More of the South Island

Antarctic Centre

We visited the Antarctic Centre in Christchurch before we left the city.  Christchurch is the jumping off point for about 20 countries that are doing scientific research on Antarctic.  It has some interesting displays and information about the continent and is where they are tending some injured penguins.  I can't remember the type they have there but they are the little ones.  I didn't know that there are about 6 different kinds of penguins down in that part of the world.  I didn't take notes so my facts are what I remember and could be off by some.

Kura Tawhiti area

We also drove from Christchurch up to Arthur's Pass one day and come across the Kura Tawhiti/Castle Hill Conservation Area along the way.  There were some interesting rock formations there.

a Kea, the NZ parrot

We have found that the south island is very different from the north.  This one is very mountainous and varied; from coast shores to high mountains.  We have seen vineyards, sheep pastures, cow pastures, and even deer herds that are being raised for meat.


It has green fields and dry parts that remind us of Idaho and the bluest lakes.  Water falls and lakes are everywhere.

Lake Pukaki

Mt. Cook

The south island mountains are known as the Alps of New Zealand and are impressive.  We went up to Mt. Cook which is 12,349 ft.

seals in Milford Sound

Today we took a boat cruise in the Milford Sound which is a fiord area.  The key word there is water.  It was raining, which it does over 200 days of the year, and this is rain forest country.  It was dug out by glaciers and is just spectacular.  Waterfalls everywhere because the ground is hard rock with very little soil.  With so much water and nothing to really catch it and keep it, it just runs off back into the sound.  Misty, wet, rainy, and a little eerie.  By the time we got back to our hotel, we were back in the sunshine.

Milford Sound

Just an amazing country so I am just going to include a bunch of pictures.

To the south island

We left Turangi and drove down to Wellington on the south point of the north island of New Zealand.  We spent the night there before taking the ferry to Picton on the south island.  We did a little touring in the afternoon after we arrived.  Wellington is a very nice city and the capitol of New Zealand.  The original Parliament building burned down in 1907 and the new building is nicknamed the Beehive.  We also went to a couple of churches.  One thing that has struck me about New Zealand is that it is so clean.  We really haven't seen any trash on the streets at all.

The ferry from Wellington to Picton is more like a cruise liner.  It holds 600 cars on 3 decks and has a 1,650 passenger capacity.  They have 10 decks, movie theaters, cafe and restaurant, family section, and a section where you can watch TV.  The World Rugby Cup is being played and the "All Blacks", NZ's team, is the world champ so the games are on all over.  The whole country is behind the team and you see evidence of that everywhere.  We had a nice crossing even though the wind was pretty strong.  You could feel some swell action on the ferry but not much.  It was a really nice trip.

We picked up our next car in Picton and took off for Christchurch.  The road down hugs the coast part of the way and we came across a breeding ground for seals.  Moms and pups were gathered there.  The signs said to stay a certain distance away but, naturally, people were pulled over along the road and one couple was right down near a pup taking pictures.  I stayed the suggested distance away and used my zoom to get my pictures but it sure was an unexpected bonus of the trip.

We hit some view points today and toured some of the earthquake damage in Christchurch.  They had a severe earthquake in 2011 and they are slowly getting things rebuilt.  There was so much damage that it is taking a long time simply because the resources needed are limited.  We saw leveled lots, rebuilding everywhere, buildings with props and braces all over, and lots of empty buildings waiting for their turn to be fixed up or leveled.

The south island is more mountainous than the north island.  There are 4 ski areas on the north island, I think, and about 13 on the south.  Lots more snow here but we also found it to be less green.  The north island struck us as almost lush while the south island is less so.  Still lots of sheep and dairy cows but just not that same deep green.  It is also a little behind as far as the tree blossoms, too.  Different latitudes, different temperatures, different terrain.  Just adds more to the experience.  Looking forward to moving further south and seeing more of this country.

One thing we have discovered is that New Zealanders, or Kiwi's as they call themselves, have a great sense of humor.

Turangi, north island of New Zealand

Hamilton Gardens

Our last day in Hamilton was a very nice day and we ended up at the Hamilton Gardens.  The  gardens are separated as to theme and they were very nice.  This was an interesting plant in the gardens.  One thing that strikes me here is that the plants seem to cover all types of climates, from palms to evergreens to ferns and they all grow together.  It is quite different.

We traveled further into the center of the north island of New Zealand, to Turangi, on the south end of Lake Taupo.  It is a vacation area with fishing as the main draw.  We have driven around quite a bit and the central theme for NZ seems to be water.  We have visited several waterfalls.  There is also a lot of geothermal activity.  We have also seen lots of clouds and some rain.  Spring in NZ is their wet season.

Maropoka Falls

One rainy day we hiked to Maropoka Falls.  It was only a ten minute hike in the rain each way, but we were pretty wet by the time we got there.  We looked quick and took a couple of photos, then left, trying to keep cameras dry.  Didn't spend much time checking pictures and ended up with this one.  Who are those mystery people standing out in the forest in the rain?



We also toured Craters of the Moon and Wai-O-Tapu geothermal fields.  We are a little spoiled by Yellowstone but they had some very interesting features that we haven't seen at home.

Huka Falls

Huka Falls is also a big attraction in the same area.  All the falls we have seen are powerful and very pretty.  Huka Falls has a jet boat that will take you up to the bottom of the falls.  We are not thrill seekers enough to do that, though.

Lava Glass

We were looking for a place to eat lunch one day and came across Lava Glass.  The glass blowers have won many awards and had a glass garden in back of the cafe.  The building includes a gallery of their wares, a tour of them working, a cafe, and the glass garden.  Their work was beautiful but out of my price range.  In the garden, they had some large glass flowers that were my favorites, although everything was spectacular.

Our latest adventure was a boat ride in the Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley.  It was raining by the time we got there but the boat had cover which was good.  This area was created by a volcanic eruption as recent as June 10, 1886.  The eruption lasted 6 hours, took 120 lives, and extinguished all plant, bird, and animal life in the area.  A 15,000 square km area received an appreciable covering from the eruption.  It is significant because it can be studied as the area gets naturally reclaimed.  After the eruption, the area filled with rain water to form the present-day lake.  Our boat actually took us into a crater which was pretty cool.  The area has lots of birds due to the warmth from the geothermal activity.  There are lots of black swans in NZ, we have found, and there were several on this lake.

We have found New Zealand to be very beautiful and interesting.

Arriving Down Under

We traveled to California to see family before leaving the country.  Had a nice time there but the drought in California is just terrible and apparent everywhere.  The hills were always yellow in the summer and green in the winter in the "rainy season".  After years of drought, the hills aren't even yellow, they are grey because you see so much dirt.  We also passed one of the recreational reservoirs on our way to LAX and the water level is way low.  It just hits you in the face to be out there.  We did see something we never expected, though, whales right at Shell Beach.  We sat in the car at the beach and you could see several spouting and coming up.  There must have been at least a half dozen and we watched them for several minutes before they moved further out to sea.  I have never seen them in that area before but they had come in really close to feed and it was so cool.  The rocks off the shore were also filled with pelicans.  Hadn't seen that before, either.

We survived the 13 hour flight from LAX to Auckland, NZ.  Left late at night and got to Auckland in the morning what with the time change.  Arrived a day later due to crossing the dateline so we missed Sept. 11 all together.  We managed to stay up all day but definitely hit the sack early that evening.  I still don't think I have completely adjusted.  We seem to be asleep between 8:00 and 10:00 PM and I wake up between 4:00 and 6:00 AM.  Doug is doing better than I am.

Auckland

New Zealand was created by volcanoes and there are several hills left over from them.  They dot Auckland and mostly are parks.  One Tree Hill was the first we visited and the park isn't what we expected.  The owner of the land gave it to the city in the early 1900's for a park to be enjoyed by all. It is mostly open land with sheep grazing on it.  Since it is spring here, it is lambing season and they were all over the place.  You could hear the lambs bleating for their mothers like a constant background song.  The tops of these areas offer some fantastic views of Auckland.

Kite Kite Falls

We have also visited two falls, one in Auckland and one in Hamilton.  The climbs up and down nearly killed me.  All my leg muscles are making themselves known, but the falls were spectacular.

Bridal Veil Falls

Being spring here, we expected cooler temps and rain and we have had that to some extent.  The temps have been a little cooler than we had expected and we have had clouds and some light moisture, but we have lucked out so far on the rain.  Usually it is overcast mornings and evenings, but the days have been pretty good.  Hope this holds out.  We, of course, coming from 90 - 100 degree weather in CO before we left, are feeling the cold while the locals are enjoying the warmer weather.  You see the same range of outerwear as home, some in shorts and some in coats and hats.   It just depends on the heartiness of the person, I guess.  For me, it is wetter so also colder but I have my layers and they go on and off pretty regularly depending on if we are in the wind or not.

black sands beach

Lovely country and lovely people so far.