Week 16 March 6th to March 12th

Valerie and Brian with NewZealand
Fernleaf Emblem


New Zealands only diving ducks



Twin Screw Steamer Earnslaw

Possum

Three Eyed Tuatara

Life Size kiwi to show huge egg.

Jack's Point with Remarkables in

background

Jack's Point Golf Club House

View of Lake Wakatipu from Mountain

top Restaurant

Going up in Skyline Gondola to Restaurant

Bungy Jumping at Kawarau River

We had a very good drive to Queenstown which wasn't too far. Again glorious countryside with lots and lots of sheep. We soon skirted Lake Wakatipu, which is second largest after Lake Te Anau. Driving along we spotted a new housing development and golf course, so we stopped to be nosey. Queenstown is overfull and so this place is earmarked as a new township. With the aptly named Remarkables Mountain range as a backdrop, the setting is just perfect. The two cedar built showhomes were very modern, with huge windows, but quite stark in appearance as are so many New Zealand houses. Brian reckoned he would quite like to play the golf course.

Queenstown itself is the fun and activity centre of South Island. There are so many activities to choose from we found it difficult to decide which to do - bungy jumping, white water rafting, sky diving, jet boating, horse riding, paragliding, canyoning and off road adventures!! You can see how we were spoilt for choice!! In the end we chose to go up in a cablecar to have a very good dinner in a beautiful restaurant with fantastic views over the town and lake. We also were happy just to watch the bungy jumping at the bridge where it all started back in the 80's. We also visited the kiwi birdlife park, where we were privileged to watch a pair of kiwis being fed. The kiwis are night birds and so their cage was in total darkness with just a couple of red lights to enable us to see them. Photography is forbidden, so the only photo we have is of a stuffed kiwi. This park is working very hard to conserve New Zealands native wildlife.

We learned a lot about New Zealand's wildlife. Before man arrived there were no four legged mammals - just two species of bat. So the native birds had no predators and many became flightless like the kiwi. Then man arrived - first the Maori who brought rats and mice and then we Europeans. We brought rabbits and possums. Then we brought stoats to control the rabbits and possum.

Now, there are no predators for stoats and the stoats have become so numerous that they have virtually decimated the native flightless birds. New Zealand has a great conservation problem and a programme to try and prevent further destruction.

The other unique animal we saw was the tuatara, the only survivor of a group of reptiles that were around with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago. It is the only creature to have three eyes, the third being on the top of its head.

In the afternoon we took a drive to watch the bungy jumping at the bridge over the Kawarau River where it all began. We watched lots of people getting their expensive thrills - it costs $185.00 a time, but after the first go you can repeat the experience for just $60.00 a time!! As we were in wine country we stopped at a winery and tasted the Ocido Peninsular Pinot Noir which Lucy had told us about.We then drove on to Arrowtown which is an old gold town and full of history. It has a particularly good museum which we visited.

On Monday we decided to spend the day quietly wandering around Queenstown and relaxing. Valerie had a loose crown tooth so she went to a dentist to have it fixed. We did visit the under water observatory by Lake Wakatipu where we watched the very large trout swimming and also the unique New Zealand diving ducks.In the evening we had booked to go on an old steam boat on the Lake to a beautiful restaurant where we had a superb five course meal and then watched a sheep demonstration before returning on the steamer.

On Tuesday we went on to Wanaka, another fun town. The countryside was different again - very green. It is the fruit growing centre of New Zealand. We called in to Cromwell where the original old gold town was submerged to create a dam in the 1990's. Many of the original buildings have been saved and an old town has been recreated. On the outskirts of Wanaka we stopped to visit a faantastic Toy and Transport Museum. This is in fact a private collection of thousands of toys, cars, fire engines, aircraft, domestic appliances, etc etc. There are three huge hangars full of the stuff as well as many more standing outside. It is run by the son and daughter of the eccentric collector and a third man who has been brought in to help with marketing.

On Tuesday night Valerie began to suffer from dreadful toothache. In the morning she visited another dentist who prescribed antibiotics, but she felt so ill that we decided not to continue with our trip to the Franz Joseph Glacier and possible helicopter flight and the rest of the trip to North Island. We headed back to Christchurch and our very good friends, Pete and Joanna. By now Valerie's face had swollen and she was in continual pain. A third visit to another dentist resulted in different antibiotcs and a delayed stay in Christchurch until she feels fit to fly back to Australia.