Rain, rain, rain, more rain.....and then it snowed!

Aaaah, the risks of travelling to New Zealand for the start of their winter....It is my nature to wing things, so willingly must also accept a little rain with my sunshine...heh, they are a good mix, both necessary to sustain life, but yikes did so much of the rain have to land on my watch!! Well, plans to cycle up the peninsula at Dunedin, stay at the Larnagh Castle, continue on to play with penguins at the tip, were thrown out the window! NZ was literally awash with their "once in a hundred years rains"....everywhere in the country!! Flooding was a given, road closures, certain.....so, being one to turns lemons into something drinkable, I took in a bus city tour, thinking I would be surrounded by seniors...nope just me and the driver....actually enjoyed it, running from place to place via an umbrella which attempted to keep me dry....we decided to just give me a drive through on roads that were open :) ..... hoped the best for two days and finally boarded a "track & trail" journey to Queenstown .... and wow, what a journey that turned into ..... the scenery along the Taieri Gorge was spectacular beyond belief.....again, as tourist season is long gone, I had a whole train to myself and a handful of Korean university students out for an adventure Asian style.....didn't mind at all....the weather had dropped drastically as we climbed and when the track came to a literal end.....I was met by a small van and driver who would take me on to Queenstown....the stop was as remote a spot as you will find anywhere on the planet, with a small rocky road where my van was waiting.....two Korean students were to be met there by friends in a pick-up....no one in sight...temps about minus 2 by then and no where to stay when the train left....needless to say, the girls took up the offer from my driver to join us and we would keep a look out for their friends on the road (there is only one...) and if we did not connect, he would drop them off at a little house 20 km down the road....no cell phone reception here (the wisdom of our current youth, who cannot imagine a life without their cell phones solving all problems) .... We probably saved their inexperienced necks from a cold stay on a rocky outcrop in the middle of nowhere that night....as they had at first insisted they stay behind to wait....we dropped them off at a warm little house run by a lady called Millie, in Middlemarch.... with a warm hug and goodbyes all around, the driver (Noel) and I continued along towards Queenstown.....and oh my, we passed along into some of the most hauntingly remote areas of this, as I am fast learning, is a vast country, of extremes....more later, as my time is running out on computer useage.....love seija