The South Island, New Zealand

We unloaded from the Lynx Ferry at Picton on the South Island just after 1700. We didn't even stop, but immediately headed west, and 90 minutes later arrived in Nelson. We had no room reservation and only after many false leads we found a very forgettable room at the Riverside Motel.

We need to cover some ground, so are up early and breakfasted, and on the way out of Nelson we stop and shop for used books, groceries. Kaaren found some beautiful 'apple-coral' beads at the Bead Gallery.

West across the mountains via Murcheson and the Buller River Gorge. It is a beautiful drive on a narrow winding road cut into the hardrock. It is impassable for trucks and buses because of rock overhangs too low for large vehicles. At Punakaiki we parked and hiked out to explore Pancake Rocks. The violent sea has carved bizarre shapes and monster blowholes out of the soft limestone formations. Small dolphins (Hector's ?) playing in the surf.

Then south through Greymouth to Hokitika. It is so humid that fog is dense at 20+*C. Checked in to the Black Sands Motel. Weird phone jacks, so D. inquired at the front desk re. an adapter and was told that owners didn't want computers used because they didn't know how to charge for the calls. D. dismantled the wall jack and hooked up to the internet anyway.

Dinner at Tasman View Restaurant. Almost inedible food and appalling service, and this at the 'best' restaurant in town. K. is fuming. For an appetizer D. had a local delicacy called whitebait, which is a fried mass of tiny white fish; very gritty with small bones, and not worth repeating.

Shopped for jade in Hokitika. Purchased greenstone 'miri' (maori warclub carved out of jade). . . our only N.Z. treasure.

South through Whataroa, and on to Franz Joseph Glacier. Foggy with heavy, warm rain. We're still trying to figure out how come a glacier essentially at sea level in so temperate a climate. Tyler was so hoping to see the Kea, a NZ mountain parrot known to frequent the parking lot. It was raining so hard that even the parrots decided to stay under shelter. We took a short walk to the viewing deck, but the fog prevented us seeing much.

After supper we helped Colin muster and milk his herd of 200 Herefords. Colin used to play professional rugby, but after suffering too many concussions had to quit to take up farming; he's a very rugged guy who works dawn to dark, seven days a week, and on a farm that gets 23 FEET of rain a year.

Carolyn provided us with directions to a coastal walk near the small fishing hamlet of Harihari. We set off from the parking lot through lush, dense bush, just dripping droplets from the high humidity. Lots of birds singing, but we never were able to see the rare parakeets Ty was searching for. We reached the beach, crossed a river the color of grey clouds and walked over the driftwood-littered cobbles to Doughboy Rock - a huge monolith plunked on the beach with 248 steps up to the top.

We ate our cheese and cracker lunch at the top on a platform with a sign that specified only 5 people at a time allowed . . . no problem, since nobody else is around. The scenery was stark and beautiful - an estuary to the east carrying grey silt out to the sea, and waves crashing far below us. It was very hot and muggy, so we were glad to get back into the bush on the return. The track paralleled the river and we came upon decrepit whitebait fishermen's shanties. The whitebait is precious stuff ($30/lb.), but we're still trying to fathom the appeal of a bunch of gritty, bitty minnows fried up in a patty.

We returned to the ranch and after dinner Ty fed leftover bread to Carolyn's pet lamb, 'Mintsauce'.

Okarito Lagoon for birding.

Whataroa to Queenstown via Fox Glacier, Haast Pass, and Wanaka. Amazing contrast as we cross the pass from the very wet west, to the middle plateau where the land is quite dry and barren of trees. Sheep, sheep and more sheep. We think back to conversations with Colin and his lamenting the lack of good shearers, and no young people learning the trade. In a few more years, how will they be shorn? So we passed the day inventing impractical sheep-shearing machines . . . finally decided genetic engineering and drugs to induce shedding will be the answer.

As we approached Queenstown we stopped to watch bungie jumping at the bridge. D & T considering having a go, but couldn't find the sense in it.

Found Trevor at 51 Greenstone Pl. Awsome view over Lake Wakatipu to the Remarkables. Huge, very deep lake (1000+ feet deep). Very blue and very cold.

Queenstown is very much a goodtimes, party town for young people. Jetboating, abseiling, river rafting, bungie jumping, windsurfing. Lots of beer trucks in evidence. We have an awesome view from our house high above Lake Wakatipu, across to the Remarkables. It's a deep lake (>1000 feet deep); very blue and cold. We're tired and are quite content to hang around the house, out of harm's way; short walks, reading, homework, recharging batteries.

Saddled up and left Queenstown at dawn, south along Lake Wakitipu, skirting Eyre Mountains to Te Anau Downs for the night. After dinner we took a short hike to Mistletoe Lake.

Up early and on the road to Milford Sound. Narrow, winding road along Lake Te Anau and up into Earl Mountains. Incredibly sheer, glacier-carved granite and diorite faces. Through the very narrow Homer Tunnel (one lane, three km's long) carved into solid granite, then steep, winding descent to Milford Sound. Explored the Sound on cruise-boat Monarch.

Thousands of tourists, 90% Japanese.

There's an awful lot of hype associated with the grandeur of Milford Sound, but we concurred that it lives up to its billing. It is glacially gouged (so is technically a fjord, and not a sound), and is very narrow and deep. The sheer cliffs in some places drop thousands of meters straight down into the sea, now-and-again broken by clefts through which waterfalls shoot out from the face of the rock. Our boat skirted these walls within spitting distance, and in spite of our captain's forewarning some passengers chose to remain outside on the upper deck and ended up drenched by spray from the waterfalls.

It's a very twisty, narrow road back up over the pass out of Milford Sound, so we hurried to depart ahead of the hundreds of tour buses.

We found a picturesque lake named Gunn and stopped for a picnic. The only people there were two young fishermen with a catch of monster Rainbow Trout. After lunch we went on a nature walk through an ancient beech forest at south end of Gunn Lake. New birds: Rifleman and Southern Robin.

It's late day and still hundreds of kilometers to go. Took the Scenic Route south through Manapouri, Clifden, Orepuki, Tuatapere toward southern coast of South Island. Billions of sheep, and big cows.

Found our little house in Riverton, a quiet backwater that feels decades behind the hustle and bustle of Queenstown. It is the site of one of the earliest settlements in New Zealand and was once a center for the processing of southern right whales. It's now dependent upon the occasional tourist and a declining oyster dredging industry for its tenuous existence.

Stopped in at the Riverton Paua (abalone) Factory on our way out of town to admire all the pretty baubles made of abalone shell. This paua icon (actually made of small bits of inlaid paua shell) has been chosen to appear on an upcoming NZ stamp. Giant icons like this are to be found in towns all over New Zealand ( . . . and Australia, too). They're kitchy as heck, but we're sorry for not having stopped to photograph more of the giant carrots, shrimp, trout, apples, sheep, onions, etc. as mementos of these small towns, and what they're about.

Spent the afternoon in Invercargill, a very orderly and English old town with beautiful parks, gardens and galleries. Visited the Southland Museum and Art Gallery . . . great exhibits of NZ lore and artifacts.

In the museum is a Tuatara (Shenodon punctatus) exhibit. They look and act much like lizards but are from a much more ancient lineage of reptiles (essentially unchanged in 260 million years) and are thought to be the only remaining 'dinosaurs'. An extraordinary characteristic they exhibit is a rudimentary third eye, complete with lens and retina, in the top of the head. Its purported function is light reception and maintenance of diurnal cycles. These reptiles may live to be 200 years old.

Continuing eastward through coastal towns and sheep, cattle, and deer ranches to our next accommodation at Waikawa Harbor. Along the way we took a 15 kilometer detour to check out the lighthouse at Waipa Head. Kaaren and Tyler found perfect little bits of jade in the beach sand.

Waikawa Harbor is a pretty little bay accessible to the open ocean only by a narrow and winding channel through the dunes. Once a thriving fishing and whaling port, it is now all but deserted. Our house tonight is a tired old beachfront cottage with few amenities, but we expect little for less than $30 and are quite content.

Ty and Dan walked down to the long-abandoned lobster and fish processing wharves at the end of the road.

Packed up and drove 10 k's to June Strathmore's sheep station to pay her for our use of her beach house. Then headed east, skirting the coastline of the Catlins. Stopped for a hike into Cathedral Caves, which are carved into the rock at the base of a bluff and are only accessible at low tide. We had to wade through waist-deep water to enter the cavern. The cavity has been carved by the sea from two sides of a point of rock, so at the very back of the cave you turn a corner and exit out the opposite opening.

Stopped in Owaka for dinner supplies and continued on to Nuggets Reserve.

There we met Kath and Noel Widdowson at their beautiful home built right at the end of a rocky promontory above the crashing surf, and they showed us to our bungalow. Kath is the Wildlife Ranger for the reserve and nurses the hurt and lost penguins people bring by her door. Ty thinks she has a fine job.

On the beach in front and around the cliffs at the base of the lighthouse are to be found:

Lazy start to our morning. D. and T. lost another aerobie in the surf; this is number five that's been lost this way. Kath came down and showed us where to find green-lipped mussels in the rocks . . . gathered sufficient for our lunch and theirs.

After lunch we drove to Kaka Point for some provisions, then to Cannibal Bay and a hike across the dunes to False Islet. Big old Hooker Sea Lions basking in the sand. These are all males of various ages. Amazing to note the increase in bulk and change in color from a soft grey to black as they age. Younger animals would barely turn their heads as we walked by, but the big bulls were quite territorial and startled us when they'd lunge and roar if we came too close. Tyler found a wounded cormorant that he wanted save.

Again we marvel at the beauty of the beaches here. Golden sand, beautiful rock formations, clear green water, thick brown kelp, crashing surf . . . and not another soul in sight.

On our way back to Nuggets, Tyler wanted to observe more penguins so we dropped him off at the hide. We picked him up a couple hours later and continued on to Nugget Point Lighthouse. It first cast its light in 1872 and is still intact but is now automated, so the lighthouse keeper's cottages sit vacant 300 meters above the crashing sea. Kath and Noel are negotiating for a long-term lease to take over and renovate the cottages and spend the rest of their days owning one of the grandest views on earth.

After Nuggets we leave the Catlins, heading north through Balclutha to Dunedin. Checked in at the Commodore motel, then headed down to the docks. We happened to get there just in time to watch the Russian square-rigged ship, Nadezhda, get snuggled up to her berth.

Today we spent the day driving around the Otago Penninsula. Our first stop was Larnach Castle. It was built near the turn of the century by scoundrel Scotsman named Larnach, whose life reads like a novel. His end came when, as he was giving a speech from the floor of Parliament (and after a very full life fraught with stories of greed and excess and tragedy), he pulled out a revolver and shot himself.

From there we drove around the peninsula, stopping in at artists' studios, and visiting the Wandering Albatross colony at the tip of Cape Otago.

Early departure from Commodore in Dunedin, heading north along coastal highway.

Stopped to explore famous Moeraki Boulders strewn along the beach north of Oamaru. Quite peculiar-looking, they seem like huge cannon balls. They're several meters across, each one a concretion deposited over millions of year, and at the center of each is a fossil.

It's getting very hot as we head north, Graywacke's air-conditioning is struggling to keep us cool. By Ashburton we're well into the Canterbury Plains, flat as a board and stretching eastward to the Southern Alps shimmering in the haze. It's now almost 40 degrees C. outside, and with a 40 knot wind it feels like a blast furnace. The land is parched and the topsoil is blowing away in dusty brown clouds. Farmers are having to slaughter their breeding stock of sheep, deer and cattle for lack of water and good feed.

Kaaren and Tyler explored Cathedral Square in downtown Christchurch. We see lots of churches and cathedrals in New Zealand. But they seem to be relics of a bygone era, for most are closed up or have been taken over to house government institutions.

Christchurch is hot and we're ready to be moving again. But first we have to sell the car. After exploring several options we choose to put her up for auction. Finally sold Graywacke at Turner's auction for $9750 NZ . . . $1500 less than we paid initially but we she was dependable and we used her hard. It would have cost more than $6000 to rent a similar car for 2.5 months.

Another day spent in limbo. We want to be going, headed to Bali, but our flight from Auckland is not for two days yet. Kaaren and Ty spend more time experiencing the hustle and bustle of Cathedral Square.

This English bloke painting miniatures intrigued Ty. Kaaren bought a painting from him.

Finally we're on our way: Christchurch to Auckland to Melbourne, and then . . .

"Home"