Our last day in New Zealand was St Patrick’s Day. It also coincided with the New Zealand port of call for the Volvo Ocean Race. We spent a lot of time walking around the pier and checking out the pavilions. There was live music, shopping, and loads of interactive activities for kids and adults alike. It definitely wasn’t a bad way to spend our last night in the City of Sails.
Random events that happen during vacation always seem to make the trip even more memorable, don’t you think?
~j
The Otago Peninsula is one of the few places to see the endangered Yellow Eyed Penguins, and one of the only mainland Albatross habitats in the world. This is probably one of my favorite vacation days in recent memory. When we were looking for a company to visit the Otago Peninsula with, I was asked if I was a “twitcher” because I wanted the opportunity to see penguins.
twitch·er
ˈtwiCHər/nounnoun: twitcher; plural noun: twitchers
- a person or thing that twitches.
British informal- a birdwatcher whose main aim is to collect sightings of rare birds.
To see the Albatross, we went to the Royal Albatross Centre at Taiaroa Head on the Otago Penninsula. The centre is the only mainland place in the world to view these enormous birds.
The teeny tiny Yellow Eyed Penguins were on the opposite end of the size spectrum. They actually walk up from the beach (near the Sea Lions who very well could eat them!) up the sand bank into the longer grassy areas to nest. It was quite the trek for these little waddling birds.
If you’re in New Zealand, and wondering whether to visit or not, take the opportunity. It was fantastic.
~j
New Zealand, for all of its laid back vibe, wasn’t willing to give up much in the way of Street Art. Maybe it was the areas we were staying, or maybe it was just a matter of missing the opportunities by turning a street too soon while walking around the cities. Either way, I was able to find a few pieces. Here are some of the shots from our NZ trip.
Dunedin, at the Southern end of the South Island of New Zealand, was our last city before heading back to Auckland for flights home. While there, I was fortunate to be able to catch up with an old friend that I’ve known since I was 5 years old. He’s been living in New Zealand with his wife and 2 children for quite a while now.
Dunedin is an awesome city. There’s something for everyone–architecture, nature, cuisine, history. It really was a great place to spend our last few days in NZ.
If you’ve spent any time with Fazh recently, I guarantee you’ve heard about Baldwin Street. Baldwin Street was among one of the many attractions of historic Dunedin that we were able to visit. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, this street is the steepest street in the world. At its steepest section the gradient is 1 in 2.86. So for ever 2.86 meters traveled horizontally, the elevation changes by one meter.
Every year there are people, CRAZY people who run to the top and back during the “Baldwin Street Gutbuster.” And, for annual charity events, up to 30,000 chocolate candies that look like orange gumballs are rolled down the street. Each of the orange “Jaffas” is purchased for charity prior to the big event. Prizes go to the person whose Jaffa reaches the bottom first. That’s about the only good thing that candy would be for. Chocolate and orange=gross! The video isn’t the best quality, but it’ll do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-AcBQRqwlM
We climbed to the top of Baldwin Street…IN THE RAIN, and gladly collected our certificates of achievement when we returned to the tiny shop at the bottom.
Have you encountered any odd World Records in your travels?
~j
Traveling by bus from Queenstown to Milford Sound and back again made for a long day! Not having our own transportation , we went with a day tour. If you’re from a coastal rainforest area, Milford Sound might not be very impressive to you. I found it worth the visit. There were plenty of stops along the way that broke up the trip nicely.
Milford Sound, in Fjordland National Park, is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This unique area receives more than 6.5m of rain annually. (That’s about 21 feet of rain a year for all of you non-metric folks–more than three times your height unless you play for the NBA!) Such high rainfall creates a layer of fresh water over the salt water sound. Stained by tannins washed down from the forest, the fresh water layer restricts light to all but the top 40m. This creates a rare opportunity for deep water eco-systems to be much closer to the surface than normal. Milford Sound is a popular area for SCUBA for this reason.
Though Milford Sound receives up to 180 days of rain annually, we had a beautiful sunny day for a cruise on the water.
Happy Travels,
~j
Queenstown seemed to be the adventure sport hub of our New Zealand trip. It is very similar in feeling to Banff or Jasper. Lots of little shops to check out, but also lots of gorgeous scenery and outdoor activity. Fazh was most excited about going paragliding. He saw them, and instantly wanted to go. Literally, we hadn’t even checked-in or put our bags away. I guess when you know, you know!
We also managed to check “see a Kiwi bird” off his list by visiting the Kiwi Birdlife Park. Queenstown is also home to Fergburger, a burger place with a cult like following. Seriously, the line-up was out the door, constantly. I must say it was delicious. Here are some photos of our time in Queenstown.
On Tuesday, February 22, 2011, Christchurch New Zealand experienced a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that utterly devastated the city. 185 people lost their lives. Hundreds of people lost their homes and businesses, and the city lost its beloved Christchurch Cathedral. Since February 2011, Christchurch has experienced over 10,000 earthquakes and aftershocks.
These are 2 of the 3 pictures I took while in Christchurch. The rubble still present a year after the quake left parts of the city looking like a war zone; other parts were completely walled off, and others were completely intact as if nothing had happened.
We visited Christchurch on the last possible day to view the remaining portion of the Cathedral before it was being levelled. Unfortunately, due to the late time of the day, we were unable to find a pathway through the barrier wall to see it.
At 7 hours and roughly 450km, the trip from Rotorua to Wellington was the longest bus ride we had to endure.
For the nerds and old folks, Wellington has an impressive Botanical Garden. We rode the Wellington Cable Car to the top, and checked it out. From the mid-way point we were able to watch part of a Cricket match which Fazh was super pumped about. He had been watching Cricket on TV at night in the hotel rooms. Cricket could be the most confusing game ever to figure out the rules just by watching. I know 4 points if the ball goes over the outer boundary…that’s it. FYI: The person throwing the ball is not called the pitcher. He’s the bowler.
Museums in capital cities are typically the most impressive a country has to offer. Te Papa was not up to par. Unfortunately, Wellington seemed like a party town full of noisy college students. It just wasn’t our scene. It wouldn’t have been my scene without Fazh either…maybe 20 years ago!
Of all the cities we visited in New Zealand, Wellington was probably the most disappointing, though necessary stop for us to take the ferry to Picton on the South Island. (I have a particular affinity for ferry boats.) The Interislander Ferry through the Cook Straight was beautiful.
From Wellington we took the TransCoastal train to Christchurch. Stay tuned,
~j
No visit to Rotorua would be complete without a trip to Te Whakarewarewa. (Whaka for short, and the ‘Wh’ is pronounced as an ‘F’…true story!) My brother had visited years earlier in high school and was emphatic that the Hangi cooked corn was a must. So funny! The geothermal vents provide heat needed to steam and cook food which is actually quite tasty, but more of a novelty than a must do.
We spent the day visiting the Maori village, checking out the geothermal and cultural sites. There was a performance that included information on traditional Maori clothing, tools, music, and a Haka, which Fazh loved. Our park guide, Sandra, was great, even if she tried to introduce her self at the start of the tour as Te whakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao. (The full name of the site, loosely translated to: The gathering place for the war parties of Wahiao.) And, now you can see why the village is called Whaka by the locals.
Rotorua also provided us with the opportunity to cross a few “must-sees” off of Fazh’s list by visiting the Agrodome. If you’ve been reading all along, you’ll know that he wanted to see a sheep sheering, a kiwi orchard and some logging industry site amongst several other things. Logging was cut before we left. Pun intended. At least the other two were enjoyable. The Agrodome was a thoroughly entertaining day at a fantastic facility. The “sheep show” features 19 different kinds of sheep. The farm is home to all types of animals–working sheep dogs, geese, ducks, Angora goats, llamas, alpacas, red and fallow deer, ostrich and emu. Kiwi and feijoa fruit are grown on the organic farm, as well as apples, mandarin oranges and olives.
Check out the photos, and see for yourself.
Happy travels,
~j
Devonport is an historical village a short (approx. 15 minutes) ferry ride just across the harbour from Auckland. Fazh and I spend the better part of the day wandering around the Island. We climbed to the top of Mount Victoria and checked out Fort Victoria. The cemetery we stumbled upon was fascinating. Some of the dead had almost reached 100 years old, 100 years ago. I don’t imagine making it to 100 in NZ that long ago would have been an easy feat! We wandered around, sight-seeing, as we made our way back to the wharf and shoreline.
The coffee menu was confusing. Here’s a typical offering. (Thanks www.newzealand.com for the info. And, you know it’s intense when the COFFEE options are posted on a tourism site!)
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