13:03, 283623kms, 19.5°C and full on sun. Off to see Wendy and Nev for tonight and then after that we'll see. First time in ages Nev and Mike have had time off at the same time, so we thought we'd use the opportunity and catch up with them. The weather forecast is good for the next week, so we should be ok until Tuesday afternoon, when we have to be back anyway as Mike starts day shift again on Wednesday. Marielle drove from Lion's Creek (just outside Cromwell) as Mike needed to have some more sleep, having only finished night shift this morning. Had a sandwich at Lion's Creek, after doing some shopping at Cromwell New World. Got to Omarama at 15:15. Had a great night catching up with Wendy and Nev, although some of us might have drunk a wee tad too much! Marielle hit the pit at around 23:00, Mike followed 2 hours later, after having talked the ears off Wendy and then trying to convince Nev that he should join him in bed (oh, dear - what next?!? LOL).
9 January 2011
Very slow start to the day - Marielle definitely not feeling too good today (blame the shots!). Hung around at Wendy and Nev's 'til the world seemed slightly less evil, left Omarama at 15:29 and got to just below Waitangi camping reserve on the shores of Lake Aviemore at 16:53.
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| Spill at Benmore Dam |
Did stop at the Benmore Dam and do the real tourist thing and took photo's of the spill. Anyway, here is a lovely spot and beautiful weather with full sun and 25°C. Normal Aviemore southerly is starting though, so we parked Maggie so that we could enjoy the sun whilst using her as a wind break.
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| Beside Lake Aviemore |
Sat and enjoyed weather and watching the windsurfers, yachties and kite surfers - very entertaining viewing.
Had early tea (butterfly pork and fresh corn) and Marielle into bed at 21:00, Mike following about 1/2 hour later.
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| Spill at Waitaki Dam |
Marielle up at 08:22 after a fantastic sleep. 15.5°C and starting to cloud over a bit. Opened the door to let Roxie out after getting dressed and got a fright because I opened the door in time to see Roxie jumping out in front of a car! But it was ok - it was the camp supervisor coming to collect our $15 donation and he was driving slowly! Had showers and breakfast (Bacon, eggs and mushrooms on toast) and headed south.
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| Spill at Aviemore Dam |
No plan as to where we are going, but we did have to do the tourist thing again and go and see the spill at the Aviemore Dam, and the Waitaki.
So seeing as we'd got that far, decided we might as well carry on to Oamaru. Checked out Fleur's new place - the Loan and Merc - at the Oamaru waterfront, thinking we could do lunch, but we didn't fancy a ploughmans, which is all they're doing at the moment. So got Chinese instead - combination chow mein and decided we'd go and get some more go-go juice for the Maggot, some ice and some crackers to go with the cheeses we'd bought from the Whitestone Cheese factory (Windsor Blue for Marielle and Mt Kyeburn (manuka smoked cheddar) for Mike) and now (14:30) off to Trotter's Gorge - one of those places Mike's been talking about for ages.
Stopped at our usual veggie stall and got fresh peas and some more apricots - Mike had bought some apricots when we were waiting for the Chinese to be cooked and they were so delicious we ate them all - pretty much - at lunch time, so had to get some more. And then we had a very close call at a bridge on State Highway 1 just outside of Hampden - a bloody tractor had stopped on the bridge, right on a blind corner. Just as we got there, a bus coming from the opposite direction had decided to overtake the tractor - so the car in front of us, and us, had to throw out the anchors! Chilly bin, generator and fuel contained all came flying down the length of Maggie to meet us in the cab, Roxie nearly had the life squeezed out of her as she was lying, asleep, on Marielle's lap at the time - but all's well that ends well. But if we ever meet the stupid young idiot who parked the tractor in the middle of the bridge, and was running back to it as we got past (to hop into it and carry on driving!!!!!) - well, goes without saying we won't be too nice to him! Shook us up a bit so we stopped to have a fruit icecream!
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| Mike at Trotter's Gorge Caves |
Got to Trotter's Gorge at 15:30 and decided to go for a walk to check the place out before settling in.
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| Steep track! |
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| Trotter's Gorge Campsite |
It's now cloudy - cloud cleared this morning and has been beautiful all day until just after leaving Oamaru, and it was only 14.5°C when we got here. Sat inside and feasted on peas and cheeses, with the heater on, watching the place fill up. Funny and very entertaining watching people pitch tents and cook out of the back of these spaceship-type campers. Anyway, we felt quite spoiled - having our heating, gas cooker and cold beers in the comfort of our lovely Maggie! Cool spot here though - and incredibly cheap - only $6 per campsite. And dog's are ok - even though it's a DoC site! Filled up pretty quick though - it's not huge. Had the aforementioned chicken for tea, on salad and went to bed at 22:00.
11 January 2011
Up at 07:56 and it's drizzling and only 10°C! Perfect timing, I suppose, as we'd have had to go back today no matter what. So we literally had a coffee and hit the road - at 08:26. Got stuff to do in Alexandra on the way through anyway (like picking up our new 12V TEAC 15" LCD TV - colour, no less LOL! Couldn't resist it - it was such a good deal at only $299 plus $39 for the 12V adaptor), and this way we've got heaps of time. Took the Horse Range Road leaving Trotter's Gorge - as shame it was low cloud and drizzling because the rock formations give the place a very different feel and look to most other places around. Over Horse Range Summit (240m) and down into Palmerston, where we stopped for a MacGregor's pie each for breakfast.
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| Oteake Conservation Area |
10:42 - just checked out the Oteake Conservation Area - always driven by, on the way home, but as we've got time and it's only 7kms off the main road we thought "why not?". Most unusual place - in the middle of nowhere, and very much high-country landscape. But that's not what is so unusual - what's unusual is that it's DoC land and yet you are allowed to shoot, motorbike and 4WD everywhere! Home (after picking up not only the TV, but also some - now discontinued but our favourite - mushroom soup powder) at 12:10. 284159kms on the clock, which means a trip of 536kms!
