Ross and Wyn Davies Travel Blog

Crikey! I’ve been a bad blogger – again! The trouble is we’ve been working. Work, the curse of the gypsy lifestyle! We’re now firmly into working six nights and having two nights on. There’s an end in sight but it’s a few weeks away. We’ve flirted with colds lately but – touch wood – we’ve escaped the worst of it. We’ve had some rain and some sun – plenty of both in the Bay of Plenty. Days off tend to be catch-up/blob out days. Time to catch up with missed TV episodes – Coro St and Packed to the Rafters. And time to read bits of the last Saturday Herald. Sometimes I have to throw out unread parts.

We had a day off work yesterday. Sort of. We worked Tuesday night until 2am yesterday morning, which was a sort-of early finish. And with no work last night we headed off to the beach. We re-explored Makatu and went over to Little Waihi and had lunch in the sun and went for a walk along the beach. We ended up having a coffee at a cafe in Makatu watching the sun set along the beach. We came home and dealt to the fish. I’d been given a fish the day before and he’d been resting in the fridge. We decided to BBQ him and eventually I wrestled him into flatness and sizzled him. He was quite a big Kawhai – if that’s how you spell it. He was quite a chunky fish and we probably overdosed on Omega 3. Anyway, there’s a first for us. I’m still not sure we’re ready to go out and chase them down.
Today is another nice sunny day and we’re catching up with washing and relaxing. We have another night shift tonight and don’t know after that.

We’re still alive and well and busy and working and not working. We’re enduring the stop-start start to the kiwifruit season in Te Puke. Getting used to working nights. Trying to sleep days. Tonight was going to be a night off after 4 nights and now it isn’t. Such are the tribulations of seasonal horticulture work. We try to be relaxed about it and we will work at relaxing today before starting tonight.

It has been a hectic week – tidying up loose ends and catching up with people.  And fun. We’re still buzzing along on a wedding high. And coffee – lots of coffee.  And seeing some of the photos taken by guests. Lots of lovely photos. I’ll include a couple of them in here and get more later. Continue reading →

We’re married now, with a licence to be husband and wife. YAHOOOZIEEEEEEEE……… We had a wonderful day with wonderful family and friends. It was everything we had planned and hoped for, and more. There was a bit of magic that just happens sometimes. We are now in recovery/sort-out mode with only a couple of days left before we head north from Dunedin. Lots to do but we are now managing to catch up on some sleep. Photographic evidence of our new status will follow in a few days.

We are well and busy parked up near Mosgiel near Dunedin. And thinking about our family and friends in Christchurch who are all OK as far as we know. Or as OK as you can be after an event as awful as yesterday. I hoped to wake up this morning to find that it was all some bad dream. Only it’s not.
We’re gearing up for our wedding on this Saturday. Still a few things to do….

Another December day we had an outing to Picton. It’s hardly more than 20 minutes away from Blenheim and a nice place on a nice day.  It’s a busy sort of place. It seems like somewhere that most people are coming and going; some interisland by ferry and some intersounds by smaller boats. Hands up anyone who has stayed a night in Picton?  We had a relaxing day, enjoying the waterfront area and watching the boats coming and going. And did I mention about the boats? Continue reading →

Back in December we were at a loose end one Sunday and went off for a walk in the Wither Hills that overlook Blenheim. It was a very hot day and it was the middle of the day by the time we got organised. We might have thought better of it – should have. But we didn’t, so we went. It started out hot and got hotter. One redeeming feature was that the first part up Quail Stream was shaded. It is a gradual climb and a good way to get legs warmed up. Except we were already warmed up by the day. Continue reading →

Hi and Happy New Year for 2011. And did I mention Merry Christmas? We’re alive and well and keeping warm in Blenheim after a busy and happy Christmas and New Year and working for a bit and moving around for a bit. Now it’s time for catching up a bit. Catching up seems to be the story of this blog. Ho hummm…

Wyn had discovered some information on the Northbank area of the Wairau Valley which Blenheim sits in. Northbank is another classic piece of kiwi/DoC underwhelming naming. It is actually the southern edge of the extensive and interesting Mt Richmond Forest Park, the backbone of which is the Richmond Range. Armed with our $1 Doc leaflet and scale-less map we decided that Saturday 27 November was the day for some exploring. But first there was some shopping to do. Continue reading →

November 25th was another warm work and walk day. It was a lovely warm evening and we set out a bit earlier than than the previous day. And went somewhere a bit different. Slightly. We took a track up from the end of our street which was one ridge further east from our usual. We made a quick 1-hour circuit to be back in time for Coro Street. Which is sad. It was a warm evening. Which was lovely. Continue reading →

Back in Blenheim from the Sounds there was work to be done at the motels. We’d parked up at the Bowling Club again. 24th November was also the day of the 2nd explosion in the Pike River mine so there was a sombre end to the day. Wyn and I took ourselves off for a late walk in the Wither Hills. We did our circuit up to the Rotary Lookout and then back down via Quail Stream. There was a cool wind on the ridge but it was warm enough in the stream. It was a lovely evening and back at the car we watched the setting sun light up the jet vapour trails high above. Continue reading →

After our lovely peaceful morning at Cowshed Bay and Portage we headed back up the short road to Torea Saddle. This is the saddle with and road to Torea Bay on Queen Charlotte Sound which is a short water taxi ride form Picton. The saddle is crossed in the other direction by the Queen Charlotte Track which generally follows the ridge-line which is the watershed between Queen Charlotte Sound and Kenepuru Sound which we were parked/camping beside. From the saddle, we headed off up the section of the track towards Te Mahia Saddle, roughly south and definitely up. Continue reading →

Meanwhile, back in November we were enjoying a short break at Kenepuru Sound in the Marlborough Sounds. We had one more day to enjoy the quiet and the bird songs and the peace and calm. And a nice day it was too. We were parked at the DoC camp at Cowshed Bay just before Portage. Portage is a hotel/resort and a few houses and a shop and a wharf. Cowshed Bay is a lovely little bay with flat parking and camping areas in the bush. It is a lovely bay with a less-than-lovely name. Continue reading →

We were away from the motels by Wednesday afternoon. Just in time for the rain to set in in earnest. We’d been busy at the motels so it was good to relax. By 4.30pm I was asleep in Suzi. Thursday was promised as a better day. We were up and off for our walk by 11am. It felt early for us. We went back to our favourite Wither Hills walk – the one Wyn had zoomed round on Sunday. We set out to zoom round as well. I took my camera which serves as a good timing devise – so long as I remember to take a photo at each strategic spot. Continue reading →