Proud farmer. The homestead and a big boys toy.

Am now at Christchurch Airport waiting to start the journey home so this will probably be the last posting. Will be stopping in Dubai for a couple of days but that does very little for me unless I can get to see the old arab who builds big wooden boats on the beach.

Monday 24th November. On the drive up to Mark & Sue's farm at Happy Valley near Methven we stop at Bob Lynn's house to collecta signed copy of his book "Woodwork - My first seventy years". Found him in his workshop so took lots of pictures. It was very difficult to get away from him as he is stone deaf and wants to tell everybody of his life history. Dear old fellow and could have spent all day with him and learnt a lot if we had had the time. Drive on accross the Canterbury plains with dead straight roads for about 30kms. Find the farm without any difficulty. Mark takes us on a guided tour of the farm. 1600 acres. Beef Sheep (thousands) Barley Wheat and lots of grass. Unlike many of the farms on the plain he does not irregateand relies upon the slightly higher rainfall that occures close to Mount Hutt.He has linked two adjoining farms that occupy the terraces beside the river Rakaia. The terraces have been created by glacial action and it is an intriguing landscapeOver the millenia the top soils on the north side of the river have been blown by the prevailing wind and deposited on the terraces on the south side of the river. Mark has a hydroelectric power plant at the bottom of the farm which is powered by water in a 66KMS canal built in the depression. The electricity company sellswater to the farms through which the canal passes for the irrigation of the plains. Mark has just concluded a deal with the company that will facilitate the extension of the system. He has three working dogs and runs the whole show with the help ofjust one employee - a 70 year old Malayian war veteron who can't stop working.He also employs two men in their 60's for two months a year to do just fencing. The farm looks to be in very good order but a drop of rain would do a power of good to improve the growth of the grass for silage. Mark and Sue left Sussex to come out here 11 years ago since when they have managed to create a very successful farming enterprise out of farms that were very run down when they bought them. They have had their set backs from time to time such as devastating hail storms and snow storms. Sue'smother Heather is staying with them at present. H and M were friends as teeagers so had plenty to talk about. We stayed the night with them and Mark and I were able to put the world to rights and compare notes on farming today compared with farming in the thirties when my father and his grandfather farmed adjoining farms at Rogate in the very bad old days of farming. A blessed rain in the night and the river is running very high by the morning.

Tuesday 25th November. Our last whole day in NZ. Say our goodbyes to Mark and family and drive to Akaroa on the most extraordinary volcanic peninsular South East of Christchurch named by Capt Cook as Banks Island (He did not realise then that it is not an island) after Banks, the botanist he had onboard Endeavour at the time. Akoroa was founded by French settlers on the side of the flooded crater making a wonderful sheltered harbour. There is a strong French flavour to the place. Very picturesque. main tourist attraction is boat trips to swimwith or look at Dolphins. I watched a fishing boat unload its catch after three days at sea. Soles, Flounders and Brill all very good size. The boat trip was fully booked as the morning trip had been cancelled due to high winds soM not too disappointed as it would have been 'tippy'. We are booked into a self contained studio flat in a private house half way up the mountain side with a great view out over the village and harbour. Spend a lazy afternoon looking around the little local museum and doing some retail therapy. Cant get a table for dinner until 8.30 so the Gin o'clock hour gets extended during which time a good foundation for dinner is laid down particularly as we have to finish the gin tonight. We have to share a table in the restaurant with a couple of young chinese students on holiday from Sidney University and we enjoy eack other's company. The girl tells M that she reminds her of her mother! they are fromShanghi and get no grant from the Chinese Govmt. so we conclude that they must have wealthy parents to be able to support them at Uni and to take holidays. They are only children of course. The mealwas very good indeed - one of the best of the whole trip - and we share each others dishes. The place has tons of atmosphere as every bit of space on the walls and the ceiling have been covered with graffiti by customers over a period of 12 years. Most comments complimentary. There is a chef proprietor and his wife does all the waiting (32 covers -double sitting) and they only have one other in the kitchen. Not too expensive but the wine prices a a triffle high.

Wednesday 26th November., Drive toairport via Lyttleton - the old port of Christchurch and still used for commercial traffic. there is an interesting "time ball" here which was used in the olden days to signal to the ships in the harbour the exact Greewich meantime once a day. Breath a great sigh of relief when able to return the hire car without a scratch.

Our day playing with engines.

Sunday 23rd November. Again we start the day with no particular itinerary in mind except to drive in the direction of Christchurch to meet up with Mark and Sue on their farm tomorrow. First stop just outside Twizel at the bottom of Lake Pukaki where there is a big dam built as part of the Hydroelectric scheme built in the 70's. There is a fine view across the lake to the snow capped mountains but Mt.Cook still has it's head in the clouds. Alarge canal has been built to connect the two lakes Pukaki and Tekapo. No evidence of narrow boats on it!! As we approach Lake Tarpo we pass a sign to Mt St. John Observatory so decide to have a look. Wonderful all around view of the plains and lake from the top but the price of the coffee was eye watering. Decide to spend the night at Ashburton and on the way into town we come across a Steam Railway Restoration Society who are having an open day so stop for a ride. All the volunteers are very excited because this is the first day that they have been able to have two of their engines steamed up at the same time and they have brought out a third (smaller) engine for a photo shoot. The ride on the train is only a couple of miles but fun nevertheless. There is also a woodworking museum with a fantastic collection of wood working tools and lathes. In attendance is the 94 year old founder who is very keen to tell us all about the exhibits many of which he has made himself including a model of a staircase made when he was 10! Can't resist buying his book and getting him to sign it.

Pictures of Bungy Bridge, a"Wheel Nut's" unusual garden fence, Wild lupins and the Wilderness.

New driver for the Kingston Flyer

Sorry guys. Can't seem to be able to downlaod pictures at present. You will have to be patient until I can get a stronger Wifi link.

Saturday 21st November. We start the day with no particular plans except to drive towards Twizel and as the day turns out we manage to pack in being on the footplate of a steam engine, Hacketts bungy Jump and prospecting for gold. Not bad for a couple of old codgers. It worked like this. We are driving back along highway 6 in the late morning feeling it was time for a coffee when we see a sign to "The Kingston Flyer Steam Train". Kingston is at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu and there is a single track line that runs beside the road down to Invercargill although so far as we can gather the steam train only goes a few miles down the line. The train is standing outside the station with steam up and nobody on the footplate. There are no fences and it is possible to walk all around the engine so yours truly grabs his chance and climbs aboard the engine to have a closer look at the controls etc. Marilyn having kittens particularly when the intercom in the cab crackles into life and asks the man on the engine to get down until the driver arrives. I have been spotted but not before the camera went click. The train is not due to leave for at least an hour so we decide to move on. In the village there is a house owned by a "Wheel Nut". See photo of his garden fence. Next stop Hacketts world famous bungy jump from the bridge over the Kawarau gorge. Thought I might get Marilyn to have a go if I blindfolded her but the jump captain thought she looked too frail and wrinkly and was worried that she might fall to pieces at the bottom when the rope pulled her up so we had to give it a miss. Of course I was all ready to have a go but didn't like to do so without M so reluctantly we drove on. Next stop the Kawarau Gorge Mining Centre. To get to the Centre we had to cross a footbridge high over the gorge which was a small victory for M. The Gold mining continued here for about 100 years and was last worked in 1969. Many of the early miners were Chinese and their simple dwellings/shelters have been reconstructed which give a good idea of how basic it was in the early days when there was no bridge across the gorge and everything had to be transported across in a crate suspended from a high wire. Water power provided the energy to drive the ore crushing machinery and we were given a demonstration of how it worked by the son of one of the last men to work the mine. He handed us a couple of nice sized nuggets of gold but I was not able to trouser them without his noticing. All very interesting.
We have passed through very varied landscapes - the most extreme being vast tracts of treeless ranges followed by great open planes irrigated by watering booms on wheels in spans of about 75 feet. The average number of linked booms has been 12 but we have seen one rig of 22 booms linked in line giving a total length of about 1650 feet. Seriously big operation. In this area the roads are lined with wild lupins that are infull bloom at the moment - the photo does not do them justice. M reckons that they have lined 60 Kms of road. The wild broom is also veryprolific making mountain sides ablaze in yellow. M has done most of the driving today - a doddle in this traffic. One car every 10 Kms!!

Love your comments boys. Canada blew my socks off but Shotover blew my withered old brains away!! Nothing beats it so far. As for the lap episode - what can I say - Its so long since it last happened I have forgotten what to do!!

We had no idea that Roy and Helen were in NZ. Incredible chance meeting.

Eat your hearts out Rupert and Luke!!!

Friday 21st November. As anticipated today has been a bit of an anticlimax after the adrennalin rush of yesterday but none the less well worth while. The decision to take a coach toMilford Sound was a good move because the road in and out is over mountains and through a tunnel which causes Marilyn to bury her head in my lap a bit like Muffin hiding in the wardrobeon Narrow Boat Leo when she is frightened. We are getting a little OD'd on views but the 2 hour boat trip on the sound is good. Weather fine but windy. The boat is not too big and is able to get close in the sides of the fiord under the waterfalls. There is even a waterfall that is so high that sometimes the water doesn't reach the sea because the wind blows it up and away as spray. See penguins and fur seals but no dolphins. It's a bit lumpy at the mouth of the sound so the cruise out into the Tasman sea is curtailed. Instead we do a tour of the fishing fleet that works out of the sound (no fishing allowed in the sound itself) and they land a prodigious weight of crayfisk most of which is exported.

We are in Lord of the Rings country and I don't know what Marilyn said to the strange Man in a pointed hat but when I looked round she had gone and all Icould see was this!!

Thursday 20th November. Another glorious day and if Iwere writing a novel you would say that the next episode is too far fetched to be believed. We start the day with a quick gallop around the little local museum that tells of the lifeinArrowtown in the pioneering days of panning for gold in the river Arrow that runs behind the town. The main street has been restored to reflect how it looked long ago. We thendrive the few kms to Queenstown on the shore of Lake Wakatipu - an attractive thriving town being the centre of all the mad Kiwi outdoor activities. For $565 you can do a Skydive, ride a Jet boat through the Shotover river canyon, take a helicopter flight over Skipper Canyon and white water raft down the river Shotover Rapids. If bungy jumping is your thing the Nevis high wire at 134 metres is a must. Moored at the town quay is the America's Cup yacht NZL 14 and as I am giving it the once over and chatting to a crew member who has just returned from six months working on the boats at Spinnaker Quay in Portsmouth who should walk up behind me but Roy and Helen Scott from theEmswoth Slipper SC. Shouts of 'I don't believe it' but best of all over cups of coffee we compare notes and discover that they have been following in our footsteps a day behind us and have experienced exactly the same husband and wife stand off at the same spot on their travels. He wants to take her on a helicopter trip over the glacier but she can't face it etc.etc. We have a great laugh about it and I suggestthat we would all get on better if Roy and I went off and did our own thing so that Marilyn and Helen can go and do girlie things. 'What a good idea' says Roy. 'How do you fancy the Shotover Jet Boat ride?' 'Do bears shit in the woods?' say I and the rest you can guess. Within an hour or sowe are on the bus out to the river bwhere we are kitted out with spay coats and life jackets. We have the most thrilling ride you could ever imagine. The boats are quite small - 14 passengers and the driver (mad kiwi but brilliant) Twin engines giving 500HPand will run in 4 inches of water. It rockets through the narrow canyon missing the rocks byinches and the star turn is a 360 spin. The whole operation is very slick and by the time we get ashore and take off our coat and life jacket the onboard computer has downloaded to te shoreside computer a video of our run so that we can buy a CD of our ride before boarding the bus to return to town. Have taken lots of pictures/video but not all have 'come out' as we used to say in the days of film. It would seem that in my excitement I forgot to press the right button but if you want to see what its like go to the web site www.shotoverjet.com

The cruise down Milford Sound we have planned for tomorrow will be small beer after today. To save us the long drive out to Milford and back - round trip of 600kms in one day we decide to drive this evening to Te Anau (half way) and take a coach toMilford

At the foot of Fox Glacier. Well 'She who must be obeyed' did say she wanted more ice for the G&T.

Main street Arrowtown.

I confirm the whitebait patty in the photo was BEFORE eating. You wouldn't like the AFTER picture.

To bestest friends. Sorry we are too thick to pick up on your 'handle'. Much too clever for us. Pete would have loved seeing Garry's MG collection. Told him all about your baby.

Wednesday 19th Nov. A remarkable day. I am up early and take the car to Lake Matheson - about 4 kms away from where there is a popular photo shot of the snowcapped mountains reflected in the still waters of the lake but this morning Mt Cook has it'shead in the clouds and the water is not still. Bit of a wasted journey but the trees around the lake are nice - al draped inmoss and lychen. We drive up to Fox Glacier. The foot of the melting ice has receded about a mile in the last 100 years. The car park is a ten minute walk accross the moraine to reach the viewing point but the braver of us climb through the rope and scramble accross rocks and streams to the melting face. Well worth the effort (and risk of wet feet) to appreciate the scale of the monster. Marilyn does not make it to the face and the atmosphere between us issomewhat strained at this time. Needless to say its all my fault selfish mean old bastard that i am always insisting we do what I want to do. However I suspect that because her ladyship has not been sleeping too well and is getting very tired this may be a contributing factor. Just as we are leaving the glacier itstarts to raintocomplete the gloom of the atmosphere so the conversation in the car for the next 100kms can hardly be described as scintilating. However a stop for coffeeat a Salmon farm with very nice cafe attached helps to melt the ice and restore 'entente cordiale'. Another stop at lunch time at Haast - a smal community on the coast miles from anywhere - enables her ladyship to indulge some retail therapy at the Possom and Marino Wool store. It has recently been built with corrugated tin and whilst we are in there the heavens open and for half an hour the noise is so much that we can hardly hear ourselves think yet alone discuss the price of a Possom skin. There is a mobile stall in the road sellingWhite bait patties - see photo -so have to try one. Big mistake. I shall stick to the good old English style Whitebait. The drive down the west coasthas become somewhat monotomous with rain forest right up to the road onboth sides for hundreds of Kms. Soon after Haast however the road turns inland and climbs the Southern Alpes through the Haast pass. On the way up we pass lots of spectacular water falls and rivers. After the pass its like turning the page of a book because there is a complete change of scene. Now we are in the dry country. All the trees are gone and the sheer mountains are relaced with lower ranges and glens which remind us very much of Scotland. Eventhe streams here are called Burns. Sheep, Cattle and Deer (farmed not wild) grazing as far as the eye can see. Millions of head. The road passes down the side of great lakes, the clouds have cleared and everything is bathed in brilliant sunshine. Pause briefly in Wanaker, a nice town at the end of the lake, and then press on to Arrowtown (on Richard's recommendation) via yet another mountain road that passes through a ski area. Fine viewsout accross the valleyleading down into Arrowtown - founded when gold ws discovered in the river Arrow. Book into a nice Motel with a very well equiped attrctive chalet and settle down after supper in town to watch the All Blacks snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against Munster. A great match.

Tuesday 18th Nov. Not much to report today guys. Thanks for the comments. Can't work out who MG YAR is. We've had a long day today. Posted the blog in the tourist office in Murchison but unable to download pictures. Drove 164 Kms to Greymouth where we found WiFi hotspot in the railway station of all places so was able to post the latest pictures and catch up on the e-mails. There is a train that runs from Christchurch each morning to Greymouth with return trip in the afternoon. We have been thinking that we may do this and agonised over whether we should catch the train that was waiting in the station when we arrived in Greymouth and stay the night in Christchurch ,returning in the morningbut in the end it was decided to press on to FoxGlacier today and do the train when we get to Christchurch next week. The run from Murchison to Greymouth was beside the Buller Gorge for a lot of the way with many high bridges over the river. The jet boat rides must be fantastic. Some of the bridges are single track and also used by the train track. I bet some mad kiwis drive straight on up the railway track which is not fenced. From Greymouth to Hokitika the road is flat and straight along the coast. Stop at H and have a look in the Jade Factory. Expensive but nice. Watched the craftsmen working on the product. All very well presented. Stop again at Franz Josef which is the tourist centre for visiting the FJ glacier. Strong alpine atmosphere with sightseeing helicopters buzzing overhead but the mountain tops are shrouded in cloud. Can see the foot of the glacier from the road. Drive on the Fox Glacier, a much less glitz village, and book into B & B recommended by Andrew. Supper in local cafe. Rack of Lamb well presented but tough. Disappointing. We have driven 364 kms today.

Carvings of tree stumps and recovery of the taxis.

On the beach and on the walk

Taxi Rank!! On the way to launch. Split Apple Rock

Paul, Rebecca, Ryan, Dogs and Codger & Boys toys.

Monday 17th Nov. Today we are booked to go on a walk in the Abel Tasman Park. There are no roads in the park so the only way to get about is on Shank's Pony or the water taxis that will take you from beach to beach. It's a very novel experience at the start of the day to be picked up from your accommodation by coach and driven to Manahue Bay where the water taxi is waiting - parked on a trailer attached to a tractor. The passengers board the boat, don their life jackets and are then towed by the tractor down the road for quarter of mile and then onto the beach where the boat is launched - Bit like a life boat beach launch. First we are taken to see what must be the most photographed rock in NZ. It is called the Split Apple as it looks just like that. (Will send photo when next able to find somewhere to download from my laptop) We are then taken 13Kms up the coast (a bit lumpy and M has a few white knuckle moments) where we are dropped off onto a deserted beach - feel a bit like Robinson Crusoe and look for human footprint. By now it is a lovely sunny day. The track through the sub-tropical forest is cool and fresh after the rain in the night and the waterfalls are spectacular. It takes us five hours - not a bad effort for a couple of old codgers and well worth the effort even though we were knackered by the end. At the entrance to the park there is a collection of wood carvings of gigantic size out of tree trunks. (Photos later). On the road again to Murchison where we book into a Motel. Sitting in car for 2 hours gives the legs a chance to seize up and so fell all over the place when we got out of the car. This township is beside the Buller River which is the centre of the white water rafting but don't think I am going to be able to persuade M to have a go. Supper in the local 'Hotel' - rather a grand description. Oh dear!! M says I must not tell Luke. We are asked if we want veggies or salad with the main course. When we enquire what the veggies are we are told that there is only one portion left and are shown a plate with pre-cooked Cabbage, carrots, potato and broccli covered with cling film ready to go into the microwave. We chose salad.

Sunday 16th November. Nothing much to report today. Drive from Blenheim to Marahue which is on the Southern end of the Abal Tasman National Park stopping in Nelson to use the Internet Cafe to update the blog. Book into George Bloomfield's B & B called The Stabbles - no horses now but he used to breed and train racehorses and hire out trekking ponies. He invites us to pick as many oranges and lemons as we like from his wonderful garden. There is a lot of fruit grown in this area and even hops for the local brewery. Our room is in a very well equiped Chalet and the breakfast is good. Poured with rain and blew a gale in the night.

Celebration lunch. Followed by soon to be Roast Beef followed by view of Jonty's house taken from the top of the hill behind house.

View from Jonty's house and drift wood on the beach at Lake Ferry with mouth of river behind M (after it has been dug out.

Saturday 15th Nov. And so we say farewell to Martinborough. Tearful goodbyes. We have got on so well together but I fear we have set back Jonty's work schedule somewhat. Hour and half drive to Wellington to catch the 2 o'clock ferry to south island - a three hour voyage. Could have left the car at Wellington and got another at Picton but to hell with the expense and paid for the car to go on the ferry(NZ$85) and save Marilyn having to lug all the bags as foot passengers. It is very windy today but the sea is not rough. The Ferry can take trains as well as vehicles and it is quite full. Very scenic as we pass between the off shore islands and up Queen Charlotte Sound and into Picton sound. Half hour drive to Blenheim in the Marleborough Wine producing area. Rebecca and Pauls house is single storey sitting in over 4 acres of land aand is surrounded by vineyards. Two dogs, one pig, two peacocks, chicken of all shapes and sizes, ducks, ducklings one absent horse and two absent goats. They moved out here from Hayling Island less than three years ago and are very happy. Paul does building maintenance work and Rabecca has a job with the vineyards. Two sons Daniel (12) and Ryan (7) also very happy and have made lots of friends. They both have mini motor bikes and are able to ride to their friends through the vineyards without having to go on public roads. Paul was a member of the Hayling lifeboat crew so is in his element here with a 22ft speed boat from which they always catch fish. Hasn't had a blank day yet. There are Salmon farms in the sounds as well as Mussle farms. They make us very welcome and it is fun to bring them up to date with news from home. Paul is a very keen Pompey fan and is not a happy bunny with Redknapp.

Friday 14th Nov Yet another fine day. Spend the morning in Martinborough having a conducted tour of the Bottling plant of which Jonty is a director. The plant bottles nearly all the wine produced in the area. Today they are bottling a full tanker load of Pinot Noir but since the wine has not yet been sold it is not being labeled. It will be stored at the plant in very large crates for the time being and then labeled when they know which country it is going to be exported to. Lunch at the Medici Cafe in town and then go to see Jonty's parents Garry and Heather. Their house is also on the farm but at the other end set on high ground with grand view accross the Martinborough plain. Garry collects and restores old MG cars and is getting ready to take eight of them to a rally in a few weeks time. Friends are coming from all over the world to drive them to the rally. He has two large sheds in which to house the collection which also includes an old Wolsley and a Riley Pathfinder not to mention the Grey Fergie. There is also a covered yard where he stores the wrecks that he has canibalised for spare parts. His workshop puts me to shame as it is so tidy. Have supper with them and watch a magnificent sunset accross the Martinborough plain with the Cook Straits in the distance and on the horizon the snow capped peaks of the Kiakoura Ranges over 100 mile away.

Thursday 13th Nov. How long can our luck hold with the weather? It's another fine day. Spent an hour in the town library of all places as it's the only place I can find with internet but can't connect my laptop so not able to send you any pictures. Have been told that we have to be back at the farm by midday as Jonty wants to show us the rest of the farm and the vineyards that they lease to a producer but it turns out that this is all a subterfuge to get us to a Restaurant attached to a Winery where he has at the request of the boys arranged for us to have a romantic 40th Wedding Anniversary lunch. Very sweet of them but I insist that Jonty and Mary join us for lunch as two old farts who have been married for 40 years have run out of things to talk about. It was great fun. Photos will follow when I can connect my laptop to download. Thank you Rupert and Luke. A wonderful kind thought. J & M's two daughters are charming Natasha(11) and Melissa (8) M is a talented little artist (lots of her pictures around the house) with a buubly personality - never stops talking. N is more reserved but has her talents also - ballet - and we watch her play in a hockey match in the afternoon.

Continuing from where I left off - Jonty farms about 1600 acres on his own with the aid of 4 working dogs, a quad bike. Sheep and beef. The farm was quite run down when he took over 7 years ago since when he has put in a great deal of hard work and money to get it up together. There are about 80 miles of conventional post with eight wires fencing. A lot of new fencing has been put up together with electric fencing plus 150 new 14 foot gates. Cattle and sheep yards have been renewed and several paddocks have had land drains renewed plus additional water storeage ponds ((called Dams out here). The house is timber clad with a verandah on three sides. The original house was built in the 19th century and has been modernised with a large extension built on in the same style. Lovely polished hardhard wood floors throughout. Our room is en-suite with super big shower. Large high ceilinged hall with open staircase and open balustraded landing leading to bedrooms at each end of the house. Open plan kitchen with living room nearly as big as the whole ground floor of the White House.

Wednesday 12th November. The weather for the last few days has been glorious and today has been just perfect. Jonty takes us for a drive to Lake Ferry where the river Ruamahange meets the sea. At this time of year the river is not flowing very fast and is quite low and if there is a Southerly gale it throws up so much sand and shingle on the shore that it closes off the mouth of the rivercreating a lake which slowly fills to well above sea level. In the old days a team of about 25 volunteers would hand dig a channel for the water to run into the sea. Once they had dug enough to get the water running the scouring action would do the rest and by the next morning there would be a deep channel 100 metres wide. Of course it is now done by machine and the last time this happened was only 5 days ago but we could see the level to which the lake had risen by the huge bank of drift wood and tree trunks that had been washed down by the river onto the shore. We have a very nice lunch at the cafe beside the beach and watch the fishermen netting Whitebait along the shore. Their Whitebait are tiny and resemble baby eels rather than the small fish fry that we are accustomed to. In the afternoon we have a guided tour of the farm. There are fantastic views from the high ground behind the homestead which look out over the whole Martinborough plain. - the wine growing area. Some of the paddocks over wghich we drive in the Ute are very steep - very hairy for us old greytops. The cattle look in very good condition but there are no lambs now as all 3000 of them were sent off last week for their fatal appoinment with mint sauce and rosemary!!

Tuesday 11th Before leaving Stratford I have to drive up the mountain to inspect the set up for skiing. The summit is once again shrouded in cloud but the base of the cloud is just above the car park for the ski fields so we get a good view out accross the countryside around the base of the mountain. You have to be fit to ski here as the carpark is along hike from the bottom of the lifts. The whole mountain is a National Park. It is a very similar shape to Mount Fujiama in Japan. Classic snow capped volanic cone. Very striking. The lower slopes are covered in dense bush and quite exotic. Am told there are wild Kiwi here. We stop at Wanganui for a coffee on the road to Martinborough. The road takes us through the gorge between the Taraua Range and the Ruahire Range. Very steep sidedand very windy road built on the side of the gorge on concrete platforms in places with sheer drops from the side of the road down to the river in the bottom of the gorge. M is in the passengers seat next to the edge. Very white knuckled!!. Manage to pick up a speeding ticket despite having been warned by all my friends who have experience of driving in NZ. The fuzz where driving towards me at the time but still managed to clock me at 74 in a 50 limit. Issued a fixed penalty ticket but have 28 days to pay. Guess what!!. Arrive at Jonty and Mary's house at tea time (Gin o'clock by M's watch). they have the most wonderful homestead house with views to die for.
Have to close for now as I am in a publis library and some people want to get on the computer. Talk to you later.

Monday 10th December. Lake Tarpou is on the edge of the thermal region so in the hope of seeing some geysers(Hot water geysers not diamond geysers!) we head off to the Wairakei Thermal Valley which is up a dirt track past a Thermal Generation Plant shrouded in a cloud of steam rising from the scalding water that runs along open drain pipes. Eventually arrive at a tired looking chalet selling devonshire cream teas. Outside there are peacocks, chickens of all descriptions, an alpacha (recently clipped and looking very self conscious). The proprrietor is a five star con artist who relieves the tourists of $12 eachto take a walk up the valley on a self guided tour in the hope of seeing geysers etc. At least I beat him down to $10 (could not persuade M to jump over the fence to get in free!) It's all a bit ofn a disappointment as the boiling mud pools have dried up and the water geysers are now just steam vents as a result of the generation plant drawing off too much water down the valley. Set off for the Taranaki area where I hope to be able to trace an old friend of William's who he met in Austria over 40 years ago and brought home and stayed for nearly a year. To get to the village that he came from we turn off the "Forgotten World Highway" (very appropriate name) onto a road that takes us through the mountains the highest part of which is not tarmaced. Marilyn is driving and decides that it must be a goat track despite it being called a major road on the map. Sure enough we come accross several wild goats at the summit. Most amusing of all is a sign beside the track in the middle of nowhere saying "Polling Station" (There was a general election last week) Beside the sign nailed to a tree stump is a lavatory seast with the lid up. Just goes to show that even in NZ are regarded with the same sentiment as in the UK. After a very long and twisting drive we arrive at Uruti - Max's village. It is so small that we have driven past it before we realise it is there. Consists of a little tin church, a school with only 10 pupils until two more joined today, a community hall and a few houses scattered over the hinterland. The school secretary directs me to Blake Hall's house as he is one of the oldest inhabitants. His house is up a steep rough track and he looks a bit like a hermit with long white beard and bare feet. (he is a fencer). He knew Max well but sadly he died of a heart attack whilst giving a skiing lesson on Mount Taranaki well over 10 years ago. Directs us to a memorial plaque at the community hall which is dated 1991. All very sad but at least he died doing what he loved doing. His mother had also died about a year ago in her 90's so there is noone else for us to see. Felt rather flat after the anticipation of meeting up with a friend. Drive on into Stratford at the foot of Mount Taranaki the summit of which is lost in the clouds. Book into a B & B that can only be described as "Jaded Colonial" run by retired farmer and his wife both in their 80's.bAcre and a half of garden filled with over 100 different Rhododendrons most of which were in bloom. Quite a sight. Apparently the whole area is well known for it's Rhodies. There's hardly a sole about in downtown Stratford at 8.30 in the evening probably because it is a dairy farming area where everyone gets up at 4.00 in the morning. Not a place for M. Just at dusk the cloud lifts from the mountain and we have a sight of it in all it's snow capped splendour.

Hacky's playroom!!

Zoom in to see how old the tree is and how big it was when Cook discovered NZ.