New Zealand

I realize that it’s been over a month since I posted here and mostly that’s because I was in New Zealand! Liza graduated from college in December and as a gift, I decided we, just Liza and I, should go on a big trip. I told her we could go anywhere warm and she picked New Zealand. Wow!

We spent 2½ wonderful weeks touring the South Island of New Zealand. We rented a camper van and went wherever the road took us. We saw magnificent scenery, from incredible mountains to the bluest lakes to beautiful coastlines. We saw all sorts of incredible animals, including penguins, royal albatrosses, dolphins, seals, kea birds, and others. All the New Zealanders we met were friendly and helpful, and we met interesting people from all over the world in the hostels and holiday parks. We got caught in a gale, cruised the Milford Sound, and swan in the ocean with dolphins.

All in all, a remarkable trip. Here is the first batch of photos.

We flew into Christchurch and spent the first three days there. We rented a tiny little Suzuki car which allowed us to get used to driving on the other side of the road before we picked up our campervan. Liza did way better than me with the driving. Maybe it’s because she’s been driving for only four years. This is the big Cathedral in Christchurch.

This is the Avon River which runs through downtown Christchurch and is very picturesque. You can go “punting” on the river but we didn’t.

We drove out to the Banks peninsula just south of Christchurch. It’s lovely out there with quaint little villages and a beautiful harbor. This is the beach in Akaroa.

This is our campervan which was our home for the next 10 days. Not nearly enough time. We met many people who were there for months driving around. Our van had electricity, gas stove, a small fridge and a working sink. No bathroom. You could easily get away with a van with no kitchen as all of the “holiday parks” where we stayed had communal kitchens. The kitchens were great and also where you met your fellow travelers. I loved it.

I just loved this sign. It’s outside the big Countdown store which is one of their big grocery chains.

Our first night in the campervan was outside the lovely town of Omaru. Liza and I both loved this place. There is a wonderful Victorian section of town that was built during the gold boom in the 1800′s. The gold boom went bust and the town died but the buildings are still there. They were almost demolished in the 1970′s but the town didn’t have enough money to pay the bulldozer so only one was torn down. And a decade later, the town realized that the buildings were actually a treasure and should be preserved. They are in the process just that and several of them now have shops and galleries and eateries in them. They are awesome. This was also the place where we saw the blue penguins coming in out of the ocean at dusk. You can see a picture of one on Liza’s flickr site.

Liza and I standing out on the rock beach near our campsite. This is the mouth of the Waitaki River. It is immense and very impressive. And the color of the water is beautiful. It’s not showing up very well in this picture but it’s very teal and clear.

This is one of the Moeraki Boulders. These are  on the coast south of Omaru and they are something. Liza and I thought they looked like alien pods, like in the movie Cocoon.

So that’s first post on New Zealand. There is more to come: dolphins, Milford Sound, penguins.