31^st December 2015 – New Years Everything

Another very relaxing sleep in and lazy morning.

Nothing much to report for the days events, so I thought I would photograph some of the yummy foods we've (I've) been devouring since I've been here.

The milks and dairy – WOW, OMG, Out of this WORLD amazing! I knew people raved about NZ Dairy, but crikey – it really is amazing.

Firstly the Puhoi Custards. Lightly flavoured, but they are so thick and creamy, it is unlike any custard I've ever tried. We ate it straight out of the tub – one each! Lol (there's 10kgs right there in that little tub of deliciousness!)

The Puhoi Milk – White Chocolate and Caramel. You have to try it to believe just how good it is. You think you've had good flavoured milks before, but you've not had anything quite like this! Expensive, but once you've tried it – you will soon justify the $$.

Lewis Road Creamery is also devine - REAL chocolate milk using Whittakers Chocolate.  YUMMY!!

Coconut Milk – until Auckland I thought this stuff was pretty epic. Its not “dairy”, as it is coconut milk, so its not as creamy as cows milk, but it is smooth and delicious. I have been using it in my shakes, and bought this and the Chocolate Milk since we first arrived in NZ.

Fruit Juice – WOW – I loved this one – see how I couldn't wait to drink some before the photo was taken. Its got coconut and banana in it…. and caramel - YUMMY – all it needed was some Vodka or Malibu and you've got yourself a fancy cocktail in a bottle!

Biscuits – I am a fan of anything 'coconut', so I had to try the “Krispies” - just a little crispy think biscuit you have with coffee. And the Afgans – I've heard of these so I had to try them. Not my favourite – but they are chocolate covered in chocolate, so whats not to love?

After an afternoon of eating (....there is a theme here....) – Geri & Sophie were ready to head off to their NYE celebrations.

We had somehow convinced Graeme to take us to Kare Kare Beach where the movie “The Piano” was filmed, and forego his NYE celebrations with friends.

The drive there was quite lovely. We headed up the mountain, which is similar to the Dandenong Ranges where we live, only we don't have water views like they do up there! Spectacular! The foliage started to get thicker and more sub tropical the further we head to the west coast. Its very steep and mountainous and the roads are very windy. It was only like a 40km drive, but it took well over an hour due to the roads.

We parked at the car park and followed the stream towards the beach. We had to cross through the stream, so luckily we were wearing thongs and shorts! It wasn't too deep – came up to our knee's.

WOW – its a black sand beach and a HUGE one at that. The sand went on and on and on and on before it got to the water. The mountains surrounding this beach were steep and full of lush green vegetation.

Off to the LHS of the beach was a rock formation just where the waves were crashing. It looked like low tide turning. The rock formation looked like a pyramid from the side we were standing.

Off to the RHS where the steepest mountains were, we believe there is a large waterfall. As it was miles away and we were there to shoot the rock at sunset, we gave it a miss and told ourselves when we come back next time we'll come earlier and visit the waterfall.

The wind was coming from behind us – from inland. So an off shore breeze. Breeze...hmmm… not the right word for it – as it was blowing quite hard. It was picking up the dry loose sand from miles away and whipping it up along the beach, so by the time it got to us, it was sand blasting our ankles. It was tolerable – not pleasant, but tolerable. It seemed to come in bursts where the wind would howl and then die down for a few minutes and repeat.

We set up the cameras and decided on our compositions and started to take some shots. It was still too early for sunset and the sun was sitting quite high. Steve took this time to give Graeme some tuition in photography.

I was taking some long shutter exposures, but the wind was getting stronger and moving the camera around too much, so I had to abort that. I stupidly kept taking panorama's, which wont stitch together with the ocean moving like it was. Oh well.

The sun started to get lower and we were getting excited. We thought it could be a good sunset it the upper clouds were to light up.

Unfortunately the wind was howling by this time and it was constant. No breaks in it at all. The sand blasting of our feet was now reaching our calves, and Steve's camera & tripod were blown over in the wind – smack straight into the sand.  Thank god it was alright.  

The wind got worse, to the point where we couldn't take photos. The extreme pain we were experiencing was not fun. We were all yelling in pain as each blast came through stronger than the last one. We thought our legs were bleeding after one extreme blast from the sand.

Just as the sun hit the horizon we had to leave. We pain was too much, and the wind too strong.

We were gutted, we finally had clouds in the sky and what looked like would be a great sunset, and the bloody wind & sand was our enemy this time.

As we made our way up the beach and further away from the ocean, we turned around to see the most amazing sunset!! OMG – this is the stuff dreams are made of, and we couldn't capture it with the rock like we wanted! Howls of disbelief were heard above the howling winds!

I stopped to stare and take a video and then rattled off a few shots … what the heck. No award winning photos here, but the colour in the sky was something to behold. The colour stayed in the sky for about 30mins before disappearing into the darkness.

I would have taken the 200mm lens out, but the wind and sand was still blowing hard up here too - there was so escape, although the sand blasting of the legs had calmed down up here.

WOW! We will be back here again. Not sure when, and when we do we'll come prepared – a full body welding suit might do the trick to stop the pain of the sand blasting!! ha ha ha

Graeme drove us back home. We were all shattered. Steve and I stayed home to clean our camera gear and check our photos, whilst Graeme continued on for NYE.

Happy New Year everyone!!

30^th December, 2015

We all had a bit of a sleep in. Michael left for Wellington early, so we didn't see him leave. We had a very lazy morning, and then around 1.30pm Graeme took us for a drive up the North Shore to Puhoi Valley Dairy!! YAY

The countryside up here is so beautiful and pretty. Lots of green rolling hills, and the tree ferns have started to appear. Everything is green and lush.

Puhoi township is just gorgeous. I'd share photos of it if I could, but two men who were in the front seat they weren't stopping for anything! But, the town is a destination for motorcycle riders. The two storey pub looks so gorgeous – quite victorian with fretwork on the balcony. The Library is in a tiny little miners stone cottage with pretty flowers around the outside! You can hire kayaks and go paddling up the river. Its got cafe's and little shops. Its very nice.

Puhoi Valley Dairy was going OFF !! We had to park down the road. They have a cafe and a Cheese Cellar and of course Ice-Cream. The queue for everything was long and lengthy, but the wait was definitely worth it!

Graeme and I both had the Salted Caramel & Chai Latte Ice-Cream. Steve had…. Vanilla Bean of course, and Mint Choc Chip! YUMMY – OMG – the Caramel Ice-cream is just like the milk we tried yesterday!! OMG – and do I even dare say it….  but it might even be better ice-cream than the Patagonia! But, of course I'd need to try them together to really compare.

The Cheeses were “sleeping”, so they were behind glass, but we could see them! 

 We did some cheese taste testing – omg – to die for!

We bought some things to bring back home…. More Caramel Milk of course, some Custard – Vanilla Bean & Butterscotch Custard, and some cheeses! OMG – This'll be another 20kgs right here!! ha ha BRING IT ON BABY!

All the different cheeses that were maturing - fascinating to see.....only if the doors weren't locked!!

Graeme took us back home via the coast. We came down a big hill and the views to the ocean was so picturesque. Auckland is a much bigger city than I imagined. The Yacht Club is enormous.

We also stopped off at Aucklands cheapest supermarket for more supplies – Pack & Save. We bought more chocolate milk – this one is apparently supposed to be epic – as it uses Whittaker's Chocolate (I'll be sure to let you know when we finally drink it). We bought some “Krispies” biscuits – these are coconut - yummy with coffee....or without - I've eaten one packed already without coffee, so they are a bit of an allrounder!  lol

So we've come home to relax and unwind and eat! Lol

The day was warm and it is very heavy with cloud – no rain though.  It felt quite humid in Puhoi to down here.   The weather is supposed to get wet over the next day or two and then will fine up and get hotter.   

We'll have another quiet night tonight - we are still very tired!  But tonight we move from the inflatable mattress to Michaels room with a nice QS bed!  I am sure we'll sleep like babies and feel very refreshed in the morning.

I want to  get Steve to go for a walk down the bottom of the street to the harbour to take a few photos at sunset - but he is looking like he is settled into the couch and isn't moving!  Sunset was a fizzer anyway, so good thing we stayed in.

We ate cheeses and olives and then had a fabulous dinner thanks to Geri, and then we had the fabulous Puhoi Valley Butterscotch Custard for desert - OMFG -  it was so thick and creamy you can stand your spoon up in it!

Geri and I both agree that in the past couple of days, I have single handedly propped up the NZ Dairy Industry!!   Anyone who knows me will know I haven't really eaten for the past 6 months and have lost 25kilos......  in the past couple of days I am sure I have put on 10kgs!    I am not sure I'll fit into any of the 6 pairs of bathers I've bought for the Cook Islands!  ha ha ha   Air New Zealand might charge me excess weight charge when I get there on Sunday!  ha ha ha  Worth it though.  At least when I get back to Australia I'll think our food tastes pretty ordinary and I won't eat any of it, so hopefully I'll get to loose it again!

29^th December, 2015

Up early, - well, seeing that we went to bed at 3am, we were up at 9.30am. With a house full of guests all sleeping over and the air mattress we were on had gone down a lot overnight & had become uncomfortable, Steve was up and showered.

Another sunny warm day, but apparently this will be the last nice day for a while as the wet weather is about to set in. That makes us happy because it means CLOUDS are coming!

Steve spent the morning teaching Graeme all about photography and Geri and I talked about girly stuff. The kids woke up, suprisingly clear headed and headed off to breakfast and then the beach.

Graeme is taking us down the road to an organic Strawberry farm, where they make ice-cream on site. It is quite famous, and the queues are vast and long, but well worth it. Bring it on I say!

We sat around having a very lazy day. The sun was shining and the breeze was just beautiful. Geri & I sat out on the deck, drinking Brown Bros Pink Champagne (it was so sweet even I had some….I must buy some when I get back home!).  Sienna Rosso  The boys were still inside talking technical music stuff.

Around 3.30pm we headed off to The Strawberry Farm. WOW – so busy – so many people. We stood in line and placed our order. 3 x Strawberry Ice-creams and 1 x Ice-cream Sundae. Fantastic set up they have. They pre-portion the vanilla ice-cream on trays. 2 scoops and a tong full of frozen strawberries into this machine that churned it and blended it and out came “soft serve” in a waffle cone ($4). The Sundae was 2 scoops of Vanilla Ice-cream, Chocolate Syrup with Passionfruit syrup, with a small Chocolate Eclair & 2 fresh Strawberries ($5). There were pancakes, and smoothies. All cash. WOW – there must have been a good $1,000 going through the tills every 15mins. And the people still came! Its open from 10am – 6pm for only the Strawberry season, and I am sure thats when they make all their money. I am going to set up a business plan for Laura Nation when I get back!! :)

Graeme & Geri then took us for a short drive up to One Tree Hill to look at the monument and from there you get a 180 degree view of Auckland. Its quite an amazing hill and the views are nothing short of spectacular!

We went to the local supermarket to get supplies for dinner, and once again we went a little beserk inside. We had to try the Puhoi Valley Belgium White Chocolate & Caramel Milk. OMFG, if this isn't the best milk I've ever had in my life!! Apparently they also make ice-cream – well, I'll just have to hunt that down and give that a try too!

Gosh, I'd be really fat if I lived here! No – I don't think you understand – the dairy is out of this world amazing! How can you not treat yourself every day to a special “something”!!  I think I'd be lucky if I stayed as small as a size 28.....  maybe living in Australia is a good thing for me!  lol

I bought more Coconut Milk from the LittleIslandCompany so I can have it with my shakes in the morning! I am sure I'll get to the Cook Islands a good 10ks heavier, but eh – what an awesome experience! :) (but I do think the coconut milk is causing havoc with my face...breaking out with poly-oral dermatitis quite badly! I'd normally be quite upset, but the milk and dairy is so damn good – eh, I'll get over it!

Geri was teaching me some Mauri and pronunciation.

Kapai - Nice  (the new name of our business in Wanaka -   "Kapai Creamery" - Nice Creamery - get it??) lol

Whanau - Family  (which I am now part of!) - WH is pronounced "F"

I am sure it will be a very early night tonight…. We are all absolutely buggered! No photos were taken, no camera's were even thought about. Nice to have the day off. The clouds are starting to appear now, so we might have some luck in the coming days for some sunset shots!

The sunset was really lovely…. Of course it was! Lol  

28^th December, 2015

Even though we were going to sleep in, we were up at 6.30am and in those fabulous showers!!! We both had them to ourselves and we might have spent a few extra minutes under the fabulous water pressure! We were on a very strict time frame as today we have to get the van back to Christchurch for midday – otherwise they charge us $500.

We started to pack up our bags and I fed the chickens & the Weka for the last time to get rid of the bread. Steve then took the van over to the “dump station” - yeah, that was an experience! Lol It's great having the convenience of the toilet in the RV, but you have to remove the waste yourself! Lol Anyway – it was all good… mostly because I had nothing to do with it!! ha ha ha

We were on the road for 8.15am and I was on a mission to get back to the Lupins for more photos with the morning sun. I was hoping it to be a much earlier depature time, but we lost a lot of time at the dump station.

We stopped over the Viaduct to look back at the bridge - was quite spectacular!

The lupins looked so pretty in the late morning sun, and I was given a 10min window to get my photos. I raced down in amongst them and get up the tripod and started shooting. I couldn't see anything in the back of the LCD screen due to the sun, so I was hoping I had my settings alright! Lol Steve was done within 3 mins and was back in the van…. I was there until he was yelling at me to get back in the van. I could have done with another 3 or 4 hours there if I am honest – just to be amongst such natural beauty was intoxicating. I feel so very lucky to have experienced this. Lupins are supposed to be out in November, so to think it was late December, we were lucky.

(I am going to plant millions of lupins at home!) lol

We then headed back up Arthurs Pass and then into Christchurch. We had to have the van back for Midday, and we were there for 11.15am. We then packed everything back into our suitcases and caught the shuttle bus to the airport.

We checked in, dropped off our bags and then we boarded the NZ flight to Auckland. Bye Bye South Island…. I'll be back – soon!

No window seat this time and I had a guy who wasn't even looking out through the window next to me, but hogged it from me being able to look out. I did managed to see the snow capped volcano and we were on the other side of it heading up and it would have been the perfect photo – damn it. Nevermind. But I do want to photograph this from the ground next time we come back.

The landing was the best landing I have ever experienced – I even got to meet the Captain and I thanked him for the softest landing ever and his awesome commentary as we left the South Island! What a guy!

Graeme picked us up from Auckland Airport From the time we got our luggage and Graeme picked us up, I had already formulated a business plan to enable us to move to NZ – Wanaka and earn a living! Ha ha ha

We are staying with Graeme & Geri in their new home in South Auckland. Its their son Michael's 18^th Birthday today, so we all went out for dinner with their friends and then came back to the house and the kids “drank” because they could, and the adults talked – and drank. Next thing I knew, Steve wanted to go to bed, and it was 3am! Lol Oooh this is going to hurt in the morning!

I did suggest that we just stay up and find somewhere to photograph sunrise, but the lack of vehicle and the grumpy tired Steve didn't seem to think that was a good idea! Ha ha ha  Nitey Nite!!

27^th December, 2015

Up at 5am – the sky was light, the birds were already making their calls, and we threw on some clothes and drove to the Church. So many compositions, so which one to choose? There was another photograher already there, but he was moving around quite a lot. Then another guy turned up and a few others rocked up later.

Once again not a cloud in the sky, so the sunrise was very lack-lustre. I went off to find lupins to get in the shot, but nothing was really working. 

Steve had had enough and he decided there was no point staying here for sunset, as the day was forecast for 31 degrees and perfect blue skies again…. So we made the decision to leave, but not before pulling back into the RV carpark and we had a sleep for 3 hours!

Instead of heading into Christchurch, Steve decided to drive up through Arthurs Pass to Jacksons. This is an area full of ski fields, so it was intersting to see what the area looks like in summer. The mountains are vast and rugged, and bald. The road is windy and the two main hills have gradients of 8% and 16%.

We'd love to see this in Spring, when the snow is melting and the rivers are raging.

We stopped off an a scenic lookout and a local said to us “you are SO lucky to have such perfect weather here – it is normally shrouded in cloud”… Steve said “typical”!! ha ha – all he wants is clouds and all we get is blue skies!  Its just like Canada only the exact opposite!  lol

Just before we got to Arthurs Pass township, we came down another mountain and across a huge dry riverbed, and the lupins were becoming more evident. By the time we got to the bottom, we could see a snow capped mountain off in the distance, and in the foreground, was a field of Lupins!!

STOP THE VAN STEVE!! ha ha ha – I couldn't get out of the van quick enough! OMG the lupins were thick on the ground and in full bloom. Mostly purples, with a smattering of pinks, whites and lavenders! I was in heaven! They have a gorgeous fragrance too – so subtle, but with the heat of the afternoon, it released the pretty scent!

I took some photos – late in the afternoon sun, so not too sure how good they are, but good enough for you to get an idea!  :)

We drove until we found the Jacksons Holiday Park – which is basically in the middle of no where! Lol Nice Park! Landscaped, gorgeous gardens, and the amenities… the SHOWERS ARE AMAZING! WOW – when you are on the road, its the little things that make the world of difference. The kichen and lounge was huge and so well kept. Toni the owner is hilarious and I loved her!

She told us about the onsite waterfall and the glow worms. Poor Steve – he was hoping for an early night – NOT TONIGHT! We spent a few hours in the van and we desperately had to charge up devices and batteries etc.

The park have their own free range chickens that roam the place, so within a few minutes, I had them all sitting at our van and I was feeding htem bread. I put a bowl of water out for them too as it was quite warm, and they were all drinking, and some even settled in for a sleep! Ha ha ha – just call me the “chicken whisperer”! There was another bird called a “WEKA” - looks just like a Kiwi, only with a short stubby beak. Very cheeky bird, but the chickens dont like them and would chase the Weka's off. But I still managed to feed them too! Nelly the goat was also lovely, but was tethered and just out of my reach.

We ate quickly for dinner and headed off late to see the Waterfall. We got to the waterfall for 8.30pm – perfect time. No sunlight, and good shade. The falls would be a good 30 odd meters high – very pretty. The whole area was very pretty, and we could easily spend a good full day or two exploring the bush area and streams.  The log you see standing up on the bottom part of the falls would be the height of Steve - so quite tall overall.

Steve forgot to bring the head lamp, so I had to walk back to the van to get it. Which gave Steve a good 45mins on his own to fuss around, so by the time I got there, Steve cleared out and I had the falls to myself. Light was fading fast and it was 9.30pm at this time and it was officially sunset. 

 Steve had found another small cascade further down, and he went across the stream to get the best shot…. Not being one to miss out….I sucked it up and crossed the stream too – and I didn't even fall in!! lol

By the time we left the stream, it was dark. Headlamp went on and we went off in search of the glow-worms. We took a few wrong turns in the dark, but somehow managed to find the 2^nd stream and there they were – just like fairy lights!! WOW – so pretty.

I had to try and photograph them….. but I didn't have a macro lens, but we still tried to give it a go. After lots of frustration trying to focus in the pitch dark etc Steve had had a gut-full of trying and he was getting very cranky....and he wanted to go back to bed. We got to the van around 11.30pm and once again went straight to sleep.

26^th December, 2015

Early start – up at 5am. The birds had already started singing and first light was well underway. We quickly drove to Lake Wanaka and set up our tripods at #thatwanakatree and click, click, clicked away. Once again, not a cloud in sight – was was going to be 31 degree's and a picture perfect summers day.

We had the tree all to ourselves for a good 20 mins, then the hoards of tourists started to arrive (way too late for sunrise of course – obviously only hobby photogs!) LOL Ooh I think we are turning into photography snobs! Lol

We were back in our camp spot plugged back into power by 6.25am! Lol The caravan park was still fast sleep, so we made the most of it and had quiet showers in the great shower block. We updated blogs and facebook and worked out our itinerary for the next couple of days.

Hayfever had set in BIG time and no amount of Claratyne was working. So off to the chemist I went and DEMANDED DRUGS!!!!  I bought up half the shop – if the nasal spray, eye drops & new drugs don't work – noting will! Lol

We picked up more supplies at the Wanaka supermarket, before heading to…. Come on, you know where… PATAGONIA Chocolates – for more ice-cream!! YAY I had the same – Tramatina & Banana Split & Steve had Vanilla Bean & Hokey Pokey – yum yum yum

We ate it looking out across Lake Wanaka. There was some parasailing going on – looked great against the blue lake and sky.

So ended our very quick trip to Wanaka….what do we think? Well, we think it is the “Banff” of the South Island ...it is GORGEOUS – we both want to move here!!!! A local said the average house price is 1 million – everyone wants to live here, but no one can afford to! Lol Best we start saving our money…. I wonder how much Corian I could sell here? lol

Now we are heading to Peter's Pass for a quick photo opportunity looking at Mt Cook, and then we'll head straight to The Church of the Good Shephard at Lake Tekapo. So much to see, so little time. There's bound to be no clouds tonight at the church as its another hot fine sunny day – fingers crossed there is!!!

The road to Tekapo is long...and very straight. NZ roads are either ultra windy, or ultra straight – it is quite funny.

Best thing is…. LUPINS – everywhere are LUPINS!!! Soooooo pretty, in their dark purples, pinks, violets & whites! Just gorgeous. I made Steve pull over a few times so I could take some photos! You just can't guarantee they'll be where we'll stop tonight, so best to make the most of it whilst we see them!

As we got closer to Twizel, we saw this amazing blue lake – I mean BLUE – turquoise. So we had to stop…. Only to see only a few km's down the road it is part of the Mount Cook lake – Pukaki Lake. 

WOW – its enormous – and BLUE! We stopped to take photos of Mount Cook off in the distance. Not the most idyllic time being 1pm with the 30 degree sun blasting down on us, but eh – we're here and we are taking photos.

Steve then realised we had gone past the turnoff to Mount Cook where he wanted to look at Peter's Lookout – great “road” shot. Boy is it busy here! Coach bus's full of tourists stopping to take a quick photo of Mount Cook. The get out, grab their selfie stick...take a photo...get back in the bus and leave….then the next bus rocks up. Its like they have 10mins each and it is well timed as the car park is not very big. Throw in a heap of motorhomes and cars and its bedlam.

We decided as it was quite early, that we'd take a quick drive up to Mount Cook to take a look. The closer we got the more excited we became – this is just like Canada! 

 We stopped to take photos – we checked out Hooker Pass and where that treck was. Not today though – too many tourists and we had not done any research to do it this trip...but next trip definitely!

We headed back to Peter's Pass. We got a great spot with a view to Mount Cook from the back window. We are currently sipping Bailey's on ice out of wine glasses, watching the lake, and the madness of the tourist coaches come and go.

We have decided to stay here for sunset, to grab some funky long shutter shots of Peter's Pass (as there are no clouds, so no good sunset will be had at the Church of the Good Shephard). We will camp over the other side of the lake so we have Mount Cook off in the distance again for sunrise...and then we'll head off to Lake Tekapo late morning.

Hannes - this image is for you buddy....we thought you had been here!!  :)

Check out the view of sunset - this is out of the small happy snap camera - not half bad eh!!

So we still get to do a sunrise and a sunset of the Church, and we get these “freebies” here – YAY!!

ha ha ha – well, we stayed for sunset – it was nice, no clouds, so not perfect. I wanted to stay longer to try and get some car light trails heading up to Mt Cook…. The road went from being flat out with tourists all day to no body being around, so I didn't get the shot I wanted, (head lights & tail lights in the one image) - but eh - you get that.

We started to drive out at 10.30/11pm and we decided to just drive straight to Lake Tekapo. We pulled into the free RV park which was about 400m away from the Church and slept for a few hours.