Xmas in NZ

Wed 24th
Another glorious day with the sun beating down. We parked up by Lake Wanake and set off on the Waterfall Creek walk. No time to do all of it but enjoyed spectacular views of the mountains. Headed off to Dunedin around twelve and got there around four. Phoned Daniel an old school friend of Alecs, who probably thought I was mad ( he said to his mum “How random was that” lol ). Met up with Marge and Gavin and their friend Janine later on. The Robbie ( all Scottish in Dunedin ) had a great Soul Band on and we enjoyed good company and a bit of a bop.... really got us in the Xmas mood. Thanks Marge and co.

Thursday 25th Xmas Day
What a fabulous day!!! After a good lie in ( been on the move a long time ) we headed out to explore the Otega Peninsula. Gaz phoned Lin just as we were leaving so put her in a good mood ( not that she always isnt :) ) It was cloudy when we left but as we looked around Lanarch Castle gardens the sun came out.
Carefully tended and planted gardens which were a delight to the eye. We made sure everyone wished us merry xmas by wearing our cracker hats. Raised a few smiles and some puzzled looks from the Chinese tourists. From the castle we headed out to Pilot Beach on the headland- another splendid drive. Our high expectations of seeing wildlife were fulfilled when we spotted several albatross flying amongst the seagulls. Standing on a bluff with the sound of the gulls and the magnificent sight of these huge birds was truly magical. We also had our first view of NZ fur seals. The sun was out fully by the time we arrived at Sandfly beach. Marge had recommended this beach for viewing yellow eyed penguins as well as the seals. A big thank you to her. The beach was backed by the tallest dunes we had seen. Great fun running down them – but dreading the climb back. As we walked along the beach we got close to seals basking in the sun. One couple almost got attacked by a big bull seal when they foolishly invaded its space. We carried on to the end of the beach where hides had been set up at a distance from the rocks where the penguins were known to come out of the sea. We patiently waited to see some and enjoyed good views of other sea birds and seals. Needless to say no penguins surfaced largley because of some thoughtless tourists who insisted on walking up close despite clear notices about these shy creatures. After about half an hour we both thought we were seeing things when Santa appeared on the beach below in full garb including a beard ( not well camouflaged for spotting wildlife ). We thought this was hysterical but fellow birdwatchers were not amused. Disappointedly we strolled back along the beach. I said to Lin in my best school boy voice “ I need to see a penguin now and Ill be happy “ Literally two minutes later we saw one waddle up the beach and into the dunes. On closer inspection we spotted two of them preening their feathers and seemingly quite tame. We got great views through the binoculars and climbed contentedly but wearily up the dunes back to the van.
The day was perfectly finished off with stuffed lamb chops and a nice drop of wine.
Forgot to say we'd had the Xmas cake, provided by Kea, the shortbread and the chocolates earlier!!!

26th December – Lin here
Managed to speak to Gareth this morning ( Xmas night back home) which was great, but was disappointed not to get hold of Alec. Managed to get hold of Brent's mum, dad and brothers, which was nice, then headed off for Christchurch. I was proud of myself today as I found us a very nice campsite right near the centre of the city, so we were able to fit in a lovely walk late afternoon, early evening. We really enjoyed the town, which is very pretty. It was a pity it was a bank holiday as there's a lot of art here and the galleries looked very interesting. We went into the university cloister area and were very impressed by a hanging sculpture of a church...hard to explain, but as you walked around it you saw different views of it( it was a simple line image) very Escher like...loved it. We also liked the front of the Dyslexic building, which had talking seats and lovely statues. Found a studenty bar that was buzzing and enjoyed watching the end of the NZ/ West Indies cricket game, then stopped around 9.30 to listen to some live music – an acoustic singer / guitarist, who played amongst other stuff, some Jack Johnson, who we both like. Another good day.

Time for a little aside about New Zealand:
This may seem unimportant, but actually it really made for pleasant days: there are toilets everywhere and we never had to wait more than 5 minutes before finding one. On top of that the loos are generally very clean, all with plenty of paper, soap etc...as over 50's we really appreciate this.

Saturday 27th Dec:
Left Christchurch nice and early and headed for Kaikouri (meaning eat crayfish – a local delicacy). Today there was a lot more traffic on the road and we quickly realised that the locals were heading off on their annual summer holiday.We were quite worried about finding a campsite and couldn't believe our luck when we got the last site on the Top 10 site in Kaikouri. We enjoyed our lunch...more Xmas cake, Xmas chutney etc.etc and did a nice little walk along the front. After all the alcohol and good food and driving, we were very tired. Still, we managed to do our laundry before retiring to the van, where we watched a daft horror DVD.. bit of fun.

Sunday 28th Dec:
Headed off for Picton and the ferry back to North Island. As we left ( around 8am) a sea fret was hanging over the mountains and the views were quite mystical. Once again the skies cleared for another lovely drive. What a country! After 20 minutes we stopped at Nins Bins – a roadside shack selling fresh crayfish, which Marge had recommended. We bought one for lunch...thanks again Marge! We had plenty of time to stop off at Blenheim, where I tried to get my hair cut at a hairdressers with the same name as the one I use at home ( Beyond the Fringe). Unfortunately they were doing a wedding and couldn't fit me in. Still enjoyed the murals, the toilet and the coffee here, and thought the place was very pleasant. Found a picnic table at Picton and enjoyed our fish lunch before getting on the ferry.. and here we are!

NEW ENTRY
Monday 29th Dec
Got off the ferry and headed into Wellington, arriving around 4.45. Parked right near the Ta Mau? museum. A National museum of culture as well as an art gallery. We enjoyed over an hour in there and could easily have spent a whole day looking at the exhibitions. The Maouri canoes and meeting houses were quite beautiful...definitely a favourite. Left there at 6pm and phoned Brent's cousin, Paul, who gave us directions to their lovely home up on a hill in Melrose, near to Island Bay. Met all the family: Matthew and Rebecca ( and Percy the engine), Mavis and Graham and our hosts, Paul and Wendy. Enjoyed a lovely meal with them. It was great to mix with good company around a Xmas table. We loved the house and enjoyed the view from the top of the nearby hill... even though we almost got blown off...tee hee!

Tues.30th Dec
Another lovely day: Paul kindly took us to Katmandu, a great outdoors store, where we identified a tent, which we later bought. Then Paul, Graham, Brent and I did the walk that the Rochdale Abbotts had done when they visited. We went up the hill where we had a great panoramic view of Wellington. Back to Paul's home and we all fitted into Paul and Wendy's cars and set off to see Pam, Gina and Jed in Waikanue. We'd arranged to meet them in a restaurant and it was lovely to see Jed, Matthew and Rebecca enjoying the play area. They are really close cousins. We all went back to auntie Pam's beautiful house and garden. It was great to be involved in their Xmas celebration and Pam's Xmas tree was absolutely stunning. The children loved all the dancing and singing Santa Clauses she had ( actually so did we!!) and her garden was a real picture. Late afternoon we joined Paul, Wendy , Gina and Larry for a walk up the hill to where uncle Geoff's ashes had been scattered. This was a lovely walk to a tranquil outlook over Waikanue, right above Gina's home. That evening we all headed to Larry's amazing property where we had a great barbeque.