donderdag 19 november 2009
The road from Murchison to Picton
On our way to Picton we saw lots of beautiful orange flowers along the road.
I made a picture of those flowers.
On the left you see vinyards.
This is in the neighbourhood of the city of Blenheim and there are lots of vinyards there.
Arrived at the North Island
Today is Friday 20th. November 2009.
We started this morning in Murchison, on the southern island.
We woke up at eight and an hour later we hit the road to Picton.
On the way to Picton nothing special happened. We crossed lots of one lane bridges (we allways seem to have to give right of way to the other side; it's the same in chosing a qeue in the supermarket, allways in the wrong lane) but, since there is not much traffic (we saw this morning even three cars and a bus in one row and this is a mircale) we could drive through almost every time we arrived at a bridge.
Those New Zealanders are not the most stupid people on earth. When you need a bridge, why build one with two lanes if one lane is enough?
The New Zealanders drink very much (I found out and I feel at home here; but alas no Ketel I)
We were on a campground and there were baskets for garbage (caarbits):
- one for rubbish (non recyclable stuff)
- one for paper
- one for plastic (bottles)
- one for carton
- one for metal (for cola tins, etc.) ....................................................
- and four for glass (beerbottles).
And the basket for carton was full of beercartons (they don't use crates for beer, only cartons).
Our trip to Picton was uneventfull and we could drive rather fast although now and than we had lots of wind.
When we arrived at Picton we bought ourselves the boatticket and one half hour later we were on the boat to Wellington.
Because there was (still) much wind we were mostly on one of the covered decks (the sundeck was to cold) and that was it.
In Wellington we had our first trafficjam (Friday evening around 18.00 hours did probably the trick) but soon enough we found a camping where I am right now, hammering away.
Ankie did some laundry and for a change (we do this every afternoon) we had:
- Port Salut (or something like that),
- blue cheese which is called: "Blue Vein" (Sharp with a bite)
- smoked (New Zealand) salmon,
everything on toast.
And this together with some drinks (of course).
So, this is it for today.
I have to correct something.
The New Zealander doesn't say "Cloudy" but (better than I wrote somewehere before) :
"Cliewdy". So you understand a little about the language here.
Greetings from Wellington and till the next time.
We started this morning in Murchison, on the southern island.
We woke up at eight and an hour later we hit the road to Picton.
On the way to Picton nothing special happened. We crossed lots of one lane bridges (we allways seem to have to give right of way to the other side; it's the same in chosing a qeue in the supermarket, allways in the wrong lane) but, since there is not much traffic (we saw this morning even three cars and a bus in one row and this is a mircale) we could drive through almost every time we arrived at a bridge.
Those New Zealanders are not the most stupid people on earth. When you need a bridge, why build one with two lanes if one lane is enough?
The New Zealanders drink very much (I found out and I feel at home here; but alas no Ketel I)
We were on a campground and there were baskets for garbage (caarbits):
- one for rubbish (non recyclable stuff)
- one for paper
- one for plastic (bottles)
- one for carton
- one for metal (for cola tins, etc.) ....................................................
- and four for glass (beerbottles).
And the basket for carton was full of beercartons (they don't use crates for beer, only cartons).
Our trip to Picton was uneventfull and we could drive rather fast although now and than we had lots of wind.
When we arrived at Picton we bought ourselves the boatticket and one half hour later we were on the boat to Wellington.
Because there was (still) much wind we were mostly on one of the covered decks (the sundeck was to cold) and that was it.
In Wellington we had our first trafficjam (Friday evening around 18.00 hours did probably the trick) but soon enough we found a camping where I am right now, hammering away.
Ankie did some laundry and for a change (we do this every afternoon) we had:
- Port Salut (or something like that),
- blue cheese which is called: "Blue Vein" (Sharp with a bite)
- smoked (New Zealand) salmon,
everything on toast.
And this together with some drinks (of course).
So, this is it for today.
I have to correct something.
The New Zealander doesn't say "Cloudy" but (better than I wrote somewehere before) :
"Cliewdy". So you understand a little about the language here.
Greetings from Wellington and till the next time.
woensdag 18 november 2009
Beautiful views
Driving along the east coast of the souther island we saw lots of mountains.
The "Southern Alps" are beautiful.
So, this is it for today.
"Maybe tomorrow, maybe tonight,
It's a wonderfull feeling,
To see you back on my site"
(vrij naar een popnummer van 30 of 40
jaar geleden).
Weka
Since most animals in New Zealand are protected (except possums and rabbits as far as I know) you can see often signs on the side of the road to be carafull when driving.
We also saw lots of Possums, dead on the road.
The "Weka" a New Zealand wild chicken
On the west coast of the southern island you can often see the "Weka" (Most birds in New Zealand are called after the sound they make).
The Weka is a chickenlike bird which is not afraid of people at all. You can almost touch them.
Another seal at Cape Foulwind
After we filmed the first seal Ankie sat in the sun (the sun was shining later on the day) and I went to look for more seals. After some climbing on the rocky coast (I am a well known climber as most of you might know) I found another seal.
I was able to get very near this seal (about three meters distance only) and it ignored me (if I were the seal I would have done the same) and I made some ten small videos.
It is still different from the seals in Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam.
Cape Foulwind (maybe somebody farted?)
Ankie went looking for more gold but she couldn't find more so we both left for Cape Foulwind. First we had our lunch in a restaurant with a deck, from which we could look over the bay of Cape Foulwind. Was really nice and the chowder was very good.
After we finished lunch we hiked to the cape and, guess what, we saw a seal. So I made this little video.
Old goldmineshaft
To get the gold, the people at that time had to dig holes in the ground to reach the goldore. So they made lots of shafts in the hills around the coast. This is a picture of an old shaft; look at the rusted rails on which the trolleys, full of ore (coming out of the mine) were pushed to some sort of crushingmachine.
When they were emptied, the men had to push the empty trolley back, into the mine again (if they don't do that they run out of empty trolleys, ain't it?)
There is light on the end of the shaft, because they dug the whole mountain behind it, away.
Sorry, this is not a very exciting picture, but not all of my photos can be spectacular.
GOLD !!!!!
The whole westcoast of the southern island is well known for its goldmines. Our guide tells us that at the time they found gold in New Zealand it was one large pandimonium (the guide says that Klondike was nothing compared to what happened here on the south island around 1870).So we vesited an ancient goldmine and guess what, Ankie found a nuggett of about EUR 500,-!
I left her there for looking for more gold and I went off to Cape Foulwind. The name has probably to do with ships that run aground on this rocky coast.
Punakaiki Pancake rocks
This morning, November 19th. we left Greymouth and it rained (a little). We set for Murchison, in the middle of the southern island.
After an hour or so we reached Punakaiki, which is famous for its "pancake rocks" (see picture) and its blowholes (the guide told us).
The pancake rocks are special.
The blowholes we didn't see.
But all in all it was a nice stop apart from the drizzsle now and than.
Hokitaki
A picture of the centre of the big city of Hokitaki on the west coast of the southern island of New Zealand.
In the background you can see the "Southern Alps".
Hokitaki is famous for its New Zealand Jade.
Practically half of the shops in this town sell jade jewellery of typical New Zealand style (Maori style).
Franz Josef Glacier
The F J glacier again, but from a totally different angle and without clieds and with lots of sun and still very cold and uninviting (that's something else, don't you think?)
Franz Josef Glacier
The Franz Josef Glacier from another angle and..................look, no clouds (clieds).
Franz Josef Glacier
The Frans Josef Glacier lies moreless next to teh Fox Glacier. They are both:
- cold
- made of ice (pressed snow)
- of the same colour.
The diffrence between teh both glaciers is that the Fox glacier has lots of clouds (clieds; see the pictures) and the Franz Josef glacier has no clouds at all.
Fox Glacier
The end of the glacier (in 1750 the end of the glacier was at least a kilometer farther to the west and the glacier is still getting shorter and shorter (global warming and all).
Fox Glacier
The "mouth" of the glacier, morealess in the middle of the picture.
Lots of glaciers have a "mouth", a sort of cave at the end of the glacier.
dinsdag 17 november 2009
Fox Glacier
Fox Glacier.
This is one of the two or three glaciers on the west coast of the southern island of New Zealand.
Rainforest
A large part of the southern and western coast of the southern island of New Zealand consists of rainforest.
Interesting are the ferns on trunks like here almost in the middle of the picture.
They are everywhere.
Something totally different from our garden in Capelle aand en IJssel.
Now in Greymouth
Today is Wednesday (or Tuesday) the 18th. November of the year of our lord of 2009 or so. I don’t know the exact day because I don’t keep track of the days.
I’ll start with yesterday.
We were at the Fox Glacier, mid western Southern Island.
Glaciers look more or less the same.
But still they are different and, since we don’t have a glacier at home, it’s always exciting to see one and look at it.
We saw a big glacier, some 20 years ago, in northern Pakistan near the Rakaposhi mountain, even walked on that glacier and it was awesome.
We saw glaciers in north west British Columbia (the southern part of Alaska near Stewart; three or four in a row) and we saw glaciers in the Rockies, like Edith Clavell (she was a sort of Canadian Florence Nightingale, shot by the Germans during the first world war somewhere in Flanders) and, well, this was beautiful again.
Today we were at Franz Josef (as I thought yesterday the late Emperor Franz Jozef of Austria), a little town called after the glacier next to this town.
Today the weather was fantastic. No clouds (they say here “clieds” or something like that – the New Zealanders speak a language which I only
can follow with difficulty I must admit, although I think I speak or at least understand English rather well ) and we had consequently lots of sun.
The glacier (Franz Josef) looked very good (as good as a glacier can look) and we had fun seeing the sites.
After visiting this glacier we went north to Hokitika where we lunched somewhere on the coast (with a sea view).
Those names here in New Zealand; they are so different that I can’t remember most of them (Korsakov plays a role maybe too).
We visited the gold town Ross and we saw real gold nuggets.
That’s something totally different from Chicken Nuggets and the latter taste much better.
In Ross they are still digging for gold nowadays.
After Ross we arrived in the city of Greymouth (on the mouth of the river Grey). The camping is OK and we will stay here for the night.
Tomorrow we will head north.
This evening/night we had dinner together with a Belgian couple whom we met already 4 or 5 times during our trip trough the southern part of New Zealand. Almost every 2nd day we meet them at some camping and it is nice to have conversations about:
- the federalization of Belgium
- “De Syphon” in Damme
- the weather in New Zealand
- Buys Ballot’s law (the wind should come from the east but comes from
the west)
- beer
- world politics (Bush and Obama)
- our kids and grandchildren
- food
- etc.
Driving around here in New Zealand means seeing lots and lots of sheep.
For people who love sheep, this must really be heaven (I am sure).
Greetings from Greymouth (New Zealand).
And till the next time.
I’ll start with yesterday.
We were at the Fox Glacier, mid western Southern Island.
Glaciers look more or less the same.
But still they are different and, since we don’t have a glacier at home, it’s always exciting to see one and look at it.
We saw a big glacier, some 20 years ago, in northern Pakistan near the Rakaposhi mountain, even walked on that glacier and it was awesome.
We saw glaciers in north west British Columbia (the southern part of Alaska near Stewart; three or four in a row) and we saw glaciers in the Rockies, like Edith Clavell (she was a sort of Canadian Florence Nightingale, shot by the Germans during the first world war somewhere in Flanders) and, well, this was beautiful again.
Today we were at Franz Josef (as I thought yesterday the late Emperor Franz Jozef of Austria), a little town called after the glacier next to this town.
Today the weather was fantastic. No clouds (they say here “clieds” or something like that – the New Zealanders speak a language which I only
can follow with difficulty I must admit, although I think I speak or at least understand English rather well ) and we had consequently lots of sun.
The glacier (Franz Josef) looked very good (as good as a glacier can look) and we had fun seeing the sites.
After visiting this glacier we went north to Hokitika where we lunched somewhere on the coast (with a sea view).
Those names here in New Zealand; they are so different that I can’t remember most of them (Korsakov plays a role maybe too).
We visited the gold town Ross and we saw real gold nuggets.
That’s something totally different from Chicken Nuggets and the latter taste much better.
In Ross they are still digging for gold nowadays.
After Ross we arrived in the city of Greymouth (on the mouth of the river Grey). The camping is OK and we will stay here for the night.
Tomorrow we will head north.
This evening/night we had dinner together with a Belgian couple whom we met already 4 or 5 times during our trip trough the southern part of New Zealand. Almost every 2nd day we meet them at some camping and it is nice to have conversations about:
- the federalization of Belgium
- “De Syphon” in Damme
- the weather in New Zealand
- Buys Ballot’s law (the wind should come from the east but comes from
the west)
- beer
- world politics (Bush and Obama)
- our kids and grandchildren
- food
- etc.
Driving around here in New Zealand means seeing lots and lots of sheep.
For people who love sheep, this must really be heaven (I am sure).
Greetings from Greymouth (New Zealand).
And till the next time.
Haast Beach
Ankie near driftwood (very large tree trunk) on Haast Beach.
We were the only ones on this beach at the time.
maandag 16 november 2009
From Manapouri to Haast and to Franz Jozef
Today is Tuesday.
I found an internet-cafe on the camping where we are staying right now.
It's difficult because:
- there is almost no space (everybody wants to do something on the internet it seems)
- there is no Wifi (so NO pictures today, alas)
The day before yesterday we were at Wanaka. At the lake.
Beautiful camping with a nice vista on the mountains we were going to.
The waether was still cold and very windy so there was not much to do than....take a hike, which we did.
Just next to our camping was avineyard and we went there.
They apperantly grow lots of diffrent wines like:
- caberne sauvignon,
- pinot noir,
- riesling ,
- gewurztraminer,
- and others.
We walked between the wines to the lake.
We saw some rabbits and the lake of course.
The next day, yesterday, we went to Haast (Haast beach).
We had a nice camping (with lots of fishermen having a party) and we took a walk on the beach.
It was still very windy but we had some sun and the walk was nice.
Didn't see any penguins or seals or something like that.
Made some beautiful pictures (we hope) but you'll have to wait till the next time or the time there-after.
Just when we came back to our van it started to rain again, so we kept ourselves dry.
Today, Tuesday, we drove form Haast to Fox-glacier. It was a "long and winding road" ** again but the views were nice.
** See/listen to : " The long and winding road" of the Beatles
Somewhere we made a stop and wanted to look at seals again but when we came to the place where they should be we were fucked (sorry) again (it appeared to take a walk of at least 3.5 hours over a pebbly beach) and we thought that was a little to much, considering that it was already later in the afternoon.
We walked however on this beach for a little and set for Fox Glacier after that.
Fox Glacier is one of the biggest glaciers on the west coast of South Island.
We drove to the car-park and walked, as far as we could, to the "mouth" of the glacier.
As you may know, lots of glaciers have a sort of cave at the end of the glacier.
We saw that for instance in Canada (Edith Clavell).
All in all it was a very nice hike and the vistas were awesome.
We had to cross some little streams (jumping from stone to stone) and I made pictures of Ankie, but she didn't fall in the water.
When we arrived back by our campervan it started raining again so we kept dry feet this time as well.
We are now in Franz Jozef (I still have to find out where the name comes from; probably an Austrian Prince who visited the glacier some 100 years ago or some other guy with the name).
Franz Jozef is only 25 Km's from Fox Glacier.
Tomorrow morning we will visit this Glacier (Franz Jozef) as well and we'll see what happens:
- will Ankie stay dry?
- will the weather be nice?
- will there be lots of tourists like Japanese (Japanese women who stick up their umbrellas when
the sun shines so they don't get coloured; I told one of them that it wasn't raining at the time
and she was looking at me with very big eyes) who walk right before you when you are taking
a picture?
- will there be sheep around as practicly allways (In New Zealand there are some 4.5/5 million
sheep; for people who love sheep, this must be heaven, really!!)?
- do we have to pay or not?
I gat a pain in my neck because the PC stands much higher than my little chair I sit on, so I am
ending this part of my blog soon.
Everything is OK out here.
We are both very much alive and enjoy our holiday to the max.
Tomorrow we are heading for Hokipika and Greymouth.
I wonder what we will see tomorrow but I'm sure there will be lots and lots of sheep around (and cows for that matter).
For people who like cows, New Zealand is heaven too (lots of cows around).
Till the next time.
I found an internet-cafe on the camping where we are staying right now.
It's difficult because:
- there is almost no space (everybody wants to do something on the internet it seems)
- there is no Wifi (so NO pictures today, alas)
The day before yesterday we were at Wanaka. At the lake.
Beautiful camping with a nice vista on the mountains we were going to.
The waether was still cold and very windy so there was not much to do than....take a hike, which we did.
Just next to our camping was avineyard and we went there.
They apperantly grow lots of diffrent wines like:
- caberne sauvignon,
- pinot noir,
- riesling ,
- gewurztraminer,
- and others.
We walked between the wines to the lake.
We saw some rabbits and the lake of course.
The next day, yesterday, we went to Haast (Haast beach).
We had a nice camping (with lots of fishermen having a party) and we took a walk on the beach.
It was still very windy but we had some sun and the walk was nice.
Didn't see any penguins or seals or something like that.
Made some beautiful pictures (we hope) but you'll have to wait till the next time or the time there-after.
Just when we came back to our van it started to rain again, so we kept ourselves dry.
Today, Tuesday, we drove form Haast to Fox-glacier. It was a "long and winding road" ** again but the views were nice.
** See/listen to : " The long and winding road" of the Beatles
Somewhere we made a stop and wanted to look at seals again but when we came to the place where they should be we were fucked (sorry) again (it appeared to take a walk of at least 3.5 hours over a pebbly beach) and we thought that was a little to much, considering that it was already later in the afternoon.
We walked however on this beach for a little and set for Fox Glacier after that.
Fox Glacier is one of the biggest glaciers on the west coast of South Island.
We drove to the car-park and walked, as far as we could, to the "mouth" of the glacier.
As you may know, lots of glaciers have a sort of cave at the end of the glacier.
We saw that for instance in Canada (Edith Clavell).
All in all it was a very nice hike and the vistas were awesome.
We had to cross some little streams (jumping from stone to stone) and I made pictures of Ankie, but she didn't fall in the water.
When we arrived back by our campervan it started raining again so we kept dry feet this time as well.
We are now in Franz Jozef (I still have to find out where the name comes from; probably an Austrian Prince who visited the glacier some 100 years ago or some other guy with the name).
Franz Jozef is only 25 Km's from Fox Glacier.
Tomorrow morning we will visit this Glacier (Franz Jozef) as well and we'll see what happens:
- will Ankie stay dry?
- will the weather be nice?
- will there be lots of tourists like Japanese (Japanese women who stick up their umbrellas when
the sun shines so they don't get coloured; I told one of them that it wasn't raining at the time
and she was looking at me with very big eyes) who walk right before you when you are taking
a picture?
- will there be sheep around as practicly allways (In New Zealand there are some 4.5/5 million
sheep; for people who love sheep, this must be heaven, really!!)?
- do we have to pay or not?
I gat a pain in my neck because the PC stands much higher than my little chair I sit on, so I am
ending this part of my blog soon.
Everything is OK out here.
We are both very much alive and enjoy our holiday to the max.
Tomorrow we are heading for Hokipika and Greymouth.
I wonder what we will see tomorrow but I'm sure there will be lots and lots of sheep around (and cows for that matter).
For people who like cows, New Zealand is heaven too (lots of cows around).
Till the next time.
vrijdag 13 november 2009
Complaint
This picture was made by Ankie.
What will happen if the sea runs dry to the left side of the picture? What will become of sealife? Where are we going to swim in summer? Where are we going to put the sailingboat which Manu is going to buy for me? How powerfull the ships engines must be to sail from left to right?
All serious questions to be answered soon and if not...........?
Tomorrow
Tomorrow, the 15th. November, we will drive from Manapouri to Queenstown and, depending on weather and the road (wet or dry), we will end up in Wanaka.
Wanaka is famous because of:
- lake Wanaka
- the river Clutha (which runs into Lake Wanaka),
- all sorts of outdoor recreation like hiking, mounteneering, fishing, paragliding, bungyjumping,
rafting, jetboating, etc. (all in summer),
- Mount Aspiring National Park,
- wintersports in the winter,
- sheep,
If you love sheep, Wanaka must be heaven on earth.
- retirees (the climate is apperently nice).
We'll find out tomorrow and I will inform you all in due course.
See you later.
Wanaka is famous because of:
- lake Wanaka
- the river Clutha (which runs into Lake Wanaka),
- all sorts of outdoor recreation like hiking, mounteneering, fishing, paragliding, bungyjumping,
rafting, jetboating, etc. (all in summer),
- Mount Aspiring National Park,
- wintersports in the winter,
- sheep,
If you love sheep, Wanaka must be heaven on earth.
- retirees (the climate is apperently nice).
We'll find out tomorrow and I will inform you all in due course.
See you later.
Seals on the rocks
Another picture of seals near the sea on the Doubtful Sound. Luckily there was a spell of better weather so the picture is OK.
We are now back at our campground (it's late) and I going to stop for today.
It was a nice day of our vacation and although we had lots of rain (Ankie even got very wet on the boat, when she was up deck, when the boat was going through a big wave) I can advise everybody to visit this part of New Zealand, but you have to love rain and sandflies.
For people who love sandflies this is really heaven.
seals
When we reached the sea we saw seals on the rocks.This made our (wet) day a little.
Seals like water so they don't mind whether it rains or not.
Waterfalls at the Doubtful Sound
We sailed south to the sea and during "This voyage" we saw many waterfalls, little ones and big ones and all full of water.
Doubtful Sound seen from Milford Pass
To get to Doubtful Sound you have to get of the boat near the Powerstation (They say here "Pewrstaitiun") which we visited for half an hour.
We went down in the ground for 200 meters and saw the big powerturbines. It seems to be New Zealands biggest Public undertaling ever (something like the Hoover Dam near Las Vegas).
After this exciting event we drove over the to the Milford Pass by bus to the end (our start) of the Doubtful Sound and because it was raining like there is no tomorrow (Fokking niet normaal meer) we saw a lot of grey water, rain, grey mountains, grey rocks, grey waves (lots and lots of wind; almost storm) and lots of other grey things.
Lake Manapouri II
Ankie with anti-sandfly cap (present from Kooi and Kim and Jan and Mia). We had to use this gear because there are lots of sandflies (especially when there is little wind and when it is humid).We had some sandflies in the camper, but they lived only a few minutes (I killed them without regret, ha, ha).
During the trip we used "Deet" and it helped and
we were not bitten (till now).
The flies don't like rain and wind and since we have lots of both life is tolerable over here today.
Lake Manapouri
We are camping at Lake Manapouri, in Southland, New Zealand.
Today, 14th. November, we were to go to the Doubtful Sound, an inlet from the south of Southland which goes op to the north for kilometers and kilometers.
First we had to cross Manapouri Lake (deepest spot is 444 meters) to the Powerstation (Manapouri Hydro Power Station).
Before we left the weather was moreless OK (no rain) but as soon as we took off it started to rain and it rained till we came back (that is now).
donderdag 12 november 2009
Our camping in Marapouri (Fiordland NZ)
As I wrote somewhere before, we are today (13th. November) in Marapouri, near Te Anau.
These places are well known because they're near the Milford Sound and Doubtfull Sound, two large inlets from the arctic sea.
Every tourist visits these inlets (or at least one of them) because they are very beautiful.
The area is called Fiordland, because it looks like the Fjords in Norway.
You can go only by boat or plane and we are going to go by boat tomorrow, from a place called Pearl Harbour??
We hope the weather will be OK because it rains here more than 220 days a year. Today the weather was fine (we even had sun the whole afternoon) so, with a little luck, we have good weather tomorrow too.
We are on a small camping near Marapouri with lakeview and we were fucked again because the lake is very near but.......no view. For the rest the camping is nice and it has all the utillities we need.
These places are well known because they're near the Milford Sound and Doubtfull Sound, two large inlets from the arctic sea.
Every tourist visits these inlets (or at least one of them) because they are very beautiful.
The area is called Fiordland, because it looks like the Fjords in Norway.
You can go only by boat or plane and we are going to go by boat tomorrow, from a place called Pearl Harbour??
We hope the weather will be OK because it rains here more than 220 days a year. Today the weather was fine (we even had sun the whole afternoon) so, with a little luck, we have good weather tomorrow too.
We are on a small camping near Marapouri with lakeview and we were fucked again because the lake is very near but.......no view. For the rest the camping is nice and it has all the utillities we need.
Today is Thursday 12th. November 2009.
We drove from Portobello (Otago Peninsula)
to the most southern point of the south Island
of New Zealand.
It’s called Slope Point.
The weather is not to good (rain now and
than) and it is cold. According to the
weather report on the radio it would rain and
it did and the temperature would be like 16
degrees Celsius. This last part was not right.
Although we don’t have a thermometer it is
Probably something like 10 degrees and the
fierce wind (from the Arctic) makes it a lot
colder.
But since we have a holiday and a heater in
the van we shouldn’t complain.
Lots of people wear ski-jacks, woolen caps,
etc. like it is winter (and it seems like that).
We only brought summer-clothes.
During our trip today we stopped at a place,
called Nugget Point near a village called
Kaimataitai.
At Nugget Point there is a lighthouse.
We took a hike to the lighthouse and on the
rocks, below the lighthouse we saw (and
photographed) some seals or sea-lions.
From the top of the cliff to the sea is more
than hundred meters or even more, but still
it was nice to see.
Big waves on the rocks make always nice
views.
So that I don’t forget I have to tell you that we
saw yesterday a Maori woman in the Albatros
Observation Centre, with facial tattoos.
It just looked like she was wearing a beard.
On our way we visited the New Zealand Niagara
Falls. The falls were only very, very small.
Here in New Zealand they do everywhere
everything to attract tourists.
All villages have a museum, old buildings
(even older than 1900) and everything is advertised
on colourfull signs. You can’t miss them.
Today we saw again thousands and thousands
of sheep (for people who love sheep, it must be
heaven overhere).
They have lots of cows here too (Blaarkoppen
and Lakenvelders); I don’t know the English
names. These cows we used to have in
Holland too (50 years ago or so) before the
nowadays cows who just give milk and that’s it.
For people who love cows (and especially older
races or versions or whatever) it must be heaven
too.
We are camping now at Slope Point, a few miles
from the ocean.
It is a campground (farm-camping) for some tents
(no tents today because it is to cold) and two
campers.
We are the only people camping here tonight.
Buys Ballot’s law doesn’t seem to apply here,
because there are (the last so many days) only
westerly winds and I thought that in the southern
hemisphere the winds come from the east??
The trees think so too, because they all have
grown with their branches and treetops to the
east.
We enjoy our trip here very much because every
time the landscape differs from meadows to
rainforests and from flat country to high, snow-
topped mountains.
The coast does resemble Scotland and Nova
Scotia very much and is, for that, beautiful and
sometimes even awesome.
This is it for today.
Hope to “post” this tomorrow.
We drove from Portobello (Otago Peninsula)
to the most southern point of the south Island
of New Zealand.
It’s called Slope Point.
The weather is not to good (rain now and
than) and it is cold. According to the
weather report on the radio it would rain and
it did and the temperature would be like 16
degrees Celsius. This last part was not right.
Although we don’t have a thermometer it is
Probably something like 10 degrees and the
fierce wind (from the Arctic) makes it a lot
colder.
But since we have a holiday and a heater in
the van we shouldn’t complain.
Lots of people wear ski-jacks, woolen caps,
etc. like it is winter (and it seems like that).
We only brought summer-clothes.
During our trip today we stopped at a place,
called Nugget Point near a village called
Kaimataitai.
At Nugget Point there is a lighthouse.
We took a hike to the lighthouse and on the
rocks, below the lighthouse we saw (and
photographed) some seals or sea-lions.
From the top of the cliff to the sea is more
than hundred meters or even more, but still
it was nice to see.
Big waves on the rocks make always nice
views.
So that I don’t forget I have to tell you that we
saw yesterday a Maori woman in the Albatros
Observation Centre, with facial tattoos.
It just looked like she was wearing a beard.
On our way we visited the New Zealand Niagara
Falls. The falls were only very, very small.
Here in New Zealand they do everywhere
everything to attract tourists.
All villages have a museum, old buildings
(even older than 1900) and everything is advertised
on colourfull signs. You can’t miss them.
Today we saw again thousands and thousands
of sheep (for people who love sheep, it must be
heaven overhere).
They have lots of cows here too (Blaarkoppen
and Lakenvelders); I don’t know the English
names. These cows we used to have in
Holland too (50 years ago or so) before the
nowadays cows who just give milk and that’s it.
For people who love cows (and especially older
races or versions or whatever) it must be heaven
too.
We are camping now at Slope Point, a few miles
from the ocean.
It is a campground (farm-camping) for some tents
(no tents today because it is to cold) and two
campers.
We are the only people camping here tonight.
Buys Ballot’s law doesn’t seem to apply here,
because there are (the last so many days) only
westerly winds and I thought that in the southern
hemisphere the winds come from the east??
The trees think so too, because they all have
grown with their branches and treetops to the
east.
We enjoy our trip here very much because every
time the landscape differs from meadows to
rainforests and from flat country to high, snow-
topped mountains.
The coast does resemble Scotland and Nova
Scotia very much and is, for that, beautiful and
sometimes even awesome.
This is it for today.
Hope to “post” this tomorrow.
Aheap of (three) sealions.
You can see other lions lying on the beach, somewhat further away.
There was an icecold, fierce wind blowing from the sea (sometimes so hard we couldn't look at the beach) and we both had sand in our hair, clothes, shoes and other places (for instance later also in bed).
The water was almost freezing cold.
Today, Tuesday, we woke up at 8 in the morning.
It was cold tonight (must have been around zero
or so) and there were a few tents on the camping,so they must have been cold in the night.
At 9 we drove to the big town of Twizel, well
known in Twizel itself and surroundings.
In Twizel we bought groceries and after this main
event we set for Oumarua, a town on the seaside.
Here we will see (we hope) penguins.
And………………..yes, we saw two penguins.
We visited a special place on the beach where
Penguins come from the sea, where they were
fishing, for their partners who stay on the beach
to hatch or to look after little penguins or
whatever.
Lots of people were looking from a special
shed (they paid $ 20,- for a busride to the beach
and back and we just drove down there) at the
beach where one penguin was standing, looking
at the sea.
He (or she) stood there almost for one and a half
hour and almost didn’t move.
Because no other penguin showed itself all the
people left again and Ankie and I waited a little
longer and “YES” there came another penguin
out of the sea and I have the beast on video.
Of course this is very spectacular.
This morning we set for Dunedin (a sort of copy
of Edinburg) also on the east coast of New Zealand,
Southern Island.
We found ourselves a nice campingplace on the
Otago peninsula, in a very little village, called
Portobello.
We àrrived early (we were the first today) and
after doing the administration we went to a
beach, called Sandfly beach.
We should see there:
- Sealions (Pakaka in Maori)
- Penguins.
As I wrote there was a strong wind (I think at
least 9 or 10 beaufort) because you could lean into
the wind and the sand bit in our eyes.
We started on the high cliffs and walked down to
the beach via a “long and winding road”, through
the sanddunes beneath the cliffs.
We were halfway and we thought to see a sealion
on the beach and soon it turned out there were at
least 15 big sealions (and a small dead one too) on
the beach, sleeping.
You could walk up to them, as close as a few
meters.
It was amazing to be so near to these big animals
who didn’t give a shit about us, being close by.
We photographed them all.
They just lay around on the beach and although
now and than one looked at us, they didn’t pay us
any further attention, flipped a little with their
flippers and went on sleeping.
The way back, up the cliffs was tiresome.
And……….…we didn’t see any penguins today.
Maybe tomorrow, who knows.
All the villages and towns have their own penguins
and we’ll be able to see some more, I think in the
coming days.
We also went to an albatross observation centre.
Prince Charles of England was there before us, in
2005. Maybe he chased the birds away.
It was cold outside, because of the strong cold
wind, so we decided to drink something and looked,
in vain, for an albatross (a bird with a wingspan of
3,5 or 4 meters when mature) from the observatory.
Probably the birds were doing something else than
having us have a look at them.
After this event we went home.
No pictures today (no wifi although we paid for it).
Shit happens.
Till the next time.
It was cold tonight (must have been around zero
or so) and there were a few tents on the camping,so they must have been cold in the night.
At 9 we drove to the big town of Twizel, well
known in Twizel itself and surroundings.
In Twizel we bought groceries and after this main
event we set for Oumarua, a town on the seaside.
Here we will see (we hope) penguins.
And………………..yes, we saw two penguins.
We visited a special place on the beach where
Penguins come from the sea, where they were
fishing, for their partners who stay on the beach
to hatch or to look after little penguins or
whatever.
Lots of people were looking from a special
shed (they paid $ 20,- for a busride to the beach
and back and we just drove down there) at the
beach where one penguin was standing, looking
at the sea.
He (or she) stood there almost for one and a half
hour and almost didn’t move.
Because no other penguin showed itself all the
people left again and Ankie and I waited a little
longer and “YES” there came another penguin
out of the sea and I have the beast on video.
Of course this is very spectacular.
This morning we set for Dunedin (a sort of copy
of Edinburg) also on the east coast of New Zealand,
Southern Island.
We found ourselves a nice campingplace on the
Otago peninsula, in a very little village, called
Portobello.
We àrrived early (we were the first today) and
after doing the administration we went to a
beach, called Sandfly beach.
We should see there:
- Sealions (Pakaka in Maori)
- Penguins.
As I wrote there was a strong wind (I think at
least 9 or 10 beaufort) because you could lean into
the wind and the sand bit in our eyes.
We started on the high cliffs and walked down to
the beach via a “long and winding road”, through
the sanddunes beneath the cliffs.
We were halfway and we thought to see a sealion
on the beach and soon it turned out there were at
least 15 big sealions (and a small dead one too) on
the beach, sleeping.
You could walk up to them, as close as a few
meters.
It was amazing to be so near to these big animals
who didn’t give a shit about us, being close by.
We photographed them all.
They just lay around on the beach and although
now and than one looked at us, they didn’t pay us
any further attention, flipped a little with their
flippers and went on sleeping.
The way back, up the cliffs was tiresome.
And……….…we didn’t see any penguins today.
Maybe tomorrow, who knows.
All the villages and towns have their own penguins
and we’ll be able to see some more, I think in the
coming days.
We also went to an albatross observation centre.
Prince Charles of England was there before us, in
2005. Maybe he chased the birds away.
It was cold outside, because of the strong cold
wind, so we decided to drink something and looked,
in vain, for an albatross (a bird with a wingspan of
3,5 or 4 meters when mature) from the observatory.
Probably the birds were doing something else than
having us have a look at them.
After this event we went home.
No pictures today (no wifi although we paid for it).
Shit happens.
Till the next time.
maandag 9 november 2009
Wat heb ik nou an me fiets hange???
Ik heb nu "volgers" o.a. uit China: Muslimah4life.
Ik wist niet dat ik zo populair was.
Enfin, dit kan er ook nog wel bij. Ik ben benieuwd of ik nog word bekeerd en tot welk geloof.
Ik wist niet dat ik zo populair was.
Enfin, dit kan er ook nog wel bij. Ik ben benieuwd of ik nog word bekeerd en tot welk geloof.
To make it a little easier I show the map of New Zealand.
We arrived in Christchurch (See southern island on the east coast) and now we are somewhat north of Dunedin. On the west coast (it seems but that is not the case) you see the little yellow triangle (Mount Cook). That's the place where we were yesterday.
It's not on the west coast and to visit this place you have to start from the east coast.
To Oumarua (those names!!!)
Today, Tuesday, we woke up at 8.00 in the morning.
It was cold tonight (must have been around zero
or so) and there were a few tents on the camping, so they must have been cold in the night.
At 9.00 we drove to the big town of Twizel, well
known in Twizel itself and surroundings.
In Twizel we bought groceries and after this main
event we set for Oumarua, a town on the seaside.
Here we will see (we hope) penguins.
On our way to Oumarua we passed a place called
Vanished World Elephant Rocks.
The boulders look like elephants (in the dark and you have to be stark drunk) and we took
some pictures (Ankie more than me) and on the the pic I made you see Ankie on such a boulder.
The weather is OK now while I am writing, but this morning we had lots of clouds and it rained
a little, so the picture is dark.
The camping where we are now is OK. We took a shower and in a while we will visit the
Town Centre about which more the next time.
It was cold tonight (must have been around zero
or so) and there were a few tents on the camping, so they must have been cold in the night.
At 9.00 we drove to the big town of Twizel, well
known in Twizel itself and surroundings.
In Twizel we bought groceries and after this main
event we set for Oumarua, a town on the seaside.
Here we will see (we hope) penguins.
On our way to Oumarua we passed a place called
Vanished World Elephant Rocks.
The boulders look like elephants (in the dark and you have to be stark drunk) and we took
some pictures (Ankie more than me) and on the the pic I made you see Ankie on such a boulder.
The weather is OK now while I am writing, but this morning we had lots of clouds and it rained
a little, so the picture is dark.
The camping where we are now is OK. We took a shower and in a while we will visit the
Town Centre about which more the next time.
After a while we had to cross the river again and there it was, another Dr. Jones hangbridge. Ankie didn't allow me to swing the bridge when she was on it.
Look at the last picture. That's mount Cook, some 3750 high. We were lucky (our guide of the day told us) because there were no clouds around the top of the mountain (clouds are there usually).
Our goal was to climb Mount Cook but now we know that many climbers died on this mountain, and although I am a climber myself, we decided to look at the mountain from the valley.
During our walk up the mountain (well a little bit up) we heared lots of noise and we saw an avalanche. The pics of the avalanche are not OK so, no pics of the avalanche.
We saw beautiful white flowers when we walked along the river. See pic.
On monday we set for Mount Cook. The drive from Geraldine to Mount Cook took us about 4 hours.
On the raod to Mount Cook we came upon Lake Tekapo (or Tepako or whatever) and it was very nice.
On one of the pics here under you see the lake.
Iceblue and beautifull to see. The weather was nice and the road clear.
Somewhere in the afternoon we reached Mount Cook and in Hooker Valley we made camp. I looked everywhere but no single hooker in sight.
It is the only campground in Mount Cook and the only thing they have is a place to park your camper and there are toilets with water. It cost only 6 Euro's for the night.
Right after we arrived we took a hike direction Mount Cook. The first thing you see, apart from the mountains all around us, was a monument for climbers who lost their lives climbing Mount Cook. Apperently it is a tough mountain to climb (Edmund Hillary - no family of Hillary Clinton as far as I know - climbed this mountain a few times) and since the 1970's about 40 climbers died on this mountain. All their names were on the monument.
After the monument we soon arrived at a Dr. Jones hangbridge over the river (water flowing down from Mount Cook) and in the middle of the bridge you can see Ankie.
Geraldine, New Zealand.
This is a pretty town (our touring guide of today
says so).
And it has many, many features like:
- an old building that used to be the town hall,
- another old building which is now the town museum*,
- other buildings and shops and everything what you
can find in a little town which is one hundred years
old and is still sleepy.
On a vacation in a certain country or wherever, you
see their most interesting sites. In this case the sites
are as mentioned above.
* Behind the museum (closed, because it is Sunday) is
our campground.
The campground is very neat (as far as I can see it used
to be the town hortus - they have lots of different trees,
amongst which one giant Pine tree, original of North America -).
Price for one night: 30 New Zealand dollars, which is about 15 Euro’s. And what do you get:
- water
- electricity
- an internet shed (only one PC)
- a large kitchen with everything you need for cooking
and doing the dishes (Ankie cooked and I did the
dishes)
- a TV-room with TV (!!) and chairs
- a place to loose your grey waste
- a laundry (washers and dryers)
- large places to park your camper
- only 2 minutes to the city centre
- etc.
In town there are at least ten shops. You can get almost everything you want, except today (Sunday every shop is closed except bars, café’s, the local juiceshop and the souvenirsshop).
As you can see this is a very exciting town which thrives like unreal (even on Sunday).
We met at least ten people.
We started this morning late. We slept until ten and
we left the campground in Akaroa around eleven.
We had to drive back to Christchurch (75 Km’s) on “the long and winding road” with hairpin corners here and there.
After Christchurch we headed south, direction Mount Cook, which we are to see tomorrow.
From Christchurch we took the scenic road (nr. 72) and came trough very interesting villages like:
- Darfield
- Mount Somers (no mountains to see in the
neighbourhood)
- Mayfield
and suddenly we arrived in Geraldine.
Look on your maps at home and see where we are.
The weather is nice. Some 20 degrees or so and sunshine. Tonight it will be like 10 or so.
It was a very exciting day (we gassed up in Mount Somers) and I am looking forward to another day with lots of interesting things like cows, sheep (for people who like sheep, it must be really heaven), birds, lots of roadkill, sleeping villages, mountains far away (with snow on the tops), a car now and than and many, many other things.
This was it for today.
Tomorrow we head for Mount Cook (3754 meters) and
probably experience: snow and cold. We’ll see.
Greetings to you all from Geraldine, New Zealand.
This is a pretty town (our touring guide of today
says so).
And it has many, many features like:
- an old building that used to be the town hall,
- another old building which is now the town museum*,
- other buildings and shops and everything what you
can find in a little town which is one hundred years
old and is still sleepy.
On a vacation in a certain country or wherever, you
see their most interesting sites. In this case the sites
are as mentioned above.
* Behind the museum (closed, because it is Sunday) is
our campground.
The campground is very neat (as far as I can see it used
to be the town hortus - they have lots of different trees,
amongst which one giant Pine tree, original of North America -).
Price for one night: 30 New Zealand dollars, which is about 15 Euro’s. And what do you get:
- water
- electricity
- an internet shed (only one PC)
- a large kitchen with everything you need for cooking
and doing the dishes (Ankie cooked and I did the
dishes)
- a TV-room with TV (!!) and chairs
- a place to loose your grey waste
- a laundry (washers and dryers)
- large places to park your camper
- only 2 minutes to the city centre
- etc.
In town there are at least ten shops. You can get almost everything you want, except today (Sunday every shop is closed except bars, café’s, the local juiceshop and the souvenirsshop).
As you can see this is a very exciting town which thrives like unreal (even on Sunday).
We met at least ten people.
We started this morning late. We slept until ten and
we left the campground in Akaroa around eleven.
We had to drive back to Christchurch (75 Km’s) on “the long and winding road” with hairpin corners here and there.
After Christchurch we headed south, direction Mount Cook, which we are to see tomorrow.
From Christchurch we took the scenic road (nr. 72) and came trough very interesting villages like:
- Darfield
- Mount Somers (no mountains to see in the
neighbourhood)
- Mayfield
and suddenly we arrived in Geraldine.
Look on your maps at home and see where we are.
The weather is nice. Some 20 degrees or so and sunshine. Tonight it will be like 10 or so.
It was a very exciting day (we gassed up in Mount Somers) and I am looking forward to another day with lots of interesting things like cows, sheep (for people who like sheep, it must be really heaven), birds, lots of roadkill, sleeping villages, mountains far away (with snow on the tops), a car now and than and many, many other things.
This was it for today.
Tomorrow we head for Mount Cook (3754 meters) and
probably experience: snow and cold. We’ll see.
Greetings to you all from Geraldine, New Zealand.
Today is November 7th. (Saturday).
So yesterday was Friday. And the day before that was.......
On Friday we arrived from Sydney in New Zealand in
Christchurch.
Our suitcases arrived too, so everything was OK.
We were brought, from the airport, to our hotel in
the middle of the city.
Christchurch centre is nice, for a New Zealand town.
We visited the cathedral (Church of England or so) and
the boyschoire (spelled right?) was singing and it was
nice. After that we walked around a little.
More than half of the shops sell typical NZ things like:
- sheepskins
- woolen whatevers (by the thousends, because they
have like 5 million sheep over here; for people who like
sheep, it must be really heaven),
- Alpaca woolen vests, pullovers, etc.
- Maori art
- T-shirts with New Zealand and all other texts
- sheepskin boots (popular overhere too)
- caps with New Zealand
- all kinds of goods with "All Blacks"
- pictures of penguins and dolphins (for people who like
dolphins, it must be really heaven),
New Zealand is also well known because of its sandfly
and I'll tell you about it (I fear) later.
No caps with "sandflies" however.
For people who like sandflies, it must be really heaven.
The hotel was OK again and we slept well.
This morning a taxi came to bring us to the "rent
a motorhome" and around 12 we were heading east,
to Akaroa.
This little town is famous for its dolphins (for
people who like dolphins, it must be really heaven),
its french history (some streets even have french
names!!) and for its bay in which the dolphins.
It could somewhere in Nova Scotia but than
without dolphins.
Our camper is much better than we expected.
It has everything:
- TV
- radio
- soundsystem
- heating
- a boiler for water
- a shower
- a toilet
- two beds (but the camper sleeps 3 if neccesary)
- a kitchen with almost everythying like
. exhauster
. microwave
. watercooker
. fridge
. stove
. etc.
Tonight is the first night we will sleep in the camper.
This was it.
Greetings from Akaroa, New Zealand, famous for its
sheep and dolphins and penguins and All Blacks
and Kiwi's.
So yesterday was Friday. And the day before that was.......
On Friday we arrived from Sydney in New Zealand in
Christchurch.
Our suitcases arrived too, so everything was OK.
We were brought, from the airport, to our hotel in
the middle of the city.
Christchurch centre is nice, for a New Zealand town.
We visited the cathedral (Church of England or so) and
the boyschoire (spelled right?) was singing and it was
nice. After that we walked around a little.
More than half of the shops sell typical NZ things like:
- sheepskins
- woolen whatevers (by the thousends, because they
have like 5 million sheep over here; for people who like
sheep, it must be really heaven),
- Alpaca woolen vests, pullovers, etc.
- Maori art
- T-shirts with New Zealand and all other texts
- sheepskin boots (popular overhere too)
- caps with New Zealand
- all kinds of goods with "All Blacks"
- pictures of penguins and dolphins (for people who like
dolphins, it must be really heaven),
New Zealand is also well known because of its sandfly
and I'll tell you about it (I fear) later.
No caps with "sandflies" however.
For people who like sandflies, it must be really heaven.
The hotel was OK again and we slept well.
This morning a taxi came to bring us to the "rent
a motorhome" and around 12 we were heading east,
to Akaroa.
This little town is famous for its dolphins (for
people who like dolphins, it must be really heaven),
its french history (some streets even have french
names!!) and for its bay in which the dolphins.
It could somewhere in Nova Scotia but than
without dolphins.
Our camper is much better than we expected.
It has everything:
- TV
- radio
- soundsystem
- heating
- a boiler for water
- a shower
- a toilet
- two beds (but the camper sleeps 3 if neccesary)
- a kitchen with almost everythying like
. exhauster
. microwave
. watercooker
. fridge
. stove
. etc.
Tonight is the first night we will sleep in the camper.
This was it.
Greetings from Akaroa, New Zealand, famous for its
sheep and dolphins and penguins and All Blacks
and Kiwi's.
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