Category: 2014 Dec New Zealand

This was going to be a long day, beginning with 3.5 to 4 hours driving to Christchurch. It was to end with our 10:00 pm flight from Christchurch that would arrive in Brisbane at 11:00 pm to be followed by immigration processing and a drive across the city. We decided that a sleep in and 9:00 am start was in...

We scheduled our departure for 8:00 am and were on the road a few minutes after that. Majella and I had wakened and rolled over to snooze. We were finally roused by my phone alarm at 7:00 am. That left us time for showers and a relaxed breakfast before bundling bags into the car. When Majella collected keys for return...

Some members of the group had been finding car travel on winding mountain roads less than pleasant so a day in and around Queenstown with minimal driving was welcome. We woke at our regular time, around 6:00 am, but, despite having slept on the sofa bed in the lounge room, we lay in for a while longer before rising and...

Estimated driving time from Franz Josef to Queenstown was about 4.5 hours but we expected stops for photos and refreshments to extend that by an hour or two, making an early start desirable. We scheduled an 8:00 am start but woke early, had breakfast and managed to beat our mark by almost 30 minutes. We had planned to pause at...

Helen, John, Majella and I walked up the street to see the glow worms last night. It was a short walk but worth doing to see the pinpoints of light in the dark forest. That was just after sunset and we headed back with the little light that was left. This morning was to be a relaxed start. The drive...

Our plan for today was to be on the road by 8:00 am and heading for the west coast via Arthur’s Pass and thence to Hokitika with a side trip to Punakaiki, time and weather permitting. Majella and I were awake shortly after 6:00 am and it was not long before we could hear other movement around the unit. By...

Majella and I shared a studio unit with Mum who woke in the night with sore legs. That happened twice but each time I woke after Majella who was already attending to Mum. Perhaps that was fair since it was Majella as ‘tour director’ who had led our walking expedition around Christchurch yesterday. Strangely it was only this evening that...

Majella and I drove to Brisbane with Mum last night and stayed with Helen and John to avoid a very early start from Toowoomba this morning. Helen made us dinner of lamb steak and salad which we enjoyed with a glass or two of The Musician by Majella – the wine Majella likes to impress people with from time to...