We’ve been in Australia for a week now and while we still haven’t found a suitable motorhome or bus (not thinking of a caravan as it means a towing vehicle as well), we’ve certainly seen some of the Victorian countryside.

Departing Christchurch pre-dawn as usual (why do we have such ridiculous departure and arrival times?) after a night at the Sudima next to the airport, we arrived in Melbourne on a beautiful day, collected our hired car (a small purple Fiat Punto with a weird gear shift system) and were soon on our way heading towards Drouin near Warragul via the Dandenongs. Our GPS took us down lots of country roads (our preference) rather than motorways and we visited a couple of Melbourne RV dealers on the way. The news was discouraging …”You’ve come at the wrong time”, “You should’ve gone to Sydney”, etc.etc. However, our focus was on private sales which Dave had lined up via the internet. First however we had to get an Australian phone number, essential for communicating with the advertisers. We had long discussions with several very helpful Telstra salespersons regarding a package which included internet access ….. but eventually it was discovered that as neither of us had an  Australian credit rating, even I – an Aussie – couldn’t open such an account! In the end we purchased a stand-alone modem and Dave will continue to use his NZ phone number. Not ideal but cost-wise it works out.

We were given a lovely warm welcome at Spike and Maggie’s beautiful home in Drouin, and used it as a base for the next few days.

A motorhome in north Melbourne beckoned so we drove up on the motorway – a mere 100km or so – and half way there one of the rear tyres had a spectacular blowout.

Luckily the traffic was light so Dave managed to steer us across three lanes and onto the left shoulder where he could change the wheel in comparative safety. After inspecting the motorhome (dismal) Dave phoned the car rental people and was told to get a new tyre and they would pay for it. As luck would have it a Bridgestone centre was almost right next to the motorhome, but they did not have the right tyre and informed us that we would be lucky to find one. Back to Drouin, then next morning we rolled in unannounced to the local tyre place, took off for a huge breakfast at the Warragul Farm Market Cafe (highly recommended), then back to pick up the Fiat with its brand new tyre. A successful morning.

After a few days we decided to make a long day of it and inspect a bus at Safety Beach south of  Mornington, then continue down the peninsula and take the vehicular ferry across from Sorrento to Queenscliff.

There were several vehicles we wanted to see in Connemara and Geelong but the owners persistently refused to answer Dave’s emails/phone calls so in the end we did not see any of them that day but continued through Ballarat to beautiful little Moonambel in the Pyrenees just north of Avoca. Vineyard country! Although there were plenty of signs saying vineyards, cellar sales etc we only spotted a very few vineyards from the road and they were at first sight (and only from a moving car) poor imitations of the lush green-golden ones at Blenheim, even given that it’s now autumn. We hope to investigate them closer when we have more time.

It is very dry around Avoca-Moonambel and at least one sheep station has resorted to an alternative source of income.

Incidentally there is a good camping ground at Moonambel with impressive facilities. It used to be a football field – hence the wall decoration.  Moonambel boasts little more than one shop, a few houses and FOUR churches!

My cousin Arthur and his wife Joan are the absolute souls of hospitality and  Joan in particular was very keen to assist with the hunt! She arranged for a friend to inspect a motorhome which was about 200 km away, and also put us in touch with other people. To show how dry it is in Moonambel, here is their big dam-that-was.

The road to their property, such typical Aussie countryside. It’s good to be back..

Luckily they have a good bore on their property and should be able to weather a long dry spell although some of the garden is beginning to suffer. Not the rose garden though. There is a lovely view of the Pyrenees through their kitchen window.

We made a day trip all the way down to Geelong to inspect a rather old bus which at first sight was quite good – very well fitted out, but it had a dodgy gearbox and for various other reasons was decided against. That was a long trip just to inspect one bus! That evening Dave heard from the owner of a Ballarat motorhome – and as it really did sound promising so next day we made yet another long foray into the countryside. As I write this blog, it is still the main contender. We did not have time to see much of Ballarat but I was immediately struck by the number of impressive old buildings. The sun shone – but the wind was distinctly chilly. There were signs on the motorway to beware of ice. It’s not bushfire time, but fire awareness is still very important.

On the way back to Moonambel we were constantly in awe of the old stone walls which line the roadway, all constructed in the old days by pick-and-shovel and much elbow grease.

There is a huge wind farm at Waubra, with 128 wind turbine generators on 17,300 hectares of farmland; each turbine is up to 120 M high and they generate enough clean green electricity to supply 140,000 homes. “Each turbine can produce 1.5 MW at full power, and the 192 MW produced by Waubra Wind Farm generates 650,000 tonnes of CO2 savings at peak production. This equates to taking nearly 150,000 cars of the road each year.”

Dave renewed our car hire for a few more days and we set off for Jen’s place in Melbourne, with a stop at a recommended RV dealer on the way. They had a showroom full of the most beautiful new motorhomes, with price tags to match of course, and we were looking for something considerably more downmarket – after all it’s only for 6 months.

They did have one suitable but very very basic vehicle and offered us quite a good deal and probable buy-back, but the price was still rather high.

Today – one week after our arrival – we are going to inspect another bus, a Toyota Coaster; and plans are to see a Hino Rainbow tomorrow. It is amazing the number creative ways in which these fairly old buses are fitted out. The bus at Safety Beach for example had a chest-high kitchen bench and the stove was directly above the entrance steps, one would have to either stand on a lower step or to the side to use it.

So here we are holed up in the Sudima Hotel a few hundred metres from Christchurch airport, all ready for an early start – make that a before-crack-of-dawn-start – we have to check-in by 4.10 am. As Dave says – Bleurrrrgh!

T5 is safely bedded down together with the ute at Swannanoa, the homesit where we enjoyed last Christmas. All tanks emptied out, the grey and black tanks in particular having being flushed several times with a high pressure hose. The fridge is turned off and the door safely propped open (some people may remember what happened one time about a year ago when the fridge door managed to shut itself and we were greeted with quite a colourful sight on arrival back after a month …).

Penny the foxie is reportedly very happy with her foster family in Taumarunui, where she is proving herself adept at ratting. She is also reportedly still trying out her ‘look’ that says “But of course i am allowed on the bed…” but it only worked the first night.

We fly to Melbourne where we will stay with a friend of Dave’s for a few days while we check out a number of motorhomes and buses that Dave has lined up. Wish us luck that we can find something that suits and within our price range. We are not taking anything with us apart from clothes and the GPSr so I rather hope the motorhome or whatever will be “furnished” …. otherwise, the Melbourne Sallies and  Vinnes will profit.

The plan is to tour Australia’s eastern area – coastal and inland –  for six months then return to Christchurch, move back into our home (currently rented out), retrieve our cats (currently fostered) and Penny (currently ditto). Like many other plans, this may well change with time.

This is probably the last-but-one blog before we take off for new adventures in Australia. Our plane seats are booked – at last! – so there’s no turning back now.

Since returning from Hanmer laden with blackberries, we haven’t done a great deal. A couple of family things, luncheons, etc. We did make a trip to Rangiora to order a new sleeping bag-bed for Penny as her old one was falling to bits. ‘Little Paws’ (http://littlepaws.co.nz) have made beauty, it has a waterproof bean bag inserted in the base, and a soft ‘collar” so Penny can open the bag and slip inside easily. Taking photos of her in it was however a different matter. Much bribery required …

We made yet another trip to Blenheim, this time to deliver Penny to our friends who live in Taumarunui  and have very generously offered to look after her for the 8 months we will be in Australia. She spent a month with them a year ago so we are hoping she will settle down quickly in once-again-familiar surroundings. This is a far better arrangement than what we’d feared we’d be forced to accept (apart from taking her with us and exposing her to the heat, ticks, snakes, heart worm and assorted nasties which a Kiwi dog doesn’t know), which would have been boarding her with a professional foster carer who looks after up to 5 dogs a time and charges well over $100/week.

We drove up via Murchison, hoping to find a missing Christchurch Library book which I thought I’d left behind by mistake at the NZMCA POP mini-exchange library. But it wasn’t there and a message on the Jayco Owners’ Facebook page hasn’t yield anything either. Oh well, I will just have to pay a fine. (Quite hefty as it turned out ;-(.)

En route to Blenheim from Murchison and approaching St Arnauds, we were feeling it was time for a coffee stop, or even lunch. But nothing seemed very welcoming so we continued and then some way past St. Arnauds we spotted some signs saying Cafe and Coffee. Expecting a roadside cafe or perhaps part of a farmhouse, we were surprised to find a tiny little pop-up cafe parked in the middle of a huge expanse of open paddock. Owner Karen, who lives on top of the hill, gave us a warm welcome and made us some delicious bacon and egg butties on unbelievably fresh, crispy-topped yet airy buns and of course wonderful coffee.

On to Blenheim and our usual haunt at Reta’s POP. After a day or so helping Robyn with her rock garden among other things it was time to catch the ferry to Wellington. A nice calm trip. All too soon we were handing Penny over to her new parents. She seemed happy to see them and to hop into their van, making sure all her goodies and bed were stowed on board. So off they went.

We’ve had reports that after the initial night when she insisted on sleeping on THEIR bed (strictly forbidden here!) and a day full of working sheep and collecting milk from the cowshed, she has settled down well. She’s also proved herself a champion ratter!

We had a free day in Wellington so visited the awesome Gallipoli – the Scale of Our War exhibition at Te Papa. The 2.4 times life-size figures were truly amazing, right down to body hair, skin imperfections, military badges, the nurse’s buttons etc etc. Not just individual war histories but family histories were well researched.

Dave was entranced by the panoramas and I was especially moved by the nurse (remember everything including her badge and buttons and letters are 2.4 times life size).

These two panoramas were like miniature Son et Lumiere displays. Moving lights, shadows, captioned commentary …. You have to see them to fully appreciate them. 

Quoting from the Te Papa website: Lead curator for the exhibition Kirstie Ross says the exhibition is a chance to unpeel some of the myths around the eight month campaign. “We’re interested in that human experience, seeing it through an emotional lens with the words these individuals wrote, how they recorded and reflected their experiences. At the same time we’re bringing rigour, accuracy and humanity to that story.”

My photos did not turn out well, I forgot to adjust my camera settings. There are far better photos at http://www.gallipoli.tepapa.govt.nz/  The exhibition will run for four years.

We also managed to meet Dave’s great nephew for a coffee in Cuba Street and make a fairly quick visit to the Wellington Museum’s “Attic” display where we found one of John Gibb’s paintings (Unfortunately the reflective glass made taking photos difficult) before it was time to head back to the ferry for the trip to Picton and 20 minute drive to our nice comfy bed in T5.

Returning to Christchurch next day we simply had to stop to see the seal pups at the Ohau Stream. One of the things I love most about NZ is the close encounters with wildlife, particularly seals. I’ve see them around Dunedin, Oamaru, Kaikoura and East Cape. Playful, intelligent, curious, they really capture one’s attention. Penguins come a close second.

Hundreds of pups go to the pool every winter. Born on the rocky seashore nearby, they make their own way up the stream to a waterfall where they play together and rest for several days then must return to the coast to feed on their mother’s rich milk. What instinct drives them to visit the waterfall? There was an interesting TV program about this recently.

Unfortunately I had still not altered the settings on my camera and as a result nearly all the seal photos above are by Dave. One curious pup came right up to me to sniff my shoes. I took a couple of great little videos however.

We’ve spent the last 10 days in indolent laziness (!?) looking after Robyn’s home in Blenheim and her darling little 16 year old Burmese cat Kassia. Last time we were there Kassia was rather wary of Penny but this time they simply ignored each other which meant a more harmonious household altogether with all of us watching TV in the evenings – Dave and me in comfy chairs, Penny in her bed on the floor between us and Kassia alternating between our laps.

I did take full advantage of a large washing machine to wash all T5’s bedding, mattress protector, etc., not the sort of stuff you can do when on the run. I also did a small amount of gardening and some baking and Dave mowed the lawn. But mainly we read and caught up on all the internet videos we are unable to watch with our expensive intermittent internet access on the road, and I did some much anticipated family history research and took photos of some glorious sunsets.

We didn’t even venture out much apart from the occasional shopping trip and two quick drives to Picton to see the jeweller who is redesigning my wedding and engagement rings to make one composite ring. One of the stones came out of the engagement ring and I was told the whole setting was so worn that I would soon lose more. My fat little ring finger can only carry so much, I do sort of envy the people who have about 5 rings on one finger!

The vineyards everywhere are green, green, green; most have had top and sides haircuts and many are now sporting netting veils or skirts as well. The methods used do seem to vary from vineyard to vineyard, possibly from grape variety to variety as well. Despite our plans we didn’t manage to have another vineyard lunch, and the 2-for-1 pizza night at the local Renwick pub was booked out.

After 10 days it was time to head back to Christchurch. We opted to travel via the St. Arnaud-Murchison-Lewis Pass route from Blenheim. I don’t think I have travelled the first part of this route before, i.e. Blenheim to St. Arnaud NOT via Nelson. It is very different to the Kaikoura route, initially through miles and miles of vineyards where I could sometimes see black grapes practically dripping off the vines.

The only break in the monotony (but it’s nice gentle monotony) was a stone water trough at Marchburn with a story. It had resulted from a local settler mentioning at a meeting in 1915  “….the inconvenience caused to settlers and the general public by the absence of water on the  road between Waihopai and the Wairau Valley. “ The cost of erecting a windmill, tank and trough was estimated at 30 pounds, part of it raised by the settlers. Some time after it had been completed, “ A three year old boy who had been missing from a nearby Accommodation House was found safe and well three days later at this site.”

It is a far less twisty route than the coast one but there is one mountain range to overcome before Murchison, close to the Rainbow Ski Area and just before one leaves official Marlborough and enters Tasman. These photos were snapped from the moving car, as usual we cannot stop easily when towing T5. One photo missed was of some covered hay bales – in soft pastel colours! Yet another flavour for the marshmallows-for-baby-dinosaurs?

We made an overnight stop at Murchison. The NZMCA POP is becoming more and more popular. The first time we visited there were only a few other vehicles, now the park is more than half full and this is midweek and off-season. The old stables next door have been reopened as a junk shop (they call it the Dust & Rust Vintage Store) with several interesting old vehicles and other stuff outside. I should have taken photos in the evening when the sun was behind me rather than these morning shots.

Inside is very interesting with lots of quality junk-antiques for want of a better word, at very moderate prices. Old farm tools but also old household items, typewriters, china, beautiful coloured bottles,  vinyl records, books, dolls. What I liked was the merchandise was spread out rather than all crammed together in overwhelming fashion as at the other junk shop in the main street, the one every visitor to Murchison sees. One had time to examine and think and also move around rather more easily!

Next day, on to Hanmer via the Lewis Pass. Somewhere around Maruia we spotted more marshmallows in the deep turquoise-blue first (and only) seen near Riverton in Southland. No pinks though, and no rainbow colours.

This is an avenue of poplars to the north of Maruia. Already the leaves are getting sparser and just starting to change colours, and it is only the second day of Autumn.

A zig-zag track of cows….

We stopped for a coffee break just past Springs Junction (we do not have fond memories of our last meal at the cafe there):

And so to Hanmer. We thought there was a fire on the horizon but it turned out to be just a dust cloud. Strangely, several days after we left Hanmer there WAS a huge fire, and quite close to where we were camped at the NZMCA POP near the Hanmer River bridge.

After a couple of days enjoying the late summer ambience and the hot springs, it was time to move on, but not before we did a little blackberrying. Huge, juicy fruit. Where? Shhhh! Close to the Hanmer River.

We are now in our familiar haunt – the chestnut orchard northern Christchurch.

Finally we were off again, heading for Blenheim and another homesit for Robyn and her adorable little cat Kassia. We were delighted to find the Domett Station cafe open, it has been closed the last two times we’ve been past and we feared permanent closure, but the same wonderful chef is still there. Note to self: do not travel that way on Tuesdays, it’s not open that day!

We also spotted the latest colour/flavour in marshmallows for baby dinosaurs – black. Liquorice or squid ink? Who knows?! Dave did start to question the unwrapped bales of hay that we saw occasionally – what are THEY in grandchild-speak?

We settled in at a POP in outer Blenheim, next to friends Graeme and Barb who were the reason we’d left Christchurch earlier than planned. Dave went on a bike ride or two with them. 

On Sunday we all enjoyed a delicious salmon salad at the Hunter Winery Garden Restaurant, the first winery restaurant in Marlborough (1984). Hunter’s Wines in Marlborough is one of the pioneers of the Marlborough wine industry. Established over 30 years ago. Jane Hunter is the most acclaimed and awarded woman in NZ’s wine industry, with an impressive set of accolades.

Car parking is under some elevated vines, probably remnants of an  early vineyard before growing methods changed. The huge grape clusters were just starting to go through veraison (changing colour). According to Wikipedia, “As the grapes ripen, the concentration of phenolic compounds like anthocyanins replaces the green color of chlorophyll in the grape berries…. during veraison which may last from 30–70 days depending on the climate and other factors, the grapes go through several changes which impact their sugar, acid, tannin and mineral composition.”

Later when I took Penny for a walk along the road near where we are camped, right next to one of the St. Clair vineyards, the same abundance was visible but the grapes there were all still green.

Opposite St Clair vineyard is a memorial commemorating the first crossing by air of the Cook Strait, in 1920.

While at the Hunter Winery we were admiring the work of the artist in residence, Clarry Neame, when we learned there’d been another big quake in Christchurch – 5.7. I hope it does not mean we will have to get our house checked again before the renters move in.

On the way home Dave surprised me by saying we might as well pop into the chocolate factory on the way ….. enough said!!

This POP is popular …. here is one of the long-term residents, “Old ‘n Dazed”. Someone lives in it but it hasn’t been on the road for some time. T5 is in the distance. Although lots of caravans and motorhomes have rather twee names, occasionally a clever one is spotted. I always forget to note it down though!

We shift to Robyn’s driveway tomorrow and start ten days of  home sitting.

We stayed at Peski’s for four  days, making sorties into Geraldine when the weather wasn’t too bad. We regretfully gave the 1882 Cafe a miss (“next time”) but did go to view an amazing recreation of the Bayeux Tapestry. Made from million tiny pieces of spring steel, the teeth of patterning discs from an industrial knitting machine, stuck to heavy duty sticky tape, polished with black boot polish – yes really – and then hand painted with the teeniest paintbrush, one tiny tile at a time, it is a real labour of love. Created by Michael Linton, it took 20 years plus a further five years for Michael and his daughter to research, design and create the ‘final section’ of the mosaic. Only eight colours of paint were used, as in the original tapestry, and the whole mosaic measures 42 metres.  www.1066.co.nz

We bought an interactive DVD-ROM which describes the Bayeaux Tapestry in detail, plus it has many other features including lots of mind-bending puzzles. Have you ever really checked out all the figures and animals in the top and bottom borders, not to mention the main figures which tell the story? All are described minutely on the DVD-ROM. Here is a small sample, I hope I’m not breaching copyright posting this very small section – see the website for a photo of the whole. The central figure is Earl Harold of Wessex. Harold was King of England from January 1066 until his fall at the Battle of Senlac on October 14 1066. He is mounted on a palfrey, which is also  described in detail.

Back at Peski’s, Penny told us there was a dog in the mobile home which had recently arrived and set up near us. But it wasn’t just a dog – it was two glorious German short-haired pointers. what’s more they were dripping wet, not so much from the rain but from having a swim in the nearby creek! They reminded me so strongly of an old friend’s dogs which took me for a walk (not vice versa) in Melbourne some years ago. A great reminder that it was more than time to get in touch with my old friend again (which I did, and we’ve exchanged several emails since and REALLY caught up on news of our respective families).

It was time to get back to Christchurch and do some gardening in preparation for yet another Open Home as we try to sell our home of five years. We stopped for coffee at Ashburton. For years we always stopped at the Blue Cafe at Tinwald but it has now closed. However the large Robert Harris cafe near the Christchurch end of the main street has proved very good, with wonderful pastries and usually space to park, even T5.

Back home we parked in our old driveway, the tenants have gone and the house is empty, so we could use the shower and also store some gardening equipment in the garage temporarily. There was quite a bit of gardening to do, all the rain had certainly had effect. It was very nice to be back in my garden for a while, I have missed it very much while on the road. A neighbour popped over to check out who were were, a gesture we appreciated.

Since writing the above we have decided to withdraw the house from the market, put the tenants back in for nine months while we take off to explore Australia, then after that we will move back in for several years while we do some renovations.

It was very pleasant catching up with old friends and renewing acquaintances with the neighbourhood. We were just in time to bid the long-time local chemists goodbye as they are retiring. Penny and I had a pleasant walk visiting our old haunts, how some of the trees have grown.

We decided to return to Geraldine via the coast road through the Catlins rather than through Balclutha, not stopping until we were nearing Invercargill and spotted a sign saying Lignite Pit Cafe. What?! It turned out to be a cafe/camping ground/gardens complex built on the site of an old lignite open-cut mine.

Although the cafe was not officially opened at that time we were warmly welcomed and coffee prepared.

While Dave chatted with the owner I wandered around taking photos (what else) and admiring a very thick locally produced book which detailed all the local families and activities over the past hundred years, obviously a labour of love as well as a work of art. It made me wish one of my ancestors had come from that area!

And so off again heading north and bypassing Invercargill, hopefully but as it turned out in vain leaving the threat of bad weather behind us. We got as far as Ranfurly, mostly in the rain, then just a little further on reached the famed Hayes’ Engineering Works & Homestead at Oturehua where we had camped last year. I did not see over the Heritage-listed Homestead and Works at that time so this time determined to do so. My camera chose that time to run out of battery power and I realised too late I’d forgotten to recharge my spare battery. So most of the photos below were taken by Dave, some at my direction. The cafe people very kindly allowed me to recharge both batteries in the cafe; we did not need any excuse to return repeatedly to the place, the food there is really delicious.

There was only one camper van staying overnight like us and it was home to a lovely Foxy-Jack Russell cross girl called Chewy. I could not get over how Chewy was a sort of hybrid of Penny and  those of Mac the Jack Russell who we looked after in Tauranga last year; she displayed marked traits of both. It was uncanny.
There is a lovely atmosphere at Hayes’. There are very few restrictions and one can wander around the old factory and office at will. Ernest Hayes was skilled at the lathe, anvil and carpenter’s bench, and all are still there … he made tools for fencing, shearers and for pest control, and made more than 400 windmills. The workbenches were littered with wooden patterns (moulds) from which steel parts were cast (mostly in Dunedin) then returned to Hayes’ for assembly. The factory ran from 1902 to well after 1950.

There were several local volunteers trying to get the clutch on an old electric motor which drove the main shaft to the whole factory to work again. The charming waitress at the cafe lived on a farm nearby. The cafe itself is a recreation of the original sun dried brick cottage in which the Hayes family lived for many years. Mrs Hannah Hayes “… was arguably NZ’s first ravelling saleswoman, in full skirt and on a bicycle, rode into the far-off Mackenzie Country with a catalogue and order book in hand while her 12 year old daughter looked after her eight younger siblings.” Eight!

A couple of visiting cars caught Dave’s attention:

The Homestead was full of quirky things reflecting on the owner-builder being an innovative engineer. It was built from sun-dried bricks stored under tussock during WW1. An electricity system brought power generated by the peloton wheel which also supplied nearby homes – this was years before the national grid was switched on. When the Hayes switched off the power for the night it was lights out for all the other homes too.

On the morning of our departure I could not resist a last visit the Hayes’ cafe and bought two cake slices to enjoy later. Also a tiny pot of Arnica ointment  – I tried the Tester yesterday and was pleased with the result.

We stayed at Hayes’ for several nights, making a day trip to St. Bathan’s to see the Blue Lake which was definitely not blue on that grey day.

Approaching the Lake from above, we were horrified to see two grown men helping two very young boys to scramble up the last few metres to safety. The cliff is extremely crumbly, signs warn of the danger, so it was the height of irresponsibility of those men (father and son) …..  Dave said something suitable to them and one responded “It was steeper than we thought” (!).

Leaving Hayes’, our route was decided by a coin toss. Left would lead us back to Ranfurly, Mosgiel and up the coast; right to Alexandra, Cromwell and thence to Tekapo. Right won.

We stopped for a coffee at a cafe and I spotted this sign:

I have always loved the drive from Alexandra to Cromwell  along the river, particularly when the autumn colours are at their finest. But it was only high summer (??), so all the poplar trees were green and the craggy slopes which line the Clutha river a dull brown-grey. It’s still a lovely drive.

We didn’t stop in Cromwell but continued to the Lindis Pass, again looking different to usual, actually more green thanks to the rain. The northern approach to the highest point of the Pass had far more lupins than I remembered, but pale counterparts of those near Tekapo – or was it just the overcast sky? Later as we passed Tekapo it was difficult to see any lupins at all, they had just about finished.

One notable feature of that day – no more classic cars on the road! Ever since we left Christchurch we saw literally hundreds of old cars ranging from polished Classic to very old Vintage chugging along; they’d been in a huge rally all around Otago. It was wonderful to see so many cherished old vehicles and we didn’t mind (much) being stuck behind some of them for miles. My right arm became quite sore from being frequently elbowed by Dave as he drove along: “There’s another one!” There were several at Hayes’ for close-up admiring.

Lake Pukeko was at its turquoise bluest, but with a strong wind at the headquarters, Mt. Cook remained invisible. I never tire of the views of this fabulous lake. One essential – you must have polaroids to appreciate it fully.

There’s a new feature outside the Pukeko Information Centre:

We decided to keep going as far as Peski’s at Geraldine. I wrote about this place a few (?) blogs back. It is a lovely restful place offering power, showers, chooks for all our veggie scraps, and a washing machine; also home-made jams and pickles and if we were lucky other treats straight from the garden. The perfect place to hole up while the rain pelted down. It even has a dump point for our grey and black water tanks.

On one of the finer days we drove north through Balclutha towards Lawrence, trying to keep to the back roads, and a little past the bridge to Clydevale came to the Tuapeka punt on the Clutha river at Tuapeka Mouth, the only punt of its kind in the southern hemisphere. It looked fascinating. It uses the flow of the river to cross from one side to the other, with one man operating a fairly complicated looking set of ropes and one large wheel. 

A sign advised us that the punt only operated between the hours of 8-10am and 4-6pm river level permitting. As it was then about 11 am we determined to continue to Lawrence then return via the road on the other side of the river, cross over on the punt and continue ‘home’ to T5.

The punt was officially opened on 22 February 1896, with 336 passengers and 255 horses being carried in the first month of its operation. The mind boggles. Tuapeka Mouth was an inland port for about 30 years until 1939 for paddle wheel steamers to and from Balclutha.

We continued on to Lawrence through beautiful sheep country with views of distant misty hills (it rained lightly almost the whole day)…

… and just outside Lawrence stopped to admire the site of the old Chinese Camp, founded in 1867 when Chinese were forbidden to live and work within the town’s boundary. With time the camp expanded to have about 100 people. The hotel, still standing, was said to be one of the best wayside hotels in Otago. The owner was a Chinese man Sam Chew Lain, who married a Scottish woman, and it chiefly catered for a European clientele. A Chinese ghost is said to have been known to successive hotel occupants.

Lawrence is chock full of cafes and semi-antique shops (“don’t call us junk!”) and full of lovely old buildings with olde worlde gardens.

The original gold-rush town, it was the home to school teacher John J. Woods who composed NZ’s national anthem. There’s a sort of statue of him, and several other town notables, in the main street. There’s an interesting little local museum, worth a visit. I spotted a whole banana-crate sized box full of local family histories, some obviously prepared many years ago. i wonder if any have been digitised and/or a catalogue prepared.

After lunch we went on a little further to Gabriel’s Gully, site of NZ’s famous gold rush. there are many walking and cycling tracks in the vicinity, and a lovely lake.

it was a little difficult, looking out over the green valley, to imagine it as it was in the gold rush heyday. Within a few months of the first discovery, thousands of mining holes chequered the valley as far as the eye can see.

But we couldn’t wait to get back to the punt! We arrived just before 4 pm and soon saw the ferryman arrive and methodically get everything under way. We were the only passengers, just as well really, also no way could we have done it with T5 in tow. I will let the photos hopefully tell the story. The ferryman was kept busy the whole time, everything was done manually.

After a few days behind a motel in Invercargill we hitched up T5 again and took the old coach road inland and east to Owaka via Mataura and Clinton (the Five Horse town – which I described in detail in a much earlier blog, so we didn’t stop to take photos this time). Not far from Owaka we settled in at the Hillview Camp Site, surrounded by grassy hills.

Nugget Point and its famous lighthouse were minutes away. I last walked the track to this lighthouse in 2000 clad in full bike riding gear including borrowed boots too large for me…. so it was a far easier scramble this time (!). It’s quite a long track winding along the top of the cliff cliff with incredible drops straight down to the sea where seals could just be spotted lazing around near  the rocks at the foot of the cliffs.

There were many more seals in the rock pools among “The Nuggets” which extend out to sea but we did not see any yellow-eyed penguins which are also feature of the area. The Point is also said to be the home of many other seabirds including gannets and spoonbills.

The views from the viewing platform beside the lighthouse are breathtaking. A little beach way below the lighthouse keeper’s house may have been his children’s playground, but how to get down there? The house can just be seen in the upper right hand corner. The lighthouse was built in 1869 and is 76 metres (250 feet) above the water. It was automated in 1989.

We also visited Kaka Point itself, a small tourist village offering “excellent swimming and surfing” – when the sun in shining(!). Even though it was mid January the beach was practically deserted. Road signs cautioned drivers to watch for penguins and fur seals crossing but we didn’t see any.

Cannibal Bay was our next stop on yet another grey cloudy day, beautiful and deserted at the end of a long narrow gravel road which twisted and turned around a headland while offering tantalising glimpses of the sea far away. A lone tree on the cliffside above the beach shows the force of the wind. A couple of oystercatchers kept the seagulls company on the rocks.

I am nearly up to date now – only two more blogs to catch up on!! We are currently back in Christchurch ….