December 30, 2023
For those of you who are math whizzes, you will note that we are over the halfway mark of our total trip…but as it turns out, that on day 51 (yesterday) we had also hit the “bottom” of New Zealand, thus having (mostly) gone from the tippy top to the tippy bottom. For purists and cartographers, this is not a true statement, but I am a writer and am blessed with the super power of creative license. From the Bay of Islands on the North Island to Invercargill (or more accurately, Bluff) on the South Island, we have seen the magic of New Zealand. And there is lots more…
We left Greymouth on the west coast of the South Island on Boxing Day. Asking several store clerks on the way what Boxing Day was, it was clear that they were as clueless as we were. Google (thank you, Skylar) of course, knew the answer and our best interpretation of it was that it was the day the lords of the manor cast-off their old items (that had been nicely replaced by Christmas gifts) to their servants…England’s approximate answer to Labor Day. Regardless, it works more like “Black Friday” after Thanksgiving in the US with lots of sales.
So, if you have been trying to find Nick in some of my photos, you won’t find him here. In this one, see if you can find the Southern Alps that came out of hiding for a few seconds that day.
Our next destination was Whataroa (pronounced Fataroa) which is the (cheaper) gateway to the Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciers and the start of the Southern Alps. The rain storm of Christmas weekend left a cloudy backdrop to the Alps, which remained elusive while we stayed in Whataroa. This did not diminish the beauty of the area. Having traveled through the “northern” Alps of Europe, I quite expected the lush greenery of the Alpine meadows dotted with picturesque cows against the craggy snow-capped mountains. The “southern” Alps almost pop straight up out of the flat coastal rainforest into peaks that are impossibly steep but covered with ferns, tree ferns, palms, and conifers. It doesn’t compute.
Nick in his milking element. Room for 16 cows being milked at once in a herringbone pit barn. Just so you know. Nick excited with his “See I told you so!” grin on his face as he points out the plate cooler at the milking shed. Why we have one that is 3 times that size in our yard in Carlotta is still not explained.
On the other hand, the cows were there. Not on steep mountains but on flat, green pastures at the foot of the rainforest. Nick was mesmerized by the plethora of herds and milking barns. We even trespassed (a very short way) so Nick could check out the inner workings. He immediately slipped into teacher mode, explaining each piece of equipment and explaining (referring to my dad and his work in time management during WWII) how efficient it was. The southern Alps, like any great mountains of the world, remained shyly tucked behind clouds.
Was the food worth the 6 hour drive…questionable…was the drive worth the 6 hour drive? Yes.
Having heard about a “have to” food truck at the very end of the west coast highway, we decided to make the 3 hour trip down, hoping to catch both the Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciers. The clouds tantalized us with little peeks at the peaks during the day, but the coastline and drive was well worth it. The Craypot, a small orange food truck at the end of the end of the west coast highway was amazingly popular. The seafood basket was good, but the drive was better.
All this walking has done me good. I’m much taller.
Back to Whataroa, we headed south again, retracing our steps of the day before, to take the highway through the Alps. As it turns out, the Alps were finally revealed in all of their splendor. The clouds had finally lifted and we caught what is left of Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciers. The day was hot and we could almost see the glaciers melting before our eyes. Climate change is real.
L: Finally! The Alps…but look quickly as the glacier on the mountain, Franz Joseph is receding at breakneck speed. R: When Nick is driving, I have tried many times to get good shots. I included this mediocre one as it showed the ubiquitous camper vans. Probably 7 of 10 cars on the roads are some sort of camper van. Note that I did manage another peek at the peaks in the far background. And me in the rearview mirror.
Going over the pass seemed almost like a joke. The actual pass topped out at 3,000 feet which, by California standards is minimal…but the glacial creeks, rivers, rock slides, falls and rapids were all first rate.
So many beautiful waterfalls. This one is named Fantail Falls for obvious reasons.
As we passed onto the east side of the mountains, away from the coast, the change in vegetation and feel was night and day. We left the rainforest and found ourselves in high desert, very similar to the eastern side of the Sierras. No more rainforest vegetation, but still some conifers at least below the Alpine level…then just steep, pointy rocks. Lots of big lakes that are various shades of blues.
Queenstown was our destination, but our route took us through the Otago district which is another of the New Zealand wine country areas. The vineyards and now rolling hills, fruit stands and luscious houses again reminded us of the California wine country.
Arriving at Queenstown, we found traffic! And lots of it. In all fairness, we arrived at commute time on a Friday night. It was nuts. Queenstown is the gateway to many of the Alpine hiking tracks and the center of all extreme New Zealand sports, of which bungee jumping is only one. We followed our trusty Google map up to our abode which was perched on a steep hill just on the outskirts of Queenstown overlooking the large lake (half the size of Lake Geneva—I checked. The house and area is reminiscent of Brisbane and Di’s house, but without Frank Lloyd Wright, and far more populated.
From the deck outside our room in Queenstown. Quiet and gorgeous.
The room we had was in a house that had been converted into an Airbnb. There were 5 rooms, each outfitted with its own bathroom, a communal kitchen, living room, and a few decks with spectacular views on high of the lake. After our drive over the Alps, we sat with a glass of wine (and beer for Nick) and watched the single ferry transporting across the lake. Wow!
Today, was Nick’s day. First up was Transport World, a museum of trucks, cars, tractors, etc. Do I need to mention that Nick was in heaven? I must admit I enjoyed seeing every Ford model from A to T and tractors over the past 120 years. If Nick was in heaven at the Transport World, the next museum, Motorcycle Mecca dumped him into Nirvana. Three floors of motorcycles which Nick could explain why each was different and cool. He managed to keep me wanting more! And more we got…our final stop was the hardware store where the “World’s Fastest Indian” was displayed. If you haven’t seen the movie, do it. We saw it as part of our New Zealand homework and I loved the story and couldn’t wait to see the motorcycle. Anthony Hopkins, as always, brought the character to life in the 2005 film.
L: The tippy-bottom of New Zealand (more of the tourist version vs. the place on the right). An apt place to start Part Two of our journey! Carlotta 7,310 miles. R: The actual tippy-bottom of New Zealand. We were holding on to the sign posts to keep from being blown over!
We had dinner tonight at one of the “bottom” points of NZ. Apparently, there are differing opinions which is the farthest south. But we ate at a seafood restaurant overlooking the last of the NZ land. We got the requisite photo of the sign which points out that we are 15,008 kilometers from New York. For some reason, Carlotta is not on the signpost, but according to Google, the signpost should have read “Carlotta 11,764 km”…
For us, tomorrow is the last day of 2023…one that has been filled with wonderful travels: Belize (70th birthday gift from the families of Ellen, Mary and Sigrid) in February, Wisconsin (Peace Corps reunion) in June, Santa Cruz (Kienitz remembrance) in August, lots of shorter trips to visit family, and finally the New Zealand trip in November which included Knott’s Berry Farm, Fiji, and New Zealand. What a year! And we are only half way through our travels!
We hope you all can face the challenges and jobs of 2024 as we hope to!
Nga mihi o te tau hou
(Happy New Year!)
~Wendy and Nick