Ross and Wyn Davies Travel Blog

Monday was Dentist Day – that is I had arranged to take my teeth to the dentist. So I did. It was a cold overcast day – chilling. I had been thinking of putting my jersey away for the summer but luckily hadn’t – it was my first choice to wear. When I got to the dentist’s rooms I overheard them discussing whether to put the heater on. She is a nice efficient dentist but has the job of doing things to my teeth and I’d rather be somewhere else. She managed to figure out which tooth was in trouble and drilled it out to see what was going on. I’ll spare you the details but eventually she filled it back up and it is a case of wait and see. Continue reading →

It’s a big day – Cromwell’s Christmas race meeting. Lots of marques and dressing up. Some workplaces use it as their Christmas staff function. We got invited to one such marque – for the company we’d been stacking wine bottles for. We were hoping for a warm day but it started cool and windy with sun – hopefully the wind would drop and it’d be a lovely day. We were picked up by a bus – good responsible hosts – and taken to the racecourse. We got there not long before the first race. I’d picked a few horses so managed to stop at a tote window on the way to the tent. I needn’t have bothered, it turned out there was a tote in the tent anyway! The first race was soon under way. Continue reading →

Saturday was the day before the Cromwell races. Wyn’s outfit needed a few adjustments so we headed into Cromwell later in the morning to see what was available. Wyn wanted something to adorn her hat. She ended up in the florists and the woman there was great. She got into the spirit of things and rummaged around out the back and tried this and that. In the end a couple of ostrich feathers, a rose made of netting ribbon and a black rose were woven together and attached to the hat. That was the hat sorted – it looked great. Continue reading →

Friday (yesterday) started windy and got windier. And it was warm again as well, getting warmer. I’d booked in for Suzi’s Certificate of Fitness – the warrant thing for trucks. The nearest testing station is in Alexandra, so we drove down there. This time we didn’t lose the wind in the gorge. Wyn headed off to check out the Op shops in Alex, looking for something to wear to the races on Sunday. I found the testing station and found that the entrance for vehicles was actually in another street after turning into the wrong one. The testing guys set to on Suzi – it’s the first time I’ve seen two do the process together. Previously (elsewhere) it’s been one person giving me instructions in the cab. Suzi was fine – heck she’s only done 11,000 kms and should be fine. But she has wheel trims on and they insisted that these had to come off so they could look at the wheels and wheel nuts. Continue reading →

It’s been a week of catching up with things that got put aside while working last week. Monday was washing day and we popped over to Pisa Moorings to my sister’s place to put a few loads through her machine – sheets and towels and stuff. Hanging it out in the wind was a trial. The wind was strong and persistent. It seemed to take me about 10 minutes to get one sheet safely hung on the line, by which time it was almost dry. Continue reading →

And on the sixth day we rested. And recuperated. Sunday was a gorgeous day. We missed the first part of it – no more alarms for a while. The morning was sunny and calm. We headed off at about 11am for the Sunday market down in the Old Cromwell area. We made a beeline for the sticky bun shop and the still had some left. Also in the shop was a camera crew and the plump judge from the Australian chef programme on TV every night. We got coffees from along the road and enjoyed our second breakfast in the sun. Continue reading →

Saturday 21st was another 7am start. The weather was windier and warmer – a good nor-wester. With a bit of sunshine as well, it started hot and got hotter. And dustier. But it was the last day of bottling so that didn’t matter quite as much. We’d woken stiff and sore but somehow got ourselves going and warmed up. The secret seemed to be to keep going. If you stopped you stiffened up. We finished off a third container and then carried on with stacking into big bins. After lunch they were struggling to find enough bins – we really were coming to the end. Continue reading →

Thursday morning was an even earlier start, 7am. So we had to get up at something like 5.30am to be ready. Getting there in half-hour increments was a blessing. The road crews were out sealing much of the road from Lowburn to Cromwell so a lot of the drive in had to be at 30kmph. The 2nd shift the previous day had loaded the container most of the way to the door so it wasn’t as far to carry the bottles. It didn’t take too long to warm up the complaining muscles and we soon finished the container and started back on stacking bottles in bins. Continue reading →

Second day, same as the first. Wednesday 18th was another fine morning although this one was half an hour earlier. We had to start at 7.30am this time. And this day we were going for it; to try to make up for some of the lost time the previous day. This day there was a gaping container at the back of the truck and we had to carry the bottles to the back and stack them there on their sides. The stack was wall to wall and up to the roof. When each row was finished another one was started.

As the tallest person I generally got the top bits of each row. Continue reading →

Monday of last week was get-ready-for-work day. It’s been a while since we last did a day’s work – more than I care to add up. Like any new job, we were a bit nervous – wondering what we’d let ourselves in for.

So, Tuesday 17th we were up at something awful like 6.30am. I know – that’s what sort of time most people get up. But we’d managed to avoid anything so uncivilised for a long time. It was all a bit of a novelty. We’d been lined up for a weeks work on a mobile wine bottling plant. This was based outside a wine factory/store in the industrial area of Cromwell. We got there in time for an 8am start. Continue reading →

Saturday (14 November) was more overcast but still warm and dry. We headed back to Lowburn in the early afternoon and set ourselves up again beside Lake Dunstan. It was very windy by this stage – a good Norwester was blowing. We loaded up our biking gear and headed off to Alexandra to visit a friend of Wyn’s. The wind followed and it was decided that a walk was going to be more pleasant. I went off by myself for a walk up past the clock on the hill – through fields of thyme. It is a bit of a scramble up past the clock but the views are well worth the effort. I walked back via the road and met up with Wyn and her friend checking out the new subdivision near Shaky Bridge. Continue reading →

Last Wednesday was a bit of a lazy day beside Lake Dunstan at Lowburn. And it was a windy day so we shifted slightly – to get a bit more shelter.  Thursday was not so windy which was a relief. We went into Cromwell to dump our grey waste (water) and get some groceries. Back at Lowburn we hooked up the car and headed up the road to Wanaka to visit Wyn’s son and his partner – well more Luggate really. After driving up their long dusty access road we realised we should have taken the car off where we left the main road. Continue reading →

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a cooler day with less/no sun in the morning. It felt cold although it was calm. It looked like the solar panels might struggle to do their job. We headed off to the movies. We are in Cromwell – more Lowburn really – and the theatre was in Arrowtown. They were showing the NZ film Strength of Water, filmed in the Hokianga. We’d read about it after we’d been through there a couple of times, and figured we’d catch it somewhere. But it didn’t seem to last long at the theatres anywhere and disappeared before we got ourselves organised. So 2pm at Arrowtown yesterday seemed like a good idea, and Arrowtown is only about 45kms away so what the heck. Continue reading →

Yesterday (Monday) started out as a nice day and just got better and better. It was sunny and warm. Nevermind spring – this feels more like summer.  We got ourselves a bit packed up and ready to move. But first, we needed to see a man about a job. We headed off in the car to catch a man along the road with orchards and a packhouse. We’d spoken to him a couple of weeks ago and he’d suggested we called in. So we did. It looks like there’s not much work at the moment and what there is is up ladders. But it sounds good for the packing season – which starts late in December. We carried on into Alexandra to see the seasonal work people. Continue reading →

Last Friday (7 November) we finally left Dunedin and headed south and west to Central. It was a lovely afternoon. We started to digest our three weeks in Dunedin, catching up with family and friends and farewelling a friend as well. We didn’t stop until Roxburgh – time for an icecream and a wander around the town and to enjoy the warmth. Coming over the hill into Alexandra in the evening was a sight to warm the heart. The sun was shining. There was snow on the tops. There is a purple tinge to the hills that is thyme. Central Otago was welcoming us back. Continue reading →