Our first EBooks published!

May 21, 2018 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com Leave a comment

Exciting… we’ve got our first ebooks away!

I’m really chuffed to get them away as it represents a huge amount of time to put them together.

It has been a lot of fun and a huge learning curve but having been involved in publishing some printed books for the Classic Yacht Association before, it was the next logical step. I’m not expecting to get rich on them but if it covers a few bottles of Chardy and the odd tank of Diesel, then thats all good 🙂

The first two are now available on Amazon as of today and the others are coming. They are slightly modified from the blog version so they don’t date so quickly and suit a book, and they’re in a fixed format horizontal format to show off the images to their best.

The first one is on our trip to Napier a year or so ago to the Art Deco festival. A great occasion and because its such a great event with some great images, it would be shame not to give these piccies another outing!

The other one is about our trip to the Pinnacles with friends via the Hawkes Bay last year. We were in several Motorhomes and it was a lot of fun. Some great adventures with some unusual places with a concert thrown in too for good measure.

These will both be available here by clicking on the covers above.

Ads will be appearing soon on the side of the Blog and you can keep up to date on this from the Books page.

Some time ago, I also did a blog about some older european images that I had posted for sale as prints etc. Again, I’m not expecting to get rich on them but some of you expressed an interest in getting some of them. They’re now available here.

A big occasion for me as a Blog person but there is more to come. .. Stay tuned 🙂

South Island 2015

Fun in the Sun

May 19, 2018 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 2 Comments

The Port Hills and Akaroa.. a neat place!

I’d forgotten what a windy old road it is to get to Akaroa but after Arthur’s Pass, it was easy. There were a lot of camper vans coming out of Akaroa so I’m pleased we didn’t do it at night.

Remember, you can click on any of these images to see the higher res version

The weather continues to be kind to us with another great day. Water like glass and the cafes and eateries were chocker. Parking was awkward but we parked in trailer parking by the boat ramp as you first enter Akaroa. I believe this is also a place where you can overnight for free.
People were just our there enjoying themselves. It was neat to see and the locals seem very genuine with their wish to help you. Very like the west coasters.

We checked into the Top Ten campground up on the hill with a park overlooking Akaroa .. Possibly French Bay vineyards and cheese places on the way back to Christchurch.

South Island 2015

Majestic Mountains

May 16, 2018 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 3 Comments

A stunning part of the South Island, Arthurs Pass .. a repost

The view from our park at Jacksons Retreat

After lunch in Hokitika, we walked back over the bridge to the SouthPark NZMCA park and got ready to leave for Arthur’s pass. We were going to stay at Jacksons retreat which has won several awards as campsite of the year. They had something I’d never seen before which was 4-5 bay open side barn like structures set up for Motorhomes. While we were there, there were three tents and a Motorhome in one of them. The weather must be that rough that they have to shelter in these structures! All the Motorhome parks are set up on terraces, all getting a view of the bridge to Lake Brunner and the river. It is well setup with new clean toilets and showers and a laundry. A nice spot.
It the only place to stay on that road until Arthur’s Pass and then you’re at the mercy of the Keas!

Remember, you can click on any of these images to see the higher res version

We stopped briefly at Otira and Arthur’s Pass but cruised on to Klondyke for lunch, a nicely setup stop by the river.

When's lunch! — When’s lunch!.. At Klondyke

At Klondyke in the Arthur's Pass National Park — At Klondyke in the Arthur’s Pass National Park

Klondyke in the Arthur's pass national park — Klondyke in the Arthur’s pass national park

Another Arthur's Pass pic — Another Arthur’s Pass pic

I remember Arthur’s pass being a pig to get through but even with a nearly 8m Motorhome found it relatively easy.

Over the mountains on the road from Darfield to Christchurch

We stopped regularly for piccies and eventually at Darfield for a cup of tea before we arrived at one of NZMCA ‘s larger parks at Weedons, just out of Christchurch.

Quirky things, South Island 2015

Tree Tops

May 13, 2018 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 4 Comments

Another oldie but a goodie repost from the South Island..enjoy

South of Hokitika off the main road is Tree Tops. It’s an amazing set of elevated walkways in the trees supported by poles. They’re about 20-30 metres off the ground set up as bridges between platforms.

Remember, you can click on any of these images to see the higher res version

Chris and Madam on the tour — Chris and Fiona on the tour

Chris and Madam on the walkways — Chris and Fiona on the walkways

There is also a tower with is about 60 odd metres up which look out over a lake and the sea.

The huge tower with Madam in the red — The huge tower with Fiona in the red

All the trees and bird life have little explanation boards at each stop and it’s all very well thought out. There is quite a big cafe there and plenty of parking for Motorhomes.

After years of climbing high things and going to stupid places to get pictures as a newspaper photographer, even up to the top of fuel silos, I couldn’t do the high tower at tree tops. Just the thought of that little bit if metal and a few bolts for each step gave me the willys. I’m sure it’s quite safe, just me! Funny how you don’t think about these things when you’re young and silly😃

We left there and parked in the NZMCA’s park by the Hokitika bridge.

Another great night with some unusually great west coast weather!

South Island 2015

Old stuff

May 10, 2018 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 5 Comments

Shantytown near Greymouth is always an interesting place to stop.
Some neat stuff to see. Another old post. Enjoy

This was a great way to spend a day when I suspected that it might another tourist tatty type of setup but it was anything but. We spent a good few hours looking over the various bits of old furniture, clothing, printing equipment used by the Greymouth Star, old houses, a ride on a steam train and much much more.
After checking out a water powered stamping battery, after a small wait, we were on a steam train to check out a sawmill 1k up in the hills.

Remember, you can click on any of these images to see the higher res version

Madam checking out the waterwheel — Fiona checking out the waterwheel

Fascinating to see the steam engines setup expressly for pulling logs out of the hills and one was operated by two pre teen brothers.

After this, we walked down through a gold mining town largely built of corrugated iron with a pub, a gold mining merchant and some houses.

We stopped for lunch in a reasonably priced cafe in the village and moved in to the town hotel, the church, the newspaper office, Hannah’s shoe shop, and a hospital. I’ll let the pictures tell the story from here but it was a well spent several hours and well worth doing if you’re in area – 10ks south of Greymouth

Me and Gary having a rest ! — Me and Gary having a rest at the end of a long hard day!

South Island 2015

The Pancakes

May 7, 2018 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 4 Comments

Don’t forget to click on the Images to enlarge .. oldie repost

Not far from the beach — NZMCA park at Westport

Yesterday morning, we met Jim, the custodian of the Westport NZMCA park. What a neat guy, the park is fantastic and it’s clear to see that he lives and breathes the park. We are fortunate to have people like him and other volunteers looking after our parks.

Earlier, we’d ridden the bikes into Westport town centre, about a 15 minute ride, Google reckons it 10 minutes 🙂 .. We must be slow buggers! It took us about 20 🙂

The girls found their Postie Plus and Gary was looking for a barber. We didn’t really do much but it was nice to get some exercise in the sun and check out the town. Once back at the park, we loaded our bikes, got ready to go and we headed in to get diesel, lpg and water from Caltex.

We were heading then for the Punakaiki pancake rocks and blowholes. I hadn’t seen these since I was about 10 yrs old so it was nice to see. Doc has done a really good job of the pathways and it’s a fantastic feature of our landscape.

Madam and Chris on the steps at Punakaiki — Fiona and Chris on the steps at Punakaiki

After an hour their and lunch in the carpark, we moved on to Greymouth.
We are staying in a Motorhome park behind a service station 5 minutes walk from town. Great spot. We walked around to the Speights Ale house on the Quay for a meal. We’re moving on to Hokitika tomorrow to do the tree tops walk.

South Island 2015

Buller Diggers

May 4, 2018 Chris Miller - Buggeritweareoff.com 2 Comments

Another Oldie ..

Murchison was a great spot. Having water and the dump station in the park was a treat. After sorting out Rafes various tank levels, we headed towards Westport.
Once in the Buller gorge, I really wanted to get a water rushing over boulders pic but where the road was close to the river for this shot, there was no where safe to pull up a 4.4 tonne Motorhome safely.
After going through Fiona’s dark moments from the previous day for missing out on the crafts and cheese shops, I was determined to find some interesting stuff to stop at and we found it.

Marked on the map as a “rest area” but also listed as a DOC Motorhome overnighting area, was the old Gold mining town of Lyall. The town went bust in the 1880’s and has all gone now but there are walking tracks, several swing bridges, a cemetery and signs of old gold mining all around the area.
There were half a dozen Motorhomes and a couple of caravans, many of their owners off hiking the paths through the remains of the town.
Fiona and Chris went off for a trot and found the cemetery and some of the bridges.

A really interesting stop and a really sheltered spot for Motorhomes if you wanted to stay the night.
Leaving there our next stop was Inangahua where the big earthquake was centred. There is a museum there with lots of information about Lyall and the earthquake in Inangahua which is well worth a look. We also stopped at the cafe next door for the most amazing pies. Mine was Chicken curry with cashew nuts, made on site with the most amazing pastry. Chris and Gary commented on how good their pies were too.

We were back on the road and heading through the Buller gorge crossing several one way bridges and an amazing cut out of a cliff, also one way. Fiona managed to get a picture of it as we drive through it on my cell phone. I looked in the rear vision mirrors at Gary behind and there wan’t a lot if room around the van with the overhanging rock. Quite something !
Half an hour or so later, we arrived at the NZMCA park on the waterfront at Westport after a quick trip to the supermarket.

A walk on the beach and a bbq tea and the day was done. Another great spot to stay. Blue skies and the wind has dropped off. A great day in paradise.

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Bugger It, we are off – www.buggeritweareoff.com

Our first EBooks published!

Fun in the Sun

Majestic Mountains

Tree Tops

Old stuff

The Pancakes

Buller Diggers

Fiona & Chris, two empty nesters put their dreams of doing something different into reality… Living in their Motorhome, come along for the ride.

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Fiona & Chris, two empty nesters put their dreams of doing something different into reality… Living in their Motorhome, come along for the ride.