GYPSY GIGOLO JOURNAL #71

Hello faithful readers. Sorry, once again, for yet another long break between updates.
The wanderlust wagon (The Bus With No Name) recently completed its sixth year on the road, and then an opportunity for change presented itself.
Auckland Council offerred me a pensioner flat in the Bridge Court complex in Mangere Bridge.
I would have been mad not to take up the offer, as the unit provides a very affordable base in Auckland, and allows me to continue my travels around the country.  
The village has sixty units formed in blocks of three or four flats. Residents are all meant to be "fit and healthy", as no medical or other care is provided. As all of you would expect, I'm in the greatest of nick, but I'm just a bit suspicious about the mental prowess of some of my fellow tenants.
The photo below is a shot at the entrance to Bridge Court.

Auckland Council, after furious browbeating, has reluctantly conceded that The Bus With No Name is inconspicuous whilst parked within the complex carpark - as confirmed below!

In acknowledgement of moving into my new abode, I decided to celebrate with a Devonshire morning tea.

Suitably-aged non-resident acquaintances gathered on the front lawn of my new bolthole to enjoy tea and scones. The elderly kuia is a fellow tenant. Her name is Dolly and she is one of my cohorts here in the village.

One of the more unusual visitors I had in my bus whilst stopping at Ambury Park was the local goat.
After peering through the oven door window and enquiring "what's cookin'?", it then made its retreat on learning "fuck all!"! 

This is one of our country's best kept defence secrets.
The NZ Army Band is the best in the world at what they do!
Enemies throw down their arms and start rocking in the aisles when the band lets loose!
They really are exceptionally talented, but shit-scared of guns.

This is what's required for an early morning ocean attack.
The thing that looks like a shark drags out a kilometre of line set with a bunch of baited hooks, and then the fish commit hari-kari.
Great way to catch a feed.

Just couldn't finish without yet another shot of my favourite Maitai Bay in the far north.

Now even wedding parties are starting to invade my Shangri-La.

First trip away from the new abode will probably be another voyage to the south island early in 2014.

Merry Xmas everyone, and good luck to all your families.

GYPSY GIGOLO JOURNAL #63

OK, OK, OK, sorry, sorry, sorry!!!!
My apologies for the tardiness of this update.

This was meant to be a casual pre-Xmas BBQ on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
A screaming south-westerly gale dictated that those hardy souls who turned up had to dress in winter woollies and wet weather gear. The food and company was great, even if the weather was crap. Can you make out the lovely Xmas lights strung along the side of the bus? 

Same location as the previous photo - Ambury Park near Mangere mountain.

A very Kiwi sunset with the cabbage trees and toetoe in shot.

Still at Ambury Park with one of the more inquisitive locals.

Ambury Park is a working farm, but most of the animals born here get raised like pets.

This august assembly of artisans is celebrating the successful construction of a picnic table for Dan, made from demolition timber he salvaged from bathroom renovations.

Brother Paul provided the carpentry tools and verified trade certificate compliance, Daniel contributed the grunt, and my role was design and supervision. 

After an extended hiatus, the Weber BBQ was resurrected for the cooking of a traditional Xmas ham.
Finishing skills were a tad rusty, but the overall result was a roaring success.

On the road again on the Forgotten World Highway between Taumarunui and Stratford.

The Moki Tunnel is near the self-proclaimed Republic of Whangamomona.

Another crossing of the Cook Strait, this time aboard a Bluebridge ferry passing an Interislander ferry going in the opposite direction in the Queen Charlotte Sound.

This is a little bit different punters. We are at Maggies Kitchen in Greymouth. Various photos and articles adorn the walls. The six pics displayed around the map of the south island are prints of shots I have taken.

 Each of the above photos has appeared in earlier blogs.

Still in Greymouth, this is their new statue remembering the miners who have lost their lives in the area.

The statue was made in China and the three figures are short and dumpy and have slit eyes!

Now this little gem is slightly off the beaten track.

On 7th January 1931 Aussie Guy Menzies hopped in his aircraft at Mascot Aerodrome in Sydney and took off headed for New Zealand.

After 11 hours 45 minutes in the air he became the first person to fly solo across the Tasman and crash-landed at La Fontaine Marsh near Harihari on the west coast of the south island.

Menzies survived with only minor bruising.

This monument recognises the feat and is erected close to the paddock where Menzies' plane came down.

Yet another instance where my big mouth got me into trouble.

I boasted to fellow-motorhomers that I could turn my hand to a mean batch of scones any time I liked.

Truth was that I had never made scones in my life.

Locals provided the ingredients and challenged me to whisk up a batch for morning tea.

Result was a mouth-watering triumph.

One of the top freedom camping spots in glacier country.

The river is Clearwater Stream about ten kilometres towards the coast from Fox.

You may be able to make out where the vehicle access track has been eroded in previous flood conditions.

  

One of the highlights on the Haast Pass road trip - Thunder Creek Falls.

You don't know what windswept means until you've experienced the Catlins in eastern southland.

These trees mark the boundary of the Fortrose golf course.

It goes without saying that the prevailing wind is a howling southerly.

 Very impressive Cathedral Caves at the Catlins near Tautuku Beach.

Only accessible at low tide you walk one kilometre down a bush track and then along the beach about another 500 metres.

 This happy bunch of riders were part of the Tapanui Cavalcade.

350 horses with their riders re-explored old goldmine trails for a week before reaching the Tapanui Racecourse, about 35 kilometres north-east of Gore.

Check out the lead cowgirl's pink trim on her horse to match her shirt! 

Not too sure if the gigs followed the trails for the whole week's trek.

A stagecoach drawn by clydesdales brought up the rear.

Perfect camping environment on the shores of Lake Tekapo, with unpolluted skies above Mt John in the right background.

Back in Greymouth at the Blaketown Bowling Club I commenced what is sure to become an illustrious career in lawn bowling.

 At Havelock in the Marlborough Sounds for the mussel festival.

These guys are competing at mussel shucking.

 Another year, another birthday.

Breakfast aboard Dan Watson's boat at Whitianga to start the beginning of my 68th year.

This is the north island's challenge to the Catlins' Cathedral Caves.

We are on the Coromandel.s east coast - locals call it Cathedral Cave (not to be confused with Cathedral Cove).

And finally, an addition to the lighthouse collection.

This light is on the Ninepin Rock at Whatipu at the entrance to the Manukau Harbour.

So much for this episode.

Thanks for watching.

Good luck to you and your families.  

GYPSY GIGOLO JOURNAL #62

2012  - the winter of discontent!

Hello punters.

You probably know that I headed south in late May with the objective of photographing the south island under a mantle of winter snow.

On my way drifting through the King Country I spent a night at Waitomo. I found this most unusual accommodation stop which consists of rooms in a beached boat and also in an old Bristol Freighter aircraft - the tail (painted in camouflage) is visible left of the boat's bow.

Always on the lookout for a bargain property that might suit my retirement years, this little gem in Blacks Point near Reefton seemed a likely proposition.

Unfortunately, upon checking with the local electricity supplier, I would never be able to afford the heating bills!  

Serious snow-chasers study every forecast issued and position themselves in the perfect location to experience 'the dump'.

Here we are perched at the Department of Conservation camp at Craigieburn near Arthur's Pass.

DOC describes this as an "alpine area with heavy snow in winter".

Absolute bullshit!!!! -  yet another false alarm.  

Lake Matheson is also known as Mirror Lake. Situated a few kilometres west of Fox Glacier, it provides a perfect reflection of the southern alps on a windless day.

South Island roads are very good.

Although this very large sign suggests otherwise, the road between Lake Matheson and Gillespies Beach near Fox Glacier is a breeze.

Gillespies Beach is another unspoiled piece of rugged West Coast coastline.

This shot has a seal posing in the middle of the photo and the Southern Alps and glaciers in the background. 

Alexandra is a beautiful small Central Otago town. In the summer it gets very hot, and in the winter it gets very cold.

An unseasonably warm Jack Frost stands outside the local ice rink which had the refrigerators working overtime to artificially produce the ice to attract the locals in to skate.

This is the 'before' shot. We are at Fairlight, a bit south of Queenstown and where the Kingston Flyer vintage steam train turns around.

Forecasts had predicted a major dump of snow about to happen. 

Overnight a light snowfall dusted the hills behind me.

THIS IS THE ONLY SNOW THAT FELL AROUND ME DURING THE WINTER!!!!

This sculpture is the flashest thing in town - it's a life-size surfer catching a wave.

We are at Colac Bay in Southland where the beach is renowned for great surfing and also as a nursery place for whales and their calves.

There is a very heavy frost this morning.

We're talking seriously bloody cold here at Fortrose in the Catlins. Outside temperature minus 10 degrees Celcius.

Inside the bus was minus 2.5 degrees on waking, and before putting on the heater.

The hot exhaust air from the LPG heater is causing the rising cloud near the wheel.  

Now, take a careful look at this one. The picture is looking from inside the bus at frozen grass outside.

Can you make out the ice crystals on the INSIDE of the window? Thank Christ for the LPG cabin heater!

Harsh winter conditions don't scare us dedicated chefs, and BBQ'ing in freezing temperatures just goes with the territory.

Just to add insult to injury, whilst camping in the Marlboriugh Sounds, my final south island stop, the Bus With No Name was unable to cope with the saturated campground conditions and became stuck.

With generous assistance from a local farmer with a grunty 4x4 ute we managed to haul the bus out of the crap after two hours of slipping and sliding.

The joys of camping in winter!!  

Having left the south island with my tail between my legs, I just had to call in to Ruapehu to satisfy myself that it did indeed snow somewhere in the country during winter.

Some of you may remember the Journal that featured lighthouses back in April 2011. Well here's a trio of slightly more difficult-to-get-to lights that I've found.

The Pouto Lighthouse is at Kaipara North Head at the entrance to the Kaipara Harbour. The light is a 7 kilometre walk around the shore from Pouto. Apart from the hike nearly killing me, the ascent up the steep sand dunes at the end was a step too far! Hence only being able to shoot the top of the tower in the background.

This is New Zealand's first lighthouse, built on Pencarrow Head, Wellington in 1859. The original lighthouse keeper, George Bennett, drowned before the light was lit and his wife Mary Jane became the country's first, and only, woman keeper.

The tower was often shrouded in fog and couldn't be seen so the second lighthouse on the shore below was built in 1906.

This photo was taken from the Cook Strait ferry.  

This is a rather distant shot of Dog Island Lighthouse in Foveaux Strait
Dog Island is between Bluff and Stewart Island and the lighthouse tower is more than 35 metres high - the tallest in New Zealand.

Now that I'm back in the north and looking forward to warmer days, I'm sure that Murphy will work his devious magic and bring huge snow dumps to the many places I have recently visited!

Thanks for watching.

Good luck to all your families.