New Zealand or Bust

[KiwiKampers]

We're now in @KiwiKampers home town Nelson, having lunch at Pic's Peanut Butter World.

I am so annoyed I didn't see this yesterday. I would have liked to have given you the official welcome to Nelson ceremony. It involves a powhiri (Maori welcome) hongi (Maori tradition of rubbing noses), hangi (Maori kai (food) cooked on rocks in the ground) a kapa haka (traditional Maori dance and singing) and a trip into Tasman Bay on a waka (Maori war canoe). But perhaps not! A cup of coffee (Nelson is the best place in the world for coffee, IMO) or a glass of something local, either beer or wine, might have been better.
I hope Nelson has not disappointed you.

 

[Holly's mum]

I am so annoyed I didn't see this yesterday. I would have liked to have given you the official welcome to Nelson ceremony. It involves a powhiri (Maori welcome) hongi (Maori tradition of rubbing noses), hangi (Maori kai (food) cooked on rocks in the ground) a kapa haka (traditional Maori dance and singing) and a trip into Tasman Bay on a waka (Maori war canoe). But perhaps not! A cup of coffee (Nelson is the best place in the world for coffee, IMO) or a glass of something local, either beer or wine, might have been better.
I hope Nelson has not disappointed you.

We are still in Nelson today, we are doing a tour of Pic's Peanut Butter World this morning and then going to the classic car museum.
Any good recommendations for a coffee?
Happy to meet up later if you want.

 

[KiwiKampers]

We are still in Nelson today, we are doing a tour of Pic's Peanut Butter World this morning and then going to the classic car museum.
Any good recommendations for a coffee?
Happy to meet up later if you want.

Don't expect to be overwhelmed by the Pic's Peanut Butter World tour. I've heard it's a bit bland. However, their Peanut Butter is very good, even if it is made from Australian grown peanuts! You can buy Pic's peanut butter in Tesco, I believe.
I think you'll enjoy the Classic Car Museum, and by coincidence, one of the best cafes is in the museum complex. It's called Little Engine. I wish I could come into town to meet you but unfortunately I am awaiting tradesmen to do some work on the roof. They say they'll be here by lunchtime, but we all know what that means!
Have fun.

 

[Holly's mum]

Don't expect to be overwhelmed by the Pic's Peanut Butter World tour. I've heard it's a bit bland. However, their Peanut Butter is very good, even if it is made from Australian grown peanuts! You can buy Pic's peanut butter in Tesco, I believe.
I think you'll enjoy the Classic Car Museum, and by coincidence, one of the best cafes is in the museum complex. It's called Little Engine. I wish I could come into town to meet you but unfortunately I am awaiting tradesmen to do some work on the roof. They say they'll be here by lunchtime, but we all know what that means!
Have fun.

The tour was interesting but we weren't keen on their new salt and pepper flavour peanut butter
I liberated a non perfect jar for $3 (it had a wrong label on)
Pic's no longer ship to the UK after our new useless government slapped tariffs on the imports, hopefully they will ship again in the future
We are now sat in the cafe at the car museum before starting our walk round.
Hope your roof repairs go well.

 

[PaddyM]

Pics from today

And I don’t mean to be critical but ……..

Your battered fish ( blue cod ) is amazing but sort out your chips , they are rubbish . I’ve seen your cows here , make some beef dripping kiwis and get frying some chippy chips ! Rant over

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[PaddyM]

The tour was interesting but we weren't keen on their new salt and pepper flavour peanut butter
I liberated a non perfect jar for $3 (it had a wrong label on)
Pic's no longer ship to the UK after our new useless government slapped tariffs on the imports, hopefully they will ship again in the future
We are now sat in the cafe at the car museum before starting our walk round.
Hope your roof repairs go well.

New Zealand-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Overview

Your guide to what the New Zealand-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement offers for New Zealand.

www.mfat.govt.nz

Think maybe the peanut butter people need to read the above

 

[Two on Tour]

New Zealand-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Overview

Your guide to what the New Zealand-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement offers for New Zealand.

www.mfat.govt.nz

Think maybe the peanut butter people need to read the above

That's old information from 2023, the new tariff came in 6 months ago as Yvette said.
We had a conversation with the staff about availability in the UK, and they supplied to UK stockist up to 6 months ago when the new tariff came into force and made the cost to the UK not viable.
You would think that Pic's would have a finger on the pulse of who they export to would you not ?

 

[PaddyM]

That's old information from 2023, the new tariff came in 6 months ago as Yvette said.
We had a conversation with the staff about availability in the UK, and they supplied to UK stockist up to 6 months ago when the new tariff came into force and made the cost to the UK not viable.
You would think that Pic's would have a finger on the pulse of who they export to would you not ?

Indeed you would , as well as these people perhaps ?

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/nz-celebrates-12-months-free-trade-uk

 

[PaddyM]

Greetings from Oamaru !

 

[Two on Tour]

Having looked around the Nelson Classic Car Museum today, I to say, although it was good, the Bill Richardson and Southward classics car museums knock it into a cocked hat.

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[Two on Tour]

From the Nelson Classic Car Museum, we moved onto The Nelson Provincial Museum which for the most part exhibits had no continuity and were very random, but we did get talking to an elderly local gentleman called Alvin, who turned out to be the great grandson of Appo Hocton, the first Chinese immigrant to land in New Zealand.

Appo Hocton – Jumped ship to become first Chinese Immigrant to New Zealand

It was an unconventional arrival for New Zealand’s first Chinese immigrant in 1842.....

www.theprow.org.nz

 

[bobnick]

Greetings from Oamaru !

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That looks like a 1971 Morris Minor

 

[Two on Tour]

A large pod of about 500 dolphins has been spotted of the coast near Kaikōura if anyone is in the area.

Hundreds of dolphins spotted by pilot off Kaikōura coast

A pod of almost 500 dolphins has been spotted by an eagle-eyed pilot near Kaikōura.

www.rnz.co.nz

 

[funflair]

A large pod of about 500 dolphins has been spotted of the coast near Kaikōura if anyone is in the area.

Hundreds of dolphins spotted by pilot off Kaikōura coast

A pod of almost 500 dolphins has been spotted by an eagle-eyed pilot near Kaikōura.

www.rnz.co.nz

View attachment 1022591
View attachment 1022592

 

[funflair]

We had our tyre fitted today and then visited the “Fiordland vintage machinery museum”

The Homer tunnel goes straight through the mountain on the way to Milford Sound, I thought it was quite an interesting write up about the building of it and the road.

There were some tractor names in there that I have never heard of before, I think it’s a bit like a club for enthusiasts and one of the old boys decided to give us a personal guided tour which was good until we got to the scrap yard outside and he detailed every piece of equipment and it’s history, I could see Jen glazing over but it would have been rude to cut him short, she says I was sounding too interested

There were also a good few stationary engines and motorbikes including a met police Norton interpol rotary,

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[KiwiKampers]

Two on Tour Appo Hocton is a local hero in my eyes and a truly remarkable man, but few Nelsonians know anything about him. I would have enjoyed talking to his great grandson.
The funny thing is I nearly suggested that you didn't bother with our museum. I think it's very disappointing. However, I can recommend the Suter Art Gallery, depending on what exhibitions they have. It's free. Also, the cafe there is good, but pricey, and the Queens Gardens next door have some amazing specimen trees. If you are feeling fit enough there is a lovely walk up to the Centre of New Zealand where you'll get great views.

 

[KiwiKampers]

PaddyM Oamaru is a nice enough town but my advice to you is not to pay to see the penguins come out of the sea at dusk. We did and they were so far in the distance we could barely make them out from the seagulls. However, when we walked back to the car park where the motorhome was, we saw about half a dozen waddling across the tarmac and under our van!

 

[PaddyM]

PaddyM Oamaru is a nice enough town but my advice to you is not to pay to see the penguins come out of the sea at dusk. We did and they were so far in the distance we could barely make them out from the seagulls. However, when we walked back to the car park where the motorhome was, we saw about half a dozen waddling across the tarmac and under our van!

Great advice and truly welcome ! Thanx

 

[Two on Tour]

Great advice and truly welcome ! Thanx

The red hut at the end of the old fenced off pier in your photo is where we saw the Blue penguins come up the rocks and passed in front of us.

 

[Two on Tour]

Bought myself a new t shirt at the Nelson Classic Car Museum today.

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[Two on Tour]

A different take on "waiter, ... there is a fly in my soup"

 

[Two on Tour]

There are a few places to see glowworms in New Zealand, and it can be a pretty jaw dropping sight, but the camera does not really do it justice.

Each glowworm drops down a thread, which is sticky, to catch airborne bugs, and when one is caught, the thread is pulled up to deliver the glowworms meal.

As the stream enters this particular cave, there were several large eels to be found in the shallow water.

While on the subject of eels, in Christchurch, there is a seating area next to the river with steps leading down to the waters edge, and the eels lurk there waiting to be fed.
If you wiggle your fingers in the water as I did , then the eels come and nibble your fingers testing for food.

 

[jongood]

We had our tyre fitted today and then visited the “Fiordland vintage machinery museum”

View attachment 1022618
View attachment 1022619
The Homer tunnel goes straight through the mountain on the way to Milford Sound, I thought it was quite an interesting write up about the building of it and the road.

View attachment 1022620View attachment 1022621View attachment 1022622
There were some tractor names in there that I have never heard of before, I think it’s a bit like a club for enthusiasts and one of the old boys decided to give us a personal guided tour which was good until we got to the scrap yard outside and he detailed every piece of equipment and it’s history, I could see Jen glazing over but it would have been rude to cut him short, she says I was sounding too interested

There were also a good few stationary engines and motorbikes including a met police Norton interpol rotary,

I bet he wouldnt have known what a Scandeere was .

I was interested in the engine of the first one and google told me this:-
The tractors were first marketed as the Turner "Yeoman of England" MK2 at the Shrewsbury Royal Show in July 1949. Prior to that time a number of prototype tractors were built and tested and they were treated as the MK1's.

TRACTORS

www.turnerregister.co.uk

 

[Two on Tour]

The Devil's Punchbowl falls at Arthur's Pass are pretty spectacular and worth a visit, but there are 398 steps to get to it.

 

[Two on Tour]

Further along Arthur's Pass is a place called the Cave Stream.
The cave is nearly 600 metres long from entry to exit with several small waterfalls within it.
If you feel adventurous, then you can travel through the cave, but expect to get wet.

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[funflair]

I have been absent from this thread for a while as we have been on an overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound, no internet which was most likely a godsend as there are far better views out there than a phone screen

Getting there is not straightforward as first you have to cross Manapouri lake and then take a coach over a gravel road to the Sound itself,

This will be our home for the next 20 hours (makes a nice change from “the shed”)

 

[funflair]

Looking at the weather forecast we were expecting a bad day but the coach driver on the way over kept saying how lucky we were to have picked a good day

But it did turn out nice,

Actually nice enough to get the kayaks off the back of the boat and have a little paddle, those not in kayaks could go in one of the boats tenders, they were supposed to be “safety boat” but promptly went the opposite direction

No spray decks so got a bit wet

 

[funflair]

Just stopped driving for the day so another update,

After the kayaking in a sheltered arm off the main sound we headed out to the mouth and the Tasman sea,

Not quite as sheltered to be fair and it did get a bit bouncy,

A little bit of shelter behind these small islands inhabited by fur seals and we had a couple of smaller Albatross skimming around but too fast for the cameraman

The crew on the boat were great and they had a resident wildlife guy who kept giving us updates and snippets of information re flora, fauna, wildlife etc, we turned around just in the mouth of the sound and headed back in looking for a sheltered spot for the evening, dinner was served on the way and very nice it was as well but half way through the captain came on the tannoy and said “dolphins on the right side of the boat” in the mad rush for outside I forgot my phone but luckily Jen was better prepared

they were doing barrel rolls and jumping and just generally having fun a few minutes and the show was over and back to the table.

After a 30 minute nature talk it was time for a glass of wine and a chat with some other passengers, talk was that we might have rain overnight and indeed we woke to a bit of rain and low clouds (actually it was pitch black but that is what we had when it got light)

A bit of dodgy weather is not always the end of the world in the Fiords as the rain runs straight off the rocks making 100’s of small waterfalls that were not there the day before.

 

[funflair]

In some places the boat took us very close to the near vertical sides of the Fiord, despite being very steep rock they are covered in trees and ferns, it’s quite fascinating how the trees cling on (most of the time) basically the glacial rock is inhabited by lichen, then moss stick to the lichen, moss holds water and small ferns grow in the moss followed by trees, the trees interlock their roots and some go down into small cracks in the rock and they all cling on,

That is until one tree lets go and triggers what they call a tree avalanche leaving bare rock and a mass of logs in the Fiord, the cycle of moss ferns and trees starts all over again and can be viewed in various stages as the voyage progresses.

All in all a really nice and interesting “mini cruise”

 

[Two on Tour]

Having seen the likes of the quirky "welly" and "undies fence" along with "teapotland", today we found "Letterbox village" in a suburb of Wellington. Most of them have a door that opens to reveal all manor of odds and sods.

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