Introduction

As a wearer in the Masterworks Broach of the Month Club 2010, Jo Mears and partner/BOM maker Sharon felt obliged to take Ross Malcolm's brooch 'In the Pink' on tour with them as they set out on a three week adventure with sixty other kombis around the South Island of New Zealand to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Volkswagen Type II in New Zealand.



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All the way to the Bottom!

All the way to the Bottom!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Loneliness sets in on a long journey up north

PPQ to Morrinsville
Got off the ferry at 9.30pm last night so just drove north for a bit and parked up in Paraparaumu next to a rest home.  Woke up with the sun and were delighted with nice pink sky over Kapiti Island.
Cool gumboot stencil in Taihape
And nice ducks in the Exchange Cafe
Pink and Joey played with Jeff Thompsons gumboot
Deserted - no kombis anywhere
Mt Ruapehu still adorning a cloud brooch
Nice clouds above Lake Taupo from the desert road
Roast dinner tonight with Leon and Judy - final leg home tomorrow morning. Finally gave busbus a well deserved wash - she feels much better now.

Flying solo

Homeward Bound: Hokitika to Picton

Had breakfast on the tray that busbus won last night. Isnt it beautiful!
Enjoyed our last convoy with Mildred to Punakaiki Pancake rocks
Saw a steam train in Greymouth
Good bye hugs. Hope to see Mildred, Keri and Daryl again next year.
Pancakes!
Pancake Weka
Felt particulary lonely driving away from the Pancakes. Kept expecting to see kombis on the road and find them lurking in towns when we arrived.  There were no buses at St Arnaud, just some lovely ducks and some white blots (ordinary campers)
Saw the flying poo parked up at Super Cheap Auto in Picton, still waiting for its new windscreen. After an hour of waiting for the ferry, we were glad to see Tommo and Lyndal pull up in their T25 and pounced on them even tho we didnt know them very well. Watched a cheesey valentines day movie on the ferry.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

The last official day of the tour

Fox Glacier to Hokitika
After a fun evening sharing the love and teaching people to hug, joey was a bit hung over today so didnt take many photos. It was cold and drizzley so we couldnt be bothered stopping anywhere and drove straight to Hokitika. Gorgeous scenery on the way again with some massive hills to climb and heaps of one way bridges.

Hokitika is at the intersection of a huge river and the Tasman Sea. Carol and her parents rented a bach by the sea so we visited them for a while and had fish and chips for lunch.  The beach was really wild and had heaps of driftwood and round rocks in the sand - a flotsum and jetsum collectors dream land.
As it was the official last day of the tour today we had dinner at the Hokitika Boys Brigade Hall and had a bit of a prizegiving.  Harriet won a bottle top to put in her pocket.
 
Joey won a party animal medal for her antics the night before which Wilson adorned
Busbus won the prize for the longest distance travelled beating the girls from Silverdale by 7 kilometres.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Kissing icicles

Lake Hawea to Fox Glacier

Lined up for yet another photo shoot this morning before leaving Lake Hawea
Stock height versus very low
 
Lake Hawea
When you hit the west coast there is this amazing white rocky beach where hundreds of little rock sculptures have been erected by passing tourists. special!
We were tail end charlie today so got to wear these special needs badges
Lovely glacial sand formations
Fox mouth with teeth bared
 Forgot to take Pink to the glacier, so I bought a little of the glacier to pink
Saw a Colin McCahon van
Got some cool ambulance shots before driving off

Thursday, April 15, 2010

The sun is here again

must be about day 16 - Thursday - Te Anau to Lake Hawea
Quite a long drive today. The sun has returned and we are all in brighter moods. 

Frank's mobile garage service
Had a quick peak at the Kingston Flyer which no longer runs and is actually for sale. How much would a vintage train set cost?
Keri's dad is a shareholder in the Queenstown gondola so we got to ride free! bonus
Busbus is now adorning a thick layer of dirt
Arrowtown region froml the Crown range - beautiful
Crown range furry hills
Nice line-up at the Cardrona pub
a strange taniwha came to visit

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

River deep mountain high

Te Anau to Milford Sound and back again
Got up before the faeries this morning and departed for Milford Sound in Dean and Susans pretend kombi subaru (there van was not ready in time to make it on the trip). Pink and busbus stayed at camp today. Spent most of the journey there in the dark and the sun was just lighting things up when we got to the Homer Tunnel.  Found a dirty snow brooch while we were deciding whether to go through the tunnel or not.  The traffic lights dont start going until 9 am apparently (strange and scary for a very long one and a half car wide  downhill tunnel through a mountain)
The sun was just hitting the tops of some of the mountains when we got to Milford. A bit misty today with the occaisional shower which limited photography options, but it was still gorgeous. 120 mm of rain here yesterday, so lots of little waterfalls coming down the mountainsides.

Mountain Brooch
and Mountain brooch-back
Stopped to take a photo on the road back and saw a Kea
Back at camp for a nanna nap by 2pm. 

The 4 bachelor boys (Frank, Ken, Knut & Ben) have gotten into the habit of parking close to the loos and kitchen rather than their assigned camping spots.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Custard squares and sunshine

Day Fifteen? Bluff to Te Anau
Had a nice sleep in this morning then drove the van up to the shower block because it was raining.  Up the very steep hill to the top of Bluff hill - unfortunately not much to look at because of the clouds, but gave busbus a good workout.  Got the touristy bluff signpost shot at Stirling point then headed back to keris mums place for another custard square and a scone with jam and cream! Yay Agnes!

Had a quick look at Mildreds engine before we left Bluff.  Very tidy, but seems to be missing a few things that busbus has. Check out the name badge and twin love heart exaust system.
Convoyed with Susan and Dean today in their pretend volkswagen which was fun. Looked at a T25 and a transitional bay in some car yards in Invercargill.  For some strange reason, both Dunedin and Invercargill Countdowns had sold out of Schweppes Tonic Water, so have had to go for the Signature range option.

Had lunch next to a huge gum tree
Got followed by Dean and Susan all the way
After driving through drizzle all day we were very pleased to see the Sunshine as we came through the Hills into Te Anau