Best and Worst of NZ

The Best of NZ (and 2 worsts) compiled by Gayle with input by everyone.

We have spent the last few days compiling a list of the best things we have experienced in the past 7 or so weeks of travel.  It's a long list, so I don't imagine many of you will read it through, but for us it was fun to relive some of the many wonderful experiences we have shared.  

None of this would have been possible without the meticulous planning of my sweet husband Bob.  How he even knew how long to stay, where to go and how to put it all together is beyond me, but I love him for this great talent he has!  (and for many many other talents as well)

I also want to say that at the top of my personal list of "the best of" is Pat and Marty Miller as traveling companions!  What a treasure to have friends who are so easy to travel, laugh, eat, and adventure with!

So, here is our list:

Best way to meet people in a motel - set off the fire alarm while making toast

Best Balcony - Paihia Copthorne

Best B&B hosts - Bev & Barry

Best Family experience - Pip & Phil Dymock

Best view from the room - Queenstown

Worst beds - Queenstown condo

Best snack food - Chili Lime Soya crisps

Best flat white- "The last one I had, or the next one" Marty. The Blah, Blah, Blah Cafe, Pat. "The first one I had", Gayle. "Is a flat white the same as a long black?", Bob. 

Best communal kitchen -  Milford Sound

Best Kayak Experience - Milford Sound (Pat & Marty)

Worst Kayak Experience - Milford Sound (Bob & Gayle)

Best Fish & Chips - Bully Hayes, Akaroa 

Best Alternative Accommodation -  Aguapackers in Abel Tasman Park

Favorite Bird - Tui

Best Breakfast - Gerri & Marty Farmstay hosts

Best Travel Bargain -unlimited one week bus/train/ferry pass Sydney

Best burger - Fergburger, Queenstown 

Best Savory Pie - Fergs Bakery, Queenstown 

Best cookies - Anzac

Best Farm experience - picking citrus in Gisborne/Dymock Sheep farm

Best Picnic Spot - Nugget Point in the Catlans

Best Curiosty - The Giants House in Akaroa

Best Museum - Koury Museum

Best Timing - getting out of a ticket in Wellington (policeman was writing a parking ticket and felt sorry for us)

Best Winery Visit - Sileni winery, near Napier

Best Waterfall - Lady Bowen in Milford Sound

Best Motel - Top Ten in Papamoa Beach

Best Farmers Market - Matakana, near Warksworth 

Best Wildlife experience - Yellow eyed penguins at Curio Bay

Best City - Sydney (o.k., this is in Australia, but still part of the trip)

Best Hike - Hooker Vally, Mt. Cook. Runner up is Abel Tasman track

Best Connection with people - Abel Tasman Aquapacker hotel

Best grocery store - New World 

Best Sauvignon Blanc - Stoneleigh 2013

Best Red wine - Jacobs Creek

Best beer- Monteith golden lager (Pat), Dark beer made by lady in Christchurch (Gayle), Monteith black (Bob)

Best supermarket - New World 

Best cheese - kahurangi creamy blue

Best purchase - chilly bin

Most exotic meal - kangaroo 

Most scenic drive - road to Mount Cook

Best rain storm - Fox Glacier (3 days nonstop)

Last Full Measure

Today is my last significant post. Tomorrow will be lunch and then a travel day. I am never much good with those days, the stress, the desire to just be done. Today we drove from Akaroa and stopped to view the Silo Stay motel. We did not stay there but it sure seemed interesting. The walls are insulated with pure NZ wool.  

Then we arrived in Christchurch, first we went to lunch at the re-start mall. It is basically a mall thrown together with ship sized shipping containers. I liked seeing the youth and energy of the area combined with the surrounding destruction. Notice the giraffe with small photos of people stenciled all over it, Christmas wreath in the background and behind that building cranes. 

The we took a walk through the botanical gardens. Got lost from each other, the first time in nearly 7 weeks and spontaneously reconnected a half hour later. We enjoyed all the flowers and discussed trees we had come to love here in New Zealand.

We will miss you New Zealand. Below is the national anthem of NZ:

"God of Nations at Thy feet,

In the bonds of love we meet,

Hear our voices, we entreat,

God defend our free land.

Guard Pacific's triple star

From the shafts of strife and war,

Make her praises heard afar,

God defend New Zealand."

This mural was painted on the wall of a college next to the gardens. I don't know what it means but it was interesting.

Leaving Akaroa

This morning we leave lovely Akaroa for Christchurch. Here some parting photos of the hills surrounding this little port. Today is Pat's birthday and we have a big party planned with friends.

The Giants Home

The Giants home was built in 1880 for a bank manager. Currently it is owned by an artist and garden fanatic. She started with a few mosaic pieces and it evolved to the Giants garden. All the fantasy images you see below reflect this over the top art form and lovely gardens. Before this we walled the Bush trail above Akaroa. The walk was basically 3 sides of a square, straight up, straight sideways and down. The views were good although the sun bleached out distant waters and headlands. Eventually swe found the original French cemetary. It was used around 1840 but neglected after church groups built their own. In the 1920's they flattened the French cemetary. Recently at monument was created with some of the peoples names who were buried in this area. Two seamen are buried here that died of Vegetable Colic. We now think they were lead poisioned by the lead bands placed around cider barrels.

Advance Stopped by Montgomery

Today we walked up Montgomery Park Reserve to try and reach Rocky Point. Montgomery almost kicked us off the mountainside. The trail started rather squishy but ok to the 2000+ year old Totara tree. It is 28 feet in circumference (around the tree). Weird to think that Jesus was alive when this tree stared life.

After the tree, we ran into two landslides that had demolished the trail. Rough detours we're created but certainly in the last one, rough is the key word. The trail continued steeply rising and then took a hard left scrambling up suitcase sized rocks for 1/2 a mile. Durning winter this path must be a creek. Footing was treacherous and we had long since lost any trail markers. But finally, Gayle our fearless leader exclaimed that the top was in sight. One of the photos shows Marty just breaking out if the rocky scramble trail.

We had a nice lunch, even continued 200 yards to the top of Rocky Peak. 

Eureka the worse was over, NOT. The trip down was brutal clambering over those rocky suitcases, polished roots, and rotting leaves. We even missed the trail and were going cross country for 50 yards.

I am happy to say, less 4 falls by members of our party, were all good as gold. 

Photos from our adventure - Hardest Walk in New Zealand

Getting out of the jungle. Polished wood sculptures

tot are tree

View from Rocky Peak

Akaroa and what a difference three days makes

Akaroa is a former French colony. More importantly, had the French been three days earlier, the entire South Island of New Zealand could have been French. But the French lost the race so the English and French co-existed here as a part of the British empire. One sign of the separation was the fact that Akaroa has 3 cemataries, Anglican (English), Roman Catholic (French) and Dissenters (Undeclared or Unbelievers?). The Anglican plots by the way are far nicer.

Today a cruise ship arrived and disengorged lots of hardcore tourists. They were very nice but a bit much in numbers. Regardless we walked all over the little port town selecting the perfect lunch spot and some fine Italian eats on Sunday. Oh, I should mention that we had a 4.5 earthquake in a distant town. I heard it last night at 2:30am. Thankfully it was to far to feel.

Birding class

Historic play toy

Oh no are thos Canadian geese!

Something funny in Kiwi Land

Capturing the moments of our travels...

Conversation of birds

Return to childhood, birds of a feather, and being French

Today we drove to Akaroa, a French settlement due east of Christchurch. On the drive we found a fantastic park and play ground. We had a ball as you will see in the photos below. There is a child in us all.  There was also an aviary where I took some photos through the chain link. What funny looking birds. They probably felt the same way about us. 

Headed for France

Today we head for the French village of Akaroa very close to our final destination, Christchurch. It seems hard to believe that we have only five days left on this 2-1/2 month journey. A journey that has spanned soothing tropical beaches, fresh machete chopped coconuts, and cruise ship loving care, with edge of the world beauty of glaciers, penguins, and frigid turquoise waters. We have met people we will never forget, slept in a few beds that we are happy to forget, and walked trails whose imprint seared into our souls. I believe we are all willing to go home and talk has begun about homeward plans. Nobody is Ready to go, desperate to be Back. Of course we never really Go anywhere because where we have been comes with us. Our home travels with us on baggage that is never full, never overweight and if our attitudes are correctly focused, we are always seated in first class. 

Below is one of my favorite lupine photo and a mother and daughter (can you see the resemblance?). Now it's onward to the land of baguettes, crepes and stinky cheese.

mother and child. Genes at work

Lake Tekapo and Farm Life

Today we returned to Lake Tekapo on a much better day.  The clouds lifted at least half way up the  mountains. Of course, the lupine were everywhere, and walking through them was a fragrant delight. We started at the Mount John Observatory and then found a nice walk across the headlands of the lake that were the domain of singing sheep. 

Then we returned to the farm to take a farm tour and see the wallabies, and fallow deer. The deer are raise for venison but a few were playful pests. One tried to bite my camera. Bad deer! The first photo you see in the upper left is out the car window with the  mountains in the distance, lupines along the road, and the lake.

After the farm tour we had a magnificent meal with dozens of different types of foods including venison, 4 types of dessert, and fresh baked gluten free bread. All the veggies came for the garden into the pot. Good conversation, good food, what could be better.

My favorite photo of Gayle walking through the lupine forest.

These are merino wool sheep. It is a breed of sheep with very fine wool. Their wool is 50% thinner thn other sheeps which is great for consumers but their wool isn't very thick so there is less volumne per sheep. They also have more herd instinct and tend to stay closer together then the other sheep in this farm.

We saw a moving sale on our drive to the Lake. Could have picked this house for a song.

Lake Tekapo and the chapel of flowers

At this lake on a clear day the view from a little stone church is very popular. Today the cloud obscured Mt Cook and her sister peaks so the church seemed less relevant. But the lupine were in bloom and were there in colorful volumes. I forget the Church of the Good Shepard and concentrated on the flowers with misty mountains in the background.  I don't recall if you can see the teal colored water. This is caused by the glaciers grinding the stones to rock flour. Then the three rivers that feed the lake carry the flour suspended in the water to the lake. Eventually, the downstream rivers will sort out the rock flour.

Leaving mountain country for pastoral life

Today we leave Mt Cook and head for a small farming to  called Fairlie. We will be doing a homestay at a sheep and deer farm. One night the owner will make us dinner of fallow deer. I have opted out of eating Bambi. At the farm, there is a pet deer and even 2 wallabies. I am not sure if she has internet.

I don't remember if I posted this. This is a common aspect of mountains scoured by glaciers. The different colors are very interesting.

Also on our walk yesterday in the high winds we noticed that two work men were working on the cables that stabilize the bridge. Of course we noticed them after we crossed over.  Could we have been the last to make it?

Hooker Valley Walk

Today we walked to up the hooker valley to look at the glacier and see some ice bergs. Well we saw some nice ones. In addition through the very brisk winds, 45kph, we crossed three swinging  bridges over a green glacier milk river. There is also a photo of Mt Cook Lilly, the largest buttercup in the world. We stopped at a little rest hut on the way back. A guide for a couple of Japanese tourist told us that a 95 mph wind shattered the glass window and tore out part of the frame. Gayle and pat are standing in front of the cabin.

Weird Rocks, Mount Cook and Tasman Glacier

We left our little hideaway in Port Chalmers to head north and then west to see the Moeraki Rocks. These are concreations that started with limestone and silica. Then a very hard coating formed around this core. Now the weathering of the beach and shoreline has exposed these weird rocks. There was a marching group from Christchurch there all dressed in black. It was fun watching them try and come up with a photo moment.

Then we drove west to Mount Cook where three of the highest mountains are.  I have included a photo from the lounge at the lodge with Marty reading the paper. What a VIEW!  We did a short but steep walk to Tasman Glacier Terminal Lake. This lake was hardly here a decade ago but now due to global warming it has receded way in the distance. A young couple from NY told us that they took a kayak trip to the glacier yesterday and that today the face is totally different. 

Gayle is still sick but hanging on there. I suspect that she will start feeling better tomorrow. Were all praying that we don't catch this especially for our flight home in 9 days or so.