Back home at Trudi's

A great flight, super stopover at Singapore airport with a luxurious swim in the  rooftop pool. 

 

The long flight before and after could not have been further from my mind! 

 Then a wonderful reunion with Marco at the airport and back home to Trudi's. I realise just how fantastic it is to be able to be at home in two such fabulous countries like New Zealand and Switzerland, but not only that, to have such close friends in both and a place to call home, and of course family in Nz and Britain.

There were some pretty chilly days prior to leaving Switzerland so the temperature in the twenties was very welcome, though soon too warm! It was great to brunch and bbq outside with such great views of the mountains and 'my lake'!

 

I realised how much at home I was in Zurich  as I bumped into an old friend as I got out of the train and was warmly greeted by all at the school. It was lovely to walk along by the lake to the school, to meet friends both for lunch, drinks and dinner. 

With a wonderful combination of work and pleasure, I soon settled back into life on the other side of the world. I had a gorgeous day with Marco in Rapperswil. I used to simply pass through the station and was one day introduced to this beautiful town , on the banks of the Zurichsee with a fantastic panorama, by Marco. I love the narrow alleyways, its colourful houses and the varied wildlife seen from the wooden bridge. It's a really restful place, perfect for catching up with a great friend after a half year away. 

 

There is a lot to be done for the summer camps but I think I have allowed plenty of time for this. 

Trudi and I had a brilliant day at one of the most beautiful gardens I know, Selegor Moor. I hadn't realised how far away it was and traffic on the motorway was horrendous, especially after the sometimes near empty roads of NZ. But, once in the tranquil surroundings of the park, the noise and pressure just melted away. The senses were totally awoken by the fantastic birdsong, the scent of the thousands of azaleas and camelias and the splendid sight of the absolutely marvelous colourful blooms.

 

What a paradise.

By the pools the sound of the frogs was incredible. It is hard to believe that such small creatures can be so loud. It was fantastic to watch them , hundreds of them trying to find partners willing enough to mate! Many females playing hard to get! 

 

It was a truly memorable visit to this heavenly place.

 

Now I am on the road again, with Dennis. Actually, no , first we took the train to Salzburg. Five hours can go very quickly when you have someone to make you laugh! 

 

A great source of amusement were the uniforms worn by the waitresses. They looked as if they were moulded to the bodies and the girls could hardly move. I certainly would not get a job there. 

 

It is a bit like a dream really that I am travelling again considering that I landed in Switzerland only one week ago. It has been an action-packed, friend-filled week. 

I am so happy to be able to travel again with Dennis, though amazingly it was only 5 weeks ago that we were enjoying the magnificent places in New Zealand. We are  now both discovering places in Austria which we have not visited before. Neither of us has spent much time in Austria and it looks very much as though it is well worth visiting. What a gorgeous view from the hills down on the old town of Salzburg, nearly all pedestrian area. 

It's a magnificent setting, with this little city nestled in between the hills and the river. 

The first thing we did was take the elevator up to a rather swish restaurant to savour both the view

 

And the delicious Apfelstrudel with Vanilla sauce. Yum! 

 

And of course being together with a great friend , the king of selfies! He is pretty good at them!

 

Salzburg is a city of fountains, sculptures-  some quite interesting !

And others requiring less imagination. 

And incredible buildings built into the cliff faces, withstanding the tests of time

 

Not to mention the huge open squares offering perfect places for markets, concerts and even vintage car rallies

 

There is plenty to see both in the old and the so-called new town. We had a wonderful stroll through the gardens in the new town. Very formally laid out gardens 

 

but with yet more rather remarkable figures. I need to research their background.

 

They certainly seemed rather fierce and not something one would want to meet on a dark night!

 

Dennis and I went our separate ways for a couple of hours . It was a warm day so I soon headed to a fabulously cool and quiet coutyard with the most magnificent tree and much-needed shade to start writing this blog.

 It was a haven. In fact, I found the new town just as captivating as the old one, particularly the lovely cemetery where Mozart's widow and father were buried.

 

It was a brilliant start to our long weekend trip. Thanks Dennis

 

And also to the incredible weather we had. We have been unbelievably lucky wherever we have been.

 I loved this forecast, seen in the new town.

 

Leaving Christchurch

How wonderful to have been able to experience the magnificent autumn weather and colours throughout the South Island and in Christchurch. It was fabulous, though frosty and cold in the mornings. We even had minus 3 some days ago.

It was beautiful visiting the Botanical gardens with friends and finally with David on Mother's Day. . What a lucky and happy Mum I was with David staying for the weekend and Mark, Emma and her parents coming for lunch. Add to that Jane and Rob from Invercargil joining us for a cooked breakfast, all adding up to a massive amount of eating.. fantastic when you can have great company too.

We needed an afternoon walk and The River Avon still looked amazing. It has been a long perfect autumn for sure.

 

I love this new structure, the Stairway to Heaven. The Paradise Ducks love it too! What a peaceful, serene place to stop and stare.

 

The past days have been so busy , i had to clear out a lot of precious stuff from the house and leave it looking sparkling clean for my housesitters, with the garden also in order. I thought my timing was good, but it took me much longer because of my tennis elbow and recovering knees, so Jane's help was very much needed and appreciated. We managed it!

A final lunch of sushi, drinks with my great friends Kerstin and Elizabeth, a delicious Indian meal with Mark and Emma and evening tea with Shirley, and now I find myself at the airport. Thick fog outside and drizzle. How lucky I was ro have auch perfect days leading up to departure.

Sad to leave the colours of Christchurch and family and friends

 

 

And my gorgeous paradise at home, with its lawn shrouded in vibrant autumnal coloured leaves

 

But also looking forward to seeing my family in Britain and my lovely friends in Switzerland and France. 

See you end of October New Zealand. Another exciting trip commences!

The MacKenzie Country and Lake Tekapo

All good things must come to an end it seems and it was soon time to say goodbye to David after a beautiful morning together enjoying the beautiful colours, the lake and each other's company.

After a great trip through the lovely Lindis Pass, my mum's favourite pass and probably mine too, with its wonderful golden tussock and gently rolling hills and valleys full of deciduous trees clad in their beautiful amber and gold colours, we arrived at the first of the lakes in the 'Lake District' , Lake Ruataniwha, part of the Waitaki hydro system, and absolutely gorgeous with its perfect reflections on the crystal clear water.

I shall remember the colours of this trip for a long long time. They were simply stunning.

We got into Tekapo quite late due to late departure from Wanaka (making the most of having David around and being in such a fabulous place) and also to the many stops along the way.  Our Motel was right on the shore of Lake Tekapo with a marvelous view of the lake.

We even had a visitor  from Velveteen the camp's cat (I was going to write camp cat but I knew this could be misinterpreted!!). Anyway, she certainly took a liking to Dennis, or perhaps more importantly food and drink. There was a notice in the office begging visitors not to feed Velveteen because she was fed adequately by the owners. She certainly did not look as if she was starving from her girth, but she did not realise this!

After a quick dinner, Dennis and I had a heavenly soak in the nearby hot pools under the stariest sky I have seen for a long time.  We have been pretty spoilt with skies everywhere we went, but Tekapo has lighting restrictions after 10.00 p.m. so there is really virtually no light pollution.  There had been lots of opportunities to see the southern lights in the previous days, but we didn't see them unfortunately.

Luckily, I woke relatively early the next day and quickly rushed out to catch the wonderful dawn lighting on the lake.

It was definitely worth getting up for!

Tekapo has not been too spoilt by tourism, though it has certainly expanded, prices have gone up and it has better facilities.  One particularly great facility is the toilet block which has the most wonderful picture of merino sheep on the side of it and is apparently fantastic inside too.

What a lovely welcome when you arrive at the car park! 

The lake was spectacular, not the usual turquoise colour, but the contrast of tree colour, lake and sky was still exceptionally beautiful and the wispy cloud floating across the whole panorama was stunning.

Time to head home on our last day of travels. How I shall miss those fun days with marvelous company in such gorgeous places! We did have a couple more things to enjoy on the way home. The toilets have featured in several of my blogs and Dennis particularly loved this sign

Funnily enough I read an article the other day saying that we should not dissuade people from squatting because it was far healthier and better for us than sitting!! Oh well!!

As avid language learners we also thoroughly enjoyed this next sign regarding the toilet paper. How wonderful to visit the toilet and get a lesson in 7 languages!!

Of course, we also had many coffee/tea stops along the way, not only this day but every day. I almost feel inclined to take up drinking 'flat white'  coffees so that I can enjoy the beautiful patterns they make on them. Dennis tells me the coffee is great too. The incredible thing is that if you drink the coffee carefully, the pattern remains when all the coffee has gone, at the bottom of the cup.

Dennis has dozens of pictures of his various coffees - all wonderful!

Nearing home I was thrilled that Dennis was introduced to a very special thing which I have only ever seen in New Zealand - moving house. One might say that this happens all over the world, but here they can actually do it literally, provided that the house is timber and not concrete of course!

Back home to my beautifully stained deck and brilliant autumn colours, enjoyed from the house and also

from the spa!!!

And as Dennis prepared to leave, there was a particularly splendid sunrise to see him off!

Time had flown by and yet we had seen an incredible amount and enjoyed the two week enormously since he arrived in New Zealand. Thanks for the visit and see you soon in Switzerland!

Over the Cardrona Range to Arrowtown and Queenstown

I was excited about heading to Queenstown to see where David lived and worked. It always makes it easier to visualise things when you have seen it first hand. Despite bad weather forecasts, we were in luck and had superb weather once again. In fact, the whole trip with Dennis was so amazing considering that just before Dennis arrived Cyclone Debbie had hit NZ, with generally atrocious weather everywhere, causing floods and rock slides . I had even got a contingency plan for what we would do if the weather were bad, and had fore-warned Dennis! What a pleasant surprise for him when he arrived!

The road from Wanaka over Cardrona is very scenic and extremely good now. I remember the days when it was a narrow dirt road and I used to hate going up to the ski fields there or over to Queenstown that way. Now, it is gorgeous, particularly with the vibrant autumnal colour. Cardrona hotel is always a great place to stop off, even if it is just to admire the cute little hotel and its splendid garden.

It was a pity that we couldn't stay for a meal or drink, but we simply knew we would run out of time. The few minutes in the garden were lovely though.

Heading over the Crown Range, the views towards Queenstown are absolutely sensational.

It's no wonder that pilots require a special licence to land at the airstrip there, it's a pretty tight turning area!

First stop, Arrowtown, the quaint little gold mining village where the Chinese came as some of New Zealand's first settlers. It was hard to imagine how life must have been in their little huts in the winter.

This tiny village/town was unbelievably crowded with both tourists (hoards of Chinese groups) and locals (it is school holidays here). David and I have never seen it so busy. I guess the autumn colours are the major attraction at this time of year, and they certainly were brilliant.

Don't be fooled into thinking that it must be cheap to live here! It isn't! It is incredibly expensive, in fact, one of the most expensive areas in the country even for a tiny little cottage. It does have some remarkable golf courses with breathtaking scenery, though.

Queenstown is another place where you cannot consider buying a 'cheap' home. Prices have soared and are now generally as high, if not higher, than in Auckland. Things have become very difficult for workers looking for accommodation, because there is a real shortage. David is really lucky to have his flat just a few minutes walking distance from the school and 10 minutes walk from the shore of Lake Wakatipu. Perfect. And it seems he has great neighbours too, also mainly teachers.

I hadn't been to Queenstown for ages and have to say that I really enjoyed the short time we spent there. I guess I might be there a little more often in future. The views over the lake and the Remarkables (in the background of the photo below, with the golf course where David plays just in front - what a place!) are spectacular.

And the walk around the gardens gives you really panoramic views of the area. We stopped for a drink at a really fabulous bar on the shoreline

It was fantastic sitting up the top of it with such awesome scenery all around. Believe it or not, you can even take your own food on board, as long as you have a drink. Incredible!!

Where in the world would one find a cafe in such a perfect location, in such a touristy town, probably with massive rental costs, being so very benevolent? Remarkable.

We had hoped to visit a winery or two on the way home, but sadly they close at 5 p.m.. I must leave time for this next time round because they really are in the loveliest locations with absolutely amazing grounds. I am sure the food and wine is pretty fantastic too!

We couldn't convince Dennis to try a bungy jump, nor could they convince me!!! Even just watching these guys jumping (being pushed) off the 43-metre high bridge makes me feel terrified. It was fascinating , though, to watch how some just walk forward and jump, others stand there for ages before one of the guys behind them gives them a gentle shove, and some scream and some yell with joy as they fall.

The photo is the best I could do considering I was feeling so anxious about the jump(somebody else was doing)!

Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand. What a beautiful place it is with its breathtaking scenery, lively pub and cafe culture, and its huge choice of activities. It would be very easy to spend $1000 in a few days here I am sure, but we enjoyed our day there for very little too, so there is something for everyone! Lucky David, he is there permanently, and as I was with Pfaeffikon, he makes the most of his life there every day and truly appreciates how lucky he is to be in such a spectacular environment.

Wanaka - dazzling gold

Wanaka is my absolute number one destination in New Zealand, particularly at the end of April when the colours are simply dazzling, sometimes so vibrant that in photos they just don't look real! Autumn gold at its very very best!

This was really the colour of these massive poplars, found all along the shores of this beautiful lake with its backdrop of spectacular mountains, and yes, the sky was really that colour.

The weather was incredible, so warm that kids were swimming in the very shallow waters.

Never have we seen the lake so low, but it did mean that you could get out to parts of the lake which we had never been to before. It was incredible to see David and Dennis standing at least 20 metres from the shore at a beach where we often used to swim when Mark and David were really young.

Hopefully there will be some heavy rain before winter or there may be some power problems in the South Island. Apparently the low lakes are a result of very little snow melt and a very dry summer, certainly a concern to many!

The photographers are there in their dozens at the single tree which used to be out in the water and which we used to canoe around. Wonderful memories!  Now there can be wedding shots taken next to the tree, shots taken with people in the tree and sometimes even a pianist playing the most relaxing and beautiful music to match this idyllic spot. Can it get any better I asked myself?

However, best still is when the tourists have gone home and you have the tree and the entire place all to yourself. Then it is undeniably at its magnificent best!

I guess we get a bit boring with the walks we do in Wanaka.  I just can't bear to be there without a visit to the usually mighty Clutha River, the second longest river in New Zealand and the longest in the South Island. Believe it or not, it is the highest volume river in New Zealand and the swiftest according to Wikipedia. However, it certainly was a shadow of its former self on the day we walked along it.

This is not to say that it was not magnificent. It was!! It was stunningly beautiful and serene. I have never before seen reflections in this river. They were remarkable.

Of course, the colours in some places defied description. They were truly awesome, particularly this turquoise stretch of the river. We have seen this river in flood and have experienced a flooded walking track, so this certainly left us feeling worried, though at the same time excited by the sheer beauty of the area.

Further around the lake at our other favourite walkway, the colours of the trees were not so dominant but the contrast between the tussock on the hills and the puffy white clouds in the dark blue sky was nothing short of spectacular, almost unreal.

What a magical place this is! Probably we had the best views of Mount Aspiring that I have ever experienced. This mountain, just over 3000m is the highest mountain in New Zealand outside the Mount Cook region and it really looked splendid this morning with the lake and its lovely reflections in the foreground.

You even get to see Dennis and me 4 times in the next fantastic photo David took!! Fun, isn't it?

At one corner of the track we come to my favourite view down Lake Wanaka, absolutely breathtakingly beautiful on such a calm and clear day.

The cloud formations just added to its beauty. I just want to get back there as soon as possible!

On the way home, we just had to stop at Rippon Vineyard, not so much for the wine (though I must admit that I did have some tasters, but more for the fabulous views over the colourful vines contrasting with the deep blue of the sky and lake Wanaka.

We were in Wanaka on Anzac Day, a day to commemorate all New Zealanders killed in the war, and the date marking the anniversary of the landing of NZ and Australian soldiers on the Gallipoli Peninsula. I have often considered attending a dawn service but never managed to do it, but this time I did, and it was very moving indeed, not only the service with the reading of all the names of those who died from the Wanaka region, the Maori haka performed by local students, the playing of the last post as the biplane flew past as the sun started to rise

but also the breathtaking scenery. It was all very surreal. 

Looking over the tranquil waters of Lake Wanaka, savouring the lovely pastel shades, breathing in the freshest of fresh air, it was so hard to imagine those at war, and the many atrocities happening right now around the world. The words of John Lennon's song Imagine came to mind as I sat looking over this gorgeous sight.