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Published: March 31st 2009
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Dad learns some new tricks in New Zealand
Gravity does some strange things here on the other side of the world!! My parents have just returned to the States after an exciting 6 week visit to New Zealand. They arrived at the peak of summer (February), having dug out their summer clothes.........and after their arrival it suddenly became rather cold here, necessitating a few trips to the Waimate Factory Store for wool sweaters and the like!! However, by the time they departed in March,it had become quite balmy-hey, it's island weather!! During their stay, they learned to drive on the left, became familiar with Kiwi phrases and accents, and had the experience of travelling around the South Island in budget "hostels" or "backpacker" accomodations.
I broke up their visit into several mini trips of varying length. We had 2 "long" 10 day trips and several shorter ones. I did have to work a few shifts (work always gets in the way of my travels!) but during that time they enjoyed walking around Timaru and getting to know the town.
In this installment I will only be covering the last 6 days of our "Southern South Island" tour. My friend Gina, who is a pediatrician in Timaru and my neighbor, joined us midway in this trip. We had visited Dunedin
and the Catlins, then Gina joined us to head over to the west coast and "Fjiordlands".
Gina caught the bus from Timaru to Balclutha, and we threw Gina and her luggage into the car (her car, as we were using her station wagon) and travelled an hour inland to Gore(really truly just down the road from Clinton!!), where we stayed at the Fire Station Backpackers, and we were the ONLY guests in the place. Much hilarity ensued from the fact that the whole place was wired with timers-for lights, heaters, and the hot water for showers.
We made it across the country to Te Anau the next morning in about 2 hours and spent the afternoon exploring the town and lakefront.
The following morning we made the 15 min drive to Manapouri, and caught the noontime ferry for the Doubtful Sound overnight cruise. I’m embarrassed to say that this was the 3rd time I took this trip. Unbelievably, all 4 of us got UPGRADED to twin en suite cabins, so we traveled in relative luxury!!
The trip was great, with beautiful weather, which apparently has not been the norm this season. I suggested that Real Journeys
On the road to Doubtful Sound
You can see the fjiord in the background should hire me to be their “Sunshine Ambassador”!!! I’ve never seen the fiord in rain, which I hear is actually quite spectacular due to the waterfalls that occur. However, the trip was again lovely, with so much beauty to behold at every turn. It’s really difficult to pick out the pictures to post from this trip.
Upon returning to Manapouri, the sandflies apparently feasted on us-we found out the next day when we all started itching. Nasty little things! We drove north to Arrowtown, near Queenstown, with some nice views of Lake Wakatipu on the way.
Upon arriving in Arrowtown, we discovered a “puncture” in the rear tire-it went totally flat!! Thank goodness it didn’t happen on one of the long deserted stretches we had traveled earlier in the day!! We called AA, the NZ equivalent of AAA in the US. Meanwhile, while anticipating our AA saviour’s arrival, we set out 3 chairs on the side of the road and prepared to wait. I noticed a group of neighbors gathering, staring at us, so I waved gaily at them. They waved back, and one ventured, “Why are you all sitting there?” to which I replied, “We’re waiting for
the parade to start? Do you have any flags?” After some confusion in response to that, we explained that we had a flat tire, and they queried, “Well, do you think it is going to re-inflate itself if you sit there and watch it?” (That can-do Kiwi spirit at work!!)
Eventually, Garry from AA arrived, and took our tire back to his garage and replaced it on the rim with a new one. All this at 5 pm on a Sunday!! We were very grateful to him since the next day was a public holiday. Back in business, we walked into town and had a pizza dinner before retiring for the night.
The next morning when we woke there was a layer of frost so thick on the car windows that we had to let the car warm up enough to melt it off!! We packed the car and left it in the town center and had a walk through the historic Chinese settelement, which was well signposted and quite interesting. It showed the area where the Chinese gold miners lived and worked in the late 1800’s. We then took the “Arrow River Walk” which turned out to
Chinese Settlement
see how the structure is built into the mountain be a wonderful trail above the Arrow River with scenery quite reminiscent of the American West. It is just starting to become autumn here now, and the trees are turning color. Below us we saw 4W drive vehicles splashing thru the shallow river and we really enjoyed the scenery, which took us thru several valleys and past a small waterfall.
Returning to town, we enjoyed a crepe lunch at a French restaurant, followed by delicious gelato. We did a wee bit of shopping in town, then left to see the bungy jumpers on the Kowawau River and visit 2 wineries. Then we took the winding, high Cadrona Ridge Road north to Wanaka.
We stayed in one of my favorite hostels, the Wanaka Backpackers, and my parents had Room 16, a terrific double en suite room with its own porch and a million dollar view of the lake. All this for $32 per person per night ($16 US dollars per person!!)
In the morning the sun shone brightly on Lake Wanaka and we spent a little time exploring the town. Then we bought lunch at Subway and began the 50 km road towards Mt Aspiring and the Rob
Roy glacier. The road really doesn’t lead anywhere; it just ends at a parking lot called “Raspberry Creek” which is where several walks begin. However, this road is one of the most beautiful I have seen in NZ (or anywhere!!) It winds between the mountains and one can see waterfalls along the rock faces, many farms and awesome scenery. Along the way, we ran into a “NZ traffic jam” (cows in the road) and the first part of our walk to a suspension bridge led us right through a pasture where cows were grazing.
There is another mountain range nearby named “the Remarkables” which is known for skiing, but as Rachel commented on her trip, “It’s better to be Remarkable than Aspiring”!!
On our last morning in Wanaka we spent a few hours at “Puzzling World” which is a museum of sorts that has lots of optical illusions and a big maze. Sad to say, none of us did exceptionally well in the maze, only finding 2 of the 4 corner towers. The maze is a huge 2 level outdoor one. Despite our mediocre performance, we found the place quite entertaining.
Upon returning home, there were piles
of laundry to be done and then hung outside (we try to be "green" here). The good news is that my parents will arrive home without laundry to be done!! Randy cooked up a lovely steak dinner for everyone that night. He had just arrived home that same day after a 3 week whirlwind tour with his Dad.
After a last day in Timaru to pack up and take a nice walk along the creek and ocean, we drove back up to Christchurch and spent the day in the Antarctic Center, visiting the little blue penguins and learning about Antarctica. Our last hostel was The Old Country House, on a suburban street a few blocks outside the center of the city and we dined at “Winnie Bagoes” a very popular gourmet pizzeria in town.
And then it was back to the airport at 5 AM for their early flight out. Hurray, Mom and Dad, you did a great job keeping up with the schedule and adapting to a new way of travelling while you were here, and we all had a wonderful time together.
Be sure to check the second page of pictures on this entry!!
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