Blogging is a bit addictive and after 15 months of telling you all about the world's hot spots, we feel compelled to report on the latest journey through New Zealand and our 3,000km (2,000 mile) drive around the south island.
Just a quick background on the past two months; you should know by now that Marina and I have settled in Sydney, Australia. I've returned to Symantec (MessageLabs division) and Marina starts a new job in a week working for an Australian Internet Service Provider - Exetel. Sydney has been an exciting city to learn and explore and thankfully we have met some fantastic people to throw us in the deep end partying and truly experiencing Sydney life.
When we landed or should I say DIVERTED; the excitement started. No one ever feels comfortable when you go in for a landing and the captain pulls up the plane and doesn't tell you why. After fifteen minutes, he relayed something strange which he later elaborated upon - "Christchurch has had another earthquake”. You should all remember the devastating Earthquake from February 2011 that left almost 200 people dead and leveled Christchurch. Our plane was due to land on December 23rd just 20 minutes after the most recent big one. We were diverted to Wellington, and to my shock, we made it to Christchurch once they reopened the airport, only 3 hours after our arrival time - RESULT!
On the topics of Earthquakes - Christchurch has been having thousands since the big one in February. When one of my customers told me that only 10% of Christchurch remains after the February quake I didn't really believe him - well having walked through the city, this is absolutely true about the city centre - it's GONE! Possibly half of the buildings are now demolished after the damage in February and many of the rest are condemned. There are a few lucky ones standing and even a few doing business. Just walking around the neighborhoods outside the centre, walls of houses are gone, memorials are placed to honor the dead where buildings once stood) and there are signs of the quakes pretty much everywhere you look in the form of rubble and vacant houses and businesses!
On a lighter note - let me tell you about the shire-land of Frodo Baggins! Christchurch has its turmoil, but the south island as a whole has so much going for it. When you come here and see the natural beauty, you can understand why so many Kiwis (New Zealanders) return home after traveling or living abroad. For 2.5 years, they filmed the Lord of Ring's Trilogy in what could be called Mother Nature's finest work! I'll tell you more about the nature and some of the great activities one can partake in.
The local population: New Zealanders are knick-named Kiwis after their national bird which seems like a nice friendly little thing, but unlike their laidback countryman, these birds can be purely evil if you get too close; the scar on my finger can attest to this. Sheep are said to outnumber the people here something like a million to one. I don't know how true this is, but I can tell you that something truly ferocious outnumbers the Sheep a billion to one - Sand Flys! Forget the army, if a country wants to prevent a military invasion, just send in the sand flys. These little things seem to be everywhere and I can tell you this may be why Ghingis Khaan never made it to New Zealand - somewhere along the line, he heard about the sand flys. These little buggers burrow their head in your skin and bite the living bageezzas out of you! Traveler beware!
Our path;
Christchurch > Kaikoura > Blenheim > Picton > Westport > Charleston > Punakaiki > Hokitika > Franz Joseph > Fox Glacier > Queenstown > Wanaka > Te Anau > Milford Sound > Dunedin > Christchurch
December 23rd, Lamb Shanks: Once we had our car, we were on the road and a few hours later in Kaikoura. We arrived just in time to get dinner at our hotel and I can say this was one of the best meals in New Zealand we had - and this is saying a lot! The lamb - possibly the best in my life was so perfectly cooked; as I write, I'm actually considering a drive of 2 hours north just to go dine at the Pier Hotel again!
December 24th, Sperm Whales: Feeling a bit like Captain Ahab; we boarded our vessel to go out in search of Sperm whales - kings of the deep. These whales go down to 3,000 meters (10,000 ft) so they are rarely seen by humans. However, Kaikoura has a deep ocean shelf just a few km or miles offshore so these gentle giants can easily be seen. We spotted four and could quickly tell they were sperm whales by their box faces which carry the oil previously sought after by whalers. They can also be spotted by the blowhole which fires at a 45 degree angle rather than straight up like other whales. We then drove north to Blenheim taking in two wineries and tasting what was some of the finest wine we found in New Zealand. That night we enjoyed a nice Christmas Eve meal; we weren't able to be at home in the US, but I sure wanted to eat like I was!
December 25th, Herzog Winery: For Christmas we exchanged gifts and then went on a pleasant drive around the picture perfect Marlborough Sound. For dinner I had booked us a degustation meal at the Herzog winery which may be the finest winery in New Zealand! They allowed us tastings of pretty much all their wine and pummeled us with possibly a dozen courses of food! What a great night and a lot of fun!
Merry Christmas from the Herzog Winery in Bleheim, Marlborough
December 26th, Dolphins: The next morning we drove further north to Picton and went swimming with Bottlenose dolphins. These are completely wild creatures and they tend to stay in the Marlborough Sound due to the ease of access to food and protection from the larger predators which typically don't enter the Sound. We sailed for about two hours and then found a pod of 40+ dolphins. We parked the boat in front of the oncoming dolphins and then jumped in the water snorkeling above them. Such playful mammals, they would swim by and seem to say, what the heck are you doing here! Later we drove to Westport and went out exploring the big town of maybe 400 people!
A friendly Bottlenose dolphin enjoying the Marlborough Sound
December 27th, Cave Rafting: In the morning we drove south to Charleston where we met our tour guide who would take us to the depths of New Zealand and not only go rafting, but also to learn about the nocturnal locals - the glow worms. If you have ever seen the neon plastic stars that teenagers put on their bedroom ceilings which glow in the dark - very similar. In the cave live these little insects who glow using the strategy of light to attract bugs which are quickly tangled in their webs - pretty cool to see these in complete darkness. We floated on tubes and admired these crazy looking insects covering the cave ceilings. That afternoon on our way to Hokitika, we stopped off at the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks which are amazing rock for mations on the coast. In Hokitika we went out in what is the closest resemblance New Zealand has to an old western (American) town enjoying more of their excellent fare!
Punakaiki Pankcake Rocks on the West Coast
December 28th, Franz Glacier: December has been the driest month on record in New Zealand! How lucky for us as this is a very rainy area! However, this was our one rainy day. We were able to go out and climb up near the Franz Glacier. We had planned to take a trip up on the glacier for a bit of hiking, however the rain called off this excursion.
Avalanche! nope, just the Franz Joseph Glacier
December 29th, Fox Glacier: The next day we drove to Fox and had good weather to visit this glacier. Being able to get closer than Franz allowed, enabled us an excellent view. Later we drove to Queenstown and I could tell this was my kind of town! Lots to do! We had a little wine and then went to play Mini Golf - which Marina set the course record for a Russian, chalking up a humble score of XX (I'm not supposed to say the number, but I can disclose that it would be a decent score if Tiger Woods was playing at Augusta). She even won a prize!
A warm embrace at Fox Glacier
December 30th, Gibbston Valley Wine Tour: Wine tours are always a favourite of mine, not just because you get to taste a lot of excellent wines; in actuality we always tend to find the best wine when we go to wineries on our own; the real reason is, for the PARTY! You always seem to meet fun people on wine tours and end up have more laughs than sips. Just a few interesting facts about wine production in this region. One is the climate - providing a short cold summer typically difficult for grape growing; they just seem to make it work here. The other is for the tree-hugger in you, Organic wine. Due to the low level of humidity, most of New Zealand's wineries can avoid using pesticides. I recommend New Zealand's Pinot Nior and Sauvignon Blanc - these are their claim to fame. Our wine tour not only made us a bit tipsy, but introduced us to a several new friends who we shared a wild and crazy evening with.
December 31st, Concert & Fireworks: Wanaka was our chosen destination for New Years Eve and we started the evening with a fantastic 5 course meal overlooking Lake Wanaka. We joined the festivities for a close up ear splitting performance by several Kiwi bands and of course a thunderous firework display.
Happy New Year from Wanaka!
January 1st, Exploring Te Anau: We drove down to the very south west of New Zealand and set our base as the town of Te Anau in preparation for the next day's adventure to the Milford Sound. Like the previous two; Queenstown and Wanaka, the town is placed on a gorgeous lake. The Kiwis seem to enjoy joking with the Aussies about their endless amounts of fresh water; especially when Australia has water restrictions.
January 2nd, Milford Sound: We drove up early in the morning to the Milford Sound beating the tour buses on the windy roads. We enjoyed a three hour cruise around the Sound which is actually a Fjord, as it was created by glaciers, but incorrectly named many years ago. The Sound, I mean fjord is engulfed by huge one mile high lush green mountains and waterfalls. We spotted multiple pods of Bottlenose and Dusky dolphins. On the way back to Te Anau we tramped up for superb views of the snowy mountains surrounding us. Oh, yes tramped, not sure why I wrote this, but kiwis for some reason don't call it hiking or trekking, oddly enough.
Welcome to New Zealand's beauty!
January 3rd, Kepler Trek: We hadn't budgeted time for what is called the best trek around New Zealand due to the amount of days needed - 4! By now you know when it says 4 days, it doesn't mean 4 days to us… We explored the beginning of the circuit on Jan 1st and tested the time needed for the first short leg. Unable to secure accommodation on the mountain as it's the peak season, we had an difficult, but easy choice - hike it in one day or skip it…. Well, having a tough Russian wife, I can tell you Marina wasn't backing down from this grueling adventure. The course from Car Park to Car Park (Parking lot to my compatriots) is 50km (31 miles) up and down mountains which go to a height of 1500 meters/yards. Forget 4 days, we were going to see if it could be done in a DAY! If you want to picture what we saw, remember Frodo and Sam going over the mountain tops - we had a 360 degree view for hours! By the time we reached the final bit (call it day 4), our legs were growing weak finishing after nearly 13 hours of constant hiking. Needless to say, we felt more pain than accomplishment.
Summer in New Zealand on the Kepler Trek
Tramping like Frodo Baggins
January 4th, Recovering in Dunedin: We made it to the college (University) town by late afternoon and this place was unusually dead - yes, you guessed it, the students were away on summer vacation! We went out for a wee bit of wine and food and had an easy early evening resting our lifeless legs.
January 5th, Larnach Castle: Our exploration of the Otago Peninsula took us to Larnach castle, an unusual structure for New Zealand. Later we made our way to Christchurch. I'll never forget my question to our hotel; "can you recommend a few bars and restaurants"; they replied "There is one here, and one there, oh and a Dominos here". Whilst this person was new to Christchurch, it painted us a quick picture of the new Christchurch. As we walked around we found a few decent eating and drinking establishments, when I say a few, I mean three places in total!
A typical scene in Christchurh
January 6th, Earthquakes: We had 3 earthquakes today! Actually, we may have had more, but we had 3 which shook, the ground and the buildings we occupied. The largest being a 5.0! Starting the day in the Banks Peninsula, we visited the small French settlement of Akaroa. We enjoyed the tiny slice of Europe and then made our way back to Christchurch to explore the city and witness the effect of 2011's earthquakes. We surveyed the remnants of what was once was a city. You would be hard pressed to find so many abandoned plots of land in North St. Louis or Chernobyl for that matter. Virtually the entire city centre is cordoned off. We were able to enter what is dubbed Container City - life emerging from the disaster. At least 50 companies have reestablished their businesses in steel shipping containers (think Maersk). While these are mostly clothing shops, also here are cafes, restaurants and even a Westpac bank! At dinner that night we experienced our second quake (the mildest) which rattled our restaurant shaking the glasses hanging from the bar. While sleeping we had the scariest quake, although this was small on the Richter scale, it was closer to Christchurch and seemed to last minutes. We bolted from our sleep and ran outside - which was probably silly, but as a tourist you just never know. I had never experienced a quake before today and if you haven't either, it's kind of like being on the Crazy House amusement park ride where the ground moves and everything around does as well - very eerie. Thankfully these were minor tremors.
So that is New Zealand from our take - we are now sitting in Wellington airport waiting for our connection back to Sydney. Marina is very happy that after this adventure we have a home to return to!
Perseverance - Container City in Christchurch
Until next time,
Dan & Marina
