Ann's Asia 3 Month Countdown

Apr 11

Day 1 in New Zealand

We both slept badly on the plane and walked around like zombies. We had a quick nap before the dinner I booked on a yacht which took us around the bay. At £60 each for a three course meal, not as expensive as you would think. 9 people had signed up and it was a very enjoyable evening with perfect weather. So far NZ has been a lot warmer than Japan. I got my packing all wrong!

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ImageArt said:
Apr 10

Day 10 Changeover Day

We arrived in Hong Kong with a couple of hours to spare before going on to New Zealand. Our permanent residence had expired and we had to use the foreigners queue. It really struck us then that we were now foreigners. Interesting how it turns a switch in your brain and you immediately feel completely different. It felt so final.

Not many opportunities for pics. Here we are back in the taxi on the way back to the airport.

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That must have been a strange experience, after living there for 3 years. I love the airport sign giving us a sense of your direction.
 
ImageArt said:
Apr 11

Day 1 in New Zealand

We both slept badly on the plane and walked around like zombies. We had a quick nap before the dinner I booked on a yacht which took us around the bay. At £60 each for a three course meal, not as expensive as you would think. 9 people had signed up and it was a very enjoyable evening with perfect weather. So far NZ has been a lot warmer than Japan. I got my packing all wrong!

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How long was the flight Ann? I can't wait to see New Zealand through your lens.
 
Apr 12

Day 2 in New Zealand

Auckland has been affected by cyclone Cook so I was very disappointed to miss our trip to the Tiritiri Matangi Island which is a nature reserve and has unusual endemic birds that you won't find easily anywhere else. Tomorrow's weather is due to be bad too so we are not able to reschedule it. So today it rained and rained and rained.

We are both exhausted so it was actually great to have a day where we could just sloth around, sleep and just walk a bit around Auckland. I think most of the interesting things to see are actually around Auckland or on the islands which are accessible by ferry. We went to the Auckland Art Gallery but didn't think the free everyday sections were that interesting and the paid exhibition 'Laid Bare' didn't look interesting enough to spend £13 each.

I spent the afternoon shopping because I realised that the special lightweight waterproof boots I had bought especially for NZ had somehow ended up in the wrong suitcase. Not clever. Generally everything was pretty expensive compared with the UK (as I tended to buy anything I needed in the UK every year rather than HK). I ended up paying rather a lot for my funky silver boots but I didn't want another black pair and certainly not another hiking type boot. I shall just have to clean them if we go to any muddy areas.

Impressions
Quite a few homeless people on the streets
Doesn't feel like a particularly prosperous town
People very chatty and friendly - had to extricate myself a couple of times!
A real mix of interesting colonial buildings and modern ones.
Lots of good coffee shops with gf stuff, yippee. These disappear at night and there then seems to be bars everywhere and only Starbucks left.

We strolled through Albert Park during a lull in the weather:

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Apr 13

Day 3 in NZ

We mooched around again today but the weather wasn't as bad as had been expected and we probably could have been more adventurous. Took a ferry across to Devonport, a picturesque historic village. Some nice little shops and if I hadn't had the DH in tow, I think I could have dented the wallet a little even though I'm not a big shopper.

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We got back to the city and I went to have my hair cut, I have got that desperate. The hairdresser cut it a bit short and I'm still reeling from the shock but the DH says it's still better than it was!

A bus trip to Ponsonby, another quaint area where we had supper at a beautifully decorated restaurant, although really quite poncy!

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ImageArt said:
Apr 13

Day 3 in NZ

We mooched around again today but the weather wasn't as bad as had been expected and we probably could have been more adventurous. Took a ferry across to Devonport, a picturesque historic village. Some nice little shops and if I hadn't had the DH in tow, I think I could have dented the wallet a little even though I'm not a big shopper.

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We got back to the city and I went to have my hair cut, I have got that desperate. The hairdresser cut it a bit short and I'm still reeling from the shock but the DH says it's still better than it was!

A bus trip to Ponsonby, another quaint area where we had supper at a beautifully decorated restaurant, although really quite poncy!

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Click to expand...
:lmao: Poncy! Great images. They look very British.
 
ImageArt said:
Apr 12

Day 2 in New Zealand

Auckland has been affected by cyclone Cook so I was very disappointed to miss our trip to the Tiritiri Matangi Island which is a nature reserve and has unusual endemic birds that you won't find easily anywhere else. Tomorrow's weather is due to be bad too so we are not able to reschedule it. So today it rained and rained and rained.

We are both exhausted so it was actually great to have a day where we could just sloth around, sleep and just walk a bit around Auckland. I think most of the interesting things to see are actually around Auckland or on the islands which are accessible by ferry. We went to the Auckland Art Gallery but didn't think the free everyday sections were that interesting and the paid exhibition 'Laid Bare' didn't look interesting enough to spend £13 each.

I spent the afternoon shopping because I realised that the special lightweight waterproof boots I had bought especially for NZ had somehow ended up in the wrong suitcase. Not clever. Generally everything was pretty expensive compared with the UK (as I tended to buy anything I needed in the UK every year rather than HK). I ended up paying rather a lot for my funky silver boots but I didn't want another black pair and certainly not another hiking type boot. I shall just have to clean them if we go to any muddy areas.

Impressions
Quite a few homeless people on the streets
Doesn't feel like a particularly prosperous town
People very chatty and friendly - had to extricate myself a couple of times!
A real mix of interesting colonial buildings and modern ones.
Lots of good coffee shops with gf stuff, yippee. These disappear at night and there then seems to be bars everywhere and only Starbucks left.

We strolled through Albert Park during a lull in the weather:

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What an amazing tree!
I want to see your silver boots. :sneaky:
 
RoseCat said:
What an amazing tree!
I want to see your silver boots. :sneaky:
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These boots are made for walking....

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I love the fact that they zip up at the sides! No undoing the laces each time and they are sooo comfortable with the rubber soles. I know I will wear them to death so don't mind that they were expensive.
 
ImageArt said:
These boots are made for walking....

View attachment 92289

I love the fact that they zip up at the sides! No undoing the laces each time and they are sooo comfortable with the rubber soles. I know I will wear them to death so don't mind that they were expensive.
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Very cute! I love shoes!
 
Day 14

Day 4 NZ - Welcome to Christchurch

Our friends took us on a car trip to show us the scenic parts of Christchurch and up into the hills to get a view of what is called the Canterbury Plains. They had had some fires up there, some of the smouldering remains still visible.

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Did I say I love Christchurch?? I think I did.
 
Apr 16

Day 6 - still Christchurch

Our hosts took us to the Banks Peninsula and Akaroa which you can see here and what they referred to as the pimple off Christchurch.

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It was quite a gloomy day and a bit chilly but nonetheless some stunning scenery.

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On the way there we stopped for a cup of coffee and cake :). This is very much cycling territory and they have a rail trail where the railway lines have been replaced with cycle tracks. So next to the coffee shop they have opened up these new silos as accommodation and you can hoist your bike up outside as there is apparently no space inside!
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Apr 17

Day 7 - Christchurch to Queenstown

We left our wonderful hosts at 8.30 this morning in our hired car and drove down to Queenstown. We decided to do it in one go as we wanted to spend more of our limited time in Queenstown and along the West Coast.

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We stopped first in Dunsandel for coffee and cake :giggle: and then for lunch we stopped at the famous Fairlie Bakehouse for pies. The queues were already going out the door when we arrived at 12.30 but moved quickly. Tom says his was awesome. I had a small gf pork belly pie which was frankly disappointing. Should have gone for the bacon and egg frittata.

Anyhow from cloudy and overcast it turned out to be a glorious day and I shot photos out of the window as we went along.

We were expecting it to be greener but it was still stunning.

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We arrived at our resort at 4.30pm. We are spoiling ourselves for 5 days at this resort and this is the view from our cottage! Yes, it's a golf resort and the DH has a massive smile on his face!
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