Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Our Travels
- Blog
-
Location Date Asia 1485820800 1435446000 Oceania 
1434668400 Europe 1431817200 South America 1431039600 North America 1404255600 -
Location Date Queensland 1434668400 South Australia 1424304000 Victoria 1423612800 New Zealand
1386460800 -
Location Date Christchurch 1386460800 Kaikoura 1386115200 Havelock 1385942400 Nelson 1385856000 Motueka 1385769600 Cass 1385596800 Aoraki Mount Cook National Park
1385424000 Queenstown 1385164800 Stewart Island 1384905600 Dunedin 1384732800 Auckland 1319583600 Matakana 1319497200 Coatesville 1319065200 Paihia 1318892400 Blenheim 1318374000 Napier 1317855600 Taupo 1317596400 Oamaru 1316646000 Franz Josef 1316127600 -
Location Date Tue, 26 November 2013
1385478360 Mon, 25 November 2013 1385391900 Sun, 24 November 2013 1385305380
The sky is still grey, even if the rain is more or less gone so little chance of doing any exciting activities. Never mind, it's good to have a day to relax and catch up.
After breakfast we went to the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre and spent a fascinating hour looking at all the exhibits. Lots of information about Sir Ed and his life, and about the Everest expedition. Also lots of interesting information about The Hermitage Hotel and its many incarnations over the years, and lots about various climbers, real characters by the sound of it, who have made there home in the area. We also watched a few interesting presentations in the planetarium so didn't entirely waste our day.
We went upstairs into the very modern and airy bar/cafe and gazed out onto the place Mount Cook should be. Where are you hiding! The cafe had a good selection of tempting food but we weren't hungry just yet. Such a pity it closes at 6pm! We took ourselves back to our room and spent some time working on the laptops while drinking a bottle of Pinot (Here's one we bought earlier!!) and looking out of our amazing picture window at clouds and mist!
As evening fell we thought we would walk down the road to The Old Mountaineers' Bar for dinner but sadly, when we got there, we found that had closed early too! What a pity. Determined to avoid the buffet we walked on down, across the dry river, and into the village. Eventually we found the Chamois Bar and Grill which adjoins the Backpacker's Lodge. Still part of the Hermitage concession but a better option when you just want a main meal without all the trimmings. It was very quiet, but luckily they were still serving food even though it was quite late. It was worth the effort as we had a great and very reasonably priced meal (actually a HUGE plateful!) and served up within minutes into the bargain!
As we watched the sun go down it struck us that we had a long walk back to the hotel in the pitch dark and we hadn't thought to bring the torch. Luckily there were a few lights scattered along the path and we made it back without mishap.
After breakfast we went to the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre and spent a fascinating hour looking at all the exhibits. Lots of information about Sir Ed and his life, and about the Everest expedition. Also lots of interesting information about The Hermitage Hotel and its many incarnations over the years, and lots about various climbers, real characters by the sound of it, who have made there home in the area. We also watched a few interesting presentations in the planetarium so didn't entirely waste our day.
We went upstairs into the very modern and airy bar/cafe and gazed out onto the place Mount Cook should be. Where are you hiding! The cafe had a good selection of tempting food but we weren't hungry just yet. Such a pity it closes at 6pm! We took ourselves back to our room and spent some time working on the laptops while drinking a bottle of Pinot (Here's one we bought earlier!!) and looking out of our amazing picture window at clouds and mist!
As evening fell we thought we would walk down the road to The Old Mountaineers' Bar for dinner but sadly, when we got there, we found that had closed early too! What a pity. Determined to avoid the buffet we walked on down, across the dry river, and into the village. Eventually we found the Chamois Bar and Grill which adjoins the Backpacker's Lodge. Still part of the Hermitage concession but a better option when you just want a main meal without all the trimmings. It was very quiet, but luckily they were still serving food even though it was quite late. It was worth the effort as we had a great and very reasonably priced meal (actually a HUGE plateful!) and served up within minutes into the bargain!
As we watched the sun go down it struck us that we had a long walk back to the hotel in the pitch dark and we hadn't thought to bring the torch. Luckily there were a few lights scattered along the path and we made it back without mishap.
- comments