New Zealand - Week One

The Jag

Well, here I am...  Finally!!!  The internet has been sporadic and sometimes REALLY slow.  That is my main excuse.  My other excuses are that we've been busy, tired, and trying to acclimate.  How am I doing so far???  We've been in NZ for 9 days now, I have a lot of catching up to do, so here we go...

We actually survived the trip after 34 hours of traveling not too much worse for the wear.  We flew from Minneapolis to Dallas, Dallas to Brisbane, AU., Brisbane to Christchurch NZ, and Christchurch to Dunedin, NZ - which is where we finally launched ourselves into the New Zealand culture. This is a fantastic country, created especially for the outdoor enthusiast.  Everywhere you look there are people biking, hiking (called tramping here), canoeing, and kayaking.  And the scenery is positively breathtaking - EVERYWHERE!

Our first full day here - Tuesday, the 18th - we had a guided tour of the Otago Penninsula in a 1960 Jaguar.  Pretty cool.  Steven was our driver and the tour lasted all day.  We visited Larnach Castle - a very famous castle in Dunedin.  Than we had a tour of the Royal Albatross Center, and finally a tour of the Penguin Place.  The Royal Albatross Center is a protected area where the birds breed and raise their chicks.  The Penguin Place is a protected place for the Yellow Eyed Penguin.  The breeding season for the penguins was over, but we were able to see some adult penguins molting.  After the nesting season is over, the adult penguins pretty much hang out in one place while they complete their molt cycle - at which time they completely replace all of their feathers, can't fly, and therefore can't eat and lose a great percentage of their body weight.  We also saw many Fur Seals lounging in the sun next to the ocean.  See the photos below.

Larnach Castle

Royal Albatross

Molting Yellow Eyed Penguin

Lazy Fur Seal

On the following day, Wednesday the 19th, we pretty much spent the day driving and enjoying the views between Dunedin and Teanu - which is where we spent Wednesday night in anticipation of our overnight cruise on Thursday.

Thursday morning, the 20th, we drove a short distance to Manipouri where we boarded a boat for the overnight cruise into Doubtful Sound.  Doubtful Sound is in the Fjord area on the Southwest coast of NZ.  A stunning landscape with forested mountains that ring the water and jut straight up out of and along the edge of the water for many meters.  (Can't remember how tall they are, but very tall and very impressive!)  The boat held 72 passengers, we had about 50 on our particular cruise.  We had a cute little cabin aboard the boat and they fed us fantastic meals all the time.  Everyone had an opportunity to do some kayaking or tour around one of the bays in a tender boat.  Some folks even went swimming!  It was beautiful and great fun.

I forgot to mention the process for actually getting to/from and on/off the cruise ship (boat, really).  We started out at Manapouri on a type of luxury ferry boat (with our overnight stuff).  Than we transferred to a motor coach after reaching land on the other side of the lake.  The bus took us up and over the mountain to Doubtful Sound where we boarded the cruise ship.  It took about 2 hours from start to finish just to get to the boat!  After breakfast on Friday morning, we did the process in reverse - arriving back at our starting point about noon. See the photos below.

Doubtful Sound

Bullers Albatross

Doubtful Sound Sunrise

Doubtful Sound Layers

We spent the rest of Friday driving to our next destination - Wanaka - where we spent the next 4 nights. (All the drives take longer here as the roads are curvy, mountainous, and scenic - which of course, means plenty of stops for photos.)   It was nice to have 3 full days in one spot - a home base, so to speak.  We covered a lot of  "ground" during those 3 days and pretty much fell into bed exhausted every night.  Out accommodations were quite nice in Wanaka, which was great since we had an extended stay there.

On Saturday, the 22nd, we drove over the mountain on the "Crown Range Road" to Queenstown and Glenorachy.  (This is the shortcut to Queenstown from Wanaka.  So, as you can imagine, it isn't a route on which you'd want to take your motor home!) We didn't spend much time in Queenstown as Glenorchy was really our destination.  However, as we were driving through town, we noticed hang gliders jumping off a nearby cliff.  Naturally, we stopped right on the street and I jumped out with my camera!   It took FOREVER to get to Glenorachy as the road followed beautiful Lake Wakatipu, and I made Tom stop for photo opps every 10 minutes or so!  See the photos below.

Hang Gliding

Tip Of The Lake

 We did a tramp around Glenorchy Lagoon where we observed Black Swans and lots of beautiful scenery.  See the photos below.

Welcome

Glenorchy Lagoon

Following Glenorchy Lagoon, we drove a bit further to the Routeburn Track and did a short nature hike/tramp through the rain forest. 

Sunday, the 23rd, we tried to kill ourselves with a 6 mile round trip hike/tramp up the mountain (and back) to The Rob Roy Glacier.  Not only did the hike up and down the mountain provide us with stunning scenery (and sore muscles), but the drive to the trail head offered many beautiful morning scenes.  The sheep and the cows are always ready to pose for a picture!  It took almost as long to drive to the trail head as to do the actual hike when one considers how often I needed to stop for a picture!  In addition to the sheep and the cows, they raise deer here for venison.  So while the sheep and the cows sometimes have "free range", the deer are always enclosed in pastures with high fences.  See the photos below.

The Sheep

Resting My Chin On The Gate

Warning #1

Warning #2

Rob Roy Glacier

The Bridge Crossing

 Monday, March 24th found us back on the "Crown Range Road" for a repeat visit to the Queenstown area.  This time our destination was another nearby town called Arrowtown.  We thought it was going to be a historic old gold mining town.  And it did have many original buildings, but they have all been turned into restaurants and shops for the tourists!  All was not lost, however, as we did some sunrise pictures of Lake Wanaka before leaving the area and had a great time in this little town called Cardrona.  Cardrona consists of a an old hotel/restaurant & a few other buildings.  Really a cute spot actually.  See the photos below

Cardrona Hotel

Sign Post

Two other interesting things in Cardrona.  First, I was able to get a photo of a Stoat.  A Stoat looks a bit like our Mink or Pine Marten.  Unlike the Mink & the Pine Marten, however, they are considered to be a real nuisance here.  There are many slow and/or flightless birds in NZ and the Stoats are one of several small mammals that prey upon the birds.  They are not native to the country, so along with some of the Stoats other non-native  friends, there is a campaign all over the country to get rid of them.  It is actually thought that by taking no action against the predators, that several of the birds in NZ would be extinct within the year.  See photo below.

Stoat

The second fun thing about Cordrona should be pretty self explanatory.  See the photo below.

Fence Decor

On our way back to Wanaka, we stopped off to observe (notice the work observe, not participate in) some bungy jumping.  I could hardly watch - don't think I'll be trying it anytime soon!  See photo below.

The Thrill of It All

On Tuesday, March 25th, we made our way from Wanaka to The Wilderness Lodge at Lake Moeraki.  Beautiful drive along Lake Hawea & Lake Wanaka, over the mountains and through the rain forest.  See photos below.

Lake Hawea

Tasman Sea

The Wilderness Lodge is most appropriately named.  It is definitely in the wilderness!  They are off the grid here and provide all of their own electricity, heat, etc.  You'd never know it based on the elegance of the place and the quality of the meals!  We did a nature hike/tramp through the rain forest after arriving here and a guided trek to feed the eels before dinner.  Yes, eels.  They live in the river and are huge.  Evidently, they can't see much but have a great sense of smell.  So the staff brings bacon, they can smell it, and come up to the shore to take part in the feast.  Sorry, but no good photos of the eels.  They were so wet and shiny (not to mention that it was quite dark along the shoreline), that you wouldn't even be able to tell it was an eel from the picture!  I did try, however!

It is now Wednesday, March 26th.  We borrowed the lodges very old and very heavy canoe and paddled up the river into Lake Moeraki.  It was a beautiful morning for a paddle.  In fact, all of our mornings here have been beautiful.  We expected to find many rainy days while in NZ.  But, we have only seen 2 very short rain showers.  Hardly a cloud in the sky!  I should also add that we've met quite a variety of people traveling this beautiful country - one of the best benefits of travel.  See photos below.

The Moeraki River Bridge

Moeraki Lake Shore

We have been told that NZ is home to only one falcon - the New Zealand Falcon - there aren't that many of them, (I believe he said just 100)  and there is actually a pair living right here at the lodge.  Can you believe, they eat worms???  I find that so strange when I think about what our birds of prey at home eat.  Anyway, that guy is out there on the lawn - just like a Robin - eating worms!  See photos below.

Listening For The Worm

Catching The Worm?

Tomorrow, March 27th, we head off to the town of Franz Joseph where we get to do a heli hike on Franz Joseph Glacier. 

Assuming I can get the internet to work and work fast enough around here, I plan to post this first entry yet today.  I will try and be in contact a bit more often - but don't hold your breath - it could be another week -:)

Melissa and Tom

PS:  Sorry for the length of this post and the number of pictures.  It was so hard to narrow things down -:)