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.