Chinese New Year

Hi there

It was Chinese New Year when I was in Queenstown.  So many happy celebrants in the town, it was hard to move.  I couldnt get a car park on the actual night.

I would say, at all times, there are more Asian and American tourists than New Zealanders walking around Queenstown.  The price for Queenstown accommodation is all but out of range for kiwis.  The cheapest motel night I could find was NZ$285.  I'm lucky in that my health insurance company has cheap holiday homes around the country.

The ANZ bank likes celebrations. Here's a pic of last week's Wellington ATM -

Naughty Dog

Hi there
I was standing at a bus stop in Queenstown,  A young guy came along with a dog.  He leashed the dog to a tear-drop advertising flag outside the Salvation Army charity clothing shop.   The dog whimpered at this outrage.

The guy went into the shop.  The dog tried to follow his master inside.  And do you know what?  The dog succeeded!  Pulling the flag behind him.

Everyone at the bus stop held their breath as the top of the flag got wedged under the ridge at the top of the doorway.

But no - with a loud grating sound - the dog, his leash, the flag, the base of the flag all disappeared inside the shop!

Hilarious!

Just in case my readers don't know what a tear-drop flag is ...  here's a pic of one that's in Miramar, opposite our Roxy Theatre.

more Queenstown holiday

Hi there

Here are more views of my Queenstown holiday.

Below:  the wharf area in Queenstown.  Taken through the window at Prime restaurant -

Below:  daytime view from my Queenstown balcony. 

Below:  one of many great views from Mou Waho Island in the middle of Lake Wanaka:

Wanaka is about an hour and a half drive from Queenstown.

Queenstown, New Zealand

Hi there

I've just come back from a week in Queenstown, the so-called Adventure Capital of New Zealand (or is that The World?)

I came back home absolutely exhausted.  I climbed so many hills and trekked along so many tracks.  I'm too old for all that hill-climbing.


I've just tried to put a video on this blog, straight from my phone, but couldn't do it.  Darn...

I went across to Lake Wanaka for a day -

below: evening view from my rented holiday home, Queenstown:

below:  it's a lake on an island on a lake on an island!

The lake is on the island of Mou Waho in Lake Wanaka, in the South Island

genealogy

Hi there

I wish I'd paid more attention to that bundle of papers that were posted to me out of the blue from that cousin I didn't know I had, the papers that told me all about my genealogy heritage.  This unknown cousin had done all the necessary searching into the family tree, and there was nothing left for me to do.  My friends were spending hours researching their backgrounds with to and fro letters to all around the world and here I was with the information dropped into my lap.

 The papers have since left my lap and are somewhere around the house.  I must hunt them out.  But what I can remember is that we were the first pioneers robbed by bush-rangers somewhere down the South Island.  We had the first pioneer  baby born in Southland (or somewhere with a 'south' in it).  And the pub that an ancestor owned was reputed to hold his hoard of gold coins somewhere in the walls.  When the place was knocked down, hundreds of people swarmed around the place looking for the riches.

I havent had the fun of doing the research for myself but, hey-ho, I can sit happily back, mentally thanking my unknown cousin who is not so unknown to me nowadays; he still sends me the odd snippet of information that he digs up.  Thanks, cuz.

How good is a proper shower?

Hi there
Yesterday, the eye doctor gave me the go-ahead to shower properly, and swim, and most of the other things that cataract surgery has prevented me from doing.  He's still a bit wary about me tripping over tree roots when I'm out hiking, but I can live with being barred from that. Maybe.

It's just sad that during the time Wellington's temperature was in the high twenties I wasn't allowed to swim and today when I can swim the temp is 16c/18c.  And there's lots of those tiddly little jellyfish.  And ultra-low tide.