The North Island of New Zealand

Dear Readers,

We were taken to a tiny airport outside Queentown about 9 o'clock in the morning and we took off in a small plane for the North Island. On the way, we flew over many mountains including Mt. Cook where there was a large glacier. Steve took pictures of the glacier which we couldn't see from the road when we drove by earlier.

We landed in Christchurch and were taken off the plane. Then they reloaded us about ten minutes later. Potty break! Then we took off there and headed for stinky town-I mean Rotorua. This was in Maori country-the land given to the natives because it was no use to the Europeans. The minute we walked off the plane, we smelled sulfur. Yes, the whole town was stinky! We smelled it everywhere we went-even in the hotel room. This was a place of geysers, mud pools, and steam rising from the ground. Here the old volcanoes are nearby-some still active. We had a huge geyser park right next to our hotel run by the Maori and could watch the geyser explode from our window.

The nice hotel we stayed in had a shuttle to the town center. This was where the restaurants were. So we headed out as soon as we got in and walked around the town center. We ate at the local dive-The Fat Dog. Here you get hamburgers with beets on them, butter maynonaise on my chicken. After that, we walked around the park and marveled at the mud pools and steam vents in the ground at the local park. Rotorua was known for its hot pools from the beginning. A huge mansion-hospital just like the Homestead in Virginia was built and people came from all over to take the cure. In the house we saw the mud baths they used to cure people back in the 1880's. We also saw a movie of a true event of a volcano eruption that blew up a whole Maori island just off the coast. The Maori were then brought to Rotorua where they had the last laugh-they run the tourist parks and even own the land today.

It was Valentine's Day and we decided to eat the buffett at the hotel. My stomach was going down so I had to be careful. We walked around the geysers after we ate and I was amazed at the mosquitoes that bit me after dark. I was that sweet!

The next day we caught the tour around town.On the bus were only Indian honeymoon couples. The driver was old and very cranky. The Indians were slow to get back to the bus. He yelled at them all the time. The air conditioner broke on the bus too. It got very hot and then everyone was hot!(irate) First we went to the geyser park where a native guide showed us teh mud pools and geyser we could see from our room. It erupted while we were there and that was cool. Then we went to the Agridome-where the same show shearing sheep was put on only on a much bigger scale. The man's dogs were hard to control and kept biting the sheep's ears. I wasn't impressed. Then we went to a wildlife park and got to see the Kiwi bird. They are noctural so they are kept in the dark during the day so people can watch them up and eating. I was very surprised at the size of this chicken like bird. It was the national bird but almost extinct. I understand the possums eat the eggs. Skin the possum! We saw alot of nice birds there. By then it was noon and the driver let us off at the town center. He was glad to see the end of the Indians.

After lunch, we walked to the museum where the senior citizens were playing croquet on the lawn. They also had a beautiful rose garden. The old hot pools are now part of the Polynesian Spa Building. If I had only had time!When we returned to the hotel, we went to a Maori tradtional dinner at the hotel. Most of the tour groups had left that morning so there was only about twenty people in the room. The show went on anyway. We sat with people from England. They were quite friendly and had been to Disneyworld three times! They liked Americans!

The next morning we left on a bus from Rotorua for an all day trip to Auckland, the capital and most modern and largest city on the North Island. Soon the stinky smell was gone and we were back out in the country. Here we saw huge cattle, sheep, and deer farms. Every once in a while I saw a llama, a pig, or some horses. We stopped at the Glow Worm Caves. Here was a typical Maori story. A Westerner and a Maori discovered the caves early on-the land belonged to a Maori family. The Maori decided to commercialize the caves and became very rich. Then the New Zealand government seized it for themselves and built new facilities. Then the Maori family descendants sued in recent times and got the caves back. The glow worms are mosquito like bugs who spend webs inside dark caves. The bugs are attracted to the glowing webs (like lightening bugs) and they worms suck their blood and make a cocoon. They hatch out, mate, and then die the same day. They aren't born even with a mouth when they hatch out. The cave was nice and then we got into a boat to float out of the cave. It was like a thousand stars at night inside the cave.

Then we got back on the bus and off we went to a lunch spot on the road. It was pouring rain by this time. Then we finally got to Auckland where a million people live. This was a modern skyscraper town just like Singapore but built on hills. We were in a hotel at the top of a hill. We walked down into town, rain gone, and looked around. We found a nice eating place, then walked around more. We found a store but it was closed that sold HUFFER T shirts. Steve had seen a man wearing such a shirt and asked if he was a Huffer. No, it was a line of T shirts designed for skateboarders. They were $100 a shirt! I never could figure out the significance of the name Huffer for these shirts. The gay designer is not named Huffer. I guess you have to be a skateboarder to get it. We were sad, however, that we couldn't find the shirt!So then we had to say goodbye to New Zealand and the next morning we took for Melbourne. Then from there, we flew back to Singapore. It was a long day but we were happy to get back. So there it is-our trip to the land under and the islands over.

Adventure in Queenstown

Dear Readers,

Queenstown is a hilly place. Our hotel was at the top of a steep climb and the town center below on a large lake. The lake was so big, I couldn't see the end of it. After arriving in late afternoon, we hoofed it downhill and ran into our friends on the train-Mike and Angie. We had already seen then along the road to Queenstown (they rented a car). This was their last stop before returning to Australia. They gave us advice on what to do and see when we headed to the North Island.

The town was filled with tourists. We booked a coal boat tour for the next day and found dinner at a nice restaurant. Then we hoofed it back to the hotel and walked around the lake for some pictures. The next day we went down the hill again and caught a bus tour on an authentic 1968 double decker bus from London. Not a single thing had been done to that bus! It was rough riding with no cushions on the seats. Our first stop was a winery outside of town. I tasted some wonderful pinot noir. They offered to ship the wine to Singapore for only $245 and then the cost of the wine. The bus driver was surprised that I would drink so early in the morning-no problem I said. Then we were off to the bungi jumping spot off a former railroad bridge. This was the exact spot I saw on Australian Biggest Loser where Jillian got a poor girl to jump to get over her fear. I watched a guy jump and that was enough for me. Then we were off to Arrowtown, a Chinese gold mining town of the past. We toured the old Chinese ruins where they lived in the 1860-1900's and mined gold. The Chinese are now part of New Zealanders. We did some shopping and then went by where speed boats were taking people on rides down the river. We were back in Queenstown by noon and found another American embassy to eat at-KFC. Then we walked up the hill to a glondola ride straight up the mountain overlooking the whole town. Here you could see the whole lake. They also ski up there. We ran into Mike and Angie again and they were going to ride a scooter down the track there. We watched them do that. Eventually we came down the hill and walked back to the hotel as a rain storm rolled in. Steve went back out and watched large waves crash into the dock. I was worried about our boat ride.

But the sun came out when it was time to go. We headed down to the dock where we got on a large coal ship. You could see the engine room through the glass and watch the fellow shovel coal into the fire. Cool. This boat was packed with a senior tour of drinking British talking people. They were drunk before we landed on the other side of the lake and and disembarked at a sheep station. Here we were ushered into a house turned restaurant where we enjoyed a great buffet.

After all that eating and wine, we were herded out to the barn for a sheep shearing demonstration. Now Steve and I are familiar with sheep shearing but not like this. This old man came with his dog and I wondered where the strong young guy was that was going to grab the sheep and shave it. This old guy, however, was so funny. I never laughed so much in my life. He opened the gate, grabbed a sheep, and dragged it out. He balanced it on its back where it couldn't move and said "Sit." It was just great. Instantly the sheep was naked. Next he led us outside where he demonstrated how his dog could round up the sheep without barking (better to steal the neighbor's sheep he said). Then he dismissed us to get back on the boat. On the boat we were given song sheets and we sang old songs all the way back across the dark lake. The drunken men sang the loudest.

The next morning we were off to Milford Sound to see the real fiords of New Zealand. We got on a full bus with a driver from hell. He dragged over the sharp mountains, pointed out the rockslides, and drove through the Homer tunnel. This tunnel was straight through the mountain, one lane only. There was a light that changed every fifteen minutes that allowed us to go through. By the way, we stopped at a pull off and there in the parking lot was a kea, a green parrot that was hell on wheels. He was on the top of this car and tearing up a guide book left on the hood page by page. Then he started on the windshield wipers. The owners tried to get him off the car by hitting him with the book. He then moved to the top of the car, reached his head into the slightly opened window and yanked out the seat belt. He was hit again and moved to the back radio antenna which he snapped off with his beak. At this point, the owner totally smacked him off the car. You don't miss with that bird. I understand that many a camper comes back to their car only to find that it has been pulled to pieces by this bird.

We arrived at Milford Sound around noon. Rain and fog had moved in. We were herded onto a large boat where a buffett lunch was served. We went around the sound looking at waterfalls and seals on a rock. Then we were herded back on the bus and drive like a bat out of hell home to Queenstown. The driver was determined to be back by five whether we died or not. Zoom. I never saw a bus take curves like that!

I was happy to be back in Queenstown alive! We got off downtown to look for somewhere to eat. There was this old church downtown and the restaurants had funny names around it-Heavenly Food, then Hell Pizza, Hellof a cup of Coffee Place. We chose the hell place and got some pizza with a couple of other people who were on our bus. Then we limped back to the hotel. We were flying out to the north island the next day so we said goodbye to the south island.

From cold to hot in New Zealand

Dear Readers,

We spent one more night at the motel at Joseph Franz. Early the second morning we caught the van to the Glacier Park. This was an old dirty van that was used to haul backpackers to and from. For $25 he took us about ten miles up the mountain to the Glacier Park were a real and active glacier was. On the way, he pointed out how they can't keep the road from washing away. This section of New Zealand receives the most rainfall. Even though we were in the tall mountains, the forest was rainforest complete with silver ferns. The driver pointed out a group of large wild deer that was standing near the river. Of course I had seen deer before but these were large with tall antlers. They were a gift from the emperor of Austria. These were left in the wild because people paid lots of money to hunt them. It was quite a hike to the glacier. They had pictures of the glacier throughout the decades and how it had expanded, receded, left a large lake at one time, always changing. This decade it was receding but it was still hugh. The water was calm and in a large river bed. If it rains, they told us, the area can be flooded in a minute. The path down was easy but then it was a mile along the river bed to reach the actual glacier. A fence keeps people from climbing onto the glacier without a guide. People aren't allowed to climb into the blue cave where the water comes out. Years before the fence, people had been killed by the falling ice.

We watched large backpacker tours head up on the ice. They were young! Some were Chinese, Korean, others German and French. We hiked back and took a trail through the rainforest. It's so quiet because they are no animals-didn't even see birds. At noon the van returned and picked us up. We ate lunch at the helicopter tour place. It costs 500 a person for twenty minutes in the helicopter. I often saw four helicopters at a time on the glacier. After lunch, we headed to the hot pool spa where we soaked our sore legs in glacier hot pools and enjoyed a massage. After dinner we were taken back to our motel. We talked to the owner who called the busdriver (everyone knows everyone) to line up our pick up the next day. She brought over some cereal and fruit for breakfast.

The next morning we were off to Queenstown. This was an all day trip over the mountains. We went by Mt. Cook's glacier, stopped by mountain pull offs to see the scenery, and rode by the gorgeous coast where there were hugh rocks and seals on the beach. We marveled at the large lakes and changing scenery. Slowly the mountains gave way to arid plans where we saw winery after winery. Here they grow all the fruits and vegetables for the country and export. They have to irrigate from the large mountain rivers. We got to Queenstown late in the afternoon we were dropped off at a new hotel. After the motel, I was very happy to see a regular room, air conditioning, and TV. We headed right out to the downtown area. Queenstown is built on hills, worse than Staunton. We walked straight down and then straight up after we found a restaurant to eat in. The next day was a free day so I immediately picked a steamboat tour of the lake for the next day. We didn't have time to sit around! We had to see everything.