Methven, 19 to 21 April 2011

19 April 2011
288847kms, 6°C with a bit of sun and a bit of cloud around, 10:10 am and off on a sad trip to attend Scott Broad's (Wendy and Nev Sellwood's 21 year old son) funeral in Methven which is to be held tomorrow.  288872kms - at Cromwell for 22.35L of diesel and a pie!  Snow in places (not on the road) through the Lindis Pass, and only 4°C - nothing unusual about that, except that it's not even May yet!!!!! 
Bought sashimi for lunch at High Country Salmon and ate most of it at Lake Wardell (just past Twizel - lovely picnic area).  Checked out the road to Paterson's Ponds (along the canal by Tekapo) but because it's the canal with the leak in it, the road is closed.  We're not sure if you can get there or not - we didn't want to carry on any further because you go through a gate with a padlock on it - which means you could get locked in.  But found a "new" power station which we'd never seen - Tekapo A.
Got to Staveley at 15:20 and caught up with Wendy & Nev and then drove on to go and stay at Taylor's Stream.  But it's a complete bog (apparently it's been raining heaps for days now, and it's obvious here!) so not an option - we wouldn't get out in the morning!  Checked out 2 low-cost parking areas mentioned in the Travel Directory - one was yuck (in a yard beside a barn - no thanks!) and the other had a "cab-opener" bit of metal across their driveway - obviously don't like mobile homes that are too high.  So only one option left at this stage - book into the camp ground and hope they'll take Roxie! 

View from Maggie at Abisko

Not keen to park on the grass - too wet!

Abisko turned out to be a lovely place (and cheap too, only $27 for the night - that's with NZMCA discount!), no problems about Roxie as long as she didn't chase the cats.  So on a lead the whole time - we did go and buy a piece of line and 2 clips so that it's easy to clip her on and off a tie-line, as opposed to what we've always done in the past which is get out a massive length of laundry line and tie knots in it!  Had a couple of drinks at the Blue Pub and had a boil-in-the-bag Thai Chicken curry (with extra chicken added) for tea - not bad either!  Watched TV and went to bed sometime after 22:00.

20 April 2011
Up at 07:15 - foggy and 8°C.  Had a coffee and by the time we'd had that, it had started to drizzle.  Still, took Roxie for a walk and all got thoroughly soaked - more so that if it had just been rain, we reckon.  Dried Roxie off and Mike cooked breakfast (bacon, eggs and mushies) while Marielle had a shower, who then did the dishes while Mike had a shower.  Now 10:09 and off to the service.  11:45 - on our way.  The service was very, very sad, but still beautiful, if such a thing can ever be said about the funeral service for someone so young. 
Filled up with 53L (289289kms) in Ashburton, after deciding to come home this way so we could make use of the cheaper prices at the truckstop.  Doesn't really make any difference time wise, we don't think.  It's still grey, drizzly and cold - only 9°C.  Had fish and chips in Geraldine, from the fish and chip shop that Mike has raved about since they stopped there last year on their jet-boating trip.  Well, something's changed since last time, because it was just crap.  We had chips which were undercooked, fish that was dry but greasy as hell, gooey, undercooked dough on the scallops and a crab stick that was ok.  Definitely not as good as Mike remembered!  The weather is starting to clear though, and at 14:38 we popped over Burke's Pass and sure enough - blue skies and glorious on the other side.  Not a cloud, sunny and getting warmer all the time.  YAY - we really needed some sun after what has been a gloomy trip up to now.  
15:20 - at Lake Wardell, where we initially stopped for a stretch but then realised that we don't actually HAVE to be home tonight - as long as we are home for Mike to start work at midday tomorrow, it doesn't matter, so we decided to stay.  It's 14°C and just so nice, peaceful, pretty and relaxing that it would be a shame to carry on.  It's only 2 hours to home from here, so we'll have plenty of time in the morning.  Had a lovely rest of the afternoon playing outside in the sun with Roxie (who just goes mad over autumn leaves - this is the only time she barks likes this (thankfully!)!)

and then watched TV, ate left-over sashimi and a tin of four bean mix with cherry tomatoes, bits of cucumber, radish and pepper mixed in - and it was delicious!  Bed at 09:55 (and at this stage it's looking like a frost - only 2.5°C!).

21 April 2011
Up at 07:20 - had a coffee, did the dishes and rolling by 07:56.  Oh, it got warmer during the night: 4.5°C when we got up, probably due to the light cloud cover.  But it's obviously been a cold night - got down to minus 2°C as we were driving through the Lindis Pass - brrrr!  Stopped in Cromwell to do some grocery shopping and home at 10:25 - 289653kms (806kms for this trip).

Queenstown for a service, 15 to 17 April 2011

15 April 2011

Gorgeous spot, right in
the middle of town!

288643kms, 13.5°C and light drizzle, 11:41.  Off to Queenstown to have Maggie serviced, and then stay the night, probably at 12 Mile Delta.  Since the last blog Maggie has been used, but not recorded - Marielle went to Blenheim to see Dad & Anne (pretty hard to blog when you're driving).  Mike stayed behind to work, and while he was "home alone" he also decided to start renovating the bathroom which explains why we haven't been away lately, despite it being good weather - we've been stuck at home redecorating the bathroom - and the bedroom!  Anyway, the weather forecast for this weekend is poop - but we have to have her serviced, and we really could do with a break away.  Got to Queenstown in time to park at the end of the Esplanade and walk back to say hi to Kirsty, get lunch from Noodle Canteen and then take Maggie to Hansens. 

We didn't use it - but
what an awesome
kitchen block!

Sat on Maggie and ate lunch (absolutely delicious garlic prawn noodles and combination seafood!) while Gary started the service.  Then walked into town to see if one of the camping grounds in Queenstown itself would have us (and Roxie) and found Creeksyde Top 10. 
We had decided it would be cool, for a change, to stay in town and have a "city fix!"  So walked all the way into town to tell Kirsty and then all the way back out to Hansens again!  By the time we got back, Maggie was serviced, and we were over all the walking.  And so was Roxie - who was completely bowled over by all the attention she kept getting from people, and all the noise and commotion of walking through a city!  Anyway, parked up at Creeksyde by 16:30 (after putting 59L of diesel in Maggie at 288732kms), and what an awesome camp it is. 
OK, horrendously expensive ($43 for the 2 of us for the night - and that was with our Top 10 discount!) but then again, we are right in the middle of town.  But the camp is very cool, and the view from our back window is like we are parked in the bush.  Had a cool night out, came back at about 23:30 and had left over lunch for tea and hit the pit.

16 April 2011
Up at 07:50 - good nights' sleep.  The weather is surprising us somewhat - it's beautiful.  Bit nippy, but blue skies and sun around.  Forecast still not good though, and it looks like Queenstown Lakes is going to have the best weather - had thought about going over the hill to Piano Flat or somewhere, but think we'll stay round here instead.  Went and said hi to Kirsty (who was only just up) at 10:00, and then drove out to 12 Mile.  Spent the rest of the day doing our "normal" stuff: walking Roxie, reading, sleeping, x-stitching and relaxing!  After the last few weeks where it seems all we have done is work, it was very enjoyable and needed!  Also watched the V8 Supercars from Hamilton - the joys of freeview!  Had Kaikorai Valley Takeaways (combination chow mein) for tea - left over from Thursday when we drove down to Dunedin to check out another dog (who was cute, but too disobedient for our liking so we left him behind!).  Bed at around 22:00.

17 April 2011
Up at 05:00 (Mike, who was wide awake and couldn't sleep anymore (too much sleeping yesterday!), 08:00 (Marielle, who did get back to sleep after waking up at 05:00 too) and 09:00 (Mike, who did come back to bed and fell asleep again!).  8.5°C, cloudy, occasional rain.  Decided we would go home as they are forecasting the weather to turn very cold, with snow down to 400 meters, this afternoon.  09:55 - moving.  Oh, and we have a good heater in the cab after all - thanks Gary!  Turns out, the filter for the air intake for the cab heater was so dirty that it was pretty much completely blocked.  Looks like no-one has ever checked it, let alone replace it.  Anyway, we take it all back, what we said about Mercedes not knowing how to build proper heaters - it now blows air like a hurricane! (Well, not quite, but in comparison to the way it was before!).  Stopped and said hi to Kirsty and had McDonalds for lunch (which was very disappointing even though we had the Angus burger - still tasted like cardboard and not as good as we remembered!).  Home at 12:15, 288847kms.

Ohau C (Yep, Again!) 12 to 14 March 2011

12 March 2011

Off over the hill (11:56, 18°C, 286521 kms) - had thought to go to the East Coast somewhere as the weather looks better there than anywhere, but there's been a massive 8.9 earthquake off the coast of Japan which caused a mega tsunami there, and there are tsunami warnings out for us - and we are not keen on those!  The world, it seems, is changing - and it's actually getting a bit frightening, because it seems to be happening a lot, all at once.  Anyway, we are once again thanking our lucky stars and going away for a break!  Ken & Sharon Roberts borrowed Maggie for a couple of days last week to see for themselves what campervanning is all about and they did 627kms - hence the odometer reading difference from our last trip!  

13:12 - just had lunch at Lions Creek beside Lake Dunstan - yummy seafood salad and coleslaw.  Beautiful weather - puffy clouds along the ranges with full on sun overhead - very picturesque!  15:48 - spent the last couple of hours visiting Wendy & Nev in Omarama.  16:21 - at spot right on canal below Ohau C powerstation.  Sat outside 'til newstime, watched TV, had steak, corn and coleslaw for tea and went to bed early at 21:30 - both tired!

13 March 2011

Up at 08:20 - overcast but it looks like it is going to burn off (meant to be gorgeous today.  13°C and put worm in straight away.  15:30 - No fish, but lovely weather and have spent day doing the usual - relaxing!  Mike read paper and slept, Marielle sat outside cross-stitching (got the bug again after finishing a project I started 6 years ago, so bought another one and thoroughly enjoying it again!) and watching Roxie - who is becoming, in some aspects, more like JD all the time. 

She's got his routine going of going from one bush to next, checking for (and sometimes catching!) skinks - and once she's got to the last one she starts at the beginning again - just like JD used to do!  Anyway, we are off to dump because the toilet is a little too full to last the night and early morning. 

18:50: set up on the true left bank below the salmon farm - we decided it was time to try somewhere different!  Did our stuff in town, also had our usual - a drink at the Top Pub. 

Really lovely spot here - get view of Mt Cook, no cars on this side, so very peaceful and no worries for Roxie.  It's also much, much warmer here than "down below".   Even though it was lovely weather sun wise, there was a cold southerly blowing all day - and it's not here and it's 21°C - as opposed to only 17°C where we were today! 

Mike threw the worms in - but again, no luck, despite seeing numerous fish rising.  Beautiful sunset on Mt Cook!

14 March 2011

Off home today - didn't write down odometer but got home around 11am. 

12 Mile Delta with Miss Torque, 25 to 28 February 2011

25 February 2011

285632kms, 15:32, 13.5°C.  Off to 12 Mile Delta for the weekend.  Mike has the truck and the boat (Miss Torque) and Roxie and I are in Maggie.  We need the truck over there to launch the boat as the boat ramp is loose gravel!  And we rang Kirsty and Cody last night to confirm that we were coming (as always, it was weather dependant) and Kirsty will join us tomorrow - not sure about Cody as he said he might have a job for a few days. 

Got to 12 Mile, after bad delays with road works just after Frankton and again all the way along The Esplanade, at 17:04. 

Mike arrived just after us and suggested that, instead of our normal spot, we move round to the supposed "picnic" areas as these were sheltered.  All set up at 17:23 - pretty much in front of where we used to park right on the lakeshore, only now it's all been redeveloped.  We are nice and sheltered from the stiff breeze, anyway.  Sat outside for a while - only 15.5°C so not too hot, which was a good thing in a way because it meant you could have clothes on to protect you from the very, very itchy sandflies!  Once it got too cool we moved inside and watched TV and talked. 

It's been a very bad and tragic week in NZ - the 6.3 aftershock caused so much death and devastation that it's left all of us reeling with shock and sadness.  So it is good (and yes, we realise that we are extremely lucky!) that we can hop on Maggie and go and sit somewhere nice and relax.  We have always known that we are fortunate in having Maggie, and events of the last week have only reinforced that feeling.  Had pork and corn for tea and went to bed much later than normal - 23:17 (too much talking!).

Miss Torque tied up at Bob's Cove

26 February 2011
Up at 8:07 and only 8.5°C!  It was quite windy when we arrived last night, and it seems to have died down overnight, but there are still whitecaps on the lake, so we're hoping that the wind will die down even further so we can go boating.  Kirsty will be joining us today and staying the night (Cody can't make it due to work commitments).  Kirsty arrived and we have a yummy bbq brunch - sausages, eggs, lambchops, bacon and muffins!  Launched the boat after that and cruised around the lake.  Wind completely gone and it was beautiful, if still somewhat nippy at the start! 

Just above
Mt Nicholas Station

Stopped in at Bob's Cove and checked out the limeworks (never made it quite this far on our walk in January!).  Beautiful weather - cruised over to the other side of the lake and played on the "beach" (read: stones!) for quite a while, skipping stones. 

Kirsty's fish

On way back (via the bay of Walter's Peak) we trawled - and each of us caught a fish - all nice ones.  Kirsty was most excited at catching her one - she has finally realised how exciting it is to catch a fish!  All put back so we can try and catch them again another day.  Got back to shore about 14:30 and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather - with plenty of insect repellent on! 

Neil (Camp Mother) joined us for a drink later on (we've asked him every time we've seen him - he's a nice guy with a permanent smile, very helpful and always laughing) just as Mike and Kirsty were playing a dare game of jump across from one pole to the other!  Had salad and bbq steak for tea and crawled into bed at 22:20.  Great day!

27 February 2011

Up at 08:50!  Low cloud around, but it appears to be lifting and the sun is coming out and it's 10.5°C.  Some had a good night's sleep (Mike and Kirsty), other's not so - too many snorers (Mike, Kirsty and Roxie) and farters (Benny) on board - ha ha ha!  Oh, well!  Would probably all have been asleep longer if it wasn't for Benny demanding to be let out.  Had bbq breakfast again - same as yesterday.  We bought way too much food as we had thought Cody might come and join us regardless - but we're not complaining 'cause we're eating well!  Out in boat again - a bit cooler and much breezier than yesterday but still good.  Marielle caught a chocolate fish - foul hooked at that, but it jumped off just before she was about to release it.  Stayed close to home as we only have 1/2 a tank of fuel left on the boat and Lake Wakatipu is too big and nasty to take any chances.  Kirsty left at about 13:30 - no more fish being caught so we thought we might as well call the fishing quits.  Mike and I sat and read the paper, had naps etc.  the usual relaxing afternoon on the Maggot, you could say! 

Which was good, as we heard that Cody had been done DIC and pranged Granny's car.  We are not at all impressed, very disappointed and angry - but we also decided it wasn't going to ruin our otherwise perfect weekend!  Watched TV and had bbq steak (yep, again - it's all thawed out so we might as well eat it!) on toast for tea and once again seemed to alternate between watching TV and talking until we went to bed at 22:48 - another late-ish night (well, for us on Maggie, anyway!).

28 February 2011

Up at 08:20, 13° Remarkables Park.  Bought some hopefully decent walking sandals for Marielle who is tired of going for a walk and the terrain being such that jandals just don't cut the mustard!  Had lunch at Thaitanium; our usual pinto which was delicious (Marielle had the beef black bean one and Mike the roast duck).  Home at 13:25 - 285828kms (196kms for this trip).  Good trip - and next time we won't have to take the truck unless we want to, as Neil offered us his 4WD to launch the boat if we just want to bring Maggie across!  Thought that was super friendly of him!

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!)