Last post from New Zealand

This is our last post from New Zealand. Actually we are posting from South America so a bit behind. PC´s etc more difficult to find in South America. First pics here are from Auckland, NZ´s largest city. Known as the city of sails Auckland is built on a spit of land between the Pacific Ocean and Tasman sea so is full of bays and harbours.

Good way to see the city is from one of the many ferries that connect various suburbs with downtown. Here is a view of downtown with a large cruise ship in dock.

Another great view is from above - the Auckland tower is the highest structure in the Southern Hemisphere.
As you can see the views over the city are pretty amazing.

Another look at the city from the water.

WARNING: VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED
The following pictures contain a number of steamy scenes.

I don´t normally agree to be photographed in steamy scenes but here you go. Rotorua on the North Island is one of the most active volcanic zones in the world. Everywhere in this area steam and hot mud pools and geysers are gushing from the earth.

When ya gotta go, ya gotta go.

Geyser in the park at Rotorua.

It was of course the feast day of our patron saint recently. The americans dye the Chicago river green. But in NZ, they have lakes that are green, all the time!!

This is not trick photography, the colour is caused by sulphur coming out of the volcanic vents in the lake bed.

Large outdoor sauna - Rotorua.

OK, here we go again. Here are more steamy pics:

Anyway, before we finish the NZ Blog it would be remiss not to mention that famous game in 1978. Actually they are still pretty pissed about it down here: This is the sort of reaction the word "Munster" usually gets.

Wait until we knock them out of the world cup!!!!
That´s it from down under.
Now we are off to learn the Tango.

D&L

Marlborough wine region & Wellington

This is NZ's glorious capital - Wellington, nothing to do with the boots.


The city is built around a nice harbour. Its also known as Windy Wellie and the night we stopped over there was a gale blowing. But as you can see from the pictures the afternoon was not too bad!
One of the must do touristy sights involves taking this cable car to the summit of a hill that gives nice views over the city from the botanical gardens.
I really need to buy a new shirt !
An important stop was the town of Blenheim which is the centre of the Marlborough wine district. Great Sauvignon Blanc. We did a tour of 7 wineries - was really good. In fact it seemed to get better as the day went on.

As Lorraine can vouch, if you are a serious wine buff it is important when on these tours to actually sit down and have a chat with some of the wine makers.

So, here are some nice views of the vineyards. Its pretty quiet out there. But Blenheim itself rocks(NOT). Yes we are being ironic here. We don´t want to be mean here like one of those guide books but we are sorry, Blenheim deserves a kick in the **s. The second night in Blenheim we ventured out of the hotel at 8PM. Every restaurant was either closed or closing - at 8.30 we managed to scrounge a bite in a small place. We were the last customers for the night.

Oh, and in case you were wondering - it was Saturday night!
Great wine though!

That's all for now. Party on.

How to make ice cubes

First, take one large glacier. Here´s one we prepared earlier.
This is the Franz Josef glacier on the West coast of NZ South Island. To get here you drive through wild country in the centre of the island, through the Haast pass. This is so remote that there are no radio stations picked up on the car radio for 3 hours of the drive.

We brought some tourists along and put them in the picture to give you an idea of the scale of the glacier.
The river of ice makes its way down the mountain and meltwater flows from underneath. Every so often a large chunk breaks off - this can be the size of a bus so can be quite dangerous to get to near. Also, not very practical as you need a huge G&T glass .. but anyway, moving on...


As the meltwater flows out from under the base of the glacier some of these huge ice cubes make there way to the bar (I mean down the valley). Ok, where did I put that bottle of Gordons. L: "Can I have a slice of lemon in mine please ?"

D: For god's sake !!
The things D does to keep his woman happy!
Tune in again soon for more great recipes.

Important Note: just for those who may not be aware, you can click on each image to see a full size version.

NZ Queenstown & Milford Sound

Milford Sound is in Fjordland at the bottom of the south island. Driving down here takes 5 hours from Queenstown which most people use as a base. This is really remote country. There is only one road in and out and this is often closed.

The only way to really appreciate the grandeur of the fjord is to get out on a boat. We were really luck with the weather - it rains almost every day in the sound. Fjordland is one of the wettest places on the planet and it rained heavily as we arrived. The result is literally hundreds of waterfalls as the rain spills off the almost vertical mountain slopes and cliff faces. We sailed in the afternoon, spent the night out on the water and sailed back into the sound from the Tasman sea the following morning. Below are some of the images we took along the way.

8AM in he morning on the deck. It does not look cold but believe me it was real brass monkey stuff out there.

There were actually two boats that sailed out together and anchored in the same area. This is a shot of the other boat and it gives some idea of the scale of the place.

Every morning should of course start with a quick shower. This is a shower the South Island way!

Some of the hundreds of waterfalls along the sides of the fjord. Plenty of places to take that shower.

Sister ship of the Milford Mariner, the Milford Wanderer.

Lor having disembarked from the Milford Mariner.

Apart from the fjords themselves the whole area is full of stunning lakes and mountains. We have chosen to take many of the shots in black and white as this shows the shadows and contrast more effectively.

Queenstown is a great base for hiking and outdoor activities in general. The town sits on a lake surrounded by mountains. We climbed Ben Lomond ( sounds Scottish doesn't it!?). Ay 5250 Ft ( compared to Carrantuohil 3414) it took a bit of sweat and tears but was worth it for the view.

D on the summit of Ben Lomond.

D with some young one he met on the summit. From Limerick would you believe!!

Just for variety - some more mountains.

Aeriel view of Queenstown in the evening light taken on the way down.

Thats all for today - We´re knackered.

New Zealand South Island - Mt Cook

This is our first New Zealand Blog. Christchurch was interesting but the really good part of the South Island is the wild country and isolation. There is just so much eye popping scenery literally everywhere you turn. Here are a selection of images from our trip to Mt Cook, at 13,700 ft, NZ's highest peak ( Carrantouhill in Co Kerry is 3414 ft).

Mt Cook is snow covered all year round, and has glaciers on each side. This first shot is Lor on the Tasman glacier which sort of resembles the surface of the moon (well we haven't been there yet actually but you get the picture).

D in front of Mt Sefton. The glaciers on Sefton visible in the background look amazing in the evening light.

D in front of Mt Sefton (again!). Different T-shirt though for added excitement.

Rumour has it the moon landings in 1969 were faked and filmed here on the Tasman glacier. I can well believe this. Here is our mode of transport - an 8 wheel argo. In case you are wondering where all the ice is its under all of that grey stony surface. However if you look in the background over our shoulders you can see where the current above ground ice flow terminates on the upper valley.

The little bearded guy turned out to be a gifted mountaineer.

And so did Lor. Here she is getting over her fear of heights by standing on a large rock.

Mmm, what could this be - yes you guessed right. Its a glacier.

And this ??!!

This is the melt water lake at the end of the Tasman glacier. Look closely. See the white things floating in the water? They are actually icebergs !

No really. Look below.

See??

Ok, another day another glacier.

Well hell I'm just glaciered out. Would you like ICE in that G&T?

Here is a shot of the surrounding area - as you can see its pretty wild ( in the outdoory kinda sense)

Here is a picture of some interesting twigs.

And for a bit of variety a lake (in front of a glacier).
Ok, you probably had enough. We will leave you with one more picture of the summit of Mt Cook. Check here again soon for more riveting reports from the BIG TRIP.