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| Woooooo! |
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| Number 2!! |
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| Number 3......it was bloody windy!! (lots of wind not twisty...) |
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| No shit!! |
Sunday 31 March 2013
Day 19 pics.....yes there are some!!
Day 19...Happy Easter and Lake Wanaka to Te Anau...
Happy Easter faithful followers and thank you to my mum for the lush cream eggs and card!! They were lovely today, after I had found where the Easter Bunny had hidden them!
So it was time to leave the young and the beautiful of Wanaka and head out to the Fiordland of Te Anau. Early start as this was another 3-4 hour drive and part of it was through the Cardona Pass which is the highest bit of sealed road in NZ, climbing high (can't remember how high but it is written on the plaque I took a picture of at the top...) and apparently it is windy (twisty not lots of wind, you get the gist now...)
So as I headed out of Wanaka I turned right and was confronted by a few people running. Quite fast and in some cases, quite ungainly. 'Well' I said to Trevor and Lee, 'what do they look like....!' It then dawned on me as I carried on down the road that there were more and more people of varying ages and fitness, running, walking and stumbling towards me (I did think of you Alisa, what a brave girl you are!!) and it was at that point I realised that I was driving head first into a half marathon. No shutting the roads here, no putting signs up, just runners, in the middle of the road, expecting you to drive around them and it did make for an interesting first few kilometres. When I saw the last straggler I gave her a toot and a wave and got a smile in return. Poor cow, I had just seen what she had in front of her.....
Now as I headed towards this famous pass, my ears were treated to more 80's hits and a very aptly named day of radio called THE RESURRECTION SELECTION. Nice, and I quote 'call in and let us know what songs you want bought back from the dead......'
There was also talk on the news of the local 'Bunny Hunt'. Now do not tell the kids but this was not your usual Easter Bunny hunt. This was a proper bunny hunt. With guns. And some buffoon has succeeded in shooting his hand off in the process. The first such accident in the events 20 year history apparently.
Any hoo, the said summit arrived with no real twists and turns but more lovely views that thankfully for you I could not take pictures of as, once again, I am travelling on the opposite side of the road to all the stopping points. This has happened on every single great road journey I have taken, going back years, and something tells me I am always doing them in the wrong direction.....
Then I found the windy bit of the road, a bloody Jacobs ladder that wound down the hill to bring me into Queenstown. Christ they were not exaggerating when they said the road was not suitable for trailers.
Now I was not stopping in Queenstown as you are all aware I am returning in a few days to do my skydive (and if you did not know you do now and get to justgiving.com/lisa.maysey and tell your friends too...) but I did spy the golden arches and thought I needed pancakes and syrup and a coffee. Now the significance of the day was not lost on me and I did apologise to Jesus for being led astray on such an important day, and when I got in and asked for the pancakes I was informed that breakfast had finished. Jesus did that.....
So off I continued through more incredible landscapes, more lakes and mountains and more ooo and ahhhh. You are again spared the majority of these pictures as I will catch them on the right side of the road on the return journey. Lucky you.
Finally Te Anau loomed near through more flat, English like farmland, surrounded by the familiar shadow of mountain. The site is right on the lake (another one to photograph and where I found anther egg!) and really is a treat. Small, clean and really friendly, I parked Trevor up for his well earned 3 day rest (we reached the 3000km landmark as we approached) and I promptly booked myself on the Glo´worm cave trip.
A mooch round the town was in order and I have landed in heaven. Toot shops galore, so all my souvenir shopping completed in one go!! Hoorah!!
Then it was time to board the boat for the ride over to the caves. The lake is lovely, not as big as some, but the boat eased across and the wind nearly had my wig off as I stood on deck, to find another egg!! Yay all three now! Thanks again mum...
The caves were amazeballs, no photography allowed as it may frighten the Glo worms (or so they can flog you the picture they take on the way in. Yes, I bought it) but it was a shame as they were truly incredible. Then a pitch dark boat ride into a cavern to see the little blighters light up. Awesome to see them twinkling away, although the sensation of darkness, twinkling lights and a roaring waterfall did make me think I was in some Disney ride and at any minute we would plummet into some massive white water raft ride. Alas, we did not and then it was back outside for the boat ride home. Met a nice couple from Perth who may or may not be on my Milford Sound trip tomorrow, and I now sit in the Internet room of the site, ready to eat my pot noodle, listening to 4 French people rabbiting away all at once and it is making my head spin! The smell of BBQ wafting in from outside is making me salivate too!
So, all in all a lovely ending to a lovely Easter Sunday. 2 more boat trips to come over the next 2 days and some of the most incredible scenery too if the brochures are anything to go by, so prepare yourselves for a marathon blog session!
Hope you all had a Happy Easter and until next time..........
So it was time to leave the young and the beautiful of Wanaka and head out to the Fiordland of Te Anau. Early start as this was another 3-4 hour drive and part of it was through the Cardona Pass which is the highest bit of sealed road in NZ, climbing high (can't remember how high but it is written on the plaque I took a picture of at the top...) and apparently it is windy (twisty not lots of wind, you get the gist now...)
So as I headed out of Wanaka I turned right and was confronted by a few people running. Quite fast and in some cases, quite ungainly. 'Well' I said to Trevor and Lee, 'what do they look like....!' It then dawned on me as I carried on down the road that there were more and more people of varying ages and fitness, running, walking and stumbling towards me (I did think of you Alisa, what a brave girl you are!!) and it was at that point I realised that I was driving head first into a half marathon. No shutting the roads here, no putting signs up, just runners, in the middle of the road, expecting you to drive around them and it did make for an interesting first few kilometres. When I saw the last straggler I gave her a toot and a wave and got a smile in return. Poor cow, I had just seen what she had in front of her.....
Now as I headed towards this famous pass, my ears were treated to more 80's hits and a very aptly named day of radio called THE RESURRECTION SELECTION. Nice, and I quote 'call in and let us know what songs you want bought back from the dead......'
There was also talk on the news of the local 'Bunny Hunt'. Now do not tell the kids but this was not your usual Easter Bunny hunt. This was a proper bunny hunt. With guns. And some buffoon has succeeded in shooting his hand off in the process. The first such accident in the events 20 year history apparently.
Any hoo, the said summit arrived with no real twists and turns but more lovely views that thankfully for you I could not take pictures of as, once again, I am travelling on the opposite side of the road to all the stopping points. This has happened on every single great road journey I have taken, going back years, and something tells me I am always doing them in the wrong direction.....
Then I found the windy bit of the road, a bloody Jacobs ladder that wound down the hill to bring me into Queenstown. Christ they were not exaggerating when they said the road was not suitable for trailers.
Now I was not stopping in Queenstown as you are all aware I am returning in a few days to do my skydive (and if you did not know you do now and get to justgiving.com/lisa.maysey and tell your friends too...) but I did spy the golden arches and thought I needed pancakes and syrup and a coffee. Now the significance of the day was not lost on me and I did apologise to Jesus for being led astray on such an important day, and when I got in and asked for the pancakes I was informed that breakfast had finished. Jesus did that.....
So off I continued through more incredible landscapes, more lakes and mountains and more ooo and ahhhh. You are again spared the majority of these pictures as I will catch them on the right side of the road on the return journey. Lucky you.
Finally Te Anau loomed near through more flat, English like farmland, surrounded by the familiar shadow of mountain. The site is right on the lake (another one to photograph and where I found anther egg!) and really is a treat. Small, clean and really friendly, I parked Trevor up for his well earned 3 day rest (we reached the 3000km landmark as we approached) and I promptly booked myself on the Glo´worm cave trip.
A mooch round the town was in order and I have landed in heaven. Toot shops galore, so all my souvenir shopping completed in one go!! Hoorah!!
Then it was time to board the boat for the ride over to the caves. The lake is lovely, not as big as some, but the boat eased across and the wind nearly had my wig off as I stood on deck, to find another egg!! Yay all three now! Thanks again mum...
The caves were amazeballs, no photography allowed as it may frighten the Glo worms (or so they can flog you the picture they take on the way in. Yes, I bought it) but it was a shame as they were truly incredible. Then a pitch dark boat ride into a cavern to see the little blighters light up. Awesome to see them twinkling away, although the sensation of darkness, twinkling lights and a roaring waterfall did make me think I was in some Disney ride and at any minute we would plummet into some massive white water raft ride. Alas, we did not and then it was back outside for the boat ride home. Met a nice couple from Perth who may or may not be on my Milford Sound trip tomorrow, and I now sit in the Internet room of the site, ready to eat my pot noodle, listening to 4 French people rabbiting away all at once and it is making my head spin! The smell of BBQ wafting in from outside is making me salivate too!
So, all in all a lovely ending to a lovely Easter Sunday. 2 more boat trips to come over the next 2 days and some of the most incredible scenery too if the brochures are anything to go by, so prepare yourselves for a marathon blog session!
Hope you all had a Happy Easter and until next time..........
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