South Island, New ZealandWe flew from Rotorua on the North Island of New Zealand south to Christchurch. We walked through beautiful Hagley Park which is sort of like a Central Park, in the middle of a city. We were impressed by the huge trees and amazing flowers.
Our waitress at dinner was from Canada, here to play rugby with a New Zealand team. Like her, there are many young people working, while traveling from all over the world. Here's the sunset we saw, around dinnertime.
I tried to figure out the New Zealand accent; how are their words pronounced differently than ours. One trait I came up with was their pronunciation of the short “e” sound. They pronounce a short “e” as a long “e.” A few examples are:
Seeven as seven; leeft as left; heed as head; meen as men; and beerch and birch.
We went on a beautiful drive through the Otago region, across the Canterbury Plains far south to the Scottish town of Dunedin. What did we see? Well, we saw cows and sheep; sheep and cows. The meat tastes better from these animals because they only eat grass; not grain. We passed by breathtaking countryside, the mountains and the other end of our Pacific Ocean.
Dunedin is a young town, nicknamed “The Garden City.” We saw several universities, fitness, sporting good, and bicycle shops. It has the steepest street in the world. We booked a tour of the Otago peninsula, which will include Albatgross, penguin, seal, and other bird exhibits. I was so excited!
The next day, we were picked up for our tour; it was slightly rainy, windy and about 60 degrees. We were given rain gear and umbrellas. First we saw the only mainland breeding colony of the royal albatross. We learned all about them from a movie. Their wingspan is 39 meters (about 128 feet or 42 yards)! They live to 30 yeard of age and don’t land until they’re 5 years old! We spent about an hour viewing various birds, baby albatrosses and flying albatrosses.
Here are the rare albatrosses; some are landing, some are just flying around, and some are the babies waiting for their moms to bring them food.
Out of the 10 people in our group, we were the oldest. The rest were backpackers and young hikers. In our rain gear, we hiked down a steep and slippery path on private farmland, down to a beach on Taiaroa Head. We were up close to fur seals, sea lions, and yellow-eyed penguins. They were walking out of the sea and nesting on the surrounding hillsides.
Kissing fur seals:
Here's Mr. Puffy in his rain gear with a penguin to his left, at elbow level, in the middle of the picture.
After hiking in the rain and wind back to the 4WD, we saw a beautiful full rainbow and an amazing sunset. The trip was difficult physically, but it was also exhilarating and we loved the experience!
This penguin was on our narrow path. We weren't allowed to walk right next to it, so we had to take a narrow, steep mountain path to get around it.
Waddle, waddle, waddle, up the beach, every evening at dusk:
The next day we walked over to the Otago settlers museum which was all about the early settlers, Maoris and Europeans, including an exhibit on early Chinese immigrants.
Next we went on a 2-hour scenic train ride on the Taieri Gorge Railway.
We went through 10 tunnels, over a dozen viaducts (high bridges), and saw breathtaking streams, rock cliffs and overhangs.
We road on the open platforms for most of the train ride. We loved hearing the train on the tracks and seeing the scenery out in the open.
Two hours later, we were in the middle of nowhere. The seven in our group got off the train and waited in Pukerangi. Soon, a small bus for 8 people took us on a 4-hour ride to Queenstown. We drove on a 1-lane bridge, designed for both cars and trains. We drove through vineyards and cattle stations. In fact, the cows were in the middle of the road. The sunset was one-of-a-kind.
I had a little cold so Mr. Puffy walked about ½ hour each way to a pharmacy to get me some decongestant. We weren’t even sure that the pharmacy would be open at night, but he took a chance. Yay Mr. Puffy!
The next day brought another round of beautiful scenery as we drove to Milford Sound, population 15,000, with a tourist population of 50,000 for summer and winter sports. The mountain range was named “The Remarkables,” and Lake Wakatikpu is “the holder of the spirt.”
We drove through Fiordland National Park and saw the 2nd and 3rd largest lakes in New Zealand. We saw snow-topped peaks, waterfalls, and streams. The water in the streams was cold and fresh! Delicious!
Milford Sound is part of the Southern Alps, with a rainfall of 20-30 FEET a year! In fact, New Zealand used to be 98% rainforest and bush. Originally no mammals existed in New Zealand! Now there are 40 million sheep and 4 million people. This area is at 45 degrees latitude, half way between the equator and the South Pole.
We took a 2 hour cruise on the Tasman Sea on Milford Sound. Here I am, getting sprayed by a nearby waterfall.
It was magnificent! A “sound” is a river valley. A “fiord” is carved out by a glacier, so this “sound” is actually a “fiord.” I will never forget the 1-mile high peaks, the waterfalls, and the serenity of this cruise.
Back in Queenstown, we ate at a tiny Italian restaurant overlooking Lake Wakatipu Bay. Because the restaurant was so small, we shared a table with a couple from St. Louis. It was one of our best meals in New Zealand! “Lord of the Rings” was filmed close to Queenstown, but we didn’t go on the “Lord of the Rings” tour.
The next day, we drove through the Tasman Valley to New Zealand’s highest mountain, about 10,000 feet high, Mt. Cook. Again, we drove through lush vineyards, fruit tree farms, lakes, valleys, and cattle stations. Sir Edmund Hillary spent a lot of time climbing Mt. Cook, too. It was rainy and misty, so we didn’t spend much time roaming around outside.
The drivers on these long bus trips were funny and entertaining. We heard great stories about New Zealand including one about a sheep named Shrek. Shrek lived in a cave for 8 years. When he was finally found, he had 72 kg of wooly fur on his 32 kg body. We heard stories about famous and infamous New Zealanders. We learned about crops, tree hedges and the small towns. We learned that less trees and more cows produce gaseous emissions that are harmful for the environment. Germany buys 80% of the deer meat (venison) from New Zealand. In fact, ½ the people in the youth hostels are young Germans, taking a year off for travel. Here’s another fun fact: worldwide, less people are buying butter. More people are buying powdered milk and cheese (waves to Weltek!)
Here are a couple of funny pictures of bathroom stops.
One final picture is of a little church on the road back to Christchurch. People from all over the world come here to get married. The window in front of the happy couple and their guests displays a magnificent view of the water, mountainside, and sky.
On our final morning in the South Island, we went to two open-air food and craft markets. I wanted to buy everything! We flew back to Auckland in the North Island to prepare for our long flight home. The flight was great. I love the movies-on-demand. Food and leg room were better than most other flights I’ve been on.
It sure was good to get home. My little Cleo was so excited to see me. She purred and purred and wouldn’t let me put her down! She followed me from room-to-room for days and slept snuggled up close to my body for a week. Little does she know what’s coming next!
