New Zealand--Vermont with Beaches???

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Part 21
April 18
Fox Glacier, New Zealand

It is a bit hard for me to connect fully with New Zealand. I think part of this is the underlying sense that we are heading home in about one month. Without another country to look forward to and plan for, we are left to our own devices. Unfortunately, Koby has long since listened to all the books on the IPOD, used up any puzzle books of interest, and done about all the playing with his stuffed animals he can handle. Manya, too, has run out of books and our efforts to encourage her writing have made little headway. And our 6 CDs, so wisely purchased in Bali to use in our rental car, have been played over and over and are losing their intrigue. So the car drives, which invariably are long and winding (and quite scenic), begin to take their toll.
As beautiful as New Zealand is, and as nice as everyone seems, the whole tourism industry machine can feel overwhelming. It seems half the country must be employed with brochure production, as every possible attraction, accommodation, region, site, or stopping point has its own glossy, multicolored brochure or booklet that is available at every possible spot a tourist may get out of the car (or even more common, the camper van). Even in the bathrooms, cheery little posters advertise the latest adventure opportunity (unless it is a public service announcement, in which case they offer a rather direct message such as 'before jumping in, check the depth or face the consequences...like death by drowning, broken neck, massive head injuries'). And being a bit more skilled with English than most Asians, everything here is sold as 'the best,' or 'breathtaking,' or "not to be missed.'
I guess this is just commerce, but like the root word, it begins to feel all too commercial. This is especially jarring given the natural beauty of the country, where somehow I feel things should be a bit more pure somehow, or at least a bit more affordable. And most annoyingly, despite all the omnipresent advertising, most activities are restricted for children. So Koby has to continually see all these cool looking opportunities and then is told he can't do hardly any of them. Even sea kayaking companies supposedly won't rent two person kayaks (a pricey $50 per person per day) to anyone under 16, and will only allow kids on guided ($100 per person per day) day trips. But somehow, plunking down $400 for a few hours on the water lessens the allure of the whole experience.

April 20 Nelson
You wouldn't think after trudging through India and Laos and Cambodia that the place I'd get sick would be sparkling clean New Zealand. Alas, some collection of germs caught up with me as I have some systemic infection that we hope a good dose of antibiotics will clear up.
The final straw was a throbbing pain in my big toe last night that created a small blister at the nail line by 10 p.m., which grew to a pea sized pustule by midnight (when the Tylenol with codeine kicked in), and was about the size of a hefty kidney bean by morning. Lancing the skin released a good dose of white blood cells, and we thought flushing with betadine and polysporin would avoid a doctors visit.
But, alas, the onset of fatigue midday, accompanied by red tracks up my foot seemed to indicate a spreading infection rather than a miraculous healing. So we got to check out the NZ health care system briefly--easy access in an urgent care, payment on the spot ($95 for foreigners), the receptionist doubles as a nurse, and a mellow female doctor who seemed pretty casual about the precise course of antibiotics (you can lessen regularity after a few days, stop early if it looks all healed,give some to the kids if they show symptoms...). The 10 day course of Flucloxacillin was a reasonable sounding $15 NZ (probably another country taking advantage of the American market financing all that R&D). So now I am hoping the antibiotics kick in and rid me of these mostly low grade symptoms I've had in NZ (infected cut on one toe, black fly bite that wouldn't heal, little sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, periodic fatigue). I think my body has been fighting this for a couple weeks now and it just got beyond what I could fight off on my own.
Fortunately, this foot problem came after our Fox Glacier Helihike (and wasn't caused by the special old fashioned hiking boots we wore). We felt lucky to get on the first helicopter trip that actually went out in a few days (it must be interesting to be the women at the desk who book these trips and then have to tell loads of folk they are cancelled since helicopters can't fly in cloudy weather). The first helicopter flight for all of us was pretty cool--they fly much different from planes, almost going sideways on turns, so you can look straight down on the land below. The glacier walk seemed more interesting for the Aussies in our group (who imagined the ice is a fair approximation of snow) than for us, although Koby particularly loved being in a bit of winterland, even if the guide kept him a bit reined in. Amazingly, this flight only took us to about 1000 ft above sea level, as these glaciers here used to go right into the ocean and have retreated but still drop down to almost sea level.
The following day we walked up to the Franz Joseph Glacier, another glacier that has a headwall right at its terminus that drops almost to sea level. Later, we drove up the scenic coastline, camping at Punakake, home to the geologically unusual pancake rocks, a limestone and mudstone formation that forms layers of rock that have eroded over the years into intricate shapes that now funnel the incoming surf into small geysers when the tide is high.
Then one more long car ride along winding roads that make one long for interstates--250 km that take about 5 hours on the twisty, narrow two lane roads that are so charming for short trip but a bit aggravating after a few hours of dodging the endless streams of campervans which seem to be the vehicle of choice for almost all the many tourists here.

April 27 Picton
Well, the infection problem was a little more than we had bargained for, as the first antibiotic did little damage and the red streaking spread all oer my foot and up towards my knee. So back to the clinic and a heavier arsenal of penicillin. This seemed to do the trick, and relievedly by the next morning the redness was beginning to recede. So this left us one more day in Nelson to get ready to hike and hope my foot would be okay. As it was Saturday, this was the time for the heralded Nelson market, a combination of Farmers Market, art gallery, and flea market. This felt just like Vermont--I could swear there was the same wooden bowl maker and potter and apple seller and cheeseman, as well as the same people shopping.
All of NZ feels much like Vermont, with its scenic beauty, low population density, modest living, and largely Caucasian population. But Nelson feels exactly like Vermont, with its artsy culture, brew pubs, organic agriculture, etc. Same T shirt wearing earth children with babies in backpacks, tie dye, dreadlocks, down to earth folk chillin over high priced coffee and locally brewed ale. Could have been a worse place to be laid up with illness for a few days.
The clear weather of our city time, predictably, gave way overnight to rains that became a heavy, windy dump by time we reached the aqua taxi that was expected to take us up to the start of the 5 day hike of the Abel Tasman route. Given the stormy seas, they said they couldn't get Mutton Cove, where we hoped to hike from, and the best we could hope for was to get to Totranui, which would mean 3 hours of walking on my foot that couldn't hold my weight a couple days before. This seemed a bit risky, especially with rainy weather, so we were resigned to skipping the first day and waiting til the next day, when up drove a pleasant looking, dread locked young man in his beater station wagon who seemed ideal for wanting to earn a few bucks as a taxi service on a rainy day. Sure enough, Carlos the kayak guide had noting better to do (except maybe surf the storm swell or ride his skateboard down curvy mountain roads or some other radical activity) since his kayak trips were all cancelled due to weather and the chance to pocket a stash of cash seemed appealing, so we piled into his car (affectionately named Valerie) and were speeding north in the downpour, getting a verbal taste of NZ culture and history (for example, all the one lane bridges here are a vestige of a cost saving construction program in the 1970's).
Lo and behold, as we rumbled into Waipea, where the road ended on a broad, sweeping sand beach, the rain suddenly let up, and off we tramped under cloudy but dry skies, easing along the amazingly dry, road width track of the Abel Tasman. As we crested the ridge amidst the heavy hanging clouds, we thought rain was sure to follow, but our luck held out just until we reached the historic Whariwharangi Hut (an old loggers homestead), when the skies let loose for what was the start of a night of constant deluge, boding ill for the following day (seeing as the weather reports were calling for a couple days of solid rainfall).
We had to strike out early to make the tide crossing down the trail, and just as we set off, the morning drizzle let up and we hiked 3 hours along misty hills to the beach at Totaranui (one of several developed, private holdings that seriously interrupt the wilderness feel of the walk). Over lunch, rain began to fall, moving us to look over the nature exhibits, conveniently drying up by time we set off for the final hour to the estuary crossing at Arawhoa and the shelter of the hut for when the rains started minutes after we settled in.
That night surpassed the previous for continuous rain, pounding down on the metal roof and skylight just above our upper berths. We didn't rush right off into the wet the next morning, especially with high tide covering the trail outside the hut, but when we did finally abandon our interesting conversation with a couple NZ teachers (clever ideas here: kids start kindergarten on their fifth birthday, schools have as many sports teams as kids who want to play (one six hundred student HS has 18 netball teams!), the government gives teachers substantial subsidies to purchase laptops), the rain abated again and off we went on the coastside trail through dense, fern laden rainforest.
Once again, rain arrived just after we did at the Bark Bay hut, but by nightfall the stars shone bright for the first night of this trip, boding well for the following day that finally offered some blue skies to brighten up the white sand beaches we passed along our way. Ironically, more rain fell on us under these clear skies than any other day, with misty drizzle appearing out of nowhere for a few brief minutes, only to let up the second we donned our raincoats.
Anchorage Hut sat beside a beautiful sand beach, and Manya and Koby spent hours doing aquatic experiments in a river flowing down the beach (despite a cold wind blowing overhead). No rain fell at night, and our final day of walking--a quick 3.5 hour of power walking to the car--was almost sunny with perfect fall temperatures and nice views over the Tasman Sea all the way to the finish at Marahau.
Then it was off to Picton, to hastily try to organize a three day mountain bike trip on the Queen Charlotte Track, and hopefully 2 days of sea kayaking in Marlborough Sound, leaving us a good few hours to get to Christchurch to catch our flight to Australia on March 3.

April 28 Picton
A well appreciated rest day, as we were unable to arrange for kids bikes until this morning, and all advice said we should skip the first day of the Queen Charlotte ride since it was so boggy. People also tell us the route is "greasy" since the clay soils are a bit wet with all this rain. It is hard to tell what advice is warnings for your basic Joe Tourist riders who have never ridden and how much is real mucky conditions to worry about. It is hard to imagine it can be much worse than Vt in wet season, but I guess we will see tomorrow when we head off for the 2 day route.
Taking a day off was a thrill for the kids who enjoyed the chance to just relax and play some games in the hostel. Plus baking cookies, a round of mini golf, washing clothes, internet time, arranging for bikes and boats, and there goes the time.

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Photos

Winter in April
Koby gets his long awaited for taste of winter on the Fox Glacier, stuck inside a little ice cave

Our clear day on Milford Sound
Leftover from earlier photos, but just one of many wonderful views in NZ

Fox Glacier from the Helicopter
Looking straight down from the helicopter

Family Holiday Pic
From the Fox Glacier--Happy Spring

Franz Joseph Glacier
More sunny days on the wettest part of the island

Beach Tramping
On the Abel Tasman under clouds, but dry

Anchorage Beach
Morning sun on the beach

Leaving Anchorage
Anchorage Bay on the last (sunny) day on Abel Tasman

Road Sign New Zealand
If only we really saw a penguin crossing!