a common site

a common site
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

the kiwi mailbox!

one of the many bays

one of the many bays
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

matt, rob, and the frisbee

matt, rob, and the frisbee
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

there were loads of beaches on waiheke- this was the longest one. i'm not in the photo because obviously i'm taking it, but also i'm pretty awful at frisbee!

thirsty work!

thirsty work!
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

it was a lovely summers day and pretty hot work with over 20k cycling - you'll be glad to see we filled up with water too!

vino!

vino!
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

sipping the chardonnay

sipping the chardonnay
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

matt and rob enjoying a little tipple!

chilling under the palm trees!

chilling under the palm trees!
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

what an awesome day! friends, fun, sun! what more could you ask for? - another glass of wine perhaps!

stoney ridge winery

stoney ridge winery
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

this was the favourite vineyard that we visited with beautiful views from the outside decking. we sampled some great Riesling, Sauvignon blanc, and Chardonnay - just what we needed after the hilly bike ride.

tractor for sale!

tractor for sale!
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

waiheke island is about the size of Jersey with lots of sailing, farming, and wine production. cycling around was great fun although a little more hilly than expected! the scenery from the bike was awesome - little bays, lots of hills, vineyards, olive groves, and robs behind!

Auckland docks

Auckland docks
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

lovely dock area in Auckland with some geezer!

waiheke island

waiheke island
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Last weekend - 24th Oct was Labour weekend here in New Zealand - not quite sure what the labour bit is about as we had a long weekend with Monday off aswell - no labour for me (as usual, my servanthearted husband gave up his weekend to serve the sick and dying!!). We spent monday on Waiheke island just off the coast from Auckland with matt - cycling, wine tasting, frisbee-ing, and beaching! awesome!

a call from home

sarah 1
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Sheenagh this is Sarah in our house, on the phone to you. Thanks for the call!

Loved this!

Queenstown 122
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Nearly forgot the last day of the holiday. We took a helicopter flight up unto one of the mountains around Queenstown. Such a cool experience.

The black wetsuits are for the rafting back home, but have the added bonus of making us look like 00' agents.

The ride up was incredible, sweeping up and around the mountains then along the gorge we would raft out of. Some great rapids, freezing water and then a run through a 100m long cave just big enough to squeeze the raft in.

Sure Gandalf did something here

Sure Gandalf did something here
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Like I said the area was used heavily in filming the Lord of the Rings. Most of the places you looked at felt vaguely familiar. Sarah kept on announcing that she thought "this was the place where Gollum caught the fish" or "I think Gandalf did something here" - highly informative. Not that I was listening too intently - to busy pretending to be Aragon.

Paradise

Paradise
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

This area is also the start of one of the big tracks you can do here. Takes about 3 days. Looks great and we'll have to come back another time. Although no-one mentioned the killer flies that look harmless but bite and suck out all your blood. I ended up wearing most of my skiing kit to protect myself.

Dart River

Dart River
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

The road out to Glenorchy

The road out to Glenorchy
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

What a day, what a day, what a day

What a day, what a day, what a day
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

The road out to Paradise

The road out to Paradise
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

We headed out past Queenstown on the road to Glenorchy. On our way to a place called Paradise, where they did lots of filming for LOTR. The road runs along the lake and is a beautiful drive. We also stumbled on a local radio station that played really chilled music, the sun was shinning and the day looked good.

Cinema Paradiso in Wanaka

Cinema Paradiso in Wanaka
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Spent a few nights in Wanaka, just up the road from Queenstown. Smaller but with beautiful views and lots of cool distractions. This cinema runs all sorts of movies, you sit inside on one of the many sofas. Order a drink during the movie, then stop in the interval to have a meal, then restart it and have a freshly baked cookie. Sort of a meal at a coffee shop/restaurant/bar and a cinema. Great fun. The the trailers are all for local shops, with pretty homemade video camera skills!

Willy Wonka eat your heart out

Willy Wonka eat your heart out
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Also has this cool sweatshop, gives out loads of trial fudge tastings and it filled with just about every type of sweet you can remember.

Arrowtown

Arrowtown
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Arrowtown made it big (well fairly) in the gold mining days. Has this frontier feeling, with the buildings looking like something from a Western.

Queenstown Area

Queenstown Area
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Just about every drive was a pleasure, given the number of mountains most of the roads are along the valleys and so run next to lakes and rivers.

Cardrona Hotel Bar

Cardrona Hotel Bar
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Cardrona Hotel and Bar

Cardrona Hotel and Bar
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

This place is fairly famous around here as it's one of the oldest bars in the country. It's reputation is of a tough hardened old southern mans bar. You do not order a white wine spritzer

Snow a bit scarce

Snow a bit scarce
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

The view from the top

The view from the top
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

And the views from the top where incredible

Remarkables

Remarkables
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

Snow a bit scarce but very sunny.

The Remarkables

The Remarkables
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

So we did get three days skiing in. The snow was fun but not as plentiful as we had hoped.

This is me with Matt and Meike our holiday companions

Queenstown

Queenstown
Originally uploaded by douglasnz.

So at long last our first chance to get down to the south island. We took a weeks holiday with the idea of getting some skiing done. Flew down to Queenstown, home of every conceivable way to stress your adrenal glands. Where every view reminds you of a scene from the Lord of the Rings (which is used to sell everything out here) and where I was repeated refused the option to hire genuine film costumes and then run around fighting Orcs. AND I said that I didn't have to be Aragon!