We’re wandering along the plains of North Canterbury- lots of vineyards here.
Train is very comfortable and I have a window seat and a whole row to myself. More passengers boarding later though. We have wifi and charging plugs and an app that alerts us to points of interest, so all sorted!
Just spent 5 minutes in Kaikoura! We’ve been going along the wild coastline for a while now - it’s stunning.
Discovered I don’t have the right connection to charge my phone on the train, so have to be restrained with phone use.
Spent some time in the viewing carriage, here shown stopped at the station, but the view from my seat is fabulous too!
Now I’m in Picton. Will be sailing across Cook Strait in that boat on the left soon! My first time leaving Te Wai Pounamu in 5 years 😧
The train trip was fabulous and I will do it again on the way home in a couple of weeks. It’s frustrating that it’s so expensive- I really wish it was less luxurious and more accessible.
Here are some Marlborough photos. Battery on phone is very low so that will most likely be all from me for a while!
Found somewhere to charge my phone on board 🎉 It’s a lovely day but there’s a moderate swell. Luckily I’m not prone to sea-sickness!🤞🏼
Cruising on the Interislander, as the song goes. The sun is shining, but it’s one of those crossings where they announce that “conditions are less than favourable”, advise you to remain seated, and come around offering ice and sick bags. Lots of pale-looking people- I’m fortunate to feel fine!
Found a nice spot in the ‘quiet area’.
Greetings Te Whanganui a Tara👋🏼 Things got a lot smoother once we reached the harbour!
I’m here for a couple of days with my sister and catching up with friends. Then we head further north.
Watching planes flying in and thinking how I could have flown here in a couple of hours and for less money than this 2-day trip 🫤 This slow travel is a lot more fun though!
Wellington has put on sunshine for me - after a little rain 😆 I had a lovely time wandering into town through the Botanic Gardens and around the waterfront in good tourist fashion. Also visited the Wellington Museum.
Then my fatigue kicked in so I came back to my sister’s to rest up. Today’s transport was walking, but I caught the cable car as the most convenient way of getting home!
The waterfront is great. And I love the zero-waste and circular economy ethics of this cafe! Got my lunch there 😊
I highly recommend Wellington Museum. It’s very interesting and a lot quieter than Te Papa!
The current exhibition Fortune features this fabulous knitted yum cha, made by Bev Moon. Really impressive!
Today I’m riding the Kapiti line - heading up the coast to spend the afternoon with friends in Raumati 🥰
Wellington Railway Station isn’t quite up to the magnificence of Dunedin’s - still pretty good though!
Managed to tag on okay with my ancient Snapper card - phew 😅
Had a lovely afternoon with my friends, including some down from Auckland, at Raumati Beach. Now exhausted after talking too much 😆
Staying tonight at my sister’s place in Waikanae Beach.
Today I’m travelling with my sister and brother-in-law in their car to Rotorua - my furthest destination.
Before leaving we went walking on lovely Waikanae Beach. Saw Kapiti Island in a different direction from yesterday at Raumati. 😍
My holiday continues to be charmed by sunshine!
We stopped for a picnic lunch a little past Waiouru, at the Tangiwai disaster memorial. Hard to believe that one of Aotearoa’s biggest disasters happened at this lovely peaceful place.
For those who don’t know, late on Christmas Eve 1953 a crowded passenger express train crashed here. A lahar from nearby Ruapehu caused a flash flood which took out the railway bridge and several carriages went into the flood. 151 people died.
We made it to Rotorua and met up with some other family members. We’re celebrating a milestone birthday of one of my sisters 🎉 Just had dinner out, complete with mocktails!
We’re staying in Ngongotaha, close to Rotorua. I lived there as a child but was just 4 years old when we left, so remember very little about it - except for riding my trike along our path, as in my profile pic!
We had a lovely day in Ngongotaha 🌞 Went on a couple of walks and checked out where we used to live. We had a picnic tea beside the lake at Hamurana and some of us went for a swim. It was my first swim in ages - the lake water was lovely and not nearly as cold as I was expecting!
Did some more exploring around Rotorua today. We went to Kuirau Park and wandered around the geothermal area - fascinating to see.
Then some of us (not the 90-year-old or the person who doesn’t like heights!) went on a tree walk on suspended bridges and platforms in the redwood forest. It was great!
Soon the others are heading to swim/soak in the hot pools but I will skip that for medical reasons (lymphoedema). I’m so tired that I’m happy to rest up anyway!
Today we bid farewell to Ngongotaha after a lovely weekend. I have now begun the slow journey back south. Drove back to Te Whanganui a Tara with my sister and bro-in-law, taking a few stops along the way.
First up was a lovely spot beside Lake Taupō, towards the Turangi end. One of us had a proper swim and the others, including me, were content to paddle. Beautiful clear water 🥰
We had a picnic lunch beside the Makatote railway viaduct - it was opened in 1908 and it’s an impressive 79 metres high. In a piece of lucky timing we saw the Northern Explorer passenger train crossing it!
Small towns are full of curiosities- there are so many bull signs and statues in Bulls, and a lot of gumboots in Taihape!
This one particularly took my fancy 😆
My 9th day on holiday and my weather luck continues. Such a gorgeous day in Te Whanganui a Tara today - you can’t beat it on a good day, as the saying goes 😆
Continuing the transport theme with a cable car pic - I went on it to do a quick errand in town.
My sister and I had a lovely morning walking in Zealandia ecosanctuary. Such an amazing place to have within a city 🥰
We saw a great variety of birds. Didn’t get any pics of those sorry, but the tuatara were easy to photograph! Walking through the native bush was blissful.
I’m now on a side-trip! Drove with my friend in her electric car over the Remutaka hills to the Wairarapa and we’re staying a night with friends in Carterton.
Accompanied my friend on his daily walk around the outskirts of the town, which was lovely. Weather is a bit hotter than I’m used to walking in though - my run of good holiday weather continues 🤞🏼
My friends live in a wonderful old house built in the 1860s, with additions from the 1920s. It’s full of wonderful furniture and treasures of various sorts. My friend made Sir Baldrick! And I thought you might be interested in this cupboard @paulhellyer - it’s Hungarian.
We had another warm sunny day in Carterton. Wandered around the op shops & ate at Aunt Ginger’s Kitchen - yum! I was inspired by the cover on my friends’ daybed, made from tea towels. I plan to make one myself. There’s good quality linen in tea towels, available cheaply at op shops.
My Carterton friend is disabled & gets around on this very stylish e-tricycle 😍
Later we drove back over the hill to Te Whanganui a Tara.
I’m now aboard the Kaitaki, all set to sail back to Te Wai Pounamu. Sorry Wellington friends - now that I’m leaving your fair city my charm over the weather has ended!
I’ve got a great seat on the ferry - next to the window in the quiet area. After almost 10 days with family and friends and talking a lot I’m pretty peopled out, and happy to have some chilled out time travelling on my own 😆
It’s all action here in the ferry quiet area, which is now full. Someone left their bag on their seat and wandered off somewhere - their phone rang loudly for ages and keeps pinging very loud notifications. And I don’t know if the woman making a long phone call noticed my glare through my mask! May have to deploy my noise-cancelling headphones 😆
I’m in Picton where it’s a cool grey day. The crossing was much smoother than I was expecting from the forecast.
Last time I stopped here it was hot and there was a long queue at the real fruit icecream truck - not this time, yay!
I’m about to board my favourite form of transport - the Coastal Pacific Train 🥰
Once again I have a window seat on the coast side of the train 🎉No seat mate yet but I will have later. The train is quite full already with some loud Americans nearby sharing their life stories. Once again I’m grateful for my headphones! Also the free wifi and phone charging (I’ve acquired the right sort of charging cord since my trip up) 😆
We’ve now moved inland from the wild Pacific coast, which really was the highlight of this train journey. I didn’t get any good photos, sorry - I was too busy spotting wildlife! I saw lots of seals, a pod of dolphins, a great variety of seabirds, and a whale 😍
We’re due into Ōtautahi in a couple of hours - I’m spending the weekend there.
Today I joined the hordes exploring central Ōtautahi - the river, the market, the fabulous street art. There were plenty of tourists, plus people attending the World Busking Festival!
In the afternoon I wandered around the lovely Botanical Gardens catching Pokémon - IYKYK 😆 Met a couple of people I know online IRL 😊
This sign had me very confused. Because it was partially obscured when I first walked by I thought it said “fated” something. When I saw the rest I read “fated dies” 🥺 It is of course Fat Eddie’s, a jazz club/bar! Is this a deliberate choice, I wonder 🤔
Today I’ve been using Ōtautahi’s public transport system. Happily my Metrocard, not used in over 5 years, still works! For the princely sum of $12 I did a return trip to Diamond Harbour by bus and ferry, a great wee outing.
The bus interchange is good and puts Ōtepoti’s to shame. You can actually wait for a bus indoors! It’s especially spacious before 9am on a Sunday 😆
The ferry from Lyttelton to Diamond Harbour is fun and you can take a bike along at no extra cost. I wandered along one of the walkways and the village, and had a pot of tea and snack at a cafe. The pier is a popular spot for swimming and some young’uns were dive bombing off in good manu style!
I wandered around Lyttelton a bit before catching a return bus to the city. Such a cool place of old buildings, cafes, shops and public art.
Aotearoa people will recognise the Covid tracer app sign - I haven’t seen one in ages. I guess it’s been kept as a memorial to the days when people actually tried to avoid spreading/catching it 🫤
I’m now resting up, though I may venture out for food later, as long as the promised thunderstorms don’t arrive! I’m also contemplating going to the urgent doctors, as I have a sore foot which has been developing over a few days - perhaps an infected splinter or prickle 🫤Maybe it can wait until I get home - tomorrow!
Well, just as well I went to the doc today as I have an infected foot and have started antibiotics. Possibly from a splinter but that’s not visible - hoping I can avoid surgery 😬
At least it didn’t get noticeably bad until the last day of my holiday, so it hasn’t stopped me doing all the exploring I wanted to do! My foot will get a good rest this evening and on the long bus trip home tomorrow.
Ali Clarke 
Zeborah