Secret location revealed

We left Chch on Sat morning and headed north. We managed to stop at Reefton for lunch - saw the patron who said "you look familiar . . ." Lunch consisted of a chicken / mushroom pie. Yummmm.
Then a quick stop at the local info center and back on the road. Discovered from Reefton it was still 3-4 hours driving to Nelson. No sweat - roads where empty and dry - so this little Nikki Lauda wannabe made good time.
Got overtaken by a greyhaired elderly gent driving a big grunty Merc.



I had to laugh - he got pulled over near Richmond just short of Nelson by a traffic cop and said elderly greyhaired gent did NOT look happy!!
Anyhow the weather was overcast and cloudy in bits - really moody in parts - and absolutely stunning! NZ is indeed a beautiful place to live and we are extremely lucky to be here.






We snapped this little icicle just short of Reefton. The picture ain't doing it justice -the formation was over 2 meters in height! Inside the Reefton info center was lots of displays for outdoor stuff - national Parks etc etc. Found some sample of NZ timber and life cycles of native fauna and flora.







Also found this Bushmans quote about our Beeches - if you are colour blind you got major problems!!!

CONFUSED????





















Yes we did leave Chch in stunning sunshine - pity it did not last.









See how the mood changed??
















If you have a good look here you will find our own NZ version of the "Desperate Housewives" all three of them in fact!!! Can't imagine for one minute why they would be bored at home.


Found the motel in Nelson soon enough and went out for a meal and bunked down for the night, after watching the All Blacks fumbling their way past Italy.

Sunday 28 June
Out of bed early-ish and eventually got breakfast sorted. Quick wash and we were of to Motueka to see the local market. Well the 9!!! stalls did provide some form of entertainment - but of course we keep comparing this with our own Riccarton market!! Anyhow not much to see and most shops closed so headed back towards Nelson when we saw the sign for Seifreids Winery - and seeing Pam likes their Gewurztraminer decided to stop and taste their samples. Some HICKS later . . .
Hmmm - NICE stuff. Bought 4 bottles which no doubt will be soon gone! However they do mail order for some specific wines = not available in Chch, so that might come in handy at a later stage.
From there we headed into Nelson proper and found the local tourist info center - asked a couple of questions - loo-stop and we were of again. Wanted to see the the "Center of New Zealand". We found the park soon enough - oddly enough - it was near the park where the first ever Rugby match in NZ has been played way back in the 1870's!! Walked across the hallowed park!!! Very muddy now from Soccer play.
To get to the center of NZ you have to walk up a steep hill - on zig - zag walkway - all of 147 meters. Mamabear was huffing and puffing her way up slowly. Guess my daily regular 12 km walks came through in terms of fitness!
On top got grand view across Nelson City and harbor - amongst the clouds and a very strong and cold wind. After reading the signs and obligatory photos we headed back down - much easier.
Center point is probably 55 km further NW of Nelson - but it IS the spot where the first official survey point of the South Island was laid.
Anyhow from there Lunch - yeah McD. - they have the Kiwiburger's back for short time - so it was quick and easy.
After this we headed back out to Motueka way - and stopped at Hoglunds - a glass blowing factory. They had nice stuff there - but I could not bring myself to pay $7000 - for a piece of molten Sand.
HOWEVER - they do a hands on glass beads making session - and will and can take our scouts - provided we "supervise" them and are prepared to pay the asking price.
Hmmmm this might be a camp in Feb - we could camp at a local camping ground etc etc. By that stage we had enough of the wind - so headed back to motel - for a bit of rest b4 dinner.
Ended up pizza take-out - which was very nice - the guy runs a wood fired oven and we had good convo with him - re closed similar business in Chch while waiting for pizza to cook. Seems you need a special Italian oven . . . . ^^ - anyhow - one pizza and one bottle of lovely slosh later - fell into bed while realizing that we will need to check the weather forecast on Monday and see if we come back via Kaikoura!

Monday 29 June
Usual routine - up with wakeup call from PC - then breakfast and shower etc - then packing up.
Went to pay our bill and Lady at counter said she wondered if she was going to make it to work - she lives in Malbourough Sounds - a long way to come to work. She also said she heard that snow was falling in mountains so Mamabear was dead keen on getting back home via long and safe way - Blenheim and Kaikoura. Stopped on the way in Nelson and found the chocolate patisserie that sold all sorts of nice stuff - sent in Mamabear while I waited in car - not wanting to be party of big calorie rich stuff! Then headed of - to be met immediately with strong winds and heaps of rain. Road empty again - for most part a few lorries on the road and had to make my FIRST overtaking maneuver for the weekend!!!!
Eventually made it across the hills into Blenheim country and from there to Kaikoura - where we stopped for lunch! Wet and windy all the way!! See the weather map - we knew from TV news that parts of the North Island got a soaking - about 100 - 150 ml!


Anyhow - all safe back now - and need to face up to the next few days at work / scouting / home life etc .

Have fun

PS . - I did 1200 something kilometers this weekend - and well lets just say we travelled - urm - fast-ish but not as fast as we could have in europe!!

Lenghty tunnels

I meant to add - to get to the other side of the alps you have to go through 4 major tunnels (major = more then 3 km in length - the longest was 9 km) and several small ones (small being anything from 300 m to 1.5 km)!! and yes - it is a bit of a weather divide!!

In case you doubted my word earlier - here is a pic (not photoshopped) of Mamabear skating on thin ice - and trying hard to chase little Daniel on his skates. And yes she fell down once! very gracefully and with style. I gave her a 9.5 for style and 5.9 for the technique displayed!!












Today we picked up Oma and drove towards Linz - Pucking actually and saw my Auntie Elizabeth- as well as my cousins-once-removed! way cool. Spent lunch and part of the afternoon there! Mamabear doing lots of breaking again on the autobahn!! (covered another 120 km there and then back again! - in record time, I am so gonna miss that!!!)



Anyhow we both are knackered - and looks like we are getting a cold so might call it a early night and then have all of the 24th to look forward to!



MERRY (snowy) CHRISTMAS everyone!!!!!
Papabear and Mamabear

ESCAPE

Wow - only in Europe - although I dear say some Westcoaster's might do this too from time to time.
Day started with rain and drizzle and we didn't fancy stomping round Munich in this miserable weather so after the usual morning routine we got in the car and went in search for either snow or sunshine - whichever came first. Drove towards the alps and got as far as the Hohe Tauern, where it just started to snow- figures = right on the middle of nowhere and high enough up. So decided to go through the tunnel and came out on the other side - surprise surprise - beautiful blue skies.
This was only marred by the low lying fog that came from the rivers and lakes. Carinthia is known for its lakes and baths. Where else in the world can you enter a mountain one one side with heavy snow and come out the other side and have sunshine?????

Anyhow stayed in the local town of Villach - where we had spent a night in 2002 - and walked round town - seeing sights and sounds. It must have been a miserable day cause even Santa Claus was taking a well earned break!!
Luckily for us he agreed to have his pic taken!









We also found this lovely Christmas calendar - and as you can see - only one more day to go - wohooooo!!!!
Yes folks Christmas here is celebrated on 24th Dec - which is just dandy for the time difference to ring ol New Zealand on the 25th their time!!









Then the mad kiwis decided that seeing we where so close to the border we dip into Italy - which we did. Here is the proof!! (I have to admit though - we did only travel 8 km into Italy - took the first exit town - drove briefly round that only to take the autobahn back into Austria)
All in all we did just a smitten over 450km round trip! Not bad for a lazy Monday morning ESCAPE drive. Shame we had to be back home tonight - and get ready for visiting my auntie in Pucking tomorrow - or we would have stayed a night in Villach - and not having a toothbrush would not have worried us!!

Drive through fog

Usual morning routine - packed and left for the Rhein valley. Mamabear hearing noises on street in front of our Window - and looked out to find a group of school children all rugged up and walking to school in complete darkness at 7.45 am. Had to ask the local hotelier for instructions on how to get to the Valley. Weather was still foggy so knew we would not see much - still by the time we hit the valley it had lifted somewhat and we could get a feel for what it must be like. Mamabear going crazy with camera and taking lots of pics. Also had to point out the story of Lorely and also that it inspired the Niebelungen setting - Tristan and Isolde etc.
Got to the end of the valley and decided to stop in last town for a quick bite and maybe some tourist shopping. No Christkindl market and only one genuine Tourist shop - in a former Bakery.We did however stock up on drinks - including 2 bottles of the local Mosel wein region wein's! Yumm. From there we hit the Autobahn again. Heard on news lots of stau's - but luckily for us not on any of our routes. It used to be a simple system - but now there are so many cross routes we had to be on our toes as to which direction we wanted to go.

Needed to get some petrol after we nearly run out = 1000km on one tank is not bad going!
Such is European traffic - we managed a stretch on the autobahn covering 100km in 25 min and then had to go via open country road and covered 50 km in 55 minutes. Anyhow after another 400 km plus journey - we found Treuchtlingen in Bavaria (and in the snow -which they had for the last whole week) and went in search of a place to bunk down. Eventually found a Gasthof tucked away way back of the beaten track - again the first one we looked at - turns out there are heaps more further into the town. Anyhow the place is lovely - and yes they had a room. Unloaded and went for a quick stroll through town to stretch legs and came back for dinner - just lovely. Asked for a phone directory as we could not Txt Aki - no luck so the lady offered us her phone - and we successfully made contact with Markus and Aki. Arranged to meet next day after breakfast. (Not sure why we cant ring a land-line) Gave Pam more kittens taking the car on a wee spin in the snow and getting nearly stuck!! I have been told of for trying to much!!
Decided to head back to room and use some time to catch up on blog, (well - pre-write , no internet here) and Diary.

Got a knock on the door. Most unusual.
Lady informs us we have a V I S I T O R ! ! Us - in the middle of the nowhere - a visitor???? This could be interesting. It was Aki who came to say hello and offered a taxi service to her place so we could meet and have a drink. Which we did - spent a lovely time meeting some more Scoutlink folks. Back home by 10pm-ish and straight to bed. Blog and diary will have to wait now - maybe even till we hit Salzburg again! Arranged with Aki that we will meet again the next day - after our breakfast at the local Gasthof. Turns out that while we were searching for her number in directory Aki meets monthly at the place we are staying and knows the land lady very well. Small world. Was most funny - the German chatters on Scoutlink wanted proof (via photo) that they did not cheat and made up our presence, and when Markus did upload image there was a hint of suggestion of photo-shop being used. If only - then I would have asked to look 20 years younger!!!! Met Earny online too, he still yet to receive his pressie from Dees. Hehehe - despite some big clues - he still has no idea what the big furry thing is. Ah well he'll find out soon!

Bee good - pics to follow maybe tonight from Salzburg.

Rotterdam and beyond

Had a bit of a sleep in then up and usual breakfast etc . Then headed of to the bus/train. 1 hr journey through Dutch country side and saw lots of water - canals, small and big.
We took the train as the locals advised against the use of the car - to much hassle in getting form a - b and then there is always car parking and why use it if the public transport system is so great - clean and punctual.
Both Amsterdam and Rotterdam are 4 meters below sea level and so far touch wood the dykes have not ever been breached - if they did many will have to learn to swim in a hurry.
Anyhow eventually got into the Train station and txt our friend Dees = still 20 min away so we grabbed lunch at the nearest foody place - Burger King.
From there we had a good walk about - first up the Euro Tower - caught lift to the top and had a 360 degree walk - saw Rotterdam from the air. Then on top of the tower is a revolving enclosed platform that gave a good audio and highlighted special landmarks. Wohoo
During walk through the more boring inner city shopping center Dees treated us to a typical Dutch waffle - a Stroopwafel, which is essentially two thin waffles "glued together" with honey - very rich and filling.
Dees then took us through part of the town and showed us various sights - the most crazy one a new-ish housing development where people live in cubes (as in rubic) that are not flat on ground but rather high up in air A N D standing on their points!! What a way to live.
It was then arranged to meet Sunny and Anya - Sunny being a Dutch guy and Anya ex Mexico - and both are regular Scout link chatters.
Anya has her parents from Mexico over here for Christmas too - and they tagged along as well. We met in a cafe - needing to warm up again as it was cold outside - and had 7 people on the table communicating with 4 languages a n d hand and feet!! Most hilarious conversation - yet everyone seemed to understood everyone and we all shared in the convo!!
From there we went to the home of Dees - via more train - and 10 min walk - and had a typical Dutch evening meal served.
Meal - for the kiwis - was essentially bangers and mash with gravy - but not as you would know it. You cant get these bangers in New Zealand and the mash was just divine. This was followed by cold creamy custard - yummmm

Spade / Broom / Brush - you better put me on a diet when I arrive at Staveley.

Anyhow - Dees lives by herself in 50 square meter apartment - one bedroom only and she shared how difficult it is getting decent living space in Holland.
Due to the fact the space is now such a premium - u will need to put your name down and then wait 5 - 6 years before you get a place - and if you are single you are on the bottom of the list.
Dees had sent an email round asking any Scoutlink Dutch folks to come round for a chat - but the only other regular chatter the I knew - did come - Voske. He was full of life and it was nice meeting him in person too. Funny hes Dutch as you get but speaks his english with a good north english / scottish accent - something he has picked up from working with his boss.
Given the train back home it was all to soon to say goodbye (after we left our presents) and did the return journey.
We arrived back at Zwanenburg by around 11.30 pm - this after the bus journey that should have taken 20 min took 10 min - which was not to surprising given the the driver went through the first two red lights and I am sure broke the local speed limit on the schnell-strasse.
Den still lovely and warm - went straight to bed - didn't even check email!!

Monday 15th Dec 08 -

Seeing we had to wait for Radar to show after her appointment - we decided to sleep in and duly where granted our wish - the wind changed and all planes came in from a diff approach so did not get woken up by 747's roaring overhead. Yah.
Had breakfast and started to pack - slowly - and were almost ready when both Radar and kes showed up. Had a quick chat and then said our farewell's. Bummer - I did enjoy staying there.
We had mapped out a 3 day journey - dictated by Mamabear's wish to drive through the Rheine-valley. We had no trouble finding our way out of Amsterdam - apart from one wee wrong turn - and headed south - only to be met by fog - all 500 km of it. At least the autobahn's were not to0 busy and traffic flowed steadily - despite the massive building / renovation / extension program both in Holland and later in Germany.
Did hear in the news of one bad accident somewhere close to us - both directional lanes closed and a massive stau - up to 4 hours waiting time - and what traffic was diverted caused more staus in other areas. Glad we were not part of that.
Got as far as Koblenz and decided to have a early stop and rest up - then head off the following day through the scenic route - if the fog clears!!
Left the Autobahn in search of a place - short of Koblenz - not much available in the villages so ended up in Koblenz direct and first up hotel had a room free. I suspect the owners are french folk - as it is their first choice tongue between them.
Ended up having a very nice meal at the hotel - plain and simple but ohhhh the flavour!!!!! Mamabear says I will have a culture shock when I arrive at Staveley - food wise!!!
Interestingly enough the local hotelier is multi lingual - German, French and English which made for more interesting table talk!

Checking of gear and personal

LOL - Mamabear tells me that I have to go and check the passenger brakes on our car, as they got a decent work out yesterday. I think a valium might be a better idea for her.
Anyhow - just off to get breakfast and then pack up and leave for Amsterdam - another 300 km plus via autobahn. Hopefully no more staus - nothing more frustrating then being stuck in traffic like that!!

It snowed all night long and there is a fine dusting on the ground. Snow was very fine powder so not much coverage. Did you know that the Eskimos have more then 200 words to describe the snow - depending on how thick and heavy it is ? ? ?

Need for speed - grand auto theft???

Woke up to alarm / had breakfast and then packed. Went and picked up car from guarded park and drove back to apartment to collect suitcases. Left around 10 am only to drive in circles round Prague looking for an exit. came across a Police station and asked a question - needed a drop-dead gorgeous young lady (customer) to translate and was shunted from reception to a young upstart who didn't know and couldn't be bothered. He did however leave us a map and after two more circles hit the road out of town - in deep fog and drizzle. Road continued to climb and eventually fog and drizzle turned into snow. After about 40 odd kilometers autobahn run out of road and we were back to country roads.
Suddenly in middle of nowhere - amongst the snow and cold there was a stau (some road blockage) and we crawled along every 15 min or so. Took over one hour to cover about 2 km!! Roadworks - only thing that sweetened the waiting was the snowy scenery and the actual snowing.

Hit the Autobahn again eventually and followed signposts. Covered total of 500 plus km. Had lunch in one of those rest-sposts - lovely meal in snow. Hit the road again and encountered 2 more stau's - one was a crash - a little car tailgated a truck. Police and Fire crew where quickly on the scene - another 30 odd min of crawling at 5 km/h. Eventually Papabear had enough of driving and we left the autobahn in search of a room - only to find a nice hotel just of the main road.

It should be recorded that Mamabear is now calm again after having kittens in the car. She not used to being driven at 170km/h and cars still overtaking us!!!

Prague

here we come. Left Vienna early morning and had fun leaving town - took ages.
The we crossed the border - a non event - no guards, no anything. Only reason we knew we were in Czech republic because of roadsigns. First up in no-mans land was a mini las vegas, complete with casinos and theme parks, first two towns in the new land had heaps of signs advertising brothels and other adult stuff. Yes the adult industry is openly advertised.

Eventually the autobahn run out of road and we had to travel on "normal" roads - slowing us down through every village. Stopped for lunch in the middle of nowhere and had a lovley meal. Menu was written in Czech / German and English lingo - so no trouble ordering.
Back on the road and eventually found the autobahn towards Prague - road condition so bad made me wish I was back on the country roads.
Found the town - big and . . . and in some ways like Vienna. Had booked a apartment via Google from Vienna and had fun finding the guy and place. He very friendly and helpful. Was most unusual way of getting a pad (a lot of work was done via txt and no office or so to go to) = but it seems to work and is close to center of town. Were advised to park car in a "guarded" parking lot - at a cost of course but at least someone is patrolling the car park.
Had a bath in luke warm water and read for a bit before going to sleep. Alarm woke us up at 7.30am so must have had a good sleep.
BTW - not a place I could live in -- the toilet and bath are at the complete opposite end of the apartment. Still is is very spacious!!

http://www.tiptoptravel.cz/apart.php?accommid=48&lang=eng&curr=eur

Anyhow must get dressed and venture out. Weather cloudy so could be warmer -around 5 degrees. Will blog more tonight.

Be good.

hehehe - blog takes its time of the clock of the pc you log on from. This lappy is still set for nz time, eg it shows 8.54 pm, while it is morning here, but when we used Wilfried's pc it was local Vienna time.

Speed demon ???

ha - u wish. Although I have to admit there is something about autobahns that is tempting. Yesterday we had a real leisurely morning. I read the second book and Pam ended up helping Margit make some rum balls. Had spag bog for lunch with almost all the family, only Thomas missing. Poor guy had to be up and at work by 10 am and he slept till 9.30 am. So he took his mum's car to get there in time. He does Civil service with the Red Cross. After lunch we saw some photos from Margit and Harald and then packed the car and drove toward Vienna on the Autobahn. We covered 330km in three hours BUT - yes But we did cover 95 % of the road in just under 2 hours and spent much more time (about 45 min) getting into the big city trying to find his place. There were times when we could cruize in the left (fastest) lane at 150km/hr or more. :)
Imagine getting from CHCH to Picton in 2 hours!! Wohoooo. Im so gonna miss the autobahn when we return. Then after we found Wilfrieds place we had a stroke of luck and got a car park right outside his place - most unusual for Vienna. Expect normally to walk for miles for a carpark.
After we settled in we went to the Viennese Christkindl market. Got the pics to prove it - but cant acces the lappy to trasfer pics so that might have to wait.
Still no snow - might have to wait for that too.
Be Good

The old teddy bear is in Salzburg

Well would’nt you know it – we are in Dubai and just come of a gruelling 14 hour flight. Took a tablet and only got 10 min sleep.
Watched Harry Ford and his crystal skull and Hancock. No James Bond yet. Mamabear watched Wall-e. We both muffle and are in desperate need of a shower. Still the flight was in total darkness and boy both Sydney and Dubai where sooooo hot and muggy. Wonder what Munich will be like weather wise. Rach_who took a pic of Dubai shop but missed Sydney will have to do this on return.
Dearest Jade – did you get out txt from Sydney?
At point of writing jonno will be at work and Michael will pass his exams with excellence – we hope!!Trust they fed them selves and also the other wildlife got enough food.
Gah next time we travel – Scotty do me a favor JUST BEAM ME ACROSS!!Got that Scotty?????

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Stardate 29112008.125823
Ok after we arrived in Munich we had no trouble going through customs – in fact the Austrian cheated and entered under the non-eu countries. It pays to have a kiwi wife. So we got picked up and then on to the rental car. Wow – a brand new Peugot 307 wagon. Whohoo – I’m so gonna miss it when we get back. Then on to my sister’s place on the autobahn. Sadly there is too much traffic nowadays and we could only averg 140km/h. Still we covered the 170km in less then 90 min. Not bad given the traffic!!!! And i wish we could travel like this to Dunedin, just imagine. . .
Jet leg is catching up with papabear - he was awake from 3 am onwards. Today we had –5 degree frost in the morning. We will be going to a “Krampus run” – something that happens every year here, but I had forgotten. Boy – that will be a shock to the system for Mamabear.

krampus


We are with my Oma for a luncheon meal after we had a leisurely breakfast and a quick stop at the local mall. Will let you know how it went tomorrow – if I still have a wife!
Wonder who won the rugby??

Salzburg weather

2 more sleeps to go and I decided to check the local weather forecast for Salzburg
Salzburg weather
Wonder why I did that given the prognosis. As you can see it is going to be cold and more snow is expected. Well that should make cruising the German autobahns at 150 km/h plus a challenging experience.
Today in CHCH we woke up to a balmy 18 degrees. I am so gonna miss the warmth of New Zealand. Maybe I should go to the beach b4 I leave and take a pic of "our" Dec weather? Good idea?

On a diff note - what is one supposed to do on a plane for/during 4 and 16 and 6 hours?????
There is only so much to read or watch.