Christchurch

It's been a while once again but I finally have some more photos to share. Thanks to my flatmate Mickyla I can now download my photos at home, so hopefully I'll have more to come soon. The photos below date back a couple of months and unfortunately aren't as exotic as previous photos now that I'm based in the city!

Settling in pretty well here in Christchurch. I now have a flat by the park and in a desperate attempt to keep fit have been out on a couple of chilly mornings to run. It is now mid winter, the park glistens every morning with a thick frost and the ducks on the river are often shrouded in mist, the light in Christchurch is consistently good, bright and clear with long winter shadows. It's just so hard to get warm.I'm living with Mickyla, a fine art photographer, and her 7 year old daughter and couldn't have picked better flatmates, though our house is leaning towards health trap status, being exceptionally damp and cold. Here at a latitude of 42 deg South, central heating is mythical and electric blankets and wooly sweaters are essential items for winter warming. The library seems to be the only place that is reasonably heated, even the bars and cafes feel tepid. I'll need to be surgically removed from my wooly hat when I leave New Zealand

I've been creeping back to Chester Street backpakers for a few socials as it's such a nice hostel and attracts some nice folk too. But I've also been sampling the Christchurch nightlife with Mickyla.

Work is ok. I'm learning lots about dairy farming, cows and electric fences and of course the job. It's been great getting out and about and seeing more of the countryside, the landscape is gradually changing, the trees are bare, the leafless willow trees are a stunning burnt orange seeming to burn in the bright winter light and snow is gradually building up on the distant peaks of the southern alps.

And that's life in Christchurch. I only have just over four weeks before I fly to Australia for a week and then back to new Zealand for two more weeks before I'm on my way home. I'm really looking forward to coming home to some summer sun. Hopefully there will be some left, a late heat wave perhaps!

So here are some shots from the last few months.

Mount Cook and Mueller Glacier.

Me and Mount Cook

Mueller Hut, a half days walk from Mt Cook Village. I stayed here for a night.

The view from Mueller Hut kitchen. Mt Cook in the afternoon sun.

Me with a backdrop of glaciers on the face of Mount Sefton. A short walk from Mueller Hut.

Mount Cook at sunset. Viewed from Mueller Hut.

Cloud fomations over Mt Sefton. The remote Mueller Hut toilet.

The weather creeping up the valley towards Mt Cook Village.

A female Paradise Duck.

The peak of Mt John (I think).

The seedier side of Christchurch.

City lights on poplars.

Chester Street Backpacker Hostel. My first home in Christchurch.

Chester Street Kitchen.

Sushi night at Chester Street. Manami teaches us to make sushi. Here, cooling the sushi rice.

Building the sushi roll.

Everyone has a go!

Carmen gets building.

Ta da. The finished product.

Manami makes Miso soup.

Yvonne, Carmen, Rob and Helen.

Cheesy!

Another cheesy one!

Carmen, Yvonne and I spent a day walking in the Porthills on the outskirts of Christchurch.

Castle Rock and a view over Christchurch and suburbs.

Me and a view over Christcurch.

Carmen sets up a group photo and races the timer....

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Climbing with Rob and Helen at the Roxx

Carmen, Helen and Rob

A Christchurch sunset, taken from just outside my office.

Stopped in Christchurch

At last more photos! I had to sift through rather a lot for these few, getting a little snap happy. So, these cover the last couple of months of our travels on New Zealands South Island, including road trip down the West Coast, our stay in Wanaka, trips to Queenstown, Milford Sound, the Catlins and most recently going it alone on the Routeburn and Caples walking trails. Needless to say we've covered quite a few km over the last month, the Honda has even tipped over into the 100,000s.

Things have changed a little now too. I'm writing this from my desk in a large and rather chilly office in Christchurch. My funds dried up and so too my enthusiasm for fruit picking so I've gone and got myself a responsible job with a Kiwi firm called Aqualinc. I am now working as a Resource Management Consultant, currently in an office but come bitter winter I'll be trudging around grassy pastures carrying out pump tests on giant irrigation wells, can you imagine how excited I'm feeling?! It's very hydro based, lots of irrigation and farming. I fell into this job by accident really and then couldn't find a good enough reason not to be finally earning a wage that I can actually survive on, and 'gasp' possibly save. It's not too bad, nice people, no stress and Christchurch isn't too bad either. Very English in some respects, Christchurch that is. I've not been tempted to go punting on the Avon yet but have been to the lovely Arts Centre which has a sumptious cinema! Which reminds me, anyone seen the new and beautiful film by Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding) called The Namesake, just brilliant.

It's pretty wet and cold here in Christchurch at the moment, autumn is in full swing, reminds me a bit of the fens in the autumn (flat, lead grey skies, icy winds and relentless drissle). It's a complete turnaround after the cracking weather I had in Mt Cook village, only a week ago. I can't believe I was sitting in the kitchen of the Mueller Alpine Hut watching the sun set over Mt Cook and the Southern Alps whilst listening to the inermittent thunder of small avalanches from the glaciers on Mt Sefton, now I'm sitting in a luke warm, souless office looking out on a rain drenched carpark.

So, enough chatter, down to business. Some of the photos are a little dark so appologies and there are so many more I'd like to have included, but I need more time to sift through the pile.

A pretty hideous shot of me on Conical Hill, above the Harris Saddle on the Routeburn Track. No idea why this got in but I'll take the opportunity to point out the rather excellent Kiwi hiking style that I am fashioning. Shorts over thermals are the way to go (the stripier the better), heck, if you're a true kiwi thermals aren't required, and boys, the tighter and smaller your stubbies (that's sort shorts and infact bottles of beer???) the better (for whom I'm not sure).

On the Routeburn and in Fiordland, this is a view of Mackenzie Lake and on the far left, the Mackenzie Hut, all surrounded by moss covered Beech rainforest. I stayed here on the second night of the walk, it's one of the most beautiful spots I've stayed in.

A view along the Hollyford Valley all the way out to the remote Martins Bay. A view on day 3 of the Routeburn Track.

A stormy morning in the Catlins. Chill sou-wester squalls rushing in from the ocean. It hailed on and off for a day so we stayed inside and admired this view from our hilltop backpackers. It was, at the time, a refreshing break from the sun.

Slope Point in the Catlins. Me in my georgous pea green pac-a-mac, holding tight in the gales sweeping the coast.

I look at this and can't quite believe how good the light was. Milford Sound and the most photographed mountain in New Zealand, Mitre Peak. Once again, and rare for Fiordland, fantastic weather.

Cate and I went Kayaking in Milford avoiding the cruise ships chugging out of Milford port. The water is a murky black but the reflections on the surface are beautiful.

Tourist destination no.1. Emma, Ellie, Cate and Alan above Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu.

A view from the summit of Mt Roy, Wanaka. Mt Aspiring on the far distant horizon.

Puzzling World, yes she really is that small!

Ice climbing on Fox glacier. Fantastic.

View from Fox glacier. We also climbed in the crevasse with the blue ice.

Victor, Cate and Wayne sampling Monteiths ales at the brewery in Greymouth. Guess that one wasn't too tasty!

Cate and Wayne dance at sunset on Rabbit Island.

Sea Kayaking in the Abel Tasman National Park.

Pictures Galore

Hello folks. As promised I have some new photos which will bring me right up to date with my my movements so far. It's a bit of a mish mash and doesn't cover everything but you've got the best bits!

We are currently staying in Motueka just south of the Abel Tasman National Park at the top of the North Island. It's a beautiful area with stunning scenery and the coast is especially tasty, the only draw back being our current job. I wont bore you with the details, I think I've done enough of that already with our previous thrilling jobs. Oh, what the heck, you can skip this bit if you're really not interested. It's another new experience as we've migrated from the sun scorched orchards to an airless packhouse. Could no one have warned us that Nelson is the apple capital of New Zealand? We're such plonkers, happily winding our way to sunny Nelson with visions of nursery work or a bit of stone fruit picking, only to stumble right into the beginning of the apple season. 85% of New Zealands Apples are grown where? Yes you guessed right......................sunny Nelson. I could entertain you for hours with the intricate details of apple grading, which is what we stupidly agreed to do, but I'll save that for when I get home. All I need to tell you is that we work for eight hours a day standing staring at a conveyor of coxes apples, picking out the rotten, bruised and russet damaged (oh I could tell you lots about russet) before they wend their way to Sainsburys, 5 weeks boat ride away..................look out they're on their way. Don't worry, I washed my hands. Well, enough of that, on to the photos. I hope you like them.

Home!

Rufus, our trusty (if a little squeaky) Honda Accord.

Going back a little, January in the Tongariro National Park. We walked the Tongariro Crossing which passes through an active volcanic range. These are The Emerald Lakes.

The Tongariro Crossing. Walking through one of the craters, Red Crater and Mt Ngaurahoe (of Mt Doom (LOTR) fame) in the background.

TheTongariro Crossing. Me before we ascended the Red Crater.

February. A view of Mount Taranaki (Egmont).

A closer view of Taranaki.

Happy faces on top of Taranaki and before the knee crunching descent. A faint outline of Mt Ruapehu in the distance.

The descent!

The Super 14s Rugby in Wellington. Hurricanes vs Blues. The fireworks are for the home team, the triumphant Hurricanes. This was probably the only part of the match that I fully understood.

The writers walk in Wellington.

Warariki Beach near Farewell Spit, Nelson region. A beautiful remote location with an inquisitive seal colony.

Cate and the playful seal pups.

More seal pups. Most of my close-ups are blurred, these seals love to tease.

Last weekend we walked the northern loop of the Abel Tasman great walk, an unspoilt stretch of coastline with remote coves, crystal blue waters and inquisitive birds! A pied shag poses for the camera.

Aside from travels you might be interested in a small press production that has recently been launched. For lovers of the creative, No.18 is (and I quote from myspace) 'an eclectic collection of creative outbursts engineered by undiscovered geniuses of the art world'. If this catches your eye, the first edition was launched last year but #2 is currently in production. The myspace address is http://www.myspace.com/no18_smallpress. If you're also keen to contribute we'd always be interested in new works.