Mission Accomplished

And so our 7 week sabbatical in New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup comes to an end.

We can honestly say that we accomplished everything we set out to achieve. Be tourists, explore, relax, have fun and spend time together as a family. And of course watch and be part of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

What summary is a summary without some statistics ?

• Number of islands explored: 2
• Number of museums visited: lots
• Modes of transport utilised: planes, train, cars, bus, ferry
• Approximate number of km travelled: 4100+ km
• Artworks purchased: 4
• Rugby World Cup tipping competitions won: 1
• Breweries visited: Lots
• Number of new beers sampled and enjoyed: 190+
• Chocolate factories visited: 2
• Number of Rugby World Cup Games attended: 7
• World Cups won: 1
• New Champagnes/Sparkling wines sampled and enjoyed: 30+
• Items to declare at customs in Sydney: heaps
• Total cost: Priceless

Highlights of the trip are too numerous to list as for sure I'd miss something out. Having said that one highlight is;

• The All Blacks winning the Rugby World Cup.

This week we return to Australia. Aidan and Abbey will return to school. Sam has a few more days before she returns to work, and I don't head back until mid November. I have commercial beer to brew for summer for Doctor's Orders Brewing, as well as a number of NZ trip inspired beers formulated to pilot in the pilot brewhouse. 

Next big holiday; Rugby World Cup 2015 in England. mmmm, probably not. 2019 in Japan. A distinct possibility.

Shanty Town

On the journey back to Nelson from Franz Josef we stopped at Shanty Town (which is just out of Greymouth).
Shanty Town is a historic park representing a New Zealand West Coast town from the end of the 1800's - early 1900's.

We started our visit with the steam train ride that takes you to the top of the park, and the halfway back to the historic sawmill.
The engine has been loving restored and is one of five that they have. From memory two are in operation and three are in different stages of restoration.

It was great having Poppa with us to tell both Aidan & Abbey the history behind a lot of the items on display.

One of the activities Aidan was super keen to try was gold panning. Aidan has turned into quite the geologist on this trip, always collecting nice looking stones. 

Everyone is guaranteed a "small find".

Both Aidan and Abbey now have a small vial with a handful of flakes of gold each in them.

There is also all the obligatory photo stop opportunities.

Aidan really got into the spirit to ham it up for the camera.

For some reason I was really interested in the hospital. They had a great display of old medical instruments and machines.
I even picked up some more ideas for future names for Doctor's Orders Brewing commercial beers.

Glaciers

From Queenstown we headed up to Wanaka and then to Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers.
Coming up through Cardrona we encountered the fresh snow from the night before (and a few flakes still coming down).
A stop for a quick snow ball fight was on, and a continuing highlight for the kids was the weird snowman I made and perched on the bonnet of the car. It lasted until Wanaka (about 40km) when to much sorrow the last of it was returned to the elements.

Wanaka for morning tea had the kids asking for fluffy's. Fluffy's is the NZ equivalent of a babychinno.

At Fox we walked up to the viewing point for the Glacier with the kids finally able to see what a glacier is after having only heard about them and seeing the results of them over the previous couple of days (around Fiordland).

We stayed the night in Franz Josef and next morning headed up Franz Josef Glacier. Franz Josef Glacier is a bigger glacier than Fox Glacier, and the walk to it is a little further (90min round trip, compared to 60min), but well worth it to see the size and to get a feel for the power of them.

This photo is looking back down the riverbed from Franz Josef Glacier.

From Franz Josef we headed back to home base in Nelson.

Queenstown & Fiordland

Wow how the last few days have flown.
From Dunedin we headed up to Queenstown and were stoked to get there to an abundance of sunshine with snow capped peaks.

A lazy afternoon scoping out the town and being amazed how much it has changed. The centre of Queenstown is still pretty much the same, but the spread of the town from Queenstown to Frankston is quite amazing. Just goes to show how a once small town can thrive on seasonal tourism.

On our first full day we started the day with a trip to Shotover Jet. Sam had been through Q'town three times and for one reason or another (like being pregnant or doing the bungy instead) hadn't done it. It was yet another activity the kids were super excited to do.
The four of us and Poppa got the back row of the boat and over about 30 minutes got flung left right and through 360's and one 540 by the jet boat driver whilst reaching speeds just over 80km through the canyons and wider river sections.
It was a fantastic ride, and the kids were both demanding again again at the end.

For lunch we headed up to Arrowtown. Arrowtown like Queenstown has come a long way in 10 years since Sam last visited it (I was busy snowboarding that day). There are a lot of historical houses with a smattering of restaurants & cafes, the compulsory pub or two and even a small (very) cinema. What small town wouldn't be complete though without a microbrewery. I did stop in and do a tasting paddle of their beers and bought one for take away (Arrow Cherry Ale) which I'm drinking as I write this.

That night was also the BIG GAME. The day was also Sam & my 12th wedding anniversary.
The household was divided (Nana, Poppa & I), and Sam with the kids for the rugby semi-final decider between NZ and Australia. NZ came through with the goods and Sam has now come over to support the All Blacks with me against France this coming Sunday night. Aidan is still holding out, but he'll come around by half time at the latest.

After such a big night we still had to back up early for a 6:45am coach pickup to head over to Milford Sound. Whilst Milford Sound geographically is almost parallel with Queenstown a few lakes and the Southern Alps lye in the way. This means a 4+ hour bus journey to get there. You can fly (fixed wing and helicopter) there but you need plenty of the folding stuff, and even more than that for an entire family.
However doing it by bus had its advantages as the bus driver was also a very good tour guide, both with his commentary of our surroundings and the history as well as plenty of stops at the right places for the serene photo shots.

The weather on the way to Milford was fantastic until we started to close in on it after leaving Te Anau. We'd been hoping for a fine day all the way, but for a place that rains in excess of 250 days a year the chances were low.

The cruise through Milford Sound though was still spectacular. The rain was throwing down some awesome water falls from the steep cliffs that had been dug out by glaciers throughout history.

Aidan's highlight was being on the bow of the boat as the the captain nudged it up and under one of the water falls so he could get wet. Luckily he did it on the first waterfall the captain edged up to. The second one was a monster and the Asian tourists that did that one got absolutely drowned.

Chocolate & Beer

Today is the day the kids have really been looking forward to.
Getting to Dunedin and visiting Cadbury World.
They were so excited and our tour time couldn't come soon enough.

The tour saw us go through the chocolate manufacturing plant and see Easter eggs, chocolate buttons,  Roses and more.
Unfortunately no cameras are allowed on the tour, so my photos are minimal from outside and the end of the tour.
The highlight of the tour for the kids though was the chocolate waterfall.
Cadbury have converted one of their old disused silos (the purple one below) for the waterfall. One ton of chocolate falls 28 meters in 28 seconds and is quite impressive.

The kids left with full bags of chocolate from the tour and chocolate driven smiles.

What could possibly beat a tour of the chocolate factory ??

Yep a tour of a heritage brewery.

My Dad and I took the 6pm tour of Speight's Brewery.

I last did the tour 9 years ago. 

The majority of the tour is the same, but more detail is now provided and also more access to the production brewery is available. Specifically the historic kauri gyle fermenters, three of which are still in production. One of the kauri gyles still in production was being updated and I got to briefly chat with the engineer who knew all about how they were maintained. The copper cooling coils have been replaced with stainless and a thermocouple in the gyle controls the coolant in the coils. He was installing an outlet to allow them more easily draw of yeast after fermentation. 

With the recent earthquakes in Christchurch the CHCH brewery has closed and some of the production moved to Dunedin. They are now brewing 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. They are also preparing for the installation of a new brewing plant to maintain capacity. 

The existing plant dates back to the late 1940's and is very well maintained.

Following the tour was the customary tasting. The key difference was the ability to pour your own beers. There was a real mix of people on the tour and it was interesting to sit back and watch the different groups get stuck in with the novelty of pouring your own beer off draft.
The Porter is definitely my favourite, is only available on draft and is fermented in the kauri gyles which only have a 32,000 L capacity over their stainless 50,000 L fermenters.

Greymouth

This week we are doing our lap of the South Island (well as much as we can fit in).

To kick things off we caught a bus from Nelson to Greymouth. We were keen to do the Tranz Alpine rail trip. 

It was quite an unorthodox birthday for Sam, but surprisingly a 5 hour bus trip with the kids went super quick. There were a few stops along the way, but the most spectacular was Punakaiki (Pancake Rocks).

Formed 30 million years ago from minute fragments of dead marine creatures and plants landed on the seabed about 2 km below the surface. Immense water pressure caused the fragments to solidify in hard and soft layers. Gradually seismic action lifted the limestone above the seabed. Mildly acidic rain, wind and seawater sculpted the bizarre shapes.

Last time I was at Pancake Rocks the day was a typical West Coast day (raining sideways). However for our visit the day was about as good as it gets. Just enough of a swell to get a little blow hole action too.

Once we'd hit Greymouth it was time for a brewery tour. Yes, a brewery tour on Sam's birthday & she doesn't drink beer. Greymouth is the home of the Monteith's Brewery. You're probably wondering what the hell I was going to a mainstream brewery for ? And rightly so. 

What I wanted to get out of it was some of the history and to checkout some of the equipment they use. They open ferment and primarily use a lager yeast.

However my plans were thwarted when the brewery recently closed for a NZ$4.5 million refit. A slightly interactive DVD tour is currently being presented before a tasting of the seven Monteith's beers and their cider.

On the upside Sam discovered she enjoys Monteith's Cider.
The mens urinals however were designed and built by the breweries head engineer. Fabricated out of 50L kegs they are a work of art and function.

The ladies hand basin was also a converted 50L keg. Pure kiwi ingenuity. 

We did manage to find a decent restaurant close to our accommodation to celebrate Sam's birthday.

After our overnight stay we checked out the History House Museum in Greymouth.
There was quite a wealth of local history in the museum.

The Tranz Alpine trip itself was very spectacular. The 18 tunnels, the Alpine Pass and the many viaducts.

Next stop Dunedin.

Waitomo

Having based ourselves in Rotorua, enabled us to do a road trip to Waitomo Caves which is just under a 2 hr drive NorthWest.

Our first visit was to the Glowwarm Caves. Sam and I were last here about 10 yrs ago. Since then the visitor centre has been completely redesigned and rebuilt (after a fire), and it looks fantastic.

Also a great spot for a photo of the kids.

The Glowwarm Cave tour takes you underground through a series of caverns checking out the stalactites and stalagmites. After about 35 minutes of checking them out you hop in some boats on the river at the bottom of the cave and they guide pulls the boat through the cave through ceilings packed with glowwarms.
I even managed to get a picture of them.

And a picture with their fishing lines out to catch water born insects from the cave.

After a bite to eat we headed off to the Ruakurri Cave.

This was absolutely stunning. We were in the cave for about 1.5 hrs. I swear I took more photos in that 1.5hrs than I've taken on the whole trip so far.

The trip starts by descending into the cave via a spiral pathway.

The pictures still don't do it justice, but I'll add a couple in here anyway. We would walk into one cavern and go wow, then the next one and go wow, and then the next one etc. 1.5 hrs was gone in a snap.

Definitely a trip highlight for the whole family.