South Island trip Nov 2007

Catriona and I drove South for a couple of weeks, staying with/at friends, family and internet bookings. While in Christchurch with Rick and Vanessa we caught the end of Christmas in the Park, here's a fireworks shot, sadly there was a tower in front of us . If you click to enlarge the image and look carefully, the wiggles in the light patterns which represent my pulse holding the camera show that my heart is in good condition.

We walked along their beach to the Brighton pier to join Kevin and Marie and their daughters Emily and Laura for lunch and the sand artist was at work below the pier as he is many fine days at low tide. He uses a stick and a rake.

When we left Christchurch we drove through the Arthurs Pass stopping at the Otira pub for a night. The pub was built in 1865 in Otira which was born in 1860 as a railway town, it is here that the gangs of engines now wait to hook onto regular trains heading East to Lyttelton to haul them up the steep gradient through the tunnel. When they reach the top, they detach and come back to wait for the next train with their engines ticking over (it is really more like tocking over as diesel engines do), below our bedroom window.

When Pike River coal comes on stream next year there will be 7 locomotives linked to haul the 45 wagons up the hill. As you can see the broom was in full flower, very pretty. The old pub gave us a nice room, one where the apple box holding up the end of the bed was freshly painted.

I went into the bar and asked for a draft beer from the owner, who happens to own all of Otira, mostly railway cottages, population 35. There were 5 labelled draft taps and she asked which did I want. I had tried the Miners' beer (a lovely beer) at Charleston where I pointed out the irony of their sign "we can be prosecuted for serving minors". I asked for that beer. She said Miners was only coming out as froth, so I asked for Monteiths. She said they needed to fit a new keg and her husband was away. I asked which beer they had and she said only DB Draft so I asked for that. Conversations such as that delight me.

Next day we caught the Punakaiki pancake rocks and blowholes just as the tide hit high, the best time. After taking this shot the following one drenched us as the water jet shot perhaps twice this height.

We moved on to a man-made lake South of Westport where I had rented the lovely solar-powered cottage overlooking and overhanging this lake, miles from any other property. One of the shots I took from the dinghy.

The booking of this cottage had caused me some amusement as the website says trout fishing from the deck all year round and having visions of dropping the line over the edge into the lake and lifting trout straight into the frypan I rang and asked were there many trout. The manager of the property said they had never seen any. I asked had guests caught any and she said no. She explained it was just advertising, but there were definitely eels.












I rowed in the dinghy along the lake until the midgies reminded me of their reputation - my arms actually bled! I raced back and into the shower.

Next day we went walking along the Cape Foulwind walkway on the clifftops. We came to a sign which read "Exposed cliffs, keep children close at all times". As there were no children around we turned back, it wasn't worth the risk! I think they help to break your fall if you get blown over the edge.

We stayed for a few days with friends in their lovely new holiday home beside the Cape Palliser lighthouse - at night you can toast marshmallows at their bedroom window, each 15 seconds. I took a picture of the sunrise and you can see the lighthouse in the distance.

Keith told the story of some youths from the Wairarapa who had come over to this remote area one night and wreaked havoc at Ngawi with vandalism and stealing cars. The police were informed but nobody was caught. The locals went on alert and some time later the same youths came over for another rampage. Someone saw the action and rang back down the only road out, and a fisherman parked his tractor on a bridge. When the youths were approached they fled in their cars only to be stopped at the bridge. They left their cars and took to the scrub.

Several burly fishermen with torches and lanterns started crashing around looking for them, talking the while (loudly) about using them for crayfish bait and that their bones would never be found in the sea. When the police eventually arrived, the kids ran from the scrub and asked to be taken into custody.

Now that is a story which gladdens my heart.

All the best, Graham

P.S. There is a Tui living in a tree off our deck and it can make a noise exactly like a mobile phone battery getting low. If it does not cease this public nuisance I will push my charger plug right up its.....! Yes, I am not discounting 'pressing chargers'.