Moth balls

At a remote airfield near Gore we found the Croydon Aircraft Company who specialise in restoring 1920s and 1930s fabric covered aircraft. They also offer 'joy rides' in the planes they have already restored including a few Tiger Moths. I arranged for a 30 minute flight with their chief instructor, Ryan, who just happened to come 2nd in the Tiger Moth Aerobatics championships in the UK the previous year. Having no bi-plane, tail-dragger or open cockpit experience myself, Ryan did the takeoff but then gave me control at about 500ft. At 1000ft he told me to 'throw it around a bit'. I did my best but at 3000ft he told me to 'throw it around a bit more'. I could get used to this!

After a few steep turns we headed back over the airfield where Ryan performed a loop and then talked me through doing one myself. After this we barrel rolled, stall turned and wing overed the rest of the 30 minutes away. After so much g-force I was pretty stoked so when Ryan told me he'd do a touch and go and I'd land it, I couldn't believe my luck. After fighting the plane all the way down to the ground, it was a pretty gusty day, we taxied back to the hanger.

I'm still trying to work out what gave me the biggest buzz, leaping off a bridge over a river and free falling for a couple of seconds or hanging upside down in the open cockpit of a Tiger Moth. I still can't decide; I'll have to do both again.

Marvellous Milford

The next stop on our little jaunt was Milford Sound which has one town, Milford, population 180/50 depending on the time of year. Milford Sound can be explored by helicopter, plane or boat, we opted for a day kayak tour which involved 17km of kayaking through water that varied from ankle to 200m in depth. Milford Sound is actually a fjord, in an area of New Zealand called Fiorland, so it's not actually a Sound and they spelt fjord wrong but it's a really amazing place!

View looking out from Milford town


Bottle nosed dolphins swimming around and under the kayaks





Bowen falls, 160m high.


What's left of an avalanche from last winter.

Wanaka and Queenstown

Annette kindly lent us her car for the week to explore some more of the South Island and visit Queenstown to do some adventurous stuff!

We started off with a night in Wanaka, and as promised paid a visit to Clarkie's godmother's neice in the restaurant she works in. It's a pretty tenuous link but Bronagh kindly bought us a drink and it was lovely to meet her.

Then onto Queenstown, the outdoor adventure capital of the world. We decided to do the 43m bungy jump off the Kawarau bridge, the first commercial bungy jump. Clarkie loved it, I hated it but at least we've got the t shirt to prove we've done it! We also took a ride on the gondala for amazing views over the town. The following morning we took a jet boat ride on the shotover river, which was a 100 times more enjoyable than the bungy, not sure Clarkie would agree though!



Clarkie and Bronagh with lake Wanaka in the background.


Queenstown, view from the Gondala


Queenstown


About to do the bungy jump, I wasn't smiling this much afterwards, I think I must have been delirious at this stage!


Kawarau bridge, bungy platform in the middle.

Christchurch and Akaroa

We've spent a couple of weeks in Christchurch with our friend, Annette, who has acted as a tour guide and has very kindly lent us her 4x4. She's given us a tour round town and to Akaroa to see the dolphins and taken us to her two drinking dens and we had no more than three wines. I've surfed two of the many beaches in and around Christchurch and yesterday Claire and I went for a mission to a place called Magnet Bay which involved going along a very narrow gravel track for about 5kms with a sheer drop into the sea on one side. I'm glad we were in a 4x4 and not a granny wagon! Nothing special to write home about on the surf front but it's always good to get wet. Although I'm a little nervous of surfing on my own with all the wildlife around.


Here's a few photos from our trips out:


The View from the top of the gondola in Christchurch looking over Lyttleton Harbour.


A Hector's Dolphin, the smallest dolphins in the world, only found in a few spots in New Zealand. We found some!


Claire and I on our 'chartered' boat to see the dolphins. We only paid for single tickets but we were the only people on the boat so we effectively chartered it. I think it sounds better. Photo courtesy of Annette Burston Tours Ltd.


Enjoying a beer in Hagley Park for the Classical Sparks concert. Some people were really kitted up bringing a full on picnic and sleeping bags. A couple of beers and some sushi was enough for me. Oh, and the granny blanket.

West Coast

Annette Burston Tours Ltd teamed up with some friends to take us on a week long trip round to the west coast of the South Island and back. We had an amazing time climbing glaciers and other touristy things especially when 'wine time' started at around 4pm each day! Another couple of surfs including some spots described in my guide as having a 'wide variety of marine life - many of which have big sharp teeth!' Oh well, they won't come any where near the shore dump's of Hokitaka.


Hanmer Thermal Springs. Unfortunately, the sun was so hot on the day we went that the 40 degree pool was just a little too toasty.


Looking at the nose of a Grumman Ag-Cat.


On the way up the Franz Joseph Glacier. We went on a half day trip up the glacier which included climbing 200 ice steps some of which were pretty gnarly.


The view back down the valley from a tiny way up the glacier. We only walked up the first little bit of the glacier; it was huge!


Looking up at the glacier. If you zoom in you'll be able to see where we walked.

Photo Catch Up - Coromandel, New Zealand

Posing with Sherpy and my board, a 6'6 Ocean Island thruster bought for $160 inc the fins and the leash. I nearly spent half as much again on the board bag I needed to stick it on the plane to Christchurch.

The view from the road across the top of the Coromandel Peninsula.

Breakfast with the peacocks at the bird park we stayed at. A slightly random place with 100s of birds, some donkeys, llamas and a bunch of other animals.

Cathedral Cove, round the corner from Hot Water Beach where you can dig a hole in the sand and sit in a thermal pool. We don't have a picture as it was pouring down with rain which didn't stop the crowds of diggers. I overheard one lady compare it to the boxing day sales!

Our last night with the van in Waihi.

A 1km long tunnel on a short walk at a spot we stopped at for a picnic on our way back to Auckland. Who forgot the torch?

We're now in Christchurch with Annette so we'll have some more photos up soon. I'll update the map later but now it's time for some lunch.

Clarkie ;-)

Photo Catch Up - Northland, New Zealand

Claire posing with our van, Sherpy. We pulled up next to this farm strip as a small plane was coming in to land. He had two attempts but decided against it for some reason. I was trying to get a picture with the plane in the background but he didn't come round again.

Claire refused to pose for this photo. This was where we parked up for the night at a lovely spot next to this waterfall at a place just in land from Paihia.

Me posing at the bow of our sailing boat. We had a trip round the Bay of Islands on a 30+ft yacht. Amazing scenery but not much wind.

The view from the top of a hill on the Island we stopped at for lunch. Our boat was the one with a mast closest to the camera.

Claire putting the poncho to good use at Cape Reinga. It was a 1km walk to the lighthouse on the point and even though the weather was really bad we had to go see it. It was too windy at the point to even get a picture of the lighthouse!

Sand boarding. Great fun! :D

An arty pic of the dunes we slid down. They're on the other side of the river so you can get some idea of the size of them.

The biggest tree I've ever seen! It's a Kauri tree which has some place in Maori history, I can't remember what now.

Photo Catch Up - Sri Lanka

Monitor Water Lizard - Kandy lake. These guys were pretty big but not dangerous.

A train we caught in Sri Lanka from Nura Eliya to Ella. A much smaller train than the trains in India, about 4 carriages rather than 20+.

Claire sat on a rock sticking out over the Ella Gap. The day we got burnt.

On our walk round the city wall in Galle. There weren't many photos of the south coast of Sri Lanka as I was too busy surfing.

An albino green turtle at the turtle 'farm' on the West coast. It wasn't really a farm, they collected the eggs before the locals could get their hands on them and then they'd release them three days after hatching. They must have been doing a good job as I saw two, one at the tip of my board when I went to duck a wave, while out surfing.

The empty beach where the turtles are released.