More scenes of Taieri Gorge

Dunedin Railway Station

I'm on a roll here......this is the train station where we left from on our memorable train ride thru Taieri Gorge....again, we did not take this picture.

Milford Sound N.Z.

Needless to say....this beautiful picture WASN'T taken by either of us. To whoever took it...thank you.

Oops.....

This took quite a bit of explaining ! Someone poked themselves in the eye during the night ..... of course many people joked ????? about how involved I may or may not have been !
This picture was taken outside the Christchurch museum after we had taken the lovely Punting on the Avon tour...and the delicious morning tea afterwards at the old curator of the botanical gardens home that is now a delightful restaurant with indoor and outdoor dining. The home/restaurant was built in 1920 and is a mock Tudor two story which would have been a really lovely family home at the time. A lovely garden outside was filled with fresh produce that is picked each day. Artichokes, tomatoes, climbing string beans...lots of different lettuce varieties, lemon and lime trees etc. We ate outside at awning shaded tables....six or eight to a table....lots of beautiful coffee and many choices of tea. The view thru the produce garden was to the river and beyond into the botanical gardens which I was amazed to hear during the narration whilst punting....(love that word!!!) described the gardens as the 3rd largest in the world after Central Park and another whose name fell by the wayside when I heard the Central Park bit!
Christchurch itself demands about three days exploration, so hopefully we will be able to go back there. My roots on mother's side go way back to several towns in N.Z. including Christchurch....I talked myself into feeling as tho I already know the place.
We took a half hour tram ride around and thru this vibrant city, then picked up a bus that took us further out to a fantastic gondola which went to the top a mountain , the name of which is tucked away somewhere in the hard drive of my brain that sometimes seems to stall these days. (Must give it a defrag...if that's possible.) Anyway, needless to say the restaurant and view at the top were sensational even tho it is summer and the distant mountains weren't covered in snow and the countryside is not it's usual lush green in many parts. There are just SOOO many magnificent water views they leave you breathless.
More later.

A sleepy traveller

This darling little girl slept nearly all the way through breakfast ....cruising CAN be tiring !
A week has passed since we got back home and during this time I had a mammogram, Perry his three month checkup for his knee and we both have been trying to get over a cold that we did not need !
Played bowls at Coolum on the Sunday....again yesterday and Perry again this morning. This morning was a fund raiser for the fire victims in Victoria. Over 200 died and there are over 7000 displaced people. Our club has raised over $5000.00 which for mostly retired people of moderate means is fantastic.

Today is a national day of mourning.

For the most part we did enjoy our vacation. The positives were that New Zealand is definitely a must visit country, and we met some lovely people....had lots of laughs. Next time by plane and R.V. Negatives for us and me in particular were that I suffered with seasickness and don't do well living in close quarters with so many people. We had too many sailing days....9 of the 14. New Zealand is a lot further away than I thought ! Two days straight on the water is enough for wimpy me. Milford Sound is so much more mind blowing when you are actually THERE and that was our first "stop"....you don't actually stop....just cruise very very slowly for the day looking at the awesome scenery including snow capped mountains and waterfalls. Lucky us got the nicest weather day there in seventeen years. The Sound gets over 300 inches of rain and mist a year ! We got a beautiful cool calm day.
Lyttleton which is the port for Dunedin (Gaelic for Edinburgh) was our next stop and that was where we went ashore to spend the day doing the Taieri Gorge Railway trip. LOVED LOVED LOVED it. I think a rail journey would be really terrific....must look into that !
It was so beautiful, exhilarating...on and on and on.....It only lasted around four hours, but during that time we had a nice, and not too wordy narrative.......a champagne box lunch and a stop for the engine to be turned around and lots of time for pictures and souvenir shopping from some stalls that had been set up alongside the track with goods that are produced in the area. Hand knitted sweaters (wool and possum)....lovely white honey and the usual hand made jewellery etc...quilts also. I bought a bracelet and video.
The video is 25 minutes long and we have watched it three times already!
That's it for now...typing and watching the Johnny Walker Classic which is being played at The Vines course in Western Australia. It's getting close to the end. Good golf !

We're Back !

Punting on the Avon River ...Christchurch.
This tour was a highlight for both of us as were all the attractions of this beautiful cultured city.