Home again after a fairly exhausting trip - touched down at about 0650 on Monday morning and straight off to work and it has been full-on ever since.
The trip was a nice break from routine but more intense than I expected. After we left Akaroa we headed South to Oamaru a nice little seaside town and home to blue and yellow eyed penguins - we stayed in a brilliant B&B called The Gecko.
The next morning we mosied on down to Moeraki for lunch at Fluers - NZ best cafe 2007 - and it is too! It would be impossible to describe this place so I won't - suffice it to say if you are ever in the South go there.
From there it was of to Dunedin to commence work starting with a working dinner on the Sunday evening - then 2 days of conference. We stayed at the Southern Cross Hotel (without doubt NZ's WORST value for money hotel). The conference dinner was at Lonarch Castle and was a complete hoot - the floor show and the music matching the supurb surrounds.
Thursday and the study tour commenced ai, ai, ai, 3 visits in Dunedin then off to Invercargill where we were treated to a dinner hosted by Mayor Tim Shadbolt (NZ's answer to Sir Les Patterson) talk about un-PC - we loved it!
Visits to the Rio Tinto Aluminium Smelter (who provide employment for lots of folks with a disability), Stadium Southland and a colleague organisation followed the next day.
Late in the afternoon we headed by boat to Stewart Island - ha! Everyone we spoke to warned us about the trip but when we headed over it was like a millpond - I've had rougher crossings on the Manly Ferry - what a pack of softies these Kiwi's are...
Ugh - the trip back was like the prawn trawler scene from Forrest Gump! I have some video clips that I might put on Facebook later. Mrs 2P (a pretty hardened sailor) lost her breaky as did quite a few others and one poor lady on our tour also lost her false teeth as well. I was surprisingly fine and spent my time lurching from spot to spot trying to stay upwind from the vomit smells whilst handing out sickbags. I also played an amusing game of "chase the chompers" - easier said than done on a violently pitching and wet steel deck - however between me and the decky we finally returned the errant dentures to their rather green but grateful owner.
Had to laugh at the looks on the faces of the people booked for the return journey as they watched us disembark :-)
Full steam ahead to Queenstown on Saturday for our final night as a group and we had a nice dinner with spectacular views from our lofty perch at the Gondola Restaurant. Sunday morning we all gathered to watch the Boks spank the Poms and at 10AM we all headed our separate ways. Mrs 2P and I hitching a ride with my boss and his wife back to Christchurch - a long but scenic days travel via Lake Tekapo and the Lindiss Pass.
We were all pretty weary little vegemites and decided to eat in at the Sudima (Airport) Hotel at Christchurch where we were staying which completely exceeded expectations and gave us one final nice experience to conclude our trip.
Absolutely jam-packed but I could have probably squeezed in a run or two if I'd woken uber-early or taken advantage of the free time before dinner each day, but it was mostly cold, windy and rainy (3 to 11 degrees most days) and I was just too stuffed to bother.
Now to find some motivation to lose the 2kgs I found whilst over the ditch.
And hopefully find some time to catch up on some blog reading too :-)
12 comments:
Hey, welcome back bro', eh.
Knew you had your Cackleberry with you but decided to leave you in peace. Seems you had full and adventure-packed time.
One thing that you need to catch up on is that Ewen and I are eyeing off a day between about 12/28 and 1/3 for the three of us to make a trip up to the Track. Ewen thinks I need to make my acquaintance, and I tend to agree.
Just remember that the 2kg are NZ kg, so that's only about 1.8kg AUS. Every little bit helps... :-)
Gnome
Thanks for the NZ tips ;)
Take that suggested 'trip' with Ewen & Steve L & you'll come back more than 2kg lighter!
Did you get paid for that lovely holiday!!??
Leave your chompers out and you'll lose the 2kg pretty quickly ;)
Thanks for the tips mate. I'll remember to do lunch at Fluers when I get over the ditch. Might give the trawler scene from Forrest Gump a miss though.
Welcome home bro !
Sounds like you had a fabulous time - but a bit cold for me I think!
Maybe you could do a few more ferry trips. That could lose a few kg's...
Welcome back
Sounds like a great trip. I have been such a slack blogger I didn't even know that you had gone!!
Haeri Mai, tena koe and kia ora e-hoa.
I was going to suggest that you stay in Oamaru. I stayed there with Trivia Dave when we went to the Sth Island last year. We took a walk in the dark to the water and were freaked out by the deep, horrible sounding beast noises. The only thing that reasured me was knowing we don't have any man-eating native animals. Found out the next day the sound that had struck fear in our hearts came from those cute little penguins!
Ka kite ano
Lorna
Hi 2P sounds like a great holiday (oops work trip:). Thanks for the advice re shoes which I read today - luckily I bought those ones on the weekend by coincidence.
Nice travelog :)
Did you go to Bluff?
Post a Comment