NEW ZEALAND

My wife and I took a trip to New Zealand at the beginning of April, 2009. It didn't start off particularly well, Southwest was two hours late in departing Tucson, which cut our time in Los Angeles way down, then our luggage took forever to get to the carousel. Then we had to change terminals, and while there was no line at the Air New Zealand check-in counter, there was a good line at security. We were held downstairs for long enough for minor panic to set in, then the line was allowed upstairs, where the x-ray machines are. We were within a dozen or so people from the machine when a teenager with a high school band decided to be clever and made a run for it. X-ray immediately shut down, every security person in range took off after him, and cops by the gross  showed up, the terminal was completely shut down. After about an hour things started to move, I have to assume they caught the kid, and I sincerely trust he didn't make his flight! By the time we got to the gate, boarding was just starting, so we got to walk straight on to the plane.

The flight was uneventful, and we arrived in Auckland at 7:30 am, and eventually took a taxi in to the city to our hotel. Our room wasn't, apparently, ready, but we were able to upgrade and check in! Nice room, we unpacked and went for a walk, then in the afternoon, lying on the bed, we were disconcerted to see a body flying down past our window. Our room was overlooking the Sky Tower, and for a fee you can strap on a harness and plummet 900+ feet down. Or walk around a 3 foot wide walkway with no handrails (but wearing a harness). Late afternoon, getting ready to change and go find some dinner, I discovered I hadn't packed any underwear, so we had to rush off and find a department store! Next day, my birthday, we set off to see Silver & Ballard, a company marketing my programs in New Zealand. We had lunch with all the employees, then Geoff, the manager took us to see the sights. Auckland seems like a very nice place, quite scenic, and we were very impressed with S&B!

Next morning we flew to Christchurch on the South Island. Geoff had suggested we take a look at a couple of the tourist railways, so I'd made some calls, and everybody concerned was very nice to us. I got to ride the engine on the Tranz Alpine Express from Christchurch to Greymouth, except through the Otira tunnel. Then I got to ride back! Margie and I rode the train, I shot from the open generator car, then I spent a couple of days driving out and shooting scenery and trains over Arthur's Pass. We had, I think, four days in Christchurch, I'm not much of a note taker. There was a very nice pub just around the corner from the hotel, and we enjoyed several meals there. Very nice steak and ale pie, and we discovered Tui beer. A tui is one of New Zealand's endemic birds, we saw a couple in Auckland.

From Christchurch we drove down to Dunedin, and stayed at a delightful bed and breakfast. Our accommodation was in a converted sheep shearing barn, and very nice it was too. The Grants, who own the place, live in the other end of the ex barn. There was a real barn on the property, and it was the home of a little owl, who obligingly let us have a look at him. He wasn't overly enthusiastic, but did stay put. The morning after we arrived, I drove in to town and went to see the folks at the Taeri Gorge Railway, who said "Oh yes, we have you down to ride the engine this afternoon". So I had to shoot off back to the farm, pick up the camera and get myself back in to town in time for the train. Because the first part of the railway is on trackage rights over the national railway, I rode the train until the first stop on the Taeri Gorge, then transfered to the cab. The engine crew were very hospitable, so I got to ride the engine back to just before Kiwi Rail's tracks. Next day Margie and I rode out to Middlemarch on a beautiful day. I shot from the rear vestibule through the  spectacular gorge. At the end of the line I took my wife down to have a look at the engine, it was the same driver, so he invited me to ride the engine back down again. Of course I accepted (after getting permission from my wife!). Next day I drove out to get a couple of shots of the train and some scenery, sadly the railway runs through remote, inaccessible country.

I had the next day off, and we went out and did tourist stuff, eventually going on a tour to try to find yellow eyed penguins. We did see a couple, and lots of fur seals, close to a Royal Albatross colony. Good tour!

From Dunedin we drove to Te Anau, the rest of the trip was vacation. We drove down to Milford, stopping at all the scenic bits. To my surprise, the famous view of Mitre Peak is right off the beach. The highlight for us was on the way back, just outside Milford tunnel, where a couple of Kea, New Zealand's alpine parrots, were entertaining the crowds. We took a cruise on Doubtful Sound, hoping for Fiordland crested penguins, but sadly the only one to be seen appeared just after we'd gone inside out of the cold and wet. While in the area, we took some walks in the woods, and took a drive up to Cooktown to check out some "Lord of the Rings" filming locations. From Te Anau we drove up to Twizle (honest!) for the ride out to Mount Cook. We drove down the 50k access road in the afternoon and were rewarded with spectacular views of the mountain, next morning when we drove out it was, as is often the case, covered in cloud. From Twizle we drove to Christchurch, had our last meal in the pub, and next morning flew to Auckland for the long ride home. We enjoyed New Zealand, felt quite at home, and of course cab rides are not to be sneezed at! The beer wasn't bad, either. My thanks to all concerned.

On the way to Mount Cook

Mount Cook

On the way back from Mount Cook