Sky Tower Lamb

We awoke to a sure Obama victory in the election news down in the breakfast parlour. The other lodgers, from England, wee very excited as well for the Obama presidency. We packed our bags and got approval from our hostess Maureen to leave them in the foyer for the day while we trekked around town. We scheduled our shuttle for that evening and took off down Victoria Street. We perused Victoria Market and found the prices less than spectacular. So off to the Auckland Domain, a huge park with rugby and cricket fields and the Auckland Museum. As it was lunch time, we walked down Parnell street, searching for one of a few gluten-free restaurants that Ingrid had researched. All three of the cafes that we were looking for had either moved or shut down, so we stopped at a café that fortunately had gluten-free fare. Next we headed back to the Auckland Museum, which was filled with Maori artifacts and other displays pertinent to New Zealand. The most impressive artifact was the Maori war canoe, which was hewn from one tree and was very wide and massively long with ornate carvings. Also, the Moa fossils and other large bird fossils were impressive. We then trekked to the Sky Tower downtown for our dinner reservation at 5. First we went to the observation level and walked around. Auckland is quite a beautiful city from the tower. There is a lot of foliage and greenspace. Portions of the observation deck had glass floors that you could stand on and look straight down. It took quite a bit of trust to stand on, even knowing that the glass was well engineered. At 5:30 we headed up to the Orbit, the actual restaurant. We were the first guests at the restaurant (apparently everyone in NZ is accustomed to eating late). We sat by the window and had a wonderful set menu meal for $65 dollars, which included an entrée (appetizer in NZ) of seared tuna, a main of lamb loin, and two glasses of wine plus coffee or tea. Although the reservation is for an entire 2 hours (which allows for two full revolutions of the city), we had to leave at 7:00 in order to walk back to our B&B where our shuttle was going to pick us up at 7:30. We made it just in time and sat comfortably in the shuttle, picking up others along the way, until arriving at the Auckland Airport for our trip home.

Hokey Pokey Truffle

Today we intended to catch some of the US election coverage, but that didn’t pan out as we were busy. We walked down to the harbor and over to the fish market (passing Z-pier) intending to stop in on a fish auction. I think we got there a little too late for the market, but the fish mongers had impressive displays of fresh fish and green-lipped muscles. It was a little early for lunch, which was a shame as they had little grills set up so that you could buy the piece of fresh fish you wanted and then have it grilled up right there. Down at the ferry building we bought a few tickets to head over to Devonport, a small island off of downtown Auckland. Devonport was a little less exciting than we expected. There was a main avenue with semi-interesting cafes and stores, some of which were not open, others that sold junk. We took a walking tour of the island, which took us along the water front and up to the top of northhead, a little hill that once formed part of the strategic defenses of Auckland during one of the world wars. We toured some of the bunkers and stood on the uber-windy top before taking in the free 15 minute cinema on the history of northhead. Apparently, the US once plotted an invasion of New Zealand during WWI, as they had a pact with Japan and therefore might have become an enemy of the US. All of the high points visible from northhead are volcano cones, some of which are still active. The next part of the walking tour took us along a beach on the north side of the island, where sponges had washed up alongside various other shells. We hooked up with an Australian lady that was in theater and chatted about nothing in particular until our walking path took us straight up mount Victoria. Ingrid and I went up the mountain and took in another nice view of the island and distant downtown before stopping near the ferry terminal for an unspectacular lunch. A quick stop at an internet café to say happy birthday to dad and look at the US election progress and went back to the mainland. After making dinner reservations for the next evening at the revolving restaurant atop the sky tower, we headed down to the Harbourside Restaurant at the old ferry building. What a disappointment. I had the seafood platter, which boasted the “freshest” seafood. But the oysters were shucked poorly, leaving shell bits in the bite and the oysters and clams were far from fresh, making me ill for the rest of the evening. At least the hokey pokey truffle we bought on Devonsport was delicious with the rest of our last bottle of wine, a pinot noir.

Herne Bay, Auckland

Packed up and drove to the airport for a speedy car return (surprising!). Off to Auckland on Air New Zealand. We looked into renting a car for our two days in New Zealand’s largest city, but they were too expensive on such short notice. So we got hooked up with a shuttle that took us to our bed and breakfast in Herne Bay (appropriately titled the Herne Bay B&B). It was an interesting B&B. Not so well kept or homey (no individual heating/air-conditioning control for the rooms, no drapes or blinds for the windows, very limited television stationage, no remote, etc.), but the B&B was in a fabulous location for seeing downtown and nearby food joints, and it had this awesome cupola that afforded unparalleled views of the city. We ventured up along Ponsonby & College Road for dinner, where we found a take-away Indian restaurant. We chatted with our Indian immigrant cook, who essentially just heated up pre-made dishes. We took the food back to the apartment and had a nice meal of lamb goush and chiken tikka masala with fresh garlic naan and basmati rice. Very, very tasty.

Wild Goat

The following morning, we scouted out a small stone church that overlooked the lake. It is quite a famous church, and I can see two reasons why: (1) the nice architecture; (2) the view out of the window. Afterward we jetted off to Christchurch. Once we got onto Route 1 and into the Canterbury plains though, the scenery became very unattractive (i.e. unorganized civilization). The farms along the road had large hedges separating various sections. The hedges were trimmed to look very boxy and unnatural. Truck traffic. Traffic lights. Poorly conceived businesses and business locations. Not a fan. In Christchurch we checked into our hotel around 1:30. The staff of our hotel checked us into a room that the maids were still cleaning. So we left our baggage in the car and headed out for some lunch and sightseeing around the city. We found “the strip”, a nice section along the river that has restaurants with outdoor seating. We went to the Tap Room for lunch, where I tried wild goat and kangaroo meat. They served it raw but with a sizzling hot stone to cook the meat on myself. The kangaroo was lean and a little gamey. The goat was reasonably tender and quite tasty. Afterward, we continued our walk around town, passing under the archway on the bridge of remembrance (for war heroes) to the Botanical Gardens, which were quite extensive with beautiful arboretums interspersed between well-manicured tree and flower displays. Back at the central plaza, where the trolleys are stationed, we debated a ride around town. But we had already seen nearly everything on the trolley tour, so Ingrid got a frozen yogurt (vanilla mixed with raspberries in a neat machine that does single servings). Had muscles again for dinner, as an entrée. They were spectacular! When we got back to our hotel and opened up the door to our room, there were all sorts of unpacked bags in our room (as if someone else was staying there). A quick trip to the check-in desk confirmed that the lady who checked us in gave us a key to the wrong room. That night we finished our bottle of sauvignon blanc with some delicious chocolate.

The Southern Cross

The winds were too much for the hot air ballooning again, so we took a walk down to the Queenstown Gardens, which were quiet and full of beautiful flora. We walked around the perimeter, passed the Frisbee golf course and the “bowling club” green before packing up and getting in the car to begin the next vacation phase at Lake Tekapo. Yesterday, we inadvertently pronounced it Lake Take-A-Poo while talking to a Kiwi in an outdoor store and had a great laugh. On the way to the lake (pronounced Teek-up-oh) we randomly decided to drive through Cromwell, a town known for its fruit production (as boasted by their three story fake fruit sculpture at the edge of town. What do you know Cromwell had a farmers market going on in the older district of stone and wooden buildings. The farmers market was extremely small but had a band, a wild game meat vendor, a cheese vendor, a salami vendor, a plant vendor, a few vegetable vendors, and a couple of food vendors. The band sounded like an African bluegrass band. It was a group of Africans that had an awesome sound. The main point of interest for me was the bass player. The bass was a box with a piece of twine connected to the box by a broomstick. The bass player would change the tension of the twine by moving the broomstick to and fro. What an ingenious bass. Ingrid and I tried some cheese and bought one that was similar to Parmesan. One of the food vendors advertised the best whitebait patties in town, so we gave it a try. The grill looked like it had been seasoned well, so I really thought we were in for a treat. The guy grilled up the whitebait patty (again a mixture of egg and whitebait) and put it on a buttered piece of bread with a squeeze of lemon. Good, not great. It was like a slightly fishy omelet on buttered bread. Next we shared a sausage with onion marmalade, which was pretty good. Up the road a little bit we stopped at The Merino Shop and the Country Coffee Shoppe for some shopping and a nice lunch. Being inland a bit we were a bit suspect that there were green-lipped mussels on the menu. However, our running theme required us to get them for lunch and we were not disappointed. The mussels were really good. Ingrid got the chicken salad, which was also very good. We drove by Lindis Pass, a mountainous area devoid of a lot of grasses, and Lake Pukaki, our first taste of unbelievably blue glacier fed lakes that had a view of Mount Cook, on the way to Lake Tekapo. Our room in the Lake Tekapo Scenic resort was a studio (bathroom and kitchen) overlooking the lake. It had to be one of the best rooms in town for the views and location. We donned our hiking attire for a climb up the nearby Mount John for a better vantage point. On the way along the rock-lined lake, we came across the most brilliant orange and purple flowers peeking out from the rocky shoreline of the lake. The actual climb was fairly steep and took us through a pine-covered section of hill, which kept us nice and cool. The top of Mount John was barren except for an observatory, and on the decent Ingrid got to fulfill her desire for up-close encounters with sheep. It was a good but tiring hike, some 3.5 hours. The Japanese restaurant that was recommended to us for dinner was closed so we ate at a restaurant called Reflections, which had a view of the lake. Lamb and venison, nothing special. We snagged some dessert from the 4 square market (a small grocer/convenience store) and headed back to our room’s balcony for sunset. That night we opted to take a tour of the stars with a local astronomer (who oddly enough went to San Diego State University for her degree). The stars were brilliant, as the light pollution is extremely minimal in this part of the country. We learned about the Southern Cross and true south and about nebulas and red giant stars. The way to determine true south is by use of the southern cross and another bright star directly below the long portion of the cross. The point in the middle of the cross and this tar is a good approximation of true south. And as there are many crosses in the night sky, a good way to know which is the true Southern Cross is to find two very bright stars (alpha centuri and beta centuri), which point to the southern cross. On the tour went with talks about the moon, Venus and Jupiter. We got a look at Orion (upside down in this hemisphere) and scorpio, taurus, the pleides. More talks about the milky way, a spiral galaxy, and how the earth is in one of the outstretched arms of the galaxy. The guide also mentioned blobular galaxies. It was quite an amazing tour.

Hot Air Disappointment

Woke up at 5 AM to call the hot air balloon company that we were scheduled to go on. There was apparently too much wind so the trip was canceled. Instead we booked for the next day and ate breakfast at the Vudu Cafe (I had blackberry pancakes with lemon butter and honey comb; Ingrid had the banana bread with a lemon-fig marmalade and Marscapone. We also got a gluten-free brownie!) and then took a jet boating trip up the Shotover River. The trip to the jet boating place was a grand adventure. The outfitter that we went with picked us up from the hotel in a 4-wheel drive military style land rover. About 12 people total were on the bus, which took us up into the barren ski-fields high above the Arrowtown valley. The bus then got on the shotover canyon road (one of two roads in New Zealand that was NOT covered by our rental-car car insurance), a narrow road that traverses some 20 km into Shotover Canyon and down to the Shotover River. The trip took about one and a half hours along the “two-way” road that was barely wide enough for our bus. At points the slop away from the road was completely vertical and the tank/van tires were inches from the edge. Needless to say that was a good adrenaline pump for the jet boating. Essentially in jet boating, the boat goes as fast as it can up the river as close to the canyon walls as possible while avoiding rocks in the middle of the river. It was raining a little and the water droplets felt like needles at the speed the boat was traveling; but the driver did several spins and stopped at a few points of interest along the river (2 bungy jumping points – one active, one no longer used, the latter being the very first commercial bungy jumping spot in NZ – local gold rush spots and a Lord of the Rings scene – the one in the Fellowship of the Ring on the border of Rivendale when the wall of water washes away the wring wraiths), which helped break up the pain. All in all, it was a blast. On the trip out, we saw that the road actually was a two-way road, as we passed four other buses. A quick trip to the room to get warm and dry and we headed out to the local shopping area (i.e. not touristy). The shopping mall was very uninspiring. There was a warehouse type store that reminded us of Wal-Mart and a few other American style stores (cell phones, clothes, drug stores, etc.). Next we took the Queenstown gondola to the top of a mountain that overlooks, you guessed it, Queenstown. Ingrid was fascinated with the grazing sheep that you could see from the cable car. The top of the gondola had a street luge course and bungy activities (for more money) and a viewing platform. Ingrid and I took in the stellar views of the surrounding lake and mountains. Afterward we did some shopping at some of the larger outdoors oriented stores. We snagged some great Icebreaker clothing for the family. For dinner we slipped down to the Japanese restaurant that was recommended to us. It was called Kappa. We had sushi, sashimi, tempura, pickles, and salad, and it was all amazing. It made us feel much better to have great food again, as the trip seemed to be at a low-point during the past few days, which were full of uninspiring meals.

Merino Wool and Jade

I drove out of Franz Josef the next morning while Ingrid rested. On the way to Queenstown, I found a nice little rest stop called Ship’s Creek. Ingrid and I got out and took two walks. The first was inland, along the actual creek for which the stop was named. The creek was very brown and was fed by surrounding swampland. A gravel path along the creek turned inland into the swamp as a wooden walkway. The swamp water mostly appeared black. It was covered in a lot of places with a water plant that looked like a nice green ground cover. In the swamp we also saw “dinosaur” trees, which were extremely old trees that have entire ecosystems growing in them (other plants and animals). The second trail led through a freshwater marsh that led to a freshwater pond that was separated with the ocean by some sand dunes. The drive took us through Haast, where we stopped at a merino wool and jade store. The jade craft is surprisingly expensive. New Zealand is fighting the influx of Chinese Jade, which, because of the cost, is putting stress on their craft. The merino store provided some good wool goods. And as the clerk was fairly helpful we decided to ask her recommendations on places to eat. There was one place to eat in Haas, but she was emphatic that, if we could stand to wait for an hour, we should stop in at the Country Café in Makarora. Thinking we got an awesome food tip, we headed off to Makarora and found the Country Café. Let me just say that the clerk either had never, ever, ever, tasted good food or she had the worst sense of food of anyone I have ever met. The Country Café was a tourist trap. It was the equivalent of an American mini-mart. There was a case of hot “pies” filled with meats or cheeses, some pre-made sandwiches (with loaf bread), and hot fish n’ chips (although not fresh). All was expensive, greasy, and decidedly not gluten-free, which I had been hoping for. Our tip was a complete bust, and I am still amazed at how bad it was. We stopped to admire the beautiful blue water of another lake before arriving at Queenstown and checking into the Bella Vista Hotel, which is a chain hotel in NZ. The room was average but as expected for a chain hotel. The good news was that the hotel was within walking distance of a large portion of downtown Queenstown. We settled on Luciano’s for dinner, an Italian restaurant right along the harbor. Once again we tried the green-lipped mussels. These were in a spicy tomato sauce that drowned out any of the refined flavors of the mussels and so did not suit our fancy. Ingrid had the special, a wild hare w/ a chocolate, tomato, and feta sauce and pappardelle noodles, which was good but not amazing – you couldn’t taste the chocolate out right but could taste it’s effect on the sauce; the hare was lean and dark and tasty (and not very gamy); I had sole with pancetta and potatoes and rocket (a lettuce of some sort); it was decent, although the olives were kind-of an after thought. The good thing from this restaurant was that we got a great tip from the friendly waitress for dinner the next evening.

The Franz Josef Glacier

The next day we lounged around till our helicopter tour (which was almost cancelled due to an incoming rainstorm). After a brief introduction to safety we were given galciar gear, waterproof pants, jackets, socks, and boots and taken to the launch site. Two groups (out of four) went at a time. We were in group #3 and were rushed to the helicopter after it returned. We quickly ascended toward the distant mountains, passing green trees growing out of the bare rock, waterfalls, and the lower tiers of the glacier. The lower tiers were very dirty and looked like a huge ice tongue between two mountains. The pilot took us above our landing spot and swooped left and right so that we could look all get many views of the monster we were traveling above. The helicopter set down on a landing pad that was a little smaller than the helicopter itself. A stone marred path led to a “safe area” where the group amassed. After everyone on the tour had arrived we received crampons, ice axes & satchels. Then the groups split off into two. We tramped around the glacier just below an ice waterfall. The ice was a brilliant shade of blue, which we hear was because it is so dense. There were multiple wet crossings, where the glacier had melted and formed pools or streams of water. We tramped into some very small caves and passed some large formations. At the end of the trip, fog started to close in and it began to rain. Back into the helicopter, where we got a view of the ocean before landing. For dinner, we decided to go to Fox Glacier, another town a few minutes south. What a miserable restaurant we happened upon - I actually can't believe we decided to eat there. We asked the waitress to check if anything was gluten free. After consulting with the chef, she said the chef said that the pasta was gluten free (yes, the wheat pasta) amongst other things. Despite the obvious ignorance about gluten, Ingrid and I decided to eat there (most likely because it was raining). We ordered, I the lamb shanks, Ingrid the chicken parmesan. Then we sat down beside a window that had mold sprouting out of the window panes (looked like little grasslets). Our water tasted very minerally and was not very appealing. And while we were sitting there, a table got up and left because the rice on someone's plate was frozen. Our meals were not horrible, but they were most unspectacular. Mine did not come with the vegetables that were advertised, but I did not complain. We ate and left in more rain.

Paparoa and The Blue Ice Cafe

In the morning we continued down the western coast, which from what we saw was an extraordinarily violent and turbulent coast. The surf consisted of about thirty feet of continuous frothy breakers, the nearest of which slammed into the beach like a hammer upon an anvil. We stopped at Paparoa National Park, which is known for pancake rocks and blowholes. I had no idea what pancake rocks were but we liked these little stops to stretch the legs. As it began to rain again, we walked along a paved path that meandered through rainforest and then flax field (flax is surprisingly tall). At the first opening through the flax we saw pancake rocks, which were really cool. They were essentially layers of rock stacked on top of one another (looking like pancakes) that had been eroded and weathered into cool shapes. We passed a number of formations until coming to the first blowhole, which is exactly what it sounds like—there are holes in the rocks, the bottoms of which are exposed to the sea. When the tide is high, waves crash below the holes sending spray up through the hole. Very, very cool to witness. The paved path, itself, wove across narrow ledges around various holes in the rock. We stopped at Greymouth for lunch. In doing my research for the trip, my friend Dave told me to skip Greymouth, as it was the biggest waste of time on his trip. On the last curve in the road before Greymouth, the skies opened in thunderous approval with Dave’s assessment of the town. We arrived at Franz Josef that night. Franz Josef is a small town with access to the Franz Josef glacier. The town is small and quaint with a lot of accommodations. We perused the many, many tour vendors situated on the main road. Ingrid and I evaluated our options for seeing the glacier. Because of Ingrid’s Achilles, knee, and back troubles (none serious) since our hike in Abel Tasman, so we decided to sign up for the modern adventure tour of sight seeing the glacier via helicopter. The soonest available tour was the following day at noon, so we wandered up to the recommended Blue Ice Café for dinner. The Blue Ice Café was an interesting little restaurant. It had classic New Zealand cuisine, although with an Asian flare. Again, we started off with the green-lipped mussels. These were served in a coconut curry broth with “capzican” (New Zealand for red and green peppers). Delicious broth, good mussels. I had the “Irish” – braised beef on mushrooms and mashed potatoes. It was topped by weird squid sausages (sausages cut and cooked to look like squid). The dish was beautiful but had a weird tang to it. Ingrid got the “Green” – lamb chops in a green herb sauce. The lamb was beautifully cooked and tender. We did get dessert, but it wasn’t worthy of not except for the title of Ingrid’s Banoffee Pie – a mixture of bananas and toffee.

Tidal Surprise

I awoke with the dawn. There were two possible trails away from Torrent Bay Village: a high-tide route and a low-tide route. I had planned on taking the high tide route in the morning, as low tide came at 3:30 AM, but when I awoke, the low tide route, which was right outside of our tent, was very passable. As the map showed the high-tide route taking a considerable detour, I quickly awoke a grumpy Ingrid and told her we were leaving. I packed up my things with the familiarity and quickness of a long-distance hiker and then watched the tide rise incredibly fast over the low-tide route as Ingrid packed painfully slow. In the fifteen minutes it took Ingrid to pack her things, the tidal flat (low-tide route), went from barren to half full of a thin layer of water, which crept ever further across the flat. The water literally moved over the flat at a foot per second. And by the time we reached the river close to the other side, the entire flat was covered. We took off our shoes, rolled up our pants, and waded across the river just in time to miss an extraordinarily unpleasant higher tide. We hiked on to Anchorage, where Ingrid nursed her ankle, forgave me for making her hurriedly pack and cross a rising tide, and I filled up our water. We debated waiting at Anchorage for a water taxi, given Ingrid’s ankle, but she decided she wanted to continue hiking. Another nine miles of stunning hiking brought us back to Marahau, where a very cute, but lame in one foot, dog met us at the bathrooms. We changed to clean clothes, played with the dog, walked to our car, and then drove to Westport along the western coast. When planning the trip, I decided to stop over at Westport because it split a six and a half hour drive between Abel Tasman and Franz Josef (our next exciting stopover). With such high expectations, Westport did not disappoint. It was cold and raining on and off when we arrived; the heater in our hotel did not work; the dryers (after we did laundry) did not come close to drying our clothes; the “best restaurant in town” had mediocre food, including our first venture with whitebait patties (whitebait is a very small fish that is hugely popular on the west coast) which were basically a fish omelet; the town architecture was comprised of cinderblocks and plywood, etc. The two saviors for Westport on our trip were the people were very nice and, at a convenience store, Ingrid and I found gluten-free fruity popcorn, which tasted like fruit-loops.

Abel Tasman Tidal Crossings

In the morning we went down to the beach to see the sunrise. It was an odd day of 12 or so miles, most of which had to be done after lunch because there were two tidal crossings in the day (the first couldn’t be attempted until after 1:30 PM). We slowly picked up our things and hiked the few miles to the first tidal crossing at Awaroa Bay, an expansive flat that was flooded with the tide and that had a river running out to the ocean. We waited on the shore, looking at sand crabs, clamshells, and birds. About 1:15 a trail runner arrived at the crossing. She took off her shoes by us and then ran the few hundred yards to where the water had receded, where she took off her pants. We watched curiously as she waded through the water, which went up to her nether region for another 50 yards of slow moving. I was ready to go after that, but Ingrid asked that we wait for another half hour or so, which we did. When we crossed, we were barefoot, and I could feel hundreds of clams beneath my feet. I kicked a few out to show Ingrid, wishing to scoop them up and take them on for dinner; but all wildlife in Abel Tasman is protected. Ingrid got a few pictures of the beautiful clamshells and we headed on to the Awaroa Hut. A quick fill of water, along with showing our tramping pass to the Ranger (we met two rangers along our hike, both of whom asked to see our tramping pass, neither of whom were friendly), and we headed south to the second crossing at Okarito. Ingrid’s ankle and knee were bothering her by this point (probably started during our hikes at Lochmara) so I felt bad that we had to do so many miles in half a day (I felt so bad, I took all of the food in my pack—can you say heavy?—we took about 4 days too much food). The Okarito crossing was a lot smaller than the Awaroa crossing and had beautifully colored and rippled sand with a driftwood graveyard beyond. A few more miles brought us to Torrent Bay Village, a small village that was largely deserted leading me to believe it is a summer get-a-way village. We pitched our tent alongside the bay and ate dinner within to get away from the sand flied.

Abel Tasman

After our Lochmara adventure ended we snagged some groceries in picton and drove along the northern coast (some along the Queen Charlotte Drive) to Marahau to catch a water taxi into the Abel Tasman National Park. The water taxi took us on a quick trip to split rock, which is the third most photographed “piece of real estate”, as the taxi driver told us, in all of new Zealand and then along the taxi route, which stopped at a half-dozen inlets or bays along the coast. The shoreline was stunning. Either golden-blond sand or rocky cliffs rose from the water—both back-dropped by lush hills. Ingrid’s and my trip ended 25 miles up the coastline at Totaranui, a large campsite that used to be a farm. After putting on warmer clothes, we headed off south on the Abel Tasman Coastal Track. This is one of the seven great hikes in New Zealand, and after traveling south not more than a half hour, it was clear why. The trail entered the forest, a lush band of ferns, palms, and other trees and foliage reminiscent of a rain forest, and ascended a small hill. Out of the branches and leaves we saw the coastline from above—the golden sand; the white foam of braking waves; the sea-green ocean; distant mountains of the Marlborough sound; and the nearby hills of Abel Tasman. The trail continued on, sometimes along the beach, sometimes in the forest. Only an hour’s hike took us to Waiharakeke Bay and our campsite for the night. The campsite was set back from the beach in a grassy nook behind a hill. This gave us nice shelter from the sea breeze and allowed us to hear the surf and birds. What a beautiful symphony to fall asleep to.

Lochmara Lodge

The following morning at Lochmara we took kayaks (free) out for a two and a half hour tour of the bay and saw a plethora of wildlife, mostly birds, but there were also mussels, sea urchins, jellyfish, and assorted fish. We chatted a bit with the artist in residence for the weekend, Rachel Olsen, whose style Ingrid liked very much, before dining at the Lochmara Lodge, where I had a very tasty bun-free venison burger and spicy fries and Ingrid had the best thai beef salad that she’s ever had. We donned our hiking gear, intent on getting up to the Queen Charlotte Track (an hour or so hike up the hill behind Lochmara Lodge), but on our way up the hill we decided to take a nap in one of the hundred or so hammocks strung out across the Lochmara property. Just before sleep snatched me away, it started to rain. Ingrid and I got out our rain jackets to cover us, and I managed to snag a quick nap before we decided to continue our rainy hike. Again, dinner was had at lochmara, where we dined on green-lipped mussels (this time in a coconut milk and ginger scallion broth) kingfish, and salmon. Most delicious food at Lochmara.

Wine Tasting

The rain the next day kept us from biking around to the wineries as I had planned. Instead we drove to a number of wineries for tastings, buying a few bottles for the rest of the trip. My favorite, by far, was a Riesling from a winery called Framingham. This was apparently one of the wines featured in the book 1000 wines to try before you die. From the wine tour, we went up the coast to Picton, a tourist trap and the main town with ferry service to the north island, where we caught a ferry to Lochmara Lodge, an artists retreat/resort in Lochmara Bay. The first thing we did after landing and checking in was to wander the dozens of hiking trails within the resort grounds, which were lined with interesting art sculptures, sheep, chickens, parakeets, and other assorted wildlife. Some of the more interesting sculptures were the punga people -- people carved into the base of various punga (fern) trees. We had a European style dinner of brie cheese, fermented venison & beef salami, apples, gluten-free corn crackers, and wine. So simple, yet so delicious.

Swimming With Dolphins

The next morning, Ingrid and I headed off for our dolphin encounter. The tour started off with full body wetsuits, as the water was close to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. After a quick movie that taught us about the wet suits we had just put on and what to do when in the water whilst swimming with dolphins (the trip, after all, was about us being entertaining to the dolphins as opposed to the other way around, so we learned to sing to, swim in circles around, and dive with the dolphins. After a quick bus trip to the wharf, we set off on a boat with our fellow swimmers (and a few observers) and traveled maybe 20 minutes south when the boat captain spotted a humpback whale in the water (an unusual occurrence for a humpback, so we were told). The boat got right up next to the whale, which was splashing about and not in any way intimidated by the boat. I got a stellar picture of the whale's tale out of the water. Then it was off to the dolphins. When the captain found a bottlenose pod that looked interested in swimming with humans (by coming up to the boat and showing off), all of the swimmers lined up on the back of the boat, feet dangling in the water, waiting for a horn to sound. The horn was our cue to slip into the water quietly and quickly and then to swim over to the dolphins. The water was cold and fairly murky, so it was difficult to see. I didn’t see any dolphins for a few minutes and occasionally looked up to the boat that would point in the direction of the dolphins, where we were to swim. Eventually, the swimmers made it to the pod of dolphins and then the playing commenced. The dolphins would up to you and make eye contact, then they would start to swim off. I swam in circles and chased after the dolphins for as long as my lungs would hold out and then start singing again to attract more dolphins. Time and time again, dolphins would approach and as I got more comfortable, I started to dive in the water, which I thought the dolphins like more than swimming in circles or singing. After the horn sounded again we swam back to the boat and changed into dry clothes for a little dolphin observing. The bottlenose dolphins were jumping out of the water, slapping tails, and more, as it was mating season and the dolphins wanted to attract attention. At last that tour ended and we headed up the coast to Blenheim, stopping at a small shack called Cay’s Crays for some lobster (New Zealanders call lobsters crayfish). The lobsters were good and fresh and unadorned and quite a bit cheaper than at the restaurants in town (NZ$21 vs NZ$90). Blenheim is located in the Malborough wine district, which is why we stopped over. The town was very drab (it didn’t help that it was raining) and the downtown lacked shopping and focus. But after checking into our hotel, which was fairly nice, we wandered down to a recommended restaurant (Bacchus) for dinner; and, dinner was absolutely amazing. The meal commenced at 6 PM. The interior of the restaurant was painted a deep purple/eggplant color; the tables were a light-colored wood; the daily specials were written on small chalkboards (one special per chalkboard) mounted to the walls. Ingrid and I decided to order a bottle of wine (a Spy Valley Merlot) for the evening, and as we normally do, we shared meals. The meal began with a seafood boulliabase (which had incredibly fresh seafood, including the famed green-lipped mussels, salmon, shrimp, & butterfish) and a mixed green salad with capers, sun-dried tomatoes and a tarragon-dill vinnagarette. For entrees, I had the braised beef (beef atop a winter mash of potatoes & turnips, spicy fries, and an intense wine reduction sauce); Ingrid had the rack of lamb (served au jous on mashed onion, carrot, and potatoes). Dessert was a rhubarb crumble and white chocolate mousse with passion fruit sauce, ice cream, and a meringue, all garnished with a powdered sugar dusted lavender flower.

Kaikoura Peninsula

The next day, we drove into the main part of Kaikoura, which is known for its seafood. We breakfasted at a small café in the downtown, where Ingrid had spaghetti on toast (exactly like it sounds). We booked a dolphin-swimming excursion for the next day and then walked around the peninsula, passing a road-side stand that sold fresh seafood platters for NZ$6 (which was around US$4 given the exchange rate) passed a seal colony, where the seals enjoyed grunting at us, up onto the hills that form the interior of the peninsula and which were covered with pastures, baby cows, and plenty of cow patties. Dinner that night was in The Pier Hotel, where we first tasted green-lipped mussels, a New Zealand specialty. The mussels were in a white wine, butter, and garlic broth, which was sooo delicious.

Hanmer Hotsprings

Ingrid and I made it to New Zealand just fine, after some initial drama at Dulles. I booked our tickets through Air New Zealand, one of the nicer airlines in the world, which stated that tickets bought together would have seats together. The leg from Dulles to Los Angeles was on United (a sister carrier of Air New Zealand), which apparently does not have the same policy of sitting with the others you bought tickets for. What a crappy airline. Fortunately, some of United’s employees (at the gate) were very nice and upgraded us to seats together and with extra legroom. A little over 24 hours later, after a wonderful flying experience in Air New Zealand economy (gluten-free meals, personal televisions with music, movies, tv shows, game shows, etc, free champagne, wine with dinner, etc.), we arrived in Christchurch, NZ. A quick trip to the Thrifty counter provided us with an upgraded (for free) rental car (automatic, which was good for Ingrid). We had an afternoon to kill between the airport and Kaikoura, our first town, so we decided to drive up to Hanmer Hotsprings for the acclaimed thermal pools. The town was cute, but very small, and seemed to be built around the hot springs, which were a little too commercial for my tastes. After paying a few dollars, you walk out to what looks like a cross between an outdoor swimming pool and a water park. The grounds were unspectacularly manicured. The pools were designer swimming pools with faux rocks; and the water was fairly sulphery, making for unpleasant smells. From Hanmer, we drove the gamut of New Zealand roads. We followed some seemingly main roads (navigating from the atlas we bought at the airport) to Kaikoura, a small town on the eastern coast. But first to the roads. They are narrow, which isn’t such a problem because the cars are also narrow. But one of the roads we chose to follow suddenly turned into a narrow gravel road for some 20-30 miles. And then at nearly every single bridge, the roads narrow into one-lane road with right of ways determined by arrows. Not a bad idea, but it took a little getting used to. In Kaikoura, we stayed at the Donnegal House, a lovely Irish hotel that overlooks a chain of snow-capped mountains. Our room opened out onto the beautiful gardens and cow pastures, which we spent a little time roaming before dinner, where we found out that my aunt Karen had arranged to pay for our accommodations as a wedding gift.