Very nice spot with some Rata growing down by the beach. It was definitely a popular place to stay… but in the off season I bet you’d have the place to yourself.
After that it was on to visit the Gypsy Caravan at Papatowai. That place is a must see I reckon if you’re in the area. The guy has made a whole lot of automata (I really should have brought my video camera…). Really very cool and maybe, when I’m all growned up I’ll have to tinker a bit.
Next it was onto Curio bay where we stayed the night for Christmas Eve. Twas a lovely spot. I was slightly disappointed by the petrified forest…
I mean… it’s a stone log. Sure it’s a hundred million billion years old (well, Jurassic period but.. they’re hardly a “forest” now are they. I was expecting giant trees made out of stone. Admittedly that was a daft thing to hope for, but it’s the truth.
Penguins made up for it (again! hurrah for penguins)
Then a lovely eve at a simply beautiful campsite looking out over the Southern Ocean towards our friend Amy who’s in Antarctica. Well worth a look at her blog.
We stayed at Trotters Gorge campsite and then had a quick bimble through the caves in the morning. Saw some Cave Weta. Note, that last link is to a site I helped setup with Egressive called NatureWatch (a port of an open source naturalist website called inaturalist.)
After that is was down via Dunedin to the Catlins – first stop Nugget Point.
Close by we also dropped down to view some yellow eyed penguins. Doc had setup a “hide” there which afforded nice viewing without disturbing the birds too much. Not that the other tourists and a couple of people from Fish & Game used it – preferring to stand outside….
After that we dropped into an information centre to see the tide times (tides dictate when you can see most of the attractions in the Catlins) and decided to head on over to the Cathedral Caves the same evening before doubling back to our campsite.
Woohoo! Holidays! – I definitely struggle with only 20 days holiday a year. And yes, I realise this is a First World Problem. Anyways… Saturday rolled around and it was off South to the caltlins for us (an area along the coast between Dunedin and Invercargill). It was a lazy start to the day and we only aimed to get as far as the Moeraki boulders (4 1/2 hours South of ChCh). It has been 5 years since I was last there when my brother Matt & Helene were here. Seems like an age ago now.
The Moeraki boulders are 4 million year old concretions formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between sediment grains. So there. Here’s Maaike jumping on one. I wonder if in another hundred years that’ll be banned!
Dinner was delicious, and the place was wonderful to be in. I’d definitely recommend if you’re passing Moeraki. My only wish was that I’d known about it when Matt & Helene were here!
So, not too much to report on – had a quick run down the Hurunui (Grade 2 / 2+ river) before going to see Fly My Pretties in concert. Was well impressed by this ladies shoes.
Also, here’s a video from the cameron hut trip that I forgot to put up at the time.
Also – have been thoroughly enjoying my time in Resolve.. very nice bunch of people to work with. We also have a “Rocket” Espresso machine and I’ve been getting a bit better at my coffee art:
It’s amazing the things you can learn on you-tube (probably just about anything!).
Finally, continuing to put my cocktail making skills to good use. New favourite might be the Mango Daiquiri.
Firstly – Christchurch has been through quite a bit in the last couple of years. All that said, we’re at number 6 on the Lonley Planets list of palces to visit in 2013. There’s lots going on – little restaurants popping up all over the place, we’ve cardboard cathedrals (replacing the old).. there’s still good biking to be done of an afternoon. And we have see-through buildings…
What else – Started work at Resolve. So far I am really enjoying the people and the work. Ruby on Rails really is nice to work with!. Anyway.. at the end of the first week it was a long weekend so headed North to climb at Paynes Ford. Good times. Here are a few pics of Pete & Chloe climbing. Chloe is my regular climbing partner on Tuesdays and this was her first 21 lead outside – a damn fine effort. She ended up climbing it three times (I could hardly get up once).. and on her third attempt got it clean. Well done.
Oh… and a stick insect. I called him…. sticky.
Finally – had a lovely lovely night watching BeyondSemble. One of the best musical evenigs I’ve had all year – maybe even ever (and we just saw Mumford and Sons….)… great great evening.
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