Packing my rucksack

Saturday 29th February
We have enjoyed a lovely sunny day in Queenstown. We went for a walk round the wee park, along the front and up to the old hydro power station. We were having an ice cream in Patagonia when Jamie arrived from Dunedin, then we all had lunch sitting on the balcony upstairs at Boardwalk overlooking the market and the harbour and the lake and the mountains - beautiful.
In the afternoon we had to go to a briefing at Ultimate Hikes to find out details of the trip we are going on for the next few days - the Routeburn Track. And now I am about to finish packing my rucksack. I will have no phone signal for the next three days so will be incommunicado until my return to civilisation on Tuesday.

Out of the we(s)t coast

Friday 28th February
Well thank goodness we walked to the Franz Josef Glacier yesterday because we certainly wouldn’t have done it today; we woke to heavy rain. This was our biggest driving day - four and a half hours to Queenstown so we packed up nice and early and drove half an hour south to the village of Fox Glacier for breakfast in a great wee café. The rain continued to be torrential as we drove towards the coast - the rivers we crossed were high and churning, and waterfalls crashed down rockfaces beside the road. We turned south at Bruce Beach as the rain went on battering down. It wasn’t until we approached Wanaka in the afternoon that the sun came out and weirdly we were soon strolling about the village of Wanaka in glorious sunshine as if the rain had been in a different universe! It was only an hour from there to Queenstown and the air b’n’b that Jamie had booked for us. It was really nice to be back here in summer and we recognised lots of bars and restaurants that we had visited in 2017. The town was busy with summer tourists and we went down to the front where we had dinner beside the lake, a most picturesque setting. The lake was an amazing turquoise blue.

Hot pools in the rain

Thursday 27th February
We walked to the viewing point for the Franz Josef Glacier this morning, a round trip of 6 km through rainforest and along glacial moraine. On the way there and back we passed some gorgeous high waterfalls crashing down from the cliffs. James was loving all the geological formations and the layers that he could see on the rocks. The glacier itself has retreated over the years and is now hanging quite far up the valley. The clouds were low and as we returned to the car it started raining lightly. We drove about 20 km down to the village of Fox Glacier where we had lunch in a nice wee café. In the afternoon it continued to rain so we decided to go to the glacier hot pools which are just down from our motel in Franz Josef. This was excellent fun; we booked a session in a small private pool and it felt as if we were in the middle of the rainforest. Then we went into the main pools where we chatted and floated around in the hot water while being rained on from above through a canopy of leaves.

Franz Josef Glacier

Wednesday 26th February
Just a quick post because I’m very tired. (In fact so tired that I fell asleep while blogging so I’m completing this the next morning!) This morning we left the excellent Arthur’s Pass Motel (very smart and clean, I would definitely stay there again) and went for a walk to the viewpoint at Bealey’s Spur Track. Oh dear, it was very hot - I really struggled with the 7.5 km / 370 metres route. I asked James to go ahead of me so that I could walk at my own pace and he walked all the way to the hut, an extra 5 km round trip, and then met me at the viewpoint just as I arrived there, which was good timing. I was so glad that I had made it; the views of the surrounding mountains and valleys were spectacular. The river below was a “braided river” with many ribbons of water, and we could see snow capped mountains in the distance. It was still uncomfortably hot on our way down the hill because the only welcome breeze was at the viewpoint.
We had drinks back at Arthur’s Pass before setting off on our three and a half hour journey to Franz Josef Glacier. The roads were quiet and the scenery was beautiful; we left the mountains, arrived at the coast, and turned south through farming country. Soon we approached the mountains again and arrived at the small but lively town of Franz Josef. We stretched our legs by exploring the town which is very touristy but attractive - lots of motels and restaurants. Our motel (Aspen Court) is another winner - absolutely pristine and I would recommend it. After dinner we watched the sunset on the mountains.

Christchurch and Arthur’s Pass

Tuesday 25th February
It has been a day of contrasts. We said farewell to Dunedin (and temporarily to Jamie) in the morning and took a plane to Christchurch. After picking up our hire car we drove into the town to have a look around. We walked along the river path into the centre and saw that the damage caused by the bad earthquake ten years ago is still very obvious. The Cathedral is gaping open to the elements and many other buildings in the centre are badly damaged. There is a lot of building work going on but it’s not going to be finished any time soon. We had lunch in a wee café before returning to the car heading east towards the mountains.
First we drove through a lot of flat farming land with hedgerows and some huge leylandi hedges, presumably planted to protect the crops. Eventually the road started rising steeply into the Southern Alps. They are stunning, with mountain peaks and high plateaus and alpine lakes. When we arrived at tonight’s destination of Arthur’s Pass we went for a walk up to the viewpoint for the Devil’s Punchbowl waterfall. There were a lot of steps! The late afternoon sun lit up the crashing water and there was a rainbow dancing at its base. We were both tired so took ourselves for drinks and an early dinner to the Wobbly Kea restaurant.

Birthday Boy

Monday 24th February 
Today is Jamie’s 30th birthday! I can hardly believe that thirty years have passed since I first held him in my arms and he looked up at me with his beautiful blue eyes. I remember being surprised, because such was my inexperience with babies that I didn’t realise that they could open their eyes straight after being born; I thought that they would have their eyes closed for the first few days. I fell in love with him straight away and have remained so ever since. How fantastic that we have been been able to spend his 30th birthday with him here in New Zealand. 

I fulfilled a long held dream in the morning by going for a swim in the St Clair outdoor swimming pool. It was closed for the winter during our last trip to New Zealand. As I expected it was a delightful experience and after my swim I had brunch at the poolside café with James and Jamie. We watched the surfers in the bay. 

Jamie then drove us to the Orokonui bird sanctuary which was tremendous; such a beautiful setting of trees, paths and clearings with amazing (and exceedingly noisy!) birds in all of the trees and drinking sugar water from the bird feeders. We saw tui, bellbirds, fantails, kereru (big New Zealand pigeons) and also wee lizards called skinks. We had coffee in the spacious and airy visitors’ centre.
Back at Jamie’s house we got ready for a birthday dinner at No. 7 Balmac, with a group of Jamie’s friends. What lovely friends he has. We had a very special evening and the food was delicious. 

Penguins

Sunday 23rd February 

When we arrived in Dunedin last night Jamie met us at the airport. Oh boy it was great to see him. We went to his house in St Clair, just round the corner from the beach, and met his house mate Louis, who was very pleasant and welcoming to us. After a short walk along the beach we had dinner on the seafront which was delicious, and then managed a cup of tea before declaring ourselves ready for bed. James in particular was so tired that his head kept falling backwards suddenly as he sat on the couch. We both had an excellent sleep. Jamie brought us coffee in the morning which we drank while sitting outside on his deck. 

It’s lovely but very strange to go from winter to summer so quickly. Today we have spent a warm and sunny summer’s day on the Otago peninsula. Jamie was keen to show us the area, because last time we came to Dunedin two and a half years ago it was lashing with rain during the few days that we spent here before heading to ski in Queenstown. Apparently this summer the weather has been very mixed here, so Jamie was delighted that he could show us around in the sunshine. We first went on the Monarch cruise, which is a boat trip near the end of the peninsula past Otakou. It was a wee boat and we saw lots of seabirds, most notably a huge albatross which flew over the boat, and some cute young blue penguins swimming in the water. The sea was a beautiful turquoise blue and there was a row of volcanic mountains in the distance to the north. We had lunch sitting outside an idyllic little café in nearby Portobello, with beautiful views of the sea. 

Then Jamie took us to Penguin Place, a conservation reserve for sick or injured penguins. There are several types of penguins in the area including the endangered Yellow Eyed penguin. We were shown the recovering penguins relaxing in their pens, where some of them were clearly enjoying (and in one case literally dancing under) a fine spray of water, which looked very refreshing. Then our guide took us to the bay where we didn’t see any more penguins (they are mainly out at sea at this time of year) but we did see fur seals fighting and rolling about, and sea lions gallumphing into the sea. 

Jamie then drove us to Allan’s beach which is spectacular, with huge rolling waves and fine white sand, bounded at each end by sea cliffs. There were a couple of sea lions lolling about on the sand. The time flew by and we realised that it was dinner time so went straight to Luna in Roslyn which has fine views over Dunedin. What a day; it was great to spend it outdoors after the long plane journey from Scotland.

Long journey

We flew through the night to Dubai. I decided to watch big Oscar winner Parasite, a South Korean film about two families, one very rich and one very poor. Oh dear what a disappointment. All of the characters were dreadful and the plot was rambling. I can’t imagine how it won the Oscar for best picture. Since it was night time there wasn’t much to see although we did get a very good view of the lights of Baghdad at one point and later we saw the flares of oil fields near Basra. We had decided to stay awake for the whole flight to increase our chances of having a kip between Dubai and Auckland, but when we arrived in Dubai it was 4 in the morning Scottish time so we felt a bit weary, and when we started on the next leg of our journey, from Dubai to Auckland, it was the equivalent of Scottish 6 a.m. I had been awake for 30 hours and by the time the plane took off I just couldn’t keep my eyes open any more. I had a good three hour sleep but missed dinner so found myself being given coffee and biccies by the very friendly cabin staff somewhere over the Indian Ocean. We flew from day into night and back into day as we traversed the whole of Australia before heading over the sea to New Zealand. Sixteen hours is a heck of a long flight. I watched three more films, including Judy, for which Renée Zellweger recently won the Best Actress Oscar, but in the end I no longer wanted to watch films nor read my book. I took a few strolls round the plane and dozed as much as I could.

We are now waiting at Auckland airport for our flight to Dunedin, the last two hours or so of our long journey. 

You do need a visa to go to New Zealand!

Imagine our surprise and discomfiture when we turned up at the Emirates check in desk at Glasgow Airport only to be told that you have needed a visa to visit New Zealand since last October. It hasn’t even occurred to us because we didn’t need them in 2017 on our last visit. The man at the desk helpfully directed us to the New Zealand government website where we could apply straight away using our phones. For the princely sum of 47 NZ dollars we were permitted to fill in our details (as quickly as possible!) and send them off. The only problem was that the website warned us that the visa could be granted in as little as ten minutes .... or as much as 72 hours! In fact it only took about three minutes for our visas to come through and we were able to return to the desk and check in. Phew.

Preparations

I am in the hairdressers getting my hair painted ready for our holiday to New Zealand. The cases are all packed and ready. This is probably the most peaceful part of today, because after this I will go straight to university for my French class and then when we get home we will only have about an hour before going to the airport. Our flight to Dubai will leave at 8.50 p.m.

The last few days have flown past. Our sojourn in Ullapool continued to be very rainy and windy, however we walked into the village every day and checked that all of the appliances in the cottage are working. We also met our lovely next door neighbour, Anne, who had a coffee with us on Monday. On our way home on Monday we met Alison and Hugh for a pleasant lunch in Simpson’s garden centre in Inverness, which is huge, and then pressed on homewards through the rain. 

Since then we have been packing, doing admin, and I have managed to squeeze in a wee coffee with Marjory and lunch yesterday with Jenn F. We have spent time with the boys and Chanel too, and last night James made a delicious vegetarian curry. He is being very supportive of my foray into vegetarianism and says that he has been wanting to cut down his own meat intake. The cats definitely know that something is up and have been trying to climb into the cases. Last night they were fighting all over the bed in the middle of the night, which is something they only do occasionally and I think signals that they are a bit agitated. I’m glad that Ally and Davie will be at home to feed them and keep them company while we’re away.

Update in the afternoon - as I drove over the Kingston Bridge on my way to the west end, I noticed that the sky ahead was very dark with an impending hail storm but the buildings of Glasgow were all brightly lit by the sun which was behind me. It looked amazing.

Storm Dennis

I’m glad that our cottage in Ullapool is warm and cosy because as I write, Storm Dennis is still battering against the windows. The beds that we have ordered won’t arrive until March so this weekend we have brought an inflatable mattress which James has set up in the bedroom. Last night was not a comfortable one for me I’m afraid. The mattress is bumpy and also strangely cold. I couldn’t get to sleep and I woke up shivering in the middle of the night; I had to get up and put all of my clothes on! Tonight James is going to put the car rug under the sheet to provide more insulation from the plastic mattress. I was very tired in the morning but James soon revived me with coffee and porridge. Then, armed with a shopping list of household items that we still needed, we set out into the wet and blustery morning to walk to the hardware store and the supermarket. We had lunch at a wee delicatessen and then spent the whole afternoon cleaning the cottage and getting it the way we want it, and James constructed my Ikea rocking chair, which I love. It was a good day to be busy indoors as the storm grew stronger outside, however we braved the rain again later when we went down to the chippy to fetch our dinner. There are several fish and chip shops so we will need to try them all to find our favourite!

Ceilidh in Ullapool

I am blogging from the living room in our cottage in Ullapool. James and I have just watched the 18.30 ferry pass by on its way to Stornaway, all lit up in the darkness.
It has been an exciting couple of days. We set off northwards on Friday morning and got a call from our lawyer at 10 a.m. to say that the house sale was completed. We arrived in Ullapool early afternoon and met up with the people who sold us the house; they gave us a final tour with useful tips and hints about how to operate the heating and various appliances. The removal van had only just left and they weren’t quite finished packing their car so we went for a walk into the town centre to give them a bit of time to finish up and to say goodbye to their neighbours.
So now we have a holiday house. It feels great but strange. We quickly set to unpacking and sorting everything out, and the afternoon flew by. We lost track of time and had to hurry to get changed and make our way to the Ceilidh Place for a Valentine’s Day dinner and ceilidh, called the Valentina Cantina. The weather was getting wild; the next storm is upon us - Storm Dennis. We didn’t know anyone else at the ceilidh but we were made very welcome by the staff when we arrived and found ourselves sitting with two very friendly couples, from Strathpeffer and Ellon. We all chatted during the 1970s themed dinner (because the Ceilidh Place first opened in 1970 so this year is its 50th anniversary.) Then the entertainment began. First the poet George Gunn read a poem that he had written in honour of the Ceilidh Place at 50 and then the excellent ceilidh band consisting of Duncan, Dagger and Iain got started. We were soon all up on the dance floor dancing the Gay Gordons and the Dashing White Sergeant. My favourite was the Orcadian Strip the Willow, which involves multiple couples dancing and whirling down one long set while everyone else constantly moves upwards. What a laugh we had - there was a honeymoon couple who were extremely confused and a helpful lady was grabbing them and shoving them in the right direction. The bride felt dizzy and had to sit down; however her new husband remained on the dance floor which caused even more confusion! As we all sang Auld Lang Syne in a circle I felt that it was a really lovely way to celebrate our first night in our new life in Ullapool.

I become vegetarian

I have become vegetarian as of approximately 8 p.m. last night. We were watching a programme called Fish Town on BBC1. It’s an interesting documentary series about fishing boats and their crew plying their trade from Peterhead, which is the UK’s largest fishing port. There was something about seeing all those fish gasping and struggling in their death throes which finally tipped me over the edge into vegetarianism. I’m ashamed that it has taken me so long to make the decision. I have seen and heard plenty of things over the years which made it clear to me that I’m not happy about eating meat or fish. But it has always felt easier to go with the flow and eat the same meals as the rest of the family. Chicken in particular is such a convenient base for many dishes. Anyhow the decision is made. I will need to get used to using new and different ingredients.
My announcement today was greeted with some disbelief and hilarity by James and Davie (Ally is out this evening so I haven’t told him yet, and I should imagine that Jamie will be relaxed about it.) I will not be changing my mind.

Snowy

It has been a day of wild weather here. We have had wind, snow, hail, and even thunder and lightning. I went up to Kingsgate late morning to collect some bed linen that I had ordered from Next. I took James with me so that he could walk home because he was keen to have a walk despite the weather. After I put the bed linen in the car boot, James set off for his walk and I had a wee browse round the shops. I noticed that the snow was getting heavier again so decided to head down the road, and in fact ran into a few problems; the layer of new snow was very slippery and the cars were all (sensibly) crawling along slowly. This continued all of the way home and I was beginning to think that James would arrive before me, however I passed him just at the corner of our road. He said that his walk had been freezing with driving snow.
The trains are still delayed or cancelled due to the bad weather. Cat’s train to London was cancelled this afternoon and so she has spent another evening with us. Although her plans were disrupted, it was really lovely to have her here.

Lunch and an unexpected road trip

I made an Italian stew today which turned out quite nicely, and I served it with mashed potatoes prepared with the potato ricer that I purchased for the recent Burns’ Supper at Newtonmore. I really like the consistency that the ricer gives. The occasion was Heather and Ewan coming for Sunday lunch. I was a bit disappointed with the look of the plum sponge dessert although the taste was good, and the least said about the overcooked broccoli the better! The company was of course excellent and I was pleased that David joined us for lunch too. It was still very windy and rainy, and half way through lunch, part of the fence between us and the Reids blew down, leaving a gaping hole.
Ally and Cat were meanwhile in Lancaster for the weekend; a halfway point between their abodes in Glasgow and London. I had heard on the news that Storm Ciara was disrupting travel all over the country but I didn’t realise just how badly until I got a call from Ally to say that all trains had been cancelled between Lancaster and Glasgow. Cat also could not get a train from Lancaster to London. Buses were few and far between. So after Heather and Ewan left, James and I jumped into the car and headed south to pick Ally and Cat up. Despite (or perhaps because of) the poor weather, the roads were quiet and we made very good progress; many of the field that we passed were flooded and rivers had burst their banks but the road conditions were not too bad. The round trip - I drove south and then Ally drove north) took less than five hours including a toilet stop and a stop for petrol. We had a pleasant chat in the car on the way home, and I was glad that we had made the journey. David very kindly cleared up all the dishes and washed the glasses while we were away.
I heard later that Alison and Hugh’s flights home from their trip to London were cancelled so they are having to spend an extra night there, and Marjory and Forrest’s train home from Warwick tomorrow may be delayed. Storm Ciara has certainly caused a lot of trouble. Apparently she will be heading to Scandinavia soon to wreak more havoc.

Storm and Coronavirus

Storm Ciara has now arrived in the West of Scotland with high winds and heavy rain. But this morning it was still dry so, after visiting the police station to give our car details after last night’s incident, we walked along to Burnside for brunch. I do like Café Gelato. It’s a proper traditional Glaswegian Italian café. We had French toast with maple syrup and read the paper; James reads the news and I read the culture section, so it’s very harmonious. Back home James had to spend ages on thx phone to arrange the car repair and a courtesy car, he seemed to have to relate the whole story and give all of his details during each phone call. I was busy with odds and ends and a bit of grocery shopping. By the time I walked down to Morrison’s mid afternoon with David, it had turned much colder and the rain was starting.
David asked which ship we were on during our Alaska Cruise in 2013, wondering if it might be the ship that is currently quarantined with this new coronavirus* which is headline news. James and I weren’t sure so I consulted my trusty blog, and found out that it was indeed the Diamond Princess. This coronavirus is very new but seems to be spreading fast; it only started in December 2019 in Wuhan in China and doesn’t even have an official name yet. It has spread a lot in China and the Far East and has now arrived in Europe although all governments are being very vigilant and quarantining people who show symptoms. Apparently it may have started in a market in Wuhan where people buy a variety of live animals to eat including bats and that’s the sort of environment where a novel coronavirus can possibly be transmitted from animals to humans. Anyway, due to several confirmed cases on board the 3700 unfortunate current passengers on the Diamond Princess are in quarantine in Japanese waters.

* David told us that the reason for the name coronavirus (corona being Latin for crown) is that when you look at it through a microscope it looks like a little crown with spikes coming out of it. How handy to have a Biochemist in the family!

Bad ending to a good evening

The good weather has continued over the last few days and I have been out and about doing some walking whenever I can. Today I met up with Fiona for lunch at Low Parks museum in Hamilton and afterwards went for a walk into Strathclyde Park and back. This evening James David and I went to the Grosvenor Cinema in Ashton Lane to see the new film of David Copperfield. Armando Ianucci has played rather fast and loose with the plot to make it more concise; Dora’s role was rather glossed over and I thought that he could have made more of Mr Micawber, but these are just niggles. Hugh Laurie was very good as Mr Dick, who was my Dad’s favourite Dickens’ character because he liked Mr Dick’s way of cutting to the chase and seeing what needed to be done straight away rather than concerning himself with the big picture. All in all I felt that it was a joyful and excellently diverse version of the story.
All three of us enjoyed the film and discussed it over dinner at Ashoka West End, as well as reminiscing fondly over some holiday adventures in Alaska and Yellowstone Park. We were all feeling very happy when we arrived back at the car, only to find a note stuck to our windscreen explaining that someone had reversed into our car in the car park, and had driven away without stopping. The wing of the car is pressed in and quite badly damaged. Luckily for us some kind passers by managed to take a photograph of the number plate of the retreating car, then left us the note as well as informing the police. We phoned the witnesses on the number they had left and they very pleasantly filled us in on the details, and then the police phoned us and said that they were investigating it as a hit and run. Tomorrow we need to go to the police station at Rutherglen with the incident report number. A subdued trio of Andersons drove home; it was a disappointing end to what had been a very nice evening.

Sun’s out

The sun finally came out today after several days of rain. We have been making the most of the rainy days by getting on with a lot of admin and errands and holiday planning but this sunshine is a lovely surprise. It was a beautiful day, almost like springtime. There are lots of snowdrops in all of the gardens and the leaves and shoots of crocuses are beginning to push up through the soil. I had a lovely coffee with Catherine over at the Buttercup Café in Newlands and then walked home from Burnside. I walked back along there for dinner later with Audrey; the food at Ciao Bella really is delicious. All in all I have walked a respectable 10 km today. Meanwhile James has been washing the car and working hard in the garden. Ally was on a training course in Edinburgh and Davie has been making a start on his latest essay. A very satisfactory day.

Sunday morning bath

I am relaxing in the bath on this rainy Sunday morning while James, Ally and Davie are walking with the club in the hills of Galloway. I hope the weather is better there than here but I doubt it! I find myself in a cautiously happy and slightly thoughtful mood. We had such a good time last week at the Burns Supper weekend, and then with Alison and Hugh exploring the area around their new home. Last night we had a Chinese meal and a convivial evening with Marjory, Forrest and Lucy. We are lucky to have so many good people in our lives. In the past I have allowed myself to spend too much thought on the few unpleasant people I have met - and to be fair most of them turned out to have problems of their own. I have a list of things to do around the house when I finally emerge from the bath and also I’m in the middle of planning a few hikes for our upcoming trip to New Zealand.
Flora is walking around the edge of the bath just now; she loves water. Tom also visited me a short while ago but he was more wary and scarpered at the sound of splashing!