The Traveling Kiwi

Well we are finally back in Seattle for a while. We left Fort Collins in the snow taking the road less traveled to Steamboat Springs. In fact it was so less traveled we didn’t see another car heading the same direction as us for over 130 miles. The road followed a river of ice along a gorge the over two 10,000ft passes, ice and packed snow slowed us down so we could enjoy the scenery and the wildlife. We encountered a herd of big horned sheep  in the middle of the road, licking the salt, they moved only far enough for us to pass and immediately went back to licking the salty ice. Our second wildlife encounter was an eight legged moose also snacking on the salty ice.  We reached Steamboat Springs safely , surprisingly quiet with very few people shopping or skiing this was the prefect time to visit. No skiing for us but we take the gondola up Mt Werner for a lovely view. Traveling on to Seattle the road was clear but patches of dense fog slowed us down and we finally arrived yesterday morning. Looks like we will be here for now looking for work and celebrating the season with friends.

Posted in Uncategorized

Posted in Uncategorized

I have always been fascinated with the Moeraki Boulders, strange spherical boulders found only on this one part of the coast outside Oamaru. The boulders have been exposed through  the erosion of the cliffs and are obviously some sort of natural phenomena, although theories abound as to their other worldly origin. They have an almost soccer ball hexagonal pattern and a gold color inside. They beach was crowded with tourists so it was difficult to get some good shots without people in them so we stopped again on our way back from Dunedin and took some more photos with the tide in and the darkened sky. You may note that the same boulder that has an unknown figure bursting from it in a later photo has a wave crashing over it.

Posted in Uncategorized

With a couple of days of predicted rain and cooler temperatures for Christchurch we decided to head south and see if we could find some sunshine. A journey I had not taken for over 25 years, it bought back many memories and was surprisingly unchanged. We stopped for lunch in Oamaru, a place that in the past had only ever been a town we drove though on our way to Dunedin. This time we spotted a steam train and left the main road, we quickly found ourselves in a delightful Victorian town, almost a twilight zone moment as we wandered the streets seeing only people dressed in victorian costume. If is wasn’t for the cars we would have stepped back in time. The blond stone buildings showcased the local stone, as we walked into town the same stone was used for the banks and other imposing facades. Just out of town we saw a sign for a penguin colony but we were too early for a tour so we kept driving towards our next stop along the coast. The train sign is the one used for all the railway crossings, Joe decided that Thomas the Tank Engine must have come from New Zealand.

Posted in Uncategorized

I love Birdlings Flat, its a bleak stoney beach on the east coast of the South Island just below Banks Peninsula. The tide brings stones from all over the world and you can find agate, petrified wood, jasper, chalcedony, rhodantite, garnets and all sorts of serpentine and unidentified yet fascinating rocks that have been tumbled by the ocean into smooth shapes. I went to this beach many times as a child to hunt for agates at the tides edge and eat savaloys(weird red kiwi sausages) toasted on a bonfire in one of the caves when the weather got too wild. The continental shelf is very short here and the waves crash hard on the beach with a rip that can grab you by the ankles and  drag you out in minutes, or at least thats what we were told and we believed it. As each wave receedes you can hear the rumble and rattle of the stones grinding on each other and if you look closely you can see stones leaping about in the sea foam.

This trip was with two cars full of family and the nicest sunniest day of the year. We wandered the beach filling our pockets with special stones and then lay in the sun while the nieces and nephews built a driftwood and seaweed monument to the occasion. Absolutely delightful time and the only reason we left and continued on to Akaroa was lack of food and the siren call of Akaroa fish and chips.

Posted in Uncategorized

My brother Ian has started a truffle enterprise near Waipara in North Canterbury and we spent the day out checking on his progress. The soil is prepared and in the next few weeks the trees will go in. The location is just spectacular, tucked in a small valley with awesome views out to the coast. You can see in the photos he has installed the water tanks at the top of the field and the cultivated part of the valley is where he will plant the oak trees when he gets his vacation later in November. Joe and Ian spent the next day staking the field for the irrigation and putting in the warratas for the fence which needed upgrading to keep out the sheep and rabbits while the trees are young. Its a farsighted enterprise with the first crop of truffles not due for 5 – 8 years. We finished the day in a world class restaurant in Amberly. I was surprised to find such fine dining in what used to be just a small farming town. 5 stars for my pate and Ians steak sandwich was superb as was Joes pumpkin soup. The road sign did leave us all rather puzzled as it was located a good 1/2 mile from the point any merging was going to take place.

Posted in Uncategorized

I know I know, I haven’t posted for ages – I have been internet challenged. They have a strange system of allocating only so many GB of capacity per month and we arrived in NZ just as they had run out for the month. We are now free to surf and upload to our hearts content – well for another 5 GB anyway so you will get all my last two weeks worth in one lot.

Flying in to Christchurch from Melbourne we crossed over the West Coast and the Southern Alps on a brilliantly sunny day. Its wonderful watching the mountain change to rolling hills and on to the tidy patchwork of the Canterbury  plains.

Its spring time in Christchurch and the weather is typical spring weather, cool, cloudy, suddenly hot and then wet and cold. The blossom is out and the azalea’s and rhododendrons have put  on a lovely display. We wandered the gardens at Ilam ( my old university) and although it was overcast and cool the colors were spectacular.

Posted in Uncategorized

We went to Geelong for the day with Mark and Jane and the girls, about 30 miles from Melbourne, Geelong is a beach community with a great view of Melbourne on a sunny day (this was not the day). Unfortunately it was still cool and overcast so there were few people on the beach and none in the water  In fact the few that were about looked pretty stiff to me. We walked the promenade and played Boules on the beach and managed to have a great day out regardless of the weather.

Posted in Uncategorized

The weather has been cool, overcast and windy most days and not the best light for photos, we have headed into the city a couple of times on the train and just wandered around. Since it is the school holidays its been crowded and busy, but maybe its like that all the time. We read in the paper Melbourne is adding 1700 people a week which translates into a huge population increase over time.

Posted in Uncategorized

Mark and Joe decided it would be fun to spend the two coldest windiest days of the year dropping in a new transmission, tourque converter, oh yes, and adding a couple of wheels to Marks old car. When they had finished, somehow a few nuts and bolts remained, they reassured me that it was to reduce weight and if the wheels didn’t fall off I would be fine. They then informed me that for insurance reasons I would be driving. It was with more than some trepidation I got behind the wheel and started to familiarize myself again with driving on the right side of the road in crazy traffic.

Posted in Uncategorized