arm grabbed the last of the sun’s evening rays.We had a 2 bedroomed apartment which was well situated to give us expansive lake views.The bedrooms were on the lower floor and the lounge and kitchen on the upper floor.

Queenstown is the activity capital of the South Island ,even the whole of New Zealand.From here you can enjoy winter sports of skiing and other sports on the Remarkables, Cardrona and Aspiring mountain ranges and resorts.In summer the action doesn’t reduce it just changes emphasis you can do all sorts of water sports including rafting, kayaking, boating especially jet boating of the fast flowing rivers.All sorts of jumping from planes, bridges and mountain tops.Horse riding , quad biking flying planes, helicopters  in fact anything you want to do and buy the T shirt to show you’ve done it and survived..

Wanaka on the lake of the same name on the other hand is definitely more sedate but equally as beautiful and to my mind less commercialised than its bigger brother which is definitly  geared for the younger generations.

From Queenstown, which got its name as it was considered so beautiful as to be fit for a queen,we drove south at first then headed west and then turned northward again to stop at the Lakeside town of Te Anau .We are headed for Milford Sound where boats leave to cruise up and down the western  coastal sounds.This was a long days drive of around 600km but definitely worth it with stunning scenery that was  fulfilling all our preconceptions of what New Zealand would provide

New Zealand   New Zealand !!

Well after 40 years of waiting we’ve finally arrived here.Formalities completed with a minimum of fuss at Christchurch Airport and we were out to pick up the Hertz car hire and on our way by about 6 am after what seemed like a very short 3and a half hour flight from Melbourne .The time difference of 2 hours meant that it was really 4 in the morning with a big drive ahead of us so tiredness was something to look out for as we headed south towards Timaru on an overcast morning just as the dawn was breaking.

The Canterbury plain looked  flat and not very interesting as we made our way toward our first turnoff to Geraldine which we reached after driving for about an hour and a half when the lack of sleep made us pull over  and catch a few zzzzz’s.From Geraldine to Lake Tekapo was another hours drive when we pulled over to catch sight of our first lake.Tourquoise blue which reminded us of Lake Louise near Banff in Canada.the special colour of the lake is caused by the suspension of finely ground rock material brought down from the glacier at the head of the lake.The Church of the Good Shepherd is a tourist photo opportunity.We got out felt the chill and went and found a hearty breakfast on a bap which at $30 was a bit steep but very welcoming before we set off again this time to skirt the bottom of Lake Pukaki driving along the Highway 8 towards the Lindis Pass.This took us up through rocky gorges with hills covered with native tussock grasses following the flow of the Lindis River towards the small but pretty Lake Dunstan where we took the turn for Cromwell.

Cromwell was an area where gold was discovered in 1862, following the earlier finds west of Dunedin the year before.Tens of thousands of people made there way to these places but by the late 1860’s the place was virtually worked out and the people had moved onto the west coast areas.Hot dry summers followed by hard harsh winters and starvation were some of the costs of a quick fortune quest.Cromwell survived this and has become one of New Zealand’s main fresh fruit growing centres.

Taking the turn towards Queenstown and we were on our way to catch up with Victoria who was due in from Sydney at about 2.15 pm and we were wondering if we would get there before her but an additional snooze stop along the Lindis pass by a fast flowing stream had put us behind schedule When we awoke the sun had broken through and the temperature had risen to 23 compared with the 13 we had experienced back in Geraldine.As we drove on we came across the two sets of Rapids one called Roaring Meg and a quieter one known as something Annie , sorry but the name escapes me she must have been too quiet.Apparently they were named after two ladies from a nearby saloon that we making their way back with with two gold prospectors one night   and the one had a more boisterous attitude and they named the noisier of the rapids after her whilst Annie got the quieter one.

Our first glimpse of Lake Wakatipu( or as we call it Whakky tpoo) came as we crested the road at Frankton where the airport that serves Queenstown is situated.We had just seen a jet flying down the valley between the two sets of mountain ranges which looked very dramatic from the ground so what it was like from the plane we could only wait and find out from Vicky.We thought that she must have landed by now so we went straight to our base on the Frankton arm of Lake Wakatipu.The place we were staying at was the last ‘unit’ in a block of 10 overlooking the lake with views back left to the Mount Remarkables ski range and Frankton and to the right across over to Kelvin Heights situated on Peninsula Hill.We were surprised that Vicky was not already there and after a quick phone call we discovered that she had in fact just landed and  we had won the race to get to Queenstown!We doubled back to Frankton about 4km away and picked her up from a cute little airport and were back in the house in just a few minutes with Vicky taking over the bunk room as hers for the rest of the stay.Windows on the front and side of the unit gave us jaw dropping views….New Zealand was starting to live up to its expectations!!

Manly, Sydney,New South Wales

Rather than giving you the unexpurgated version of our stay, that is ‘woke up early to the sounds of Oz, the cheery sounds of the builders greetings before starting sawing and hammering, delivered  tea and breakfast to wife and daughter’ I thought it better to condense our stay in Manly and give a taste of some of the things we loved and did during our month there.

Manly our base is a 30 minute ferry ride from Circular Quay which is the main ferry terminal in Sydney, really handy for downtown or the CBD, the Central Business District.The ferry ride became one of our highlights because it gave us a Sydney Harbour Cruise every time we took it into Sydney a trip where you noticed something new everytime, it was helped by the fact that depending on the wind and wave direction a slightly different route was taken.

We had picked the car at the airport and after a lengthy delay got underway and headed towards the city.We had been driving for about 10-15 minutes when we noticed signs for Randwick which is where Vicky was working so we took the detour to try and find her office,not an easy thing to do when we didn’t have an address!After arriving at Royal Randwick Race course which I had noted on google earth  I asked at two petrol stations if they knew of the Ted Noffs Foundation in Randwick which drew blank returns.So on we went and then noticed a Police station so thought that if they wouldn’t know then who would.We pulled up checked the parking restrictions looked out the paasengers side window and guess what we were there outside the office….spooky or what?

An emotional meeting with a totally unprepared Vicky was amazing, she was looking so well and she was thrilled that we had come to see her as we had said that we would meet up in the evening near the Opera House.Never change arrangements she reminded me!!

We went in on the ferry that first evening to meet Vicky and Gianni along with their Old South Wales friends  Rhian and Gareth, Lee and Gareth’s mum who was over visiting her son for Christmas.This was our first taste of how expensive Sydney was to prove to be.A bucket of 4x 330ml Grolsch and a Vin Ordinaire Rose bottle of wine cost $88 or nearly £60.We also had some trouble with the security guards who seemed a bit officious in their attempts to segregate customers from adjoining bars, nevertheless a good time was had by all even allowing for a sudden rainstorm that sent everyone scurrying for cover foiling the attempts at alcoholic apartheid by the bouncers.By the time we got back to Manly the rain had set in and this was to be a regular event for the length of our stay.Instead of us worrying about temperatures well in to the 40’s the Aussie summer was to prove to be the worst for a long time.It went 60 days where the temperature did not get above 30degrees until during  our third week.

We explored the Northern beaches as far as the top , Palm Beach which is the home for the TV soap series Home and Away and then made our way back to Manly stopping off at all the coves and bays along the way…..there are loads of them each having their own special attractions and each producing a wow factor that left you breathless.There are some strange and some familiar names for these beaches, Freshwater, Avalon,  and there’s Curl Curl and DeeWhy amongst them.

Our house was about a 20 minute walk to the ferry terminal and we were able to walk along the coastal walkway watching for where the ferry was in order to speed up our progress to catch the next service but no real worry since they run every 30 minutes .Returning home always left us with the last two hundred yards of steep climb that gave us our cardio workout! Our house was a delightful Edwardian bungalow style house with some  period Art Deco features to decorate it.The house was surrounded by  many houses that have been modernised and although they are closely packed they do not give you a hemmed in feeling.

Manly has the main Ocean facing beach which is the surfing beach but also has a habour facing beach where there is a colony of tiny penguins that breed underneath the ferry wharf. We were surprised by the steepness of the land just away from the beach levels as you move around the many coves that make up the whole of the Sydney harbours.It is certainly one of the most splendid areas of natural beauty  I have ever seen and even the development has not damaged it to any great extent however this does come at a price and around 1-1.5m AUS$ for the standard beachside home is generally the norm whilst 5-6 mAUS$ is often seen.

Sydney as I have already said is an extremely expensive place to be for the tourist and we were fortunate to be able to control our costs because of our extended stay by catering for ourselves rather than having to eat in restaurants but nevertheless $100 a day is the minimum to get by on.The  box of 24 stubbies is going to cost around $50 as opposed to £10-£15 at home, almost 3 times the price.Food is generally of a high quality but  again at a premium price.

Driving is quite a taxing experience and I don’t just mean the stealth taxes associated with speeding and parking!Undertaking is a common experience even on non-laned roads and the local driver will make use of the transit lane and bus lanes to nip from lane one to four  and back again without a second thought.No place for the timid driver here , no giving way to a driver entering  on a sliproad and the space you leave behind the driver in front is soon occupied .Signalling also seems to be an optional practice but by the end of our stay I found myself having to adopt similar practices to that of the home driver.

This is starting to sound very much like the whingeing pom response to Australia but I am certain most of my negativity is as much a generational thing because to live in this place you need to be foremost young  and well employed, if you are then it’s a great buzz city.

Vicky has been working in the Eastern area of the city and we spent time exploring the southern beaches of which Bondi  is the most famous which will hold in the region of 35000 people on the Christmas holidays period which is as much as many football clubs can manage to muster these days.

Rosebay,Watson’s Bay home of the best fish and chips in Australia, so they claim (and at nearly £12 for a small portion possibly the most expensive fish and chips in the world?) and of course Coogee which I have already mentioned in my previous posts are the other main places to visit down here.I don’t think I saw anyone walking in Bondi they were all running earnestly, very conscious of their bodies and presentation, they are constantly racing against time or against each other.Winning is obviously a very important thing to the Aussie as we know from the cricket and rugby teams.I saw a tshirt in Paddy’s Market that said I support two teams Australia and the team playing the All Blacks.

I was told that in business when instructions are given out the Sydneysider is first out of the room to carry out the instruction but is then first to come back  to have it repeated.Their accent is something akin to a sunaffected Brummie accent and I noted the Sydney sneer which I describe as being caused by the sun making the nose lift the top lip and raising the nostrils because of some dog poo they had just run over.However the further we got from Sydney the nicer the people became.Our stay in Manly came to an end too soon mainly because of the poor weather we had experienced where we had more wet days than dry sunny ones during our visit .We took off on our roadtrip along the Princes Highway that links Sydney with Melbourne.

The first days travel took us out of Sydney down the coastal road as far as the Southern Gateway Centre which at an altitude of 1148m gives an exceptional view of the towns ,bays and beaches stretching along the coast to Woollongong.We carried on as far as our first stop which was Bateman’s Bay where we stayed at a B&B which overlooked the Lilli Pilli Beach.This was our first B&B where our hosts Julie and John were very welcoming and provided us with a hearty natural breakfast.

Day two saw us drive from Batemans Bay visiting a number of small communities along the coastal highway of which the Tuross headlands were particular favourites with large sweeping bays with great surf and very few people.We headed towards Jervis Bay which we had been told had the whitest beaches in the world but having paid the  $10 entrance fee we were a bit disappointed with as our time was limited due to the need to press on to reach Pambula our next stop for the second night.This night’s stay was at the Idlewilde Country Inn and motel,in a typical motel, clean but basic with Norm and Shiralee as our hosts.A taciturn Norm and a  friendly wife who made a point of coming to say goodbye to us as we left….a nice touch that.Pambula and it’s neighbouring town of Merimbula took about 40mm of rain that night and it still threatened in the morning as we explored the local bays which had some very heavy surf.This was also our first real encounter with wildlife as we came across groups of Kangaroos and pairs of wallabies.

Day three took us toward Eden where we had an idea for a photograph of Maureen offering me a bite of an apple  but it was too wet to get out of the car! We had excellent fish’nchips at Lakes Entrance eating it in the car as the rain started up again!Then we headed along the Gippsland Highway through larger towns such as Bairnsdale and on to Sale where we stayed at the Captains Lodge hotel which has clearly moved beyond its sell by date.Breakfast was delivered to our room the night before which was a novel experience and we had left before the owner/manageress had risen the following morning.I suppose the stollen she gave us for breakfast should have given us a solid start.

Day four saw us detouring off the the Princes Highway along the Gippsland  highway taking us down to pass through Yarram where we had an extended converstion with the owner of the town’s Stationery and Internet centre who very kindly allowed us to use his connection to arrange our car hire for New Zealand and catch up with emails.The hotels and motel wanted to charge $12-15 per hour for their connection which I think is a bit steep.We also took in Ninety mile beach which lives upto its name,a wild and windy place at the best of times.We drove along the highway and visited Agnes Falls where there is also the first wind farm in the state nearby.Driving back inland we got back on the Princes Highway for our last night stay in Australia at Douin near Warragul which is under a 2 hour drive from Melbourne airport and our departure from Australia.

Driving along the Princes highway is a pleasant experience as speed and technique is far superior to our Sydney experiences had been.Our hosts were AirBnB first timers as we were also and I have to say they were great hosts with Warwick and Bronwen welcoming us into their lovely home as if we were already long standing friends.A truly enjoyable stay in our own suite and we enjoyed the company of their two well behaved dogs Jasper and Oscar prepared us for the last stage of our trip.We had told Warwick that we had a cousin in Melbourne  and he promptly found us his telephone number and arrangements were made for us to visit in the afternoon after a quick trip into Melbourne for an all too short glimpse of the city.

Melbourne is quite different to Sydney it has a more relaxed, European feel about it and an interesting blend of old and very new way out architectural styles.As we were short on time  we used the number 35 city circle free tram which gives a very good overview of the city with information on each of the areas near to the stops on route and in all takes about an hour for the complete circuit.A city we would love to revisit in the future.

As we left the city to head out toward the Mornington Peninsula where Jim and Pam live the rain started and this was the heaviest we had experienced as yet and we must have gone through about 40-50 sets of traffic lights  with the longest stretch of car dealers I have ever come across!Eventually the road broadend out as we approached lovely  Mornington and Jim’s new home.They hosted us to a final dinner in Oz  before setting us out on the road to the airport and New Zealand.