23. August 2023 20:08
by Rene Pallesen
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The trip in New Zealand first landed us in Christchurch where we picked up our rental car and stayed the first night.
Next day we drove through Arthurs Pass to Franz Josef (a long drive) where we stayed for three nights. This was mainly so that we had a spare day in case the weather closed in and we couldn't fly to the glacier.
From there we drove to Queenstown via Wanaka and the Crowns Range (another long drive). We were lucky that this was open and that snow chains weren't required.
Here we stayed for 5 nights whereafter we went to Twizel near Mount Cook for two night.
Lastly we drive back to Christchurch to fly out.
Queenstown is a scenic place, but lost of other scenic places along the way.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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At Lake Pukaki there is this little beautiful chapel at the lake.
Again this is a really photographed location and much more busy than I remember it.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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At Queenstown we did 4 days of skiing at the Remarkables.
The boys did two days of lessons and were with me the other two days. Some friends of our joined us in Queenstown, so for the other days I had Tod to go with, who is a very decent snowboarder.
Aiden and Lucas are both becoming good skiers, but especially Lucas is getting really good to the point where I can bring him onto black runs.
Although Kim is still very much a beginner she still did two days of skiing sticking to the beginner slope where there is a 'magic carpet' lift. I did see some improvement to last year, but she is still too scared to go on the proper lifts.
I bought my own ski boots last year and brought them along (my feet are not compatible with rental ski boots).
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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The west coast of New Zealand is really beautiful.
It is not very populated and there are not a lot of tourists either as it is hard to get to.
We did a lot of walks in the area both around beautiful lakes and also at the beach outside Fox Glacier and Franz Josef villages.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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Driving back towards Queenstown we had to go through Wanaka. Boy, has it changed! It used to be a small place with maybe fifty houses, but now it is a proper town with lots of cars and traffic.
It is very scenic approaching Lake Wanaka, and the lake itself has this tree growing in the water that photographers from all around the world come here to take photos of.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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A place that I have always found really magical is driving through the Lindis Pass.
Kim doesn't think much of it, but since I visited it the first time, I've alwas found the rolling hills and the colours absolutely stunning.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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Kims highlight on the trip was to go up on a real glacier.
She had booked a helicopter tour that would take up up on a section of the glacier between the two major ice falls.
This is a section of the glacier that Andy and I dreaded having to walk through 20 years ago when we were climbing higher up on the glacier. Mind you, back then there was probably another 100 metres of ice on top of where we landed on this day.
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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Driving from Christchurch toward the west coast we passed the Castle Hills boulders.
This is a phenomenal place to go climbing if you are a good boulderer. It is also quite scenic to just go for a walk.
We saw lots of people with their bouldering mats (a soft mat to land on when you are climbing).
23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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At Mount Cook we did a long 10km walk to the start of the Hooker glacier.
It is a beautiful walk where you walk past the Tasman Glacier and Muller Glacier before you eventually come to the Hooker Glacier lake.
The lake was frozen with an iceberg floating around in it.
Not far from where my parent live there is an open air museum displaying how people lived in the medieval time which in Denmark was the late 14th century.
For Kim and I it felt like we suddenly were a princess and a knight from that time.
Besides from houses, ships and other buildings the place also displays various handicraft, weaponry and how people battles in those times.
They have working Trebuchets there to throw massive stones (or dead animals and burning tar) accurately for distances of more than several hundred metres.
Every day they show people how they work and hurl massive stones into the water.
We tried some of the weapons. I used to be fairly alright with a bow and arrow when I was a kid. I tried the bow and arrow here and it was a total disaster.
Obviously Kim went straigh for the shoes and the furs (I am not a fur person myself):
They also had a knights tournament on while we were there. Two knights would fight using their lances which would shatter on the impact against the shields.
17. August 2009 10:09
by Rene Pallesen
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17. August 2009 09:39
by Rene Pallesen
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When Kim and i got married last year we promised my mum that we would come to Denmark this summer (European) and have a little party with her as she was unable to attend.
Our journey there didn't start well. A five hour delay from Sydney meant that we missed our flight in London. British Airways told us that we wouldn't be able to get on a flight until next day but we insisted that they get get on us a flight the same day. They waitlisted us on a couple of flight and eventually we managed to get to Copenhagen late the same evening. Thanks to modern technology my parents were updated with the flight details so they didn't have to wait around and they arrived to the airport just before we arrived.
It took our luggage another two days to catch up with us, this meant that we had to do some essential clothes shopping.
The first couple of day we spent with my parent, cooking for them, taking my mum to the forest, the beach as well as going sailing. It is summer time in Denmark at the moment, so the weather was a lot more pleasant than the last time we were there and there was more people at the beach etc.
It was a bit weird visiting this time. My mum and dad are no longer living together and they had sold the house week before we arrived. This meant that we were staying in my dads apartment (Which used to be my brothers) and visiting my mum during the day. My mum has got a really nice little apartment in a facility where there are people around to assist her whenever she needs help.
My mum has also still got the car, so it is easier to take her to places as it has got a lift and special belts to secure the wheelchair.
At the end of the week my dad had organised a party for my family and friends. It was in the middle of the holiday season, so a lot of cousins and other family members were unable to join.
It was especially good to see my grandma (who is 89).
We were in Denmark a total of 10 days before then heading to Italy.
7. July 2009 09:44
by Rene Pallesen
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Kim likes to have a lot of parties (Pre-Party, Party and Post Party) when it is her birthday. This weekend we had a big group of her friends over for a BBQ.
It is currently winter here, but it was nice and sunny, so the backyard was still warm in the mid twenty degrees so we were able to sit outside.

Kim had baked cupcakes the night before and used the cupcake stand from our wedding to present them and it looked fantastic.


28. June 2009 09:20
by Rene Pallesen
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Last year I took Kim to Hunter Valley for her birthday. This year we decided to head up to the cold Blue Mountains.
We hired a cabin that we stayed in a couple of years ago. It is a nice little self contained cottage in the Blue Mountains...loads of privacy and a nice little woodfire and spa.
It was cold up there so the wood fire was very convenient.
Saturday morning we had booked a round of golf at Leura golf course. The first thing you notice here is that everyone plays really slowly. We got let through two groups but still managed to complete the round in less than 4 hours. It is a beautiful course and it was one of the most enjoyable rounds of golf I'd played for a long time.
And as you can tell Kim was very relaxed too.
And here showing the latest in golf fashion.
In the afternoon we had a look at Leura (Kim had the munchies for scones) and we had a look at the local shops.
In the evening it was time to celebrate her Birthday so I took her out to dinner at Echos Point Restaurant. Food was ok, but overprices compared to many really good Sydney restaurants. But there was plenty of food so we skipped the desert...and had a really nice and romantic evening, so Kim was very happy.
Next morning we woke up early to have a look at a few shops and gardens around the place. First we went to a garden called Everglades...nice, but would have been nicer once the flowers are out in late winter (It is winter here in Oz now) . After that we went to Mount Tomah botanical gardens. These are very nice, there was plenty of flowers and the layout of the gardens is really nice.
I bought a new tripod for photography last week so we decided to have some fun around the place with jump shots.
14. June 2009 07:40
by Rene Pallesen
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12. June 2009 03:41
by Rene Pallesen
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Yesterday on the 11th June Adam was born by Kim's sister Dao. He is an impatient little bugger and decided to arrive two weeks early and later at night while all the other boys in the family were out watching the soccer match between Australia and Bahrain.
Suddenly Wednesday evening Dao called saying that she'd started going into labour. Normally Wednesday is my climbing night but luckily I was home this evening. Kim and I quickly picked up KC (Kims other sister) and they took the car (while I stayed with KC's kids) to go and pick up Dao and bring her to the hospital.

She was in labour until after midnight and in the early hours Thursday arrived.
We all went there yesterday to have a look and both mother and child is doing fine. And Dylan (on the left in the photo) is excited to have a baby brother.