New Zealand 11 – 17 March 2007

Sunday, March 11th. Invercargill, New Zealand. A nice thing about staying at campground and backpackers hotels are the communal facilities, which leads to lots of interaction with others. This morning we met a young bloke who is going to have several months of work in the area and has rented a motor home (caravan) to stay in at this campsite. His family are prosperous farmers on the North Island. They own several farms and he always has the option of running one of them. However, he wanted to see NZ before settling down. He took a job with Department of Conservation (DOC) to do a fence census of this part of NZ. He goes out 40 hrs a week and assesses the condition of DOC fences. Who better to assess a fence than a farmer?

We left town today, but not before visiting the local Museum and tuatarium. What, you don’t know what a tuatarium is? Where have you been? There is a lizard-like reptile native to NZ known as a tuatara. Its closest known relative are the dinosaurs – however, it looks like an iguana to me. The Tuatarium is an animal exhibit of this animal. There we saw Henry, the oldest known tuatara, at 127 years. I don’t know if he has been in captivity that long, but they insist he was born in 1880. The oddest thing about this animal is that, when young, they have a third eye on the top of their head. It is more of a light-sensitive spot than an eye, but vision occurs through it nonetheless.


Our destination today is the Milford Sound, a several-hour drive through the mountains. On the way we stopped in the Mayfly Tearooms in Lumsden for morning tea and scones. From there we motored to Te Anau, a very touristy town on the road to Milford. They have the largest souvenir shop that I have seen in NZ with some very interesting items.

There is only one road to Milford from Te Anau and it crosses the Southern Alps at a few thousand feet through some beautiful alpine scenery and winding roads. The road parallels Lake Te Anau for about 20 miles giving vistas of glacial valleys. We stopped along the way for a picnic lunch and breathed in the clear mt air. As we gained elevation, clouds began to gather and fill some of the valleys, while leaving the mt tops jutting their rock faces above the clouds.


During NZ summer, about 100 tour buses a day take the road to Milford, as it is one of the most scenic spots of NZ. I timed our trip for late afternoon going in and early morning leaving, that way we would avoid meeting most of the buses on the narrow winding road, with several one-lane bridges to cross – my plans worked out and we met only a few buses taking tourists back to Te Anau and Queenstown before darkness fell.

The views along the road are stunning mountain views. The Homer tunnel cuts through one of the Mts about 10 miles before reaching Milford and is about 2/3rds of a mile long. Then the road begins a very steep descent to the Sound. Cliff walls of about 1,000-2,000 ft guide you down to the sea. This is one area where you hope for rain when touring, as the cliff walls then host hundreds of powerful waterfalls which are truly awesome. The area being part of a rainforest, where the average rainfall is 300 inches of rain per year, did not disappoint, as we experienced showers and then the waterfalls.


Near the Sound, we found our lodge where we stayed for the night. It was large (probably 100 people staying there) and very well-kept, with a massive kitchen. Surrounding the lodge are towering mountains and lush forest.


As it was only about 5PM, we had time to go down to the Sound and have a look around. The rains stopped and we were treated to some views of the valleys and the Fiord that is Milford Sound. Sited near the furthest inland part of the sound is Mitre Peak, a national symbol of NZ on many tourist brochures. Mitre Peak rises right out of the water and is 1 mile tall.


The waters of the Sound were glass calm, and so we took some photos with reflections of the mts on the Sound. The sound is 440 meters deep (that’s about 1400 ft). As salt and fresh water do not readily mix and as the Sound takes much of the rainfall from several glacial valleys and as the rainfall is about and inch a day everyday, the top 20 foot of the Sound is actually fresh water. The top 40 meters is lit by the sun (when it shines) and nearly all the sealift is in this small band of water.


I had hiked into this area 35 years ago with an Army buddy. Most of the area remains as we viewed it back then. The hike was much better than driving in, but I am thankful that I have lived to return to the beauty of Milford Sound. There are no gas stations, grocery stores, farms or private homes in this area. NZ only allows so many boats to conduct tours and wants to preserve and protect this area for all time.

As the sun sank below the mountain tops of the Sound (one is about 21 miles inland at this place), we walked the mile or so back to the lodge, where we cooked our evening meal and visited with an Australian family who were taking 3 months to hike around NZ. Along with the parents were 5 very well behaved children from 8 to 19 who readily pitched in with the cooking and clean up with a moan or groans, or really without even being asked to do so. The mother informed us that she had cooked perhaps 2 meals in the past month.

Milford is noted for the dreaded sand fly – but we were now well slathered with repellent and I lost no blood to them here. All electricity is supplied buy a generator, which is turned off promptly at 11 PM and is restarted around 7 AM. During the winter, the Homer tunnel is often blocked by snow and avalanches and I would assume that the lodge has very few tenants then. Later on, Elaine & I walked along the road, where one can see the light of glowworms in the forest and along the roadside.

Monday, March 12th – up and at the cruise boat by 10 AM.


A relatively large boat with 3 decks, 2 of them enclosed – we opt for the upper deck to maximize our views. We chose the early tour since it is about 33% less costly than those later in the day. Once the tour buses start rolling in at about noon, people are all over the place. At this time of day, there are few people around – thus the cruise is pretty empty – no jostling for a good spot to sit or take photos. In pure NZ custom, free tea, coffee and biscuits (cookies) are offer throughout the cruise. Milford Sound is a UN World Heritage Site, and if you make the trip, see Milford Sound (or Doubtful or Dusky Sounds – which are much harder to get to, as there are no roads to them). The cruise takes about 2 hrs and goes from the wharf out to the open Tasman Sea. Walls of mountains are on each side of the sound.


The highest portions are tree free, while the lower portions are tree-covered, except where waterfalls have stripped the vegetation down to bare rock for the permanent falls and to moss-covered stone for the intermittent falls. We are fortunate, as the rain fell earlier, thus we get falls, but now the sun was peaking out; so we get some exquisite views and colors.


The ship chugs along pretty slowly, with the captain giving a narration of what you are seeing and some history of the place. Fur seals are seen in abundance and do not seem to mind when the boat moves in to within 6 feet of their rocky homes to allow us to view and photograph these sleek animals.


Every few moments a new waterfall makes its appearance along the cliff face.


Reaching the Tasman Sea, the ocean swells are quite large an the boat rolls up and down for a few moments before we turn tail and head the 21 miles back to the wharf, passing along the other side of the Sound.


The sound must be half a mile to a mile wide, and is technically a fiord, as it is a sunken glacial valley – just like Norway they say. The wharf is a den of activity, full of tourists, and it begins to rain as we depart the ship.

Avoiding the crush of tourists, we drive out of the area with a few stops for views and short hikes in the bush to see some scenery.


The steep ascent to Homer tunnel was the only part of our trip where I had some trepidation about our rental car. About mid-way through the tunnel, I noticed that the temperature gauge was on the H of high. Oh was I praying that it would not conk out in the tunnel – it didn’t. There are pull-overs at the tunnel entrances and I stopped once we got through to let the car cool down. Sitting near the road was a kea, a large wild parrot known for its propensity to do nasty things like eat the valve stems from tires and pull the weather-stripping from car windows. Our kea was well-mannered and did not such thing and allowed itself to be photographed. They are an alpine bird and are not seen below about 3,000 ft above sea level.


The drive down through Te Anau to Lumsden is uneventful, but very beautiful. Feeling a bit thirsty, we look for a tea room – drat, it had just closed for the day – well how about a beer? The local pub, hotel, has been recently remodeled and is the nicest pub that I’ve been to on our trip. The place is empty except for us and the bartender, who engages us in conversation right away. He prepares a delicious scone covered with berry jam and whipped cream (for cholesterol conscious, don’t read that part). There are only a couple scones left on his display, I figure he is going to have some afternoon tea. Nope, he puts the scone on a plate and gives it to us saying that he probably wouldn’t sell them this late in the day. Wow, was that yummy.

We drive further to Gore where we will camp. This is the only night that we camp in our whole trip that rain falls – the tent keeps us dry. Gore is known as the Brown Trout Fishing Capital of NZ (or was it the world?).


Here we meet the only Americans on our trip and they are here to fish, as are all the other people at this campground. Most are in mobile homes, only 2 tent campers. One of the guys we meet is a retired guy from Colorado, who is in process of buying a house in Gore so that he can come down and fish every year and will rent out the house the rest of the year. The other American is also from Colorado, a young many who is cycling around the South Island in search of fishing spots. They are both sport fishers who only do catch and release. We enjoy an evening of good conversation before running to our tent in a downpour when the kitchen is closed for the night at 10 PM. We put on dry clothes in the tent and enjoy a good night’s sleep. Down to 50 Fahrenheit that night.

Tuesday March 13, Back to Dunedin after a 3 hour drive through rolling hills covered with wooly sheep.


We lunch at a pub at the Dunedin horse racing track. I am surprised when I order burger of the day with fries. My lunch did consist of fries, but the burger was 2 slices of ham and an over-easy egg on a bun. Live and learn. It was good, but just not what I had expected. We follow this with NZs national dessert, Pavlova – a meringue covered with whipped cream and raspberry syrup.

We spend a few hours enjoying the seacoast overlooks on the Otago Peninsula, just outside of Dunedin. The weather is blustery and overcast with intermittent shows followed by sunny periods. In other words, it changed every half-hour. Many of the roads on the Peninsula are one-lane with gravel roads intersecting leading to scenic spots. Otago University Aquarium looked interesting and out of the elements. It is part of the University’s research and learning center and is unlike a typical aquarium. Exhibits are pretty much about local sea life.


You may have read about the 450 pound giant squid that was recently caught (found?) in NZ; they have an exhibit on the previous record size squid of 360 pounds. While the actual squid is preserved in formaldehyde somewhere, they have a plastic life-size mock up. The eyeball is about the size of a softball. The staff seem to be research students, eager to talk to anyone willing to listen about what they knew about this or that fish, crustacean or what ever. They were both interesting and knowledgeable. A hands-on area was also part of the aquarium. You are encouraged to pick up living sea life like shell fish and learn something about them from one of the ever-present knowledgeable and helpful university students. We drive back to Dunedin along Portobello Drive, which skirts the waterfront. A very curvy road. Elaine drives as I just am so sleepy, but every curve causes me to jerk awake. WE return to the backpacker’s hotel that we stayed in on arrival to Dunedin and have a nap, dinner and early to bed.

Wednesday March 14. Back to the Peninsula to tour the Royal Albatross Colony. The birds are protected and one must have a guide with them to view the birds – so we sign on with a tour and walk out to an enclosure from which we can view these very large sea birds (wingspans of adults are 9 ft).


Our flight back to Auckland via Christchurch leaves at 5PM. There seems to be not ID checks or security checks for this internal flight and check in is so pleasant without all the inspections that we have become used to over these past several years. A massive storm is hitting Christchurch and all flights are delayed – so we wait and wonder if our flight will be canceled. Fortunately, it goes out and hour later. In Christchurch our connecting flight has also been delayed by an hour, so all goes well for getting back to Auckland. They do have a security check in Christchurch and my backpack rings the alarm and I am asked to step over to inspection. Forgot about my pock knife in the back pack. The inspector takes a look at it and says, its okay, just pit in checked bags in the future. I am not whisked away to the gulag for further interrogation and proceed on my way with my pocket knife. We get back home to Auckland at around 10PM and hit the sack.

Thursday March 15. Lots of laundry, phone calls, banking, sending post cards etc and clean up to do. We sat on a bench in Avondale and Elaine wrote postcards while I attracted the attention of 2 derelicts who wanted to talk about how the world and NZ are going to the dogs. I fully expected them to ask for a hand out, but no, they just wanted to talk. They seemed pretty harmless and greeted all passersby, who pretty much ignored them. That evening we were invited to another friend’s home for dinner and we had an enjoyable time with them.

Friday March 16 Liz is hosting a Nutramedics cosmetic party this evening. Darn, we have to miss it, as we are going out to dinner at the local RSA (Returned Serviceman’s Association). Its USA equivalent would be the VFW or American Legion. Since I am in the American Legion, I get reciprocal membership in NZ. In the morning, we bus to downtown where we meet with another of my PhD committee members from years ago and share memories and update one another about our lives and our respective families. Kambiz Maani is his name, a Persian Ba’Hai, who left Iran in the early 1970’s to avoid religious persecution (Muslim’s consider Ba’hais apostates and feel no compunction about beating or killing these people). We taught in the same department (which he chaired for a period) and we have become pretty good – if distant – friends. Since we both have recently published a book, we promised to send each other a copy of our work. Our children were small then, now they are all grown up. Both of his children are medical doctors.

Rather than take the bus back, we opt for the train for the 35 minute ride to Avondale.

That evening we head for the RSA to catch up with some other long-time friends. RSA has great food and good beer.

Saturday March 17th. We begin our week of tent camping on the beach (actually, 3 different beaches). Ohope beach on the Bay of Plenty will be our tent-home for the next 3 nights. After about a 30 minute drive, we leave the city traffic behind and are out in the gloriously colorful North Island countryside. Tea stop in Paeroa have lunch in Tauranga at a roadside picnic area. On the way, we stop and visit with Liz’s brother, whom we had met several years ago. John bought his parent’s dairy farm and later leased the land out and sold the cows. Now he is a country squire living off the rents. About another hour on (5 hrs from Auckland), we arrive at our campground. There are few people there during late March. There are a few motor homes with people staying, but many are empty for the season. They advertise 300 tent sites – we are the only tent. Peaceful, with only the rhythmic crashing of waves, as we are only a dune’s crossing from the ocean.

Evening finds us in the RSA in Whakatane – small (40,000) city about 15 minute drive away. It is St Patrick’s Day and they are having a buffet line dinner for a really decent price. Name a type of food, they had it. Lots of fresh local seafood, veggies, and the desserts were something to see. Take all you want – I did not stick to a diet that night.

Back to camp and our leaky air mattress. One contrast with tenting here vs. South Island – the nights stay warm.


We sleep and await the adventures of week 5.