Stephen Gilberg (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
deckardcanine) wrote2013-04-24 06:21 pm
deckardcanine) wrote2013-04-24 06:21 pm
Tour Review, Part 4: The South Island
OK, it’s been more than a month; time to finish my New Zealand report.
Only on the ferry to the South Island did I learn that some activities I’d wanted wouldn’t happen because too few others signed up, specifically horseback riding and quad biking (read: ATV). Oh well, other opportunities should arise elsewhere.
The next special activity I did get to do, near Nelson, was a hike called Seals and Sands. Alas, the five of us were not crazy about the largely mountainous trail, which offered nasty insects and blisters and no seals until our boat ride afterward. At least we had some nice views:
We got a much better view of New Zealand fur seals (technically sea lions), mostly pups, in a stream at Ohau (not Oahu) Point. One even came worryingly close to a woman in our tour group.
NZ has no pre-modern native mammals other than the aquatic variety and bats, the latter of which I never saw. I took a cruise to see the former, specifically dusky dolphins, with one unexpected bonus whale (all hard to photograph).
Of course, some nonnative animals made nice encounters in their own right. One hotel presented Popcorn the rabbit:
Another hotel presented one of the most laughable examples of political correctness I’ve seen:
We made a short stop in Christchurch, which sadly has dropped to third place in NZ population since the 2011 quake. Ironically (or perhaps fittingly), some of the worst-hit buildings are churches. But this survived:
Wouldn’t be a complete NZ experience without a visit to a sheep farm, complete with sheering and hand feeding.
Yes, herding dogs get a lot of love over there.
This collie’s plaque includes “Blessings on the Sheepdog” in Scottish Gaelic. It’s on the shore of Lake Takepo, home of the Church of the Good Shepherd and unexplained rock towers.
Apparently, St. Patrick’s Day is observed all over the English-speaking world. Apart from drinking and dancing to Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys, we indulged in our own face painting and hair dyeing.
Our bus had passed some nice views on the North Island without letting us get off to take pictures. Guess we were in less of a hurry on the South Island.
One sight I didn’t photograph, for reasons of concentration, was Thunder Creek Falls. Our guides said that a “good” person who watches the falls for 45 seconds without blinking and then looks aside will see something amazing. Sure enough, the nearby trees appeared to rise up. I attribute that to psychology, not a miracle.
Darn it, this kakapo was so cooperative and yet so camouflaged:
Our one overnight cruise was in the fjord misnamed Milford Sound, passing Mitre Peak. The water was much more restful than on my Galapagos cruise.
Maybe too restful. Several of us Topdeck tourists jumped overboard from, well, the top deck. Those who hadn’t finished getting their green dye out developed interesting skin patterns.
Oh, we found other things to do. When Jenga, British Monopoly, five-card stud (as I taught from memory), and incomplete board games didn’t suffice, somebody developed what we uncreatively dubbed “the Drawing Game.” Each player writes a word or phrase on a card and passes it to their left. That player has to illustrate it on the next card, leaving the next player to write their guess at the original word or phrase. The pattern continues until players get their own set of cards back. Sort of a cross between Pictionary and Telephone (or Chinese Whispers as they call it down under). Works best with at least six players, hopefully on the same page with regard to raunchiness.
After that peaceful place, we went to “the adrenaline mecca of the southern hemisphere,” Queenstown. Still wasn’t hard to find peace if you wanted, particularly with Lake Wakatipu:
Nevertheless, I had my most adrenaline-filled day in that vicinity. Having passed up bungee jumping and tandem skydiving, I opted for the Shotover Canyon Swing, the highest swing in the world. I even opted for two of the allegedly scariest jump styles: backwards (which I’d’ve thought was less scary than forwards) and Gimp Boy Goes to Hollywood, in which I started upside-down with my arms outstretched and a random teddy bear dressed like the Riddler on my harness.
I bought a DVD of the backwards jump only, because I didn’t maintain my position for the latter. People who watch it consistently laugh, first when the wise guy jostles me with a pat on the back and second when I attempt to imitate the Joker falling in The Dark Knight but sound more like the Count von Count. At least they’re impressed at how unafraid I appeared. I didn’t bother buying the photos, so you’ll have to content yourselves with these:
Noticed this copter cam on the way out:
Photos on the wall indicated that Jason Alexander (the actor), Jack Black, and Adrien Brody have all jumped from the same platform. Incidentally, one of my fellow tourists made a good George Costanza face as he tipped off in a chair. The wall also proclaimed, “Etiam mei cacas eram vix,” which you should look up at your own risk.
The same day, I took a pseudo-ski lift up Queenstown’s nearest mountain and went on a luge. Not the icy kind, but with wheels and a handlebar to control speed as well as direction. Shouldn’t have gone alone, partly as I have no photos, but the hour-long walk down the woody trail made a nice cooldown.
So did the later sight of Lake Hawea, come to think of it:
And whatever stop this was:
My last expensive activity, done with most of Topdeck, was a halfway hike on Fox Glacier, a piece of which collapsed before our eyes (a ways off). The two Danish guys in our group showed off their resistance to the cold, among other things, by briefly stripping to the skivvies. And getting photographed by another group.
As if to bless our hike, we saw a double rainbow on the way back. For further beauty, there was Lake Matheson, as long as the spider webs didn’t bother you:
During our lunch stop in Hokitika, I stopped at the National Kiwi Center and finally saw that elusive bird. Since it lives in fake night and shies away easily, I couldn’t photograph it, but the tuatara, axolotls, and long-finned eels were fair game:
Finally, in Christchurch once more, I spent the night in a hostel converted from a historic jail, aptly named the Jailhouse Accommodation. Despite sharing a room with seven others, it was a comfier arrangement than you’d think. Even got to see The World’s Fastest Indian for free there.
Gosh, after all that procrastination, the task of reporting turned out pretty painless.
Only on the ferry to the South Island did I learn that some activities I’d wanted wouldn’t happen because too few others signed up, specifically horseback riding and quad biking (read: ATV). Oh well, other opportunities should arise elsewhere.
The next special activity I did get to do, near Nelson, was a hike called Seals and Sands. Alas, the five of us were not crazy about the largely mountainous trail, which offered nasty insects and blisters and no seals until our boat ride afterward. At least we had some nice views:
We got a much better view of New Zealand fur seals (technically sea lions), mostly pups, in a stream at Ohau (not Oahu) Point. One even came worryingly close to a woman in our tour group.
NZ has no pre-modern native mammals other than the aquatic variety and bats, the latter of which I never saw. I took a cruise to see the former, specifically dusky dolphins, with one unexpected bonus whale (all hard to photograph).
Of course, some nonnative animals made nice encounters in their own right. One hotel presented Popcorn the rabbit:
Another hotel presented one of the most laughable examples of political correctness I’ve seen:
We made a short stop in Christchurch, which sadly has dropped to third place in NZ population since the 2011 quake. Ironically (or perhaps fittingly), some of the worst-hit buildings are churches. But this survived:
Wouldn’t be a complete NZ experience without a visit to a sheep farm, complete with sheering and hand feeding.
Yes, herding dogs get a lot of love over there.
This collie’s plaque includes “Blessings on the Sheepdog” in Scottish Gaelic. It’s on the shore of Lake Takepo, home of the Church of the Good Shepherd and unexplained rock towers.
Apparently, St. Patrick’s Day is observed all over the English-speaking world. Apart from drinking and dancing to Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys, we indulged in our own face painting and hair dyeing.
Our bus had passed some nice views on the North Island without letting us get off to take pictures. Guess we were in less of a hurry on the South Island.
One sight I didn’t photograph, for reasons of concentration, was Thunder Creek Falls. Our guides said that a “good” person who watches the falls for 45 seconds without blinking and then looks aside will see something amazing. Sure enough, the nearby trees appeared to rise up. I attribute that to psychology, not a miracle.
Darn it, this kakapo was so cooperative and yet so camouflaged:
Our one overnight cruise was in the fjord misnamed Milford Sound, passing Mitre Peak. The water was much more restful than on my Galapagos cruise.
Maybe too restful. Several of us Topdeck tourists jumped overboard from, well, the top deck. Those who hadn’t finished getting their green dye out developed interesting skin patterns.
Oh, we found other things to do. When Jenga, British Monopoly, five-card stud (as I taught from memory), and incomplete board games didn’t suffice, somebody developed what we uncreatively dubbed “the Drawing Game.” Each player writes a word or phrase on a card and passes it to their left. That player has to illustrate it on the next card, leaving the next player to write their guess at the original word or phrase. The pattern continues until players get their own set of cards back. Sort of a cross between Pictionary and Telephone (or Chinese Whispers as they call it down under). Works best with at least six players, hopefully on the same page with regard to raunchiness.
After that peaceful place, we went to “the adrenaline mecca of the southern hemisphere,” Queenstown. Still wasn’t hard to find peace if you wanted, particularly with Lake Wakatipu:
Nevertheless, I had my most adrenaline-filled day in that vicinity. Having passed up bungee jumping and tandem skydiving, I opted for the Shotover Canyon Swing, the highest swing in the world. I even opted for two of the allegedly scariest jump styles: backwards (which I’d’ve thought was less scary than forwards) and Gimp Boy Goes to Hollywood, in which I started upside-down with my arms outstretched and a random teddy bear dressed like the Riddler on my harness.
I bought a DVD of the backwards jump only, because I didn’t maintain my position for the latter. People who watch it consistently laugh, first when the wise guy jostles me with a pat on the back and second when I attempt to imitate the Joker falling in The Dark Knight but sound more like the Count von Count. At least they’re impressed at how unafraid I appeared. I didn’t bother buying the photos, so you’ll have to content yourselves with these:
Noticed this copter cam on the way out:
Photos on the wall indicated that Jason Alexander (the actor), Jack Black, and Adrien Brody have all jumped from the same platform. Incidentally, one of my fellow tourists made a good George Costanza face as he tipped off in a chair. The wall also proclaimed, “Etiam mei cacas eram vix,” which you should look up at your own risk.
The same day, I took a pseudo-ski lift up Queenstown’s nearest mountain and went on a luge. Not the icy kind, but with wheels and a handlebar to control speed as well as direction. Shouldn’t have gone alone, partly as I have no photos, but the hour-long walk down the woody trail made a nice cooldown.
So did the later sight of Lake Hawea, come to think of it:
And whatever stop this was:
My last expensive activity, done with most of Topdeck, was a halfway hike on Fox Glacier, a piece of which collapsed before our eyes (a ways off). The two Danish guys in our group showed off their resistance to the cold, among other things, by briefly stripping to the skivvies. And getting photographed by another group.
As if to bless our hike, we saw a double rainbow on the way back. For further beauty, there was Lake Matheson, as long as the spider webs didn’t bother you:
During our lunch stop in Hokitika, I stopped at the National Kiwi Center and finally saw that elusive bird. Since it lives in fake night and shies away easily, I couldn’t photograph it, but the tuatara, axolotls, and long-finned eels were fair game:
Finally, in Christchurch once more, I spent the night in a hostel converted from a historic jail, aptly named the Jailhouse Accommodation. Despite sharing a room with seven others, it was a comfier arrangement than you’d think. Even got to see The World’s Fastest Indian for free there.
Gosh, after all that procrastination, the task of reporting turned out pretty painless.
no subject
no subject
You have shots of some great scenery, some of it looks like it would make for good paintings.
no subject
Paintings would have the advantage of no accidental blur.