Amazing things closer to

 

I took this picture of the rare White Heron (the bird sacred to the Maori) and properly known as the Great White Egret. In breeding plumage it has long white streamers. It has only one breeding site and that is on the West coast, where I was last week - indeed I passed the turning for it! However, once they have finished breeding, they spread out over a wide area.

Again, a photo taken with my camera of a Yellowhammer (quite common here) on a walk down by the Maikuku estuary. It's Rosie's local beach.

A gull at New Brighton.

Cave Rock at Sumner.

Memorial at Scarborough. We had a good walk along the promenade and then of course it rained and it was like a wet t-shirt competition!

This is known as the Christmas tree in NZ as it has these lovely red blooms flowering at Christmas.

Some lovely old wooden cottages at Taylor's Mistake.

Lovely roses and some unusual plants at the Botanic Gardens at Christchurch.

Back to Christchurch on the Trans-Alpine Express

 

The Trans-Alpine Express. It was delayed by about 3/4 of an hour and so lots of folk sat about. Some lad was singing for a charity but he sang such doleful songs and we were all glad when he stopped.  There was a young American lass, not an ounce of cellulite and wearing a pair of fit where they touched woollen trousers. Whilst she looked great, there was no VPL and I said to the lady beside me, I reckon she's had her knickers sprayed on and we got a fit of the giggles.  American lady was posing for photos like she was an Influencer but I was not the least influenced!!

Some views from the train. I have just realized that I left out photos from the bus journey from Franz Josef to the train, so will add those layer. We are about to vacate our motel room. Back later.

On to Franz Joseph

 

Off-road cyclists out there may like to hear there is a fabulous hillside-hugging track being put in beside the river to Queenstown. This is a 13km stretch - the Wharehuani Trail which is set in the Whakatipo Basin. It provides a vital link between Arrowtown and Arthur's Point.  Where they reach a rocky outcrop they put a metal bridge around it so cyclists safely cycle around it.

We drove past endless lakes.

Bailey bridges over . . .

Beautiful blue rivers.

Then we reached the far West coast and the Tasman Sea again.  Our driver stopped so we could take photos.

This is a little church just before Fox Glacier village. 

A couple of the older properties in the street where my accommodation was. Tam had booked another hostel for me and it was modern, bright, clean and a short walk from somewhere to eat. That was good as I had missed two evening meals in Queenstown as I was just too exhausted to go out into town and eat. . .  I lived on Baby Bel cheeses and crackers!

View up the street market from where I had my evening meal.

Grub!  I took the batter off the fish so I had a chance of eating both pieces. It was fresh and very like cod . I had a glass of the best white wine I have probably ever had - a Sauvignon Blanc called Montana. Such busy to it. I found out it's marketed in the UK as Brancott Estate but had a small bottle of that on the train and it didn't have that same depth.

From Mount Cook to Queenstown

 I am sorry for the gap in communication, but the travelling has been a bit full on and exhausting.  Saturday saw me leaving the Mount Cook area and travelling to Queenstown. We had a chatty driver, who told us lots about NZ as we drove along by lakes and vast stoney river valleys looking at yet more mountains and foothills. The scenery is just stunning wherever we go.

This is Tussock grass. The Maori used to use it to that their huts and also made weatherproof capes with it.  We have a similar grass on high marshy land in the UK but it isn't used for anything.

These stoney wide river valleys hinted at how they would be in spate. Some bigger boulders had been incorporated in the landscape by glaciation and in some parts the hillsides reminded me of Dartmoor with it's tirs, only much steeper. Gorse was introduced here, but they are trying to eradicate it, like the colourful Lupins which are in bloom at the moment. I have never seen an acre of Lupins (near a river as they like it damper) - they are do beautiful enough masse like that, but hard to capture as you zoom past.

This is the best I can do.

The driver stopped in a small town called Cromwell, at a vast fruit farm run by the Jones family. A nod to home for me.  I bought apples and cashew nuts.  They had a truly lovely garden you could wander round. Isn't this a lovely planting with all those Pansies? I will try the same in my back bed next year.

We finally reached Queenstown, at the head of a huge lake and ringed by more mountains.  This was the view from my hotel room. I was here two nights but the Wi-fi was pretty flakey and I couldn't even get TV reception on the 2nd might.   Mine host was a miserable git and must unhelpful. My booking email had said that a Continental breakfast was available, but when I asked if it might be possible for something to be packed to take as I was out early the next two days, I was told they didn't do breakfast and I should try the hotel opposite! No good when it doesn't even open until you are getting on the coach at 6?30 a.m. for Milford Sound. We locked horns again when I had to go back up and tell him that I couldn't get the Wi-fi password to work. I was told that I was putting it in wrong . I showed him what I had typed in and it was the right password but it still didn't work. He fiddled with something and finally sorted it, but it was crap reception. Trip Advisor will be advised. There were only two sound settings on the truly ancient TV remote too - loud or silent!

So it was the view that sustained me, as by the time I arrived there each evening I was too exhausted to go in search or a restaurant.  It was a good walk out of town with a goodly hill involved so I just had cheese and biscuits. I didn't intend losing weight on holiday but I have (and need to lose more). Onwards and upwards.

Just W.O.W.

 I left the little hostel room early yesterday morning to catch the Tekapo shuttle to Mount Cook village and the Southern Alps.  

We were in the Mackenzie High Country now, surrounded by mountain views at one point, and dedicated sheep country. We stopped at several viewpoints to take photos. 

Mount Cook.

One of many rivers we crossed, with meltwater from the mountain snows discolouring it.  Apparently it's the tiny particles of Glacial 'flour' which give the lakes their amazing turquoise colouring as the refract the light in a certain way. Some of the river plains are very wide indeed and you can imagine are quite a sight when in spate, although the Mackenzie country is dry. We were told that in the winter there could be a metre of 🌨️ snow fall overnight. Wet only when that melts.

We had a couple of walks of an hour or so. This one took us to another meltwater lake, right at the foot of the mountains. I was fortunate to notice a small avalanche tumbling down and shouted Look to all the folk taking photos of each other, but they didn't seem that impressed.

Stained glass in the visitors centre. So beautiful. The other photo would only load at the bottom of the page.

A photo of a photo in the excellent Visitor Centre. I was tickled to see she had a little handbag!  The man must have been a monopede mountaineer! Talk about intrepid!

My favourite photo - it looks like a St Trinian's day out!  They must have been shamed in just thin cotton shirts.  Instructions from teacher, "stout shoes today girls" . . .

Finally, view from my hotel room.