Beautiful New Zealand

Arriving in the Land of the Kiwis

4/24/23, Monday

Kiora!

We had a very early start Sunday morning, traveling from our hotel to the Sydney airport to catch our flight to Queenstown, New Zealand. I thought you might find it interesting to see the McDonald’s that is in the airport at Sydney. The kitchen is actually ABOVE the serving area, and all the orders are delivered down a chute.

The three-hour-plus flight went well, though the approach through the mountains to Queenstown was a bit bumpy and a little scary for some.

After clearing customs, we boarded the bus and headed off to the little town of Te Anau, about a two-hour drive. We had expected New Zealand, especially so far in the south, to be wet and cold, but just the opposite was true. The day was sunny and beautiful. The drive along the lake and out into the countryside was magnificent, and we soon realized why it is said that New Zealand has more sheep than people.

Milford Sound in Fjordland National Park

4/25/23

On Monday morning, we woke to another beautiful sunny day. We had a bus ride coming up of over two hours to get to Milford Sound, so we headed off early. Along the way, we saw some of the most beautiful scenery there is anywhere. The mountains, the lakes, the streams, the whole picture was just amazing.

Milford Sound is in Fjordland National Park, the largest park in NZ, at the end of the road from Te Anau. It’s very winding and up and down, so the going is slow, but that gave us the opportunity for lots of really nice pictures, including a stop at a very calm place called Mirror Lake.

On tap at Milford Sound was a two-hour boat ride out the fjord to the Tasman Sea with a nice buffet lunch on board. This was a very scenic ride with towering cliffs on each side and numerous waterfalls cascading down to the water. The opening to the sea gave us a quick glimpse as to why the Tasman Sea is considered to be the second roughest water on earth, next only to Drake's Passage around Cape Horn.

Opening to the Tasman Sea

Upon our return to the hotel, eight of the bravest of us headed out again, this time for a jet boat ride on one of the nearby rivers. Our driver, John Ladesley, was amazing. He took us for a very exciting and interesting ride about ten miles down the river, and then back again upstream through an assortment of flotsam, jetsam, and small rapids.

After dinner at a local bar and grill, where we ran into John again, and had to buy him a drink, it was time to retire to rest up for another busy Tuesday. April 25 here is ANZAC Day, similar to our Veterans Day. Sunrise memorial services are held, and even the smallest towns have a veterans’ march through town with their families.

Hope you’re enjoying the ride

Arrowtown, Queenstown

4/25/23, Friday morning, mostly clear and surprisingly warm

Keia Ora, y'all, (the Māori and "southern" NZ greeting)

I know, it’s been a couple of days. Sorry. The first day, there was almost nothing to report, and since then it’s been so non-stop that I haven’t had a chance.

So I left you with Monday’s visit to Milford Sound and our jet boat adventure.

Tuesday, we left Te Anau (the farthest south latitude I’ve ever been in my life, @ 45 degrees south) for the two-hour ride to Arrowtown and Queenstown. Arrowtown is a gold rush town from the 1860s and is now just a cute little historic tourist trap with overly expensive stores and foo-foo dining. Their historical museum is the best thing in town, very well done.

After a longer-than-necessary lunch break and shopping opportunity, we loaded up the bus again and headed for Queenstown. What a beautiful setting!

Yes, it’s still touristy, but along with that comes lots of entertainment and dining options. Even some retail therapy bargains.

After a nice Guinness Pie dinner washed down with a Magner’s at Pog Mahomes’ Irish Pub, we called it a night and headed up the hill to our Holiday Inn Express hotel.

Wednesday dawned sunny and bright (Are you sure this is NZ?) with nothing on the official itinerary until 2 pm. My time was spent exploring the beautiful waterfront park, including a lesson at the bowling center, doing just a little shopping, watching some of the entertainment options like the jet boat “sharks” and the jet boaters, and a quick lunch.

Kiwi Country

The next activity was boarding a 1912 steamship for a ride across the lake to a working farm for a sheep-shearing exhibition.

As it turned out, it was much more than that. We were introduced to several highly trained sheep dogs and were invited to feed cattle, sheep, donkeys, and pigs.

Following a spot of tea and biscuits, we saw a sheep get sheared and watched as one of those awesome dogs ran to the top of the hill, gathered all the sheep together, and brought them down to the pen at the bottom of the hill.

After dinner at a local steak joint back in Queenstown,

we all headed back to the hotel for an early turn-in, because of a 4:30 wake-up call on Thursday.

Rototura

4/27/23

The early wake-up was needed because we had to catch a 7am flight to Christchurch, and another flight on to Rotorua, the volcanic center of NZ.

In the spur of the moment, a decision was made for many of us to spend the afternoon zip-lining the canopy of the rain forest. This turned out to be one of the true highlights of the trip. Our guides were fantastic, and though there was a little climbing and energy expended, the trip through the treetops was amazing.

That was not just because of the thrill of flying along the zip line, but also because of experiencing the rainforest, and hearing about some of the ecological steps that are being taken to rid the forest of non-native predator pests, so that the birds that are almost non-existent now can return in the future.

We're off today to learn more about the Māori culture, rooted here in Rotorua,

take a dip in the hot springs,

and visit the Redwood Forest.

It’s not AWK-land, nor OAK-land, more like UCKland.
Kia Ora once more!

Just a brief note today, as we spent a good part of Saturday traveling to Auckland from Rotorua.

But there were a couple of stops along the way.

Before leaving town, we made a quick visit to the Government Gardens, including a quick stop at what is supposed to be the most photographed building in NZ, the now-closed, due to earthquake damage, museum. People were out playing croquet as we walked the grounds. Very nice start to our day.

Down the road, about an hour and a half, is the original movie set, or one of them, for The Hobbit movie, from the Lord of the Rings stories. When Peter Jackson was looking for the perfect site for his Hobbit Village, he came to this farm and made a deal with Mr. Alexander, who owned the farm. This site now draws a million visitors a year.

On to a nice catered lunch at Hamilton Gardens. Extensive flora around a charming lake. Found a cool Alice in Wonderland statue among the greenery.

Finally, arriving in a cloudy Auckland at the Cordis Hotel. As we were waiting for our room assignments, the fire alarm went off, clearing the hotel.

Once everyone finally got settled, many of us headed downtown to the wharf area for dinner. We ended up at Danny Doolan's, a fun little Irish pub with good food and live music.

Rainy today, so our yacht tour of the harbor was canceled, but we were then scheduled for a (yawn) bus tour of the city instead. Auckland just didn't grab like Sydney did. Maybe if the weather had been better...

Anyway, on to the post-trip extension to Fiji.

Fiji, Once Known as the Cannibal Isles

5/4/23
Thursday, Vanuca Island, Sigatoa, Fiji

Bula, all!
(Fijian greeting spoken with enthusiasm, BOO-lah!!)

Sorry that I haven’t been keeping too up to date with notes, but I seem to have adapted the local custom of “Fiji Time.” It’s a very relaxed lifestyle here.

Monday

Not much to report, most of the day spent traveling. Loaded up the bus after brekkie and headed to the Auckland airport for our 1:00pm flight to Nadi (NAN-dy), the main airport on our Fiji island of Sigatoa. Said goodbye to those who were headed back to the states and waited for our flight.

Our takeoff was delayed, and so was our landing, as it was raining on our landing runway, so we circled out over the island and ocean six times. We finally landed right about sunset, got through customs, got “leied”,

and boarded our bus for the one-hour drive to the Shangra La Fijian Resort, where we grabbed a late buffet dinner and called it a night.

And I woke up to this in the morning. OMG!

Not bad, thought I.

The last couple of days have been spent exploring the resort, hanging by the pool, drinking tropical beveridges, and enjoying the sunshine.

We went out for a guided snorkel on the reef, which was very beautiful, but sadly have no photos.

Tuesday

Our little group went to a local village nearby, where they welcomed me (I was our "Chief" for this occasion) and our group to take advantage of their hospitality. We presented them with a Kava root that we had purchased at the local market from which they produce their favorite local drink, which, of course, I had to partake of in the ceremony. It was, uh, very nice.

The two Chiefs

During the welcoming ceremony

The market

Wednesday

Our final exploration took us this morning to an eco park where they are working hard to promote the Fijian Iguana, an endangered species. We also met several other Fijian residents, feeding them and holding them.