The magnetism of the West Coast never diminishes.
This time (the last school holidays) a visit to friends who live rurally between Charleston and Westport. Sue and John met in the Antarctic a few years ago and tied the knot on their beautiful property just over one year ago - on our wedding anniversary as it happens. Sue used to work with me in Oncology and John an expedition/emergency medicine doctor who was expedition doctor on my friend Mark's first expedition to Svalbard as a leader. Small world!!
There is nothing better than the West Coast in winter. Fine blue sky days with chilly mornings - and sandflies still hibernating. We had 4 days of this whilst the East Coast experienced snow almost to sea level and heavy dumps on the alpine passes.
The holiday concluded with three nights at Hanmer Springs with Graeme and Sue (another Sue!) in snow and temperatures down to minus nine degrees.
A great week away from the issues of the city.
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| Waimakariri River - can never pass this spot without stopping |
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| The Southern Alps from 'The Tiphead' at Greymouth |
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| Aoraki Mt Cook - and a bevy of 10,000ft'ers |
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| Rapahoe Beach north of Greymouth (the waves have hair as Juliet used to say) |
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| Punakaiki Mood |
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| Not a bad view from your doorway - Sue and John's. Their own lake! |
A challenge to my big brother - how many of those 10,000ft'ers can you identify in image #3?
Well they seem to stretch from Torres to Elie but some are hidden - probably about 12. Too much for my old eyes!
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