Short hop up to Arthurs Pass and back

 

 

 

 

At the little Alpine village we stopped and stomped around the local Info center and then decided to taste the local fare.  Most unusual in summer - a group of our NZ Parrot species - the Kea came down from their lofty mountains and decided to give the locals as well as the tourist a thrill.  These cheeky parrots are extremely clever and ingenious. They also know how to work together.  Team-work - something many a scout could learn from. The only way to keep them at bay seems to be to squirt them with water.  Seems almost cruel - but it does work.  One has to see them in action to believe what these little feathered creatures can do and achieve.  The can dismantle any rubber seal from any car - take of your hubcaps and can 'burgle'

sealed and locked rubbish bins. They are also a very noisy breed and can squawk with an earsplitting volume!  Still very amusing to see them in action. 
 In any case the reason we did the short hop was that it was mentioned about the Carpet of Lupins near Arthurs pass.  I have never seen many there - which is probably due to us not traveling there during flowering season - so we decided to make it a short hop up there - after all it is only 150km there or so!  Amazingly there was indeed a good display.  naturally the Tourist do love that scene.  And while one would agree on the lovely flowering display - this ex Austrian is only to acutely aware that the lupins are regarded as a introduced weed and really are a pest to New Zealand s bio-diversity.  What is amazing in this particular location is the single purple colour and we are miles from any large settlement - so the wind must be doing a good job dispersing the seeds from far away towns. 
<--- This particular spot is near Kondyke corner and is upriver from the Waimakiriri riverbed.  It would be several 100 meter across and who knows how far back to the tree line. The Waimakiriri is a river known for its river braids - lots of shingle and lots of small river channels.  The amazing thing is - when it does pour with rain the water level can raise by as much as 10 meters in the blink of an eye.  Obviously it hasn't for a while!!  The water looked very inviting and I did ask Mammabear if she was brave enough to test the water.  Probably just as well she did not as it is still glacier fed and so is very cold. 

Short hop up to Arthurs Pass

We decided (pretty much on the spur of a moment) to take a 300km round trip up to Arthurs pass! The travel takes you up and over the Porters Pass - bit of a climb (for NZ anyhow)  and you then travel along the scenic plateau where part of the Lord of the Rings was filmed and are many other notable sights to be seeing or explored!  One of them is a place called 'Cass'.  Notable claim to fame is that our famous Painter Rita Angus painted the "Railway Station" back in 1936!! Such was the picture that at one stage it featured on NZ Postal Stamps!  Cass of course is nothing more then a place for Railway staff to do some work and I understand that the Canterbury University has a lodge or something rather nearby as well - but other then that there is really nothing else.  You have to get of the main road by 300 meters along a shingle road to see it.  Normally pretty much everyone just whizzes past - totally ignorant of the place - but this time I made a point and stopped and showed mamabear her part of history!  We took some pictures and compared notes with Ritas painting. www.nzhistory-cass-rita-angus  <-- This link will give more of an idea to how and what in her painting.  The trees of course have changed and in the actual painting you cant actually see the railway tracks - but the mountains have not changed much - if anything!  I let you compare.  mamabear snapped a couple of other perspectives - side on so to speak and of course the Lupins!  The place must be having a historic places trust heritage qualification - and is always done up nicely - and maintained! Although in the  full sun - it gets a bit hot and yeah the paint does blister of.  This particular day we had 30 plus and you could feel the heat.  In winter it drops down to below freezing - so yeah!!  I guess the Railways still uses the place - last stop before it winds itself up towards Arthurs Pass and then down the tunnel to Otira and the westcoast.  One day we shall do the full Train journey!! Perhaps in winter when there will be snow!!

 

Short road trip to Oamaru - day 3 going home - the long way

Got the usual morning routine done and packed and left the Motel.  Upon checking out we  mentioned how we had enjoyed our stay here and the owner being a good business person invited us back – and then threw in a cheeky comment about buying the place.  Yeah right – like  we have that kind of dough!!  (Turns out the place is indeed for sale ---> 
http://www.primecommercial.co.nz/1730170
Having missed the Local Info centre twice already we headed back down  by now a very familiar path and parked the car in town and – yess found more cloth badges as well as some other items to be mailed to Europe at the info centre!!  The material shop however proofed to be a disappointment.  At the penguin colony they had some quilted cushions with the material consisting of lots of blue penguins – so naturally we thought we could get some and be creative ourselves.  Major let down – they no longer make this particular kiwiana material.  Seems it was a special one-of-run for locals only!! Ah well – you can't win them all (seems to be today’s lesson – with NZ All Blacks and their female counter parts loosing to England in a Rugby international match - bummer  )  Anyhow – the lady at the info centre was sort of right – gave us wrong instructions for a certain road to take – which we fixed by LOOKING at a paper Map (WHO says scout skills are never used in real Life????) only to find the last working quarry for Oamaru stone. We cheekily drove in and asked about tours etc and the receptionist was very friendly and allowed us to stomp around the place.  The quarry itself was interesting to view.  Thankfully it had rained the night before – so the dust level was down to a minimum.  The stone itself is nice to work with – easy to shape and certainly has been used by many buildings in the local area – especially the bigger buildings.  Next time we must 'walk' the local heritage tour and take note of all the buildings.  The workers at the quarry cut into the floor and then horizontally and then lift out the two ton blocks - and it takes them a year to lower the floor by one level. And I counted 14 rows so this particular area has been worked on for some years - and there was talk about going sideways into the hills by removing trees etc. So there is plenty of Oamaru stone left - and it is nice as block work for houses - or craft work.  The other bit was that any excess / waste gets shipped "across the hill" to a limestone factory which grinds them up and does . . . . stuff to it . . .     :)
From there is was really a no brain-er – given the ever increasing brighter sunshine – so we decided to head inland and add about 200km to the home journey – which required some arithmetic and a guestimate of another 10 litres of petrol to get us home.  More on that later.
However – the journey takes you past Lake Pukaki and Mount Cook in the distance and then on to Tekapo – which is Mamabears favourite place in the South island.  The weather ended up being glorious – sunny with no cloud and mid 20 degrees and the Lupins where lining the road and in full flower.  The road itself is taking you through the heart of the MacKenzie country and there are huge tracts being converted to dairying (Milk making) which changed parts of the landscape – it now looks a lot greener then in previous years where it was often brown and barren during the summer months! Anyhow – after a quick lunch in Oamarma (of plane gliding fame) on to our first stop – Mt Cook.  Yumm we stopped at many places and took far to many pictures!!  Far to many - this is just a small sample



Once we got to Tekapo – we noticed that we had plenty of time left so made a quick decision to walk  around the lake bed and of course take many more pictures with the Lupins and the lake and the grand vista background of snow topped mountains featuring regularly.

And lets not forget the Church of the Good Shepherd – a tiny multi-denominational shared local church – with the minster living some 50 km some other place.  This tiny church must be the most photographed church – I am sure.  But then how many churches do you know that have behind the altar a big window that looks out across the lake and towards the  snow topped Alpine mountains.  The view is so grand that it would be very easy to forget and listen to the sermons on offer, something which I understand from one of the locals happens often.  Funnily enough the Visiting priests can tell – by the dreamy look on peoples faces as they look out the window behind him!    Regular readers will remember a previous blog entry of our “other weekend" there    ( oldbearnews trip to Tekapo in January) .  Mamabear so taken by the scenery that she offered and admitted to the concept of selling our house and buying a Motor home and just tour for a full year and see all of NZ!! hmmmm that has got possibilities!!
Sadly we did have to go home and go to work the next day.  We could have easily called in sick – and booked a room some-place at Tekapo and stayed another night . . .

So we hit the road again with a pretty much boring nonstop drive home.  The only excitement was that half way to home the tank light started shining and the needle was dropping to empty alarmingly fast.  The question being would we make it home or do I need to push the car for the last 20-50 km.
In the end we arrived in Christchurch with about 3-4 litres of petrol left in the tank – good for another 28-35 km. Very nerve wrecking.



<---  The Lake out-let - looking across to the Church of the Good Shepherd 






It is as good looking as this picture suggests - and much much more grander!









The Photographer in action - taking the above picture






 



The colours - oh the colours!!! Fabulous to look and smell them.






 

More or less the view the people have when sitting in the front pew inside the church!!  Who would WANT to sit at the back then? ? ? ? ?  













 

Short road trip to Oamaru day 2

Up early and researched the Aussies  vs Wales rugby game on the net (they won [A]– just – bugger) when I saw the score for the All Blacks vs England – that was VERY depressing (especially as the Black Ferns also lost their match)!! Had quick breakfast and got gear together and headed of. First stop the info centre – which we discovered was still closed and remained so for another 40 minutes. Bugger this – decided not to waste more time and headed of towards Moeraki and their famous boulders. ma loves that place and to be fair it is pretty special.  We would often stop there just short of Dunedin when travelling with the boys when they were young – but these days the place just whizzes past – so good to take time out and visit. Parked the car and “paid” the voluntary donation of $2 and headed down towards the beach. Boulders pretty much the same since I saw them first in 1985 or so.  Place was busier though – lots of tourist clambering over them so hard to get a good picture with not a person in it that was NOT your wife.  Anyhow we decided that after last nights dinner we needed a good stroll and there was oodles of time so headed north along the beach – almost totally deserted.

Met a lovely couple along the way – who did not have much to say for themselves - couldn’t get a peep out of them! In the end we probably strolled 2km north  with the original boulders just a tiny speck on horizon – so turned around and headed back.  Still lots of foreigners climbing on and around the stones.
As an aside these days as a Kiwi you are very much a minority in your own country in the more popular touristy spots. 

 <-----  Not a local mermaid - and a typical scene at the boulders!!  :)
Compulsory  stop at the local souvenir store – where we found – yusss another badge!! Local sales person friendly especially when she found out we were kiwis and intended to head into Moeraki itself – small town - hmmm village!!  Drove there and yeah the houses and place was left behind somewhat.  However there IS a thriving fishing community and I am sure the locally caught fins are very tasty!!  Didn’t find anything remotely interesting to see or do so tried to find the lookout that was recommended from the sales lady at the Boulders.  Ended up on yet (sorry Mamabear) another shingle drive – and at the end there is the light house – still in working condition.  However you cannot go on top and admire the views – so back into town and seeing it was lunch decided to stop at the boulders café for a snack.  After yesterday's rather heavy lunch we just light lunch – sandwich and a slice of cake along with a drink.  Very nice and relaxing in the sun.  Again just another Kiwi couple there – the rest of the patrons all from overseas!!
After this  we headed back to Oamaru and checked out the local Info-centre – this time it was open - so had a good look – and YESSS found some more relevant badges for the camp blanket!! wohooo
Asked a question about the Oamaru stone quarry = but seems they do not take tours for small couples or groups – just large groups!! hmmmm
Had another stroll through town and then of to a local beach – for compulsory sand sample – then somewhat tiered back to our motel where Mamabear is relaxing and tanking up on her vitamin D while I try to find a suitable eatery for tonight via google!! Major bummer the Greek place is not open on Sunday's – so back to the drawing board!!
Incidentally the Motel unit has everything for two – plates / glasses / cutlery / bed / etc – but  N O  way of cooking anything on or with – eg no fry pan / stove / cooker / pots etc.  The closest you get to cooking would b a Microwave oven- and I don't use that for cooking and not that there was anything to cook in with.  It does have a mini fridge though so there are thanks for small mercies - and that was chilling down a bottle of white for later's.
We ended up going to a place called the Galleon  
→  http://www.galleoncomplex.co.nz/ 

- weird – we were the only guests eating there and the two waiters having a sit down at a table and a good chinwag – and by the time we left around 8 pm they closed up shop even though their website calls it open 'till late. Even weirder and somewhat amusing to Mamabear was the fact that on the premises was held a meeting of a church called 'The Blue Penguin Church'.  I had to google THAT one!!!  
The place was not recommended to  us by the motel owner and if we had read the review before we went there might have thought twice about it – but what came out was good and eat-able, although I can easily see how the bad reviews can come about!!  Back home to a glass of white and cheese and some r+r and then we decide if we want to go home the long way – inland or go straight along the coast.  This would depend on the weather tomorrow thou . . . . .

About 2 km north from the boulders - this rather messy area - seldom seen by many tourists, and a typical beach scene in North Otago.  There is a mythology from the local Maori tribes on how they came to be, and then there is the scientific version - but I let you google that!!  :)


















 

Short Road trip to Oamaru and the Blue Penguins

We had booked this in for a long time - and finally the day came.  We left home near 11 am – got tanked and hit the road, good traffic flow past Ashvegas and stopped eventually in Temuka for lunch. First up we had a short stroll through main and old part of town and then settled in for lunch at the pottery shop cafe. Very nice and filling.  Shop sold nice pottery stuff- with nice prices to go with it! Then carried on towards Oamaru = nice and easy driving, with very little traffic on the road.  Although the Milk tankers were numerous.  Seems it is true that dairying is the fasted growing business currently in New Zealand. We found the motel easily enough and dumped bags then got directions and headed towards the  penguin colony for the first part - a guided tour. 

www.penguins.co.nz/

They are genuine shy critters and easily spooked which explains the no pictures at night policy - I was how ever permitted to get down low and snap (daytime) these two hiding under the boardwalks!

Nice lady met us there and took us for a short guided tour – and I managed to snap a pic or two. Seems there is a very strict no photography policy at night - with any kind of camera! Got instructions for the return trip at night and headed in to the old part of Oamaru in search for a badge and dinner.
I got the badge - eventually – and we strolled up and down the main street (which was deserted being a Saturday afternoon / evening and it appeared they had had their Santa Parade that morning) – then settled on the “The last post” for dinner.  The wine was a bit pricey – but the meals were first class. Almost a shame we had late and heavy lunch.  Mamabear was not able to finished her meal - a very nice kumara beef-strips salad!!
Back we went to the Motel and quick note taking of the days events and news – then a clothes change for warmth. We head back out to the Penguin Colony to see the little critters arriving back home for their nests having done a days swimming in the ocean and hunting for their food!! 
Well, we were told to dress up warm as it can get very cold just sitting at the beach at the viewing platform (and at night). So we did -- only to walk out the door into a typical Canterbury norwester – balmy warm with some 20 plus degrees!! We decided to be better over dressed and xtra warm then risk it and be cold.  Got back to the Penguin colony in a jiffy and sat down expectantly.  Sadly the crowd control was a tad lacking and many getting out of their seats to get 'front – row' viewing – thus spoiling if for those that kept their places.  Eventually close to 190 little flippers came ashore and waddled in – with a lot of noise and smell. Very funny to watch – but also interesting.  Some  juvenile wannabee teenagers not in a hurry to get home to their nest and ended up taking the 'scenic' route.  The colony, thanks to its predator proofing and non intervention policy, has about 200 + penguins nesting there. They live up and down all of the NZ coast line and also the southern coast line of Australia -but you won't see them in concentrations like these anywhere else!!  The little flippers are smaller then a chicken - stand only about 25 cm tall and are actually the smallest known Penguins. Such is their fame they feature on one of the New Zealand bank notes!!  Back to our motel at about 10.30 – and decided to flag the vino fino and head for bed instead.