Admittedly omitting Auckland

To be fair, Gazman's probably covered Auckland, but I've spotted a couple of holes in my blog and of course and excuse to put yet more pictures up on show. Having taken somewhere in the region of 1400 - photos and video clips, I can probably put on the holiday slide show from hell!!!!

So, Auckland the third time we were there was blessed with sunshine! We spent one day on Rangitoto island. This place had

1. Great views of Auckland

2. Nice hiking weather


3. Lava caves??!!??

Photo comparisons

Looking at mattandjules pictures, I've realised they appear to be having better weather than we did in Fox Glacier . So, comparing pictures, Well, we have a picture of a weather station:

My version of scenery reflected in a lake...

And the view we had of Mt Cook... Impressive, no?!!?

3 Chocolate bars encountered on my travels - pt 2

Well, the Pineapple Lumps are from New Zealand and basically appear to be pineapple flavoured chewy nougat covered in chocolate, or at least a chocolate flavoured coating. Hard work on the jaws!

The Cherry ripe is from Australia. It's kinda like a bounty bar crossed with cherry and a lot thinner. Quite nice actually. But don't leave it in the Australian sun.

And the Coffee Crisp combines coffee with chocolate and wafers. I was eating a bar of this having finished skiing when in Whistler each day. Mmmmm. It's from Canada - the french writing on the packet probably gives it away. This one's my favourite out of the 3 (and actually probably one of my all time favourite chocolate bars).

3 chocolate bars encountered on my travels...

Picture of the Coffee Crisp to come.
The question is from which 3 countries are
1. Pineapple Lumps
2. Cherry Ripe
3. Coffee Crisp
made in?

Back in the UK

where...

1. It wasn't raining!

2. They'd finished the roadworks to the M40 in Oxford. And built a flyover past the hospital roundabout in Swindon...

3. The windscreen wiper stalk is back on the wrong side of the steering wheel (or is it the right side now?)

Though I'll probably still be blogging about the trip for a while yet (the problem with only being allowed 3 points per blog).

Several slips on the ski slope

The problem with the skiing in Whistler is 3-fold.

1. The weather's awful...

2. There's no snow...

3. And no-one's having any fun...

Whaddy'a mean you don't believe me?!!?

Miners hall of fame!

Oh yes, Leadville is home to the Miners hall of fame... 3 things which are in there:

1. Inspirational mining sculptures

2. Plaques commemorating those who have made a difference to the mining industry

3. Waxworks!!!

Wondering where's Waldo's canyon?

This time the hiking boots got a taste of an alpine trail.

3 things you might like to do on an alpine hike.

1. Take a GPS with you.

2. Then completely fail to follow the marked trail and wander off somewhere else.

Photo: The GPS says this way... Models: farmguy and Carol

But at least you end up with view like this

Photo: Pikes Peak

3. Go home and compare the route you took compared with the route you should have taken!

Photo: Route we should have taken.

Photo: Oh Well, close enough.

Photo: But we're still friends. Models: Pikes Peak, Pol, farmguy

Pol's 3 favourite things to do in NZ

Some of my favourite things to do in NZ

1. Driving around – there’s been some phenomenal scenery driving around NZ. Te-Anau to Milford Sound, windy rally style mountain drives along the Queen Charlotte Drive from Nelson to Picton (where I got to do a rather mediocre stig rally car impersonation) and of course the scary NZ drivers. As one New Zealander said, we’re probably the nicest people in the world, until you put us behind the wheel of a car, where we turn into angry, evil maniacs.

2. Having a decent cup of tea after a long hike. Nothing more British than enjoying a cup of tea. Wherever you are! I suppose the hiking’s been quite good fun too.

3. Wondering about the ‘contradictory’ nature of NZ. So sorry Singapore, but NZ is far more contradictory, merlion or not… That and weddings. Everyone loves weddings. Especially for a bit of a boogie on the dancefloor as Gazman shows…

Montana Winery, Blenheim

Wade to Abel Tasman water taxi

Milford Sound boat cruise

Franz Josef Glacier

Te Puia mud pools

David & Kathryn's wedding dancefloor, Auckland (CENSORED on request)

NZ, I’ll be back…

Things to do in Leadville when you're...

Otherwise known as things to do in 'dead'ville.

1. Skiing. Got my first taste of waxy plastic composite and metal on powder snow yesterday. Glad I did upgrade to the Subaru as we had to brush off 4 inches of snow from the car to drive to the Ski Cooper resort. Doubt a 1.4 Toyota Corolla would have been able to handle the drive up into the mountains. Actually, it probably wouldn't have been able to get out of the car park. Weather wasn't too bad until the clouds closed in during the late afternoon. Didn't really matter as I'd somehow managed to get the goggles misted up on the inside so was skiing with only a hazy view of the piste anyway. I'm pretty rubbish skiing in powder, but today was a pretty good confidence builder in preparation for the last leg of this holiday (gosh, time passes quickly) in Whistler.

2. Hot Springs - got to soak in hotsprings about 40mins drive south of Leadville. Not particularly authentic as I think the water was pumped in. But being able to lie in a pool of warm water while snow is falling around you is always nice.

3. Playing Cranium - Went along to a dinner hosted by one of KZ's friends and colleague at the Ski Cooper ski school. Got to eat some delicious, proper American homecooking while watching Ski School (kinda appropriate given the people at the party), followed by a competitive game of Cranium. Cheating accusations were levelled at least 3 times during the evening, but the team I was in won. The charades round for the word 'reproduction' was one of the standout moments (but probably for the wrong reasons).