NEW ZEALAND -PART 2.........
We were surprised to see and hear the very strong Scottish influence in Invercargill (and around the whole of New Zealand, as we have since discovered), and it was great to see a variety of ‘wee’ kilts being used in school uniforms. The people around this most southerly city in the world appeared to be very friendly and helpful. We had arrived during a wet period (we seem to be making a habit of this!), but we were impressed that we were still able to take a look around the town as the pavements are mainly undercover and there are many small alley’s and shops inside arcades, to help keep dry! It was inside such an arcade (The Cambridge Place Arcade) that Phil found ‘The Tattoo Shop’! Many thanks to Dean (and for Wayne’s help too) for creating the Macswayround Logo as a work of art on Phil’s arm. We are all very pleased with the result as it is a permanent reminder of our travelling, although we are sure that we won’t need too much reminding about our adventures! Jemma and Ben spent some energy at the Chipmunk Play Zone while the master piece was being created. It must be said that Phil had already planned that he would be getting a tattoo on this trip -way back when we were still at home – and what better place than the most southerly city in the world, in a country where tattooing is a part of the traditional culture?! We were all very impressed by the Queens Park in the city, as it was so carefully planned out and maintained to utilise the huge amount of space and to include some excellent attractions for everyone to enjoy. These included an amazing set of aviaries and an animal area, tropical greenhouses, unique gardens, a cafe facility and play areas. The Southland Museum was another enjoyable attraction as it had a variety of exhibits and the children enjoyed another up-close look at the Tuatara. We watched some of a documentary about the life and times of Kiwi Burt Munro who gained many land speed records and saw replicas of some of the machines that he used. Over at E. Hayes and Sons Ltd – a sweet shop for the boys! - Phil was in his element to be able to see ‘the real bike’ that the record was broken on and some more information about it. The Splash Palace resulted in another swimming hit for Jemma and Ben! During this time we stayed at Invercargill Top Ten and would like to thank Diane and Phil for their kindness and hospitality during our extended stay! We had a technical hitch with Kiwi the camper and stayed a wee bit longer until Kiwi was exchanged for ‘Fern’ the camper – affectionately known as ‘Soggy’! At Bluff it was a strange feeling to be at the Lands -End – the most southerly mainland point in New Zealand - before the Antarctic! It has an interesting and unique sign-post that has a variety of worldwide place names and shows the distances to each of them from that point. Unfortunately, the time restraints which we do have on this trip did not allow us to be in Bluff for the annual and world renowned Bluff Oyster Festival at the end of May, although we have been assured by many that it would have been well worth the wait! We got along on our travels and at the Balclutha Motor Park, we were pleased to catch up with Steve and Eileen again (who we first met in Invercargill a few days before!) The TV room had a great selection of toys, books and games and Jemma & Ben were pleased to be able to use a huge bucket of ‘ever faithful’ Lego! Dunedin was our next stop and once again had a strong Scottish heritage link. It was originally named “New Edinburgh”. The Top Ten Camp had a lovely heated and indoor pool that we all took a dunk in! Later in the evening we went along to catch up with my cousin Hazel, who is working very hard at Otago University in the city. It was good to meet all her house mates first, and to then go for a meal with Hazel and her mate, Dave. As a chocoholic (if only a little reformed!) the Cadbury’s World in Dunedin was a bit of a dream come true! The tour gave plenty of choccy prizes for answering questions as we went along and there were even some New Zealand varieties that we were not familiar with and so we HAD to try those, just to be fair! The tour was very informative and fun-filled, with a delicious aroma along the way and a silo full of liquid chocolate pouring down right in front of us! Who could ask for more? Baldwin Street was our next port of call and we had to take the challenge of the STEEPEST Street in the world- now didn’t we?! And we received a certificate for doing so! The street looks very deceptive but is actually at a gradient of 35% (19 degrees or 1:2:86!!) That is STEEP...... and its status is recorded in the Guinness Book of Records! The length of the street is little under 350 metres long but is SO steep that for every 2.86 metres travelled horizontally, the elevation rises by 1 metre! This street obviously attracts many tourists and also has annual events taking place there, including the Cadbury World Jaffa Race – when 10,000 spherical chocolate Jaffa’s are let loose to roll down the hill! Each Jaffa is sponsored and the proceeds all go to charity. Also the Baldwin Street Gut Buster takes place and this involves running up the street and then back down again and the event attracts over 1000 competitors! We met back up with Hazel and Dave in the mid afternoon and went in search of some seals. The Sand-fly Bay had enormous sand dunes covering the coast line and Jemma and Ben loved the descent to the bottom as they raced down the dunes with Hazel! When all of us were at the bottom, Hazel and Jemma went for a quick paddle, just to show they could- but they came out just a tad chilly. We were able to jump across a small trail of water to get a little closer to a lookout hut for the seals and penguins. Unfortunately we didn’t make it that far as within the next few minutes, the weather changed dramatically. A big black cloud descended all around us and the wind picked up pace, blowing sand furiously around us. A bitterly cold chill factor added to the fun and then came the rain! Our leisurely stroll had turned into a life or death situation........as we took shelter behind a sand dune and discussed our options there was no let up in the conditions and it was clear that we needed to get back up to the top before our light started to go. As we battled our way through the wind and sand storm, Jemma and Ben thought the fun was over and we had to cross that tiny river that was now a raging torrent! Hazel and Dave did a good job at getting the children back up to Fern the camper, and getting them warm and dry again. It took longer for Phil and I to get back to Fern, as walking on soft sand is always difficult for Phil, with his damaged leg and a knee and ankle that do not bend. The enormously steep sand - dune and those severe weather conditions made the ascent all the more difficult......... Back at Fern, with everyone all warm and dry again we thought about how this experience will always be remembered and may even be funny one day?! At least we all made it back, safely, of course (just). As Phil sat and warmed up, he remembered “Ice Cold In Alex” where Sir John Mills was climbing a steep sand dune ascent and dreaming of an ice cold beer-very similar to us -although Phil was happy to settle for a wee small dram instead! On our way back to take Hazel home, Dave was sitting in the front of the camper and so Phil asked him if the road was clear at the junction – ‘Yeah – that’s cool mate!’ – Phil showed his age by being SURE that he had asked if the road was clear and not about the temperature – anyway......! The seals would have to wait awhile.......we were also out of luck with the albatross too - as Dunedin boasts the world’s only mainland breeding colony of the Northern Royal Albatross which would have been amazing to see, had the weather conditions been on our side! At Oamaru Phil took his time at a Whisky Barrel house- maybe he was trying to get locked in with the stock of barrels upstairs! There were lovely views across to the Oamaru breakwater from the upstairs rooms and when we saw lots of black and white on the rocks, we thought we were in luck with the penguins. We all raced outside and down to the end of the peer, only to discover that what we had seen were not penguins but some lovely cormorants instead!! Perhaps we’ll book in some eye tests when our trip comes to an end! Whoops! On the way to Timaru we stopped off at Moeraki and took a walk down to the infamous giant spherical boulders (Te Kaihinaki-ancient boulders). These were formed millions of years ago around lime crystals within the surrounding mudstone. Some of the boulders are up to four metres in circumference and are all strewn across the beach. The Mackenzie Basin, deep in the heart of the Mackenzie Country made a beautiful setting for our first dry day in a long time! We enjoyed visiting the ‘wee’ country towns to find out more about the adventures of James Mackenzie and to see memorials and statues. The Church of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo offered an idyllic image, set right at the edge of the lake, with the stunning snow- capped mountains as our backdrop............. We’ll leave you with that image and look forward to catching up next time -as we head for Christchurch......
Saturday, 06 June 2009 09:08:54 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)      Comments [0]  New Zealand