Sunday, April 24, 2005
Nelson, South Island
Kia Ora,
I've just spent 30 mins on a blog to lose it, so here goes again! Thanks for e-mails, Isabel & Betty and the text from Sheila. No word if the blogs are reaching the Wades, Dickies or Canada? Glad NE Fife election going well--DCT seem to be doing OK in my absence. Hope you had a good day at Blair Castle, Sheila. No luck with a blog from mum, Ken--trust your cold is away.
On Thursday we changed our plan and went south to the Tangariro National Park which is a World Heritage site and contains the volcanoes---Tangariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu. We got fixed up at the bottom of the Bruce Road and then drove up to the terminus of it at 1630 m Pat couldn't walk to the cafe and the view from there was non-existent--mist right down. We had a good meal at the Motel and I had a Scotch steak. The next morning I cooked NZ porridge which is easier to make than ours and tastes different--it was cooler as we were at altitude--over 1000m The weather was glorious and Pat feeling better and we completed a pleasant circular walk (6 km) to the Taranaki Falls which spout 20m over a lava flow. The path wended its way through scrub and woodland.
In the afternoon we drove to the end of the Bruce Road and took 2 chairlifts up Ruapehu to 2020m--they kindly provided anoraks free of charge! From there we slowly walked up to the Skyline ridge at 2200m where we were rewarded with magnificent views of the volcanoes and even Mt Egmont appeared above the clouds--it is on the west coast! Many signs of volcanic activity as Ruapehu last erupted in 1995. The National Park is also where much of Lord of the Rings was filmed--Wall of Mead, Sauron and Gandolf country. There were patches of snow and we had our picnic on the ridge in solitary splendour!
Sam, gran asked me to take her a run in the car after the walk and she fell asleep just like you! hope you are still enjoying your food--Gran and I send our love! We missed seeing another
Sam when we visited friends of your Mum & Dad outside Auckland as he was out with his Mum and a friend. We saw his big brother, Joshua and his Dad, Rob and a friend of his. Rob is a real friendly guy and we spent an enjoyable hour with him--he was in the middle of chopping logs for the winter.
Unfortuately we only had 90 mins to visit the Te Papa Museum in Wellington but what we saw was impressive--the contents, the layout and the building I got domr photos of the 1995 eruption! You'll all be relieved that I have only taken 600+ photos so far!!!!!!!!!!! Much editing will be done
Today we crossed from North to South Island--a 3 hour crossing that took 6/7! Overnight it was wild--gales and hail. We boarded late and the sea was heaving You cross SE to NW, not N-S We had negotiated the open part of the Cook Strait and had reached the entrance to the Marlborough Sound when the captain announced they had a technical problem and didn't have enough power to negotiate the narrow entrance safely and emergency services were standing by! There was the possibility that we would return to Wellington! We went back 5 miles into the sea to get power restored and another ferry stood by. We then went a long way round and in through a wider channel with a press helicopter circling us and a lifeboat alongside! Fortuantely the sun was shining. Pat unfortunately had a miserable journey and will only visit the North or South Island separately in future!
The good news is we are safely in good accommodation --it is costing $100-120 (20-24 GBP) and we are able to provide all breakfasts and many evening meals and picnics People are most friendly. Looking forward to the South Island--already different--vineyards and very hilly to get to Nelson.
Glad to hear that Fiona has got a bed constructed for the old folk
Best wishes
Tom
I've just spent 30 mins on a blog to lose it, so here goes again! Thanks for e-mails, Isabel & Betty and the text from Sheila. No word if the blogs are reaching the Wades, Dickies or Canada? Glad NE Fife election going well--DCT seem to be doing OK in my absence. Hope you had a good day at Blair Castle, Sheila. No luck with a blog from mum, Ken--trust your cold is away.
On Thursday we changed our plan and went south to the Tangariro National Park which is a World Heritage site and contains the volcanoes---Tangariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu. We got fixed up at the bottom of the Bruce Road and then drove up to the terminus of it at 1630 m Pat couldn't walk to the cafe and the view from there was non-existent--mist right down. We had a good meal at the Motel and I had a Scotch steak. The next morning I cooked NZ porridge which is easier to make than ours and tastes different--it was cooler as we were at altitude--over 1000m The weather was glorious and Pat feeling better and we completed a pleasant circular walk (6 km) to the Taranaki Falls which spout 20m over a lava flow. The path wended its way through scrub and woodland.
In the afternoon we drove to the end of the Bruce Road and took 2 chairlifts up Ruapehu to 2020m--they kindly provided anoraks free of charge! From there we slowly walked up to the Skyline ridge at 2200m where we were rewarded with magnificent views of the volcanoes and even Mt Egmont appeared above the clouds--it is on the west coast! Many signs of volcanic activity as Ruapehu last erupted in 1995. The National Park is also where much of Lord of the Rings was filmed--Wall of Mead, Sauron and Gandolf country. There were patches of snow and we had our picnic on the ridge in solitary splendour!
Sam, gran asked me to take her a run in the car after the walk and she fell asleep just like you! hope you are still enjoying your food--Gran and I send our love! We missed seeing another
Sam when we visited friends of your Mum & Dad outside Auckland as he was out with his Mum and a friend. We saw his big brother, Joshua and his Dad, Rob and a friend of his. Rob is a real friendly guy and we spent an enjoyable hour with him--he was in the middle of chopping logs for the winter.
Unfortuately we only had 90 mins to visit the Te Papa Museum in Wellington but what we saw was impressive--the contents, the layout and the building I got domr photos of the 1995 eruption! You'll all be relieved that I have only taken 600+ photos so far!!!!!!!!!!! Much editing will be done
Today we crossed from North to South Island--a 3 hour crossing that took 6/7! Overnight it was wild--gales and hail. We boarded late and the sea was heaving You cross SE to NW, not N-S We had negotiated the open part of the Cook Strait and had reached the entrance to the Marlborough Sound when the captain announced they had a technical problem and didn't have enough power to negotiate the narrow entrance safely and emergency services were standing by! There was the possibility that we would return to Wellington! We went back 5 miles into the sea to get power restored and another ferry stood by. We then went a long way round and in through a wider channel with a press helicopter circling us and a lifeboat alongside! Fortuantely the sun was shining. Pat unfortunately had a miserable journey and will only visit the North or South Island separately in future!
The good news is we are safely in good accommodation --it is costing $100-120 (20-24 GBP) and we are able to provide all breakfasts and many evening meals and picnics People are most friendly. Looking forward to the South Island--already different--vineyards and very hilly to get to Nelson.
Glad to hear that Fiona has got a bed constructed for the old folk
Best wishes
Tom
