Anchored down in Arrowtown

I am writing now from Arrowtown, about 20km north of Queenstown, our eventual destination for Christmas. Arrowtown is a former gold rush town where gold was first discovered in 1862. During the day, the place is awash with day trippers but in the evening when the buses have departed and just the locals are left, it has a definite charm. We've decided we like the vibe so much we are going to stay an extra night and tomorrow we are hiring bikes in the morning and then having lunch in a famous vineyard, because this is also wine country.

The beauty of the camper van is the flexibility that we have. We hadn't really planned our trip at all before we arrived, but it has taken shape through recommendations from Kiwi friends and Kiwis we've met on the road. If we want to stay an extra night then we can. We haven't ventured down to Queenstown yet, but Arrowtown is small and we think probably a bit more chilled than the adventure capital of NZ.

Last Thursday we were in glacier country (Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers) after making our way south from the lovely Lake Mahinapua. We had been told to visit a place called Lake Matheson by friends and to sample the food at the nearby Cafe Matheson. After one of those days when we hadn't eaten much, the prospect of a really good feed was very motivational as we set up camp and did all our chores. However, the meal was a disappointment. It soon transpired that their signature cooking technique was to drown everything in sauce. Gross! I ordered the salmon which was swimming in a tangy, marmeladey sauce - an acquired taste. I realised if Dad had been there he would have immediately sussed the place out for what it was: a clip joint. Anyway, we were going to write off the lake on account of the restaurant but decided a post-prandial constitutional would help us digest. It was a good decision, because the lake, small and perfectly formed, looked very special in the evening light. It is famously known as the mirror lake because on a clear, still day it offers beautiful views of Mount Tasman. My attempt, below, is imperfect but hopefully you get the idea.

The coastline all around Fox, which I'm sure is spectacular in better weather, really wasn't looking its best the next day in driving rain, so we didn't hang around. We did a short bush walk in the hope of seeing some breeding penguins but when we eventually emerged onto the windswept beach, it was deserted. We continued on, crossing back over the Southern Alps through the Haast Pass in Mount Aspiring National Park. We drove in rain along a wide river plain carved by glaciers in the last Ice Age with steep sided mountains covered in the such dense, lush rainforest. Just stunning. What we couldn't get our heads around was within half an hour we were on the other side of the Alps, driving along Lake Wanaka in 25 degree heat. The green gave way to much drier conditions and a totally different topography. That's one of the things that I love about New Zealand - there is such huge variety in the landscape.

We freedom camped by Lake Hawea on Friday night in a Department of Conservation (DOC) site down a 6km dirt road, which obviously put most people off. Technically we are not insured on unsealed roads, but Tim is an adventurer and unconcerned with such trivialities. It was a lovely spot and so quiet, apart from two large families with kids (disturbers of the peace) who seemed to have set up camp for the holidays. Lake Hawea is the poorer sister to the famous Lake Wanaka which, in bright sunshine yesterday really did look spectacular. Picture below.

It does feel a lot busier now that we are closer to Queenstown and everyone is on the move for Christmas. Apart from hearing Michael Buble's Christmas album everywhere we go, there isn't much sign that people are in the Christmas mood.

The photos below are (in order):

1. Lake Hawea - you can just see the campsite in the curve of the shore
2. View of Mount Tasman from Lake Matheson - it is called the mirror lake as the reflection in the morning/evening is like a mirror. This is not quite mirror quality but near enough
3. Doing some planning with our map of Middle Earth (AL!!)
4. Lake Wanaka

Ps forgive any typos - I'm doing this on the iPad which isn't the easiest...

Greetings from Middle Earth

I am sitting in our campervan in the shadow of Mounts Cook and Tasman, we've had the most glorious sunshine all day and to be honest, it really doesn't feel like Christmas. But we are having a fantastic time and falling in love all over again with New Zealand.

It's day 5 of our trip and we've travelled from Christchurch, through the Southern Alps via Arthur's Pass and now we are working our way down the West Coast with the aim of spending Christmas in Queenstown. The best bits of the trip so far have been when we have gone off the beaten track: 'freedom camping' in Lake Mahinapua where we swam in the lake in the rain and the next morning, in bright sunshine; kayaking on the empty Orakito lagoon through temperate rainforest filled with unusual bird life, with Mount Tasman and the Southern Alps as our dramatic backdrop.

Internet connection is extremely patchy but I'm going to try and update this with pics and more chat in the next week or so. But here are a few shots to get you started.

Seasons!

Where has October gone? Well it's passed me by in a blur of planning and marking and now I find myself in an autumnal England, for half-term week.  And I'm so grateful to be here! Seeing my family again been brilliant/funny/emotional. As we are not coming home for Christmas, my Mum organised an early Christmas lunch (with a little Thanksgiving thrown in) on Sunday. And my sisters organised a stocking, full of helpful things for our Christmas trip to New Zealand, including a map of 'Middle Earth', On The Road by Jack Kerouac and an egg sandwich (family tradition for long car trips - we normally have to eat them about half an hour after we set off as they can be extremely whiffy).  It all felt very overwhelming and you know when you are with people you miss, after some time apart, you realise how much you actually miss them? Well that has been happening all over the place since I've been back.

Yesterday I went for a run by the river and I was nearly alone, apart from a few ducks and a solitary sculler.  I had one of those 'I'm so happy to be alive' moments, sitting by the river listening to life move around me, with the beauty of Autumn as backdrop (which is breathtaking to eyes used to tropical evergreens).

Today, I'm heading into London to see friends and for shopping; a whole bunch of other reasons to remind me of how lucky I am.

Back to school

It's Monday and I was at work today.  For the first time in I can't remember how long.  I have loved all my free time, but being back at the grindstone felt surprisingly normal.  After all, I have worked more Mondays than I have had free Mondays.

What made me giggle today: I asked one class to suggest a signal I could give during group activities to bring them back to me, this is especially useful when they are dispersed outside the classroom.  Today I got them to act out the Prologue to Romeo & Juliet.  One kid suggested I do the Usain Bolt salute, with the arms.  And then another kid suggested that the class could do the MoBot in return.  So, at the end of that lesson, mostly just for fun, I did the Usain Bolt arms and I had three rows of MoBots staring back at me.  Funny and effective!

If you don't know what I'm on about, you can follow this very long link for a pic of Usain and Mo Farah saluting each other at the Olympics: 

http://www.google.com/imgres?num=10&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1776&bih=855&tbm=isch&tbnid=v-wNkRvnm6EzOM:&imgrefurl=http://www.news.com.au/sport/london-olympics/usain-bolt-celebrates-mobot-style-after-jamaicas-4x100m-olympic-relay-win/story-fndpudxd-1226448469391&docid=K2Q3UJ1STpXO8M&imgurl=http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2012/08/12/1226448/468268-usain-bolt-and-mo-farrah.jpg&w=650&h=366&ei=dO1WUPmMNMrLrQfmp4GQCg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1053&vpy=149&dur=347&hovh=168&hovw=299&tx=103&ty=61&sig=114083691277517888225&sqi=2&page=1&tbnh=80&tbnw=142&start=0&ndsp=50&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0,i:90

Night shoot

I've been doing a photography course in the last few weeks and on Sunday we went on a night shoot down by the Marina Bay.  In Singapore, the light is really only good at sunrise and sunset because of the way the sun hits us, right on the equator.  And it was actually amazing to see how our photos improved as the light faded.  Anyway, here are few shots of the Esplanade and the Marina Bay Sands lit up at night.

Twilight and the Esplanade

A boat passing in front of the Esplanade

Night time with the Marina Bay Sands lit up

Particulars

The first time I was asked for my particulars, I was a little affronted but needlessly, because actually your particulars are you details. An example of the use of 'particulars' is when I attempted to pick up our Formula 1 tickets from the post office yesterday (specifically, tickets to the Katy Perry concert - Tim is like, her biggest fan).  I turned up with all the paperwork including a form signed by Tim saying that I could collect them his behalf.  But the lady took one look at it all and said 'Where is Mr G particulars?' (grammar note: no possessive, no plural). In this case she meant: where is the photocopy of Mr G's passport or employment pass so that I can verify his details and therefore release the tickets to you?  But I knew what she meant.

Also can

I noticed, during my recent trip to the UK, that my English is deteriorating.  I had to book a physiotherapy session while I was there, and this is how the conversation went (abbreviated):

Me: Hello, I'd like to book an appointment for tomorrow.
Them: We have a slot at 8am.
Me: Great
Them: What exercise have you done recently?
Me: Well, on Monday I done yoga in the morning, and then I done a run in the evening.

I didn't even notice.  It was only when I put the phone down that I realised how bad that sounded.  I am obviously spending too much time with the wrong kind of people.  Singlish is English words using a Mandarin grammatical construction, so you do hear some very weird expressions here.  Some of my favourites are:

off/on the light - e.g. 'Please on the light'.  I really had no clue what the person was on about the first time I heard this - it's amazing how the omission of part of the verb can confuse the native speaker!

isn't it? or is it? at the end of every sentence, with the intonation rising and falling. I have no idea why the locals do this, but Tim and I have started to do this as well - sometimes ironically, but often not.

can - this means, 'yes, I can' example: Me: "Please can you take the next left". Taxi driver: "Can."

also can - 'yes, I can also do this' example: Me: "Can you take this next left?" Taxi driver: "Also can"

cannot - 'I'm sorry, I cannot do that'


And then there's pronunciation, but that is a whole other story....