New Zealand
January 23 through February 24, 1997
New Zealand may be the best country in the world. It's spectacularly beautiful, with huge, jagged mountains, fiords, glaciers, palm trees, vineyards, sandy beaches, rocky beaches, rolling hills, sheep traffic jams, and the friendliest people in the world.
At the same time, NZ is a very practical, no-nonsense kind of place. Very little here is fancy or flashy, and most towns are pretty nondescript. It's not a country for people who like late nights or big cities. Everything seems to shut down early at night, in spite of most signs in restaurants and pubs saying "Open 'til Late," which seems to mean, "Open 'til we feel like closing." Even in the biggest cities, there isn't much of a big-city atmosphere, and the pace is quite slow, especially for a bunch of Northeasterners.
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Milford Sound and More Good Weather
Arrival in New Zealand
We flew to Auckland on January 23 to be met by Diane and Mary, who had flown in four days earlier. From the air, Lauren remarked that the area around Auckland looked a lot like northern California. This was to be the first of many times she would say this about New Zealand.
After leaving the airport, it got even more like northern California, as we headed to some wineries for wine tasting. Then went to a place called Muriwai Beach, which looked like the Marin coast without all the people.
Lauren and Diane at one of our first stops in New Zealand
The major difference, though, is that while California is overcrowded, New Zealand is not. Although the two places are similar in geographical size, NZ has only 3.5 million people compared to 25 million in California. The benefits of not too many people are apparent everywhere you go. On NZ's equivalent of Labor Day weekend, it was possible to pull up to any beach, park anywhere, and be on an uncrowded beach.
Using Our Windshield Wipers as Blinkers
Over the first few days, some of our most exciting, thrilling, and occasionally terrifying moments had to do with getting used to driving on the left. In addition to being on the wrong side of the road (for us anyway), it feels like there is a sidecar attached to the left side of the car. The blinkers and windshield wiper controls wre also reversed on our rental car, so every time we tried to signal for a turn, we turned on the windshield wipers instead! The Kiwis we met said that they didn't mind people using windshield wipers as directionals, but they definitely mind it when they drive on the right side of the road. With only one exception (Mary), we did stay on the left.
The Super Bowl Express
After arrival, our plan was to head north to Cape Reinga, which is the very top of New Zealand, and then work our way south in a somewhat leisurely manner. However, in Whangarei, which was our first stop, we discovered that SKY Orange, the satellite channel that was to broadcast the Super Bowl wasn't available up north. Since we still wanted to go up north but Diane and I weren't willing to miss the Superbowl, the trip quickly turned into the "Super Bowl Express." For a few days, this was our version of "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium." We left Whangarei the next morning, made a quick stop in the Bay of Islands, and then got the last two hotel rooms in Kaitaia. We checked in, got pizza to go, then headed the 117 km to Cape Reinga for sunset and then back 117 km to Kaitaia. We then left the next morning for Dargaville, which was the northernmost reach of SKY Orange, to watch the Superbowl. Some highlights of the Super Bowl Express:
Whangarei Falls
This was a 30 meter (90 foot) waterfall on the outskirts of Whangarei. We later found out that there are waterfalls like this – and much bigger – throughout NZ, but these were the first that we saw and we were impressed.
The Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is a beautiful area dotted with hundreds of islands that is popular with Aucklanders. Most guidebooks say that this area deserves a couple of days at a minimum; the Superbowl Express allowed for a couple of hours. Some had told us that it is overdeveloped and over-commercialized. For NZ, it might be, but everything is relative -- if the Bay of Islands were on Cape Cod, they would be considered pristine.
Bay of Islands
Cape Reinga
Cape Reinga is almost the top of NZ (there is one other point that is not as accessible that is slightly farther north). For our purposes, Cape Reinga was the top of NZ, and it was worth the frenzied drive to get there. The cape has a lighthouse on a bluff far above the water below where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. Here, there is a single patch of ocean were the waves go in both directions. We were there on a calm night, but when it is rougher, the battle between the two seas creates waves 10 meters (30 feet) high.
Cape Reinga lighthouse
At the top of New Zealand
When we were there, there were only a few other people around. We took pictures of the lighthouse and the famous signs that show the distances to faraway places, drank a bottle of wine, and watched the sun set on the top of New Zealand. Days later, Lauren bought a postcard of Cape Reinga. In the picture, there are hoards of tourists. We learned later that up to 15 tour buses can arrive at the same time. In our case, it seems that the frenetic pace of the Superbowl Express gave us a beautiful and peaceful hour in a place that is usually full of people running to and from their tour buses.
Waiomio Glowworm Cave
There are glowworm caves all over NZ. We went to this one because it was on the route of the Superbowl Express. Glowworms are worms that hang on the inner roofs of caves that glow a florescent green at one end that attracts insects that they eat. When you're in the cave, all you see is darkness and little florescent spots above you. Very cool.
Whangaroa Bay
Whangaroa Bay is an amazing bay that juts into the land between an opening in some very high hills. Most of NZ's coast is beautiful. At this point in the trip, this was the best we had seen.
Waipora State Forest
The guidebooks talk a lot about ancient Kauri trees. The Waipora State Forest had the largest the oldest, the second oldest, etc. The trees are old (up to 2,000 years old!) but for some reason, the books don't say much about their size, even though they are almost as big as Sequoias and their size is even more impressive than their age. It is not often that you are humbled by a tree, but standing in front a 20 foot wide, 2000 year old Kauri tree is one of those times.
Dargaville
We got to Dargaville in time for dinner at the Northern Wairona Hotel that was supposed to have the biggest TV available in NZ to make sure that we really could watch the Superbowl there. Our servers were a brother and sister who asked us why we were in Dargaville as tourists usually don’t go to Dargaville. Apparently billing themselves as the Kumara [Sweet Potato] Capital of New Zealand isn’t enough.
We told them why we were there, and asked if they really did have NZ’s biggest TV and SKY Orange and if we could watch the Superbowl there. They said they did and that the TV was in bar, and even though the bar wasn’t open at lunchtime, which was when the Superbowl would be on, and that they would let us watch the TV and serve us drinks. Even though most tourists don’t go to Dargaville, we were glad that we did.
The Super Bowl
In the US, Super Bowl Sunday is almost like a holiday. In New Zealand, because of the 18 hour time difference, the game was on Monday at lunchtime. Lauren and Mary, who don’t care about football, went for a walk around some lakes. Diane and I headed to the hotel to watch the game. There was no pre-game show – SKY Orange is NZ’s cartoon channel and showed cartoons all the way up to kickoff. Once the game started, there were also no advertisements. SKY Orange broadcasted the Fox Network feed, which showed clips of NFL films during breaks. Apparently, networks insert their own ads, and given an audience of not many people in NZ, SKY Orange didn’t bother. If you want to watch the Super Bowl without any commercials, NZ is the place to be.
As Diane and I watched the game alone in the bar, our yelling and screaming as the Patriots took an early lead attracted a few curious diners from the restaurant, who wandered over to see what was going on. When they found out it was the Super Bowl, they invariably said something like "I don't understand American football at all." I would try to explain it in 100 words or less, after which they would politely watch for another minute or so and then wander off. It was a good game, but the Bears won 35-21. The Super Bowl Express was over.
After that there was little to do but drown our sorrows. There was a bar next door, and Happy Hour had just begun. I made new friends, none of whom knew that the Superbowl had just finished. I also taught the bartender to make margaritas, which they also didn’t know about. My new friend to my right had too many and fell of his barstool, hit his head, and seemed to have been knocked out. He was quickly revived and the bartender and someone else helped him up and some others volunteered to take him home. I felt bad, but the bartender said, “don’t worry, he does this all the time.”
Tongariro National Park/Walking on the Moon
After the Superbowl Express had come to a screeching halt, we headed south towards Tongariro National Park, which is pretty much the center of the North Island. The biggest mountain here – Mt. Ruapehu – is the tallest mountain on the North Island. It is also a ski area and an active volcano.
Our guidebook, which was written in 1993, said that Mt. Ruapehu usually erupted every nine years but that it hadn't blown its top since 1975. Then it did again in 1995 and 1996. Everywhere we went, there were great pictures of those eruptions, including some that showed people standing in line for a chairlift with the volcano spewing in the near background. When we were there, the volcano was quiet again, but the landscape was fascinating.
Mount Ruapehu Ski Area
We also spent a day hiking a track known as the Tongariro Crossing, which is a 17 km track through the volcanic heart of Tongariro National Park. This is considered the best one-day hike in New Zealand, and is spectacular and amazing, but not beautiful. It starts gradually, and Mary and Lauren walked along singing the old Police song, Walking on the Moon, which is where we seemed to be. We then reached and climbed the aptly named Devil's Staircase, which climbed to the edge of Mt. Ngaruhue, an almost perfectly symmetrical volcano 6,500 feet high. We then traversed several craters, and along the edges of others. There was almost nothing alive up here but a few scraggly tufts of grass scattered widely about. At the top, steam was venting out of the ground, and down below were aquamarine lakes. Altogether, it is the kind of place that the term "otherworldly" was invented for.
Walking on the moon, Togariro National Park
Emerald Lakes, Togariro National Park
The last part of the hike went past the Ketetahi Springs, which is an area where huge vents of steam pour out of the side of the mountain. You aren't supposed to go into them anymore but old signs saying "Dangerous Area: Enter at Your Own Risk" were ambiguous enough for me to go through them. Mary, Lauren, and Diane followed the rules and went around.
Steaming Taupo
From Tongariro, we headed to Taupo, which used to be a volcano, but is now a lake and a town. When Taupo erupted in 186, the eruption was so large that red sunsets were recorded as far away as China and Rome. When it was done, the empty volcano collapsed to create the biggest lake in New Zealand. Needless to say, this left behind an interesting landscape. From high atop the Tongariro Crossing, Lake Taupo looked big enough to be an ocean. From the lake, we could look back to the volcanoes and craters of Tongariro National Park.
The government uses the geothermal activity in the area to create energy, which is one reason NZ has been able to declare itself a nuclear free zone. The construction of a geothermal plant in the 1950s lowered the water table in the area, and with the remaining water closer to the heat, more of it boiled and new fumaroles formed. This created an area now called Craters of the Moon, which is now alive (or so it seems) with steam vents, craters, boiling mudpots, boiling water, and steaming ground. We again felt as if we were again "walking on the moon."
Craters of the Moon, Taupo
Lauren in the steam at Craters of the Moon
Napier, the Art Deco City
Onward to Napier, the Art Deco City of New Zealand. Napier was struck by a huge earthquake in 1931, which raised the ground six to eight feet and severely damaged the city. The uplift also created a lot of new land along the waterfront.
Being the 1930s, the new building was done in the Art Deco style, and Art Deco buildings are everywhere. This gives Napier a character of its own and much more character than most New Zealand towns, which look as if they were built in the 1950s. Napier is the Hawkes Bay area, which is the premier wine region of New Zealand. Art Deco and wine make a good combination.
Art Deco in Napier
Lauren, Diane and I visited Napier's Kiwi House, which is the only way to see a real live kiwi unless you're incredibly lucky. The kiwi is the national symbol of NZ, and it is both nocturnal and endangered. The nocturnal part is what makes them hard to see in the wild, and the endangered part is due to the introduction of predators (dogs, cats, wild boars, and many other things) and leg-hold traps set to catch rabbits and possums. New Zealand has no native mammals except for one species of bat. This also apparently the reason that NZ doesn’t have many dangerous bugs (only annoying ones, like the sand fly).
Kiwis are about the size of chickens, with no real wings and no tail. They have big, strong legs, and a long beak that they poke into the ground in search of food. It was pretty cool to see them in action, even though it wasn't in the wild. After admiring the kiwis, Lauren and I went to taste wine.
No Worries in Abel Tasman National Park
After a quick stop in Wellington, we took the ferry across the Cook Straits to the South Island, and finally over to Nelson, where Mary's boyfriend Paul Shay was arriving after a long series of flights from Boston. After finding a motel room so that Paul could sleep, we decided that sea kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park might be a good thing to do the next day.
Though it had rained the previous night, the forecast for our one-day kayak trip called for "fine" weather. We packed our rain jackets just in case, and drove up to Abel Tasman, where the skies grew grayer and grayer and it started raining cats 'n dogs. It was still pouring when we got there. "No worries," said Dion, our kayak instructor. "It's supposed to clear by midday." Paul was also optimistic. "It can't rain like this all day." So we signed up for our kayaks, and joined the rest of the wet customers for our land instruction, which included crawling around on muddy kayaks and sitting in puddles. Great fun!
Anyway, we passed the course to the satisfaction of our instructor and off we went. Paul was right – it didn't rain like that all day – sometimes it rained harder. But it was fun, and at least a cold and rainy day meant there weren't too many sand flies. To add to the fun, the front wheel of the jeep that was supposed to bring the kayaks back fell off as the tide was coming in. That led to a couple more "no worries" from Deon.
At wet picnic at Able Tasman National Park
Mary and Paul in front of the broken jeep
Westlands National Park/Big Ice Cubes
South of Abel Tasman, we headed down the west coast to the pancake rocks and Paparoa National Park. According to Lauren, "this coastline puts California's to shame!" (Diane was yet to admit that it also put Oregon's to shame, but she later would down in Fiordland.) Farther down the incredible coastline, we arrived in Westlands National Park, the home of the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers.
The South Island's West Coast
Pancake Rocks, Paparoa National Park
In the morning, we awoke to clear skies and towering mountains – although not as tall, actually bigger than anything in Continental US from bottom to top. Mount Cook, the tallest mountain in NZ, went from the sea to over 12,000 feet. Mt Tasman, the second tallest, was over 11,000 feet tall. At the bottom, there are rainforests and palm trees. At the top are the glaciers, which descend into the rainforest. At one point, we were peering between two palm trees into the face of Fox Glacier (which according to Paul, was "one large ice cube!").
Fox Glacier
Close to the glaciers, it was hard to comprehend how large they were, so in the afternoon we headed out to a lake that was supposed to have great views across it back to the glaciers. However, by the time we got to a lookout on the lake called the "Views of Views," things had clouded up and all we saw was the base of the mountains. But we did have with us Speight's Dark, which Diane had dubbed the "beer of beers," so we hung around and drank the Beer of Beers at the View of Views. As we were there, the clouds broke for a few moments, and there were Mt Cook and Mt Tasman towering above the land and the clouds
Beer of Bears at the View of Views
That night, Lauren and I camped on the beach, and shortly after dark, the clouds cleared altogether. Looming in the distance was the dark outline of Mt Cook and Mt Tasman--huge mountains towering over everything. In the morning, they were gone again.
Mt. Aspiring National Park/
Mary and Diane Go Backpacking
We headed for Mount Aspiring National Park, through more amazing country of mountains, fields, and canyons. We were going to do a short overnight hike into the park, and decided to go to the Blue River Valley. It was a short, two to three hour one way hike and, based on the description we read, wasn’t a tough trail. Since neither Mary or Diane had backpacked before, it seemed to be a good choice.
The beginning of the track was very easy – smooth gravel to a boardwalk to a swing bridge over the Blue River, and we were off to a good start. Past the turnoff to the Blue Pools, however, it got steep and narrow with not-so-good footing. This was no problem to Paul, who has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, or to Lauren and I, who hike on the Long Trail a lot, but it didn't seem to be exactly what Diane or Mary had expected. We quickly learned that Diane could swear a lot and that "Nature is Cruel." Mary, on the other hand, suffered in relative silence.
Crossing a swingbridge in Mt. Aspiring National Park
Our pace was slow. Most of the hike was through beech forest, with tall trees on steep hillsides. Everything was green, with rocks and trees covered in green moss. In order to get to our campsite, which was on the banks of the Blue River, we had to hike steeply up to a ridge and then steeply back down to the river. We made it there in about two hours, and when I arrived, I called back to Diane, "We're there." Diane wasn't happy and replied, "You're lying!"
Campsite at Camp Flats in Mt Aspiring National Park
Then it started to rain, and rain pretty much dominated the rest of our short stay. We made a fire, which helped to keep us warm, but it basically rained all evening, all night, and all the next morning as we hiked out. Not the very best introduction to backpacking for first timers. We tried to tell Diane and Mary how great it was when the weather was good, but they weren't buying it. We'd booked ourselves on the Routeburn Track, a three-day hike, a few days later, and we hoped for the best.
Queenstown, the Capital of Terror
Queenstown is the adventure center of the world, with about a hundred ways to separate you from your money by terrifying you for a short period of time - bungy jumping (invented here), tandem skydiving (attached to a hopefully knowledgeable instructor), jetboating up the river canyon (speedboats which go 70 kph in 4 inches of water, and turn on a dime), white water rafting or boogieboarding, parasailing, parapenting, abseiling (rappelling face first down a cliff), and more. In spite of two recent skydiving deaths, two bungy accidents in the last three months, and a recent jetboat accident, these activities are apparently pretty safe, and everyone swarms to Queenstown to get the latest adrenaline rush.
Not wanting to hurl ourselves off a bridge with elastic bands tied to our ankles, and too cheap to pay over $200 each for the tandem skydiving (which everyone told us was the best activity), we chose jetboating on the Shotover River. This wasn't really terrifying, but it was fun. The driver goes full speed ahead towards a cliff, a tree, a stump, whatever - and then turns away at the last possible second. Our driver was also fond of stopping by doing a 360 degree turn.
The Routeburn Track, in Mostly Good Weather Even
The Milford Track is considered by many as the greatest hike in the world. The number of people that are allowed to hike it is limited, however, and because of this, it is booked up a year in advance. We hadn't planned that far ahead, and instead were able to get space on the Routeburn Track, which is considered the second best track. We were to start hiking (or "tramping" as they call it here) the Routeburn Track on Tuesday, and on Monday it was raining hard. The forecast was for the rain to stop on Monday afternoon, but with all the rain we'd seen on the South Island, and weather forecasts that were worse than at home, we weren't optimistic.
By midnight when we headed in, it was still raining. At 4:00 am, I woke up and it was still raining. At 6:30, when Lauren and I had to wake up to catch the shuttle bus (the others were going later), it was still raining. However, minutes later it stopped and small patches of blue showed through the window. As we headed to the beginning of the track, the skies tried to clear, and at one stop, we saw a weather forecast for "fine" (which, in effect, means anything but rain). Things were looking up.
We started out on the Routeburn Track the same way we started out on other NZ hikes, by crossing a swing bridge, this time over the Route Burn (burn being a Scottish word for river). By this time, the low clouds had lifted and we could actually see the tops of mountains, which gave us a chance to see what we'd been missing for the past few days. New Zealand's Southern Alps are spectacular jagged new mountains that are still being created. With the rain, there were huge waterfalls draining down the faces of all the cliffs. Some were spectacular free-falling waterfalls and others other were streams of water that followed the path of least resistance down the cliffs.
Start of the Routeburn Track
The first day was very easy – about four miles through rainforest that gradually headed uphill along the Route Burn. In the rainforest, everything was green. The leaves and ferns were green, as they should be, and the rocks and tree trunks and branches were also green as they were completely covered with moss. There were also bushes and trees growing wherever possible in cracks and crevices in the cliffs towering above us. The trail eventually narrowed into a gorge and spilled out between nearly vertical cliffs over 1,000 feet tall. On the other side of the gorge was Routeburn Flats, which was a large open grassy field through which the Route Burn meandered, and where we camped the first night. Lauren and I arrived early and waited for Mary, Paul, and Diane to arrive. At about 4:45 PM, they did. Their hike had gone well, although Diane was still worried about the next day, which would be the hardest.
Routeburn Flats, Routeburn Track
The next morning, we awoke to the pitter-patter of rain on our tent. A quick look out the door confirmed the worst – the rain had returned and the clouds again concealed the mountains. So what did we do? We zipped up the tent and went back to sleep, hoping the weather would be better when we woke up again. A little later, Lauren stirred, but the pitter-patter of rain was still there. However, she looked out and exclaimed "Hey, there are patches of blue!" With the sound of rain on the tent and Lauren's optimism sometimes transforming slightly bright spots into blue, I was skeptical, but when I looked out, I saw it was true. Lauren and I headed out first, for what would be, if the weather cleared, the longest and best day.
The first part was up-up-up to Routeburn Falls. Past that, the trail climbed more gradually into a sub-alpine area heading toward Harris Saddle. The tree line was low, at about 3,000 feet, and we were quickly above it into a grassy basin with more large waterfalls cascading into oasis-like pools. We climbed gradually through the basin to Harris Lake, which was the source of the Route Burn,and which was in turn feed by waterfalls cascading from the snowfields atop the basin.
Harris Lake, Routeburn Track
The hike up to Harris Saddle
Minutes later we reached Harris Saddle, where we left Mount Aspiring National Park and entered Fiordland National Park. As we did, we could start to see the other side--huge jagged snow-covered peaks across a 6,000 foot deep Hollyford Valley, which was carved out by a huge glacier that made its way out to the Tasman Sea. This view was truly awe-inspiring. We were high, at about 3,900 feet, with 4,000 to 5,000 foot mountains to either side. In front of us, the valley dropped straight down to sea level. On the other side of the valley was a line of mountains about 6,600 feet tall were still snow covered in late summer. We could tell where the glacier used to run through the valley and could tell that it had been about 3,000 feet thick Above that level, there were cirques formed by other glaciers that flowed to meet the major one, and hanging valleys high up in the mountains. Throughout them were ribbons of water cascading from the snowfields to the valley below. And by this time, most of the clouds had disappeared, and we saw all this under a brilliant blue sky. After all of our bad weather luck, the weather gods had begun to smile upon us. It was probably one of the best views of a lifetime.
Views from Harris Saddle
After the saddle, we started our hike to MacKenzie Lake, which was our destination for that night. For the next two hours, we traversed along the valley wall southward at an elevation of about 3,300 feet. This kept us above tree line, where we kept staring at the same view, which instead of growing old, grew bigger. As we could see further down the valley, we could see the mountains fall away into the ocean and the fiord at the end of the valley. We found a place to stop, and looked at the view some more, and realized that it was times like this that were the reason for the trip.
However, even in places like this, there is a time to move on, and so we did. Diane, Mary, and Paul arrived at Lake MacKenzie about two hours after Lauren and I, and even the two reluctant hikers had been impressed. Mary gave the day two thumbs up, and Diane said, "All right, I guess this is kind of fun!"
Lake MacKenzie
The next day was the final day of the hike and we headed toward the "Divide," which was about four hours away. One the way we passed many more amazing sights, including a 250 foot waterfall that crashed down to the trail (giving us the showers we had missed the previous two nights). At one lake, if we had been at home, we would have babbled about how beautiful it was. Here, after the day before, it was just another pretty lake.
On our way to the Divide
About the weather
In spite of our grousing about the weather, what we'd been experiencing was pretty normal. Fiordland, in general, has bad weather. It rains or snows about 200 days a years, and of the rest, only about 50 are clear.
Question #1: Is it going to rain? Answer: If you can see the tops of the mountains, yes. If you can't see the tops of the mountains, it is already raining.
Question #2: What's the weather going to do? Answer: Probably not what the forecast says.
The rain and snow is the result of winds accumulating 1,000 miles of moisture as they cross the Tasman Sea from Australia, and then crashing into the mountains soaring up out of the sea (just as you learned in geography). We knew this when we went, but that still didn't stop us from complaining or being disappointed. But when the sun shone, we did really appreciate it.
Milford Sound and More Good Weather
A shuttle bus picked us up at the end of the Routeburn Track and drove us to Milford Sound. We'd signed up for an overnight cruise on the Wanderer, an old-fashioned sailing ship. We figured that after hiking for three days, it would be good to have our accommodations and meals taken care of, and we were right.
On the way to the sound, our minibus took us through a landscape that was similar to what we'd been hiking in--more rainforests in the valleys with towering cliffs overhead, waterfalls, etc. As we approached Milford Sound, we eventually entered a dead-end canyon surrounded by really high mountains. The way to the sound was through the Homar Tunnel, which itself was another world. The tunnel goes 1.2 km through solid rock--not particularly long by today's standards, but a marvel when it was started in 1935 and completed in 1954. It's a very basic tunnel - no lights, no pavement, no ceiling or walls--just a tunnel hacked through the rock. Water was constantly pouring down on us, and our minibus had its windshield wipers on the whole time. Halfway through, there was a washout and we had to stop and let a parade of outbound tour buses by before continuing. The tunnel was very black and eerie inside, like a step back into some ancient time, except that it was full of very modern traffic.
Once out of the tunnel, Milford Sound looked just like it does in Department of Tourism photos. When you travel a lot, you find yourself comparing places--landforms do tend to repeat themselves, and you really do see a lot that's familiar even on the other side of the world. You find yourself saying, "That looks a lot like [fill in the blank]." In our travels, the only place that we'd seen before with no counterpart was Yosemite Valley. Milford Sound adds to that list. Imagine a large glacial valley with cliffs and waterfalls and snow-covered peaks, and add the ocean, although the sound (really a fiord) is so twisty and narrow that early explorers on the ocean missed it completely.
Milford Sound
The Wanderer brochure claims that one of the benefits of its overnight cruise is that "once the day crowds leave, a calm descends on Milford Sound." This is true, and ours was one of only two tour boats on the sound. We took off from the dock to tour the sound all the way out to the ocean. Cruising the sound so soon after hiking the Routeburn was bringing us close to sensory overload. We took a lot of pictures, but it was impossible to capture it all.
Geoff on the Milford Wanderer
Just inside the sound, we anchored in a small bay to go sea kayaking (Lauren and I kayaked while the rest showered). We bobbed around in our kayaks, with the cliffs of the sound above us, the long shadows of the evening sun before it set, and a nearby fishing boat playing Bob Marley singing "everything's gonna be all right" which carried across the water. For us, things couldn't possibly have been better.
Kayaking on Milford Sound
After kayaking, we set off again into the sound to a bay where we'd anchor for the night, and on the way in, we saw a school of dolphins jumping past the ship. One probably jumped 15 feet out of the water, and three others kept leaping in perfect unison. The day was becoming like a highlight film. Next, the ship headed right for a huge waterfall, and passed no more than 15 feet away from it. We stood on the deck in the spray of the waterfall--more sensory overload.
Finally, things calmed down. We ate dinner, and then hung around on deck watching the stars come out over the sound. Once again, the Southern Cross (and Orion upside-down) reminded us of how far from home we were, and it felt good. As the day ended, it came to mind that some days in your life are just so much better than others. Yesterday on the Routeburn Track was one of those days, and this day was even better.
New Zealand Snapshots
Dr. Duval's Bottled Hell
At the Food and Wine Festival of Canterbury, we met Dr. Duval, who was on a one man crusade to bring some spice to New Zealand food (which tends to be very bland). To do this, he was making salsa that tasted like it was real (instead of the tomatoey version available here), and a hot sauce that could compete with the killer sauces available in the US. He has a tough battle ahead here in New Zealand but is someone who clearly loves his work.
Cool Things About New Zealand #1: Bridges
In the USA, our bridges aren't really much to pay attention to. There are exceptions such as the Golden Gate Bridge, The Bay Bridge, and others, but in general you drive over bridges and don't think much about them. In New Zealand, you pay attention to bridges because you have to, and also because they're cool. You have to pay attention to highway bridges because many of them are one lane bridges on two lane roads, and on hiking trails you have to pay attention to bridges because most of them are swing bridges.
We don't know why the highways have one-lane bridges--maybe to save money, or maybe they were built when the roads were narrower and then never widened. They're everywhere, especially in Northland on the North Island and on the west coast of the South Island. And they're not just on small roads, but on the major highways. There are signs saying which direction has the right-of-way, but mostly you go the end of the bridge and just go if nobody is coming the other way. The only wrinkle is that some of the bridges are so long that you can't see the other end; these bridges have a "passing bay" in the middle, which is a short two-lane section. One bridge we drove over was so long that it had two passing bays, each 200 to 250 meters apart.
The swing bridges on the hiking tracks are even better. These are cable suspension bridges over rivers. There is a thin wooden walkway and cable railings, and the bridge bounces and swings as you walk across it (and even more if multiple people are on it at the same time!). Basically, if you imagine the kind of bridge that Harrison Ford would cross in an adventure movie, then make it a little more modern, you get the idea of what a swing bridge is. Some are over a hundred feet long and way above the river--lots of fun and very efficient, but US safety laws will never allow them in our National Parks!
Cool Things About New Zealand #2: Wine
New Zealand wine is really good, with their white wine especially so. The wine industry is in its infancy here, with new vineyards all over the place and new wineries opening up every year. If you want to start a winery, this is the place to be. The industry is so new that land is cheap, and the potential is as good as anywhere we've seen.
We visited several wineries, the most interesting being Kemblefield in Hawkes Bay. Kemblefield is owned by two Americans, one of whom lives in Oakland, CA, and the other, the winemaker, used to be an associate winemaker at Ravenswood in Sonoma, CA. They've brought over a bunch of zinfandel vines, which have been in quarantine for two years and which they'll plant this year - the first zinfandel in New Zealand! Another good set of wineries are in the Martinborough area, with Ata Rangi Pinot Noir the clear winner. Finally, the Marlborough Region on the South Island is famous for its Sauvignon Blanc, and put New Zealand on the wine map of the world.
Cool Things About New Zealand #3: Riggers
A rigger is a two-liter plastic bottle like you buy Coke in at home. What makes it cool is that you can get it filled with any kind of beer you want at any liquor store ("bottle shop") or even at any pub!
Cool Things About New Zealand #4: Sheep Traffic Jams
There are lots and lots of sheep in New Zealand, and to move them around, farmers use the roads. You just stop and wait for them all to go by.
Sheep traffic jam
Uncool Things About New Zealand #1: Sand Flies
These are everywhere on the South Island, and the more scenic the place, the more sand flies there are. Sand flies are almost similar critters as our New England black flies, with similar swarming and biting habits. Nothing seems to keep them away. Worse, they are around all summer long (unlike our Mother's Day to Father's Day variety).
Quotable Quotes
"No worries."
--Everyone in New Zealand, in response to almost any problem
"I'll do my best to keep us alive."
--Lauren, driving on the left for the first time in NZ
"Mary, I for one would be more comfortable if you were driving on the correct side of the road."
--Lauren, as Mary hurtled down the right side of a winding road
"No worries, it's supposed to clear by mid-day."
--"Dion, our kayaking insructor at Abel Tasman National Park
"It can't rain like this all day."
--Paul, shortly thereafter, and prior to it raining even harder for the rest of the day
"When it comes to beer, if Speight's Dark is around, I'm monogamous."
--Diane, at a pub somewhere, on what had become her favorite beer
"Now that's a Speight's smile!"
--Mary, to Diane at another pub
"That's a large ice cube."
--Paul, at Fox Glacier
"When I get home, I want to get a lazy fat cat."
--Diane, after seeing one
"When I get home, I want to be a lazy fat cat."
--Mary, in response to above
"Nature is cruel."
--Diane, on her first overnight hike in Mt. Aspiring Nat'l Park
"All right, I guess this is kind of fun."
--Diane, on the Routeburn Track
"Diane, you don't understand - when I give you a hard time, who says I have to be fair about it?"
--Geoff
"I don't want Ron to think I'm falling behind in my beer consumption."
--Geoff, somewhere in NZ
"I don't think they know how to park this ferry."
--Mary, thinking that the ferry was pulling out to make another try at the dock. It wasn't, Mary and Diane had missed the stop
"The next time I go around the world, I'm going with Ron, Clay, and Wilki -- 'drunks around the world'."
--Geoff, after the Superbowl festivities
"I can't wait until Paul gets here so we can talk about manly things -- sports, beef, cheez-its, beer, and coke."
--Geoff, feeling the pain of being the only man on the trip.
New Zealand Map
New Zealand Links
For more information on traveling to New Zealand, the following are particularly good links:
Lonely Planet The best online source about New Zealand for general information for independent travelers.
Christchurch Press Daily news from the Christchurch Press.