Friday 4th March

We are safely back in UK.
The flight, although long, was fine.  We had champagne as soon as we boarded.  We were well fed:  3 course brunch, snacks throughout the flight, 4 course dinner with huge glasses of wine which was topped up, dessert wine and port to complement the cheese.  We were met by our chauffeur driven Merc and in what seemed no time at all, were delivered to Ted and Mya's.   We noted the speed and volume of traffic was somewhat different to the pace of life in NZ! 

Photos have been uploaded to yesterday's blog. 

We are rather tired; Ian was nodding off at the dinner table so it is early to bed. 

Thursday 2nd March

The last full day of our holiday!

We had to “enjoy” an early breakfast as our tour bus picked us up at 8.00am.  Our guide, Danny Boy, told us that we had two more hotel pick ups so “sit back and relax”.

When all the passengers had been picked up, we were told that the Peak Tram was not running as it was out of commission for 5 days for maintenance.  Just our luck!

We drove through the tunnel onto Hong Kong Island and our first stop was at Aberdeen, a fishing village that was nothing like Aberdeen in Scotland.  We were given the opportunity to have an entertaining voyage on a Sampan. 

The skipper spoke very limited English, with a very heavy accent and shouted at us to try to make us understand what he was saying.  He pointed out a luxury cruiser that he said belonged to Jackie Chan, who are we to disbelieve him?  He took us around houseboats, the largest floating restaurant in the world,

small fishing boats and very large fishing boats.  It was an extremely busy little harbour.

Our next stop was at a jewellery factory where we were told that we would see how the jewellery was made and be instructed in all aspects from design right through to quality control.  We did have a three minute talk from a young lady, whose accent was very heavy and difficult to understand.  She didn’t go into any details and spent most of the time talking about the Chinese horoscopes and asking what sign we were.  It was not very enthralling.  Then we were shown into the workshop where three people were sitting at work benches not doing a lot.  We weren’t very thrilled with their quality control!  Then into the show room where we were encouraged to buy!  Well, what else had we been taken there for.  Actually, we did get a drink and it was a useful bathroom stop!

Then it was on to Stanley Market, the place that everyone associates with Hong Kong.  It was a fairly bustling market but we quickly walked through it and out onto the water’s edge.  We followed the signs for a Temple and found ourselves inside a modern complex that was being built.  Oops, not quite what we were looking for.  Although some people we know do make a religion out of shopping!!  We found our way to the temple and went inside.  It was very ornate and had statues of many deities.  In front of all of the statues were bowls of fruit.  Linda couldn’t stay in it for very long as they were burning so many joss sticks that it was making her feel ill.

After walking back through the market we met up with Danny Boy at the coach.  He told us that he had had a message from the office to say that the Peak Tram was due to reopen at 1.00pm so we would be able to make a one way journey.  We drove up to the Peak and Danny pointed out many of the buildings that could be seen through the haze (according to him there is no smog in Hong Kong, only haze).

The sun had started to shine by this time although photographs were proving difficult because of the light quality.

While we were at the Peak we went out onto the famous Green Terrace where they are proud to show that they are helping the environment by collecting rain water and using solar panels!  The Green Terrace afforded us a view over Hong Kong Island both to the north and to the south. 

On Hong Kong Island we passed through areas once occupied by senior British military personnel and now owned by millionaires.

On the journey back we went through many of the areas of Kowloon that we had walked through yesterday.

Back at the hotel it was chance for a lunch stop and a much needed cup of tea.  Then it was out to sample the delights of the different markets.  The flower market was beautiful and the aromas were gorgeous.  We had never seen so many flowers and plants in one place before.  We could have bought so many, including orchids for $20 (less than £2). 

We went to the bird market which Linda found a little disturbing as there were hundreds of “wild birds” in cages, waiting to be sold.  They looked in good condition and they were singing but it felt very wrong.

We found an indoor market selling the freshest fish, well it was still alive! 

We also saw live chickens waiting to be butchered and sold.

A stroll back through the Ladies Market, which was full of  “designer” bags, very glittery ornaments and clothes, brought us back to the hotel.

We asked about getting down to the waterside and were told that there was a free courtesy coach from the hotel to take us there.  After a very quick wash and change we were down stairs for the coach. The traffic was horrendous and it took us 45 minutes to get to the waterside.  The journey took through the very bustling city centre where everything was lit up so much that it hurt our eyes.  At the waterside we experienced a spectacular light show that is put on every night.  The buildings on Hong Kong Island are lit up; some have laser lights on their roofs, and the lights change in time to the music being played on Kowloon. The light show was spectacular but very much at odds with all of the signs around the city telling us how green they were and how to save our resources!

The courtesy bus then took us back to the hotel and as the traffic had cleared the driver did the journey in 8 minutes. 

We were able to go to the hotel restaurant to indulge in the buffet meal.  We were faced with a fantastic selection of Chinese dishes, including ostrich.  Ian sampled virtually all the fish dishes on offer including some spider crab.  The waitress brought him some nutcrackers and special scissors to use and a bowl of lemon water to rinse fingers after.

Then it was back to the room to pack and try to get some sleep before the wake up call at 4.10 am!  Our flight is at 8.15am so we are booked on the limousine shuttle service out to the airport. 

You will have to view our final photos when we get back to UK

Wednesday 2nd March

We arrived safely in Hong Kong at about 5.30am local time.  Not much sleep had by either of us on the journey.

We were through immigration quickly and collected three of our four bags very quickly, but had to wait for ages for the small one with the toiletries in.

We asked at an information desk about how to get to our hotel.  A suggestion of the train followed by a bus was not what we wanted to hear as we thought that there was a shuttle bus.  Linda rummaged through her paper work to find that there were details of a shuttle bus in the original itinerary but not in the final itinerary.  Thank goodness that she had brought both copies!  It told us that we needed to go to stand B17.  We found a pillar with B17 on it and waited there for about 5 minutes until we realised that there was a notice on the other side of it!!  That shows how tired we both were.  It instructed us to go to desk B17 but we could only find desks B1 to B16!  We asked at B15 who told us where the missing desks were.  We pushed our luggage to the correct desk only to find that it was unmanned and there was a notice on it to go to B12!!! Linda was finding this very funny or was it that she was having hysterics by this time.  We went back to B12 and found that there was a very reasonable charge of $100 per person (about £8) for the shuttle bus and that we could charge it to the room.  We booked the tickets and then were sent off to another area to sit and wait.  We were approached three times by different people reassuring us that we would be moving very shortly!  Finally we were approached by a young man and told to follow him!  We did and finally got into a very luxurious shuttle bus (leather seats like arm chairs), leaving the airport at 7.15 am and arriving at the hotel at 8.00am.

We approached check in to ask if we could leave our luggage but were booked in and given a room immediately!  Service!

Up to the room and the bags were brought up for us.  We managed a quick cup of tea and then Linda had to get into bed to have about an hour’s sleep.

Feeling refreshed we both showered and set off to explore.

All of our senses were assaulted at once.  The noise was horrible, the sights were incredible, it was very hot and our noses were given whiffs of exotic food and horrible drains!  The smog spoilt many of our views of the city.

 

After walking past some traditional market areas, we passed through the jewellery area selling mainly expensive watches and bracelets.  We continued walking around the main Kowloon shopping area ( where designer shops were cheek by jowl with market stalls, Chinese food shops and fast food outlets) ending up at the harbour side. 

 

We walked along the Avenue of the Stars but only recognised the names of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.  There was also a statue of Bruce Lee.

 

We were reminded of our visits to both Canada (Whales) and Germany (Lions) when we saw the Buddy Bears that Jackie Chan had first come across in Germany in 1990 and brought the idea back to Hong Kong.

 

On the way back from the Harbour side we visited one of the city parks and admired the beautiful flowers and the birds (both wild and caged).

Linda was fascinated to watch the people, mainly men, playing a board game with counters.  We weren’t too sure what game it was.  People just sat down at the board and then waited for someone else to come along and play.

 

During the day we were approached many times asking whether Ian wanted to have shirts or suits made or whether we wanted “copy watches”; all of these offers we declined.  In contrast, many designer shops had doormen restricting access so that queues were formed up outside and shoppers were allowed in when others came out.

 

We noted that there were some very smart, modern buildings adjacent to some very scruffy ones; also that the majority of buildings were high-rise with street facing shops on the ground floor, other trading establishments on the first and second floors (with lift access from spooky passages) and residential on the remaining floors (access not apparent).

We were extremely weary when we got back from our 8 km walk around the city so after downloading the photographs we changed and went for dinner in the hotel.

We were thrilled to find that we could have broadband access to the internet in the room and there was no limit or charge on it.  We were able to look at the e mails and were thrilled to find one from Nick and Jenny Frost who we were friendly with when we were first married and lived in Hildesheim.

After writing the blog, accessing the account to publish it has proved problematical as the required toolbar is in Chinese characters!!

As you will deduce, we have succeeded in uploading it, complete with photos so we are having an early night as our sightseeing tour of Hong Kong by coach starts at 8.00am.

Tuesday 1st March

We said our farewells to Timaru after a reasonable breakfast in our Lodge.

We drove North on a very busy SH1.  Apparently SH1 is not normally so busy but a lot of the trucks are having to come to the port in Timaru as the container ships are being diverted away from Christchurch.

We waved our goodbyes to The Pacific Ocean and at Winchester we turned off SH1 onto SH72 to follow the inland scenic route to Christchurch.

We made a brief stop in Geraldine to visit the Library to check on our flights but the library service was run from Christchurch and they were experiencing difficulties with the internet.

Just North of Mayfield we stopped for a photo opportunity of the Southern Alps from the Canterbury Plain. 

 

We noticed that a lot of the streams were running very full and wondered if the water was being diverted away from Christchurch.

We stopped in the little community of Staveley for our morning coffee.  (Well as the saying goes, it would be rude not to!).  They also had hokey-pokey and liquorice ice-cream and it was a toss up which we had.  The coffee won!  The toilets weren’t in the café but in the community hall which was across the green.  Staveley was very different from the Staveley that Linda grew up in.

 

North of Staveley we made a detour into Methven to try to find the library.  Unfortunately, it was very closed when we arrived with a tape across the front of it.

We drove back on SH 77 and encountered a large herd of bullocks being moved.  The farmer was in a pick up truck and he had thee dogs with him that were keeping the cattle moving.  No notice to warn us that we were approaching the cattle and no -one working with the farmer.  As the SH 77 joined SH72 there was a large flock of sheep blocking the road.  Obviously we are in a very rural area!!

We stopped to take photos of the Rakaia Gorge where the water was a brilliant green/blue colour. 

 

Nine Morgans, participating in the Morgan Grand Tour of NZ, 2011 passed us at the look out point which allowed for another photo opportunity.  There were three cars from the UK and one from the USA!  Examples of the New Zealand car registration were MOG 8, M0G8, MOG 80, MOGMAN!  The UK registrations included TS58 MOG, PH59 MOG.  As the day progressed, we saw several more Morgans.

 

We stopped at 12.51pm on the edge of the gorge to observe the two minute silence called to remember the people killed in the earthquake.  Exactly a week since the earthquake and we would have been there at this time this week.  That was a very frightening thought.

Following SH 72 we stopped in Oxford (yes we know that we are supposed to be in New Zealand) for our final hokey-pokey ice cream in New Zealand.  We took a couple of photos, including one of Ian in the Oxford pillory outside the old wooden gaol.

 

We filled the car up with petrol in Rangioura as it was a decent price and we were not too far from Christchurch. At this point we had not seen a sign post for the airport and only had a sketchy idea of its whereabouts.  8 km from the airport we found the first sign post.

Christchurch airport is undergoing major redevelopment and it was difficult to see where we had to hand the car in.  We had seen a Budget depot on the way in so went back there to ask.  They directed us to a car park near to Departures.  When we parked up a gentleman, in uniform, came straight to us and when we said that we needed a trolley he found one straight away.  He had a look around the car and approved of the state that it was in (coated in dust from the unmetalled roads and even though there was a chip in the windscreen that had been there since day 1), so we handed over the keys.  No drama about extra payment so happy about that.

We thought that we had to check in at Domestic Departures but we were re directed to International Departures.  Our cases were checked in and they SHOULD be put onto the flight out of Auckland!

Waiting in the airport is sooooo tedious.

Monday 28th February

Where has February gone?  It doesn’t seem two minutes since we were getting ready to fly to San Francisco and tomorrow we will fly to Hong Kong on our journey home.

We had an idle morning, no alarm and no rush to get out of the motel.  Linda hung the clothes on the garden airer that she had ironed last night, to finish drying as it was such a lovely morning. We drove in towards Timaru and found a little coffee shop that served a very good breakfast.  We then walked into the centre and went to the Library to upload the blog, check on our flights and see if we had heard anything about the hire car, No news from Saga so we phoned and they have arranged for us to deliver the car to the airport before 5.30 pm tomorrow.  We walked through the shops back towards the car and as we did so it started to rain!!  We drove back to the motel and thankfully the clothes weren’t too bad as they were mostly Ian’s shirts that can’t be tumble dried! 

Had a coffee and decided to drive up the coast a short way to a headland just north of Caroline Bay.  Initially we followed a road out to the shore that ran up to the abattoir!  We quickly turned round and found another road where we could park to walk onto the cliffs and look at The Dashing Rocks (they look as though they have been tessellated). 

 

We carried on walking around the headland and watched the waves pounding onto a small outcrop of rocks.  It was like watching a fireworks display!

We called back into the lodge and ate our lunch in comfort before driving down the south of Timaru to Patiti Point.  The beach was very stony and the stones were perfect skimming stones, perfectly flat and almost perfectly round.  The beach appeared very grey but on closer inspection many were green, white, brown and all colours in between!  There was a great deal of driftwood on the beach and we had fun looking at the shapes that the wood had been sculptured into.

Having exhausted Patita Point we drove further south and visited Scarborough (yes we are in New Zealand).   This was a small cove with about half a dozen houses.  To reach the beach we had to walk across the railway line. 

We fancied an ice cream so drove back to Timaru but we could not find a shop selling soft ice cream.  Neither were there any souvenir shops so there was no opportunity for the last minute shopping that we had planned for Christchurch.  Timaru is supposed to be one of the holiday spots for New Zealanders! 

Having returned to the Lodge to start to sort out the cases we decided to eat at the same Café/Bar that we had used last night.  Ian was asked by the waitress whether he wanted his meal with or without “Fijis”; after some to-ing and fro-ing, we realised this was the NZ pronunciation for “veggies”.  We met a lovely couple from Toronto who had just arrived from Adelaide.  They were supposed to have been ringing the bells at Christchurch Cathedral but obviously that part of their trip did not happen.

Sunday 27th February

We woke to find that the cloud was very low over the mountains but before we left Ian managed to take a photo of Aoraki Mount Cook piercing through the cloud.

We had a wander around the complex before leaving to see if we could find any Keas but there weren’t any to see, despite the warning notices in our room and in the public areas of the hotel.

We drove back down the side of Lake Pukaki and as we did so, the sun started to shine.  We had some beautiful views of the mountains.

At the foot of the lake we rejoined SH8 and drove Eastwards through Mackenzie country, which is well known for the breeding of Merino sheep.  It was a vast open plain and the contrast with the Southern Alps was dramatic.

We stopped at Lake Tekapo for coffee and although the guide book wasn’t too complimentary about the town, the area around the lake side was very attractive.

There were a large number of shapes constructed by balancing stones.  We weren’t sure about the significance of these.

Across the river where it exited the lake we could see an old chapel.  We decided to investigate and found that it was a chapel dedicated to The Good Shepherd. It was a beautiful little chapel and behind the altar there were large windows that overlooked the lake and had a beautiful view of the Southern Alps.  To be able to worship there must have been a privilege as you could really give glory to God for the wonderful world that He has created.

On the foreshore there was a young couple who had just got married, they were drinking champagne and celebrating with their friends.

We drove through Fairlie and we were able to get some petrol.

At Cave we had to make a decision about following the main road into Timaru or following the “red” road to St Andrews and then up the coast to Timaru.  No real decision to make as we were being pushed to drive faster than we wanted to on the main road.  We appreciated the route as it took us through some scenic countryside where the ranges of hills were riven by striking gorges, some with limestone cliffs.

In Timaru we called at the i-site to find out where the motel was.  It was very easy to find as it was on the main road to Christchurch.

The couple who run the motel are from Romsey in Hampshire.

Linda did two loads of washing, drying one load in the tumble drier and hanging the other load out in the garden.  We tried to ring the Air NZ desk to confirm our return flights but after a long time on hold failed to reach anyone;  We will try online tomorrow.

We went to a local Café/Bar/Restaurant for our meal which had been recommended by the Motel owners.  It was a very good meal and Ian thoroughly enjoyed his Mud cake served with boysenberries. 

   

Saturday 26th February

We breakfasted in the hotel dining room.  We had waited until the coach groups had left so for almost all of our breakfast we were on our own.

We left just before 10am and drove north towards Twizel.  The valley was very wide and a totally different landscape from anything we had seen.

We stopped in Twizel which was a town built just for the workers for the construction of the hydro electric dams.  In 1985 when the dams opened, the plan was to demolish the town but many of the residents were happy there and convinced the Council to leave the town intact.

The town has nothing to recommend it to the tourist but it is slowly growing into an alpine resort that is cheaper than Mount Cook.  It is being used as a centre for some of the people who have relocated from Christchurch and the town seem to be doing things to help them to settle in.

Many of the scenes from Lord of the Rings were filmed in this area and we went to the i-hub to see a free exhibition about the film.  Unfortunately the display was being dismantled, although we saw Gandalf’s staff, Frodo’s dagger and Aragorn’s sword.

We decided to carry on to Aoraki Mount Cook and have morning coffee there. (Aoraki Mount Cook is the only place in New Zealand where it uses both the Maori and the European name, where the Maori name is given first) The scenery was stunning and as we drove along the side of Lake Pukake, the sun started to shine and we were getting fantastic views of Aoraki Mount Cook. 

We went to The Old Mountaineer’s Cafe for coffee and sat out on the balcony in hot sunshine, looking up at Aoraki Mount Cook.

After a little research Ian found out about the track up to The Tasman Glacier.  We drove 8km out to the car park on a gravel road and had our lunch.  We then walked 30min to a point overlooking Lake Tasman which is at the end of the glacier.  There were huge icebergs floating on the lake that had broken away from the glacier exactly 7 seconds after the Christchurch Earthquake.

Ian walked up a further hill to get better views of the lake and the glacier.

We retraced our steps almost to the car park before heading off on the alternative track to The Blue Pools.  When we arrived there they were not blue but a vivid green colour. Linda was still smiling at this stage.

We climbed a little further but the quality of the track degraded considerably.  Linda said that if she was meant to climb mountains she would have four legs and hooves like a goat!!  She decided that the final scree was too dangerous for her to attempt so stayed where she was while Ian scrambled to the top and came back saying that the view of the glacier was worth the effort.  Linda totally disagreed with him.

We drove to our hotel, The Hermitage, at Aoraki Mount Cook, and found that we had been given a suite of rooms, very reminiscent of our hotel stays in Canada.  We had a long balcony outside the bedroom and the lounge where we were able to sit to drink our afternoon tea and drink in the fabulous views of the mountains.

We had dinner in the Panorama Restaurant and it was superb.   After ordering our starter we were brought a small complimentary starter of Fijian Style Blue Nosed Condor (some sort of fish).  Linda had a starter of home smoked salmon, while Ian had a soft shelled crab (complete with legs and claws which he ate) on an avocado and cream base.  We both had the lamb served medium rare which was delicious.  It would have been rude not to have dessert so we indulged ourselves.  Coffee and Tea were served at the table and along with them a small tray of complimentary mini desserts.  The view from the restaurant was splendid and we watched the different light effects on Aoraki Mount Cook as the sun went down; you could not have wished for better on a film set (think of the logo for Paramount Pictures).  Far too much food was eaten before we retired to the room to write the blog and sort out the photos.

 

Friday 25th February

After another superb breakfast at the Excelsior Café we set off driving through the city.

We drove around the Octagon and navigated to Baldwin Street which is the steepest street in the world, according to The Guinness Book of Records.  We drove up the street and back down again which was quite scary as it has a gradient of 1 in 2.86.

From Baldwin Street we carried on driving North around the back of Signal Hill which afforded us good views over the sound and the Otago Peninsular where we had been the previous day.  The weather wasn’t as kind to us today as it was slightly hazy.

We drove along SH1, which was very scenic, until we came to Palmerston where we stocked up on lunchtime provisions.  According to our guide book “There’s little reason to stop long in Palmerston”.

We continued until we arrived at Shag Point where we didn’t see any penguins but we had great views of Fur Seals (almost up close and personal)

 and sea birds (and an owl!)

We drove into Moeraki village where we had a great coffee at Fleur’s Place.  This is a very characterful converted fishing shack restaurant/café which serves the freshest of fish.  They had produced their own cookery book which not only included photographs of the recipes, but also photographs of the area around Moeraki.  The celebrity chef Rick Stein had endorsed the recipes and apparently Gwyneth Paltrow had eaten there when filming in the area.  Outside on the cliff were a great number of roosting birds.

We visited the Moeraki Boulders and were amazed by the size of these perfectly spherical boulders, some of which reach 2m in diameter.  Contrary to popular myth these boulders have not fallen from the sky, not were they washed up by the sea but rather lay deep in the mudstone cliffs behind the beach.  As the sea eroded the cliffs, so these boulders appeared.

We decided to delay our lunch stop as the car park was full of coaches.  We drove north, failing to find a picnic spot so ended up eating lunch (at 3.30pm) overlooking the harbour at Oamaru.  We quickly visited the Blue Penguin reserve but as no cameras were allowed in we decided not to bother as we had seen blue penguins yesterday.  Here there was another derelict pier with hundreds of roosting sea birds. 

 Oamaru did not benefit from our patronage as they required us to pay for parking; in any case it was a little too touristy for us.

Driving out on SH1 we hit the back of a traffic jam, which seemed to be going nowhere very quickly so we attempted to navigate our way on the back roads.  This resulted in us coming back into Oamaru, so we decided to head south and then turn west onto a “red road”, which was signposted Weston.  We had to do many educated guesses as the road meandered around and didn’t have signposts, but had road names.  It turned out to be a very spectacular road beside limestone cliffs. We drove for an hour and twenty minutes without seeing another car, bliss! We made an unscheduled, but extremely interesting stop at Elephant Rocks, so called because the rocks look like a small herd of elephants, in shape and colour, making their way through a grassy bowl.

After Elephant Rocks we rejoined the main road which we had intended to use.  This took us through the unremarkable town of Duntroon and then to some rocks where there should have been Maori rock paintings.  Unfortunately, the better drawings have been removed to a museum and we weren’t able to view what was left as there had been a major rock fall.

The road then went past three lakes and three dams, which are producing hydroelectricity.  The water in the lakes was the colour of eau-de-nil and it looked as though it had a viscous quality to it.

We drove through countryside that reminded us of the Scottish glens and finally arrived at Omarama where we ate in the dining room to the motel.