A Very Southern City – Dunedin
Well, by southern I mean “geographically”. It was the southernmost city I visited in New Zealand and I was expecting it to be frigid but, mercifully, it was not. In fact, we had some really beautiful days though one morning we had minor rain.
Dunedin with about 130,000 inhabitants is quite a pleasant town to explore. It has Scottish roots but, never having been to Scotland, they were not as easy for me to identify. However, I enjoyed the town as it was quite walkable – except for the steep hills! Dunedin sits by the water but it is surrounded by hills. The city’s area includes the slopes of these hills where many neighborhoods are located. It is a nice drive to go up to higher ground and see the old houses as the road curves along, while looking down on the city. But having walked a few of these streets, I can certify they are steep! In fact, Dunedin does lay claim to the steepest street in the world and I am not surprised.
Not the steepest street I saw
The world's steepest street
During my visit, I explored the Otago Museum right by the university. It is a very nice museum (and free to boot!). It is an excellent place to take the kids. http://www.otagomuseum.govt.nz/
I also took tours of the Cadbury factory (also good for the kids) where they kept giving us different chocolate bars along the way (not all were to my liking as they were mainly milk chocolate based and I am a dark chocolate fan) as they showed us how chocolate is made (very interesting) and of the Speight’s brewery (where, of course, we sampled their beer – very nice! sure, why not, also good for the kids! lol ).
Dunedin’s railway station is a piece of art onto itself, both the exterior and the interior, and a must-see if you visit.
Railway station
Finally, the main street itself has a good number of places to eat as well as places to shop so walking it up and down a couple of time is certainly worth it.
Main street
I found Dunedin to be quite charming and the people friendly. I am not sure how cold it gets in the winter being so far south but I counted my blessings of not finding out in person!
Random Observations during Trip to Australia and New Zealand
As I used to do when my writing was in email form to friends and family, I am going to share some of the random things I observed that caught my attention. These are not earth-shattering observations or anything that is better or worse in the places I visited than what I am used to, just things that caught my eye. I always find it interesting to hear what others find curious so I will share what I found curious… Hope no one takes offense!
- I arrive in Sydney, my first main stop in the trip. After surviving the strict customs and health things they do at the airport, I leave the secured zone and what is the first thing I see? Krispy Kreme. Don’t get me wrong, nothing wrong at ALL with a KK doughnut. But I travel halfway around the world and the first thing I see is an outlet of a doughnut chain founded in the southeastern U.S. where I live!
- Alright, I get past KK (without stopping), handle a few things (ATM, buying SIM card, etc.) and eventually get to my friends’ place (a train and a metro ride away – plus a short hike). I shower, unpack somethings, and venture out to combat jet lag. But first, let me load up on caffeine! I look around and there are coffee shops EVERYWHERE! I did not know Aussies were so into coffee. Not that it should surprise me, coffee is good but there were coffee shops not just in every corner but in between corners and multiple ones at almost every corner. Wow. That’s a serious devotion of coffee.
- So I pick one coffee shop – a hard thing to do with so many around. I ask for a coffee. I get a blank stare. I repeat myself. The young woman has an accent (eastern European, perhaps) so I assume my own accented English is too new to her ears. I repeat my request “a coffee, please”. She asks if cappuccino, latte, or flat white. I didn’t want either of the first two and the third option sounded like a cup of milk – just white, flat white, only milk. I say no I just want coffee. It occurs to me that perhaps I needed to explain that I meant coffee with nothing else. I get a blank stare. Eventually, the other clerk joins us and I repeat the last statement. I succeed in getting black coffee. I wasn’t sure what the deal was but, heck, I got my black coffee. Only to discover it was horrible. And then it dawns on me: perhaps black coffee here is not as good as say, PR, France, Italy, hence they must always add some amount of milk and/or foam. Got it. But I still didn’t know how I should have asked for black coffee… Nor did I get what a flat white was… (until later).
- It is not “how are you doing?” but “how are you going?”. At first, I wanted to say by bus or by train until I caught on.
- In a many places I went to eat, you order up at the bar and then sit down and they will bring your food. The cool thing about this is that you can pay when you order so after you are done eating, you just get up and go. In some places that felt normal but in others that were more like restaurants, I lfelt like I was bolting without paying, except I had already paid. I like this approach as it saves time since you don’t have to play that game of “I am ready for the check”, then wait to get it, then lay down $ or credit card, and wait for it to be picked up, etc.
- There are these “stores” called TAB in Australia. I wasn’t quite sure what they were and my friends explained they are sports betting places. Mind you, not glitzy or big like casinos (they have those too) but like small stores. And they can be quite a common sight in Sydney and Melbourne – one every couple of blocks? (an exaggeration on my part but it felt like that!)
- Air travel is a breeze here. Not sure if that is good or bad but for domestic flights, just show up 30 minutes beforehand. Security doesn’t even require shoes off. My belt and shoes set off most US airports’ machines. Not here. Nada.
- Driving: in some places, it felt like these were the best drivers in the world and, in others, pretty bad. No locations shall be named…
- The times I ordered salads, not once did I see regular plain lettuce. I love these countries!
- More than a couple of times, I think I was fed some mis-information by eager-to-share-knowledge guides. Like Lake Taupo being the largest lake in the southern hemisphere. It IS the largest freshwater lake in Oceania (616 km2) but that is a far cry from Lake Victoria (69,485 km2)… Another was the “world’s longest bridge” somewhere between Dunedin and Christchurch… I didn’t buy either of these claims but I wonder how many I “bought”! Now, I am sure Dunedin DOES have the world’s steepest street (it is so according to the Guinness Book of Records, I checked).
- Constant references to something being the x-most in the southern hemisphere. It felt like everything wanted to claim something. Best example: the Christchurch airport signs telling the travelers that the company that runs the airport was the 1st airport company in the southern hemisphere to become carbon neutral. I was wondering when we were landing…
- Rainfall in the north island is measured in inches but in the west part of the south island, it is measured in meters! (I am raising this not because they used different measurement systems when giving me these data points but because it points to the significant difference in rainfall amount.)
- Train restrooms were clean (as opposed to those in many other countries I have been to).
- Power outlets have a small switch immediately next to them to turn them on. If you don’t realize this, that electric razor you are trying to charge up won’t be doing anything the next morning!
- Upon arriving at a motel or B&B, the person at reception ALWAYS offered me milk. It took me a while to develop a solid theory on why (outside of “they just love drinking milk here perhaps”): since it was winter and the rooms had electric kettles, maybe it was in case I wanted tea/milk or coffee/milk?
- Many places had windows with 2 positions for closing the window. One was to entirely shut it but the other was to leave a slight crack open yet have the window locked. It was hard to see that the windows were slightly ajar. At first, I wondered why motel rooms had a draft… I figured it out on my own, thank you very much.
- Every motel or B&B I stayed at had towel warmers. I loved that since it was very cold.
- Airlines had a bit of an obsession that the safety card in the seatback pocket must always be the first thing in the pocket. Before landing, flight attendants requested this and/or would fix it for you if they noticed the items in the pocket were not in the right order…
- Public restrooms in every town’s central area! And easy to find!
Criss-crossing New Zealand
Besides flying into and out of the country and riding the TranzAlpine train, buses (or coaches) were my main mode of travel. I was surprised that trains were not talked about much in my readings about how to move about the country but it seems buses are the main way to get around (outside of driving).
Backtracking a little, I did not sign up for a standard guided tour but instead bought a package of transportation and accommodations based on the places I wanted to visit. The agency that helped me basically ensured the places were sequenced in a logical manner and handled the synchronization of schedules when connections were required or when special linkages to other events were needed. The package also included a couple of main attractions (like the ferry ride through Milford Sound). I really liked the idea of an independent tour, as they are called, since I wasn’t looking forward to the “confines” of a guided tour nor of driving around solo.
The “Bus/Coach Experience”
I was not sure what to expect from taking a bus around and in between towns. I was not expecting a regular public transportation bus (as I know them in the U.S. and Europe) but also was not expecting a major tour bus type. These inter city type of buses (InterCity seems to be the largest bus company around but there are others affiliated with tour companies) pretty much go everywhere and are fairly comfortable. Many will have a restroom (or “toilet”) on board and, if not, they will make frequent stops every couple of hours or so for nature breaks, food breaks, and even some photo opps. The drivers for these buses will even do some narration of what you are looking at or going through which was a very nice surprise so that you could understand better the land you are observing. Some of these drivers were a veritable fountain of facts and knowledge! The buses were also on time and some even picked you up/dropped you off at your hotel. In researching the options, there were buses that seemed to be focusing on college-aged tourists – I sensed as much and stayed away from those as I am well past that age. Make sure you understand the focus of any bus company you choose!
Following a Circuit
Another curious thing about doing an independent tour and using the bus system to get around in the south island is that, more likely than not, you are really following a circuit that goes something like this with variations possible: Christchurch, Greymouth, glaciers, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Te Anau, Dunedin, and back to Christchurch. Some of the variations include the Catlins, Invercargill, Stewart Island and a few other places at the very south and very north of the island. (I didn’t do the same type of travel in the north island so I am not as familiar with what a good circuit might be there.)
The neat thing for me was that I began to run into the same people at different stages of the circuit (people who were going counterclockwise on that circuit; the opposite direction is also possible!). Sometimes we would be in the same bus 2 or 3 places in a row. Sometimes we broke the sequence only to reconnect later in the trip. It took at least a couple of times of coinciding before really chatting them up. And I actually enjoyed running into the same people later in the trip. Grace from NJ, Chris from London, the Lees from Hong Kong, a couple from Delhi, etc. were some of those folks I ran into a few times. I also did meet other folks whom I only saw at one spot but got to chat or hang out (Ben from Tamworth and Ryan from Melbourne).
Finally, because of the various stops the buses make, you get to see a couple of smaller towns even if for a short 30 minute walk. We are talking small towns (the largest I reckon was about 4,000 people) so 30 minutes gets you at least a peek at the town center which is better than a drive-by. If you like seeing small towns, clearly driving around would be better as you can decide how long to stay somewhere but I enjoyed seeing places like Wanaka (on the shore of Lake Hawea and somewhere I would stay instead of Queenstown if I ever return!), and Hokitika near Greymouth.
So, among the various good ways to travel the country, the bus system gets a thumbs up. And you will never be a total stranger to everyone while going around NZ!
The North Island of New Zealand
When I planned my trip, I decided based on my interests and what was on offer to spend more time in the south island than in the north island. However, this does not mean the north island lacks places to explore. I left the visit to the north island for the last 4 days of my month-long trip down under making Auckland my base and then traveling around the center of the island to visit places like the Waitomo glowworm caves (incredible!), Rotorua, Taupo, Huka Falls, and the geothermal fields. There was so much to see that even 2 days for these sites was a bit rushed.
I noticed a few differences between the two islands during my visit. Clearly, the north island is more densely populated (this does not mean it feels crowded) and there was more evidence of human presence along the roads traveled in that part of the north island whereas the south island felt more vast and empty. Also, the presence of the Maori culture was much more evident in the north island than it was in the parts of the south island that I visited. Finally, the north island also seems to have more going on in terms of volcanoes and geothermal activity but the south island has the more extreme mountain scenery (the Southern Alps, glaciers, fiords).
Meeting the Maori Culture for the First Time
One of the highlights for me of the north island was to get a small peek at Maori culture by visiting the Auckland Museum (highly recommend it) and one of the cultural visits in the Rotorua area. It was great to understand better the songs and dances of the Maori, including the scary “haka” that I was familiar with only through watching the All Blacks rugby team in action!
Sample Maori meeting hall - being greeted when we arrived
Maori dance performance
Hot Lava, Anyone?
Another highlight for me was visiting the geothermal fields and understanding why those fields exist and are so active – the area is a very “alive” volcanic area. I visited a few sites where I saw geysers and thermal pools. The Artists Palette and the Champagne Pool were my favorite among the various famous sites near Taupo. But everywhere you looked, you could see a column of steam coming off the ground, not only in the areas set up for visitors but just about anywhere you looked. I have never seen anything like that before! Of course, along with all this comes a strong “aroma” of sulphur.
One of the pools
Part of the Artists Palette pool
Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating too much so I did not get a good view of the lakes in the area. It rained a good bit the weekend I was in the north island so I am sure that kept me from enjoying some nice views.
Auckland
In Auckland itself, I limited myself to the Auckland Museum and the Maritime Museum, and to do a very long walk around the central business district, Ponsonby (where I stayed) and “K” road (Karangahape is the proper name). While the central business district had some neat architecture that I assume is early 20th century, it was the districts of Parnell and Ponsonby that seemed to have more of the charming feel. I did not explore beyond this central core of the city so there is likely more than I got to see. For instance, the central business district waterfront area is only a fraction of the coastline that is available to the city, which is bounded on one side by the Pacific Ocean and on the other by the Tasman Sea.
Auckland definitely felt very different than everything else I had seen in NZ in the trip. It is the most populous city in NZ (around 1.3 million residents out of the 4.something in the entire country). By comparison, the next largest city I visited, Christchurch, has about 350,000 residents. After spending a week in the southern half of the south island, coming to Auckland required a bit of an adjustment!
Other Areas
Among the many things I did not see but heard were worth seeing were the Coromandel Peninsula, the city of Wellington, islands off Auckland like Waiheke, the areas on the north of the north island, etc. It seems, therefore, that I need to return to NZ to complete my visit 
Experiencing Majestic Fiordland
A Question
For some reason, fjords here in New Zealand are fiords. No time to google it. Just sharing… In any event, I left Queenstown early in the morning to see the wonderful site that is Milford Sound in the southwest corner of the south island of New Zealand. As the bird flies, this should have taken, I don’t know, an hour or two. However, there is no direct route so we had to drive all around the lake by Queenstown – a VERY long lake – and backtrack to get to Milford Sound. This took about 5 hrs or so (I am guesstimating, my memory begins to confuse the segments’ durations…). I wondered why they would not just build a more direct route since Queenstown is such a popular destination in NZ for skiing and adventure (the adventure capital of the world, or is it of the southern hemisphere??), and Milford Sound is high on the list of must-sees in NZ.
The Answer? (Or My Theory of It)
Well, the question answered itself along the way. The trek to get to Milford Sound is the most beautiful of all the road scenery I had seen in the trip. You are, the last part of the way, driving on a road flanked on either side by a mountain range with snow-capped peaks. But I am not talking about far in the distance you see some mountains. No, they are right next to you!
The drive, needless to say, was spectacular. We passed a few mountains (Mt. Christina which in my mind was spelled Mt. Cristina as it made me think of my cousins named Cristina, all 3 of them; and Mt. Talbott where Sir Edmund Hillary trained for his eventual climb to Mt. Everest). Right by Mt. Talbott we entered a tunnel where ice stalactites had formed due to water seepage and some of these would fall on the roof of the bus as we passed – quite loud and it took us all by surprise!
The well-named Mirror Lake
The zone was beginning to show the effects of the arrival of winter. The contrast between how the zone looks in winter vs. how it looks in summer must be incredible to see. (Mental note: I need to go back in late spring or summer.)
Winter begins
During this drive, we passed the divide of the south island and the vegetation clearly became more rainforest-like as we went west over the divide. It was neat to see the contrast.
One interesting note is that, in this area, tree avalanches are possible. The trees along these mountains can’t develop a root system (if I recall correctly) that goes deep enough onto the mountain sides so the trees’ roots intermingle not only underground but above ground. If a tree dies, the overall root system weakens. With enough of this and high winds and entire group of trees can fall and it becomes a cascade of trees all the way down from wherever the avalanche started. We saw a couple of such avalanche sites and basically you can see, just like with a mudslide, the entire section where the trees rolled down. We were told one time it took 2 weeks to re-open the road below!
The Sound
Milford Sound is a fiord that takes about 45 minutes to traverse in one direction until it hits the open seas (this would depend on boat speed). One can go in one of the boats that take tourists or kayak some of the way. The former was the way I did it and I enjoyed taking in the views, seeing the waterfalls that dot the very vertical faces of the mountains along the fiord (I still want to spell it fjord; Norway on my mind?). The Mitre mountain is the one typically shown on pictures of Milford Sound. It is called “Mitre” because it resembles the hat of the same name worn by bishops/cardinals. Unlike some fiords elsewhere, these are part of a national park and there is no development or habitants in the fiord.
Heading out on the boat
Along the cruise we took, we saw seals and dolphins, the latter quite playful, following the boat, turning on the side as they swam with us, etc. The place had a peacefulness to it that made me want to kayak it on my own, just looking around and enjoying this wonderful corner of earth called Fiordland.
The playful dolphins of the sound
Milford Sound, as far as I understand, is just one corner of the Fiordland region. Now I want to come back and spend the same amount of time I spent in the south island in the Fiorland region! So much to see and do, so little time…
Breath-taking!
The Adventure Capital of the World – Queenstown
Queenstown’s claim to fame, perhaps among others, is that bungy jumping was invented not far from the town. By now, taller and scarier jumps have been created in Queenstown and elsewhere but that original bungy jump exists in the same bridge.
Now, I am not sure if Queenstown is indeed the adventure capital of the world. For instance, I thought me eating guinea pig in Lima would make Lima the adventure capital of the world, for me at least. But there is definitely plenty of adrenaline-pumping activities all around town as well as the more traditional and sensible activities of skiing and snowboarding. I heard people talking about the different things they did while there an dhow much they paid and I concluded (not rocket science!) that the reputation of the city as adventure capital certainly helps the city with revenues as these adventures are not cheap!
I arrived in Queenstown at the start of the winter season after crossing a good but of the west coast of the south island from Franz Josef. It was a beautiful drive with the only issues being some black ice once we left the coastline and headed inland – it was cold!!! The west coast is less populated than the east coast of the south island and it showed. Very few towns, very small if they existed.
Queenstown seemed like a metropolis after my passing through Greymouth, staying at Franz Josef, and seeing the small towns along the west coast. We did pass some inland towns that were a little more substantial with Wanaka being one of the nicest ones (on the shores of Lake Wanaka). It seems to attract similar type of tourists as Queenstown for skiing and other activities but it is smaller and retains a smaller town feel to it. I would not have minded staying there and exploring… Anyhow, back to telling you about Queenstown. It was littered with skiers and snowboarders and all the types of businesses that cater to this crowd (average age must have been 20!). I could have been anywhere in ski country USA – the town had that type of feel to it. My motel was a walk away from the center of town but was very adequate and the staff was great. As far as places to eat, I was surprised at how good a semi-hidden joint on The Mall was. Its name was Chico’s Bar and Grille and the beef and venison pie was simlpy outstanding! The Peregrine Saddleback pinot noir was a nice wine to drink with it.
A view from a square by the lake
My “Adventure”
So what adventurous activity did I undertake? Well, all the hiking in Tasmania and at the glacier ruined my left knee to the point that days later even walking hurt. So I had to drop my plans to ski at one of the two main sites (Coronet Peak or The Remarkables). I was bummed. I considered white water rafting but even with a wet suit, I could not stomach the thought of the frigid waters. It was frigid just walking around – I had not appetite for trying the waters! I could not just sit around all afternoon so I opted for a float and a massage. Not adventurous? Well, the float thing was new to me and it required getting into this sort of enclosed tank and laying there on very salty water floating in the dark for 30 mins. That was adventurous to me!
I also got to go up the mountain right above town using a gondola for some excellent views of the town, of The Remarkables, and mountains beyond. I do not know if the skiing is worth the trip down under but certainly viewing The Remarkables made me want to come back and get a shot at their slopes!
The Remarkables range (and an adventurer; I'm very proud of this pic!)
Flying onto and Hiking a Glacier!
The village of Franz Josef on the west coast of the southern island of New Zealand (whew, that’s a long “address” to give for a village) exists to share the Franz Josef glacier with those who want to see it. This glacier and neighboring Fox glacier are 2 out of 3 glaciers in the world that end in a rainforest and miss getting directly to the ocean by not much!
Now, there are numerous ways to explore the glacier: short walks, half-day or full day hikes, heli-hikes, flyovers and perhaps more that I do not know about. I decided that due to sore knees from earlier hikes that I should not do the full day hike. But then the helicopter ride tempted me as we would start further up the glacier plus we would do all the hiking on the glacier instead of part of it being on normal ground to get to the glacier. I am always up for such a shortcut when the tradeoff is like this!
The helicopter flight up took less than 10 mins. I could not tell you how long it took as I was to busy looking out and snapping pictures. He did fly us to the top before coming back down a bit to drop us off. In that last segment, the pilot did a nice maneuver where we were almost on our side. Nice surprise…
Approaching the glacier
The amount of ice is unbelievable and we didn’t really get to see the top field of the glacier which must be quite expansive (and deep!). We landed – it seems – like 2/3 of the way up the face of the glacier. A guide had been dropped off earlier to scout the terrain that day (since the glacier moves, etc. they cannot just assume the same area will work from one day to the next) and set up the landing spot for the copter. Once we landed, he quickly explained a few things to us (like how to use the crampons on our boots to better get a grip on the ice as we walked). We quickly got the groove of it and began exploring. The guide would check out the area he wanted to take us through and then we would follow. Like this, we explored crevasses, mini-caves and open spaces. The most exhilarating thing was getting deep into a crevasse or mini-cave and be surrounded by beautiful blue ice. Of course, you always had to be mindful of the floor of crevasses and mini-caves as they could be at any moment just a thin layer of ice and your foot would just go right through to freezing water underneath! That happened to a couple of folks in the group. Another solo traveler and I quickly clued in that it would be best if we traded cameras during the hike to snap pix of each other instead of constantly having to ask each other or others “can you take my picture?” He did a great job of snapping pix away of me with my camera so I have a nice set of pix of me in all sorts of tight spots, etc.!
The guide leading the pack
Me in one of the most vertically tight places we went through
The group
I was told that during summer, during peak tourist season, the village can get up to 3,000 visitors in one day. In winter, the numbers are much lower but I was surprised still at the amount of visitors. I think that the place is likely just as beautiful in the winter (though colder). It was not really terribly cold, in fact, we had lunch outdoors that day with no heaters (but still wearing our jackets). In the evening, it definitely got cold!
There are lots of options when visiting this glacier, or Fox glacier, on what to do. Cost can be a key factor in choosing the activity but, if you can afford it, by all means do the heli-hike! You will not regret this way of experiencing nature and the beauty of glacier country in New Zealand!
New Zealand – Traveling from Christchurch to Franz Josef
In order to get to the village near the Franz Josef glacier on the west coast of NZ, I had to take a train across the mountains in the center of island (which are called unofficially the southern Alps, hence the train is called the Tranz Alpine train).
This train cuts through the plains of Canterbury where Christchurch is on the eastern side of the southern island and then climbs up to Arthur’s Pass before beginning the descent towards Greymouth, a small town on the western coast where I connected to a bus that would then drive me south to Franz Josef village.
View of the Canterbury terrain
The views were spectacular along the route. The train had a viewing platform from which one could take pictures without the glare of the train window – but only if one was willing to freeze in the cold wind that hit the platform.
Western side of the island from the train (after crossing the southern Alps)
The train ride was very comfortable and made a stop or two where we were allowed to get out and stretch our legs. The train ride took about 4.5 hours.
The bus ride was also very interesting. Bus rides here include the driver providing commentary that is quite good for a tourist. The bus also makes several stops along the way not just to pick passengers but at some scenic spots for pictures or to take in the view. It also makes one or two stops depending on the route and duration for people to eat something or go to the local supermarket. This made the trip quite comfortable as one always had access to food and restrooms! These, I learned on my next trip in the southern island, were typical of bus rides not just the one from Greymouth to Franz Josef.
I may become redundant at some point but the beauty of the land is incredible. I have been to many places I have liked and it continues to amaze me how many types of natural beauty there are around the world. What strikes me about New Zealand’s west coast is how close the different types of terrain are. The alpine mountains and glaciers almost touch the ocean where rainforests dominate. It is like Switzerland by the ocean, sort of (the statement probably doesn’t do justice to NZ or Switzerland but it is the best I have come up with so far!).
New Zealand – Arriving in Middle Earth
Alright, I can’t cover all those in one posting but I will start. I arrived in Christchurch on the eastern coast of the southern island of New Zealand (where Lord of the Rings was filmed; the lands in the movie were called “Middle Earth” for those who may not be familiar with the movie!). From the plane we flew over the southern Alps, as they are unofficially called. In this picture, we pass over the highest peaks and you can even see a glacier coming down.
Glacier flowing to lower right corner of pic
It was around 230 PM and we were delayed getting off the plane because a passenger had flu-like symptoms. Nice. The health person from the airport had to board the plane and do some kind of test on the passenger before any of us could get off. I couldnt see exactly what he was doing but after a few minutes of whatever, we were allowed to get off the plane. The airport claims to be the “top carbon neutral airport company in the southern hemisphere” which I found amusing for a couple of reasons, one of which is the recurrent theme in Australia and NZ of claims about a place being the “—-est” (tallest, biggest, cleanest, etc.) in the “southern hemisphere”. Considering how little of the world is in the southern hemisphere, these claims almost seem too easy but, heck, someone’s got to make the claim!
Besides being carbon neutral, the airport is nice and small and it was very easy to just go to the bus stop and catch bus 29 intown. It dropped me off very close to my bed and breakfast but apparently I signalled “stop” one street too early so I walked an extra block. No worries, extra exercise.
The Orari bed and breakfast was in an old house and was very nice. At 6 PM they cracked open some wine for the guests so I knew I had ample time to walk around before sunset (around 430 PM) and be back to shower, unpack and get some wine. The room was frigid when I got there though they had turned on the standing heating unit probably just before I arrived. I thought I would freeze that night but the stnading units (there was another one) and the heating blanket worked really well. In fact, all too well, I was burning up in the middle of the night and had to turn off the heating blanket! It was the first time I had used one… I was very glad with my choice of place to stay due to a great location next to an art museum but otherwise not in the middle of things, yet a short walk away from places to eat, the city center, etc. Oh, and the staff is great!
The town of Christchurch is called the garden city and I would agree with that although it was the beginning of winter. The “suburbs” were very nice but also the areas closer to the city center. The city center itself was manageable and with some key sights to check out. I strolled down Oxford Terrace by the small river that cuts through the town as there were a lot of restaurants/cafes/pubs along the street and I wanted to scope out where I would have dinner later that night. I settled for a place called Sticky Fingers where I later got to enjoy a very nice Sauvignon Blanc for Malrborough called Clouday Bay. The place has a nice smart and modern ambience. The seating areas was very comfy and next to but separate enough from the bar area. The food was good but I would not say stellar. Other restaurants in the strip that caught my attention were Ferment and Liquidity.
- New Regent St. in Christchurch
My visit in Christchurch was short and I am going back at the end of my tour of the southern island so I should get to sample another restaurant and sip on the wine at Orari.
In the meantime, on to other entries about my experience in the south island so far!
Australia and New Zealand: Here I Come!
So I sit here writing this entry when -perhaps- I should be starting to pack… I am less than 48 hrs from departure but my packing list (serving me faithfully since 1997…) serves as my security blanket so I proceed writing not too preoccupied with my packing slackness. Of course, packing will also be interrupted by a Mexican dinner with friends tonight and, I am sure, by other things tomorrow!
I will leave Monday and the trip will for sure be long. But not as long as my trip to Tanzania which had 2 very long layovers in London and Dubai… I found a great fare to/from LA in the US with Air New Zealand taking me to Sydney, then including the leg from Melbourne to Christchurch, and finally bringing me back from Auckland. To and from LA from Atlanta, I used frequent flyer miles. (Sadly, I had enough miles with Delta for a first class seat all the way but the partner airlines serving Oz and NZ did not have availability EVEN FOR COACH! Frequent flyer miles are becoming more and more valueless with time.)
So what am I doing? After a lot of research online (websites, Twitter) and in travel guidebooks, here is the plan I settled on:
- Starting on June 3rd for short of a week: Sydney and vicinity. I have friends in Sydney so a longer stay is nice. I hope to visit the Hunter Valley, the Blue Mountains, the Jenolan Caves as well as all the key sites in Sydney proper.
- 2nd week of June through June 18th: Melbourne and, maybe, a short hop to Tasmania (I know, should spend more time there…).
- Then I go to New Zealand where I will spend 11 days visiting: Christchurch, Franz Josef Glacier, Milford Sound, Te Anau, Queenstown, Auckland, Rotorua, Waitomo, and Taupo. It was hard deciding whether to focus on one of the two main islands or how to divide my time between them. Lots of good advice but usually with differing suggestions. In the end, I read about what there was to see and just chose based on what drew me the most (glacier, fjords, geysers were tops). I will be taking an independent tour for part of this itinerary. I had not heard of independent tours before but it fits me very well as I didn’t want to drive on my own (plus it is winter and I don’t know the roads or the likely conditions) and I also didn’t want to be trapped in a guided tour. The independent tour arranges all transportation and accommodations and some key activities but, in general, they leave you on your own so you can choose what you want to do at the various places you go. I like that a lot.
I am very excited at seeing friends in Australia and at FINALLY getting to visit Australia and New Zealand! I know I leave other things unexplored but I will hope I get to return someday to go more off the beaten path and explore other parts of these countries more in depth.
Any recommendations on good places to eat (“hole-in-the-wall” types) or lesser-known but outstanding sightseeing jewels in Sydney, Melbourne, Christchuch, Queenstown or Auckland??
Final Plans for Australia and New Zealand!!
I have reached a great milestone: I have finalized my travel plans!! The only details that remain are those that will be finalized once I am in Australia. As usual, planning the trip, exploring the possibilities, figuring out routing and logistics, etc. are great fun for me. But that fun has ended and the real fun is about to begin!
I have decided to first visit my friends in Australia since their schedule was better this way. I will first get to Sydney via LA and Auckland as I decided to fly Air New Zealand. I decided on ANZ for price and itinerary. Since the last bit of my trip is New Zealand, I didn’t feel like trekking back to Australia before heading home (once the trip is over, I will just want to get home!). I did not pursue United as generally I don’t like it. I did have enough frequent flyer miles to get there with Delta even first class but they do not start flying there until July and I had to travel in June. Delta’s partner airlines didn’t work out to get there on miles which was a big bummer as I had hope to fly Singapore Airlines first class all the way. (The good news is those miles will take me elsewhere in the future!)
So, back to the itinerary, Sydney first. After a week or so there, I trek over to Melbourne to visit my other friends. I am hoping to visit some wineries in the Yarra area. My Melbourne friends want to make a long weekend trip with me and we are toying with Uluru or Tasmania. I am hoping for the latter myself as I have read wonderful things about “Tassie”.
From Melbourne, I say goodbye to Australia wishing I had gotten to see Darwin, the Kimberlies and Perth. I could have spent the next 2 weeks seeing those places but have decided that New Zealand is much higher on my priority list. This is a hard-to-get-to place in the world for me to get to so I had to go off priorities (much as I like to think I will be able to go back someday). I arrive in Christchurch, NZ where I signed up for an independent tour of the southern island for about a week. An independent tour, which is a new concept for me, means they provide transport and accommodations but it is not a guided tour and you are not necessarily traveling with the same people the whole time. Both of these things appeal to me. I wish I could have driven around the island but traveling solo, I didn’t feel this time like dealing with everything by myself (though there are self-drive tours that seem pretty good for anyone wanting to drive).
The tour I have opted for will take me through glacier territory, fjord waters, mountain towns, and hopefully wine territory near Blenheim (of Sauvignon Blanc fame!!!). I decided to spend the majority of the time in the south island though I realize I am forgoing some key sights in the north island. I will have little time in the north island and mainly in Auckland from where I will depart to head home.
I am so looking forward to this trip!
Planning a trip to Australia & New Zealand
I find myself with the benefit of extra time where I can make a trip somewhere for 3 or 4 weeks and I have set my sights on Australia and New Zealand. I have friends in a couple of towns in Australia so it seemed maybe a good time to head down. Also I have always cringed at trying to visit on 2 week vacation as it is far for me and costly!
The first question is what of all that there is to see should I plan to see and will the amount of time I have be sufficient.
The second question is how that potential list of destinations matches with my friends’ schedules.
Finally, the logistical matters for the solo part of the my trip take center stage for my last question. For example, I hear NZ is best handled driving but, as I would be there on my own, I don’t feel I want to handle driving. So I have to figure out what options do I have to get to explore NZ in a different manner. I am searching through various blogs and websites as well as posting questions on twitter (@ilivetotravel) to see what may be possible. I am a fan of wines so I have been wondering if tying seeing the country while visiting its wine regions may be a good way to marry both interests. Are there operators that provide those types of tours and on a short enough itinerary to fit my overall itinerary?
I found a great site (www.tourism.org.nz) that breaks up the two main NZ islands into regions and then provides descriptions of each region with their “must see” attractions. I am finding it a great way to study where I may want to focus my limited time in NZ. A week is not enough, I am told, for NZ but my time constraints do not allow much room for more.
In terms of Australia, my visits to Sydney and Melbourne will be the anchor of the trip as I want to see my friends. However, places like Tasmania and Uluru are high on my list. I would also love to explore wine country and the Kimberlies and see places like Perth and Darwin. But there may not be enough time for it all so, in the end, I suspect my final itinerary will depend on what works out best from a scheduling and cost standpoint.
One snag on my plans was that it seems I will not be able to use my Delta/Skyteam frequent flyer miles to get there. I had enough accumulated over time for even a first class ticket and I had been saving the miles for this trip. However, Skyteam does not have many ways to get me down under and the only ways they have (Singapore Airlines and Korean Airlines) do not work for my schedule. However, I have to say that I found very cheap fares from LA for about $1100 including my travel between NZ and Australia. By the way, Qantas and Air New Zealand have fantastic features on their websites for planning multi-city itineraries. Kudos!
I hope my next entry contains more solid details as I am 3 weeks away from my potential departure!
Open to suggestions about what are “must see” destinations or ways to see NZ without driving?
About
Part of the fun of traveling, besides the travel itself, is the experiences that happen along the way. Getting hopelessly lost in eastern France, getting stuck in a public restroom in Versailles, finding a tucked away neighborhood park in touristy Venice, being tossed into a stranger’s car in the Sinai peninsula, discovering the most mouth-watering wines in Mendoza, etc. all enhance the travel experience.
I have a passion for travel and seek to share the experiences and sights with others via this blog. And I hope it also gives others ideas of places to go or dream about going to someday! Other passions include dark chocolate and red wine – for the record!
Follow me on twitter @ilivetotravel or in Facebook www.facebook.com/ilivetotravel and drop me a note about your own travels any time – I love discovering new jewels for future travel opportunities!
My friend Chris, who also loves to travel, and others contribute on occasion to this blog to share their own experiences!
