Here Be Hobbits

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort." 

You can visit the remains of the LOTR film set for Hobbiton as a day trip from Rotorua. The set is on a working sheep farm in Matamata amongst lovely rolling hills, about 1 hour's drive from Rotorua. Peter Jackson spotted the huge tree which matched his ideal for the Party Tree whilst flying over the farmland and the rest is history. 

I booked myself onto the afternoon trip and chatted to the driver who had been a dwarf extra for 6 weeks. Apparently the armour he wore had to be remade in plastic, as it was just too heavy to walk around and fight in. Once on the farm, we piled into another minibus which drove us deep into the farm to the set. At one point we passed a flat grassy area, which our tour guide said was the car park for the crew and during filming was crammed with lorries and vans. It was hard to imagine this peaceful area full of so much activity.

There are huge photo boards dotted around the set to show scenes from the films as a few hobbit holes are all that remain of the set. The guide pointed out the sawed up remains of the tree from the top of Bag End, which was cut down from elsewhere, reconstructed, and then rewired with thousands of fake leaves. I wondered why they couldn't have just digitally added the tree, rather than go through so much trouble: "Wouldn't have looked real enough" was the response.

We all took turns having our photos taken outside Bag End, and then ducked inside for a quick look (and for comedy shots with people sticking their heads out of the windows!). Of course all the interior shots were filmed in studios, so there's nothing inside that resembles a cosy hobbit-hole. 

Construction work has begun on more hobbit-holes for the filming of The Hobbit. Bizarrely, due to confidentiality agreements, no-one is allowed to talk about the new film, not even to mention its title - but it's patently obvious what film will be made here.

After wandering around a few more hobbit-holes nestled into the hillsides, the minibus took us back to the Shire's Rest Cafe for the final part of the tour, which was the Sheep Farm Experience. A professional sheep shearer produced a skittish sheep, and then expertly flipped it over onto its back to begin the shearing. It took him about 2 minutes to do, though he said that those who have been shearing all their lives can do so in 30 seconds! "I really don't understand how it can be done faster than you've just done it!" said one of the group incredulously.

Finally there was a chance to pet and bottle feed a couple of ravenous lambs. Cue lots of squealing from all the girls, and even some of the guys got mushy at this point. We then got unexpectedly presented with some food - a delicious little meat pie, a cookie and a big red apple - all of which were very welcome! 

Hawke's Bay

Napier is in Hawke's Bay, which is known for its vineyards. However, I decided to book a tour which focused more on food than wine. The hostel had a leaflet on The Friendly Kiwi Tours, which sounded ideal. I started off my foodie day by having brunch at the Ujazi Cafe – had something delicious called the Rewana Special – which was bacon, poached eggs and creamy mushrooms on Maori bread (rewana). Yum!

It turned out that I was the only one on the tour that day! so my fantastic guide Catriona (also the tour company founder) customised the stops based on my foodie/wine likes and dislikes. The first port of call was Arataki Honey, where I sampled everything on offer at the honey tasting bar (ranging from mild to strong flavours) and looked at hundreds of bees at close range - behind a nice thick sheet of glass!

Next stop was the Te Mata cheese factory, where they were selling cow's milk feta, goat's milk brie, some cheese made from sheep's milk and also some delicious but extremely rich blue cheese. I peeped through the window to see where the hundreds of cheeses were resting on wire racks, and learnt that each one of them is turned by hand once a day. 

Other stops included Prenzel on the Bay (liqueurs, schnapps, deluxe fudge, olive oils) and 2 wineries - Crossroads and the beautifully landscaped Mission Estate, with its lovely avenue of plane trees.  As the afternoon rolled on, I started accumulating quite a hoard of food and wine - some of which went into Catriona's coolbox to given all the sun pouring into the car. 

On the way back to Napier, we made a very welcome visit to the regionally famous Rush Munro Ice Cream Garden, where their tasting samples were extremely generously sized. I tried malted milk (just like the biscuits back home with cows on them!) and hokey pokey (which Catriona said was the national ice-cream flavour - vanilla ice-cream with tiny chunks of toffee). In the end I opted for feijoa, which is a common fruit in NZ and has a grainy flesh like a pear which gave the ice-cream a nice crunchy texture. 

Also squeezed into the schedule was a drive up to the top of Te Mata Peak, the highest point in the area - giving a wonderful view over the towns of Napier, Hastings and Havelock North. In the distance, you could just about make out the three shadowy peaks at the centre of the Tongariro National Park - one of which is now familiar to millions of LOTR fans as Mount Doom. And finally..."Prepare yourself for one of the most astounding sights of your life!" said Catriona dramatically and pointed out an Art Deco McDonald's in Taradale (previously a pub). 

I spent a frustrating half hour trying to pack all my goodies in my suitcase, and then on re-reading of my Australia travel guide, realised that some stuff wouldn't make it through customs anyway. So that evening I feasted on wine and cheese - life's tough sometimes :)

Art Deco in Napier

On 3rd February 1931, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on the Richter Scale levelled the centre of Napier on the North Island. When they rebuilt the town, they did so in the most modern style of the time - Art Deco. With its 140 surviving period buildings, Napier ranks alongside Miami Beach as one the best preserved Art Deco towns.

I opted to do  a self-guided walk around the centre, armed with a NZ$5 booklet available from either the information centre, or the beautiful Art Deco shop, itself housed in a lovely period building that was formerly the Fire Bridge station.

At first, the only obvious signs of Art Deco are the street names periodically tiled into the pavement. But you soon realise that Napier is a city of 2 halves - at eye level, it looks very modern, with cafes and boutique shops. Once you look up to the 1st floor of buildings though, you start to see the embellishments and date plaques from the 1930s.

The walk takes between 60-100 minutes, depending on how long you spend at each stop. I started out by taking photos of absolutely everything, and then had to ration myself otherwise I was never going to finish before dark! The one thing that you have to be careful about is watching for traffic since you're always looking up and then walking backwards to get a better view.

Some buildings also have Art Deco interiors, such as the foyer of the Daily Telegraph building, with reproduced period light fittings and linoleum floor. I was too shy to go in and have a look around, especially with the receptionist giving me suspicious looks as I kept trying to sneak looks in through the half open front door. At that moment I wished that I was on one of the guided tours, when there would be safety in numbers.

Marlborough

The previous night, I'd booked an afternoon winery tour on the assumption that the bad weather would continue. But the sun was shining the next morning, so I hotfooted it down to the waterfront (via the next door Dutch bakery to buy a giant Wild Berry muffin) to book myself onto a Beachcomber cruise around the Queen Charlotte Sound. 

The Marlborough Sounds are drowned river valleys at the top of the South Island, with the main port of Picton at the head of the Queen Charlotte Sound. Skipper Matt explained that the greenery covering the landscape was native vegetation finally beginning to grow back after the initial settlers either cut it down for building materials or burned it to clear land for farming. Many places in the Sounds are only accessible by boat - he pointed out one holiday cottage which was 2 hours from Picton by road, but only 45 minutes by boat.

There were a mixture of people on the cruise - the majority were getting dropped off at lodges out in the Sounds, or doing day treks (at the end of which they would be picked up by the afternoon boat). One of the inlets that we visited was Ship Cove, which Captain Cook visited several times during his explorations to refit his ship and stock up on fresh water. We only had 15 minutes there to stretch our legs and drop off the day trekkers, but it looked like a great place to spend the day and make use of the picnic tables there.  

On the way back to Picton, we passed a salmon farm, which was being circled by a hungry seal. Matt said that they had tried tagging the seals, and taking them down the coast to Kaikoura to be released - but 2 days later they had returned: "To them, that farm must be like the best shop in the world, with a big No Entry sign on it - are you really surprised they keep on coming back?" Apparently there are 4 full time people employed to check on the nets, as the seals do manage to get through sometimes!

The afternoon wine tour was great fun - there were only 5 of us, plus our driver Frank, who hailed from Croydon. We visited 4 wineries - Villa Maria, Allan Scott, Forrest Estate and Drylands. As Frank drove us around, I recognised other names from the supermarket shelves, like Stoneleigh and, of course, Cloudy Bay. The others were very professional with their tastings - marking off the wines sampled on tasting lists, and also scoring them. Gino, an accountant, went for the quantitative method (8.8 being the highest score awarded), whilst Jana went for the qualitative method (everything was either "good" or "very good"). 

Marlborough is famous for its sauvignon blanc (I think Frank said that 95% of all NZ sav blanc comes from this region). However, all of us went nuts about the local Riesling - we all ended up buying at least one bottle of it from one of the vineyards during the afternoon. The last stop of the day was at the Makana chocolate factory, where I fell in lust with the Very Berry Toffee Crunch free sample, and promptly bought a gift wrapped box for myself :)

Gino, Jana and I had dinner at Le Café back in Picton, which had been highly recommended by many people for its fresh seafood. Naturally, we had some Riesling with our food (in fact, the same kind from Forrest Estate that the 3 of us had bought earlier that day). The conversation moved to typical national cuisine - so we learnt about Filipino food from Jana, and Dutch specialities from Gino. They both liked the sound of Sunday roast dinners and pies, but I was less successful trying to describe a battered Mars bar. "Wait, wait, you *fry* them?!" said Gino incredulously. I don't think they'll be trying those when they come over to the UK...

The TranzCoastal

I love travelling by train, so I jumped at the chance to swap a bus journey for one on the TranzCoastal. This is one of 3 long distance train routes in New Zealand, running from Christchurch along the eastern coast of the South Island through Kaikoura and terminating at Picton. There is a buffet car on board, as well as a open air viewing platform for keen photographers. 

The train wasn't completely full, so after waiting a decent interval I moved across to a window seat on the coastal side of the train. Soon after we left Kaikoura came the exciting announcement that there were fur seals on the rocks about 10 minutes further up the line. It was quite hard to spot them at first as when motionless, they blend seamlessly into the landscape, then suddenly you could see them everywhere! Definitely a highlight of the trip.

At the outset, we had been warned that the train would stop quite a few times between stations - often to wait for a train to pass in the opposite direction. However, after it started to rain very heavily, we seemed to stop quite often for "points". We later discovered that the storm had caused a power outage, which mean that the poor driver had had to get down from the train and change the points manually! It also meant that the train was running about 40 minutes behind schedule, much to the consternation of those trying to catch the 1.10pm Interislander ferry from Picton to Wellington (in the end they managed to persuade the ferry company to delay departure for a few minutes).

I was staying in Picton for a couple of nights, so I trudged in the rain to my hostel which was thankfully not too far away. It was far too wet to go on a cruise in the Queen Charlotte Sound, or take the resident hostel Labrador for a walk. Instead I popped round the corner to Gusto and lunched on the local speciality – greenlipped mussels, which were huge (the meat was about the length of my thumb, and the inside of the shell had a beautiful iridescent sheen). It was still raining when I left, and the next door pub had the inviting words: “Open + Warm!” chalked up on the board outside, followed by an ice cream shop with the notice in the window: “Open on sunny days”.

I spent some time in the Edwin Fox Maritime Museum, which houses the remains of the last surviving ship to carry convicts from England to Australia, and migrants to New Zealand. The Edwin Fox also saw action in the Crimean War, transporting troops. You can walk onto the ship itself – there is a tiny bit of deck left – and then walk down some stairs into the hold where the teak ribs are exposed. It’s hard to imagine how cramped this ship would have been for the 200+ people on their 3-4 month journey to the other side of the world.

My day ended with me doing a load of laundry in the hostel. It was like being back at uni again, only instead of stuffing laundry into plastic bags, there was a stack of gaily coloured washing baskets for people to borrow. Very handy!

Queenstown Suburbs

After shelling out for the helicopter the day before, I decided to opt for something a little lighter on the wallet for my last day in Queenstown. The sun was out despite some drizzle, so I went down to check out some of the lake cruises. There was a huge rainbow starting from the base of Cecil Peak and finishing at the base of Bob's Peak, and many pairs of mallards were taking a morning stroll along Marine Parade. 

I spotted an advert for a cheap lake cruise run by the lovely husband and wife team of Betty and Wayne. Wayne's Harley was proudly parked outside the ticket booth, emblazoned with "Deep South Kiwi Chapter" and the names of all the states that they had visited on a recent road trip through the USA. Wayne took us round the nearest part of the lakeshore - Kelvin Heights and the Frankton Arm. It was all very informal, with people invited to sit on top of the wheelhouse to catch some sun, and an honesty bar for any drinks.

In the shallower parts of the lake, you could see right down to the stones on the lake bed. The average age of water in the lake is 12 years: "Like a good Scotch!" said Wayne with relish. Apparently the water in Lake Wakatipu is so pure that it is a poor conductor of electricity: "You can operate a power drill under water here, and it won't short out!" (I wasn't convinced!)

Many of the houses had huge ceiling to floor windows to catch the winter sun. Wayne explained that people often leave their doors unlocked and windows open, as there is apparently no crime or unemployment in Queenstown! Queenstown is entirely reliant on tourism, as there is no agriculture or industry in the area (though there are some huge sheep stations on and behind Cecil and Walter Peaks): "That's why we're so nice to you guys!"

On the way back, there was a photo opportunity to be snapped at the wheel, wearing Wayne's captain's cap: "They don't let you do this on an Airbus or Boeing any more!" I sat on the cushioned bench on the starboard side, which Wayne advised was the best place to be for the home run - out of the wind, and in the sun. It was a relaxing way to end my time in Queenstown, and left me just enough time to grab a lamb roti roll from the Nepalese cafe in the shopping centre before heading for the airport.

Heli High!

"Hmm, I was never any good at Tetris" said the guy from the Milford Helicopters office, as he stood surrounded by the luggage of his 6 passengers. I looked at the slimline luggage compartments in the helicopter (one on both sides, and one at the back), and wondered how on earth he was going to get everything in. But sure enough, about 15 minutes and lots of different combinations later, everything was neatly wedged in.

We waited patiently for all the pre-flight checks to be done, swatting away the hordes of tiny black sandflies that surrounded us. I was smothered in insect repellent cream, but somehow the little [insert your own expletive here] managed to find three spots on my left hand and wrist that I had missed.

I hovered in prime position to get a window seat - only for the pilot to say casually: "Oh, by the way, don't lean too hard against the windows - they're only made of Perspex, and they'll bend under pressure." I turned to my neighbour and whispered: "I thought they'd be a bit more solid than that!" "Me too!" he said.

There were 4 of us in the back, and 2 in the front plus the pilot. It was quite a tight fit, what with some luggage sticking out from under the seat, our ginormous headphones to drown out the whomp-whomp-whomp of the blades and everyone clutching cameras or camcorders (or in my case, my mobile phone as my camera battery had run out of juice that morning). Everyone was palpably excited as the helicopter rose from the ground and turned in the direction of Queenstown.

The views were fantastic - similar to what you'd see out of an plane window, but this time the windows were about ten times bigger, and you're skimming the mountaintops. The pilot pointed out various valleys and lakes in the alpine landscape below, and there were lots of tiny waterfalls from the storm visible too. In one valley, a rainbow arced from one side to the other as the sun finally came out.

The ride was fairly smooth, though the first time the helicopter banked, I looked around for something to hold onto, but the only grab bar I could see was above the pilot's door. I didn't want to lean against the window, so instead I grabbed my seat cushion. There was a little shaking as the helicopter rose slowly up to the summit of one mountain in the wind. I got a little nervous as he seemed to be getting extremely close to it - for a moment I wondered if this was some kind of demonstration when he would ask someone to open the door and pluck something from the mountainside - we were that close! But then we scaled the summit and the pilot shouted: "I'm going to land over there and let you guys get out!"

We landed on a tiny area of flat ground high on a mountainside overlooking Lake Wakatipu (the same lake that Queenstown is on) at the far northern end near Glenorchy. We all got out cautiously, mindful of not going anywhere near the tail rotor, and took photos of each other with a wonderful view of the lake behind us. It also meant that we got to experience the excitement of take-off again, this time from somewhere more picturesque than a car park!

Flying over the lake in the last stretch back to Queenstown was my favourite part. The water below was such a brilliant blue in the sunshine and I made a mental note to add Glenorchy to the itinerary for the next trip. All too soon it was over and we piled into a taxi to take us from the remote airstrip (aka a clear patch of ground by the lakeshore!) into town. When I can work out how to get the photos and video clips off my phone, I'll post them up here :)

Stormy Weather

I woke with a start at 4am as the ship was rocking violently from side to side, and it sounded like the mother of all storms was going on outside - howling winds, thundering rain and flashes of lightning. I wasn't unduly worried as I knew that we were sheltered in the cove, and lay awake for a while enjoying the sensation of feeling snug, warm and dry. Eventually I drifted back to sleep and awoke around 7am to the smell of cooked breakfast.

It turned out that most people had woken up around 2.30am when the storm first kicked in – the Japanese grandma confessed to me that she had hardly slept at all as she had been so scared, but her little grandson had been so worn out by the excitement of kayaking the day before that he had been oblivious to it all. The crew told us that 120mm of rain had fallen overnight, and that the winds had been gusting up to 100 knots (that's around 115 mph!).

After breakfast, we headed out to the mouth of Milford Sound, where it meets the Tasman Sea. Thanks to the previous night's rain, the cliff faces were alive with delicate temporary waterfalls. As the ship turned round to face the entrance, it was easy to see why Captain Cook assumed that that part of the coast was inaccessible, leaving it to be discovered by John Grono when his boat was swept inside during a storm. I'm sure that the view nearly 200 years ago is virtually unchanged from what Captain Grono saw, and still just as impressive.

On the way back to the terminal, we went right up to Stirling Falls, which were gushing even more vigorously than usual thanks to the increased water flow. Maori legend says that any woman whose face is touched by the spray will look 10 years younger. I wasn’t quick enough to get under shelter as the Wanderer headed into the heart of the spray and got absolutely drenched – much to the delight of the other passengers: “Twenty years for you then!” hooted the Canadian mama.

As we approached the terminal, we were told that the Milford Road was closed due to debris washed down onto the road by the storm, and consequently no vehicles would be able to get in or out from Milford that day. All the Wanderer passengers were moved onto the Mariner to be fed and watered until there was a further update on the road situation, and some options for getting us out of there.

The Real Journeys staff were absolutely fantastic, distributing food (including freshly baked biscuits!), allowing us to make free calls to insurers/car rental agencies/travel agencies from their office, and producing copies of the avalanche and road condition report for anyone who might need to make an insurance claim.

It turned out that we had 2 options: either to take a helicopter back to Queenstown at NZ$600 per person; or wait out the storm on either the Mariner or Wanderer, free of charge. Reports were that it could take a few days for the road to be cleared, and that another storm was on its way. As I had to make my flight connection back to Christchurch, there was only one option - the helicopter!

Overnight on Milford Sound

The photo on the cover of my Lonely Planet guide to New Zealand's South Island is of Mitre Peak in Milford Sound on a gloriously sunny day. However, Milford Sound is one of the rainiest places in the world, receiving between 7 and 9 *metres* annually,so it's quite likely you'll see it on a wet day. But all is not lost as the rain means that you'll see dozens of temporary waterfalls streaming down the cliff faces. 

I'd decided to avoid the crowds of the day trippers from Queenstown and Te Anau, and opted for an overnight cruise on the Milford Wanderer. The Wanderer mainly caters for backpackers, with people sharing 4 berth cabins. In a stroke of good luck, the boat was only half full (apparently only the 2nd time this year that it has not been full to capacity), so friends, family and couples were able to have their own cabins. I had one cabin all to myself, which was fantastic. To guarantee single occupancy on the posher sister ship the Milford Mariner would have cost 2-3 times more! (admittedly with an ensuite bathroom and a proper bed)

There was a great mix of people – ranging from couples from Switzerland and Germany, a sweet Japanese couple travelling with their grandson, a Canadian family and the irrepressible Laurie and Jack from Sydney. We all gathered in the saloon for our safety briefing. “The stairs are very steep - they were designed by an idiot!” warned the captain. Another crew member held up a lifejacket: "If you see loads of these coming your way, then there's a problem!"

After some delicious pre-dinner mushroom and capsicum soup, we all went outside to enjoy the scenery of the fjord (or fiord as they spell it here). It becomes difficult to judge perspective when you’re in Milford Sound, even though the Mariner being dwarfed by the towering cliff faces ahead of us provided some scale for my photos. It began to sink in as we sailed past Stirling Falls, and were told that it is 154 metres high, or the same height as a 50 storey building.

Our anchorage for the night was in Harrison Cove. We had the option of either going out on the tender craft or kayaking. As I was pretty sure that there was a high chance of dropping my camera into over 300m of water whilst trying to handle a kayak paddle, I went out on the former with nature guide Leah.

Leah stunned us with the information that due to a fault line running through the region, there are over 1,000 earthquakes per month in Milford! We looked up at the glacier on top of Mount Pembroke, and thanks to the overcast day, you could clearly see the blue hue of the glacial ice. She also explained that the bald patches on the rock faces were due to vegetation sliding off after a heavy rainstorm, as their roots are very shallow. 

After a very filling dinner of slabs of roast beef, potatoes, veg and a yummy apple tart with ice-cream and custard, stacks of board games came out for the evening entertainment. I was tempted by the New Zealand version of Monopoly, but that was swiftly nabbed by a couple of the kids on board. Instead, I ended up playing various games with Laurie and Jack – the first one was a story-telling memory game, followed by another which involved naming song titles that began with each letter of the alphabet (and then singing a couple of lines). I was completely rubbish at this and needed a lot of help from Laurie! 

All those who hadn't already gone to bed early then joined in the Maori version of Run, Rabbit, Run (Oma Rapeti) which Jack taught us, accompanied by his ukelele. It was maddeningly infectious, and it was still going around in my head the next morning.

Te Anau - Gateway to Fiordland

If you have time in Te Anau before taking the bus to Milford Sound or setting out on one of New Zealand's "Great Walks", then definitely call in at the Fiordland Cinema and watch the short film "Ata Whenua - Shadowland" to get a preview of the amazing scenery in the national park. It's also one of the most comfy cinemas I've ever been in, with seats that are like armchairs in terms of width and padding, with a handy ledge on which to rest your tea/coffee/wine glass.

"Ata Whenua - Shadowland" is an achingly beautiful 32 minute film, showing wonderful aerial sequences of towering mountains, waterfalls, mirrored lakes, rainforest and rare birdlife in the region. There is no voiceover, only atmospheric background music. There was one heart-stopping sequence where the helicopter followed the path of a waterfall over the cliff edge and straight down which had me clutching the armrests - who needs 3D??! It's a compelling advert for scenic flightseeing and I'm sure that it inspires a good proportion of visitors to book excursions afterwards.

Local Life In Fiordland

Whilst I was waiting for my bus from Te Anau to Milford Sound, I flipped through copies of the 2 local newspapers available in the cafe. The monthly Fiordland Focus seemed much more informal, with an article on food in Sydney by "Madeleine's daughter". I loved the "On Report" section by the local police, which had a list of all reported criminal activity ("mindless vandalism at the New Medical Centre site" and the theft of 2 boxes containing 500 sachets of Cafe de Sol Coffee from a motel) and car crashes over the previous few weeks. "Property Found" consisted of items left behind by absent-minded backpackers and campers - cameras, chargers, mobile phones, and worryingly, "1 axe". 

I also learnt that there were 6 new titles available at the Te Anau library, and that I could buy Girl Guide biscuits daily from 12pm - just NZ$10 for a packet of all 3 kinds on offer: Plain, Choc or Mini-Choc. But most of all I was intrigued by the mysterious weekly Fiordland Creative Fibres Club listed under Arts & Crafts - I knew that it wasn't anything to do with embroidery or quilting, as they have their own clubs!

The Fiordland Advocate was more serious, with a meaty front page story about a long running feud that has led to many members quitting the Te Anau ambulance committee. My favourite article was in the rural news section about Natalie the sheep, the surprise winner of the Limehills sheep racing event who has consequently been spared the chop. "Yeah - the rest of her mob went on the truck' said her owner, referring to her less sporty team mates. He put her performance down to the red racing stripes that he had painted on her sides (remnants of which were still visible in the photograph of her!). 

For those readers interested in her breeding lines, Natalie is apparently just under half Texel, a quarter Poll Dorset and the rest is Coopworth-Perendale. When quizzed on her training regime for next year's event, her owner didn't have anything special planned, apart from "maybe taking her for a few jogs just beforehand". Love it!!

Queenstown

Even on an overcast day, the view of Queenstown from the top of Bob's Peak is magnificent. The wonderfully named and gloriously weatherbeaten Remarkables (Dimrill Dale in The Fellowship of the Ring) rise up above Frankton on the left, with Cecil Peak and Walter Peak on the other side of Lake Wakatipu. I hung around for an hour on the windy viewing platform, willing there to be a break in the clouds, but it was not to be! 

Queenstown has a great vibe, with every other shop promising thrills and spills in return for handing over (quite a bit of) cash. The closest that I got to the adrenaline rush that's associated with the home of bungy jumping is going down the luge course on the top of Bob's Peak - initially at a snail's pace! but then fast enough to overtake a mum who was trying to coax her terrified daughter down the course. 

I also got to watch 2 people who are miles braver than me chuck themselves off the Ledge Bungy - "Queenstown's only urban Bungy!" Jumpers wear a harness instead of just being attached by your feet, plus there's a "runway" so that you can experiment with more than just a dive off the edge. Sadly, the guys that I saw just opted to run out into thin air rather than attempt anything more acrobatic.

As well as adventure shops, Queenstown also has loads of eateries. I just about managed to finish my breakfast blueberry and blackberry pancake stack with lemon zest butter and maple syrup, which looked almost too luscious to eat. 

Starry Southern Skies

In an earlier post, I wrote about the "sky park" that tops the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore. In Tekapo, they are proposing to establish a World Heritage "Park in the Sky" or "Starlight Reserve" to preserve the amazing starry skies from the threat of light pollution. The world's southernmost observatory was established in Tekapo on Mount John in 1965, 1,031 metres/3,376 feet above sea level. Local company Earth & Sky run night sky tours to the observatory after the road up to the summit is closed to the public after sunset.

Just before 9.30pm, bus passes were handed out to participants at the Earth & Sky office in the village. They all had pictures of space-related or scientific characters on them. I was Marvin the Paranoid Android, and the guy next to me was Ernest Rutherford (the father of nuclear physics - I had to Google him afterwards). I overheard someone expressing discontent with the character on his pass, with one of the staff saying encouragingly: "I think we might have E.T. around somewhere instead if you like?" (He declined)

After a certain point on the road up Mount John, the Earth & Sky bus headlights had to be turned off to avoid "polluting" the night skies with "white light". Incidentally, the streetlights in the village are all shaded so that light is shed downwards only, and orange low-pressure sodium lighting is used as it is easy to filter out. We were banned from emitting any kind of white light whilst on the mountain, including any camera LCD screens or mobile phones, as the powerful telescopes which scan for light sources one millionth the size of what we're able to see with the naked eye might record them as a potential new planet or star - leading to much embarrassment the next morning!

We huddled around the dim outline of our enthusiastic guide Chris, who used a green laser pointer as he talked us through the different constellations that we could see with the naked eye: Orion (the Saucepan or the Shopping Trolley to the Aussies and Kiwis) with his 2 hunting dogs Canis Major and Canis Minor (the latter being a constellation of just 2 stars - "Like a sausage dog!" said Chris - I thought of Winnie); the Southern Cross with its 2 pointer stars; and the nearest star to the Earth - Alpha Centauri, a mere 4.3 light years away. In comparison, Mars is just 5 light *minutes* away. 

Chris recalled a recent visitor from New York complaining about the "clouds" obscuring the night sky: "I told him that he was looking at the Milky Way. He didn't say much after that." Admittedly it isn't always that easy for a city dweller to distinguish a cloud from a galaxy. Two little wispy clouds turned out to be the Magellanic Clouds, some of the nearest galaxies to our own - a mind-boggling 160,000 light years away. My head began to ache trying to visualise the vastness of space.

Then came our chance to look through some of the telescopes. We peered through a 9.25 inch one at Alpha Centauri, and were surprised to see that it was actually 2 stars, which were extremely close together (Chris made my head ache again by telling us that the distance between them was about 4 billion km!).  Inside Orion's Nebula (nebulae are swirls of gas which are the birthing grounds of stars) were the 4 perfect little bright stars called the Trapezium. 

There was also the exotically named Jewel Box (with red and blue tinged stars - though I couldn't distinguish any colours myself). My favourite was The Wishing Well - a concentration of stars, as if looking down at all the silver coins thrown into a well. The stars looked like diamond shaped pieces of glitter - unbelievably beautiful.

As the wind picked up, I clutched my cup of complimentary hot chocolate a little more tightly and cautiously made my way along the white paint-edged path towards the shelter which housed the 16 inch telescope. We took turns in looking at Saturn (its rings a slight glow surrounding it) and then Mars, which flickered due to interference in the atmosphere. 

All too soon, the 2 hours were over and the bus made its way down the mountain, with Monty Python's Galaxy Song piped through the speakers. I was smiling as I made my way back to the hostel in near darkness (reduced light pollution does have some downsides!). A very special experience and highly recommended for anyone stopping over at Lake Tekapo!

Lake Tekapo

As the bus pulled out of Christchurch, I looked sorrowfully at the thick clouds covering the Southern Alps (aka the Misty Mountains). I was on my way to Lake Tekapo, where I hoped to do 3 things: admire the lake's fabled turquoise waters, visit the Church of the Good Shepherd and go stargazing at the Mount John Observatory. There was a smattering of rain just before we pulled into the village, but it didn't seem to make any difference to the cloud cover. I decided to go into the Earth and Sky office anyway to ask whether there was any chance of a night tour.

"Let me show you why these clouds are a good thing!" said Christian, beckoning me around the counter to the computer showing the latest weather forecast.  According to the weather model, the high clouds would disappear by 4pm: “if you believe in the model, that is” he added. Sure enough, just before 3pm, there was a patch of blue sky - and by late afternoon I was slapping on the suncream and taking countless photos of the lake. Its gorgeous milky turquoise colour is due to rock particles (or "rock flour") in the water from the glaciers.

The beautiful little stone Church of the Good Shepherd stands by the lakeshore - built as a memorial to the pioneers of the MacKenzie Country. Behind the altar there is simply a huge clear window with a stunning view of the lake and the surrounding mountains. Everyone passing through Tekapo stops here for a few minutes, so I went back in the early evening to photograph it without the crowds or coaches parked outside.

Two Christchurch Ladies

Outside the Arts Centre on Worcester Street, there is a set of 12 bronze busts of local "Canterbury Heroes". One of them is for local librarian Margaret Mahy, whose inscription I absolutely loved: “Writer of magical stories and verse for children and young adults, a giver of the gift of imagination”.  Isn’t that such a lovely thing to be remembered for? Maybe one day they can have a similar one done for JK Rowling.

Another special Christchurch lady is Winnie, the resident sausage dog at the Windsor B&B Hotel. I’d read about her on TripAdvisor, and was thrilled to meet her when she padded out into the reception area, rolled over to have her tummy rubbed and promptly sneezed (or burped – I couldn’t tell which). She's a tad overweight, so guests are asked not to feed her when she does a round of the room during breakfast. It’s very hard eating buttered toast when Winnie is sitting by you with a mournful look in her eyes though! I'll have to try to get a photo of her when I'm back in Christchurch next week.

Kia Ora New Zealand!

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye to friends and family, and board the plane for Christchurch. Christchurch is supposedly the most English city in New Zealand. I couldn’t really see why, though I did notice that many of the streets are named after English cities – Manchester, Hereford, Gloucester – and there are statues of Queen Victoria and Captain Cook in the city centre near the River Avon.

Maybe it's to do with the many green spaces - Christchurch is known as the Garden City. I had a stroll through the Botanical Gardens and Hagley Park. Mike, my friendly taxi driver, told me that the latter is the 3rd biggest city park in the world, after Central Park and Hyde Park. The big difference is the lack of crowds - sometimes it felt like I had them both to myself. That is, until the occasional pupil from Christ's College next door (the oldest independent school in NZ) walked by, in their distinctive black and white striped blazers.

It was St. Patrick’s Day, and "Danny Boy" was blaring out from the Irish pub in Cathedral Square but the rain kept any other celebrations indoors. The occasional group of people walked by with shamrocks drawn in felt tip on their cheeks and a guy who looked like Gandalf in a bright green suit stopped me outside a shop, and taking off an imaginary top hat, inclined his head and slurred: “Excuse me – a very HAPPY St. Patrick’s Day to you!” “And to you too!” I replied. This completely threw him, and he sidled off muttering: “Um, okay, thank you!”

One thing that Christchurch does have in common with England though is the weather! Throughout the day it went from heavy showers to short-lived sun with a robust breeze about 3 or 4 times. Either way, the max temp was 12 degrees Celsius so I was shivering after the 32 degree heat of Singapore, and was walking around with my fleece, cardigan and gloves. To escape a particularly heavy shower, I jumped on the the free inner city shuttle bus for a couple of circuits, which seems to be used mainly by locals! including students at Christchurch Polytechnic (with the unfortunate acronym CPIT).

When the sun came out, I took a riverside walk and watched tourists being punted through the city by guys dressed in Edwardian clothing. All very pictureque, though I couldn't help thinking that the punting looked a bit tame as the water was only a few inches deep. My memories of punting involve several feet of water, with muddy riverbeds and overhanging branches to catch out the unwary and being chased by the occasional aggressive swan.

I had an amazing dinner at a Burmese restaurant called The Bodhi Tree. My Rough Guide warned that bookings were almost always essential, but I took a chance and went along as soon as it opened at 6pm. The 2 friendly ladies watched with great amusement as I took off layer after layer: "What country have you just come from then?" The recommendation was to get a couple of dishes, plus rice – I chose vegetable ajoo (veg in a light batter) and spicy marinated lamb kebabs (I forget the traditional name) with a chilli and mint dipping sauce. Both tasted amazing, as did the Burmese tea. Mmmmm!

Tortoises, Temples and Tables

Stanley, the helpful Singapore Stopover Holiday rep, booked me onto a tour that ticked all the right boxes. A harbour cruise (boat trip!), with complimentary tea/coffee (freebies!) and a visit to an island inhabited by tortoises (aaah!). 

We sailed past many huge container ships (did not realise that Singapore is the world's busiest shipping port in terms of tonnage) and some very swanky and expensive looking apartment blocks. There was also a great view of the 3 hotel blocks (topped by a "sky park") of the Marina Bay Sands resort, which will include Singapore's 2nd ever casino, and the Singapore Flyer observation wheel.

Our main destination was Kusu Island ("Tortoise Island" in Chinese), named due to a legend about a Chinese sailor and a Malay sailor being shipwrecked together. A tortoise took pity on them and turned itself into an island so that they could land there. There were tortoises everywhere - 2 giant marble beasties, and a Tortoise Sanctuary, where numerous tiny ones looked like they were having a wonderful life sunbathing round the edge of the pond. 

There is a Chinese temple on the island, which thousands of people flock to every 9th month of the lunar year to pray for good luck, health, happiness and prosperity. Out of season, it's all very low key. I watched as a few Chinese visitors added incense sticks and burned red and white paper at a furnace, all done in reverential silence. 

There were some great views of the Singapore skyline, but this time with sandy beaches in the foreground, fringed with what looked like apple trees. After reading a plaque, I discovered that they were "poison apple trees", with seeds that contain poison that act on the heart. The "apples" turn from innocent green, to pink, to black. Eek!

Afterwards, my friend took me to Resorts World "Integrated Resort" (IR) on Sentosa, where the first of Singapore's casinos has now opened, along with restaurants, hotels and from 18 March 2010, a Universal Studios theme park. Singaporeans have to pay S$100 just to enter the casino, though it's free for foreigners. This didn't seem to have the intended deterrent effect, as there was a steady stream of people in the Singaporean queue. Inside (where you weren't allowed to take photos, grrr), the card tables were jam packed with determined punters. I took a liking to one particular hardcore Chinese mama playing pontoon, whose friends stood around her, holding her (many) spare chips. She was very vocal with her whoops and wails! 

Singapore By Day

I was told that I'd come to Singapore at the best time of the year, ie. when the rains begin and cool things down. If that's the case, I don't think I'd cope well in the hot season! Even first thing in the morning, my camera was misting up as I tried to take photos, and after 30 minutes in the open I had to keep on taking refuge in one of the many air-conditioned shopping centres where Singaporeans can indulge in their 2 favourite pastimes of shopping and eating. 

There are so many centres that initially I thought that the numerous "S" symbols on the city map represented bus stops. Some of them are linked together by passageways, or via MRT stations, so you can cover quite a bit of the city centre without having to go outside! 

I'm not much of a shopper, so instead I sampled the many food courts, opting mainly for Japanese and Chinese food (though on Sentosa I did have some yummy gnocchi with Tuscan sausage and sage, followed by a divine chocolate volcano pud, mmm). Homemade soba (thick buckwheat) noodles with tempura, "drunken chicken" (cold chicken marinated in alcohol) and hot pot (cooking your own meat and veg in a pot of boiling stock in the middle of the table) were all delicious! The hot pot was particularly fun - like campfire cooking, but without having to eat any reconstituted food or worry about the tent catching fire if you took your eye off the trangia for one moment (I'm not much of a camper either :)

Singapore By Night

Arrived in Singapore a tad sleep-deprived thanks to the hacking cough of my neighbour and 2 bickering kids who ran relay races along the aisles. But all was forgiven when I got to the hotel and saw this view of the skyline from my balcony! The buildings on the left are office blocks (mainly banks I think), and the Peninsula Plaza hotel is on the right with the neon lettering on top.

There was an even better view from the restaurants up at the top of the hotel on the 70th floor, where you could see the river and the lights of the restaurants along Boat Quay. I'd already eaten so I went into the bar and tried to sit down at the last remaining window seat - only to be told that there was a S$20 cover charge and a minimum spend of S$60 to do so. So instead I went back out to the restaurant lobby and joined the other 4 or 5 people who were enjoying the views for free.

Enjoyed my first 5 star hotel experience - being mobbed by porters as I got out of the airport minibus was great fun! However, I did think that the S$11 bottle of Fijian water (excluding taxes!) that was placed temptingly on top of the minibar was a bit outrageous. I would love to see someone try to expense that! But there were daily complimentary hotel-branded bottles of water left in my room - which I only dared to use after calling reception to make absolutely sure that they were free!