 |
| A Queenstown Gathering of Aussie's and Kiwi's |
 |
| Heading south along the east coast, on our first day. |
We headed off early October in our Bus to Marfell's Beach for the first night on our way south. Lovely and relaxing as always after a wee bit of pressure packing up and getting on the road. It had been just over three months since our last adventure (we don't really count Bill's op as an adventure😒), so we needed to completely repack the bus for a months adventure. Heading south, temperatures could vary, so it was necessary to cover all possibilities. It's the footwear that appears over the top, but you never know how wet or cold it is going to be.
 |
Nick & Em and the Girls heading off from
home on their New Zealand adventure |
We are heading to Central Otago to meet Nick & Em and their three girls, for two weeks. Traveling with them is Em's folks Leanne & Steve, from Perth, for support with three little ones and to see New Zealand AND of course to see us. We needed a week to get down there and a week to come home, so we planned a month away. One of Nick's mates from school was getting married in Arrowtown. Should be stunning with all the blossom out hopefully.
Our second night away was at a POP (park over property) at Claverly - someone's lovely paddock right on the coast. A beautiful spot right on the beach. A chance to drive around to Conway Flat and read about about the history of this area. Still so much of NZ to see and learn about.
 |
| Steam Punk HQ creation |
Continuing the next day onto Rakaia via Cheviot, we caught up with Chris & Maree for a coffee at a cafe. They were heading home to Wellington after three years in Christchurch to sell up and move down. They love it and the South Island so much. Welcome to Te Wai Pounamu👏. Look forward to seeing them settle down this way. From Rakaia, it was onto Oamaru showgrounds, after a stop in Ashburton, my birth town. I bought a dress from a retro clothing store (hopefully for the wedding in Melbourne next year) and a new Cribb Board (I love Cribb). Will need to print off some rules to ensure no arguments when I beat you, Bill!
 |
| Steampunk Bill |
Arriving late in the day in Oamaru, we just had a brief walk around the waterfront before it got too dark to find our camp spot for the night. We saved the visit to Steampunk HQ and Oamaru's Victorian Precinct till the next day. We have been meaning to go to the Steampunk HQ for a while, but our timing has always been a bit off with opening hours. We had an enjoyable couple of hours checking out the creative minds of local artists with their collection of retro-futuristic art, movies and sculptures. Amazing. There would have been a lot of fun creating these, I'm sure.
 |
| Lumsden NZMCA all by ourselves. |
Onto Balclutha, via Gore for lunch and another dress from another Op Shop (can never have too many dress choices for a wedding), and then onto Lumsden to do some washing, and enjoy the NZMCA camp all to ourselves. It had been a couple of years since we were through, and the camp is now looking great with quite established large trees. Well done Lumsden Volunteers. Nick &Em & family were flying overhead to Queenstown. We were all to meet up in Te Anau.
Te Anau is lovely and lush for a reason - it rains alot! It didn't let us down. But not too wet that we couldn't get out and about for walks. The reason we have all gone to Te Anau is for the Aussie Family to go through to Milford Sounds. We offered to stay home and look after the Twins. Much more fun for Ophelia to go with her parents and other grandparents for the day. And all that rain makes amazing waterfalls. Very picturesque.
 |
| Ophelia, Steve & Leanne, Em & Nick - Milford Sounds |
 |
| Lunch upstairs at The Church - no lift here! |
But that was day two in Te Anau. Day one was just a relaxed day to unwind after the Aussie's big days of travel the days before. So, we had a look/walk around. We were staying nearby their Airbnb at the NZMCA camp. Easy walking distance. Drove to Manapouri for lunch at The Church and a look around. The children had adapted well to the change in country /scenery. The next day the others headed off to Milford Sounds, while we entertained the Twins. We took them back to our Bus for a wee adventure, they loved it. Back to the house in time for their nap (and Bill's). They were all quite happy just pottering around in the nice warm lounge with toys I had taken down that had been our children's. Tom (school mate of Nick's who is working down there for DOC) dropped in for dinner and some advice on his shirt for the upcoming wedding that he was going to too.
 |
| A walk around Te Anau |
|
The Twins happy in the Bus pressing all the buttons
|
 |
| Looking down Lake Wakatipu |
The next morning was stunning, perfect for our drive back through to Queenstown and onto Arrowtown for the next five nights. And no wind.
We stocked up for groceries on the way through Queenstown but left the rest of the town for our return at the end of the trip.
 |
| Our lovely park over at Arrowtown. |
Arrowtown was a bit more limited for us to stay with our bus near the family but thankfully the manager of the property allowed us to park up right by them. This made it easy to access our bus pantry and anything else we required from the bus. Plus remain sleeping in the bus. All the blossom was out, the place was stunning.
The plan was to enjoy looking around the area and be handy for Nick & Em who were staying at the wedding venue for two nights, and Em to be able to breast feed the Twins morning and night as it fitted in with the wedding activities. All went well, except for Ophelia burning her hand on a fireplace (thankfully when under her parents watch). Bill got involved in the wedding action when the wedding party realised they hadn't organised any drivers for the wedding cars (the owners were guests at the wedding). Bill and another father who was down there for babysitting duties too, came to the rescue. Sadly, Bill didn't get the Maserati, he only got the Mercedes.
 |
| Beautiful 💕 |
 |
| Lunch at Mt Rosa Vineyard |
Em & Nick shouted both lots of grandparents out for lunch at Mt Rosa Vineyard as a thank you for helping out - it was a lovely lunch thank you. 😘 The children were all great, not a hard task to babysit, especially 4 adults to 3 kids 😃
 |
| Bill's car - a Merc, with the bridal party |
 |
| Child minding in Arrowtown |
 |
Child minding again
Hopefully Bill is keeping an eye on Tulsi in the pram! |
 |
Ophelia & I had a swim in the pool,
Philly is like a little fish |
After all the excitement and beauty of Arrowtown (we hope to return here another spring, it is so stunning with all the blossom), we headed off to Wanaka. But not till after Bill took Steve up to Coronet Peak in the snow and Skippers Canyon 😮.
 |
Can I throw this Billy??
|
 |
Weird angles at
Puzzle World
(Twins on parents back) |
In Wanaka, the Aussie family had another Airbnb while we stayed at the local camp, still within walking distance of them and the Lake. We left the sunshine behind in Arrowtown. Although the next day was grey and wet it was a perfect day for Puzzle World, something we had never done before. What a lot of fun. And then onto the Cardrona Hotel for a cosy lunch before the roads got closed with snow. The next day wasn't much better, so we looked after the Twins while the others went sightseeing around the area.
 |
| Fun in the shrinking room |
Then it was time to head off to our last destination - Queenstown. Not a favourite of ours as its always so busy and not very motorhome friendly. But Shannon was flying in for a few days to see the Aussie family before her and AC headed off to Japan for three weeks. We couldn't miss the opportunity to see her as it had been 9 months since we last hugged. Where has the year gone!!
We found the Top10 Camp up behind Queenstown at Arthurs Point to park up the bus. There were options to catch the minibus into Queenstown if needed. Shannon stayed at an Airbnb on her own - she said something about time out!! Not sure why she wouldn't want to stay with three little ones 😄.
 |
| N&E up the Gondola Queenstown |
We dropped Shannon off at the airport on our last day. Had a few drinks with the others later to farewell the others who were flying back to Australia the next day. Bit sad it's all come to an end but will see them all next year. Not too far away.
 |
Driving through the Lindis Pass
|
We headed off the next morning to Cromwell to decide where we would go next. But the weather was about to get worse, so we decided to hunker down and wait for it to pass over. We have a great diesel heater and plenty of books. We did venture out for lunch later on the second day - just about getting blown into Lake Dunstan. A wonderful lunch at Stoaker Cafe - thanks Trudy for the suggestion.
We checked the weather forecast the next day and it wasn't looking great to return home up the West Coast, so we decided to head through the Lindis Pass which had just reopened after being closed with snow. What a stunning day we had driving through. Neither of us had seen it looking so beautiful. You certainly needed your sunglasses on as the snow was such a brilliant white.😎
 |
| Twizel with more snow |
The plan now was to head back up the East Coast, a night in Twizel and Kaiapoi. Stopped in to Ashburton once again, this time no dresses, but a lovely ring Bill found for me. He can surprisingly be quite a romantic at times. We had a night at Marfells where it's always lovely to spend our last night on our trips away before returning home and getting back into our work. Decking / Gardening and getting ready for Christmas.
 |
| A stroll around Ayrburn, Arrowtown |
 |
| Mealtime for Lulu and Tulsi in Arrowtown |
 |
| Fun in the bus with six little hands 💕 |
