Awww - ask Si how it scared him.All in all a fab weekend away.
Keep you updated soon.
Trace & Si x x x
Monday, February 06, 2006
Tracey Fav picture so far!This is Bank Holiday Monday in NZ - please note lack of people around!
It's at a place called Kaikoura, which again is a tourist spot where you can go Whale and Dolphin watching by helicopter or boat.
This spot is where the Seal colony is, a few of the beasts hanging around in the sun and chilling out.
Onwards from Hanmer Springs, on the NZ equivalent of the M1 motorway, for a four hour drive through the Southern Alps through mountainous regions, wetlands and vine yards all the way to the North of South island to a place called Picton.We came here as it is a big sailing area, and Si wanted to come here and look longingly at boats. For Tracey luckily, she had already discovered a hairdresser in Christchurch so the allure of hairdressing shops had now gone.
Picton is a little town (for you RN think of Torpoint) by the coast, and is the main route in by ferry from Wellington. Lots of backpackers and Motels with tourist shops and the essential Irish Bar.
The photo is from a walk around the harbour, with a hike well above sea leavel. For the family, this was taken about an hour after Simon got out of bed - proof that he can get his arse into gear, whilst staying in a cheapskate Backpackers motel with no tea or TV to watch.
Sunset at Hanmer Springs.Only 1 and half hour drive from Christchurch is a spring (NZ No.1 Tourist attraction - yeah!).
"The town boasts one of the main Tourist attractions of the South Islands, the Hanmer Springs Thermal Reserve which is an outdoor thermal pool complex, being popular all year round. You can sit back and relax in natural thermal water, surrounded by towering trees and a mountain backdrop. " Quote from cheesy tourist web page!
Lots of tourists, we saw our first Chav Brit! Quite possibly here as selling agent for Elizabeth Duke and council estate facelift!
New Brighton kite festival 29 Jan 06.Si was v. excited as lots of people flying kites. From old gits to kiddies, a nice sunny day, the sun is so fierce here, Trace got burnt in about 30 minutes on parts of the body that suntan cream missed (steady on).
This is the same bit of the beach we went to when we first got here (comment that it looked like Skeggy from Mick) - good to see what a bit of sun can do.
Hello from NZ.
Ok so it's been a couple of days since we updated the blog, but we have been busy.
Tracey is now at college 5 days a week, plus having to stay late for two nights also to catch up on course work that she has missed. The Friday 1200 chop (or make and mend as the RN called it) is killing her having to stay to 1600 on a Friday. Now has 4 weeks left on course, before having to go out into the real NZ world and get a job.
Simon, house husband extrordinare, (a changed man!), now knows how to use the hoover and make the bed. Not quite got the dusting lark carried off yet, but it is a refreshing change to see him doing the housework whilst Tracey is out all day.
Si, whilst still off work (13 days as a man of leisure remaining) has now got the surf bug, having paid for some lessons down at Sumner Bay. This keeps him very busy, chatting to the local surf dudes (wide range of ages down there 6 - 70 years old the other day). So as well as looking at boats to buy, second hand long surf boards are now an issue.
I (Trace) has started to feel slightly homesick (awwww), and am desperate to move into a house and get all our things unpacked, I'm dying for a bath (only have a shower at the temp accomm), as it now has been five weeks since last one at my Mum's (Insert own punchline).
Si just goes with the flow, is dying for a bath as well, plus is on a detox from cheese and biscuits (really expensive here), plus I'm glad to say, is now on day 14 without having a fag! How long can he keep it up as a reformed quitter (again).
So all is well here, we are still loving it and am amazed at such a beautiful country. Just wish we could afford a house!
Photos from the last two weeks to follow
Ok so it's been a couple of days since we updated the blog, but we have been busy.
Tracey is now at college 5 days a week, plus having to stay late for two nights also to catch up on course work that she has missed. The Friday 1200 chop (or make and mend as the RN called it) is killing her having to stay to 1600 on a Friday. Now has 4 weeks left on course, before having to go out into the real NZ world and get a job.
Simon, house husband extrordinare, (a changed man!), now knows how to use the hoover and make the bed. Not quite got the dusting lark carried off yet, but it is a refreshing change to see him doing the housework whilst Tracey is out all day.
Si, whilst still off work (13 days as a man of leisure remaining) has now got the surf bug, having paid for some lessons down at Sumner Bay. This keeps him very busy, chatting to the local surf dudes (wide range of ages down there 6 - 70 years old the other day). So as well as looking at boats to buy, second hand long surf boards are now an issue.
I (Trace) has started to feel slightly homesick (awwww), and am desperate to move into a house and get all our things unpacked, I'm dying for a bath (only have a shower at the temp accomm), as it now has been five weeks since last one at my Mum's (Insert own punchline).
Si just goes with the flow, is dying for a bath as well, plus is on a detox from cheese and biscuits (really expensive here), plus I'm glad to say, is now on day 14 without having a fag! How long can he keep it up as a reformed quitter (again).
So all is well here, we are still loving it and am amazed at such a beautiful country. Just wish we could afford a house!
Photos from the last two weeks to follow
