New Zealand

Approximately 17 years ago, we went to New Zealand for three weeks and had a wonderful time. We had rented a car and covered a great deal of both the North and South Islands. One of our fondest memories was a farmstay on the South Island. The biggest city on the South Island is Christchurch, located on the east coast. To the west is the Canterbury Plain - farming country mostly but also large sheep stations,(what we would call ranches) on which they raise sheep. At that time, we were not travel agents, and arranged our trip with a travel agency specializing in New Zealand and Australia. One of the things highly recommended by the agency was that we do a farmstay. The one we chose was on a sheep station with about 9,000 sheep on the western edge of the Canterbury Plain and it was fabulous. We had directions on how to find the place from the agency and we went down dirt roads for what seemed like forever, but found the place without any trouble. The host and hostess were delightful people. Their home was very comfortable but no central heat, and sheepskin rugs on the floor which felt wonderful on your bare feet. The folks that owned the place were in their fifties and had several grown children, none of them wanting to inherit the sheep station. It was kind of sad in that this property had been this same family for about 4 generations. the hostess put on a grand lamb dinner with good china and silver et. seq. and some very nice NZ wines. The next morning we had the opportunity to take a wee walkabout on the property and enjoyed that very much, despite a light rain. They had a Border Collie that the host said he could not run his station without him. He stayed outside in a doghouse and seemed perfectly content. After our walk we were about to leave and not overstay our welcome when the host came in from outside chores and asked us to stay for tea. Well, one thing led to another and it was noon before we left and headed South to Queenstown. After we had driven about 100 miles, I realized that I had left an expensive Goretex jacket behind. When I reached Queenstown, I called and our hostess said she had the jacket. I said we would stop and pick it up as we returned north to the ferry at Picton. Our plan was to go south on the inland route, and then come up the east coast through Christchurch and continue on up the coast. The hostess said no way did we have to go that far out of our way to return inland and that she would send the jacket on the bus to Queenstown. Two days later the jacket showed up beautifully wrapped at the bus station in Queenstown. That is a small example of the kindness and friendliness we found on our first trip to New Zealand.

This past March, we returned to New Zealand for three weeks and rented a car and drove 2400 miles in three weeks in both the N. and S. islands. This time we repeated only a few places and saw most of what we had not seen on the trip 17 years ago. In the intervening years, both my wife and I have retired from our first careers, become travel agents over ten years ago, and had the good fortune to meet a Kiwi in the travel business here in America. I met him almost 10 years ago at an Australian Travel convention called a "Corroboree" held in Los Angeles, CA. He worked for a tour company (and still does) and over a few beers (the Kiwis and the Aussies love their beer) we found our mutual interests were cars, racing and airplanes. Long story short, we have been good mates for years, and again this year I'm flying my airplane from San Diego to Marysville, CA (just N. of Sacramento). He'll pick me up and we'll jump into his Corvette C-6 and head off to Monterey, CA to Laguna Seca Raceway for the annual Monterey Historic Car Races.

For this trip we had the input from my Kiwi mate, a native of Rotorua on the N. Island. He has a sister who lives in Waketane, which I'll tell you about later.

To qualify and maintain your status as a Kiwi Specialist, you must visit the country every three years. We planned this trip in great detail and had a fabulous time. We flew LAX to Auckland (AKL), then switched terminals and flew a domestic flight on Air New Zealand to the Christchurch. There we picked up a rental car for our trip. A note of interest here: we rented from Maui, a company that specializes in motorhome rentals in Australia and New Zealand. We did so because they were the only company that still allows you to put your rental car on the ferry between the N and S. Islands. All the other major companies that we checked required you to turn in your car in Picton (the embarkation port northbound to Wellington), and then pick up another car in Wellington. That is a huge hassle with which we did not want to have imposed. We simply drove the car onto the ferry; parked and locked it with our luggage in the boot, and went upstairs to enjoy the passage to Wellington. On arrival, the pax go back to their respective cars and drive off into the sunset; a much more convenient way to go.

In Christchurch, we stayed at the City Central Apartments which are very centrally located as the name implies. We could walk to the Cathedral in about 10 minutes. We found two wonderful restaurants for breakfast right on our way: Joe's Garage, 194 Hereford Street, and Drexel's Restaurant, 126 Hereford St. Joe's is very different with model cars and trucks all over the place. The food was excellent, and portions were gigantic. We ordered their brand of coffee called Coffee Rescue, and it was really good. Order a "tall black" and its like drinking expresso-very strong but good. Drexel's we simply stumbled upon on our way to the Cathedral. It looked very nice, and a good looking menu and there were lots of folks in the place, always a good sign. We went in and were asked if we had a reservation! I almost fell over, but no worries and we got a nice quiet booth in the back and enjoyed an excellent breakfast.

One of the things to see while in Christchurch is the Cathedral, located on a square in the center of the city. It is a beautiful church. On the square in front, we saw a giant chess board with almost life size pieces - very different. The old tram cars also leave from the square in front of the church. Across the square from the church is an Internet cafe called Blah, Blah, Blah. An appropriate name. We got caught up on our e-mails here and the fees are nominal.

The City Central Motel Apts are quite clean and have a kitchenette and full bathroom. We inquired and found a supermarket about 1/2 mile away and we could do our own lunches or breakfasts if we so desired. They also have laundry facilities on the premises.

We visited the International Antarctic Centre, located at the airport. The US Antarctic operation is also located here, and is the jumping off place for flights to the US base in Antarctica. We spent several hours here and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. You can go into an enclosed room where they simulate a snow storm. It is very cold and realistic. They also have a sanctuary for injured penguins. They invite the public to watch the feeding of them from a viewing area where you can see below the surface of the water and get the opportunity to see how agile they are in the water. They appear to so awkward on land the so graceful in the water. There many static exhibits which are quite educational and they also have a small cafeteria for light snacks and lunch. Well worth a few hours of your time while in Queenstown. We drove out the Christchurch gondola for a ride to the top which gives spectacular views of the Canterbury Plain and the city. Also from the top you can look over the other side of the mountain and view the actual port, Lyttelton Harbor.

From Christchurch, we took the whole day drive to Queenstown via Route 7 heading SW to Ashburton, then route 79 to Lake Tekapo, where the Church of the Good Shepard is located. A very small church that will only hold about 25 people. The setting is absolutely magnificent, right on the lake with spectacular views. It is a very popular place for weddings. We continued S. through Twizel and ended the 8 hour drive in Queenstown. We stayed in a new property slightly outside of the main town (you don't want to stay in the middle of town if you want any peace and quiet!) called the Pounamo Apartments @ 110 Frankton Road, Queenstown. This place was fabulous; a two bedroom bi-level apartment. Underground parking, and when you enter from the rear of the building, there is a hallway and on the left is a long counter with computer and printer for your use. On this level are the two bedrooms. Very modern bath, and there are shutters which open up onto the lower living room. A full kitchen, dining area, and a living room area with flat screen TV, a propane fireplace, and the wall facing the street outside has huge floor to ceiling windows which give you a partial view of Lake Wakatipu. The only drawback to this property is it faces and is close to Frankton Road, the main road into town, and there are no lifts. You must schlep your luggage from the underground parking garage up to the level of the apartment. Nothing insurmountable but should be noted. There is a small supermarket right on the corner as you drive down Frankton Road and turn left onto the main street.

Queenstown reminds me of Mammoth, the ski town base in the Ca. mountains. Small and crowded and a tourist mecca for winter sports. You name it and you can do it from the sports standpoint. You can ski, water ski in summer, bungee jump, snowboard, hang glide, parasail, or skydive in this area. In addition to the above, you can take the Shotover jet; a speed boat that holds anywhere from six to 15 people with very large engines and powered by a powerful water jet. They ply the rivers which feed the lake at very high speeds and it is a real thrill. We did a Dart River Safari, which was an all day affair that was just great. They pick you up from your hotel, and you ride about 45 minutes along the shore of the lake to the little village of Glenorchy. There are only about 200 year round residents. From here you board a small 15 passenger 4 wheel drive bus and take about a one hour drive into the boondocks. Beautiful mountains and the guide said that several different movies have been filmed in the valley. Four wheel drive a necessity on dirt roads and through pristine beautiful streams feeding the Dart River, which flows into Lake Wakatipu. When we stopped, there were pit toilets available for those who felt the need, and then we took a leisurely hike through a forest with commentary from the guide. After about 30 min. of this leisurely hike, we stopped on the shore of the the river, and the boats showed up. We all donned life jackets and of course as soon as we got into the boats, the heavens opened. It was worth it as the rainbows were simply awe inspiring. Off we went at about 40 MPH in less than one foot of water down the river toward the lake. Very noisy and bumpy and wet and all well worth it.

On our first trip 17 years ago, we ran into a little restaurant in Queenstown called The Cow. Very small stone building with about 5 booths and bar and a wood burning fireplace. The specialize in pizza and you can bring your own wine or they have full bar with a wide variety of beers. Well, it is still there and they have expanded and have one in Wanaka, which is the next stop on our tour. If in Queenstown or Wanaka, this is a great place for pizza and it has a great atmosphere.

Queenstown has changed a great deal since we were there last. It is bigger then before and is extremely touristy. Lots of young people here for the adventure sports and extremely crowded in town. That said, it is one of the most beautiful locations in New Zealand.

From there, we drove to Te Anau to take the bus tour into Milford Sound. Milford and Doubtful Sounds are located in Fiordland National Park and Te Anau is the place from which most of the tours leave. Some leave from Queenstown, but they all go through Te Anau. Te Anau is a much quieter less crowded and hectic place than Queenstown. We stayed just outside town in the Blue Thistle Cottages, owned by Annette and Peter Gardner. They have four cottages each self contained with a kitchen, living room, bedroom and bath. The property sits on a hill overlooking the highway to Milford Sound. There is only one road into the sound to catch the various ships that cruise the sound. Last time we were here, the road was closed due to an avalanche (we were there in July, the middle of winter - southern hemisphere and seasons reversed and all that!). We lucked out and Mt. Cook Airlines was flying into the small landing strip at the eastern end of the sound where the ships depart from and we jumped on the chance to fly over the Southern Alps. We were in a Cessna 185 and I have some fabulous video of that flight. We crossed the Alps at about 9000 feet, and then proceeded west along the norther side of the sound descending slowly and when at the western end of the sound on the Tasman Sea, did a 180 deg. turn and headed back east on the southern side of the sound to land at the strip on the eastern end. Milford Sound gets over 350 inches of rain per year and the day we were there it was bright blue skies and about 25 deg. F. Unbelievable place.

This time it was more normal; rain all day. We drove into town and got on the big bus with about 45 passengers, and drove to the Sound. The road is very treacherous and you must go through a one way tunnel. They have a traffic light, but once through that then the road gets REALLY interesting. There are some fantastic views on this road and the sound was quite different in the rain. It was insane to go outside with a camera, but there were hundreds of waterfalls, and the narrator said they would mostly dry up within a couple of hours of the rain ceasing to fall. When we got to the Tasman and turned about, the rain was coming down in sheets and the wind was howling. Still an incredible experience and we feel blessed to have been able to see the Sound once, let alone twice under very different circumstances. Next installment; all the new places!