tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-763995919568922852024-03-20T01:32:24.467+13:00Charlie and Mel Schofield-Hindley's tales of adventureThe ongoing adventures of Charlie and Mel as they travel around the Southern Hemisphere. Stories of marriage, people and places!Mel Schofield-Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02170755140451004346noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-59062936659845534912012-01-12T04:16:00.000+13:002012-11-20T09:53:48.226+13:00The Final Weeks...<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">One thing is for certain: We aint in the southern hemisphere any more people! As I write this blog entry, I’m sitting in a pub on <st1:address w:st="on"><st1:street w:st="on">George Street</st1:street>, <st1:city w:st="on">Edinburgh</st1:city></st1:address>, surrounded by posters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sir Walter Scott, bottles of single malt whiskey, a plethora of cask conditioned ales and lots of Scottish folk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">It would be hard to envisage such contrast in backdrops from our hidden away jungle idyll in the farthest reaches of <st1:place w:st="on">Borneo</st1:place>, where just a few months ago, we sat baking in the tropical sunshine. Since then we have:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">been on 2 flights<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">several train journeys <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">clocked up many more miles on the bikes<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">navigated our way through 4 countries</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">I turned 32<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">visited friends and family in <st1:country-region w:st="on">France</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">England</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Scotland</st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Mel has worked in Lush Edinburgh <o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Moved into the flat we’ll be renting in Musselburgh<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">couch surfed with more great people<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">missed Nelson a lot!<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">been to Lucy and Ed Todd’s wedding<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">met our new niece, Felicity<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">and much, much more<o:p></o:p></span></li>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I can barely express the mix of emotions I’m experiencing as I go over all the stuff we’ve done since the last entry. I’m also not sure how to end this blog or even if I should – I’ll have to give it a new title mind you, can’t exactly go on calling it our adventures in the southern hemisphere any more can I? In fairness, anything I do from now on would pale in comparison with all that has happened since we left <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Newcastle</st1:place></st1:city> a lifetime ago. Hmm. Best make this the last entry then. We’ll add more photos before too long, but I didn’t want to leave it much longer without bringing you up to speed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Are we happy to be back in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region>? Happy to see our friends and family again and happy to be able to buy cheap fruit and veg in the supermarkets again. But if we’re honest, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Zealand</st1:place></st1:country-region> was as close to heaven as any place we have ever visited in our lives. The entire trip we have just undertaken was more life affirming and enriching than anything we could have done had we stayed at home. It was the best journey we could have hoped for. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I think it would be best if I finish with a few words of advice for anyone thinking of doing something like us whilst the best part of your life is still ahead of you. The most important part of your life is right now, it’s all you’ll ever have, be present and live it well!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">To all those we have met and to all those who have kept up with this blog - Many thanks for reading – We hope to see you again soon…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The End<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mel unpacking her bike at the airport in Paris</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB">PS: Mel and I are hoping to get this printed some time in the not too distant future, we would really appreciate any comments or witty anecdotes you may have – feel free to post them on this web page and we’ll add them to the book.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting to board the ferry to England in Dieppe</td></tr>
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Mel Schofield-Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02170755140451004346noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-49231478360597781012011-09-05T14:52:00.001+12:002012-11-20T10:18:54.422+13:00Malaysia & Borneo, the first 12 days, 23rd August – 3rd September 2011It took us 10 days to find it, but I think we have stumbled across our own little bit of Borneo paradise. ‘Sepilok B&B’ is quiet, simple and surrounded by wildlife. We arrived here a few days ago by coach from Kota Kinabalu, which by comparison was not such a nice place to visit. Mel and I have vivid memories of our last backpacking journey through Asia and all the guest houses and bamboo huts we frequented along the way and since we arrived in Borneo (after spending one night at the ‘Tune Hotel’ at Kuala Lumpur airport) we have been searching to find a similar place. It isn’t perfect by any means, but it ticks most of our boxes. Mel would still have liked hammocks and fresh fruit on demand, but apart from that it’s amazing really.
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We flew from KL to Kuching – the capital of the state of Sarawak the day after arriving into Peninsular Malaysia. Kuching is a nice town. It has everything one might expect from an increasingly developing Asian state capital. Lots of shopping, lots of restaurants and hotels. There is a real blend of the old and the new. We spent our first 2 nights at the Singassama B & B on the fringes of the old town. This was a good, clean hostel with an excellent roof-top bar which also served as the breakfast room in the mornings. We enjoyed our stay there. The staff were very nice, if a little too cool for school in attitude during the day. I’m not sure what they smoke there, but the apathy was well rehearsed.
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Borneo is famous for its native wildlife and when pressed to tell you what animals come from Borneo, most kids will say orang-utans, or perhaps; “Those orange monkey things”. 20,000 of the worlds 27,000 orang-utans are here and no trip to Borneo would be complete without visiting one of the rehabilitation centres specialising in re-introducing them to the jungle. This is a process which can take many years and as a result, many of the young orang-utans remain close to the staff and the rehab centres as they can always receive free fruit twice a day without actually having to do any work for it. We visited Semengoh orang-utan sanctuary after a short local bus trip out of Kuching and we were happy that we did so.
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Semengoh rehab centre is situated at the end of a 1 km road that takes you from the main highway through the jungle, past some amazing botanical collections, before snaking its way down into a valley where one is met by a welcome sign and a clear warning not to approach the wildlife, because they may injure you. It was such an awesome experience to be so close to these primates and we had timed our visit to coincide with the 3pm feeding time. Overall we must have been able to view 8 or 9 orang-utan, including a mother with her young baby. I can hear your collective ‘aahh’ from here!! The park rangers were very clear that we should not do anything to spook the animals like no noisy cameras, no loud talking. Of course, the three gap-year Brits next to us spent the entire time talking loudly about how amazing their camera was and pointing and laughing loudly at the natural behaviour of the orang-utans – makes me so proud!
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Semengoh appears to be a well run place and despite the annoying idiots who come to visit from time to time, it is well worth the visit and so much better than watching animals in the zoo. There were even a couple of very large crocodiles in very small caged enclosures, basking in the 34 degree temperature. We made some short films there and they are available for you to see on Flickr at your leisure (once our internet condescends to upload them!).
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After a short walk back to the main road, through one of the botanical collections of bamboo, (did you know some bamboo can grow as much as 1.2 metres in length each day) we were back at the bus stop where we put our feet up for an hour and watched a stray looking dog dodge expertly in and out of the fast flowing traffic. Millhouse would have been flattened many times in that hour.
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We wanted to visit Bako National Park from Kuching and we were able to do so by local bus and then a small boat. We arrived and hopped off our boat to be greeted by our campsite neighbours, the very friendly Mosquitoes! It was only 10 Malaysian Ringgit per night to camp out there, that’s £2 or roughly $4 to the rest of us. Not bad, for an almost empty campsite in the very heart of Borneo’s jungle.
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It is very hot and very humid here, not really surprising, but I can tell you in all honesty that I was not able to sleep at all in the tent during our 2 night stay at Baku because it was so unbelievably sticky. It was defiantly worth the trip though. We saw so much wildlife and enjoyed quiet beaches and hiking through the jungle. It would have been even better if there hadn’t been a chronic water shortage and therefore no showers or any means to flush the toilets during our stay. How lovely we smelled!!! To be fair though, the sea was warm and we just did our best to wash in there each morning. We actually found 1 tap near the entrance to the café that worked, so we managed to fill a bucked and use that to wash hair on the second day.
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We came into close contact with the following jungle dwelling creatures during our visit to the park: bearded pigs, a monitor lizard, a vine snake, pit vipers, stick insects, a flying lemur, lots of geckos, skinks, kingfishers, a drongo, Proboscis monkeys, long-tailed macaques, bats, swallows, ants, mosquitoes, bees, fire-flies, hornets, assorted fish, spiders, squirrels and Speedo wearing German tourists! Mel was attacked in 2 separate incidences by the Macaques. It was only her fierce Scottish tones which saved her from physical harm, as the screaming little Chavs attempted to intimidate her into surrendering her bottled water. I was not present at either altercation, but I was able to hear the attacks from some distance away.<br />
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During our trip to the jungle there we also came went on a night walk with a guide in the hope that we would see some of the mammals which frequent the forest at night. Sadly, we didn’t see any rare cats or tree dwelling mammals, although I was bitten by an ant which felt like someone putting a cigarette out on my ankle! While there, we met a Spanish brother and sister who went out at night in search of wildlife and showed us some lovely photographs of snakes and a cat, so at least we know that they were out there somewhere.
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The humidity was eventually broken on our second night in the tent. The thunder claps and lightening started at around 12:30am and it began to rain at 5:30am, sending me and fellow camper Matt scampering out in the rain to grab our still wet clothing off the washing line in our boxer-shorts. We must have looked hilarious, the American and the Englishman, running around in the half naked in the dark of the jungle, frantically trying to collect our belongings before the real deluge began.
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That morning, in between rain showers, we had breakfast with Matt, a programmer from Atlanta who works wherever he wants, due to the nature of his job and Naomi, formally a Ballet dancer turned world explorer, from Skegness, Lincolnshire. We all got a boat back to the port together and met up for a drink that evening at the roof-top bar of the hostel we had stayed at on our first 2 nights in town.
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There is plenty to get your teeth stuck into in Kuching, including a good selection of markets and shopping centres, as well as different types of food, as long as you like everything fried. We were able to find a vegetarian place which weighs the food you choose to eat from the buffet in order to figure out how much to charge you for your lunch or dinner. I think that is a much better way of doing the all-you-can eat thing than charging a flat rate to everyone. KFC is everywhere, and judging by the ever increasing number of fat people here in Malaysia, it is consumed regularly.
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We went on an evening sunset cruise on the river on our first evening there, and we also went to visit the interesting cat museum. They seem to really like cats here -the cities name, Kuching, means cat in Malay. We also spent time searching for bargains and trying out new and interesting looking fruit in the old towns’ market area. Most of the stalls selling clothes sell knock-off polo shirts and so-called designer sunnies. It’s a shopper’s paradise really, not quite as good as Thailand for value, but getting close.
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Before long it was time for flight number 3 in just under a week, as we moved onto Kota Kinabalu, again with the impressive Air Asia. We were really looking forward to another city with lots of character and its own unique atmosphere, as we had found in Kuching, but to be honest we were not that lucky. We arrived during the meeting of the end of Ramadan and other national holidays to a city which is more or less empty and closed up at this time of year. We made our way via a hostel that no longer exists, except on the internet, to the ‘Borneo Adventure Backpackers’. Not a nice place to stay, we moved the next day to ‘Lavender Lodge’ which is much better and included breakfast.
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During our 3 nights in Kota Kinabalu, we enjoyed our first wedding anniversary. It had been a year since we were standing in the Botanic Gardens in Brisbane with Tim, Debs, Savannah and Rob and we decided to celebrate by taking a trip to a nearby island to go snorkelling. Sapi Island was packed with more people than it could comfortably fit on the main beaches, so we ventured around to an empty beach to enjoy the clear waters and do a spot of snorkelling. It turned out to be OK. We were a little saddened by the piles of rubbish everywhere, glass, plastic, all floating everywhere and destroying the otherwise pristine waters, if you discount the non-existent coral. I guess it’s just a sign of the times. That day we met a couple of nice Kiwi ladies who are teaching in Jakarta and we all agreed that the best time to visit this area was probably 50 years ago. For our anniversary meal, Mel and I visited a really nice restaurant and enjoyed lots of fresh, unfired veggies (really very rare in Borneo) and a nice bit of home-made chocolate brownie each.
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That all brings us rather nicely to our trip by coach across the state of Sabah to our current location of Sepilok. The coach journey was a good experience, we could see the mountains on both sides of the road, including the world renowned Kota Kinabalu which was very impressive. The saddest thing has been the amount of destroyed jungle, cleared for mono-culture and in particular for palm-oil groves. If you have any respect and concern for the wildlife of this world and the global impact that has been brought about by all this truly awful destruction of native, irreplaceable rainforest and jungle then please stop buying products with palm-oil in them. Buy ethical cosmetics from companies like ‘Lush’ and always read the label before you buy anything which contains oil. By making your own feelings known by buying ethically, the extremely rich oil producers will be forced to find ways of producing oil without damaging primary rainforest.
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Our accommodation here, as previously stated, is much more what we have been searching for since we arrived in Borneo. The place seems to be surrounded by all the sights, smells and sounds one would expect from the jungle. On our first evening here we spotted an Oriental hornbill in the jacaranda outside our room, they are the most stunning birds, apparently they are everywhere here, I hope so.
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2 evenings ago we visited the ‘Rainforest Discovery Centre’, which is a 5 minute walk from the B & B. If you are ever here then you simply have to visit that place. It has one of the best collections of plants that you simply can’t grow in our home climate, as well as lots of jungle walks and a fantastic canopy walkway. There was practically nobody there and Mel and I had the canopy walk to ourselves as sunset approached. It was quite something to watch all the parrots and a hornbill flying around trying to find a suitable roosting spot for the night. There don’t really appear to be any staff around either, so if you are staying close by then you could probably just walk in the early evening and enjoy the place for free, not that it costs much to get in anyway. Just make sure that you don’t hurt yourself because there would be nobody to help!
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We had thought about booking to go and spend the night on ‘Turtle Island’, so we sent into Sandakan city yesterday to go and find out more. Having explored the costs and weighed everything up though, we decided against it. It sounds like a great deal of money for another over populated trip where you are told when to eat, when to take photo’s and no doubt when to buy over priced tat. We have decided that 4 more nights in the jungle suits us best, much more our style. The trip into town was enjoyable though, as we made our way up what are known as the ‘100 steps’ to the ‘English Tea House’. We enjoyed a pot of tea and some lovely crumpets beside the Croquet lawn. The light breeze and the great views were a welcome break from the rather intense tropical heat.
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<br />Charles Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10342733292290303420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-49584838580108415702011-09-03T18:24:00.000+12:002012-11-23T07:10:24.410+13:00Christchurch 20th - 23rd August 2011<br />
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To be honest we weren’t sure exactly what to expect from our trip to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Christchurch</st1:place></st1:city>. We were reminded each and every day on the news about how much damage had been done to the CBD and how they have had to endure literally thousands of aftershocks since the last big quake in February which killed 183 people. We had actually been fortunate enough to find a Warm Showers host for a few nights, Richard, a real stroke of luck, given that more than 50,000 people have been displaced during the last year of earthquakes. Richard even had plumbing in his house. Richard, a Psychiatrist, actually had many extremely cool things, such as a warm welcoming character, a passion for cooking and a million dollar view from his apartment, high up on the hill in the <st1:place w:st="on">Cashmere</st1:place> area of the city. Richard was working nights at the hospital when we stayed, but he still took the time to drive us round some of the affected areas of the city (<st1:city w:st="on">Littleton</st1:city> and Sumner), along with his good friend Chris, another doctor, from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Auckland</st1:place></st1:city>, visiting for the weekend.</div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">After loading up our bikes after our long bus trip from Te Anau, we cycled up to Richard’s place and experienced our first Cantabrian earthquake of note. The city shook all around us as a 4.3 struck just 10 Km deep. It was the first of 3 notable quakes which we felt during our stay with Richard. We arrived at Richard’s to a note on the stairs inviting us to make our own way in and help ourselves to a very tasty dinner of vegan curry, still warm on the stove and to make ourselves at home. We had just put our stuff into his massive spare room when he and Chris arrived. We enjoyed a chat and his great hospitality that evening, before heading off to bed, wandering how many more quakes we might feel before next morning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I’m told that there had been quake during the night, I was not aware of it though – although Mel was still awake at 1am and felt everything shaking. After cooking porridge we all made our way across the hill to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Littleton</st1:place></st1:city>, one of the seriously damaged areas of town. We played Petanque and drank coffee together at the recently created <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Littleton</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Community</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Garden</st1:placetype></st1:place>, an area of wasteland created when a warehouse collapsed in February. Everywhere we looked buildings had been removed or had been given different coloured stickers attributed to homes and public buildings designated for either repair of demolition. There were lots of families out spending time together, I noticed lots of parents our age playing with their kids or out drinking coffee in the impromptu cafes dotted here and there. Indeed, everywhere we travelled we met families who were happy to be together outside in the early spring sunshine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We made our way through town a few times to visit different attractions and <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Christchurch</st1:place></st1:city> still has much to offer the visitor. The Botanic Gardens and the Air Force Museum were both well worth the free entrance fee. We had to leave our bikes outside the Botanic Gardens one day and we were lucky to return to them with anything left on them. A thief had decided to open up all the zips on my cycle panniers and my tool kit. He took a couple of things, but nothing worth any money, a swiss army knife which Mel had found on the side of the road and a spanner that had cost me $3. Why not just take the cycle panniers? They are worth hundreds. People are strange.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Our time in NZ was coming to an end for now and we were both all too aware of that. We spent quite a bit of time walking round the Botanic Gardens together and reminiscing and acknowledging all the great events we had experienced together and all the great once-in-a-lifetime moments we had made possible by jacking in our old lives for a while in search of the adventure. As the plane took off from <st1:city w:st="on">Christchurch</st1:city> airport and as it flew way over the Southern Alps before crossing the Pacific and the great land mass of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region> there was more than a frog in the throat and an understanding smile shared between us. The best year of our lives? Probably.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Mel Schofield-Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02170755140451004346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-43358412666167451282011-09-03T18:23:00.001+12:002011-09-03T19:21:06.375+12:00South of the South Island, NZ -Te Anau 13-20th August<div class="MsoNormal">Te Anau seems another lifetime today. I’m sitting on a park bench in the semi-shade of a timber-framed lodge set in the heart of what is left of the Bornean jungle in the state of <st1:place w:st="on">Sabah</st1:place>. Since my last entry many thousands of miles by land, sea and air as we continue what can only be described as the most self-indulgent honeymoon in history. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">It is hard to overstate the juxtaposition of our experience during our final days in NZ to where we are now, so I’ll simply describe our final days in wonderful South Island and then go on to describe our first 10 days in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Malaysia</st1:country-region> and <st1:place w:st="on">Borneo</st1:place> in a separate entry.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Te Anau is one of the gateway townships that lead to the massive Fiordland national park that sits on the far south west of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Zealand</st1:place></st1:country-region>. It is still relatively unspoilt in areas and still contains vast stretches of forest untouched by humans since the dawn of the country. Packed with stunning landscapes of mountains, lakes and lush woodland, it attracts masses of tourists every year and although we do leave an impact, it is still fair to say that DOC have done their best to keep much of the area intact. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">We booked onto a tour from Te Anau to Milford Sound on our penultimate day in the national park and we were treated to fine weather and a really good tour guide. We were chatting with him about our upcoming trip to <st1:place w:st="on">Borneo</st1:place> and he explained how he and his wife had been here and they hired a car and saw lots of the island that way. We decided it was food for thought. He also told us how sad it was to drive through the thousands of acres of Palm-Oil groves here, where there used to be jungle (more on that later). The tour took us on a winding road through ancient forests of beech and over crystal clear waters, past enormous avalanche piles on both sides of the highway and these served as a reminder as to how lucky we were with the sunny conditions that day. That highway is the only road in or out of Milford Sound and due to the large amounts of tourist buses going through, up to 150 per/day in the summer months, they do a pretty good job of keeping it clear.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Mirror Lakes on the road to Milford Sound</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avalanche area!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The road ahead - a bit chilly</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">On arrival at the ferry terminal, they tried to sell plane and chopper tickets to us for our return journeys, with prices starting from as little as $600 for around 35 seconds in the air I estimated. They do make their money! Once herded onto one of the massive boats, the 2.5 hour trip around Milford Sound began. I had heard it stated that it is impossible to describe the beauty of Fiordland because of it’s immense scale; powerful waterfalls, 2,000 metres to the bottom of the Fiord, 1,500 metres to the top of the mountains, dolphins, penguins, fur seals… You get the general picture. Had Mel and I had a little more time on our hands, I think we would have spent the night there though, so that we would have a chance to see all these things without the other tourists. There were people on that ferry who didn’t even go outside to look at it all. The was a young boy of around 12 who sat and read his book for the entire journey, a spiteful look on his face, and everywhere, the sound of digital cameras turning off/on/off/on. People spend more time photographing things of interest and outstanding natural beauty than they do looking at them. Why travel at all if this is your obsession? We had a brilliant time, don’t get me wrong, It’s just people I don’t understand at times. Over the last few years, the same thing had been happening during every event imaginable. Kids filming other kids getting beaten in the classrooms, people fighting to get the front at a Kings of Leon gig to watch the entire thing through their blue-screened little touch phone, after the riots in Tottenham, people meeting and greeting the Prince of Wales, not even looking at his face in case they missed a chance to capture it for their Facebook or Youtube site. I must be getting old or out of touch, but does anyone else out there agree that we should think about enjoying the reality of things a bit more again? My point being that Milford Sound can only, truly be experienced through your own senses, any effort on my part to seriously describe it can only fail – go and see it for yourself and you’ll see what I mean. Failing that, check out the photos and smell my hypocrisy.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Mel and I were really pleased we took in the national park and we felt rested after being confined to our room for the vast majority of that week. Just as well really, as we were about to head up to the shaky city on a 10 hour coach journey the following morning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Mel Schofield-Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02170755140451004346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-52307318112661526402011-08-15T19:52:00.000+12:002012-11-23T07:17:10.526+13:00Te Anau 15th August<br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Mel and I are in Te Anau staying at the YHA. The weather forecast for severe snow storms coming straight from the Antarctic has proved correct and has lead to masses of snow down to ground level, so we will sit it out here until the predicted onslaught is over. I can’t believe that we have been on our travels for over a year now, but so much has happened in that time that I suppose it has to have been that long. We are looking forward to our tour of Milford Sound in a couple of days time, we expect to spend 1 night in Milford after taking a trip on a ferry to visit the timeless beauty that surrounds the area. Figures crossed we don’t get stuck there for too long.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It has been a massive shame to see and read so much about the riots back in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region>. It is all many people can talk about with us and everybody has an opinion about how and why the individuals involved have done what they have done. I must admit my first reaction to the national mess was that of anger. How can so many people of all ages have so few values to the extent that they want to kill, burn and loot from their own communities? Here in <st1:country-region w:st="on">New Zealand</st1:country-region>, where 50,000 people have been displaced by the consistent earthquakes in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Christchurch</st1:city></st1:place>, with so many loosing everything they care about, the sense of community and togetherness has been very powerful. My point being that it always seems to take an absolute disaster to actually make people from every background realise that we are all in this together and that we must value each other and respect each other to stand a chance of rebuilding the values which made England a decent place to live for the majority, for a long time. I think our friend Claire Howard summed up the true feeling of the good people out there when she posted ‘Make tea, not war!’ on her Facebook page. Let’s hope more people take notice of that message in the months to come.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Since we left <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dunedin</st1:place></st1:city> it has become tougher to cycle from place to place and we have reluctantly given in to the weather and booked buses from place to place. We did manage to clock up 180 Km in just 2 days from Invercargill to Curio Bay, via Slope Point and back to Invercargill last week. It was such a feeling of achievement to make it to Slope Point as it is the most southern point of New Zealand’s mainland and means that we have now set foot at each point of the axis of both islands and we have done it mostly by bike, clocking up thousands of kms in the process. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The journey down to Slope Point proved to be far easier than the return trip to Invercargill. We were blown down the road by a healthy tail wind which grew into a monster overnight and hit us straight on the following day, throwing us off our bikes at least a dozen times. I’m just grateful that we weren’t injured or run over to be perfectly honest. We just have to be grateful that the roads are almost empty down here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Invercargill proved to be an interesting experience. We stayed at a BBH in Invercargill called ‘Southern Comfort’. It was exceptional. Our double room was $64 per night; it was warm, brilliantly clean and extremely tastefully decorated. What made it even better was that the lady running the place was one of the friendliest and welcoming hosts you could ever wish to meet. For comfort and style, my favourite hostel since ‘Kahoe Farms’ in Northland. We stayed at the hostel for 2 nights overall, 1 on either side of our cycle south to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Curio</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Bay</st1:placetype></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Slope Point and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Curio</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Bay</st1:placetype></st1:place> are definitely well worth a visit. It is a bit of a struggle to cycle the unsealed road down there, but it wasn’t as hard on the gravel of the <st1:place w:st="on">South Island</st1:place>, as it was on the metal in the North. There is a yellow sign on the cliff-top there letting the traveller know that they are pretty much equidistant from the equator and the South Pole at that point. It did feel rather closer to the South Pole than the equator when we were being blown all over the shop by bitter Antarctic winds, grimacing into the camera to make sure that we marked the moment with photographic evidence. Later that same day we arrived at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Curio</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Bay</st1:placetype></st1:place> and checked into another lovely hostel, run by another nice lady, Glenda, and her great kids. It’s called the ‘Lazy Dolphin’ and as the only guests, we enjoyed sea views from our dorm. We went down to visit another colony of yellow eyed penguins, the same highly rare breed as those we saw whilst staying with Peter in Oamaru. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also saw a 170 million year old petrified forest before dinner that evening. We were lucky to have timed our visit perfectly as the tide was out and we saw a pair of penguins making their way up over the prehistoric rock formations to their overnight shelter amongst the shrubs and flax.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We stayed at a Couch Surf for our final 2 nights in Invercargill. We really enjoyed getting to know Carla, from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Argentina</st1:place></st1:country-region>. She is very excited at the moment as the national rugby team will be playing in Invercargill next month in the World Cup and she has tickets to see them against <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Romania</st1:place></st1:country-region>. We spent a lovely evening with her on our first night there; she cooked some seriously nice soup, roast veggies and apple pie. On the second night there, her husband Marc turned up to join us for the evening, having been away in Queenstown the night before and we cooked for them. Carla whipped up a fantastic chocolate custard pudding for us for afters that evening as well – she is a seriously good cook that one!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Invercargill was also memorable for its great public gardens, which includes a really impressive winter garden. We sat and ate our sandwiches in a little pagoda in there. It was lovely, warm and peaceful, surrounded by a great collection of flowering plants and a crystal clear pond full of goldfish. The gardens are also home to an interesting collection of farm animals and an ostrich. There is a museum built in the shape of a pyramid that adjoins the gardens. We went in there a couple of times and visited Henry the Tuatara. All of his wives and children live with him. He is over 110 years old and still going strong. Perhaps if we all ate bugs and lived in a hole in the ground…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">When we left Invercargill by Intercity, we were the only passengers to begin with, later being joined by 4 more brave souls, all heading to Te Anau. The YHA here is clean and slightly more populated than it perhaps might otherwise be at this time of year. Most of the guests here seem to be stuck here due to the weather – we are now stranded as all the roads are closed due to heavy snow falls. It’s early evening and Mel is busy making some dinner for us in the kitchen as I write – and in fact she has just called me to ask for some assistance so I better go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mel Schofield-Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02170755140451004346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-53628399176541384942011-08-08T10:51:00.003+12:002012-11-23T07:27:37.724+13:00Dunedin Highlights 7th August<div class="MsoNormal">
<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span lang="EN-GB">Dunedin</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB"> has lots of affordable activities for the interested visitor, we have managed to cram all sorts into our 8 days here and we haven’t been left bored at any point. One of the best highlights for foodies like us is the sheer variety of cheap, good quality cafes and restaurants littered about the centre of the city. This week we have frequented a fair number of them, on occasion eating a 2 course meal for as little as $11 and enjoying triple portions at an all-you-can-eat vegan buffet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Not much has gone wrong this week, so it’s probably best if we get that sort of stuff out of the way before ploughing on with all the good news. We suffered a bit of a blow 2 days ago on our way back from an amazing trip out to see the Royal Albatross colony at the end of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Otago</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Peninsula</st1:placetype></st1:place>. As we were crossing a road on our bikes my back wheel collapsed as I attempted to ride onto the cycle path from the main road. It has always been a bit of a dodgy back wheel and one which countless bike shop engineers have chuckled to themselves about on seeing it, suggesting that it was a terrible wheel; “…completely inadequate for the type of cycling you are doing, whoever built it is having a bit of a joke, mate.” It seems they were correct. The spokes shattered and I had to carry the 20 kilo frame all the way to the brilliant people at R & R in the town centre, where they built me a brand new back wheel and sorted out my gears for $170 – more than half that which I paid for the bike. The moral of that story being; don’t buy second hand cycle touring gear again. This has slowed our departure down somewhat, so instead of leaving on Friday the 6<sup>th</sup> of August to head towards the Catlins, we are now leaving tomorrow, which is the 8<sup>th</sup>, choosing to spend a couple of nights at the YHA for old times sake.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Aside from that bike issue, we have been so happy here. Our hosts, Naomi and Manna, Dave, Rachel and Scott have all made us feel so brilliantly welcome in their homes and we have enjoyed spending time with them. One of the great things about couch surfing with people is the opportunity to enjoy each others music, movies, conversation and food, as well as picking up all the local tips on what to do and where to eat. The slight irony on this occasion is that Mel and I have been in <st1:country-region w:st="on">New Zealand</st1:country-region> longer than our hosts had, as we arrived in September and our friends from the <st1:country-region w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region> & <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> have only been in town for since this year sometime. The view from the two properties we stayed at are million dollar views of the sea and the city respectively, I just hope that their respective landlords learn about this new fangled thing called ‘insulation’ before next winter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">So, to the activities which we have enjoyed most since I last checked in. Well, you will remember the brief talk of the botanic gardens, the Turkish eateries and the art gallery. Well, since then, we have enjoyed lunchtime theatre at the university and that $11 two course meal on the same afternoon. The play was called ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Norm & Ahmed</i>’; a 45 minute story about racism involving 2 characters, one from <st1:country-region w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:country-region>, the other form <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. It is set at a bus stop in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sydney</st1:place></st1:city> at around midnight. It was a good piece of lunchtime theatre with a sadly predictable ending in which Norm beats the crap out of Ahmed and leaves him lying in the gutter. After the show, we made our way to the student union on <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Albany</st1:place></st1:city> to enjoy a Hari Krishna lunch. It was amazing; Daal, Samosa, Puree and a nice pudding of crumble with a sweet semolina - halva.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">That same day we went for a little look around the shops and bought Mel a new dress. It was form a real treasure trove of a shop (Yaks & Yetis) where they sell anything and everything collectable from <st1:country-region w:st="on">Nepal</st1:country-region> and <st1:place w:st="on">South East Asia</st1:place>. We probably would have really blown the budget had it not have been for the luggage allowance regulations and to be honest we maybe shouldn’t have spent what we did, but it was worth it because she looks lovely in it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">That was Thursday. On Friday, before the bike died, we had managed to clock up 80 km cycling out onto the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Otago</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Peninsula</st1:placetype></st1:place> to see the Albatross and back. I was so excited to see them, but it was Mel who spotted the first adult in flight. We were settling down to a coffee as I waited to go on the guided tour of the nesting sight when Mel jumped up and ran outside, shouting to me that she had seen what she thought was a Royal Albatross. As it turned out, she was right and it was clearly one of the massive birds as it had a wing span much larger than that of the black backed gulls and shags sharing the same air space. Satisfied with that, Mel sat back down with her hot drink and I set off with the tour group to hopefully photograph the maturing chicks up at the nest site, which has been strategically cut off from the rest of the free area, so that people are forced to pay up to get a glimpse of them. The centre gets 130,000 visitors a year, each paying at least $30 to look at the nesting site. I found that it was well worth it though. I have always loved Albatross – their comedy way of taking off and landing, their 9’6’ wingspan and their amazing ability to live life on the wing – spending up to 6 years in the air at a time and flying at speeds in excess of 120 km/ph! There were 5 chicks visible on the nesting sight, big fat blobs, weighing up to 13.5 kilos. They are around 4-5 weeks away from flying for the first time and they consume 4 kilos of fish and squid everyday at the moment. Fatties!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">‘Circadian Rhythm’ is a name to remember for all those of you who enjoy good vegan food. It is on <st1:place w:st="on">St. Andrews</st1:place> and has the best selection of pies, cakes and hot foods available. The service there is also great. The first time we went in there, we were frantically trying to find Mel’s phone in our bags. We quickly realised that we had dropped it somewhere in town, so they let us use their phone to ring it – turned out some nice guy had picked it up and we were able to get it back, they didn’t have to do that though – it’s the small touches that make a restaurant, you know? Their buffet is great, $9 – $12.50, depending on what day of the week you go in, you can enjoy daal, koftas, rice, spicy veg, purees and more. If that wasn’t enough for you, there is an impressive vegan café at the Saturday market, situated next to the beautiful train station. We had breakfast there yesterday which consisted of a ‘chilli dog’ and an ‘Elvis special’. The ‘chilli dog was’ a sausage wrapped in tortilla with delicious spicy sauce. The ‘Elvisl’ was veggie bacon, banana and peanut butter in a toasted ciabatta, topped with a double choc-chip cookie – all vegan and all home-made. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Something else you can do when visiting this city, if you want to keep costs down, is to visit the very impressive graveyards. Mel and I went for a walk through a small area of the Northern Graveyard, which covers 8 hectares and has some beautiful tombs, as well as stunning trees and a quiet, relaxing atmosphere. We saw lots of parrots in the trees there! It is not far from the botanic garden, so you can wander from one to the other easily, which we did. </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">We decided to go and visit the aviary again, as we had done earlier in the week. It is always sad to see the birds cooped up in cages. However, they are great fun to be around, especially the Kaka, as they seem to spend their time rolling around on their backs, drunk on something or other. There are some parrots who can talk there too, good for big and little kids alike – one of them kept saying ‘have a cuppa tea’ and ‘what’s up doc?’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">A visit to the Robbie Burns pub is always worth a trip as well, on your way to the aptly named ‘Khmer Friendly Noodle & Satay’ restaurant. We were treated to a fine drop of single malt whiskey and a lovely pint of beer there by the friendly barman, before indulging in yet more brilliant food at the Khmer place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">In conclusion, our time in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dunedin</st1:place></st1:city> has been much influenced by our love of good food, great company and plenty of free activities to indulge in. The perfect town really and the weather hasn’t been bad either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mel Schofield-Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02170755140451004346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-87862531211656018452011-08-02T21:36:00.003+12:002011-08-05T21:55:51.035+12:00Oamaru and the Penguins<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Peter is a single, gay guy, who lives just outside the main hub of the town of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oamaru</st1:place></st1:city>. A most amiable chap who put us up in a separate cottage on his property. He had some great stories about his 20 year stay in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> where he lived in <st1:state w:st="on">Florida</st1:state> and <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:state>, before returning home to help look after his aging parents in the area he grew up in, which is where he remains to this day. We enjoyed fine conversation and a couple of great days with him. Peter is as big a fan of wildlife as Mel and he took great pleasure in taking us to visit 2 separate penguin colonies whilst we were in Oamaru. The nocturnal blue penguins which frequent the rocks and protected scrub by the sea right in the centre of Oamaru were a treat on our first night. We really enjoyed watching them waddle from place to place. It was quite strange to see them tucked up against the side of great big warehouses and the like, somehow one doesn’t think of penguins in this environment, but there they were, going about there business.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The following day we visited the more stereotypical yellow eyed penguin colony a little further down the coast at Moeraki. These are an endangered group with great characters. It amazed us how close we could get to them and just how good they are at climbing with many of their nesting boxes being quite a long distance from the sea shore. Incidentally, these penguins travel around 60 Km out to sea every day to go fishing and when they have chicks, they take it in turns to babysit them, alternating days out to sea. Out at Moeraki there is also another large colony of seals, sunning themselves on the hillside and the rocks. There was a brilliant sun set that evening. </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">On our way back into Oamaru, as a way of saying thank you, we talked Peter into allowing us to buy him fish & chips at his favourite chippy in Hampden; “The best on south island!” he said, and they are!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Having fixed a puncture before being able to set off the following morning, we set off reluctantly towards Palmerston which would hopefully be the last stop before arriving into <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dunedin</st1:place></st1:city>. We had to spend quite a lot of this day on the hard shoulder of Highway 1. Not a great deal of fun and sadly something that turned out to be a real problem for my inner tubes. I actually had to repair 4 punctures that day and I even ran out of puncture patches. I had just enough to get us into Palmerston, but as it turned out not even having a spare inner tube to hand would get us as far as <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dunedin</st1:place></st1:city>. We woke up in our room the next morning and found that the tire had gone down again over night, so we decided to catch a bus into <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dunedin</st1:place></st1:city> with the bikes and get to a cycle shop as soon as we arrived. It was frustrating in the extreme, but it couldn’t be helped. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Our bikes were damaged by the poor handling of the bus driver, who meant well but was very aggressive in putting the bikes into the storage area of the bus and this put me in rather a bad mood as we were dropped off outside the very impressive <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dunedin</st1:place></st1:city> train station. As luck would have it though, we passed a bike shop on the way to the YHA we hoped to stay at and we were able to pick up more inner tubes before heading up to the hostel. I changed the tube again and we were back on our bikes and investigating the town before dinner. We did have to pop back to the bike shop to get some help with damaged rear wheel on my bike before we could completely relax though. The guy in R & R sports was brilliant though – fixing the wheel, sorting out the gears and advising us on a few things, all for the princely sum of $0. What a brilliant gesture – thank you R & R Sport!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">That evening we dinned at a small Turkish place near to the YHA. It was the best Falafel kebab that either Mel or I had ever tasted. We celebrated this by enjoying a glass of red wine back at the YHA. It was at this point I decided that life wasn’t so bad after all.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">We are into our third day here in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dunedin</st1:place></st1:city> now and we have packed a fair bit in. I am loathe to say that we have tested with yet another puncture on my bike again today, but I’ll not dwell on that. We have been staying with Manna, Naomi and Dave, all from the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region>, in a house which overlooks the city and a surf beach, just off a road known as <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Norfolk Street</st1:address></st1:street>, so I feel right at home! We have been to two lectures, one at the impressive <st1:placename w:st="on">Art</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Gallery</st1:placename> and another at the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Otago</st1:placename></st1:place>, enjoyed another Turkish falafel delight and a tour round the gallery, as well as enjoying a pint with new acquaintances at a real ale pub last night and seeing lots of the town. It’s been good to be in a vibrant city again; lots of students, great food, a superb botanic garden and so far, clear, sunny days. I am writing this entry sitting at our warm shower hosts’ kitchen table, looking out at the glinting evening lights of the city stretching out to the hills that mark the boundary between the suburbs, the ocean to my right and the Otago Peninsula opposite. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Tomorrow we are going to stay with some couch surf hosts, Scott and Rachel, on the other side of town.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>Mel Schofield-Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02170755140451004346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-17571794215536127402011-08-02T21:26:00.001+12:002011-08-05T23:48:55.864+12:00Lake Tekapo – Twizel – Kurow – Oamaru – Palmerston - Dunedin<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The morning we left <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Lake</st1:placetype> <st1:placename w:st="on">Tekapo</st1:placename></st1:place> was cold. As we began our ride down to Twizel my fingers quickly became unbearably frozen. The wind chill had once again taken the temperature way down to -10 and my gloves just were not going to cut the mustard. I was lucky Mel had her extra wind-proof new gloves, a gift from Catherine in Nelson, to offer to me in exchange for my woolly ones. It appears her circulation is much better than mine these days, must be all the Yoga and ginger tea!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">We arrived into Twizel sometime that afternoon and booked into the ‘High Country’ Motel and backpackers. We were the only people staying in the massive complex an after stocking up on some food and a few beers form the local bottle shop/pub, we settled in for the evening. I was pleased not to have to move too much to be honest. We had come down from 750 metres to 400 above sea level, but it was still so cold, it had turned my brain to mush and I was I just needed to veg out and watch some mindless NZ TV to recover for a while.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Twizel was not exactly a vibrant place but having the motel facilities to ourselves was pleasant. When we left at around 10am the next morning we felt ready to move on. We had suffered heavy head winds on the previous day, but we were fortunate enough not to be troubled at all during the stretch from Twizel to Kurow, indeed we were helped by an immense tail wind which blew us down the gently sloping road all the way. We flew past some stunning scenery, including an enormous dam at Waitaki, just a few km before we arrived at our destination for the night: Kurow. </span>We were both astonished at the colour of the water in all the lakes and waterways, an almost impossible blue. The sun was shining and the mountains around us were becoming less and less icy with each mile we covered. It was quite a long distance we travelled that day, at least 80 kms, but it felt like 20 with the wind behind us.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Kurow turned out to be a very pleasant small town. We put our ‘Kiwi Card’ to good use again as we booked into the holiday park, this saved us a few dollars on the accommodation that night and it made it one of the cheapest stays of the tour so far, just $34.50. The empty hostel come barn we stayed in had an enormous fire place, stocked with lots of great fire wood and we relaxed in real comfort in our 70’s style leather chairs, Mel knitting and me watching various different cooking shows on the TV. Kurow had a nice selection of shops and even a small museum which we visited for a small donation. The museum was typical of such towns, a nice collection of the early settler’s everyday paraphernalia such as clothes and wash boards. There was even a pair of boots similar to those I wore as Captain Scott for ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Terra Nova</i>’ a few months ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">From Kurow it was another 70-80 Km day down to the very attractive Oamaru. Mel and I chose to take the scenic route, riding inland at Duntroon. We had been told about some limestone caves which had some Maori paintings on the walls. We were able to see some of these, as you can see from the photos. The first ‘cave’ we visited had actually become too dangerous to get into, due to a rather large land slip, such a common feature of our travels round these islands. However, we saw some great rock drawings in another place, depicting animals and wakas, as well as a drawing of what appears to be one of the first fleet sailing ships.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">During the ride down to Oamaru we were also able to stop and look at some interesting geological characteristics of the land known as the ‘Elephant Rocks’. You had to really use your imagination for these. I was in full agreement with an Irish traveller who passed us on the way into the attraction who said “I wouldn’t bother; it’s just a load of rocks in a field really!” We had a few steep hills to climb that day, eventually making into the town of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oamaru</st1:place></st1:city>, featured in the movie ‘Bride Flight’, at around 2:30pm. We enjoyed a nice café lunch before checking in with our latest host on our tour; Peter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Mel Schofield-Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02170755140451004346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-81141698362251896512011-07-25T17:28:00.003+12:002011-07-30T23:28:43.686+12:00Lake Tekapo and the Star Gazing 22nd – 24th JulyWe’ve swapped rooms from a twin to a double here at Lake Tekapo YHA. It’s always nicer to have our own room and just one big bed, rather than singles. There are unfortunately 2 downsides to our new room when compared to the last room we were in. It is on the outside of the building which actually means we have to walk through the garden to get to the bathroom and the heater is nowhere near as effective in this room as it was in the twin. We really wouldn’t mind so much, it just that it is below freezing outside our front door and if your not careful you could loose your toes on the way back through the ice and snow to the main part of the building. The positives, as ever, do outweigh the negatives though. The view over Lake Tekapo with it’s bright blue water set against the backdrop of the snow covered mountains all around us is a constant reminder of how lucky we are to be here. I think they call it life affirming.<br />
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The staff are also extremely friendly and generous. Inside the main building there are 2 wood burners, a heat pump and the offer of lots of blankets and free hot drinks, so all in all we’re having a ball as usual at the YHA. <br />
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Its mid afternoon on the 24th of July, just under a month before our flight departs from Christchurch to Kuala Lumpur. It feels really sad that time is passing by so quickly and we’re enjoying each day as if it was our first, still full of admiration and excitement with all the offerings New Zealand throws at us. <br />
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The 90 Km ride almost non-stop up hill from Geraldine to the Lake turned out to be too much for one day’s ride. We almost pushed on at 3pm when just outside of Fairlie 3 days ago. In the end though, we knew that we wouldn’t have arrived until after dark, so the decision was made to stop at a motel for the night and attack the last 35 Km the following morning. It was a wise decision as the weather was already freezing and we are still a little down on our fitness. The motel was really good though, as was the price of a jug of beer in the pub next door - $4.80 for around 2 pints! We stayed and had chip butties there.<br />
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The final stint of the up hill slog through Burke’s Pass to Lake Tekapo turned out to be a brilliant ride.<br />
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The air was still bitterly cold, but the sun actually managed to sneak through the cloud of the previous day and we arrived into Lake Tekapo with crisp, bright sunshine all around the valley. So lucky were we that the weather had held, that we decided to go up to the Observatory to do a bit of star gazing that night. We had to rug up well mind you - 2 hours on a mountain top is nippy! I was so pleased we made the trip though as we were given some really jaw dropping sights through the telescopes. I’ll never forget seeing Saturn so clearly. One of the astronomers was particularly passionate about his job, he also sounded like a character out of Star Trek which helped add even more to the experience. Our driver down from the mountain was hilarious; a Japanese guy who spoke ‘Ingrish’ fluently and regaled us with stories of how cute all the rabbits are in ‘New Zearond; but da Kiwi farmers dey done sink so, dey axererate indey cars!’<br />
You can check out their website: http://www.newzealandsky.com/earthandsky/<br />
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We have made the most of our time here and given how small the place is there is still much to do. Lots of walking, taking in the views, visiting the Church of the Good Shepherd, watching the ice skating or the families flying down the snow shoot in giant rubber rings by the lake. Today has been a complete rest day though, just eating, adding logs to the fire, watching DVD’s and catching up with the blog. So far we have watched ‘Spy Game’ and ‘Bucket List’ and I’m hanging out for ‘Harry Potter’ later, but we’ll see. We were meant to be heading across to Twizel today, but the weather looked so dodgy earlier that we decided to bunk up here for one more night. At least, we hope it’s only for one more night…Charles Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10342733292290303420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-31385595765281132842011-07-23T17:11:00.006+12:002011-08-16T16:53:23.394+12:0050, 60, 70…<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Punakaiki – Greymouth (bike 50 Km), Greymouth - Darfield (Tranz – Alpine Railway), Darfield – Methven (bike 60 Km), Methven – Geraldine (bike 70 Km). Sunday 17<sup>th</sup> – Thursday 20<sup>th</sup> July 2011.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">It has been great to get back on the bikes after a prolonged stay in sunny Nelson and we were in good spirits after a few days of relaxation at the YHA in Punakaiki, tucked away in the jungle by the sea. We were able to do a spot of hiking and also to catch up with Sophie and Alex Ricketts for lunch and a walk round the ‘Pancake Rocks’ the day before we left. It was such a nice surprise to find that they were enjoying a few days off together in a similar part of the island. The rocks themselves are yet another awe inspiring, natural phenomenon - of which there are so many in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Zealand</st1:place></st1:country-region>. After enjoying the <st1:place w:st="on">Pacific Ocean</st1:place> thundering into the caves and overhangs of Punikaihi’s geology, the four of us dined together. Not surprisingly, the café does very good pancakes!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihu7Z6mBCzILSCl808BNTAybQFju4W8OC7xq9IgN-7T5UAOpu5-2HSPc1gonozCd2Md7Er5h3B0aKgLBWd99n2-7Wh_rzaLUNwmzdzXeMbEZBcYfxiRkq-JcJ8BCcAacDvY56MiG8EXN8/s1600/Blowhole+is+blowing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihu7Z6mBCzILSCl808BNTAybQFju4W8OC7xq9IgN-7T5UAOpu5-2HSPc1gonozCd2Md7Er5h3B0aKgLBWd99n2-7Wh_rzaLUNwmzdzXeMbEZBcYfxiRkq-JcJ8BCcAacDvY56MiG8EXN8/s320/Blowhole+is+blowing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The ride into Greymouth took us about 3-4 hours and it’s a good road to cycle on as it hugs the coastline for the most part. With the sun eventually rising to the point where we could feel the benefit from it, we didn’t mind the hilly nature of the terrain in the early part of the ride. However, once the road turned inland we were caught on the hop by the bitterly cold winds which were coming directly off the snowy mountain ranges, burning our extremities. The flip side of the cold weather is that is keeps the summer sweats at bay.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Greymouth YHA was much as we had remembered it from our hitch-hiking trip during the Easter break, except that this time we were in 4 bed dorm situated next to the double we had shared the last time we were there. Mel and I were excited to see that Harry Potter 3D was showing at the local cinema that night, so without much ado, we booked our seats for the 8:30pm showing. It’s a good job we did as well, as the entire cinema was packed, everyone itching to see the last film in the biggest selling movie series of all time. We were especially chuffed as the waitress at the restaurant opposite the cinema had given us free warm chocolate to drink just prior to going in. The machine had stopped working properly so the ‘Hot-Choc’ was just luke-warm. It was a lovely surprise and we appreciated the gesture. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">It was a cold night in Greymouth and we were pleased we had a proper roof over our heads as we held hands on the walk back to the YHA. There wasn’t anyone else staying in our room, so we had done well again, just $38 for our own private room. We went to sleep with thoughts of the following day; another of the worlds great train journey’s – the ‘Tranz-alpine’ from Greymouth to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Christchurch</st1:place></st1:city>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">It turned out to be a brilliant journey; we spent the entire trip with our mouths open, staring at the mountains, lakes, blue skies and charming townships which are dotted around the central ranges. The train stopped off at ‘<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Arthurs</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Pass</st1:placename></st1:place>’, a full 750 metres above sea level. Everyone got out to throw snowballs at each other, whilst Mel and I took photos of an inquisitive Kea and the 6 inches of snow on top of the Morton’s Bach. We both remarked at how unbelievably cold it must be in there at this time of year.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Brunner taken from the TranzAlpine</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-GB">It was almost dark when the train rumbled steadily into the small town of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Darfield</st1:place></st1:city> which has an absence of backpacker accommodation, so we booked into the Darfield Hotel, situated just across the road from the station. The Darfield Hotel is a mishmash of many different things; bar, casino, take-away and restaurant come coffee-shop. It is ideal for people who are travelling through on business and such like. It was $80 per double room with ensuite, not bad for what we got. We enjoyed some hot chips from the take-away and they were really nice.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">We managed to get away by around 10am the following morning and we were pleased with our progress. It took us 4 hours to get to Methven and to check into the YHA there. The roads are noticeably flat this side of the south island and we were enjoying the open landscapes with the ever present snow-capped mountains to our right as we cycled south. The only real challenge of any note that day was a gorge we had to get through; easy free-wheeling down, but a massive effort to climb out of.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Methven YHA is a good place. Run by an Aussie named George, it is set out over 2 buildings, both identical in design. We were in a 3 bedroom dorm with another girl. There was free tea and coffee as well as Sky TV, big wood burner, friendly cat (called Honey) and lots of nice backpackers who have arrived for a season in the snow. All the lads with their carefully manicured ‘just-got-off-the-peaks’ mops of hair, designer stubble and branded clothing. All the girls with DG printed on all their clothes and bags. People on the slopes have money, that is something you can be sure of.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">It was noisy in our room due the positioning of it in relation to the stairs which go up to the TV room directly above the beds. Mel didn’t sleep much. $40 for the night is not something to sniff at though. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The next morning we enjoyed a free breakfast of toast and porridge, before managing to get away on the stroke of 9am. Despite having to stop and repair our first puncture on this leg of the tour, we still managed to complete upwards of 70 Km in just 4 hours of cycling. It was entirely flat for almost the entire trip. It was the coldest day so far though, which made it tough going and we were happy to arrive in Geraldine at lunchtime and enjoy a hot drink with our lunch.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">So, here we are at a very, very quiet backpackers, in another 3 bedroom dorm. It is called ‘Rawhiti House’. It started life as a maternity hospital and went through various incantations before ending up as a BBH Hostel back in 2004. The proportions of the rooms are really good and I love the 1950s joinery on all the doors and windows. Mel has been religiously doing her 90 minute yoga routine whilst I have been writing this blog. I think it’s time I had a shower now, before we enjoy our baked kumara and salad for dinner.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>Mel Schofield-Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02170755140451004346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-57334642360639939082011-07-17T16:38:00.001+12:002011-07-17T16:38:46.162+12:00The last few weeks of our stay in Nelson, written on the 14th July 2011Something terrible happened today and the memories of it shall stay imprinted in our minds for all our lives. We left Nelson. Under cover of darkness, disguised to every human eye by our wet weather gear and festooned with the winter rains that don’t show any signs of stopping, we free-wheeled down on our bikes to the bus terminal from ‘Morton Mansion’ and after a heated discussion with the bus driver, who at first refused to take our bikes but then relented when he realised he only had 6 passengers on the 50 seater and therefore plenty of room to stash them below deck, we boarded the Intercity to Punakaiki. Though many would not have recognised our shadows drifting through the blanket of Nelson’s rain-filled night, the two of us were barely able to utter a word to one another as we were consumed by thoughts of the last 6 months and the anxiety of not knowing what may lie ahead. But that’s life.<br /><br />Here we are, curled up in front of a roaring fire, in what appears to be our very own jungle retreat on the very same day. It’s around 6:15pm and Mel and I are currently the only people checked in to our 10 bed YHA hostel. We have enjoyed a luxurious meal of super noodles with veg, Mel has a book from the book exchange and we have nestled together on the sofa. A little to my left; a massive limestone bolder juts through the centre of the hexagon shaped, timber built structure and I think it’s quite a nice feature of the build and reminds one of the fabric of the earth on which it’s built.<br /><br />We’re looking forward to the cycle to Greymouth in a few days after viewing the Pancake rocks and blowhole which are a few kms down the road. For now we’ll just enjoy the peace and quiet in our own jungle retreat, complete with a Weka (large bird) which lives under the veranda!Charles Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10342733292290303420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-51155119827477192812011-07-17T16:34:00.002+12:002011-07-23T18:03:28.221+12:00Kaikoura and the dolphins 9th – 11th July 2011Mel and I both finished work on the same day, the same time and bizarrely enough at the same place; such were the circumstances of that rainy Saturday afternoon. I had arranged an S.S.A event that was scheduled to be held on the steps of the Nelson Cathedral, but the rain was so heavy that the surrealist picnic had to be moved to Fashion Island Mall (home to Mel’s work at Lush) where some 30 performers all descended and created a living installation, freezing in character for 3 minutes, much to the amazement of bystanders.<br />
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As the performers drifted away into the ever greying skies, Mel and her colleagues at Lush took pity on me and gave me some fruit tea in the tiny staff room behind the counter. They even had the time to chat with me during their very busy day. <br />
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Mel and I eventually wandered off with our borrowed bikes (our others were still getting repaired in Auckland) in order to pick up a hire car which we were going to drive down to Kaikoura so that we could enjoy some of the wildlife down there before our bikes were retuned and we could get going for real, so to speak. Rent-a-Dent gave us a lovely little Nissan Sunny, which was a good car for the money and we set off the following morning, having enjoyed a lovely dinner that night with Sue and John and the now infamous cat ‘Puss’.<br />
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The weather was improving all the time as we drove across country, indeed back along the road we had cycled on our way into Nelson all those months ago, both of us remarking how much of the route we remembered; places we ate and places we had camped. We reached the east coast at around lunchtime and we were looking for somewhere to have lunch when I first spotted a large, brown object on the rocks next to the breaking waves of the Pacific Ocean. It appeared to be moving a little like a seal. I was most impressed when I realised that it was in fact a seal and I congratulated myself for having spotted it, after all they must surely be a very rare, mustn’t they? This was not the case; the east coast has huge numbers of seals and this proved to be the first of dozens we came into contact with during the course of the 24 hours.<br />
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We pulled up at a picnic area and were lucky enough to have a close encounter with a very young pup, a great photo opportunity and a chance to enjoy the novelty of watching a seal in the wild whilst enjoying a hummus and crisp sandwich. A little further along and it was cameras at the ready again when we came across many large adults enjoying the sun and posing for all the tourists who had pulled over to get a batter glimpse of them. <br />
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We arrived into Kaikoura a short time later and having decided to drive through the centre of the sprawling metropolis (!), found ourselves parked by yet more seals, literally next to us in the car-park at the base of a coastal tramping walk. We decided to make the most of the weather and have a short stroll up onto the cliffs where we were followed by an incredible number of young cows, who were collectively certain that we were either their parents or that we were going to provide them with food.<br />
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From on top of the cliffs we could see more seals, to the east and even a humpback whale out in the deep blue water. To the west, were snow capped mountains, some of the most impressive I have seen with my own eyes and without the aid of a TV screen. <br />
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We checked into the YHA just as the sun was going down and we were treated to another of the countless brilliant sunsets, highlighting the magnificent snow capped peaks which changed colour from white to pink to black against the fading light of the evening sky. We were enjoying a free night’s accommodation, having re-joined YHA that day back home in Nelson. We received 25% off our new membership (as we’re cyclists – low carbon you see), 1 free night, $10 off vouchers and 30 minutes free internet. We were even lucky enough to not have to share the dorm with anyone else. Gotta love low season!<br />
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Next morning, we arrived at the ‘Encounter’ centre and the next instalment of our honeymoon adventure. Mel had always wanted to swim with dolphins and go whale watching, and I had always wanted to see Albatross in the wild and we incredibly managed to do all three in one morning. I decided not to pay the extra $80 to swim with the dolphins; Mel would have you believe that this was due to me not having to balls to jump into the sea with up to 2,000 meters of water beneath me. However, this is not the case; I just wanted to make the most of seeing Mel enjoy a dream come true whilst we still had the means to document it with our video camera which we would send home in the post before we left Nelson properly the following week. Anyway, whichever person you choose to believe, the day moved forward well, Mel was fitted for a midwinter wet-suit and I waited patiently with the cameras, towels and dry clothes that would be needed after her swim. There were 9 passengers and 2 crew on the boat. Mel was 1 of 6 who were braving the water that day.<br />
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After a briefing and a short bus ride to the dock, we were out on the sun drenched ocean and before long Mel was living the dream and swimming with the dusky dolphins. The tour guide had encouraged all of the passengers to make lots of noise when they entered the water, suggesting that this would encourage the dolphins with their inquisitive nature to come and investigate these rather oddly behaved creatures that had just jumped in to swim with them in their pod. Mel was not shy in coming forward with her singing. She sang her heart out from the second she entered the water till she was eventually too cold and out of breath to go on any further. I caught it all on camera of course. It seemed to do the trick mind you, with no fewer than 800 dolphins coming to the party, and seals, all kinds of birds and sperm whales. This all played out in front of the breathtaking coastline of the Kaikoura and the surrounding bays. It was well worth spending some of the last remaining wedding money we had from our friends on. It made us both so happy.<br />
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We had every intention of freedom camping that night in a basic DOC camp on our way back to Nelson, but unfortunately the weather didn’t allow for this. The campsite was 2 feet under snow. We went to the next one – it was flooded! We were so put off by the heavy wind, snow and rain on our journey back towards Nelson that we aborted that particular mission and threw ourselves at the mercy of Ngaire and Tom, begging them to take us in one last time. Our great friends did for us once again what they had done when we first arrived in Nelson and gave us another sample of the never-ending hospitality. Spending more time with them was like going home to visit family. We ended up spending 3 nights there instead of the 1 we had planned to, not just because of the weather, but also due to our bikes and equipment arriving late back from Auckland. Words escape me when I try to sum up how brilliant some people in Nelson can be.Charles Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10342733292290303420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-52506601599205460382011-07-17T16:32:00.001+12:002011-07-17T16:32:57.512+12:00Leaving PartyIt’s been a fortnight of farewells for us. We enjoyed a few too many beverages with our friends at the Sprig & Fern in town a couple of weeks ago, neither Mel nor I have much memory of the 5 km trek back to Sue and John’s place after the event, but the fantastic poem and gifts we received from the gang were most humbling and we treasure them all! Ngaire – the very greatest of friends - had written us a poem which she read out during the evening, it was fantastic. She also got us ‘I heart NZ’ t-shirts as everyone we have met along the journey has been horrified by Mel’s ‘I heart Australia’ t-shirt!<br /><br />We received a card signed by everybody who attended the party and I am now the proud owner of an ‘I’ll train you at SOUNDSTAGE’ black hoody, something I will wear religiously now that winter continues to get colder. Thanks Jane. There were other gifts too – Mel received some lovely Possum and Merino gloves from Izzy, her boss at Lush and there were many drinks bought for us. Even the barman delighted with his generous quadruple single malt whiskey, after which I am sure you’ll appreciate, much of the evening has been lost. Good times!!Charles Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10342733292290303420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-4716869722335679632011-07-07T12:00:00.001+12:002011-07-07T12:16:13.448+12:00‘Terra Nova’ and our last few weeks in Nelson. Early May – June 26th 2011:<div class="MsoNormal">So we’re in our final week of WWOOFing at Fairfield House and what an amazing time we’ve had here in Nelson. Mel and I have both collected some vivid memories and we’ll no doubt recall our time here with great fondness for the rest of our lives.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Since my last entry we have achieved so much and continued to thrive both socially and artistically. SOUNDSTAGE students are still as brilliant as ever and 2 weeks ago we created a new group called ‘S.S.A’. It is a collective of performers from in and around Nelson who will be creating improvised instillations at all sorts of different venues around the city in an effort to create a focal point for the general public, the benefit of doing this is 2 fold. It gets the public talking about theatre in the community and it also informs the performers as we continue to grow artistically. If you want to know more about us or to join the group, visit the group on facebook.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Terra Nova</i>’ finished a run of 9 nights here at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Fairfield</st1:city></st1:place> house and it was a great success. The press and the public loved it, ‘Charles Hindley played Robert Falcon Scott whose imperious tone and intensity of eye movement made me feel truly sorry for him’, The Nelson Mail; May 28<sup>th</sup>, 2011. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcxTRJ_ppyDaCpvea-ysZuAh20Rp2lcRM_xeheIJsIoB0csn4pI5_i9wb5brQ-K5WraUIAAWFqzk2BCeuSupebSbY6eb26A9_CR-ELX02-nHFsN78Ae-5ya_tnFrHvt-ZagtgCliugc_w/s1600/Fairfield+House+May+2011+with+Terra+Nova+rehearsals+030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcxTRJ_ppyDaCpvea-ysZuAh20Rp2lcRM_xeheIJsIoB0csn4pI5_i9wb5brQ-K5WraUIAAWFqzk2BCeuSupebSbY6eb26A9_CR-ELX02-nHFsN78Ae-5ya_tnFrHvt-ZagtgCliugc_w/s320/Fairfield+House+May+2011+with+Terra+Nova+rehearsals+030.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">I don’t often blow my own trumpet, but I did feel great reading that after all the hard work we put in to producing the show. You can read the full review on the Body in Space website: <a href="http://www.bodyinspace.co.nz/terranova1/index.html">http://www.bodyinspace.co.nz/terranova1/index.html</a> </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB">It had nearly been a disaster. 2 nights before the curtain went up there was an almighty storm here and the marquee we were performing in flooded completely. I actually took some video of it the morning after the tech rehearsal, 6 inches deep in water. It took an entire day to divert the water away form the area and Mel and I spent most of our time digging trenches. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNAmg2I_KmcxnZm6FHjatiAclR3scBGPzqwYDyOUCOachNERqUSiAkl_iheW6edqOKE8Eb18IhroFuvhQ3ssFTWqIpsn3mzRPkrUBs2frP5yBMzi6n5RiRxM5C-ANm7Uy9Toehx1nThrs/s1600/Soggy+marquee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNAmg2I_KmcxnZm6FHjatiAclR3scBGPzqwYDyOUCOachNERqUSiAkl_iheW6edqOKE8Eb18IhroFuvhQ3ssFTWqIpsn3mzRPkrUBs2frP5yBMzi6n5RiRxM5C-ANm7Uy9Toehx1nThrs/s320/Soggy+marquee.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyPfLL0UAsUd2M3ta0vXyQdjV0hg4j3-xf5OlseFiJWqD0-eXflppbWraS6r1jQzR3ISWwFKNRX1slI2oHaMacsfFuYHOBB1iHHYZncCO0HNkzGvfZV8RPFMCFfxnt44dwfO7B1bBXsr8/s1600/soggy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyPfLL0UAsUd2M3ta0vXyQdjV0hg4j3-xf5OlseFiJWqD0-eXflppbWraS6r1jQzR3ISWwFKNRX1slI2oHaMacsfFuYHOBB1iHHYZncCO0HNkzGvfZV8RPFMCFfxnt44dwfO7B1bBXsr8/s320/soggy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">By nightfall the evening before the show kicked off, the decision was made to forget about doing a dress run as the inside of the tent was too wet and to be perfectly honest we were all shattered. We spent the entire day leading up to the show opening running around like headless chooks getting the place organised. Lisa finished the tech stuff about 7 minutes before the start, but the rest is history. It was the most astonishing production and I would like to spend the next 10 minutes writing down every superlative I heard about it and my own performance, but I think you get the general idea.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">“So, what’s next for Charlie Hindley the actor?” I hear you cry. I’ll be better able to answer that in a few months. In the mean time I have my amazing wife’s 30<sup>th</sup> birthday to consider. Mel’s big day is at the end of the coming week and I have been busy buying presents this weekend. I was even given some lovely wrapping paper by Miss Brosnehan, Fairfield House manger and someone who has been a great friend to us since we arrived in Nelson. So I have attempted to wrap the presents as well, not something that I have a natural flair for, but I have made a good start. From time to time Mel and I chat about how amazing the last 8 years have been for us. We’ve known each other longer, but it was about that time when we started hanging out together and became ‘Facebook official’ or whatever it was called back then. I can remember our first music festival together – T in the Park 2003 – We saw The Darkness, The Proclaimers, REM, Coldplay and an old favourite of mine called Skin. It was 3 days of brilliant weather and great times. Mel showed me round <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Perth</st1:place></st1:city>, her home town and we camped a night by the river at the back of her old house at Almondbank. There was nobody there in that valley but us, the campfire and our big blue tent.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Our friend James Esbester has made his way back to the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> to be at his brother’s wedding this month. We ended up spending a lot of time together while he was in Nelson. Mel and he used to have 2 hour Yoga sessions which I tried to join in with from time to time, but I always seemed to be too busy with shows or work to get as involved as I would like. It seems to have done the trick for Mel mind you; she’s looking very toned at the moment. In fact, she comes home from work in a few hours and we’re going to attempt a Yoga session together. The roles of busyness have reversed in recent weeks, she now seems to be out most of the time whilst I have been cooking the dinners and cleaning the house in her absence, such is life. It will all change after next week though, as we are back on our travels again and back on the bikes again.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">The next leg of our trip will be to cycle from here to Bluff which is the southern most point of the country and in preparation we have decided to send the bikes up the Bruce in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Auckland</st1:place></st1:city> to have them serviced and prepped for the big trip. We are really looking forward to the journey and expect to reach Bluff, come rain, snow and high water within 6 weeks. We will spend another week looking after ‘Puss’ the aged tortoise shell cat at Sue and John’s before we depart, during which time we can relax and go for a few big runs in an effort to get the fitness back up a wee bit.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Winter is upon us here in Nelson. I went for a run this morning at 7:30am and there was much frost about on all the cars. It’s the first frost I have seen here and I get the feeling it wont be the last! Our little shed is warm enough, but I am not looking forward to going camping in the snowy south that’s for sure. As the nights have drawn in we have spent the time over eating and watching movies on the laptop. We had dinner at Ngaire and Tom’s as well as hosting Sophie, Alex and Doug in our own place in recent weeks. We have made some good friends indeed, Sophie even taught Mel some Origami – our little shed is now collecting lots of Origami birds as her skills continue to emerge. We’ll miss Nelson, but hopefully it’s just ‘Au Revoir’ rather than goodbye forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>Mel Schofield-Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02170755140451004346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-30501541175637496992011-05-23T21:40:00.003+12:002011-05-23T22:30:11.415+12:00Our holiday during the Easter break…Hitchhiking down the West coast, Wanaka, Queenstown and the Bach at Arthur’s Pass, our first earthquake experience, our first glacier experience and lots of walking up mountains, all in the space of 10 glorious days.<br />
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Our first hitchhiking experience was inspired by the many positive stories we have heard about it from other travellers here in New Zealand. It is relatively safe and as it turned out, it was a great way to see the UNESCO World Heritage site of the West Coast of the country in super quick time. It also afforded us the opportunity to meet some truly unique and generous people, all of whom gave up their time and the petrol money to help us on their way. ‘It would never have happened in the UK’ I hear you cry – and you’d be right! That first day, we had to wait 3 hours for a lift as we waited next to the sign on the outskirts of Richmond which simply reads ‘HOPE’ as that is the name of the next town. Ngaire Warner had given us a lift, suggesting that anyone going passed that sign would almost certainly be heading south, and so it proved. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHp1lA-AO4k7aeNpqNwaFDog3YBUj1w-oNIHs91ki1UDhu6DWKDTEB-RZ0Ijvt0NhgiPqD5DgYArOOBEWx9mNHdPlPcKtFVGrXWz5jPKFEIlEpwx7s5mTc_fQfKqCMN-MNPPbW6eJ8Fko/s1600/Mel+at+Hope.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHp1lA-AO4k7aeNpqNwaFDog3YBUj1w-oNIHs91ki1UDhu6DWKDTEB-RZ0Ijvt0NhgiPqD5DgYArOOBEWx9mNHdPlPcKtFVGrXWz5jPKFEIlEpwx7s5mTc_fQfKqCMN-MNPPbW6eJ8Fko/s320/Mel+at+Hope.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3nFVaPRa68WAwvGTa_HcLES5rnqTU0itAl4gkI1Xuw1aikfOsrwYREAV2BgCLyY5hLlUFVx3AfWBfaECw1PpLJyNHcHff89Q8OKb0b5S4xXKgNmJ34BvtvlH0llOVpyjUpg77DfQp598/s1600/Charlie+hitchhiking+for+the+1st+time.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3nFVaPRa68WAwvGTa_HcLES5rnqTU0itAl4gkI1Xuw1aikfOsrwYREAV2BgCLyY5hLlUFVx3AfWBfaECw1PpLJyNHcHff89Q8OKb0b5S4xXKgNmJ34BvtvlH0llOVpyjUpg77DfQp598/s320/Charlie+hitchhiking+for+the+1st+time.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Our first hitch-host was a guy who lived in Christchurch and was on his way home. He drove us a bloody long way, through Murchison to Springs Junction. He was an interesting guy, with some harrowing tales of the great February earthquake to tell. On the way we stopped in Murchison so he could get something to eat from a café there. Mel and I went to the Supermarket and bought bread roles and crisps, enough to keep us going. He even stopped at Mariua Falls for us to see the beautiful waterfall that appeared after an earthquake 50 – 60 years ago.<br />
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At Springs Junction we only had to wait for a further 5 minutes before 2 of the most terrifying men you would ever want to pick you up offered us a ride to Reefton. One of the guys in the front of the car had a possum for a hat, complete with tail and only one arm. Him and the driver, who Mel and I think was his dad, driving chatted on to us about all sorts of stuff, none of which we could understand as they were both so stoned. We had no mobile phone reception out there in the wilderness either; it was proper horror movie type stuff. How we laughed!<br />
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20 minutes on the side of the road in Reefton and we were picked up by another very stoned guy who was on his way to Greymouth for a cup of tea from Blenheim. I think that’s like driving from Manchester to Norwich for a pie. Hmmm.<br />
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Once in Greymouth, another lady offered us a lift to the YHA. As it turned out, she is the director of a local gallery there and she once studied ceramics in Brighton. Small world. As it turned out, Greymouth had a very clean YHA which we checked into for the night. We were both very tired by the time we arrived there, so we treated ourselves to a curry at a local place. It turned out to be brilliant food and very reasonable – 2 curries, 2 rice and a couple of rotis for $35. So, day 1: 5 lifts, great times!<br />
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Day 2 turned out to be another great day of travel for us. We waited unsuccessfully for a ride just down the road from the YHA.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDhPynuutpt0L6_81ZMuMtqLJ1ghavfxqRIhnnrsaVjPlfIUVVqeBc4HeLR2Hcg7DuuBoh5lYSgSAQVGVBfMXqTrlB1DXQNw-n6ybnIVL7gCopoVwj8cfgJLWaZ_bMd9tDLQaFoYfJls8/s1600/Mel+hitching+at+Greymouth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDhPynuutpt0L6_81ZMuMtqLJ1ghavfxqRIhnnrsaVjPlfIUVVqeBc4HeLR2Hcg7DuuBoh5lYSgSAQVGVBfMXqTrlB1DXQNw-n6ybnIVL7gCopoVwj8cfgJLWaZ_bMd9tDLQaFoYfJls8/s320/Mel+hitching+at+Greymouth.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>It was raining a little bit and lots of really lovely classic cars kept driving passed no good for us though. We made our way up to a local BP garage to use the facilities and whilst I was outside waiting for Mel, a little kid came up and offered us a lift with him and his dad to Kumera Junction, roughly 30 kms further on. We weren’t even thumbing a lift at the time!<br />
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At Kumera Junction, a couple of New Yorkers in a hired car picked us up and drove us to the Franz Joseph Glacier. It was a great ride, sharing travel stories and getting the inside gossip on life in Brooklyn, New York. We stopped in Hokitika on the way to visit the ‘Sock-Making Machine Museum’. This amazing establishment houses the largest collection of vintage sock making makers in the world. I can smell your excitement!!<br />
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At Franz - Joseph Glacier junction we had a crisp sandwich and managed to get a photo of the Glacier or at least a little of it, as it was behind some mountains.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjse4VOomqByIB3aY3FbECEXS0WjDMvwDL-q_CsGGwhwjd_6BW4tzY3_tk32btKDdVaKtPZapzBN7HqI8-SnX-HEoNqXJF1jltS3b_D8ZX5M52Ti5XJPhbGIMio42Oi8RNdkx0HhMFJ3rI/s1600/Franz+Joseph+from+the+main+road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjse4VOomqByIB3aY3FbECEXS0WjDMvwDL-q_CsGGwhwjd_6BW4tzY3_tk32btKDdVaKtPZapzBN7HqI8-SnX-HEoNqXJF1jltS3b_D8ZX5M52Ti5XJPhbGIMio42Oi8RNdkx0HhMFJ3rI/s320/Franz+Joseph+from+the+main+road.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>We had decided already to hitch on to Fox Glacier as we felt it would be a little less touristy there, and so it proved. We were picked up after a short wait by an emigration expert and he left us with his card in the small township of Fox Glacier. We decided it must be where the mints come from (although it seems they don’t sell them in NZ…. Also no polar bears to be seen!). We checked into the only back-packers in town and headed off on foot to visit the glacier. It was a long 6 km through rainforest to get there, but it was worth it for the experience. The scale of the glacier and the surrounding valleys is extraordinary.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEwlOyGBZrDO5ZSaGJmPDrzs9XK0POyhR_jRK7UvRukBvPXBTYwFWG0uyD6EIQwLhMoigUIS8eeOhK5ZVTpP-ELJswS7aYsEk9v9nFsUrTQfBzRYQOlM5BfamQtnOOZ1DTcvO86F_SJTE/s1600/Mel+Charlie+Fox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEwlOyGBZrDO5ZSaGJmPDrzs9XK0POyhR_jRK7UvRukBvPXBTYwFWG0uyD6EIQwLhMoigUIS8eeOhK5ZVTpP-ELJswS7aYsEk9v9nFsUrTQfBzRYQOlM5BfamQtnOOZ1DTcvO86F_SJTE/s320/Mel+Charlie+Fox.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>We even saw some glow worms on the way back into the town, as it was nearly dark at that point in the evening. We enjoyed a hot-tub, a movie on our complementary DVD player and had an early night. We needed to be up early in the morning to keep an eye on how Norwich City were doing against our bitter rivals Ipswich Town. We beat them 5-1 incidentally and we have subsequently been promoted to the Premier league of English Football. So how does it feel Ipswich Town?? (I don’t expect anyone to actually reply to this blog as they haven’t yet learned how to read and write down there)<br />
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2 German lads picked us up in the drizzle that morning and as luck would have it, they were going all the way to Wanaka, which is where we wanted to go. It was such a good trip. They were great hitch-hosts, with great music and funny stories, including one about their own hitching experience which I don’t feel is appropriate to divulge here. Let’s just say it involved a very, very lonely truck driver who got the wrong idea.<br />
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Once in Wanaka, it felt as if our holiday had really begun in a lot of ways. We checked into yet another YHA and set off to Mount Iron.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRjVKo4EnXFY4tWiLC9nqoFOKFS19tCs-ehn8mDo1eJnInW9W7kN7qNtZKq0V7xA0BR5fgShK_Nbs2axVgMzrQCILJcFdZJ7jQEf9iNa0AyyHhrNoB9RDuWWev0mJIvd7P8i6uBshDxxg/s1600/godrays+at+wanaka.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRjVKo4EnXFY4tWiLC9nqoFOKFS19tCs-ehn8mDo1eJnInW9W7kN7qNtZKq0V7xA0BR5fgShK_Nbs2axVgMzrQCILJcFdZJ7jQEf9iNa0AyyHhrNoB9RDuWWev0mJIvd7P8i6uBshDxxg/s320/godrays+at+wanaka.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Mount Iron down towards Wanaka</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Not the longest of walks, but you get a good view over the area. It was lovely. We reserved the big one for the next day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAvbQNf0FkcMtVSjqtDOikfcbCHb3Zt2RCK9DFYAmTqLiWszUp7pr_Ir3jZXS19e8meZN_VWudjBVd-8pF7A5EzELPLYbtWpGgSHYGBaGakpNaFXQINGyhZ-KVJg20dfT6OKctxt9Bjw/s1600/the+top+of+roys+peak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAvbQNf0FkcMtVSjqtDOikfcbCHb3Zt2RCK9DFYAmTqLiWszUp7pr_Ir3jZXS19e8meZN_VWudjBVd-8pF7A5EzELPLYbtWpGgSHYGBaGakpNaFXQINGyhZ-KVJg20dfT6OKctxt9Bjw/s320/the+top+of+roys+peak.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Roy's Peak down to the lake</td></tr>
</tbody></table>We were up early, enjoyed a good breakfast and headed off on what would eventually be a 25 km walk – 6 km just to the base of Roy’s Peak – then 12 km up and down the 1600 metre high peak - before the walk back via the lake which makes up the rest. Magnificent views, unrivalled by anything I have experienced at home in the UK. Although the landscape is very Scottish all over that area.<br />
That evening we went ‘Cinema Paradiso’. It is a lovely little novelty cinema with sofas and even an old Morris which you can sit in and have hot food delivered to you as you watch the movie. We saw ‘Black Swan’ which I thought was excellent.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>The next morning was Easter Sunday. We got a lift to Queenstown from a lovely couple who even took the time to drive us through neighbouring Arrowtown. We were staying with some Couch Surf hosts at their place in Fern Hill. Laila and John, from Scotland and Ireland respectively were simply the best hosts. So generous and welcoming. It was a shame we couldn’t have spent more time with them in the end. But we did have time to pick up some very intriguing tips on travelling through Borneo, learned a new board game called ‘The Settlers of Cazar’ and went for dinner with them to a really good Thai restaurant which has<br />
lunch for $10 deals.<br />
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We climbed up Ben Lomond Mountain whilst we were there, more epic views and self-satisfaction a-plenty.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7g78rFXGE1lticthdMmpzO__Wml_uOTpZhtt22j-DXh9IBcRfFX53jNu5t1Ghf-F9cV2vX1WU4xE0ngTQaN4eMai9hWx0NejqI7TEmCMmbV12oBeBT1swgZYj8vjg1V8kVo3u63dKbJk/s1600/Mel+and+Charlie+Ben+Lomond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7g78rFXGE1lticthdMmpzO__Wml_uOTpZhtt22j-DXh9IBcRfFX53jNu5t1Ghf-F9cV2vX1WU4xE0ngTQaN4eMai9hWx0NejqI7TEmCMmbV12oBeBT1swgZYj8vjg1V8kVo3u63dKbJk/s200/Mel+and+Charlie+Ben+Lomond.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the summit of Ben Lomond</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I tried ice-skating for the first time (Mel is so good by the way), we learnt how to play Frisbee golf, had nice pub food, ate the best ice-cream and sampled some of John’s really nice single-malt whiskey; Talisker, incidentally the name of their cat! Cool name.<br />
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In order to get back to Nelson we were going to have to drive. Mel had managed to find a website which lists car rental companies in need of cars and campervans being returned to their bases up and down the country. It just so happened that a 2-birth campervan did indeed need re-locating from Queenstown to Nelson. We offered our services and were duly sent to pick it up from an American couple who were staying at a nearby hotel. 2 perfect fake-white Californian smiles later and we were on our way. It was a long, long night drive to Arthur’s Pass, where would be spending the next couple of days. I ended up driving us the entire way, which I enjoyed, but we didn’t arrive until 12:20am.<br />
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We were staying at Ngarie and Tom’s place, the same generous people who let us house-sit the Beverly Hills place back in the New Zealand summer. Tom’s family, the Morton’s, have a stunning bach (a bach is Kiwi for Holiday Home – oven describing one that can be as little as a shed with no power, right up to a mansion-type second home) there, simply called ‘The Beeches’. We spent an idyllic few days there. It was freezing, but the bach is brilliant – see the pics on Flickr – we did more walking to ‘Avalanche Peak’ and the ‘Devil’s Punch Bowl’. We even saw some Keas, a type of mountain parrot. On our final morning, just for good measure, we experienced our first ever earthquake. It measured 5.3 and hit the house pretty hard. Nothing and nobody was hurt. <br />
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We arrived back in Nelson last weekend to house-sit at Sue and John’s place again. It’s been yet another amazing chapter in our travels. Onwards!!Charles Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10342733292290303420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-83217589203250954552011-05-11T11:02:00.001+12:002011-05-15T08:42:44.068+12:00‘Brassed Off’ and ‘Terra Nova’ with Theatre Alive and Body in Space respectively…Mel and I really enjoyed our time working together in ‘Brassed Off’. We have made some truly great mates; we performed to attentive and generous audiences and generally drank in the experience. Hugh Neill directed the show with a very strong overall vision which was communicated with passion and dedication during what was a very intense rehearsal schedule. I played the character of Phil and this enabled me to take trombone lessons for a month in the lead up to the show – this was great, as I was able to learn almost all the music for the show – after all there is nothing worse than an inept performer who hasn’t even taken the time to make some sort of an effort with their instrument when the role demands it. In fact, all of the actors who took on the roles with brass instruments did really well. I got to self-indulge completely with the hanging scene – which is on Youtube now by the way, here’s the link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUOcreOn9h8">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUOcreOn9h8</a><br />
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Mel got to play a small bit-part and was instrumental in me getting in and out of my costumes and putting make-up on me when required. I don’t ever want to have to do a show without her from now on. I would like to mention every other cast and crew member by name but it would take too long and they already know how much we think of them. How rare it is to perform without any neurotic cast members in such a large ensemble. Great times!<br />
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As ‘Brassed Off’ was drawing to a close I somehow managed to find my way into the much coveted read-through for Body in Space’s ‘Terra Nova’. This is the story of Scott of the Antarctic, who, along with his party, died during their race to be the first men to march to the South Pole 100 years ago this year. I have been cast as Captain Scott which has been an honour thus far, such is the calibre of the rest of the company and opening night is just couple of weeks away. It will be performed in a marquee on the lawns of Fairfield House over 9 nights. After that, I think I’ll concentrate on teaching for a bit, but we’ll see!Charles Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10342733292290303420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-4688481211886738902011-05-11T11:00:00.001+12:002011-05-11T11:02:09.796+12:00Fiarfield House 10th May 2011It’s been 2 months since I last blogged. That’s quite a departure from the many and frequent blogs that appeared in the early part of our travels. It’s fair to say that a very great deal has gone on since we arrived back in Nelson from those quiet days out at Cable Bay. I have decided to break the blogs up into three areas; our subsequent travels, including hitch-hiking down the west coast, ‘Brassed Off’ rehearsals and performing in Nelson’s stunning Theatre Royal and everything else. I have decided to start with everything else, so here goes…<br /><br />We made our way up to Fairfield House feeling excited about finally being able to settle in one place for more than a couple of weeks, maybe try out a few of the recipes which have picked up on the way, rest those weary limbs after so many thousands of kms of cycling, that sort of thing. It quickly became apparent that this would not be the case over the first few minutes of our time in our WWOOF accommodation. It was a sunny day, as usual in Nelson as we made our way up through the gardens to our hippy, happy, bach type home feeling excited at its rustic exterior. We found the key and unlocked the big, wooden front door and stepped inside. The filth we met was only matched by the stench of at least one rat which had been living freely in the space for at least a couple of weeks. Urine, droppings, stains, not to mention mountains of dust, squashed bugs all over the walls and ceilings, grease, soil and spiders a-plenty. It looked like it had been uncared for not just weeks, but years. Mel and I spent 20 hours over two days, cleaning everything, floor to ceiling. We didn’t even start on the cooker, the holes where the rat had been making its way in and out from, the windows which we though must be there under the blankets of dirt. Now, 2 months on, it looks like it always should have done, and probably did in its earlier life. It is spotless and comfortable – a lovely little home which we have started to call with a great deal of affection, ‘The Shed’! <br /><br />Fairfied House has been great for us. The lovely Catherine Brosnahan has allowed us to WWOOF here for a long time and she has even given us time off to go away hitch-hiking! We work hard mind you, gardening, cleaning and setting up for functions etc. We enjoy the exchange and it has given us time to consider what to do next in our lives, as we continue on this amazing adventure into life in NZ. We will make sure we put more pictures of ‘The Shed’ and the gardens that surround it, as well as Fairfield House itself in due course.<br /><br />We both work 15 hours each a week here, we combine that with our theatrical commitments and our ‘real jobs’; Mel at Lush and me at Sound Stage, both of which have been simply brilliant. We both love the people we work with and on behalf of – and my students continue to impress me on a daily basis. I have also been teaching in mainstream secondary schools in the area, as cover for absent drama teachers – Waimea College and Nelson School for Girls. All good experience!Charles Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10342733292290303420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-23329849738256954322011-03-22T14:34:00.001+13:002011-03-22T14:34:02.957+13:00Brassed Off Rehearsal now on YouTube!We had the cameras in on one of our rehearsals recently, you can go on YouTube to see a sneak preview from Brassed Off - with a certain Charles Hindley featured early in the clip. Enjoy!<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCLLTdupMMQ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCLLTdupMMQ</a>Mel Schofield-Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02170755140451004346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-68895287650197191692011-03-17T08:25:00.004+13:002011-03-17T14:07:41.522+13:0010th March – Cable BayCable Bay: As stunning as any vista we have enjoyed since our arrival in New Zealand. All the elements which make up the world around us can be seen from the chair I’m currently sitting in. The many shades of blue and green, reflecting up through the windows from the sea and the hills follow us around as we go about our daily business. It is possible to feel the change of the seasons by paying close attention to the landscape just outside the broad windows.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking over the sea and island</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Island we look out on </td></tr>
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Each day the sun gets a little lower in the sky as summer drifts slowly away and autumnal colours are beginning to appear in the leaves of the plants surrounding the house. The nights too, are cooler; we have needed to put on the wood burning stove a few times in recent days in order to warm us up after our long cycles to and from town, sometimes late at night. I don’t think that there can be a more enjoyable cuppa than that produced by freshly boiled kettles from wood burning stoves at night, listening to the cold winds blow just outside the windows.<br />
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Our friend James came to stay with us for a few days last week. It was so nice to have him here with us. He made sure that he contributed to the WWOOFing duties left to us by the owner, Zoe, and we spent lots of time enjoying each others company, eating lovely food, cooked by both Mel and James before he headed back up north again last Saturday.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James helping tackle a 'weed' tree</td></tr>
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Mel got to spend a little more time with him than I did, as I have been at work or rehearsals every day since we have been here. We’re both very pleased that he survived his terrible ordeal, lost in the national park for 6 days and we wish him well until we meet again.<br />
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We made marmalade together from 'Gold Fruit' given to us by the neighbour here, Julie. The fruit are a cross between an orange and a grapefruit and make a fine marmalade!<br />
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I have been enjoying work immensely at Sound Stage. The team are brilliant to work with, as are the students. There will be a show at the end of term which will be the ideal opportunity to show everybody connected with the academy a chance to show what we have all been working on this term. I know the students will provide a real treat for everyone. <br />
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‘Brassed Off’ continues to evolve as well, with rehearsals ongoing and the opening night just a few weeks away, tickets are selling well, thanks to the efforts of certain cast members. Mel and I have only managed to sell 2 tickets so far, so I don’t think we’ll be winning any prizes for that, but there is still time…<br />
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It’s our final day here at Cable Bay. We have just had some lunch; more lovely, fresh baked scones with New Zealand honey on them. They should give us enough energy to kayak around the bay whilst the tide is high. It’s a little bit windy, so I can’t see any sting-rays in the shallow water at the moment. They come in with the tide and we can see them sailing around, searching for food from up here most days, but there are a few too many white horses today. <br />
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Tomorrow we move to Fairfield House and onto the next chapter.Charles Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10342733292290303420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-14371980680843986652011-02-28T16:36:00.002+13:002011-03-17T08:40:03.272+13:00The earthquake<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=700+Cable+Bay+Rd,+Hira+7071&daddr=Rutherford+Street,+Nelson&hl=en&geocode=FerWi_0dOy5WCin1XpwAVfc7bTGrYB9-NooBRQ%3BFYIoiv0d4g1UCin5ZTTlGu07bTHwwJ3KbEdlwA&mra=ls&sll=-41.31448,173.248674&sspn=0.746781,1.766052&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=-41.222052,173.353271&spn=0.180764,0.291824&z=11&output=embed" width="425"></iframe><br />
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New Zealand has suffered one of its worst earthquakes in living memory; Mel and I are currently living a few hundred kms from the city of Christchurch, which has been hit hardest. I hope all those who are affected by the quake can take some comfort from the fact that the world stands with them. Something that has been made abundantly clear by the media coverage is that New Zealand has stepped up to the plate and has already begun to help in any way they can. Some of my new colleagues at Sound Stage have been talking of their friends who live there and also of the impact of loosing so many beautiful old buildings, so many of which have collapsed or are completely unstable. It’s not the first time Mel and I have been so close to such a disaster. If nothing else, it gives us greater perspective and resolve to continue on our adventure, as none of us know what the future holds.<br />
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The earthquake came at a time when almost everything has been going very well for us here in Nelson. We have enjoyed house-sits, I have started new jobs and we have both been enjoying working on ‘Brassed Off’. <br />
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We finished house-sitting at Sue and John’s towards the end of last week and we moved to a hostel called ‘Shortbread Cottage’ which is on Trafalgar Street, opposite the Nelson sports arena which will house a few of the Rugby World Cup matches this year. We have been cleaning there in exchange for free accommodation, in this instance, a campervan parked at the front of the building. It has been ok. Mel has had to brave the hairy shower plug holes and endless washing far more often than I have, as I have been combining my Sound Stage teaching with supply teaching at a secondary school in nearby Richmond, called Waimea College. So between us we have been really busy – lots of cleaning, teaching, rehearsing and still the constant search for jobs and long term accommodation of the WWOOF variety have kept us completely occupied. I’m starting to feel as jaded as I did before we left the UK.<br />
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We have found time for one or two pleasures during the last week or so. We went and had dinner with Hugh and Judith Neil, directors of ‘Theatre Alive’, last Friday. Judith had cooked up a magnificent meal which included our favourite – Thai Green Curry. Mel and I made some plum and apple crumble which we all enjoyed for dessert, topped with coconut cream. And to finish it all off, a large tot of single malt whiskey. Needless to say; we slept all the better after that.<br />
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Life cleaning at the hostel was to end rather more quickly than we had perhaps had anticipated. During our search for longer term residency, we came across Fairfield House. A superb Victorian property, quite close to Tom and Ngaire’s place which is now used for all sorts of corporate functions and community events. Catherine Brosnehan is in sole charge of the day to day running of the place, which sits on a few acres. She has the help of her daughter Shannon and also other WWOOFers. We touched base with her and she invited us up to meet her on the Saturday following dinner at Hugh and Judith’s. A chance to meet us and rope us in to helping to set up for the Brazilian night being held there that evening. We duly obliged, and although we didn’t get to see all that much of Catherine, we were treated to great music and good company. Mel met a lady named Zoe, who offered to let us stay at her place out at Cable Bay, in exchange for a few hours labour a day. As you know, we love Cable Bay, so within the next few days we had seen the property, a 3 bedroomed, timber structure with extensive views of the surrounding bay and mountains. Zoe explained which trees needed felling, which weeds needed whacking and here we are. <br />
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It is now Sunday evening, the 27th February 2011, 7:15pm. Mel is in the kitchen cooking scones and a Moroccan tagine on the wood burning stove whilst I sit, typing away on my first proper blog in around 3 weeks. I have been very busy though! The sun has started to lower behind the house, which is set into the side of a hill, just of the only road in and out of the bay. I can see sheep across the water on the other side of the inlet, scampering to catch the last warmth of the sun before setting down to sleep under the clear skies on what looks to be another picture perfect night to come. The view is somewhat less impeded than it was since we severely chopped back a particularly vociferous Jacaranda tree which had been threatening to engulf the entire house until we took to it with a chain saw. <br />
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I can smell the spices of the tagine, sweet and aromatic, and I can feel the squeaky clean wooden floor boards against my bare feet, a reassuring feeling of a job well done – I scrubbed the floor just an hour ago. Opposite me on the table is a glass with rosemary, thyme and pink rose buds, all freshly cut from the garden that steeply slops away from the house, down to my left where it joins the rising waters of a near high tide.<br />
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We went kayaking a couple of hours ago. Zoe has a small boat shed which houses a few seaworthy vessels, and a 2 seater kayak among the score. It was windy, but we both still enjoyed it.<br />
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Mel loves Kayaking, almost as much as sitting in the sun, so to be able to do the both together must equate to Norwich City winning the FA Cup to me. She is tired now, having been working so hard in the kitchen since we stowed away our boat and made our way up the winding path to the house. I better go. I think dinner will be ready soon. I’ll write again very soon.Charles Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10342733292290303420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-68567479163478412872011-02-28T16:33:00.001+13:002011-02-28T16:54:58.840+13:00House-SittingWe’re really enjoying life in Nelson, the weather continues to be hot and sunny, the people are still friendly and our life/work aspirations are looking pretty good just now.<br />
I have started teaching at the very impressive Sound Stage professional performing arts academy and rehearsals for ‘Brassed Off’ have taken a very interesting turn in that Mel is now a member of the cast!<br />
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The week began with Tom, Ngaire and their children arriving home from the holiday down south and despite their son, Oliver, contracting pneumonia, they were in high spirits and pleased to come home to a clean house and home cooked soup followed by carrot cake, courtesy of Mel’s culinary skills. We stayed with them for a further 3 nights before reluctantly heading off to our next house-sit; such had been the pleasure of our time at their property.<br />
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Sue and John live in another stunning house, with views of the entire Bay. You can see Takaka Hill from their balcony, way off in the distance, a sharp reminder of the distance and gradient of our travels on the bikes.<br />
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The house itself is not an easy place to get to in that it is up a steep climb on the bikes, it is worth the effort though. Sue and John stocked the cupboards with all sorts of food and wine for our enjoyment during their trip up north. They have a very productive veggie patch with all sorts of stuff in season and they left us with strict instructions to water twice daily and enjoy the benefits should anything be ready to devour. We have been given the privilege of looking after ‘Puss’ as well, an aging tortoise shell cat who has travelled half way round the world from Ireland to spend her twilight years here. She is very much the apple of Sue and John’s eye. It is so nice to come home to a cat again in the evenings, always so nice to have the purring on your lap whilst you consume a well deserved beer or two.<br />
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Another interesting quirk at Sue and John’s has been the daily visit of ‘Gully’, a massive black backed gull who arrives on queue, each morning to be fed the last of the unfinished cat food from the previous day plus a slice of bread.<br />
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Viola has been in town this week, armed with lots of photo’s of her Kayaking trip with Gary, our ‘warm showers’ host from Wellington. Viola and Gary spent a week on the water cruising round the empty beaches and inlets of the many islands dotted around the northern tip of south island. It looks like she has had a great time.<br />
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Mel and I are unsure as to what to do next with regards to our onward travels. It seems like a good idea to try and stay in Nelson for the long term, especially as things seem to be going very well with my work. All we need now is for Mel to find a job and all will be well. I have been asked to cover some classes at Waimea College over the next week or so. One of the drama teachers has been offered the chance to go to Australia and perform at the prestigious Adelaide festival. I have accepted the offer, it is a chance to go and see what teaching at a secondary school in New Zealand is really like.<br />
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We have learned that another of our cycling mates, James, has been lost and found whilst out hiking in one of the national parks near us in Nelson. He was missing for several days and is lucky to be alive. It has been front page news. It must have been terrifying for him. The report I have seen, suggests that after a couple of days he had to remove his contact lenses as they hurt so much, so for 3 days he was basically blind. It is such an easy thing to do, get lost in the wilderness. But it hasn’t stopped all those idiots who have no idea what they are talking about from posting up critical statements on Facbook and the like. “Stupid Pome, wouldn’t have happened to a Kiwi!” etc. I can hear the wise amongst you yawning in unison with me.<br />
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On our last day at Sue and John’s we managed to find hostel to work in, in exchange for our accommodation, so it’s off to ‘Shortbread Cottage’ for us and we’ll catch up again soon.Charles Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10342733292290303420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-55395415541250561782011-02-22T16:50:00.000+13:002011-02-22T16:50:58.458+13:00We're OK in NelsonJust a quick mini-blog to assure everyone that we are still in Nelson and are safe from the earthquake. We've been watching live tv, seen dead bodies pulled from the YHA and buildings collapsing - we send our love and support to everyone in Christchurch.Mel Schofield-Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02170755140451004346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-51567595319912134682011-02-03T10:59:00.003+13:002011-02-19T14:42:29.130+13:00Takaka Hill, Nelson, 'Brassed Off' and SoundStage 22 January - 3 February 2011Theirs is an old adage which states that “A week is long time in football.” – or was it politics? There is a reason why this is an old adage. This week, since leaving the tranquillity of Takaka and our new friends there, our cycle tour has been halted temporarily, but for good reason. <br />
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Our last days with Judith were full of laughter and hard graft in one garden or another. We spent 2 days at Theo’s place; an 80 something dairy farmer with a great devotion to her 200 acre garden where we spent a great deal of time pulling ivy from a section of her Camellia hedgerow. We also managed a day’s gardening at Gaye and Adele’s place, working with Pat to tidy up the sloping gardens which lead down to a tidal creek a bottom of their patch. We even had time to meet Judith’s brother, now living in Lincolnshire near to my mum’s place, but over visiting the family for a month. <br />
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We left Takaka on Saturday the 22nd of January and began our cycle back towards Motoeka. We were both utterly exhausted when we arrived in Motoeka that evening after cycling the highest climb in NZ – 10km and 800 metres (there are higher hills and mountains but you don’t start from sea level for those!). The sun had been beating down on us all throughout the cycle, oddly, as we both looked up to the sky, we saw a perfect rainbow surrounding the sun and we both felt it was in some way symbolic.<br />
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Early on Sunday morning we packed up and set off on the 50 km journey into Nelson again. It was a much easier and quicker journey than the previous day, no 15 km uphill cycling to do for a start! We were in a bit of a rush due to the fact that we had read about an open audition for the play ‘Brassed Off’, being held in the town at 2pm in the afternoon. I figured now was as good a time as any to introduce myself to the theatrical community of New Zealand, so we set up camp at the not so nice ‘Paradiso’ backpackers and headed for SoundStage – a professional performing arts academy – to read for the director. <br />
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At the audition we met other potential cast members and got chatting, as you do. All were friendly and went out of their way to welcome us. Ngaire, a local GP and all round good egg, came into the audition with me and read the part of Sandra. I was reading for Phil, Sandra’s husband. It was great to have a script in my hand again. Mel also came in to introduce herself and to offer her services backstage, as they had advertised for such help. Hugh and Judith Neill, the directors of Theatre Alive, the company responsible for the show, appeared to be impressed enough with us and we left feeling happy. As we were leaving, Ngaire offered to let us stay in her spare room, should we need somewhere to go. She explained that her husband Tom and her three children would be fine with us staying for as long as we needed to. We have taken her up on that offer – I am currently sitting in their Beverley Hills type house on a hill overlooking Nelson, more on this later.<br />
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That evening I was offered the part of Phil in the show, I couldn’t have been more pleased as it is set to go on at The Theatre Royal here in Nelson in April. It’s the oldest wooden theatre in the southern hemisphere and it looks stunning from the outside. We met Hugh to have a look round, it was wonderful!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beautiful chairs in the upper circle</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking at the stage from the Upper Circle</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUXHaNlQll-PVlrbdDikYWuf19A8eLstQ4_e6dldpXfF2oEzthk3b64Tr1LgDYOh0yUJ-t644J20epRNXHgJRailkYifWPmxtwKkM_85MtgdFMq028hC1jaAMEbmgRTgr2e3cnWlSYVfU/s1600/From+the+stage%252C+Theatre+Royal+in+Nelson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUXHaNlQll-PVlrbdDikYWuf19A8eLstQ4_e6dldpXfF2oEzthk3b64Tr1LgDYOh0yUJ-t644J20epRNXHgJRailkYifWPmxtwKkM_85MtgdFMq028hC1jaAMEbmgRTgr2e3cnWlSYVfU/s320/From+the+stage%252C+Theatre+Royal+in+Nelson.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking our from the stage</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charlie and Hugh on stage</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The rehearsal space upstairs above the stage</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hugh and Mel in the upper wings</td></tr>
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As it turn out, Ngaire and her eldest child, Oliver, will be playing the roles of Sandra and ‘our’ son, so we’re all practically family now!<br />
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On the Monday afternoon I was back at SoundStage interviewing for the vacant Drama Coach position. I was interviewed by Jane Winter, the principle, and her husband, Simon for more than an hour, after which time I was offered 4 hours per week to start with, with a view to maybe increasing my hours as time passes. Another great bit of news. SoundStage is the only professional performing arts academy in Nelson, so to be part of that team is both flattering and exciting and I can’t wait to get stuck in. Obviously, 4 hours a week is not going to be enough for us to live off, but we are attempting to increase our spectrum of work as quickly as possible and who knows, we may end up staying in Nelson for a while yet. I will post details of the show on the blog as and when I receive them, but for now a link to both Theatre Alive and the SoundStage websites are available for you to view in the usual place on this page.<br />
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After the good news about the jobs, Mel and I decided to go away on the bikes for one more trip, before settling down here for a couple of months or more. We packed up and left ‘Paradiso’ backpackers and headed off to Cable Bay for a couple of nights. We were both very pleased we did. (Check out the video on Flickr.com). We had an almost private beach, an empty campsite, a super café for lunch and great hiking opportunities. We were able to spend time reflecting on all of our achievements to date on our travels. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arriving at Cable Bay</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEift94YuwZDz0MYf01h0qjmyzTFEn7493H_nWJJkXCrYJqf-0AFSLhoDSWwSkoE9n99bE2EjvoxE9aoYhbhqMtbRjMu18uVal5ZwOOGqoxHghQQu7ZYdBFjkXA_q7wh2rfWtcaUDR0X_ok/s1600/Mel+above+the+Bay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEift94YuwZDz0MYf01h0qjmyzTFEn7493H_nWJJkXCrYJqf-0AFSLhoDSWwSkoE9n99bE2EjvoxE9aoYhbhqMtbRjMu18uVal5ZwOOGqoxHghQQu7ZYdBFjkXA_q7wh2rfWtcaUDR0X_ok/s320/Mel+above+the+Bay.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Above Cable Bay</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3AcoCdHIsvPT4TR44PnR4nRXAqQVJP31NPeBT-gUxLwWcpGp-xBGcy3ZYRpP-RLyOt8Ua3lqjFaQ-_-WUw1pjBJo9vCmAAN34Mqh_nRBpi1c8W9kY7uF4PSqPTUVFYya4UUxyvgcxV0/s1600/Nelson+in+the+distance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3AcoCdHIsvPT4TR44PnR4nRXAqQVJP31NPeBT-gUxLwWcpGp-xBGcy3ZYRpP-RLyOt8Ua3lqjFaQ-_-WUw1pjBJo9vCmAAN34Mqh_nRBpi1c8W9kY7uF4PSqPTUVFYya4UUxyvgcxV0/s320/Nelson+in+the+distance.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking towards Nelson</td></tr>
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<br />
So, we find ourselves in a very unique position in every sense of the word. We have been offered the chance to house-sit for a week, so we have somewhere to stay, all be it temporarily, some work and a show on the horizon. The property we are house-sitting; Tom and Ngaire’s place, is a 1930’s New Zealand timber frame house, strategically embedded into the side of the Grampians overlooking the town, tastefully decorated with a swimming pool, beautiful garden and a kitchen to die for. They are a truly wonderful couple, with 3 delightful kids, so welcoming and generous to a fault. My, my, we have been fortunate. Mel and I intend to bake and cook amazing food for them when they return from a week’s holiday on Sunday, as we have had the place to ourselves since Friday.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcghhLtGxRF5DzOYeNjjVY_DjhyphenhyphenpeEG2HuRqG_n7nu_fsrbnp0jOpQ9_-C4QHY80TLwL8TzQl26ZSkjdDNVl4ur_7cXX41ON1tvQ7iQXdjsXA0VK3eEB9jeJ-iRrbkLgum6E5BnClyJys/s1600/Polenta+Frittata.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcghhLtGxRF5DzOYeNjjVY_DjhyphenhyphenpeEG2HuRqG_n7nu_fsrbnp0jOpQ9_-C4QHY80TLwL8TzQl26ZSkjdDNVl4ur_7cXX41ON1tvQ7iQXdjsXA0VK3eEB9jeJ-iRrbkLgum6E5BnClyJys/s320/Polenta+Frittata.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Polenta Frittata</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Charles Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10342733292290303420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-71618564370196347822011-01-18T17:06:00.001+13:002011-01-18T21:38:15.439+13:00Judith's Place 11th-19th January 2011Judith’s Place 11th – 18th January 2011<br />
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We met Judith at the hairdresser’s, she is one of the stylists there and gave both Mel and I a great haircut. During the process we all got to chatting about many things, our travels and life here in Takaka. We explained that we would really like to spend some time in the area as Golden Bay appears to have much to explore of interest to us. There are stunning beaches, nice walks, lots of alternative shops and café’s and some lovely people. We also spoke about the possibility of getting some paid work in the area and how we hoped to WWOOF until we could find some jobs. By the end of our conversation, Judith had very kindly offered to take us in, explaining that her 98 year old villa was on the market and that there was a bit of gardening which needed doing to help improve the overall impact of the house to potential buyers. In truth, there is very little which could improve what is a most remarkable property. It has superbly proportioned rooms and a mature garden which has been a delight to spend time in. <br />
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We arrived with our bikes the next morning, having made the short trip round the corner from the backpackers. We stepped in through the delightful front garden, passed the wisteria, grape vines and pink, climbing roses towards the open front door. Judith has mentioned that she would be at church and that we should find out way into our room and unpack. She had left strict instructions for us not to do any work and to just relax in the sun, but you know Mel and I. After putting our stuff in our massive, high ceilinged, French style colonial bedroom with double doors leading our onto the front veranda, we made our way down the garden, set on a ¼ of an acre, through the small gate, passed the fruit trees to our place of work; the vegetable plot. There, over the coming days we would build new compost heaps, weed vast areas of ‘wandering willy’, buttercups and other small weeds, whilst being attended by the delightful Liquorish, Judith’s cat and 7 bantam hens, all of whom were delighted with the constant flow of fresh worms and open soil for dust baths.<br />
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Judith is lovely; she is really cruisey, great conversation, a brilliant cook and an all round good egg! We have enjoyed some good laughs, wine and food together. On that note, Mel has started noting down some of the recipes we have collected over the years from all the people and places we have visited. There are a few to add from this stay such as rice and peanut burgers with home made coleslaw salad, topped with peanut sauce. We have also been introduced to a new form of potato, originally grown by the Maori. It is extremely dark purple and very starchy, as versatile as our own, but with a more dense texture. Mel has cooked the delicious dessert that Terrance gave to us back in Taupo, though she attempted to make it with non-dairy additives which meant it lacked a little richness, though it was still yummy. This was on top of a delicious Banana cake she baked as a treat a couple of days before. I am such a spoiled husband!<br />
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Judith has a daughter named Scarlett who is spending time at a friends somewhere in the surrounding area and we have been lucky enough to meet her and her two dogs; Beck and Rip (both greyhound/pig-dog cross siblings) on a couple of occasions. Judith has lots of visitors to the house which has also been nice. Pat, Gaye and various other members of Judith’s extensive social network have been in and around the house. Pat is a really nice guy, well travelled and full of hilarious jokes about his time spent in England as a window cleaner. He is now a trained teacher of English as a foreign language. He is the brother of Gaye who has been kind enough to offer us some paid gardening work here which will be undertaking for her over the coming week before heading back to Nelson this Saturday. We have also managed to find some more WOOFing at another of Judith’s good friends; Theo. Theo is a mature lady with a lot of land (over 200 acres). She has been a dairy farmer for many years and when she moved to her current plot in 1959, she began planting the most enormous collection of trees and landscaped gardens. There is much to be getting on with there. We popped round for a chat the other day and she showed us her prolific citrus trees, all of which have benefitted from a special type of organic feed. A few years ago, it turns out; Theo lost a lot of lambs during the early part of the spring. Instead of wasting those lambs’ corpses, she placed 5 round the base of each citrus tree. This has clearly impacted on the crops since, as they have rich foliage and abundant fruits every year. The lemons are delicious!!<br />
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Today, the 18th of January is a very wet and miserable day, much like the day we endured on or way up to Farewell Spit last week. The difference today has been that we are not forced to spend the day out in the elements and we can enjoy a rain free, warm and cosy day catching up with blogs, emails and watching films on our computer. In fact, it has been quite exciting to see the weather forecast on the news, we have been warned that 2 cyclones are passing our way and they may produce a great deal of rain and wind. Watch this space.<br />
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A few days ago Mel and I hired a car to head back to Nelson and collect our stuff which we had left at Tahuna beach campsite. It was nice to collect our bag and to go and collect our new cycle panniers from the post office which had been sent down by Bruce from 'Adventure Cycles' in Auckland. We didn’t linger in the town for very long as we wanted to travel round a bit before coming back to Takaka.<br />
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We visited a few beaches and drove on some nasty unsealed roads, the sort of stuff we wouldn’t have had the chance to do on the bikes. It was a nice day. Once we arrived back we decided to give our cycle trailer to Judith. She needs something for running into the town and back to so shopping etc and we no longer have any call for it with the new panniers. It is good to see it going to a good home and I’m relieved to not have it dragging me back down the steep hills of the south island.<br />
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Near the town of Takaka there are some Limestone rock formations, one of which is know as Labyrinth Rocks. On Sunday Mel and I went for a long cycle ride to explore them. A couple of days previously we had been shown another, similar area of rocks when Judith had taken us on a ‘Ticki-Tour’ in Pat’s car (‘Ticki-Tour is the name given to a trip visiting somewhere or something). That evening Judith had showed us some of her favourite areas of Golden Bay. Some limestone formations called ‘The Grove’ were the most memorable for me. For those of you who have seen or visited the Temples at Angkor, you will be familiar with the crumbling ruins which are slowly being enveloped by the buttresses of trees and the many thousands of years of weathering thereupon the ancient structures. The limestone boulders and cliffs of Golden Bay are similar in appearance, though not built by man, but by millions of years of natural weathering of the rocks. There are pathways through the rocks which are augmented with palm trees, vines and wild birds. Deep greens, set off brilliantly by the different shades of rock and the dim light which was somewhere above the canopy. At ‘The Grove’ we walked up to a stunning lookout, through the boulders and cliffs and towards the lowering sun which we could see at the end of a path. Up the steps we climbed until eventually we walked out and saw what seemed like all of Golden Bay, from the mountains to our left, stretching round passed fields painted golden and green by the evening sun and out into the Tasman Sea which stretched away to our right. We could feel the warmth of the evening sun, still strong despite it being past 8pm and we took the time to breath deeply on the softest of summer evening air and take a couple of photos to help preserve the memory.<br />
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The ‘Labyrinth Rocks’ we visited on Sunday were different in that they were mostly on the same level and had been characterised by the inclusion of many different plastic action and fairytale figures, all of which had been placed strategically on the rocks near every turn. It truly was a Labyrinth, it took Mel and I a long time to find our way out again. <br />
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That Sunday we also cycled back to one of the Bays which Judith had shown us on our drive. It has been called ‘Cornwall Haven’. It was too windy to sit in the sun, so we took a couple more photos and went for coffee on an old fishing trawler in the port. It is a novelty to drink a coffee on a fishing trawler, and even more of a novelty to drink a coffee on trawler which was at one time owned by the famous Frenchman; Jacques Cousteau.<br />
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It was a nice way to top an interesting weekend which had also included a visit to ‘The A&P Show’; a 114 year old tradition in the mould of our agricultural shows at home. There we saw all sorts of old collectable steam driven engines, classic cars and farm machinery, as well as well as prize winning farm animals, food stalls and sheep shearing competitions. We stopped to watch one of the sheep shearing competitions, naturally won by a Scotsman by the name of Stewart who finished a good minute before the other two pretenders. There were also wood chopping competitions with the usual muscle bound, beer gut laden men, carrying their axes around, but when we watched it was in fact the ladies tournament. There was a really mature looking woman who must have been in her 70s or 80s and she was ripping this log apart with serious skill! Good old New Zealand women eh?!<br />
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Anyway, I better go as Mel and I are cooking dinner this evening, we are attempting a chickpea salad and some Thai style veg.Charles Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10342733292290303420noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76399591956892285.post-8024865469102509162011-01-18T17:01:00.001+13:002011-01-18T20:18:24.393+13:00Takaka to Farwell Spit and Back 9th-11th January 2011Farewell Spit turned out to be a very hard slog on the bikes. It was only around 40 odd km but as it turned out they were the most rainy and windy of any which we have cycled to date in NZ. Absolutely relentless head winds and blankets and blankets of rain which soaked everything we possessed almost to the core. We were so drenched by the time we arrived in the settlement of Pakawau that we had to book into a cabin for the night, just so that we could attempt to get everything dry. Mel left me outside the only café in the area, which doubled as the booking office for the campsite and went in to ask if we could have a room as opposed to a tent site for the night. Once everyone inside the place realised what we had just been through in order to get there, she received a round of applause for her efforts. She arrived back outside and told me what had happened and we had a little chuckle on the way to our lodgings about it. The cabin itself is more of a shed really, although it does have 2 bedrooms and a kitchen, but no toilet, we would have to brave the wind and the rain in order to pay those a visit. We did mange to get everything dry in the end though, I set up a makeshift drying room in one of the bedrooms, using a ball of string and the frames of the 3 bunk beds as a makeshift clothes, tent and pannier drying area. Our trainers didn’t dry over night mind you, they had been so wet that you could literally pour the water out of them after we had removed them from our shrivelled up feet. <br />
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When we left the cabin the next morning it was a much brighter day. We walked down onto the beach and took a few pictures of ‘Farewell Spit’ from the sea shore, we decided not to attempt to cycle any further along the road and instead to head back to Takaka.<br />
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We phoned ahead in order to secure a tent site at a place called the ‘Barefoot Backpackers’. 3 hours later; we pulled up there and got set up for the night. It didn’t rain a drop on the return journey and the sky was almost clear. It gave a very different impression to the landscape that we had endured the previous day. Some great views over Golden Bay, plenty of sheep and cows to chat to on the way, and some breathtaking mountains bathed in sunshine. <br />
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That evening we picked up some fresh veg to cook from an independent farm shop on the outskirts of town, so much better than buying from a supermarket. 1 big bulb of garlic, spring onions, red cabbage, broccoli and a green pepper for $7 – that’s pretty good for NZ! During the evening Mel sat in the tent and wrote some emails while I played pool on the free pool table and watched ‘Cable Guy’ with couple of Dutch girls who were also staying at the hostel. I woke up early in order to listen to the F.A. Cup 3rd round match between Norwich City and Leyton Orient. I needn’t have bothered though as we lost 1-0, such is life.<br />
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We both needed haircuts when we arrived back in Takaka, we booked into a small hairdressers not far from where we were staying on the Saturday morning, a 10am appointment. Mel had been really looking forward to getting her hair seen to as we had not had the opportunity since before the wedding back in September. In booking the hair appointment we set the wheels in motion for one of the best weeks of the trip so far…Charles Hindleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10342733292290303420noreply@blogger.com0