Austrian Bed and Breakfast in Kiwiland - Martina and Ileana visit New Zealand and go on a Tikitour during our Autumn time

 

 

 

 

So - I am going out with three woman - every man's dream - right???
Better be careful what you wish for - sometimes  it does not turn out so great after all.
We (wife/cousin and cousins daughter) stomped around Akaroa.  Already have been mistaken as the husband once and congratulated on MY beautiful daughter.  The Local shop assistant tried very hard to convince me that I should PAY for the GIFT for my "Wife".  Yeah right!!
The two ladies then had a Ice cream each- and the little princess had her own cone - and the conversation soon went on shaky ground - or should that be thin ICE.
These two were discussing who had the bigger balls (ice) on their cone's to munch on.  Needless to say once it dawned on them where this was headed there were a few red faced laughs.

Meanwhile THIS bloke could just wonder what he let himself in for. Hang a sec - - -

Meanwhile the evening concludes with a glass of medicinal drink and take out pizza.  "Wife nr 2" is convinced that we need some healthy whateveringredientmeantobehealthyisinsidetheredwine is good right now!!  PROST

The next day - after the medicinal drink did its stuff - just editing

Here the mermaid wanted a picture of herself  'touched up' and seeing that photoshop was not working as well as we wanted it to  --  we had to resort to a manual job.  The request was for a face-lift and a 10 year younger look - on the coffee!!!!  I think the local art guru in residence achieved that - mind you - he is a SLOW worker.  Guess it took time to get the color choices just right

Looking down from the Hill-top to the harbor in Akaroa and AMAZINGLY a very calm day- soon to be changed by the intrepid travelers arriving.  On the bottom towards the left is a cheese factory  where you can get wines / spreads and the odd cheese story being told.  The shop assistant mistook me for the grand pa - i so must go and re-colour my hair.  hmmmm maybe even ADD some

The sheds on the pier in Akaroa - staging post for the Canterbury Cat - and swim with the Dolphins.  I could not convince Martina to dive in and chase the mammals.  However they also had a pearl shop on the pier and surprise surprise a lot of time was spent in there.
We eventually had to 'rescue' her before she spent any more of urm - well 'my' money (according tot he shop assistant)

The other pier - often used for swimming - or other nocturnal activities.

The Original Light house - out on the harbor head - being replaced with a fully computer controlled automated one.  It was saved - taken apart and shipped to its new location and - attracts lots of amateur camera sleuths. 

Mamabears - show rack??? Could be - but no - while she has about the same amount of footwear - this belongs to the dolphins - kinda.  After the swim they need drying out - ready for the next willing paying customer.  Hmmm wonder if I should copy the design and add to our wardrobe???

While the Austrian girl was captured by a VERY willing sales person we watched the locals being hand-fed.  The acrobatics involved were good to watch and hard to capture on camera.  In the end the sports mode came in handy. No - the guy still got all of his 10 digits intact!

Looking back from the light house to wards - yes the blue shacks.  Loved the contrast of blue sky / sea and buildings AND the yellow flowers.

The last remnants of the rata flower - in flower. A close cousin of the Pohutukawa tree, and very photogenic

You know how it goes - after a swim the MOTHERS of this world INSIST that you dry of, so this fella had no hope in the world.  I just wished we would have gotten a full frontal - no wait that did not sound right - urm - well - you know what I mean

A very common sight in our shores - but apparently not so in Europe - so guess who had to patiently wait for the mermaid (who was spotted lounging on the floor)
and tried various angles for the same picture of the same shell.  I may go back there and scoop some up and snail mail - no wait dolphin-mail it to her - as soon as I can extract the residential address from the mermaid . . .   ^^ 

This is what we call as - 'Lying on the job'  :D  I think that the pink adds color to the beach - don't you???

















After the earthquakes a lot of cones appeared all over town controlling traffic - some even made it to some really weird places and often you end up wondering HOW they got there.  This one is easy - others appears on tree tops (some 30 meters up) or spires of churches . . . . . .

After a exhausting days work we had to work on the fluid intake. I had the healthy stuff!!  The Princess joined in the fun to before we all crashed out















Have fun

Short hop to Akaroa and back

 

 

Seeing we are on holiday and needed to get out of the house in order to avoid 'cabin-fever' we always had it in our mind to hop over the Port Hills to Akaroa.  The town is a nice quaint little place and has a rather unique position in NZ history, as it was originally settled by the French.  Their claim to sovereignty (to the French)

did not last long and the town soon became part of the NZ / England colony setup. However it is something they still make a big thing about - especially now with the tourists coming.  So the original street names are all in French and lots of French flags are flying etc.
With Lyttelton being out of action as a suitable harbour (due to the recent earthquakes and the repairs needed for pier etc) the cruise ships now come to Akaroa harbour and gorge anything from 2-3500 people onshore - most who will go on to other places in the South Island. This in a town that at best has 500 residents living there. Some tourists though stay in the town and go for walks / shopping sprees etc.  I must have been looking the part as we were asked 3 times if I came from the boat.  I mean DO I LOOK like a tourist??? ^^   Honestly!!  Anyway our lunch was very nice and we didn't mind the crowds and throngs and had a great day. You may not see it in the pictures but we had spill over showers from the storm that hit the Westcoast and made walking and taking pictures a bit of fun.  In between these showers there was some really nice blue sky and really warm temperatures.  Turns out the weather did do some significant damage to the Coast. They had 500ml (or more in some parts) for the last 24 hours. Roads where cut by slips or bridges washed out and a vital fibre optic cable was also cut - so some folks had no internet / telephone. Anyway - the other reason we came over was to spot the Pohutukawa trees in Akaroa.  Some where in flower and we were sure a tad later flowering then last year.
They make for a interesting back drop to "The Diamond Princess" cruise ship!!
This however sparked a conversation if the trees are Southern Rata instead.  Indeed they do look very similar and are hard to distinguish.  Must go and research that in a mo - already asked the question on the Crimson Project Facebook page.  --->    www.facebook.com/Project-Crimson-Trust

There is also this blog ---->  thecraigcliff.blogspot.co.nz/difference-between rata.html

which gives a reasonable description!  It's a starting point for a learning curve for me!!  The Local DOC site needs a bit more work - but is also a good starting point --->   www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-plants/rata/

Anyhow - we had a local tradition for tea that day - they do catch and prepare a very nice Akaroa Blue Cod - fish and the one and only Fish and Chip shop recently re-opened after being to heavily damaged in the earthquakes and needed bulldozing!  The Fish is VERY nice to eat - nice white flesh and really light in texture.  Yumnmy. Sadly - the price was a bit inflated - not sure that NZ $9 is warranted - but then the tourists can't get enough of them - so yeah they are making hay while the sun is shining- so to speak.  After this it was time to head back home to Christchurch - in the rain which had well and truly set in now.  The boys tell us they had some thunder and lightning - not that they could see the lightning - but they could hear it - another rarity for Christchurch.

Have fun!

 

Forgotten World Highway trip addendum

UHU - I forgot to add - while in Wanganui and dodging the rain in

Pohutakawa flowering in Mid winter

the Museum (which had a notice pinned at the Entrance that due to it having added a building [eg two buildings budding up to each other] it is deemed a earthquake risk and in case of - blah blah blah - Made us feel right at home!!!) I saw this Pohutakawa tree at the car parking entrance and - YES and it had flowers - and this at the end of June IN New Zealand - eg MID_WINTER!! MOST unusual.  I just had to snap a pic otherwise no-one would believe me.  Upon closer inspection it looked like it was in flower almost year round - it had blossoms that obviously had flowered several weeks back and new buds at various stages! No doubt it will show its full colour during spring!

Oddly enough after this experience we saw many more Pohutakawa trees - small ones - as decorative trees (like in the medium strip on the road etc!!) but saw no further red flowers! ^^ 

Campblanket with New Zealand badges

Right - so I have this crazy idea! It goes like follows:  most towns in New Zeland have a cloth type badge of their location and I have collected a good number since way back.  Recently I was given a brand new blanket at Christmas - my retirement present from Scouting from Mamabear (there was a big hint there).
Anyhow the plan was to sew these badges on to my new camp blanket (the original already being full with scout badges) - so I have been collecting and been on the look out for more of them. (recently acquired a lot of badges from our last trip to Lake Tekapo and Mount Cook) I had to order some badges in from overseas for places we have been to previously, most notably Europe!  Anyhow - try as one might - you cannot get a badge from the Coromandel area - which is R E A L L Y crazy as it is a very touristy area in New Zealand.

What to do - what to do indeed!

Ding - I know - I make my own!!  On the left is the finished result - not half bad - given I had no pattern to work with.  Well - that's not 100 % exactly true.  I had a picture up on the wall of a place in Shelly's Beach (incidentally that I took during a recent trip there) - just north of Auckland and the pohutukawa flowers came from - well - a pattern - but I placed them in the 'right' place.   I even pinched the cloud idea, I made from one of my earlier Teddy-bear cross stitch'. Even managed to get in the word Coromandel - I was worried there is not enough room on the ribbon for it.
So yeah - I am stoked with this Pohutukawa cross stitch pattern - it turned out ok! 

Now just need to sew it on my camp blanket - along with the other 30 or so badges.


PS - if you know of a place that sells them let me know - I'd love to have an
 "original"


pss - 19 Feb - late afternoon

I managed to wash a icon image of Tauranga (filched of the net)  through a software program and came up with something that was stitch-able - 
took a while and ended up a tad bigger then visualised - but hey - its better then not having anything at all!!  I was even foolishly enterprising and to start with hand stitched the border - but  run out of hand eye co-ordination and ended up running it through the Singer using the Button-hole sewing function! Not great - but ok-ish.

Wonder if I can do the same with Waiuku and find something that is stitch-able? ? ? ? ?

 

Day trip to Akaroa New Zealand

We decided to take a day "off" and go over to Akaroa!  It has been years - decades even since Mamabear has been over there.  The weather was sunny and nice with an semi warm wind gently blowing across the harbor.  We basically just sat and relaxed in the sun.

Here is one of the guns on display at the foreshore. Kids have great fun crawling over and under it.  A little while later a Mr Whippy came and parked next to it - and after about 10 minutes you got sick of his "calling" tune - being repeated ad nausea. 

Amazingly - we had forgotten that there are pockets of Pohutukawa dotted around Akaroa.  The micro climate is just right for them this far south!  In summer it is generally always sunny and warm, and of course they grow best on the sea shore.  Akaroa was originally settled by the French - only to miss out on claiming NZ as a colony by the English who had managed to plant a flag someplace else a few months earlier.

The light house in Akaroa - originally at the head of the harbour entrance.  No idea why they shifted it here - but is still works!

Hmmm  yes - well - I could not resist taking more pics of New Zeland's Christmas tree - our Pohutukawa!!  It was in full bloom and a sight to behold.  Made me wish I was on holiday for a month or 3 or 6 -- in the Coromandel!

Ditto - what more is there to say

The picnic spot where we used to have our lunches.  We also have some pics (hard copy only) of our boys climbing in and out and up the tree when they were a lot younger.  Now - sadly roped of as the sea wall next to the tree has been damaged and it is not safe to be near the tree.  It could fall into the sand below any time . . .    bugger our earthquakes.

The Akaroa Pier - staging post for several enterprises -swimming with the Dolphins and the harbour cruise among them.  There is also a blue pearl shop and some other little stuff - and from memory the fishing boats sometimes load their catch too.  Akaroa Cod is a beautiful fish to eat - in fact I make it a point of having fish and chips while over there, as the fish cooked is so fresh over there.  yumm

Taken from a ex-changing shed now converted into a Cafe.  It has atmosphere and what better place to sit and sip on a cold blonde one - or if you fancy a medicinal red and see the sparkling water and feel the sun . . . .
and relax. . . . .

perfic day to finish with!!







 

Christmas in New Zealand

It happens every year. The world engages in a very festive annual birthday party! Everyone goes nuts and is stressed for time and giving presents. Max meanwhile is a happy beagle - he always gets a very large beef shin bone and it takes him about three weeks to completely demolish it. In-between he buries it - for safe keeping.

Mamabear was determined to have these 4 Santa Clauses finished by the time Christmas came round.  She made it with 5 hours to spare. In the interest of  child friendly images we used Coka-cola and a fruit juice bottles.  Normally we would have used a medicinal red - or even a white Gewurztraminer (mamabear's favorite tipple atm).  We would also most likely have finished all four by the time the holidays have finished.

I am ready!  Will Santa sit on my knee??  Will he bring me a decent pressy??  I KNOW I was a good girl all year long and will be on the nice list.  See I can laugh and make nice . . . . .

Please - SANTA - Honest - I was a G O O D girl . . . .

After a exhausting days - oops night of work - here Santa Claus can be seen to be ready to hit the beach and sand. He is wearing a Pohutukawa shirt and some Shorts and jandals and plenty of sunscreen.  Now for a 11 month long siesta on the beach and chill out time, wish I could join him!!
Time to go and have a nana-nap on the sand!!  tudeloo
Ttyl











 

Pohutukawa near Auckland

As you can see we had two motels to bunk down with / in and their kitchen's - well - could not be much more different.  In the first motel we stayed the floorspace was HUGE while in the second one one was afraid to breath in - or should that be breath o u t  ^^.   The first kitchen had 10 cub-boards and it is miles from the fridge to the stove (well ok - just short of 10 meters) and in the other - hmmmm the fridge is under the sink.  It amused Mamabear that if you wanted to USE the Microwave oven you had to physically lift it of its resting place and put on top of the counter between Oven and sink!  They did have 2(!!! ONLY) of everything though - plates knife etc. and best of all - a wireless internet connection - which was great as it was the first time I could catch up and deal with outstanding emails!!
Oh and seeing that we had some sort of Italian meal out in a nice place in Orewa - which was not licensed,  we - or that should be me - the old bear - had a glass or two of some very nice flavoured red medicinal drink!





The Sand dunes at the Woodhill Forest!  A pity that the still photo does not capture the glint!! It was like having zillions of tiny diamonds scattered in the sand! Very nice and mesmerizing to look at!






The entrance to the beach - mentioned at yesterdays blog entry!!

After a quick and easy roast chicken lunch (courtesy of NW in Helensville) we continued to drive around eventually got lost just north of Orewa. Next morning we stopped at the Kauri museum just south of Warkworth. With Mamabear working in the Timber industry she was keen on guessing the log on display and she got most of it right - impressive!!  The Museum itself is along the same lines as our famous shantytown on the westcoast (south island) but on a much simpler case.  There is only one house and it has many static displays - including a "fashion" display that features urm - many garments I almost wish mamabear could see herself in ^^
There is a interesting walkway through the bush with many stations explaining the growth of the various trees (all I could see is timber for wood working and a fire place) and pride and honour are the two main Kauri trees - reported to be 600 and 800 years old.





The last thing that was cool to see were plenty of silverferns.  You have to turn the leaves over to see the "Silver" part of the fern and of course it comes in handy if you are lost in the bush as the 'silver' fern can be seen for miles in the dark and the rescue chopper people really like this to guide them and help find the lost people in the bush!





Meant to say before - there is this certain SBS advertisment in TV - and we kinda guessed the location and yup - a very quick drive across to Thames on the Sat morning found the location of the TV shoot. 

The add features Sandy's supperette and a nice boy/girl interchange at the end.




My pic taken from almost the same spot - I knew I had seen this location before -from a previous trip through Thames - Coromandel.  we had lunch there but did not see Sandy's Supperette - I think that was just a temp fake store for the Tv's!! 

Anyhow - Moo-ving along

Ever seen the Film - "the Birds" from Alfred Hitchock??  We certainly had that feeling while eating our lunch at Warkworth - which was very nice - except for being watched. As soon as we stood up and had moved ONE pace away from the table it was all on and any leftovers where gone in a flash!!
Scarry stuff




These locals where a pleasant surprise.  Came across the street to take a bath in the local gutter.  Funny thing was, that afterwards the little ones looked dirtier then before.  Something about a bird in the gutter . . . . .  ^^  Reminded me of someone - can't think of who at the mo.





Last stop over we had before hoofing it back to Auckland (and give Mamabear the severe road rage - urm - make that road fright (due to the 4-lane-ing on the Auckland motorway and the sometime chaotic evening rush hour traffic))  was at the aptly named RED beach!!  No red-necked anyone there - it is so named for the local shells who have a very distinct red shell and of course over time mother nature pounds them up into tiny pieces who eventually become sand - whence its name. I must go and look up the name for the shells - eventually - but yeah - it made for a last and interesting stroll round the beach! 

That's all folks - another road trip in to Pohutukawa country completed!  Must say - we are looking forward to the time when we can retire and live up there more permanently - eventually!  Must go and save some pennies for the next trip!  Tudeloo - PB