Wow, all I can say about the South Island is that it's a lot more scenic than the North Island! The scenery can be intoxicating at times. What really amazed me was the very abrupt climate zone changes that happen within a very short distance. Obviously, with such a small geographical area and mountains practically running the length of both islands this should be expected but to see it first hand is an eye opener. It seems everywhere one looks, mountains are always in sight.
The ferry trip from Wellington across the Cook Straight to the small town of Picton on the south island takes about three and a half hours. The trip winds through the Marlborough Sounds, a river formed area with deep coves, steep hills and greenish blue colored water. Salmon farms can be spotted along the way and the hills are covered with trees down to the waters edge in places. We land in Picton and off I go on the Queen Charlotte Highway heading for the Abel Tasman National Park for some hiking. The drive is my initiation to the south island roller coaster like highways. The beautiful scenery makes it a challenge to keep the car between the lines as I hug the rugged coastline road.
The following day I reach the Abel Tasman NP and book a water taxi to take me up the eastern coastline of the park. I'm dropped off at a secluded beach and commence a 12 KM hike along the coast back to the starting point of the boat ride. The trail winds its way through sections of semi tropical rainforest and skirts the coastline affording great views of the ocean and distant islands. I'm able to hike down to a couple of beaches to rest and take in the scenery. The trail near the coast is littered with granite rocks reminding me of trails in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I meet two couples from NZ along the way and one of the couples had traveled to New Hampshire on "holiday" years ago and share memories of their time there. Small world indeed. After hiking for nearly 3.5 hours I reach the car and head off to Renwick, a small town adjacent to Blenhiem in one of the better known wine producing regions on the south island. The couple I stayed with in Hamilton had friends there who they had gone to University with years ago and told them I might be coming by. The couple, Sandy and Hugh, invited me to stay at their place if I wished. I decided to accept their offer and drove to their home on the outskirts of town. Their home was situated high on a hill with great views of mountains to the east and winery fields below ready for harvesting. We shared dinner and conversations about our respective countries. Hugh's brother Ron and nephew Andrew also joined us and it was interesting to hear their thoughts and knowledge about the US and its government policies, etc. Since Sandy, Hugh and Ron were high school educators, we talked about the similarities and differences of our respective country's secondary and post secondary educational systems. I also catch a little Cricket on the TV before bedtime and Hugh and Andrew give me an overview of the game's rules and discuss the way cricket is played. Pretty different than American baseball though it does have some similar parts. There is strategy employed just don't ask me about that as I'm sure it would mean watching an awful lot of cricket before I would even begin to figure that out!
After saying goodbye's to Sandy, Hugh and Ron the following morning, I'm off to the east coast and a town called Kiakora to meet up with my friends and neighbors Shery and Chris for lunch. Nothing like meeting your neighbors for a lunch date nearly half way around the world. What planning went into this! Before we have lunch we stop along the highway to view some New Zealand Fir seals staying on the rocky coast. We take a short hike to a waterfall feeding a small pool and brook flowing to the sea where some young fir seal pups are staying while their mothers are off feeding in the ocean. They swim and play in the pool and rest along the rocky brook, posing for pictures. With no natural predators, they are secure here until their mothers come back to feed them. At times they would skirmish a little with each other but generally seemed to get along just fine. Ah, the life of a seal. We find a roadside food stand and decide to share some fishcakes and NZ crawfish. The crawfish are similar to Atlantic Ocean lobsters though are smaller and have a different taste. Chris was determined to eat some crawfish while here on holiday and though she was aghast at the cost (mainly due to foreign demand) she really enjoyed the treat. Shery made some tea and we enjoyed a few hours together talking about our travels to date in Australia and NZ. We decided to depart mid afternoon as they were headed for the town of Nelson and I to the west coast, hoping to get there not too long after dusk. I drove south through Kiakora and then west through the mountains and Lewis Pass, one of three passes through the Southern Alps as they are called here in NZ. The drive was very scenic and one could very easily tell when the west coast was getting nearer as the climate zone changed rather rapidly from semi arid plain and mountain alpine to semi tropical rainforest within a few miles. The west coast receives on average between 7-9 meters (~23-27 ft.)of precipitation per year and it's readily evident. I reach a port town named Greymouth after dark and stay the night. The next morning I'm heading south along the coast ultimately on my way to Queenstown, a very popular and touristy town similar to US ski towns. The highway along the lightly populated west coast is relatively straight surrounded by fields butting up against the mountains to the east. I'm headed for the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, two of the most well known southern alps glaciers. Soon I'm off on a gravel road after seeing a sign for a Helicopter Service taking passengers on sightseeing flights over the alps. I decide to partake and after waiting awhile for others to show up we take off for the Franz Josef Glacier, viewing the really wide glacier stream bed full of glacial till and grey and bluish colored waters. After flying above the cloud cover, the sun and blue sky make for a really beautiful scene, with the rugged snow capped Southern Alps mountain tops jutting up out of the glacier. Puffs of clouds pass by as the helicopter lands on the glacier (where there are no crevasse's to fall into) and we can get out to take a short walk with camera's at the ready. This area receives 40-50 meters of snow per year on average which is a lot of snow pack. The glacier moves ~ 2-3 meters downhill per year and has receded quite a distance over thousands of years as the earth warmed up after the last ice age and over the last twenty years or so the pace that the glacier is receding has increased and many blame that on climate change. The surrounding mountains are very rugged, with scraped areas easily seen caused by the receding rock filled glaciers. We fly back and I drive a little further south to have lunch in Fox Township, with the Fox Glacier not far away. After lunch, I find the trail head for a short hike with some lookout views to the glacier headwall. I cross the glacier stream on a cable suspended walk bridge taking in the great scenery. The trail cuts thru an incredibly green, hairy treed semitropical rainforest, the greenest I've seen to date but with all that rainfall, it all makes perfect sense. What I find very interesting is the close proximity of a very wet and green climate with the stark, rugged, glacial mountain climate.
I continue on and stay for the night in Haast, a sleepy coastal town at the bottom of the west coast highway where the highway turns SE over the Alps over the Haast Pass. The next day I'm off on a cloudy day headed for Queenstown. The drive is scenic as I pass by a few glacial stream beds, very steep mountains, one way bridges(very common in NZ)and rainforests crowding the edges of the highway. The narrow roads through the forest makes one feel like they are traveling with the forest flora, not just through it. After a few hours and quite a few meters of elevation gain I reach the Haast Pass and not long after the clouds part and the blue sky opens up and the sun beams brightly on the surrounding mountains. I soon come to the northern tip of Lake Wanaka and travel down it's eastern side taking in the scenery all along it. Eventually the road turns away to the east and in short order I see another body of water in the distance called Lake Hawea. Both of these deep blue alpine lakes are surrounded by picturesque mountains and vistas and obviously the sunny weather really adds to the beauty. Many of the poplar trees around here are dressed in their autumn colors with golden yellowish foliage like the quaking aspens found in N. America. After nearly four hours I reach Queenstown around midday and find a motel to stay. Queenstown is a small town situated along the northern shore of Lake Wakatipu and surrounded by the Southern Alps. There are ski areas a short drive away but unfortunately, I was here before any snow had fallen on the peaks. I rode up the gondola to see the view from high above the town and hiked further up the mountain into the stand of Douglas Fir trees (imported from Canada to reforest the area). I found my bearings and headed into the town, visiting the waterfront area and later that afternoon stepping into the "Cow" Restaurant for dinner. My friend and neighbor from Bean Rd., Stephanie, had told me that I needed to visit the Cow. She had been there on a trip years ago and thought it was a pretty neat establishment. I was not disappointed at all and the interior of the restaurant was very quaint with the exposed wood beams and paneling painted a dark brown. The fire in the stone fireplace kept the room nice and toasty and added to the ambiance of the place. It sort of reminded me of the traditional pubs and taverns found around New England. And the first pizza I had since leaving home tasted great. The next day I rented a mountain bike for four hours to get some exercise as I was sorely in need of that. I inquired about an area where there were mountain bike trails to ride and headed up the road towards Glenorchy. I came across Wilson's Point and the south head of the bike trail head and began the trail part of my ride. This section was described as a trail/walking path so I figured it wouldn't be too beyond my Mt. bike technical riding abilities. Well it was very close to being beyond and I had a few close calls and it was challenging enough for me. I rode back to town and drove off to Arrowtown, an old gold mining town which was holding a Autumn foliage type festival. I listened to some live music and later went to the New Orleans Hotel to see a performance by an American blues musician and singer/songwriter Big Daddy Wilson along with his German lead guitarist. The room was packed and the natives seemed to really enjoy the blues being performed by Wilson. They rarely have the opportunity to see blues music in NZ.
The next day I arose at 6 AM and headed off to the Fiordland Region of NZ and Milford Sound, a four hour drive. I booked a three hour boat tour of the Sound which would go to the Tasman Sea and back through the Sound. The drive became more scenic as I came closer to the mountains with the peaks rising to the sky, and occasional snow fields on the south flanks of the mountains. I then came to the entrance of the Homer Tunnel, a 1270 meter long one lane tunnel built between 1935 and 1954 to shorten and make easier the trip to Milford Sound. The inside of the tunnel is the rock face that was exposed during the construction of the tunnel except for the two entrance's. I finally reach the boat terminal and I'm off camera ready. There are only around two dozen people on board so I have plenty of space to roam around the boat to take pics. Lunch is served right off and we head off along the south side of the Sound. Technically, this area is a Fiord formed by at least two retreating glaciers over tens of thousands of years. It was mistakenly named a sound by early explorers and was first discovered when a ship was being battered by stormy weather and retreated to the calmer waters in what appeared to be a bay only to discover the extent of the waters further in. Camps were set up on the shore while needed repairs were made to the ships. Eventually, a very small village named Milford Sound was established and eventually tourism became it's main economic engine as more and more New Zealander's and foreign travelers were exposed to its natural wonders.
The ocean waters in the Sound are often topped with 12-14 meters of fresh water from all the rainfall that occurs in this area. It creates a very unique habitat for ocean living creatures which normally live in far deeper water but are fooled by the dark freshwater layer and can be seen at depths much closer to the surface. We stopped at a place called the Discovery Center, a man made floating observation tank where one can view the ocean creatures and flora ~ 30 ft. below the surface.
The mountains formed by the glaciers have incredibly steep and in some cases almost vertical sides. There are two permanent waterfalls that run year round. I'm told that when it rains here, numerous waterfalls quickly form running down the steep mountain faces creating a water wonderland. Occasionally, rock slides occur, taking with them all the trees and plants that cling to each other as there is no soil for plants to grow in. The plants are supported by roots of other plants and germinate in the mosses that readily grow in this very wet climate.
I drive back to Queenstown to spend the night and head out the next day for Christchurch. I cross over the semiarid midlands east of the Southern Alps, eventually entering farming and cropland areas of the east coast. I arrive later in the afternoon and drive into the downtown area to see the damage from the earthquake of Dec. '10. Many buildings had been demolished and cranes hover over the downtown working to rebuild or repair some of the office buildings. The remains of Christchurch Cathedral, arguably the most well known edifice in the city, was scheduled to be torn down the week I visited. All in all, it was rather sad to see the destruction caused by the quake and I can't quite imagine how the inhabitant's have had to deal with the disruptions to their lives and the constant fear of the next aftershock or worse.
I leave the next day headed for the West coast over Arthur's Pass through the alps again. The weather is gorgeous again and not long into the drive I come across Castle Rocks, a boulder strewn landscape straight out of a Sci-Fi movie. I grab the camera and head off on the short trail to these giant boulders to explore them and scramble around, taking dozens of pics. The undulating shapes of the rock faces caused by erosion of the softer rock, leaving the harder rock creates an incredibly natural sculpted piece of art. See the pics! The drive over Arthur's Pass is very scenic and I reach Greymouth early PM. I head north towards Westport traveling up the west coast highway. This section of the west coast is definitely more scenic than the section south of Greymouth I traveled earlier. The winding road hugs the coast and river gorges, at times squeezed between the mountains and the ocean waves crashing on the shore. The sun shines brightly and I come across Pancake Rocks south of Punakaki, a very interesting geological rock formation. Geologists who have studied the area have yet to figure out exactly how the formations were formed in order to leave such an unusual looking formation after thousands of years of ocean erosion. See the pics!
I head for the east coast and Picton to catch the ferry across Cook Straight the next day. After reaching Wellington, I head to the east coast of the north Island ending up in Napier, a city destroyed by a earthquake in 1931 and rebuilt in the Art Deco Style which was very popular during that period of time. The city has many very good examples of the style.
My last few days in New Zealand I spend with Lyn and Gavin in Hamilton, the couple I met my second day in the country. They take me to the Hamilton Chiefs Rugby team game on a Saturday night and the stadium is packed. I learn some more about rugby and the home team wins 31-14. After the game, we go the the Chiefs Rugby Clubhouse where we have dinner and meet others there to see the team players come in to eat and socialize with family and friends. The following day, I go on a 36 mile bike ride with Gav and three of his riding friends and needless to say, I'm definitely out of riding shape. That hill nearly killed me....
Monday, April 30 I fly to Honolulu, Hawaii and I'm back in the US. My time in New Zealand and the people I met there and places I saw I'm sure I'm not going to forget anytime soon.
