Sunday 27 February

This will be a very quick posting today really to let you all know we are now safe and sound with Suzanne and Rod in Melbourne.  It was a really early start for us - we had to be up at 3.15am so we are feeling pretty shattered now!

We can do a double update tomorrow but the only thing I will say is so much for "sunny Melbourne"!  It was raining cats and dogs from the time we arrived to early afternoon and Steve said he thought we had gone to Manchester by mistake!!

Final Blog from NZ

Saturday 26 February

Today we have driven along the famous State Highway 73 from Greymouth to ChCh passing through the Otira Gorge and Arthur's Pass. For most of the middle part of the journey the train line runs parallel with the road so we were able to see some of the scenery that we would have seen from the train. In fact the train disappears into a tunnel before Arthur's Pass so it's possible to see more from the road (some compensation for missing our trip on the Trans-Alpine Express). We stopped at a view point in the Otira Gourge and saw three Kea Birds (A type of parrot) apparently they only live in this part of NZ and there are only about 5000 of them left, so seeing them was a treat!

Many roads in NZ have single track bridges and this is rarely a problem as the traffic is so light, however today we came across a single track bridge that also carries a railway line, which we thought was perhaps stretching things a little far! Apart from the scenery State Highway 73 also seems to be famous for the quality of it's pie shops. We had very nice pies at Arthur's Pass and could have also stopped for pies in Sheffield and several other places!

We weren't in a hurry to get to ChCh as you can imagine, so we also stopped and walked around some rather interesting large boulders, or limestone outcrops, as they are officially called. Basically they look like handfuls of enormous pebbles scattered down a hillside.

The mountains in this last part of the journey across the Southern Alps looked like no others we have seen. The rock face looked like cement had been poured on it from the top, very strange! Everywhere we have been in NZ we have seen something new and completely unspoilt and today was no exception.

We are now in a rather nice small hotel near ChCh airport. Steve has filled the car with petrol (not without difficulty as petrol is being rationed) and we are packing and getting ready for an early night because we have a very early start in the morning for our 6.15am flight to Melbourne. Can't wait to be there now and see Rod and Suzanne again. It was always going to feel good to see them again after two years but given the situation here in NZ, it has unfortunately put a black shadow over the last few days here and we are ready to leave.

It's been a wonderful experience – definitely a holiday of a lifetime for both of us!

See you in Oz!

Catch Up 23 to 25 Feb

Sorry if this post is long and muddled.  We have been adding to it as we went along without the opportunity to make any new postings for a couple of days.

Wednesday 23 February

We are now in Franz Joseph staying at Westwood Lodge. The owner has told us that their Internet service is provided from ChCh and with comms in ChCh serverely disrupted by the earthquake the service is very poor. Accessing the Internet is via a subscription service and as the service is so poor we have been advised against subscribing. So we are going to update the blog on our PC and upload it if and when we find a local cafe that provides internet access. Also, we have no mobile signal at the Lodge so we can't use that either! 

We were called this morning while we were still in Queenstown by our local tour operator and advised that our hotel in ChCh is closed for at least a week, that the airport would be open on Sunday to international flights (in fact it opened this afternoon) and that the Trans Alpine railway was unlikely to be open on Friday when we are due to travel to ChCh. So we have extended our car hire and our agent has booked us into the Kingsgate Hotel in Greymouth (Tel +64 3 768 5085) for Friday night and the Huntley Lodge (Tel +64 3 348 8435), close to ChCh airport for Saturday night. So we should be leaving NZ early on Sunday morning as planned.

Blog Update

Before updating today's news, there are a couple of little bits that we forgot to mention in yesterday's blog.

When we were having a coffee in Arrowtown we got talking to a Scottish man and he was telling us that he was on a touring holiday in with farmers from all over the UK. The main object of their holiday was to visit farms throughout NZ – talk about a busman's holiday!. He explained one thing which had been puzzling us and that is why there weren't as many sheep as we expected. Dairy farming has become a lot more profitable than sheep farming mostly because milk is being made into powdered milk for the Chinese market and so sheep farmers are moving into dairy farming.

Also we forgot to mention The Remarkables! These are a very remarkable range of mountains across the lake from our hotel and Queenstown. What was most remarkable about The Remarkables while we were there was that they were remarkably difficult to see as it rained a lot and the cloud was low! Hopefully though Steve will have a photo of them to show you.

Wednesday, 23 February

After the call from Pan Pacific and the decision made for the revised itinerary, we had to go to Budget car hire at Queenstown airport to extend our car hire. In the meantime I was concerned for a couple of friends in NZ and had emailed them both. I got instant replies and good news but the most surprising thing was that one of them Maree (who I first met when we lived in London and is my all time favourite hairdresser and now a musician with the Ting Tings!) was in Queenstown. Because of the earthquake Maree's flight home to have a holiday with her family in Dunedin after touring with the band was diverted to Queenstown and believe it or not we were both at the airport at the same time. Neither of us had time to do more than have a 5 minute chat but it has to be one of the most amazing coincidences!

After leaving Queenstown airport we headed for Franz Joseph. Steve decided to take a short cut over Crown Terrace that saved us about 40km. Of slight concern was that the entrance to the road was ringed with warnings about it not being suitable for vehicles pulling trailers and this turned out to be because the first 10km consisted of a series of very tight hairpin bends as the road climbed steeply to reveal wonderful views of Queenstown in the distance below, that is until the road climbed so high that we were in the clouds! On the way down on the far side we passed a large group of tandem riders desperately trying to reach the top, many of whom had given up cycling and were pushing their bikes.

Further on the road took us past Lake Hawea on our right, quickly followed by Lake Wanaka on our left, both huge lakes. The scenery here was absolutely stunning, some of the best we have seen in NZ and that's saying something. We stopped at a view point above Lake Wanaka and were able to see Harwich Island in the distance!

Near Haast we stopped to look at the 28m (~93 ft) Thunder Creek falls that tumble into the Haast River, quite a dramatic sight. There were a lot of one lane bridges on today's route, something we rarely see in the UK, and some of the bridges (notably the one over the Haast River) were quite long. 

We are now on the West coast in Glacier Country and have had our first views of the Tasman sea. We should also be able to see the Franz Joseph Glacier and Mount Cook but unfortunately they have both been covered by cloud since we arrived. We are hoping for better luck tomorrow.

Thursday 24 February

When we woke this morning most of yesterday's cloud had cleared and we were able to see the tops of the mountains and take some pictures of their snow covered peaks. However, the forecast for the day wasn't good with low cloud and rain forecast for the afternoon. Since arriving in FJ we have learned that it has an annual rainfall of 7 to 8 metres and that on average it rains on 4 days every week, so we will be lucky to get away with out any rain today!

While we sat having a morning coffee, which we'd like to think was the same cafe where Stephanie spotted Russell Crowe when she was here a few years ago, we saw about 10 Morgans being driven through the town which was rather an unexpected treat. We didn't realise there would be that many Morgans in NZ! Steve preferred the Morgans to a world famous filmstar - I couldn't possibly comment!

We decided to book ourselves on a “Glacier Experience” tour. So this afternoon we have been up climbing on the FJ Glacier. Steve loved it and wants to go back again, but it was a first … and last for Jane. I think she must have completely forgotten that she doesn't even like ice in al shapes and forms!

We were provided with boots (wet inside), socks, waterproofs and crampons and taken by a guide onto the glacier. This was an incredible experience and not one that we will forget in a hurry (for different reasons!). The top of the glacier receives 40 meters of snow every year, it snows all year apart from January and February, and the sheer weight of the snow is causing the glacier to move at a rate of 3 to 4 meters each year, which is very quick for a glacier. The snow has a blue tinge because it absorbs all other colours. The glacier was not really like we expected because the part we walked on was not flat and smooth but had long, high spiky ridges and lots of crevices. Fortunately we had only a few spots of rain while we were out which given the local climate was pretty lucky! The whole trip took 5 hours.

On our way to the glacier we spoke to a man with a trolley full of equipment. Turns out he is a seismologist and had been taking measurements to try to better plot the line of a major fault that lies under FJ. Apparently, its one of the biggest faults under NZ and he said he wouldn't want to live in FJ so we're glad not to be staying to long!

Sorry this is a long update but as we mentioned earlier in the little blog we sent from the internet cafe this morning comms here in Frans Josef are not very good as the internet service providers are in ChCh and so obviously the service is far from normal under the circumstances. 

Friday 25 February

Not surprisingly we woke with very stiff legs!

Still no Internet access at our Hotel in FJ so we hope to publish the latest updates to the blog from our hotel in Greymouth this evening.

At breakfast we spoke to a couple who had actually been in the centre of ChCh when the earthquake happened. They were in a liquor store within sight of the cathedral and given the scale of what happened, they feel very lucky to have survived unscathed.

This morning we went back in the direction of Fox Glacier to visit Lake Matheson that has one of the most famous panoramas in NZ. Its an hour and a half's walk round the lake and at the far end, on a clear day, are unforgettable views of Mt Tasman and Mt Cook reflected in the water. It was cloudy, so we bought a postcard, enjoyed the walk though!

We've now driven to Greymouth and are settling in to our accommodation for the night. Catching up on the TV news we have just seen one of my old BT bosses being interviewed about the telecom service problems in ChCh following the earthquake! He is now the CEO of Telecom the BT equivalent in NZ. Interestingly as well as making all calls from payphone boxes free, Telecom are also asking the public to hand in any unwanted corded phones for distribution in areas without power, because the newer cordless phones need charging and the old ones don't. 

Thurs 24 Feb Frans Josef

Very poor comms here in Frans Josef as internet provided via Christchurch!

We have changed our plans for last few days in NZ and will now stay one night in Greymouth.  Our train trip has been cancelled so we drive back to ChCh on Saturday where we stay overnight in a rescheduled hotel near the airpor tand hopefully well out of harms way.  Our flight as of today is unchanged so we will fly early Sunday morning to Melbourne.

More info later when we can have more time.

Monday, 21 February and Tuesday, 22 February

We had got behind with our blog because we were either travelling or out and about most of yesterday.

Obviously the terrible news of the earthquake in Christchurch has very much overshadowed our afternoon and evening. We have heard that Georgia and Alex are safe although they were in the centre of Chch and had to shelter in a doorway. We can't believe what we are seeing on the TV and hearing. We were there only 3 days ago and our hotel, now damaged, was at the side of Hagley Park and only a few streets from the city centre. From it we could see the marquees being set up for a forthcoming flower show which are now being used for people to sleep in overnight.

We had commented on what a lovely, vibrant city it was and on Saturday there were so many people, especially young people, out and about having fun and being happy. There were some buildings which we could see had been secured following the September earthquake and also one or two spire tops on the ground ready to be replaced.

So because of all this, I will just give a short update on what we did yesterday and today.

Yesterday we drove from Twyzel to Queenstown. Yet again another lovely scenic drive, this time with some much appreciated straight roads though! Unfortunately it started to rain when we had stopped at a waterfall called Roaring Meg (don't ask!) and continued well into the afternoon.

Our hotel in Queenstown is definitely not going on our favourites list. It is very large and impersonal, a bit of a concrete jungle and quite a long way out of the town. On the plus side we do have another beautiful view, this time of the lake (perhaps we are getting blasé about great views!). We thought the long walk into town would do us good so we set off and made a beeline for Fergburger.  Jo and Sean were here a few years ago and recommended this burger bar for the best burger ever … and it was!

Today, Tuesday 22 February was wet again in the morning so we went to a small former mining town called Arrowtown.  It was really quaint, a bit like an old colonial/cowboy type town. Now most of the buildings are shops and cafes but it had a real charm to it and we quite enjoyed a little bit of retail therapy. We bumped into another couple we had first met at one of our B&B lodges – we always knew we would cross paths sooner or later with someone we had met along the way!

From the main street, it was only a short walk to a little settlement where in the 19^th century a handful of Chinese miners made their homes. They were invited to come and mine for gold after the main gold rush was over and most of them stayed for the rest of their lives in these little huts and shacks eventually turning their hands to market gardening when the gold finally ran out.

Then … thanks to a text from Gwyneth we heard the terrible news about the earthquake. It was still raining so we headed back to our hotel and spent the afternoon watching the news unfold on the TV and doing some emails. We have to wait until our travel agent gets back to us either tonight or tomorrow morning to see if there is an alternative to the end of our time in NZ when we should be back in ChCh. Rod and Suzanne, our friends in Melbourne, have been in touch to say we can always go to them earlier than planned. As soon as we know exactly what we will do, we will let you know.

More news tomorrow when we get to our next destination at Franz Josef.

TUESDAY 22 FEBRUARY - IMPORTANT NEWS

STOP PRESS

A VERY QUICK UPDATE TO LET YOU KNOW WE ARE NOT IN CHRISTCHURCH SO WE ARE BOTH OK. WE ARE ABOUT 200 MILES SOUTH WEST'ISH IN QUEENSTOWN. WE WERE IN CHRISTCHURCH 3 DAYS AGO AND IT IS SO AWFUL TO THINK ABOUT TODAY'S EARTHQUAKE DEVASTATION WHEN ON SATURDAY IT FELT SO PEACEFUL AND WAS FULL OF SO MANY HAPPY PEOPLE AND BEAUTIFUL PLACES .

HOWEVER WE ARE DUE TO BE BACK IN CHRISTCHURCH ON FRIDAY FOR 2 NIGHTS SO WE WILL BE REVIEWING OUR PLANS AND VERY LIKELY MAKING CHANGES.  WE WILL KEEP YOU ALL UP TO DATE AS BEST WE CAN.

IF ANYONE HAS NEWS OF GEORGIA ANDERSON WHO IS IN CHRISTCHURCH, PLEASE LET US KNOW AS WE ARE WORRYING ABOUT HER. 

Saturday 19 February

No time to update the blog yesterday because we were out late Saturday night in Christchurch so we are writing this on Sunday.

Saturday morning was spent on the road travelling from Kaikoura to Christchurch.

We spent the afternoon looking round Christchurch and deciding where we will go when we return next Friday and Saturday. The art gallery looks good, as does the arts centre and the Botanical gardens, so they are definitely on our list. We'd also like to take the tram although it is more for tourists than an everyday means of transport.

Christchurch seems to be the in place to go for stag and hen (batchelorette in NZ parlance) parties and we saw several during the afternoon and evening. Jo recommended a show called “Scared Scriptless” (improvised comedy) at the Court Theatre which she had been to when she was in Christchurch so we bought tickets for that evening's performance, good job we did because it was full. The show didn't start until 10pm so we had dinner first at a nearby eatery called Dux de Lux (where we were “entertained” by a groom to be on his stag night dressed all in pink!). The show was very good so Jo thanks for the tip but by the time we got back to our hotel it was too late to write the blog. Needless to say one of the hen party groups was also at the show in the front row and the bride to be, Jinny (probably Jenny in English!), who looked about 16, was sung to by the cast!

Sunday, 20 February

Today we are heading further south to Queenstown with a one night stopover at Twizel (pronouned “twyzel” not “twizzle”).  Twizel is apparently named after a place in Northumberland and a sign in the town centre points to Twizel UK and says it is 18600 km, so we've got a long walk home! Has anyone heard of Twizel UK?  On the way Steve was very pleased to hear by text from Paul that Everton had beaten Chelsea in an FA cup match!

On the way we drove through Ealing although we must have blinked and missed the Hangar Lane Gyratory system! Also a road to Holbrook! The further we went the more remote it became but fortunately the roads weren't too windy as mostly the drive was through a wide plain flanked by mountains and lakes.

Our stopover is another lodge about a mile outside Twizel. It is in a wonderful setting by a little lake or big pond, whichever way you want to look at it, full of trout jumping out from time to time to catch flies, and with a mountain range in the distance.

View from the deck outside Matuka Lodge

This is another lodge which has an early evening get together over a glass of wine. We had already spent about an hour sitting and chatting to another couple staying here who come from Melbourne. By coincidence one of their sons went to Edinburgh University where he met his wife!

It has been really nice to receive some comments and to realise that so many friends and family are following our blog.  See you all in Queenstown!