A Trip to Remember

We had high hopes for our trip to New Zealand and it did not disappoint.  Although two weeks was not nearly enough time to explore the country, we did our best to take in as much of the South Island as possible.

Our trip took us from Christchurch to Queenstown, trekking through the Fiordland National Park, to the Franz Josef Glacier, tramping through the Abel Tasman National Park, to a small resort in the Bay of Many Coves, and finally biking through the vineyards of the Marlborough region.

Over the course of the trip, we experienced a bit of everything from mother nature – charging rain showers, vicious sand flies, fast-moving clouds, glorious blue skies, dry desert conditions, and of course, a bit of shaky ground.  We bunked in huts atop mountain peaks, pitched our tent in the pouring rain, slept in an upstairs bedroom of a “healing” woman’s home, and hunkered down in our own “apartment” at a beautiful resort overlooking a cove.

After having our fill of freeze-dried “Indian” food and gorp on our backpacking trip, we sampled as much of the local fare as possible – for Will, venison, lamb, pork belly; for me, many new-to-me seafood dishes such as Brill, Tarakihi, Gurnard, John Dory, Green Lipped Mussels (the lips really were green!), and Whitebait.  We were totally stumped by the various ways to order coffee; did we want a “Flat White,” a “Long Black,” a “Latte Bowl”…?  Ultimately, we realized that a Cappuccino was our safest bet.

Christchurch

Our journey began in Christchurch on February 19^th, just two days before the city was struck by a devastating earthquake.  We were charmed by CHC and left the city anxiously anticipating our return there at the end of our trip.  Needless to say, we were shocked and so saddened to hear of the earthquake.

While in CHC, we stayed at the charming Orari Bed & Breakfast in the heart of the city.  We were scheduled to return there on the night before our flight home, but ultimately weren’t able to because most of the city’s downtown remains cordoned off.  Thankfully, it sounds like the B&B did not sustain damage but surely is still suffering as it has to close for business for some time.

From the Orari’s website:

Hello all. Orari Bed and Breakfast has survived the earthquake surprisingly well with no apparent structural damage. We currently have no power and water and are within the central CBD cordon. Communication with us may take awhile so we ask for your patience at this time.

(We did return to CHC on the last night of our trip.  While out out dinner, we were struck by the good cheer and fellowship among the city’s residents.  It was clear that they had all been through an incredible ordeal.  Even as a strong 4.8 aftershock struck during our meal – which sent me scrambling under the table as the other diners continued eating their steaks – our servers carried on with a quick, “Everyone okay?,” “Wood building, folks, no need to worry!”.)

We especially loved CHC’s famous Botanic Gardens.

It made us nostalgic to see so many flowers that are in bloom in Seattle in late summer.  (CHC is on the same equivalent latitude as Portland.)

Routeburn Trek

We learned of the earthquake on the first night of our four-day trek on the Routeburn Track in the Fiordland National Park.  New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DOC) has an amazing hut system throughout its national parks.  We stayed in the huts for two of the three nights of our trek and were thoroughly impressed by them.  We were not used to such “glamping” conditions.

Our “hut”

During dinner on our first night in the hut, the hut ‘warden’ came in to the hut to give us the news of the quake.  Throughout the night, he posted several news reports of the quake as he received news.

It was devastating to read of the rising death toll and destruction throughout CHC over the course of the evening.  But, not until we reached civilization again four days later, when I saw my first news paper and checked our email inboxes flooded with concerned emails, did we realize the magnitude of the damage.  We didn’t know how much the quake dominated the international press, but it utterly and completely permeated every newspaper, radio station, grocery store, coffee shop, and hotel we entered.  As we boarded our flight home, a dozen men dressed in orange jump suits boarded ahead of us.  Evidently, they were all EMT and earthquake specialists returning to Seoul after helping with the recovery effort in CHC.  There were loud applause as they walked through the airport.

More to come on the rest of our trip!  I have to get back to prepping for my first meeting of the Business Law class that I will be teaching over the next six weeks.

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