Category: Uncategorized
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Sunday, 9th December – Franz Josef Glacier
Absolutely. F**king. Awesome. What a morning! I got up relatively early and had some breakfast, noting with approval that the weather looked pretty good for the heli hike. Then set off to the check-in point, only to be told that all the flights were on hold as clouds were moving in, which meant the choppers…
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Saturday, 8th December – Hokitika to Franz Josef Glacier
Comfortable and quiet night’s kip, and it was actually nice to have the time to eat a breakfast from our own resources. Need to finish all this stuff before we get back to Blighty….. We drove for about half an hour eastward to Hokitika Gorge – a (reasonably) local beauty spot. Well worth the trip,…
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Friday, 7th December – Arthur’s Pass to Hokitika
Awoke to an absolutely beautiful sunny day. Nice to see the mountains across the way wreathed in sunshine rather than cloud for a change: Breakfast, then checked out of this wonderful place. Really sad to leave it – the ambience, peace, scenery and attentiveness of the staff have made this a terrific stay. As Jean…
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Thursday, 6th December – Arthur’s Pass
Comfortable night, and awoke to blue sky and sunshine, but chilly. Nice breakfast, then embarked on the Rainbow Valley Nature walk. This was supposed to take around an hour and a quarter and was assisted by a very comprehensive set of laminated notes. Impressive. In fact, this whole place is dedicated to nature, conservation and…
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Wednesday, 5th December – Kaikoura to Arthur’s Pass
Left Kaikoura in glorious sunshine. Very sad to leave this stupendous apartment – a few pics for the record: Reasonably straightforward journey to our next destination, the Wilderness Lodge in the Arthur’s Pass district of the Southern Alps of New Zealand, although punctuated by road works in the early stages. One surmises that this has…
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Tuesday, 4th December – Kaikoura
Good night’s kip in a comfortable and roomy bed. Window open, so we could hear the roar of the surf. Romantic, huh? A siren went off around 5 a.m. It sounded like the old World War 2 air raid sirens and it was really eerie. Apparently, this is used to summon volunteers to help with…
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Monday, 3rd December – Nelson to Kaikoura
Leaden skies again on awakening in Nelson, and the threat of rain was always there. Very mild temperatures, though, and virtually no wind at all. The Cambria House B&B has been quite comfortable, but we’re not totally sorry to be leaving. The landlady, whilst pleasant enough, wasn’t particularly engaging and gave the impression that she…
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Sunday, 2nd December – Nelson
Thick grey cloud on rising, but very mild temperatures, dry and virtually no wind. After consultation with a very helpful staff member called Maggie, we decided to go for a “coffee cruise” around a little bit of the coastline at the edge of the nearby Abel Tasman National Park. At the last minute (almost literally)…
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Saturday, 1st December – Nelson
Meteorologically speaking, today is the first day of the New Zealand summer. Weeeeelllllll – it was mild enough, I suppose, at around 17 degrees, but it was raining quite heavily. After an excellent breakfast, the van came to pick me up for the wine tour and we set off. Jean had decided to walk into…
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Friday, 30th November – Wellington to Nelson
Bright and sunny start when we left the hotel to drive to the ferry terminal. Dropped the hire car off – registration KTQ39, so of course was Katie Q – and rather sad to see her go. Been our trusty steed for the whole of our North Island trip. Not too sorry to say goodbye…