More pictures of Queenstown, Milford Sound, Taieri Gorge and Mountains

Kind of scrambled my pictures, but am still in the painful learning stages of posting blog pictures.....here is just a little tidbit that I bet most of you don't know......New Zealand had it's auspicious start from the gold rush of the 1860's!! Had no idea they even had a gold rush but apparently it was second only to the Klondike and many ancestors of NZ's millionaires today got their start panning for gold!! ....... in fact, it was a European miner who made the comment that the site of what is now Queenstown, because of all the gold that flowed, was a "town fit for a queen" and the name stuck .... how cool is that for history!! The country is barely 150 years old ..... took the city bus to the tiny old mining town of Arrowtown to explore the roots of that goldrush......they still have remnants of the stone miners shacks and a whole section where the Chinese contingent lived.....yes, apparently almost 20% of the miners were from China.....they all came to make their fortune with the idea that they would move back to China, rich as rain, but nature intervened and most married local women or had their Chinese wives join them here and staying on, giving New Zealand it's cultural mix......I think it is rather of interest that Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of NZ....their ancestors were those crazy adventurous gold miners!!

Snow, snow and suddenly....sunshine!

Two glorious blue sky sunshine days in Queenstown ..... :) !!! I was getting a tad waterlogged along with all this flooding in Otago area.....rendering most roads impassable.....so, as soon as that sun came out, I booked a flight/cruise to the fiord of Milford Sound .... quite the adventure..... flying right at seemingly, peak level over the mountains in a little ten seater prop plane, and lucky me, right beside the pilot....whew, must remember not to do that again....but actually, there was not a hint of wind and for the most part, it almost felt as though we were gliding, if you discounted the noise of the plane.....took me three days to book the courage to do it, but am glad I finally did....just an awesome experience that I hope my pictures do justice.....cruising on the Sound was almost anticlimatic to the flight......off to Auckland tomorrow and onward to Rarotonga and my first volunteer posting......tourist time up for now :) ..... and yeah.....warmth....I can through the woolies away and wring out my runners.....

Adventure Capital of NZ ... Queenstown

Well, did make it to Queenstown in the dark, after several flooded road crossings....our little van had a luggage trailer at the back (Noel, my driver, frequently gets calls to bring people back to Dunedin from Queenstown, bikes and skiis and luggage galore)...... that I was sure would jack knife us into the flooding river at each crossing, but intrepid Noel laughed away my fears and forged ahead......I believe he is stuck here for a few days because he does not have chains for his van and they have closed parts of the road we travelled on .... only chains will get you through! Yes, I am Canadian, I knew that rain would metamorph into snow in the higher elevations :) Glad I am flying out rather than trucking it :) Will attempt a few picture postings before I leave NZ Tuesday morning, but with have hardly taken any due to the weather ...... should have though....the scenery here is astounding and Queenstown apparently is the adventure capital of the country.....a cross between Kelowna (for Lake Wakatipu) and Banff, mountains surrounding the tiny town .... which I have been told has around 20,000 full time residents....more later..... xo seija

Rain, rain, rain, more rain.....and then it snowed!

Aaaah, the risks of travelling to New Zealand for the start of their winter....It is my nature to wing things, so willingly must also accept a little rain with my sunshine...heh, they are a good mix, both necessary to sustain life, but yikes did so much of the rain have to land on my watch!! Well, plans to cycle up the peninsula at Dunedin, stay at the Larnagh Castle, continue on to play with penguins at the tip, were thrown out the window! NZ was literally awash with their "once in a hundred years rains"....everywhere in the country!! Flooding was a given, road closures, certain.....so, being one to turns lemons into something drinkable, I took in a bus city tour, thinking I would be surrounded by seniors...nope just me and the driver....actually enjoyed it, running from place to place via an umbrella which attempted to keep me dry....we decided to just give me a drive through on roads that were open :) ..... hoped the best for two days and finally boarded a "track & trail" journey to Queenstown .... and wow, what a journey that turned into ..... the scenery along the Taieri Gorge was spectacular beyond belief.....again, as tourist season is long gone, I had a whole train to myself and a handful of Korean university students out for an adventure Asian style.....didn't mind at all....the weather had dropped drastically as we climbed and when the track came to a literal end.....I was met by a small van and driver who would take me on to Queenstown....the stop was as remote a spot as you will find anywhere on the planet, with a small rocky road where my van was waiting.....two Korean students were to be met there by friends in a pick-up....no one in sight...temps about minus 2 by then and no where to stay when the train left....needless to say, the girls took up the offer from my driver to join us and we would keep a look out for their friends on the road (there is only one...) and if we did not connect, he would drop them off at a little house 20 km down the road....no cell phone reception here (the wisdom of our current youth, who cannot imagine a life without their cell phones solving all problems) .... We probably saved their inexperienced necks from a cold stay on a rocky outcrop in the middle of nowhere that night....as they had at first insisted they stay behind to wait....we dropped them off at a warm little house run by a lady called Millie, in Middlemarch.... with a warm hug and goodbyes all around, the driver (Noel) and I continued along towards Queenstown.....and oh my, we passed along into some of the most hauntingly remote areas of this, as I am fast learning, is a vast country, of extremes....more later, as my time is running out on computer useage.....love seija

Wintry New Zealand weather issues .... :)

Rain, rain, rain and yet more rain ........ and then it snowed!! Left Dunedin, despite loving the charming little university town/city of Scottish origin (a full 25% of the population are students, making for a high energy dynamic intermingled ......) ..... managed a little city tour in the rain where I was the only passenger on a regular city coach bus!! Life is what happens when we are making other plans.....I had one planned to Larnach Castle, where I was to stay a night, bicycle to the tip of the peninsula and play with penguins....ha! Sorry Sarah & Rob, but could not trace your steps....the road was clouded and flooded and hence, closed.....after waiting out two days, decided to board a "track and trail" tour to Queenstown where apparently it was not raining....which was about the only place in NZ where it was not (the papers mention this is a "once in a hundred year kind of rain"....I believe them!!)......the train took me and a handful of Korean university students, (again, we had a train mostly to ourselves...tourist season is long gone) into the most remote and mystically haunting scenery I have been in, perhaps ever.....the train came, literally to the end of the track, we hopped off to wait for a small van that would pick up our luggage and take us to Queenstown.....the two young students were to be met by a friend at this spot, in the middle of seemingly, nowhere, with temps rapidly droppping and registered about zero at that point....the driver said to come along with us (I was to be the only one going forward at this point) as it was going to be dark soon and no place to even take cover, for at least twenty km....the girls quickly hopped on and we kept a look out for their friends (we would not miss another vehicle on this singular road and we never did see another vehicle the whole time!!).. ....we dropped them off at the next town where a lady would take them in, while they frantically tried to get a hold of their friends on a cell phone that refused service! Hope they tied up somewhere....I, and my cheerful driver, in the meantime, continued along on this most amazing of roads......my jaw this morning is rather sore, clicking along in amazement as it did for hours yesterday. The only signs of civilization were tiny hamlets, really of sheep farmers miles and miles apart from each other...rather a lonely existence and my driver said it was hard for the young men who inherited these farms to find wives willing to live in such remoteness, hence many forty year old bachelors running the show themselves these days, but the scenery was just astounding....I loved every moment of the journey.......well, maybe not all if it, particularly when we had to carefully drive through several river crossings that were flooded (I held my breath and trusted the driver was competent...he was :) .... well no sooner had we passed these concerns, when the snow started in earnest.....when the lights of Queenstown twinkled in the distance (it was most certainly late evening by this time) I think both the driver and I released a breath of absolute relief.....I checked into a toasty hotel room, ordered room service and was fast asleep by 8:00 pm!!! Hence, it is still dark out this morning as I type....I slept a full nine hours, only to wake long before any kind of breakfast was available....thank God for business centers!! More later after I start on my explorations of Queenstown, which by the way, registers a cool minus two this morning.....I have with me, one sweater for warmth....all the rest are warm weather clothes! Milford Sound journey will be on my schedule next, weather permitting, as the young lady at the coincierge advised me.....love to all, Seija

The heart one is for Jennifer White....I thought that was appropriate, given your penchant for heart art and get a load of the studio creating it!!

My new friends, Henrietta and Stanley

Beautiful night lights of Auckland

Various scenes from Waiheke Island including, sadly, a beached stingray that I almost stepped on, gazing at the water as I was!

My delicious breakfast in Auckland!

View of Auckland as I approached on the ferry....

Rain and delicious kiwis :)

Here goes my first attempt at posting pictures.....a view of my last several breakfast platters.....the most delicious kiwis I have ever tasted....they were yellow inside (GM perhaps??? .... if so, well, I may change my stance on gm food tampering!!), passion fruit and grapefruit out of this world....no, I am certainly not starving and totally enjoing the awesome delicious king salmon of the area, supposedly more loaded in all those good omega oils than Atlantic salmon....lots of rain in NZ for the next few days...typical of their fall weather I suppose but I am not complaining in the slightest as my skin has come back to life after the parched prairies!! Walking lots, enjoying the seaside walking, outdoor cafes for coffee, green tea and the occasional glass of the best pinot noir since La Quinta!! New Zealanders a rather friendly sort.....lots of multi-culturism happening here....more Asians than in Vancouver and apparently NZ needs more to keep their economy going....I think they would most certainly welcome the odd Canadian!! (Krista and Kirby....did you catch that???!!) Off to Dunedin tomorrow on an early morning flight (Sarah & Rob's favorite place here in NZ....will report my findings kids :) .... more exploring on tap before volunteering commences June 5th in Rarotonga! ...... love seija xo

Making new friends.....so easy to do :)

I wasn't in NZ for longer than a half hour, before I met up with an interesting couple, Henrietta and Stanley Theron, on their way home from Beijing, originally from South African, living in NZ for past dozen years.....I recognized the Afrikanse (Sp?) accent immediately from the month Brian and I spent in S.A. in 1974! How is that for memory??!! We bonded over travel stories on a bus shuttle from the airport....after the forty minute ride, it was like saying goodbye to old friends as the driver left me at my hotel, and they to continue on to their home on the North part of Auckland. They picked me up from the hotel last night and took me on a lovely drive to the top of a little "moutain" to view the night lights of downtown Auckland....had a great dinner together, exhanged emails, that great way to keep in touch with new and old friends (no one even barely pays attention to snail mail anymore!) .... Henrietta is a social worker and our mutual concern and interest in the problems facing aboriginals, be it our Native Indians, Maori, or the Blacks of South Africa, kept us in chatter form throughout dinner. Stanley, bless his heart, indulged our excitement at finding common soul mate material and let us rip!! ..... I leave for Dunedin tomorrow to continue my unexpected and brief visit to NZ. Explored the wine and olive grove island of Waiheke yesterday via ferry, town buses and on foot....walked a lovely long beach, gulls following me every step of the way.... enjoyed a delicious fish lunch overlooking same beach .... will post a few pictures later....still trying to figure that part out :) Finally getting this NZ accent down without having to say "pardon" after everything!! Back later, love seija

The Journey begins .....

Have no idea if I am doing the right thing for my blog, but here's hoping this will post! Brian drove me early to catch my morning flight to Vancouver, where I spent a beautiful afternoon with Mickey and Gordon prior to departure....we walked along Crescent Beach enjoying a beautiful blue sky day, gentle ocean breeze, with me devouring as much fresh air as my lungs could hold, in readiness for the long flight ...... had a fresh salmon sandwich at a bistro nearby, and several hours later, another great halibut dinner at the airport Fairmont with M & G and off I flew into the unknown territory of New Zealand......

Wow, what a long long journey.....longest time I have ever been in a plane....over 14 hours! The pilot came on a half hour before landing to advise that the winds were so strong that we would divert to Christchurch instead of Auckland!! Well, bumping, along, a half hour later, he came back on and said, that we would attempt Auckland regardless ....... hmmm ......haven't heard passengers applaude a landing in thirty years, but they did on this one :) I think I am still holding on to my tummy! In any event, I arrived around six am, went straight to my hotel, had breakfast and slept.....and this despite having several hours of a good sleep on the plane.......rained all day, so I stayed in, reorganized my bag, read, slept some more, had a massage, a late lunch and here I am the next morning, having had more sleep in the last two days than I have in a month! The sunrise was awesome and I am now off to explore Auckland on foot....I am staying right at the ferry terminal, so may also hop on one and go across the bay to a nice spot for lunch.....the sun is shinning, clear blue skies and the air so fresh after a day of rain....perfect! Will attempt posting pictures after I fire up the camera later today :) Love to everyone. Seija