Saros

St. Mary's Church
Fairford, United Kingdom
The River Coln flows noisily past the water-mill (out of shot to the left) and on past the churchyard towards Lechlade where it will join the R. Thames en-route to the sea via London.
written by  Saros on March 25, 2009 from Fairford, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip

Getting to Heathrow
Heathrow, United Kingdom
Setting off from home at about 7 am, it was cold and misty. Aurian kindly driving us through the narrow south Gloucestershire country lanes, across the R. Thames and into Wiltshire. There were some interesting hazards:
Once we'd climbed up Blunsdon Hill on the new bypass, we got out of the Thames valley mists and into some lovely bright spring sunshine, but all too soon met the typical morning rush-hour along the M4 en-route to Heathrow.
Although it was a bit stop-start in places, we still made good time and got to Heathrow at about 9am as planned, where Aurian left us to drive via Nottingham to Sheffield, to watch the big snooker tournament.
Here we are, heading for the departures area at Terminal 4:
We had a few problems checking in: first, we found that we needed visas for Australia and had to spend £50 on getting them at the KLM desk, and then I had to dispose of all my deodorants etc at security, because they were over 100 ml in size, only to find as soon as we'd checked in that one could buy all the same things in Boots, in 200ml sizes, and at inflated prices.
Soon enough though, we found our magnificent A380 and were reassured to see that the pilots can open their windows, should the windscreen wipers fail and they need to stick a hand out to wipe the flies off the screen!
Looking at the A380 from the comfort of the departure lounge, it didn't look all that big:
Until you see a person in comparison with the engines, for instance, and then you start to get an idea of the scale:
The umbilicals were positively daunting: pipes and tubes attached all over the aircraft, not to mention the multiple gangways attached like big suckers to the side:
And in due course, we were boarded and safely strapped in (strapped down in Barbara's case) and ready for the off at 12:15, but the appointed time came and went and we were still firmly (all 560 tons of us) attached to the ground. The captain, in his broad Australian accent, assured us that all was well and that we were just waiting for some cargo to be loaded – probably my 15' pole: Barbara said it would cause problems if I tried to bring it with us, and it did indeed have to be detached from my bag and sent as a separate item. We took off eventually some 45 minutes late, but we were told that despite the delays, we should still be landing on time at Changi (Singapore), which at least meant that we wouldn't spend quite so long in the air (though just as long in our confinement!).
The take-off was interesting as one of the many options on the in-flight entertainment system, was a view looking forward from the top of the tailplane. As this some 24 metres (about 75 ft) off the ground, the view was quite spectacular as we accelerated down the runway. Here's a view from the tail-cam, somewhere over Kuala-Lumpur:
written by  Saros on April 22, 2009 from Heathrow, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip

Arrival @ Singapore on A380
Changi Village, Singapore
Well, here we are. A very brief entry as this terminal doesn't allow me to upload photos and other stuff that I've written on the plane. That will hopefully come a bit later once we can get a WiFi connection. It's 08:50 here now and a bright sunny and (presumably) very warm day outside.
Okay, it's later now, so news of our brief Singapore stop-over. In order to break the long journey to Melbourne, we decided to stop in Singapore for 12 hours, as Barbara hadn't been here before, and it made the two flights both overnight.
Being rather close to the equator, it was a bit warm, but we soon discovered that it was possible to get to many places by sticking to underground, air-conditioned, pedestrian areas.
We had a nice picnic lunch sitting in the shade of St. Andrew's Cathedral, a very spectacular building set amongst the many high-rise towers of central Singapore:
Having had that, we didn't then need to frequent the Subway (this is for Eddy):
But it was very pleasant sitting beside some of the many water features in the various malls:
And then in due course, back to the airport for the next overnight flight to Melbourne. A 'little' 747-400 this time, and rather tatty inside compared to the smart new A380:
written by  Saros on April 23, 2009 from Changi Village, Singapore
from the travel blog: The Hairy Animal 2009 World Road Trip

Arrival at Melbourne, Friday 24th April 2009
Melbourne, Australia
Well, here we are, arriving at a very unearthly hour (04:35) at Melbourne Airport, and George was kindly waiting for us, having also got up at a very unearthly hour to meet us:
And then we got back to George & Wanda's home, and Wanda got back from work, so here we all are:
Day - 4, Saturday 25th April 2009
After a good long sleep, we woke to a nice bright day and our ever hospitable host offering anything we could possibly want for breakfast.
But as Charlie had woken a bit later than intended, there wasn't as much time as expected, so we sort of rushed off for family gathering no.1: the Lyne clan.
From left to right, we think these are:
Alan (4th cousin to Charlie), Zoe, Craig, Barbara, Phillip, Ron (also 4th cousin to Charlie), Jan, Cody, Jo, Rachael, Steve, Sharon, Helen & Charlie.
A very happy gathering of many Lynes, Duffs, and Collins's, all related to Alan/Jo and Ron/Jan, and all of us related (either by blood or marriage) to gt.gt.gt.gt grandfather Richard Lyne (1760 – 1834).
Particular thanks to Jan & Ron for hosting the event, including all the catering, and to Sharon for organising it and bringing her immediate family all the way from the outback :-) .
Ron kindly ran us back to Wanda & George's, where we enjoyed fish & chips – the Oz version – for supper, with pudding:
Deep fried Mars Bar
Deep Fried Mars Bar. Another tick off the 100-Things-You-Must-Do-At-Least-Once-Before-You-Die list!
Day - 5, Sunday 26th April 2009
Visiting more of Barbara's family today, across the other side of Melbourne (or Melbun as we now know is the correct way to pronounce it).
Here's Barbara in between her two cousins, Yvonne and Wanda:
And here's most of the gathering, though we didn't manage to catch the youngsters. Left to right there's George & Charlie, then Yvonne, Barbara, Wanda and Yvonne's husband, Chris.
Day - 6, Monday 27th April 2009
Today we do Melbun!
But first, we haven't described the Dziedzic (George & Wanda's) estate yet, so a quick tour: it's a biggish bungalow, at least that's what we'd call it, no, I'm wrong, it's a brick-veneer house, sorry ....
and there's a very impressive cactus out back:
That's just the top few feet, I think it's taller than my pole! And it's producing hundreds of flowers, each of which flowers just the once and then dies.
Off to Melbun on the train:
Forty minutes later we arrive at Flinders St. Station, busy, busy, busy, trams, traffic, impressive Victorian architecture:
I missed a bit. We 'did' the cathedral of St. Paul's while we were near the station. It was big and glowing in the autumnal sunshine, and (unusually for an Australian church/cathedral) has thirteen bells, which Barbara won't get to ring as practice night is Wednesday, by which time she'll be ringing at St. James's in Christchurch (that;s New Zealand b.t.w.). Here's a nice piccy of some of the glowing artwork in St. Paul's:
We go across the road to the ....
where we find details of the free tourist shuttle bus ....
and we go to the Observatory:
and Botanical Gardens which have trees. Some of the trees go something like, trunk, trunk, trunk, trunk, trunk, trunk, trunk, leaves ....
This was a fat one, there were also very skinny ones that did trunk x 50, leaves!
And there were lots of other nice things, black swans, things that looked like moorhens, grebes & herons but weren't, and all sorts of interesting plants and trees, but I ran out of batteries for the camera, so you'll just have to come and see for yourselves!
I then took loads of video, but I don't know how to put that on the blog. However, after getting back on the free shuttle, I was getting seriously impressed with one particular tall building, and on further enquiry, it seemed that it was mostly offices, but did have a viewing level on the 88th floor.
So George & I jumped off the bus and left the girls to fend for themselves - I had Barbara's train ticket home and all our cash, so we reckoned that they probably wouldn't go home without us.
After a short walk, we got to the bottom of the aforesaid tower, the 88th floor of which is apparently the highest public vantage point in the Southern Hemisphere, at 984 ft (300m). Interestingly, the direct lifts to that floor take just 38 seconds to get there -breathtaking!
So, up we went, and indeed the views were stunning. Melbun stretched as far as we could see, it being a rather cloudy/hazy day, but little rays of sun would occasionally puncture the grey vista and illuminate areas such as the marina out in the bay, where a myriad of tiny yachts were positively glowing.
It's not ever so obvious in the photo, but there's a triangular appendage near the top of the building, and at the top of that is where the 88th floor is, and there's a small area there where you can sit with a coffee. If you get right up close to the window, you can look absolutely vertically downwards for nearly 1,000 feet, as there is nothing beneath you at that point, because the rest of the building is behind you - scary stuff.
And if you want to spend a bit more money, you can experience "The Edge". It's a 3m glass cube with electronically controlled opaque glass that starts off inside the building. You get in and it slowly moves from inside the building to outside the building (984 ft up) and then they change the glass from opaque to transparent, so you're standing there in this glass cube with a rather big drop below, sky above, and the rest of Melbun all around.
But you couldn't take a camera in, so I didn't bother, the coffee was exciting enough.
Time for bed. Our last day in Melbun tomorrow, must pack.
Day - 7 Tuesday 28th April 2009
Another day out, courtesey of Wanda & George, to:
We got to say “aaah” at a koala:
And even found a 'roo that was awake:
And Barbara even got to pat the infamous bottom of a wombat (albeit a stuffed one)!
And then after seeing many other nice animals and birds, and a particularly impressive birds of prey display, we had to go home (Wanda & George's) to pack in preparation for yet another family gathering and our imminent departure for new shores.
Here we are with kind hosts, Kim & Don Just, a 4th cousin on the Lyne side (please correct me if I'm wrong Don).
And now we're at the Hilton at Melbun Airport, ready to fly to Sydney at 06:00 tomorrow. Time for some sleep.
written by  Saros on April 24, 2009 from Melbourne, Australia

Arrival at Sydney & on to Christchurch
Sydney, Australia
Day - 8 Wednesday 29th April 2009
Charlie was unfortunately suffering from some sort of sickness bug, so did not have a very good night in the Hilton, and as we had to get up at 4:00 am to ensure that we and the pole were fully checked in for our 6:00 am flight, it wasn't the best night we'd had.
At that time of day, it's still very dark in Melbun, so photos during the take-off were out of the question, but at least we could see our plane on the well floodlit apron:
The flight all went smoothly and our short hop to Sydney was uneventful. We did at least get a nice sunrise from 35,000 ft up:
And then we had an interesting bus ride across Sydney airport, transferring us from the domestic to the international terminal, driving almost under the wings of some of the big jets. Another 767-300 took us across many miles of Tasman Sea and we descended (slightly nervously) into thick cloud where the map was showing us being right over the Southern Alps.
The cloud level went right down to 2,000 ft or so, but eventually we got our first glimpses of New Zealand:
Once through the complexities of immigration (not helped by the Swine Flu worries) we found a Green Taxi (they use Prius's) as specified by Wilderness Motorhomes, our helpful motorhome company. Within a short time we were sitting in the Wilderness office going through the formalities of taking over our home for the next four weeks. All very informal, friendly and helpful.
Soon enough, it was ours and Barbara, being the more experienced driver of large vehicles, took it carefully out of the gates and off to the nearby Northlands Mall to stock up on the basics. On checking the drawers and cupboards though, we found that Wilderness had been thoughtful enough to include many of the essentials: tea, coffee, milk, etc, and even a really nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc:
Cheers Wilderness, it was very nice.
And then we found the close-by Meadow Park Campsite and spent some time booking in and organising tomorrow's entertainment.
But first, Barbara wasn't going to miss out on practice night at one of the few churches in the southern hemisphere with ringable bells. So I took her the half-mile or so down the road to St. Paul's Church where she was warmly welcomed.......
Although there were eight bells, not enough ringers were present (even though my name was on the board) so only six were used and I provided a useful presence, having a go on all six. Grandsire, bob minor, Stedman, St. Simon's and Cambridge were on the menu as well as a young learner with plain hunting and calleed changes. The tower had copies of two of Steve Coleman's books – I wonder if he knows he's known in NZ? - and I was ok. The ringers were so familiar. The TC, Robin, was Charles Woodd for example. Lyndsay kindly escorted me back to the site.
written by  Saros on April 29, 2009 from Sydney, Australia

Our first full day in Christchurch
Christchurch, New Zealand
Day - 9 Thursday 30th April 2009
Another early start to get the 7:15 am shuttle bus to Christchurch Railway Station for the 8:15 Tranz-Alpine Express to Greymouth. This excerpt from the advertising sums it up:
Well before 8 am we were sitting in the comfy pre-booked seats with a great view of a wet station.
The weather didn't bode well for scenic views of the alps, but we did get to see some snow-capped peaks through the low cloud:
And eventually, back in the dark with slightly better views of the Alps.
Am struggling with the bandwidth of the WiFi connection here, so that's about it for today. Hopefully will get to see some whales tomorrow.
written by  Saros on April 29, 2009 from Christchurch, New Zealand

Moving north to start with.
Kaikoura, New Zealand
Day - 10 Friday 1st May 2009
A rather lazy start today, but we felt we'd earned a lie in after all the travelling and early mornings, and we knew we wouldn't get to Kaikoura from Christchurch in time for a boat trip out to the see the whales, though a flight might have been possible, but that seems a rather remote way of seeing whales.
So, here we are still in the campsite in Christchurch (www.christchurchtop10.co.nz), and it's a lovely morning:
Our motorhome is a bit anonymous, which has its downsides: not so easy to spot amongst 30 others that all look very similar. But we have an answer to that .....
In due course, once we'd unplugged everything and closed everything ready for transit, we set off north, Barbara driving and me navigating with the GPS's:
We stopped about halfway at a really nice little bar/cafe for a toastie & capuccino:
And there were lovely views from the windows where we were sitting:
In due course we got to Kaikoura and thanks to Charlie's excellent navigating, got straight to the nice campsite (www.kaikouratop10.co.nz) almost by the beach, but separated by the railway station from the sea:
You can tell that it's by the sea by the camp facilities:
And it's good to see that Kiwis have a sense of humour too. Here's the GPS view of our current location, the white star on black is us/campsite, station just to our east, and south of that, the Whale Watch office (www.kaikourawhalewatching.com), but note its address:
And now, the answer to the question everyone's been asking: what's the pole for?
It's to fly the flag and help us locate our motorhome in a sea of anonymous similar vehicles:
And maybe, if there are any other Brits around, they might come up and say hello.
Another early start tomorrow, 7:15 am for the early boat out to the deep water to (hopefully) see a whale or two.
written by  Saros on May 1, 2009 from Kaikoura, New Zealand

Having a whale of a time!
Kaikoura, New Zealand
Day - 11 Saturday 2nd May 2009
Up at 06:30 on a brisk morning on the Pacific Coast, to be ready for the 10 – 15 minute walk down the road and around the corner to the Whale Watch base.
I wasn't expecting the view that greeted me as I stepped out, as when we'd arrived yesterday, it had been somewhat cloudy:
The backdrop of the snowy mountains in the pre-dawn light was glorious.
So I got checked in in plenty of time and there's plenty more to write and show, but time is pressing today, so I'll limit this to a brief mention of the fact that I did see a whale eventually, “Tutu” to be exact.
Here he is shadowed by a second boat like ours, and there were planes & a helicopter overhead as well, so I'm surprised he wasn't scared off with all the commotion on the surface.
But he stayed around for about five minutes, recharging his oxygen tanks, before diving back down into the immense depths of the Kaikoura Canyon to continue hunting.
More later..... It's later and we have internet access again. The early morning trip was wonderful, though the information screen was somewhat pessimistic:
But being a good sailor (unlike Barbara, who stayed in Kaikoura for the day), I had no worries and sat in the nice warm cafe for a coffee:
and watched the sun rise over the Pacific:
In due course, after the safety briefing and a nice DVD about whales comparing the blue whale to the Boeing 767 we flew on to Christchurch (the blue whale is bigger), we were bussed to the marina where the Whale Watch fleet bobbed on their moorings:
and boarded our boat, the Aoraki:
I expect we were told what Aoraki meant in Maori, but I didn't retain that. We motored out at some speed, seated comfortably in the lower cabin, to the Kaikoura Canyon (see where the sea bed drops dramatically several thousand feet (many more than the mountains behind us rise) and provides deep diving (and feeding opportunities) for the local sperm whale population.
Then we stopped and admired the views:
while the captain (forgot her name) listened on a directional hydrophone for the nearest whale(s):
She can apparently locate a whale feeding many miles away by its sonar. Whale Watch use entirely passive means for locating the whales, and their success in finding them demonstrates that the whales aren't scared off by the boat's presence.
Although she heard a nearby whale, it never surfaced within the time we had available during our trip, so we returned with only photos of albatrosses:
On my return to base, Barbara drove the motorhome around to the car park to join me, negotiating an unusual speed hump as she came:
It didn't look any different to a normal speed hump:
Unless you climbed up the ladder of a signal on the adjacent railway line, where you could see:
So, I wasn't about to come all the way to New Zealand and not see my first ever whale, so rebooked on the next available trip and did it all over again, and this time got to see “Tutu” (as previously described).
Once back, we set off, rather later than expected, for somewhere south, this time taking the back roads away from the coast. A pleasant enough drive and we discovered why the venison sausages were such good value:
And stopped in due course at a basic but reasonable campsite at Waiau.
written by  Saros on May 2, 2009 from Kaikoura, New Zealand

A little problem.
Waiau, New Zealand
Day - 12 Sunday 3rd May 2009
...... And stopped in due course at a basic but reasonable campsite at Waiau.
It was a friendly little family-run campsite, with few occupants because it's rather out of the way and out of season, but it had all we needed apart from internet access, and we were made very welcome.
Being about 1,000 feet up in the hills, it was a bit colder than down on the coast, and the temperature dropped rapidly as night fell. We had a cosy enough night, but felt very sorry for the English couple who were camped in a very small tent nearby.
When we woke, even quite late at 08:45, there was still a hard frost and the thermometer was showing -2º C. It looked and felt like it:
During the evening, something seemed to have gone wrong with the plumbing in the motorhome, with the water pump running continuously, implying a leak. So we decided to allow ourselves the option of going on south via Christchurch (which we'd intended to avoid) in case it was a serious problem.
After a few phone calls to Wilderness, it was established that it probably was serious and that the easiest thing all round was to return to base, as we were relatively close anyway. After a bit of shopping, we got back to be welcomed by Robbie & Mike, who confirmed that it was a not easy to fix in a reasonable time.
So we were offered an identical vehicle, being freshly cleaned and prepared for us, and in due course, transferred all our gear from one vehicle to the other and set off again, delayed by a few hours, but compensated by having effectively a fresh start, complete with the welcome pack including the really nice wine. :-)
As we set off, we passed the pretty little church of St. Paul's, where Barbara had rung when we first arrived. It looked very nice in the autumnal afternoon sun so we stopped for a quick photo of it:
And then on for an hour or two on rather boring but good main roads before getting back into the hills with “interesting” roads and spectacular views of the snow covered Alps to our right. As it was getting dark, we pulled into Fairlie and found a good campsite with free WiFi (http://www.fairlietop10.co.nz/), a warm welcome and an even warmer log fire in the communal kitchen diner.
Tomorrow, Tekapo.
written by  Saros on May 3, 2009 from Waiau, New Zealand

Lakes & mountains
Lake Tekapo, New Zealand
Day - 13 Monday 4th May 2009
We woke to another very cold but bright morning, no fog here in Fairlie, which gave us a rather good view of our surroundings:
Once we'd eaten and used the nice hot campsite showers, we set off for Lake Tekapo. A pleasant enough drive with interesting sections punctuating the long boring bits where I just set the cruise control and concentrated on watching for the next bend.
In due course we arrived and it was all that the guide books promised and more. The best photos we've seen just can't really prepare you for the spectacular panoramas, which can change dramatically, by just walking around a bit. Here's Barbara sitting in front of the Church of the Good Shepherd. It does have a little bell but she didn't get offered the chance to ring it.
Then we moved the motorhome to a more picturesque spot for a lunchtime picnic:
And just to prove that Charlie's here in body as well as spirit, here we both are with the pretty little church in the background again:
Then on to Lake Pukaki where we stopped for a brief photo opportunity. Someone else happened to be in this shot of the lake with Mt. Cook behind:
But here's Barbara with a similar view:
Then we moved on further up the valley to Mt. Cook Village and parked by the Sir Edmund Hillary Centre to get this view of Mt. Cook with clouds rolling over the range south of it:
And then off to find parking for the night. The camping was a few kilometres down the valley and easy enough to find, though we'd somehow missed the signs on our way up. The site was unsurprisingly basic, being in such a remote area, but had nice flat, level parking areas. We'd been warned that some 'weather' was due overnight, and they were right, the motorhome was buffeted much of the night by the howling gales and rain, but at least it didn't hail as predicted. But we slept well and set off in due course for pastures new.
written by  Saros on May 4, 2009 from Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

Wet stones
Moeraki, New Zealand
Day - 14 Tuesday 5th May 2009
As previously mentioned, it was a rather wet start and it didn't look likely that there would be any helicopter flights up onto a glacier, so we set off for the coast. Unfortunately, the further we got from the mountains, the better they looked, but it was by then too late to turn back:
Stopped briefly by Lake Pukaki to enjoy the turquoise colour which comes from the suspended stone particles “rock-flour”, created by past glacial action:
Then another stop on top of an impressive hydro-electric dam with huge sheets of water cascading from one lake into the next:
And eventually we got to the coast and stopped to look for some boulders. We didn't find them at first, but the spray from the Pacific breakers made a nice backdrop:
We moved on and found a nice cafe/restaurant above the beach we were looking for, with a pleasant decking terrace overlooking the beach:
The boulders here at Moeraki are a great deal more impressive once you get close up:
They vary in size:
And are almost all spherical, frequently with crazed patterning so that they resemble giant footballs:
This one is in the process off being eroded out of the mudstone cliff:
After being battered by the sea for many years, they break up to reveal an intricate internal structure:
Although there are quite a few here, it appears to be just this one stretch of beach, about 100 metres in length, with these boulders, adjacent beaches with the same mudstone cliffs were devoid of the boulders:
These are a couple of the largest we saw at high tide, there may be more visible at a lower tide:
Then we had to leave the roaring Pacific surf to find our campsite for the night in Dunedin:
It was quite a challenging drive into and through Dunedin in the dark and rain, negotiating rush-hour traffic and some very steep hills, but with excellent navigation skills, Barbara got us here without any wrong turns. Now, if it would only stop raining.........
written by  Saros on May 5, 2009 from Moeraki, New Zealand

Gorgeous gorges and precarious houses
Dunedin, New Zealand
Day - 15 Wednesday 6th May 2009
Still raining this morning, but Wilderness were thoughtful enough to equip the motorhome with a decent sized umbrella, so not too much of a problem. A nice feature of this campsite is that the picnic table adjacent to our site is rather fun:
A short walk to the nearby bus stop and a bus soon took us down (and down and down) into the town centre, where we wandered about for a bit, found the information centre and got a street map then bought tickets for another of the “Great railway journeys of the World”. But first a coffee:
And then board the train:
It was every bit as spectacular as the advertising promised, narrow rock cuttings:
a deep gorge with the river glistening at the bottom and precipitous viaducts:
and some bridges with minimal protection:
About half way up the gorge, the train came to a shuddering halt, and didn't continue. There didn't appear to be any points for the driver to change as with a previous stop, so we all got out to see what was happening:
I tease ..... the German couple sitting opposite us had put their baby down on the track to play at a planned stop where we were able to stretch our legs and enjoy the views.
After a while we came up out of the gorge onto a plateau and the limit of our trip today, where we picked up some passengers who'd been bused from Queenstown, and set off back down. The commentary added significantly to the enjoyment of the whole event, with all sorts of recent, and not-so-recent historical detail.
In due course we got back to the magnificent Dunedin Station:
And then went to find a bus to take us to the northern outskirts of the town where there is a rather strange street where things are a bit crooked:
I think this sign sums it up though:
And this view from the bottom gives a rough idea, but until you've been there, you don't appreciate just how steep it is.
The climb was very worthwhile and the view is impressive:
Then another couple of buses back to the campsite/motorhome with good views of the lights reflecting off the harbour:
Steak for supper, mmmmm.
written by  Saros on May 6, 2009 from Dunedin, New Zealand

Wild wonders and a southern bell
Portobello, New Zealand
Day - 16 Thursday 7th May 2009
Very cold overnight again, a hard frost when we woke, but the bright sun soon melted it all and we had a quick game of snakes-and-ladders on the table by our motorhome; Barbara won by sneaking up a ladder at the last moment having trailed behind the whole game until then.
Set off in due course for a drive/walk around the Otago Peninsular, and were blessed with a bright sunny day, if a bit windy and with a slight southerly chill.
Down through the steep streets of Dunedin and out the other side, we were soon onto the winding coast road with fairly narrow lanes and significant drops in places, just a metre or so to the left of the vehicle, and no barriers.
The inevitable coffee stop with a quick check of the map at a pretty little cove called Portobello:
And then on to the very end of the peninsular and the albatross sanctuary and lighthouse and a windy clifftop walk:
Onwards and a brief stop for a photo of Mt. Charles:
Then down a very remote unmetalled road towards Sandfly Bay until we couldn't drive any further.
An interesting walk with a few challenges, but very worthwhile once we eventually got to the almost deserted beach. A few other like-minded visitors were just leaving, so we had the beach to ourselves, well, us and the wildlife:
Then Barbara spotted a strange lump of seaweed floating in the surf just off the beach:
I wasn't convinced that it was seaweed, and was even less convinced when the seaweed hauled itself out of the water:
The seaweed looked around, saw us and decided that we weren't edible or a threat:
And then decided that that bit of beach wasn't to its liking after all:
The seaweed floated off down the beach a little way and came out of the sea again:
I'd decided that it wasn't seaweed, but actually a sea lion so ambled down to make its acquaintance:
It was having a very pleasant roll in the sand, and clearly knew I was there, but wasn't in the least concerned, and concentrated on scratching itself, or whatever it was doing.
After a while, it flollopped off up the beach to investigate the sand dunes:
By that time the day was getting on and we needed to shop before getting back to the campsite, so we negotiated the complex dunes back to the motorhome and had pleasant drive back.
Once refreshed, we set off for the:
Which is a very impressive church, and when you see that a hill was removed to make a base for it which would have reached to the top of the main windows, it is all the more impressive:
It's nice inside too:
And for the ringers who might be reading this, here are the bell details:
But most importantly, the treble is the most southerly ringable bell in the world, and here is Barbara ringing it:
And these are her friendly fellow ringers (thanks everyone):
And she has the polo shirt to prove it:
With a nice logo:
And that about finishes today. Sounds as though tomorrow may be interesting, weather-wise.
written by  Saros on May 7, 2009 from Portobello, New Zealand

Moving on
Queenstown, New Zealand
Day - 17 Friday 8th May 2009
A day for moving on. The usual coffee stop had some unusual entertainment:
And then a brief stop to look at Roaring Meg (it's the river in the background by the way):
It's big and fast and they drive jet boats up here:
And in due course we arrived in Queenstown and found Shotover Park (www.shotoverholidaypark.co.nz) and raised the flag:
Tomorrow hopefully, a bit of fun!
written by  Saros on May 8, 2009 from Queenstown, New Zealand

Wild, wet & hairy
Queenstown, New Zealand
Day - 18 Saturday 9th May 2009
It was snowing when I first stepped out of the motorhome at about 8:00 in the morning, not the best weather for what I was intending to do rather soon. You might just see the blurry white bits in this shot across the campsite from our motorhome:
But I'd already paid so there was no turning back now. I left Barbara snug and warm in bed and walked ½ a kilometre down the road to the first activity. Does this give you an idea of what I'm about to do?
A nice gentle little boat ride!!!! Here's a previous boat loading up:
The boat then sets off:
And comes back a few seconds later for a photo opportunity:
It may not be too obvious, but the boat is travelling sideways at great speed, the driver is also waving while steering with the one hand, and the rest of us were trying to hang on with just one hand while waving to the camera. That's me nearest to the camera in the second row:
And then we go belting off through the frighteningly narrow Shotover Canyon, missing the very solid rock outcrops by inches:
skimming over shallows with just a few inches of water:
and bouncing hard across the white water where rocks punctuate the river's progress:
You take the warning to keep your hands inside the boat, very seriously after your first close encounter with a rock wall; in fact, I was frequently ducking in case the overhanging rocks hit my head!
But it was really cold. Snowing some of the trip, and getting wet whenever we did a 360° spin, then blasting across the water at 50mph. It took me some time to recover the feeling in my hands in the adjacent cosy café:
And then the minibus came to take me away,
and after a really hairy drive up a narrow mountain dirt track with a sheer drop on the one side, rock walls on the other, and only just enough width for the minibus, we got to a relatively safe area. I got trussed up in something akin to a straight-jacket and then these mad New Zealanders pushed me out to the edge of a platorm very high above the Shotover River I'd previously been uncomfortably close to:
And then laughed when I fell off!!!!
Fortunately, even though I fell 180 feet straight down, the thin cable I was attached to eventually started arresting my fall and converted it from rapid downwards motion, to rapid horizontal motion across the canyon and up the other side. When I'd finished swinging, they winched me back up, and I was so upset by the experience, that I actually asked if I could jump off again!
Here I am, looking very windswept, about to jump off facing downwards this time so that I can see the drop:
Every bit as alarming as falling off backwards as I did the first time.....
And then I found Barbara who had been to Arrowtown:
Straight from the wild west – of America! You could pan for gold, and the buildings looked as though they were from the set of a Western film. Not as exciting as Cha's day, but better on the nerves.
Then it was time to move on up the west coast. Up some alarming hairpin bends:
This involved going over the Crown Range Summit Pass, at 1,076 metres, the highest sealed road in New Zealand, hence we were up above the snow line:
And Barbara found that we'd parked next to a car with a very appropriate numberplate, given that her email address is baa.lyne@gmail.com ....
And we've finished up at Haas (http://www.haastlodge.com) for the night.
written by  Saros on May 9, 2009 from Queenstown, New Zealand

Glaciers galore
Fox Glacier, New Zealand
Day - 19 Sunday 10th May 2009
An unremarkable stay at Haast, and we moved on reasonably early after panicking a bit as we hadn't got a phone signal and needed to rebook our ferry crossing to North Island, which was due later today. But the internet came to the rescue and an email was all that was needed fortunately.
On up the west coast of South Island, with the Tasman Sea to our left, very close at some points, and the Southern Alps equally close on our right at others. Barbara was driving, which left me free to take photos of some of the hazards we encountered:
And then we found a nice view of the Fox Glacier:
(it's that frozen stream-like thing behind Barbara), and close by was a very typical NZ river, which consists of a wide gravelly bed with a small stream winding through it (this photo is for Clive):
And then after a short drive, and a short walk, we were quite close to the base of the same glacier:
We had to ignore the odd warning sign (as were many others), but were rewarded with an even closer view:
but it wasn't too easy to get right up to the glacier, as this was the province of experienced guided parties, but this was just a few hundred metres away:
Then back into the village of Fox Glacier to go for a ride in a little red:
piloted by Jason:
who flew us up, up, up into the clouds and snowy valleys of the towering mountains above us. After an exciting ascent through rocky snow-filled gorges and over impossibly steep tree-lined slopes, we circled around and landed on one of the few flat areas, thousands of feet up on the Franz Josef Glacier, to be joined shortly after by yet another helicopter:
It was getting positively crowded:
Jason took our photo (I couldn't persuade Barbara to come and had to snuggle up to two other attractive young ladies in the compact helicopter):
And then after some further nice views:
it was getting rather cold (a wind chill of about -15°C) so we took off again and had an equally exciting descent over the same Fox Glacier that we'd walked up to an hour or so before:
Then back to the motorhome to drive a little way further up the coast to Franz Josef Glacier Village where we found our campsite for the night. It has some rather good views. These were all taken just a few metres away from the motorhome:
On northwards tomorrow.
written by  Saros on May 10, 2009 from Fox Glacier, New Zealand

Icy adventures
Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand
Day - 20 Monday 11th May 2009
Another cold clear night with a hard frost and plenty of ice on the windscreen, but the day dawned bright and sunny and the warmth of the sun was soon dispelling the chill.
After a leisurely start, we drove the short way into Franz Josef village and parked outside one of the many buildings offering activities. This particular company was the same as I'd flown with yesterday, but in addition to a variety of helicopter flights, they also did guided 'walking' tours. I put walking in quotes because there were some reasonably steep slopes involved:
We were too late to join the full day tour, and probably not fit enough either, so opted for the more gentle 'half-day' tour, which we thought would probably be a nice gentle 3 – 4 hour ramble with good views of the Franz Josef Glacier.
As it turned out, it was a bit longer than that, the glacier views were most certainly good, and it was definitely not a gentle amble; two more elderly Taiwanese ladies had to give up when the going changed from rugged to serious.
But going back to the beginning, once we'd booked our walk, we had an hour or so to kill so (more) coffee was definitely a priority, followed by a bit of retail therapy. In due course, we all started reassembling at the centre:
where we were given a numbered tag to hang around our necks:
ostensibly so that they could keep track of the various items of gear they'd be lending us for the day, but I'm fairly sure that it was really so that they could identify any bodies left up in the ice!
All the procedures were explained to us and it started with being kitted out with serious walking boots, if you weren't already wearing something suitable. I was, but Barbara's new shoes were clearly unsuitable so she and most of the others queued up for boots and good thick socks:
Suitably shod, crampons were next on the list, complete with a sturdy carrying bag, then on round the building for overtrousers, raincoat, and even a woolly hat & gloves if conditions required them, which we were assured they wouldn't.
Eventually, we boarded the big red bus:
for the short drive up to the parking area below the glacier. Many kilometres before we got anywhere near, we passed a sign showing where the glacier ended in 1750, but this one is apparently growing at the moment. Once parked, off we went into the 'rain-forest':
Rain-forest? Yes, genuine rain-forest, seriously wet and dark with all manner of exotic plants, though less wildlife than might be expected, but it was a much used tourist trail. There are only three places in the world where glaciers come down low enough to penetrate into rain forest apparently: Franz Josef Glacier, Fox Glacier (just down the road) and somewhere in Argentina. Anywhere else you'd have to climb very high to be able to walk onto a glacier.
Ned, our genial, knowledgeable and caring young guide for the mouldy-oldies party (you can tell which he is in the photo, as he's not quite so well dressed as the rest of us), stopped frequently to check that we were all okay, and to tell us yet more interesting stuff about our impressive surroundings. One such snippet was that, even when we'd emerged from the rain-forest and the glacier looked quite close, it was still 2.2 kilometres away:
Another nice touch was that while we'd been still cosy in bed at 8 o'clock that morning, some of the guides had already got out to the glacier to check the routes for us and cut steps in the ice walls - a very thorough operation!
Soon enough, we got to the end of the rocky morraine and the start of the rocky ice, where we donned our crampons:
It was getting serious now:
The first ice was a bit dirty, with much accumulated rock scoured from the valley floor & walls:
But as we climbed, it got cleaner and more photogenic, and Ned continued to carefully shepherd his flock up the rugged ice faces:
At one point, we arrived at an apparently impossible cliff of ice, at least for us seriously inexperienced ice climbers:
But it seemed that we had a particular 'treat' in store: an ice tunnel:
The half-day trips rarely get to do this apparently, so we were quite privileged. And this is what it was like inside, a bit cramped, wet and cold, but beautiful:
And on up, past deep blue (and dangerous) crevasses:
Near to precipitous waterfalls:
And eventually to our high point for the day:
With great views:
And time for a snack, with hot chocolate even offered by Ned, what a star, and he'd been cutting/clearing steps in the ice as well.
Then back down, following a different route so that we didn't get too bored. Going down is definitely the more tricky, and some of the slopes were quite serious:
More crevasses to avoid, and some we had to squeeze through:
And we were very grateful for the fixed ropes placed by the guides to assist our passage up and down:
The glacier didn't get any less beautiful and was ever changing:
And even near the end of the glacier, Ned was still swinging his ice ixe to ensure our safe passage;
Then back out onto the rocks and more warning signs for the unwary:
Crampons off to be checked by Ned:
And the long(ish) march back to the bus:
With the sun already setting on the mountain peaks high above us:
A last glimpse of the glacier in the fading light:
And some of the high snowfields still bathed in the fast-setting sun:
Then back to the bus through the, by now, almost dark forest, and our motorhome for a night drive to our next stop.
written by  Saros on May 11, 2009 from Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand

Blue water & mushrooms
Hokitika, New Zealand
Day - 21 Tuesday 12th May 2009
Yet another cold clear night with a hard frost, but we didn't care in the slightest as we were even more warm and snug in Helen & David's lovely new house near Hokitika.
After a rather later than planned arrival yesterday, we enjoyed much socialising and a lovely meal – what a treat not to have to cook for ourselves or even wash up (the dishwasher took care of that).
A leisurely breakfast followed by a trip into town for Barbara and Helen to look at the greenstone (jade) shops. Jade almost grows on trees around here apparently!
Then after lunch, we were treated to a tour of the local sights, and wonderful they were too. Everywhere we go, it seems there is something totally different and fascinating to see, and Hokitika is no exception.
We went first to the Hokitika Gorge, where the Hokitika River escapes from the mountains before crossing the plains. Thrill seeker Barbara enjoyed her first view of the river and gorge from the chain suspension bridge and positively shrieked with excitement when I bounced onto the bridge!
And this is the view from the bridge, and the river really is this colour:
A short walk brought us out onto rocks above the bend in the river with a good view of the bridge:
And it seemed like a good place for a group photo with Helen & David:
And this friendly little fantail kept flying all around us:
And landed within inches (sorry, centimetres here) of us:
Next we got to see Dorothy Falls:
It's difficult to see the scale of the falls in this photo, but they were rather nice, and high enough that you really wouldn't want to fall from the top:
There were various attractive fungi:
And a lovely placid lake that the dogs really enjoyed:
Followed by a tour of the estate:
the mountains in the background may not be too easy to see in the above photo, but the blue mushroom was really fascinating, and quite rare we understand:
Interesting spider's webs too:
And friendly goats:
And a lovely meal with Chris & Tom over as well. And so to bed ......
written by  Saros on May 12, 2009 from Hokitika, New Zealand

The Wild West and Otariidae
Punakaiki, New Zealand
Day - 22 Wednesday 13th May 2009
A relaxed breakfast with Helen & David before saying fond farewells then off to see yet more of this lovely country. We were sorry to leave as they had really spoiled us in their lovely home.
Barbara driving again, so I could photograph one of the older road bridges on South Island, predominantly made of wood, and being single lane as many are, from our direction we have to give way not only to oncoming road traffic, but to trains coming in either direction as well!
A very pleasant drive up the north-west coast with few places but terrific views:
The lowest level mist is in fact spray from the breakers rolling in from the Tasman Sea. And here's another atmospheric shot:
And another:
And this one gives a good idea how close the hills/mountains are to the sea in some places (it is just out of sight to the left):
There were some unusual (to our eyes) trees by our coffee stop:
And then on to our major target for the day, the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki. This gives some idea as to why they are so called:
But one of the most interesting features is the various holes and gullies that have been carved out by the big waves. At high tides (when we'd arranged to arrive) the biggest waves smash into the caves and the spray exits vertically, in this case from a relatively small vent called the “ChimneyPot”, which describes it well:
Other rock formations are curious:
And the breakers are dramatic, especially considering it was a relatively calm day:
Then on the walk back to the motorhome, Barbara noticed that someone had plaited a couple flax (phormium) plants:
And on to a nearby wildlife reserve where a very tame Keka strutted past us:
Another another pleasant walk through rain-forest type jungle, and we came out onto a cliff-top viewing platform. At first glance there were just rocks below us, but looking longer and harder rewarded us with views of dozens of fur seals. Here's one just going back into the water, judging the best moment to brave the rough waves:
He made it and swam out through the breakers before diving into the safety of the deeper water:
There were mums & pups:
Some were active and others less so:
And many of the pups were obviously bored and wanted to play rather than sleep:
But the adults were clearly enjoying the winter sunshine:
And a last view of the seals' rugged retreat before moving on to Westport for supplies and Murchison to camp for the night.
written by  Saros on May 13, 2009 from Punakaiki, New Zealand

Lakes & beaches
Takaka, New Zealand
Day - 23 Thursday 14th May 2009
A rubbish campsite last night at Murchison (Riverview Holiday Park) which adjoins the cemetery, but we hadn't seen that when we rolled in late last night. We were surprised to find that the indoor cooking facilities had been shut for the winter, leaving us only the outdoor facilities, which in the cold & dark was not our preferred option, but marginally better than cooking in the motorhome and getting it all steamed up. And it was expensive – not recommended!
Enough grumbling; we'll get known as 'whingeing poms' at this rate! We set off soon after 9am for St. Arnaud and somehow managed to arrive spot on 10am as arranged, where Margaret & Ashley were waiting to meet us.
They took us back to their lovely rented lakeside chalet where we properly introduced ourselves, only having met previously by email. Then a pleasant walk down to the shores of Lake Rotoiti:
It looks relatively small on the map, especially compared to the nearby Lake Rotoroa, but it looked fairly sizeable to us with some wonderful views:
Along the beach a little way, some hardy youngsters were actually swimming, as were some other foreign visitors (from Australia):
Time to move on as we'd be seeing Margaret & Ashley again in Wellington in a few days time.
A lovely drive north through some tiny places like Woodstock and into Motueka – bit busy for our liking so we pushed on over a dramatic high pass through the Abel Tasman National Park. For miles and miles, I never got out of second gear because the hairpin bends were so tight, and then we found parking for a viewing spot:
It was a very dramatic view out over the whole of the Tasman Bay, but marred somewhat by a pylon. Then Barbara discovered a path to the proper viewing area, and after a pleasant ten minute walk, we arrived at an absolutely stunning platform, clinging to the hillside above a frightening drop, with a really good view of the bay, with absolutely nothing in the way:
And some nice little rocks all around that had been rain-sculpted to look like miniature mountains:
On down the other side of the pass, hoping that the brakes wouldn't overheat as there were some terrifying drops off the frequently unprotected hairpin bends. Through Takaka for a last coffee stop and into Pohara to find our campsite for the night (www.poharabeach.com). It's literally on the beach; I expect we'll hear the breakers rolling in when we turn off the electrics for the night.
written by  Saros on May 14, 2009 from Takaka, New Zealand

A 'short' interlude
Picton, New Zealand
Day - 24 Friday 15th May 2009
A dramatic night with heavy rain and the occasional flash of lightning and rumbles of thunder over our beachside campsite at Pohara Beach (www.poharabeach.com) in South Island's lovely Golden Bay. This view over the bay is just a few metres away from where we were camped:
And, as you can see, the sun was out and the day looking very promising. Here's the view 180° around from the previous one:
And then off on the longish drive to Picton for the morning ferry to North Island. We made a wrong turn at one point, but it had its rewards; Barbara found a stall selling bags of seven kiwi fruit for $1 (about 40p) while I photographed this view:
After a dramatic drive back over the high pass to Motueka we stopped for a coffee and Barbara took over driving. A pleasant drive around Tasman Bay, through Nelson and on over more dramatic roads towards Picton.
All of a sudden, Barbara braked hard and did a handbrake turn down a rather remote country lane, which we later learned was called “Happy Valley”. I hadn't seen the sign that Barbara had, and hence was a little surprised when we rolled into a sheep farm with this sign:
After some misgivings I allowed her to sign us up for an “adventure”! Off we went to don suitable protective clothing:
And now clad from head to toe in mud-resistant plastic, we were introduced to our steeds:
Barbara chose to ride with Fletch for reasons yet to be determined!
Then after a brief explanation of where the brakes, gears, starter and accelerator were, we had a quick practice around the beginners' field:
and when nobody fell off, we were considered expert enough to set off across country. I say 'across country' somewhat advisedly, as we didn't know it then but a lodge up in the hills was our target for the afternoon:
This view might give a better impression of what was involved. The little red box shows the previous view:
So off we bounced through fields of sheep and up narrow rough tracks through logging areas where the smell of pine was positively delicious. A stop part way up to admire the view:
Which was rather good:
And on we went up to the lodge where Fletch unveiled a very welcome snack of cheese, biscuits, coffee, tea and chocolate biscuits, and I realised why Barbara was so keen to ride on his quad bike: the shorts!!!
Still grinning:
we were strapped into a serious bit of machinery:
in which we were about to travel about a mile out across an adjacent valley at speeds up to 78kph. This is the view and the little red rectangle shows where we were aiming for:
Fletch released the brakes and we gathered speed and hurtled down and out across the forest. The sensation of speed was mostly due to the wind pinning us into our seats; we were so high above the trees that it didn't seem as fast as it actually was.
After a while we slowed to a halt at the bottom of the long cable arc and the brake was applied and the cable pulled us gently up the far side of the valley in almost total silence apart from the birds chirping below us.
In due course we stopped a mile away from the rest of the party. Fletch released the brakes again and we set off backwards at some speed. When we eventually slowed to a halt. The serious machinery:
whirred into life again and pulled us back to the three youngsters (20-somethings) in the party who hadn't been intending to do the SkyWire, but having seen us having so much fun, decided that they ought to have a go as well. So Barbara gave up her seat for the girl and all three joined me for a second run. Once we were back up, and the machinery packed up for the night, it was back to the bikes, Barbara leaping hurriedly onto Fletch's bike for the ride back down:
On the way, we stopped at an otherwise unremarkable bit of track where Fletch introduced us to Mareikura. Mareikura we gather means 'noble lady' and this lady is estimated to be some 2,000 years old, judging by her girth. This shows a small part of her:
She's some 150 feet tall and has a substantial trunk. In the past, trees ten times her size (and hence age) have been felled for flooring and ships' masts, but Mareikura remains as the oldest matai tree in New Zealand, and as they only exist in New Zealand, she's the oldest in the world!
In due course, we got back down to the sheep pastures, and being by now experienced quad-bikers, were allowed three laps of the fun course, complete with muddy puddles to get really wet with, and a bit of loose gravel to make it feel fast when we skidded a bit. All in all, it was great fun, much better than I'd expected as I hadn't had any particular desire to go quad-biking, but http://www.happyvalleyadventures.co.nz/ were thoroughly professional, helpful and fun, and we can thoroughly recommend them to thrill-seekers of all ages.
Then on via Queen Charlotte Drive to Picton (www.pictontop10.co.nz) for the night.
written by  Saros on May 15, 2009 from Picton, New Zealand

Boats 'n bikes
Pukerua Bay, New Zealand
Day - 25 Saturday 16th May 2009
A grey but very mild start and looking like rain for our crossing of the Cook Strait and up early to ensure that we were at the ferry terminal in plenty of time for the 9am check-in.
We were indeed early and sat in the rain in the queue of cars and motorhomes for quite some time:
But eventually we got aboard, just behind all the lorries (trucks to some readers?) which meant that we'd be one of the first off. We settled down to enjoy the trip, though it didn't look as though we'd see too much at first:
But there were some bright patches and no end of rainbows:
And inside things were looking up as well once we'd got our first coffees of the morning:
And off we steamed, predominantly east at about 40kph according to the GPS. A mercifully calm crossing as Barbara is not the best of sailors. Bye-bye South Island:
Coming into Wellington we passed a sister ship lying at anchor, so although it wasn't quite the same as ours, it seemed like a good idea to photograph it as an example of the sort of thing we were on:
The first thing we noticed on coming ashore on the North Island, apart from the strong winds, was how mild it was, even warmer than Picton. After a short and straightforward drive, we found Margaret & Ashley's lovely place in Pukerua Bay where they were flying a Union Jack in our honour:
A neighbour kindly allowed us to park the motorhome in their drive; one of the few flat areas around here, and as it was quite windy, it seemed like a good test of the flagpole:
While Barbara and Margaret went out to visit an old family friend, Ashley and I talked motorbikes and I got to see his beautiful 1914 500cc Humber, amongst other old BSAs and an MG:
It looks really complicated to ride, with multiple levers on both handlebars, as well as the hand gear-change and oiler to worry about. You can also see in this view, the air-horn and acetylene lamp:
And that's about it for today, apart from the view from inside the motorhome out across Pukerua Bay. It would be even better if it was sunny, but even on a grey day like today, with fading afternoon light, it still looked pretty good:
written by  Saros on May 15, 2009 from Pukerua Bay, New Zealand

Bells 'n hills
Pukerua Bay, New Zealand
Day - 26 Sunday 17th May 2009
Wow, what a night! Winds of 140 kph (87 mph) reported, though I reckon that we (our motorhome) was being subjected to even greater speeds than that due to its high position at the top of a slope. The motorhome was rocking and creaking and because we were parked at the top of a very steep slope, I was really worried that if the handbrake partially failed, we'd be going backwards into something or other at a significant speed. So at some early hour of the morning I got out of bed (neither of us had got to sleep anyway due to the noise and movement) to try and pull the handbrake on even harder.
I was also worried about the flagpole which was still up, but I wasn't convinced that I'd be able to keep my feet on the sloping ground, in the dark, and in the terrific winds, so that had to just fend for itself.
Eventually, the alarm went off at 7am, a bit earlier than usual as we needed to catch an early train into the centre of Wellington for Barbara to ring at the cathedral for the morning service.
Now that it was light and the winds had eased a bit, it seemed safer to venture out. I found the Union Jack windsock tangled in an adjacent hedge, nearly at ground level, and the pole looking as though it was half the length it should have been. But I unstrapped it and lo and behold, the pole was absolutely fine, but a couple of sections had just telescoped into each other as they're supposed to do, and the windsock was okay too, just its hook a bit bent. It looked as though the pole must have got blown right over until the windsock was nearly at ground level, and then it got tangled and eventually the hook gave way due to the tensions involved.
It was still wet and windy on the short walk to the station, so we were dressed appropriately. The train arrived nearly on time, and we had a comfortable ride into Wellington centre through all the suburbs.
A bit of detective work resulted us soon finding a big pink building:
which we concluded must be St. Paul's Cathedral, and Charlie even managed to locate another ringer who let us in the ringer's door at the side. There must be something about the look of a ringer that sets them apart from 'normal' people!
The cathedral has several unusual aspects to its bell tower. Firstly, visitors are actually encouraged to come up and watch:
And the access is via a lift:
And when you get into the tower, not only can you watch up to 14 ringers ringing:
But you can also see on a reasonably large screen TV, a really good live view of the bells moving in the chamber above, as the ringers pull on the ropes:
And for any ringers who might be reading the blog, here are the bell details (27¾ cwt tenor):
Then it was time to finish for the 10am service, the ropes were put away and a few ringers showed us the way between several high-rise buildings to Old St.Paul's Church.
What a beautiful church! Constructed all in wood, it's now so hemmed in by modern buildings and trees that it's difficult to photograph from the outside, but this drawing gives a good impression:
Inside it was just as lovely – all dark wood with slightly lighter pews. Also not easy to photograph as it was so dark, this photo was a ½ second exposure:
And the five ringers were equally difficult to photograph as the ringing chamber was tiny – no room for anyone else in there, but a gated doorway did allow a view in. Here's Barbara (very blurred due to the ½ second exposure again) and another ringer:
An interesting aspect of this ring was the perspex floor to the bell chamber allowing visitors to see the actual bells just above the ringers.
When the ringing was finished there, we were kindly invited to a coffee in the vestry, before we set off into town to be tourists. A very pleasant harbourside walk, especially as the rain had by now been replaced by bright warm sunshine, albeit with a bit of a breeze:
took us to Te Papa Museum which had all sorts of fun and interesting exhibits from Maori culture:
to other 'cultures':
Then we found our way to the famous old cable car, which started off underground, or so it seemed. Presumably built over by more high-rise buildings, but eventually climbed steeply out of the more commercial areas of Wellington, through residential areas for the wealthy, and up to the University and Botanic Gardens, where the views just got better and better:
The Botanic Gardens had a nice map showing where the cafe was (it was lunchtime and we'd skipped breakfast) and all the other good things to see.
It looked like a straightforward and pleasant walk to the far end of the park for lunch, so off we set. What we hadn't realised was that the map didn't include contours, and contours there were in abundance. Our knees were starting to protest by the time we found the delightful cafe, populated by friendly people and many sparrows.
Many nice flowers:
And interesting plants later:
We made our way back to St. Paul's Cathedral:
for a third ringing session. There were still lots of ropes:
and Charlie was by this time having difficulty staying awake, so as soon as it was finished, we made our way back to the station and back to Pukerua Bay, where Margaret had prepared another lovely meal for us.
Hopefully a quieter night tonight.
written by  Saros on May 17, 2009 from Pukerua Bay, New Zealand

Wot, no photos? Oh yes there are!
New Plymouth, New Zealand
Day - 27 Monday 18th May 2009
A calmer night last night, and we woke to a great view over Pukerua Bay with dappled sunshine on the breakers. Once we'd packed and sorted ready for travel later in the day, we popped over to Margaret & Ashley's where we met friend Prue and had a nice chat about all sorts of things.
While chatting, the weather changed from Normal to exciting! Torrential rain, gale force winds, sharp hail, thunder, lightning, almost everything the heavens can offer except snow. Fortunately I'd already backed the motorhome down the steep slope and onto the road below, because it would not have been easy after the weather arrived.
Here's an update of Charlie holding a handful of hail - thanks Margaret & Ashley.
It eased off after a while and we set off at midday with fond farewells to Margaret & Ashley for somewhere north of Pukerua Bay; we weren't too sure exactly where, but New Plymouth was one target. We made good progress despite a few stops for coffee and lunch in an interesting wooden café with a little turret and spire in Waverley.
Driving north up Highway 1, then through Wanganui on Highway 3, took us onto Highway 45 – the Surf Highway. It sounded more exciting than it actually was. We could see the sea in a few places, and even the odd breaker, but it wasn't as exciting as the west coast of the South Island.
All the way around the Surf Highway, we had our first volcano to our right: Mt. Taranaki, 2,518 metres high, but the most we could see of it was some distant foothills as it was constantly shrouded in cloud. Therefore, we didn't end up taking a single photo today, so here's a satellite view of the area thanks to Google:
written by  Saros on May 18, 2009 from New Plymouth, New Zealand

Jurassic Highway
Waitomo Caves, New Zealand
Day - 28 Tuesday 19th May 2009
A bright, warm and sunny start to the day. Barbara enjoying the sunshine while brushing her hair:
A metre or so from the back of the motorhome, a blackbird was also enjoying the campsite:
In due course we set off for our next destination and stopped in Inglewood for stamps and found this nice water feature commemorating the Polish settlers' contribution to the development of the district:
It was an interesting place generally:
And provided us with tantalising glimpses of the snow covered slopes of Mt. Tanaka (aka Mt. Egmont) but still not the whole thing:
Then we turned onto the:
What a wonderful road! Not for anyone in a hurry, it winds through steep valleys, some forested, others left as pasture for sheep to gently graze.
And for much of the way, the route is followed by a railway which, if it were used by passenger trains, could be another of the great rail journeys of New Zealand. Sadly, it has not been used by passenger trains since 1983, though the track is in good condition and can be seen below us here where it goes into a tunnel under us:
It reappears on the other side of Pohokura Saddle:
Spectacular though the views are, the huge areas of pasture and woodland were once rain forest like this at Whangamomona Saddle:
but much of it was cleared by slash & burn (as they're doing in South America currently) about 100 years ago.
Apart from the odd sheep farm, there was little habitation until we got to the Republic of Whangamomona with an interesting hotel that we couldn't pass up as a coffee stop:
It was filled with interesting old photos:
And the internal décor was as nice as the outside:
With a warm fire to encourage visitors to stay a little longer:
But the road beckoned, so on we went, Barbara now driving. The road changed to unmetalled, but still basically good, though we did notice and comment on the unusual preponderence of potholes. Had it been in England, we would have expected much worse, but in New Zealand, this was quite unusual, even in such a remote and little used road as this:
And then rounding the next corner, what should we find:
A team repairing all the potholes, who helpfully moved the truck out of the way so that we didn't even have to stop. With a friendly wave to them, we continued on our way down a much improved surface:
Another stop was at a parking place in a fairly remote bit of rain forest, where there was the sad tale of the surveyor Joshua Morgan, who died here of peritonitis in 1893 aged 35, before help could be brought to him. The spot is beside a fast running stream with little waterfalls:
Pressing on, we hadn't seen any signs warning us of rockfalls, but it was obvious that they were a possibility as Barbara was having to pick her way around numerous obstacles:
In places, the road was still passable:
And in others, long sections were one-way only:
Fortunately, we didn't meet any of the heavier traffic in such sections:
Quite how these drivers coped with the seriously narrow bits, hairpin bends and steep slopes, we don't know, but there were more of these heavy vehicles than motorhomes/campers as we found on most other routes.
In due course we got to our destination for the day and checked in at one of the nicest campsites we've yet been to:
After supper we spent a very pleasurable half-hour sipping wine in the open-air hot tub, admiring the Southern Cross above us (picture witheld for reasons of modesty!).
written by  Saros on May 19, 2009 from Waitomo Caves, New Zealand

Marvellous maggots!
Hamilton, New Zealand
Another sunny start to the day. Here are the pools we enjoyed (photographed on the way out):
We were sorry to leave this particularly nice campsite (http://www.waitomopark.co.nz) as it would have been fun to try out the cold pool and the trampoline and the many other facilities.
But we had booked three activities, eschewing the Black Water Rafting (like white water rafting but in total darkness! http://www.waitomo.com/black-water-rafting.aspx) in favour of the more sedate options, so set off after a good breakfast (black pudding now on the menu :-) )
First on the list was:
A lovely introduction to the caves of Waitomo with many stalagmites, stalagtites, pillars, etc.:
All nicely lit and no restrictions on photography as is so often the case in such places, so that you have to buy their postcards in order to get a picture to remember it by. The whole tour was much longer than we expected, but all at a gentle pace, and well commentated on by our guide.
Once finished, we had a bit of time to spare before the next underground adventure, so we set off on the Ruakuri Bushwalk, which was lovely. Dramatic views of waterfalls, fast flowing rivers and rain forest, from some nicely constructed walkways high above the forest floor:
Then back to wait for our guide to the next cave system:
While waiting, we studied some of the flora:
and fauna:
before our friendly guide Rich:
led us through a substantial steel door into a dimly lit tunnel with small multi-coloured lights illuminating just the floor as far as another door. This further door wouldn't open until the first door was closed and pressure differentials equalised. It opened onto another dimly lit chamber, but instead of going horizontally away from us, this chamber disappeared vertically in a dizzying drop of spiralling orange lights:
As our eyes accustomed to the low lighting levels, we could see that the chamber had a pathway winding down and round the walls of the cylindrical chamber at a gentle slope; easy enough that wheelchairs could even be used to descend the 60' depth to the start of the cave tour.
The cave itself was spectacular. Loads of weird and wonderful rock formations in all sorts of differing patterns:
There were delicate curtains:
But best of all was our first glimpses of the incredible glowworm displays:
These glowworms are mostly larvae (otherwise called maggots, but that didn't sound as good in the advertising) and illuminate the end of their tails to attract flying insects which come in through the river caves. Once an insect gets close enough, it gets ensnared in the sticky threads exuded by the larva:
And for the record, here's a photo of us deep underground:
A bit further on, we came out onto a platform suspended above the river that flows through the caves (and brings food to the glowworms). In addition to the noise of running water and distant waterfalls, we could hear various shrieks, oohs and aaahs from the intrepid black water rafters. In fact, 'raft' is a rather misleading term as they are all equipped with a personal tube, just the right size to sit in. Here's a group en-route to the caves:
As we stood on the platform in the dark, the group of unsuspecting rafters floated past us, unaware that we were there. The whole underground trip was surprisingly long, and the cave impressively fitted out with steel walkways suspended above the cave floor to minimise the impact on the environment.
On exiting, after our first coffee of the day, we then set off for the last of our trio of subterranean sorties. This one not only had another interesting and informative commentary, and a long underground walk, but culminated in a gentle boat ride down yet another river. This one also had glowworms, but where we'd previously seen maybe hundreds of them, here there were thousands. Some were close, many further away, covering, it seemed, almost every surface of the cave.
Sadly we weren't allowed to photograph or video in this cave, but realistically, it would have been all but impossible anyway from a moving boat (the previous glowworm photo required a four second exposure time).
All too soon, it finished and we left Waitomo for a relatively short drive to Hamilton.....
Practice night, 8 bells, but only 6 of them up and not many ringers due to absence. It was nice to ring again, but my last opportunity until I get back to Fairford!
This is the tower with Jeremy Burslem's brother whose grandson is also learning to ring. St Peter's Cathedral sounds very grand doesn't it, but only 8 bells with a heavier tenor than ours (St. Mary's Fairford). The web site (http://www.stpeterscathedral.nzl.org/bellringers.php) is good. They finished at 9 pm especially for me as they would otherwise have gone home at 8.30!
Here's Charlie waiting outside the cathedral in the motorhome:
Back to the campsite. A bit grim as it's very cold and not nearly as good as last night.
written by  Saros on May 20, 2009 from Hamilton, New Zealand

From the sub-lime(stone) to the ridiculous(ly steamy)
Rotorua, New Zealand
Day - 30 Wednesday 21st May 2009
Another bright sunny start to the day after a cold night. Elsewhere on the North Island, roads were blocked with snow, so we're not complaining. Our campsite in Hamilton was basic, but had all we needed.
We found some interesting fungi sharing our parking spot:
Then set off for Cambridge, where we parked outside the town hall for a coffee and some shopping:
Moving on again, a very pleasant drive through interesting countryside to:
Another coffee, this time with an interesting backdrop, note the rocks steaming gently in the background:
When we were ready, a boat came to take us across Lake Ohakuri. Barbara gritted her teeth for the crossing, even though it was only about 30 seconds!
Alighting on the the far side, we walked a short distance to find a warning:
and indeed, a little stream of water just under Barbara's hand by the boardwalk had water that was too hot to leave one's fingers in. Elsewhere it was much hotter:
This particular thermal system (Orakei Korako) has amazing variations in a relatively small area, from steaming jungles:
to cliffs with caves where boiling water erupts at regular intervals from caves, sending steaming torrents down the hillside:
And then there are delicate plants in amongst the violent extremes:
Curiously, this seemed to be Manuka, from which bees make the honey, but the plant also has another name it seems:
and a relative:
Further on are boiling pools:
which bubble and writhe like a living animal:
Some pools are deep and clear, but still hot:
There are cliffs like solidified waterfalls The Golden Fleece Terrace):
Steam frequently obscures the views;
And almost everywhere, little pillars of steam rise up:
There's a big cave:
With nice silver fern trees around the outer edges:
And boiling mud pools, which make the most deliciously disgusting gloopy noises:
And appear to almost be alive:
We had to drag ourselves away eventually as the day was ending and the park was closing. Even the car park bade us a steamy farewell, then on to Rotorua for the night.
written by  Saros on May 21, 2009 from Rotorua, New Zealand

The Bay of Plenty
Papamoa, New Zealand
Day - 31 Friday 22nd May 2009
A bright start, but what a cold night; inside the cab of the motorhome it was -2°C, so presumably colder than that outside.
The Top-10 site in Rotorua was a bit disappointing, the internet access was so slow that I wasn't even able to upload the few photos and text for the blog in the one hour of time I paid $7.50 for (I did get a refund) and the hot tub was locked well before 8pm (its advertised closing time), so we didn't get to enjoy that either.
Anyway, we moved on to Whakatane, in the Bay of Plenty. We'd read that there was a waterfall somewhere and were directed a little way down Strand Road, where we found a big rock with a tunnel through it:
But no waterfall .... we did find some steps though, and they had some interesting decorations. Apparently, this is called the World's first Vertigraph:
A few hundred steps later, many of them beside a small waterfall (rather insignificant due to the lack of recent rain here), we came out at a viewpoint high above the town:
There were some good views out over the bay:
Then on to the Okere Falls:
In the midst of yet more rain forest, a fairly sizeable river drops through a series of moderate drops between foaming pools:
The water alternates between black, dark green and white, and looks immensely powerful:
We met a canoeist at the end of the track we climbed up beside the river, who told us that the river was currently still quite low at about 400 m³/s, it can get up to 1,400 m³/s apparently.
Along the way, we encountered some nice examples of the Pōhutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa) tree, also known as the New Zealand Christmas Tree:
Moving on, we arrived at our next camp for the night at Papamoa Beach (http://www.papamoabeach.co.nz/). Another great location, literally on the beach with the pounding Pacific surf just a few tens of metres away:
And great views up the beach of the sunset:
Despite the scepticism of the girls in the site office, I was determined to get a swim in the New Zealand Pacific, even at this time of year (they thought it rather too cold), but I have a good covering of insulation:
written by  Saros on May 22, 2009 from Papamoa, New Zealand

Sea, sand, surf and s--!
Hot Water Beach, New Zealand
Day - 32 Saturday 23rd May 2009
Another lovely start to the day, and it only got down to freezing point overnight, so warming up a bit!
The Top-10 site at Papamoa Beach was good, and our site had a great view of the Pacific as well as being close to all the amenities:
That's sun by the way, lots of it today.
We set off after breakfast to follow the Pacific Coast Highway to the Coromandel Penisula. A stop at Katikati for coffee, then on through Bethlehem to Hahei and the 'Hot Water Beach' where you're supposed to be able to dig a hole in the sand at low tide, and it should fill up with hot water, in which you can then have a pleasant soak.
Unsurprisingly, it was a popular beach and lots of people were digging holes, but we weren't aware of anyone finding a seriously hot bit. But it was a nice beach in its own right, with surfers doing their thing:
And occasionally wiping out:
It was interesting watching them getting out through the big waves; quite a challenge. One young surfer in particular seemed like a good subject to follow:
The fact that this surfer was young, blond and wearing a bikini, was of course, irrelevant ....
As she swam out, the waves got increasingly daunting:
A brave young lady! When I'd been swimming in waves very, very much smaller than this the previous day, they had seemed daunting enough. Waves this size must look horrendous when they tower over you:
Moving on, a short drive took us up to the parking area for the Cathedral Cove. A moderate walk with significant ups and downs took us along some lovely coastline:
And the usual array of different flora and fauna:
Cathedral Cove was very nice. At the highest tides it would have been cut off from the more southerly beach the footpath leads down into. A sizeable arch allows passage through a headland to the cove:
At the state of tide when we got there, it only involved a paddle to go through to the cove:
but well worthwhile, many lovely views:
Including this one before we set off back:
A last view of the island strewn coast before finding our campsite for the night:
written by  Saros on May 23, 2009 from Hot Water Beach, New Zealand

Railway to the Eyefull Tower
Manukau City, New Zealand
Day - 33 Sunday 24th May 2009
Another bright start; we've been really lucky with the weather considering it's going into winter here.
An early start as we had a longish drive over the Coromandel Penisular to get to Coromandel in time for the 10:15 train, with a brief stop to admire one of the many lovely views:
We made it with minutes to spare and bought our tickets.
Barbara had read about this railway line (http://www.drivingcreekrailway.co.nz) in some of the guide books we'd bought in England, and was obviously excited about the trip:
Once we were all seated in our little narrow gauge railcar:
and our driver/commentator had checked our tickets:
we were off, rattling up the narrow track into tunnels:
over bridges with frightening drops and through dense rain forest at what seemed to be great speed, but probably wasn't quite as fast as it seemed:
One of the more spectacular engineering feats (the whole thing is incredible) is a bridge over a deep gorge:
it is not just an ordinary rail bridge, but a double-decker:
The line twists and turns, goes around in sharp loops, up 1 in 14 gradients, and where the hillside is too steep even for that, it zig-zags up the side of the hill so that one moment the train is going one direction, it stops momentarily while the points are changed, then sets off uphill again, and we're looking down twenty feet to the track we were on just seconds previously:
All the way, there are interesting items of pottery to amuse and entertain:
and unusual construction techniques such as these restraining walls made of hundreds of wine bottles:
The story of this railway is that Barry Brickell, an artist and potter, but also a self taught civil and mechanical engineer, constructed this amazing railway virtually single handed over several decades to get clay and firewood down the hillside for his pottery.
When the costs of building the railway became significantly greater than the return he was getting on his pottery, his bank manager suggested he should open it to the public. It now carries typically 35,000 passengers annually, more than most of the Rail New Zealand lines!
Up and up we went. At one point the line suddenly turned away from the hillside and started going out into the void:
Hoping the brakes were working, we again waited a few seconds for another points change:
before setting off for the terminus of the trip, the Eyefull Tower:
Ten minutes there to enjoy an explanation as to how the railway came into being, and the views:
then it was back to the trains for the descent to civilisation:
All in all, a very worthwhile stop – highly recommended.
On south down the Pacific Coast Highway again to the Waiau Falls. Not quite as spectacular as we might have hoped, but we got a photo there anyway:
And on the way back down the unsurfaced road, we stopped in at the Waiau Waterworks (http://www.waiauwaterworks.co.nz); a fun park with all manner of entertaining watery creations. This huge pendulum clock is water powered:
and amusing things to read and see:
And animals including some alpacas in various states, alert:
awake (just):
comfortable:
Then, with our sightseeing finished for the day the weather changed to miserable, which didn't matter in the slightest as we only had to drive to Manukau (near Auckland) to camp for the next two nights in preparation for leaving New Zealand.
written by  Saros on May 24, 2009 from Manukau City, New Zealand

When in Auckland .....
Manukau City, New Zealand
The day started wet, but relatively mild. The flag was flying rather limply:
And as we are moving on to the U.S. of A. tomorrow, it was time to find it a new home in Hokitika, so here's a last view of it:
As we're on the outskirts of Auckland, we couldn't leave without doing all the things tourists in Auckland do. So we found the relevant bus into town and an hour later we were wandering around Downtown Auckland.
You can't help seeing that there's a rather noticeable building in Auckland:
(http://www.skycityauckland.co.nz/Attractions/Skytower.html)
It's called the Sky Tower and is “the southern hemisphere's tallest tower”. Looking at it closer up, it looks rather high:
And has an interesting structure right up near the top, a sort of walkway and platform:
So I went in the doors and spoke to a nice young lady who gave me a rather fetching yellow and blue suit to wear and then strapped me very tightly into something like a parachute harness. She then put me in a lift and told me to get out at the very top floor. She didn't warn me that when you stand in the lift and look down, you can see all the many floors of the Sky Tower, rapidly disappearing below your feet through the glass floor:
So I got to the top in about 40 seconds, and after admiring the view:
tried to find which of the many glass panels was actually the door to the great outside. I found it eventually and two enthusiastic young men welcomed me onto to a platform some 630 feet above the streets below:
They suggested that I peer over the edge, which I did and saw this:
It looked to me as though the crossroads with the large red bus turning, was directly below me, but I was assured that in fact the red target area below that in the picture was actually directly below us:
Then it was time to prove that I was the only person in Auckland on the 25th May 2009 who was brave (stupid) enough to jump off the Sky Tower on a rather cold, windy winter day. So I jumped .....
and then I stopped!
I was suspended a few metres below the platform by two blue cords holding me in position, but facing basically downwards. Look up for the camera they said, but it wasn't very easy, my neck didn't bend that far.
Instead, as I spun round and round, I became aware of rather a lot of people in the restaurant below the floor I'd been on a few seconds previously, taking photos of me as I hung there 20 feet away from them with a 620 foot drop below me:
I was expecting that the (hopefully) strong cable I was attached to would allow me to descend at a reasonably controlled rate.
It didn't! So far as I could tell I was in freefall and the target area was approaching very fast, but the guys up top knew what they were doing and I rapidly slowed to a halt, still in a horizontal position, onto the target platform feeling a bit foolish that I hadn't landed on my feet like all the youngsters in the promo videos! (http://www.skyjump.co.nz/)
But the nice young lady on the target area:
was very polite and helped me to my feet and asked if I'd enjoyed it.
When I'd recovered my breath, I said that I thought I had enjoyed it and she then told me that as nobody else was idiotic enough to jump off the tower today, they'd be happy to let me jump off again for free as they needed the publicity of people being seen to jump!
Actually, that's not quite accurate, but I did go up for the free second jump and this time went off the platform backwards and without the pause for the diners. It was every bit as exhilarating as the first jump and I landed just as embarrassingly.
Then I managed to find Barbara, who'd determinedly ignored my flying lessons and had gone off to find a post office to send the flagpole off.
We had a nice cup of coffee, especially well decorated:
And went back to being normal tourists, looking at the gift shops, walking around the harbour, etc.
Off to LA & San Francisco tomorrow, so reports of our progress may be delayed.
written by  Saros on May 25, 2009 from Manukau City, New Zealand

Two days for the price of one!
Los Angeles, United States
The days/dates above are right by the way. Day 35 was our last day in New Zealand, and day 36, our first in America, but both days have the same date. It was interesting watching the GPS change from 179°E to 179°W as we crossed the International Date Line, but apart from the numbers changing, nothing else happened to tell us that we'd just lost a day.
Back to day 35. We had tried to plan our food so that we would be able to use up the last of it on our last day in New Zealand, and we did quite well apart from having rather a lot of fruit left over. The campsite in Manukau City was obviously very popular with departing travellers as the kitchen had a well stocked surplus food container, and an even better stocked surplus condiments container:
We hoped that we might be able to finish the fruit at the airport so decided to take that with us, and left a few bits for other travellers. With the motorhome's tanks filled and emptied as appropriate, we left our campsite and headed for Wilderness Motorhomes. However, we hadn't packed so found a suitably quiet car park to sort everything out.
Once all the nooks & crannies had been emptied and all our accumulated stuff forced into bags various, we found Wilderness Motorhomes very easily and were welcomed by a sign with our names on and by the delightful and friendly Hannah. There wasn't much to do in the way of formalities, but we had a relaxed and pleasant chat with Hannah over a coffee before she drove us to the airport.
We couldn't have been happier with our choice of motorhome and company. Everything was as near perfect as we could have wished and everyone we dealt with at Wilderness was very helpful.
We deliberately got to the airport early in the hope of getting a better choice of seats than those we'd been pre-allocated, which were awful - we weren't even sitting together and would each have been trapped in between two complete strangers.
The kind man on the Quantas check-in desk took pity on us though and tore up the boarding cards he'd printed and did some new ones. I thought I'd misheard when he said "upgrade" and "business class", but no, there were our boarding cards in row 4 clearly printed. As in most planes, the rows are numbered from the front, and that applies to a Boeing 747-400 as well, so there we were, in the very frontmost cabin (normally first class):
sitting underneath the pilot.
As comfortable a flight as we could have hoped for with as much champagne as we fancied:
and very nice food, not to mention the fully reclining seats. Bye bye Auckland:
The flight was rather bumpy at times, but that wasn't Quantas' fault.
Eventually, after a brief night with minimal sleep, we came down through the clouds to land in LA. First impressions were that it was a little bit different to NZ, the roads for instance are a bit bigger:
Then after a bit of a wait, on to San Francisco.
written by  Saros on May 26, 2009 from Los Angeles, United States

Summer in the city
San Francisco, United States
Day 36 26th May 2009
We sat around in the airport after a few hassles with the luggage and getting it transferred from the Quantas flight to our brief hop on an American Airlines flight to San Francisco. The flight was absolutely full, so there'd been no chance of getting better seats, or even seats together, but it was only an hour or so, so we could cope.
Our plane, a McDonnel Douglas DC80, arrived at bay 40 and we all waited patiently for it to be cleaned before we could board:
Eventually, everyone was jammed in, and all the commuters' big wheely-bags jammed into the overhead lockers and the world changed from boring, static and horizontal, to exciting, fast moving and angled:
Some nice views of sea, coastline and big hills later, we were descending fast towards what appeared to be the sea. When we were about 50 feet above it, the end of the runway mercifully came into view and we touched down and taxied rapidly into our parking spot, and the usual scramble to get out ensued. As we had bags in the hold, we didn't bother rushing as they always take that bit longer to unload. The carousel eventually disgorged all four of our bags/boxes safely and we staggered off under the weight of all our bags to find the car rentals, because the trollies cost four dollars (unlike any other airport we'd so far visited) and we didn't have the relevant change (black mark for SFO).
The driverless rapid transit system:
took us efficiently to the car rentals and eventually we got a car with Avis (partnered with BA for the air-miles) but they only had a choice of one for a one-way drive to Seattle – a Mercury something-or-other. Much bigger than we'd have chosen it is at least comfortable but probably drinks petrol in typical American style, so very un-green – sorry planet, we'll make up for it when we get home.
Found the car in the multi-storey parking lot and then spent quite some time trying to figure out the multitude of controls. Barbara's first problem was that the passenger seat was so far forward, she couldn't even get in and it wasn't at all obvious how to move it back. When we found the electronic controls that moved the seat up, down and round-and-round, normality returned and I gingerly set off, trying desperately to remember to drive on the wrong side and figure out all the confusing signs as to who gives way to who.
Barbara said we must see the Golden Gate Bridge, so we programmed that into the GPS and set off through the San Francisco rush-hour traffic – unnerving is something of an understatement!!!
We drove a good few miles with hitting anyone or being hit, though I'm still not sure how we managed that, and found ourselves on one of those hills where they film the car chases, with the steep bits punctuated with horizontal intersections:
The steep bits are seriously steep (not like Baldwin St. in Dunedin) but not far off, and the intersections are worrying as you have to stop and give way, which means multiple hill starts, and despite being an automatic, this car did have a tendency to roll back, even in forward drive.
We (and the car) survived that as well and eventually found the impressive bridge, and fortunately drove north over it which didn't involve having to pay. I insisted on a photo for the blog, so we drove around in circles for a while until finding the best road up a nearby hill, which was being used by cyclists for suicide practice at the time.
We stopped at the first parking spot and got out for the photo:
It was windy! And relatively cold. Up until then, San Francisco had seemed very comfortably warm and the air-con in the car was in gratefully used.
So when we'd driven a bit further up the hill and found an even better spot for a photo, this was the most Barbara was prepared to expose:
By then, it was mid evening and time to find a bed for the night, so a random choice of motels on the GPS got us to Novato and a pleasant enough place for the night with free WiFi internet access – full marks on that score.
Tomorrow, time for some serious mileages.
written by  Saros on May 27, 2009 from San Francisco, United States

The search for gt. Uncle Charlie begins ...
Klamath Falls, United States
Day - 37 Wednesday 27th May 2009
We had a comfortable night in our expensive motel. This is the pool from our room and it's not obvious, but the tree on the left is a lemon tree with fruit on and there was an orange tree with fruit on as well on the far side of the lawn:
After breakfast in the adjoining restaurant, we set off north in our Ford Grand Marquis (note the nice bougainvillea bush outside our door):
Barbara thought that the coast road looked nice, so I programmed that into the GPS. What a bore! Yes it was on the coast but the land was flat and boring and mostly mudflats. It eventually got more interesting but then we got onto various Interstate Highways for some 250 miles ...... yawn. The driving went from nerve wracking to being a struggle to keep awake. Regular coffee stops helped and at times the scenery actually started to get interesting as well:
This was a little part of Lake Shasta, which seemed to be well down on its normal levels.
Getting out of the air-conditioned car was a bit uncomfortable though:
that's 38.3°C for anyone who thinks in Celsius/Centigrade. The sun was every bit as hot as might be expected – I dashed from one bit of shade to another to avoid getting sunburnt. At least the nice rest areas on the interstates did have some shade:
Getting nearer to Klamath Falls, we went over a mountain pass at about 5,000 feet and had many good views of another volcano, Mt. Shasta (the leftmost peak) at over 14,000 feet:
There were a few dramatic thunderstorms in the area, but it was so hot at ground level that we could see the rain falling but evaporating before it got to the ground:
We got to Klamath Falls in the early evening and eventually found the cemetery where it's likely that gt. Uncle Charlie may be buried, but it's rather big and we didn't find him. However, the local ladies we spoke to were very helpful and we may well be able to get some better information tomorrow. We did also find the address on High Street where he used to live, but there isn't a house there any more.
Then off to find a bed for the night and a nice meal in the Chinese Restaurant opposite the motel.
written by  Saros on May 27, 2009 from Klamath Falls, United States

Great Uncle Charley found!
Klamath Falls, United States
Day - 38 Thursday 28th May 2009
Our cheap motel was okay, but some of the neighbours were early risers. It's got air-conditioning and good, free WiFi Internet so it gets a good rating from me.
After our free breakfast, we set off up Main Street for the County Museum where we'd been told that we could find cemetery records, and lo and behold, after a relatively short search through our first book, Barbara found where Charley should be.
Charley was her granny's brother and emigrated to Canada in the early part of the 20th century then moved to Klamath Falls, where he married the widow of a friend.
Barbara knew she'd found the right burial record when she found both Charley and Alta next to each other. We couldn't find anything else out until we'd looked at the graves, so after a short drive, we got to Klamath Memorial Park.
Once we'd figured out the numbering system, we went straight to their graves, which made Barbara very happy:
And here they both are:
Armed now with their birth and death dates, we went back into town and looked through further records in the museum, library and county clerk's office to try and find Alta's previous married name which we hadn't known.
We found a rather complicated set of records with some confusion over the names, but interestingly, we found that Charley had served in WW1:
And a photo of him:
And that's about it for today, apart from joining a meeting of the Klamath Falls History Society this evening, which may be interesting.
P.S. the meeting was interesting, and we were able to thank many of the people who'd spent many hours recording grave details in all the local cemeteries, and some of those who'd helped us today in other ways.
On the way out, the sky appeared to have caught fire, and a good storm seems to be brewing:
written by  Saros on May 28, 2009 from Klamath Falls, United States

High melting point snow???
Eugene, United States
Day - 39 Friday 29th May 2009
A brief tour of Klamath Falls for some photos for the record, and then north towards Crater Lake, which everyone said was worth seeing.
It's very warm here, in the 90's even in the shade, and the sun is extremely hot so we were a bit surprised when they warned us that some roads around the lake were still closed by snow, and there was basically only one way in and out.
We set off past Upper Klamath Lake:
and Barbara was delighted when she spotted not just one, but two pelicans on the lake. Klamath Falls has the pelican as an emblem and we hadn't seen one until then, so it was nice to see they are still around.
We continued north along some very scenic roads and stopped in a very small place called Fort Klamath for a coffee/lunch break in very friendly and somewhat eclectic café/store where I was warned that if I removed my cap, it was considered to be the café's property! I kept it on as the sun outside was still very strong.
Moving on, we drove along the side of a very steep valley and on stopping and looking down, could hear but not see the river at the bottom as it was so steep. There was no barrier at the edge of the parking to prevent unwary pedestrians from stepping over the edge, and although the drop was not vertical, it was so steep and slippery that going over the edge would have meant sliding about 500 feet down the slope, with no chance of getting back up, even if you survived the fall.
A little further up, we encountered the first snow. It was relatively deep, and we were rather puzzled as to why it hadn't all melted because it was still very hot outside the car, and we very much still needed the air-con on. These two pictures were taken at the same time & place, outside and inside the car:
Climbing steadily up the twisting mountain roads, we got eventually to a good sized car park at Rim Village, and hoped to find some 'facilities' as the coffee was working its way through.
We found the café/gift shop .....
and the 'facilities':
and a warning sign:
but fortunately did find a way in as well:
and with 'facilities' available, had another coffee and bought some souvenirs.
Then off to admire the views:
And here it is, unobstructed by grinning tourists:
This is just a little corner of the lake, the whole panorama is simply wonderful, and awesome to consider that this is the stump of a much bigger volcano which blew its top off.
Walking around, there are some interesting points such as the poles to mark where the roads are when it snows in the winter:
And although it's summer here, snowy activities are very much a possibility. Here's a hiker with crampons on coming down from higher ground while Barbara was washing the car screens:
And we discovered that they weren't joking when they said that some of the roads were still closed by snow:
So we had to go back down south before we could go north again, which meant going past our eclectic little café again with its unusual salt & pepper pots:
But most interesting, apart from the chat with the owner, was the collection of over 1,000 caps and hats of all shapes and sizes donated by visitors from all over the USA and other countries:
Having deliberately bought myself a new cap up at Rim Village, I was very pleased to donate my faithful blue Team-Subaru cap to his collection, and was given free coffees in return. :-)
A long and sometimes boring drive, but scenic in parts, up to Eugene for the night.
written by  Saros on May 30, 2009 from Eugene, United States

SCA Reunion
Bremerton, United States
Day - 40 Saturday 30th May 2009
After a bit of shopping in Eugene for things like a new bag to hold all our souvenirs for the flight home, we set off on the longish haul up to the Seattle area.
It could have been another boring drive, but various stops helped quite a lot, including a nice one at a rest area where some local church people were doing free coffee and refreshments as a safety aid for long distance drivers like ourselves.
By mid-evening we'd got to our chosen motel and checked in, then arranged to meet Betty Ann at the McDonalds on Bainbridge Island. Charlie has known Betty Ann since college days in 1968, and although we've seen each other several times in the intervening years, it's been a very long time since we met up in America.
We found each other okay and went off to a nice little place by the harbour for drinks, eats & chats:
And that's about it for today. More socialising tomorrow.
written by  Saros on May 31, 2009 from Bremerton, United States

A tour of Bainbridge Island
Bremerton, United States
Day - 41 Sunday 31st May 2009
Met up with Betty Ann at a nice little café for our morning coffee:
Then off to the nearest beach for Charlie to have a last swim in the Pacific, or at least, Puget Sound. Well, that was the plan, but although the water was quite cold, it was the scum floating on the surface of the water that put Charlie off getting right in. The thought of a green beard was somewhat offputting!
That's Mt. Rainier, an active volcano (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rainier) in the background by the way.
After a lovely barbecue at David's place, we went for a bit of sightseeing and started planning our leaving of the Seattle area tomorrow, and there are several ways of getting across Puget Sound to Seattle:
This is the Bainbridge Island ferry, there's also the Bremerton Ferry; here are the two Bremerton Ferries passing each other:
And another shot of Barbara and David (Betty Ann's brother) watching the Bainbridge Island ferry go past, with Seattle in the background:
We also spent a bit of time with Betty Ann's dogs:
And then Betty Ann showed us her new car:
Then up to a nearby harbour to enjoy the sunset from a harbourside bar:
Nice views of the church and other parts of the town:
And a lovely sunset with the boats bobbing at their moorings and the occasional seal swimming around between them:
Just time then for a farewell photo as David & Betty Ann have to work tomorrow and we have to pack and get ready for the flight home:
written by  Saros on May 31, 2009 from Bremerton, United States

I'm a troll, boldy woll!
SeaTac, United States
Day - 42 Monday 1st June 2009
Got everything repacked and stuffed into the boot (trunk) of the car. Lucky we have the big car we do as there wouldn't have been enough space in a smaller one.
We had a look in Bremerton for the Naval Museum but failed to find it and so decided to just get on the ferry for the 45 minute cruise across to Seattle.
Our ferry, the Walla Walla arrived in due course:
And we were efficiently loaded aboard, and then off at a very respectable speed. The harbour seems to be home to a huge range of boats from the smallest rowing boats and inflatables, right up to naval aircraft carriers and destroyers:
Some passengers decided to try and get a free ride:
There were good views of Mt. Raainier again:
And after a pleasant ride, we got in to the hustle and bustle of central Seattle. It wasn't easy to find anywhere to park, at least with the minimal cash we had available, so headed out of town across a big bridge:
Then we heard this strange noise that seemed to be coming from underneath the bridge, so pulled off, parked and walked back to investigate.
As we walked under the bridge, a large hand came down and nearly grabbed Barbara:
It already had a VW Beetle as a trophy, so probably wasn't too interested in her, as she'd only have been a small mouthful:
We managed to get away from the troll and drove out to Boeing's facilities and “Future of Flight” exhibition to the north of Seattle. It had some interesting stuff and across the apron could be seen this strange craft:
Then we drove across town to the airport, and after a few hassles, found the right place to drop off the car, lugged our luggage into the terminal and checked in. Bags safely sent off, we had to get through security next and they are even more thorough in the USA than most places and you even have to take your shoes off.
And that about finishes it for America. We're waiting now at gate S10 for our 777 to arrive and take us home. Heathrow next stop.
And a late addition, here's our 777 being readied to bring us home:
written by  Saros on June 1, 2009 from SeaTac, United States

Coming home
Heathrow, United Kingdom
A long wait at SeaTac International Airport at Seattle, but the Boeing 777 was very prompt and set off more or less on time and landed very close to the scheduled time as well, but neither Barbara or Charlie got much sleep.
It was good to see the old country again:
complete with the usual traffic on the M25.
We found Aurian easily in Terminal 5 and within 45 minutes of landing, we were on the road on the final leg home.
written by  Saros on June 2, 2009 from Heathrow, United Kingdom

Home at last
Fairford, United Kingdom
Aurian got us home safely with our big pile of luggage and we celebrated with a Chinese take-away as we were too tired to cook anything.
We already knew that one of the five hens had died of old age, and that one or two had gone broody. We found one broody one:
But the other one, which had apparently not been sleeping in the protection of the shed, seems to have provided dinner for Mr. Fox, so we're down to three.
The garden is looking seriously overgrown:
And there's a rather massive pile of post to deal with.
And that's about it. It all seems a bit of an anti-climax after our adventures, but it is nice to be home again.
Thanks for reading our blog.
Charlie & Barbara
P.S. several days after we got back, George, the broody hen we'd thought had been eaten, turned up unharmed and eventually her hiding place has been tracked down and she's being reintegrated into Normal hen society!
written by  Saros on June 2, 2009 from Fairford, United Kingdom

Pole & streamer from Skyblue (Cornwall)

Deep fried Mars Bar