A muse on the Muse to NZ.

[drron]

Lees bay.On one side is a wildlife refuge with a high fence to keep out introduced animals.

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Many homes for insects.

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But the main reason this road is here and has a bus service is that it is a major entrance to the National Park.

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Driving back.This place in Horseshoe Bay certainly have poultry covered.

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chickens,ducks,geese and turkeys.ready for any occasion.
And more birds.

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Then we drove out along a one lane dirt track to Bragg bay.Sign said it lead to a historic cemetery.Never did find it.Presumably a walk but no signage further along the road.No problems as it was truly a beautiful spot.

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[drron]

From here you could look across Halfmoon bay to the town-Oban.

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New Zealand flax in the foreground.

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[drron]

More flowers on the drive back.

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We crossed a little inlet with a variety of waterbirds and nice scenery.

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[drron]

We drove to Fern Gully-the end of the previous Main Road.It ends where the long walks from Lees bay end.However no parking area and a few cars so just a photo of the sign and off.Several walks of 1-4 hours from here.

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It was getting close to lunch time so we went to a restaurant and oyster bar that gets good reviews.

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Apparently they do well enough not to worry about the visit of an upmarket cruise ship.The other place for lunch were the pub,a couple of cafes and a fish and chips van.Both the pub and the fish and chips place were very busy.As we were to hand the car back at 2pm we decided to have a simple lunch back on the ship.
So we continued our drive out to Harrold bay with a couple of detours.At first it appeared like a bird on some rocks.But just a warning beacon.

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And Leask bay which obviously was a whaling station in previous times.

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[drron]

We went up a side road with a sign leading to another bay.The road ended at the top of a cliff.No views due to the trees.several houses one with a nice display of Japanese hydrangeas.

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Coming back down the hill.

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[drron]

Back to Leask bay.

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Then back up another side road.

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The golf course was here with the magnificent clubhouse.

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And some more flowers.

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[drron]

So back down the hill.It's amazing what you miss when you don't look behind you.

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And no selfie sticks were used in the making of this photo.

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[love_the_life]

................. snip........


And no selfie sticks were used in the making of this photo.

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What long arms you must have.
BTW, it's a great photo of you both.

 

[drron]

A little further along another view of the golf course.I think this would be my favourite hole-long but all downhill.This fellow though has lost his ball.

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And our chariot.They had obviously run out of cars so we got someones own car.Near new,only 84000Km on the clock-so nearly 2000 times around the island.

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Back to the main road.

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We then drove up the hill overlooking town to a new deveopement.Good views.

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And back to town.

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[drron]

The last bit of our drive was over to Golden Valley and the 400 metres up the coast you can drive from there.

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[drron]

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Then back to town to drop the car off.

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Waiting for the tender you could see a lot of kelp.

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Back on board and we went to the Arts Cafe for a late lunch.Mrsdrron liked the flowers.

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The locals were using the water taxi to get a closer look at the ship.

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[drron]

The Arts cafe became one of our favourite spots on the Muse.We used it for afternoon tea and for a light lunch after we had been onshore.Today I had the octopus salad and a pancetta role whilst mrsdrron had a prawn salad and a strawberry creme dessert.

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We then left Stewart Island.

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[drron]

It was good to have a basically fine day again.There had just been a couple of spots of rain when on the Island.A few more islands before we were off the southern part of the South Island.

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[drron]

So back to a few food posts.First a dinner in Atlantide.I had an impressive appetiser of prosciutto,tomatoes and cheese and mrsdrron had a duck salad.

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For mains I had the argentinian beef that was supposedly prime rib but it really was tough and sinewy.

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Mrsdrron had a pear dessert.

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Another a dinner in Atlantide.I am only using pics of dishes we haven't had before.I had a tuna appetiser and then a tomato soup with meatballs.

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Mrsdrron had the king prawns whilst I had the biggest veal chop I have ever had.

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It was really tender and tasty though.
Though with all this food I am cutting down at brekkie.This is it.

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[drron]

Lunch on the pool deck.Mrsdrron had a caesar salad with chicken and i a classic Reuben sandwich.

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Very good.

La Terraza dinner.I had the octopus salad.

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For mains mrsdrron had the scallopini and I the NY strip loin.

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The meat was really good.
I had cassata and I forget what mrsdrron had.

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We shared the dinner with 2 ladies from Tennessee.Delightful company.

 

[drron]

Another lunch at the Art cafe.Ham and cheese roll with a banana creme dessert and for me a spicy prawn salad and a salami roll.

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Then a Hot Rocks dinner.

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Everyone gets some corn chips and dips.

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Mrsdrron had the lamb chops and I the prime rib eye.The meats were excellent.

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Finishing with the cheesecake.

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[drron]

Back to the cruise.Arriving in Port Lyttleton.A beautiful church dominates.

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Docking.

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Then from the shuttle taking us into Dunedin.

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[love_the_life]

Back to the cruise.Arriving in Port Lyttleton.A beautiful church dominates.

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Docking.

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Then from the shuttle taking us into Dunedin.

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So you were at Lyttleton? I understand it was closed to cruise ships for a number of years and ships had to use Akaroa (we did I remember). I didn't realise it was open again, though possibly for small ships only.