one year ago to the day in New Zealand . . .

Of by train to the seaside town of Kaikoura
Hoping to see some Dolphins and special Whales
To rough a see it was for the skipper tough as nails
No luck they had despite all their bravoura
 

to be continued . . . 


 

Austrian visitor escapes into the wilderness

hmmmmmm
So before lunch on the 4th, we left the old boy in Dunedin  and we found our way home. While we had a rest day and also saw the Kiwi - and then dropped of Doris and Bernhard at the Airport on the 6th - the other chap with us had a few fabulous days in Dunedin.  His itinerary included a trip to Larnach castle, Penguin colony, Albatross colony, some wildlife center bush area with tall trees and lots of other shrub-greenery (sadly also with the TALLEST tree in New Zealand - some cheeky Australian gum tree at 80 meters height) where the lad kept his cool and found his way back out of the bush - and a day trip out to the Morakei Boulders with lunch in Morakei itself.  Hmmmm we did go there ourselves one day -  pity it was the wrong time for lunch for us - the fish there is famous for its taste and quality!! Snapping a few old buildings and a stop over at the Butterfly house rounded up his exciting time down there.  Then it was time to come back home. The hard way. Via a bus. Which broke down. On a steep hill. It could not get the gears going.  Some unkind person hinted it may well be the extra pounds gained from all the rich food here - but I am sure Wilfried has got THAT sorted.  So in any case while he had fun terrorizing the wild life down south with his camera - we up here - having said good bye to Cousin Doris and Bernhard - are taking life easy.  Mamabear deciding that she wanted to go to work on Friday and catch up with emails so that on Monday she has a easier run and catch up. That left me at home - alone.  I should say - yesterday was Waitangi day - a public holiday so we had a extra day of leave.  Waitangi is all about the coming together of 2 cultures - local maori who signed a binding contract with the Queen (well her local representative) in 1884 and that was the beginning of NZ - so in  away it is our National Birthday celebration! I am sure some kiwis will take issue with this view - but I can't be bothered writing a long epistle on what was or might have been or should be.  In any case it is urm was a holiday for us.  One thing is clear - we did not touch on Maori culture while our guests were here. We could have easily done a full Maori immersion type holiday - and may have seen NZ from a different perspective, and in the process may well have missed many sights - but would have gotten to know some locals better.  Hmmm may need to reflect on that for the next victim - oops visitor, visitor!!!!  :)  
In any case - Friday dawned - mamabear got up early and went to work - leaving me - home alone!!  Feels unreal!   I have the whole house to myself!!   So I did what every self serving home-alone-house-husband does - I chilled a tad and did only what I wanted to do (and that included a water change for all the fish-tanks)!  In-between I got txt updates from the Austrian we left behind in Dunedin - ahhhhh he MISSES us!!   Nope - actually he txt'd to say about the bus - and seeing I was picking him up from the bus station later in the day needed to know a arrival time - we left it that he would txt once leaving Ashburton - which would give me enough time to put on my foundation/mascara/ eyeshadow/ lipstick - nah - just brush the 5 hairs I got left and look semi decent! Mustn't forget to wear some decent clothes as well.  :)  Well he finally made it and we had the usual Friday night fare - fish and chips and some Chinese meal tossed with that.    The next day . . . .

The next day (Saturday)  - he abandoned us again!  hehehe we don't mind sharing him round - honest!!
Wilfried spend Saturday and part Sunday with Elizabeth Peach and did some interesting things with her.  ^^
I won't go  into details - leave it to you - no - them to fill in the blanks :D
It did involve some bread and ducks and blueberries and . .. 










The first decent 'selfie' I have seen since they started.  Or did some one else take this?
A dentist perhaps - hoping for some free advertising? They do look good together.






In any case the young lady has promised to return the visitor unharmed to us - ready for a afternoon of caffee and cake and  fellowship of old Durham street choir members and anyone else who remembered him.  Alistair / Roger / David came along with the Choir master himself!!  No singing ensued and we avoided making them sing for their supper, but a good many laughs where shared. We ended up having far to much food left - not that that is usually a problem with the ravenous kids we own - plus the Austrian - but yeah - dinner became a sort of Caesar Salad - supposedly light and easy. :)  hmmm did we have Pavlova for Dessert as well??










After a good nights sleep - very, very early on the Monday morning - at a time when most decent people still sleep - and avoid getting out of bed - kind Mamabear went and picked up a friend of Wilfrieds and dropped both of them of to the train station.  They are catching a - ok it is - a tourist train. Actually it is the passenger train that goes from Christchurch to Picton and then comes back down from there again. So it travels the rails only twice a day. It does mean that at the halfway point you can leave (that's in Kaikoura) and do walks and go out on the boat and watch the whales and penguins and other assorted fishie's. Then you catch the train back to Christchurch. Makes for a long day!  In any case - given the local weather at the time - they could not go out on the boat - the sea was to rough. However the local walk was rewarded with the sea-lions basking and posing for photos. We had the honor of picking them up from the train station in the evening - but surprise surprise - they were late - again.  Several txt's later - we knew that the train was late away from Picton so they will be late here - so  nooooooo problem. I don't mind smooching with the young mamabear while waiting for the transport wrecking lad to arrive!   ^.0     :)

Turns out - the reason the train was late was because one of the Ferries had a teeny weeny wee mishap with one of their lifeboats and THAT changed the sailing times and THAT meant for the train having to wait for people to disembark from the boat and catch the train to Christchurch!

Late Dinner and catch up then bed.

Have fun











PS - Wilfried - feel free to suggest edits - -  :)  

Short hop to Kaikoura

Kaikoura is a lovely seaside town - famous for it's crayfish and general fishing industry. Today was "Sarah day" and having decided to visit Kaikoura we got going at around 10am. Traffic a bit chaotic. Still we got there in good time. First stop the local info center where we walked in and straight back out again and went in search for a local cafe for a light lunch for the two bears and breakfast for the two young travelers. Having quenched our hunger we made tracks to the Kaikoura Peninsula walk way. Saw lots of Rata and Pohutukawa in flower along the way. Still learning which is which but getting better in picking them.   There are two possible routes to start with - and we perhaps foolishly went over the top to begin with.  Never-mind the views where really stunning and offered lots of opportunity  for photo-stops.  It was also a hot boiling day - made worse by the lack of wind and the grass reflecting back some heat.  Sweat was pouring of our backs - which I guess helped work of the pounds from some late lunches and previous nights pavlova!! Looking down from the top you could see various seals lounging around and we did have the opportunity to go down to the 'alternative' if non-official walkway later on. There are at various places some signs up that explain about the history and rock formation of the place, including the fauna and flora.  The area has been raised due to earth upheavals at various times - the most recent being about 1-3 millions years ago - the flat bits on the sea floor.  We longingly looked at the clear and invitingly blue coloured water and decided to go down to it and take a paddle.  Normally the sea around Kaikoura is quite cold - but here due to the flat nature and only 2-3 feet deep - it warmed up nicely in the sunshine.  Mamabear can be seen sampling the water and enjoying the view.  No seals or other wildlife came anywhere near so that was a relief. In the meantime I enjoyed snapping this picture of the cliff face we stayed under and managed to get the sun just poking through without ruining the rest of the picture.  The signs on the beginning of the walk way do warn that the tide needs watching as it will come in and almost cut you off.  We ended up having to get our feet wet and climb over some rocks and cliff faces to get back to the starting point - which provided some hilarity and angst at the same time.  Nothing to dangerous on todays efforts - but I would not want to be trapped with a raging easterly swell.  Yes says Sara - I made it out without getting my feet wet!!  Having spent most of the energy from our lunch on walking, it was back into town for a coffee and a drink.  While that was consumed I managed to go and find some cloth badges - including - yes folks  - including a newly minted version for Kaikoura badge -  which will find it's way on to my camp-blanket.  Most satisfying and once again proofing that you had to be a Johnny on the spot person.  By that stage it was getting towards the evening and having enjoyed the sun and warmth we needed to make a decision - should we stay here and have dinner here and be back  home late or go now and have dinner at home - well - thats a no-brainer really - we  decided to stay and enjoy what's left of the day.  So we headed north in search of the St Oswald's Church which was built in 1927 by Mr and Mrs Charles Murray in memory of their son Charles. However we weren't to sure how far north it is from Kaikoura so stopped at a local bay and enjoyed the evening sun with the cousins enjoying a game of knock down the stones  with varying degree of success.  Probably just as well as we did not go and look for the church - google map shows it near Kekerengu which is a lot further north then Mamabear had remembered. 
www.Kekerengu.html  Funny thing is - I also forgot it had what would have to be the worlds smallest Railway station.  Bearly enough for one person to be in it.
 The  beach near the church though is very nice indeed and well worth a visit. Saw a train going past us - and the low rumbling noise it generated reminded us very much of the noise we had heard during the 7.1 earthquake in Christchurch. Back into town for a much needed dinner and as Moritz well knows - Kaikoura is a Maori word which can be translated as follows Kai = Food and Koura = lobster (or seafood).  After dinner it was time to head home - literally drove into the sunset - nice going. 


 





Looking down to the spot where we ended up sampling the water and enjoyed the rest.  Notice the tide still being out? By the time we left it was right up









Looks cold - but it wasn't - really!