I arrived back at Nomads just before 6pm to discover there were 2 new English in the dorm. They were from Norwich~nice cathedral!
The lad was called Leon, but I forgot the girl's name.
Then an Alaskan came in & said he'd just been doing Brazilian JJ.
I needed to move the car nearer, & pick up the cheese & Riesling I'd bought that morning, so I headed off through the park.
Although the sun was going down, there still were some cool pics to be had: The 1st at the beach a few metres from the Nomads front door.
There was a little 'Illuminations' display at the lake in Queenstown Gardens, so I got a couple of pics there as well.
I put the bottle under my pillow & the cheese in the fridge, & went to get some food while the cheese was chilling.I went to Starbucks to get a free 1/2 hour online, & found some Pukeko presents for Julie & Jim, my kind cat sitters.
I love Pukeko :-)
I'd picked up a leaflet at the airport about riding at Walter's Peak. The only way there was on the Earnslaw, so I made plans to do that the next day ~ having no pre-arranged plans. It was expensive, but the trip lasted 4 hours, so I rang to book for the 1400 sailing the next day.
Back in the dorm with a bit of each type of cheese, the Alaskan was in bed & on his kindle, & another incumbent was watching a film on his laptop.
The Lumix had been on charge, so I weeded some of the (more) rubbish photos I'd taken that day as my card was getting full.
I had planned to eat my cheese & drink my Riesling while I did some sudoku, but the light above my bunk fell off :-(
I managed a bit with the main light on, but then Leon & gf came back & wanted the light out (they were sharing the double bunk).
It was about 1/2 ten, & I'd had a busy day :-D
At some point during the night, the other 2 girls came in, but didn't crash about too much, so the beauty sleep wasn't too disturbed ;-p
Day 24 ~ Dec 13th: Queenstown Gardens, another Earnslaw cruise, & a ride in the hinterland
I'd set the mob for 9, but heard everyone getting up & about pretty early.
Pretty early wasn't in today's plan, so I let myself drop-off, & eventually woke naturally (in an empty & luggage-less dorm), just before 9.
I had a leisurely shower & breakfast, & had put the bikini on with an intention to lie in the sun a bit while I wrote up yesterday's notes, but it was too chilly up in Queenstown Gardens, even for me!
After sharing my Hokitika brazils & my Wellington apricots with some sparrows & chaffinches, I had a wander round the Gardens, & saw there were some awesome trees & flowers, so I went back to get the Lumix which I'd left on charge after yesterday's depletion & the weeding operation.
To give it a few more minutes, I grabbed a brew & wrote some of my notes in the Nomads' kitchen instead.
I had a reasonable idea where I'd seen all the amazing trees earlier, so I packed the newly charged Lumix, & went to say Hi to them.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 1st tree I said Hi to was a chimpanzee tree ;-)
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| My notes say this was a Pin Oak |
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| I had to stand quite a way off to get the top and the bottom! |
At this point in proceedings (ie March 2017), I think these 2 pics are of a Fir as my notes say "1/2? Fir".
Who cares? It's awesome whatever it is.
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| I took a load more pics of great trees, but the card got full, so I had to do another weed ~ which depleted the battery a bit again. |
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| I have notes saying these were cones from a West Himalayan Spruce . . . |
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| and that this was a Sycamore. Err?? |
Towards the tip of the headland, there was a Garden of Remembrance, with memorials of locals and Captain Scott.
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| The Scott monument shaded by a lovely blue spruce |
I got quite weepy reading them all.
Then it was back to tree photos, & another great face.
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| This is even more Entish. From the bark, it's not Oak, but may be an Indian Horse Chestnut?? |
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| I'd've sat here for a while, but I had an appointment with the Earnslaw, & more trees to see |
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| My notes say this is a Horizontal Elm, but don't quote me! |
I said Hi to loads more lovely trees which sadly didn't make it onto the final save on the SD card, then made my way across town to check in for my Earnslaw trip.
On the way I passed an open market, & checked out the pounamu carver Blair had mentioned the day before. I didn't have the piece of possible pounamu with me, & the carver guy had gone to get his lunch, leaving his son in charge. He said they were at Wanaka market the next day, but my schedule didn't allow for a detour (see tomorrow's blog), so I wasn't able to find out if my green stone was greenstone :-/
On the Earnslaw, there were the usual great views of the lakeside, but I went below to film the man enabling us to motor along.
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| I had to lie down to get these 2, & got a bit sooty |
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| Fortunately, most of the soot washed off in the loo :-) |
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| Liverpool's not far from home for me, but a long way from Lake Wakatipu! |
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| A nice bit of coiled hawser |
Lloyd was the guy in charge, he was wearing shorts & boots ( he had awesome calves ;-p ), & he walked all the way round. The ride was supposed to be beginner-friendly, so Lloyd explained the stop/go/turn procedure to the other 4, & also how to sit if going up or downhill.
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| All aboard! It took Lloyd quite a while to get the newbies settled |
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| Lloyd explains how to go, stop & turn. Like I said ~ great legs! |
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| I named this one Spot! The horse, not the chap! His name was actually Lonely, apparently! |
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| We are ahorse towards the gorse |
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| Walter's Peak station from up the hill |
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| A lovely sun-speckled path through the trees, & a speckled bum ahead :-) |
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| Minnie & I hang back for a canter |
Happily, Minnie knew where we were supposed to go.
At the top, I grabbed a couple of pics in the lovely sunshine while Minnie & I waited for the others.
On the little plateau there was a general photoing, & Minnie was fairly co-operative, standing still-wise.
Lloyd took about 7 of me, but I had to delete them ~ the SD card was full, & whereas I only need to look in a mirror to remember what I look like, Walters Peak deserved preserving for my future meanderings around my blog when I'm too old & decrepit to go in person.
Headed back home, Lloyd gave me further instructions for a detour, while he walked the other 4 the short route down.
Again, Minnie was happy to go off on her own, & didn't argue like other horses I've ridden in similar situations.
She'd obviously done it before!
Thanks for a great ride, Minnie xox
Back at the stables I gave Lloyd a bit of a hand, & then he took us all down to the 'farmhouse' where afternoon tea was available.
I had 2 sultana scones & 2 brews, & then ~ as we were the last to eat, I put some goodies into my bumbag for tomorrow's journey north.
Obviously, I had to catch the Earnslaw back to Queenstown, so there was little time for a proper look around, but I managed a couple of pics of the colourful gardens.
I'd enquired of Lloyd if longer rides were available in case I was ever that way again, but he was non-committal.
Once back aboard, I went forward to the display cabin to delete the non-essential pics from the card. I went all the way back to Monday's afternoon ride with Pete ~ ie >300 pics!
There were quite a few dodgy ones, so ~ with luck?, that would see me through the rest of the day?
Unfortunately it also depleted the battery ~ see below :-(
Nearing the town, I saw this guy having fun with a Water Jet. I'd never seen one before & it looks great fun :-D
I love the willows they have lakeside in NZ. Check out the ones by Lake Wanaka from NZ12 at Treble Cone.
I decided to paddle further out to get the edges of the tree in shot, but at this point the bloody battery died. Grrr!
That meant my plans to get some pics of the guy doing somersaults on his Water Jet came to naught.
Bugger!
I was pretty horsey on the nose, so the ensuite shower at Nomads was a primary target. I was still a redhead following my stint as Tauriel, so having bought a cheap ash-blonde dye that morning, I attempted to de-ginge ;-p
Unfortunately, cheap was the operative word & I ended up ginge-ish on top & ash at the ends.
Oops!
With multi-tonal hair, I cooked 3 burgers & the 2nd spud I'd got at the Remarkables shopping centre, & put some of the Peregrine Reisling in a mug. It looked like orange juice so no one noticed ;-q
Dessert was some of the cheese I'd bought, so tea was a mix of reduced/cheap grub & expensive wine & cheese.
Restricted parking had ended, but there were no spaces on the street at 2100. As I needed to get away promptish next morning, & as I didn't fancy a sweaty walk up the hill fully laden, I figured an early night was in order so I could get the car outside before the restrictions kicked in.
Before bed I drank the rest of the 1st bottle of Reisling & ate some more cheese while I got up-to-date with my notes for yesterday & today.
Setting the alarm for 7, I was in bed just after 10.
So endeth another great NZ day :-D
OAO
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| Minnie at the canter |
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| Our detour. Good job Minnie knew where she was going |
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| Minnie, broom blossom & Lake Wakatipu |
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| The others arrive |
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| It was a lovely, sunny, day |
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| How blue the lake was |
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| The land belonging to Walter's Peak station continued into the distance |
Lloyd took about 7 of me, but I had to delete them ~ the SD card was full, & whereas I only need to look in a mirror to remember what I look like, Walters Peak deserved preserving for my future meanderings around my blog when I'm too old & decrepit to go in person.
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| I love the colours in this one |
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| Yellow broom & sky blue |
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| I have a yearning to go down to that beach for a swim! Maybe I will, one day? |
Headed back home, Lloyd gave me further instructions for a detour, while he walked the other 4 the short route down.
Again, Minnie was happy to go off on her own, & didn't argue like other horses I've ridden in similar situations.
She'd obviously done it before!
Thanks for a great ride, Minnie xox
Back at the stables I gave Lloyd a bit of a hand, & then he took us all down to the 'farmhouse' where afternoon tea was available.
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| The blue bits are the flowers either side of the Earnslaw in the pic below |
I had 2 sultana scones & 2 brews, & then ~ as we were the last to eat, I put some goodies into my bumbag for tomorrow's journey north.
Obviously, I had to catch the Earnslaw back to Queenstown, so there was little time for a proper look around, but I managed a couple of pics of the colourful gardens.
I'd enquired of Lloyd if longer rides were available in case I was ever that way again, but he was non-committal.
Once back aboard, I went forward to the display cabin to delete the non-essential pics from the card. I went all the way back to Monday's afternoon ride with Pete ~ ie >300 pics!
There were quite a few dodgy ones, so ~ with luck?, that would see me through the rest of the day?
Unfortunately it also depleted the battery ~ see below :-(
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| Looking aft at where we'd been |
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| The Captain was a lady |
The Captain had come on the tannoy, & from memory she was Tracy ~ but don't quote me on that, as I didn't write it in my notes for the day.
Here's a Wiki link about the ship:
TSS Earnslaw - Wikipedia
I'd noticed some awesome willows on the shoreline just on the edge of town, so once I'd disembarked I walked back to find them, knowing I now had room on the card for some pics.
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| This willow is a wonderful shape |
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| I had my feet in the water off the little jetty for this pic |
That meant my plans to get some pics of the guy doing somersaults on his Water Jet came to naught.
Bugger!
I was pretty horsey on the nose, so the ensuite shower at Nomads was a primary target. I was still a redhead following my stint as Tauriel, so having bought a cheap ash-blonde dye that morning, I attempted to de-ginge ;-p
Unfortunately, cheap was the operative word & I ended up ginge-ish on top & ash at the ends.
Oops!
With multi-tonal hair, I cooked 3 burgers & the 2nd spud I'd got at the Remarkables shopping centre, & put some of the Peregrine Reisling in a mug. It looked like orange juice so no one noticed ;-q
Dessert was some of the cheese I'd bought, so tea was a mix of reduced/cheap grub & expensive wine & cheese.
Restricted parking had ended, but there were no spaces on the street at 2100. As I needed to get away promptish next morning, & as I didn't fancy a sweaty walk up the hill fully laden, I figured an early night was in order so I could get the car outside before the restrictions kicked in.
Before bed I drank the rest of the 1st bottle of Reisling & ate some more cheese while I got up-to-date with my notes for yesterday & today.
Setting the alarm for 7, I was in bed just after 10.
So endeth another great NZ day :-D
OAO
