12/31/07

Our adventures continue!!

As we have crisscrossed the South Island of NZ, from Te Anau, to Queenstown and Wanaka, up the west coast to the glaciers and Punakaiki rocks, and on to Nelson, Motueka and Abel Tasman National Park, we continue to be amazed by the incredible diversity and great beauty of this country. We have seen landscapes ranging from tussock grasslands to estuarine mudflats, from venison ranches to alpine meadows, from soaring mountain peaks to deep canyons, from silver beech forests, to groves of ancient podocarps, from bustling cities to gold-mining ghost towns, from limestone cliffs to golden sandy beaches. Probably the most astounding sight for us has been Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers where the ice caps merge with semi-tropical rainforest. It’s not a wonder that Peter Jackson chose NZ as the setting for Middle Earth in his Lord of the Rings trilogy. We have seen many of the sites that were used in the filming. We have seen the Ford of Bruinen/Arrow river; Amon Hen, Ithilien/ Lake Wakatipu; and Isengard/Mt. Earnshaw.

There are areas that are so remote that it appears that there is no human habitation – the sheep have taken over the Earth! We are delighted by the place names and the signage we are encountering. There are creeks named Joe, Dave, Too Big, Gentle Annie and Raging Meg. There is a stretch of roadway between two towns by the names of Clinton and Gore which the Kiwis in their delightful sense of humor have renamed the Presidential Highway. Traffic signs forewarn of sheep crossing, of one-lane bridges on top of railroad tracks under overhanging bluffs, and of roadways curved like Maori fish-hooks. Our favorite sign is the all-purpose large exclamation mark!

Queenstown is a unique city calling itself “the Adventure Capital of the World” that seems to be a blend of Banff and Whistler on steroids. The number of “backpacker” accommodation establishments ensure that the average age of Queenstown is somewhere around 20 to 22. Jordan wanted to do some paragliding from the mountain at the edge of town. You catch the gondola one block away from their school and then glide down with a guide ( in tandem ) into the school yard  - or on the tiny stretch of beach of Lake Wakapitu – we saw one parachute tangled in a tree just off a sidewalk café right on the side of the lake. Unfortunately the next day the wind picked up and all jumping was cancelled.

Myriads of tourist "I-sites", internet “cafes”, and adventure kiosks in Queenstown try to induce tourists in “adventure” trips varying from paragliding, tramping on various tracks, helicopter viewing of Milford Sound, the glaciers or Mt. Cook, “jet boating” up various rivers or lakes, parachute jumping, landing on a glacier in a ski plane, etc. The bars, although beer is by no means cheap here – unlike Mazatlan, are full till early mornings.

The journey from Queenstown to Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers is both very scenic as well as a challenge to drive. Franz Josef is of course named after Kaiser Franz Josef of Austria who bestowed some Chamois antelopes on New Zealand as a gift that proved to be just another introduction of an exotic species that in the late 1980’s, along with deer, had to be hunted in large numbers in order to save endemic species. Fox Glacier seems to be receding in the last decade while Franz Josef Glacier seems to be growing – strange since they are only about 25 km apart. We walked to the face of both of them – but unlike the Columbia Icefields, access to the face is restricted by the area being roped off – unless you go in an organized paying group with an “experienced” guide (about 18 to 20 years old), color coded hats, unique water-proof boots and anoraks. The glaciers are not as wide as our icefields and have major seracs visible that look like smaller versions of the Kumba Icefall near Everest.

We are gradually becoming familiar with the flora and fauna of this land. Unique trees include the Rimu, the Kauri, the cabbage tree and the fern-tree. Unique birds include the Kea, the only alpine parrot, the Tui, with a call that sounds like a rusty door hinge, a species of oyster catcher with a sideways bill, and of course, the elusive Kiwi which lays eggs half the size of its body.  While at Franz Josef, we went for a nighttime walk through the rainforest where we were able to view glow-worms. Glow-worms are the larvae of fungus gnats that attach to cave roofs and walls or to decaying vegetation. At night they shine like thousands of little stars. They are magical.

The New Zealanders to their credit are working hard on conservation efforts, mostly to overcome the damage done by early misguided settlers who introduced species that have become enormous pests. One problem animal is the possum which was brought from Australia to promote a fur industry. Possum road kill is visible every few kilometers, and possum hunting is encouraged. The fur is blended with merino wool to create a specialty product. Other local products include jade carvings, wooden tikis and bowls, hand-blown glassware and many interesting “objets d’art.”

Nelson is in the drier, and warmer northwest part of the south island and a lovely little city with a large Anglican cathedral in the centre of town. It feels friendly and laid back compared to Queenstown. We stayed a few km outside of Nelson in a “bach” in Mapua. The bach was once a 1950’s forestry cabin – smallish but comfortable for us three. We enjoyed the beaches around Kaiteriteri. We didn’t need the jet-boat adventures of Queenstown as we had our own adventure taking the aqua taxi along the coast of Abel Tasman National Park. The weather turned ferocious and we pounded over ocean swells and got drenched by salt spray. Jordan thought it was great fun!

We are in the “North of the South” for a couple more days and then take the Inter-islander ferry to Wellington. Over the next two weeks on the warmer and more populated North Island we are sure to see yet more wondrous sights. Stay tuned.

- Carol, Erich and Jordan