Worries and Wekas

It was a beautiful day for our ecotour on Lake Wanaka. The boat crashed from wavetop to wavetop and caused Lyn some discomfort. Her back had been dicey since our climb up the steps to the waterfall at Arthur's Pass and she feared doing it further harm. Our tour leader slowed the pace but the glacial valley funnels the wind and quite large waves appear once you leave the shelter of lakeshore or islands. Lyn had a nervous time. 

 Our fellow voyagers included a couple of delightful American boys. When our guide pointed out the local ‘Lord of the Rings’ locations they broke immediately into excellent, and prolonged, impressions of Frodo and Sam.

The trip got better for Lyn when we reached the island we had set out to visit. It had toilets, a red tree, drunk pigeon stories, a picnic, a lake and a curious weka. (NZ’s islands are often used as refuges for endangered flightless birds.) It was the highlight of the trip for me. We visited a lake on an island in the middle of a lake on an island.

That afternoon we did the short drive to Queenstown where we booked into the Hilton for New Year’s Eve. Queenstown has allowed a lot of development on the lakeshore so it was a shock after Wanaka. It was also raining. We spent a quiet night. 

Waterfalls, Lakes and Midgies

Next day there was fog and rain. We managed to get a distant glimpse of the glacier from a lookout as we drove out of town. (Maybe we’ll be luckier on another trip...)

The drive south involved a trip through Haast Pass towards the centre of the island. There aren’t many places you can cross the island and this is the southernmost crossing point. Before we headed east on the road we stopped at Knight's Point. It turns out it was named after the surveyor's dog.

The drive through the pass is a waterfallathon. We stopped at two or three. This is Fantail Falls – the waterfalls in New Zealand became all mixed together in my mind – damp, roaring water, drizzle and looking out for midgies.

Somewhere along this part of the journey we stopped at a beautiful lake. We walked to the lakeshore. Lyn began her eternal stretches and then the tiny black specks began to dance all around her. Midgie attack! We barely had time for this photo and then we fled.  

Our spectacular drive reached its climax when we suddenly emerged from the pass on the corridor of land between Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea. Wow. (And we seemed to be out of Midgie country at last.)

Wanaka is a funny little town at the bottom of the lake. The locals think it is the next Queenstown. I hope not. It would be a shame to spoil it.

   

 

Meltwater and Midgies

We headed south towards glacier country. Along the way we diverted to Hokitika Gorge where a walk to the suspension bridge gives you a view of the improbably blue glacier meltwater.  It was also our first experience of the vicious little bitey creatures known as “midgies” or "sandflies, although the proper name is the West Coast Blackfly . They are tiny but nasty and predictably Lyn, known to be an irresistable target, stayed well covered and kept moving whenever we were in midgie country.

It wasn't raining - but there were midgies!

Then we drove on to Fox Glacier. But by this time the rain had found us. In such weather glacier viewing is not really possible. In only thing we enjoyed about Fox Glacier was our first experience of NZ "fush n’ chups" and a beer at the Heartland Hotel. 
  
 

The weather closing in - Fox glacier

 

Arthur's Pass

We set off to cross the island from East to West via Arthur’s Pass. Rain was predicted but it turned out to be a great day. The scenery was incredible and very un-Australian: bare green hills, spectacular mountains and water.   

In Arthur’s Pass (the town) we went to the Information Centre and worked out we could do a walk up to the Devil’s Punchbowl Waterfall. There were a lot of stairs but a spectacular reward at the end.

Driving on, we stopped for a spectacular view of the causeway that that took us out of the pass and met NZ's famously clever (and hungry) Keas for the first time.

We were making good time and so we diverted to the very pretty Lake Brunner where we swam and had a glass of wine looking out over the Lake. 

Then it was time to drive on to our motel in Greymouth. Greymouth is more famous for greenstone than scenery so we headed north to Punakaiki for a last sightseeing trip of the day. Punakaiki turned out to be a beautifully laid out roadside site featuring the West Coast’s weird 'Jurassic Park' vegetation, the spectacular Pancake Rocks and blowholes.  

It was a spectacular day. 

Restart

It was our first overseas trip for for 25 years. In that time we had created a family and our children had grown to adulthood. Could we even cope with travel? New Zealand seemed a good place to restart our adventures.

We flew into Christchurch because we’d decided that Christchurch needed our tourist dollars after its earthquake. We picked up the car no problems and drove to our motel. The owner told us all about the struggle of his city to recover. He spoke rather sadly of losing all the young people who had nothing much to do.

We went exploring and found the damage still very much in evidence. On the other hand we also found the amazing Botanic Gardens (very Inspector Morse) and a good little museum. The revelation in Christchurch was a bit of Kiwi innovation – an entire shopping centre made of shipping containers called 'Restart'.

Christchurch Cathedral

 

River Avon

Last day

At long last today!

After checking out we had time to kill before our evening flight home. We decided to drive out to Glyfada, a ritzy suburb on the Saronic Gulf. We had the address Jim and Vicky had given us so we thought we would try to visit. We found it OK and knocked on the door to the apartment. A nice Greek lady was there. We had the right place but had missed Jim and Vicky. She insisted on giving us a cup of tea. Strange occasion. She spoke no English and we spoke no Greek...

I decided that I couldn’t leave Greece without jumping into the Aegean Sea. It was predictably icy but it had to be done. My last heartrending decision was to leave my piece of ancient pottery on a footpath in Glyfada. I’d found the undecorated triangular sherd, a chunk of pithos, on the path at Mycenae. I didn’t think Lyn would forgive me if our trip home were delayed by my arrest for the illegal export of antiquities.

We dropped off our faithful Nissan Cherry at the airport and all of us flew home: Leon, Lyn and the as yet unnamed child that had made life so difficult.
 

A Greek tragedy (almost)

This was shopping day. We found a bookshop, a tearoom, and finally a jeweller to get the chain for Lyn’s cartouche.

All should have been peaceful. I decided to set about the difficult task of packing all our stuff. To the clothes we had brought with us we needed to add two Greek rugs, Egyptian papyrus, sundry books and a present for everybody Lyn knew in the world.

I am getting into trouble for my “helpful” suggestions and it is gently suggested that I should ring up Olympic Airways, confirm our flight and check luggage allowances.

HORROR

Olympic tell us our tickets are cancelled. No! No! Remember Crete, I think? Much confusion and a dreadful 20 minutes ... they admit it is their error and they will ring back...

All is well! Seats confirmed. State of euphoria...

That evening we had a good dinner in the hotel and had dessert with a young girl from Manly. After dinner we thought we would walk up to the Acropolis expecting to see it lit ... but it wasn’t. One final attraction closed for the Winter.

Back to the Herodion

Before we left for Athens we visited Volos’s brilliant little museum. It was small but excellent. There was a complete reconstruction of a Neolithic burial. 

Then we bit the bullet and set off on the long drive to Athens. It was a straightforward drive and we were there by 3.00 pm. Lyn was set on staying at the Athens Gate Hotel but it was too expensive for us. Another place seemed OK but when we saw our room we asked for our passports back. In the end we returned to The Herodion.

It was like coming home ... Leon celebrated with a dry martini.

They even gave us our old room. 

Cravings

Next morning, we left Thessaloniki and drove to Vergina, where there was nothing to see because it was all locked up for the Winter, and to Pella, where the museum was open. The highlights here were the mosaics.

The museum here was good with its beautiful mosaic of lion hunting. Wouldn’t mind it on my floor at home.

We drove to a pretty town by the sea called Volos. We found a nice place called the Parks Hotel and settled in. Lyn demanded milk so off I went that evening to find milk. It seemed NOTHING was open until after walking for an eternity I finally I found a fast food place. The girl behind the counter spoke no English but understood my request for γάλα (gala). Then came more confusion – the gist of it was – how much gala did I want? Then my 15 word Greek vocabulary came to the rescue ... μικρό (mikro)! She supplied a cupful and I walked back to the hotel warmed, despite the weather, by my success as a hunter-gatherer. Back at the hotel Lyn pronounced the milk “off”. Back to reality...

Volos

That night we agreed that we would drive back to Athens the next day. There was no point in dragging out the agony – Lyn was too ill to be driving around. She would be better off in Athens. She wasn't just craving milk. She wanted to go home.

Tower, toilets and treasure

Off we trotted to tour Thessaloniki and do some shopping. This was an A grade bad day for me! Sick from the word go and by the end of it I just wanted to die. We went along the waterfront to the White Tower. This must be one of the most beautifully presented places...

The White Tower

Lyn was particularly impressed by the high standard of the toilets in the White Tower, as was I till I reached in vain for the loo paper. And this is why my precious Blue Guide to Greece never returned home quite intact. Still, it sacrificed some pages in a good cause.

We had no real luck shopping but we did check out the churches. Lyn lit some candles and then Lyn was cheered by some (un)Orthodox entertainment.

...it was great as there was an argument about new carpet laying. The fat priest was very vocal!

The highlight of the day for me was the visit to the museum where the recent discoveries from the royal tombs at Vergina were on display. The golden crowns/wreaths were the most magnificent things I saw on the entire trip. Better than the treasures in Cairo, better than the tomb of Thutmose III, better than the Parthenon and the treasures from Mycenae ... Even Lyn was impressed ... a little.

 

to Thessaloniki

Lyn scared the life out of me. While I packed the car she went to the post office. She was away forever! I had visions of white slavers ... but it turned out she was distracted by shopping opportunities and returned with a jumper for Jillian.

At the hotel we were showered with goodies for the next stage of our journey – biscuits, oranges, mandarins and rumballs! After a final visit to the church – still closed – we drove north for Thessaloniki.

The approaches to the city took us through a huge traffic jam. Weeks driving in Greece had hardened me and we survived... Here are our drivers licences on this trip.

We tried the big fancy hotel by the water but it was way out of our price range so we settled for a place called the Queen Olga which was still central but without the water views. Now there are some who would argue that Thessaloniki is a vibrant modern city with wide promenades along an attractive and historic waterfront. Over to you Lyn ...

Thessaloniki is a HOLE. Huge, smoggy and traffic everywhere

Runny eggs and Greek delight

Who would have thought it? Lyn felt much better because I nearly threw up! The lovely lady running the hotel had brothers in Australia. She couldn’t do enough for us. She offered to boil me an egg. This seemed like a good idea until I tried to eat it – not so much a 3-minute egg but a 2-minute egg ... I went green around the gills and Lyn was delighted.

We then had much trouble dressing me for the monasteries of Meteora ... finally clothed we set off. The scenery is magnificent. Huge grey black rocks, sheer, snow-capped mountains in the distance ... The first monastery we climbed up to was closed but the second, the Great Meteora, was OK ... The church was beautiful – all painted inside and beautifully looked after. The ancient kitchen was great – stuff for grinding and the bread oven ... the museum, the old refectory, had some 14^th century manuscripts and a cross that took 14 years to carve.

... another monastery. Huge way up but well worth it – one monk and two friendly dogs – he’s having some walls built outside and I reckon it is for gardens as inside he’s got plants everywhere. I like this monk – he even offered us Turkish delight – a real sweetie... 

In Kalabaka that afternoon we shopped and Lyn continued in her failed efforts to buy a decent cup of tea in Greece. Whether it was the Greeks, or her pregnancy, that made the tea taste wrong I could never quite tell. I’d hoped to visit the 11^th century Byzantine church but it was all locked up. Lyn enjoyed exploring the attached graveyard with pictures of the deceased on most tombstones. 

Drove forever

Drove forever ...

Well, not really,

but apparently it felt like it to Lyn. First stop was a village not far out of Delphi where we bought Lyn a grey wool coat and two rugs. Then, after much searching, we stopped and picnicked at the mysterious Bronze Age fortress of Gla. I’d always been fascinated by what I could read about it. I left feeling even more intrigued. Driving around this site there were patches of mud that threatened to bog us and for once my driving was praised.

 
At Chaeronea we stopped to see the stone lion where the Macedonians crushed Greek resistance... Lyn fell asleep in the car and woke when I parked the car at Thermopylae. She watched a Greek policeman booking someone and admired the modern statue of Leonidas. Then we walked up onto the hillock, where the last Spartans died, to read the inscription. I remember you could smell the sulphur springs.  

We drove north into Thessaly. Lyn was wrecked, so I tried to find accommodation earlier than planned but, as usual that winter, found nothing open. Ended up going on, as originally intended, to Kalabaka. We booked into the Hotel Atlantis.