A Visit to the Mainland

Catch-up; March 2021

Back in late March, Royalty arrived in the high country. Family Royalty that is. Mum & Dad who came to check out Night Sky Cottages for themselves. They flew into Christchurch from Napier on a direct flight and I met them at the airport after catching a bus from Twizel. We hired a car and I drove them back to the cottages, they hadn't been in the South Island for many years so it was great for them to sit back & enjoy the scenery.

For the first ten days we relaxed at the cottages and fitted in day trips (complete with a picnic lunches) around the Mackenzie Country. One of our first trips was to Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park.

Mt Sefton & White Horse Hill Campground- Aoraki/Mt Cook

The weather was fabulous, we'd timed the visit just right, not too cold nor too hot. Just stunning blue bird days. 

It was an especially calm day when we visited Lake Ohau &  the Ohau River weir, the water crystal clear.

T-Ohau River, Left- Ohau River outlet, Right-Lake Ohau & Ben Ohau

Looks like Banksy's been visiting the high country too. Rude Kids- on one of the canal towers 

I took them to see some of my my favourite places- Lake Ruataniwha

Oahu C Camp Lagoon at Lake Benmore; autumn was just around the corner.

We took the long way back to Christchurch; down the Waitaki Valley to Oamaru, checking the dams out as we went and stopping at Kurow for lunch & a hot drink on the way.

Followed by a pit stop at Duntroon where the art on the toilet block brought a smile to our face. The A2O Cycle Trail (Alps to Ocean) passes down the valley too. There's now a new toilet block nearby but I think they've left this there as well.

While Mum & Dad rested up at the Oamaru Air BnB we'd booked for the night, I took myself on a walking tour of the Oamaru Public Gardens which I thoroughly enjoyed, especially the colourful blooms in the hothouse.

The next day we headed off to Christchurch, first stop just up the road at the Rainbow Sweets factory shop. Just for a look of course. We all have a sweet tooth although I think Mum & I take the family cake for scoffing our loot in no time at all. Dad tends to make his last a few weeks (if Mum doesn't find his stash). Half an hour & several large bags of sweets later we made it back to the car. 

Our next stop was Riverstone Castle, one of my favourite places to visit whenever I am passing. I knew Mum & Dad would enjoy a visit too.

We had a lovely lunch at Riverstone Kitchen before exploring the gardens & shops. Dad looked very pleased with his favourite Blue Cod & chips ('rabbit food' passed over to me). I had great delight in letting him know that this particular dish was our 'takeaways' back in the original Level 4 & 3  lockdown last year. We spent that Lockdown just down the road at the Glenavy Waitaki Holiday Park & Riverstone Kitchen supplied takeaway fish 'n chips when we moved to Level 3. 

Mum was in her element, she had a craft shop at Bay View in Hawkes Bay for many years and spent her 'retirement years' selling at craft markets. She even met and had a natter with the owner, Dot, who was unpacking stock. 

For the next few nights we stayed at an Air BnB in Rolleston (near Weedons NZMCA Park, where David was due to arrive from Twizel with the 5th-wheeler a couple of days later).

Dad wanted to do a tiki tour of Akaroa Peninsula, he hadn't been on the road around the top of the rim before. We stopped at Little River for a morning coffee and then I turned off at the summit and travelled clockwise around the top. Which was just as well when Mum saw how far down it was on some of the road edges on the inside or when I pulled over to show them the view.

Akaroa Harbour, Banks Peninsula

Once down from the top we had lunch & an icecream in Akaroa township before heading home.

When planning the trip I had asked Dad if he wanted to visit some of his old haunts; he's a born & bred South Islander. At the time he'd said no he wasn't fussed but once we were in Christchurch we decided we couldn't get this close & not check his old hometown out. He was born in Woodend just north of Christchurch, went to school in Woodend and also spent some time in Sefton just a little further north before his family shifted north to Havelock North in Hawkes Bay.

St Barnabas Anglican Church, Woodend

So we did the obligatory tour, stopping at the family church (which is on the main highway) and finding many of his Eder relations on the cemetery burial list. Next stop was Dad's primary school, then locating his old house (with add-ons) down a back road & checking out the cenotaph roll of honour for relatives & finding his Uncle Jim Eder listed there. 

Then it was off to Sefton where some of his cousins still live. We drove a few more back roads, Dad giving us a running commentary of who lived where & what went on there before finding our way back onto the main road near Saltwater Creek where he used to go white-baiting with his cousin. Funnily enough the rest area beside the creek is where we often stop for lunch or a cup-of-tea break when we're travelling. 

And then before we knew it it was time for them to fly home. We all had a lovely time and for me it was great to spend some quality time with Mum & Dad and show them around our new home province. 

 

For My Blog Subscribers

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Hello to all my loyal subscribers, this is a post just for you guys. There's been a bit of a drama with Blogger (my blog's platform) lately. The Feedburner gadget- that's the one where you entered your email address to subscribe to my blog so you'd received an email each time I posted a blog- has been discontinued and will cease to send you emails on July 1st, 2021. 

Not being an IT specialist/nerd (I'm more front of house), I have no idea about behind the scenes computer speak so it's been a worrying time changing the email subscriber widget on my blog to another supplier. But thanks to follow.it and their team of very helpful assistants & 'Happiness Manager' (and that is one of the titles), I have finally managed to change the button on my blog and forward my list of subscribers to them.

So if you are a subscriber (and I thank you very much for your continued interest in my blog) this is to let you know that from now on you will receive a legitimate email from follow.it whenever I post a blog. Hopefully it won't find it's way to your junk folder....but if it does I guess you won't know about it anyway! Of course if you wish to unsubscribe (and I'm sure you don't!) you will be able to do this, as before, on the email once you receive it.

If you do stay tuned I am about ready to post several blogs on our next destination; Poolburn Dam in Central Otago. It's taken several days to process the hundreds of photos I took there and I'm sure you'll be impressed with the final selection.

Once again, many thanks for your continued commitment, comments & support. 

And if you aren't a subscriber and wish to follow my blog you can fill in your email details in the 'Follow Me Here' box out in the right hand column. And *fingers crossed*, it works! 

Best regards & safe travels
Shellie

Poolburn Dam, Central Otago

Night Sky Cottages Are Go

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What can I say but sorry folks for the lack of contact over the last few weeks. I know, here I am again apologising for the lack of posts, and shock, horror, I am really disappointed with myself that there were no posts for November. That's the first time in the eight year history of the blog that I have missed a whole month! 

Hence the reason I'm now posting this blog, I don't want December to follow suit! No, not really although there is a little truth in there somewhere. With a busy Christmas season ahead of us, I probably won't be back posting regularly again until the New Year.  

And many of you will know the reason for the lack of postings, for the last six months we have been parked up in Twizel preparing our property purchase 'Night Sky Cottages' for the holiday home rental market. 

Kahu Cottage

Hot tub under the stars- Kahu Cottage

It's been a long haul that didn't come without a lot of  'blood, sweat & tears', not to mention fog, snow & frosts but we are finally finished and are both thrilled with the end result! It's going to be hard to pull out of here next week, the roots have gone a lot deeper this time.

Kea Cottage

Wild Flower Garden & Strawberry Patch

Last night the cottages' Facebook page went live so I thought you might like to see them in all their glory, click this link below to view, find the 'Photo' tab at the top of the page for the interior shots and don't forget to follow if you'd like to keep up to date with the news, & views, of Mackenzie Country- 

Night Sky Cottages Facebook Page 

Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve

If I don't manage to get back here before Christmas, we'd like to wish all my readers a relaxing & happy holiday season after what has been a horrendous year for many of us. Keep safe & do get 'Out There' and explore your own backyard, you may be surprised at what you find. 

Take care & best regards

Shellie & David     

Winter in the Mackenzie- Part 1

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There's something magical about winter in the high country. If you're hardy enough to see past the regular heavy frosts, cold temperatures and odd foggy day, you'll be rewarded with an ever changing view of a stunning landscape. From spectacular sunrises & sunsets to snow covered mountains, big blue skies, crisp sunny days, hoar frosts and magnificent cloud formations, every day is different. 

Sunset- Ben Ohau Range, Twizel

Not to mention the crystal clear night sky. The Mackenzie Basin is one of the best places in the world to view the amazing night sky and winter happens to be the best time to view the world above us. The galactic core of the Milky Way galaxy is visible from the months of February to October in the Southern hemisphere and during the mid-winter months of June and July, the core is at its brightest. If you're lucky you might also see Aurora Australis, aka the Southern Lights, which can sometimes be seen dancing on the southern horizon during the long clear nights of winter.

Fog surrounds Night Sky Cottages

Fog is a regular visitor during the early days of winter when the land is cooled overnight after the warmer days of late autumn & early winter. Fog bows appear as the sun rises and the fog rolls in. I've seen several on our usual travels but this winter I've been lucky enough to see three or four over our back fence. Because fog water droplets are very small, fogbows have very weak colours or no colour at all, this is when a fogbow appears white, they're sometimes called white rainbows.

Fogbows don't last long, they're gone as soon as the fog obliterates the sun & blue sky. 

When the fog clears this is the view we have from our back fence; Ben Ohau (on the right) and the Ohau Range at the rear. Lake Ohau is tucked in between the two.

I did say you need to be prepared for cold temperatures didn't I? We had several days of -11c frosts.

After finding the laundry frozen one morning I purposely hung more out the next night so I could take photos of the frost on the pegs.

And then after some of my Facebook followers told me of childhood memories of clothing snapping in half in heavy frosts, I tried it with a tea towel. It rolled up instead.

The frosts made interesting patterns on spent flower heads, leaves and other items around the garden, including plenty of cobwebs. That made it easy to see where they were to clean them off.

After chasing hoar frosts around the South Island for four of the last five winters, I had my own mini ones right in my back yard! Click the photo to enlarge.

As I've already mentioned, the sunrises and sunsets have been spectacular and so varied. 

Sunset Over Ben Ohau Range

I was setting my alarm to catch the sunrises for a few weeks during the middle of winter, every morning was so different and the colour was often gone within minutes as cloud rolled in or the sun rose higher. The infamous Canterbury Nor'wester provided some fabulous cloud formations (centre left) at sunset.

I held my breath waiting for the first snow to fall around the cottages. And when it arrived (June 6th) I was like a kid in a candy shop. It blew in from the south gently splattering on the window, building up  to a noisy crescendo and filling the window pane with icy crystals. 

It fell for a couple of hours and then by mid afternoon it had melted back into the landscape.

The next snow fall was on the first day of spring (September 1st), this time a little heavier.

Night Sky Cottages

But it too was gone by late afternoon. It's been a very mild winter in the high country this year, the surrounding mountains were looking a little barren until another recent spring dumping.

Snow settles around Kahu Cottage

At 720 meters above sea level, Lake Tekapo usually sees more snow than it's sister village Twizel (at 480m) and just 50kms down the road. When snow fell at lake level in mid June I took a quick drive over to Lake Tekapo to shoot some snow photos. 

The snow was fast disappearing but I managed to get some lovely photos-

'That' Church, sans people- Church of the Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo

NZMCA Park, Lake Tekapo

And clockwise L to R- Lake Tekapo pedestrian bridge, my favourite Patterson Ponds & Two Thumb Range, the iconic Irishman Station letterbox, top end of Tekapo Canal, where very large fish are being caught and where next year this section of the canal will be closed for fishing during winter, families enjoying their hire motorhomes and fishing the Tekapo Canal and the last one, more from the Tekapo Canal.

I was delighted to come across this huge snow-kiwi while exploring, a clear path led me right to its location. The body had been rolled along through the snow, around a corner and down a slope, picking up everything in it's path including all the rabbit poo!

I love it how I'm now able to claim Lake Tekapo, Lake Pukaki and Aoraki/Mt Cook as being in my backyard.

Sunset over Lake Pukaki 
Aoraki Mt Cook is hidden under the dark cloud at the far end of the lake

I took the following two photos at either end of the same day; the moon sets behind Ben Ohau Range as the sun rises. The pink hue on the snow is known as alpenglow. Alpenglow is an atmospheric optical phenomenon which makes mountains appear to glow in a light pink or red hue. It occurs just after the sun sets or just before it rises.

Pukaki Canal & Ben Ohau Range

And at the other end of the day, the sun sets over Lake Ruataniwha (I'd been to Timaru and back in the hours between).

Lake Ruataniwha

It's not just snow & frosts during winter in the Mackenzie Basin, many days are sunny and settled. These big blue sky days are perfect for reflections on the many lakes and waterways around the high country. These ones from Lake Ruataniwha's 'Lagoon'- 

And this one from Kellands Pond-

Several times during the very cold frosts, the willow trees across the road that line the banks of the Fraser Stream were coated in frost icicles for most of the day. This localized hoar frost looked very pretty but with no blue sky it was hard to photograph.   

Although on one morning I had a hunch that the fog was about to clear so I headed off down the road towards the Pukaki Canal which is at the end of our road. As I neared Ben Ohau Station the fog started to swirl and lift and I was able to capture some of my favourite photos from this winter.  

Ben Ohau Station, Twizel

The station's merino sheep weren't too impressed with being interrupted from their silage breakfast though.

Ben Ohau Station's historic shed

The long grass and fences along both sides of the road were coated in ice; there's more build up when the moisture laden fog blows in over the open paddocks.

Loch Cameron is also at the end of our road, the trees on the little island were coated in frost.

I stopped to take some photos overlooking Fraser Stream from up on the canal road. I live by the motto of  'always taking the photo when I see the shot'. I never think to myself, I'll get that on my way back or after I've finished my lunch etc. Which is just as well.

I followed the canal road along towards Lake Ruataniwha and found a completely different world just 5 minutes down the road. Any fog that had been around had retreated and there were no signs of a hoar frost either. I turned around and headed back home passing Fraser Stream again, the hoar frost now completely gone from there too. 

Ben Ohau & the Ohau River

To be continued- My dream comes true; A Five Day Hoar Frost