Happy New Year
Where do I start? Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone.
We've had a brilliant Christmas here in New Zealand. CHristmas Day started with us getting up to find Christmas Stockings hanging up for us - so much for the 'no pressies rule'! Lots of little pressies wrapped up and in a stocking - so much thought and effort - and my first stocking for many many years - Lal - you were very naughty but so thoughtful.
Christmas Day saw 15 of us having a fanatastic feast of Turkey, Pork and all the trimmings! My thoughts that Christmas day would be so different being in hot weather didn't really amount to anything - AFTER dinner sitting in the garden was a different matter! It was certainly a Christmas to remember!
The day after boxing day we flew to Queenstown - a short 40 minute flight which was delayed waiting for 2 ficticious passengers who had got OFF the plane when it came in fromAuckland - a cock up by the Airline which delayed us 30 minutes. We were delayed another hour at Queenstown itself - this time by the Car Hire Company who thought we were picking up the car from Qeenstown itself rather than the airport!
Eventually we got the car and started our journey to Te Anau - this took us just over 2 hours and the secnery was just amazing - as was all of Queenstown in EVERY direction!
After a stop in Te Anau, we drove another 20 minutes towards Milford to Te Anau Downs and our Motel - Gumpy's Backpackers! OK - I cocked up! This complex contained a Hotel, a Motel and Grumpy's - I booked us a backpackers private double room with en suite. It sounded good and was cheap - the view was terrific, but the room was lacking even a kettle and towels. Luckily, the Hotel and Motel was ownedby the same people and I was able to upgrade to a Motel Room for a small fee and we were back in the style we were used to! As a bonus I indavertanly stole their Coffee plunger as it was the same as the one Lal lent us and I packed it when we left! She now has 2!
After a night's sleep we travelled the last coupleof hours to Milford Sound and did the obligatoryBoat trip - which was worth every penny. As a bonus we saw a small pod of dolphins on this journey.
AFter the boat trip we started on our journey back to Queenstown - a 4 hour drive - with a brief stop back at Te Anau for lunch and fuel top up. It was a lovely day and the drive extremely pleasant and easy going.
Queenstown was great - it has everything a picture postcard could ask for - Lake, Mountains and a not too touristy town with a good mix of shops and eateries. We did the Cable car wich was very high and very steep up the hill and gave us an amazing view of Queenstown and the lake - this is a MUST for every visitor and highly recommended!
When we left Queenstown bound for Franz Josef, the sun was shining an we didn't want to leave - little id we know we would rive into torrential rain which would ground all aircraft and prevent us from doing our Helicopter flight over the glaciers - The Motel wasn't too brilliant either so it man ways, Franz Josef was washout for us.
The drive back to Christchurch was great albeit it long. We did it is just over 5 hours after an early start - not ideal for New Years Eve. Again the scenery was breathtaking and we stop at Arthurs Pass for a short break.
New Year's even was at Rhi and Steve's - a great evening of drink - some amazing food - and good music - the DJ was brilliant - oh wait, that was ME most of the time! Anyway, it was back to Lal's for a nightcap of Sambucco and then to a long waited night's sleep!
That's me all caught up, so I'll sign off now. I'll try and make the next update shorter (assuming anyone is still reading at this point!)
We've had a brilliant Christmas here in New Zealand. CHristmas Day started with us getting up to find Christmas Stockings hanging up for us - so much for the 'no pressies rule'! Lots of little pressies wrapped up and in a stocking - so much thought and effort - and my first stocking for many many years - Lal - you were very naughty but so thoughtful.
Christmas Day saw 15 of us having a fanatastic feast of Turkey, Pork and all the trimmings! My thoughts that Christmas day would be so different being in hot weather didn't really amount to anything - AFTER dinner sitting in the garden was a different matter! It was certainly a Christmas to remember!
The day after boxing day we flew to Queenstown - a short 40 minute flight which was delayed waiting for 2 ficticious passengers who had got OFF the plane when it came in fromAuckland - a cock up by the Airline which delayed us 30 minutes. We were delayed another hour at Queenstown itself - this time by the Car Hire Company who thought we were picking up the car from Qeenstown itself rather than the airport!
Eventually we got the car and started our journey to Te Anau - this took us just over 2 hours and the secnery was just amazing - as was all of Queenstown in EVERY direction!
After a stop in Te Anau, we drove another 20 minutes towards Milford to Te Anau Downs and our Motel - Gumpy's Backpackers! OK - I cocked up! This complex contained a Hotel, a Motel and Grumpy's - I booked us a backpackers private double room with en suite. It sounded good and was cheap - the view was terrific, but the room was lacking even a kettle and towels. Luckily, the Hotel and Motel was ownedby the same people and I was able to upgrade to a Motel Room for a small fee and we were back in the style we were used to! As a bonus I indavertanly stole their Coffee plunger as it was the same as the one Lal lent us and I packed it when we left! She now has 2!
After a night's sleep we travelled the last coupleof hours to Milford Sound and did the obligatoryBoat trip - which was worth every penny. As a bonus we saw a small pod of dolphins on this journey.
AFter the boat trip we started on our journey back to Queenstown - a 4 hour drive - with a brief stop back at Te Anau for lunch and fuel top up. It was a lovely day and the drive extremely pleasant and easy going.
Queenstown was great - it has everything a picture postcard could ask for - Lake, Mountains and a not too touristy town with a good mix of shops and eateries. We did the Cable car wich was very high and very steep up the hill and gave us an amazing view of Queenstown and the lake - this is a MUST for every visitor and highly recommended!
When we left Queenstown bound for Franz Josef, the sun was shining an we didn't want to leave - little id we know we would rive into torrential rain which would ground all aircraft and prevent us from doing our Helicopter flight over the glaciers - The Motel wasn't too brilliant either so it man ways, Franz Josef was washout for us.
The drive back to Christchurch was great albeit it long. We did it is just over 5 hours after an early start - not ideal for New Years Eve. Again the scenery was breathtaking and we stop at Arthurs Pass for a short break.
New Year's even was at Rhi and Steve's - a great evening of drink - some amazing food - and good music - the DJ was brilliant - oh wait, that was ME most of the time! Anyway, it was back to Lal's for a nightcap of Sambucco and then to a long waited night's sleep!
That's me all caught up, so I'll sign off now. I'll try and make the next update shorter (assuming anyone is still reading at this point!)
posted by Adrian and JIll | 9:23 PM
1 Comments:
You could always drive back and return the coffee plunger?
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