Wellington

The Blonde Woman surveys Wellington from atop Cable Car hill

 Wellington straddles the fault lines at the southern tip of the northern island and maintains legal and legislative control over New Zealand.  Wellington also represented an area not yet evaluated in the first four months of the saga.  In preparation for another road trip details were digested, plans promoted, tires retreaded, costumes chronicled, and roads reconnoitered.  Everyone satisfied.  The door shut in Thames and off again.
     The first night found the blonde woman and her Valentine in a youth hippie hostel in Turangi.  By noon on Day 2 the couple strutted into Wellington as if someone cared about their arrival.  The "Home Grown" rock music summer festival drew tens of thousands of young adults and not-yet adults to the Harbor area, streets, and accommodations.  Fortune allowed one more youth hostel room availability for the near over-60 duo.  The two could not consume enough alcohol to be allowed entry into the concert, but found an Asian restaurant and settled into a youthful city for several days.

Weekend market along the Wellington Harbor

February brings many of the harvests.  Melons and pumpkins, melons and pumpkins, who does not have melons and pumpkins?  The market extended for a kilometer along the harbor area with huge assortments of foods, bands, fish, breads, coffees and people.










     South Dakotans pop up in the weirdest places.  Through mutual friends the doctor and his partner (NZ expression) were notified of a chap working in Wellington as a computer graphics artist for Weta Workshop, the special effects company supporting Peter Jackson's cinema efforts. Richard and his wife (partner), Michelle, spent an afternoon with the fellow South Dakotans.  As a result, another genre of human creativity opened up.  Richard handled the bombardment of queries from the duo without wincing.

Cheryl asked Tom if he wanted to turn to stone. He said "Yes"

At the Weta Workshops, Tom could dance all night and then simply switch feet at the end.  Except for the odor, the system worked well for the remainder of the trip.  The hairy feet helped with sleeping in the cool ocean breeze.

Soon to be Pinot Noir

Martinborough wine country beckoned.  No hesitation.  Situated within a relatively short driving distance from Wellington, the area has grown grapes and processed them into tall green bottles since the early 1980's.
 







Visited Murdoch James Vineyards and took a tour.  Following lunch, a visit to an olive orchard occurred.  A local grower answered his phone and the blonde woman persuaded him to also give a tour.  They grow lots of olives.  And press them.  And filter them.  And flavor them.  And sell them as oil.  To Cheryl.

Waiting to be fed

The sun shone brightly.  The car turned south from the wine country and olive orchards along a route to the farthest point south of the north island.  Along this coastline, the rocks met the impressive ocean.  More seals than people called it home.  Traveling to the end of the road, the lighthouse guarded the southern point, Cape Palliser.  Safety beams emit from the active lighthouse and have done so since 1897.












This guy held the perfect pose, then asked for $5 to take his picture.  The rocks swarmed with his brothers and sisters as well as parents.  Everyday is a day to sit in the sun.









After viewing the lighthouse at Cape Palliser, a return trip to Wellington successfully ended in a Turkish restaurant for dinner.  Eating internationally became a theme in Wellington.  Next day…Te Papa.  The National Museum located along the Harbor.  Extensive anthropologic, geologic, biologic, and ecologic displays captivated and stimulated the observers. Their brains enlarged too fast and required decompression at a French dining establishment where Cheryl made sure of proper shrinkage with dessert affogato.  The days in Wellington also witnessed an Italian and, coincidentally, a New Zealand restaurant.  The affogato was compared at each establishment.  Zealandia ecosystem and the Maritime museum were visited.

The Bee Hive

Finally, the Parliament and Executive building, known as the Bee Hive, stood before the visitors.  The doctor and blonde woman left this item for the final day in case something inappropriate may have occurred.  They left their opinions and did a little lobbying.  The message of "we just love New Zealand" hopefully got to the right people.

New Boat, New Beach

Sam's tour of New Zealand ended.  Cheryl, infused with another surge of youthful splendor, found a ticket to the Lorde Concert in Auckland.  This occurred immediately after Lorde's Grammy performance.

      She returned to Thames with a little too much exuberance.   Tom informed Cheryl that she may 'do better with a millionaire who owns a big boat'.

Off she goes to Auckland the next weekend as a volunteer for the "Oceanbridge Sail Auckland 2014" at the Royal Akarana Yacht Club with Thames friend, Jennie.  They spend the day generating good-will at the Sailability class for para-Olympic sailors.  Meeting new people continuously for two days, Cheryl and Jennie became part of the sailing community.  She chatted with people associated with the NZ Olympic sailing program and the NZ America's Cup team.  For their volunteer efforts they were invited on the sponsors' yacht for the day. 

And, of course, the millionaire waited for them in the galley to offer them a beer.

      Back in Thames, Tom felt a sense of foreboding loss when Cheryl postponed her return date home.  She and Jennie were happier than the butcher's dog while maintaining their places at the regatta.  He went to his knees and pleaded for her return….she consented, but tied the bloke in bowlines and demanded him to write the wedding vows on the blackboard 100 times.  Too many NZ millionaires with big boats.

Phil, Nigel,  Lucy, Kate, Hannah, Tom, and Cheryl

Another weekend.  What to do?  To the bush?  To the Scottish tattoo in Hamilton?  To the open farmer's markets?  

      A phone call…..Nigel.  Met him once while he and wife, Kate traveled through Sioux Falls from Australia.  Now, another gracious Kiwi invitation to an opportunity at  Cook's Beach and new locale.  Cook's Beach stretches south of Whitianga and its harbor in northwest Coromandel.  Nigel and Kate have joined friends Phil and Sue for several weeks of summertime family fun since their medical school days.  This year, practicing the Kiwi traditions, they offered a place at their table and beach to Tom and Cheryl.  The offer was quickly accepted.

      Tom and Cheryl ate and laughed, fished and laughed, listened to stories and laughed, kayaked, walked the beach, gazed at the stars, viewed the terrain from Shakespeare's point, learned the history, stayed in a camper caravan, and laughed.  Then home to Thames with more of the riches of friendship.

Cook's Beach Quarters

Huge bounty of the sea

Cook's Bay from Shakespeare's Point

Sam's Footprint in New Zealand

Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Route to Hastings

To the river rafting

Sam heard his folks were in trouble.  They no longer behaved chronologically correct.  Had they finally gone over that edge?  He needed to find out.  The semester break from Augustana allowed him to investigate.  Arriving in Auckland, NZ on Christmas Eve he hopped aboard the magical corolla for a 5 week dash through the Island of the Long Cloud, Aotearoa.





















After a visit to the Willis family at Christmas, the next activity involved rafting down the Rangatiki River.  Returned wet and laughing.  Then the blonde mother began an epic voyage through Hobbiton.  Sam found a residence to suit him.  New Zealand started to feel like it would be worth a stay.  He put a down payment on a grassy little hole in the earth.







With every photo op the doctor and blonde woman would pull over and pull out the camera and then pull up to the next spot.  Sam, testing the sanity of the two, played along with the picture ploy.  This was probably the largest soda he drank in NZ.




                                                                           
                                                                           
                                                                               
Not all the time in NZ involved keeping the folks under control.  There seemed to be a good amount of beach exploration.  The white sand beaches throughout the
Coromandel Peninsula extended into the warm Pacific.
       And NZ felt good.


Granted, the beach scene may have been more exciting with age-matched characters telling jokes, playing volleyball, surfing.  But the novelty of a pair of swim trunks in January would not be denied.  Sam ran across some nasty little jellyfish and saw a gathering of sharks at one of the beaches. He did not have to shovel snow to get to the water.  Who cares about a couple of stinking sharks anyway?






Hiking the Alpine Crossing remained one of the highlights as brother Nate joined a motley group of the blonde woman's friends for the excursion.  Life is good with a pair of Ray Bans, an Augie hoodie, and a clear vision to heaven.









The trip involved investigations of various New Zealand geologic points of interest.  The vaporous sulfur geysers bathed the mud pools.  Stopped for more photo ops.





Fishing on the Southern Secret in the Doubtful Sound simply involved baiting the hook as the fish happily jumped on the hook. Dad looked on with jealousy and awe.






The Fiordlands in the southwest corner of the South Island made a number of memories.  Have yet to see an area of the world similar to this.  Hope to return someday.










On to Wanaka.
More impressive scenes and unbelievable combinations of sky, lakes and mountain ranges.  Nate needed his shades, Dad needed a fashion consultant, while Mom and Sam continued to blend into the surroundings.







Hiking in and around Aoraki/Mt.Cook enabled the group to stay close to the Creator.  Difficult to decide which direction to gaze.  Should have had the eyes of a fly during this portion of the journey.









Some moments were simply not worth the inadequate words.  Aoraki/Mt.Cook remains at the apex of the New Zealand scenic splendor.














                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                          

Sam and the folks left Nate at Christchurch to return to his duties in St. Louis.   The Castle Rock region lies west and presented opportunities to look at known settings of several movie scenes.









One could spend days or weeks in this part of the South Island.  Certain vantage points allowed views of the world not depicted in prose nor poems.  A fellow has a sense of enormity and insignificance simultaneously.











Akaroa, Springfield, and the scenic pass down the east coast took the group out of the Castle Rock region.  Fortunately, thousands of additional pictures await Sam to organize in his years.






Sheep?  Yes.  They milled around like puff balls in a gigantic blanket extending across the hills and vales.  The effect seemed to join the ranges together like families sleeping together.






Weirdness?  Yes.  Lots of big round rocks on the beach.  No one offers an explanation except a bunch of boring geologists.








The South Island trip ended in Dunedin.  Another trip to wildlife viewing areas to spot seals or penguins or dolphins or shorebirds or albatrosses completed the 2000 km circuit.

Impressed? Yes.








Dunedin.  Home of a couple breweries.  If Augustana does not work out, brewery school may have merit.  One in New Zealand.

The final week in New Zealand included a cricket game in Auckland.  The NZ Black Caps national team took on the India national team.  The gang sat in the bleachers for 7 1/2 hours.  Two hours later the match ended in a tie.  Entertainment supplied by the spectators near-by.

A legendary pig man lives and works amongst his pigs in the Coromandel.  The blonde woman had heard of him and targeted him for another interesting New Zealand encounter.  And, yes, it occurred.  Keep in mind NZ has 4.5million people and Cheryl has met half of them already.  The pig man now included.








Sam made a couple more trips to the beach and one to Mt Maunganui and the beach area.  Waihi Beach, Hot Water Beach, Karangahake Gorge and local hikes.

January? Yes.

And then it was time to go home.  Sam came to New Zealand concerned that his folks lost their collective mind.  By the time he returned, he had taken on some unfortunate mannerisms.  The hat, the shades, the jandels, the smile.  New Zealand is good for one's soul in January.

Trip to Dunedin

AKAROA

Nate received his Godspeed and flew back to Auckland catching the red-eye home to St. Louis.  Cheryl, Sam, and Tom swung down into the Banks Peninsula, a large inactive volcano extending SE of Christchurch.  The trio aimed for an old French whaling village, Akaroa.  Hopping abroad another wildlife observation vessel, the Akaroa Harbor was combed for shorebirds, seals, an occasional penguin, and the Hector's dolphin.

      Designated as endangered, the dolphin hangs out near Akaroa under environmental observation.  The Hector numbers currently stand at about 7400.  They die most frequently in gill nets.  It would be a mis-statement to suggest the dolphin is fighting for its existence since they are probably oblivious to the fact their existence is coming to an end.  They have no control over this inevitability.  Their reproductive cycles are too slow to compensate. 

      Watching the dolphins dance along the vessel dominated the day.  A route back into the mountains ended up in a quirky hostel room near another amazing geological region.  At Josh DeWitt's recommendation, Castle Rock became a destiny.  A late afternoon and evening visit affirmed faith in Josh's opinion.

CASTLE ROCK

 'The Witch, the Lion, and the Wardrobe' were filmed at this location.  The trio ran around the rocks and could have spent longer imagining themselves to be fictional.

 Tom and Cheryl decided that this would be a "just fine" place to own a nice little ranch.  The sheep and cattle even appeared content.  A serene setting.

OAMARU

The Subaru found its way down the southeastern coastline and stopped in the small city of Oamaru.  Another coastal New Zealand town with arts, wildlife, and leisure activities.  The march of the little blue penguins is the headline performance every night.  Mankind encroached upon the natural habitat, but in Oamaru, biologists preserved and developed a nesting area.  The economics of wildlife observation thrives in this region.  The little blue penguin gains free boarding and free license to have sex and procreate.  So the little blue guys show up every twilight to march up the beach in-groups of 20-40 to nest for the night.  Small grandstands filled with human observers witness the event.  The penguins take on human persona displaying anxiety, impatience, bravado, concern, desire, agility, and clumsiness.  Several stand as guardians on the perimeter.  Some wait on the rocks while their mate or buddy eventually arrive onto the darken rocky beach. And the humans are entertained.

Another beach area in the Oamaru area is dedicated to another species of penguin, the yellow-eyed penguin.  Like the Hector dolphin, the yellow-eyed penguin approaches extinction.  A viewing area from a cliff allowed visualization of the beach with binoculars.  3 of the remaining 4000 yellow-eyed penguins showed up for display.  Sam and Tom saw them clearly.  Cheryl said, "How do you use these things?  I don't see anything!"

Another night in the local hostel allowed a meeting with a young German chap.  He slept in the same dorm room with them.  A number of Germans were encountered on the trip and also throughout the North Island. One fellow felt that his entire country had left for Australia or New Zealand.

      This is not the German chap, but he was sunning on the rocks the little blue penguins were later to climb up to their nests.

MOERAKI

The trio of Sam, Cheryl, and Tom pressed further south along the coast toward Dunedin.  The morning stop included the legendary Moeraki Boulders---an area of unusual spherical big rocks on a beach.  These made for a photo-opportunity.

Formations like these spring many explanations and legends.  The stones have decorated the coastline stimulating imaginations.  They seem to await a signal to come alive.  

Sam and Tom decided to take one home as a souvenir.  A necklace for Cheryl also seemed like a good idea at the time.  Once they get it shined up it should be very sparkly.

The purpose of the  trip to the Moeraki Boulders was to return Sam back to his birthplace.  We had to have the 'birds' talk with him.  How he broke out of that shell still amazes his parents.  Sam appeared somewhat flabbergasted by the experience.  Returning to one's roots remains a deep moment.

Onto breakfast at Fleur's.  Known as one of the Renaissance cooks of New Zealand's culinary evolution,  Fleur publishes widely throughout the country.  Cheryl, having become a student of the recipe science, studied Fleur.  She knew her story and could recognize her at 500 paces. 

 Her establishment sits in a small bay within the loosely defined borders of Moeraki.  The restaurant consisted of collections of used parts from previously demolished structures in the area.
     And there sat Fleur herself.  Cheryl was close to being out of control as a Fleur sat gazing out the window thinking about stewing the next creature that entered her shop.

As Fleur was being questioned, and recipes exchanged unilaterally, Tom and Sam scoured the menu.  They had been asked to sit outside by the outhouse for failing to exhibit the appropriate response to Fleur.  Tom still paid a hefty food bill.

DUNEDIN

The wind blew through Dunedin with a harsh bite considering the mid-summer date.  The second largest city on the South Island, Dunedin began with the Scots seeking a religious sanctuary safer than the yellow-eyed penguin have on their shorelines.  The Otago Harbor served the purpose and Dunedin grew from a small mining town to a multicultural city specializing in education.  The three wanderers explored the city by bus and foot.  Buildings displayed the Scottish heritage.

   

The Speight's Brewery was closely evaluated for flaws.  None found.
What can go wrong on a brewery tour?  The local stories were entertaining.  The Germans found their way visit the place too. 

The Otago museum was visited and then the Otago Peninsula explored.  The hopes of spotting an albatross kept the trained eyes pealed on the coastline.  None found.

       Dunedin Airport served as the drop site for the well-behaved Subaru.  

2000 km of South Island transportation had ended.  The group of three climbed

aboard the Jet Star flight home to Thames with bags laden of dirty clothes.  Tom searched

for his last pair of clean briefs.  None found.