Ross and Wyn Davies Travel Blog

Last Tuesday we had time for a bit of a walk around Blenheim – looking at some of the sights and scenes instead of just rushing off to somewhere. We’d been there for much of 5 months and thought we’d be tourists for an hour or so.   Seymour Square is only a block from the motels where we’d been working and we hadn’t been there long enough to smell the flowers. Plus I’d wanted to have a go at getting a photo at night when the fountain is lit up.  So what follows is more of a photo blog than words – for a change 🙂 Continue reading →

We’re making slow progress south. Saturday morning and we’ve only got as far as Paparoa Point north of Kaikoura. Thursday we got as far as the sandhills south of Ward at the Waimea River Bridge. Yesterday was a Big Walk to see the extraordinary Sawcut Gorge. It was not a walk so much as a as a boulder-hopping river-bashing tramp. It took us most of the day. Paparoa Point is a great spot to park. Out one window the sea crashes on the rocks. Out the other window a seal is playing in the water. Today we’ll have to see if we can get the car checked out in Kaikoura – more trouble from the A-frame. Then south some more …

Today’s a soggy sort of morning here in Blenheim. Just the right sort of day for leaving town. We’re heading south, to Somewhere. We don’t have an exact or even vague plan yet as to where we might finish up tonight. It’ll be somewhere south of here – that’s a definite. We’ve been in Blenheim for almost two weeks. We might be in Christchurch for the weekend or tonight. There’s things to explore on the way. Does being vague about plans mean we are Gypsies or does it mean we are getting old and dithery?

Meanwhile, back in Blenheim in April… We were parked up at the Racecourse and Laura had flown back home. We started helping with some admin work at the motels. No sooner had we started than we had a day off for my birthday. It’s cool getting the day off for your birthday and easy to arrange when you’re hardly working anyway. I got a cup of tea in bed – what a lovely luxury. Then there was a champagne breakfast with pancakes and fresh fruit salad and syrup …. Plus presents. Continue reading →

Friday 20 August was a nice warm day that got colder as it went on. I worked on web site stuff and even got around to updating our own. Wyn had a walk around the local shops and that was about as exciting as our day got. Unless you count being unable to prise a cassette off the toilet base station. The things are supposed to be able to be pulled off when they are full. We’ve had a faulty cassette for a long time now and this time it dug its heels in. It had to come off and I was a bit perplexed for a while. In the end I moved the car opposite it and attached a ratchet strop to the cassette with the other end attached to the tow ball of the car. Desperate situations call for desperate measures. The ratchet effectively winched it off which solved the problem. Continue reading →

Back in April in the marvellous Marlborough Sounds, we woke to a new day at Elaine Bay. It was time for moving on – Laura had a plane to catch the next day. It was cloudy with the sun starting to come through later in the morning. After the previous couple of wonderful days, we were in no hurry to leave. It took us until early afternoon to get pack up, cleaned up and stowed away. Laura wasn’t so keen on swinging around the big corners in the front seat in Suzi so decided to travel with Wyn in the car. I was mindful of the “Caution Logging Trucks” signs we’d passed on the way in on Friday evening. This was now Monday and logging and mussel trucks would be back on the job. We got the walkie-talkies going so that Wyn could let me know what was coming. Continue reading →

Woke up to a sunny morning and decided that seeing as my legs still worked after a Zumba class last night, I would look up Wither Hills map and find a new ridge to walk up. Got a bit of time on my hands, as Ross working on Motel website, so seems a good idea to try and gain some fitness. Reservoir Ridge started off rather steeply but the views were rewarding. Up I walked for 30 minutes only to find the track I wanted to come down on, had a bulldozer repairing the track. Well that track wasn’t a happening thing, so I retraced my footsteps back down again. I was happy. Its lovely up in them Wither Hills. A great asset for Blenheim which are well used for walking/jogging and mountainbiking.

Meanwhile, back to August and Blenheim. It’s a sunny Thursday morning and 19 August. I’ve been helping with internet site stuff at the motels and Wyn’s been walking a few walks including a favourite one in the Wither Hills. Yesterday was a lovely warm morning and almost 20 degrees for a bit. But then it got cold and wet and this morning there is a dusting of snow visible on the tops of distant hills. We moved carparks on Tuesday. We’d used up our allotted time at the Racecourse so now we’re in the car park at the Bowling Club. It gets the sun and is quiet enough and has a hard surface which is important in Blenheim at the moment. For a place that is supposed to be dry things are fairly waterlogged.

Meanwhile, back in April, Wyn and me and Laura are still parked up at the DoC camping reserve at Elaine Bay in Marlborough Sounds. Elaine Bay is just off the road north to French Pass and near to Tennyson Inlet. It is in the northern part of the sounds. The previous day we’d driven to see the wonder that is French Pass and we decided to have another day to sit around and enjoy Elaine Bay. It’s the sort of place that encourages that. There’s not a lot to do that doesn’t involve relaxation. It gets a bit busy when a mussel boat comes in to the wharf and unloads, and sometimes a truck rumbles through to collect the mussels. Occasionally someone launches a boat and zooms off somewhere. There is a kayak hire place – someone wheels some kayaks out of their basement. When evening comes around they put them away again. A few motorhomes and vans come to the DoC camp and the occasional day-trippers come and go – maybe curious to see what’s at the end of the road. And that’s about it for Elaine Bay. It’s not wilderness. There’s nothing there but the view of the sound and peace and quiet. It’s perfect. Continue reading →

Today is a gray Monday in Blenheim. It’s 15th August. Our trip to French Pass (last post) was back in April. This is becoming one of those stories that zips backwards and forwards in time. I’m working on catching up the interesting stuff in between. Meanwhile we’re alive and busy in Blenheim with catching up of our own.
It’s interesting for me how vivid some memories are. I can recall the day to French Pass as if it was last week. In between there are whole months I struggle to remember. What is it that stores some memories stronger?

As a matter of interest, the photos in each post can be enlarged by clicking on them. They’re shown in the post at 60% of their size to make the pages quicker to load. Clicking on the photo shows it about one third larger. You’ll then need to use the Back button on your browser to return to the post.
The larger size of the photo is still not big. It’s a way of keeping the size of the blog down and is also to discourage people from flogging the photos. If anyone wants a better resolution copy get in touch.

There was a great information board at the lookout at French Pass. It was an interesting story and I’ve included parts of it here. Click on Read the rest… for more… Continue reading →

If Elaine Bay had made an impression on us when we arrived the previous evening, then next morning was something else again. The morning was sunny and calm. I got up quietly and grabbed my camera and my tripod and made the most of it. As I was photographing the jetty I realised that this view was one used in many Marlborough promotions. It annoys me when tourist promotions show stunning photos with no information. It’s as if we’re supposed to be satisfied with the brochure. Or maybe we’re supposed to spend years criss-crossing the area looking for the scene. Anyway, it was fun to realise that we’d parked in the middle of one of the iconic Sound’s landscapes. Continue reading →

At last, I’ve remembered how to post. It has been a while – the Aussie Bay to Elaine Bay day was long, long ago back in April. Buuut I’ve sorted out how to do it and how to add the photos so there should be more posts soon and we’ll even catch up to August some time….
It’s a grey sort of Sunday morning here at the Racecourse at Blenheim. Yesterday’s sun lasted for the morning and then slipped away again. Today 15 August we’re off to mind motels for the day so it’s off to work we go ….

We woke to a lovely morning. We were parked/camped at the DOC camp at Aussie Bay on the Grove Arm of Queen Charlotte Sound. After a slow start to the day, we drove on to the head of the sound, only a few kilometres further on. Then we headed up the other side of the sound another few kilometres to Anakiwa, the end of the road. This is where the Outward Bound school is and also where the Queen Charlotte Track starts (or ends – depending on your viewpoint). An hour up the track is Davies Bay so we had to make the pilgrimage.  Continue reading →