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Published: April 11th 2010
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South Island, New Zealand: 4th - 21st March, 2010
We arrived the south island via ferry from Wellington in the early afternoon, and then proceeded to drive about 3 hours or so to a holiday retreat called Hopewell. Hopewell was highly recommended by (you guessed it) Liz and Ali, who had visited a month or so prior.
Uniquely positioned at the end of a very long dirt road winding through the Marlborough Sound (you can also take a ferry or sea plane), Hopewell attracts travelers with the utmost dedication to chilling out. Upon arrival, this dusty duo were greeted by Mike and Lynley, corporate refugees who bought Hopewell years ago and then renovated it to its present condition. We soon discovered the attraction of the place: a beautiful setting with your choice of any number of activities such as kayaking, biking, and fishing, as well as boots and buckets for catching your own dinner on the oyster beds when the tide is out. Also, every night, Mike and Lynley cook a fabulous dinner for NZD 25 each (about US$18). It's really a dinner party. Imagine, every night, throwing a dinner party for 10 or 15 people. That's what
Mike and Lynley do. You really feel like you're a guest in their home.
After a few days of clean country living, we were back on the road and heading for Nelson, situated more or less in the middle of the northern coast of the south island. Along the way, we stopped at a few vineyards in Blenheim, one of the centers of wine production in New Zealand. We had a great lunch at Wither Hills and then carried on to check out a few other vineyards before heading on to Nelson. We bunked at a recommended hostel for a few days and explored the area.
It was in Nelson that I had my first taste of New Zealand paragliding. I had previously connected with an instructor in the area, Tony Dickison, who agreed to show me one of the local sites in the nearby town of Stoke. And on a beautiful summer day (typical for that part of New Zealand), we went up to the mountain. Launch was very large and clear, and the wind was blowing in nice and steady for an easy launch. There were plenty of thermals to play around in, both near launch
Vroom vroom
Nobody loves American heavy metal like the Kiwis. Respect. and out in the valley. The landing zone was a park with a very large clear area (football field size), and my landing was even smoother than my launch. As protocol requires, we had a post-flight debrief....at the pub. Tony had a few students and another instructor there as well, so it was great to meet them and talk about local flying.
From Nelson, we headed down the west coast, through the seaside town of Hokitika (which gets very little press in the guide book, but we thought it was a really nice seaside town), and then on to Fox Glacier. We were excited to finally get onto a glacier after missing the chance in South America. The local glacier guiding service had all types of tours and provides really everything you need: boots, socks, crampons, rain coats, back packs, etc. All you really need to do is make sure you don't show up in shorts. The walk up to the glacier was 800 steps up the hillside and into the rain forest. And then a trail led onto the glacier. It was amazing walking on a river of ice. The Fox glacier is one of the few glaciers
that is actually stable or growing. The guide told us that if Australia has a hot summer, then that affects the weather patterns to the extent that the mountains above Fox glacier receive more snow, so the glacier grows. With global warming, I think the Fox glacier may be safe for a while.
We also checked out nearby Franz Joseph glacier the next day, but we didn't go up...we just enjoyed the view.
Next stop was Queenstown, where we spent a few days checking out local vineyards and sites. Queenstown has a reputation as an adventure sport capitol with any number of companies that can take you bungee jumping or quad biking or hang gliding, etc. And they charge some fairly hefty fees as well, since, well, it is New Zealand's adventure sport capitol. I tried to get out for some paragliding with some of the local pilots, but the conditions were too strong while we were there, so nobody was flying.
However, Rayma and I did head north to Omarama to go gliding in sail planes. Apparently Omarama is a great place for gliding, with national competitions routinely held there. There are a few pilots who
have flown from Omarama (which is in the south of the south island) all the way into the north island and back. We wouldn't go that far on our flight. We only messed around the hills to the west of the airport. But, like any glider, they all need to do the same thing: find the thermals and circle in them to get up. The instructor even let me take the stick for a few minutes, though all I was trying to do was fly it in a straight line. I'd never flown anything with 3 axis controls before (stick and pedals) as used in an airplane. Normally, I just lean and/or pull handles to fly my paraglider. Gliding is definitely something I'll look into in the future.
Back on terra firma, we still had a few days left, and we went horseback riding. We've since been told that under no circumstances should a pregnant woman ride a horse. Oh, well. However, we had well mannered horses, and nobody got stepped on and nobody got thrown or bitten. We rode on gold mining trails up into the hills and enjoyed the beautiful wilderness surrounding us.
Soon we were
on a plane departing New Zealand. We had one more stop to make before we returned to Hong Kong: the McCutcheon's in Yamba, Australia. Nat and Jim used to live in Hong Kong, and they moved back to Australia a few years ago. It looks like they got city living out of their system because Yamba is waaaay out in the sticks. We hadn't seen them and their kids in years. Claudia is a young lady able to articulate exactly the qualities of Monkey that helped her distinguish between the true Monkey and the imposter her mother would substitute so that Monkey could get a wash now and then, Baby Bob isn't a baby any more but a young lad, and now there's a Baby Jack who isn't much of a baby anymore, either. It was great to see them all, and catch up.
On March 21st, we touched down in Hong Kong, our year off complete. New Zealand was the vacation within the vacation, and we enjoyed it immensely. But we were happy to be back in Hong Kong, and we were ready to have our own apartment again, see our friends, and get back to a routine.
Happy days!
Nothing says "good times" like Fudge Night at the McCutcheons'! Bob, Natalie, Baby Jack, and Claudia There's no place like home!
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Jimmy
non-member comment
Toowies
I can still taste the Toowies beer from Greysmouth. Sounds like you guys are really enjoying yourselves. Stay safe. Jim