Christchurch

On Tuesday we headed over the mountains and along the east coast toward Christchurch.

Along the East coast we stopped and found a seal colony. We were able to get up close with no problem and watched them play and do seal things in the tide pools.

On Wednesday we toured downtown Christchurch which has experienced two major earthquakes in the last 14 months. As you can see, buildings are being held together with steel beans and supports. The entire center of the city is fenced so there is no admittance hence we weren't able to see the Cathedral. The construction of brick or stone and  mortar didn't fare well in the quake.

In the afternoon we spent about three hours at the Antarctic center near the airport. The highlight of the time was meeting Dori a blue penguin. The blue penguin is only found in New Zealand  and is the smallest of all the penguins being only about a foot tall when mature. We were able to see her up close and personal for a little while. Mel, our guide did a great job of providing information on Dori.

We stayed near Oxford about 50km from Christchurch at this great farm house. We had the entire top floor to ourselves and we enjoyed John and Shirley's company.

Time to drop the curtain on this trip and sail off into the sunset. We hope those of you who have followed us have enjoyed the posts. If you ever have the opportunity to visit New Zealand do it. The scenery is spectacular and the people are wonderful.



Some interesting facts as I leave you.
* The South  island is about 55,000 square miles, about 550 miles long and 100 miles wide
* It's smaller than California with 900,000 people.
* That's less than the population of San Jose.
* New Zealand is a young country, mostly settled after 1860.
* The gold rush lagged California's by about ten years and was critical to settlement there.
* There are three times as many sheep as people.
* The alps which run north to south are growing at about 5 inches per year.
Till next time..... happy trails

Exploring the Nelson area

We made the drive through the mountains and arrived in Richmond (near Nelson) by mid afternoon.

The next morning dawned clear and cool so we headed up to Abel Tasman national park to do some hiking. Our efforts were rewarded with this view of Tasman bay.

Along the track we spotted this Quail hen sitting  on her nest. She didn't seem to mind us watching her but the male near by didn't like us there.

The next day we drove to Nelson and spent the day looking at the Cathedral Museums and the queens garden shown here. We loved the lush green gardens that come from all the rain.

We spent some time at the Heritage museum where they have taken some of the historical buildings from Nelson and relocated them to a village setting. It felt like walking in Nelson around 1900.

We finished the day at the Broadgreen house near Richmond. The house was furnished with turn of the century furniture and we learned of it's history. The owner was one of the first settlers in the Nelson area in that time period. The rose gardens  surrounding the house were delightful. The following day we headed for Christchurch and the final stop of our trip.

Hokitika

On Wednesday Nov 8 we drove from Arrowtown to Hokitika on the west coast. The drive started with a narrow winding road over the mountains and the Haast pass in the alps. The day was rainy and the drive was less than easy but......



We passed along lake Wanaka before heading over Haast pass. Imagine this lake without the clouds.






We stopped on the coast side of the pass and took a short walk to these falls. Water seems to be everywhere on the west coast. Average yearly rainfall in the coastal mountains is 7.5 meters ( about 300 inches per year). That's an average of nearly a inch a day!

The next day dawned clear and bright so we explored the local area. We drove down narrow one lane gravel roads and were rewarded with this view at a local lake.




We found Dorthy falls along the gravel road. Note the ferns and moss that line the rocks and dirt. There is no doubt that this is a rain forest.





Walking down another track (New Zealand for walking path) we found this pristine river with a  swinging bridge. What a day for a hike!

 Berwicks B&B is located on a 50 acre farm that was obtained by Roger's grandfather. He raises sheep and had 50 to shear during out visit. Here Roger(in the hat) and Colin work at shearing one of the sheep. Colin has been shearing sheep for 40 years and has done as many as  350 in a day. That's about one every minute.



We had to say goodbye to Roger and Eileen the next morning. Note that the Ocean (Tasman Sea) is in the background. The farm house is about a half mile from the shore and looking the other way we had a stunning view of the alps. Roger and Eileen were wonderful hosts and we can't thank then enough.

We headed up the west coast and stopped at pancake rocks before leaving the ocean and traveling back into the mountains toward our destination of Nelson at the far north end of the island. More from there.......

Arrowtown/Queenstown

I'm going to "catch up and finish" the blog for New Zealand from home since the computer  broke on the trip. So.... here goes.We drove from Te Anau to Arrowtown in the middle of the southern alps. The drive was short (just a couple of hours) and we met Ann and Barry at the B&B in the afternoon.

The flat kids really liked the lawn and the house with the mountains in the  background. The gardens were beautiful and we had lots of room to play.






The next morning we drove over to Queenstown some 20 km away. Queenstown in located in the middle of the Southern Alps on lake Wakatipu. It's a college town with lots of energy and a quaint downtown. We took a gondola to the top of the ridge where we were greeted by this view.

During the gold rush of the 1860's Arrowtown and the surrounding area was a thriving community. In many ways the gold rush there parallels the California  gold rush some 10 years earlier. This is a steam ship that was used on the lake in the mid 1800s. There was no road to Queenstown so the people came by wagon to the South end of the lake and then by steam ship to Queenstown. This is the same ship that operated then and is still  taking folks today                                                            

                             

We walked the gardens in Queenstown and were rewarded with this view.

                                  One more view of the lake and that's it. I could spend all day inserting photos of this place. I managed to screw up the format on this one..... sorry.

                            

                                                                                     

                  

 

Te Anau

Just a short post before we head to Arrowtown this morning. Yesterday was another interesting day. We spent the morning exploring the town and in the afternoon we took a excursion on the lake to the glow worm caves on the west shore.

The folks that do the trip had a great new boat that was as comfortable as sitting in a car. The lake was a bit rough with the wind but the ride was nice.
Lake Te Anau is 60km long and some 1000 feet deep at it's deepest.

The mountains were "out" in the afternoon, affording some spectacular scenery. We toured the glow worm caves where we walked on a metal walkway about 200 meters underground above a rushing river and the boarded a small ( 12 passenger) boat for a ride in total darkness. Only the glow worms on the cave ceiling lit our way. Pretty amazing stuff.

Back in town we found this contraption....not sure what to call it.... other than a contraption. As you can see, it seats 7 folks all having pedals to help propel the machine. The person in the back steers and I guess you go down the street. I'd love to see it in action.
Off to Arrowtown this morning.

Milford Sound

We departed Te Anau at around 8:00am on a day long tour taking us to Milford Sound some 120km away. The day was cold and wet and the forecast was for snow over the pass into Milford. And.... the weather forecast was correct! We made the trip over the 4500 foot pass with some snow by 10:30am and boarded a boat for a two and a half hour sail on the sound.

Milford Sound is actually a Fjord carved by glaciers millions of years ago. The Fjord has vertical walls and is open to the sea. The Fjord is spectacular and there was something amazing around each bend.

This is a video of  Milford Sound just for Carrie..... just hit the triangle and it will play. As you can see the day was stormy with wind, snow and at times hail. But the beauty that's Milford Sound is undeterred..... What a day!

The foul weather had some advantages...... the waterfalls were spectacular. If the day is clear and sunny the falls have little water. Today, with the storm, the falls were all just gushing with water.

The two and a half hours went by in a heartbeat and too soon we were back at the dock and heading back over the pass.

I decided to include another video for Carrie. The falls were just awesome and in this short clip you can see the wind blowing the water back up the rock face.

We stopped near the top to play in the snow. This is our little van that Steve, our driver, used to get us there and back. Snow balls were the order of the afternoon.

One more stop on the way home for a short walk.
Steve stopped the van at a nature walk and we took a 45 minute walk in a rain forest. The snow on the moss made the area spectacular and we didn't mind the snow and cold as we looked around at this beautiful place. Back in the van we completed our 8 hour trek and guess what? It's snowing in Te Anau as I write this.


We have tomorrow in Te Anau and will take a look at some caves on the other side of the lake. More tomorrow.

Heading to Te Anau

The day began with a 6km run through the countryside near the Manor and continued with breakfast and.......

A little sheep farming. Frank is providing Sharleen with some sheep information. Frank (our host) is a retired farmer so he has all the scoop.

Sharleen seemed to take to the sheep farming thing right away. It might be the zoo training or just a natural ability but in any case the sheep seemed happy

The flat kids seemed to enjoy the sheep as well. Maybe it's the farmer in them.

We drove up from Frank and Pat's to the little town of Te Anau. The town is set in the Southern Alps of the South Island and reminds me of a Swiss alpine village. The snow capped mountains are spectacular when they peek out of the clouds.
Tomorrow we take a bus up to Milford Sound in the mountains and a boat trip on the Sound. It's a full day so I'll be back on this on Saturday morning.

Exploring Stewart Island

Yesterday (Wednesday here) was cold with rain but we headed for Stewart Island just the same. It's a hour on a small ferry from Bluff to Oban on the island. It's one of the worst crossings in the world according to the locals but only a few folks got sea sick.

You can almost see the ferry below the dock. It holds 100 passengers and a crew of three. Today there was about 15 of us foolish souls.

We hopped off the ferry and on to a mini-bus for a hour and a half tour of the island. We found this along the way. It's a telephone tree. Enlarge it and you will see that a old turn the crank... talk to the operator.... party line phone attached to a tree. It's the island answer to 911 and is used by all for emergencies ( like I'm late for dinner).

We drove to a overlook where we had a good look at the coastline of the island. The island is mostly national park and is uninhabited except for hikers and backpackers. The only industry on the island is fishing and tourism of course.

We got off the bus and immediately boarded a boat for a two and a half trip to some of the bays and inlets along the island. The trip included a walk on Ulva island, a nature preserve and bird sanctuary. Then if was off to the ferry and the hour ride back to Bluff.
Today we head to Te Anau and Milford Sound. More from there.

Invercargill

Invercargil is a medium sized town at the southern end of the South island and is agricultural in setting and people. Lots of sheep farms and some deer farms as well. The weather has turned cold and wet so we headed for downtown and the city museum.

The museum has a great display of live Tuatara lizards. This is Henry the patriarch of the clan. Henry is 110 years old and is going strong. The Tuatara is only found in New Zealand and obviously has a very long life span. The museum has started a breeding program which has been quite successful and has allowed for some Tuatara to be given to other facilities. Jordan, what do you think? Pretty cool critter, huh?

After the museum, we took a walk in Queens park. It's a large park with a aviary, small animal area as well as gardens and a playground. The day was gloomy but the park was beautiful so all was well.

Time for another flat kids moment. They sure are having fun! Here they're playing on the lawn of the Manor B&B where we are staying. Sheep surround the house and our hosts Pat and Frank are making them feel right at home. The Manor is about 8km from Invercargill and is situated in the middle of sheep farms ( is anything not in the middle of a sheep farm down here?). Tomorrow we will head for the ferry to Stewart Island and a tour of the island. Weather looks a little shaky but we're going just the same.

The Catlins

On Monday morning we headed toward Invercargill but took the scenic route through the Catlins. The Catlins is a picturesque area of green hills dotted with sheep. Streams with nature walks abound and can be found around every corner. A 200km drive took us about 6 hours.

We took a walk down a scenic path with lots of trees with moss dripping off them and found Matai falls. It's typical of the falls and streams that are prolific in this area.

This is pretty typical of the coastline in this area. We're looking Southeast toward Antarctica since we are near the Southern most part of the South island.




We made it to the Manor ( our home for two days) Monday late afternoon and went into inverness for dinner.

Exploring Dunedin

Today (Sunday) was a cloudy, dreary day so we explored the city of Dunedin. Dunedin is called by the locals the Edinburgh of New Zealand. It's a university town (Otago University) with all the energy of youth.

The train station is typical of the architecture found in the town although it's more colorful than most of the buildings. In the late 1800's Dunedin was the major city of the South Island due to the gold found here and grass for sheep farms. It was replaced by Christchurch in the early 1900's as the major city but has remained a vibrant community.

We stopped at the Presbyterian church on the hill and took a look around. It isn't like any Presbyterian church that I've ever seen in the US.
Pastor Kirk eat your heart out!

We spent a couple of hours at the Dunedin Botanical Gardens near downtown. The Rhododendrons and Azaleas were in bloom and just beautiful. It's a large garden with several Kilometers of paved and gravel walking paths.

The final picture is of our B&B here in Dunedin. The Deacons Court is a 100 year old Victorian style house turned B&B. Our room is on the first floor to the right of the door (no climbing stairs.... yea!).
The Flat kids are enjoying the town and love the room. Our hosts Ashley and Chris are just great helping with sightseeing and dinner plans as well as directions and helpful hints.

Tonight it's off to the Speights Ale house for dinner and then tomorrow a 200Km drive to Invercargill.
More from there.

Otago penninsula

Today ( Saturday) was our first full day in Dunedin and we spent it on the Otago peninsula. The Peninsula runs 30 kilometers from the town of Dunedin to the ocean. It's a beautiful quiet area with no commercial enterprises to disturb the laid back atmosphere. Our first stop of the day was the only castle in New Zealand.

On top of the hills of the peninsula is Larnach castle built in the late 1800's by William Larnach, a prominent business man and politician. We toured the castle and the gardens and enjoyed the setting and views they afforded. As you know, last year Flat Ella went along to Scotland. This year we have three stowaways on board. Flat Ella is back again but invited her brother, flat James. and sister, flat Claranna along. So we have three flat kids to keep us company. So far they are having a great time.

The morning turned out to be gorgeous with a clear sky and calm wind. We spent about two hours walking the castle and grounds, and imagining what it would have been like at the turn of the century to live here. William called the castle his "camp" and so today the road leading up to it is named camp road. We then headed for the end of the peninsula and a nature preserve we wanted to visit.

The nature preserve is a working sheep farm that has set aside beach front with no human access and has been licensed by the government to take visitors into the preserve. We went by ATV, as seen here, and traveled non- maintained paths up and down the hills to the water. Six passengers and a driver/guide fit into this little ATV.

There is a colony of seals living on the preserve and currently there are many seal pups like this one. We were able to observe pup behavior in the wild as they nursed with mom and played in the pools of ocean water. The males will soon join the colony for the breeding season but will leave again when their job is done.

This beach is called penguin beach because it's a area of the preserve that is inhabited by yellow eyed penguins. We did see some from a long way away but since penguins are shy we couldn't get up close. The penguins use this beach to come and go to the water to feed. They live and raise their young on the sand hill on the left.



We finished the day by stopping at a garden on the way back to Dunedin. A really great day  in all respects.
We're heading back to Spreichts brewery tonight. It's the national ale and is brewed here in Dunedin. The restaurant located at the brewery serves fresh ale and great food...... so ..... back we go. Tomorrow we will walk the town of Dunedin. More tomorrow night.