West Coast IceFields

Friday January 15, 2010

What a morning!! The clouds and drizzle from the previous day disappeared overnight and we woke to a glorious morning of sun and clear skies, perfect for our excursion to the glaciers today.

The girls were quite excited to find out that they would be going on their first helicopter ride. Eleven years ago, Carolyn and I went hiking on the glaciers so this time we dug deep into our pockets and paid for a 30-minute helicopter ride over the glaciers and the Southern Alps. Truth be told, I was too nervous to hike with the kids on the glaciers…they make me nervous at the best of times on regular hiking trails let alone on ice with deep crevices nearby!

It was a perfect day and the vista was extraordinary. We flew up Franz Josef glacier, across the tops of the mountains, saw some of the Tasman glacier (cloud cover here), and then landed on the top of a mountain. The girls were thrilled with this part. They couldn’t believe they were allowed to run around in the snow and have a snowball fight on the peak of a mountain!! From this vantage point we had excellent views of Mt Cook (tallest peak in NZ) and of Mt Tasman. The majesty of our surroundings was so breathtaking that sometimes I forgot to take pictures because I was so mesmerized. Of course, then I got into trouble from Carolyn who loves to take a thousand pictures of everything!

Amelia said that the best part of today’s adventure was the snow ball fight at the top.

Bridget said the coolest part was taking off. I think she likes the helicopter better than plane rides since she asked if we could take a helicopter ride home instead of a plane.

Thank you to Jan Morley who suggested we do the helicopter thing. It was worth the money.

We then travelled to Greymouth this afternoon to spend the night before we head off to Nelson tomorrow for a couple of days. In Nelson we are going to catch up with John Walker who was my department head when I taught here in New Zealand.

Only 6 more days till we leave…

Dianne

Princesses in Queenstown

Wednesday January 13, 2010

We have made it to the West Coast of the South Island, Haast. We have had some great fun getting here. We spent the last 2 nights in Queenstown. Queenstown is the Colorado of the South. It is made for the adventure junkies of the world. Unfortunately, there are only so many activities you can do with young kids. We went straight for the jet boating again. It was a long ride with high speeds, but not as good as the Huka Jet. We missed the big spins and near misses of trees. We still had some fun but we were expecting more. The kids wished they were bigger, as they were mesmerized by the paragliding off the high mountain sides and floating down to the ground. They loved watching them land.

We did the ride up the Gondola and saw the beautiful views of the Remarkables. Up here we had to take the kids back to a Kapa Haka show again. They are always practicing their chest slapping, foot stomping moves, so it was a must. They sat there and enjoyed ever moment once again. Let’s just say, as a more veteran of the kapa haka world, it was a little painful to watch. The groups at Lytton would have put them to shame. Never mind though, it is all about the kids. Right?!!
We slowly made it to Haast today. We stopped off in Arrowtown and stepped back in time to the Gold Rush era. Most of the housing, retail, and offices are the original buildings. They were tiny and full of character. The girls tried their hand in panning for gold in the Arrow River. They tried their best but came away empty handed.

In Wanaka, we went to Puzzling World. Dianne was in her glory. (and so were the kids) Lots of optical illusions and holograms. It was very cool. We had a great time trying to find our way around a maze. We split into teams, Bridget and myself versus Di and Amelia. I picked Bridge because I knew that she would be my dark horse in this endeavour. It was good fun and we found our way around with only a little frustration.

The drive to Haast was amazing. These huge, slightly snow capped mountains shouldering us with beautiful pure lakes and rivers flowing along side. Pictures could not do it justice. I hope that I will be able to make some good comparisons to the Rockies when Amelia and I travel out there in a few months.
As we sit here this evening, we are enjoying the longer sunlight on the West Coast and savouring our last days in this beautiful landscape.

Hoping not to get carried away with the Sand flys!!
Carolyn

Not So Summer in the South Island

Monday January 11, 2010

Well, we are experiencing the worst weather of the entire 3 month journey. It has been really frickin cold for summer. The highs have been hovering around 14C and the lows have been dropping to 4C at night. We would be able to cope with it better if it wasn’t also continuously raining. I know that we should just suck it up, but we were searching for shade only a week ago!! I have been told that it is good acclimation to the horrible temperatures back at home. We are still making the most of the beautiful South Island.

We left Dunedin this morning after a few little adventures. Here we went to a real castle, Larnach castle. It hadn’t really changed at all in the last 10 years, except maybe the cost. The kids were given a little scavenger to follow as we went into each room. It made the visit much more bearable for them. Bridget’s keen sense never ceases to amaze us, as she was the first to find the answers to the clues. From the castle we went out to the Penguin Place. Here we visited some Yellow-Eyed Penguins in their natural habitat. We travelled through trenches so we wouldn’t disturb them. We were able to see 3 chicks with all their fluffy fur very up close and we also saw some coming out of the sea and walking along the beach. Nature has not been kind to the yellow-eyed penguins. There were a lot less penguins around than 10 years ago with Aunt Sharon. Out of 26 penguins born there last year, not one of them survived the winter at sea. I think in total we saw 9 beauties. We all really enjoyed watching the penguins walk. It is really cool to see these little guys move. Amelia and Bridget both noticed the yellow eyed penguins were much bigger than the little White Flippered ones they were up close and personal with at Akaroa.

Earlier in the day we drove up the steepest street in the world, Baldwin Street. There was a sign saying not to drive up, but since it was raining we were not interested in making the 25minute climb up. Driving up was freaking me out. I am not a rollercoaster fan and this was just like that first climb up one. I was truly freaked out at the top and was not looking forward to the drive back down. Let’s just say I rode the brake all the way down. I did take my foot off once and we just took off. We obviously made it down safely and had a great time doing it.

We are now in Queenstown. And guess what …it is still rainy! We are hoping that the weather fines up for our Jet Boating tomorrow. We hope that it will be just as fun as it was in Taupo. I probably won’t be blogging much more, as there are only 10 days left and most of it will be in the car. Well, maybe after we go to the glacier!

Cheers,
Carolyn

PS We hope that Hannah and Nicholas had fun on their 3rd Birthdays!

Pohatu Penguins...Perfect

Friday January 8th

We had a fantastic day yesterday on Banks Peninsula. We stayed at Pohatu Penguins are here are the highlights:

-On drive in kids finally saw sheep holding up traffic when trying to cross the road.

-Travelled on some life ending roads.. one lane, loose gravel along sheer cliffs with no barriers about 500m above sea level. Must have 4WD

-Went sea kayaking, not for long because the wind picked up

-But long enough to see seals, penguins and have Bridget and I to get beached on a rock ledge.

-Seal dove in water next to Dianne and Amelia’s kayak, swam next to it looked up at them

-Watched white flippered penguins get fed then kids carried them in a plastic bucket for a swim

-One swam right up to my feet and I got to pick him up!!

-Amelia held a goose named Mintie

-Went for a 2 hour hike in hills of the Flea Bay

-Stayed in a little bach in the middle of farmer’s field in the valley with our own personal view of the sea. Very cozy

-Sat on the porch eating our supper as the sun was fading behind the hills

-Went on a night walk to see more penguins along the coast line. Saw a yellow eyed one!

-Bridget had sheep mustered around her on her way to the long drop in the morning

-Sat and watched the waves roll in this morning all by ourselves

-Went even higher in the Akaroa headlands to the lighthouse for more spectacular pics

It was an all round great true Kiwi experience for all of us. The kids had a ball and so did Dianne and I. The pictures will never do it justice.

Until next time
Carolyn

A Good and Happy New Year

Tuesday January 5

Well, it has been a long time since we blogged because we were far too busy doing normal living. Normal things like sitting in the sun, swimming in Maia’s and Bridget Mead’s pool, boogey boarding at the beach and of course over indulging in food and spirits while socializing. We spent a memorable New Year’s with some strangers from around the world and New Zealand. I think that the festivities actually started on the 28th and carried on through to the 2nd. We may have started as strangers but we have all left Gisborne with a promise to all return in 5 years time.

We left Kristin and Viki’s on the 2nd after Canada beat the World in Petanque (Bocce) for the 5th time. The Canadian team was made up of Dianne, myself, Kristin and Lou (from BC) and we ruled the grassy and prickly playing field of Kristin and Viki’s yard. The yard had been transformed into a tenting paradise complete with a long drop, next to the shearing shed!! The most prized possession of the New Year, was an inflatable swim toy, so lovingly named Le Petit Poisson. (More stories pending.) The dawn of 2010 was just as inspiring and beautiful as it was 10 years ago. It was definitely worth getting that 5am wake up call and the steep-ish climb through the neighbors cow field.

The kids stayed at “Nana Rose’s” for New Year’s Eve and actually stayed up later than Dianne! They went to the town clock to watch the new decade begin, just as we had seen the new millennium begin 10 years ago. They have loved staying at Maia’s grandma’s place to get completely spoiled. “Just like at Aunt Sue’s, Aunt Sue Sue’s and at Lynn and Paul’s”.

There are no ways in the world to thank Kristin and Viki for their hospitality over the Christmas holidays. They have helped create memories of our Kiwi Christmas that will last with the girls forever. We all look forward to one more quick visit before heading home.

After leaving we headed to Hastings, a mere 3 hours from Gisborne. The highlight here was Splash Planet. It was a water park that the kids loved. It was a really hot day and there was no better place to spend it than in water. As we made our way to Wellington, the weather turned. We had chillier temperatures and gale force winds. I think that I heard that it had gotten up to 100km/hr!! I have made a vow never to return to this city for any length of time. I really don’t like coping with the wind.

The wind died down slightly in the morning for our trip on the ferry to the South Island. It made for a bumpy ride across… and, we made it across without any vomit incidents!! Drugs are good. The kids were very excited to actually drive the car onto the ferry!! We landed in Picton and immediately noticed some differences from the North Island. The unanimous decision was the size of the hills that are right next to the road. Some areas were very green while others were browner than Gissy. We made our way to Kaikoura, home of colonies of seals and sperm whales.

We got up close and personal with the seals at the side of the road. We got to see seal pups and some really big NZ fur seals. We were no more than 10 ft away from a pup that was hiding in some rocks. It was quite a surprise when he poked his head out. We got to hear their noises and watch how they interacted with one another. I think Amelia could have sat there and watched them all day!

We had not booked our whale watching before arrival and were disappointed that they were all booked up. But they did have a waiting list!! So up we got at 6 am the next day to get to the booking place for 7am. We didn’t get on the 1st vessel out. Didn’t get on neither the second vessel nor the 3rd either. But at 8:30 our name was called!! Woho!! We quickly popped our SeaLegs pills and off we went. Did I mention that there was SEVERE seasickness warning! The offshore swells were between 2- 4 metres. It reminded Dianne and I of our trip to the Great Barrier Reef over 10 years ago. And sure enough it produced the same results….holy spewin’ Batman!! The families sitting in front and behind us lost their breakfasts before we saw the first sperm whale. The noises and smells were great!! For the record, I was not sick. The Puker did not Puke! I think that it might have something to do with the SeaLegs I had taken the day before for the ferry. They had not left my system yet. Bridget and Dianne were not so lucky. Compared to the rest of the passengers these 2 got off easy.

We did get to see 4 huge sperm whales and that was very cool. It was very difficult to get good pics of these beasts because of the rock of the freakin huge waves. It was amazing to watch the sperm whales arch and dive into the water and raise their massive tails high into the air. Once the whales dive they normally stay down for 40 minutes. On the much smoother ride in, we were able to see some dusky dolphins playing around the boat. They are very frisky dolphins who love to jump and dive into the water. Bridget missed them. She had passed out on the boat, which was good
This afternoon we went into town to shop. The money that Aunt Sharon had given the kids for Christmas was burning a hole in their pockets and now it is pretty much gone. Both girls are very proud of their prizes and can’t wait to show Aunt Sharon and Uncle Lee.

We are off tomorrow to Christchurch and then off to Akaroa for some more fun activities.

Carolyn

Had problems uploading pics. I will retry in a few days when I am back online!:(