New Zealand Update

 Well, we left Richmond having had a look around Nelson, including a look around the ultra modern Catherdral. From there we set off around the Tasman Bay to the Abel Tasman National Park, eventually arriving at Marahau (see picture opposite) We spent a couple of days here, enjoying the sunshine and taking a walk up the Abel Tasman Coastal Track, finishing up at Tinline Bay.

The next day we set off the Nelson Lakes where we were due to spend the night at one of the Department of Conservation campsites - however by the time we had got to the lake it was raining very hard, and this then turned to snow - at which point we changed our plans and moved on - just as fast as our wheels would carry us.

 We drove West to a place called Murchinson and spent the night there - on the campsite was a small petting zoo with some very tame animals - there was an emu, deer, geese and sheep sharing the same enclosure. There was also an extremely hairy pig dressed in black and white colours - so we christened him Fulham. From Murchinson we drove up the Buller Gorge towards Westport. On the way we stopped off to cross  yet another suspension swing bridge - these are becoming a feature of the trip and are very popular in New Zealand. This one crossed the Buller River and allowed us to try our hand at .....

 ...Gold Panning. We were given a demonstration by someone who had clearly done it before, then we were let loose on the river so that we could have a go. Here is Jane wondering if her fortune is about to be made - sadly it wasnt!. However what we did find were a huge amount of sandflies - which produce some very itchy bites. We had already picked up quite a few of these in the Abel Tasman NP so this time we went prepared, but even smothered in repellent they nearly drove us crazy. Anyway after one unsuccessful panning attempt we gave up and continued on our drive to Westport.
  Westport was a quiet place on the West Coast and thus on the Pacific Ocean - a useful overnight stop and a lovely seal colony to visit.

From there we went via Pancake Rocks to the town of Greymouth. Just outside Greymouth we took a walk along a renowned gemstone beach and found .... none!  From Greymouth we went south down the coast to Franz Josef, where we visited the glaciers at FJ and then Foxes Glacier (where supposedly they make the mints)  Heres a pic of Jane stood in front of the FJ Glacier with the piles of moraine on either side of it.  We also popped to Lake Matheson to take some picture postcard type shots of Mts Cook and Tasman reflected in the waters of the lake. Then from there onto Haast - all the time the weather was lovely and sunny if a little cool. On the way we popped onto the Monro Beach Walk to see some rare and very shy Fiordland Penguins - It was a 45 minutes walk to the beach from the van - number of very shy penguins seen on beach - quantity 0! We then turned inland and drove down over the Haast Pass to Wanaka, stopping off to view some wonderful waterfalls on the way, thunder falls and fantail falls.

Once in Wanaka we took a stroll out to Eely point and had lunch on the lakeside there. The next day we went up Mt irons, quite a steep climb and an even steeper descent. Thereafter we went to Puzzling World, spending an hour in the maze 30 mins to get to all four corners as required by the task, then 30 mins to get back out again - heres a pic of the maze showing the two different levels - we went across the bridge 543 times at least.
Next day it was a long drive South and west to Te Anau, the gateway to Fiordland in the South West corner of NZ. The trip took about 3and a half hours.

we spent a day in Te Anau, walking round the lakeside (just a tiny bit of it!) then visiting the wildlife centre where some very cold birds such as a kaka, kea and takahe were on show - all very rare! By this time the weather had set in and there was a 4 inch snowfall that night. The department of conservation were still declaring the round to Milford Sound open however so we set off, along the snow covered road. About a quarter of the way we stopped to put the snow chains on, (only put on the van as an afterthought!)  and then shortly after that drove off the road onto the verge and spent 10 mins reversing back and forth getting back on the road again! (Jane had her head in her hands at this point and was doing her Private Fraser impression) Still we continued to Knobs Flat, where they announced the road was closed so we came all the way back again. Which is where we are now, waiting to see if the road to anywhere is open, as the road back to Queenstown and Wanaka is also closed due to the heaviest snowfalls in 70-odd years. Where will we go next? - more in our next exciting installment.......

Finally in New Zealand

Well, after a months delay and a long trip via Lisbon, New York and then Los Angeles, we finally made it to Auckland on the 25th of January! One of the days the clock kept going back so much that we were on our feet for 27 hours! Still it did mean i was able to get in two breakfasts and a couple of lunches!
Once we had recovered by staying the night in the Auckland Novotel (50 yards from the front entrance of the airport!) we caught up with our friend Steve who popped over to visit us from his home in Manukau just down the road. The next morning our camper van arrived a following an extremely thorough briefing from the Van owner  - you could tell he had a vested personal interest in the thing - we set off with a bag of oranges from his garden, to the Coromandel peninsula. That first evening we spent in Thames, before continuing to drive around the peninsula via Coromandel itself - lovely quaint town!

 Here is Jane with the van - considerably smaller than the american lumber tub! Instead we have a fuel economy about 4 times better and it actually goes where you point it!.

 Our first stop near Coromandel was the driving creek railway - originally designed to transport clay to the owners pottery; he handbuilt the railway up the hill by himself, evenaually extending it to 3 km in length - absolutely bonkers! Look him up on the internet.

 Then it was onto hot water beach where a hot spring rises on the beach, so you can build your own hot spa - you can see people sat in theirs behind me as i pensively study the surrounding area to avoid having to do too much digging!

 After leaving hot water beach our next night was spent in Rotorua, the central area of hot thermal activity in North Island. As you can see there are plenty of geysers, hot springs and hot mud pools in the area, including the local parks, such as this one!
We then moved onto Lake Taupo, the biggest lake in NZ, actually an old volcano which has filled up with water - rather a lot of it as its about 2400 sq miles in size. Whilst there we took some to time to relax in the hot pool at the campsite and also did some lovely walks along the river to Huka falls and watched the jet boats zoom up and down to the falls.









 Jane also took the opportunity to demonstrate her trampolining skills - see picture opposite! I attempted something similar and nearly broke my neck as having landed the first time the second landing was somewhat uncontrolled! The next day we went onto Napier, and took in a wine tour and tasting - the lady kept expecting me to spit it out, but once again I couldnt bring myself to do it. Luckily Jane had opted to drive that day!

Then it was onto Wellington and a look round the Fabulous Te Pape national museum - you could actually spend a week in there on the interactive displays alone!. Then it was up on the cable car to the top of the hill; Kelburn, with fantastic views all the way to the South Island. That night we spent in the Wellington City Camper van park - ie a harbourside carpark with showers! - Still did the job as we were up early the next day to catch the ferry to Picton on the South Island. the journey through the straits down to the port of Picton was truly beautiful.

Once we arrived in Picton we stopped off along the scenic Queen Charlottes Drive on the way to Nelson where I am writing this. (The library has one hour free internet access - yippee!) anyway that is rapidly coming to an end and so therefore is this  blog, which I will try to keep more up  to date than in Peru. All for now then, back in a week or two.

Las Vegas to Los Angeles

 We are currently stuck in Santiago, Chile (because our flight to New Zealand last night was cancelled, thanks Qantas!) We hope to be able to fly out on Saturday night; in the meantime we are usimg the opportunity to catch up on the blog. The pic on the left shows the inflatable globe at Death Valley, 282 feet below sea level.

The temp. was 37 degrees at Death Valley, rather a change from Yellowstone! We scuttled out of the van to look at the "must see" sites, then back to the airconditioned cab.

At the lowest point is a dried up salt lake, the light reflecting off it is dazzling. Signs tell you not to walk past the end of the boardwalk, but of course everyone does. There were a surprising number of tourists there, in the back of beyond.

I (Jane) was quite glad to get out of there really, it was SO hot! The next stop was Lake Isabella. I drove from -282 feet to nearly 5,000 feet then down to nearly 2,000 feet on winding roads which were quite scary. Robin amused himself by watching the inflatable globe inflate and deflate again.

Our next overnight stop was Lake Isabella, a pretty location, however I got thoroughly bitten by mosquitos (why do they always go for me?) and did not sleep well. Next day a long drive to Yosemite. I had always wanted to see the giant sequoia trees there, after seeing a photo of a car driving through a tunnel in the base of one in National Geographic magazine when I was a child. That actual tree is no longer standing but there is one you can walk through, so I was not disappointed.

We camped at Wawona campground next to the river, and had a camp fire which Robin was very proud of! Next morning I insisted in a paddle in the river before we set off for the Valley. The view as you come out of the tunnel into the valley is stunning, and we had plenty of time to admire it as we were held up by roadworks!

Bridal Veil falls was great, it should have one of those signs up like at Thorpe Park, "You WILL get wet!", we did. Refreshing as it was a very hot day. 

The pic on the right is the view as you enter the valley.

Yosemite was beautiful, probably the prettiest of the National Parks we visited. Then we had another long drive to San Francisco. The road into the city itself was atrocious, so many potholes we were afraid the rattly old RV would finally fall apart. Coming into the city over the bay bridge there were 6 lanes either side and we were not entirely sure of our directions so it was a bit hairy to say the least. However we found the Candlestick Park RV park without too much difficulty in the end, it is right next to San Francisco's 49'ers stadium. It was expensive but the good point was a shuttle minibus into the city. We enjoyed our two days in SF,

one day we hired bikes and cycled along the seafront and over the Golden Gate bridge to Sausalito, then got the ferry back via Tiberon past Alcatraz and Angel Island. Once we handed the bikes in we had a Ghiradelli special, a chocolate-covered wafer bowl witha hot fudge sundae. We also got a free cable car ride up the hill (as the car was going to the garage) that made Robin's day as you can imagine!

The cable cars were fun, we had seats on the outside while some passengers hung on standing up. Our driver was doing a rap with the bell, something about "hold on tight, you have a bad driver and worse brakes!"

From San Francisco we set off to take Route 1 to Los Angeles. We drove through the 17-mile drive and saw Pebble Beach, near Monterey (very exclusive). Unfortunately at Carmel we discovered that the road had fallen into the sea at Big Sur, so we had to take a long detour, and made an unplanned stop at Avila Beach instead of Los Osos which had been recommended to us. We rejoined the coast road and stopped at Point Dume where we saw a pair of dolphins.

Then on to the Dockweiler RV park, our last night's stop in the RV. A soulless place right next to the airport, not quite what we'd expected, but it was convenient for finding the cruise America office the next morning where we handed back the van.

In LA we stayed one night at the Days' Inn on sunset strip. We weren't impressed by Hollywood, but we did find a very jolly Laundromat with an internet PC, and some chatty local residents. The next day we walked to the Farmers market, an ambitious undertaking when we realised the tourist map we had did not do justice to the distances involved, luckily we got a bus back. We also sampled a world famous Pinks hot dog (all hotdogs seem to be world famous!) That evening we successfully negotiated public transport (and saved a fortune) to the airport for our flight to Lima via San Salvador.

The next blog entry will, we hope, catch up with our travels in Peru.

A series of national parks

 Well next day and onto Bryce Canyon, which was at a much higher altitude and out of the semi-desert of Moab and Canyonlands. Bryce had some wonderful fins and hoodoos on the walls and base of the canyon. Jane drove us up a very curvy shoulder to Rainbow Point at 9115ft, terrifying both of us! We then drove down again stopping at each of the viewpoints all of which had something to offer. The next morning we decided to get up and watch the sunrise from Bryce point at 6.30am - however even though we made it the sun really struggled to join in, hidden behind clouds. The peaceful atmosphere was spoiled by a very loud american woman telling her friends very loudly everywhere she had been. Later that day we took a walk down into the canyon, through the Queens Garden and back up the Navajo trail via Wall Street - a really narrow canyon with really steep walls and a zigzag path back to the top. On leaving Bryce we drove onto Zion NP - coming from Bryce required us to drive through a very narrow tunnel where the roof was only high enough to drive the RV down the centre of the road for the whole 1.1miles - luckily they stop the traffic from the other direction as you do it.

 The next day we had a rest from driving whilst in the park as they have a wonderful shuttle bus system you can hop on and off as necessary. We took in a lovely walk past the emerald pools, spotting deer walking along the path as we did so, and walking under the waterfall shown opposite - from there it was down another mountainside path (the Yakenta trail) back to the grotto to pick up the bus again and take us up to the Riverside path, but this proved to be a  little disappointing as the Narrows at the far end were too full of water to allow us to wade up them. So it was back to pick up the RV and set off for our next destination which was Lake Powell.

Lake Powell was again surrounded by semi-desert and proved to be very disappointing - it was very hot and the Lake was a long way down. There was also absolutely nothing there! Our plan to take a boat up to the Rainbow Arch - one of the biggest in North America was thwarted by the fact that the boat couldnt get to the Arch as the water level was so low and it would need a hefty walk at each end, so as it was so hot and time was short we decided not to bother. We did have a walk along the beach though.

 Next day saw us on our drive to the Grand Canyon - the pure scale of which was difficult to comprehend - we entered from the east side and drove along the viewpoints on the desert view drive on the southern rim - the northern rim still being shut due to the weather. We parked up at the Mather campground for a couple of nights and walked a fair chunk of the perimeter trail (which does not go the full length of the canyon before you ask!) Theres a pic of the canyon on the right. We took in the sunset from Mather point (much easier to get up for than sunrise!), We went out to Hermits Rest and on the way back we actually had to put our rainjackets on due to a bit of hail, snow and rain .

 From there it was onto Las Vegas, but not without stopping at the Hoover  dam which has an equally spectacular bridge which you have to drive over to get to - the view from the bridge down to the dam was pretty amazing. We had a very tasty ice cream there, and spotted a iguana sat on the cliff face - about two foot long. (the iguana, not the cliff face!). From there it was on to Las Vegas, where we had a merry time trying to find the RV park, which due to roadworks appeared to have moved location - anyway once we had driven past it once or twice we eventually turned into it.

That evening we decided to visit the strip with all the casinos and entertainment. There is, however only a very limited public transport system in Las Vegas (thats the biggest understatement I have made in these blogs!) and it is a very long walk! We eventually made it, and managed to reach Caesars Palace. Whilst there I borrowed a dollar off Jane and managed to win 25 with my first go on a slot machine (Someone couldnt believe it, so here is the photographic evidence). Always quit when you are ahead so that was that on the gambling front! Las Vegas is like a giant adults playground, but the musical fountain was fantastic. Sadly the bus back went the wrong way and left us with another long walk but we did eventually make it back to bed! More in the next blog of what happened next.

from Seattle to Moab

On arrival at Cruise America we had to sit and watch a 20 minute video on how to operate the bus. Then we were given a plastic washing basket full of saucepans, crockery, bedding etc, and that was it. We set off for a supermarket first then got on the road. We were making for Yellowstone National Park but our first night´s stop was Ellensburg, Washington, then Missoula, Montana (where it rained a lot). The third night we entered Yellowstone and camped at Mammoth. Yellowstone was still covered in snow, and we saw elk and bison wandering through the camp. The next night it snowed, we felt sorry for the campers in tents. We saw Old Faithful, which erupted almost on schedule (apprx every 1 1/2 hours), and many other geysers and hot springs. All surrounded by snow, up to 10ft deep in places. Walking across one bridge on top of the snow we were  above the level of the handrails (see pic below).

The road through the Tetons was still closed by snow, so we had to take a long detour. We found our way to the campsite at Snake River by 8:30pm, very tired. When we woke up next morning it was so cold that the water pipe had frozen and we couldn´t get clean water in or dirty waterout. The next campsite was at Provo, south of Salt Lake City. We really, really wanted a beer but although the local garage had some we couldn´t buy it because it was Sunday.

The pics are a little ouf sequence, this is the snow-covered bridge at Yellowstone.

The next day we arrived at Moab where we stayed three nights and visted the Arches National Park, and Canyonlands. We got up early and got into the Archges by 8:30 am to miss the crowds. The pics below are of the Arches. There are several walking trails, we walked about 10 miles altogether that day and it was worth it. 

We saw some crazy antics by some visitors after dramatic photos, including a German  girsl doing ballet poses on top of Mesa Arch, 8ft wide with a sheet 1500 ft drop on the other side. (This theme was repeated later at the Grand Canyon...)

This is us with the Delicate Arch in the background.

The next day we visited Canyonlands; the highlight was Upheaval Dome which was either caused by a meteorite or salt pushing up from the rocks below, scientists are not sure, a very big hole in the ground anyway. The short hike over the rocks to see it was well worth it.

Campared to Snake River, the climate was much warmer at Moab, we even lay on the campsite´s picnic table that night to look up at the stars, which, so far away from big towns, so liuttle light pòllution, were clearly visible, including the Milky Way.

 

Cusco, Peru

Jane is writing this blog as Robin is currently on the Inca trail. I, being lazy and unfit have opted to spend three extra days in Cusco, a beautiful city with lots to do (and this internet cafe!)

We´ve been here in Peru since 20th May, we arrived in Lima then travelled by bus, stopping en route to visit Inca sites, to Arequipa, then flew from there to Cusco last Sunday 29th. Many of the group, including Robin, suffered 'Inca belly' en route, but all OK now. The flight from Arequipa was uneventful (and amazing views of the Andes) but just after we landed flames shot out of the right engine. The fire engine, which looked like Thunderbird 2, turned up and we had to sit on the tarmac for several minutes while lots of men in orange vests looked worried. Eventually we were towed to the gate and allowed to get off. The funny thing was that there was then an announcement 'all those who are going on to Juliaca please stay in your seats'!

The more northern part of Peru is desert, but this southern part is very beautiful, full of green valleys and small villages and towns surrounded by the snow-capped Andes. We have already visted lots of Inca sites, I will meet up with the trekkers at Macchu Picchu on Sunday afternoon. I will get there by train (with our tour guide) which I am looking forward to very much. The trekkers have gone with 2 local guides/porters per trekker, plus cook/assistant cooks etc! They will be camping so have all taken their thermal undies to sleep in! I am sure the photos will be amazing.

Sorry for the absence of photos in this post, I´ve not been able to connect my camera to this PC. And for the big gap - our RV trip through the USA. I hope we will be able to catch up with that at some time. We have hundreds of photos. My favourite of the National Parks I think was Bryce Canyon (google it for amazing photos of the 'hoodoos' if you have time), but Yellowstone, Yosemite, Arches National Park, etc were all very enjoyable, as was, in particular San Francisco - we cycled over the Golden Gate bridge. What wasn´t was the amount of distance we had to travel, we seriously underestimated it and did more than 4,000 miles in the end! The RV we had did only about 10 miles to the gallon too, and rattled and bumped the whole way! The wildlife was a highlight of the trip, we say buffalo, elk and deer in Yellowstone (easy to spot in the snow and when they are standing in the middle of the road!), but sadly (or maybe not) no bears. In San Francisco and then all down the pacific coast we saw pelicans, and near Malibu we saw sealions. Also lots of other birds, but I can´t remember their names - Robin has some good pics. My favourite so far is a tiny hummingbird - and the pelicans because they look so elegant and graceful when they fly. Oh and we saw condors here in Peru, in the Colca Canyon. Condors are very important to the Peruvians because they represent the realm of the sky. Time up here, so I'll sign off.

robin and jane went up the hill - in vancouver

Well, we are slowly trying to catch up with the blog following three weeks on the road. we  handed the RV (camper van or lumber tub as it became known) in this morning and we are now in sunny Los Angeles. We are doing our laundry at the moment, and guess what - the laundromat has internet access!

So back to Vancouver - We got off that very long train journey and found our way to the hotel, the Ramada downtown, - it took us a while to find the hotel as the train didnt come in to the station we were expecting it to! So first of all a long and very uphill walk carting all the baggage on our trusty trolley to the hotel. Then once rested, we took a walk round the local area and down to the waterfront to get our bearings. We then took a wander around the gastown area, taking in the historic steam clock and a very pleasant cafe that served delightfully cool beer on a hot sunny day. That night we ate in the original old spaghetti house restaurant that had a tram car inside.

Next day we took a bus ride out to the north side of the river to the Capillano suspension bridge over the gorge. It was about 80 meters high and the same across, and swayed very nicely when you walked on it (or as several nut cases were demonstrating, when you jumped up and down!) Jane helped Robin across, however, the knowledge that you had to come back over the bridge to get back out didnt help matters.

I (Jane ) explained to Robin that the way he felt on the bridge was the way I felt when I contemplated driving the RV (but I am not sure the point was appreciated!)

We then got the cable car up to Grouse Mountain, from there was a breathtaking view back down across the city, and 10 feet or so of snow. We rented snowshoes and set off for a walk up the mountain. A challenge but ultimately fun.

The next day we rented bikes and cycle round the perimeter of Stanley Park, a peninsula partly wooded and partly lawns and flowers. We were amazed to see a pair of what we are pretty sure were golden eagles being chased by a raven. We also saw a raccoon. Much of the cycle path goes along the seawall, a lovely ride.

After Vancouver the next stop was Victoria Island, via the Pacific Coach and BC Ferry. British Columbia is a beautiful part of the world, I would have liked to see more. The trip across went between several of the islands and was really picturesque. On Victoria Island we walked through a park and along the coastline back to the Fisherman's Wharf where we had some very tasty fish and chips (almost as good as the ones we had in Toronto), and admired the houseboats. All good touristy stuff, and pleasant on a sunny day. That evening it was once again through US Customs and onto the Seattle Clipper for a 2and a half hour journey down to Seattle arriving at about 9pm. Continuing the theme from Vancouver, the journey to the hotel was straight uphill and a real slog, but we eventually found our way there. It had a strange layout to say the least - the trip to the breakfast room entailed walking through the swimming pool area.

Seattle itself was not very exciting - we opted not to go up the space needle having already done two very high towers already, so that rather narrowed the sightseeing options. We chose to go to the market on the waterfront, which was primarily a flower market, and was truly colourful. Jane got a bunch of tulip  (just one) there. We also took a picture outside the original Starbucks - the very first one - once we had fought our way through thousands of Japanese tourists, all of whom like to strike a funny pose! We lunched on a home made Crab bap and then wandered back to the hotel.

The next day took us just up the road to the music and sci-fi museum - which was not the best! The Sci-fi part was very poor, but we had a bit of fun in the musical part, where the man of no musical talent was left to his own devices on a number of musical instruments! We then caught the monorail downtown and went shopping picking up some bits and bobs and a book for Jane to read.

Next day we set off early on the bus to pick up the RV from Everett, and that was a couple of bus journeys up the road

ps. we uploaded the pictures for this blog in LA public library and were limited to 15 minutes, so they are a bit all over the place! Anyway I am sure you will bill able to work them out.