New Zealand February 17 - Continues

From New Zealand

As we drove from Cape Farewell back down the narrow road to the "body" of the island we noted the mud-flat were gone - replaced with water lapping up to the green strip fringing the pavement. At the end of the spit road we took a short detour to Collingwood for lunch.

From Collingwood we needed to do a couple of hours of backtracking to get to the highway that would take us down the western coast. So, we had the opportunity to stop at some of the sights we'd passed up the day before.

Pupu Springs (Te Waikoropupu)- the largest freshwater springs in NZ and reputed to be the clearest in the world. We followed a short walking trail to the spring where we were disappointed not to recognize any sand dancing. Maybe sand doesn't dance in the rain. At the big spring pool stood a guide who was very knowledgeable and informed us about all sorts of spring facts and figures. Amazingly helpful for someone standing in the rain... but at least he had an umbrella.

From New Zealand

Ngarua Caves - Kevin was excited about seeing caves. He'd identified several in the South Island. One, Harwood's Hole, the largest cave in the Southern Hemisphere!!!, we had already decided to skip. (Eleven kilometers on an unsealed road then a 30 minute walk (in the rain) to peer into a big dark hole - no entry.) We pulled into the parking lot and split up as it was just past 4 PM and that was the time of the day's last tour. Kevin rushed in to see if we could get tickets while I found our coats. Everything worked out and the cave was a fine one - with all the stalactites and stalagmites a person could want, the mandatory turn off the lights ("this is what real darkness looks like"), and moa bones!

From New Zealand

From New Zealand

Moas were a form of flightless birds. New Zealand is literally crawling (well walking) with flightless birds and these were particularly big flightless birds. Flightless birds do well on an island with no predators. Unfortunately for New Zealand birds, particularly the moa, the predator-free status changed. While many of NZ's are struggling to survive the introduction of stoats and ferrets, cats and dogs, the moa were wiped out by people. Giant chickens (up to 12 feet tall) - it was all too easy.

New Zealand - February 17 - Cape Farewell

From New Zealand

Our final stop on the Farewell Spit - Cape Farewell - The northernmost point on the South Island - but you knew that. Kevin's a big fan of superlatives. I think it because he's such a tall person with a freakishly large head.

From New Zealand

Another walk through pasture ending not at a beach but at a cliff. (Stay behind the safety railing! Hold onto children lest they be blown off!) Sheep. Seals. Waves. And, the introduction of .... rain.

From New Zealand

New Zealand - February 17 - Wharariki Beach

From New Zealand

Our next stop on our tour of the spit was Wharaniki Beach. What a fabulous hike! Yet another set of steps skirting fencing and then a narrow trail across rolling pasture land. (It is here Kevin first used the phrase "commonplace grandeur".) As we neared the coast, the trail turned to sand. Then, sand, dunes, wind, rocks, waves! It is here we spot our first seal - napping on a rock ledge.

Being very excited about our "find" we told a family we'd passed who had made the trek with 2 young children. "Over there. On a rock across the inlet. Seal." They were not suitably impressed. I'm not even sure they walked over to look.

We also enjoyed the sea weed. (We are simple folk.)



We brought a lot back from Wharariki Beach. A lot of sand. Really. A lot. Even after stopping and emptying my shoes on the beach then when we got back to the car. We were carrying my own little dunes inside our socks!

New Zealand - February 17 - Farewell Spit

From New Zealand

We got up early and quietly showered and breakfasted then hit the road. We drove in the thin morning light to the Farewell Spit visitor center on a narrow road with muddy flats extending from the ditch to the horizon. We parked - first car in the lot then followed the signs - across the lane then up and over the barbed wire fence and through a field to the lookout. Everything was quiet. Everything was grey.

From New Zealand

Retracing our steps we followed a second path from the parking lot around the visitor's center (still not open) and then down a hill, through a gate, and onto the salt marsh. The smelly marsh. One of the things, besides a lighthouse, we had read about the area was the tremendous numbers of birds who make the spit their home. We did see birds - but the tide was way out and the thousands of birds were spacing themselves pretty evenly over miles of shore. Still, out there, there were a lot of teeny, tiny black swans.

From New Zealand

From the beach we followed the trail inland along a pasture ("hello sheep!") emerging on the "other side" : dunes, beach, waves. It was a bit eerie. Kevin and I alone on this desolate beach. We looked for the rumored pools filled with playful seal pups but found none. We did not get lost.

From New Zealand

From New Zealand

We couldn't identify a "loop" back to the car park, so we retraced our path. By the time we returned to the park's visitor center, it and the cafe were open. I required very little arm twisting to convince me it was time for second breakfast - tea and toast overlooking the muddy portion of the beach. Finishing our pot of tea we studied the photographs of beached whales and enjoyed the telescope - spying on the swans.

From New Zealand

New Zealand - February 16 - Moving on!

From New Zealand

By the time we left the Abel Tasman park the sun was committed to shining and we had decided to go as far west as possible. Our goal was the Farewell Spit - a skinny peninsula that juts north and hooks east from the upper left hand side of the South Island of New Zealand. We called two companies that conduct tours of the spit and decided we'd do anything except a three hour tour, a three hour tour. The unfortunate thing was that we can't do any tour unless the tide is right (high/low, I don't remember) and that would mean we'd need to spend a second night there because any tour, and the shortest was that 3 hour tour, couldn't start until 2 PM. So, we decided to not commit to a tour and see what we could see on our own.

From New Zealand

The drive was filled with beautiful green/blue mountains and green/yellow valleys. The peace and grandeur only interrupted by intermittent shrieks from the passenger seat as Kevin wound up and down the narrow mountain highways. On occasion we'd stop for a lookout or a short walk.

From New Zealand

From New Zealand

From New Zealand

New Zealand - February 16 - Abel Tasman National Park

On Tuesday we got up, ate breakfast at McDonald's (it is important to eat at McDonald's at least once in every country - it is a little known requirement ex-pats need to maintain their American citizenship). After, we moseyed down the road to the Abel Tasman National Park.

New Zealand has a list of what are considered "great walks". These are great in both breathtaking scenery and length. One such walk is in the Abel-Tasman park. Kevin had identified a short section of the track that is supposed to be both typical and lovely - a 2 to 3 hour hike between Bark Bay and Torrent Bay. Unfortunately, you can't actually get to Bark Bay or Torrent Bay by land. We needed a water taxi and the morning run had just left.

So, we followed the suggestion provided by the woman working at the "taxi station" and drove out to then hiked down to see the big, broken rock - Split Apple Rock. As you see in the photo, New Zealand was maintaining its ban on sunshine during the first portion (two-thirds) of the day.

From New Zealand

The water taxi ride - a trip of about 40 min - was great! We had THE dolphin experience of our lives. A pod of half of dozen or more dolphins, including one or two calves, followed our boat along for several minutes. I was so excited I forgot how to set my camera on continuous shooting. Still, I think it speaks to just how close and how long we traveled together, I got a couple good photographs. Well, I liked them OK.

From New Zealand

The walk, as advertised, was great - along the coast and through the forest. Before it ended the sun emerged. Perfect!

From New Zealand

New Zealand - February 15 stops

From New Zealand

It is very soon on the QCD that Kevin remembers why he has "issues" doing road trips with me. I am a pretty darned poor navigator. Though, I insist that no one would be able to interpret the map of Nelson that is presented in the "Lonely Planet: New Zealand". NO ONE.

From New Zealand

It took stopping at this "dairy" twice ("What's a 'dairy'"? we asked Anna. "It's the same thing as a 'milk bar'".) to find our first stop - The World of Wearable Art and Classic Cars museum. Yeah, I know. I'm still pinching myself. It was so cool and thank god I had taken time to work Kevin into Project Runway appreciation. Each year in Wellington there is a competition to design wearable art. From what I can tell from the video they played from the show, it is more a choreographed performance than just a runway show. The museum boasts 4 "rooms". (NO PHOTOGRAPHY!) The first contains mannequins wearing, I assume, either winning designs or possibly the most recent year's designs. The second room is similar but it is illuminated only with BLACK LIGHT with shimmering, glowing, iridescent wonder. The third room is a theater playing clips from the WOW video. The final room is the only place where photographs are allowed - the classic car showroom. Fortunately, there is some wearable art included, or I would have none to share. Really. None. Now, don't ask me again.

From New Zealand

Interestingly, Nelson (home of the WOW museum) is also the geographical center of New Zealand. (Actually, it is the geographical centre.) So, if we could pull all of NZ off the globe it would actually balance on the pointy sculpture then have marking the spot...if you turned the sculpture upside down. The view was nice, too. (It is very interesting that the geographical center (centre) should happen to fall on the top of a big hill rather than half way up or down in a sad little valley. (Though, I don't think there are sad little valleys in NZ. I think I read that this is what New Zealand translates into in Maori - the land without sad little valleys. I might have gotten that wrong.

The marking monument.

From New Zealand

The view.

From New Zealand

A photo that BEGS to be called "Off Centre".

From New Zealand

This same park in NZ is the site of the first NZ rugby game (oh wow) and the location of a (not-so-soon-to-be) giant Kauri tree (planted 1951). Saw them both.

Finally in Nelson, we failed to eat at Hell's Pizza. Rather, we hurried down the road to our evening destination - Motueka- where we hoped to see a movie at their cute art theater - The Gecko. (which isn't as cute as we were led to believe, since they DON'T SHOW MOVIES ON MONDAYS.)

New Zealand: Queen Charlotte Drive (Feb 15)

From New Zealand

We debated taking a clockwise vs an anticlockwise path around the island. One of the things Kevin was most keen on doing was to swim with the seals and maybe, too, the dolphins in Kaikoura. If you've forgotten your NZ geography or you just have trouble keeping track of which vowel heavy name is which, Kaikoura is located only a few hours South of Picton - in a clockwise position.

So, lets play a game. I argued for a counterclockwise trajectory because 1. I try to make Kevin's life less pleasant whenever possible 2. we'd be too late to actually do anything today and then we'd be staying overnight and spending another half day or more without having actually gained much ground in our "we will see everything" 11-day tour of the island 3. Why not? we did Australia in a clockwise fashion - we wouldn't want to over-wind the Southern Hemisphere or 4. I was secretly terrified of freezing to death in the water and wanted to postpone death or catching some chill-born disease until our journey was concluded - and maybe we'd even run out of time.

That was too easy, wasn't it? I wish I could say the answer was #2 - it makes so much sense now. Maybe Kevin accepted my argument (#3) because he subconsciously understood #2. We'd only know if we asked him - and it is too early on a Sunday to do that!

So, against the flow of the clock hands we drove. Stopping at look outs and enjoying the view from the road - water, hills, and lots of clouds.

NZ February 15 - The Ferry

From New Zealand

On Monday morning we got up at a ridiculous hour (particularly if you're body is still flirting with Brisbane time) and drove off in Anna and Andrew's car (thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you) to the harbour and the inter-island ferry. It was another grey, grey, cloudy day. We found seats in the dining hall and had a truly crummy breakfast. Then, the fun began!

From New Zealand

The trip between the North and the South Island takes 3 to 4 hours. (I was on vacation. I was not watching my watch.) We did a bit of wandering about - the gift shop, the bar, the cold and windy deck - checking out the scenery. The northern aspect of the South Island, the Marlborough Sounds, is covered with a fringe of islands and peninsulas. So, you spend a long time thinking you are "almost there".

From New Zealand

We de-ferried at Picton and made a quick driving tour of the town marveling at the lack of parking and seats in restaurants. Like every other American in Picton that Monday, we settled on getting lunch at Subway where I was pleased to learn that New Zealanders do not consider shredded carrots to be a sandwich topping. Already, I am feeling like NZ and I were meant to be together. We traveled a short distance along the Queen Charlotte Drive and pulled over to enjoy the first look out - eat our lunch and look at the port of Picton.

NZ - February 14

From New Zealand

Our second day in Wellington was clear, sunny, and almost breathless...at least until evening. We took advantage of this by doing outdoor sight seeing.

From New Zealand

First we took the cable car from the city to the Botanic Gardens. Kevin and I love botanic gardens - and I will dare to drop a spoiler here - this was the only one we saw during our trip. It was a beautiful garden and so much like being home in the US. Hydrangeas, lilies, and roses - oh my!

From New Zealand

From New Zealand

From New Zealand

(Rose petals in the fountain.)

I even enjoyed the succulents. Note to Australian gardeners: I think they look much better when they are not enmeshed in spider webs.

From New Zealand

From New Zealand

From New Zealand

After a kabob lunch, we made a pretty quick tour of the Wellington Zoo. There, in the darkened exhibit, we saw our first (and only - damn, another spoiler) kiwi. About the size of a chicken and scurrying about the back shadows - no way could a photo be obtained. The chimpanzees were very frisky. It was great fun to watch. (About this time the sun disappeared and the wind returned.) We were just in time to witness the sun bear tear apart some "grubby" logs that had been placed in their home for their enjoyment.

From New Zealand

From New Zealand

In the waning light of the evening, we traveled to a hilltop near/in Brooklyn where a single wind turbine stands and took in the view.

From New Zealand

From New Zealand

I wasted all that time!

From New Zealand

I could have saved myself YEARS - not to mention tens of thousands of dollars by just going to Wellington sooner! The injustice of it all!

NZ alley

Beautiful wall in Wellington.

New Zealand - It begins!

From New Zealand

Mid February Kevin and I left Brisbane for our much anticipated trip to NZ. I already acknowledge that I cannot do justice to that experience. The mountains! the beaches! the green fields! the wildlife! the cool, beautiful weather!!! and, the nightmare of driving twisty mountains road with a man who has an allergic reaction to tail lights! We made some rudimentary notes about what we did each day and I took copious photographs - though even as I was snap, snap, snapping I was keeping a loose mental list of all the cool images I was missing. Then, comes the disappointment of actually looking at the photos and recognizing that they are invariably incapable of capturing the entirety of the experience. In addition, it is only now after I have downloaded them onto my computer, that I know there is a blob of something on my camera lens for the first 3 or 4 days. Thank goodness for the rainy day that encouraged me to dig out the lens paper and wipe off my lens! I'll try to repair the blemish - (I haven't been successful, so far, but maybe I'll be inspired.)

So, let us begin!

We flew into Wellington where we stayed with our friends, Anna and Andrew. We arrived after midnight and I surprised everyone by staying up til almost 2 AM. (Though, in all honesty, it is less surprising when you correct for the shift in time. Wellington is 3 hours ahead of Brisbane.)

From New Zealand

On Saturday we were introduced to the windy world that is Wellington...trekking around the city - taking in first Te Papa (The Museum of New Zealand) including the giant squid but not the current exhibit "A Day in Pompeii". (We didn't bring anything appropriate for a "hot time" in the "old town".)

From New Zealand

Lunch at Sweet Mother's - real deep south (American) cooking. Not sure how it got to New Zealand - but I'll take some gumbo any day. (Apologies to Dave Robicheaux - I could have ordered a po'boy sandwich, but didn't. Kevin did. I had a bite. Still friends?)

From New Zealand

We saw government buildings, Cuba Street (fountain above), the NZ Film Archive and the theater that premiered, hmmm, what was that New Zealand movie...about a ring, I think....

From New Zealand

It wasn't the best outdoor weather day - until we were committed to some indoor time - playing tichu and having supper. Then, the sun shown.

5,200 Australians strip for art's sake - Times Online

5,200 Australians strip for art's sake - Times Online

Once again, we have missed the opportunity to participate in the creation of one of Spencer Tunick's photographs! Alas! How many more opportunities will come our way? Maybe we need to investigate a Spencer Tunick mailing list...

This one's for Kayla