Pearls On Wheels

Stunning scenes, lots of history, typical sheep farming landscapes... We are really enjoying being back on the road again. Come along for the ride and see what caught my eye today. You can find out more by clicking on the links in the text. I used an iPhone as my camera for all the photos on this trip. Strong winds blow in from the south. All the way from Antarctica.  Te Waewae Bay.  Every intersection on this Southern  scenic route has directional arrows to remind tourists turning on to the highway to keep left. A welcome break at Riverton.  We visited the Te Hikoi Museum . We learned lots about early Maori, sealers, millers, Titi(Shearwater). Lots of human interest stories. Right up my alley. In Invercargill we visited eHayes and Son ltd, probably the biggest hardware store in New Zealand. It certainly has the best welcome. The star attraction is Burt Munro's 1920 600cc Indian Scout in which he established the lan...

We are proposing to go on a long,  long ride in late May, 2016. We are planning some rides on Orlanda in New Zealand as preparation.   This trip takes us through the backcountry around the Eyre Mountains in the Wakatipu region near Queenstown.  We cross lake Wakatipu aboard TSS  Earnslaw  to Walter Peak, then ride to Mt Nicholas and through the Von Valley to Mavora Lakes and Lake Manaouri to Tuatapere. The reward is meal of Blue Cod and Oysters at the Waiau Hotel at Tuatapere. Its a good day for a ride...  Orlanda takes Dick aboard  Earnslaw.  Its another gorgeous day in Queenstown. We have had an extraordinarily sunny summer.  We disembark at Walter Peak  and ride along Lake Wakatipu to Mt Nicholas Station. We are sharing the road today with lots of cyclists who are riding the Round the Mountain Bicycle trail.  This is an isolated farming district. We are fortunate that there is a w...

When we rode the bike into Ushuaia in December 2012 we hoped that one day we would board a ship and sail to the Antarctica and Complete the Ice to Ice Adventure. In January 2015 we set off on a cruise to Antarctica. The expedition crew comprised an exceptional group of experts in polar history, geology, birds and sea life. Their input ensured this cruise in unlike any other we have done. For example Tom Hart and Hila levy from Oxford university were on board and were conducting  penguin research on shore. The ship's destination each day was determined by weather and ice conditions. The maps at the end of this post show the zigzag direction of the ship.  We managed to make land fall at all possible locations apart from Marguerite Bay where there was too much ice.  Al fresco dining on deck-  long twilight and a very cold evening. Kayaking was an option, Stand up paddle boarding, too. One last shore landing.  These...

When we rode the bike into Ushuaia in December 2012 we hoped that one day we would board a ship and sail to the Antarctica and Complete the Ice to Ice Adventure. In January 2015 we set off on a cruise to Antarctica. Brown Research Station is staffed by Argentine researchers. We were closely monitored as we walked between the metal-clad buildings. The numbers of tourists allowed onshore at any time is restricted to 100 by a voluntary agreement among Antarctic tour operators  Since our ship had around 170 passengers we went ashore in two shifts. Whilst half our number were ashore the others spent an hour and a half zodiac cruising through icebergs observing bird and sea  life. There were strict requirements for decontamination  of our boots when we re-boarded Ocean Diamond. Brown Research Station  Dick took up the snow shoeing option.  I went for a walk. Ski poles were good substitutes for crutches. Note my Tilley hat which had trav...