Monday 3/17 we were off on yet another train journey
(after all, this is the *Rail* and Coach tour). This time it was an out-and-back through the Taieri Gorge, going through historic tunnels and along steep mountain cliffs. The Dunedin Railway station itself was beautifully tiled and full of stained glass windows. The train ride was nice, we chatted with people and took photos, and even ventured to the outdoor observation area at the back of the train.
There were multiple excursions available that afternoon when we got back to Dunedin, but we really needed an afternoon off. As it turned out, I also needed to replace my heavily-used Hokas, so I found an athletic shoe store in town and wandered off to spend some money. I also made us a dinner reservation at an Italian restaurant in town that came highly recommended by Campbell.
Dunedin really resembles its Scottish cousin Edinburgh, and has a few extra touches to make sure that you make the connection. The
Cargill monument (see photo) looks a lot like the Scott Monument in Edinburgh. Dunedin is the second most populous city in NZ, so it was fun to walk around. The weather was also very Scottish - gray and drizzling.
We had dinner at Etrusco at the Savoy -- and we were really glad we had a reservation, it was packed! It has lots of "old world charm" with Art Deco fixtures and stained glass windows. And the food was amazing. I had pumpkin ravioli and John had pasta with venison and mushroom sauce. Mine was too rich to finish, but he practically licked the bowl from his dish!
More Monday pics
Tuesday morning we were out super early again (bags out at 6:45am!) to go back to the train station, but this time we boarded the train to go across the island towards Aoraki-Mount Cook. We jumped off at Oamaru, and our buses took us over to the
Victorian Precinct - a small neighborhood that's been preserved to look the way it did in the 1880s. It was still cold and wet, so we wandered in and out of the shops and stopped by the cafe to have our bag lunches. There's also a Steampunk museum, but we didn't have time to visit. The neighborhood conveniently included a big yarn shop. I bought a lovely skein of yarn and a crochet hook for the bus ride later that day.
(See the purple shade at the bottom of the lower-middle cubby? That's what I bought.) We got back on the bus, and I got busy balling up my yarn and searching online for an easy scarf pattern. Along the way, we got to hop off the bus for a few minutes at the
Benmore Dam (see top pic - still cold and wet outside!) and then the Wrinkley Ram in Omarama. I did *not* buy another skein of yarn there, but I did get a "Kiwi crossing" sign for my office.
Eventually we made it to the Hermitage Hotel near Aoraki-Mt Cook, and found our room. The view from the giant picture window was... uninspiring. There was definitely a mountain out there, but it was too wet and foggy to see much (see pic). We went to dinner -- one of the biggest and most diversely-stocked buffets I've ever seen -- and then crashed in our room.
More Tuesday pics
Wednesday, we woke up to the most amazing view. The sun was back, and we could actually see the mountain(s)! Once again, we opted out of the morning excursions, and just relaxed in the sun in our room, staring out that window. It didn't seem real.
The afternoon excursion was billed as a "scenic drive to the Tasman Valley for an unguided walk." Well, the drive was definitely scenic. The walk was a lot more challenging than we expected! We hiked up the side of a mountain to look out over the Tasman glacier. Whew. What a workout! On the way back down, I counted 315 steps, and John's GPS told us the elevation had changed by 95 feet. That means we climbed a 9-story building! It was absolutely beautiful and totally worth it. (Pic below is John near the top of the hill. I eventually got there too.)
When we went back we investigated the
Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre (which is part of the hotel) -- a museum about Hillary and the people who have climbed Mt Cook (a training ground for Mt Everest), and the history of the Hermitage Hotel. Then we were treated to a talk from Sir Hillary's son, Peter, who is also a mountain climber and has been to the top of Mt Everest (as have his two sons). The family also funds schools and other charitable programs in Nepal. After that, we had signed up for the planetarium show in the same auditorium. It's pretty clever -- they escorted everyone out while they brought down the curved ceiling over the seats, and then we went back in.
The astronomer narrating the show was American. It was funny to hear his accent after 2 weeks in NZ! He talked about the different constellations you can see in the southern hemisphere that you can't see in the north. After dinner, we went outside. Even with the lights from the hotel, the sky was dark enough to see some of the stars he talked about.
More Wednesday pics
Thursday morning we got up early again and shuffled buses - some of us were going to the International Antarctic Centre, and others were going on a Tram ride when we got to Christchurch, before we headed to the hotel.
On the way there we stopped in Rakaia for a rest stop and a picture of the giant salmon, and then we went to the little town of Geraldine for lunch. There was a cute shopping center with lots of antiques and tchotchkes... I bought a hand towel for our powder room with a NZ fern on it. The lunch at Barkers Foodstore was probably one of my favorite meals of the trip, and then we went back across the street to the cheese shop where they also had delicious gelato.
The
International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch was actually right near the airport, and next to the hotel where they held our orientation program
(this would be important later). I was amazed at all of the activities and exhibits! We started with a
ride in the Hägglunds - the amphibious antarctic vehicles that are the best way to get around on the ice and snow. They have a 'course' behind the center with hills and water and even truck tires, so you get to experience the agility of these tank-like transports. It was bumpy, but fun. Then we went inside to experience an Antarctic storm. They offer coats and even boots to people who show up dressed too lightly, and then they drop the temperature in the room to well below zero! I gave up before it got that cold.
After that we went to see the penguins - Kororā, or Little Blue penguins, are the smallest variety of penguins. So cute! Then they gave us a 4D movie theater experience, complete with chair vibrations and little blasts of air or water that correspond to what's on the screen. There was a segment where a seagull pooped on the screen and we got sprayed - everyone yelled "EEEEW!"
With about 10 minutes left before we were boarding the buses to leave, I figured there was probably enough time to run next door to the hotel, because I'd left my dental appliance (night guard) in our room, and I wanted to see if they had it. They did! The staff person really took his time walking back to the storage space, but he did find it, and I was just in time to grab it from him and run out to the driveway so Campbell could pick me up! Phew!
We ended the day at a hotel in Christchurch directly across from the Cathedral that was so badly damaged in the earthquake in 2011. Unfortunately, the government has basically run out of money to fix it, so it's still surrounded by scaffolding, and in a state of disrepair. Sad. (see pic)
More Thursday pics
Friday morning (super early again - 6:40am!) we boarded the Coastal Pacific train to head north. Breakfast was served on the train. I took far fewer pictures as the tour went on, because I knew John was taking so many, and I was happy just to look at the scenery. Plus, taking pictures out the train windows was a challenge with the sun, the reflections, and the double-pane glass.
We got off the train at Kaikoura and had time to wander around and find lunch. We split a chicken sandwich and fries at a little cafe. It's basically a beach-side town that's either tourist shops or surf/gear shops. It reminded me of southern California. We bought a couple of t-shirts and some Maori jewelry -- getting down to the end of the trip, I figured I could think about souvenirs. Then off to the hotel to drop our stuff before going on the dolphin-watching tour.
Turns out, more than half of the people going on this tour weren't just going to *watch* the dolphins, they were going to SWIM with them! The tour supplied wet suits, snorkels, and flippers. Only six or eight of us were there to take pictures (including us and one other couple from our tour, who were from Colorado). The other 12-15 people were all suited up for swimming. After about 30 minutes of sailing into the rocking waves, the skipper pulled the boat up and blew a whistle, and the swimmers all jumped off the back of the boat. They swam around for a while, with the boat staff pointing in the direction of the dolphins, but apparently the fish were way more interested in surfing the big waves than hanging out with the humans. So they'd blow another whistle and everyone would climb aboard, and we'd move the boat to a new location, and they'd get to jump off again. They did this FIVE TIMES. John and I went up to the top deck and chatted with the skipper while he maneuvered the boat to get a good angle for the swimmers. Eventually, they all stayed aboard and we went to a few more locations for good photos, and then went back. The skipper estimated that we probably saw about 200 dolphins during the trip. These were 'dusky dolphins', which are a lot smaller than the common dolphins we're used to seeing. But wow, it was a loooong three hours!
I was really psyched that I didn't get seasick. Since this was the last dinner where the whole tour group would be together, the three guides did a presentation of 'awards.' Each bus driver gave an award to the person on their bus whose luggage weighed the most (I'm kinda glad we didn't win that one)! There were also 'best attitude' awards for each bus, and some other funny things.
More Friday pics
Saturday morning we went back to the train station to board the Coastal Pacific Train to continue going north. We grabbed our bag lunches and found seats. We rode with a different Aussie couple this time, and talked about
everything, including politics and religion
(taboos! oh no!). But while we were chatting, I finished the scarf! I crocheted a hole about 1/3 of the way in so you can stick one end through the other -- it's a very short scarf.
When we got off the train, our bus took us to the
Omaka Heritage Aviation Centre, which has two giant hangars of WWI and WWII planes and memorabilia.
This place was amazing. What are all of these incredible planes doing in the middle of nowhere in NZ, you ask? Well, many of them are from the private collection of Peter Jackson. His special FX people from Weta also helped the museum with the dioramas and wax figures, so they look very real. We were there for 2 hours, and it wasn't enough to see everything.
From there we were taken to our last tour hotel, the Picton Yacht Club. The name sounds a lot nicer than the hotel actually was, but they had laundry machines and that was the most important thing! Thursday and Friday nights, John hadn't been feeling well, so I made him take a Covid test after dinner, and it was POSITIVE! Inevitable, I'd say, given the number of people we were with and the amount of time we spent with them on buses and trains. The final dinner in the hotel wasn't the best, but the view from our room was nice. (see pic)
More Saturday pics
Sunday morning, they bused us over to the middle of town (and we said goodbye to Campbell), and we all sat down at the various cafes to have coffee in the sun. We wandered up and down the Picton main street, but didn't shop much -- except for the used bookstore! The waterfront area was lovely. Then it was time to board the ferry to Wellington. We found a table by the window in the cafe area and camped out for the three hour ride. We each ventured up to the top deck for a few minutes, but the weather got progressively worse as we headed northeast. By the time we got to Wellington it was gray and miserable. It was weird to board different buses, but we made sure our luggage was all there (especially the CPAPs) and were off to the James Cook Grand Chancellor hotel.
Sunday night we were so tired we had dinner in the hotel restaurant. We went a little later than usual, and by the time we went there was one table of pink bus people (whom we knew) and one table to green bus people. We sat by ourselves and looked out the windows.
Monday morning we slept late! Hooray! We got up and wandered down to the waterfront ... it was rainy and gray and kinda gross, but we thought we should at least check the place out. TBH, if the Pounamu people hadn't offered the Grand Chancellor hotel, I don't think we would've stayed there - it was way up the hill and far from the stuff we wanted to see, and not really easy to get to.
We stopped in a couple of shops and walked along the waterfront park for a bit. There was a Maori-owned jewelry shop, and I was happy to give them my money. The one thing we didn't get a chance to do was visit the Museum of New Zealand/Te Papa Tongarewa. It's an award-winning museum, with exhibits created by Weta Workshop. We heard all about it later in the day - I wish we had known.
Fortunately, the weather cleared up, because John had booked us an afternoon LOTR tour that included the Weta Workshop. We didn't realize that the driver/tour guide had been an extra in the movies! His name was Marc. He took us to a few of the filming locations in the woods near Wellington, and told us stories of his time on set. He was one of the elves - he's standing right behind Orlando Bloom and Sean Bean in some of the stills. He said they were going to give him lines, but because he had only just arrived from France when they started filming, his French accent was too thick - even in Elvish! He eventually took us to the Weta Workshop for the tour there. (John tried on one of the helmets in the workshop.) This time we didn't forget to hit the gift shop on the way out.
We knew we'd have to get up early for our flight back to Auckland on Tuesday, so we went to dinner a little early at BIN44 down on the waterfront. Another delicious meal, and we had to head back up the hill (and it was a steep hill, like San Francisco or Seattle) to pack. Wow. Three weeks went by really quickly. But we were really glad to be heading home.
More Monday pics
Comments