NZ +9: At the Mall

People said before I came here that NZ was just like Britain, but in the 50s. It's actually not. The streets are laid out in a grid pattern in Christchurch, there are long straight avenues with stores, diners, motels on either side, there is a Dairy on every street corner, the road signs are yellow diamonds, and then shopping centre is called a Mall. That all sounds more like somewhere else.

And yesterday, we went to the Mall. Let me introduce you to some of the shops...



Now, don't go in here and expect to buy pick'n'mix, a Sindy Doll and an over priced CD. Woolworths over here is basically ASDA. In the corner, you can make out the $2 Shop, which is the Pound Shop and sells stuff that is identical to the stuff they sell in the pound shops in Shirley.

Now, this is Farmers...



This is Debenhams. You can see from the picture that you have to run the gauntlet of the heavily made-up women at the Revlon counter who have to tip their heads back to get their eyes open before you can get into the shop proper...

Noel Leeming is the kind of local electrical store that Jeremy Spake advertises...



A sort of Rumbelows, if you like.

K-Mart is where you go if you want to buy some jelly babies, some engine oil and some slippers all in one trip.



Very classy. Very upmarket clientel. (Is that how you spell that?)

And Hallensteins is Next. I bought a fleece in the sale. Only $19, which is less than £8. I dread to think what it would be like earning the Kiwi dollar and having to tour round the UK for a month. you would be destitute when you got back...



And of course, wherever you go...

NZ +8: Queenstown to Chchch*

A fairly uneventful day, taken up mainly by the long drive back north to Christchurch.

We went back up to Omaramamama, (who I hear have a new single out, but without Siobhan), and then cut across to the coast and State Highway 1 from there.

This first part of this road passed long sweeping lakes, very reminiscent of the Lake District at home. Or perhaps Scotland, as they are called Lake Benmore and Lake Aviemore. The Lakes are dammed for hydro-electric purposes, which adds to the dramatic landscape.

Then is was through Waitaki or "Wallaby Country" as advertised on its welcome signs. This is a bit like Hampshire advertising itself as "Jane Austen Country", in that you are not likely to see Jane Austen as you drive through. Quite frankly, if I were promoting somewhere as Wallaby Country, I would invest in a few bloody wallabies. In the immortal words of Susie Blake... "And wallaby seems to be asleep, Claire..."

Anyway, we arrived at Waimate for lunch. Of sorts. Do cheese and chicken really go together in a sandwich? I did get a photo here, but it's nothing to write home about...



so I won't.


(*Chchch is my new Christchurch abbreviation, as seen on phone numbers and advertising hoardings here when people can't be arsed to write the whole word...)

NZ +7: Arrowtown

Right, well, it's actually Saturday now, so officially NZ +9, but this is the first chance I've had to be on a computer since Thursday and you will all know that's cold turkey for me. So, let's get Arrowtown out of the way first, which was Thursday afternoon.

Before I came away, I spoke to my sister and asked her to email me with anything in particular she thought we might miss and shouldn't, and conversely, anything she thought we might go and see but that really wasn't worth the effort. (She lived in NZ for a while when she worked for KPMG). I can't remember the exact contents of her email back to me (in fact, I have difficulty remembering the email at all... hmmm), but Arrowtown should have been on her second list...



It's an old gold mining town, as are so many around Queenstown. The problem is, it's trying to set itself up as a genuine historic village where things haven't changed much since "them there olden times" and it fails completely. Despite the one of two well-preserved buildings...



..and the nods to colonialism...



...it doesn't really cut it.

There are supposed to be very strict planning regulations here that stops anyone building anything that might be out of character, but Queenstown District Council apparently doesn't have the money to fight the planning abuse that's going on actually in the town, never mind in some of its outlying villages.

So the retail centre and office space that they are currently building just to the right of the post box (you can see scaffolding if you look carefully) will no doubt add to the charm of the place...

Anyway, of some interest was the old mining trail. Chinese miners came here and basically stole the gold. They set up little settlements of their own and built huts and stores which remain to this day...



...there is a whole series of them extending up the valley...



...complemented by a range of information boards which give a detailed account of mining in the area, and show that the New Zealanders welcomed the Chinese immigrants with open arms...
(you'll have to click on it to read it properly...)

And that's Arrowtown.

NZ +7: McChocolate

Not Hot.
Not Chocolately.
1/10, for the marshmallow.

NZ +7: The Mirror Project

My photo was accepted!

NZ +7: Where's the clue?? Where's the clue??

I know that only a limited number of people will actually get the title of this post, but for those that do, the woman who drove us up to the helicopter actually looked liked Wincey...

I don't have a photo of her, but here's the chopper...



We were in the safe hands of Bob, who didn't make jokes about only being a pilot for 20 minutes or anything. He was reassuringly about 50 and looked liked he was trained by the Royal Navy. This made me feel a lot safer as we did this...



We flew over Queenstown...



And landed on the top of the Remarkables, the range of mountains you can see from our hotel room, and where there was snow!



There was also an excellent view of the Southern Alps, in fact several excellent views of them, again, not done justice by the photos...



But we landed safely and we are off to Arrowtown this afternoon.

NZ +7 (already): Keep AWAY from the big rocks, please!

Well, warmed up by the 4x4 yesterday, and having already decided against the bungee jumping, it was time for a thrill seeking day...

This morning we went on the Shotover Jet Boat. Nathan, our driver, graduate of the Del School of Black Humour, let us know that he had been driving the jet boats for at least a couple of days. Although coupled with the long screed you have to read about you or your next of kin not being able to sue them if anything went wrong, his comments perhaps weren't well judged.

Anyway, here are a few photos, which you are very lucky to get because there is also some warning about dropping your camera over the side and them not going back to get it.



Right, that one is a bit of a cheat, because it's not us. It's the people who went after us and it was then I realised that I hadn't actually got a photo of the boat. It's blurred, but that's not because I am a crap photographer; it is because they are going fast.

Right, this is us...



We got closer to the rocks than that. Again, small photo not really doing the thrill factor justice. That's Edith Cavell Bridge up ahead. As with Scott, I feel that I ought to know more about her... What was she famous for? Someone enlighten me...

I do have a short bit of video of the trip, including their infamous 360 degree turn, which he started off giving us warning that he was going to do, and then kind of didn't. I'm trying to find some webspace to upload it so you can see, but no such luck so far.

Anyway, here's a bit more speed...



It was very cold and the heated handrails that you have to hold onto weren't working yet, as we were the first trip of the day.

Here's one more. I know they're not very good, but you have to appreciate that my fingers weren't really working properly...



We can apparently access the Alton-Towers-esque souvenir photos they take of you on the web. If I can find it, I'll share it with you at a later date. They fleeced us for $39 for the photo pack anyway, so you can always see it when I get back...

NZ +6: Skippers Canyon in the 4x4

Just got back from our 4x4 journey into Skippers Canyon, which is an 19th Century gold mining track up into the mountains behind Queenstown.

I'm not sure that words will adequately describe either the views, the sheer drops, the sliding about on the mud in 4-wheel drive as the Shotover River winds its way through the gorge some 80m below. So here come the photos...

This was while we were still on the metalled road going up to the ski field. And we still felt quite safe. Our driver, Del, was very reassuring. But also had that "no-one's died yet" sense of humour, which was well meaning, I'm sure.



Anyway, here comes the dangerous bit...

This was typical of the road ahead for about 17km, the distance the miners walked down the valley out of Queenstown to get to the first gold fields. The road was built by them, sometimes taking 6 months to build 20m if they had to drill through rocks...



Sheer drops on either side at all times...



And lots to see on the way...

This old bridge used to be used as a bungee jump, but it's so far out of the way and at 85m, not really thrilling enough any more. Thrilling enough for me though, even without the elastic and the throwing myself off it...



When there was a huge mining community living here, they needed a school. And they had one. It's just over the bridge and has been restored by the NZ Culture people. There was no curator there and no locks on the doors. It's so far out that you just open the door and have a look round. They ask you to shut the doors again when you leave. It's the least we could do...



It's worth remembering at this point that this school house is an hour and a half's drive along roads like the ones in the previous pictures. It says on the wall that they were subject to inspection like every other school, but when they saw the inspectors coming up the road, they just taught some English and Maths for a couple of hours till they went away again...



This is Del, making tea for us. They think of everything...



And now for the Lord of the Rings bit. If either Roger or Anne Bailey is reading this, they will correct any factual errors.

This is the bit where Harry, fleeing from the death eaters is pursued across the river. He's unconscious and on a white horse (good) with Professor McGonagle. The baddies (black horses) get washed away by a (thankfully absent) CGI wave which comes round this corner...




Anyway, we got back safely. More to come tomorrow...

NZ +6: Corporate Hot Chocolate

Needed after being out in the cold, but only a 4/10. Hanmer Springs rated 8/10. There will be a top ten leagure by then end of the holiday.

NZ +5: The Ice Bar

We went into Queenstown yesterday evening for food and drink and generally to stretch our car weary legs. There's a free shuttle minibus from the lodge, so no need for the car here yet.

It was very weird being out at 7pm and it being dark, as we've just come from British summer, but anyone who knows me knows that I prefer winter, so am really in my element. It should be dark when you go out in the evening!



The town is very bustling, even in mid-winter, as it's a ski centre. Lots of nice places to eat and drink but probably not enough time to try them all in the three days we are here.

But we did go to Minus 5, which was actually minus 8 last night. It's commonly known as the Ice Bar. Basically a refrigerated room of the sort you get in supermarkets to keep meat in. But done up as a bar. Everything is made of ice, including the glasses you drink out of...

You're only allowed to stay in there for half an hour, or you might get hyperthermia, and they do you up in a big coat and gloves before you're allowed through the door.



(I include this photo of me only to show I am actually here and not just sitting in my room at home a la Shelley from the Rovers, getting the photos of someone else's holiday off the internet.)

When I say that everything is made of ice, I obviously mean most things. A cash register of ice would be just impractical. You get a free cocktail, and the whole thing is sponsored by a popular brand of vodka.



I have lots of photos from in the bar, partly because you had to keep your fingers moving otherwise they would seize up, and partly because I was experimenting with different modes on the camera. The whole place had a very blue tinge to it, which didn't really come out if you used the flash...



...but did if you didn't...



We enjoyed ourselves anyway...



...and, replete with vodka, we came back out into the relative warm and went off back to the lodge to bed.

Footnote: before we went out into Queenstown in the evening, we booked 4x4 off road trailing, which we are doing this afternoon. And jet boating which we are doing tomorrow morning. And a helicopter journey up into the mountains which we are doing tomorrow afternoon. Thought for several seconds about jumping off a bridge suspended only by a piece of rubber band, but decided that dollar per minute, there were better ways of spending money... And also it looked too scary.

NZ +5: The Journey to Queenstown

It's actually Wednesday morning now, so really NZ +6,(and Happy Birthday, Chris Chappell!) but I'm going to post some photos of the journey yesterday which, although long, was just amazing. To be honest, if we had stopped at every view which was worth a photo, or greater appreciation than just zipping past at 120 (that's kph, so don't worry!). we would have never got here.

Here's a sample:



This was our first really good view of mountains in the distance. The first part of the journey (about 4 hours) was characterised by views like this, mountains which never seemed to get any closer and very long straight roads.



More of the same, which makes it seem very tedious, which it wasn't at all. Every two minutes the view seemed to change completely as the long straight road turned a slight bend into another stretch of long straight road.

And of course, we got our closest to Mount Cook, NZ's highest mountain, which, going the way we went, yout get a view of for about 5 minutes. You can't see it before you get to the viewpoint at all, and it disappears completely after you leave. Being as it is the middle of winter, there were about 3 other people there...



It was a bit hazy, and that photo was on 11x digital zoom. The next one gives you a fairer impression of how far we were away from it still..



We stopped at a place called Omarama for coffee, that's where I posted the last entry



The word fast was somwhat of a misnomer as I think the whole of the town communications infrastructure was carried thus:



Anyway, after Omaramamama, we got into the mountains. High passess and narrower, twistier, altogether more dangerous roads. But still with views British people would pack a picnic for...



Finally arrived at Queenstown about 5.30pm and settled into the lodge...



..and we were all a bit disappointed with the view from the window...



All for the equivalent of £40 a night, breakfast included. That's £40 for the room, for all three of us. Not each.

NZ +5: Arrived in Queenstown

The journey to Queenstown took about 8 hours in total, stopping for lunch and regular coffee.

The scenery was just breathtaking. I'll describe it all better when I have time.

I can't share any of it with you at the moment, as the computer I'm on is not equipped with any form of plug to attach a digital camera. It's barely equipped with a keyboard, but a high percentage of the most common letters are here. If I have to write anything in Maori, I've had it. I suspect that might be the case over the next four days, and you will have to wait until the weekend for the slideshow.

We stopped at Mount Cook. Well, at the Mount Cook viewpoint - it was still another 50km away or thereabouts. Again, you will have to wait for photos. But you've probably seen it anyway...

The view from the lodge window is fantastic, as is the view from the bathroom window, which has no blinds. Hence you can shower while looking out over snow capped mountains.

It's actually nothing but snow capped mountains here. But scenery fatigue hasn't set in yet...!

NZ +5: Off to Queenstown

We're up early this morning as we are off to Queenstown. Hoping to get some good views as we drive into the mountains, particularly of Aoraki (Mount Cook), NZ's highest mountain.

Depending on Internet access, I might not be posting until we get back to Christchurch at the weekend, so see you then!

NZ +4: Cemetery and Sulphur

Today we drove north out of Christchurch into Northern Canterbury...
(click the map for a better view)



...to a small village called Waikari.

We went there because David's dad grew up in the village and his grandparents are buried here. Their final resting place has an amazing view...



We also went to see his Dad's old school...



(notice map of NZ on playground)

...where we had a chat with the peripetetic drama and music teacher. She wasn't really rushed off her feet as the school only had 30 pupils with her, a principal and two other full-time teachers. And if you think that would be expensive to run, you are right. She was saying that a lot of the schools in villages such as Waikari had been closed down and children were bussed away to larger towns. Here though, the principal had obviously done her NPQH and worked out her vision of how to up pupil numbers...



Helen was the principal. We didn't see her. She was at the school house having lunch and, perhaps, taking calls.

We then drove further up Route 7 to Hanmer Springs, which is a lovely little resort village. They have strong smelling sulphorous hot springs which you can go and wallow in, if you feel inclined. I didn't. I had a hot chocolate instead. It was the absolute best hot chocolate ever - very silky and smooth, swirly chocolate syrup in the top and marshmallows - and it was served in something the size of a cereal bowl...



(Phone cameras are useful when you don't want to attract attention to the fact that you are trying to take a picture of your drink in case they cart you off to the funny farm.)

Hanmer nestles in the foothills of the Southern Alps, so there's a lot of scenery like this, which isn't really done justice by a photo.



You also have to cross this bridge to get to it...



...which, if we'd seen it from this angle before we did so, we might not have done. It is single track and has a rather pleading sign at each end asking for only one heavy vehicle to use it at once. Were we heavy? What if we weren't heavy, but someone following us was? The additional weight of someone bunjy jumping from the sides might have have left us starring in When Bridges Collapse on Channel 5.

As promised, here's the photo of the car and some scenery...