Friday, December 04, 2015

Saturday 5th December 2015….sorry no Internet last night!!

I realized on my hike yesterday that I was having such a good time here I forgot to tell you on December 1st the celebration of my last working day…..I walked out of the Granary in Nanaimo after 14 wonderful years there and I stepped into this retirement life and that was 2006!!!!..Since then it has been a boring life sitting on the couch reading and drinking tea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok let me get into it….yesterday morning after a great sleep Lynne made me a delicious breakfast and some fruit for the road and asked  me to sign the guest book and I did and I noticed the couple that stayed the day before me were from a small town in England called Grimsby which is about 15 minutes from where Malc my Brother lives…small world.

The sunshine returned and I was on the road for what was going to be a busy hiking and driving day.

I had left the coast and headed into the mountains…

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I was on the shores of Lake Tekapo and this church is one of the most photographed churches in NZ but I really could not get a good shot..

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The wild Lupins were so colourful and everywhere..

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My first hike today was to a “secret” view of the NZ version of the white cliffs of Dover…I left TP with the flowers

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whilst I went on this great hike..

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After I while I came to the lake shore and the cliffs

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What a lovely colour!!

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It was an unusual and great hike and back on the road many stops were made for views like this!!!

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About an hour later I arrived at the Hooker Valley trail at the base of Mount Cook and Aoraki…ok no comments enjoy and see why this hike is rated the best one day hikes on the South Island!!!

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It is a 6 km one way hike passing over 3 swing bridges…

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The end of the hike is at this lake

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What is that in the water?

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Couldn’t be an ice berg?

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One of my most memorable lunch stops the last time i touched an ice berg was in New Foundland in 2011!!

Love the zoom on my camera!!

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Hard to leave this spot but I had a 2 hour drive ahead of me on the hike back I was a wee bit tired…wee is a word the locals often use….I had walked almost 15 km and with the driving so in times like this you try to summon your last bit of energy and use any method a song, thinking about a good event in your life, a good tennis game or

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JUST SAYING!!!!!

On the road again and more stops for photos

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I really like the above shot!!!

Two days ago I booked through airbnb accommodation for tonight I wanted to stay two nights and found a small cabin on a nice property close to a lake and when I contacted the owner she told me that the cabin was available for one night but she was having a party that night and it could be a bit noisy and also it was not available for two nights BUT she offered for me to stay at the house next door which normally rents for 280 dollars a night but I could have it for the same price of the cabin and I could stay two nights and I would not hear the music so i gladly accepted..oh the cost per night 75 dollars!!!

So I knew I had cooking facilities so I stopped at a store and bought some food and arrived at the house and met Amanda around 6.30pm…what do you think!!!!!

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5 bedrooms anyone want to come and spend the night??

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The upstairs lounge and the view!!!

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and of course

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I put a load of laundry on….cooked a lovely chicken dinner and then relaxed!!!

Today is going to be an easy day for me a nice breakfast and then they have a mountain bike so I will just explore on the bike and maybe tonight watch TV……

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Where I am staying

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Yashi Kochi!!!!

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