It's the Little Things

There's an addictive element to this mobile lifestyle. The thought of new places to explore, getting back to basics, waking up to a different view, meeting new people ... there are so many positives. 

For me, at the top of the list, is having time to enjoy the simple things. Such as ...

Watching sunrises.

Being at the beach, with my dogs.

Bush walks. 

Birdlife.

Finding wild flowers and having time to study their colours and patterns.

Listening and watching waves. 

Knowing my dogs are happy. 

Watching sunsets.

And something I really, really appreciate, is going to bed knowing I don't have work the next day, and there will be no alarm to wake me. 

What do you enjoy about this lifestyle?

An Evening at Tahuna Beach

The evening before Cyclone Gita was predicted to arrive I spent a couple of hours at the beach watching the sunset. I wasn't the only one who had that idea! There was a balmy breeze, with an ever changing sky for entertainment. And to add a splash of atmosphere, salsa music filled the air as dancers practised their moves further along the beach.

The soft orange sky didn't stay around for long before it turned a rich, burnt tangerine.

Then it grew pink, and pinker still! Even the sea had a magenta tinge as it reflected the colour of the sky.

Then once the sun had disappeared behind the mountains, a golden glow covered the entire sky - it was the perfect end to a summer's evening. 

Thanks Nelson - it's great to be back!

Balmoral - North Canterbury

After leaving Weedons (just south of Christchurch) the plan was to stay a couple of nights at Amberley Beach on our way to Hanmer Springs. We'd stayed at Amberley Beach four months ago and really enjoyed it. So we were surprised (and disappointed) when we pulled into the camping area to discover it had gone from being well maintained to run-down. The grass was no longer green, instead it was dry, dusty patch of ground. It was so uninviting we decided not to bother. Instead - we drove half an hour further north to the Balmoral Reserve.

We found a place to park up just to the left of the entrance. Being nice and private it suited us perfectly. With a relaxing outlook of trees we settled in for a peaceful evening.
Then as the sun began setting we witnessed another of nature's spectacular performances. It seemed as though the sky was presenting its very own show - starting with pastel lemon hues, which quickly transformed to a golden saffron-yellow before ending in a grand finale of blazing fiery orange. Heaven's impressive light show was further enhanced by the striking ever-changing cloud formations.

Lupins - Mackenzie Basin

I've lost count how many times I've been told to back up my photos. And, I'm embarrassed at how often I've remembered to back them up and then decided I'll do it tomorrow instead. Well, you're probably going to guess where this post is going?

I lost them! Yip, thousands of photos ... just like that!

It happened while I was installing an update and my computer froze. It's never, ever done that before. I used my iPad to google how to fix it, but it was hopeless. Nothing I did made a difference.

So, the next day we drove to Timaru and took it to an IT techie. It turned out the hard drive had been wiped and sadly I hadn't backed it up for 9 months. Crazy!

Recently I'd written an article for RV Travel Lifestyle magazine on the Mackenzie Lupins and I had photos to support the article. Well, I did have photos - until the computer crashed. So I was keen to get out and take some more. The good thing was, the lupins were still flowering (just) so I had time to go and photograph them again. Phew!

And in among all the lupins were the tourists!

Not far from here is 'Irishman Creek'. My mum lived there for a year when she was a child. Now, there's not much to mark the spot other than a dinky little building.

Last time I'd driven along this stretch of road I'd noticed a stream with lupins growing along the riverbank, beside the 'Tekapo Military Training Camp', so I headed for that. I clambered down the side of the bridge and down a gravel bank but stopped when I read these signs! 'Danger Keep Out' 

'Live Firing Range' 

'Explosions and Live Firing may Occur at Anytime'.

I was keen to get some photos of lupins - but not that keen!!!

I knew there were still some lupins flowering on the east side of Lake Tekapo, so that's where I headed next. But not before taking a detour to see the temporary fencing going up around The Church of the Good Shepherd. Due to the amount of tourists stopping and trampling over the grounds, littering and entering the church when services are in progress (despite being asked not to), a fence had to be erected. 

It's a shame it had to come to this - here's hoping people will now respect the area.

One positive thing about the fence is that it's easy to take a photo of the church without the shot being photo bombed by tourists!

About ten minutes out of Lake Tekapo is a bridge named 'Edwards Bridge', I'd noticed lupins on the side of the stream below as we'd crossed the bridge coming home from Timaru. So I parked the car and walked along the river to get some photos.

I love wandering along knowing I have all the time in the world to enjoy the scenery and take it all in. Being beside a stream with beautiful coloured flowers everywhere was so special. 

Every few metres a little rabbit would dart out from a clump of lupins and race off to find a safe spot to hide.

As you can imagine the smell was heavenly. The wind was started to get quite strong so getting a shot of a lupin standing upright was almost impossible.

I headed home feeling pleased I had my lupin photos again. As I was getting nearer to Lake Pukaki I noticed the wind was becoming gusty and by the time I arrived at the rig it was blowing a gale. For the next three hours we were shaken and rattled. It felt like the van was going to be blown over. And the noise! 

But to compensate for the din, nature displayed another special sunset. 

Once the sun sunk behind the mountains, the wind eased, and it was silent again. And, all was forgiven.

Lake Ohau & its Alpine Village

Lake Ohau is a glacial lake south of Twizel. It's the smallest of the three lakes that run north to south in the Mackenzie Basin. The other two are Lake Pukaki and Lake Tekapo.

To get to Lake Ohau we headed south of Twizel and traveled along the Twizel-Omamara Road. There's a large sign indicating a right turn onto 'Lake Ohau Road' and this took us to the lake.
From the turn off it's 17 kms along a sealed road. The landscape was bare, spacious and burnt golden.

It didn't take long for the lake to appear - its bright turquoise colour a beautiful contrast to the dry hills.

The lake is fed by Hopkins River and Dobson River, their headwaters are in the Southern Alps.

The water flows from the Lake Ohau into the Ohau River, which then feeds into Ohau A Power station at the head of Lake Ruataniwha. It's part of the Waitaki River hydroelectric project.

The hill 'Ben Ohau' sits to the east of the lake. When there's no wind the reflections are amazing. Unfortunately we visited on a breezy day but the scenery was still special.

Lake Middleton is a tiny lake that sits to the west of Lake Ohau. It has a campground and is situated just before Lake Ohau Alpine Village.

It's a nice area to camp but for bigger campers the low branches near the entrance could cause problems. We drove around and decided we wouldn't be able to get the rig in without scratching the solar panels.

Lake Ohau Alpine Village is on the south/west side of the lake. It's a delightful village with a mixture of modern houses and log cabins.

Heading home we were waved down by a young couple. Their camper van had become stuck in deep, loose gravel as they'd attempted a u-turn.  We didn't have a tow rope but stayed and helped them dig the gravel out from around the tyres. After three attempts and further digging, they were out.

Back home, we had another camper van pull up as the sun began setting.

Later that evening we were teated to another spectacular sunset over Lake Pukaki.