Tuesday, 21 Feb.  A significant chunk of the day was touring exhibits regarding New Zealand’s involvement in World War I.  Their participation is considered a signature event in NZ’s evolution into a unique entity (the other key event happened years earlier, when the “All Blacks” rugby team visited England and thoroughly cleaned their clocks.) Two exhibits in two museums, and both were spectacular. One was the finest exhibit/timeline of military action I’d ever seen.  Blended emotion and factual storytelling perfectly.  The other one was a little long on, well, being long.  But both illustrated that the country has a great deal of pride in their participation in world events.  They do have a disproportionate number of  war memorials.

Other parts of the museums were also excellent.  A lot more of First Nation history than I expected.  The settlers and natives seem to have had a much better relationship than ours.  It was all very well done.  It was odd to see history that really only began in the 1830s.  It’s not Rome, Italy.  It’s not Rome, New York either.

I found myself in the “Cuba” district, which is less about Cuba than it is about the university nearby.  Apparently there is a strong push to legalize pot.  (There are an uncommonly large number of barber shops in this town.  I was tempted.)

Since I arrived there had been a lot of Cricket on TV, but suddenly it’s all Rugby.  Seasons change.

Locks on bridges. Worldwide.

See the next photo.

Yes, you can jump into the bay. I suppose it’s usually cleaner than when I saw it. At least I hope so. The water was clear, but there was a lot of jetsam.

Abstract art. They house toilets.  Not so abstract.

Their main museum. Itself, a work of art.

Meat pie. Not my cup of tea. Their apple pie is neither pie, nor are there many apples in it. Carrot cake-like.

Yes, it’s over a bar.

A brewery, next to a university.

Contradiction in marketing.

The exhibit had sections, each one beginning with an oversized display. These models, if standing, would be about 10 feet tall.  Extremely well done.

Interesting way to carry a rifle.

Written on the beach at Gallipoli during WWI.

Monday, 20 Feb.  Took a ferry to the North Island and the capitol city of Wellington.  Left the car on the South Island.  Minimal clothing/sundries.

The ferry was late.  From the reaction of “regulars”, I sense it’s often the case.  Not that many walking passengers, which was surprising.  Some old American cars.  A few motorcycles.  Side comment: There are surprisingly few Harley bikes.  People dress like they’re on Harleys, but they’re riding Suzukis and such.  Of course, BMW riders dress like BMW riders.

Wellington is compact.  Easy to get around.  Very pretty.  Everyone is also very, well, calm.  No one is rushing.  English reserve I guess.  Many backpacker hostels.  Had dinner at a bar with “Believe It OR Not” Quiz Night.  Extremely organized.  I stayed for two rounds.  Round One: Famous people’s tattoos.  I knew Pam Anderson, and would probably have guessed Lady Gaga.  Round Two: Sports and Games.  Four Questions about Cricket, two of Rugby, one of men’s field hockey, one of Scrabble(!).

Hotel stunk.  Literally.  8 stories with an atrium.  Each room has a small kitchen that I’m guessing exhausts to the atrium.  Kimchi, curry, fish, etc.  There’s also some construction going on, so drying cement.  I asked for some air freshener.

(At the bar, when asked the obligatory question “Where are you from?” by a server, I said “I’m from the South Island.”  He laughed, said “good answer”.)

The ferry carried a Komatsu ore carrier, in two parts. Massive, with about a foot clearance.

The long waterway had individual homes in dozens of little bays. No roads, but they did have power lines. Very nice.

Wellington. A clean, organized, compact city. A little more abstract art than I’d like. Most of the downtown is on “Reclaimed” land. A more refined term than landfill.

Train Station. Reminiscent of Harry Potter.

“The Father of Wellington.”

I love their humor.

The Cable Car begins in the middle of downtown, then goes through a series of tunnels before reaching the top.

See the video.

Sunday, 19 Feb.  I trusted my GPS to take me along the coastline (shortest route), but it sent me inland.  By the time I’d realized the error, I was too far along.  So there will be about 20km of repeated  road travel on Thursday.  Drat.  It’s probably just as well.  I did some coastline driving later on, and it was really slow going.

Today was mostly just driving.  I discovered a bike trail where an option is to park your car at the finish, then take a helicopter flight (with your bike) to the trailhead.  I stopped at a swinging bridge (which I had planned to stop at on Thursday) which was an experience.  They had a cable slide coming back that I skipped.

Impressive morning cloud formation.

Take a helicopter flight, with your bike, to the trailhead. This nation surely loves bikes and helicopters. What seaplanes are to Alaska, helicopters are to NZ.

Old mining country. Not for the timid.

Bouncy, but not scary for me. I’m afraid of falling, but not of heights. The weight of the cabling alone far exceeded the weight of the humans on it.

The caption reads “Waihopai Satellite Communications Monitoring Station, or as we call it in New Zealand ‘The Spy Base'”.

These are itty-bitty sailboats boats for children. They had a competition. Not to be forgotten is that New Zealand first took the America’s Cup away from the USA.

Is it a photo of a picture? No.

Cool idea.

Fox Glacier was frankly a bust.  I checked out and got down to Franz Joseph, then walked the ninety minute round trip to the viewing area for their glacier.  It was okay.  After Alaska, that’s about all one can say.  I was happy to challenge myself to the estimated time.  They said ninety minutes.  Even with several stops, I did it in that amount of time.

What seaplanes are to Alaska, Helicopters are to NZ.  But $220 for a 30 minute flight?  No.  I’ve been in a helicopter, I’ve walked in the snow.  They did at least give a good perspective of the size of the glaciers.  Monstrous.

I got to Greymouth and did the Monteight’s Brewery tour.  It too was okay.  Beautiful shoreline.  Lots of driftwood.

Alternative Fact: They named this Walk after me. Beautiful.

This “ice” is at least 500 meters down from the ice you can clearly see.

Can you see the helicopter? Tiny.

I like this one a lot.

Not my kind of beach.

Friday, 17 Feb. Nothing extraordinary today.  Countryside is mostly brown.  Mountains still seem surreal.  Got a chance to walk around Queenstown for several hours.  Nice garden.  Visited a winery that has no shipping charges!  They have a stash in a warehouse in Napa.  Good tasting.  I bought a case.  Visited a distillery that only opened a year ago.  Apparently the only one in NZ.  They’re selling expensive vodka and gin.  I’ll have to return in 2025 for their whisky.

The west coast looks strongly like USA’s east coast, from Virginia down to Miami.  Except for the absence of high-priced homes.  Windy.  The road was okay.

Queenstown

True.

Waaay up there. Bungie jumping. No Thanks.

Darts on TV. Riveting. Really. How they can hit their targets are amazing.

Note that you cannot see any part of the hidden section. In the states, you can see the outline. Lights.

Wyoming, right?

As i was leaving, one lady was clearly looking for her size to pose with.

Thursday, 16 Feb. This was a fairly lazy day.  I paid prime money to do a jet boat ride, mostly to get to see an area that was in the Lord Of the Rings movie.  Jet boats are exciting, but I’ve done exciting.

It was educational.  I got to see what is literally a better mousetrap, designed by college students to help cure the NZ problem with possums, which are much smaller than American possums.  (Backstory: NZ once actively tried to introduce new animals to encourage game hunting.  It did not end well.)  The boat ride illustrated the difference between glacier-fed water and snowmelt water.  It was amazing how long the two types kept themselves separated in a single river.  Also interesting was that the jet boats HAD TO go full speed for planing above the rocks.  Doing 360 degree spins in the deeper water was fun for those who haven’t done cooler things, but not spectacular for me. It wasn’t Milford Sound, but it was fun.

I spent some time just walking around.  Then crashed.  Got up to see the Southern Cross.  Ho hum.

I thought it was cheese. Actually it’s lightly cooked eggs.

The little tree. Next to it they built a house. Several months, over a $100,000, five seconds in The Hobbit. Movies.

The trees hollow themselves out, which is in fact a feature in the Lord of the Rings.

Cattle approaching. Even the tour guide didn’t understand why.

Clean snow melt water. Glacier melt is much more cloudy.

Wednesday, 15 Feb.  Simple, beautiful drive over countryside that was similar to Pennsylvania in color and Montana in hills.  Drove through Queenstown, but couldn’t find a place to park.  I did pay for one hour of parking, so I got a sense of things.  The place is a major jumping off point for multiple activities.  Bungie jumping, mountain bikes, parasailing, warm weather luges, hiking (Tramping), etc.  It’s also a launching point for day trips to Milford Sound, entailing 8 hours on a bus, to give a sense of how fabulous the Sound is.

Glenorchy is a small tourist town (350 people). Besides the wonderful setting, there’re boat rides, horse rides, and walking tracks.  I got some great pictures of cattle and sheep with much greater views than they deserve. BTW, the sheep you eat are of a species that produce poor wool.  They still have to be sheared twice a year, but the product is placed in carpets and such.

No more than four feet away. I kept waiting for mommy to snip at my toes.

I’d like to say the door opened up to a toilet. But no.

New Zealanders repeatedly exhibit a sense of humor I adore.

You lookin’ at me?

Again: You lookin’ at me? Same moment in time, different angles.

The white on the right are clouds. I like the perspective.

Monday, 13 Feb.  

It was an overall dismal day. But this picture was great!

There are much prettier ducks in NZ than in America.

This little knobby is the “helm” of the boat. That’s just wrong.

Visiting New Zealand without touring Milford Sound is like going to Arizona and skipping the Grand Canyon. The size was hard to grasp.  Snow capped mountains soar 4,000 feet up.  The cliffs had waterfalls, waterfalls, waterfalls.  You could almost say it was one waterfall with some bare cliffs showing.  The boat did an imitation of Niagara Falls’ Maid of the Mist.  Twice.  These falls are 500 feet tall!  Some falls are called “disappearing” because the wind blows the water into mist before hitting the Sound.   Even with poor weather, it was unforgettable.

It’s called a Sound for the simple reason that when the country got around to naming things, they didn’t know the word fjord.

The 120 kilometer drive was full of scenic views.  I took 148 pictures!  Many are junk or dups, but still.  My wifi is slow, so these are all I can upload.  More will follow.  Maybe even a photo of me.

That is not a small ship.

We’re approaching the falls. I’m on the bow. I get soaked. Fun!