Lakes Benmore & Aviemore, 17 to 20 February 2011

17 February 2011

18:20 and still beautiful!

285113kms, 12:48, 22.5°C and sunny.  Mike finished this morning so we are off into Alexandra to get diesel and a water timer.  Yeah, I know - what does a water timer have to do with Maggie?  Well, if we don't get a water timer (the old one broke) then we can't go away on Maggie otherwise we'd have no veggies when we get back!  Anyway, we're intending to go over the hill somewhere.  Filled with 55L of diesel at 285123kms.  Left Alexandra at 13:49 and stopped at the picnic spot in the Lindis Pass to change drivers so that Mike could have a sleep.  Got to Twizel at 16:00, filled up with water, had a drink at the "local" and set up beside the canal in the same spot as last week at 17:34.  Sat outside - lovely and warm (25°C when we got here, but got much warmer and it was hot in the sun) - YAY!  But signs of autumn are all around - had fog at home this morning (first of the season) that didn't clear 'til after 10am AND the trees are starting to change colour.  Not ready for it to be autumn yet - so we'll have to make the most of days like today!  Sat outside most of evening (did watch the news) until the sun went down.  Had chicken parmigiana tortellini and broccoli for tea - sounds pretty plain but it was delicious.  Bed at 21:15 for Marielle, Mike watched some more TV and came to bed later.

18 February 2011

Up at 07:30, 12.5°C and high cloud.  Threw the rods in and Marielle caught a tiddly 6" rainbow using the Gulp worms.  Oh, did I mention that the water is as dirty as we've ever seen it?  Really cloudy - could see the fish who sits by the drain outlet in the clear water from the stream, but everything else was really cloudy.  Had a lovely lazy morning - showers, breakfast (cheese on toast), lunch (home made sushi) and nana-naps (yep, BOTH of us!) and it's now 14:07 and we are going to move as it's becoming a bit too windy to be parked beside the canal - it's warm enough (24.5°C) and partly sunny, but it's too exposed to this wind here!  Dumped and got some more supplies in Twizel and had one jug at the Otematata Pub.  16:51 - set up at Wildlife Reserve, overcast but warm and sheltered.  

Set up - Take One

Well, I should correct that - I thought we were set up.  Over the last 2 and a bit years we have prided ourselves on it only taking 2 minutes to get ourselves organised once we've picked a spot - but that was BEFORE satellite!  For the first time since getting the dish, we couldn't find the satellite where we initially parked.  

Set up - Take Two

Ok, that was not helped by Marielle telling Mike to point the dish in completely (and I mean completely) the wrong direction (based on where she thought another camper's dish was pointing) but in the end it made no difference because even when Mike had gone and talked to the other people and looked where their dish was pointing he still couldn't get reception - too many trees.  So, exactly one hour after first starting, we had moved a couple of metres away from the trees and BINGO, we have reception.  Made us laugh - and let's face it - filled in an hour, didn't it?!? LOL.  Lesson for future - use compass and avoid trees!  Did all the usual stuff for the rest of the evening - including sitting outside as it remained warm-ish.  Had corn and chicken tortellini (last night's left-overs) for tea and went to bed somewhere around 22:00.

19 February 2011

Up at 08:50!!  Starting to rain and 14.5°C.  Bacon and eggs and mushrooms for breakfast and sat and puzzled (Mike on his new cellphone, Marielle the old-fashioned way: in a puzzle book :)) and then we decided, at 11:40 that at the very least we had to go and get a paper.  Had thought we might walk, but still raining so took Maggie.  13:28 - just had lunch (Mike's famous salad sandwich and mushroom soup) beside Lake Aviemore just above Waitangi!  We got the paper and decided to look if there was anywhere else we fancied camping - and it looked like the sun was shining at the far end of the lake.  It was, sort of, but it was also blowing a howling gale, and at midday it was a miserable 13°C!  So headed back towards Benmore Dam - checked out Waitangi campground by the boat harbour, but it didn't really spin our wheels.  So we got back to Wildlife Reserve at 14:45 - a long road trip to get the paper! Ha ha.  Marielle threw apples into the lake (lots of apple trees here) while Mike mucked around for 15 minutes or so trying to get a level spot with a good view AND no trees! 

While Roxie was "apple-bobbing" she got some shampoo rubbed on her back as she had tried to roll in something last night, and although it wasn't hugely offensive it wasn't that nice a smell either, so Marielle decided to get rid of it.  Then took Roxie for a walk along the track towards the Dam to dry her off.  Got back to Maggie, puzzled and read the paper and tried to keep warm - in Roxie's case by getting covered in layers of newspaper!  Had corn and sashimi (from the High Country Salmon farm - got it yesterday coming through) for tea - MMMMM

20 February 2011

Up at 07:40, 12°C and very grey and gloomy.  Heading home today, and planning to stop in Cromwell and catch up with Kirsty who's "doing lunch" there!  Had showers and breakfast (muesli) and now 10:27 and rolling.  Pulled over at the turn off to the Ahuriri Conservation area to let a slow car (doing only 90kph) get away, as we didn't quite have enough grunt to overtake him but as we were parked there we realised we might as well just keep going as it seems the road is very busy today - and there's lots of trucks, cars with trailers etc.  So looks like it's going to be a slow trip.  Actually, it wasn't too bad in the end, most people pulled over when needed.  Had left over sashimi sitting beside the Cromwell boatramp on Lake Dunstan - beautiful day now - bit breezy but 24°C and definitely too hot for jeans and socks and shoes!  Saw Kirsty and Cody for a quick catch-up and then headed home.  Got home at 13:50 - 285594kms - 481kms this trip (like I said, long way to go and get a newspaper - LOL!)

Ohau C, 10 to 12 February 2011

10 February 2011
13:08, 19°C with sun and cloudy bits (yeah, I know - it's February and we're supposed to be having 29, not 19!  But that's the story of this summer - since 18 Dec 2010 it's been wet, cold and often miserable.  The occasional good day thrown in, but nothing spectacular!) and we are off over the hill.  Odometer reads 284740kms as Marielle took Maggie into Alexandra last week to put some diesel in her, hoping we'd go away then - but no joy, as the weather was not great.  So very keen to get out for a couple of nights - have to be back Saturday afternoon as Mike starts day shift on Monday.  Got some supplies from Clyde 4 Square, and after Mike has finished checking the tyre pressures are ok (he's doing that as I am writing this) we can hit the road and keep going 'til we get to the other side.  Did stop and check out Crippletown, thinking we could stay there instead of driving all the way over the hill, but didn't spin our wheels.  Got to Ahuriri River for a stretch at 14:59, then carried on into Twizel to get some water - and decided we might as well have a drink before parking up.  Oh, and realised as we were leaving Clyde that I'd forgotten to pack the camera - so no pictures of this trip.  Not that this will be any great loss, because it's not like we haven't been here before!  And if we do happen to catch "the big one" there's always cellphones!  Anyway, parked up and all set up right beside the canal at 17:19.  Talked to a couple from Oamaru for ages - lovely couple with a beautifully home built bus called Mac's Gold.  Warm enough all afternoon to just have shorts and T-shirt on, but by no means hot.  Watched TV and had butterfly pork, corn and home-grown spuds for tea and climbed in between the sheets at 22:21.

11 February 2011

Up at 09:05!!!  OMG - what a massive sleep-in!  And, it was a really good night's sleep as well.  YAY.  Overcast and only 12.5°C, but weatherman Jim told us last night that the cloud would burn off.  And it did - eventually, but the day never got hot.  In fact, when the sun ducked behind clouds, a sweatshirt was required.  Despite that, we spent most of the day outside - Mike spent his time cutting in, polishing and waxing the 3rd side of Maggie (did the other 2 last week at home).  Pretty sure people think we're mad - parked beside a beautiful stretch of water and we're polishing and waxing!  Drew some strange looks from people boating past, anyway!  Also tried to catch fish - no luck.  Tried once again to get the big one which hangs out by the pipe - but there's a reason he's so big - he's too smart to let anyone catch him.  

Feeding the ducks!

And I know I said no photo's - but Mike took a couple of shots on his cellphone - and some video too.  So I've included that - something different!  Marielle also spent a little bit of time trying to tame the local ducks - just about eating out of her hand now, much to Roxie's disgust and confusion.  One minute she's allowed to chase them, and then she has to watch while they're being fed!  But then again, the ducks are pretty confused too - one minute she's not allowed near them, and the next she's chasing them into the water! LOL.  Had chicken and veggie stir-fry for tea and spent the evening alternately watching TV and sitting outside - it was a beautiful evening and felt, for quite a while, warmer than anytime during the day!  Bed at 22:55.

12 February 2011

Up at 08:15, after another good night's sleep.  Overcast and 13.5°C and after a couple of coffees each we went to Twizel to dump before heading home.  Slow trip through the Lindis because we had so many "brakers" in front of us - idiot tourists who speed along the straits and then throw out the anchors when they get to a corner - even one where they can see all the way round!  Anyway, stopped at the Stables for a stretch and to let Roxie have a run before going to Nichols' Garden Cafe and getting Southland Sushi (as they call their massive, and delicious, cheese rolls!) and Smoked Salmon Strudel for lunch - YUM.  At that beside the lake and then did our grocery shopping at Cromwell New World (saved us having to drive into Alexandra once we'd got home).  Got home at 13:07, 285112kms on the clock - so that makes a 372km trip.  And an enjoyable and relaxing one, at that!

The West Coast and back, 21 to 26 January 2011

21 January 2011
Mike got back from Wellington at about 11:30, and we are now off to the Coast.  13:21, 284183kms, 15.5°C and cloudy here.  The weather forecast is better for on the coast than anywhere else, and we don't have to be back until next Thursday for Mike to start work on Friday, so we are off over there to park up and stay for a couple of days.  But we'll have to see what the weather is actually like, and to see how bad the "black bitey bastards" are, which we've been told are pretty thick at the moment.  Left Alexandra at 14:27 after doing some shopping for supplies, getting diesel (68L) and filling up the gas bottle (4kgs).  Got to Boundary Creek at just on 16:30 and decided that was far enough for today.  

View from Maggie @
Boundary Creek

The place was pretty full, lots of people here already!  As Marielle went to take Roxie down to the beach for a play she called out to Mike to "please follow with my drink" at which point this woman's voice comes from the bus that was parked in our normal spot saying "it's normally the man that says that".  Never made it down to the beach as we got talking to Rob and Marie - who we had actually met in Clyde about a year ago, and then Mike met them at Alan & Gail Porter's place when he was having the Winegard G3 Satellite dish installed.  So got our chairs, and the chilly bin, and sat and talked to them until just before 20:00.  Went to Maggie and Mike took approximately 10 seconds to get signal on the satellite - that was quick. 
Wondered whether it was beginners luck - finding the right elevation and direction so quickly but hey, we'll take it!  But then Mike went over and helped Rob get his - so maybe Mike is just good at getting the thing set up real quick.  Anyway, watched the news on TVNZ7 (not limited to only TV1 now!) and had steak and salad for tea.  Now that we have got the pan sorted the steak (get it really hot first) was delicious!  Went to bed at 22:20.

22 January 2011
Up at 08:15 - although we were woken up earlier than that by the bloody smoke alarm "chirping" a couple of times and then it went quiet!  Didn't go off as such, just a couple of little chirps - can understand why we need a smoke alarm, but if it does this again might have to invest in a new one.  And no, it wasn't the battery - that's brand new.  Anyway, 9.5°C and the sun is rising, just hasn't made it here yet.  Had a coffee and decided to get an move on before everyone else also hits the road.  10:02 - stopped in Haast Township to dump rubbish - but no joy as they have "no glass" signs all over the rubbish bins, so couldn't get rid of our beer bottles.  How silly is that?  They (Westland District Council) provide a dumpstation and rubbish bins - but you can't dump your bottles - explains why there's broken bottles along the roads, I guess.  Filled up with water at the DoC centre and now 10:31 and parked up in the 2nd spot - the first one had another camper in it already. 

Is this REALLY
Haast Beach?

Absolutely stunning weather - so good that Marielle spent most of the day sitting outside - with the help of a little insect repellent but mainly the breeze, the sandflies were kept away and it was definitely warm enough to sunbathe - on Haast Beach!   Unheard of.  Anyway, read, relaxed and got sunburnt.  Walked along the beach and to our great delight - especially Marielle's - there was Hector's dolphins, 6 of them, playing just off shore.  At 16:00 it was still 21°C and gorgeous.  Collected firewood for tonight's tea and got the fire all ready to go.  And we are totally amazed - it was really busy at Boundary Creek last night, and we saw heaps of campers on the road while we were sitting at Boundary Creek, and we honestly thought we'd be shit out of luck getting a spot on Haast Beach.  Ok, our first choice spot had someone in it (but was empty when we went for a walk so we could have moved there if we wanted to, but decided we're ok where we are) but we have only seen 3 vehicles in here all day.  Thought it would be way busier than that - go figure - but we are not complaining, quite happy to have place to ourselves.  Watched the news (Mike had the dish tuned within 30 seconds of getting here this morning!) and "Coasters" (the new Al Brown programme about the NZ Coast).  Marielle broke one of the vanes of the gas outlet cover when her heel caught in it as she was shuffling round the table - bugger.  Won't stop the gas heating or anything working, but a bit of a nuisance.  20:25 - fire is going - going to have pork cops, corn and baked spuds for tea.  As we were just about to light the fire a station wagon pulled up and looked to be going to settle in for the night - so Mike went and asked them where they were going to shit - at which point they moved on. 

Probably go and park somewhere else and still not have a toilet, but at least it's not in our "backyard"!  And then ended up talking to people who rocked up in a car marked "Alexandra Storage"

(Hugh Clark, Devon & Pru Millar) for a while while we stood round the fire to keep the now very hungry sandflies away.

Oh, and at this time of the year, the sun doesn't set into the sea - it sets way round behind the hills of Jackson Bay.  So no "sun sinking into the water" photo's this trip - but then again, we've got enough of those.  Bed at 23:10.

23 January 2011

Up at 08:00 and another beautiful day with a slight off-shore breeze, no clouds and 15.5°C at the moment.  While we were having our coffee and admiring the view we saw this absolutely massive pod of dolphins - a wee way off shore, but close enough to see them all leaping and playing and feeding. 

They stretched, in a pretty much straight line, from one side to the other on the horizon!  Never, ever have we seen so many dolphins.  And at the same time, the Hector's are here too - just off the surf line.  How cool!  Left to go for a walk along the beach just on 11:00, but then thought we should go and dump and get some more supplies just in case it does get busy today and we loose our spot if we leave it too late.  All chores done and back in position at 12:07.  Went for a short walk along the beach and it was warm enough (24°C) for Mike to stand in the waves and try, unsuccessfully, not to get his shorts wet.  Spent the rest of the afternoon reading - Marielle often outside - and relaxing. 

It's been another gorgeous day and it's now 21:00 and the spuds and chicken thighs are cooking in the fire - yep, we've gone adventurous and cooked the chicken in the fire too!  Sandflies have not been too bad today, although at night fall they do get very bitey and result in shorts being swapped for jeans and socks, despite it not being cold.  Tea was delicious and we can't remember what time we went to bed, but definitely after 21:30!  Oh, watched TV again tonight!

24 January 2011

Marielle was up at 07:50, 14.5°C and decided to leave Mike to have a sleep in and took Roxie for a walk along the beach. 

Sat and watched the morning Hector's Dolphin show - a regular thing, it seems, as they've been here every day, morning and afternoon.  Awesome!  Mike cooked bacon, eggs and cheese on toast for breakfast and then we went for a massive (1.5 hour) walk along the beach to the point towards the south.  The dolphins seemed to be keeping pace with us so much that Mike remarked that we were "taking the dolphins for their walk!"  They delighted us both by 2 of them, very close in, leaping clean out of the water - like our own private dolphin show. 

We got back to Maggie at 14:15 and spent the rest of the day doing what we do best - reading, sleeping and relaxing!  Gosh, it's a tough life LOL!  Oh yes, got rid of another "shitter" (what we call those awful camper things that have no toilet facilities on board) this morning - 5 people in this one, and they arrived, and spread out like they were here to stay!  They saw the dolphins, and asked Marielle if she had too - which provided the perfect opportunity for Marielle to point out that yes, the dolphins were beautiful, just like our country and we want to keep it that way - so make sure you at least bury your waste!  So they obviously didn't like that, and moved on very quickly after that.  We are tired of people not staying in campgrounds if they have no toilets, and we are going to continue to ask them to move on.  If we don't say something we are just adding to the problem.  Anyway, just about to watch the news when another camper rocked up - this one CSC, so no worries.  Got talking and it turned out we are all from Clyde! - Neil and Christine Driver were on their way home from nearly 3 weeks round the South Island, and stopped to check out this spot for future use.  Watched TV from 18:30 onwards, had pork, fresh home-grown beans and salad for tea.  Marielle went to bed at 22:05, Mike followed after "I shouldn't be alive" had finished.

25 January 2011

Up at 07:30, 12.5°C and partly cloudy.  Can tell the weather's going to pack up later on today - the sandflies are very, VERY bitey this morning - and they have gathered in their thousands, too.  So they are telling us it's time to move - which we did at 09:15.  Went for a short detour to Hannah's Clearing to see what's happened there in the last little while - nothing much, but there is now a POP there (another gravel pit beside the road!) and there's a new house going up.  Got back to Haast and dumped everything, bought a pie for breakfast and left there at 10:44.  12:34 - have had lunch (chop chop chook sandwiches) at Boundary Creek.   Norwester really blowing here, and you can see that it's raining in the hills, so decided against staying here.  Uhmed and aahed about what we were going to do - neither of us really want to go home yet, but if the weather's going to poop itself then maybe we should.  Thought about driving over the hill to Aviemore, but seems a long way to go, especially if the weather's no good there too.  So we'll go and check out Albertown and see what that's like, and then make a decision.  Checked out Dublin Bay on the way - another one fo those roads we've always driven past and seeing as we have time thought we should check out.  Turns out that there's a lovely recreation reserve right on the lakeshore there - but no camping!  

Beside the Hawea River at
Albertown

14:00 - all set up at Albertown Camp Ground - but not where we always thought we would park. 

Mike pulled into the driveway on the opposite side of the road to where the main campground is - and when we were reading the sign, at the very bottom, is an arrow with "camping" written beside it.  Neither of us knew there was anything here, let alone camping.  So off we go, tiki tour around a bit and find the perfect possie.  What a wonderful little spot this is - well, not so little as the camping area is huge.  We are parked right beside the Hawea River, away from other people and roads (so no need to continuously keep an eye on Roxie - which she's loving 'cause she can go and explore!) and just gorgeous.  Not only that, we are tucked in completely out of the wind - can see it's blowing by the trees across the river, but we are completely sheltered.  It's overcast, but not cold - 21°C, and there's no bitey things here either - YAY!  Decided to go and check out the Hawea River Swing Bridge at 14:35 and carried on up the track a bit. 

And a bit further, and a bit further - in typical Mike fashion these days it became a "well, we're here now so we might as well carry on and have a look", and we ended up walking, and walking, and walking!  Saw another track that looked like it would take us back, round in a circle, but after walking for ages and seemingly going further and further away from where we need to be we finally decided to climb a ridge and have a look - and sure enough, we were WAY past where we should be. 

So we followed the ridge back round, to meet up with the track we originally started on.  Another "quick" walk that turned into a 1.45 hour marathon!  Phew - even Roxie was exhausted after this one!  Got back at 16:10 and sat and read until beer o'clock - and then Mike decided he had to go and check out the rest of the camp - well, just along from us, anyway, and he arrived back with

2 rubber duckies!  They had a fundraising duck race on the Hawea River last weekend, and these guys obviously got caught up - so we now have (temporarily, I hope) 2 rubber duckies, a Bart (found last year at Aviemore) and Russ sitting in the windscreen - becoming a bit of a gypsy wagon!  Watched the news and Coro Street and had stir fry (chicken, veggies and honey soy sauce) for tea.  Marielle hit the pit at 22:10, Mike at 22:30.  Oh, and we are totally amazed and pleased with the Winegard Sat dish - we did have some small concerns as you hear stories about them being difficult to tune, etc etc, but Mike has got it nailed within 30 seconds everytime, and it's not at all difficult.

26 January 2011

Up at 08:20 (which seems like a sleep in but not really as Mike was up and down all night - he just couldn't sleep!), cloudy and 17°C.   Went into Wanaka and bought some more draftstop (for the bottom of the flyscreen door, to stop bugs coming in) and also went to Puzzling World - haven't been there for years.  Great - you pay $9 per person to go into the Illusion Rooms - which is good fun, until someone points out to you that you have just spent $9 to make yourself feel sick!   Still worth it though, but have to admit, the wonky room does bad things to your mind!  And then back into Wanaka because Mike had said that we were going to do lunch "at that seafood place".  Well, what a find that turned out to be - The Reef, it's called, and we had the most fabulous seafood platter for two. Mussels, salmon, salt & pepper calamari, scallops, salad and chips - delicious.  At $58 it might seem a bit expensive, but we were absolutely chokka after eating it all (and we did not eat any tea that night, still full from lunch!) so we thought it was extremely good value.  Will definitely go back there and have it again.  And with that we decided to head home - the weather is getting darker and cooler, so we might as well.  Got home at 13:45, 284720 kms - which is a 537kms trip.  (And PS - it started to rain just after we got home, and it pelted down for the rest of the afternoon, clearing up at around 5pm-ish.)

Omarama, Waitangi and Trotter's Gorge, 8 to 11 January 2011

8 January 2011

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.  

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. 

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.

10 January 2011

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. 

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! 

 

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.  

Steep track!

Walked to the Caves (didn't even know they have them here) and then carried on - up, and up, and up.  Finally convinced Mike to turn around when we were pretty much at the top - it had been a serious climb, and we had no water, no extra clothes or even any decent footwear on, so carrying on seemed even more foolish than what we'd already done :). 

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.  

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!