It’s Sunday morning and Reykjavik is overcast but still relatively warm — about 14 degrees. After emails and web posting from the hotel lobby we’re going to spend some time in the museums and galleries of Iceland’s capital today, before starting the big Landmannalaugur to Thorsmork hike tomorrow. We made our way on the number […]
Hotel Arnarhvoll, Reykjavik We’re having a brief lull — somewhat jet-lagged — while we wait for our room to be prepared so we can lie down. The flight over was smooth and somewhat restful, but a five hour flight cannot replace a night of sleep. Still, we arrived reasonably awake, albeit at 2:30 am Toronto […]
Anne and I just returned from a wonderful two-week vacation in BC, Seattle and Oregon. The high point of the trip was my parents’ 44th wedding anniversary, which became a big Leslie family reunion, with the U.S. Leslies and Allistons joining us for the event. Butchart Gardens was kind enough to supply us with a […]
Ok, now working backwards, let me pick up the story of our drive northwards and the ferry to Wellington. We had decent weather for the Nelson to Picton drive and took the winding scenic route along the coast, which was, indeed, very very windey. Had some lovely pictures but didn’t really stop for much on […]
January 5, 2007 Waterfront Cafe, Russell, Bay of Islands We’ve been a few days without internet access now, and in addition to a slight case of the shakes, I’ve started forgetting what we’ve done. Trusty pen & paper have come to the rescue. Here’s the synopsis of the story since the last post: Dec. 30 […]
December 30, 7:55 am Sussex House B&B, Nelson, NZ We’re just packing up to leave Nelson but not, we hope, to leave the sunshine behind. We had lovely weather here for a hike yesterday and had a lovely hike to take advantage of it: between Tonga and Torrent Bay on the Abel Tasman Great Walk […]
Thursday, December 28, 9:20 pm Sussex House Bed & Breakfast, Nelson, NZ After three highly fattening days over Christmas in Queenstown, we now find ourselves at the top end of the Southern Island, almost ready for the crossing back over to the North Island. Much activity to cover over the last few days, of course! […]
Tuesday, December 26, 9:50 AM Pencarrow B&B, Queenstown, NZ So… full….. Must… type blog… before slumping into… food coma. The pressure! Must… loosen belt. We’ve had a very relaxing time at the luxurious Pencarrow B&B, whose hosts, Bill and Kari, have gone to extremes to make us feel welcome and well cared for during our […]
Sunday, December 24, 2006 Pencarrow B&B, Queenstown, NZ We’re in Queenstown! We had a nice morning drive from Te Anau, with interesting hills and mountains on all sides. On the way we had a lucky encounter with the Franklin Flyer, a lovingly maintained steam engine which runs a 12 mile track near Queenstown, and I […]
I should have mentioned in my previous post, below, that we saw both yellow-eyed penguins and royal albatross on the Otago Peninsula yesterday, before starting our scenic drive to the Catlins. Fantastic wildlife this country has. Lots of spectacular photos were taken… which I look forward to uploading when I get home!