Visitors From Afar

We have had an exciting week as Ralph and Sue, two of our Wisconsin friends, are visiting us.  We’ve traveled to some fun places with them – some new to us, some we’ve been to before. 

A walk through the Hagley Park to help keep Ralph and Sue awake after the long plane ride

We started in Christchurch with the Big Band Festival and with tramping at Taylors Mistake.  

School big band playing in lobby

The All Girl Big Band in concert

Track from Taylors Mistake to Godley Head

Mt. Cook was our next destination with a stop on the way to see the mountains and church at Lake Tekapo.   

Church of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo

Rain and high wind prevented us from going on our pre-booked glacial kayaking trip but we did some more tramping around the Mt. Cook area instead. 

On the track to the Red Tairns

Above glacial Lake Tasman

New friend Grace on the track

We had read about Ben Oahu Cheese where Matt, the owner, makes small batches of cheese in a shipping container using only solar power.  We emailed Matt, and even though he is closed on Mondays, he agreed to give us a taste. 

Matt the cheesemaker (left)

On to Wanaka where we visited Rippon Winery for some very good wine and wonderful views. 

The famous Wanaka tree

Tasting at Rippon Winery

View from Rippon Winery

The next day we went tramping at Mt. Iron Scenic Reserve on the edge of Wanaka.  

None of us wanted to go bungee jumping, so we passed through Queenstown and drove on through Glenorchy to Kinloch Lodge for two nights. 

Kinloch Lodge

Cooking in the common kitchen

The Richardson Range near Kinloch

We encountered a cow in the road on our way to the Routeburn Track, one of the Great Walks in New Zealand. 

The day was wet and rain kept increasing but it just made waterfalls more powerful. 

Lots of moss everywhere

New Zealand robin

Glacial melt river pool

Hardy trampers on a suspension bridge

Track toilet situated out over the gorge

On the road again, Cindy insisted we stop to get a photo of the large fruit at Cromwell and we all agreed to stop at a bakery in Alexandra while we waited to check into our lodging at Mirabell Chalets. 

Welcome to Cromwell

Yum treats from the Courthouse Bakery in Alexandra -bread pudding with cream, and macadaemia custard filled croissant.

The Mirabell Chalets are conveniently located across the road from Immigrant Winery.  We walked over and met Lucienne and Roland and their dog Frankie and sampled their Ruru wine.  Ruru is the Maori name for the New Zealand Morepork, the only remaining native owl.  

Very good Ruru wine at Immigrants Vineyard

Roland and Lucienne, Immigrant Winery owners

Frankie

Back at Mirabell, Graeme arrived home from his mail delivery job and showed us how he builds the cabins from a kit without using any nails.  We explained Lincoln Logs toy building sets to him and he liked that idea. 

New cabin being built by Graeme

The two-bedroom cabin we stayed in - very nice

We stopped at Jimmy’s Pies in Roxburgh on our way to Dunedin.  

Close to Dunedin, we drove around the Otago Pennisula hoping to see some Royal albatross, but none were in view.  We saw lots of red billed gulls and beautiful scenery though. 

We stopped at the Otago Settlers Museum in Dunedin but only had a half hour until they closed – we will need to go back.  

The Dunedin limestone train station is the most photographed building in New Zealand, and you can see why. 

In the morning we visited the Farmers Market before starting our long drive back to Christchurch.  

Excellent beer from the fine couple at Steamer Basin brewery

Stops along the way included Shag Point to look for seals (we saw two divers, but no seals) and the Moeraki Boulders - huge round boulders deposited on the beach.  

Shag Point

Seaweed

Some of the Moeraki Boulders

In Oamaru we talked with a whitestone carver, saw some steampunk sculptures, visited Whitestone Cheese and a bakery. 

Ian Andersen, famous limestone carver

Sculpture outside the steampunk museum in Oamaru

Back in Christchurch, Cindy pre-baked a pie shell for an asparagus quiche, filled the crust, and put the quiche into the oven, and then the oven stopped working.  Paul called our landlord (who was on holiday in Dunedin!) and found out this is an occasional problem with the oven and requires a rather complex process to reset, which we couldn't do that night.  Fortunately one of Cindy’s tramping friends lives nearby and she agreed to bake the quiche in her oven, so our meal was saved.