GYPSY GIGOLO JOURNAL #53

You'll remember that I'm on a mission around the south island viewing the Rugby World Cup at the oldest and remotest pubs I can find.
I can't get Freddie Mercury and Queen's song out of my head........ We Are The Champions!!!!!!
We smashed 'em bro!
What a great finale to a great trip.

Here we are at lovely Lake Hawea at the rising of the sun.

Down the road a bit and it's sunset time at Lake Wanaka.

A few kilometres south of Cromwell in Central Otago is Bannockburn.

Most old pubs succumb to fire and the Bannockburn Hotel was no different.
Their last fire was 2 years ago.
Excellent BBQ pork ribs!

The Chatto Creek pub has a bit of character and is on the Otago Central Rail Trail.

A classic here in St Bathans is the Vulcan Hotel. It has stood the test of time, built in 1882. The shamrock which can just be made out between the words Vulcan and Hotel acknowledges the original Irish settlers of St Bathans.

Not much left in St Bathans these days, but here is their International Rugby Stadium.

One of the last original arched stone bridges in Otago at Dunback.

Chrystalls Beach is south of Dunedin - I enjoyed the warning to watch for Free Range Kids.
Places like the Railway Hotel in Nightcaps should have a bomb set off underneath them! Such a crap place I couldn't bring myself to watch the footy here.

This very keen local is sluicing for gold at Gemstone Beach in Southland.
Close of the oyster season was delayed in Bluff to allow Rugby World Cup visitors the chance to sample the delicacy.

The Eagle pub in Bluff provided the best viewing facilities in the south.Watched us smash the Aussies in the semi-final here.

Deciding where to watch the final was something of a conundrum.Common sense and logic finally prevailed and I headed for captain courageous Richie McCaw country - Kurow.
The publican of the local pub in Kurow promised free beer for every AB try scored.

Only one try, but true to his word the free piss flowed for hours.
The shot of the tournament - favourite son Richie (almost certain to become Sir Richard) McCaw lifting the Webb Ellis World Cup in the TV picture in the Waitaki Hotel!!!!

Industrious locals beavered away overnight and constructed a replica of the Webb Ellis Trophy and erected it on the hay bale display in the middle of town.

We Are The Champions!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck to all your families.

GYPSY GIGOLO JOURNAL #52

Nice to have you back for another dose of The Journal.
The 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) was about to kick off, so I decided to get far from the madding crowd and view the games at some lesser-known south island pubs.

The Cook Strait crossing was a bit lumpy, but calmed down once inside the Queen Charlotte Sound.
We are onboard the Interislander Kaitaki passing sister ship Arahura in the sound.
The Bus With No Name was up on the top deck this time, furthest from the camera.


RWC opening ceremony and first game, ABs v Tonga, was viewed in the Hampden Hotel in Murchison.


Next west coast pub was at Cobden, in Greymouth.
The natives here are friendly and I call in for a beer whenever I'm in Greymouth.


The west coast can get pretty wild and at Punakaiki the wind and waves were whipping the white caps from a big sea into a froth of foam.


Freedom camping on a remote and rugged west coast beach is a great experience.


Just had to stop and view a couple of games at the Charming Creek Tavern at Ngakawau.
This gem is on the coast north of Westport.
I won a free beer here for wearing my World Rugby hat!


Waiau is near Hanmer Springs and the pub is over 100 years old.
The observant amongst you will be able to make out two local kuia having their daily quart of DB outside in the sun.
They didn't give a shit who won the footy!


This bridge is over the Waimakariri River at its headwaters near Arthur's Pass.
The spring melt has not yet started much of a flow.


Always worth a stop at Lake Mahinapua.
This time to dry a load of laundry.


I was planning on watching a couple of games at the old Ross pub - the bloody thing was closed!


The sky and the mountains co-operated at Lake Matheson, but the famous reflection view from the water was wrecked by a constant wind.
Another good reason for a return visit.


Freedom camping is a joy on the west coast.
Looking over Clearwater Stream in the middle of the shot you can see the tongue of Fox Glacier creeping down to the meet the rain forest.


Watched the ABs deal to Canada here at the Fox pub.


Whenever you are on the west coast you're never far away from sandflies.
More than a hundred of them are trying to escape the insect killer aerosol through the roof vent.
They didn't make it - all the bastards perished!!


Another very west coast thing is whitebait.
The season runs from beginning of September to mid-November.
Tony Kerr (left) is the very hospitible owner of Curly Tree Whitebait Company at the Waita River, about 8 kms north of Haast.
Tony serves up a very mean pattie!!

More adventures to come as the RWC moves into the knockout phase.

Another update after the final.

Good luck to you and your families.

GYPSY GIGOLO JOURNAL #51

Faithful readers, here's a treat!!
I managed to persuade two of my illustrious adventuring partners to join me in an exploration of the far reaches of the North Island.


'Captain' Ian Steven and Rowan 'Stanley' Forbes joined myself, 'Livingstone', on an exceptionally challenging expedition funded by a Lotteries Commission grant for Geriatric Gaiety.
The local paparazzi ambushed us and took the above shot immediately after our final planning conference in Auckland.

Heading out of sight of the white man and away from civilisation we came upon a wonderful kauri museum in Matakohe.This magnificent kauri meeting table, weighing more than a tonne, used to grace the boardroom of Dominion Breweries.

Talking of things kauri, they don't get much bigger than the 2000-year-old 'Tane Mahuta' in the Waipoua Forest.

Any adventure on the Aupouri Peninsula takes travellers past the northern-most tavern in the land.

Here the lads stopped for vital refreshment.

It was a great surprise to find a set of white man's arrows inside the tavern instead of taiaha.

So we availed ourselves of them over a coldie, or three, and declared The Captain the sharpest shooter at 301.

Tracking in the Far North in the middle of winter is fraught with all sorts of weather-related dangers.

We were lucky to make it to Te Rerenga o Nga Wairua (Cape Reinga) in fine conditions.

A short side trip to the Parengarenga Harbour rewarded us with a view of the world's purest silica sands at Paua.

The intrepid adventurers stopped for sustenance of fish and chips at Mangonui.

Kemp House was on our itinerary, just to check everything was in order.

More great food, this time in Russell, with a piping hot seafood chowder served in a cob loaf at the renown Duke of Marlborough.

Relaxation was mandatory each evening in the Bus With No Name after a sapping day's exploration.

A special site revisited, previously discovered by Stanley & Livingstone, was the Whangarei Falls.

'Stanley' insists on travelling in the style of his nineteenth century namesake and brings to each expedition a full-sized sea-going cabin trunk and personal bedding.

A great deal of hilarity, and a hearty thankyou to all you Lotto ticket purchasers.

Good luck to all your families.

GYPSY GIGOLO JOURNAL #46

Hello, once again, loyal reader. This journal is sub-titled "I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT". Upon completing another trip in the South Island, it occurred to me that I must have circumnavigated the country by road and seen a few 'lights' on my journeys. I started four years ago at the northern-most point - Cape Reinga. Completed in 1941, the lighthouse at Cape Reinga was the last watched lighthouse to be built in New Zealand. The first lighthouse to see the sun each day is the East Cape lighthouse. Dan and I got up early one spring morning to be the first people in the world to welcome that day. The Castlepoint lighthouse on the Wairarapa coast was built in 1913 and was the last cast iron tower to be shipped from England. Standing on the southern tip of the North Island, Cape Palliser often bears the brunt of the Cook Strait gales. 258 wooden steps climb almost vertically up the 78 metre cliff. Cape Egmont lighthouse was erected in 1881. The cast iron tower was moved from its original site on Mana Island, north of Wellington. Mount Egmont (Mt Taranaki to pussies) is in the background. Moving now to the South Island, one of the most interesting lights is at French Pass. This narrow and treacherous channel of water between D'Urville Island and the north end of the mainland is marked with two lights. The very narrow channel, only 100 metres wide, being navigated by the fishing boat has the beacon light on its port (left) side and the tower light on land. The original lighthouse at Cape Campbell was a wooden tower which didn't stand up too well to the harsh local conditions. The wooden building was replaced by this cast iron tower in 1905. This is the most handsome structure in the country, the light at Katiki Point, Moeraki. The wooden tower had to be strengthened to stand up to the ferocious storms, hence the proud supporting legs. Marking the entrance to Otago Harbour, is the Taiaroa Head lighthouse. Access to the stone tower light is prohibited as it is located in the midst of the Royal Albatross sanctuary. Further south down the coast in The Catlins is Nugget Point. The spectacular track to the lighthouse scares the bejesus out of me. Near the bottom of the South Island in the Foveaux Strait, this lighthouse at Waipapa Point warns of the dangerous Waipapa Reef - the scene of NZ's worst shipwreck. 131 lives were lost in 1881 when the SS Tararua ran aground. Around the corner and up a bit is this little gem at Hokitika. The light was decommissioned in 1924 when shipping in to Hokitika ceased. Wesport's light at Cape Foulwind is another tower to be rebuilt. The grand old original rimu structure, built in 1876, succumbed to rot. This ugly concrete tower was built fifty years later. Our story ends, appropriately, at Farewell Spit. This is yet another tower that had to be rebuilt after the original wooden lighthouse rotted. The lighthouse can only be accessed through organised tours along the 30 kilometre sand spit. Well punters, I hope you enjoyed that little excursion around both islands of the country. Time now to consider the onset of winter and more time in the Far North. Thank you for watching. Good luck to all your families.