South West up to Queenstown

By now, being fans of trains it has been a personal mission to ride on a steam train. At the risk of sounding like a fanatic I am keen to see and feel one of those mighty old machines in action. Unfortunately we missed out on a few occasions during the last 2 weeks and one of those occasions was at Kingston. The Kingston Flyer is a privately owned steam outfit comprising track, 2 engines, carriages and buildings including Kingston Station. Previously serving the Southland communities, it has been a tourist attraction since restoration in the 1970's. Now it has been closed for some months due to mounting debt - as we found out and was due to be sold at the end of 2009 at auction.

What a difference the sun makes. 2 photographs taken minutes apart at sunrise from our free camp spot, South of Queenstown. They show how the country changes with the weather - so many shades of colour.

Lake Wakatipu South of Queenstown
Small stream in Queenstown diverted my attention to its tranquility
Some New Zealand ducks posing for the camera. 1,2,3...Say Quack!

Milford Sound

Lady Bowen Falls. For an idea of the scale on the bottom right of the picture are a group of multi storey tourist boats in the harbour.


50 storey waterfall close up!
Below, reflection of mountains in water at Mirror Lakes, near Milford Sound

Captain Cook sailed past this large fiord as it is not visible from out to sea. It was several years later when a Welshman Captain John Grono discovered it in around 1812 as he needed shelter from rough seas. He named it after his home town of Milford Haven and it was renamed Milford Sound to match the neighbouring inlets but strictly speaking due to its U shape glacier formed base it is a fiord.

Peaks rise from the sea over 1500m giving a dramatic landscape. This is also one of the wettest inhabited places on earth with a mean annual rainfall of 6,813 mm on 182 days a year! (Thats nearly 7 metres of rain)

We were lucky as there was not a cloud in the sky.

Highway 99

Te Waewae Bay, near Orepuki
Amusing toilet. (not so amusing from the inside)
Freedom camping at Cosy Nook. Had a chat with a local who offered some fishing lessons - will have to return here! Aparently the water has healing properties so another icy dip was in order!
Polyfilla villa, Cosy Nook.
Sunrise from our sleeping quarters.
Petrified forest from Jurassic period 160 million years ago at Curio Bay.
Yellow eyed penguin at Curio Bay. When malting they are not waterproof and must stay on shore for several weeks, unable to fish for food. This timid creature just popped out for a drink and we were quite lucky to be able to watch for a few minutes.

Plenty of sheep in NZ!
Rugged coastline reminded me of Cardigan Bay
View from Nugget Point lighthouse, built in 1869.
Spotted a few sealions here on the rocks beneath.
Nugget Point.

Otago Peninsula near Dunedin at low tide and sunset.
A young albatross practicing its gliding. Most live at sea at this time of year and return to feed the young. This is the only mainland albatross breeding colony in the world according to the NZ albatross centre. It has been a long time coming but finally I have spotted an albatross. With a wingspan of up to 3 metres they are quite awe inspiring to watch.

Dunedin and the Taieri Gorge Railway

We took a trip up the Taieri Gorge on the privately owned railway
Above is the Wingatu viaduct - the largest iron structure in the Southern hemisphere. ( The largest in the North is the Eiffel Tower)


Beautiful gorge but 11 men were killed during its construction from 1879 and was completed to Cromwell in 1921. Thousands of tons of farm produce, fruit and livestock were transported from inland areas to Dunedin and the North
There is very little rainfall in this part of New Zealand - 400mm per year average. Also it is the hottest part of NZ for 6 months of the year according to the locals. It regularly reaches 35 to 40 degrees in Summer. Today it wqas around 10 degrees warmer than Dunedin, 50 kms away.

Dunedin Railway Station - 700'000 Royal Doulton tiles make up the mosaic floor.
The roof tiles are terracotta from Marseilles, France. There are also stained glass windows and contrasting Oamaru limestone and dark basalt which have lead to it being nicknamed the gingerbread house by many.
The House of Pain! Carisbrook. This famous sports ground has been a difficult place to win for foreign teams for many years. Wales will play the All Blacks here in June! I hope I can be here wearing red of course.
First Church in New Zealand was here in Dunedin which means New Edinburgh.
A few more of the enjoyable train journey.

Note the gloves and hoodie - recent purchases due to the sudden drop in temperature!

Christchurch to Oamaru

I arrived in Christchurch and had a quick walk around before dinner and spent the night in a hostel. This is the bus terminal with its wacky coloured benches.
Christchurch cathedral at night. I didn't really have time to take in the sights of Christchurch as had to meet Lucy for the pick up of the campervan.
Once on the road we aimed for the Banks peninsula which was formed by the eruption of two large volcanoes. It is quite a spectacular sight from the air as the postcards prove. Above is Akaroa and its splendid position on the Akaroa Inlet. There was a race by British and French settlers here in the early C19 and due to good fortune the British landed here and erected the flag. However a deal was struck and half of the town has French named roads and half are English. The French influence is retained with pride as you can see from the Tricolor flag flying!






Morning bath at Oamaru, South of Christchurch. The water was icy compared to what I am used to in Australia. I managed about 2 minutes - not much of a bath!

Oamaru was once as busy as Los Angeles due to grain exports. Unfortunately the bubble burst and many left as is the case with so many boom and bust towns. Luckily the old buildings survived modernisation due to this low period and now it is considered to be the finest group of original Victorian buildings in New Zealand.
The old Post Ofice, now council buildings.
Hotel
StPauls Church
Moeraki - home of Fleurs seafood restaurant which was closed for the day! We also forgot to visit the boulders - I think a return visit is in order!