| Current Location: Balmoral Forest | Kilometres Travelled: | Time on the Road: |
Still-No Hurry is having a revamp which is currently under construction.....
We will add the odd snippet here until the site proper is alive and kicking
We have enticed Rosaleen and Gil down to the South Island to cat and bus sit while we run off to Australia to catch up with Gavin and Tracey post their South America trip. We have taken them to Balmoral Forest for a few days and went for a picnic to Lake Taylor. The lake was not the calm serene version we had experienced previously, so no reflection photos this time. They did however enjoy the rugged scenery and 40km of gravel roads.
Well my twelve days of bacheloresshood did not turn out quite how I expected. Instead of getting up to mischief I ended up finding myself some paid employment. Funny how life turns out. The best thing is that when John came back from Auckland they decided that they could also make use of him. So we are now gainfully employed as camp hands at Alpine Adventure Holiday Park. Who would have thought huh.
Originally we thought we were coming to Hanmer Springs for a couple of days before heading back to the forest but as they say.... the best laid plans of mice and men. Our two days was extended by an additional week, then we decided to tack on another month. We have been hoping for a good dumping of snow so I can build my snowman next to the bus but even though it has tried to oblige on a number of occasions, it has never been enough to build anything. Given it is only five weeks till daylight saving I am beginning to loose hope of my wish being granted this winter. We did however drive up to the snow which put a smile on my face. It was so neat stomping around in deep snow. I even tried making my first snow angel but soon realised I should have worn waterproof clothing!! Hope you enjoy the photos of my first attempt which I hope will improve with practise.
We have been eyeing the wood that a few other campers have left behind and decide after a nice warm day that tonight is the night to have ourselves an outdoor fire. So we spend much of the afternoon gathering pinecones and chopping up the left over bits. John asks what do you do again to light a fire (well it has been some years since we have had a wood fire) so I tell him to leave it to me and I am pleased to say that I still possess my fire bug skills inherited from my mother. It is not long before we have a roaring golden glow in front of us.
 Ziggys 1st Outdoor Fire |
 Looking Good Now |
 mmm... Nice & Warm |
 Enjoying the Fire |
A surprise day trip for John sees us head to Lake Taylor. We had lots of fun on the way to the lake putting Zuki into 4WD and crossing a number of fords. Upon arriving at the lake the reflection was so good that you had to look twice to see what was lake and what was the surrounding scenery. After a lovely picnic lunch in the sun we head back home promising that we will come back this way again and go through to Lake Sumner next time. And if we are a lot fitter we will tramp up to the hot pools about 6k walk from Lake Sumner.
Can you imagine the surprised look on our faces when we found our hub meter had gone on a journey of its own....Yes we got to our destination some 70k from our last location only to find that the hub had not completed the trip with us....Amazingly we retraced our route and found it just 2 kilometres from where we set off....do you know how much rubbish you see on the side of the road when you are trying to spot your lost hub.
Snow!!!! Yes those who know me will know that I have been hanging out for snow ever since it got a little cooler in the South Island....and you will also know that it is me who is enthusiastic about this and John a whole lot less so. So Murphy in his infinite wisdom decided to make it snow heavily around the bus two days after I had flown to Auckland...Man I was so disappointed to miss it.....Ziggy however took a little while to be convinced that he should venture outside and even longer to adapt to walking on icy snow, quite slippery for a cat.
 This Seems Almost Fitting |
 Snow Laden |
 Snowy Digital TV |
 Ice Laden Panels |