A shockingly early update from New Zealand
Well here's a real treat for all you fans of our blog; here are some photos of the country we are actually in - efficient or what?!
We flew into Christchurch on the south island - it's an excellent way to see the southern alps stretching across the country below:
We were driving out of the city when we spotted this street on the map - the sign would have made a good souvienir. Sadly it was too high on the post and we were lacking the proper equipment:
One of the first orders of business was to check out Cardrona, one of the local ski fields. Lee took the plunge and got involved with learning to ski, and made very good progress without any lessons:
Some local exploring took us up Mount Iron for some good views of Lake Wanaka - also a picture from lake level:
Sadly there has not been much in the way of snow during July. Apparently it either comes in July or August to give the best skiing at either the beginning or end of the season, so our timing was a bit unlucky. To combat the lack of snow we took ourselves off to Dunedin on the east coast - crossing some massive countryside in the process:
The Kiwi take on a Cash Converters:
About to drive down the hill into Dunedin:
When we got to Dunedin we discovered that there is Cadbury factory there - we thought we'd take a look. Inside there is a glistening golden pyramid of Chrunchies, although on closer inspection we discovered that they were just wooden blocks:
We got onto a tour of the factory, but Lee was a bit too hairy so he was made to wear a beard net as well, although that didn't dampen his enthusiasm for all things Cadbury:
While I was in Wanaka I was not expecting to (or had budgeted for) going flying; but the airfield was so convenient to get to, and the mountain scenery was absolutely stunning, it would have been too good to miss. In order to hire a plane to go anywhere out of sight of the airfield I would have to have an introductory course to mountain flying, this sounded like fun to me, so off we went.
Lake Wanaka from the air:
All the while it was threatening to snow, and there was a little bit occasionally, best seen from the top of Cardrona when the wind isn't so fresh:
On the second Monday of the school holidays everyone else went skiing while I flew to Milford sound. Superlatives do not really do the landscape any justice:
The airfield is right at the head of the inlet, packed tightly onto the only really suitable piece of land around. It serves as a major tourist drop-off point for people going on lunchtime cruises. The morning I went it was very icy - feet well clear of the brakes:
After landing we took-off and had an orbit or two around the sound to get enough height to cross the mountains for home:
Cardrona where everyone else was skiing that morning:
Flying done with for the day I headed to Cardrona to meet everyone else for lunch:
Lee and John having some fun at the end of the day:
Next was to head over to the Treble Cone resort on the other side if town. The day I went there were some really spectacular views to be had:
The guys I went with wanted to walk from the top of the highest lift to the peak to get a better run; and after 20 minutes of hard work we got to the top. You can just see the chairlift in the first photo; with me trying to look my coolest at the top - having just knackered myself out walking up, and getting buffeted by a howling wind in the second:
Another day and some more flying. I took Kay along to be the photographer, and she got some excellent shots of Lake Wanaka and the Wilkin river:
With the snow mostly being pretty poor in the downhill resorts we decided to give cross-country skiing a go. Kay took us up to the Snowfarm (where she is a volunteer 'friend') and showed us the ropes:
It's basically a basin filled with loads of terraced tracks for you to go around, and once you get in the track and start lunging, time goes surprisingly quickly:
More to come...stay tuned
-Tim
We flew into Christchurch on the south island - it's an excellent way to see the southern alps stretching across the country below:
We were driving out of the city when we spotted this street on the map - the sign would have made a good souvienir. Sadly it was too high on the post and we were lacking the proper equipment:
One of the first orders of business was to check out Cardrona, one of the local ski fields. Lee took the plunge and got involved with learning to ski, and made very good progress without any lessons:
Some local exploring took us up Mount Iron for some good views of Lake Wanaka - also a picture from lake level:
Sadly there has not been much in the way of snow during July. Apparently it either comes in July or August to give the best skiing at either the beginning or end of the season, so our timing was a bit unlucky. To combat the lack of snow we took ourselves off to Dunedin on the east coast - crossing some massive countryside in the process:
The Kiwi take on a Cash Converters:
About to drive down the hill into Dunedin:
When we got to Dunedin we discovered that there is Cadbury factory there - we thought we'd take a look. Inside there is a glistening golden pyramid of Chrunchies, although on closer inspection we discovered that they were just wooden blocks:
We got onto a tour of the factory, but Lee was a bit too hairy so he was made to wear a beard net as well, although that didn't dampen his enthusiasm for all things Cadbury:
While I was in Wanaka I was not expecting to (or had budgeted for) going flying; but the airfield was so convenient to get to, and the mountain scenery was absolutely stunning, it would have been too good to miss. In order to hire a plane to go anywhere out of sight of the airfield I would have to have an introductory course to mountain flying, this sounded like fun to me, so off we went.
Lake Wanaka from the air:
All the while it was threatening to snow, and there was a little bit occasionally, best seen from the top of Cardrona when the wind isn't so fresh:
On the second Monday of the school holidays everyone else went skiing while I flew to Milford sound. Superlatives do not really do the landscape any justice:
The airfield is right at the head of the inlet, packed tightly onto the only really suitable piece of land around. It serves as a major tourist drop-off point for people going on lunchtime cruises. The morning I went it was very icy - feet well clear of the brakes:
After landing we took-off and had an orbit or two around the sound to get enough height to cross the mountains for home:
Cardrona where everyone else was skiing that morning:
Flying done with for the day I headed to Cardrona to meet everyone else for lunch:
Lee and John having some fun at the end of the day:
Next was to head over to the Treble Cone resort on the other side if town. The day I went there were some really spectacular views to be had:
The guys I went with wanted to walk from the top of the highest lift to the peak to get a better run; and after 20 minutes of hard work we got to the top. You can just see the chairlift in the first photo; with me trying to look my coolest at the top - having just knackered myself out walking up, and getting buffeted by a howling wind in the second:
Another day and some more flying. I took Kay along to be the photographer, and she got some excellent shots of Lake Wanaka and the Wilkin river:
With the snow mostly being pretty poor in the downhill resorts we decided to give cross-country skiing a go. Kay took us up to the Snowfarm (where she is a volunteer 'friend') and showed us the ropes:
It's basically a basin filled with loads of terraced tracks for you to go around, and once you get in the track and start lunging, time goes surprisingly quickly:
More to come...stay tuned
-Tim
posted by Lee at
3:07 am
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