Thursday, October 05, 2006

South Island, New Zealand

After a 3 hour cruise, they call it a ferry, we arrived in the South Island and hopped in our campervan that was parked a few decks below to drive ourselves off the ship. To go from the North Island to the South Island, you actually head East to West as Wellington, at the bottom of the North Island, is further North than the port city of the South Island. And as Daylight Savings time was October 1st here, we are now 17 hours ahead of most of you.

As we made our way into town looking for a BP gas station (we only go to BP's b/c if we spend over $250NZ on diesel we get a free NZ picture book), we were stopped by a friendly woman police officer who kindly asked us to drive FASTER. Apparently, we were going too slow and holding up traffic. I just wish the officer would of called our Moms to tell them that we were driving too slow - i'm sure that would of made them quite happy. In our defense, it's a challenge everyday driving on the roads of New Zealand. Besides the stunning scenery and the ridicously windy and uphill roads with little to no guard rails, there are one-way bridges everywhere, as common as stop signs back home. It's a shame that NZ couldn't of used a little more cement to make the bridges two lanes b/c first you have to identify that it is indeed a one-way bridge (after it appears out of nowhere upon a blind turn up or down a mountain), then you have to determine if it is your turn to cross or the cars waiting on the other side. Thus far, we have driven about 3,000KM (~ 2,000 miles) and have been lucky to avoid the horror stories that we hear on local radio about car troubles. No worries as we have easy roads from here on out and sadly only 4 nights left in our little self proclaimed house-car.

Anyway, we spent our first night in the small town of Blenheim (population 600), which is the gateway to the Marlborough Region, South Island's most recognized wine country. We spent the next day bike riding thru the serene landscapes and vineyards and visiting 6 or 7 different wineries before heading off to the 'thriving' city of Nelson (pop. 1,800). In Nelson, we sort of became locals as we went to dinner and the movies, shopped and ate at their Saturday market and even went to the local car mechanic to try and get our DVD player fixed, but he couldn't fix it (we've sinced got it fixed). From Nelson, we continued West to Abel Tasman National Park, where we stayed at Old MacDonald Farm, a 100-acre park with power sites, cabins, etc. as well as sheep, cows, llamas and some other weird animals. The 100 acres, at the foot of the National Park, is actually for sale for $7MM NZ. In my opinion, those 100 acres could be had for about $2MM US if anyone is looking for some land banking opportunities. We had some rain the next day so we had just a short hike in the Park before we headed Southwest to Westport (pop. 800), where we had a quick stopover for the night. The next morning we saw some seals in the wild hanging out in their colony and then continued South, down the West Coast, for hours of awesome Coastline driving before reaching Glacier Country, home to the famous Franz and Fox Glacier.

We signed up for the half-day glacier hike, but then after much deliberation and due diligence, which included trying on the boots we'd wear for 4 hours on the ice as well as driving to the glacier to see what we'd be hiking, we made the decision not to do the hike because it simply would not have cooperated with Amanda's foot condition. However, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because instead, we both took our first helicopter ride ever (inspired by Worm & Michelle's Alaska trip) and helicoptered up to the Fox Glacier, de-boarded the heli and got to walk around the mountain and glacier before taking the smooth heli ride back to ground level. While we were both a bit apprehensive at first, it turned out to definitely be one of our best experiences on the trip.

From Glacier Country, we headed inland a bit to the ski town of Wanaka (pop 2,100), which is a quaint little town similar to Aspen. There, we checked out a movie at the local movie theater, which is one of the town's main attractions refitted from being the former Town Hall. More important though, they show their movies in traditional New Zealand style, meaning there is an intermission in the middle, where we pre-ordered our dinner and had 10-20 minutes to 'regroup,' which is a concept that I fancy given my attention span.

From Wanaka, we headed to Queenstown, which is where we are now finishing up our third night before we head to Dunedin then Christchurch. The accepted and acknowledged Adventure Capital of the World, Queenstown is pure adrenaline. Here, you can skydive, bungy jump, canyon swing, paraglide and do many other crazy things that you just wouldn't imagine until you came here. We bungy jumped.

Fine, we watched bungy jumping, a lot of it, for hours literally, and more today. There are different jumps around town and we've checked them all out (from the viewing area). Tomorrow, at the famous AJ Hackett bridge site, the first commercial bungy jumping operation, there is nude bungy, down to your undies. We'll be checking that out as well before we hit the road. Queenstown has been fantastic. They are over 7,000 people here and stores stay open past 6pm. There is also a casino, where we played NZ-style bingo (for free) on Date Night (Wednesday) and both won. Amanda won $20 in cash and I won a $10 drink voucher.

Because our camera is officially broken and we're working off of disposables, i'm not sure there will be anymore pics posted, but feel free to send us pictures of you.

Lastly, New Zealand is one of three democracies NOT to have a written constitution. First to tell us who the other two are wins a present. Thanks for reading!

Comments:
I wish I were young again and hope I come back in the next life as my children. Everything sounds so great and beautiful and peaceful. Sorry to hear about the camera. We will miss your pictures!! Travel safely!
 
oh my god! Driving too slowly? I love it! That was the best part of the blog!
More wineries?
Helicopter sounds amazing.
What a cool country!
Sorry about the camera.
Miami has no written constitution!
Love,
Miami Mom
 
I will miss your beautiful writing. I have learned allot of interesting facts that I didn't know. Have a safe trip home.
carol schonberger
 
Israel and Great Britain as i told your mom.
Great blogs!
Valerie Steinberg (Candy's sister)
 
it is time to come home and see us
we love you,
Jordan, Dylan and Maya
xxxxxx
oooooo
 
I just bought the 100 acres for $1.9 mil
Drew
 
great deal drew!
 
The Dolphins need their fans. Where are yoiu man?
 
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