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Tom Clark
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| Country: | United Kingdom  |
| City: | Manchester |
| Registered: | July 12th, 2007 |
| Num of photos: | 774 |
| Age: | 61 |
| Selected as fav: | 1 |
| Photogear: | Kodak Z740 (5megapixel, 10x zoom); Samsung NX10 with 200mm zoom lens; Vivitar 3D vid camera; FinePix |
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The Age of Steam...
Posted by Tom Clark on February 1st, 2009 | 0 comments | 184 views
... has not yet passed! I'll prove that in a moment.
CHRISTMAS DAY 2008:
At last, I was in New Zealand. 2 days late, so I missed out on staying a night at a great hostel, and missed the Trans Alp train trip across the mountains and into Greymouth. This was a great shame, as my daughter had paid for both in advance, and lost that money. Tracie turned up at Christchurch airport not many minutes after I'd collected my baggage.
Here's a tip: if you see a long line of people waiting at security, eager to get out of the place, take a chance and go through the channel for anything to declare. If you have hiking boots, declare them... in NZ, they are keen to screen anything that has trod soil (especially agricultural land), and will examine your boots, then pass you through to freedom.
REMEMBER: this only works if you have cleaned your boots before flying to NZ (mine had trodden on the USA's finest snow and ice, and were okay. And the trick will only work if there are just a few people in the 'Anything to Declare' line... and if the security people aren't tired, and passing people through slowly! I was lucky.
Seven hours??? That's how long my daughter had driven, to meet me... all the way from Franz Josef! So we stopped in a place called Springfield, and I made the inevitable joke about 'The Simpsons'. And what did we see, painted on a building front? The Simpsons! But... just recognisable. If you are reading this, and you are the adult who painted that, you need drawing lessons. If you are a very young child... well done, you have talent!
No shops or cafes open on this day, but Tracie had brought along crackers, biscuits, cheeses, etc. However, after we had booked in and enquired about meals, and found that there wasn't one, as we settled our baggage into the dorm...
CHRISTMAS DINNER APPEARED! The hostel owner, who had just dined with a group, brought out two plates full of potatoes, pork, veg, etc... and some fruit cake for desert. And he refused to charge for it. I can recommend this hostel to you if you pass that way, for this reason alone... the owner is a top bloke! And it's a good base to explore the area too. The interior has an old iron stove, loads of books, and lots of interesting items to look at. It's called 'Smylies Accommodation, Motel, YHA, and Ski Lodge. If I ever find myself in Springfield in the future, that's the place I'll book into!
BOXING DAY:
We set off, and I left behind my supply of chocolate as a thank you for the dinner. However, not many kilometers out of Springfield, there was a bang, a cloud of steam from the front, and dirty brown water everywhere. peering into the bowels of the car, we saw the top radiator hose... it had rotted away inside, and exploded.
Within minutes, somebody stopped and took Tracie back to Springfield. I waited by the car, forgetting to wear the hat that was inside, and getting badly sunburned. It was summer over there! A mechanic arrived and fixed the car, and then told us to drive over a few hills to a lake and park up. He came back to check us, to see if the car could make it over Arthurs Pass! Thought we'd blown a gasket when he first filled the radiator, as bubbles appeared... but after his 2nd look, he let us go on.
THE END:
I'll cut this short.. you don't want to hear of every day of my holiday, do you? Enough to say that I had a great (delayed) Christmas celebration with Tracie and Mike...
Enjoyed spectacular views of Franz Josef glacier from outside the farmhouse they live in...
Went on a jetboat, on the White Heron Tour...
Was eaten alive by sandflies (mozzies) on the nocturnal Kiwi Tour (we saw and heard a few Brown Kiwi's...
Went to Okarito Beach twice, and went on a boat trip on the lagoon...
Saw the FJ Glacier from above, as we flew over it all on the Air Safari plane...
Did a half-day glacier hike next day, on the same glacier...
Had a great night out in Franz Josef, on New Year's Eve, in 'The Landing', and 'Blue Ice'...
Had a soak in the Glacier Hot Pools...
I also experienced the blackest black I've seen for a long time, on a very cloudy night, when I went to my bedroom window, opened the curtains, switched of the torch, and saw... nothing. Absolute blackness... no moon or stars, no distant lights... just pitch black. last time that happened, I was in a cave and the guide turned off his torch!
But on one night, I had to creep downstairs and go outside. The stars were out, and I thought I'd try to point my camera at them and see what came out. I'll post a shot soon... see what you think! I'm working on my photos, so I'll post some of them as soon as they are done.
Again, as in 2005, I didn't want to leave. I'm beginning to feel as if Manchester is the place I just live in (no offence to my lovely friends there), but New zealand is my real home, where my heart lies.
Now, all I have to do... is win the Lottery....
CHRISTMAS DAY 2008:
At last, I was in New Zealand. 2 days late, so I missed out on staying a night at a great hostel, and missed the Trans Alp train trip across the mountains and into Greymouth. This was a great shame, as my daughter had paid for both in advance, and lost that money. Tracie turned up at Christchurch airport not many minutes after I'd collected my baggage.
Here's a tip: if you see a long line of people waiting at security, eager to get out of the place, take a chance and go through the channel for anything to declare. If you have hiking boots, declare them... in NZ, they are keen to screen anything that has trod soil (especially agricultural land), and will examine your boots, then pass you through to freedom.
REMEMBER: this only works if you have cleaned your boots before flying to NZ (mine had trodden on the USA's finest snow and ice, and were okay. And the trick will only work if there are just a few people in the 'Anything to Declare' line... and if the security people aren't tired, and passing people through slowly! I was lucky.
Seven hours??? That's how long my daughter had driven, to meet me... all the way from Franz Josef! So we stopped in a place called Springfield, and I made the inevitable joke about 'The Simpsons'. And what did we see, painted on a building front? The Simpsons! But... just recognisable. If you are reading this, and you are the adult who painted that, you need drawing lessons. If you are a very young child... well done, you have talent!
No shops or cafes open on this day, but Tracie had brought along crackers, biscuits, cheeses, etc. However, after we had booked in and enquired about meals, and found that there wasn't one, as we settled our baggage into the dorm...
CHRISTMAS DINNER APPEARED! The hostel owner, who had just dined with a group, brought out two plates full of potatoes, pork, veg, etc... and some fruit cake for desert. And he refused to charge for it. I can recommend this hostel to you if you pass that way, for this reason alone... the owner is a top bloke! And it's a good base to explore the area too. The interior has an old iron stove, loads of books, and lots of interesting items to look at. It's called 'Smylies Accommodation, Motel, YHA, and Ski Lodge. If I ever find myself in Springfield in the future, that's the place I'll book into!
BOXING DAY:
We set off, and I left behind my supply of chocolate as a thank you for the dinner. However, not many kilometers out of Springfield, there was a bang, a cloud of steam from the front, and dirty brown water everywhere. peering into the bowels of the car, we saw the top radiator hose... it had rotted away inside, and exploded.
Within minutes, somebody stopped and took Tracie back to Springfield. I waited by the car, forgetting to wear the hat that was inside, and getting badly sunburned. It was summer over there! A mechanic arrived and fixed the car, and then told us to drive over a few hills to a lake and park up. He came back to check us, to see if the car could make it over Arthurs Pass! Thought we'd blown a gasket when he first filled the radiator, as bubbles appeared... but after his 2nd look, he let us go on.
THE END:
I'll cut this short.. you don't want to hear of every day of my holiday, do you? Enough to say that I had a great (delayed) Christmas celebration with Tracie and Mike...
Enjoyed spectacular views of Franz Josef glacier from outside the farmhouse they live in...
Went on a jetboat, on the White Heron Tour...
Was eaten alive by sandflies (mozzies) on the nocturnal Kiwi Tour (we saw and heard a few Brown Kiwi's...
Went to Okarito Beach twice, and went on a boat trip on the lagoon...
Saw the FJ Glacier from above, as we flew over it all on the Air Safari plane...
Did a half-day glacier hike next day, on the same glacier...
Had a great night out in Franz Josef, on New Year's Eve, in 'The Landing', and 'Blue Ice'...
Had a soak in the Glacier Hot Pools...
I also experienced the blackest black I've seen for a long time, on a very cloudy night, when I went to my bedroom window, opened the curtains, switched of the torch, and saw... nothing. Absolute blackness... no moon or stars, no distant lights... just pitch black. last time that happened, I was in a cave and the guide turned off his torch!
But on one night, I had to creep downstairs and go outside. The stars were out, and I thought I'd try to point my camera at them and see what came out. I'll post a shot soon... see what you think! I'm working on my photos, so I'll post some of them as soon as they are done.
Again, as in 2005, I didn't want to leave. I'm beginning to feel as if Manchester is the place I just live in (no offence to my lovely friends there), but New zealand is my real home, where my heart lies.
Now, all I have to do... is win the Lottery....