Sailing on the Soren Larsen

Just before 10am on a warm Auckland morning a few days before Christmas, and a motley gang – crew is probably too kind a word at this point – gather on the wharf next to the Søren Larsen. There’s excitement in the air as everyone introduces themselves, instantly forgets everyone’s names again, and tries to work out if the ship’s captain is the likely young fellow in a crisp white shirt or the bearded chap in overalls next to him. Prompt at 10 Katy the purser comes ashore, welcomes us, and ushers us all on board for a Christmas holiday unlike any other.

The voyage crew for this December cruise in the Hauraki Gulf was made up of an assortment of people who have relocated – temporarily and permanently – to New Zealand from overseas and some Brits, Aussies and a Dutchman on holiday. Some of us fancied escaping a usual Christmas; others were a long way from home and family. Sailing experience ranged from yachting and voyages on other tall ships to, well, nothing. But on Søren we were all pretty much novices.

The morning sped by in a whirl of smoko, tour of the ship, safety briefings and lunch. We discovered the captain, Nick, was the overall-clad gentleman, Tatyana the cook was a very good cook, and we tried to take in everything our watch leaders told us. By the time the mooring lines were cast off our heads were full of nautical information and none of it really made much sense.

The wind was not really with us, but with the engine on we set some headsails and staysails and motor-sailed towards Waiheke Island, getting used to life on board. There was a little tacking to get past Rangitoto and its neighbour Motutapu, but by 1800 we were anchored and enjoying lemon fish and a few beers as the sun set, getting to know each other.

Nick warned everyone that Søren talks to her crew, and during the first night we discovered she’s rather a chatty ship. Nobody slept particularly well and there were a few bleary eyes in the morning. Just to wake us up, there was an “up and over” session for those feeling brave, interrupted by a brief, fierce rainstorm. Once everyone had made it to the fighting top and back down safely, the starboard watch went aft and the port watch forward and under the control of Nick and second mate Gareth we “sailed off the hook”, using headsails and the mainsail to execute a turn and head out into the gulf.

The day developed into one of fine sailing. With most of the sails set we hurried along nicely in the force 4 breeze, getting up to seven and occasionally eight knots. It wasn’t exactly sunny, but it was good fun, and only a few of the crew felt seasick. Nick set our course towards Little Barrier Island. We all took turns at steering the ship, at doing the safety round – how many little wire things showing in the bilge? How do you work out the wind direction? Has everyone remembered to close the little blue valve in the heads? – and at lunchtime we tried to eat soup on a slant.

After lunch the watches changed, although the quiet afternoon I planned with my Patrick O’Brien book didn’t exactly happen as there ended up being enough sail handling to involve extra hands. It wasn’t really quiet reading weather, anyway, so it was hardly the end of the world. We tacked a couple of times and headed back across the gulf to Kawau Island, north of Auckland off the Whangaparoa Peninsula. It didn’t seem as though we were within a very short distance of New Zealand’s biggest city as we anchored, again all under sail, in Burgess Bay.

Christmas Eve dawned bright, warm, sunny and almost wind-free. A good day for going ashore, according to Nick, who took us round the corner to Mansion House Bay. We spotted a little blue penguin swimming around as we came in; the crew kept talking confusingly about peacocks. But once we landed (and after I’d managed to toss a lifejacket in the water – sorry, Laura) there was a large white peacock sheltering from the sun. Out came the cameras, and we chased the peacock around for a while.

Kawau had several options for the would-be explorer. The mansion after which the bay’s named is a sort of museum, and there are plenty of walking tracks in the bush surrounding the park. Four of us decided to check the mansion out first. There was nobody at the desk, but the sign outside did say the house was open from 10am during the holidays. We left money and started going through. Halfway round the house the caretaker lady appeared on the stairs and told us it was actually closed – although she didn’t mind us seeing the little there is left. There was a lovely view of the ship from the balcony, and we coveted the grand four-poster beds in the main bedrooms.

After leaving the closed house, with the caretaker busy hovering, we set off on a walk through the bush. On the way we spotted a weka and some wood pigeons, and met some of the other voyage crew at the lookout over the old copper mine – together with some friendly yachties, who obligingly played photographer for us.

Back down at the house we indulged in proper flushing loos and ice-cream before the boat arrived (Gareth giving Gemma driving lessons) to pick us up. There was a spot of water balloon throwing from the ship, but very few missiles actually hit us.

Most of the crew spent the afternoon on board, sunbathing, reading and swimming. I decided to try a swim to the shore and back, and succeeded despite having problems with hair in the mouth, keeping a lookout for ferries, and the odd wave. Back on board there was smoko, and the crew rigged a rope swing from the course yard – attempted by quite a few of us, led by Doug.

Tatyana and Karson, aided by crew and voyage crew, spent most of the glorious afternoon tied to the galley making our Christmas dinner. It had been decided to do Christmas a day early due to the weather forecast – a sensible decision, as it turned out – so we sat down to fizzy wine, crackers, turkey and all the trimmings, and three Christmassy puddings. There were mince pies for the Brits, pumpkin pie for the Americans, and a Russian cake from Tatyana. Afterwards we returned on deck, replete in a seasonal fashion.

Christmas Day, true to forecast, turned out to be somewhat less sunny than its eve. We dawdled over a good breakfast. Some of the permanent crew were given a quick lesson in how to use the dinghy as a tug, and the rest of us had fun lobbing water balloons at them. Some hit. Some didn’t. However the bucket of water chucked over the dinghy definitely met its target.

Boat in, we raised anchor – once more under sail – and set out into the Hauraki Gulf once more. The wind direction was such that we were bound once again for Waiheke Island to the south. It was a little more sedate than earlier in the week, but that meant we could set more sail and soon the topgallant was flying too above all – cueing a spell on the bowsprit with my camera. Despite the efforts made the previous day, the galley did us proud again and we ate smoked salmon at morning smoko, and turkey soup for lunch. Later on there were dolphins, briefly.

By mid-afternoon we had anchored and stowed sail. It was grey and raining, but the mood aboard was good. When deckhand Ruth suggested a swim – after testing the water temperature and pronouncing it to be 20 degrees – there was a pretty good take up (although fewer went for the skinny dip option than originally proposed). The water was almost certainly not 20 degrees, we discovered on leaping in, but nevertheless fun was had and it wasn’t that cold, not really.

Dinner, for some of us, was bookended by a boisterous game of “Articulate” during which Katy and I discovered we were quite good at describing things without naming whatever we were describing, and cards. For how can there be Christmas without some sort of game?

Boxing Day 2007 should forever be known as Tacking Day in Søren Larsen history. The winds were not favourable, so we kept the square sails stowed and set headsails, staysails and the main as well as what Nick drily called the “die-sail”. Thanks to engineer Winch for keeping it going all day – definitely made life easier as we tacked. And tacked. And tacked again. By the fifth or sixth tack port watch were getting pretty good at shifting the main sail and staysails before moving to the braces and bracing round the square sail yards. By lunch, we were able to tack the whole ship while starboard watch tried to save their salad from blowing away.

The afternoon continued in similar fashion, except we moved forward to the single jib and faced increasingly strong wind and waves. Everyone got fairly soaked from the spray and it was a relief when we finally anchored. Nobody was particularly keen to go ashore, but there were several takers to help harbour-stow the square sails – rolling each sail up so it was neat on the yard. It took a while, but it was worth the effort.

Dinner was a fancy-dress party. Several of the guys seemed far too comfortable in slinky, glittery dresses, and Super Pumpkin and Coca-Cola Rescue Man faced a few fearsome pirates. It wasn’t exactly warm on deck though, so we retreated below for Nick’s farewell muster and the presentation of our lovely voyage certificates. After that, time for more games. The boys won Pictionary, but the girls triumphed at Articulate.

In the morning, a swift motor into harbour, and the voyage crew finally dragged themselves away from Søren after a last smoko. Five days had flown by in the company of some fantastic people – a truly memorable Christmas.

Pictures at Flickr.

Earthquake!

So I was sitting on the sofa about 9pm yesterday, surfing with the television on, and we had an earthquake. Just a little one, or so I thought - the Christmas tree shook, the sofa shook, it was a bit scary and I froze (d'oh - next time I'm standing under a doorway like you're supposed to).

This morning it's emerged that what we felt here in Wellington was actually a 6.8 quake in Gisborne (six hours' drive away). Wow. Poor old Gisborne got it badly, with buildings damaged but no serious injuries. Luckily it was deep - apparently it was stronger than the 1987 Edgecumbe quake which I think killed people.

But I'd rather not go through that again. It was more scary than I thought it would be.

Pictures!

I went out and took some pohutukawa shots this afternoon - they came out okay despite the wind that kept blowing around branches and me and my camera! It really was incredibly windy, and incredibly warm.

There's still quite a few pohutukawas to come out yet - three gigantic trees on the waterfront side of Te Papa, and a big one across the street from my flat for starters. But as I'm going away I'm not sure I'll get to see them, so I thought it worthwhile making the most of a sunny day.














I also got some shots of the wire trees outside Te Papa, which are brilliant (the trees, not the photos, though I am quite pleased with them too).







More pics on Flickr.

In other news: one week of work to go and then I'm off sailing on the Soren Larsen in the Hauraki Gulf for Christmas. And am seeing friends for New Year's Eve, and then going kayaking in Abel Tasman with a friend from home. So it might not be the most relaxing Christmas break, but it should be fun.

All good things come in threes ...

11) Wellington's people are nice. Everyone's very friendly and easy-going in a Kiwi way. Makes the city a good place to live.

12) The railway station has awesome acoustics. We sang carols to commuters yesterday evening, and it was very nice.

13) The pohutukawas are all coming out across town. I'd heard about them - the NZ Christmas tree, all red blooms - but hadn't seen any until now. But all of a sudden they're everywhere, and they're stunning. I will get my camera out for them at the weekend.

In less good things: I don't know if they've changed the stuff they put in the swimming pools, but the past two times I've been swimming I've ended up with a really bad stuffed-up nose. After yesterday evening I spent half the night awake blowing it. Very unpleasant, and it's given me a headache. Boo.

More good things

I'm feeling a bit tired tonight after too many mornings in a row getting up early - as we have to unload boats tomorrow morning this won't improve. But anyway, thinking of nice things will help.

7) There's a wonderful little sushi place in the Left Bank Mall off Cuba Street. California Sushi - they do lots of different sorts, but I like the salmon, teriyaki salmon and tuna best. Run by a small, terribly efficient, friendly Japanese lady.

8) The Embassy. Fantastic cinema. Big screen and even the cheap seats are comfortable.

9) Rowing on a calm day on the harbour. When it's windy it's nasty, but when it's not - like today - it's superb.

10) On similar lines, seeing mountains and sea every day. Makes a lovely change from London.

#5 in things I like ...

5) There are some really great new sculptures outside Te Papa - made of wire, and each like a plant or a tree. They are extraordinary. I will try and take pictures at some point.

In other news: this story is just extraordinary!

More things I like ...

4) The Deluxe Café next to the Embassy. Quirky atmosphere, awesome iced coffee.
5) Penguins!! There was a cute little blue penguin paddling about in the harbour this morning as we were rowing. Don't get penguins on the Tideway.

Long-expected update

I do keep meaning to update this thing. But keep forgetting, or not getting around to it.

So, in reverse order, stuff what I have been doing recently:

- Went to a pole fitness class tonight with some of the girls from rowing. Not quite pole dancing, and quite tough on the upper arms. I'm going to be bruised tomorrow. We had a lot of fun, though; it's a tricky thing to master, flinging yourself around a pole. Suitably the class was on Vivian Street, which is Wellington's red light district (insofar as there are a couple of "gentlemen's clubs" up there). We're thinking of going again.

- Spent the weekend in wonderful Wanganui at a regatta. It was good racing generally, but we didn't do brilliantly. Lots of work to be done. I felt very at home though racing on a tidal river. We were all set for a big night on Saturday but we were all knackered (and a bit sunburned) so had fish and chips and crashed at our coach's parents, who were very welcoming. Long outing on Sunday morning, including a break at a nice little sandy beach with a swing!! (Still a long way downriver from Pipiriki where the kayaks stop though).

- I was meaning to post something I liked about Wellington every day. But I didn't get round to it. So I mean to start now, for December.

Three things I like about Wellington:
1) The lampposts along the bit of seafront running along the south side of Te Papa have holes in them, so when the wind is either northerly or southerly (ie, most of the time) they whistle. It's extremely cool. Makes them more than just functional.

2) Someone chalked poetry on that same bit of path, round Te Papa, last week. I didn't stop to read it, but I saw others stopping. Great idea.

3) It's said a lot, but it's true: Wellington on a nice day is a truly glorious city. Even if it's windy.

Of wind and waves

We had one of the regular regattas between Wellington region rowing clubs today - despite a southerly being forecast, they stuck to the plan of holding it out at Petone instead of in the harbour. It started out great - hot, sunny, calm - but the southerly gradually strengthened and by the time we'd rowed one eights race (badly) and had gone out for the second there were white caps. The race was cancelled but we had to row back to the beach, waves coming in at every stroke. We thought we'd be okay, but just as we were getting towards the beach a few really big waves came in and that was it. We all jumped out; half the school rowers came dashing in to help us (which was really sweet, though mostly motivated by wanting a swim) and we all got out safely.

Wellington won the regatta. :)

I love fireworks

Wellington's Bonfire Night fireworks display turned out to be superb. They set up barges in the middle of the harbour so there are vantage points all round. I watched from the rowing club balcony. A full fifteen minutes, with some I've never seen before like hearts! Although there's this "should we ban Guy Fawkes" debate going on (for starters, Kiwi friends, it's "Bonfire Night", but ...) it'd be a shame to lose such a great spectacle. The city was packed afterwards and I was very glad to be on my bike and able to nip between cars and dodge pedestrians!

Voyaging aboard the "Endeavour"

My holidays are over - boo - back in Wellington and still a bit sleepy after a late night flight back from Sydney on Sunday.

Torunn and I did make it to Milford Sound after all; we set out early the day after my last post, and the road opened that morning. So we kept driving all the way there, and managed to get on a cruise on one of the smallest boats on the Sound. The light was gorgeous and although some of the waterfalls had dried up after a couple of days without rain, it was well worth doing. We spent our last day together in Queenstown, getting the gondola to see views and wandering by the lake.

From Queenstown I flew to Sydney, where my rowing friend Jess kindly put me up for the night and I played tourist on the ferry to her flat - the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge were all lit up and lovely. After a good catch-up, early the next morning I caught a plane to Newcastle. I was fascinated to discover that just like its English namesake, Newcastle is heavily dependent on coal. There were loads of gigantic coal ships at anchor in the bay, awaiting their turn to come in and load up with coal. It was, therefore, a rather suitable place to join the Endeavour as the original ship was once a collier brig from Whitby.

Endeavour is not an elegant vessel; she's too rounded for that. But she is beautiful, a faithful reproduction of the original, with very little metal around except in the "20th century" deck where the galley, mess, showers and heads, and the engine room are kept. That's the lowest deck on board, tucked away so when she's in museum mode all the public sees is the 18th century deck above. The wood does creak a bit, and she takes on a few inches of water in the bilges, but she's a lovely, lovely ship. And she has a lovely permanent crew, all friendly, helpful, encouraging and professional. We had a great voyage crew too - good mix of ages and backgrounds, and not too many snorers, which is crucial when you have 36 people all sleeping together in hammocks. Not much space between hammocks either!

The first day was spent training; a tour of the ship, safety briefings, helm orders, and "up and over" the fighting-top. Curiously Endeavour, like Spirit of New Zealand has safety lines running up the shrouds where the European ships I've sailed on don't. Personally I find it extremely frustrating to have to keep on unclipping and clipping the lanyards of the harness while climbing up - by the end of the voyage we, like the professional crew, had dispensed with those safety lines for the lower shrouds.

We set sail at 4pm, firing a couple of cannon off to thank the citizens of Newcastle for their hospitality, and motored out east until we had enough wind to set sail. The engines were off by 8.30pm and stayed off the rest of the voyage, apart from a short burst anchoring on Friday evening, coming off anchor on Sunday morning, and motoring the last short bit into Sydney. We never went very fast - even under Cook, Endeavour rarely manages more than about 10 knots in a strong wind. But we sailed, lots. On Thursday we had most of the sails set for a good long period and they sent the rescue boat out to take pictures of her, including film for an Aussie travel show called the Great Outdoors. The show had a producer, presenter, cameraman and soundman on board for a section in a January edition, so everything we did was filmed.

Unfortunately for some, she rolled a bit even when we were sailing. Quite a few sea-sickness victims. I was fine as usual (I know how lucky I am). Sail was taken in during the afternoon on Thursday and when we came on watch at 8pm rain was definitely on the horizon, with absolutely spectacular lightning to be seen in all directions. We all got kitted out in wet-weather gear and waited. All of a sudden the squall came on, wind up to Force 8 and we still had topsails up. So together with the permanent crew we wrestled them down - hauling on ropes we couldn't see as the wind howled and the rain poured down. Occasionally there was a bright flash of lightning, silhouetting the permanent crew as they climbed the shrouds to furl the sails. The wind died pretty quickly and by the end of the watch we wore ship (turning her) in winds that barely moved her.

More wind was forecast on Friday, so we kept most of the sails in and headed for land. The captain wanted to anchor in Broken Bay, north of Sydney, and we took the sails in and dropped the anchor in the early evening. A lovely little spot. After dinner he showed us some helicopter footage taken for a documentary on Cook, the Endeavour under full sail with a massive 18th-century Red Ensign flying from the stern and the crew in period dress. Gorgeous stuff, and very special to see it aboard the ship.

Our day ashore started late with a brunch (yum - all the food on board was really great thanks to Abi the cook and her mate Mischa) before we got ferried over to a nearby beach in the rescue boat. I was very excited to see goanas on the beach. Once everyone was on land Wally the engineer took us all for a walk in the bush - no tracks! - up to the ridgeline to look down on the bay and the ship. We were going to walk to a waterfall on a beach on the other side, but time and the track ran out. The bush was moderately thick, I got a splinter in a finger which still hasn't come out, and we had to dodge big red bull ants which are apparently horrid if they bite. I don't know how anyone survives in Oz!

The rest of the afternoon was spent on the beach. We went swimming and a couple of the crew rescued a Japanese couple from a goana intent on eating their picnic. The poor guy was just about to propose to his girlfriend too.

Back on board, we used up all the water storage spac (oops), and prepared for the evening's entertainment. Dinner was on the 18th-century deck, served by the crew in period sailors' clothes, with electric lanterns providing ambience. The captain served out our "wages", a spoonful of rum each! After dinner there was a "sods' opera", with contributions of songs, poems and skits from both voyage and professional crew. I haven't laughed so hard for ages - the talent was impressive and we had an good hours' entertainment.

On the last day we weighed anchor early and motored out of the bay, firing a couple of cannon as we went. We had sails set later that morning and we sailed in through Sydney heads in the company of hundreds of little yachts and various ugly speedboats. We had to take in sail once heading towards the bridge, which meant I got a great view of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House from the main topsail yard. We fired our last cannon right under the bridge, causing a boom which echoed off the steelwork. And then we were into the museum wharf and tied up. The voyage ended with a beautiful rendition of "Leave her, Johnny, leave her" by first mate Penny and topman Ally. I'd have loved to have stayed for a celebratory drink with the crew, but had a plane to catch.

And that was that. Pictures going up on Flickr right now.

Missing Milford

The weather has conspired against us - snow in the mountains above the Milford Road means we weren't able to go kayaking on Milford Sound today because the road was closed (and remains closed for the moment).

However we managed to fill in the day by going to the little cinema to see the film of Fiordland shot from the air, Ata Whenua. Very beautiful. Then we went to the Te Anau Glowworm Caves, only last night's rain stopped us from taking the boats at the end of the cave into the glowworm grotto proper. We did get into the caves though - awesome waterfalls - and we did see some glowworms. And we also got a boat ride there and back, so not a complete waste of time. We may also have got a refund but I'm not sure about that.

After the caves we had lunch before getting a shuttle bus to Rainbow Reach, a point on the Kepler Track, and walked back to Te Anau. It's about 11/12km all told, the path winding through beautifully lush forest on a lovely springy path. Nice walk.

Tomorrow, if it's clear, we're going to drive to the Divide on the Milford Track anyway to see the views and have a bit of a walk before driving to Queenstown. If it's not clear we'll just go to QT. Again, the weather dictates ...

On the road again in wet Wanaka

Actually, looking out of the window it appears to have stopped raining again. Hurrah.

I'm away for a few days with my friend Torunn. We're driving southwards, ending up in Queenstown on Monday afternoon. The trip is going okay so far. Our flight out of Wellington was delayed yesterday but we got out eventually. Poor Torunn found the bumpy ride a bit much and wasn't too well; she recovered in the car though. Lucky there were two of is so I could drive!

We made it to Kaikoura in time to go and have lunch and see seals before going on our whale watch tour, which wasn't cancelled despite dour predictions from the guy who drove us from Picton airport to pick up our rental car. It was, however, somewhat swelly. The whale watching in Kaikoura is owned and operated by the local Maori iwi (tribe) and is terribly professional and modern. Nice comfy catamarans and flashy animated video to watch while the crew hunt for whales. Normally they expect to see one or two a trip. We were incredibly lucky and saw four. All sperm whales, the most commonly sighted whale off Kaikoura - attracted by the deep trench just off the coast and plentiful food.



Unfortunately Torunn's tummy was still a bit wobbly ...

After the whale watch we had a drive to get to Methven, beyond Christchurch, where we were staying. The clouds rolled in for most of the "scenic drive" annoyingly, but our hostel was nice and so was the pub we had dinner in.

This morning it was utterly glorious first thing and we could see the mountains behind the village. So we set off; first stop a forest to see NZ's biggest tree, a totara - 1000 years old and very big.

After that we pretty much kept driving. A couple of lookout stops once we were nearing Mount Cook - one at the incredibly blue and incredibly windy Lake Tekapo, and then shortly afterwards at the even bluer Lake Pukaki:



Bluer than it looks in that, actually; I need to adjust the colour a bit. We had planned to drive up to Mount Cook village but the clouds had rolled in over the mountains so there wasn't much point. Instead we stopped in Twizel, which is a bit of a dead end, and had lunch, and kept on towards Wanaka through a terrific rainstorm. We missed more views thanks to the rain, but by the time we'd got here and sorted ourselves out it had stopped so we went for a walk.

Tomorrow, Te Anau. Whether we make it to the Milford Sound or not is doubtful, they've been having snow that way.

Springtime in Aotearoa

Since my last post spring has come to Wellington. At least it came last week, and we had three warm sunny days, and then it rained a lot, and today was lovely again. But flowers are blooming everywhere and it's definitely warmer. The clocks go forward tomorrow night.

The news at the moment is all rugby and violence. The police in Christchurch shot a guy dead the other night - nobody seems very sure why - but it seems to me they don't really have a leg to stand on. Apparently the officer was in fear of his life and the man had a claw hammer and was behaving oddly, but police are being broadly supportive of the officer's actions. Can't help comparing to the Jean Charles de Menezes shooting post-July 7th. Now that got rightly criticised, but I think the Met had more excuse to fire (on the face of it) than the Chch police did.

Of course both deaths are a tragedy; you have to question sometimes the wisdom of police carrying weapons.

Oh, and Ruapehu erupted on Tuesday night, out of the blue. One injury - the poor guy's lost a leg and is still not out of the woods.

Catching up

I had a catch-up weekend: a bit of tidying up, a bit of laundry, a bit of admin-stuff at home, and also catching up on movies as I haven't managed to get to the cinema much recently. Yesterday I saw Ratatouille, which was just adorable. Pixar at their best. I tend not to like mice and rats much (living with mice running round your studio flat does that to a girl) but I found Remy, the hero of Ratatouille, utterly wonderful. Okay, he's a cartoon rat, but he was very ratty while being very cute. A funny, warm, beautifully-produced film.

Today, after the rowing club's open day (erg races on the balcony as the wind was too strong to row), I went to see Perfume: The Story of a Murderer at the lovely Embassy. Definitely my favourite cinema. It's a compelling, disturbing, intriguing movie with a silly ending. Annoyingly silly actually, as I think it detracts from the rest of the film. It's adapted from Patrick Suskind's novel of the same name, which I read ages ago and seem to remember enjoying, about a young man with an incredible sense of smell. Somehow the smells do come over on screen, through gorgeous cinematography. Ben Whishaw as the protagonist Grenouille is amazing - doesn't have much dialogue, but his performance is very physical and he doesn't need words really. Good supporting roles from Alan Rickman and Dustin Hoffmann, lovely setting, and a really creepy story as Grenouille goes about finding the perfect scent and distilling it - let's just say he thinks the perfect scent belongs to a girl. Highly recommended, although it does lose points for the ending (I think Suskind is to blame).

Mini-holiday, part 2

Part two of the mini-holiday post.

After ice-climbing we had good pizza and indifferent wine in a Franz Josef bar, and then went back to the place we ate the first night for much better wine. We both slept like logs until the morning, and woke ready for our long drive across to Christchurch (about 5 1/2 hours).

It rained a bit, as it's wont to do on the West Coast, but by the time we were into the mountains it had stopped and was clearing up, and the views were beginning to be spectacular - vast snowy mountains on either side of the road. By Arthur's Pass village (the highest settlement in NZ at about 1000m) it was bright and sunny and gorgeous.



We went for a short walk after lunch to some waterfalls. I'm a sucker for a good waterfall and this was an excellent one, pouring down hundreds of feet. The light was tricky though, so my picture's not great. On the way back, views over to the mountains.





Back in the car, and on down towards the Canterbury plains through the mountains. I felt a bit like I was in Rohan - Mount Sunday/Edoras is further south, but it was the same sort of thing, with rings of mountains around flatter land. It was just amazing. I think it would be even better going the other way actually, but we weren't complaining.



Perhaps because of the views the distance passed quickly, and we got to Christchurch and another nice little backpackers. Gave up trying to decide what to do the next day and decamped to a restaurant, where we sat outside under heaters. I had mussels and Helen had lamb - very Kiwi! After that there was rather a lot of drinking, first in the restaurant and then in the nearby Irish pub.

In the morning we felt like fresh air (!) and exercise, and managed to hire bikes - the place we originally planned to get them from was closed, but judicious use of a phonebook meant we found a guy who drives around Chch with a trailer and delivers bikes to where they're wanted. He sketched out a route for us that would take us to the seaside, and we cycled along the idyllic river Avon (very pretty) to New Brighton. There we watched the surfers for a bit and admired patterns in the sand.



After that, back on the bikes to Sumner, where we ate fish and chips - unfortunately not the greatest, but all right - and sunbathed because it was such a glorious day. The sun was warm, but because it is still winter the sand was cool, an odd feeling.

We had time when we got back to Chch for a quick wander around the botanic garden:



We whiled away the evening in a nice pub before driving to the airport, because I had to come home. I was utterly exhausted, but it really was a great weekend.

A mini-holiday in the South Island

So I got back last night from my mini-holiday, which was both great fun and pretty exhausting. I'm a bit bruised from the ice-climbing, but it was brilliant. I'm going to do two pic posts because as usual I took loads.

My friend Helen arrived on Wednesday, past midnight, and after a catch-up chat we got to sleep in order to get up bright and early on Thursday for our flight to Westport. I still can't work out whose bright idea it was to put an airport in Westport, which is a tiddly little town with one main street at the north end of the West Coast. Helen was a bit nervous to discover we were in a very small plane, but she relaxed once we'd taken off. It was a gorgeous clear day and the views across the South Island were just spectacular - right across the Richmond ranges towards Christchurch and Arthur's Pass National Park. Stunning.

In Westport we had breakfast and waited for the coach, which took us to Greymouth (the rental car places are all in Greymouth, not Westport). It was a fairly short journey and we stopped for 45 minutes at Punakaiki, where can be found the famous Pancake Rocks. They're layered, like a stack of pancakes. The sea comes in with tremendous force, creating blowholes. It's pretty impressive.



Back in the coach, we headed to Greymouth and picked up our car, and got on the road south towards the glaciers. On the way we stopped in Hokitika, where there's not a lot going on but there was a tree on the beach:



By evening we'd checked into our backpackers in Franz Josef - a cute little town. We stayed for the free soup they put on every night and then went for a walk to see glowworms. They were right at the end of a dark forest path, under a boulder and in the trees - we were glad we saw them, because we thought for a moment they weren't there!

Up early again the next day to drive the 25km to Fox Glacier. Fox village is a bit smaller than Franz, and the glacier is accordingly quieter. Plus R&E had recommended the Fox guides. We got equipped with boots and packs and so on, by our two guides - great ratio, two guides to the two of us! The boots were heavy plastic ones designed for the ice, which weighed a ton. Another short drive to the glacier car park and then we had a hike up to the ice proper, as you have to get on to it further up from the terminus because it's too steep where the glacier currently ends. Once at the glacier we donned crampons and harnesses and hats, and set out on to the ice!



Walking on ice is pretty tricky until you get the hang of it; you have to stomp your feet flat down. The guides create paths and steps in the glacier, mainly for the half-day walking trips, and have to keep making new ones because the glacier moves so fast (about 30cm a day) and melts and reforms. You can just see the steps to the left of this picture.



We did some easy climbs to start with on an ice wall - first just with crampons, and then with picks, and then the guides put out a rope and I belayed Helen while she climbed, and then we swapped over. It got easier each time. Tough on all of you though, legs and arms and we both bruised our legs scrambling over overhangs.

We had lunch, and then the guides put ropes out again next to a deep hole in the ice. And I mean deep. And also narrow. Here's me, being lowered into the hole.



And here's the hole, with me in it, though you can't see me!



And me trying to climb out.



The ice was really hard down there though, and I slipped a couple of times - thank heavens for the rope! It was just very difficult getting any sort of grip with crampons or picks.

After that effort Helen had a go, and then the guides practised rescuing her from the same hole. Then we explored some caves and crevasses.

Glacier and ice pics:







More tomorrow, from the journey across Arthur's Pass.

More pictures at Flickr.

Erm, yeah, hi - still here!

I'm doing an awful job at keeping this blog up to date. Never mind.

The past month has been fairly busy due to rowing now being on properly - there's been a race, and a training camp - a choir concert too, and then there's this flu thing going round that I got full whack last week and am still recovering from. No energy, and coughing a lot. Stupid Southern Hemisphere winter.

On Sunday I fulfilled a long-held hope and saw Ian McKellen doing Shakespeare, in the RSC touring production of King Lear. It was every bit as good as I'd imagined it would be. The guy is a genius. He speaks Shakespeare so beautifully, with such understanding. Everyone else was excellent too, and the production (directed by Trevor Nunn) beautifully-staged. So all in all a good night.

Next week my friend Helen from rowing at home, who's currently in Oz, is coming for a mini-holiday. We're going south for ice-climbing and winter fun. :)

Wellington in the winter

It's been a lovely weekend after a somewhat miserable week, weather-wise. Yesterday I swam, and then pottered about the flat for a while (cleaned windows!) before deciding the weather was too good to waste really. So I hopped on the bike and did the ride around the bays to the Chocolate Fish Cafe for a hot chocolate. (I discovered dipping a chocolate fish into hot chocolate makes the pink stuff inside melt slightly. Yum.) It was chilly but sunny so I sat outside by the sea and watched the sparrows hopping around hopefully for food. One of them got the end of an ice-cream cone. Cycled back via the supermarket and flopped feeling virtuous. The view across the harbour was stunning; clear right up to the mountains at the end of the Hutt Valley which had snow on the top.

Today was slightly less sunny but still not too windy, so good for rowing. We have a coach now who's keen on technique (a good thing) and took out a coxed four which moved okay given the scratch-ness of the crew. Afterwards I subbed into the social/masters' mixed eight which was fun. My blisters are all coming back; joy. After all that exercise I'm fairly knackered, so am flopping again once more feeling virtuous - the more so because I also cleaned and did laundry today.

I love the internet!

I'm listening live to Regatta Radio from Henley Royal! I'm in New Zealand, and I'm listening to radio from Henley! Very cool.

Unfortunately I missed my club's races earlier, but I'm going to make sure I keep an eye on the timetable for the rest of the regatta and try and catch the races. :)

A proper bit of NZ

I went to my first powhiri today. A powhiri is a welcome ceremony, and the one I was at was to mark the opening of a nw institution at a university. It wasn't very decorative, not like the ceremonies they put on for tourists, but it was quite moving even though I had barely any idea what was going on and what was being said! First all the guests on the marae (a Maori meeting-house) were welcomed by the Maori elders and the university staff in the traditional nose-rubbing way. I felt dreadful that I hadn't memorised the response to "tena koe" (the formal welcome), but otherwise I think I managed okay by smiling a lot.

Then the kaumatua (elder) began proceedings by making a speech and chanting, and there was a hymn by the hosts; and the equivalent from the guests' side; and then that was repeated. I think the speeches were quite amusing because people kept laughing. I gathered that the hosts were welcoming the guests to the marae and the university, and there was a suitable response, and quite a lot about waka (canoes), and I really liked the third song, which was quite cheerful. But I couldn't understand much more!!

After that we all trooped over to the site of the new institution and the building was blessed with special water and prayers, and then that was it. It was all pretty interesting and I do love listening to the sound of te reo Maori being spoken, even if I can't understand the actual meaning. It's a beautiful, rich language, very musical in its way.

Bleurgh

While the UK's been flooded it's been dry here. Until this weekend, when it's decided to rain pretty much constantly. I haven't been out today - nothing really to go out for, so I decided to stay in, bake bread and stay dry. I am going swimming later though. That'll be wet.

At last

I hauled myself out of bed on Sunday morning to go and see if there was anyone down at the rowing club. For once there was, and the guy I spoke to took my details, emailed someone else; she emailed me today and I have training times at last. I am going down on Thursday. This makes me a happy person. I don't think I realised how much I'd miss rowing until I wasn't doing it.

More good news: I've got a place on an Endeavour voyage in October, Newcastle to Sydney. I've wanted to sail on board the Endeavour for a long time, and it seems apt for this Yorkshire lass to sail aboard the replica of the Whitby collier brig that brought Cook to Aotearoa all those years ago.

A Night at the Opera

I got a nice call yesterday from one of my online friends who lives in Wellington and is a musician. She's in the orchestra for NZ Opera's current production of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and she very kindly gave me one of her free tickets for the dress rehearsal tonight. It was a good - though admittedly not great - production. I was way up in the Grand Circle (which would be an Upper Circle in some theatres) and it was a looong way down to the stage, but the set design was such that it didn't matter too much. The set would have been superb if the water feature hadn't emptied itself all over the pit before the show started - so there was a big black hole in the middle instead of a pond!

I didn't know any of the music for the opera - I can see why it's become a popular one, the story's good and the music's lively. Sometimes I thought it was perhaps too lively for the Gothic subject matter (unwanted marriage, evil brother, thwarted love, murder, madness, death). The Russian soprano playing Lucia was very good indeed, with a lovely clear voice that worked particularly well in the mad scene. Anyway it was a nice evening out.

Winter's hitting hard now with storms predicted. We had a mini-storm this evening but it blew over very quickly. There's lots of snow in the South Island.

The Crown announced tonight that it's going to retry a guy called David Bain who was convicted of the murder of his family and imprisoned before the Privy Council quashed the conviction a few weeks ago. As the PC quashed the conviction on the basis of an unsound trial rather than deciding Bain was innocent, I'm not surprised in the slightest. However I have been puzzled by the way Bain's been treated in the media recently. Innocent until proven guilty, sure; but until he has had a fair trial he's still a suspect.

Rest of the weekend, and pictures

The Edwin Fox, looking aft:



The tiller:



Copper cladding:





Renwick vineyards:





Lake Roitoiti:







Today I pottered around Nelson for a bit. A pretty town, with a very Sixties cathedral and a little pretty historic park with old buildings in it which was good for an hour's wander. There was a booksale on too but I didn't find anything I really wanted. Somebody was apparently ditching their entire Frederick Forsyth collection.





Then I drove back to Picton along the scenic route; winding roads, mountains and glorious sunshine. These were the Marlborough Sounds as sun began to set.



I was hoping to get back for choir, but really it was too late and I was too tired so I skiived. Ooops.

Happy Birthday, your Majesty!

I find it very odd that NZ celebrates the Queen's Birthday when we don't at home. Apart from the Trooping of the Colour, that is, but it hardly counts as only tourists go and watch it. I suppose it's partly to do with having a Bank Holiday the week before for May.

Anyway, I'm taking advantage of the Queen's Birthday holiday tomorrow to get away from Wellington for the weekend. Not that I don't like Wellington, I do, but after all I'm here to see as much of NZ as I can before I go home, whenever that may be. And seeing as there's so much of NZ to see, I think I need to take all the chances I get.

So I got up early yesterday to fly to Picton with lovely Sounds Air. I was a bit daft actually and managed to get the time wrong, so I thought my flight was at 7.15am. That was, in fact, when I was supposed to check in, so I had half an hour to kill at the airport when I could have been asleep. Oh well. It was worth getting the early flight though because the light flying over the Sounds was utterly stunning; the sun was just coming up and everything was golden and calm and beautiful.

Picked up my car in Picton, an amusing little blue thing which doesn't like hills but otherwise appears to be behaving itself. I was (as will be revealed later) very grateful for it being a little hatchback. Breakfast was leisurely and scrambled eggs in a cafe with the Saturday Dominion Post - terribly civilised.

After that I thought about going straight to Renwick, my first stop, and getting straight into the wine tasting but I realised I wouldn't actually need the whole day for wine tasting. Instead I went to visit the Edwin Fox, the ninth oldest sailing ship in the world (who's measuring these things?) The Edwin Fox was built in Calcutta in 1853 as an East Indiaman, very old-fashioned even when she was constructed. She spent a few decades sailing round and round the world before fetching up in NZ, where she spent a while as a freezer ship of all things and then was used for coal storage. Eventually she got left on a sandbar in Picton harbour, where she languished listing to starboard for some time.

But because some people are ship geeks, they decided to rescue her. About eight years ago she was refloated and towed across into a dry dock, where she in now with a roof over her. Her masts have been gone since the freezer ship days, and her timber shows the ravages of the sun, sea and tide (better where she was submerged and where she was in ballast). Her port side, left exposed, has about half its copper cladding still; the starboard side is almost completed clad after all these years.

There's a little museum you go round before boarding the ship - though the main deck's gone the tween deck is still half-complete, and you can also go down into her hull. She's incredibly deep - built not for speed but for carrying a lot of stuff. When I was wandering around the hull in shippy happiness the vice-president of the trust working to preserve her turned up, and proceeded to show me round with lots of detail. He even took me up to the stern and showed me her great rudder-post and the hole which was the ship's safe, and pointed out all sorts of little anomalies like alternating inferior timber and that sort of thing. And he took me into the dock to have a look at her from below. He was wonderfully enthusiastic and it was lovely to have a personal guided tour! I even ended up with a nail that had fallen out from where the copper sheeting was coming loose, as a souvenir. :)

After the tour I got back in my amusing car and drove to Renwick. R&E had recommended staying in a backpackers there called Watson's Way, renting bikes and cycling round the local wineries, so that's just what I did. I managed to not buy very much wine because I don't have much room in my bags and it's heavy, but I did manage to taste plenty. Cycling tipsy is quite amusing, particularly on a glorious, unseasonably warm winter's afternoon. Many of the wines I tried are on sale in my local liquor store, so I shall toddle along there at some point with my lists. It was fun.

Spent the evening reading and partaking of steak and chips in the local tavern. Mmm. Slept badly, because the dorm was too hot and I had funny wine-induced dreams.

Today I headed off promptly towards forbidding-looking skies west of Marlborough for Nelson Lakes National Park. The skies cleared as I got there and I was able to see Lake Roitoki in the sunshine, snow-capped mountains on the horizon. Not much snow though considering it's June. It was pretty chilly though, that crisp Alpine chill. I went for a bit of a walk, about three hours but nothing too challenging, through forests and then along by the lake.

After that, drove to Nelson through a rainstorm, checked into tonight's backpackers (free internet, friendly dog, nice bunch of guests), before going out to see Becoming Jane at the cinema. Good film, slightly spoilt by an annoying couple chattering all through. I mean honestly, if you're going to spend $13 each on going to the cinema why not actually watch the film?

Tomorrow I'm going to potter around Nelson before driving back to Picton the scenic route. Hopefully I'll be back in Wellington just in time for choir, or at any rate not too late ...

Pictures later this week.

Washing day, fill up the bag!

(Mum, the title's for you. :))

My third load of laundry for the day has just finished ... tomorrow I must wash my walking trousers before next weekend's long weekend trip to Nelson. Luckily it's yet another beautiful day with some wind so perfect for drying.

A fairly busy week at work, although yesterday really felt like a Friday afternoon. Very tired for some reason. At least the weekend is here to recharge batteries (and do washing, and cleaning, and food shopping).

There was an interesting article in the Grauniad yesterday I noticed about ways of reducing rubbish. One of the suggestions was charging for special rubbish bags, which is the way they do it here. I have to buy special yellow Wellington council bags from the supermarket - I think they work out as 15c each - and also recycling bags, which are a bit more expensive. For recycling you can also use old supermarket bags. I don't create a lot of rubbish, living alone; in fact the yellow bags are a bit big and I only throw one away every two weeks (hurrah for airtight bins). But I can see it would be a good way on getting people to cut down a bit. It's nice to be encouraged to recycle too, as back in London I had nowhere to put a recycling bin, which is what you were supposed to have.

Another week over

I got back earlier this afternoon from Levin, where there was a fun swimming meet. I didn't taper for this one - it was more a case of getting fit again after a week off with that silly cold - but swam considerably faster than in Chch. The meet was lots of fun, with relays and plenty of good-humoured support, and we all did okay so everyone was happy. Afterwards the social turned out to be a good one, with decent food and an excellent band who played lots of cheesy covers so we danced all night. Also there was a running paper aeroplane fight through the evening, with the paper placemats used as aeroplanes. Highly amusing.

Today we went and had a leisurely brunch before browsing the bewildering array of factory outlet shops in Otaki, which is south of Levin on SH1. I have no idea why there are so many outlet shops there. I found a lovely merino jumper for about half-price in the Icebreaker shop (they sell clothes designed for walking and so on) which will be good in the winter. I only really have one casual jumper here so I needed another.

Now just vegging, as I'm fairly tired. I slept okay but it was a late night and everyone got woken up at 5am by the regular train rushing through Levin.

The wind's really got up. It's properly howling.

A nice weekend

The weather has been kind this weekend. It might be autumn, but it's been pretty warm and mostly sunny.

I decided I'd had enough of being ill with a cold yesterday morning so made it to swimming. I felt a bit stuffed up still, but managed to plod down a decent number of lengths. And surprisingly enough I felt much better the rest of the day.

Went to the library as I had some books that needed taking back. Picked up some more, and in the middle of searching for the Haydn mass the choir I'm joining is singing I (unsuccessfully - it's "in processing") I found an album of anthems sung by the Christ Church Cathedral Choir - Oxford version, not the Chch NZ version! I rented it, and it's lovely. I also borrowed the Da Vinci Code movie, which was predictably cheesy but quite good fun too. Good cast at least, even if the plot was utterly rubbish. I enjoyed watching it while eating a very good dinner of a sort of bolognese/chilli thing I did with lots of vegetables and beef mince, washed down with a really nice wine from the local liquor store, followed by Kiwi figs and yoghurt. :)

Today I took the bike out to Scorching Bay and the Chocolate Fish cafe. 40 minutes there, not too much wind. Apparently all of Wellington and their dog (a lovely golden retriever, as it happened) had had the same idea, although most had driven. The cafe was packed, so I got my iced mocha as takeaway and drank it sitting by the beach. A man was playing a guitar nearby and it was rather lovely.

Cycled back, and discovered that the bread dough I'd put on to rise had for once actually risen. I may have cracked the yeast problem I've been having - namely, not enough action from the yeast resulting in dense bread. Today's has risen, and it rose again after I knocked it back, and is looking pretty good in the oven at the moment.

I'd better go and rescue my washing. It looks like it might rain.

How the wind howls!

It's a bit blowy today. Nothing hugely spectacular, but one of the windiest days I've seen since coming to Wellington. I suspect worse will come at some point. I am wondering though whether the rubbish bags I put out earlier will have stayed where I put them. The paper/cardboard bag at least could have blown away. I'm not going outside in my pyjamas to find out though!

The crazy thing is that yesterday was utterly glorious, a really beautiful day. It was warm and sunny and I spent most of it on the phone, which at least gave me the chance to look out of the window while people waffled on (in between taking notes, which I did).

I went down to the rowing club tonight and for once found someone there, a couple of friendly guys who said nothing much was happening at the moment. They recommended emailing the captain again, and I got one of their email addresses in case the captain fails to respond (again). Anyway apparently things get going again in about a month. Thank heavens. I have boat-withdrawal symptoms. It's not good.

That's why!

I spent the weekend in Christchurch, which was rich with autumnal colours and looked terribly English. Yesterday I swam at the NZ National Masters Swimming Championships - very slowly, compared to what I used to be able to do, but I enjoyed it and came away with three gold medals because I was the only one there in my age group for those events. Oh well. I made the effort!

Today I met up with my friends Jen and Victor and their utterly adorable 14-month old Timmy, and they showed me round. We wandered the Botanic Gardens for a while - Timmy likes trees and birds - and watched while he attempted to scale the things in the playground meant for much larger children. Then lunch, in a nice garden restaurant. Then it was Timmy's nap time, so we drove to see views. Unfortunately it was a bit hazy so we couldn't quite see the Southern Alps properly, but nevertheless nice views across the Canterbury plains. During the drive Victor explained bits of history and so on and threw light on the mysterious Manchester thing: it's because NZ wool used to go to Manchester to be turned into linen and stuff, so when it came back it was known as Manchester goods. Tah-dah! Mystery solved. :)

We finished up at the cathedral, where the choir was rehearsing for Evensong. A nice plain Anglican cathedral with lots of light. I felt some kinship with the place; Christchurch was founded by a group including 18 old members from my college, and the crest was all over. Halfway around the world the House still has some influence.

Before we went to the airport, we plopped Timmy in a pile of autumn leaves and he played happily. His first proper autumn. I threw some leaves at him and suggested he threw some back at me, which resulted in a hilarious few minutes during which he kept giving me handfuls of leaves. I couldn't refuse them, not with his happy little smile. Apparently nobody else can refuse Timmy's smile either; everywhere we went he had admirers, including a group of Chinese tourists at the airport who thought he was fantastic. I wasn't about to disagree.

Lovely day, anyway.

Flew home, collapsed.

Why Manchester?

I'm puzzled. Why do Kiwis call bed linen and towels and so on "Manchester"? It doesn't make much sense. Equally, why "togs" for swimming costumes? Generally, though, they're fairly sensible about the correct use of the English language over here.

It's raining again. Steadily. The water's gushing out of the pipe outside the kitchen window and also off the edge of the roof above my front door. Pretty noisy. But at least I'm warm and cosy inside watching ER.

Music, sweet music

I went to my first choir rehearsal tonight. We sang most of the Haydn Imperial Mass (sometimes known as the Nelson Mass, apparently). It sounded okay, the tenor section right behind me were booming out their part very confidently. I managed quite well considering it's been so long since I've sung anything and I was sight-singing. Everyone seemed very pleasant. I shall go back next week.

Only I'll cycle home a different way. For some mad reason I thought it would be a good idea to go along The Terrace, and I ended up having to first cycle up a very steep hill and then freewheel down another very steep hill, brakes on and squeaking in the rain. That was fun. Next time, I turn left and take the longer-but-flatter route.

The Wairarapa

Before I started work three weeks ago I took a couple of days and drove north to the Wairarapa. It was a last chance for a bit of holiday, and also an opportunity to get back in a car after a year and a half. The last time I drove was in Wales in September 2005, and that was over three years after the previous time. It's safe to say I'm short of practice. Luckily I got an automatic so driving was really easy and the roads are, relatively, quiet.

I took State Highway 2 up through the Hutt Valley on a beautiful autumn day. First stop was Kaitoke Park, a smallish woodland reserve which happened to be the location for Rivendell in The Lord of the Rings. I arrived just after a couple of tours groups doing the Middle-earth Tours thing that's a popular tourist option round here. Instead of following them straight to the Rivendell site I walked through the forest the long way. It was pretty and quiet and I was utterly happy in a peaceful sort of way - just me and my camera.





The Rivendell bit was actually fairly disappointing. You can't really visualise it as it was when they had lots of pretty Elvish buildings there. It's nice in a sylvan sort of way, I suppose, but nothing special compared to the rest of Kaitoke. I followd yet another tour group and eavesdropped on what the guide was saying: "Here's where Aragorn stood with the princess ... what was her name ..." Excellent quality stuff. Not.

Anyway I jumped back in my car and headed off again, over the very windy Rimutaka Hill. That caught me off-guard a bit - one minute I was gaily bowling along at 100kph on a nice straight bit of road, the next I was doing 30kph up this great big hill. And the radio reception went.

It didn't take long to get to the Wairarapa, where it was hot and sunny. I checked into the nice little campsite in Martinborough for the bargain price of $12.50 - I paid more for every one of the bottles of wine I later bought - and put up my tent for the first time. It turned out to be slightly trickier than R&E's tent, but I got it up eventually. Though next time I need more tension in the under-tent bit. And I need a groundsheet, which I'd forgotten to buy. Luckily despite rain the night before the ground was bone dry and remained that way.

I left the car and went for a walk, camera on my back with a handy bottle of water which I needed - it was sweltering.





I arrived at the first vineyard, Tirangi, rather parched. The people there were really welcoming and a rather sweet bloke with a bit of a stutter took me through the wine on offer and explained the region to me. The Wairarapa is a newish wine growing region, famous mostly for its Pinot Noir although actually everything is good. It tends to get very hot days and cold nights, which is good for the grapes. Most of the vineyards are boutique and few export outside NZ - in fact even the big New World supermarket here in Wellington doesn't sell any Wairarapa Pinot Noirs, which is insane. Consequently they're not the cheapest wines in the world, but they are very very good. I tasted a couple at Tirangi and on discovering that my clever plan to drive around the next day and buy lots of bottles was foiled by Good Friday licensing laws, bought a bottle of their rose.

Next stop was Ata Rangi, one of the better-known Wairarapa vineyards. A very friendly lady poured me wine and we discussed the weather. I got Pinot Gris from Ata Rangi but was wishing I hadn't got the Tirangi rose because the Ata Rangi stuff was delicious. Since then I found it in my local liquor store. Hurrah!

After that, feeling mellow and happy, I strolled along the road to Muirlea Rise, where my tasting was interrupted by an Irish couple complaining about the very small tasting fee in most of the vineyards. They didn't taste, but disappeared to try and find free wine. They wouldn't have had much luck. I departed with a 2004 Merlot that was being sold off as it was the last of the vintage.

My last vineyard was possibly the nicest. The owner was a cheerful bloke, casual and friendly, who explained that Murchison is a very small family-run affair which makes its wines the old-fashioned way - ie slowly. He was right, too, because his wines all tasted very French in a good way. Like proper Bordeaux. And I tried a delicious sort of liqueur/dessert wine they make from wine and French cognac, which tasted like Christmas pudding. I left there with an expensive bottle of Pinot Noir which went down very well with Easter lamb on the following Sunday!

I faffed the rest of the day. Dropped my wine off at the campsite because it was heavy, had a coffee and read the paper at the village cafe, panic-bought food for breakfast and lunch because everywhere was going to be closed for Good Friday. Then I went to the little arthouse cinema in Martinborough and saw Miss Potter - predictably schmaltzy, but good - and ate lovely pizza with Ata Rangi rose.

Slept well in my tent but it was soaking with condensation when I woke up. Very frustrating - I had to pack it damp. I was on the road before 9.30am heading for LOTR location of the weekend number 2, the Putangirua Pinnacles, or the Paths of the Dead.



The Pinnacles are really one of the coolest places I've been. The rock is very very soft, and crumbles to the touch. They're high, and they're like towers in strange shapes. Well worth the visit. I tried to find the Pinnacles lookout walking back from being among them, but after two aborted efforts to find the path gave up. Both efforts involved me scrambling up increasingly narrow gorges, under trees and over rocks, and I have no idea where the signposted path actually was.

I had a car, and I had time, so the last stop for the weekend was Cape Palliser. At the end of a long coastal road, and 5km of fun fun fun gravel track (ugh) there's a lighthouse and a seal colony.





I enjoyed looking at the seals, although I got growled at by one because I didn't see it lying under a rock and was a bit too close. Made me jump.

Then I drove back, with the radio on most of the way. A thoroughly enjoyable couple of days.

*Sigh*

Why is it that in whatever country you visit the vast majority of people in a gym do not know how to use a rowing machine properly? I do wish fitness instructors would actually coach ergos. I am sorely tempted to start a "row properly" campaign.

In other news, hopefully I'm joining a choir. I miss singing, so it should be fun. First rehearsal on Monday to see what it's like - I do have to audition to get in though. Hmm. Practice may be called for.

Anzac Day

A day off work today for Anzac Day. It was supposed to be a lovely day - actually it's mainly cloudy and not very nice. I was going to cycle around to Scorching Bay for coffee and cake at the Chocolate Fish Cafe, but frankly it's not really nice enough so instead I think I'll go to the cinema.

I went out to the city wreath-laying ceremony this morning at the Cenotaph on Lambton Quay. Actually that was a mistake and I muddled up the two ceremonies. There was the very small one at Lambton Quay I went to, and there was the big national one at the National War Memorial which I didn't go to and which was on TV One when I got back. Oops. Anyway most of the national one was inside, so I didn't miss much. And at least I got out and did an Anzac Day thing.

Aim: to start blogging regularly

I meant to add posts to this thing a lot more regularly than I have been. Now that I'm finally settling in properly to NZ, it's about time I made an effort to do that.

I've been at work two weeks now and it's going fine. Everyone's nice, the sector is interesting and all is good. Outside work I'm particularly enjoying swimming again - I've found a nice club with really friendly, sociable people, and there are also plenty of fast blokes to try and keep up with so I'm not just plodding along. Although I was plodding today, it just wasn't going right.

Anyway, I thought I'd start "regular blogging" with a list of what I like best so far about NZ. A nice positive post. :)

- The landscape. It seems like every corner you go round there's a new view. When I was driving around the Wairarapa the other week (I will blog this eventually) I really wanted to stop the car and jump out and take a picture about every 100m. I didn't, but I wished I had done. I've always loved mountains and sea so really NZ is perfect. And it's so green, and interesting, and the light is so good. Even Wellington is beautiful. I love cycling back from swimming on a Saturday morning around the bays. You can see right over towards the Wairarapa range of mountains, and there's the blue blue sea, and the hills encircling the city. Also on a clear night you can actually see stars - in the city centre. Wonderful.

- The people. It's a Kiwi stereotype that's true. Everyone is extremely friendly and relaxed.

- Wine. Good wine. Lots of it.

- The fact you can get a decent cup of coffee anywhere you go, even the smallest places. It's reassuring.

- A work ethic that postively encourages finishing work at 5pm. My boss came over the other day to check I was leaving. It means even after doing some exercise, or going to the library, or to the supermarket, I can still be home by 7pm. A nice change from mad London.

- Very few people smoke here, and it's nice.

Lazy Fish and rain in the mountains

I flew over to the South Island for the first time on a beautiful clear Friday morning. The Marlborough Sounds below the little plane I was in were stunningly beautiful, blue and green in the sunlight.



In Picton I was rejoined by the others, slightly happy from wine-tasting that morning, and we caught a boat out to the Lazy Fish guest house. The Lazy Fish is in its own little bay out in Queen Charlotte Sound, with four bungalows and a little apartment set in gardens by the beach. It's utterly peaceful, isolated though not really that far from Picton, and we had a wonderful couple of days there just doing not much at all! It was particularly nice after a week of running around Wellington trying to get stuff accomplished and living in a hostel. Mum and I played several games of scrabble; I went out kayaking with Mum and Dad; we had a swim and snorkel in the cool clear water of the sounds; and we walked around the bays at low tide as far as we could go, only to be stopped by a very large seal sitting on the rocks at the end of the walk. He sat up and showed us his teeth and we prudently stopped - but it was a great conclusion to the walk.





Back in Wellington the others helped me move into the flat, including a raid on the great place that is The Warehouse (for cheap furniture, etc.) Then R&E left, flying out of NZ home via Sydney, Thailand, China and South Korea. They're somewhere in China now as far as I know, hopefully having a good time and avoiding the hideous-sounding Chinese toilets.

Meanwhile Mum and Dad and I consulted the weather forecast, and came to the conclusion that it was worth making another attempt on the Tongariro Crossing. I knew I'd always have another chance, but they didn't have that luxury, so it seemed to make sense.

We arrived in Whakapapa again to discover that we could see the mountains, getting glorious clear views across to Mounts Tongariro and Ngauruhoe as well as most of Ruapehu.





That afternoon we made the most of the fine weather and did a couple of short warm-up walks in preparation for the big one the next day. One took us down to the Tawhai Falls, used as a location in The Lord of the Rings. The falls were pretty and the spot peaceful, and we were rather glad we'd made the effort!



The next morning dawned a little cloudy, with a wreath around the summit of Ngauruhoe. Rather disappointing after the clarity of the previous day. Nevertheless we shouldered our bags, packed correctly with food, water, warm stuff, dry stuff and cameras, and set off.

The main problem with the Tongarir Crossing is that it's a very popular walk. Hundreds of people walk it each day in high season, and while we were just out of that we still set off amid a crowd of people including a large and inadequately-equipped school party (lots of kids in trainers). The crossing starts off fairly easy, with a gradual climb across the plains at the feet of the mountains. Then there is the "Devil's Staircase", a steep climb up a rocky path - but it's fairly short and eminently doable. At the top of the staircase we felt the first few drops of rain, which were fine even for me with my rowing splash top; showerproof rather than rainproof. However it kept on raining and by the time we were across the flat South Crater, a bowl between Ngauruhoe and Tongariro, we couldn't really see even Ngauruhoe and it was too wet to get the cameras out. We climbed up into the clouds, getting steadily wetter and wetter.

At the top the clouds parted just for a few seconds and allowed us to catch a glimpse of the famous Red Crater, which was indeed red and would be spectacular on a clear day! Then we had a steep descent along the crater's edge. I'd been worried that this would be like the Taranaki scree, but luckily Tongariro's soil is darker and finer and it was more like walking in sand - much less scary to come down. Through the clouds we saw the Emerald Lakes, which get their colour from the minerals in the area so were still distinctly green.

I was a bit chilly now, and soaked through despite my splash top. We kept up a good pace across the top, every now and then seeing a bit of slope or the weird, moonlike volcanic landscape around us.

And then we suddenly came out of the cloud and saw, spread out below, the land beyond. The view stretched to the vast Lake Taupo and was really worth the climb and the clouds. It also stopped raining and we began to dry off.



We had a pause to get out some food at the Ketahi Hut, which was a mass of wet people trying to dry off. We decided drying off was a bit pointless and we'd be better off carrying on the walk. The descent took a long time - if you're ever thinking of doing the crossing, go the standard way and not backwards. Backwards would mean a very very long climb upwards and a nasty steep bit on the way down.

Eventually we made it, rather dryer, quite tired, and happy we'd made the effort. A great walk despite the weather.

Mum and Dad dropped me off in Taupo the next day as the rain poured down so I could fly back to Wellington and they could carry on north, back to Auckland and home. Hopefully they'll be back here before I go home.