Next stop Insurance claims, car out of action for weeks and hassle with insurance payments.
Oh well, the week has to get better, hopefully (guess that’s one way to get more time off).
Tomorrow is the dreaded return to work and the start of a year without holidays, now ok we know we are a very spoilt pair who can usually manage loads of holidays and that it’s far more normal to just have the one break, but you have to factor in that we are just a little nuts too.
Mr Fogg is already depressed and has donned his new t shirt designed especially for him and I’ve donned a woolly hat and refuse to remove it.
Cases are still packed, laundry all yet to do but at least Mr Spike is deliriously happy. Has not stopped purring loudly since we picked him up yesterday. He too is cold having spent a month lounging under his very own heat lamp so last night was a fight for the duvet. The cat won.
Just to excite you all we have counted up and have taken 2500 pictures plus a load more on the video camera and hours of footage. Mr and Mrs Lucky have already foolishly said they would love to see them all. We estimate that will mean spending at least a couple of months staying in Tyddyn to get through them all ( tee hee).
So we are now waiting for Spring with bated breath and looking forward to Christmas Day in March with the Finks. We plan to get all festive!!!
The goal for the next few weeks is to ensure we have stuff planned in for weekends to look forward too. Suggestions on a postcard please…first goal is to rewatch ALL the LOTR films to see the scenery again. We started last night, only another two and a half films to get through- extended versions too so hours and hours and hours.
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What shall we do tonight, goodness only knows (strip scrabble, eye spy, sand fly spotting)!
Only two more nights left in New Zealand before the 27 hour hike back, can’t wait to see where Mrs Fogg has booked for tomorrow night.
There’s Naff All here.
We did the Milford Sound Cruise today which was excellent. It started with a 5 hour (yes five hours!) coach trip with Bob (must make up time) which was supposed to include photo stops and little walks but it seems that Bob was late so we got two stops for 2-3 min toilet breaks (run, drop, flush, run) and a number of “and here is a nice view on the left as I drive past” from our driver. Oh and we got a 20 min coffee stop in a gift shop (anyone want a NZ trinket?)
But the highlight was the cruise itself. Wonderful small boat, the greedy people all opted to dash to the top deck leaving about six of us to spread out across the front and rear bottom deck of the boat. We sailed close to each side of the fjord (its not really a Sound but a Fjord but some welsh bloke incorrectly named it a Sound and they never chamged it) and could almost touch sheer cliffs, seals and two different types of penguin. We went directly under a huge waterfall (need a towel there Mr Fogg or just happy to wring yourself out later?) and hoped to spot dolphins or whales but no luck.
Two hours later and then we are dropped at the teeny airport for our teeny two wing flight back with another couple. Fab Fab Fab. Loads of incredible views, just breathtaking.
Having beaten those who opted for the coach trip back (ha ha 5 long hours to go yet!) we are now back in central Queenstown to sample the local delicacies. We saw the local crayfish pots today in Milford Sound so we just had to do it. Horace the Crayfish just did not stand a chance. Dear Horace, welcome to my plate…….
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But the whole Milford experience after the 5 hour bus journey was cracking. Mrs Fogg will divulge all the juicy gossip.
Made back from Milford Sound to here.
As we get told, no visitors after 9.30 (err who the hell do we know), out by 10am and don’t park in front of the garage. Forget hello or any of that good stuff, forget Fight Club, it’s the Palazzio Motor Hotel Club and the first rule is……
Beautiful rooms, naff all view but very grumpy bruiser of a woman in charge.
Tyler Durden is in charge from here.
Also onsite is a 31m Waikeke Island Ferry with 5 separate sets of accommodation (1 amazing 3 storey luxury pad) a WWII plane converted into 2 sets of accommodation and a train. And guess what we are the only people here.
The views are amazing and by the time you get up and start reading this, we will be sat outside our Hobbit House sipping wine and watching meteor showers.
Ah peace and quiet tonight.
Frildo Hairy Foot and Badsack Nutmeister drank wine from here.
Next stop will be back to the b&b for stargazing
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There seems to be a bit of a trend for signs on the path here and we spotted this gem directly outside an insurance brokers office.
Cool place and some good food too, I managed to redeem myself with Mr Fogg by taking us to Bullions for some surprisingly gastronomic food.
We visited the local gold mine today. In its prime Thames was bigger than Auckland and was one of the richest areas for gold mined in quartz seams around the area. We went around the gold mine buildings (dull wrecks with nothing to see), had a tour underground which was actually pretty cool ( and wet, and damp and our tour guide looks to have brought his new girlfriend along to impress her, shame she just had flip flops on and got wet sandy feet) and then we got to pan for gold.
Now I thought I would enjoy gold panning. It sort of works like this. Dunk metal plate groove side down into bed of sand. Scoop some from bottom into your plate, swill with muddy water, throw away big stones, keep swilling and eventually find teeny teeny shiny bits of black in bottom and you’ve got gold.
In reality – swill sand around metal plate, attempt to rinse and end up losing half of said sand. Get splashed by Mr Fogg as he rinses too. Listen to other “expert” tourist tell us all how to do it properly. Listen more to “expert” tourist telling us all what other bits of rock and stone are “ooh that’s a garnet, and that’s a blah blah stone, oh that’s an opal yackety yack”. Swill more muddy water into plate, find lots of sand, get fed up, drop sand and plate in the dirty horse trough full of water and wait to be congratulated by Mr Fogg for finding something interesting to do, hold breath, hold breath, hold breath, oh well. Go back to car and find something more interesting like counting clouds!
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