Magpie Attack!

We've taken to riding longer distances on the bikes at the weekend which is great with warmer weather and lots of back roads to explore. Unfortunately at this time of year the magpies (slightly different in appearance than those in the UK or US but similar in demeanor) get frisky and are prone to attack passing people. Apparently they only do this if they spot you from above but they can be quite a hazard for kids, runners and - as we've discovered - cyclists.

The sudden sound of flapping mixed with the crack of a beak bouncing off your helmet can come as a bit of a surprise... not good if a car is passing. And they are persistent unless you manage to scream at them loudly enough (something Tracy has become pretty good at though I won't outline the exact language). We are told magpie behavior is at it worst now, but attacks are not unknown into the summer.

3am

With the current obsession here with the Rugby World Cup I finally decided to get up at 3am Monday morning to watch the NZ All Blacks play Scotland in Edinburgh. This despite the certainty that a weak Scottish team (our big game comes up in a week vs Italy) was likely to be beaten soundly. A surprisingly large number of Kiwis watched the game too, despite them treating the first round games as little more than a warmup.

In the end the 40-0 result reflected decent Scottish defence against a mistake prone NZ side but poor kicking and few good attacking moves. The major problem for those of us watching bleary eyed however was the similarity in the two teams' shirts, making it difficult to decide who was on what team. I hear this was also a problem the players ran into...

I am still proudly wearing my Scotland shirt however (it attracts a certain amount of sympathy!) and look forward to the remaining games (plural I hope if Scotland make the quarter finals). They will be at a more hospitable hour.

Rioting

The day we arrived in Dunedin the city was full of students from Canterbury University taking part in the Undie 500 car rally, or at least the drinking peripheral to the main event. While we were enjoying the liquid hospitality of the Dunedin Art Gallery with a crowd of dentists the students were clearly lubricating in less salubrious surroundings... leading to a major riot later in the evening.

We headed straight to our hotel but many of my colleagues came across riot police confronting bottle throwing students ( although I was told the bottles were not being aimed very close to anyone). Parts of the city were certainly a mess the next day. Not the image NZ wants to portray abroad, but rather more drunken fun getting out of hand than appalling crime to my mind.

South Island Tour

We spent the last week of August (and officially the last week of winter) in the South Island doing a whistle stop tour of some main highlights while the weather was good. The excuse for the trip was a dental conference in Dunedin, and we also checked out the south and west coasts while fitting in a days skiing in the tourist trap of Queenstown.

Day 1 - to minimize time off we left Wanganui at about 10pm (Tracy worked till 9), driving down to Wellington for the 2am ferry. The ferry journey was smooth... and we slept all the way.

Day 2 - The ferry docked at 5am, we had to be in Dunedin for 6pm, and we were told the drive was about 10 hours... so not much time to see the east coast. The first stretch in the dark was a winding hilly road, flattening out as the coastal plain widened. Great sunrise and some big hills to the west.

The day remained clear and beautiful as we approached and passed Christchurch, and we got great views west to the Southern Alps in the distance. We finally stopped for photos at the Waitaki River and having made good time also spent some time in the pretty town of Oamaru and at a couple of beachside rest stops before we arrived in Dunedin.

Our hotel was located above the town with good views and while Tracy caught up on some rest, Tim set out to see the town while running. It's an attractive place and has a lot of Scottish influence in place names, architecture and scenery.

In the evening there was a reception for meeting attendees at the Dunedin Art Gallery... preceded by the usual opening ceremony where assorted heads behind podiums droned on for a while. The opening was enlivened by the Sextet, an Otago University institution featuring six students harmonizing beautifully on a series of songs running smoothly through amusing to off colour and on through offensive. They'd be perfect for a hashing event and certainly more fun than the typical dental meeting.

At the reception we enjoyed a fine selection of Otago wine, plenty of tasty snacks and as much modern art as you could take in before returning to more wine and nibbles (for obvious reasons food and drink was limited to the reception area to avoid anyone adding the creative use of red wine to an assemblage). It was a good thing our hotel was close by...

Day 3 - Tim was off early for a day of dental lectures while Tracy spent the early part of the day recovering from the reception and the later part in a largely unsuccessful effort to spot penguins on the Otago Peninsula. She did see a couple in their burrows but none out wandering. We finished the night at a restaurant right in the working port area.

Day 4 - More dental meetings for Tim (who'd have thought you could spend so long hearing about teeth?!) while Tracy spent the whole day our on the Peninsula checking out Larnach Castle, the spectacular scenery and volcanic formations.

In the evening we took a tour of one of the city's institutions, Speights Brewery followed by sampling and a good meal in the neighbouring Speights Ale House. An extensive pub crawl followed with some of the reps from the conference Wel OK, 2 drinks at one bar and we were ready for bed...

Day 5 - Not a good weather forecast today so we didn't rush out to hit the road to Queenstown. At this stage we were in fact still undecided on which road to take. A visit to "the world's steepest street" also netted us a recommendation from a local to travel a way down the coast (better weather, great views) and this proved an inspired choice. The road followed the coast much of the way and we enjoyed sun at a couple of stops before lunching in Balclutha and picking up information on a drive through the Catlins, the sparsely populated area at the SE tip of the island. We made several seaside stops as we tried to dodge the rain showers spotting dolphins , seals and finally a couple of penguins at the mighty impressive (and totally untouristed) petrified forest.

Once daylight ran out we took off for Queenstown, missing the views of approaching mountains but having made the most of our day.

Day 6 - We finally get in some skiing in the southern hemisphere, at Coronet Peak. It has not been a good year for snow (the Southern Alps have been very dry) but we get in some good runs as the snow quality is excellent and the weather fine after a dull start. Meet up with Tim's boss and a group in town for a dental conference, all good skiers so we enjoy the day. Meet up in the evening with one of Tracy's colleagues and husband for dinner.

While Queenstown has developed a reputation as a tourist mecca it is really still quite a small and pleasant town. It was hardly busy for a ski town in the college holidays. Fantastic scenery around too, rather like a giant version of Scotland.

Day 7 - Today we hit the road for an epic journey over one of the finest routes in the country. Starting from Queenstown we climb over the Crown Range road (ignoring signs that snow chains must be carried: for one we are below this year's snow line and two we have a certain amount of practice in snow and ice on normal tyres), through Wanaka, up Lake Hawea, back to Lake Wanaka (all with spectacular mountain views). Then into the native forest and up over Haast Pass with a long drop down to Haast on the west coast (with typical west coast rain replacing the beautiful weather as we neared the sea).

From Haast the drive north begins by looking like Scotland, mist and rain, rain, rain. However we get lucky and the clouds break as we detour a few km to Fox Glacier and we get great evening views of Mount Cook, highest peak in the country. With night falling we still have a long way to go before Picton where we'll catch the early morning ferry. Stop for a curry in Greymouth (a town Tracy could have taken a job in) where the Indian Restaurant seems to be the main attraction, despite looking like a Transport Caff/ truckstop and being none too warm... we arrive and there is one other customer so we grab the table by the gas fire. Within 30 minutes many more customers arrive and most pick their spot according to the proximity to the fire so we timed our arrival right. Great food by the way.

From here we again miss some great scenery up the Buller river and watch the time pass: this is a country with few 24 hour check-ins so we're not sure where we'll find to stay at nearly midnight, but fortunately a couple who own the Copthorne in Blenheim happen to be in reception with a light on tidying up after partying with some of their guests... a lucky break as we get a nice room.

Day 8 - Up early for the short hop to Picton and we are glad to see gorgeous weather, the crossing is rough if its stormy but beautiful in the sun. Our journey could not have been more pleasant in clear weather with a millpond like sea... and we are soon safely back on the North Island for a weekend in Wellington.

Check out all the pictures from the trip at www.timcooke.com.

All World Cup All the Time

The New Zealand All Blacks have failed to win the Rugby World Cup since 1987, a dreadful failure in a country when the game is the national obsession. Even England have won more recently... and no-one here has much respect for northern hemisphere rugby. With another World Cup upon us you can't get far in the media without the competition dominating, and the team don't even play a meaningful game till October (I'm assuming they'll dispatch Portugal, Romania, Italy and even my native Scotland with ease). If they don't win this time I'll be interested to see the reaction!