Central Otago to Nelson (14th to 19th Nov)

45th Parallel lookout over Lowburn back to Cromwell
on Lake Dunstan

Leaving Queenstown mid November we took a week to return to Nelson. Driving separately once again as Bill wanted to check the handling of the Bus with it's new tyres without towing the car. The handling had changed with our new tyres - and without towing it was much better. So a follow up email to Super Tyres came back with recommendation to increase pressure in the rear tyres.

Campsite on Lake Dunstan

A well earned cold beer!

Pisa Moorings with the Alps in the background

We had this done in Cromwell and continued onto Christchurch once again towing our car. Certainly an improvement. Bill has since found through discussions the change was quite normal and it takes time for the new tyres to round in. Our old tyres were easy to travel on but just blow out through age! Not much choice really!!

Spot Bill

The weather continued to impress and remind us of summers of old. Bill even managed a quick dip in Lake Dunstan where we had a couple of nights. The turquoise colour of the lakes is beautiful but still cold in these southern climes.:-)

A Cromwell walking pamphlet had a mixture of walks in the area - one being short but steep just over the road from where were staying in Lowburn - The 45th Parallel.

This was up the back of the hills up a hidden gully through early gold workings. Very desolate land except for the vibrant yellow flowers covering the hillside. On the crest of the Terraces were wonderful views out over the Cromwell Basin.  Crossing the 45th Parallel it was then down 501 steps and back to camp. This walk took just over an hour, so would recommend it to anyone passing through.

Some of the 501 steps coming down from the 45th Parallel

 From up at the 45th Parallel crossing we looked down onto a small settlement further along the lake edge, so we jumped on our bikes and rode the trail to this settlement looking for a Store that hopefully had mushrooms. (Need mushrooms for my pasta dish of course). Unfortunately this little settlement was  an upmarket village, Pisa Moorings, with the only cafe being The Heritage Moorings which didn't look like we could even afford a coffee let alone buy any mushrooms!  So it was back to camp where Bill drove back to Cromwell for supplies of cold beer and mushrooms. It was after this fabulous     ( no proof it wasn't!!) meal that Bill went for his dip. Yes we were hot. Yes it was a hot day. But no the water was not.

A wander through Burke's Pass Village
A quirky stop on the main road 20k from Tekapo.

We had planned to move on to Lake Tekapo but with such a beautiful setting, decided to stay on another day. Moving on the next day we stayed once more at the NZMCA spot amongst the trees on the lake side. The weather also stunning here. Such a settled spell over the country so early in the season boding well for a long hot summer. Sadly for the gardeners and farmers

Calling into Christchurch for a nice Red with H&R for the night and checking that  Murray the cat wasn't missing us too much, we continued on toward Nelson stopping half way through just out of Springs Junction at Marble Hill Doc Camp. Right on top of the Alpine Fault Line! We had another lovely evening and surprisingly warm considering we were in an alpine area. Thankfully the land stayed still through the night! (though Bill did express some disappointment??)

The start of the St James Walkway

We had expected the traffic to be reasonably heavy as it was the end of Christchurch's long weekend and all the road works still continuing along this route which has been the only route into Christchurch from the north since Kaikoura's earthquake one year ago. But it was very quiet all the way through.

Fire hearth and night store removed and walls painted.
Only changed the lights in the kitchen - kept the Retro Look

Bill's mum, Joan, had ended up in hospital over the weekend but nothing other than her new cell phone seems to phase Joan and she recovered well so we picked her up Monday and took her home. Trudy (Bill's sister in law) has been wonderful support for Joan with her various issues she has had since we left Nelson 3 years ago. It was good we could help for a change.

We returned to Nelson as in Rochelle's words "they are floating around somewhere and can return to Nelson and renovate my rental between tenants" . Her tenant of 8 years was moving on, so we took the 11 days between Tenants to paint throughout to freshen the rooms and do a few minor maintenance issues. This was all possible as we parked onsite, thankfully there was room for a Bus. Unfortunately we were unable to get the new carpet laid before leaving but it will be done by the end of the following week which will complete the makeover. Hope the new tenants look after what is a lovely wee unit, very handy to central Richmond. It was full on with the renovation and the two weeks flew by.Very little play time and not a lot catching up was had, but we will be in Nelson for Xmas and most of January with time enough to see every one.

Now it is time to head off to Golden Bay for some R&R before Christmas which Bill was promised as a carrot to do this job. Boy Rocky you owe your parents big time now!

Our friend Diana generously let us borrow her double kayak for the fortnight and with that big high sitting over the country are looking forward to some down time "over the hill"

Paddling down with the current toward Mapua Wharf

We dropped into Tasman with the Tristams on Saturday night for a catch up and a Sunday paddle on the Waimea Estuary with the Nelson Kayakers. Not having been on the water as such for a couple of years it was a lovely way to re introduce ourselves to the natural beauties of our peaceful waterways and catch up with some old and new paddlers. A quick visit to Hop Federation for a real fruit ice cream before heading over the hill to catch a sunset at Port Tarakohe.