New Zealand or Bust

[funflair]

funflair I am worried. It may have been on my recommendation that you went to The Pier Hotel. We had stayed there and had a meal in the restaurant last winter when it was out of season and not too busy. The meal and service was pretty good at that time but I have just read some terrible reviews on TripAdvisor, all written in the last couple of months. Maybe there has been a change of chef. I hope your meal was OK.

Thanks but don't worry we decided to eat there instead of washing up the meal was average I think, Jen said her chips were nice but she tried the crayfish and said she wouldn't have it again, the wine was nice

 

[rolosroller]

I don't mean to frighten you but Kaikoura had a massive earthquake in 2016, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale. It triggered a tsunami, killed two people and damage to SH1 and the main north railway line took almost 4 years to repair costing over NZ$1.2billion. The shocks caused extensive damage to buildings in Wellington too, some of which are still abandoned.
If I were you I would head for the hills if you feel a shake.

 

[funflair]

No driving today unless you count moving about 10 metres to get a front row ocean view, lovely walk around Kaikoura peninsular, fantastic views at every turn, seals on the rocks at the start and I am convinced I saw a dolphin, it jumped twice and then was gone,

And one for the number plate collection,

About 7 miles round so now sat in the sun with a cup of tea, checked email and one from the ferry company says we sail a day earlier than we though that’s what happens when you put dates on the calendar in the UK and then move 13 hours, anyway we have a little bit of slack that we can use so will be OK.

It will be wine o clock very soon

 

[funflair]

So they did come out to play

Sperm whale, this is just a screen shot from the video,

Dusky dolphin.

Video hopefully

Whale

Dolphins

 

[Mr porky]

So they did come out to play

View attachment 1029612
Sperm whale, this is just a screen shot from the video,

View attachment 1029613
Dusky dolphin.

Video hopefully

Whale

Dolphins

Fantastic

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[funflair]

This is Mrs Funflair and this is my first post.

The boat trip wasn’t for anyone with a delicate stomach, it was a bit rough and made worse by the crew going on about sea sickness and bags etc, it was enough to make anyone feel queasy.

 

[Mr porky]

This is Mrs Funflair and this is my first post.

The boat trip wasn’t for anyone with a delicate stomach, it was a bit rough and made worse by the crew going on about sea sickness and bags etc, it was enough to make anyone feel queasy.

You should be funfairtoo like the jumar And jumartoo. Welcome

 

[funflair]

You should be funfairtoo like the jumar And jumartoo. Welcome

You mean funflairtoo, she's definitely not a Merry Go Round

 

[jongood]

You should be funfairtoo like the jumar And jumartoo. Welcome

I suggested Martin should change his forum name when they bought the Morelo, I still cannot understand why he didnt fancy being "funpalace"

 

[jongood]

This is Mrs Funflair and this is my first post.

The boat trip wasn’t for anyone with a delicate stomach, it was a bit rough and made worse by the crew going on about sea sickness and bags etc, it was enough to make anyone feel queasy.

So gald you got to see the Whales

no access to Kaikoura when we were there because the road wasn't repaired

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[funflair]

I suggested Martin should change his forum name when they bought the Morelo, I still cannot understand why he didnt fancy being "funpalace"

I went to a vote Jon and funflair won, I had to go with the majority

 

[nicholsong]

I suggested Martin should change his forum name when they bought the Morelo, I still cannot understand why he didnt fancy being "funpalace"

Jon

"funpalace" would sound like a kiddies playground and I am sure the Palace would not take kindly to being used like that !

 

[funflair]

Says it all really,

 

[funflair]

Stopped off at Ohau seal colony,

 

[Jane NotRog]

Fantastic photos and blog, thanks!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[funflair]

A couple more of the seals that wouldn’t load earlier, there were literally 100’s of mothers and pups,

Including these nursery pools where the pups were just having fun,

We are now at Renwick just outside Blenheim on a NZMCA Park Over Property, on our own in a paddock and wine tasting a short walk away so that’s tomorrow sorted, we strolled up there today just to see what the crack was and talking to the lady she said “oh I lived in North Yorkshire’ Osmothey actually” about 5 miles from where I grew up

Well it would have been rude not to have a glass while we were there of course.

 

[KiwiKampers]

funflair We are going to be in Blenheim on Thursday seeing Kiwibrit who is kindly mending our fly screens on the van.
Whenever we stay in Blenheim we stop at the racecourse where you can park alongside the barriers and the finishing post. The trainers keep their harness horses in the stables there and I love waking up to the sound of the horses trotting by and watching them race round in the sulkies while I have my breakfast. It's also an NZMCA park-over property. There's a laundry there and a book exchange which is usually full of Mills & Boons. I have never understood why motorhomers read such rubbish.

 

[funflair]

funflair We are going to be in Blenheim on Thursday seeing Kiwibrit who is kindly mending our fly screens on the van.
Whenever we stay in Blenheim we stop at the racecourse where you can park alongside the barriers and the finishing post. The trainers keep their harness horses in the stables there and I love waking up to the sound of the horses trotting by and watching them race round in the sulkies while I have my breakfast. It's also an NZMCA park-over property. There's a laundry there and a book exchange which is usually full of Mills & Boons. I have never understood why motorhomers read such rubbish.

Sadly we are on the Picton Ferry midday Thursday otherwise I would have loved to have helped

 

[funflair]

Walked into town 3 shops and a few houses, passed a roadside honesty box stall with plums, grapes and 3 small bags of figs (I love figs) so I said we will get them on the way back save carrying, bugger they had all gone so we walked up to their shop but the lady said that was all that was ripe this morning but she would try well she found about 12 for £2 a couple went in with the sausages not my best idea, they were much better with nuts and dates for afters and should be OK with breakfast (porridge and fruit)

Now it’s raining after a changeable day, yesterday was 30 deg

 

[funflair]

Popped into town for a Coffee and Cake before wine tasting but ended up chatting to a couple of people on the way so it was about 1.30 before we got a glass of anything so it needed some nibbles with it, what can I say ? wine tasting isn't really something you can describe or photograph (I suppose I could attempt a description if I could remember what we had ) ,

apart from view of the vines and the mountains of course,

And the inevitable evidence, we started at Nautilus Estate as we had had some of theirs from supermarkets and it was OK, we then went to Forrest as it was on the way home,

A better experience for us but to be fair some other people where we are staying said they enjoyed Nautilus better so hey ho, we only managed two tasting but some folk we talked to who were on the bus were on number 6 and it was still only 4pm they had started at 10 though, don’t know if that was before or after breakfast or was that actually breakfast

One of the bottles was NZ$110 at the cellar door and sorry it was no better than some of the supermarket stuff for $20, so we either know nothing about wine or I am not easily parted from my cash (most likely the latter) anyway a nice walk out and when we got back the Kiwi couple on our POP who had been doing the same invited us around “for another drink” so that was nice

EDIT and no the packet of crisps isn't the nibbles (i'm ot that tight) we had a smoked salmon pate platter and very nice it was as well.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[jongood]

Popped into town for a Coffee and Cake before wine tasting but ended up chatting to a couple of people on the way so it was about 1.30 before we got a glass of anything so it needed some nibbles with it, what can I say ? wine tasting isn't really something you can describe or photograph (I suppose I could attempt a description if I could remember what we had ) ,

View attachment 1030748
apart from view of the vines and the mountains of course,

View attachment 1030750
And the inevitable evidence, we started at Nautilus Estate as we had had some of theirs from supermarkets and it was OK, we then went to Forrest as it was on the way home,

View attachment 1030751
A better experience for us but to be fair some other people where we are staying said they enjoyed Nautilus better so hey ho, we only managed two tasting but some folk we talked to who were on the bus were on number 6 and it was still only 4pm they had started at 10 though, don’t know if that was before or after breakfast or was that actually breakfast

One of the bottles was NZ$110 at the cellar door and sorry it was no better than some of the supermarket stuff for $20, so we either know nothing about wine or I am not easily parted from my cash (most likely the latter) anyway a nice walk out and when we got back the Kiwi couple on our POP who had been doing the same invited us around “for another drink” so that was nice

EDIT and no the packet of crisps isn't the nibbles (i'm ot that tight) we had a smoked salmon pate platter and very nice it was as well.

Sue was very into Villa Maria when we visited so we called in there for a little fortification. We were surprised to find the same wine was well over 50% more expensive than Morrisons, when we asked why we were told it was buying power. I understand buying power but still don't really see how shipping it halfway round the world and paying tariffs (2017) could make it cheaper. I suppose the simple answer is most things in NZ are more expensive.

 

[PaddyM]

There are no tariffs on wine between NZ and the UK or any other goods for that matter . This is a post Brexit agreement .

Free Trade Agreement UK – New Zealand - Oury Clark

Everything you need to know about the Free Trade Agreement between the UK and New Zealand in our handy guide.

www.ouryclark.com

 

[jongood]

There are no tariffs on wine between NZ and the UK or any other goods for that matter . This is a post Brexit agreement .

Free Trade Agreement UK – New Zealand - Oury Clark

Everything you need to know about the Free Trade Agreement between the UK and New Zealand in our handy guide.

www.ouryclark.com

There was in 2017 thanks to the inward looking protectionist policies of the EU.

 

[funflair]

On the ferry back to North Island, delayed by about 3 hours due to bad weather yesterday, they said it was 4.8 m swell today but doesn’t feel like it, was windy out on deck though,

We overtook a cruise ship on the way out of Queen Charlotte Sound,

And a rainbow thrown in for good measure.

Looks like will be finding tonight park up in the dark now.

 

[StillGoing]

funflair we have picked up a Maui in Brisbane. It is supposed to be the same as the NZ one we had apart from it has aircon. We were amazed when we collected the motorhome. It is so much better than the NZ one. It has been screwed together properly, the draws don’t fly open, it has motorhome furniture rather than something that looks like it came from IKEA, it has a motorhome sink rather than a B&Q kitchen sink, it has separate toilet and shower, it has more space inside, it’s better designed inside, the lockers are lower so we can reach them - it’s just so much better. We’re very happy with it so far.

The aircon (Truma Aventa) is essential but it is very noisy. The windows in the NZ one were panaormaic but in the Australian one they are quite small to keep the heat out. We’ve had a few minor niggles (it’s brand new so we’re doing its first trip) but I think that’s to be expected.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[funflair]

funflair we have picked up a Maui in Brisbane. It is supposed to be the same as the NZ one we had apart from it has aircon. We were amazed when we collected the motorhome. It is so much better than the NZ one. It has been screwed together properly, the draws don’t fly open, it has motorhome furniture rather than something that looks like it came from IKEA, it has a motorhome sink rather than a B&Q kitchen sink, it has separate toilet and shower, it has more space inside, it’s better designed inside, the lockers are lower so we can reach them - it’s just so much better. We’re very happy with it so far.

The aircon (Truma Aventa) is essential but it is very noisy. The windows in the NZ one were panaormaic but in the Australian one they are quite small to keep the heat out. We’ve had a few minor niggles (it’s brand new so we’re doing its first trip) but I think that’s to be expected.

Quite a relief I imagine enjoy the trip, photos please.

 

[funflair]

I haven’t reported in for a couple of days, crossed back onto North Island and spent the night on a NZMCA park at Plimmerton not far out of Wellington, then moved on to Turangi which is a few miles from Lake Taupo, a couple of people have said we must do the SH1 desert road well it has been done, it’s more like a moor than desert but certainly not as nice as the North Yorkshire moors

Yesterday from Turangi we decided to do a walk that follows the river which is supposed to be one of the best trout fishing rivers in NZ, the description was to follow the river watching fishermen waste deep in the river, well we only saw the river from a couple of spots as the vegetation got in the way

These fantails are fearless I had to duck otherwise this one would have landed on my hat I think.

We are making our way back towards Auckland and doing the Spellbound caves today so we had a nice drive from Turangi to the Waitomo area and stopping at Ōtorohanga tonight.

On a campsite tonight, we actually booked it yesterday thinking we might be coming straight from the caves and it would be late, anyway we were early so checked it, totally automatically, you retrieve your booking on a screen and then it prints a ticket with gate code and your pitch number

 

[funflair]

Thanks to Paul and Yvette Two on Tour for the heads up on the best caves to do, we enjoyed Spellbound, only 11 on the trip and plenty of time in the caves, there were times when the guide said no cameras/no lights so you got the full effect and then times he said OK you can take photos (not easy in the pitch dark)

The glow worms are on the rock face but they hang their light on a sticky thread to attract flies,

Paul and Yvette, your pics are better than mine so feel free to show me up we both felt like we had a LED camouflage net over our heads and it didn’t really feel like inside a cave I’m sure we were though

30 seconds exposure for this so we had to stand still,

 

[KiwiKampers]

funflair I thought of you this evening as I drove home to Nelson from Blenheim because we got stuck behind a Maui that insisted on doing 20kph under the speed limit all the way over the hills. There was nowhere to overtake and there was a queue of trucks and cars behind him and he wouldn't pull over. Then I remembered your problems with the Maui and thought I ought to take pity on him because his cutlery drawer was probably falling out every time he went around a bend!
BTW, some believe that fantails are the spirits of the departed. I often have fantails keeping me company in the garden. They're interested in the bugs that are eating my veggies so I'm happy to see them.

 

[KiwiKampers]

StillGoing I was interested to read your observations about the Maui you picked up in Brisbane and did a little Googling to see who manufactures the Australian Maui's. As far as I can make out they are all made by Action in Hamilton, NZ. I think Action may be a new branding for the old Kea, but I could be wrong. I have only started seeing Action-built motorhomes on New Zealand roads in the last year or so.
I was also interested to read the reviews on Trip Advisor about Maui. They rate very poorly in NZ with most people giving them a rating of just 2.
After funflair 's experience I certainly won't be recommending them to anyone.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}