Day 23 Final thoughts

What a great time in New Zealand.  Just under four weeks with travel times.  3,500 rental car miles, (with no claims), 5,000 pictures, over 15 AirBnB's.  Countless runs to the market to buy food for breakfast and lunch and really not a bad evening meal where we usually sampled the local cuisine.  Local cuisine?  If it has four legs, they ranch it and eat it.  Sheep, cows and deer.  And, lots of wool from their sheep and a little bit of milk from their deer.

We all discussed our stand-out meals last night.  Not a real winner, neither a real loser.  I will say that the Indian food was always excellent.  Whether at a large, touristy restaurant or a small strip-mall cubby hole, no complaints.  Italian was varied, not just pizza, fish and chips were never a disappointment,  On the eclectic side, Madam Woo's in Christchurch and Kika in Wanaka were the standouts.

Another standout for us was the people and the culture.  As mentioned before, a small country (about the size of Colorado), but with a coastland that surpasses the US!   Two big islands but many, many small islands.  Most impressive was the way they have and continue to treat the indigenous Maori.  Although not a large portion of the modern population, we sensed that they were fully integrated in the culture and economy of New Zealand.  Quite a contrast to how the US has treated and continues to treat our Native Americans.

Tom was an excellent driver on the left side of the road.  No real hiccups here. Getting around sometimes took three of us to navigate, other times none.  Hard to know when.  Gloria and Kathy planned this adventure 6 months ago. An excellent job as tour operators.  Thanks, ladies.  I won't continue to list the differences between the US and New Zealand but will end on something that is the same.  The numerous roundabouts in the country all rotate in a clockwise manner! (Not like their toilets).  Just like the US!

We thought odd, but realized that the roundabout was 'invented' in Great Britian, (maybe?)  Roundabouts have always flowed clockwise and the US, when we started to use them, even though we drove on the right side of the road, went with the clockwise direction.  No science of history behind this conclusion, just a hunch!

Days 21 and 22 Deer Cheese...Really? Christchurch looks like Sarajevo, Bosnia

Day 21 took us from Lake Tekapo to Christchurch.  It was a glorious, windless, cloudless morning to wake up to.  Quite a contrast from the hurricane yesterday.  Tom and I even had breakfast on our bungalow's front porch.  We then hit the road and our first stop was in Geraldine for the girls to sample Barker's jam at the source.  Very popular with a good reputation; we have picked it up at our frequent market stops for the last three weeks.

As Tom and I wandered the small town we also were informed of a new product emerging out of  New Zealand.  Deer Cheese!  Whaaaaat?  Let me explain.  First, when driving on the North Island we saw a few fenced deer on the side of the highway, then we saw huge numbers of fenced deer, then we realized that New Zealanders have domesticated the European Red Deer for meat.

They segregate the sexes, so one large fenced area will be full of bucks all antlered up, most fields are full of females.  Venison is on all the menus in the country, you remember the Bambi Burger, etc.  But, what is emerging is that they are now milking the females for cheese!?  Deer are not real milk producers like cows so the milk is dried then reconstituted into cheese.  And it is expensive.  I haven't had the opportunity to try any yet.  Not sure I want to....... Many questions are running through my mind.  How would you milk a deer and why would she let you; are at the top of my question list.  If curious, check out The Deer Milker.

We finished the day with a nice walk around Christchurch.  We were warned and we saw that a fair portion of downtown is still not rebuilt from the 7.2 earthquake in 2011.  Similar to Sarajevo, (and much of Bosnia, we saw two years ago), except the abandoned and broken buildings had no bullet holes in them.  Hardest hit were the ancient cathedrals in town.

Many old facades have been reinforced so they don't peel off from the buildings

This is the simple but impactful memorial to the 185 that lost their lives in the earthquake.
A white chair for each of the victims. From infant seats to wheelchairs.

But, that brings us to Day 22 and the "Cardboard Cathedral"!  Within two years after the earthquake, a transition church was up and running for the parishioners.  Why so fast?  It is literally made of cardboard, (and concrete, plywood and steel).  It seats 700 and is good to go until the stone cathedral is rebuilt or 50 years.  Whichever comes first..

Pulpit looks like Amazon mailer tubes......

You would think they could have gone with at least plywood for the cross,
nope, plywood tubes.......

Later in the day, we went to Kaitorete Spit at Birdlings Flat.  Another huge beach, but instead of sand, small polished stones.  All sizes from millimeters to around 5 inches.  During the stroll, we noticed a Toyota 4-runner stuck on the beach.  Not good since he ignored the signs not to go down there and it was just he and his girlfriend trying to dig the thing out which would be impossible.

A great beach for shelling and collecting interesting rocks, but NOT for driving.

So, the four of us jump into action digging rocks and driftwood to help him get un-stuck and back to the parking lot about 500 meters away.  After an hour or so we were successful, lots of hard work but two very grateful young locals. 

Days 19 and 20 FINALLY, sheep, millions of them! and a 'windquake'

Day 19 takes us along the southern coast of the South Island.  Lots of very interesting things to see including endless sheep.  Now we believe there are 30 million of these guys in New Zealand.

Florence Hill lookout, one of our best.

Purakaunui Falls. We read that they are the most photographed falls in the country.

Nugget Point lighthouse.

The view from the lighthouse.  We see the reason for the lighthouse.

The Moeraki Boulders.  Huge prehistoric billiard balls in the surf.  Good geology that I don't understand that created these things

Day 20 takes us to the Tasman Glacier.  You may recall we visited the Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciers on the western flank of Mt. Cook last week.  We have looped around the southern part of the South Island and we are now on the eastern side of Mt. Cook.  Again, amazing vistas both as we drove and as we wandered a bit at the foot of the Tasman Glacier.  

What’s different? Well, the weather.  Hence the new term, ‘windquake’.  The wind was blowing so hard that it was difficult to stand at times, and even in the car is was hopping and rolling around both as we drove and as we ate lunch.  Serious wind with intermittent rain.

The view from the terminal morraine looking down the valley.  A long time
ago, this was a huge glacier.  A massive, filled in U-shaped valley

Some real history of exploration in this part of the The Southern Alps going back a hundred years.  Lots of good science is coming out of this area and many brave men and women who explore it still.

This is the memorial for all the climbers who have
died climbing these glaciers.  Too many bronze
plaques.

This lake first appeared just 10 years ago.  The edge of the glacier is in the back.
The lake is growing every year..

From a hundred-year-old Victorian house AirBnB last night to a 12 by 12-foot cabin tonight at Lake Tekapo.  Bathrooms are 50 meters away.  But the hut is warm (and cozy), it will do for one night.  Tomorrow, we drive to Christchurch for our final two days, then fly home.

Rather spartan quarters for the night.  All four of us and our suitcases fit in here.

Day 17 and 18 Cruising Doubtful Sound and heading to the South Pole

Day 17.  We checked our overnight 'rain gauge', (an empty jam jar) and found 2 inches of rain.  Still raining this morning.  From Te Anau, we drive 20 minutes to pick up a boat to cross Lake Manapouri for a 40 minute motor to a bus that took 30 minutes to get to Doubtful Sound.

You ask, why go to this much trouble?  We were going to go to 'world-famous' Milford Sound.  If you are on the South Island, you go to Milford Sound.  Why?  It's famous, everybody goes there and it is much easier to get to.  Why didn't we go?  The road was closed due to avalanches.  Plan B was Doubtful Sound.

But, the more we listened, the more we realized that Doubtful Sound may indeed be better!  It is five times bigger than Milford Sound and with fewer boats.  Indeed, we saw only one other boat all day.  The views? Spectacular. See the photos below.

You ask, where did the name Doubtful Sound come from?  Well, Captain James Cook in 1770 saw the fjord from the ocean and because it looked too narrow to navigate, he named it Doubtful Harbour.  The whalers, years later, determined it was navigatable and renamed it Doubtful Sound.

Day 18 takes us to Slope Point

This Oyster Catcher was very upset and dive bombing me, then
I found out I was very close to her 'nest'.  Large eggs.

After visiting many historic lighthouses all over the world,
quite a disappointment to see a 'modern' one.  We'll
stick to GPS.

The most southern tip of the South Island of New Zealand

As cold as it is, we thought we were closer to the South Pole!

This is the view outside of our room tonight.  Beautiful.

Day 15 and 16 The birth of bungee jumping and more RAIN!

Day 15 takes us from Wanaka to Te Anau.  (We still are having a hard time remembering, spelling and pronouncing New Zealand city names).  Working our way down the west coast of the southern island we visited the birthplace of bungee jumping.  First, to be correct, it is misspelled in the US.  Originally the spelling was BUNGY.  Long story short, A.J. Hackett in the 1980's was the first in the world to make bungy jumping safe and commercial.

Both were demonstrated today on the Kawarau Bridge outside of Queenstown.  Fun to watch. A long line of people waiting to drop $250-$300 for the experience and the video to prove.  Like is said, fun to watch.......

The views continue as we headed toward Te Anau.  No forests, I think we are above timberline at 2500 feet.  Remember the South Pole.

Day 16 was a 'gap day'.  Rain and more rain.  We got up late, drove a bit for a hike, all hiked for 5 minutes but me, I stayed in the car, tracked the lightning strikes and stayed dry.  They got soaked but were missed by the lightning.  In the afternoon we actually turned on the TV for the first time in our vaca.  Kinda relaxing.

Day 13 and 14 Boy, did it rain followed by our best day of our vacation

First, a couple of facts about New Zealand since it is in the Southern Hemisphere.  Yes, Tom and I have checked, the toilet water swirls counterclockwise.  It's true.  Second, since we are driving on the left side of the road, we learned/now know that people, on trails, tend to walk the same way.  On the left.  Interesting.

Also, what is unique are one-way bridges.....everywhere.  Cheaper, I guess, than
bridges wide enough for cars to pass ON the bridge.  So, there is always a priority
direction, and 'wait your turn' direction.  But, if you can't see the other end,
there is a stop sign with a timer.  Some have a countdown yellow light.  The lights
on the perimeter twirl and the number in the middle counts down.  Something to watch
while you wait.

Constellations are, of course, different down here.  The Southern Cross replaces the Big Dipper and Orion is upside down(!).  Finally, and this is interesting, as in most of the world, lots of roundabouts.  Few intersection signal-lights.  BUT, the roundabouts go clockwise, just like on roads where you drive on the right side of the road.  Go figure.

Finally, our nice weather has changed.  Poured all night long and most of the day.  Hiking has been slowed down a bit.  Today, we visited Fox Glacier.  Another glacier that has certainly seen better days.  As mentioned, they do keep us quite a ways away from the face the glacier, a few years ago, a couple of tourists hiked beyond the ropes and the glacier 'calved' onto them.  Not pretty.

Still odd to see dense jungle around a glacier1!

This is all that is left of Fox Glacier.

Day 14 finds us in Wanaka.  No, not Wakanda, you Black Panther fans.  A beautiful lake-side town that is a popular 4-season destination.  Not too hot in the summer, mid-70's, not too cold in the winter, mid-30's,  I could live here!

This is the #1 tourist attraction in Wanaka.  The Wanaka Tree.  it is a tree growing in Wanaka Lake.  Hmm.

But, great views.

This is part of Puzzling Town.......Don't ask.