Friday the 30th we left for our 10 day vacation...caught a ride to Paihia to catch the bus to Auckland and waited….waited…. and waited. It was an hour and a half late because of the holiday traffic coming north from Auckland. Got to Auckland and transferred to the airport and called the van from Best Western. Had an okay dinner out and a good night's sleep before heading to the airport.
Here's where we had a truly Kiwi experience. I had bought our tickets online with my credit card. So I check in at the kiosk and get our boarding passes, bought a coupon to check one bag, went through security and never once had to show ID! Didn't have to take off our shoes either. And everyone was nice!
Flight to Queenstown got a little bumpy as we descended into the mountains but the scenery was spectacular. Carol had scored 4 nights in a little Mom and Pop apartment motel almost downtown (last room available) and we had a terrific view of the town and lake.
Who can tell what kind of plane we were in?
View from our room of downtown Queenstown.
Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown.
Easter morning was the end of DST so we got a good night's sleep and decided to do a hike up the nearby mountain. It was almost spiritual between the views and being able to hear the choir singing wafting up from below. Of course just getting to the start of the trail entailed going up some pretty steep streets. Like so steep the sidewalk had steps!
You know this hill is steep!
Above Queenstown.
Screenshot from our InReach showing our hike.
Mon we went for a walk along the lake and for once it was actually pretty flat, as opposed to “Kiwi flat” which isn't flat at all.
Former America's Cup boat NZ14 NIW a daysail charter boat.
Tuesday we woke to rain which was fortunately forecast to stop as we had a 0550 bus to catch. We had a 4 hour ride out to Milford Sound and then an hour and a half boat ride taking in the sights. Graeme, our bus driver was very knowledgeable and we stopped at various points along the way. The good thing about all the overnight rain was that there were a lot of active waterfalls both on the way to/from Milford Sound and surrounding the Sound. Because the mountains are solid rock and the water runs off quickly, the waterfalls really only last about a day.
We also passed numerous sites that were used in filming Lord of the Rings.
Milford Sound.
Wednesday we left, picked up our rental car and did some shopping at The Warehouse and at Countdown grocery store, then it was off to Arrowtown to see the old Chinese settlement and local shops. Carol got a nice jade pendant of a carved fishhook. Supposedly this brings you good fortune and safe passage on water!
Me outside one of the buildings in the Chinese settlement. They came here in the 1860s/70s to work the gold mines .
Film, really?
Leaving Arrowtown we took the back way to Wanaka, a neat town right on the shores of Lake Wanaka. After checking in (very nice West Meadows motel!) we stopped to see the WANAKATREE, then went for a moderate (!) hike up Mt. Iron for 360 degree views. Quite blustery! We grabbed a burrito and tacos from a food truck (really yummy)and went back to our room and . . .
watched two movies.
#wanakatree it's over 70 years old and still surviving!
View from atop Mt. Iron.
Thursday was a long day. We had 3+ hours of driving to do and the road was twisty and winding thru the National park. We stopped several times to do some hikes; some just 15 minute loops on flat ground, a couple that were an hour round trip up and down. The forest area was old growth with moss and green growth everywhere. Had a Hobbit popped up I doubt I would have been surprised.
One of hundreds of cairns people have built.
Fantail bird, they flit around almost like a bat and come right up to you.
We spent the night in Fox Glacier and got up early to go watch the sunrise and tried to get reflections of Mt. Cook and My. Tasman. After a hearty breakfast we hiked to the viewing spot for Fox Glacier which was okay. We then drove up to Franz Josef glacier and did the 90 minute RT hike to see the glacier. More impressive, but the constant buzz of multiple helicopters overhead was kind of annoying. We got those hikes in just in time as a drizzly rain soon started as we were driving up the coast to Hokitika. Being a bit sore from hiking I lucked in to getting a massage while Carol checked out some galleries and the glass blowing studio. Later after a pizza that had us missing home, we drove to the edge of town to see the Glow worm Dell. Yes, glow worms. Was actually really neat.
Those are not Tonka toys playing in a babbling brook!
You have to cross a few places like thus.
Climate change? This sign is about equidistant from the farthest point you see in the next picture. AND the glacier is several hundred meters BEHIND where the next picture was taken from!
Fox Glacier
Franz Josef Glacier
Saturday we spent a fair amount of time wandering around Hokitika and checking out the jade shops and other stores. Had a great conversation with the owner of Tectonic Jade all about NZ and the U.S. and got some insight into the real NZ, bureaucratic nonsense, and relations with the Maori. At some point I saw a photo of the Hokitika Gorge and we decided to drive there. It was nice, but the hard rain from the night before had caused a lot of muddy runoff and the water was not its usual blueish turquoise. Here again we had a nice chat with a family visiting from the states and told them what to see and gave them our maps we didn't need anymore. We drove on to Arthur’s Pass where we spent the night.
Driftwood art on the beach.
NZ road signs are So polite, just like everything else here.
After a delightful night in Arthur's Pass and good conversation with Allan from Amherst MA we woke to a chilly 40-couple degrees and a stiff breeze. Took a short hike up to Devil's Punch bowl to see the waterfall (131 meters or 429 feet).
Then it was off to Christchurch for our last night on the South Island. Scored a fantastic Air Bnb in the Old Government Building which was converted to apartment and suites. We also stopped at the NZ Air Force Museum so I could get my warbird fix after missing the fly-in at Wanaka. Very good displays and we were able to catch the tour which went to some things behind the scenes. Got to fly a Mosquito simulator and got the high score for blowing up ships!
P40 Warhawk. You're probably used to seeing these with the shark's teeth.
SPITFIRE, star of the Battle of Britain.
Iroquois heli, otherwise known as the Huey. Think Vietnam.
For $6NZ I got several minutes in a Mosquito simulator and got the high score for blowing up ships! Did some aerobatics too w/o crashing.
Went out for Fish and Chips dinner and walked around; the city still is recovering from the Earthquake in 2011.
Next morning we had some time before our flight so we went to see the Chair display;185 chairs painted white to memorialize those killed in the Earthquake in 2011. We also walked through the wall memorial and the Botanical gardens, but the best part was the kids park where we both ziplined!
Of course we had to have one last bit of excitement when the fire alarm went off just as we were waking up!
Christchurch Fire Department to the rescue.
Bridge of Remembrance. Memorial to those who died in WWI and those who participated in both World Wars.
Carol on the zip line seat in the park. (Taking video of me doing the same!)
Temporary memorial exhibit for the 185 victims of the 2011 earthquake.
Flowers in the Botanical garden; a HUGE park.
Old time "punts" that you can hire with a punter dressed in Edwardian clothing.
We flew back to Auckland, spent the night and did another 4 hour bus ride up north.
So, we are back in Opua on the North Island aboard SEA AVENUE, another Oyster 54 and prepping to go for a 4-6 day cruise around the Bay of Islands as a shakedown for our anticipated departure in 2 weeks for Vanuatu. Lots to do to get ready; paperwork for visas to Australia later this year, briefings from the Oyster World Rally folks, weather briefings, of course a party, currency exchange for Vanuatu money, provisioning for a minimum 2 months. . . and the list goes on.
I'll try to put together another post before we depart but in any case check back every few weeks. Thanks again for reading and please email us your thoughts or leave a comment!
