Mid Travel

Well,

Kia Ora from Queenstown. It has been almost a week since I started to travel. It was great fun, well, almost, with all the long drives. The record I have now is a 5 hour drive from Christchurch to Franz Josef.

Start from Christchurch and drove to Gore Bay for the Catherdrals (Cliff), had some shots there, then to Kourikoa, where I was in luck with 3 seals at the seal colony (none on the next day!!), then it was a straight drive to Renwick, with a stop at Blenheim's McDonalds for dinner (yes, that was one of the few places that is open on Good Friday!!!!) The place I had stayed was nice, while a little run-down but then what to expect for a 78NZD for 1 night.

Next day, did 2 vineyards - Montana and Highfield Estate. Had a tour of the vinyard, and learn how they do the wines at Montana - even tasted how the different grapes were like for the different wines. Had a nice lunch at Highfield (with a great view), then it was back to Christchurch for a night.

Now I don't know how, but this place I stay had 2 taps - 1 for hot water and 1 for cold water. How do you wash your hands or rinses your mouth with separate taps??!?!?! I am still trying to discover the technique of it. Because of this, I am still wondering if I should stay there on the return leg for 2 nights. The bathroom was a little cold in the morning as well. But then again, this place is at rate of 99NZD per night.

Then it was the long drive to Franz Josef, stopped at a few places, and at the pancake rocks. Got to Franz Josef in the night (again!!), but got my dinner at Hoctika (a fish & chips with scallops) dinner by the beach before driving down to FJ.

The next day was a dreary day! It rained, and rained. Because of this, no heli-hikes and the rest of the tours were full. So no FJ Glacier, no Fox Glacier. Which means, I have to come back to NZ again, to do this!!!! So, it was a disappointing morning which then leads to the drive to Wanaka. Did not stop at Thunder Creek Falls as it was raining, but managed to get some shots of fantail falls and some other places. The sun only came out to play at 4 - 5 plus, which by then I was aleady almost at Wanaka.

Had a good night rest at Wanaka, at a B&B in Beacon Pt. Some shots around sunset time, but because it's not at the sea area, the sunset was not that spectacular. Tried my hand at star trail, but I think I had not learn the technique and I found out my remote's batt was flat! So, I had to hold on the the shutter button for 3 minutes!!!! That's a feat done in cold weather!!! The windy was seriously cold!!! By the way, this B&B had a great room, love it!!! If I am back here, will be staying there again. It's a bit off the town area of Wanaka, but it was a good place to stay, only thing is bring cash!!! They don't have credit card facilities.

So then it was to Queenstown. Drove through the Cardona Valley (Crown Range Rd), I must say, I would not drive that route in the night!! But it was a good drive, nice peaks and all, last leg of it was very, very winding - going at 25 km/h only! Then it was to Shotover Jet for the jetboat ride. It was fun, but the hair got all wet! With all the side spins and 360 turns and all. Then it was to town to get a blower for the cam as I forgot to bring mine!!!! Sigh... How could I forget it?!?!? I have no idea! Which reminds me, I have to get my cam sensors clean, as well as my lens. I think I will need to do a fair bit of post processing as some of the pictures shows the dirt very clearly!!!

So, finally, today, I had a 4WD safari to some places around Queenstown which would show you some areas where they had used for LOTR. No, I did not go to Deer Park Heights, instead it was some other places which you would not know and some places were not easily access as you really need a 4WD Landrover to get there!!! Afternoon, di dnot know what to do, so took up the clay target shooting which was interesting as I had done this before way back when I was in Scotland. Then I had no issues with the high shots, but had issues with rabbit shots. Guess what, this time, I had no issues with Rabbit shots, but had issue with high shots... I think it's the shotgun I had to use - Damn heavy!!!

So, now I am sitting in the laundry area typing this out while waiting for my clothes drying in the drier. Then it's packing time as I will be heading to Te Anau tmr and meet up with the Lauries!