Those container shops are a brilliant idea. There are some in East London - not shops, but workshops.
Wow, what a view. Fabulous.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 cakeand 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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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.
View attachment 92362
We stopped first in Dunsandel for coffee and cake
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.
View attachment 92363 View attachment 92364
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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Holy wow the resort is gorgeous!! Look at those mountains!!!
(I'm trying not to be but I'm getting soooooooo jealous) [emoji849][emoji6]
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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OMG. This is a dream trip to me!! Cycling on a rail-to-trail in NZ and then staying in a tiny house silo?!?!?! [emoji7][emoji173]️[emoji100]
I'm loving the inclusion of the maps...
Love these. Especially the first one. [emoji106]
Thanks, Brian.
Thank you, Ladies. New Zealand is definitely breathtaking. I wish we had more time here.
Catherine, you absolutely have to save up and go to New Zealand. The problem is that you will want to stop every 5 minutes to take a photo! I almost wish we had not fitted in Japan and come straight here as we were originally going to do. Have loved this much more.
Apr 18
Day 8 in New Zealand - Arrowtown and Queenstown
OMG, this is just a beautiful part of NZ and particularly with all the autumn colours. We have been trying to decide which country it is most like and it certainly has it's own look which makes it unique but we have both agreed that it looks the most like Canada.
FundyBrian, I think you should organise your next kayaking adventure here! So less crowded than the rest of the world but be warned, Chinese money is starting to flood into the country and it will not be long before it is overrun with Chinese buyers and tourists.
Queenstown is the adventure capital of the world! Extreme sport activities are sold in every second shop in the high street. Bungee, power boating, paragliding. You name it, it's done here. We just stuck to a nice sedate game of golf today
.
What we could have done.
Day 8 in New Zealand - Arrowtown and Queenstown
OMG, this is just a beautiful part of NZ and particularly with all the autumn colours. We have been trying to decide which country it is most like and it certainly has it's own look which makes it unique but we have both agreed that it looks the most like Canada.
FundyBrian, I think you should organise your next kayaking adventure here! So less crowded than the rest of the world but be warned, Chinese money is starting to flood into the country and it will not be long before it is overrun with Chinese buyers and tourists.
Queenstown is the adventure capital of the world! Extreme sport activities are sold in every second shop in the high street. Bungee, power boating, paragliding. You name it, it's done here. We just stuck to a nice sedate game of golf today
.What we could have done.
Apr 19
Day 9 in NZ - another leisurely day in Queenstown.
I had always imagined New Zealand to be very green and forested due to the Lord of the Rings movies. However, much of it, certainly at this time of the year, is quite brown and rugged and this may well be because they have had a lack of rain this summer. It is still spectacular!
We went to the Queenstown Hill and I took the opportunity of trying out the Camera+ macro feature.
Day 9 in NZ - another leisurely day in Queenstown.
I had always imagined New Zealand to be very green and forested due to the Lord of the Rings movies. However, much of it, certainly at this time of the year, is quite brown and rugged and this may well be because they have had a lack of rain this summer. It is still spectacular!
We went to the Queenstown Hill and I took the opportunity of trying out the Camera+ macro feature.
- Real Name
- Lisa Waddell
- Device
Apr 18
Day 8 in New Zealand - Arrowtown and Queenstown
OMG, this is just a beautiful part of NZ and particularly with all the autumn colours. We have been trying to decide which country it is most like and it certainly has it's own look which makes it unique but we have both agreed that it looks the most like Canada.
FundyBrian, I think you should organise your next kayaking adventure here! So less crowded than the rest of the world but be warned, Chinese money is starting to flood into the country and it will not be long before it is overrun with Chinese buyers and tourists.
Queenstown is the adventure capital of the world! Extreme sport activities are sold in every second shop in the high street. Bungee, power boating, paragliding. You name it, it's done here. We just stuck to a nice sedate game of golf today
View attachment 92624
What we could have done.
View attachment 92626
These are fabulous images, Ann. It looks like you picked a quite lovely place to play golf!
I'm adventurous..... to a point.Apr 18
Day 8 in New Zealand - Arrowtown and Queenstown
OMG, this is just a beautiful part of NZ and particularly with all the autumn colours. We have been trying to decide which country it is most like and it certainly has it's own look which makes it unique but we have both agreed that it looks the most like Canada.
FundyBrian, I think you should organise your next kayaking adventure here! So less crowded than the rest of the world but be warned, Chinese money is starting to flood into the country and it will not be long before it is overrun with Chinese buyers and tourists.
Queenstown is the adventure capital of the world! Extreme sport activities are sold in every second shop in the high street. Bungee, power boating, paragliding. You name it, it's done here. We just stuck to a nice sedate game of golf today
View attachment 92624
What we could have done.
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No bungee jumping for me!! Or sky diving. Or downhill skiing. Or white water rafting (because I can only do the dog paddle... if you were guaranteed to not fall out of the raft, I might consider a guided ride.) A zip line could be super fun and exciting... but I'd want to be strapped in really good, sitting on something.
Breathtaking....
The landscape reminds me of Washington state.
I use to be much more adventurous but not interested in any of it now. Might have done a bungee if it had been around in my 20s but certainly not now.I'm adventurous..... to a point.
Actually, there was a bit of excitement at the resort we stayed at. There was talk of Barack Obama coming to our resort to play golf over the time we were there. Next thing they closed the car park near the villas and a day later there were hulks in black or blue everywhere. Oh yes, and wearing sunglasses even at 7am in the morning! Tom played golf with a realtor in the afternoon and he said that the security agencies of the world were having a conference here - CIA, MI5 etc. We left our luggage there while we went on our boat trip and when we came to pick it up afterwards the main men were then all there and the place was just teeming with cops and plain clothes security chaps!
Sounds exciting! Holy wow I don't know what I'd do if I met Barack & Michelle Obama!!
Apr 20
Day 10 of NZ - quaint Arrowtown in Autumn
If you ever go to Queenstown and have your own vehicle don't stay in Queenstown, stay in the lovely little village of Arrowtown 20 minutes outside of Queenstown.
I have enhanced this photo in Snapseed but believe me the enhanced photo is what it really looked like!
Day 10 of NZ - quaint Arrowtown in Autumn
If you ever go to Queenstown and have your own vehicle don't stay in Queenstown, stay in the lovely little village of Arrowtown 20 minutes outside of Queenstown.
I have enhanced this photo in Snapseed but believe me the enhanced photo is what it really looked like!
Apr 21
Day 11 of NZ - Golf near Queenstown
We played at Jacks Point Golf Club today and even though it was cloudy the views were stunning.
Day 11 of NZ - Golf near Queenstown
We played at Jacks Point Golf Club today and even though it was cloudy the views were stunning.
Apr 22
Day 12 in NZ Boat trip to the Doutful Sound
Wow, what a trip.
We had a choice of kayaking or going on a guided tour in a tender and as we both wanted to take photos we settled on the tender.
View of our boat from the tender
Day 12 in NZ Boat trip to the Doutful Sound
Wow, what a trip.
We had a choice of kayaking or going on a guided tour in a tender and as we both wanted to take photos we settled on the tender.
View of our boat from the tender
West End Girl
MobiPassionista
- Real Name
- Laura
- Device
Oh, Autumn...how I miss it! Thanks for sharing. Only 6 more months and it will return here.
Thanks, Ladies. I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying this trip. We have both agreed that we will have to spend some time here again when Tom finally retires. He has taken another position with his company so it will not be for another two years minimum.
Yes, but he'll get holidays. Don't wait until he retires.