Our Trip to Twizel - Part 2

Day Three, Four and Five

Wednesday night we stayed at Lake Tekapo.  A beautiful camp right on the lake front.  Weather was fantastic, hot but still with that wind hanging around.   Caught up on domestic chores and then had a restful night of relaxing.



Beautiful Lake Tekapo



Thursday morning - not too early- we headed for Twizel.  We woke to sun and the most magnificent day that we had had so far.  The trip from Lake Tekapo took us through some of the most desolate but beautiful country in the South Island. 

Mt Cook was at it most spectacular and caught be seen all along this route.

Mt Cook was at it most spectacular and could be seen all along this route.



Mt Cook in all its glory.

 We arrived in Twizel and called into see our friends (parents of the bride) before going to Twizel motor camp which was walking distance to their place.  After lunch we walked back to the house and spent the afternoon catching up with friends that we had not seen for a long time.
Dinner was a barbeque.  Wow what a spread.  Wild venison, minted lamb, salads, etc etc.  Truly the best of south island produce.
Friday was spent relaxing, although I did walk over to meet some friends and had lunch with them in the lovely town centre of Twizel.
Saturday was the big day and most of it was spent helping set up the wedding venue which was near Lake Ruataniwha.  Again it was a windy but beautiful day.
We returned to Picton on Sunday and caught the afternoon ferry home.
It was a lovely break away and one that we want to experience again in the not too distant future.
Now its time to think about Christmas and presents.
Hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Our trip to Twizel

Day one and two.




The Aratere on her second attempt at berthing.

 The trip started off on the wrong foot. The Aratere came into port and couldn’t hook up to the railway linkspan. After trying for some time it steamed away from the wharf again. Of course all those waiting to board were thinking the worst. Were we going to be stuck on the wharf until the next boat came in at 6.25pm. Staff members from Interislander came and told everyone that they had to wait until the tide went down before trying to link up again. This would be approximately an hour.



Going onto the Aratere

 Luckily this time it worked and finally at 3.25pm (an hour and twenty minutes late) we boarded the boat and made our way upstairs to the Aratere lounge. For those who have been on the Kaitaki this is very similar to that. It is a private lounge where you can relax in comfortable seats, have free food and drink, use your computer, or just blob. We did the latter.

The service in the lounge was absolutely fabulous. They lady in charge even went away and got different food for us as the beef enchilada’s were too stuffy for both Ian and I.


The trip across the straits was uneventful. No large swells, a few minor ups and downs, but nothing too bad.

We stayed the night at the Top 10 Holiday Park on the outskirts of Blenheim. By this time it was blowing quite hard.



Around the Kaikoura cost in the rain and wind.

 After a good nights sleep we set off towards Kaikoura. Now came the rain and wind which made driving quite difficult. But it also had the seals out in their droves on the rocks alongside the road.



Nins Binn Crayfish shop

We had to stop here to get a crayfish which became part of our lunch. Boy was it delicious. A little expensive, but well worth the cost especially if you haven’t had one for awhile.





Our lunch stop on the Hundlees.


Our stop for the night was at a Motor caravan park in Parnassus. This was originally the primary school but was closed down as pupil numbers had declined. The Motor Caravan Association bought it and have converted it into a stopover park for its members. By now the weather had really turned bad. Raining really hard and blowing, but we were very cosy tucked away in our campervan. Early to bed with a book then the best nights sleep I have had in a long time.

Tuesday we headed to Timaru. We stayed at Levels Motor Racing Track for the night then drove towards Fairlie on Wednesday morning.

Spring 2011

I can't believe how long it is since I updated my blog, spring last year.  So much has happened since then - conferences, loss of friends, illness etc, etc.
But spring as usual brings its unpredictable weather, its beautiful sights and sounds.  Below is a photo taken in August. This was on the road into Masterton, as you can see it was white-out conditions.

And then we had beautiful hot weather, followed by cold conditions, again!
Now it is blowing.  But through it all my garden has survived.  The freisia's make a magnificent site as you walk through our front gate, and the smell is to die for.

The kowhai tree below is always full of birds in particular tui's.  At times we have up to 15 all gorging themselves on nectar.



Lets hope that from now on in the weather improves.

On a more recent front my new book "Enduring Love" is now available at http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/.   Go to my website http://www.annpatrick.com/ where an excerpt will be up in the next few days.