feldmanlarry

Nov. 4-7, 2017 — New Zealand Daylight Time (17 hours ahead of EDT but became 18 hours ahead of EST when the USA changed its clocks, 2 hours ahead of AEDT)

Christchurch, NZ

Christchurch is on the east coast of the South Island (see #9 on the map)

In a long trip like this (4 weeks), you can’t avoid some long travel days. The flights to Australia and the flights back from New Zealand will take close to 30 hours from door to door. Nov. 4 was another long travelling day. We started at 5 AM with an airport pickup from our hotel in Hobart, Tasmania and ended with a taxi to our hotel in Christchurch, NZ at 11 PM (with a 2 hour time change). Our taxi driver was an Iraqi who had been a translator for the US military and was granted help to live in Australia for all his family. He didn’t seem too positive for the outcomes of the US military in Iraq.

The very next morning we had to be up by 7 (of course Margaret was up way before then) for an 8 AM ride on the Tranzalpine Railroad across New Zealand from East to West. This was incredibly relaxing with beautiful scenery along the way.

Foggy, misty, and rainy for most of the morning on the train ride while crossing the divide between East and West of New Zealand.

Clear for a while in a valley

The train ended in Greymouth, where we picked up our rental car (northwest of Christchurch on the map). Fortunately, I had the experience of driving on the left in Tasmania. The roads were windy and narrow but we were along the coast and next to beautiful mountains. If that wasn’t enough, we were also in a rain forest. We suddenly left feeling like we were in the Swiss Alps to feeling like we were in a Hawaiian rain forest when we turned off into Lake Mahinapua at Ruatapu.

When I was in college, I travelled across Canada for a summer. I had almost no money so when the Hare Krishna religious cult offered me a free meal I gladly took them up on it. What they didn’t tell me was that it came at the cost of over one hour of chanting Hare Krishna with them before the food would come out. I remember the food as being either extremely spicy or extremely sweet. That experience left me with a full stomach for a day and also a life long memory of the Hare Krishna tune — Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare.

One of my best experiences in India in 2011 was chanting Hare Krishna with my Hindu driver. We grooved out on it for a while and created a close bond. The reason I’m telling this story is that we passed through the tiny village of Hari Hari, I had no choice but to stop and get pictures of the Hari Hari hotel and liquor store.

Franz Josef, New Zealand

Franz Josef is near the middle of the west coast of the South Island (see #10 on the map)

When we arrived at our hotel in Franz Joseph, we were greeted by sleet.

Sleet, not hail (Margaret would be very upset if I confused them)

The town of Franz Joseph Glacier

Margaret has written in a separate entry about her walk to the glacier. I had been trying for most of the day to get a helicopter ride but they only go up when the weather is very good. It’s hard to argue with a helicopter pilot who says it’s too dangerous to fly. After we checked out of the hotel, I gave one last try and they were running the shortest ride they had so as to make sure they could get back before the weather might change.

The helicopter ride was a real highlight of the trip for me.

Looking down at another helicopter taking off

The double road in this photo is where she began her hike to the glacier.

We flew up to the Franz Joseph Glacier and were able to see it up close.

Franz Joseph Glacier from the helicopter

We landed on the snow for about 5 minutes.

Standing near the glacier

From there it was an all day drive to Queenstown. The bridges fascinated me in that all of them on this trip were one lane only. The sign on the left indicates that you have to yield under all conditions. The sign on the right indicates that you have the right of way unless someone is already on the bridge coming the other way.

A stop alongside the Tasman Sea on the West Coast of New Zealand

We had the choice of a scary road with 7 hair pin turns to get into Queenstown or a longer route through a wine producing region. I don’t like wine, I don’t really care about how wine is produced, and I can’t tell much of a difference between wines. Margaret likes wine but also doesn’t care about how it’s produced. She however, hates the idea of windy roads. We were going to take the less scary route when someone in a store in Wanaka said we really should take the windy route since it’s much more beautiful and not that bad. It actually wasn’t that bad. If the weather had been bad or if it was icy, no way.

There was an amazing view of Queenstown from the top.

View from just before the scary windy road. Margaret already is closing her eyes.

View of the 7 hairpin turns to get into Queenstown taken from the top of the Queenstown cable car.

These were four ridiculously full days, not as full as the day we had in the rain forest and Great Barrier Reef but exhausting. We will need a vacation when we get back home to recover but we’re having an amazing time.