Happy New Year!! May it be better than 2010, for lots of reasons (JD, Christchurch earthquake and the Pike River Mining disaster, to name the major things!). Anyway, been a while since we've been away in our Maggie - still finishing fence, Christmas visitors etc. etc. But now about 14:30, 283426kms on the clock, 23.5°C and sunny-ish and we are off to Queenstown. And we are on a mission - Mike is in the wee car (his Mum's old car) and Roxie and Marielle in the maggot, as we are delivering the wee car to Cody, who is now living in Queenstown and is having a few issues getting to and from work. He currently has to catch 3 buses to and from, and because the buses don't run early enough, he's actually getting to work too late. So, we are giving him one more helping hand to actually make something of his life, and have given him the wee car. Right thing to do? Time will tell. Anyway, pretty slow trip through to Queenstown, as the wee car decided it's gearbox wasn't going to cooperate and decided not to change up from 2nd all the way from Cromwell to Queenstown. Fortunately it wasn't busy on that particular stretch of the journey (unlike Clyde to Cromwell, which was very busy), so we didn't cause any delays. Dropped the car off at Cody's, saw Kirsty and got to 12 Mile delta about 17:15 - sorry, times pretty inaccurate - seem to keep forgetting to look at the clock! We had actually thought it might be a bit of a fight to find a spot here, given that it's at the height of the holiday season and so we were very, very surprised to find hardly anyone here! Maybe it's because the redevelopment isn't quite finished, but there is certainly plenty of room. The camp looks a bit of a mess at the moment, because a large part of the area is just bulldozed flat, but with time, once the trees etc. grow we think it'll be ok.
Anyway, we walked all around the camp checking out the changes, beers in hand! Decided that next time we come here we'll bring the truck and boat too - the boat ramp is now pretty cool but still need at 4WD to launch a boat. Seeing as this is only an hour from home and a lovely spot we thought "Why not?". Sat outside until it got just a wee bit cooler (although not cold, so we must just be too used the heat, because the wee bit cooler was actually 19.5°C!). Lovely evening and we really enjoyed being away in Maggie again, and just relaxing. You can try and relax as much as you want, but nothing is quite as relaxing as relaxing on Maggie! Had tea of garlic prawns on a bed of mashed spud and kumara - YUM! - (was meant to be last night's tea, but we ended up going across the park to Blair and Anita's to celebrate New Year's and never quite got round to tea!). Bed at around 22:30.
2 January 2011
Marielle up at 08:20 - YAY, a sleep in! Mike awake, but kept dozing for a while - oh, I said it last night, but the joys of relaxing on Maggie! Was quite windy during the night, and the forecast for today is rain, but there's no sign of that at the moment and it's not cold as it's 17°C. Had breakfast (precooked sausages and eggs on toast) and now 22.5°C, 11am and we are off for to take Roxie down to the creek to cool down.
Had a sandwich for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon reading, puzzling and nana-napping! No sign of the forecast rain yet, but it is getting darker and muggy - currently (at 13:45) 23°C. And the rain arrived at 16:30 - just a little to start with, but steady from the moment it started. Played cards and sat and watched the free comedy show put on for us by other campers. By this stage things had cooled down considerably (about 15°C) and it was really raining. So you'd think if you were looking for a place to spend the night, you'd rock up to somewhere like 12 Mile, find a spot quick smart and park up. Oh no - people arrived, tore round and round the place trying out this spot and that (a bit like a dog going round and round one way, then the other, trying to make a bed!) - and quite a few of them left again. Obviously they have no idea that 12 Mile Delta is the last stop before Glenorchy, and the only freedom camping area anywhere round Queenstown! And they also obviously have no idea that when it's raining, with cloud down to ground level - who cares where you are parked, as long as it's dry and level? Anyway, provided several amusing moments for us, during the rest of the evening! Had chicken and freshly picked home grown beans for tea and hit the pit at 22:30 (yep, that's 2 "late" nights (for maggie-time, anyway) in a row!). Still raining when we went to bed, quite heavily.
3 January 2011
°C so we'll probably have a coffee or tow and then head on home. Mike's got work tomorrow anyway, so we'd have had to go home regardless of the weather.
It did stop raining after we'd had a coffee, so we decided to go and check the creek - what was just on ankle deep yesterday when we waded across it coming back from our walk is now a raging torrent that would easily be well above thigh level! Yep, it rained alright. 09:05 - we're off. 09:05:01 - nope, we are not going anywhere - dead truck battery! Bugger. No sooner have we got one lot of power sorted (namely the house batteries) and then we have another battery problem. We will have to get our sound sorted so that it runs off the house batteries (have had the radio going pretty much all the time we've been here, and that runs off the truck) because getting the house batteries out to jump start the truck is no fun - especially not now that we have 2 in the small compartment that houses the house-batteries - it's a bit of a mission to get them back in again. Anyway, pulled out the smaller house battery, but that didn't have enough oomph left in it, so out comes the big battery - 40kgs of it! - and that did the trick. Ok, handy that we have got our own backup starting batteries, but not ideal, 'cause they could have been too low to start the truck. So we are really going to have to sort this out - ideally, have a radio that runs off the house batteries, and a solar panel - that would be ideal. Oh, yes, and a jump start pack! One day. Anyway, finally rolling at 09:30. Then stopped and said hi to Kirsty, drove past Cody's place but his curtains still closed so carried on. Filled up with diesel (and didn't record how many litres or the odometer reading - how slack!) and had BK for breakfast before leaving Queenstown at 10:47. And then the driving fun really started! Who's mad idea was it to go somewhere at this time of the year, and at this time of the day!?!?!?!? Can see why people get so frustrated with campervans - had a couple in front of us who seriously held everyone up. But then, we had to hit the brakes because some dickhead decided he just HAS to beat us (a camper!) even though we're zipping along at 100kph. Do people not get that it's the rental vans you have to watch out for - the privately owned ones, like ours, handle just like a car and can happily travel at over 100kph (wind and hills aside)? So pulling out in front of us and making us brake makes us mad!! Especially when we've just stopped at Freeway Orchard to get a fruit icecream and the people behind the counter are more interested in talking to each other about looking after cats than they are in serving you - so we left empty handed and frustrated! Anyway, got home at 11:55, 283623kms. Oh, and the rivers everywhere are up and very, very dirty - especially the Shotover/Kawarau. Have to say though - despite the minor frustrations getting home - it has been just wonderful to get away again. Fence be buggered - not leaving it that long again between trips!
