I know, it’s been awhile and if you’re not following us on social media, you may think we’ve walked off of a cliff! Not the case. I’ve either been too lazy or too tired to write anything at the end of the day. I’m going to report on our trip around the south part of the South Island. Our daughter (Beth) and her husband (Jim) joined up with us for a couple of weeks. We left Christchurch and drove to Dunedin, the Catlins, Invercargill, Queenstown, Te Anua and Twizel.

I going to report by category.

The People

Everywhere we’ve been the Kiwi’s have been very helpful and friendly. Sometimes, other tourists not so much lol, but we’ve had some lovely conversations. At Hooker Valley Track, Beth and Jim walked much further than we did, so we sat at the one picnic table and waited for them. This area was one of the most international places we visited. There were people from many countries with one common purpose – enjoy the beautiful valley! Cool!

We had one couple from England join us, and it was easy to chat. Next was a family from Germany – mom, dad and adult son. Now there was a bit of a language barrier as the mom spoke English but was not proficient. Her son, who went to one year of high school in Kansas, would translate what I said to his mom. But there was one moment when I understood her lol. She said a word that sounded like sunflower, and I knew she was talking about the sand flies which torment us. You don’t even know one is on you and he’s bitting you and leaving a very itchy spot. They love ankles!! Her son said that Kansas is very conservative, explaining that in high school there was no sex education, just the warning – don’t have sex. He thought that was unrealistic lol.

The Animals

We were all hoping to see penguins, but only found one lonely one. Hal and the kids walked down to where he was and got lots of pictures. I was up above on the bluff. We did see some seals lazing about and two of them got a bit contentious, which was fun to watch. We had three cows blocking the dirt road to the house we rented and had to wait until they decided to get off the road. We also encountered 1,070 sheep coming at us on the way to be sheared. We pulled aside and let them pass, like we had no choice.

The number of sheep to people is declining in this country, but there are still lots and lots of them. When you see them on a hill in the distance, it looks like larvae. There’s also lots of cows and some deer – venison and lamb are popular menu items.

The Land

Consistently, the land has been our visual reward. We’ve seen lots of different terrains – fields, hills, mountains, rivers and lakes. And of course the ocean cliffs. There are areas where deforesting is happening, but always with new trees planted. I’ve see infant, toddler, teenager, adult and senior trees. Up close, the senior trees stand like sentinels along the road. On various hills they look like a verdant planned rug. The rivers are often quite rocky, so I wonder if there’s more water in the spring from the mountain runoff.

Many of the roads are twisty with lots of switchbacks. There are numerous one-lane bridges as well. We visited the southern-most point of the South Island – Slope Point, which was quite beautiful. Cold air whirls around the Antarctic Ocean and the winds gain immense strength. They smash themselves into this coastal area in such a violent manner that the trees are prepetually warped.

Queenstown was the busiest city, with a downtown area filled with shops, bars, restaurants and people. It’s on a large lake so there different boating attractions. Hal, Beth and Jim took a jet boat ride, reaching speeds in excess of 55mph. Our accomodations were up, up hill from downtown and, for me, challenging to walk up. Fortunately an uber was only about $7!

Hal and I are now exploring the north part of this island, and I will fill you in on that in my next post.

https://www.catlins.org.nz/
https://www.queenstownnz.co.nz/
https://photos.app.goo.gl/GajJxf4hcc9GEoDE7