Photos from my South Island trip - New Zealand

A cloudy glimpse of Mitre Peak. The water from the little stream here is so pure that people were filling their drinking bottles with it.

A stop on the way to the Mirror Lakes.

The Mirror Lakes. There was a slight breeze rippling the water when I was there, so I couldn't capture the mirroring effect of the mountains on the water very well.

A waterfall on the way to Milford Sound.

Queueing for a cruise on Milford Sound.

A colony of baby seals.

A peak at Mitre Peak. Then back to Queenstown.

A panoramic view of Lake Wakatipu from the Skyline Restaurant in Queenstown.

View from the Skyline restaurant down to the gondolas, Queenstown and the Remarkables mountain range.

The gondalas are the only way up to the restaurant unless you want to climb! You can get down by mountain bike, luge or gondola. I chose the gondola ride there and back. It was terrific.

Now back down to earth from great memories.

See you again soon.

Hugs,

Rose x

My holiday in Hawkes Bay New Zealand

I have returned from a very enjoyable holiday in the Hawkes Bay area with my older brother and sister-in-law. My younger brother and his wife drove me down there with my little 6 year old nephew. It is about a 5 hour drive, so we decided to stop overnight at a friend's batch (holiday home in New Zealand language) on the edge of Lake Rotowiti in Rotorua to break the journey up a bit.

The weather was glorious. When we arrived at Hawkes Bay, where my brother has built his new house, it was 32 degrees C and remained around this temperature most of the time that I was there.

My sister-in-law breeds miniature horses and has now got 22 of them. They are delightful, especially the young foal who loves to be cuddled.

Here are some of my sister-in-law's bantam silky hens plus a speckled bantam. They occasionally lay around 2 to 3 eggs a day between them.

For my birthday my younger brother and his wife took me to the UB40 concert which was held in the Havelock North Tuki Tuki Valley with views of Te Mata Peak. When the band arrived the sun came out from behind the clouds and the wind dropped. We had an amazing time.

Then a couple of days later my older brother and his wife treated me to dinner at the Terroir Restaurant which is in the Craggy Range vineyard in Havelock North. The food and atmosphere was excellent.

I spent my days relaxing at my brother's new house reading, chatting, taking photos and being taken on day trips around Napier, Havelock North and Hastings.

Here are some photos that I took from the top of Te Mata Peak which is 399 metres above sea level. The weather again was glorious.

See you again soon

Hugs
Rose x

A week at the Sheraton Mirage Resort and Spa

Earlier last year I spent a glorious week at the Sheraton Resort and Spa on Australia's Gold Coast. I was thoroughly spoilt with wonderful meals every day and the surroundings were so beautiful.

We didn't have to worry about snakes coming into the resort from the sand dunes on the beach as there was a glass wall surrounding the whole resort! That was such a relief as I don't know how I would cope if I saw a snake! We don't have snakes in New Zealand.

There was one difficulty though. To get to the beach we had to walk through the sand dunes....hmmmmmm. Luckily there was a great swimming pool for anyone who wanted to swim.

My room was huge and very modern with new furnishings. Very comfortable. Room service was great too.

To get to the main hotel complex from my room I had to walk along boardwalks surrounded by water. Very relaxing.

I had a great time :)

Lots of smiles

Rose x