Well that was today, & he was driving my bus.
I've arrived in Dunedin, but I'm too tired to blog much, having travelled most of the day, so I'll leave the tale of Paradise, Rohan & Rail to tomorrow!
However, good news is, a lovely guy called Will squidged my photos, so over the next few days I'll post some.
PROMISE ;-)
OAO
Wednesday 30 December 2009
Tuesday 29 December 2009
Ithilien, Amon Hen, MintTea, & Doing The Luge (& no, that's not a dance)
The day's plan was to find the locations at 12 Mile Delta & Closeburn.
As usual, the sun was shining, so I donned a bikini & headed off down the shores of Lake Wakatipu. I shot past Closeburn, where the Amon Hen scenes & some of the fight scenes from the end of the Fellowship were shot, but found 12 Mile OK.
As it was early I went for a swim . . . . . . . . . . .
Bloody hell. This has to be the 2nd coldest lake I've been in.
Except for the glacier lake at Tignes (where I lasted < a min.), it took me quite a while to pluck up courage to go under. Once in, it was great, but due to the river pouring into the lake - well you'd expect that at a delta ;-), it took me quite a while to get back into shore again. I was swimming away, & going nowhere.
Thank god for upper-body strength, as the legs don't exactly work properly these days (well 1 of them, anyway).
So, sudoku & sunbathing to dry off seemed like a cunning plan, & like the cat I am, I fell asleep in the sun. Good job I'd remembered the sun block this time!
Eventually & went location hunting again, & with the help of Brodie's book found the place where Gollum got disgusted with Sam's cooking. I seemed to be getting a dab hand at spotting the shot from the mountain backdrop.
Then I went on a mini-hike, but was unlucky this time. However, the area was so peaceful, & so Ithilien. It's clear why Peter Jackson chose this spot.
On the way back to the car I got a few sprigs of mint to have with tea.
I had even less luck with Closeburn, but, due to the previously mentioned mini-hike, I was too knackered to walk up the peninsula to the place where Boromir breathed his last, but at least I'd been close :-))
Back at Nomads, I bumped into roommates Krystle & Lauren (from Halifax) in the kitchen & we all had some mint tea.
For a few sprigs there was loads of flavour: I must've made about 2 pints of the stuff - Yum !
After, I went for a paddle on the beach (it was even colder by evening time & my toes went blue!), & then I went to a bar, & hung out for a bit.
Then it was time for bed (said Zebedee!).
The following day (Monday) I went up Bob's Peak on the gondola, & after a brew at the top, did the tourist thing, & went on the Luge.
This is not flat on your back, feet 1st - like on the Olympics, but sitting in a little 3 wheeled cart jobby, where you steer & break with the handlebars.
For a laugh I videoed most of my run. It's quite funny watching it back. However, as with the Edoras stuff, not recommended for those with dicky tums ;-)
At 1 point, 3 chunky blokes shot past me down 1 of the straight bits - well, having more mass than me, their acceleration would naturally be greater, & I didn't know the route (well, that's my excuse!)
Anyway, at the next bend, I passed them on the inside, as their greater mass caused reduced ability to corner, & they'd had a mini pile-up. Aahh !
That's 1 to Shirl, then ;-).
I'd also booked for a touristy Maori show up there in the evening, so between whiles, more sunbathing, sudoku & swimming seemed in order.
This time I went the other way & chilled all afternoon on the Queenstown Gardens promontary. As the lake was shallower here, it was noticeably warmer & I stayed in for quite a while, swimming between rocks sticking up out of the very blue, very clear water.
Evening arrived & it was time to go back up the gondola for the show - via the supermarket for some food for tea (as usual I ended up getting too much, & had it tonight for tea as well, with enough left for lunch tomorrow).
At the show, I sat on the front row & had chunky Maoris sticking their tongues out & widening their eyes only feet away!
The show was OK, but one of the warriors, when demonstrating how to use the poi (like balls on a string) let go of his, & it hit me on the shoulder. Oops - how embarrassing ;-)
Then they got some of us ladies up to have a go, & it's harder than it looks, especially when you have to twiddle & catch the poi, & do stuff with your feet at the same time.
Naturally, the Maori maidens made it look like a doddle.
Then it was bedtime again, as I was up early to take the car back.
Today was a day of many moods, but more of that next time.
OAO
As usual, the sun was shining, so I donned a bikini & headed off down the shores of Lake Wakatipu. I shot past Closeburn, where the Amon Hen scenes & some of the fight scenes from the end of the Fellowship were shot, but found 12 Mile OK.
As it was early I went for a swim . . . . . . . . . . .
Bloody hell. This has to be the 2nd coldest lake I've been in.
Except for the glacier lake at Tignes (where I lasted < a min.), it took me quite a while to pluck up courage to go under. Once in, it was great, but due to the river pouring into the lake - well you'd expect that at a delta ;-), it took me quite a while to get back into shore again. I was swimming away, & going nowhere.
Thank god for upper-body strength, as the legs don't exactly work properly these days (well 1 of them, anyway).
So, sudoku & sunbathing to dry off seemed like a cunning plan, & like the cat I am, I fell asleep in the sun. Good job I'd remembered the sun block this time!
Eventually & went location hunting again, & with the help of Brodie's book found the place where Gollum got disgusted with Sam's cooking. I seemed to be getting a dab hand at spotting the shot from the mountain backdrop.
Then I went on a mini-hike, but was unlucky this time. However, the area was so peaceful, & so Ithilien. It's clear why Peter Jackson chose this spot.
On the way back to the car I got a few sprigs of mint to have with tea.
I had even less luck with Closeburn, but, due to the previously mentioned mini-hike, I was too knackered to walk up the peninsula to the place where Boromir breathed his last, but at least I'd been close :-))
Back at Nomads, I bumped into roommates Krystle & Lauren (from Halifax) in the kitchen & we all had some mint tea.
For a few sprigs there was loads of flavour: I must've made about 2 pints of the stuff - Yum !
After, I went for a paddle on the beach (it was even colder by evening time & my toes went blue!), & then I went to a bar, & hung out for a bit.
Then it was time for bed (said Zebedee!).
The following day (Monday) I went up Bob's Peak on the gondola, & after a brew at the top, did the tourist thing, & went on the Luge.
This is not flat on your back, feet 1st - like on the Olympics, but sitting in a little 3 wheeled cart jobby, where you steer & break with the handlebars.
For a laugh I videoed most of my run. It's quite funny watching it back. However, as with the Edoras stuff, not recommended for those with dicky tums ;-)
At 1 point, 3 chunky blokes shot past me down 1 of the straight bits - well, having more mass than me, their acceleration would naturally be greater, & I didn't know the route (well, that's my excuse!)
Anyway, at the next bend, I passed them on the inside, as their greater mass caused reduced ability to corner, & they'd had a mini pile-up. Aahh !
That's 1 to Shirl, then ;-).
I'd also booked for a touristy Maori show up there in the evening, so between whiles, more sunbathing, sudoku & swimming seemed in order.
This time I went the other way & chilled all afternoon on the Queenstown Gardens promontary. As the lake was shallower here, it was noticeably warmer & I stayed in for quite a while, swimming between rocks sticking up out of the very blue, very clear water.
Evening arrived & it was time to go back up the gondola for the show - via the supermarket for some food for tea (as usual I ended up getting too much, & had it tonight for tea as well, with enough left for lunch tomorrow).
At the show, I sat on the front row & had chunky Maoris sticking their tongues out & widening their eyes only feet away!
The show was OK, but one of the warriors, when demonstrating how to use the poi (like balls on a string) let go of his, & it hit me on the shoulder. Oops - how embarrassing ;-)
Then they got some of us ladies up to have a go, & it's harder than it looks, especially when you have to twiddle & catch the poi, & do stuff with your feet at the same time.
Naturally, the Maori maidens made it look like a doddle.
Then it was bedtime again, as I was up early to take the car back.
Today was a day of many moods, but more of that next time.
OAO
Sunday 27 December 2009
Fangorn & loads of miles
The weather was a bit manky, but round here, it often clears up later in the day, so around 10 I set off for a +200k round trip to Mavora Lakes.
On the way out of Queenstown I stopped for a father & son from Germany who were going to Milford Sound. I told them I could drop them off about an hr from Te Anau, so they got in.
Lenny (son, aged 15) is at school here & his English is very good. He did a great job of translating for his Dad, & when he found out I was going to some LOR locations - esp Fangorn Forest, he pursuaded his Dad to detour with me.
The road off the state haighway was gravel for @ 40 K, so it took >3 hours to get there. Lenny was using my Brodie pages to navigate & we found the woods where Merry & Pippin hid from the orcs.
I got Lenny & Dad (Johan) to pose as the hobbits for a photo..
God knows what Johan was thinking - mad dogs & Englishwomen go out in the pouring rain, no doubt!
Then it was down to the shore of North Mavora which was where the Fellowship made camp after sailing down the Anduin. I think I got the spot where poor old Sean Astin had to do his drowning act (Don't you leave him, Sam Gamgee!)
At least it was sunny for all of his takes!, but the shore line across the lake was very recognisable from the film.
Third location of the day was the Orc Pyre scene, & thanks to the picture from the book, & was able to tell exactly where it was.
Lenny posed as Legolas, & his poor Dad knelt in the wet grass, pretending to be Aragorn.
Unfortunately, the mountain in the background got covered in cloud/mist, so I made them wait until it had blown away!
Poor Johan was sucked into our enthusiasm, though & didn't complain out loud - not in English, anyway.
A few meters away was a wonderfully mossy wood. It was really green & lush, & totally Fangorny. Lenny clicked away on his phone taking photos & my battery died - aaaaagggghhh!
However, I don't think any photos could have truly demonstrated the ageless feeling of the place - you could really feel the presence of the Ents, but Treebeard was probably at home in the dry, & didn't join us!
Given I'd traipsed Lenny & Johan around in the rain for close on 2 hours, I offered to take them all the way to Te Anau - they'd never got a lift if I'd just left them on the road side.
It took just under an hour to get from Fangorn to Te Anau
Lenny & Johan went to find a hostel & I went to find a loo.
Just on the roadside by the WCs was a Fish & Chip caravan (they're all over the place here!) & I had a late lunch of Blue Cod & chips while I paddled in Lake Te Anau.
This caused quite a bit of amusement from the strollers along the promenade as they were all wrapped up against the weather & I was in shorts, eating fish & chips, & paddling.
Well, me & water, & all that
I couldn't eat all the chips so I saved them for tea.
The trip back was quicker as there was no gravel road & I got back here by 6.30.
As I have less than 5 minutes remaining, it's
OAO for today
On the way out of Queenstown I stopped for a father & son from Germany who were going to Milford Sound. I told them I could drop them off about an hr from Te Anau, so they got in.
Lenny (son, aged 15) is at school here & his English is very good. He did a great job of translating for his Dad, & when he found out I was going to some LOR locations - esp Fangorn Forest, he pursuaded his Dad to detour with me.
The road off the state haighway was gravel for @ 40 K, so it took >3 hours to get there. Lenny was using my Brodie pages to navigate & we found the woods where Merry & Pippin hid from the orcs.
I got Lenny & Dad (Johan) to pose as the hobbits for a photo..
God knows what Johan was thinking - mad dogs & Englishwomen go out in the pouring rain, no doubt!
Then it was down to the shore of North Mavora which was where the Fellowship made camp after sailing down the Anduin. I think I got the spot where poor old Sean Astin had to do his drowning act (Don't you leave him, Sam Gamgee!)
At least it was sunny for all of his takes!, but the shore line across the lake was very recognisable from the film.
Third location of the day was the Orc Pyre scene, & thanks to the picture from the book, & was able to tell exactly where it was.
Lenny posed as Legolas, & his poor Dad knelt in the wet grass, pretending to be Aragorn.
Unfortunately, the mountain in the background got covered in cloud/mist, so I made them wait until it had blown away!
Poor Johan was sucked into our enthusiasm, though & didn't complain out loud - not in English, anyway.
A few meters away was a wonderfully mossy wood. It was really green & lush, & totally Fangorny. Lenny clicked away on his phone taking photos & my battery died - aaaaagggghhh!
However, I don't think any photos could have truly demonstrated the ageless feeling of the place - you could really feel the presence of the Ents, but Treebeard was probably at home in the dry, & didn't join us!
Given I'd traipsed Lenny & Johan around in the rain for close on 2 hours, I offered to take them all the way to Te Anau - they'd never got a lift if I'd just left them on the road side.
It took just under an hour to get from Fangorn to Te Anau
Lenny & Johan went to find a hostel & I went to find a loo.
Just on the roadside by the WCs was a Fish & Chip caravan (they're all over the place here!) & I had a late lunch of Blue Cod & chips while I paddled in Lake Te Anau.
This caused quite a bit of amusement from the strollers along the promenade as they were all wrapped up against the weather & I was in shorts, eating fish & chips, & paddling.
Well, me & water, & all that
I couldn't eat all the chips so I saved them for tea.
The trip back was quicker as there was no gravel road & I got back here by 6.30.
As I have less than 5 minutes remaining, it's
OAO for today
Queenstown Christmas
Apparently they've had a white Christmas back home.
I just mooched round the shops, after I found Deer Park Heights was closed & bought some cool paua stuff for the hair.
Then I booked a sail on the SS Earnslaw, which goes up the lake & back.
While I waited to go aboard, I sent loads of Happy Xmas texts & had a text-chat with George, Di & Lesley.
On the boat I opened the bottle of botrytis Sauv Blanc I'd been saving, & chomped on Andy's chocolate. The choc looked like a lump of lava, after all the melting & hardening it'd been through, but it was lovely with the wine.
Captain, Lisa, was very helpful, pointing out some stuff & another lady in the steerhouse (called Tracey) took over & filled me in on a few local legends.
It was quite overcast, & not very warm, so I went back & got ready for dinner. This was oysters & champagne, followed by lamb shank & merlot, & finished with a gorgeous chocolaty thing washed down with more sweet Sauv Blanc. Tell you, never had it before, ever, & then twice in 1 day?
I had a nice seat looking out at the sunset on the mountains & Queenstown, & my new paua stuff went beautifully with the hand-painted silk scarf I'd bought in Nelson.
Then it was bed, as I planned to go to Mavora Lakes on Boxing Day.
OAO
I just mooched round the shops, after I found Deer Park Heights was closed & bought some cool paua stuff for the hair.
Then I booked a sail on the SS Earnslaw, which goes up the lake & back.
While I waited to go aboard, I sent loads of Happy Xmas texts & had a text-chat with George, Di & Lesley.
On the boat I opened the bottle of botrytis Sauv Blanc I'd been saving, & chomped on Andy's chocolate. The choc looked like a lump of lava, after all the melting & hardening it'd been through, but it was lovely with the wine.
Captain, Lisa, was very helpful, pointing out some stuff & another lady in the steerhouse (called Tracey) took over & filled me in on a few local legends.
It was quite overcast, & not very warm, so I went back & got ready for dinner. This was oysters & champagne, followed by lamb shank & merlot, & finished with a gorgeous chocolaty thing washed down with more sweet Sauv Blanc. Tell you, never had it before, ever, & then twice in 1 day?
I had a nice seat looking out at the sunset on the mountains & Queenstown, & my new paua stuff went beautifully with the hand-painted silk scarf I'd bought in Nelson.
Then it was bed, as I planned to go to Mavora Lakes on Boxing Day.
OAO
Thursday 24 December 2009
I was a Rider of Rohan & chased the sunset
After a major cock-up by Ace Rentals, I finally got underway out of Christchurch @ 1130, & headed west through the Canterbury Plains.
The roads reminded me of when I hitched in Spain, south of Albacete, with Bill in 1981. Straight roads! What?
And then there was a bend - & another straight road, etc etc etc.
Due to my late start, I called Bruce from Methven & he said to arrive about 3, but I was early, so did the brew & sunbathe bit at Staveley General Stores. It was very warm & the sky nearly cloudless. Difficult to imagine it was Dec 22nd!
Once at the trek centre, I made myself useful & helped untack the last ride. Bruce thought it may be a good idea if I rode around a bit 1st to see if the hip was going to play.
As he said, no point in taking the horses an hour away, only to find I couldn't do it, but, to be honest, I was going to do it, no matter what - Akira Meruna & all that :-)).
And I put some extra painkillers in the bumbag - just in case ;-)
Once off the main road, the track wound up past Mount Somers into the backcountry & towards Erehwon. Bruce reckons the place is named after Nowhere backwards!
Anyway, not only did I get to see the Edoras location, but also the cleft where Aragorn looked across at Helm's Deep, after he was rescued by his horse (which, in NZ, was near Gemstone Drive, Upper Hutt, Northe Island - if you've been listening! ! !)
I got some great photos & cool vid, but there's no substitute for eyes, & while I'm enjoying looking at the footage, what isn't shown by photography is the vastness of the valley, the strength of the wind & the sound of water as we rode towards Mount Sunday.
You can't tell on the film, but the valley is crisscrossed by loads of streams, which we splashed through. It reminded me of the first 'Quest for Githrond's Axe' where Gaz didn't bother looking for a place to cross the stream near Hollin Crag & just waded across. Dave wasn't best chuffed as he was wearing very unsuitable footwear!
Anyway, I told Bruce he'd helped me satisfy a big ambition - he seemed quite amused!
All in all it was a super adventure, & I could go on & on & on, but blogging costs a fortune without your own laptop, so I won't.
It was gone 8 before we got back, & I headed south down SH8. I'd intended to stop fairly soon for some food, but it seemed they don't eat out down there, so I was in Fairlie before I found somewhere. The chef from Aberdeen (the Scottish one!) was 'muy simpatico' & fed me even though he'd just closed the kitchen.
While I was there I tried to get a bed at the next YHA hostel, Lake Tekapo, but they'd shut up shop for the night, so I called Twizel (another hr & a half down the road) & he said he'd 'leave the key under the big orange pot to the right of the door'.
So I haired off down the road in a westerly direction, & as the road climbed out of the valley, I saw the sunset again.
The sky was silver right across the horizon & I followed the sunset for miles.
While my foot was down for most of the trip, I did stop at one point to try & get a shot of the fingernail moon & the final light of the sun across the horizon before it dropped into the Tasman Sea at the other side of Aoraki.
Unfortunately, the battery was flat - what a total bummer: I may never see that sight again.
Anyway, I hit Twizel at about 1115, but was so WIDE AWAKE with the zooming from Fairlie, I ended up doing Sudoku until way past 3am - oops
My room was well cool, just 2 beds, & on my ownsome again, & the whole hostel was a series of little cabins with up to 10 rooms in each. Cute.
Next morning I was up early, considering the late night & headed back towards Tekapo - seeing I'd missed most of it the night before. The Pelennor Fields was also somewhere around Twizel, but no-one I asked seemed to know exactly where?
Maybe it was a cunning plan to get tourists to book the official trip? ?
Anyway, having gone for a swim in Lake Tekapo & sunbathed for a bit (plus the obligatory shot of Aoraki across the lake), It was time to head back to Twizel & try & find the location for the Pelennor Fields.
Half way back I decided to get some salmon for tea from a salmon farm close to Lake Pukaki, & took a right - & bugger me, there it was across the canal.
Now if that isn't another bit of serendipity, I don't know what is. If I hadn't fancied some fresh fish, I'd never have found it - spooky or what?
So I'd ticked off another location & had a lovely colourful tea - pink salmon, green asparagus & yellow corn. All washed down with the Marlborough rose I'd got in Blenheim - more yums ;-)
Anyhow, it's Christmas Eve, nearly midnight, & there's a party going on, here at Nomads, Queenstown.
So, I'm off to join in . . . . . . (Merry X etc!)
OAO
The roads reminded me of when I hitched in Spain, south of Albacete, with Bill in 1981. Straight roads! What?
And then there was a bend - & another straight road, etc etc etc.
Due to my late start, I called Bruce from Methven & he said to arrive about 3, but I was early, so did the brew & sunbathe bit at Staveley General Stores. It was very warm & the sky nearly cloudless. Difficult to imagine it was Dec 22nd!
Once at the trek centre, I made myself useful & helped untack the last ride. Bruce thought it may be a good idea if I rode around a bit 1st to see if the hip was going to play.
As he said, no point in taking the horses an hour away, only to find I couldn't do it, but, to be honest, I was going to do it, no matter what - Akira Meruna & all that :-)).
And I put some extra painkillers in the bumbag - just in case ;-)
Once off the main road, the track wound up past Mount Somers into the backcountry & towards Erehwon. Bruce reckons the place is named after Nowhere backwards!
Anyway, not only did I get to see the Edoras location, but also the cleft where Aragorn looked across at Helm's Deep, after he was rescued by his horse (which, in NZ, was near Gemstone Drive, Upper Hutt, Northe Island - if you've been listening! ! !)
I got some great photos & cool vid, but there's no substitute for eyes, & while I'm enjoying looking at the footage, what isn't shown by photography is the vastness of the valley, the strength of the wind & the sound of water as we rode towards Mount Sunday.
You can't tell on the film, but the valley is crisscrossed by loads of streams, which we splashed through. It reminded me of the first 'Quest for Githrond's Axe' where Gaz didn't bother looking for a place to cross the stream near Hollin Crag & just waded across. Dave wasn't best chuffed as he was wearing very unsuitable footwear!
Anyway, I told Bruce he'd helped me satisfy a big ambition - he seemed quite amused!
All in all it was a super adventure, & I could go on & on & on, but blogging costs a fortune without your own laptop, so I won't.
It was gone 8 before we got back, & I headed south down SH8. I'd intended to stop fairly soon for some food, but it seemed they don't eat out down there, so I was in Fairlie before I found somewhere. The chef from Aberdeen (the Scottish one!) was 'muy simpatico' & fed me even though he'd just closed the kitchen.
While I was there I tried to get a bed at the next YHA hostel, Lake Tekapo, but they'd shut up shop for the night, so I called Twizel (another hr & a half down the road) & he said he'd 'leave the key under the big orange pot to the right of the door'.
So I haired off down the road in a westerly direction, & as the road climbed out of the valley, I saw the sunset again.
The sky was silver right across the horizon & I followed the sunset for miles.
While my foot was down for most of the trip, I did stop at one point to try & get a shot of the fingernail moon & the final light of the sun across the horizon before it dropped into the Tasman Sea at the other side of Aoraki.
Unfortunately, the battery was flat - what a total bummer: I may never see that sight again.
Anyway, I hit Twizel at about 1115, but was so WIDE AWAKE with the zooming from Fairlie, I ended up doing Sudoku until way past 3am - oops
My room was well cool, just 2 beds, & on my ownsome again, & the whole hostel was a series of little cabins with up to 10 rooms in each. Cute.
Next morning I was up early, considering the late night & headed back towards Tekapo - seeing I'd missed most of it the night before. The Pelennor Fields was also somewhere around Twizel, but no-one I asked seemed to know exactly where?
Maybe it was a cunning plan to get tourists to book the official trip? ?
Anyway, having gone for a swim in Lake Tekapo & sunbathed for a bit (plus the obligatory shot of Aoraki across the lake), It was time to head back to Twizel & try & find the location for the Pelennor Fields.
Half way back I decided to get some salmon for tea from a salmon farm close to Lake Pukaki, & took a right - & bugger me, there it was across the canal.
Now if that isn't another bit of serendipity, I don't know what is. If I hadn't fancied some fresh fish, I'd never have found it - spooky or what?
So I'd ticked off another location & had a lovely colourful tea - pink salmon, green asparagus & yellow corn. All washed down with the Marlborough rose I'd got in Blenheim - more yums ;-)
Anyhow, it's Christmas Eve, nearly midnight, & there's a party going on, here at Nomads, Queenstown.
So, I'm off to join in . . . . . . (Merry X etc!)
OAO
Monday 21 December 2009
Sunday: Nelson to Christchurch, & Monday: Christchurch
OK
Mega tea on Sat: Hoki & a load of green-lipped mussels with the remainder of the Picton Riesling. Yum.
Up early & walked to the 'Naked Bus' stop in Nelson.
Picked up by a lady-driver & on the way to Blenheim, she explained why the hills around there are so brown. They're known as the Withered Hills - sounds Tolkeinesque, but knowing didn't improve my opinion of Blenheim, really. The only good thing, was that during my wait for the connecting bus here, was that I bought some real Marlborough Sauv. Blanc, some pink Pinot Noir, and, a 1/2 bottle of botrytis Sauv.Blanc. I didn't know you could get dessert SB. I'm saving it for Xmas day & Andy's deformed chocolate.
The driver down to Christchurch was a very laconic Kiwi called Les. It made for an entertaining journey, even if some of his rude jokes were a bit naff. He pointed out the seals on the rocks - they were much darker than the ones round our shores.
Incidentally - I remember the 1st comment Paul (Picton - Nelson) made. He said " I apologise for the delay, but someone made a whoopsey with the paperwork" It reminded me of Frank Spencer - I had to laugh.
By the time we arrived here it was persisting. Fortunately Les let me stay on the bus & he dropped me off at the door.
After checking in, it was gone 7, so I headed off to a bar Les had told me did good grub. I was pretty wet by the time I got there!
A big plateful later, it was off back, & an early night. I was knackered after sitting on a bus all day!
There should have been someone else in the room, but she never made it back until about 8.30 this morning. She seemed to be moving out, but she left quite a lot of stuff on her bed. Weird?
It was a bit Wellingtonny earlier - ie windy. But it's cleared up now. After getting Jonny a totally awesome & mega pressie, I spent the rest of the day wandering about & writing postcards ILO Xmas cards. Eventually, I fell asleep in the sun with no sun cream on: Oops!
This may be the last for a few days, as I'm travelling to my Edoras ride tomorrow & headed for Queenstown by Xmas Eve. If I don't get on before Xmas Day -
Merry Xmas to 1 & all - Ho Ho Ho
So for now
OAO
Mega tea on Sat: Hoki & a load of green-lipped mussels with the remainder of the Picton Riesling. Yum.
Up early & walked to the 'Naked Bus' stop in Nelson.
Picked up by a lady-driver & on the way to Blenheim, she explained why the hills around there are so brown. They're known as the Withered Hills - sounds Tolkeinesque, but knowing didn't improve my opinion of Blenheim, really. The only good thing, was that during my wait for the connecting bus here, was that I bought some real Marlborough Sauv. Blanc, some pink Pinot Noir, and, a 1/2 bottle of botrytis Sauv.Blanc. I didn't know you could get dessert SB. I'm saving it for Xmas day & Andy's deformed chocolate.
The driver down to Christchurch was a very laconic Kiwi called Les. It made for an entertaining journey, even if some of his rude jokes were a bit naff. He pointed out the seals on the rocks - they were much darker than the ones round our shores.
Incidentally - I remember the 1st comment Paul (Picton - Nelson) made. He said " I apologise for the delay, but someone made a whoopsey with the paperwork" It reminded me of Frank Spencer - I had to laugh.
By the time we arrived here it was persisting. Fortunately Les let me stay on the bus & he dropped me off at the door.
After checking in, it was gone 7, so I headed off to a bar Les had told me did good grub. I was pretty wet by the time I got there!
A big plateful later, it was off back, & an early night. I was knackered after sitting on a bus all day!
There should have been someone else in the room, but she never made it back until about 8.30 this morning. She seemed to be moving out, but she left quite a lot of stuff on her bed. Weird?
It was a bit Wellingtonny earlier - ie windy. But it's cleared up now. After getting Jonny a totally awesome & mega pressie, I spent the rest of the day wandering about & writing postcards ILO Xmas cards. Eventually, I fell asleep in the sun with no sun cream on: Oops!
This may be the last for a few days, as I'm travelling to my Edoras ride tomorrow & headed for Queenstown by Xmas Eve. If I don't get on before Xmas Day -
Merry Xmas to 1 & all - Ho Ho Ho
So for now
OAO
Saturday 19 December 2009
Photos - at last!
Wandered around Nelson today. Went to the market, ate some whitebait again, & hugged some trees (not really ;-) : I just went looking at some.Then it started to rain, so I came in here to rename the photos, & to find I need to run the vids through the Panasonic software - bugger! So you'll have to wait for those. The explanations are below.
No 1 is above Ohakune on the road up Ruapehu. It was where Andy Serkis wore the motion-capture suit & splashed about to catch a fish. I remember being amazed when I saw it for the first time at the Pictures, & wondering how on earth they did it!
No 2 is taken from where they erected the fake oak on top of Bag End, & looking down towards the Party Tree. There's a poster of Gandalf & Bilbo having a smoke & looking out at the preparations for Bilbo's eleventy-first
No 3 shows No 3 Bagshot Row with Bag End above. The Oak above Bilbo's door was fake - I've got photos of what's left.
4 is Ian Anderson, me & Ben (the Orc). Gandalf the Bus is in the background. Hobbiton was created on the Anderson's farm.
5 is the view out of my room window at On The Beach Backpackers, in Whitianga. Not a bad view to wake up to, eh?
No 6 is the first pic I took in NZ on Tues Dec 8th @ 1300
7 was actually the 1st photo I uploaded, but Blogger doesn't seem to care where it dumps them on the page. It was taken when I was trying the FZ35 out indoors at my last bagwork class before I left. All the hard won fitness will all have disappeared by the time I go again.
Given uploading takes >2 min a photo, & I've no idea where Blogger will put them, I'm going to group them together under a date, or a location, so it's not such a muddle.
That way you'll have a better idea IRO the location photos & the various touristy ones.
I'll have to do this over the next few days, as I've already been in this Internet Cafe for nearly 2 hours & I can't do it at Paradiso, as I explained the other day.
Off to the supermarket now. Plan to eat as many green-lipped mussels as I can, & to try & eat another variety of NZ fish.
OAO
Friday 18 December 2009
Helicopters, Geeks & NZ wine
Well, up early, flight on, picked up at 9 & took off by @ 9.45
To paraphrase Craig Revill-Horwood (or whatever his name is (Strictly Judge, Luvvies))
Fa-bu-lous!
Take off was cool, flying over the bay was cool, jiggling about in the thermals was cool - even though it completely did for my camera work!, & the awesome rocks at the location were so cool they were hot.
Anyway - to backtrack a bit.
Got picked up at the Paradiso & taken out to the airport. Sorry mate, can't remember your name, even though Scott told me! But, Thanks, anyway.
Introduced to Dion, the Pilot, & he did all the safety stuff (incl talking about what I should do in the event of a crash - eek!).
Then it was get aboard, buckle up, headphones on (it was bloody noisy), & lift off.
Lift offs were fun. Kind of like a 'polite' slow-motion buck. And those of you who never experienced a horse bucking will just have to take my word for it!
A great journey westish over the bay towards the Abel Tasman National Park - the smallest in NZ (& it's tiny! - ahh, cute).
As we hit the hills at the other side we tossed about a bit in the thermals, but that was just good fun.
A warning, though.
When the vids of this are up, don't watch them if you're inclined to be queasy. I can't be responsible for vomit on your keyboard (it'll be a real bugger to get off, too!)
After a bit, Dion* pointed out the rocks used in the location for the trip south of Rivendell - before they tried to go up Caradhras. It was a wonderful right-handed swoop down to land, & I think the vid will be fun.
Unfortunately, Dion hadn't flown the cast & crew 10 yrs ago, & didn't know all the camera angles, like Ted had at Mt Victoria, but if my memory worked OK, I managed to get the right photos.
It was on Mt Olympus, which sounds like it should be 'he-uwj', but is actually only 1519.
(And yes, they photos/vids are still not up, but I consulted a Geek this afternoon, & if it rains tomorrow, as promised, I'll upload some.)
All to soon it was Andy Pandy (time to go home), & we lifted off again & flew home via Harcourt Hole. This is bloody big hole in the ground peeps like to go down - no accounting for taste, eh?
* Re Dion. I don't know if it's a function of having a mike close to his mouth a lot, but he was very Daniel Craig from the side. I was quite fascinated!
What with Scott (who came with us & ran me back to town) looking like a young Tom Hanks (think 'Big' & you'll be almost there), & Dion having Mr Craig's profile, it was an almost lustful morning - fnar, fnar!
It was a very hot day, & after Scott had dropped me off, I wandered around Nelson for a bit.
I stuffed my face with cherries, & saw copies of the One Ring, Nenya & Aragorn's at Jensen's - they designed & made the the original rings used in the film. This was all due to the kindness & courtesy of the lovely Anne-Marie at Jensen's, who took out very expensive jewellry, & let me photograph & hold it. Wow. & when I say expensive, I mean EXPENSIVE!
Then I met a Geek. He told me there may be a problem with my SD card & took it away to fix it.
I nearly completed a Sudoku while I waited.
I may need to get another SD card. Heaven forbid I lose some photos & vids!
After that I walked to the sea. The map showed a shortcut - & it was (as the crow flew!). Unfortunately, the shortcut went up a hill & down a hill about 4 times before I made it to the prom. Ah well, good for the CVS & the legs!
Then I spent a lot of money on a late lunch - cider, whitebait, gewurtztraminer, groper (a fish, not a randy bloke), botrytis riesling, & an awesome treacle pud. $87 dollars - oops ;-)
Walked back to town after that. It was after 6, but still wonderfully warm, so when I got back to the Paradiso I decided to go down the local for more alcohol - that made 4 helpings since 4pm (Shut up, I'm on my hols).
I was on my way to blog, but I got waylaid by a Wales/All Black game on the telly, so I'm a bit later than planned.
Anyway, that doesn't matter, as most of you will be at work right now - unless you're in the US of A, where you'll still be in bed!
That's more or less it for today, folks. It sounds like there a good film on the telly, so I'm off to have a shufti before bed!
OAO
To paraphrase Craig Revill-Horwood (or whatever his name is (Strictly Judge, Luvvies))
Fa-bu-lous!
Take off was cool, flying over the bay was cool, jiggling about in the thermals was cool - even though it completely did for my camera work!, & the awesome rocks at the location were so cool they were hot.
Anyway - to backtrack a bit.
Got picked up at the Paradiso & taken out to the airport. Sorry mate, can't remember your name, even though Scott told me! But, Thanks, anyway.
Introduced to Dion, the Pilot, & he did all the safety stuff (incl talking about what I should do in the event of a crash - eek!).
Then it was get aboard, buckle up, headphones on (it was bloody noisy), & lift off.
Lift offs were fun. Kind of like a 'polite' slow-motion buck. And those of you who never experienced a horse bucking will just have to take my word for it!
A great journey westish over the bay towards the Abel Tasman National Park - the smallest in NZ (& it's tiny! - ahh, cute).
As we hit the hills at the other side we tossed about a bit in the thermals, but that was just good fun.
A warning, though.
When the vids of this are up, don't watch them if you're inclined to be queasy. I can't be responsible for vomit on your keyboard (it'll be a real bugger to get off, too!)
After a bit, Dion* pointed out the rocks used in the location for the trip south of Rivendell - before they tried to go up Caradhras. It was a wonderful right-handed swoop down to land, & I think the vid will be fun.
Unfortunately, Dion hadn't flown the cast & crew 10 yrs ago, & didn't know all the camera angles, like Ted had at Mt Victoria, but if my memory worked OK, I managed to get the right photos.
It was on Mt Olympus, which sounds like it should be 'he-uwj', but is actually only 1519.
(And yes, they photos/vids are still not up, but I consulted a Geek this afternoon, & if it rains tomorrow, as promised, I'll upload some.)
All to soon it was Andy Pandy (time to go home), & we lifted off again & flew home via Harcourt Hole. This is bloody big hole in the ground peeps like to go down - no accounting for taste, eh?
* Re Dion. I don't know if it's a function of having a mike close to his mouth a lot, but he was very Daniel Craig from the side. I was quite fascinated!
What with Scott (who came with us & ran me back to town) looking like a young Tom Hanks (think 'Big' & you'll be almost there), & Dion having Mr Craig's profile, it was an almost lustful morning - fnar, fnar!
It was a very hot day, & after Scott had dropped me off, I wandered around Nelson for a bit.
I stuffed my face with cherries, & saw copies of the One Ring, Nenya & Aragorn's at Jensen's - they designed & made the the original rings used in the film. This was all due to the kindness & courtesy of the lovely Anne-Marie at Jensen's, who took out very expensive jewellry, & let me photograph & hold it. Wow. & when I say expensive, I mean EXPENSIVE!
Then I met a Geek. He told me there may be a problem with my SD card & took it away to fix it.
I nearly completed a Sudoku while I waited.
I may need to get another SD card. Heaven forbid I lose some photos & vids!
After that I walked to the sea. The map showed a shortcut - & it was (as the crow flew!). Unfortunately, the shortcut went up a hill & down a hill about 4 times before I made it to the prom. Ah well, good for the CVS & the legs!
Then I spent a lot of money on a late lunch - cider, whitebait, gewurtztraminer, groper (a fish, not a randy bloke), botrytis riesling, & an awesome treacle pud. $87 dollars - oops ;-)
Walked back to town after that. It was after 6, but still wonderfully warm, so when I got back to the Paradiso I decided to go down the local for more alcohol - that made 4 helpings since 4pm (Shut up, I'm on my hols).
I was on my way to blog, but I got waylaid by a Wales/All Black game on the telly, so I'm a bit later than planned.
Anyway, that doesn't matter, as most of you will be at work right now - unless you're in the US of A, where you'll still be in bed!
That's more or less it for today, folks. It sounds like there a good film on the telly, so I'm off to have a shufti before bed!
OAO
Thursday 17 December 2009
Splitting the atom
Turns out the I-site at Picton has more seats on the bus, so I got a seat to Nelson, after all.
When I turned the mob on I'd got an ansafone msg, but can't access them here. I guessed it was Mum, so called. She spent ages telling me how awful the Blackpool Royal Variety was!
Come on, Mum, this call's costing me loadsamoney!
Then she said she'd call me so it was her phone bill. Mmm. How do you explain mobile phone charges to an 86 yr old,& that it costs nearly as much to receive a call as to make one?
Once done with Mum, I took some sun (that's nearly poetry ;-P - I don't think! ) & nearly finished the last Gazette cryptic I'd brought with me before I fell asleep.
After sunbathing, I joined the hoards leaving cute Picton, & our Driver, Paul, gave a neat commentary while we went along. His accent was a little thick, though, & I think some non-English peeps had a bit of difficulty. Even I had fun at one point: I thought he said Bull Pens on the R, when in fact, he said Burnt Patch on the R!
Oops, seems Japanese is not the only language I have difficulty following ;-)
Anyway, we went through Blenheim - wasn't over impressed, as it was surrounded by seared hills; Renwick - said as it's spelt, not like we do in Blighty; & Havelock - where Rutherford (atom splitting chap) was born & went to school, & where there is the biggest green-lipped mussel industry in the world. You'd never guess from the look of the place!
We went through other places, but can't really remember what Paul said about them. Something about the worlds tallest loaf - due to a French Rugby team visit, his very fit 72 yr old Mother & him having an Aussie accent!
Hooked up with an Italian girl called Rebecca while we waited to be picked up from the bus station here. She has very good English, as her Mother's a geordie. She even says Newcastle like one!
Given the dolphins were a no-go I decided to call Nelson Helicopters & go for the LOR flight. I've to call them at 8am to check the weather.
Maybe by this time tomorrow I'll have flown over some 'inaccessible by foot' locations?
Had planned to spend time uploading photos & vids tonight, & had saved up a load of $2 pieces. However, the computers here are almost as basic as my old 386, & you can't plug anything in. The girl at the desk says there's somewhere in town, so as it's due to rain on Sat, I'll save my $2 pieces until then.
Having eaten a load of green-lipped mussels for tea, & blogged to you lot, I'm about to take my glass of local Reisling, & sit by the pool, go in the spa (if all the Gerry's have got out!), or try the sauna. Tell you, this place is not your average hostel!
OAO
When I turned the mob on I'd got an ansafone msg, but can't access them here. I guessed it was Mum, so called. She spent ages telling me how awful the Blackpool Royal Variety was!
Come on, Mum, this call's costing me loadsamoney!
Then she said she'd call me so it was her phone bill. Mmm. How do you explain mobile phone charges to an 86 yr old,& that it costs nearly as much to receive a call as to make one?
Once done with Mum, I took some sun (that's nearly poetry ;-P - I don't think! ) & nearly finished the last Gazette cryptic I'd brought with me before I fell asleep.
After sunbathing, I joined the hoards leaving cute Picton, & our Driver, Paul, gave a neat commentary while we went along. His accent was a little thick, though, & I think some non-English peeps had a bit of difficulty. Even I had fun at one point: I thought he said Bull Pens on the R, when in fact, he said Burnt Patch on the R!
Oops, seems Japanese is not the only language I have difficulty following ;-)
Anyway, we went through Blenheim - wasn't over impressed, as it was surrounded by seared hills; Renwick - said as it's spelt, not like we do in Blighty; & Havelock - where Rutherford (atom splitting chap) was born & went to school, & where there is the biggest green-lipped mussel industry in the world. You'd never guess from the look of the place!
We went through other places, but can't really remember what Paul said about them. Something about the worlds tallest loaf - due to a French Rugby team visit, his very fit 72 yr old Mother & him having an Aussie accent!
Hooked up with an Italian girl called Rebecca while we waited to be picked up from the bus station here. She has very good English, as her Mother's a geordie. She even says Newcastle like one!
Given the dolphins were a no-go I decided to call Nelson Helicopters & go for the LOR flight. I've to call them at 8am to check the weather.
Maybe by this time tomorrow I'll have flown over some 'inaccessible by foot' locations?
Had planned to spend time uploading photos & vids tonight, & had saved up a load of $2 pieces. However, the computers here are almost as basic as my old 386, & you can't plug anything in. The girl at the desk says there's somewhere in town, so as it's due to rain on Sat, I'll save my $2 pieces until then.
Having eaten a load of green-lipped mussels for tea, & blogged to you lot, I'm about to take my glass of local Reisling, & sit by the pool, go in the spa (if all the Gerry's have got out!), or try the sauna. Tell you, this place is not your average hostel!
OAO
Wednesday 16 December 2009
Oh Woe Is Me!
The dolphin swim was cancelled due to lack of swimmers :-((
So now I'm off to Nelson, via Blenheim at lunchtime. Further pants is the buses to Nelson are all full, but they'll take me to Blenheim & I can use the thumb from there.
It'll be odd to hitch with a big pink suitcase rather than a big black backpack, but, hey, what the heck. New experiences & all that ;-)
Update on the Maori brunch at Te Papa on Tuesday - Tea = Kawa Kawa leaves & Manuka blossom, Pesto made from Piro Piro ferns (the famous NZ fern), pine nuts & flax seed oil, bread made from Kumara, & manuka honey. Makes me hungry thinking about it!
This hostel is great. Hostess, Shiera, is a New Yorker, & has mega hair. She passed it on to her daughter, & between them they could operate a successful wig shop! They would have to be very curly, blonde wigs, though!
Here they've got free tea & coffee all day, plus free breakfast.
There's also a pool here - they train divers for scuba trips, & I had a room to myself again. Plus, I did my washing yesterday & it was mostly dry before the rain arrived yesterday afternoon (1st rain in NZ).
I'd definitely recommend Atlantis for anyone in Picton for the night. And Picton's so cute - the chaps I shared a table with at the pub last night thought it was funny I called it cute, but it's lovely. Come & see for yourselves.
The difference between here & Rowena's in Wellington is huge. EG clean kitchen, clean linen, clean hostellers & clean rooms! Win some, lose some, & this is definitely a win some.
Good social too. Irish pub had live music & huge portions. I couldn't eat it all! & that's me speaking ;-P. Plus 2 Kiwis didn't object to me asking to share their table & we had a great natter about the All Blacks, Scotland beating Australia & rugby in general.
Breakfast calls - so off to eat.
May not get back on today, so TTFN
OAO
So now I'm off to Nelson, via Blenheim at lunchtime. Further pants is the buses to Nelson are all full, but they'll take me to Blenheim & I can use the thumb from there.
It'll be odd to hitch with a big pink suitcase rather than a big black backpack, but, hey, what the heck. New experiences & all that ;-)
Update on the Maori brunch at Te Papa on Tuesday - Tea = Kawa Kawa leaves & Manuka blossom, Pesto made from Piro Piro ferns (the famous NZ fern), pine nuts & flax seed oil, bread made from Kumara, & manuka honey. Makes me hungry thinking about it!
This hostel is great. Hostess, Shiera, is a New Yorker, & has mega hair. She passed it on to her daughter, & between them they could operate a successful wig shop! They would have to be very curly, blonde wigs, though!
Here they've got free tea & coffee all day, plus free breakfast.
There's also a pool here - they train divers for scuba trips, & I had a room to myself again. Plus, I did my washing yesterday & it was mostly dry before the rain arrived yesterday afternoon (1st rain in NZ).
I'd definitely recommend Atlantis for anyone in Picton for the night. And Picton's so cute - the chaps I shared a table with at the pub last night thought it was funny I called it cute, but it's lovely. Come & see for yourselves.
The difference between here & Rowena's in Wellington is huge. EG clean kitchen, clean linen, clean hostellers & clean rooms! Win some, lose some, & this is definitely a win some.
Good social too. Irish pub had live music & huge portions. I couldn't eat it all! & that's me speaking ;-P. Plus 2 Kiwis didn't object to me asking to share their table & we had a great natter about the All Blacks, Scotland beating Australia & rugby in general.
Breakfast calls - so off to eat.
May not get back on today, so TTFN
OAO
More about yesterday, plus Wellington to Picton
OK - was rushed last night so didn't get chance to fill you in about yesterday.
I''ll start at the beginning.
Early start to try & find out what was wrong with the FZ35. Not mendable, bought a point & shoot, & then off to Te Papa again for a taste of the Maori culture.
Lisa Reweti took me round - I was the only one, & felt like a VIP. She explained a load of stuff about the Maoris & especially interesting was the painting of The Widow - which I'd seen the day before & was amazed to see how much like a photo it was. The end of the tour involved eating Maori style food & drink - details of which I've stupidly left in my room, but it was really good - especially the tea. There was also a bowl of manuka honey to sweeten the tea & put on the bread made from sweet potatoes. Considering how much the stuff costs in Tesco, I probably ate a fiver's worth! Lisa was Maori, & really knew her onions, or should that be kumara?
Then I tried to find the artwork (sculptured poetry & sculptures) in the harbour I'd seen on Billy Connelly's World Tour of NZ, but only found 4 of them. Took shoes off & walked about barefoot - obviously turning Kiwi?
After that, I went to the All Black's Store & spent an arm & a leg on a shirt. It seems quite delicate, but I guess it must be tougher than it looks, given the hammer they get on the pitch.
I wanted 7 on the back (never really got to play much, in the pack, but enjoyed it immensley when I did, & it's much more FUN than standing around freezing on the wing). However, it takes a couple of days so it wasn't feasible. However, the guy at the store, Tivi*, said I could take it to the Christchurch store, they'd get it numbered up, & then send it to either Queenstown or Dunedin for me. What a brill idea, Tivi - Cheers mate!
* who looked like he may have been a Back. He was way too pretty for a forward, & to quote Diane IRO G: Phwoor!
By now it was mid afternoon, so I made my way to Courtney Place where the buses to Miramar/Scorching Bay go from. Whilst awaiting the omni, a lady of senior years asked me how much it cost, as her pass stopped at 3pm. Of course I hadn't a clue, but we got chatting & when I said I was off to Scorching Bay for tea at the ex Chocolate Fish Cafe, she said it was really difficult to get to by bus, but if I got off with her, she'd run me in her car.
So eventually, there I was, getting off the bus & into her car. She said her name was Faye & whilst Christened Fay, she said when she was 7, her teacher had put an E on the end & she'd been Faye with an E ever since! Isn't that sweet?
And what a lovely lady she was. She reminded me a bit of Mum, & awfully of how mate Jools may look in 30 years. She even had similar mannerisms!
Not only did she take me there to the bay, we stopped off at Peter Jackson's house for a piccy - it was on the way, & then, when I found they'd just shut for the day (at 4.30 ?), she took me home for a brew.
A couple of photos taken of the view from her house & across the bay, & then we sat & chatted for well over 2 hours - about our families & all sorts of stuff. She seems to be always doing things for others & is truly a good & special person.
After our chat she ran me back up to the bus for town - via the scenic route!, & then waited with me, still chatting until it came. We had a lovely hug & waved at each other as the bus went off.
Thanks, Faye, for your kindness & your worldly wisdom. You've given me a bit to think about - like accepting someone may be truly repentant, & never to say, never, & mean it.
In turn I hope you can believe you are a very welcoming & open person, & don't let anyone convince you otherwise :-))
Once back in town I ate Japanese - again! plus 3 lots of Sake. Apologies if I told you that already?, but I need to say how nice the NZ bus drivers are. Not at all grumpy!
OK - Now today
Today I met my 1st grumpy Kiwi. He was the guy from Rowena's who got up before 7am to take just little old me to the ferry terminal. Maybe it was that, or the fact the minibus didn't do 4th? He just revved the bollocks of it in 3rd & then dropped out of gear & coasted for a bit. It sounded dreadful & I was worried we wouldn't get there. But we did, thank goodness. He grunted when I said Ta.
The ferry was amazing, & I got all touristy & took load of photos & vids. PROMISE (honestly, AndyC!) I'll do my utmost in Nelson to upload them, but can't tonight as I need to check E's before I'm dumped out again, & then I need to get some scran.
I tell you, it's costing me fortunes, all this blogging. But from your E's, you're enjoying my stories, so that's good.
Supposed to be on my dolphin swm manana, but there's only 3 booked, & min is 4. I won't know until 7am whether or not I'll actually do it. I even bought a waterproof camera in Wellington, especially. Fingers crossed, eh?!
Signing off now
OAO
I''ll start at the beginning.
Early start to try & find out what was wrong with the FZ35. Not mendable, bought a point & shoot, & then off to Te Papa again for a taste of the Maori culture.
Lisa Reweti took me round - I was the only one, & felt like a VIP. She explained a load of stuff about the Maoris & especially interesting was the painting of The Widow - which I'd seen the day before & was amazed to see how much like a photo it was. The end of the tour involved eating Maori style food & drink - details of which I've stupidly left in my room, but it was really good - especially the tea. There was also a bowl of manuka honey to sweeten the tea & put on the bread made from sweet potatoes. Considering how much the stuff costs in Tesco, I probably ate a fiver's worth! Lisa was Maori, & really knew her onions, or should that be kumara?
Then I tried to find the artwork (sculptured poetry & sculptures) in the harbour I'd seen on Billy Connelly's World Tour of NZ, but only found 4 of them. Took shoes off & walked about barefoot - obviously turning Kiwi?
After that, I went to the All Black's Store & spent an arm & a leg on a shirt. It seems quite delicate, but I guess it must be tougher than it looks, given the hammer they get on the pitch.
I wanted 7 on the back (never really got to play much, in the pack, but enjoyed it immensley when I did, & it's much more FUN than standing around freezing on the wing). However, it takes a couple of days so it wasn't feasible. However, the guy at the store, Tivi*, said I could take it to the Christchurch store, they'd get it numbered up, & then send it to either Queenstown or Dunedin for me. What a brill idea, Tivi - Cheers mate!
* who looked like he may have been a Back. He was way too pretty for a forward, & to quote Diane IRO G: Phwoor!
By now it was mid afternoon, so I made my way to Courtney Place where the buses to Miramar/Scorching Bay go from. Whilst awaiting the omni, a lady of senior years asked me how much it cost, as her pass stopped at 3pm. Of course I hadn't a clue, but we got chatting & when I said I was off to Scorching Bay for tea at the ex Chocolate Fish Cafe, she said it was really difficult to get to by bus, but if I got off with her, she'd run me in her car.
So eventually, there I was, getting off the bus & into her car. She said her name was Faye & whilst Christened Fay, she said when she was 7, her teacher had put an E on the end & she'd been Faye with an E ever since! Isn't that sweet?
And what a lovely lady she was. She reminded me a bit of Mum, & awfully of how mate Jools may look in 30 years. She even had similar mannerisms!
Not only did she take me there to the bay, we stopped off at Peter Jackson's house for a piccy - it was on the way, & then, when I found they'd just shut for the day (at 4.30 ?), she took me home for a brew.
A couple of photos taken of the view from her house & across the bay, & then we sat & chatted for well over 2 hours - about our families & all sorts of stuff. She seems to be always doing things for others & is truly a good & special person.
After our chat she ran me back up to the bus for town - via the scenic route!, & then waited with me, still chatting until it came. We had a lovely hug & waved at each other as the bus went off.
Thanks, Faye, for your kindness & your worldly wisdom. You've given me a bit to think about - like accepting someone may be truly repentant, & never to say, never, & mean it.
In turn I hope you can believe you are a very welcoming & open person, & don't let anyone convince you otherwise :-))
Once back in town I ate Japanese - again! plus 3 lots of Sake. Apologies if I told you that already?, but I need to say how nice the NZ bus drivers are. Not at all grumpy!
OK - Now today
Today I met my 1st grumpy Kiwi. He was the guy from Rowena's who got up before 7am to take just little old me to the ferry terminal. Maybe it was that, or the fact the minibus didn't do 4th? He just revved the bollocks of it in 3rd & then dropped out of gear & coasted for a bit. It sounded dreadful & I was worried we wouldn't get there. But we did, thank goodness. He grunted when I said Ta.
The ferry was amazing, & I got all touristy & took load of photos & vids. PROMISE (honestly, AndyC!) I'll do my utmost in Nelson to upload them, but can't tonight as I need to check E's before I'm dumped out again, & then I need to get some scran.
I tell you, it's costing me fortunes, all this blogging. But from your E's, you're enjoying my stories, so that's good.
Supposed to be on my dolphin swm manana, but there's only 3 booked, & min is 4. I won't know until 7am whether or not I'll actually do it. I even bought a waterproof camera in Wellington, especially. Fingers crossed, eh?!
Signing off now
OAO
Tuesday 15 December 2009
Cameras & Faye
Gosh
Very little time on my session to say much, so I'll tell you all about today when I get to Picton tomorrow.
Main news is my wonderful FZ35 'developed a fault' according to the chap in the shop, so I've had to buy a new one, pending getting in touch with Panasonic UK once I'm back in Blighty.
The result of the above is I had to bite the bullet & get a new one. Some of you out there know how much it cost me ! :-(
I guess it means I'll have to grab whatever overtime's going once I'm back at work.
Anyway - I met a lady at the bus stop out to Miramar where I hoped to see the site of the Chocolate Fish Cafe - a fave rave of the Rings peeps.
She told me the bus didn't go anyway near & said she'd run me there with her car once we got to Miramar.
The full details manana, but I ended up spending >3 hours chatting to her at her house, feasting on her lovely birthday cake (fruit yumyumyum), & then she ran me back to the bus to town.
What a totally lovely lady - Thanks for everything, Faye - check out tomorrow's blog!
Went back to Shinobi Sushi for tea, had 3 lots of sake & need to post NOW
OAO
Very little time on my session to say much, so I'll tell you all about today when I get to Picton tomorrow.
Main news is my wonderful FZ35 'developed a fault' according to the chap in the shop, so I've had to buy a new one, pending getting in touch with Panasonic UK once I'm back in Blighty.
The result of the above is I had to bite the bullet & get a new one. Some of you out there know how much it cost me ! :-(
I guess it means I'll have to grab whatever overtime's going once I'm back at work.
Anyway - I met a lady at the bus stop out to Miramar where I hoped to see the site of the Chocolate Fish Cafe - a fave rave of the Rings peeps.
She told me the bus didn't go anyway near & said she'd run me there with her car once we got to Miramar.
The full details manana, but I ended up spending >3 hours chatting to her at her house, feasting on her lovely birthday cake (fruit yumyumyum), & then she ran me back to the bus to town.
What a totally lovely lady - Thanks for everything, Faye - check out tomorrow's blog!
Went back to Shinobi Sushi for tea, had 3 lots of sake & need to post NOW
OAO
Monday 14 December 2009
Searching for Ents
Got up this morning to find everyone had left in the early hours - was it something I said?
Good thing was, I was able to move off the top bunk into the single bed near the window.
While I was getting dressed a bloke walked in with clean linen for the other 4 beds. Although he apologised, he didn't leave immediately, so I had to pause proceedings & stand with my back to the door, 'til he'd gone.
Cheeky bugger, or what?
I left quite early - before 9, & there was a definite smell of 'holiday' in the air - you know, the smell that tells you, you're on holiday & not at home.
Walked into town & spent ages in the Te Papa museum. Initially thought it wasn't as good as the one in Edinburgh, but it kept me interested for 5 hrs or so, so I guess 1st impressions were wrong?
Afterwards, I walked along the quays to the bottom of the cable car (down Cable St., but I wasn't Particular! Rock on Terry!)
It goes up to the Botanic Gardens, where, allegedly, there was a pohutukawa tree whose bark inspired Treebeard.
Leaving the cable car on the starboard side, I wandered all over the place trying to see a named one. Eventually, I got fed up & asked a woman pooperscooping her dog if she knew what one looked like. She very kindly took me back from where she'd come from & showed me one.
As she spoke English with a Japanese accent & had the right facial features I said "domo arigato", & she started rattling on in Japanese, loosing me completely within a few words - oops! "Sumimasen"
Anyway, now I knew, so I went looking for an Entish looking tree. After wandering around for another hour, I ended up back near the cable car, where there was a whole grove of the bloody things, but I hadn't known that earlier - typical ! ;-).
I spent a while looking for a nice one to photograph, got a couple of shots, & then went to sit in the sun & look out over Wellington.
As a cable car left, I thought 'there's no hurry, I'll get the next one", & then bugger me, there it was, across the cable track - a massive pohutukawa. If I'd gone to port 3 hrs earlier, I'd've seen it immediately - and it had a label on it: the only one I'd seen.
So I got a nice shot of all its trunks & a close-up of the bark - definitely Treebeard, alright.
I could almost hear John Rhys-Davies 'whoom-whooming'!
Then it was back down the cable car, a walk into town, & up here to check E's & blog.
Grant's not here this evening. The girl in charge is (another) Sophie. There seems to be a lot of them about in NZ!, but so far, they've been normal, & only have 1 E.
Dashing off now, as I want to go & see if I can spot Peter Jackson on the red carpet for his Lovely Bones premier at the Embassy.
OAO
Good thing was, I was able to move off the top bunk into the single bed near the window.
While I was getting dressed a bloke walked in with clean linen for the other 4 beds. Although he apologised, he didn't leave immediately, so I had to pause proceedings & stand with my back to the door, 'til he'd gone.
Cheeky bugger, or what?
I left quite early - before 9, & there was a definite smell of 'holiday' in the air - you know, the smell that tells you, you're on holiday & not at home.
Walked into town & spent ages in the Te Papa museum. Initially thought it wasn't as good as the one in Edinburgh, but it kept me interested for 5 hrs or so, so I guess 1st impressions were wrong?
Afterwards, I walked along the quays to the bottom of the cable car (down Cable St., but I wasn't Particular! Rock on Terry!)
It goes up to the Botanic Gardens, where, allegedly, there was a pohutukawa tree whose bark inspired Treebeard.
Leaving the cable car on the starboard side, I wandered all over the place trying to see a named one. Eventually, I got fed up & asked a woman pooperscooping her dog if she knew what one looked like. She very kindly took me back from where she'd come from & showed me one.
As she spoke English with a Japanese accent & had the right facial features I said "domo arigato", & she started rattling on in Japanese, loosing me completely within a few words - oops! "Sumimasen"
Anyway, now I knew, so I went looking for an Entish looking tree. After wandering around for another hour, I ended up back near the cable car, where there was a whole grove of the bloody things, but I hadn't known that earlier - typical ! ;-).
I spent a while looking for a nice one to photograph, got a couple of shots, & then went to sit in the sun & look out over Wellington.
As a cable car left, I thought 'there's no hurry, I'll get the next one", & then bugger me, there it was, across the cable track - a massive pohutukawa. If I'd gone to port 3 hrs earlier, I'd've seen it immediately - and it had a label on it: the only one I'd seen.
So I got a nice shot of all its trunks & a close-up of the bark - definitely Treebeard, alright.
I could almost hear John Rhys-Davies 'whoom-whooming'!
Then it was back down the cable car, a walk into town, & up here to check E's & blog.
Grant's not here this evening. The girl in charge is (another) Sophie. There seems to be a lot of them about in NZ!, but so far, they've been normal, & only have 1 E.
Dashing off now, as I want to go & see if I can spot Peter Jackson on the red carpet for his Lovely Bones premier at the Embassy.
OAO
Sunday 13 December 2009
Carrots, mushrooms & unidentified excrement!
A reference to 'A Shortcut To Mushrooms" there, & what an amazing afternoon.
Ted took 7 of us up to Mt Victoria & showed us several locations, including the above, the Hobbits hiding from the Nazgul, Frodo's POV on Weathertop - when the Nazgul were approaching from below, a bit from Dunharrow, & Frodo's pipe smoking tree, while Sam cooked sausages. Some of us acted as Hobbits, & 3 generous souls were the Nazgul on his horse - don't ask! I'll explain once I get the photos up. It was well good, because Ted had a laptop with the relevant clips on, so we could see we were exactly at the right location.
I'd NEVER have found them wandering about on my own. It took me ages yesterday to find Isengard & Rivendell. Another serendipitous choice, & all thanks to Kathryn at the I-site for suggesting the tour.
After all the wood scenes, we went off to Miramar & saw the Stone St Studios, & then spent about an hour in the Weta Cave - I got pics of me with Lurtz, one of Gollum + fish, plus some amazing models. I also got another cool pressie which looks like it should be quite heavy, but isn't. Cryptic or what?
Then we went past a few more sites while Ted showed us more relevant film footage & an hilarious easter egg from the extended DVD. As I'd never managed to find any, it was an even better bonus when he told me where they were.
I guess that means I'll be spending time when I get home looking for them?
Ted dropped me off downtown & I ended up in a sushi bar. I had big-eye tuna from Fiji, freshwater salmon from Mt Cook, Kingfish, & an amazingly tasty fish called Trevally. It completely held its own with the wasabi - don'tya just lerve wasabi? The chap, Jeremy (Wilson, Itamae!) did his training in Tokyo & we had a nice chat.
Need to go check my E's now, as there's only 6.5 mins left of my 2 dollars.
OAO
Ted took 7 of us up to Mt Victoria & showed us several locations, including the above, the Hobbits hiding from the Nazgul, Frodo's POV on Weathertop - when the Nazgul were approaching from below, a bit from Dunharrow, & Frodo's pipe smoking tree, while Sam cooked sausages. Some of us acted as Hobbits, & 3 generous souls were the Nazgul on his horse - don't ask! I'll explain once I get the photos up. It was well good, because Ted had a laptop with the relevant clips on, so we could see we were exactly at the right location.
I'd NEVER have found them wandering about on my own. It took me ages yesterday to find Isengard & Rivendell. Another serendipitous choice, & all thanks to Kathryn at the I-site for suggesting the tour.
After all the wood scenes, we went off to Miramar & saw the Stone St Studios, & then spent about an hour in the Weta Cave - I got pics of me with Lurtz, one of Gollum + fish, plus some amazing models. I also got another cool pressie which looks like it should be quite heavy, but isn't. Cryptic or what?
Then we went past a few more sites while Ted showed us more relevant film footage & an hilarious easter egg from the extended DVD. As I'd never managed to find any, it was an even better bonus when he told me where they were.
I guess that means I'll be spending time when I get home looking for them?
Ted dropped me off downtown & I ended up in a sushi bar. I had big-eye tuna from Fiji, freshwater salmon from Mt Cook, Kingfish, & an amazingly tasty fish called Trevally. It completely held its own with the wasabi - don'tya just lerve wasabi? The chap, Jeremy (Wilson, Itamae!) did his training in Tokyo & we had a nice chat.
Need to go check my E's now, as there's only 6.5 mins left of my 2 dollars.
OAO
Saturday 12 December 2009
Anduin, Isengard, Rivendell & the Fords of Isen
Early start yesterday, headed south via the Rangitiki - AKA the river Anduin. Amazing gorge with river below. Unfortunately there were some bungy wires in the way, but once I get the picture thing sorted, I'm sure you'll get the idea.
On the way there I stopped off for breakfast, & bought some wood - you know me & wood. It's nearly as bad as me & water. I must have been some sort of nymph in another life/universe/leg of the trousers of time?
After that I headed south on SH1, & at Waikanae cut across to Upper Hutt. The road wound up for 11k, & it was like doing an uphill slalom. There was swing after swing with barely 20m between each turn - it was great! Downhill was another 11k, but this was more GS, or maybe SuperG. Weirdly, I ended up passing Gemstone Drive & screeching to a halt when I saw Harcourt Park, the location for scenes at Isengard. Just like the book said, Gandalf's path was discernable by the darker green line, & the tree he rode by was still there. Check out the photo, when I eventually get it on here.
Once done at Isengard, I went back up the road to Gemstone, & saw the location of Aragorn's vision of Arwen, & rescue by Breagol (forgotten the spelling, apologies, Tolkein & Jackson!). However, as the river had washed away all the sand they put there, & it was in flood, it wasn't really recognisable, so I didn't photo it.
Next it was back north to Kaitoke & Rivendell. This was a bit disapointing, but I got a picture of the site of Legolas's 'bow & arrow' pose, & a cool stripey tree. The Fords of Isen were very close - over a mega swing bridge, & I took some vid of that.
Re the vids - turns out the German didn't del them, they were hidden files. The I-site here directed me to this internet shop, & the very helpful Grant found them & put them on my stick. So once I've worked out how to get them up here, Hopalong Clarke will be out there! ;-) eek ! (or should that be ook? lol)
Anyway, after travelling all day, from Ohakune & a nearly empty hostel, I ended up in Wellington (sharing with 2 Irish, a German, & a Spanish), & way too tired to blog. Finding the hostel was a piece of easy thing, straight up Pirie, R at Brougham, & there I was. After cleaning the car - as it would have cost me $50 if I'd taken it back covered in mud & dust, I went to bed.
Up early again this am, & found the car place. Wellington was virtually deserted at 0830 on a Sunday. The chap from Ace kindly ran me back downtown & dropped me off at the I-site, where the lovely Kathryn helped me sort out a tour & the bus/cable car to the Botanic gardens, & gave me loads of maps. Aren't maps brilliant - hahaha ;-P.
She also directed me to a brill cafe where I had a mega brek of muesli, loads of fresh fruit & yoghurt - yum yum yum, which sorted out my perenial 'change of water' problem - too much info for a blog? Tough.
After sitting there for ages & looking at all my lovely maps - this may be a running joke, always & forever etc ;-) , I went back to the I-site & bugged Kathryn again. And here I am at the internet place about to bug Grant about transferring my photos & vids.
So for now -
OAO
On the way there I stopped off for breakfast, & bought some wood - you know me & wood. It's nearly as bad as me & water. I must have been some sort of nymph in another life/universe/leg of the trousers of time?
After that I headed south on SH1, & at Waikanae cut across to Upper Hutt. The road wound up for 11k, & it was like doing an uphill slalom. There was swing after swing with barely 20m between each turn - it was great! Downhill was another 11k, but this was more GS, or maybe SuperG. Weirdly, I ended up passing Gemstone Drive & screeching to a halt when I saw Harcourt Park, the location for scenes at Isengard. Just like the book said, Gandalf's path was discernable by the darker green line, & the tree he rode by was still there. Check out the photo, when I eventually get it on here.
Once done at Isengard, I went back up the road to Gemstone, & saw the location of Aragorn's vision of Arwen, & rescue by Breagol (forgotten the spelling, apologies, Tolkein & Jackson!). However, as the river had washed away all the sand they put there, & it was in flood, it wasn't really recognisable, so I didn't photo it.
Next it was back north to Kaitoke & Rivendell. This was a bit disapointing, but I got a picture of the site of Legolas's 'bow & arrow' pose, & a cool stripey tree. The Fords of Isen were very close - over a mega swing bridge, & I took some vid of that.
Re the vids - turns out the German didn't del them, they were hidden files. The I-site here directed me to this internet shop, & the very helpful Grant found them & put them on my stick. So once I've worked out how to get them up here, Hopalong Clarke will be out there! ;-) eek ! (or should that be ook? lol)
Anyway, after travelling all day, from Ohakune & a nearly empty hostel, I ended up in Wellington (sharing with 2 Irish, a German, & a Spanish), & way too tired to blog. Finding the hostel was a piece of easy thing, straight up Pirie, R at Brougham, & there I was. After cleaning the car - as it would have cost me $50 if I'd taken it back covered in mud & dust, I went to bed.
Up early again this am, & found the car place. Wellington was virtually deserted at 0830 on a Sunday. The chap from Ace kindly ran me back downtown & dropped me off at the I-site, where the lovely Kathryn helped me sort out a tour & the bus/cable car to the Botanic gardens, & gave me loads of maps. Aren't maps brilliant - hahaha ;-P.
She also directed me to a brill cafe where I had a mega brek of muesli, loads of fresh fruit & yoghurt - yum yum yum, which sorted out my perenial 'change of water' problem - too much info for a blog? Tough.
After sitting there for ages & looking at all my lovely maps - this may be a running joke, always & forever etc ;-) , I went back to the I-site & bugged Kathryn again. And here I am at the internet place about to bug Grant about transferring my photos & vids.
So for now -
OAO
Friday 11 December 2009
Mordor & Ithilien
Went to Mordor this morning - spooky place.
It was very misty up on Ruapehu, but perfect weather for Mordor. I spent quite a while waiting around for the mist to clear, so there was something to look at, but eventually got a shot of Mears Wall, where Gollum snook-up on the sleeping hobbits, & some area shots of the Dagorlad Plain. It was very atmospheric up there, & quite apt having no sun. I mean, Mordor in the sunshine - I don't think so.
It turns out that the volcano photo I took yesterday was Mount Doom. It was just too misty & drizzly today to see it from the angle they used in LOR. I will put up a photo, but although the photos from the card (but not the vid clips - more of that later) are now on the memory stick, I haven't worked out how to get them on here for you to look at. Maybe manana?
Anyway, I had lunch at the Grand Chateau, up on Ruapehu. This was where the hotshots stayed when they were filming up there. It's only 1/4 hr from the location.
After that I drove back to Ohakune & up the mountain road to Ithilien. I got some shots of the stream where Gollum caught his fish. I remember watching that at the cinema, & wondering how on earth they managed to get the water to act as if someone was splashing about in it. I now know, of course :-)) having watched hours of the extra bits on the extended DVDs.
I had tea at the Powderhorn Chateau in Ohakune where a load of them stayed while doing the Ithilien locations up the hill & had a nice chat with the really friendly waitress (about my NZ leg & Orang Utan bits of the trip). Unfortunately, I never got her name, but she asked the receptionist, Sophie (only 1 e hahaha), if I could go & see the suite where Peter Jackson stayed. On the way up I cuddled a lovely, moulting marmalade & white puss, who weighed a ton, purred like crazy & left me covered in cat hairs: almost like home!
Sophie was really kind & let me shoot some video in the suite, & then showed me a massive LOR T-shirt signed by Sam & Frodo (Sean Astin & Elijah Wood, for those of you who aren't ringies), as well as the guest book showing Gandalf was there too!
The days filming would have been great, except that the German girl I asked to show me how to put the stuff from the card on to the stick, transferrred the stills, but not the vids, & then deleted everything. That means I've lost all the video clips :-((
On the bright side, Hopalong Clarke won't get on the web for everyone to laugh at ;-)
I have an empty card in the camera, ready for Anduin tomorrow, & if I manage to get off early & get down to Waikanae by midday, I'll detour to Rivendell before heading on to Wellington.
Hopefully when I get there, someone will show me how to do the copy & paste from stick to blog, & there'll be some photos for you to look at tomorrow.
Finally here's a few funny/odd/weird things:
- The Hobbiton location is on a farm whose address is Buckland Rd.
- I should have gone to Hobbiton on Wed., but was delayed. Consequently, I went on Thurs, & met an Orc. I may never have met him if I'd gone as planned.
- I had planned to do Mordor on Thurs, when it was sunny, but ended up doing it today when the weather was much more in keeping with Tolkien's description.
- Because I'm slightly behind schedule, I may now do Rivendell in the car rather than the bus, which would free up more time for the Weta Cave, Mt Victoria & other Wellington LOR stuff.
So, all in all, it was quite a serendipitous delay on Wednesday, after all!
About to get booted out of the system here in Ohakune, so TTFN & more manana.
OAO SPC
It was very misty up on Ruapehu, but perfect weather for Mordor. I spent quite a while waiting around for the mist to clear, so there was something to look at, but eventually got a shot of Mears Wall, where Gollum snook-up on the sleeping hobbits, & some area shots of the Dagorlad Plain. It was very atmospheric up there, & quite apt having no sun. I mean, Mordor in the sunshine - I don't think so.
It turns out that the volcano photo I took yesterday was Mount Doom. It was just too misty & drizzly today to see it from the angle they used in LOR. I will put up a photo, but although the photos from the card (but not the vid clips - more of that later) are now on the memory stick, I haven't worked out how to get them on here for you to look at. Maybe manana?
Anyway, I had lunch at the Grand Chateau, up on Ruapehu. This was where the hotshots stayed when they were filming up there. It's only 1/4 hr from the location.
After that I drove back to Ohakune & up the mountain road to Ithilien. I got some shots of the stream where Gollum caught his fish. I remember watching that at the cinema, & wondering how on earth they managed to get the water to act as if someone was splashing about in it. I now know, of course :-)) having watched hours of the extra bits on the extended DVDs.
I had tea at the Powderhorn Chateau in Ohakune where a load of them stayed while doing the Ithilien locations up the hill & had a nice chat with the really friendly waitress (about my NZ leg & Orang Utan bits of the trip). Unfortunately, I never got her name, but she asked the receptionist, Sophie (only 1 e hahaha), if I could go & see the suite where Peter Jackson stayed. On the way up I cuddled a lovely, moulting marmalade & white puss, who weighed a ton, purred like crazy & left me covered in cat hairs: almost like home!
Sophie was really kind & let me shoot some video in the suite, & then showed me a massive LOR T-shirt signed by Sam & Frodo (Sean Astin & Elijah Wood, for those of you who aren't ringies), as well as the guest book showing Gandalf was there too!
The days filming would have been great, except that the German girl I asked to show me how to put the stuff from the card on to the stick, transferrred the stills, but not the vids, & then deleted everything. That means I've lost all the video clips :-((
On the bright side, Hopalong Clarke won't get on the web for everyone to laugh at ;-)
I have an empty card in the camera, ready for Anduin tomorrow, & if I manage to get off early & get down to Waikanae by midday, I'll detour to Rivendell before heading on to Wellington.
Hopefully when I get there, someone will show me how to do the copy & paste from stick to blog, & there'll be some photos for you to look at tomorrow.
Finally here's a few funny/odd/weird things:
- The Hobbiton location is on a farm whose address is Buckland Rd.
- I should have gone to Hobbiton on Wed., but was delayed. Consequently, I went on Thurs, & met an Orc. I may never have met him if I'd gone as planned.
- I had planned to do Mordor on Thurs, when it was sunny, but ended up doing it today when the weather was much more in keeping with Tolkien's description.
- Because I'm slightly behind schedule, I may now do Rivendell in the car rather than the bus, which would free up more time for the Weta Cave, Mt Victoria & other Wellington LOR stuff.
So, all in all, it was quite a serendipitous delay on Wednesday, after all!
About to get booted out of the system here in Ohakune, so TTFN & more manana.
OAO SPC
Thursday 10 December 2009
I went to Hobbiton
Turned out I was on my own at Spa Lodge, so I had a 4-bedded room all to myself. Where are all the hostellers?
Yesterday (Thurs) was another full day. Up early so the lovely Ben could take me & a few other Ringies out to Hobbiton. On the way there he tells me he was an orc! Of course, I had to get a photo - it's not everyday an orc acts as your chauffeur. I told him I thought NZ drivers were very polite, which he thought was funny. Apparently, NZ has a kind of 'polite law', which makes slow drivers pull over & let quicker ones through. I told him about 'white van man'.
Hobbiton was great. Lots of useful info imparted by Cathryn & of course I took loads of photos & vid clips, which I'll get round to uploading, once I work out how to do it - me being a techno dinosaur & all.
Once the lovely Ben had us back in Rotorua, it was time for lunch & shopping: I now have 5 pressies, which take up little room, so lugging them around for the next 8 weeks won't be a prob.
After that, it was time to head south to Taupo & Ohakune.
The road was great, as usual, & I got to Taupo about 5.45. Once I saw the lake, I just HAD to have a dip (me & water & all that), so I disrobed by the car, & holding the camera above my head, while I waded out, I got my 1st shot of Ruapeho in the distance. I also took a vid of some NZ girls messing about & did a 'rollover, speed, action' with them. I got it wrong the 1st time, but they were pros, & did Take 2 beautifully.
Me being wet, the next few miles were slightly uncomfortable, but the road down the east side of the lake was brilliant. The westering sun was lambent over Lake Taupo & it was still very warm, although I could see clouds ahead.
If truth be known, I missed the turn I'd intended to take, which would have taken me west, across the bottom of the lake & then south towards Ohakune. However good old Route 1 was probably better as it wound up from lake level onto a scrubland mesa with views of the volcano & Ruapehu to the right.
Nearly everything I passed on the road passed me when I stopped for photos & vids. Each view seemingly better than the last as I went south, with the sun breaking out from the clouds & turning the snow silver. Eventually I turned west on the last leg towards Matai Lodge, & entered farm country again. I caused some cows great interest when I got out of the car & walked back to get (yet another) photo of Ruapehu.
I eventually rolled up to Matai Lodge around 7.45 & found I had the room to myself again. Where are all the hostellers?
After a wash & brush-up I dined on 2 starters & a pudding at the Cypress Tree in Ohakune. At least that was the plan, but by the time pudding arrived it was gone 10, so I doggied it & had it for breakfast! Waste not, want not.
Today I hope to do Gollum's pool & nip back north to visit Mordor. Meanwhile though, I have to wait for the camera battery to re-charge - hence this morning's blog.
So for now, it's Goodbye from me & Cheers Mate from her.
OAO
Wednesday 9 December 2009
Now at Rotorua, but filling you in on the trip & yesterday a bit more.
I seem to have lost Monday. Happy 21st R anyway - xxxx The next time I see KL airport I'll be headed off to the zoo - ook!
Anyway. Picked up the car OK & headed off to Whitianga. The road kill was interesting to say the least: big browny-black things with black bushy tails. Kept stopping to take photos & even took a bit of vid driving up the peninsula rd. Am I naughty or what?
Due to meet T & J at some point & I was running late so took a short cut! Mmmm. It's called 109 & runs up & down through forest, mostly gravel, & lots of bends. Great fun to drive. I pretended I was Richard Hammond.
After checking in & having a shower, I headed off to see if I could find T & J digs, apparently 7k away, but after 18k I turned back, having not found Hahei.
REALLY sleepy on way back so I had an early night.
Today I was up & off by just after 0830, & discovered I'd turned back less than half a K before the Hahei turn off. C'est la vie.
Did a quick detour, found the Church, no T & J. Ah well, I tried.\
Another quick detour saw me at Hot Water Beach. I was tempted to have a swim, but I had an appointment at Hobbiton at 1220, so I whizzed off to Tauranga. At least I tried to whizz, but got stuck behind a camper doing 25k. After hours & hours (well it felt like it), he pulled over & let us all past.
Realising I'd now be pushing for time I called Hobbiton (yes, really), but due to filming, there were no extra tours. Bum
But I went to Matamata anyway, & found a really cute town with horses all over & evidence of a big rugby interest (my kind of town?)
Good news was, that the nice man, Russell, who's in charge (does that make him Thane?), offered to pick me up from here tomorrow, take me to Hobbiton & bring me back. What a stroke of luck.
So some more whizzing to Hamilton to meet Robbie, & then down Route 1 towards Rotorua.
Great roads & beautiful sights, saw me at the Route 5 junction, & I only passed 1 car/caravan & 1 cyclist all the way - about 35k, I think. I knew the roads were supposed to be quiet, but that was pretty amazing.
So here I am, soaked in the thermal spa, showered & ready for some scran, so it's TTFN & OAO
I seem to have lost Monday. Happy 21st R anyway - xxxx The next time I see KL airport I'll be headed off to the zoo - ook!
Anyway. Picked up the car OK & headed off to Whitianga. The road kill was interesting to say the least: big browny-black things with black bushy tails. Kept stopping to take photos & even took a bit of vid driving up the peninsula rd. Am I naughty or what?
Due to meet T & J at some point & I was running late so took a short cut! Mmmm. It's called 109 & runs up & down through forest, mostly gravel, & lots of bends. Great fun to drive. I pretended I was Richard Hammond.
After checking in & having a shower, I headed off to see if I could find T & J digs, apparently 7k away, but after 18k I turned back, having not found Hahei.
REALLY sleepy on way back so I had an early night.
Today I was up & off by just after 0830, & discovered I'd turned back less than half a K before the Hahei turn off. C'est la vie.
Did a quick detour, found the Church, no T & J. Ah well, I tried.\
Another quick detour saw me at Hot Water Beach. I was tempted to have a swim, but I had an appointment at Hobbiton at 1220, so I whizzed off to Tauranga. At least I tried to whizz, but got stuck behind a camper doing 25k. After hours & hours (well it felt like it), he pulled over & let us all past.
Realising I'd now be pushing for time I called Hobbiton (yes, really), but due to filming, there were no extra tours. Bum
But I went to Matamata anyway, & found a really cute town with horses all over & evidence of a big rugby interest (my kind of town?)
Good news was, that the nice man, Russell, who's in charge (does that make him Thane?), offered to pick me up from here tomorrow, take me to Hobbiton & bring me back. What a stroke of luck.
So some more whizzing to Hamilton to meet Robbie, & then down Route 1 towards Rotorua.
Great roads & beautiful sights, saw me at the Route 5 junction, & I only passed 1 car/caravan & 1 cyclist all the way - about 35k, I think. I knew the roads were supposed to be quiet, but that was pretty amazing.
So here I am, soaked in the thermal spa, showered & ready for some scran, so it's TTFN & OAO
Tuesday 8 December 2009
Well I'm here
Wow. What a country.
It's like Europe but more fantastical.
The trees are different, yet the overall impression is English farmland, Welsh sheep farms or Scottish hillsides.
The birds look like starlings 'til they take off & there's a flash of white on wings & tailfeathers - they're so cute.
Plus the sun, of course.
I ended up taking the scenic route to Whitianga (with frequent stops for photos), & me being me, I went for a swim on my way along the Coromandel peninsula. Tomorrow I'll upload the 'Hey folks, here's me having a swim' vid. The view was great, shame about the cast. I mean, yours truly, Hopalong Clarke & dodgy camera angles. I guess it's a case of 'could do better'.
The accom is right on the beach - just like it says on the tin, & I'm hoping T & J will turn up sometime for tea.
Off to take some more photos in a bit: sunset over the Tasman etc.
It's great here. Scotland's got a rival!
HLV & OAO
It's like Europe but more fantastical.
The trees are different, yet the overall impression is English farmland, Welsh sheep farms or Scottish hillsides.
The birds look like starlings 'til they take off & there's a flash of white on wings & tailfeathers - they're so cute.
Plus the sun, of course.
I ended up taking the scenic route to Whitianga (with frequent stops for photos), & me being me, I went for a swim on my way along the Coromandel peninsula. Tomorrow I'll upload the 'Hey folks, here's me having a swim' vid. The view was great, shame about the cast. I mean, yours truly, Hopalong Clarke & dodgy camera angles. I guess it's a case of 'could do better'.
The accom is right on the beach - just like it says on the tin, & I'm hoping T & J will turn up sometime for tea.
Off to take some more photos in a bit: sunset over the Tasman etc.
It's great here. Scotland's got a rival!
HLV & OAO
Saturday 5 December 2009
27 hours & counting
Had a brill night out in Poulton with the team & Jen. Shame the BH (bloody hip) wouldn't play IRO boogie-ing on down. More painkillers, please.
It was kind of a bizarre night as well - I seem to know a lot of people I don't know. . . . . .?
It was quite cool to be told my abs & back were great, but hardly what you expect to hear when you're trying to be ladylike in a frock.
Most prep for NZ now done. Looks like I may end up hitching from Picton, as the buses leave before I get back from my dolphin swim. Ah well, it won't be the first time. Got to be easier than hitching back to Mayrhofen from Hintertux, wearing ski-boots & carrying skis?
Best thing though, is that it looks like I may be hooking-up with Toby after all. How great is it that he's staying 7k from me on Tues? I mean: me from Blackpool, & him from Colorado, meeting on the Coromandel peninsula on North Island, NZ - Wow
Anyway, the jolly old machine is telling me I only have 2 minutes left, so it's OAO for today.
It was kind of a bizarre night as well - I seem to know a lot of people I don't know. . . . . .?
It was quite cool to be told my abs & back were great, but hardly what you expect to hear when you're trying to be ladylike in a frock.
Most prep for NZ now done. Looks like I may end up hitching from Picton, as the buses leave before I get back from my dolphin swim. Ah well, it won't be the first time. Got to be easier than hitching back to Mayrhofen from Hintertux, wearing ski-boots & carrying skis?
Best thing though, is that it looks like I may be hooking-up with Toby after all. How great is it that he's staying 7k from me on Tues? I mean: me from Blackpool, & him from Colorado, meeting on the Coromandel peninsula on North Island, NZ - Wow
Anyway, the jolly old machine is telling me I only have 2 minutes left, so it's OAO for today.
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