After several weeks parked in Greymouth some babysitting/housesitting, and taking a flight to Auckland, from where we did a trip to Northland, going as far as Cape Reinga and 90 mile beach, with Mary and Lyn and the Johns, we have now moved on to the Tasman/Nelson area. We have had a week or so at Richmond, where we met up with some M'homers we have met on the road, and then it was over the hill to Golden Bay where we have a job house sitting for a couple of months at the lovely spot of Takaka.
The trip over the hill itself was quite an adventure being fairly steep and narrow in places but amazing views from the top.
The first few nights we parked at the Pohara boat club with some great views out over the Bay and then moved into our house on the hill which overlooks the valley and offers glimpses of the sea.  We are surprised at the weather as well since we are enjoying sunshine each day, eating our lunch outside, while we see on the television that a lot of places are experiencing lots of snow and very cold temperatures.  
We have done a few exploratory trips around the coast and up the Cobb Valley which turned out to be a bit of a goat track with a very narrow roadway. Today we have been out with a local walking group exploring some bush and beach walks up towards Collingwood, a lovely way to meet the locals and get some exercise. Next week they are going on a day walk to Wharariki Beach on the West Coast.  Check out the new photos.  

Well after a long time with no blogs and several comments about it, (you know who you are) here we go again.
Have had a month back in Dunedin to attend the national rally and catch up with people etc. but we are now back on the road, traveling up through Central Otago with a night in Alexandra and a side trip out around the Cambrian area, somewhere we hadn't been for some time. Then on to Wanaka to catch up with the grandchildren and watch Eve play her first game of netball. We parked up at the Albert Town tavern while we were there which was a very convenient spot to stay. Then through the Haast and spent a night at Haast township before driving down to Jacksons Bay and spent a couple of nights in this beautiful area. Unfortunately that was the end of the golden weather and since moving onto Franz Josef the rain has been most persistent with the forecast not looking good for the next few days so we are doing plenty of reading. 

We had an interesting Sunday without venturing too far. Drove up to Rapahoe, somewhere we had stayed many years ago at what used to be the local school.  The area has certainly changed a lot since those days with a lot of building etc.  Rununga is basically a suburb of Greymouth and is your typical coal town with a couple of pubs, grocery store and the miners hall.
Next was Nelson creek which was a gold mining area with lots of walking tracks through the old diggings including a suspension bridge and tunnel to walk through.
Did you know that in the 1930s the biggest swimming pool in NZ was in Kumara?  This was built by the locals, and lined with stone, and consisted of a main pool, learners pools and diving board. The water was supplied by pipeline from a mining area but when the mine closed the water dried up and today its a big empty area (see picture in todays pictures). An interesting town though with a lot of history, definitely worth a stop.  

We left Greymouth on Wednesday 4th of September heading to a M'home rally organised  by the Nelson/Tasman area in Murchison.  We  drove through to Reefton  where we thought we might stay the night, however after lunch and a wander around town we decided to carry on as it was very cold and drizzly,  we travelled through Inangahua Junction and the beautiful Upper Buller Gorge. 
On arrival we found our friends Peter and Linda had arrived the day before along with several other vans, and over the next couple of days the numbers built up till over 60 vans were there for the weekend it was really crammed.
Friday night we were entertained by Peter Gordon and Annie ? ?  who told the story of Henry Lawson an Australian Poet, the guest of honor for the weekend was Jack Drake, an Australian bush poet and a born entertainer, so Saturday night was one long laugh.  It was a fantastic night.  We bought a CD and book of his work.
We enjoyed Murchison, a nice little friendly town with the most amazing second hand shop plus an interesting museum and good areas for walking and biking.
Most people moved out on Sunday but we stayed until Monday and spent half  the day exploring the beautiful Buller Gorge's including the remains of Lyell, an old mining area with lots of interesting walks and a cemetery up in the bush.   We arrived in Westport mid afternoon, and had a wander round town for an hour or two, then back on the road heading south to spend the night beside the Fox river where it hits the coast, quite an interesting area with several caves through the headland, also the old bridge which is being restored. There were two other vans in that night one being a waitbaiter.
Wednesday morning dawned grey and threatening, our first stop was at Punakaiki, however when we stopped, the rain started, so we carried on back to Greymouth arriving early afternoon.  We have been camped here at Jayne's since.  We have done some exploring by car the surrounds of Greymouth - the weather has been patchy a couple of days of heavy rain but the past week has been great, rain overnight but beautiful sunny days.  
So until next time . . . . .  

We arrived in Greymouth on Friday afternoon then left again Saturday morning to drive to Dunedin having received news that Mum had taken a turn for the worse. Brought Jayne with us so that was a bonus and we managed to spend some time with mum up until when she passed away early on Monday morning.  We spent a couple of weeks in Dunedin enjoying family time, and then it was back to our van in Greymouth.  We have both had terrible colds and are lying low until we feel better, hopefully soon!  

Forward plans include a quick trip to Aussie to visit my brother, and then some time in Auckland to catch up with family and friends, a motorhome rally in Murchison in early Sept.  Then we will start the 'waiting on baby to arrive' back in Greymouth, so until next time take care.

A beautiful view to wake up to over Lake Paringa.  We were packed up and on the road before 10am a first for us.  We stopped at Fox Glacier for lunch and a look around - unhooked the car and low and behold 'Flat Battery'   OMG what else can go wrong.  We had lunch while we waited for the AA to jump start the car.  

Then we went to Gillespies Beach, wonderful drive through the bush, and beautiful beach and we also went to the miners cemetery (gold) we think mostly Irish graves.  Moved on to next stop along twisty hilly roads to Franz Josef (27km from Fox) and the NZMCA camp stop where we met up with Linda and Peter who joined us for happy hour!   After dinner we went for a stroll around the village and checked out the hot pools where we thought we might indulge ourselves tomorrow night.  Interesting village its all bars and motels!  

Thursday woke to another incredible frost everything was white again (not snow this time).  We checked out our neighbours washing machine and generator.  Oh the luxury!    We drove to the Glacier carpark which was as close as we could get to the ice but couldn't see anything I think it was quite a walk before you could see it, Ray has sore foot so that was out of the question for us.  We then headed north of the village to Lake Mapourika where there were a group of kyakers enjoying the still lake.  From there we went out to Okarito Beach which was yet another scenic drive to yet another lovely beach with lots of driftwood and beautiful stones.  On the way back to Franz we stopped at Okarito lagoon and The Fork which is the meeting of water from Lakes Wahapo and Mapourika, where there is a small hydro electric station and then back into the village to see the Flowing West Movie, a great film about the Glacier Country mostly shot from Helicopters so for Margaret a bit scary at times, but she did enjoy it.  Happy hour tonight was at the Spittles 5th Wheeler enjoyed by all!  Followed by dinner, Coro Street, doing this blog and bed.  Ray thought Hot pools would not be a good idea with his bung foot so have left that treat for another time.

On Wednesday 3rd July, after a couple of weeks back in Mosgiel, we took off on our BIG trip heading to Greymouth on the West Coast.  We packed up in the rain again!  We went right through to Earnscleugh where we stayed for 3 nights,  did a bit of exploring around the Alexandra/Clyde area including a trip up to a lookout above Clyde.  Although the road was a bit of a goat track the views were magnificent, and well worth the effort.    
On Saturday we watched Max playing in the Central Otago under 7s Rippa Rugby competition, which was great fun.  After this we packed up the car and bikes (raining again) and headed to Wanaka to spend some time with Marc Janet and the grand kids, Eve Max and Quinn.    

We stayed in the Camping Ground in town this time for the sheer convenience of being about 5mins from Marc’s house.  Saturday night we had tea with the family and spent almost all of Sunday with them, however we did manage to get over to see Ben and Anna who have recently shifted to Wanaka.  

Monday (8th July) we got away about midday after catching up with John and Sue, and in brilliant weather drove up the side of Lake Hawea and through The Neck to follow the shore of Lake Wanaka to Makarora and the Blue Pools, where the Blue river meets the Makarora river, then through the Haast Pass and stayed the night at Pleasant Flat beside the Haast river, just past the Gates of Haast bridge.  A lovely DOC camp – the weather was closing in again but we felt confident that all was OK.  Spent the night doing some forward planning which is always good then hit the sack about 9.30.

Tuesday morning we woke to several inches of snow!  What a beautiful sight.   Did a little bit of exploring, took lots of photos and watched some vehicles go by, but mostly stayed warm inside the van, till close to midday when the road looked clear enough to move on.   Snow makes the scenery  beautiful but we soon ran out of the white stuff as we came down the road to Haast township, where we had lunch, and a look around,

 then we took off up the coast to our next photo stop Knights point, with some amazing coastal views    

and we ended up stopping for the night at Lake Paringa, right on the lake edge as you will see in the photos attached.  You will also note the difference in the weather from the snow to the brilliant sunshine on the coast.  

Well after ten days back in Dunedin we headed down the Catlins coast, stopping in the mud on a farm just outside of Kaka point, for the first night and spent some time looking around Kaka Point and The Nuggets, then on to Owaka where we stayed for 3 nights in a lovely big garden belonging to a very hospitable lady called Shirley.  From there we made some trips around the area doing a few bush walks to waterfalls lakes and beaches. By now the weather had deteriorated again so instead of travelling around the coast to Niagra and Curio Bay we headed inland and stayed the night beside the Tokanui pub.  It just so happened that the pub was hosting their annual poetry day which we joined in and had  a great afternoon with the locals.  A bush band was also in attendance.  We met some really nice people and after a bar meal we then shuffled  home (which was just out the door).
Preparing to leave the next morning we noticed a flat tyre. The helpful man in the local garage took it off and repaired it only to find the tyre was damaged. So with the spare fitted we headed off to Invercargill and got a replacement fitted, then to the testing station for a COF, so that was a kinda wasted day but who cares, another day follows.  In Invercargill we stayed at a POP on the north end of town with Brian and Sharon who were very nice.  We had a catch up with Aunty Pat and did some shopping before heading to Winton (22k).  We stayed the night at the Winton Golf Club which is a lovely spot I imagine (in fine weather) but you guessed it was not fine - still bloody raining. We came through to Gore via a back road from Winton, and saw where Patrice & Peter have a new house and also Noel and Jeanette now live on Waimumu Rd, but owing to lack of stopping places we just kept driving - tonight we are parked up at Gore Racing Club.  All sorts of weather reports going on so we will have to wait and see if the snow dump happens overnite as promised!   Won't bother us too much as we have enough of lifes neccesities on board to keep us going for a day or two!  (Check out the photos in todays pics)

From Gore we drove up through Northern Southland, stopping at Riversdale  for lunch and a rummage in the second hand shop We carried on and spent the night beside the bottom of Lake Wakatipu at Kingston.  In the morning we woke to snow on the hills, tho it was beautiful  and sunny, and we watched a huge boat being offloaded into the lake, admiring the skills of the truck driver, and then onto Queenstown.

Where we arrived in time to celebrate Mary's first lunch for her huge 60th celebration!  The afternoon was a relaxing one spent at the Frankton shopping area.  On our way back into Queenstown we noticed a huge amount of smoke over the township  the cause being the World Bar and a Pizza shop below on fire!  We had missed seeing all the flames etc but this is a huge blow for the township coming into the ski season.  Saturday morning we headed for Arrowtown to watch Max playing ripper rugby and he scored his first try which was sooooooooo exciting.  After rugby we came back into Q'town and lunch at Cafe 111 (Johnnys sisters cafe) and all the extended family were there so special.  Tha night we went to the final night of 'Chicago' staring Jacqui Ennis (my niece) in her first musical show, it was fantastic and of course I was so proud.  Sunday saw the 3rd of Mary's birthday lunches at her friend Rhona's place at Kelvin Heights.  Was again so much fun, then it was getting ready for the big 'Glitz and Glamour Party' the finale for the 60th.  Was a terrific party and it was great to catch up on her friends that we haven't seen for some time.  All and all a great weekend which ended with snow falling on Tuesday to make the resort look stunning.  We finally left on Wednesday morning heading for Bannockburn and some quiet time!

We spent 2 nights in Bannockburn, did a walking tour around the local area and then in the car to go further - It has some amazing new houses and views.  We also spent some time exploring the old gold mining areas in the surrounding hills

This is us finally leaving Mosgiel.  You can see we are fully loaded up with Suzuki Vitara plus bikes on back of van.  We have had some delays due to Rays mum being unwell and then yesterday when we had planned to leave, had a problem with the water heating!  Got this fixed but then didn't feel like hitting the road.   Today we had a great trip, first time towing the car (like its new cover to protect the paint and windscreen) and it all went really well.  Stopped briefly for supplies in Balclutha and ended up at the A&P showgrounds in Gore.  Weather is still grotty drizzly rain etc but we are very cosy in the van, great heater and electic blanket!  Tomorrow we are heading towards Kingston where we will probably stay for the night.
Will update in a day or two!