More Photographs and Farewell to NZ

It's been raining today! It's bright again now but we awoke to a warm drizzle, very strange, I didn't know whether to have my shower on the deck or in the bathroom!  We've been getting ourselves organised for our last few days in NZ now we hear that the ash cloud is no longer a problem.  We'll be off to Sydney on Monday and have a list of things we'd like to do depending on how the $ is doing - we found Australia more expensive than we expected on the way over, mind you, we were in the vicinity of the Opera House!  Then we have our few days in Tokyo and a little more fabric shopping plus museums, shrines, gardens... and then we'll be home and catching up with family and friends and especially those lovely grandsons of ours and looking forward to enjoying the English Spring and Summer :)
A few more photos for you to enjoy then:

This is Lake Manapouri at Frasers Beach where we had a great picnic and the place to ourselves.

This is on the road between Queenstown and Lake Tekapo and is almost desert, an amazing empty landscape with very dramatic landforms - and that's the main road by the way!

This atmospheric shot is of Mount Cook and I love this picture even though I had to take it straight into the sun.  The water was incredibly milky turquoise due to the rock dust suspended in it.  In this next photo of Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd you can see the colour more clearly:

No Photoshopping, it really is that colour.  The photo below is of the Dashing Rocks at Timaru and that clay stack used to be attached to the cliff.  The darker rocks were similar to the Giant's Causeway in miniature, with that hexagonal shaping.  Al discovered this place on a walk while I was at the quilting workshop and we both went the following day.  Next stop after this is Chile!

On SH1 north of Kaikoura is a large colony of NZ fur seals.  This one was a bit of a poser!

Then we come to the arty shots!  This is Mount Ruapehu from the Desert Road on North Island, complete with snow on the top and flax in the foreground,

and this final picture was taken on the shores of Lake Taupo where the trees were displaying lovely Autumn colours.  I find it strange that it's Autumn but Christmas isn't coming!

I'm not sure when I'll have the chance to post from Sydney and Tokyo but I'll do my best.  In the meantime, lots of love to you all and thank you for all your comments - they have made us feel closer to you and it's been lovely to share our trip as it's happening xxxxxx