Scenes of the South

Again a long time between postings due to lack of internet access, so this posting will record our 2 week trip to the South Island with John.

I didn't take too many photos of our 3 hour ferry crossing, as the pitch and roll made me uncharacteristically seasick and I spent most of the journey breathing deeply and gritting my teeth!  However, the Queen Charlotte Islands are just as gorgeous as ever.

Our first stop along the way (other than lunch at our favourite restaurant at Kekerengu) was prompted by a sign that said "seal colony: seals out!" John scrambled down the rocks and got up close and personal with a few of these

friendly (if stinky) fellows.  Very impressive!

By late evening, we had wound our way past Christchurch and were headed inland seeking our home for the next week, a self-catering chalet at a place called Stronechrubie in the village of Mount Somers near Ashburton.  The day had turned quite cloudy and dusk was approaching, and we were unsure if we had missed the turnoff road, when a break in the clouds lit up Mount Somers like a beacon!  

Shortly afterwards we arrived and were cheerfully welcomed by Madeleine Brown, who, with her chef husband Sean, runs this charming accommodation.  We also quickly made friends with their lovely dog, named Schrubie, who came pawing at our door early every morning looking for a walk or a game of fetch.

 

Our week here was filled with pleasant walks in the nearby lily nursery where Cass insisted on gifting us with several stems of fabulous lilies to grace our chalet, sunset views of the surrounding mountains, and hikes to sights in the surrounding park, such as Sharplin Falls. 

 

  

We also had a fabulous meal in the Stronechrubie restaurant one evening.

 

John completed a strenuous day climb to the summit of Mount Somers, as his blog has recorded, only to be disappointed by a view completely blocked by cloud!

A highlight for me was a day trip to the site of the filming of the Golden Hall of Rohan, on Mount Sunday.  This stony summit was left in the valley when softer surrounding stone was eroded by glacial rivers, and it is truly majestic--a perfect site for Theoden's impressive hall.  Nothing is left of the set now, of course, but Frank and John made a determined attempt to climb the outcrop, only to be frustrated by rushing currents in the braided river that crisscrosses the plain surrounding Mount Sunday.  We had to settle for looking from afar!  In the photo below, you may be able to make out the two intrepid hikers--tiny in the foreground of the close-up shot!

On another day, we went into the city of Christchurch and enjoyed its beautiful cathedral square.  If you look closely, you can pick out a local character known simply as "The Wizard: who delivers his own brand of soapbox philosophy several times a day to curious crowds.

Near the end of the week, we took a day trip past Christchurch to the Banks Penninsula and enjoyed the pretty French colonial town of Akaroa.  This is an area we'd like to spend a week in next trip!

Leaving the east coast of the South Island behind, we made our way inland.  Along the way we were rewarded with clearing skies over Lake Tekapo, brilliant turquoise from the glacial rock flour suspended in its depths. Truly beautiful! 

Our next stop was Mount Cook, but the famous heights were obscured by dense cloud. Frank and John completed a hike to the overlook of the tail of the Tasman Glacier (see John's blog), while I watched three good films and perused the artifacts in the new Hillary Alpine Center within The Hermitage (the luxury hotel at the foot of Mount Cook). All the more poignant because of Hillary's recent death--he was truly an amazing man. 

 

We then continued south to Twizel (the site of the filming of the battle of the Pelennor Fields) where we stayed with Lester and Robin in the B & B in their custom-built home.  Lester  shared photos and memories of his time as one of the horsemen (and occasional orc) during the LOTR filming and gave us the benefit of an insider's experience.

Under still cloudy skies, we pushed on south the next day,  Reaching Wanaka (where Frank briefly renewed his acquaintance with the "Warbirds over Wanaka" vintage aircraft exhibits), we decided to enjoy the now-sunny afternoon

 by doing a hike up towards Mount Aspiring (the mountain range featured in the opening sequence of The Two Towers).  As we travelled the gravel road to the Rob Roy Trail head (fording many small streams along the way!) we noticed that NZ farmers are much more likely to have a bull in the pasture with the cows--here's one splendid specimen of bovine masculinity!

 Once at the trail head, I realized that the 3-4 hour hike was probably beyond my short legs, so I waved the guys off and happily set up my pastels to capture some of the incredible scenery, completing two good attempts of the views shown below.

   Later that evening, we checked into the B & B at Kanuka Lodge, home of Heather and Graeme.  We enjoyed Graeme's knowledge of the area (as a retired geologist) and Heather's wildflower honey and lovely garden, and their collection of original NZ art.  They were kind enough to admire my completed pastels, too.

The next day we enjoyed the town of Wanaka and its pretty family beach where a mama duck let me get REALLY close to her little family. 

The following morning, just as we were about to check out using our credit card, the power went out, making it impossible for Heather to use her internet banking service!  We were turning out our pockets trying to put together enough cash among the three of us to pay for our two nights' lodging when Graeme mentioned that he'd be happy to take a painting as payment!  After a bit of negotiation,they graciously accepted the second of my attempts from the previous day, and everyone seemed quite happy with the exchange!

After this satisfactory incident, we drove happily west, crossing over the beautiful L

indis Pass and ending the day in Franz Joseph on the west coast, famous for the nearness of a slowly retreating glacier.  It's still summer holiday time here, so the tiny town's accommodation was almost full, but we managed to find a room in a sort of hostel where Frank worked miracles on a two burner hotplate to produce a delicious chicken curry dinner.

Next morning dawned clear and cool, so we decided to make the 1 1/2 hour return trek up to the foot of the glacier.  Even I made it across the rock-filled river bed to the towering ice field--very cool (pun intended, of course!).

Feeling very virtuous for our exercise, we continued north along the coast, enjoying the incredible ocean views, and stopped at Hokitika for some jade/blue pearl jewelry shopping, where we found a driftwood sculpture contest happening on the beach.  We also checked out Gillespie Beach, where I tried some stone sculpture of my own.

By suppertime we were with our friends Sheila and Barry Grainger (owners of the Foxton Beach bach where we began this trip), who are just settling into their new home in Westport. We had a great visit, a delicious dinner, a restful night's sleep, and a lovely walk on the beach next morning with the Graingers and their dog Charlie, where we watched a huge dredger clearing the harbourmouth.

Our final evening was spent in Nelson after a leisurely drive across the top of the island.  We checked into the quite luxurious Rutherford Hotel, as I had a conference call related to work scheduled for 6 am the next morning and needed internet and phone access in the room.  Well, our first room (where I had a shower) had no internet access due to (we thought) a faulty wall socket, so they moved us next door (where Frank had a shower) only for us to discover that THIS room also did not seem to have internet and, as John suggested when the first room was out, in fact the whole floor's access was down. So eventually they moved us a third time (sorry, room cleaning staff!) to a room on another floor--the only available room left in the hotel, which was a huge luxury suite with its own kitchenette, three beds, a sofa and a big flat screen TV--at the regular room price! Very nice!  My early morning conference call went off without a hitch, and then we headed to Picton for a midday ferry ride back to the North Island.

So, here we are again back in Palmerston North, enjoying John and Jess's beautiful house.  We will be staying here until next Wednesday, when we'll end our trip with a few days in Wellington while John attends a web developers' conference.  Then it's back to Canada--but we'll ease ourselves back into winter with a week's stay in Vancouver while I attend a conference myself.

Might post one more blog entry before we leave...

  

Northland

Well, a lot has happened since I was last able to post to the blog, so here goes... We left John and Jessie settling happily into their lovely new home in Palmerston North, and headed north ourselves, crossing again through the Desert Road and enjoying unusually clear views of the mountains.
We also passed some unusual veggie people, perched high up on a kumara packing company building. Kumara is the local word for sweet potato, and you hqaven't lived until you've had kumara chips with garlic aioli!!



In midafternoon, we had stopped for a break when I had the horrifying realization that I had my dates mixed up, and we were meant to arrive at our cottage in Opononi the FOLLOWING day, not that day! I phoned the rental agent, and thankfully there were no other tenants in the cottage, so we were able to simply add a day to our rental and carry on. Phew!! I tried to use the excuse that I was still on Canadian time, but Frank just looked skeptical at that!
So, on we went, passing through Auckland and up the peninsula to Northland and the Far North. Of course, here in the southern hemisphere the farther north you go, the warmer and more tropical it is, so the landscape passing by our windows contained more and more lush tree ferns and gorgeous flowers.
Nearing our destination, Opononi, at the mouth of the Hokianga Harbour, we entered the Waipoura Forest and experienced the dizzying twists and turns of a road that winds past the largest kauri trees in the world. Sensational--and more about these a bit later.

Leaving the dense forest, we emerged at the brow of a high hill overlooking the turquoise expanse of the sheltered Hokianga Harbour.
We found our rental agent's house, then followed her to Opononi Heights, at 51 Taumatawiwi St, high above the harbour, where we unlocked the door of our home for the next week. The cottage was clean, bright, adequately roomy with two bedrooms, and blessed with a large deck out front, perfect for painting, reading, and sunset gazing. The village of Opononi, a mere ten minute walk downhill, is blessed with a terrific fish and chip takeaway, a pretty jetty, and a curved beach which is a popular fishing ground.

In the fifties, this small place was on the international news for a summer when Opo, a female bottlenosed dolphin, chose to spend her summer giving fin-rides to the local children and playing ball with all the swimmers. The local museum runs a couple of b & w newsreels filmed at the time, lending a very nostalgic flavour to the whole beach experience. The week passed quickly, mostly taken up with simply enjoying the local scenery and walks, but on one day we drove back to the Waipoa to visit the REALLY big kauri trees. These trees, now protected, were mostly harvested for timber when the Europeans first settled the area, and not many really large or old ones still stand. In this area, however, stand both the oldest (3,000 years old--really!) and the tallest. I've not yet visited California's redwoods, but I imagine they inspire the same kind of awe. These old giants are truly majestic, and really put you and your puny life into perspective. We were reduced to respectful silence in their presence.



The weather remained fine, cool and breezy with early morning mists giving way to afternoon sunshine and spectacular sunsets. On several occasions we drove around the harbour to the headland, where once a hand-raised signal flag stood to warn sailors of times when it would be dangerous to cross the bar underlying the entrance to the harbour. From this high point, the rugged coastline was revealed in all its glory. One afternoon, following a swift rainshower, we were charmed by the sight of a faint but complete rainbow over the enormous sand dunes opposite.




On another day, we took a drive to Rawene, another small village nearby, where we admired the locals and and couldn't help but be impressed by Kiwi ingenuity!

We thoroughly enjoyed our week, and rather reluctantly left our green cottage behind, heading east across the northern peninsula to reach our next home, Walnut Cottage just north of Tauranga, on the east coast just south of Auckland. The weather, because of a nearby cyclone in the tropics, had turned wet, but we couldn't feel bad, as this area's farmers were desperate for the moisture, having had a drought since Christmas. The scenery was still pretty, even in the mist, and we enjoyed the Karangahake Gorge on the way through.


We stayed here only three days, and the first was so wet that we decided to while away the day poking around antique shops in nearby Paeroa. As we drove out of town, we were startled by several police cars that went screaming by in the opposite direction. Just a moment later, three more...then three more...and three more, until fifteen had passed us! We found out via the evening news that this had been a huge car chase after a couple in a van who had just committed a burglary in Tauranga, and that it had culminated with a shoot-out on the streets of Paeroa just ten minutes after we had left! The male thief ended up in critical condition with a bullet to the chest, while his female partner surrendered without harm, we heard. Very exciting, but I was so glad NOT to have still been on the streets when it happened!

The next day was sunnier, so we drove into Tauranga, where I enjoyed a quiet morning with my book and a huge bowl of cafe latte while Frank prowled around a military aircraft museum, even briefly trying out the cockpit of a fighter jet!


In the afternoon we checked out the tourist shops, watched the locals fight the surf, and sighed over the building of highrise apartments at the foot of Mount Manganui.

Later that afternoon, we were joined by our dear friends Ruth and Chuck from Canada, who are just starting their extended travels in New Zealand. It was very strange to be feasting on NZ fish and chips together, so very far away from Canada!

The next morning, they headed north up the Coromandel while we headed south and west back to Palmerston North. Along the way, we made an impulsive detour to look at some signposted "scenic gardens" off the main road. After twenty kilometers along some twisty roads offering spectacular scenery, we came to an abrupt dead end and had to conclude that the "scenic gardens" had somehow disappeared. Nevertheless, the views were worth the trip, so we made our way back to the main road without too much regret. Soon after, we made a stop to purchase unique socks, sweaters, and jackets made of a blend of NZ merino wool and possum fur! Possum, imported to NZ decades ago, are the most-hated pest here, being both a nuisance and a terrible threat to NZ's endangered flightless birds, so hunting them is an encouraged activity and the Kiwi's have found many ways to use their fur!

So, that brings us back to Palmerston North, where we spent the day today catching up with John and Jessie, doing laundry, and getting ready for our trip south with John, beginning tomorrow. Our plans include a trip to where the Golden Hall of the Rohirrim was filmed in the Lord of the Rings, the French provincial town of Akaroa on the Banks Penninsula, possibly a cruise to see/swim with dolphins, and a return trip to Mount Cook and the Franz Joseph Glacier (as a fitting way to honour the late Sir Edmund Hillary), as well as the west coast and the Nelson/Marlborough areas. More blog entries to come whenever I get the chance!