Returning to the madness of Brexit.

Tags

,

After a month in beautiful and progressive New Zealand it’s time to fly half-way around the planet to return to a country that’s busy trying to destroy itself: Britain.

We’ve been spared the daily madness of Brexit over here, although I have tried to keep abreast of what’s been happening. That’s been a challenge in itself as what’s been happening makes little sense. Today I checked the news to find that Parliament had voted to renegotiate the Irish border backstop in an utterly futile gesture as Parliament is without the power it up. The EU has made it crystal clear that the negotiations are over – as has the Irish government. The EU could be forgiven for asking “which bit of NO is it that you don’t understand”?

We look complete clowns who’re living in a dreamworld of their own creation. We’ve totally trashed our reputation and our standing on the world stage. All other countries can do is look on agog and feel sympathy for those of us who’re caught up in this madness.

Meanwhile, whilst our politicians fiddle, our economy burns. More and more companies are reaching for plan B and the lifeboats to get away from our sinking country before the clock stops ticking in 59 day time. Just 59 days – that’s all we have left now after our politicians (and quite a few voters) have wasted the past two and a half years pretending Unicorns exist, we’ve ‘taken back control’ and that ‘they’ really do need us more than we need them. Brexit is looking more and more like a death cult.

I dread to think what we’re returning to as the impression I’m getting out here and through social media is that many people haven’t got a clue what’s going on and don’t really care anymore (if they ever did). The cry of “just get on with it” (when they haven’t got a Scooby Doo what ‘it’ is) seems to echo around certain circles. My fear is when (far, far too late) the penny finally drops and the consequences of ‘it’ can no longer be denied, things are going to get messy – and possibly bloody.

The Brexit chickens are coming home to roost. Sadly, so are we – and I’m really not looking forward to it…

15:02 (USA time).

After a 12hr 30m flight we’re passing through the faff of US customs. Despite our baggage being checked in to Heathrow the Yanks insist you have to collect it and then check it in again, which is a bit stressful when your connection boards in an hour & the carousel breaks!

Rolling blog: New Zealand day 31. Auckland and the first flight home…

Tags

, , , ,

10:15.

Our time in New Zealand’s finally come to an end – just as the heatwave arrives! We’ve spent the morning at Lisa’s packing our suitcases and working out what we can leave to create room for some of the things we’ve bought. Later we’re all going into the city for a farewell lunch at the Crab Shack before heading out to the airport. Neither of us are ready to go home – especially as we’ll be returning to a country that’s increasingly looking like it’s lost it’s marbles thanks to the utter shambles they call Brexit…

I’ll post some pictures throughout the day.

12:27.

All packed up and ready to go…

15:37.

It’s Crab Shack time!

18:20

We’re now at Auckland airport waiting for our Air New Zealand flight to Houston, Texas on the first leg of our trip home. Lisa was brilliant and gave us a lift after the meal, although it was an emotional parting as we don’t want to leave and I’ve not seen her for donkeys years!We’ve had a fabulous time here and I’ll sum up our experiences in another blog. Right now we’re drinking overpriced alcohol in the departure lounge, drowning our sorrows before catching our plane…

We’re on the plane now and trying out our “if we smile they’ll serve us wine” look…

See you on the other side of the pond!

15:55 (US time).

We’ve landed at Houston, Texas and gone through the faff of having to collect your luggage even though it’s checked in all the way through to London. When the carousel breaks down whilst you’re waiting it only adds to the stress levels! Now we’re on our connecting United Airlines flight 880 to Heathrow on another Boeing 777. Thing is – I thought it was always sunny in Texas?

New Zealand day 30: Auckland and area on our last full day…

Tags

, , ,

Yesterday was our last full day in New Zealand so we popped into the centre of town after Lisa dropped us at Papakura station where we caught a suburban train into Auckland city centre. It was my first trip on the local rail network. It wasn’t bad, the trains are comfortable, if a little slow and they’re certainly well used. Auckland traffic’s bad, so it’s no wonder people prefer to use the train if they can. Here’s the type we used, seen at Papakura.

dg318511. 565. papakura. north island. new zealand. 29.1.19crop

Once in town we caught the ferry to Waiheke Island which is a 40 minute journey. The weather was glorious – ideal for the trip – as you can see from this picture of the changing Auckland skyline and harbour which I took en-route.

dg318430crop

Waiheke is an attractive little island with lots of activities (cycling, walking etc) as well as less taxing ones like visiting wineries, lying on beaches or sampling some of the local seafood in one of the many restaurants.

dg318459. waiheke island. north island. new zealand. 29.1.19

The place is popular with tourists. So much so that we were told that in the summer many of the residents rent out their homes and go and live on their boats! Ones bigger than this one, anyways!

dg318454crop

Our day  out ended when we met up with Lisa again and drove to Karioitahi Beach, near where she lives. It’s a black sand beach popular with locals as its great for beach activities.

dg318518

Rolling blog: New Zealand day 29. Wandering around Waiuku and surrounds.

We’ve had another slow start to the day due to the cloudy weather, but it’s given me time to catch up on some admin and picture editing, so it’s not all bad. Now the sun’s making a break for it so we’re off  exploring. Watch this space…

23:11.

‘Tis too late for blogging now other than to say we’ve enjoyed another day of changeable weather. We visited a lighthouse which was witness to New Zealand’s worst maritime disaster when HMS Orpheus sank with the loss of 189 lives in 1860 (link). It was just a shame the low clouds gave us less visibility than the Commodore of the ill-fated ship when he preferred to rely on old charts.

Afterwards we headed over to the other side of the Peninsula and enjoyed a couple of hours sunning ourselves on a sandy beach. Pictures will follow soon but right now it’s bedtime as tomorrow is or last full day in New Zealand before flying back and we’re off into Auckland…

New Zealand day 28: Waiuku (near Auckland).

Tags

, ,

We’re having a slow start to the day here in Waiuku, where we’re staying with an old friend of mine from my teenage years in Southport. It’s the first time Lisa and I have seen each other since my sister Ruth’s funeral nearly 15 years ago. How time flies…

We’d actually got a full programme planed for today but the early sunshine soon deserted us and the day was mostly cloudy with a few spots of rain. One thing we did manage was to visit a few local sights. I’m still amazed by how many preserved railways there are on New Zealand and I was delighted to find that Lisa had one on her doorstep – the Glenbrook Vintage Railway. We paid a visit earlier this afternoon and I was impressed by the size of the operation. Not only do they have a lovely little railway, they also have impressive workshop facilities where they’ve a number of locomotives being restored. The line’s only 7.5km in length, but it makes for a relaxed trip – especially if you travel in the Parlour car where you get coffee and cakes included in the fares. Here’s a few shots from our visit.

dg318242. parlour car. glenbrook vintage railway. north island. new zealand. 27.1.19crop

Travelling in style in the Parlour car.

dg318274. 480. waiuku. glenbrook vintage railway. north island. new zealand. 27.1.19crop

This locomotive was built as WG 480 at the hillside workshop, Dunedin for the NZR in 1910 as a 4-6-4 tank locomotive. The Wg class was designed to meet the need for a more powerful locomotive for the haulage of suburban trains chiefly at Auckland and Wellington. Twenty were produced at the Hillside workshops between 1910 and 1912. The Wg class proved to be very useful locomotive and soon saw a wide variety of duties including haul-freight trains and mail trains.

dg318301. ja 1250. pukeoware workshop. glenbrook vintage railway. north island. new zealand. 27.1.19crop

Ja 1250, a 4-8-2 express locomotive undergoing a boiler overhaul at Pukeoware Workshop.

dg318335. 480. glenbrook vintage railway. glenbrook. north island. new zealand. 27.1.19crop

480 running round its train at Glenbrook

dg318338. somersault signals. glenbrook vintage railway. glenbrook. north island. new zealand. 27.1.19crop

A lovely old signalbox and a fine collection of somersault signals at Glenbrook station

dg318342. 480. glenbrook vintage railway. glenbrook. north island. new zealand. 27.1.19crop

480 waiting to run a service from Glenbrook to Waiuku.

 

New Zealand day 27. Queenstown to Auckland

Tags

, ,

Our time on the South Island’s come to an end today. We’re currently sipping coffee in the “Fat Lamb” cafe in central Queenstown before heading out to the airport ready for our Air New Zealand flight to Auckland this afternoon. I have to admit, there’s hardly anything I recognise about the town since my last visit in 1999. The place has grown and changed that much! As well as being a magnet for adrenaline junkies thanks to all the extreme sports activities based here, it’s also a magnet for a lot of young English people who’ve found jobs. Last night we were sat outside the 1876 bar having a drink and watching all the tradesmen (carpenters, builders etc) having a drink at the end of the working week. The range of regional British accents was quite entertaining! They mingled with others of their generation who were working in the hospitality industry. Tourism obviously generates a lot of money here – not to mention traffic jams! This is the only place we’ve seen on the whole of our trip where traffic is queuing to get in/out of town…

13:30

Now we’re sat at the airport, all ready to go. For an ‘international’ airport it’s a small place where you hang around in the terminal to eat/drink/shop rather than doing so airside.

dg318190crop

Killing time at the airport. Every so often things are enlivened as a domestic flight lands and passengers wander into the terminal off the tarmac to the right of the picture…

Last time I flew from here the turbulence was so bad the plane was like a bucking bronco, which meant the staff weren’t allowed to serve any hot drinks due to the risks. Hopefully today will be a little calmer when our Airbus A320 takes to the skies…

UPDATE (31st January).

Here’s a couple of camera-phone video’s for your entertainment. The first is taking off from Queenstown and heading for Auckland.

The second video is approaching and landing at Auckland on the same flight.

 

 

 

New Zealand day 26. Te Anau to Queenstown.

Rather frustratingly, yesterday’s blog failed to load due to poor Wi-Fi where we were staying in Te Anau. I’ll finish it off today, then blog about our trip to Queenstown (where we are now). We’ve dropped off our hire-car so we’re on foot again now. Not that it’s a problem as we fly back from here to Auckland tomorrow.

Neither of us are adrenaline junkies, so Queenstown’s extreme sports are wasted on us. Instead, we’re enjoying the scenery and exploring. Right now we’re enjoying a drink outside a bar in central Queenstown. It’s “poets day” here (Piss-Off Early, Tomorrow’s Saturday) so the place is full of builders and hospitality workers – most of whom are English!

Rolling blog: New Zealand day 25. Milford Sound to Te Anau.

Tags

, ,

Wow! What a fantastic 24 hours that was. I’ll pick up from where we left off yesterday when we ran out of wifi and phone networks after passing through Te Anau.

Our journey from Dunedin met with a variety of weather including heavy rain at the start but picked up for most of the way – until we left Te Anau for Milford Sound. We could see the mountains ahead were swathed in cloud, but we weren’t too bothered as this had been forecasted. Although we didn’t realise it at the time, this was to lead to a fantastic experience as we saw the Milford area at it’s absolute best – in a range of weather. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll describe much of the rest of the trip with them, using captions…

dg317643. waterfalls. milford sound highway. south island. new zealand. 23.1.19crop

On the Milford highway en-route to Milford Sound. The torrential rain had produced waterfalls from nowhere.

dg317653. milford sound highway. south island. new zealand. 23.1.19crop

This was the view of the road to Milford Sound once we’d passed through the 1930s-50s built tunnel. The weather made it look more Mordor than anything else.

dg317667. milford sound. south island. new zealand. 23.1.19crop

The passenger terminal at Milford Sound’s been rebuilt since I was last here. The new building and facilities were opened in 2012.

dg317693. milford sound. south island. new zealand. 23.1.19crop

We were very lucky to see these waterfalls. They would only last a few hours and be gone by the next morning. The non-porous rock in Milford Sound and lack of soil and vegetation means that in many places the rain runs straight off the tops of the mountains and creates effects like this.

dg317742. milford sound. south island. new zealand. 23.1.19

How’s this for a sense of scale?

dg317795. milford sound. south island. new zealand. 23.1.19crop

dg317831. milford sound. south island. new zealand. 23.1.19crop

dg317843. milford sound. south island. new zealand. 23.1.19crop

dg317868crop

dg317890. ovation of the seas. . milford sound. south island. new zealand. 24.1.19crop

dg317927. dolphins. milford sound. south island. new zealand. 24.1.19crop

dg318010. ovation of the seas. milford sound. south island. new zealand. 24.1.19crop

dg318046. milford sound. south island. new zealand. 24.1.19crop

This evening we’re taking it easy in Te Anau, which is a small town on a pretty lake. We’re only here one night so we’re staying in the Lake View backpackers where we have a chalet room out in the rear with a new shared toilet and shower block we share with the people camping in the small grounds. The chalets are new and very comfortable for what they are. The place itself is very well organised and maintained, with plenty of communal and kitchen space. It’s popular with people of all ages and nationalities, especially outdoor types who’re here to walk the various trails in the area or visit one of the Sounds.

Tomorrow we move on to Queenstown, our last port of call on the South Island. From there we fly back to Auckland for our final few days before returning to the UK…

Rolling blog: New Zealand day 24. Dunedin to Milford Sound.

Tags

, ,

06:30.

We’re up and packing, ready for the five hour plus drive to Milford Sound this morning. The beautiful weather we had yesterday has given way to cooler temperatures and light showers of rain. Hopefully it won’t cramp our style too much.

12:10.

Despite the fact that it rained heavily nearly all the way to Gore  we had a very good run. Dawn did brilliantly coping with the unfamiliar roads and our car regularly disappearing in the spray from numerous heavy good vehicles heading towards Dunedin. This was passing Milton, a town we made a mistake of stopping at in the other direction!

20190123_081802

At Gore we stopped for coffee and had a brief look at what looks like a really interesting little town. It has some substantial old buildings with a bit of history.

Once off Highway 1, the weather brightened up and the roads were both drier and quieter, giving us a great run as far as Lumsden, where I spotted this bit of railway history. The railway’s long gone, but the town has preserved the old road/rail bridge. These used to be common on the South Island, but only two remain. I remember travelling over several 20 years ago on the West Coast.

dg317608crop

We’re now taking a break in Te Anau before heading on up to Milford Sound. We may be gone some time…

 

Rolling blog: New Zealand day 23. The Taieri Gorge railway and Dunedin

Tags

, ,

09:10.

This morning we’re travelling on the Taieri Gorge railway, a tourist line that runs from Dunedin to Pukerangi. We’re travelling on some venerable old coaches hauled by a pair of equally antique Mitsubishi built diesels. Expect pictures as & when…

14:20.

We’ve just arrived back after a fantastic trip. Needless to say there’s no phone reception where we’ve been.

The Trans-alpine may be considered one of the world’s great train journeys, but I have to say, in my opinion this equals if not tops it. The Taieri Gorge is simply stunning and the railway’s a real feat of engineering. Here’s the train at the head of the line after the pair of Mitsubishis had run round. These locos were built for NZR in 1968-69 and are wearing well!

dg317422crop

dg317428crop

This is a small selection of pictures from the route.

dg317275crop

dg317378crop

dg317384crop

dg317394crop

dg317468crop

The weather was chilly before we set off this morning but it’s certainly warmed up – as you can see from the pictures. I’ve gone from a fleece to suntan lotion and a singlet.

22:35

This is a late night for us! We’ve just got back to our Airbnb after spending the past few hours at Sandfly Bay, looking for Yellow Eyed Penguins. We managed to observe two pairs, but by sunset (when we had to leave) no more had come ashore. Still, it was a great experience as the bay is beautiful. I’ll add some pictures as soon as I can. Tomorrow we’re on the move again – and with an early start too, as we’ve got to get across the South Island to Fjordland in time for an overnight cruise on Milford Sound. This means tomorrows blog may be a bit intermittent. It’s a five-hour plus drive, so tomorrow my role is to keep the driver (Dawn) happy!