Our pre-planned trip ended with our return to Christchurch. And we had three (four?) whole days left in NZ to explore what MK we wanted on our own. Thus, we were brought to another rental car in the morning, which was funny because it was the same car, different color, that we had been using on the South Island. It was a 6 hour drive to Mt. Cook, where we would finish our vacation. There were some beautiful, again Hypnotiq colored, lakes we stopped at on the way, and maybe two or three towns.

If you can wrap your head around this, or find a map since I can’t, Mt. Cook is closest to the glaciers that we were at a week ago, on the other side, but there’s no way to get there from there. So you take this drive. Whatever.

Our hotel was our own little two bedroom hut, maybe the size of where we live now, crazy. Well, we get there, and if there IS a mountain, good luck finding it. The fog ruins things from time to time, if you haven’t gotten the sense of that already. So for our first night we look around. The town is: one hotel that owns a hotel and the huts, two little bar/shack/hostel things, um, and a campground. THAT’S IT.

What? We’re spending three days here? And there isn’t a grocery store or bar? Oh no.

We went to the main lobby of the hotel and played Guess Who. Remember that game? I don’t think MK did. Maybe he never played. He got mad I kept winning. Well, when you ask questions like is it someone that is winking instead of does your guy have blond hair…

Whatever. Then we tried Trivial Pursuit but realized it was the NZ edition and there were way too many cricket questions…bedtime.

Let’s just say you get on this thing called the TransScenic Railway. What would you expect it to be? That’s what I thought. There weren’t even enough clouds to hide the fact that with a name like that, they were only trying to sell tickets, and you could have driven and realized that there wasn’t that much to see. From the city of Greymouth where we checked our bags again and headed back to Christchurch – as you remember we didn’t stay there but I liked it anyway – it was a 5 hour ride. With the promise of seeing something. Not so much. I did see a dead cow, which you might be thinking is creepy for me to tell you, but MK and I had been trying to figure out why if there were all those sheep and cows on all those hills why we hadn’t see any falling or at the bottom already. The cow I saw was in some water, but anyway…

After trying to get some pictures from the viewing deck of the train of nothingness, MK came back in sneezing more that anyone, ever, and sat down sleepy style for a bit. The hayfever finally got him, bad. I listened to my music in a vegetative state.

All my life, I’ve wanted to go somewhere and have someone holding up a sign with my name on it. So much so that the last time my mom came to see me I did that for her. Well, there was a guy waiting at the terminal with a sign for us. MK wouldn’t take a picture, he thought that was creepy. Boo. But, then the radio announced as we were on the way to our hotel that none other than

TENACIOUS D (That’s right, Jack Black)

was performing that night in Christchurch, yes, that’s where we were, stay with me.

So of course, at our hotel, I find the only young young guy, and say “The D? Tonight? Where dey at?” To which he replies “Meyybe dey sold out, but check it. Town Hall. Dunno what time.”

So we had a glass of wine at the hotel – they brought us the ice this time – then went to the bar they had next door. MK does stocks, if you don’t know, and here’s the bar:

The Stock Exchange.

I want to open this bar here: (Don’t steal my idea that is really their idea) as you buy drinks, their stock rise, as does their price. And vice versa. Awesome. We chatted it up a bit with the couple in there. Then we decide to give The D a go. We use the map from the young guy, and walk, and it starts raining, so we make it slowly. We walk in, and they just shut down.

We beg and plead and plead and beg, and what do you know, we are the last two people they let in the show. Anywhere else, any other time, that wouldn’t have been such a huge deal, but we felt so American, at an American gig, cheering for the Americans. It was a blast. The concert was a great time, and the rain didn’t even bother us as we made it back to our hotel that night.

Kicking and screaming didn’t get me any more time in Queenstown, so we had to leave. We drove through the Southern Alps, stopping only at my insistence in Wanaka to see Puzzle World, which can only be explained by pictures. As you see, the outside was buildings and silly photo ops. We didn’t pay the $US25pp to get in, if you can believe it, to see the tricky stuff inside…It basically taught me that you can open up pretty much anything in a touristy town and somebody will pay to go to it. Pretty. Much. Anything.

We made our way through Mount Aspiring National Forest, and I realized that while I thought that I had had a pretty out-doorsy trip, it was headed to a whole new level. We stopped and climbed down the “Gates of Haast”, a crazy waterfall that was deafening and incredible. Here is where something interesting happened. We never found out why, but from here on down the south island, the water took this turquoise hue. It looked like Hypnotiq. (Mom, that’s the stuff I left in the freezer.)

You would think with this amazing water feature named as the gates to your town, you’d live in a cool town, so MK and I were planning the whole time on eating lunch there. Wrong. We were very, very wrong. It was the smallest town on our trip, and we drove through some small places. There were maybe 10 houses and a walk up place where we got a sandwich. Boo. They should change the name of the “Gates of Haast”, to, I don’t know, “Gates of Don’t Stop in the Next Town” or something.

We saw some huge huge deer, I think they were moose, who knows. It was funny to see them all fenced up, I’ve actually never seen that here, although I’m sure they must be somewhere. When deer were introduced in NZ they ate too much wild stuff, so they are all under control for us to eat now. There are a lot of things that were introduced in NZ that haven’t done too well, or have really messed things up, especially for the poor kiwis.

We went out to the Fox Glacier first. We hiked all the way up to it but then MK got scared because there was a rope. Pfft. Then we drove to the Franz Josef Glacier, maybe an hour away. We saw a kea.

Let me explain this a little: a kea is a very rare mountain bird. It is a giant African Parrot. It is something we had been looking for on all our hikes and walks and excursions. Guess where we saw it? In a tree? In the woods? Building a nest? Hiding in some underbrush?

Nope.

In the parking lot. On a car.

I guess you have to take what you can get.

This time I got MK to jump over the ‘only for expert climbers’ rope and we got up close and personal with the glacier. It was definitely a moment to remember. They had signs posted as to where the glacier had been years and years ago, it was remarkable to see the changes that have occurred.

We went back to the town we were staying at by Fox Glacier, and had a big dinner and some drinks. It was a great day, despite it being mostly outside and active…

Milford Sound didn’t have me excited when I heard we had to take a 4 hour bus ride. Then the bus showed up. Not bad. Then we got on our way, it was beautiful. The bus had a glass roof so that you could see the full extent of the views. The driver gave a commentary that was very informational. We drove through Fjordland National Park, and learned a lot about the plants, animals, the waterfalls, the glaciers, and the lake. Lake Wakatipu is referred to as the ‘breathing lake’ , every 10 seconds it ebbs and flows 10cm due to atmospheric pressure – cool, right? We got to out boat and were given a great picnic lunch as we went out Milford Sound to the Abel Tasman Sea. It was spectacular. The mountains rise from 10 Empire State buildings under water to 5 above. The pictures are frustrating, as there’s no perfect way to get the impression of the extensive perspective.

If you open any pictures, open these!!

We saw bottle nosed dolphins, some seals, and so many waterfalls. Ferry Fall has a rainbow that you can see in the picture, and another waterfall the boat went right up to and MK got right out underneath.

The clouds began to set in a little, and we turned back. The Abel Tasman Sea is the 2nd most dangerous in the world, with record setting swells. It was amazing. We learned that Captain Cook actually missed the Sound the first time he came around the coast, and it’s only called a sound to fit in with the rest of the names even though it’s not a sound, it’s a fjord, formed from a glacier.

So, then. We were supposed to get back on that bus for a 4 hour return trip…but my husband loves me.

He hates planes, and really hates small ones. But he knew how much I would have loved to take the optional (for a fee) flight back to Queensland. I might have mentioned it.

These pictures cannot do the scenery justice. There were ice caps melting and lakes in the mountains, and vineyards closer to the city, everything. There is no doubt that even that day I knew this was the most amazing part of my trip, no matter what came next. it was breathtaking, truly why they call NZ God’s Country. They say if he could pick a place to live, this would be it. I’m not speaking for anyone, but I wouldn’t blame Him!

The day started with a cup of coffee all too early as we waited for our shuttle to get us. We headed to the Dart River. We got to go on a Shotover Boat. I can’t help you with a technical explanation, but somehow this thing has it’s engine and propeller inside it, and it goes REALLY fast, on about 6 inches of water. We did 360s and got all wet and got to see the views and drive all around like it was going out of style. The driver was expertly making you think you were about to fly into rock walls left and right. It was so much fun. And I only screamed once, or twice.

MK decided to book a second boat excursion with the half of the day we had left after this. This was a similar boat, just a little slower. We drove over an hour to get to Glenorchy, where the boat went up a higher part of the Dart River. As we drove, we entered some weather. Here’s the amazing part: they fed us, then gave us our money back and put us back on the bus if we wanted, with a FULL REFUND. We were back before too late and not out any money. I was pretty impressed, as I assumed they were going to hose us, or even worse, make us go out in the rain to see the non existent views.

We took a little nap, wandered out to the hotel bar, and had a meal and some drinks. It was great. The weather cleared out, and our room had a patio with a waterfall view. It ended up being a great day, despite our second trip not making it out.

Let me tell you now before we can’t afford it, Queenstown had to be the coolest city in New Zealand. Forget about any California real estate, we need to get in on this while it’s hot.

We drove there and couldn’t get over the views. The whole way to the city was a road along the coast along the mountain range. Incredible. Our hotel, up the mountain side. Nice. The downtown: perfect, easy to get around. Queenstown is a ski city, one of the main places to go in the winter for snow sports. In the summer, it’s home to boat everything, and a whole lot of bungee jumping and extreme sports. We got in and got a free shuttle downtown to walk around. We went to a second story restaurant in the square and had some pizza. There were more stores than anywhere, we did a little shopping. We walked and walked. There was so much going on and everyone was having a good time.
For sure, this place is going to blow up. There was the most development that we had seen yet. If I were to move to NZ, it would have to be there.

Today started out at a tour of a castle. I like castles. I’m pretty sure it’s the only one in NZ, and it was way too crowded to hear the whole story, only that the guy that built it cheated on his wife, she died, he remarried, and she cheated on him. With his son. Typical of people with castles. The views were spectacular and the whole castle was very nice. There are people that live in it, not sure where, so it was pretty big. The daughter got a ball room as an addition to the house for her 18th birthday. I think I got braces. Hmpf.

After the castle, a tour of a brewery. I bet you think I’ve been on thousands of these already, but it was my first! The brewery had a good little story, besides most of it burning down. Then, they put you in a room. Speights, the beer of the south, has these commercials, that I couldn’t understand a word of. It’s all about being a real southern man. Which means using the thickest accent possible. But, from what I had explained later, they were pretty funny. Most importantly – on to the beer drinking. They let us have whatever we wanted. And, hey, I went with a guy that ‘s not that into beer, so I got doubles. The beer was great, and they even let me pour my own.

Our last tour before we were on our own for the night was of a place called the Ovelston house, which two people built early 1900, the daughter that inherited never changed anything, and then donated it to the country. It was a riot, very lavish and all put together old fashioned like. It was probably very funny due to the preceding brewery tour – that a male couple kept getting yelled at for touching things they weren’t supposed to…

Akaroa was quaint. Quaint, quaint, quaint. I heard enough of all these people saying it was their favorite place. It would rain less in my favorite place.

Back to driving, and we were headed south to Dunedin, a Scottish flavor town (By the way, they say doo-need-in – I would have gone with dune-a-dinn). I heard that not many people that do tours make it to this city, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Man are they dumb. It was incredible. We didn’t get enough information on the history of the city, but it is part of the Otago region and has (I think) the oldest NZ college. The drive was one I stayed awake for of the best yet and the city, well, it was beautiful. Their downtown is shaped like two octagons around each other, full of shops and inns and bars. Everyone seemed so happy. We got in and wandered around a bit to take some pictures. It was late so most everything was shut up for the day already, but it was absolutely beautiful and we had a big day coming up again, so we were happy to relax at the hotel.

Which, was about 30 times bigger than the B&B, and which also only had one ice machine and no tubs for ice, which resulted in me running through three stories. Twice. In my pjs. Carrying ice in a ziploc. Twice. The things I go through so the hubby and I can drink a little wine.

Speaking of which, I bet it sounds to you like we had wine every night. Well, we did. But we had very little, so there is something to be said for that. Tolerance is a good thing. The issue was, what with moving around so much, we were lugging the stuff we had bought around. We had intended to bring it back to the States, until we realized how complicated (read: expensive and time consuming) this was. Plus, there is a website,

winedeli.com

that you can just order stuff from that you can’t get here. When we found that out, well, we had some drinking to do.

If you and I have anything in common, you might agree with me that when it rains, you’d rather call it a day and read a book and have some wine, at the very least stay indoors. If you’re not like me, then it’s perfectly fine to go on a boat cruise of the Akaroa Harbour in the fog and the rain.

I did get to venture out momentarily to see some Hector’s dolphins, apparently one of the smallest types, and a calf and everything. It was as nice as it could be considering, but I was glad when it was over.

Of course, it cleared up after we were done and we were able to spend some time looking in the little art galleries and shops and have a pretty great lunch at a local restaurant that actually served pasta – I think that was a first for me – and headed back to our B&B. They did their Happy Hour again and we talked with all the visitors, who besides us, were all from the UK. It was very interesting to hear about how they were unhappy with things there and wanting to find a new place to live. One coupled had actually just moved to another part of NZ permanently and were telling us about what that was like. You know, in case we were considering it…

As you may have noticed, every other day was the driving day, for the most part, so that’s where we were today, in the car. I might have dozed off a little on the way, but MK woke me up to (dork) show me where the Lord of the Rings ring was made…where some big waves were, and (finally, worth waking up) some fur seals. Fur seals are tiny and are different than other seals because of their little external ears (so cute!) There were a good amount on the rocks on the side of the road. MK climbed down and got right close to one.

We stopped for lunch (yes, probably McDonalds…) at a cute town and got a calling card to call the Mom and Dads. There were some giant vineyards on the way to Christchurch, some great views of the land. We stopped to stretch our legs, and I was blown away. Christchurch is a beautiful city. I wanted to spend more time but we had to get back on the road. MK and I argued for about the rest of the hour ride why he thought the city sucked and I liked it after being there for 10 minutes.

We drove all the way up and back down a mountain into the bay of Akaroa. Akaroa was settled as a French town way back whenever. It was quaint, and the weather was miserable. To our surprise, having only been in hotels, we were set up to stay in a Bed and Breakfast. Different…but includes some free wine so fine by me. They all went out for fancy dinners and we retired to our room for the night.