Nov 7th – 10th – Our stay in Queenstown has been relaxing and refreshing. Being in one place for three days has certainly helped us live life at a more normal pace.

On our first day here we took a guided boat tour on the TSS Earnslaw to Walter Peak High Country Farm. The boat is a period steam boat still working with the original motors. You can even watch the men stoking the four coal furnaces. Once at the farm we were given a tour by Russell, a recent university graduate. He told me he grew up on a farm that has been in his family for over 140 years and that he has just graduated from a rural accounting program at university. He said he is either an accountant in gumboots or a farmer in a suit…he hasn’t figured out which. He certainly is enjoying his summer job. He introduced us to deer farming, which is very popular, in addition to sheep and cattle.

A large group of Chinese folk were on our tour and were quite excited by all the animals. Even though China is the largest sheep farming nation, most Chinese who travel have never seen them live since they live in the cities. Chinese farmers, of course, are poor and can’t afford to travel. Russell also demonstrated how his dog Bess, herds the sheep with either voice or whistle commands. A sheep dog can cost anywhere from $6,000 to $12,000 but are invaluable in the type of work they can accomplish. He also demonstrated how to shear the sheep ensuring that the fleece remains in one piece so that the sorters can tell which part of the sheep the various wool came from. Some parts are evidently more valuable than others. Afternoon tea on the patio provided for a nice ending to the afternoon.

Yesterday we took a drive up the lake to Glenorchy, a small town at the head of the lake. It was a bit remote and overrated but the scenery along the way was worth the drive. We stopped for lunch at the cafe in Glenorchy, which had been recommended in the guide book. Later we out the other way to see the bungy jumping. You may remember that this is where it all began 25 years ago, so it is an obligatory photo stop even if you aren’t daring enough to take the plunge. Dinner was leftovers from the night before back in our room.

This morning we tried to worship with the folks at Queenstown Baptist Church but couldn’t find them at the address on their website. They must have either moved or closed. Do we get brownie points for trying, at least?

Nov 7th – Our trip today from Wanaka to Queenstown was relatively short but a mountain range stood in our way. There are two ways to go: the longer route around the range or the shorter route up the Crown Range Road. This road is the highest in NZ at over 3300′ and needless to say has many twisting and turning sections. It actually wasn’t too bad until just at the end when there are about 8 or 9 hairpin turns to get down to the valley floor. The views along the way of the southern alps of course were stunning.

Before arriving at Queenstown we stopped at Arrowtown and had a picnic in the park. I’m sure George and Jenn visited here since there are many Lord of the Rings sites close by. It too was a gold mining town and much of the main street has been preserved. They have also set aside an area down by the river flats which used to be Chinatown. During the gold rush many men from China came over to make their fortune but it was a hard life living away from family and being ostracized by society.

Queenstown is a very busy city but there isn’t much there other than for the tourists. They have developed a specialty for biking and so there were lots of young people in town here too. Our hotel is out on the other side of the lake so it is quite quiet and peaceful. Our room is a self-contained unit so we will probably eat in some of the time. The hotel has, for a fee, unlimited internet access so our first order of business was to watch the CBC news!

Nov 5th – One doesn’t stop at Franz Josef without checking out the glaciers of which there are two major ones in the area. The Franz Josef glacier is 12 km long and the Fox glacier is 13 km long. Similar to the Columbia Icefields in Canada, you can’t really do them justice by just looking at them from below.

So….up we went! In a helicopter with four other people. We sort of lucked out because our flight was only supposed to be 20 minutes to one of the glaciers and back but they put us on the wrong copter so we got the 30 minute trip to see both glaciers. It was a very sunny day and was actually quite warm up there. Where we landed, we were 3000+ feet up and the ice was 150+ feet thick below us.

We were quite concerned about our trip from Franz Josef to Wanaka because we had to go through the Haast Pass, which is where a major landslide two months ago killed a Canadian couple. In the end it wasn’t that bad and there wasn’t much of a tie-up where they are repairing the road. George read in the paper that the repair work of the past two months has already cost $2M and is expected to last until April.  Living and working in mountainous territory comes with its own challenges.

The drive through to Wanaka was beautiful as we felt like we were driving through the Rockies. Lovely mountain vistas reflected in the lakes with snow peaked mountains in the background. Wanaka is a holiday town at the end of one of the lakes. Dinner was at an outdoor cafe down by the lake…a somewhat idyllic end to a perfect day.

Nov 5th – Today was another long journey, so once again we broke it up with interesting stops along the way. We began with a trip up a very winding mountain road to the site of the old Denniston Coal Mine. Through a number of different story boards the life and times of miners was told through the years that the mine operated. In the 1870s most of the miners came from Britain. Life at the mines was very hard due to isolation, horrible working conditions, and rudimentary mining practices. Things improved with the advent of electricity, the building of a road up the mountain, and better working conditions. As the demand for coal waned the mine finally closed in 1967 but friends of the mine have continued to tell the story through the museum and tours. If you want to read more check out http://www.dennistonmineexperience.co.nz.

We then moved on to Cape Foulwinds to see the seal colony. There were quite a few frolicking in the sea and lying on the rocks. We could say they were sunning themselves but there was no sun!

A little further along the road we stopped at Punakaiki to see the Pancake Rocks and Blow Holes. Scientists aren’t sure what has led to these unique rock formations but they really are quite a sight. We were fortunate to arrive around high tide, which makes the blow holes active as the water rushing in is pushed through holes in the rock causing large vertical sprays and lots of noise.

Our last stop for the day was Okarito, a lagoon just northwest of Franz Josef.  It is the largest unmodified wetland in NZ and is the pride of the very few people who live there. Great care is taken to keep it in pristine condition.

Our stop for the night was at the Rainforest Retreat in Franz Josef. What a happening place. The town is a mecca for extreme sports so young people are everywhere. The Rainforest Retreat provides accommodation of every type imaginable and there was a large indoor cooking area where many of the kids were preparing and cooking their dinner. I don’t think we’ve ever been to a place like that.

Nov 4th – It was a long drive from Kaiteriteri to Westport so we tried to break it up with a few interesting stops along the way. We have occasionally seen the odd hitchhiker along the road but in Richmond we saw a guy with a refrigerator waiting for a ride. It was some kind of fundraiser and presumably the frig had been stripped so it wasn’t too heavy. He was on the side of the road when we went in to get gas but he wasn’t there when we came back, so he must have gotten picked up by some kind soul.

Mid-afternoon we stopped at the Buller Gorge Heritage Park. To get into the park you have to traverse NZ’s longest swingbridge, which didn’t seem to pose too much of a problem for either of us fortunately.  This is an area that was part of the gold rush in the 1860s and so part of the experience is an interpretive trail that tells the story of gold mining in the area.  While we were to hear more about the importance of gold mining in the development of the west coast later in our trip, this was our first experience. This area also was the epicentre of a 7.8 earthquake in 1929. The fault line runs through the Park, so we were also able to see the lasting results of earth being heaved 4.5 metres upward on one side of the fault line.

What surprised us most though was the potential for flooding of the Buller River through this area. At one point we were standing a good 20′ above the river and as you can see in the picture (the green wood at the very top of the pole) a 2010 flood was well over 35′. We were curious to hear why the flooding traditionally happened in July which is too early for spring runoff. It appears that both recent floods have come about because of excessive rainfall.

Further down the road we stopped to take a quick picture of a unique rock formation called Hawks Crag. The road has actually been cut through a cliff that drops into the Buller River.

Nov 3rd & 4th – Our trip from Picton to Marahau was along some very scenic roads that took us over a mountain pass above the Queen Charlotte Strait to Havelock and then along the coast road to Marahau. We stopped in Nelson for lunch and, for a bit of a break, visited the WOW museum. Part of this museum is the display of wearable art. The displays are all from the World of Wearable Art Awards show, which is an annual event in Nelson. Some of the costumes were truly remarkable.

Marahau is where the Abel Tasman National Park begins and one really has the sense of being at the end of the road once you arrive. The park is accessible only by water, foot or air and our B&B was just a short walk from the park entrance.

Our B&B owner was a widower named George, who has lived in the area all his life. His property consists of a main house and three self contained apartments just down the drive from the house. He has a stunning view from his living room overlooking the bay. To help with the upkeep of his property and likely for company, as well, he brings in foreign students who are on one-year work visas. We met Axel, a nice young fellow from Germany at breakfast.

Dinner was at a local cafe just a short walk from the B&B. George had green lipped mussels ( a local delicacy) while I stayed with a more traditional choice. Later we visited with George for a coffee and internet access. He makes a mean fruit cake although he said his mother wouldn’t be too pleased that he cut it before it had completely cooled.

The next morning we drove into Kaiteriteri and took a boat cruise up the coastline to Medlands Bay stopping to see Split Apple Rock, the cormorants nesting and a seal colony. It was a nice way to spend a sunny morning before pressing on to Westport.

Nov 2nd – This was a somewhat slower day as the Picton area is wine country, so we decided to do a wine tour. We drove a short journey to Blenheim and got directions and suggestions for the various wineries.

Our first stop was Waiparu River where we dined al fresco in the vineyard with the mountains as a backdrop. It was a nice sunny day but the breeze was still a bit cool.

We then went to Framingham winery where the courtyard alone was worth the visit – beautiful gardens and the most fragrant roses.    We tasted a number of their new wines and ended up purchasing a Riesling, which is their specialty. While there we were able to visit the cellars and see a brief DVD about the winery and then walked out to see the grapes just beginning to form on the vines. This was one of the larger wineries in the area and the vineyard extended in every direction as far as the eye could see.

The next stop was the Chocolate Factory but since chocolate doesn’t travel very well it was tasters only. On the way to the next winery we found a little local quilt shop, a gift shop and an ice cream shop…so you know what we did. The next winery was Forrest and the server was very friendly, having grown up in the northern US before marrying a Kiwi. We had a great conversation while sampling some of their wines. We purchased a Sauvignon Blanc for one night in Christchurch.

Since we’d had such a big lunch, we just stopped for a light supper at a local hotel on our way back into town.  George walked back to the B&B and I went back to do banking and email stuff. Later, we entertained other B&B guests as our hosts were away for the evening. One couple were Christians from Ohio and had already done most of the south island so we got lots of tips from them. The other threesome were from North Carolina and the daughter had just sailed from Sidney to Wellington on the Spirit of New Zealand (a tall ship). We heard lots of harrowing tales of the bad weather that had roared through the Tasman Sea and which we experienced while in Wellington.

I forgot to mention yesterday about the strange guy we met in the restaurant where we ate dinner. He was there with a group of people and greeted us as we were getting ready to leave. When he heard that we were from Ontario, he wanted to know if we had ever been to Picton or Blenheim Ontario. He is trying to get the Picton mayor to twin his city with Picton, ON since they are evidently the only two Pictons in the world! Who would have guessed. Anyway, I promised I’d gather some information about Picton when we return and send him an email.

Nov 1st – Our ferry ride from the North Island to the South Island was via the Aratere a large ship capable of transporting people, cars, trucks and even rail cars. We turned our Ford Monteo in at the ferry terminal and boarded the ship on foot. Because we weren’t returning the car to the north island, the car company automatically arranges for a new car to be available on the other side. This ensures that all the rental cars don’t end up on the South Island.

Before we were out past the Wellington headlands, we were able to watch two planes land as we passed the airport on one side of the peninsula and two others take off as we passed the airport again on the other side of the peninsula. A most unique experience.

Our seat mates were two NZ ladies – one from the north island and her elderly aunt from the South Island. We were playing scrabble to fill the time and since neither of them had seen the game before we engaged them in each of our moves. How surprised we all were to have the game end with Nancy putting down a seven letter word (& picking up seven vowels) and then George putting down a seven letter word to win the game. We’ve never seen that before. Part way through the voyage we were served tea and fresh scones (with the obligatory jam and cream). Yummy.

The scenery through the Queen Charlotte Sound was stunning. Since the weather had been fairly wet that day out in the Sound, it wasn’t really nice enough to be up on deck for an extended period of time. We did however venture out once we saw the sun and were greeted with a full-on rainbow beginning on shore and ending in the water. Gorgeous.

We were fortunate to have made it across on the Aratere when we did. Just this week we heard on the news that it lost a propeller on a recent trip and has been taken out of service. Folks are quite upset since they are going into the busy travel season with restricted access between islands.

Once we arrived on the other side we picked up our new car. It really was new (only 150 km on it) but even more special is that it’s a Toyota RAV4 with keyless entry. Just keep the key in the purse and everything works fine – except that you have to remember to touch the handle when exiting to lock it.

Many of the cities in New Zealand have limited parking, which isn’t a problem because they typically aren’t that busy and free on-street parking works well. It’s often posted as P30 or P120, which means that you can park free for 30 minutes or two hours. Wellington however is another story. Most on-street parking is P30 and two of their large indoor parking garages were closed because of damage from recent earthquakes. Finding a place to leave our car was an exercise in feeding the meter regularly every two hours.

Our first stop was a trip up Mount Victoria, which provides a 360* view of the capital. It’s actually smaller than Auckland both in size and population even though it is the capital city. Then we found a place to park the car for two hours and headed off for a tour of the Parliament Buildings, nicknamed the beehive because of its unusual shape. The guide provided an excellent tour and we had a bit of a chuckle when he described how they used to have a senate but abolished it in the 1950s. Canada could learn a few lessons, eh? Government without an upper house works here because they have partial proportional representation so a majority government is hard  to achieve and they have given more power to their legislative committees than is normal in Canada.

We then picked up our car and drove down to the museum situated in a recently built building down by the waterfront. The museum is called Te Papa and is quite unique. It’s New Zealand’s national museum and has been designed to be quite interactive. Again, we took a guided tour to orient ourselves and then spent about 90 minutes browsing through the various sections on our own. We were both impressed with an interactive display composed of stories told by young people who came to NZ  as refugees from many different countries. An interactive floor map of New Zealand provided for some fun as did some of the quirky exhibits (eg – linking period objects to historical events shown in a newsreel format).

Before we left on the ferry the next day, we visited two other downtown buildings – Old St Paul’s (now used as an event centre) and St Paul’s Cathedral (a new modern building). It was certainly quite a contrast between the two buildings. The old building was typically made from wood and was a small and intimate space. While the diocese was prepared to tear the building down when it was no longer needed, people fought to keep it as a link to the past. It now hosts weddings, funerals and concerts. The new building, opened in 1998 is a large open space. We were welcomed into the building by the sounds of the pipe organ. We also found the colour scheme to be quite unique.

We were particularly intrigued by one plaque on the wall which showed the names of each bell in the bell tower and the people who had donated the funds to purchase them. The smallest one is called Little James (donated by someone with that name) and the largest one is called The Peoples’ Bell (purchased with donations from many people). Such a cute idea! They are also raising funds for a new grand piano so we’ll be bringing back an idea that could maybe be used at LPBC.

Oct 29th – Nov 1st – There were two groups of friends that we were looking forward to meeting in Wellington.  The first was Bryan & Tricia Hawkins whom we met last year on our cruise in The Netherlands. It never ceases to amaze how you can meet people from elsewhere in the world, and then find out through conversation that you have so much in common. From the time we arrived at their beautiful home in a semi-rural suburb of Wellington to the time we left them on Friday morning, there was never a dearth of conversation whenever we were together. Bryan used to be a Senior Executive in the banking industry but in retirement he has taken up wood turning. It was fun to see his workshop and hear a little bit about how a hobby has become a passion.

The second couple we were looking forward to meeting was Shirley Erena Murray and her husband John. Shirley is a hymn writer and many of her hymns have been included in recent hymnbooks published in Canada and around the world, including our hymnbook at LPBC. John was, prior to his retirement, Senior Pastor at the Presbyterian Church in central Wellington. We arranged to meet Shirley and John so that George could interview them for the SOCHS newsletter that he edits. What a delightful afternoon we spent with them in their home at Raumati Beach overlooking the Tasman Sea. They are a charming couple – she is so humble and self-effacing; he has a wicked sense of humour. Afternoon tea around their kitchen table was a special way to end our time together.

We also made some new acquaintances in the form of people from the Hawkins’ home group. Since it was the 5th Wednesday of the month, it is their practice to enjoy a meal together at a restaurant so we were invited to tag along. Lots of fun, laughter and tips on where to go and what to see in New Zealand.