Arne and I headed off in mid-February for a "Summer Vacation" in New Zealand. It was an amazing trip.
Day 1: Travel to New Zealand and Queenstown
Arne and I left Friday night for New Zealand and arrived early Sunday morning. Our first stop was Queenstown. The decent to Queenstown airport was exciting - a big jet plane flying down a narrow canyon, snowy mountains in the distance.
After checking into the hotel, we had a lovely breakfast and then took the noontime sailing of the 1912 TSS Earnslaw to Walter Peak farm tour.
Arne loved seeing the steam engines working, hearing the loud steam whistle / horn. I loved the animals on the farm tour, watching the sheep dog work, seeing sheep shorn and getting to hold a baby lamb!
After a lovely afternoon nap, we went out for a Valentine's dinner of fish and chips and ice cream - it was the perfect end to the day.
Day 2: Milford Sound
We were up early for a bus ride to Milford Sound - with commentary the whole way there. Arne found the details on the difference between silage and hay fascinating. It turns out silage dries for 4-5 hours and hay dries for 2-3 days, and thus there are different storage means for each. One needs a plastic cover, the other doesn't - can you guess which goes with which? At the Te Anau we had a quick breakfast (egg and bacon pies, muesli and yogurt, OJ and a lemon shortbread cookie) and then we ran down to the water.
The scenery got more spectacular after Te Anau and I got to fill my water bottle with glacier runoff at the Monkey Creek stop, which one of the explorers named after his dog named Monkey.
Once in the sound we did a boat cruise around the sound (which is really a fjord) and saw seals, waterfalls, and lots of lovely scenery.
After the cruise we walked over to the airport, and flew back to Queenstown in a tiny plane with lovely views of the mountain tops right below us. We saw Walter Peak farm as we flew down lake Wakatipu and into Queenstown.
After the outing, we headed to the gondola for good views and a luge ride. The views were fantastic from the top. Arne created this amazing video of the day:
Link to Video on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2ZvVik_KtE
Day 3: Travel to Mt. Cook
We woke up early and walked around town and had breakfast at Eichardt's Private Hotel. I had blueberry pancakes with fried bananas and cream, Arne had omelet with mushrooms, arugula and chevre. Then we walked around the botanic gardens that were just outside out hotel.
We picked up the rental car and it turned out to be a red Mazda 3, like Arne used to have, but made for driving on the left side of the road. When he tried to signal a turn, he ended up turning on the windshield wipers.
We headed north and stopped for a bit in Arrowtown and had a walk along the river.
The next big stop was Twizel, a little town before the turnoff to Mt. Cook, where we had a mince and cheese pie for lunch.
The weather was again beautiful, clear sky and the mountains looked gorgeous.
We had a lovely dinner in the fancy restaurant before bed.
Day 4: Mt. Cook and Glacier Explorer
It was a beautiful sunrise this morning. Then a kea flew in the room and landed by my feet. I clapped my hands and it flew out. This was an exciting start to the morning.
At 10:00 we went on the Glacier Explorers tour. A short bus ride took us to the adjacent valley. After a 30 minute walk over the terminal moraine, we boarded small boats to view the icebergs on the lake created by the retreat of the Tasman Glacier. Clouds were threatening rain, but it didn’t come until the evening.
In the evening, we went for a short walk in the Hooker valley, up to the Alpine memorial and the bridge and lake overlook.
Day 5: Travel to Christchurch
Thursday morning started off with RAIN and no good views of Mt. Cook. Even with the rain, Arne was excited to hike up to the waterfall we saw the day before, that was hidden by the clouds. The waterfall ends in glacier rocks, with no stream or lake below it - awesome.
We then drove to Tekapo, had a meat pie and walked over to the Church of the Good Shepherd.
We continued our drive to Christchurch through Geraldine and Ashburton, where we stopped at the Ashford Spinning Wheel factory. We then drove on to Lincoln, Arne's old NZ University. It was wonderful to have him show me around to his favorite places, including the library, which still has the box for gumboots by the door.
We stayed at the Classic Villa in Christchurch, just a block from the botanical gardens. For dinner it was my favorite, fish and chips.
Day 6: Christchurch and Travel to Auckland
Friday was a beautiful day. We started it off with several hours exploring the botanic gardens. Arne loved vegetable garden and I loved the begonias exhibit.
Then we drove out to Sumner, walked on the beach, and drove over the hill to Lyttleton (third largest port in New Zealand) for lunch, before heading out to the airport for our flight to Auckland. Arne's friend from Lincoln, Craig, picked us up at the airport and drove us back to his and his partner Michael's place. We had a wonderful BBQ dinner before bed.
Day 7: Waiheke & the Sky Tower
It was a sunny and warm Saturday, as we headed downtown to the ferry building for a ferry to the island of Waiheke.
We did a bush walk around part of the island, stopping off at the Cable Bay Winery for a drink and chips.
Then we walked on to Oneroa beach, had a swim, then lunch at Lazy Cafe. Then it was a power walk to catch the ferry by four (we made it with 3 minutes to spare).
That night we got dressed up and went to dinner at the Sky Tower. We had a view of all of town as the dining area rotated as we ate.
Day 8: Hangi & Long Bay
After an exhausting Saturday, Sunday was a day of rest for us. We slept in late and then headed down to south Auckland for a Maori style hangi cooked meal with Michael's relatives. The hangi reminded me of luau food - it was meats smoked with wood chips from the local "tea tree" the Manuka.
After the parted we headed out to Long Bay for a walk along the ocean and the cliff area before heading home to a final dinner in New Zealand.
Day 9: Rangitoto and the Flight Home
On our last day we woke up early to take a ferry to Rangitoto - a dormant volcano that created an island only 600 years ago! We took a tractor train ride up to the top area of the volcano, and then walked around the rim had a snack at the top, before hiking down to the ferry back to town.
Back in town we had wonderful ice cream before heading to the Cultural Museum to see a Maori performance and then have a picnic on the lawn. We loved the WinterGarden and Fernz Fernery.
Then we headed to the airport and home. More pictures can be found in our New Zealand 2010 Picasa Album Arne will be posting more videos soon!
