Living in a Picture Postcard World

50 million sheep in NZ to 4.5 million people!

It is not an exaggeration to say that every turn in the road, every room, every bike or kayak seat, every hike affords stunning views!  And you never, ever get tired of this, really.  Here I am going to post some photos of views we have seen from the bus, or out our room window or from the seat of a bike.  I should add that I have only a small Canon with which to take these and I am no professional!  That just reinforces the fact that this is one beautiful place!

One of many sunsets

Waterfalls on the road to Milford Sound (from the bus)

Mt. Cook and Lake Te Anau (on the bus)

Lake Manapouri (from our room)

Another view from the bus!

A quick hike in the rain forest

Roughing It!

If you know me at all, you know that I am very used to creature comforts.  In fact, a joke in my house is that a Holiday Inn is a camping experience for me!  So, when I booked this trip, I knew we would be staying in modest accommodations.  What I didn't know is that some of these modest accommodations meant we had shared bathrooms--and not just with another couple but with everyone on the trip, and even dozens of people we didn't know!

Let me explain....
The remote areas that we visited often had limited accommodations.  For example, in Milford Sound, there is only one lodge and it is very popular with backpackers.  It is beautifully situated in the woods just minutes from the Sound, but all the rooms are tiny and we had a guys bath/shower and a gals bath/shower.  Which we had to go outside to get to.  Not a problem!

Milford Sound Lodge

 

But the most amazing place we stayed in was up in the hills overlooking Mount Cook. I will write about Braemar Station and our wonderful final days in another post but I just have to rave about the views from our hut.  Our little hut was so cute and comfortable, but there was only one large bathroom for everyone (14 of us) and we had to walk outside in the middle of the night to get to it!  Ben, our guide was so funny when he said "I think you folks are mature enough to figure out who can use the bathroom when." Well, it was worth it.  Here are a few of our views.  I did not take a photo of our bathroom.

On a walk near our hut

Our little hut (on the left)

View from our porch

Kayaking in Milford Sound

Most visitors to New Zealand see the gorgeous Milford Sound in New Zealand's fjordland from a cruise ship or bus, which visits for an hour or so.  We were very fortunate to stay in some rather rustic accommodations (more on that later) but with an early morning kayaking trip with noone else but the dolphins, birds and occasional penguin.  Our group got up very early and headed over to Roscoe's Sea Kayaking Adventures where we get set up for a morning on the water.  Our guided tour took us over 12 kilometers of crystal clear water, closeup views of stunning waterfalls, rainforest trees clinging to the side of steep cliffs, and playful dolphins. The peace and quiet on the water was really incredible!

Waterfalls were everywhere

Mark and Cory from Canada

Almost mystical

Queenstown Extreme

Queenstown in the southern part of the South Island is known for its extreme sports.  It is a beautiful town situated on a turquoise blue lake surrounded by mountains! Our group of 12 are hardy souls and most were looking forward to spending our free day in Qtown doing extreme sports!  Ana, from Israel, went canyoning (jumping, sliding, swimming, rappelling, and ziplining through some of the most spectacular natural canyons); Paul and Greg, from DC went ziplining, then mountain biking down steep slope; Rachel from New York went sky-diving for the first time; Brian from Canada went white water rafting.
What did Bill and Robin do?  We had our own challenge...eating the humongous Fergburger.  
 
It is so famous in town that the line begins forming as soon as they open and goes on throughout the day.   It was delicious for sure and as you can see, quite huge.  Bill and I shared one :)

Actually, we did do some other fun things. The night we arrived, we took a 100 year old steamboat out onto the river.  The TSS Earnslaw is very authentic complete with strapping young men putting coal into the 500 hp steam engines.

The trip takes us to a homestead where we have a delicious dinner (lamb and beef of course) and then take in a sheep show.  The dinner is followed by a sheep shearing exhition which is a riot.  First we see how the sheep are herded by....sheep dogs!

Then we go into the shearing area and watch this funny guy shear a huge sheep (as large as he is) in about 2 minutes.  The sheep doesn't mind at all, in fact it is almost like they look forward to being manhandled and sheared.

Sheep shearing

It was a fun show in a beautiful setting. 

We also took a gondola ride up to the top of a mountain and rode a luge down.  Here are some photos from that extreme sport!

New Zealand Continues to Surprise!

New Zealand continues to surprise. We had an incredibly rainy and chilly day on Saturday...for our kayaking adventure. Most everyone came back chilled to the bone but Bill and I (who chose not to go out) had a nice pot belly stove and hot tea at the ready. We took a walk around the village but not before capturing some of our fearless tour members heading out to kayak. The village of Okarito is very small but its residents include a recluse award-winning writer and a well known photographer. It is really at the end of the road!

Let's do it!

Rachel wondering if she really wants to go kayaking

We had an amazing roasted lamb dinner tonight. Which brings me to mention our incredible guides, Cristina and Ben, a couple who are from Canada and New Zealand.  They have bussed us, hiked us, fed us and generally cared for us for over a week now with grace and charm. They seem to never sleep. Every morning we wake up to a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs or burritos, muesli,  fruit and hot coffee. Lunch is usually sandwiches and salad or meat pies, a specialty in NZ.  Dinner...well, Cristina is a great cook and has prepared for us Moroccan chicken tagine, Thai pasta, grilled fish and vegetables and the above referenced roast lamb with roasted parsnips, pumpkin and potatoes. Very delicious! Wish I could say that with our exercise I haven't gained any weight but I can't...

Ben and Cristina--our guides and fabulous cooks

Part of our group awaiting lamb dinner

After we left Okarito, we headed to Franz Joseph Glacier.  The Glacier was first discovered in 1865 and photos show that it has lost a lot of its ice over the past 50 years  Still impressive though.  There were several hikes offered, including a heli hike which 6 of our group opted for. Bill and I took a long meandering trail to the glacier, a walk of about 9 kilometers combined with a side trip through "the bush".

Bill by the waterfalls

Robin at the glacier

Unfortunately the heli hikers were not able to get up because the weather changed so quickly. The others went on a very strenuous climb to a lake and view of about 3.5 miles...much more rugged than ours.

The amazing thing about the flora here is that right next to the Glacier was a lovely tropical rain forest hike..

New Zealand is as beautiful and awesome...in any type of weather.  We haven't had a single day when we were disappointed.  We can't wait for the next week of exploration!

The Sun Will Come Out....Today!

When it is sunny in New Zealand it is gorgeous.  We had a wonderful sunny day as we traveled to Nelson Lakes National Park to pick up the hikers and then continue to the coast for an overnight. 

Beautiful Lake Rotoiti in Nelson Lake NP

Along the West Coast on the Tasman Sea

We took a long walk around a lake in the Punakaiki area before visiting the Pancake Rocks in the Paparoa National Park. Through a layering-weather process called "stylobedding" the limestone has formed what looks like piles of thick pancakes!  When the tide is high, you also can see fantastic blow-holes.

Snow Sleet Freezing Rain--this is NZ Summer?

Our tour group split into two groups for three days on Tuesday.  Six of us went on a biking holiday around the Marlborough Sound in the North, staying at a cute bed and breakfast.  The other six backpacked into the Nelson Lake National Park.  We had thought of going backpacking but I was worried that I couldn't hike....straight up....for seven or eight hours...with a 25 pound pack.  Silly me!

Our view of Marlborough Sound from the B&B

Anyway, Bill and I are now so happy to have made this decision to bike because the weather for the hikers was horrendous.  The first day they had torrential rains (we did too which is why I didn't bike that day).  Now that we have remet the group, they tell us that they hiked through rivers (not streams) that came up to their waists.  They arrived at their hiking hut after 5 hours with their clothes completely soaked.  The hut did not have showers, hot water or toilets. My goodness.  The next day, they hiked again about 7 hours with some rain, more streams and arrived at their hut which was heated by a fireplace.  Nice, eh?  The bedrooms were actually rooms with mats on the floor and they had brought their own sleeping bags.  The next day they awoke to a blizzard!  35 mile winds, no visibility and blinding snow.  But they had to hike out because they had to reconnect with the rest of the group (us) and so they hiked through the blizzard for seven or eight hours.

When they finally got down off the mountain, we tried really hard not to tell them of our B&B's hot tub, the delicious meals we were served or the sunny hot days we had after the first rainy day

Here are a few photos of our beautiful biking day:

Bill fixing his bike

View from the Biking Route of Marlborough Sound

Our Fun Biking Group

New Zealand Wonderful!

Our short 2 ½ hour flight to Christchurch was uneventful, and we arrived to see a city, sadly, still in ruins.  Well, not the entire city but the earthquakes of a few years back that racked the inner city have that part of town completely sealed off and in various stages of reconstruction.  We didn’t get to see much, only some of the homes and churches on the outskirts that were destroyed.

Sleepy Seal in Kaikora

View from our B&B

Bright and early Monday morning we meet our group and guides.  There are 12 of us and 2 guides and we are a diverse and fun group.  We will have rain today so we begin our drive heading up north (on the South Island) to Kaikoura.  We take a short one hour hike  around Peninsula Walkway Trail and then land at our guest house, a darling place with fabulous views of the mountains (so they say, it was very rainy and cloudy by then).  We had a lovely meal cooked by our hosts and settled in for the night.  Some of our fellow travellers arrived only this morning from Israel and New York!  They are tired but good sports…

It rained all night and the next day…continuously.  We are going to separate into two groups tomorrow, one backpacking and one biking.  I am not the best backpacker in the world, and with a large pack and torrential rains, I just didn’t think I could do it, so we joined the bikers.  Bill actually enjoys biking more and we get to stay in a real B&B not a hut with 20 strangers.  I think we will be happier.  Before we separate however, we have a wine tasting at a lovely winery named Forrest, in the Marlborough region.  Needless to say, we loved the sauvignon blanc (tIN NZ they call it sav blanc!)

Our guides give us an option of cycling a few hours in the afternoon amidst poring rain on a wet and dangerous track, or relaxing in the hot tub and a nap.  What do you think the Fetsches did?

Whirlwind!

 It has been a few days since I have time or internet to blog.  Very exciting few days so here is a recap….

Our delightful B&B

A real Rubber Ducky!

We spent our last day in Sydney soaking up the city, walking through the Botanical Gardens one more time, visiting Darling Harbor and Chinatown and City Market.  Some of the sites are just too fun not to post:

Great view of the opera house

We ferried again back to Circular Quay.  If I haven’t mentioned ferries are available to take you anywhere…and we used them lots.  We bought a multi-day pass which allowed us unlimited travel on ferries, trains, buses.  We never once regretted not having our own car!

Looking at the maps, we decided the best way to get to our guest house on Potts Point was to take the Ferry to Garden Point and walk.  So confidently we got on the appropriate ferry and began to get off at Garden Point, only to be told…this is not permitted.  You are NOT ALLOWED on this military base!  Okay….so, we got off at the next stop but it was a long walk to get to the train station, all uphill.  Again, I want to thank Stephanie my wonderful trainer for all those workouts that enabled me to get up a high hill (actually our “workouts” only got harder once we arrived in NZ but that comes later).

After a much needed shower (it was again about 97 degrees), we went to a nearby restaurant with an awesome view of the city.  Here we are after maybe a bottle (or two) of wine!

Fun and Funky Sydney

We got an early start this morning, heading from our guest house in Potts Point (a very close suburb) to the city center, where we picked up a walking tour of the CBD (Central Business District).  The CBD is generally like most large cities with shopping streets, office buildings and restaurants.  What makes Sydney unique is the art that sprinkles the town.  Sydney is only a couple hundred years old so even the "old" buildings are relatively new.  The history of the town, as a place of convicts and ruffians, is proudly discussed by the tour guides.

Highlights of our walking tour below:

Magnifying Glass Sculpture

Birdcage Alley

Queen Victoria's Dog

Glass Ceiling

After nearly six hours walking around the city, it was time to go back to our lodging and get ready for a performance at the Sydney Opera House. Since it is not the season for opera or concerts, we got tickets for a cabaret show called "La Soiree".  We didn't know what to expect but what we saw amazed...a contortionist squeezing his large lanky body through a 12 inch tennis racket, a strip tease by a guy (yes!) on roller blades juggling swords--all at the same time!  There was an acrobat who twirled 20 colorful hula hoops at once (from head to toe), a macho Latin guy riding a unicycle with a woman on his shoulders (selected from the audience!) to the music of Queen.  We might have been among the older members of the audience, but everyone had so much fun!  A night like we have never had before!

The population in Sydney is 4.5 million and I think about a quarter of them were at the Opera House bar that evening. You can barely see the crowd in the photo below but it was huge!

Bar Scene at the Opera House

Bondi Beach!

Sydney is a very young and athletic city.  Everywhere in the city we see large numbers of young joggers in spandex!  Seriously, I could wear my gym clothes and not be conspicuous (except that I am several decades older than most!) And because it is summer, everyone seems to be outside...the outdoor cafes are crowded, the beaches the same.  Today, we went to Bondi Beach (pronounced Bond-eye) and it is a surfers heaven!  As we waited for a bus to take us back to our guest house, we saw dozens of barefoot and beautiful surfers,  speaking Norwegian, Spanish, Russian, carrying their sandy surfboards back to their backpacking hostels, which are everywhere.  The waves were very good today, so the surfers looked tired but happy!

Fish and Chips

 

Bondi Beach from the Restaurant

We had expected to find beach shacks along the magical crescent beach, but walked instead into a private surfers club with a gorgeous view.  They welcomed us into their restaurant and we shared the most fabulous fish and chips!

The water, by the way, is very cold, this is the Pacific Ocean of course.  We only got out toes wet! The surfers all wear wetsuits.





After being outdoors all day, we decided to dine in...so we did what we do in Falls Church often....purchased a rotisserie chicken and salad from the grocery and ate it on the porch of our room. 

Sydney--vibrant, hot, beautiful!

This is one dynamic city!  It is summer here and pretty hot (they say yesterday was the hottest day on record, something like 110 degrees!).  After checking into our lovely B&B in Potts Point, we set out to explore.  The city is very walkable, so we amble through the botanical gardens on our way to the city center and the Opera House.  Our first sight of the famous OH.

View of the Opera House from Royal Gardens

Very striking, the iconic Opera House looks different from different angles.  What you don't see until you are up close is that the roof is actually comprised of 10 "sails" made of over a million tiles.  One is also captivated by the multitude of activities around the building, from sand piles for the children, to street musicians to a dozen or more ethnic restaurants that line the grounds. 

View of Sydney from the Opera House

From the Opera House, we can see the entire cityscape, and the Harbor.  What a beautiful place.  Just in front of the huge cruise ship in dock, are the many ferries that take folks from one place to another, quickly, if not cheaply.

Play area and kiosks line the walkway around the Opera House

We decided to explore the city later, but we walked to the Quay and took a ferry to Darling Harbor and the Aquarium.  Here are a few things we saw along the way:

On the ferry

Amusement Park on the Harbor

  We are trying to stay awake until nighttime in order to get into the Sydney rhythm!  Finally, after a delicious dinner of scallops and barramundi (local fish), we crash and sleep for 9 hours (Bill AND Robin).