photo updates

Hello friends,
With the limited data plan, and difficulty posting photos on Blogspot, we're sharing photos on Google plus within circles.
Please write me at marianna@gmail.com, if you are interested.
As wonderful as our adventure to New Zealand was, it's nice to be 'home' and back into a routine.
It's been a joy to go set up for the new term in my new digs.
One term down and three to go.
Norm has written two children's books and had our beautiful grandchildren be the first test market.
Our new friends are including us in social get togethers. Including an early Easter dinner, brunch and our first footy game Hawthorne and Geelong!

Christchurch photos.

Oamoru -April 13/14

We had to cut across the lower end of the south island to get from Te Anau to Oamaru on the east coast. Luckily we had to drive through Dunedin. Time seemed to fly by because we finally were able to get reception to radio stations and I bought a cross stitch to make for our little one.....inshallah!!!! :-) :-) :-) :-)
Dunedin was a lovely Victorian town with many churches. You could definitely see it's connection with the original Dunedin, Scotland...bucket list....I know that once you stop dreaming(our setting goals), you die.
We had a quick lunch and looked around at all the shops that sold merino and possum sweater sweaters/scarves etc. Possum fur is used to slowly reduce the pesty population. Nothing was under $250. We left the idea for a while.
Oamaru is right on the coast and looks like photos of Scotland and Ireland. With hills dotted with sheep.
The town itself looked deserted,  historic and most buildings made of Whitestone   from local limestone quarries. The streets are rife with historic monuments on the boulevards. It gave you a feeling of freedom. We felt like running through the streets.
The maps were covered with illustrations of blue penguins and yellow eyed penguins all around Oamaru and an enthusiastic tourist bureau attendant   said she saw heaps of them other day. Wildlife in the wild had been elusive to us thus far.
We had seen a couple of blue penguins and we/I reallywanted see larger yellow eyed penguins. We were still hopeful as we drove out to the penguin reserve. There was only one young couple there. Walked all the way down to the beach and all we saw were spectacular views.
On the way back, right in the middle of our path was the cutest little yellow eyed penguin....just standing there, preening his feathers. The were signs telling us not to let the penguins see us. We watched him and took many shots of him and then crawled through the bushes behind him. He must have heard us right as we passed him and he started to waddle away. That would be the only, yet perfect yellow eyed penguin we saw.
I went to try to find some more later that evening but only saw lazy, yet territorial sea lions. We're learning that sea lions are different from seals we have in North America because they are gentle natured and not vicious.
We had lunch in Maeraki at Fleurs Place where all fish is fresh from the sea cooked under the watchful eye of chef.....
We left Oamaru early to try to make it back to Christchurch in time for royal visit!
We made it just in time! Wish we could have been closer but it was still a thrill to be distant spectators.
Christchurch had a different comfortable feeling as opposed to the heart oppressing feeling when first arrived to New Zealand. We felt so much richer for the exciting experience of exploring one of most beautiful countries and kindest people in the world!!!! Great planning Norm! :-)

A few photos at a time...Christchurch April 5

Milford Sound , April 11

PHOTOS - April 7

Mt. Cook

April 9/10/11 needed updating and editing...must have been exhausted and published.

NQueenstown/ Arrowtown/Milford Sound

Haven't been able to post photos from April 5-8th. Will post them as soon as I'm able. By chance, the photos for April 9th got through....unfortunately not the previous ones.

Queenstown April 9 -as we usually do, we headed out with a general idea in mind and let luck mold our day. We walked from Frankton into Queenstown and continued on until we found the trail (they call it a 'track' in NZ). it's destination would be the Skyline/gondola at Bob's peak. It was an arduous climb that reminded us of a challenging trail, our Bradley took us in in kauai last summer....minus the creeks, rivers, slippery rocks and heat. It took us 2 hours to reach the peak!!! Only in New Zealand would you find an extreme bike trail alongside a hiking trail. It was exhilarating and heart pumping to watch those adventurers fly past us! They would ride  down full speed and climb back up on the gondola with their bikes in tow and do it over and over again! They had absolutely no fear!
The views were spectacular at the top. There were more offers of other extreme opportunities, such as bungee jumping, hand gliding and concrete luge.
We relaxed and shared a lunch. Chicken tikka masala (surprisingly good for that type of venue..oh, we shared a breakfast at the Vudu cafe that morning because a breakfast of two eggs and today was $18-20 and as usual, it helps the waistline too).
We debated walking or taking the gondola down, and again to be healthy and save money, we decided to walk down. Two days later, my legs are still sore. I miss my walks with my buddies, Cindy, Janice and Noreen, back home. I've been walking on the treadmill in Berwick but I don't think it's the same.
We walked home and went to bed quite early, like a couple of old folks.

Arrowtown -April 10
Arrowtown is a lovely gold mining town with shops, cafes and a trail along the river. It was a nice relaxing day. We had the best mushroom soup with truffle oil at the Chop Spot overlooking the mountains. Arrowtown is surrounded by wineries.

Milford Sound -April 11
It was sad to leave beautiful Queenstown this morning for many reasons, including that little Prince George would be here in a couple of days.
Norm and I didn't get a good night sleep worrying about the drive to Milford Sound the largest national park in NZ on the south west coast of the south island. We were warned about the rock and tree avalanches along the way. There are many accidents on this road ...The only road into Milford Sound. It's known as the most dangerous road in NZ!
We started out at 6am in total darkness and we started to feel more comfortable when the sun started to burn off the clouds and shed some light on our drive. The roads were twisted, hilly and totally confused our NZ GPS. She kept asking us to make U-turn because one minute the road was going in one direction, the next it was 180° in the other.
We saw spectacular views along the road  to Milford Sound!! Mirror lakes was had stunning views! Apparently, there are 1000 earthquakes per month in this area. Some you don't feel and other more noticeable ones...just like the San Francisco bay area.
We passed 45° latitude south! That is the furthest south we've ever travelled!!!
We boarded the  GoOrange boat and travelled through the fjords towards the Tasman sea! It was incredible! Would never want to take this beauty for granted.
We thankfully had a short drive back to Te Anua a little  town at entrance of the Fiorland National Park. We stayed at a lovely B&B Norm found on Airbnb. We could see why she won top honourson Trip Advisor. Gillian greeted us with a glass of wine and a tray of hors d'oeuvres and chatted with us and her friend who is owner of only Subway in town.  They told us that they had purchased a couple of cows and sheep for their meat. They meet and treat the animals as pets and then....they are on their plates for dinner. That would make the best meat lover convert to vegetarianism.
Her husband works in oil in Nigeria and was kidnapped and released in 2006. We forgot that we payed to stay in her home. She felt like a good friend.
Her one fault was that she recommended the Redcliffe #1 tripadvisor restaurant and was THE WORST food we've ever had!!!
Another day of driving ahead to Oamaru..right across the south end of New Zealand!

Photos - QUEENSTOWN April 9

Test

New Zealand -day 5

QUEENSTOWN - April 8
We watched the news coverage of the  beautiful Royals' arrival to New Zealand. It would be nice to see them but the only day our paths will cross is on our return to Christchurch at the end of our holiday. Unfortunately they're not coming to Melbourne. Victorians feel snubbed that they aren't coming to what we believe is the prettiest state in Australia. (It's true, we've only seen 3).
When we first arrived and colleagues found out we were going to visit New Zealand for the first holiday, they said 'wait till hear their accent!' Before we came Australia, Aussie,NZ and South African....even British, all sounded the same to me. Now that we've lived in Australia for more than 3 months, I found it hard to understand the Kiwi accent.
We're on the road for 260km to QUEENSTOWN. The sun is trying to break through the fog.We have seen herds of sheep grazing on the sides and base of the mountains. Several falcons were pecking at carrion on the road. We stopped on the road to take photos of cattle crossing the road. The mountains are majestic. The landscape looks like  sprawling Swiss alps or Colorado mountains.

New Zealand - day 4

AORAKI/Mount Cook National Park
April 8 - Left Christchurch this morning and headed to Mount Cook. It was rainy, dreary and a desolate drive.
After about 2 hours, the scenery began to be breathtaking despite the fog and rain. It was only a 350 km but the two lane, windy and hilly roads made it a longer drive.  We made the best of the long drive with many stops and some exploring and enjoying some magnificent sights of Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki. Sitting for the long drive, I  did however come to a decision; that after the two  treks across Canada and the United States, I'm through with road trips. I will take planes, boats and be dropped off to my destination so that I can ride a bike or walk as we enjoy the sites.
Our destination of Aoraki/ Mt Cook National Park, is a beautiful enclave of a few resorts nestled in the fog peaked mountain ranges. It was reminiscent of Jasper in the Rockies. Our resort was immaculate and funky.
We did a Lisa and Tyler dinner of  grocery store meals for lunch and dinner. We pretended to be wealthy and sat in the panoramic lounge at the neighbouring Heritage resort and sipped on cocktails then went back to our cozy cabin for more bread and cheese.

New Zealand - day 2/3

April 6 - day 2
Christchurch
We heard there was a market nearby at Riccarton. Thank goodness we got the GPS...changed her English to Australian. Still not as sweet sounding as our GPS in Melbourne.
An overzealous Novotel bellman gave us directions.
It was a nice market but a bit junky. The food was delicious!!! We shared a bacon and egg sandwich with tomato and onion...the nice touch they have here is that onions are sauteed...yum!
We had a spiral potato...just like chips on a stick. Sliced with a drill...:-)
And shared an Egyptian lentil soup. It was nice to speak Arabic to the owners....they said I don't look Egyptian...don't know how we're supposed to look.
We then drove to Sumner on the coast, only 15 minutes away.  That's when we started to believe we were in NZ!!!
Everyone was strolling along the promenade....there is almost a Nordic feel....not that we've ever been, but that's how I  imagine it to be like.
At the end of the esplanade, we found a quaint restaurant where the locals gathered. it was reasonably priced....food and beer is much cheaper than Melbourne!
Even on this cloudy, rough day, the view was spectacular!
We then set the GPS to Lyttleton and got to a closed road...closed since the earth quake. It would be a detour of many km to go around to it, so we left the car and continued up the road to look at the view and then snuck past roadblock see what missed...spectacular views of turquoise waters, boats and hills! Seconds after we crossed the barrier, a police officer came to look behind the fence. In our imagination, we thought he might have been looking for senior rebels who disobeyed the law.
That evening, we had a lovely dinner of chicken pate and lamb burger in our cozy hotel restaurant. We were giddy and might have seemed like obnoxious Americans.

End of first 10 week term! Another Adventure!

Leaving school was a different experience...
1. When I told the children it was our last session before the holidays, they all said "aw" !
2. When the Grade 6 teacher asked me to open the doors for the senior kids, the flood of children rushing into their respective classes, cheered "hooray"!
3. At the end of the last day, instead of leaving immediately after the children left at 2:30, the teachers gathered for nibbles to toast the end of the first term and each made a point of chatting and saying goodbye to all other colleagues.

I moved my drama room to an empty 'multi purpose' room, away from the noisy hall (gym), as suggested by Nikki, a lovely and brilliant colleague. Eight Grade 6 children helped me set up and it already feels like my dream drama room!

I left first term, happy and satisfied.
Time flew.... I don't want to leave Hillsmeade.:-)

We arrived in New Zealand this afternoon. 

Goosebumps arriving in airport....

Christchurch is a sad place right now.
It puzzles me, that it's been 3 years since the devastating earthquake and everything seems to be exactly the same as if it happened last week...like a post apocalypse city....signage of sales and specials, with boarded up frontage. Novotel, where we are staying is one structure that withstood the devastating earthquake.

...just researched -  it's bureaucracy...

It is so sad for the business owners.

So far, every 'kiwi' has been hospitable and so kind.

Tried to post photos but internet in hotel does not allow photo posts. Will try again at the next destination.

Beautiful Day at Cape Schank/Mornington with Evelyn and Barry!