Yangtse River Cruise

We arrived in Yichang in the afternoon, and met our new guide and driver who told us about the city and took us to a government run museum that was dedicated to artifacts from the three gorges project excavation. Although this museum seemed a little run down and was by no means as big as the Shanghai museum we’d been to, our museum guide did a great job explaining how they’d found artifacts dating back 6000 years. He told us that thousands of archeologists excavated for over two years before the whole area was flooded and the three gorges dam project was complete (2009). Later he took us to another room that had jade, ceramic pottery and bronze artifacts they’d found that were relatively young (100 to 150 years old). The museum was selling a few of these items in order to raise money for renovations. Although we are not antique collectors, a number of items caught our eye and we unexpectedly bought a beautiful red jade incense holder dating back 125 years. Hopefully it makes it back to the USA (China shipping).

Later we had a yummy and spicy dinner and then our guide took us to our river boat, which is really a big cruise ship (not Royal Caribbean size, but larger than expected). When we got to our room we were surprised by the size of it and gladly unpacked for the next 4 nights (we hadn’t stayed anywhere long enough to bother unpacking since Auckland). The rest of the ship didn’t offer much entertainment so we were thrilled to have a large room with a balcony.  We spent a lot of time playing cards and enjoying the scenery from the privacy of our own space.  

The Yangtse River Cruise took us through gorges, the now famous dam, stepped farmland, new towns and absolutely beautiful scenery.  It was hard to imagine how the river must have looked before it was filled because it is still dramatic after rising an average of 155 meters.   The river is much safer now for boats to travel, but the downside of this is that there are now many more boats and barges.  It is difficult to imagine how the water will not end up incredibly polluted with the extra traffic and changes to the natural purification process of before (the air is already rather polluted).  We were especially curious to hear the local people’s opinion of the project since so many people’s villages were flooded (over 900,000 people were displaced by the project).  Generally, their impression seemed mixed, with the younger generations having more favorable opinions because they ended up with larger homes and more space, and the older populations being less thrilled because they watched an entire lifetime of memories be flooded and have a harder time adapting to the many changes.

The day we went to the dam and passed through the 5 lock system was very interesting. The dam is enormous,  but not at all attractive.  The power the station generates is now critical for Shanghai and many other cities on the east coast.  Another day, we went on a smaller boat through the lesser (a.k.a. smaller) gorges which are too narrow for the big ship we were on.  This was some of the most spectacular scenery with many waterfalls, caves and tombs in the mountain.  We also had the pleasure of hearing a local boat man singing, as well as our day guide and both of them had lovely voices and sang beautifully.

The cruise ended in the incredibly large, yet virtually unknown city of Chongqing (pronounced chong-ching).   Though we only had one full day there, we saw so much and had a couple of adventures.  Our guide, Tina, first took us to their zoo where we saw many pandas.  These pandas actually have very nice habitats in the zoo and we were able to get incredible close!   Unfortunately, many of the other animals we saw were not quite as lucky; the elephant and giraffe habitats especially were a bit sad.  We also visited the General Stillwell residence and museum, which is the only museum in China that is dedicated to a foreigner. We realized how incredibly ignorant we were of the alliance between the US and China during WWII in fighting the Japanese.  US General Stillwell is still very highly regarded here in China for the help he supplied during the war (and resentment towards Japan still runs deep).  The museum, also government run, provided us an opportunity to see a local painter paint a beautiful watercolor in less than 10 minutes.  Here, we finally found traditional paintings of the 4 seasons that we had been searching for as souvenirs.  We are quite proud of how effective our negotiating has become and can’t wait to enjoy the 4 paintings in our home – again, assuming China mail gets them to us!  We are definitely done buying souvenirs for ourselves!

After our incredibly spicy yet delicious lunch, Tina walked us through a more local food market that in almost any country other than China would have been where we’d want to eat, except we suspect the menus included mostly things we would prefer not to eat.  Still, seeing and smelling it firsthand was worth it.  Tina recommended that we plan on going to a “hot pot” restaurant for dinner near our hotel as hot pots are very traditional for the area.  Basically, a large steel pan is build right into the table and filled with oil, and then you order skewers of different meats and vegetables to cook in the oil.  On the surface, the experience is not so different from fondue, right?  Except in China, the skewers that are most popular are ox stomach, duck throat and chicken feet. While we thought we could be brave at the time she said to go and we really planned on it, when we walked up to the restaurant later that evening, it all felt a little “too” local for us and without our guide with us to make sure we didn’t order something we didn’t want to eat, we essentially chickened out (no pun intended).

One of the problems with travelling so long is that certain comforts are unattainable. In Chongqing, I finally gave into my need for a haircut.  Tina had pointed out where she goes to get her haircut and it was practically across the street from our hotel, so Raj and I took a walk to check it out.  In much the same way as shop workers usher you into their stores if you show any interest, a young man encouraged me to enter when I looked in.  With a deep breath, I went in and with some sign language indicated I wanted a trim.  The guy took me into the back to wash my hair and it all seemed relatively similar to how it would be in the US.  Then he transferred me to a chair and the man who was actually cutting my hair came over. I tried to indicate that I just wanted a little bit cut off and he went to work.  The first bit seemed fine, but as time went on, it seemed like he was cutting more and more. With the language barrier, I had no way to make sure it was okay, and Raj had decided to go for a walk rather than sit and watch.  So, in the end, I have a new hair style with lots of short layers – not the best look for me :(  Oh well, I’ve learned my lesson – next time, I’ll just buy barrettes and tie it all back :)  In the end, it cost me 45 RmB (less that $7), and I’m pretty sure they upped the price for me!  In any case, don’t be surprised if you don’t see me in too many pictures for the next few weeks!

Shanghai and Suzhou

We arrived in Shanghai pretty late and our guide, Tina (English name), picked us up from the airport and took us to the hotel. The city was was lit up and modern like Hong Kong, but was a lot bigger (over 20 million) and more spread out. We were amazed by how many high-end stores there were – seriously, there seemed to be a Louis Vitton or Gucci on every block!   In the morning our guide and driver took us to a garden in the middle of the city. “Gardens” in China are more like peaceful retreats that have more to do with the buildings, landscaping, and yin-yang harmony. We had a great time walking through the garden and learning about Chinese culture. Later that night we went to see an Acrobatic show. Tovah and I were somewhat reluctant to get our hopes up after our NZ shows. Luckily the show was amazing, and we were treated to 13 different acts, each unique and unbelievable. For about $40 we saw a show that would easily rival any Cirque de Soleil production!  No doubt, this was the highlight of Shanghai – unfortunately, we were too busy trying to pick our jaws up off the floor to get any good pictures or videos for you.  One other high point was when we broke down and had our very first meal from an American chain since leaving Atlanta;  our last night in Shanghai we treated ourselves to a break from Chinese food and instead enjoyed California Pizza Kitchen!  The only downer about Shanghai was our guide – she clearly wasn’t feeling well but continually cleared her throat and nose and generally lacked energy and enthusiasm in every way.

Next we took a train to Suzhou (pronounced sue-joe), which is known for its many gardens.  Our guide was really great (reminded Raj of his mum); she told us many stories, taught us Chinese words, and talked openly about her own experiences with the cultural revolution. We explored many residences, a leaning Pagoda, and two large gardens, as well as took another river boat cruise through canals.   These gardens were much larger than the one in the middle of Shanghai, and one of them took 16 years to build.  Since Suzhou is known for its arts and crafts, we also went to an embroidery museum and a silk painting gallery, both of which absolutely blew us away!  When we walked into the embroidery museum, the first thing they showed us was a picture of Princess Diana, and our initial (internal) reaction was “oh jeez, do we have to hear about how she visited 20 years ago?”  However, when the guide asked us to look closer, we found that the “picture” was actually an embroidered image that was incredibly realistic! We really enjoyed perusing the gallery and seeing amazing landscape, animal, and human pictures that were so incredible that we desperately wanted to buy a large one. However, it turns out we had found the one thing that is actually quite expensive in China. Who would have though we could be so impressed by embroidery?

The next day we drove to a smaller town called Zhouzhuang that’s known for its rivers and is called the Venice of Asia. We saw a few residential buildings that dated back to the 12th century. Unfortunately the weather that day was not great and after lunch we did a bit of souvenir shopping and then drove back to Shanghai where we picked up some laundry and said goodbye to our Suzhou guide and driver.

As many of you may know, Tovah was a bit reluctant to come to China because of some the government’s policies and human/animal rights violations.  While we have certainly noticed their tendency to shelter the citizens through blocking internet sites to editing TV shows, we do want to note a couple of positive things we’ve learned about China’s government.  To begin with, the infrastructure of this country is much better than we expected and certainly eases transportation both locally and long distances.  Also, since we expected to find many homeless and poor people as in India, we have learned that the government does an amazing job keeping people off the streets and providing assistance.  There have also been many positive changes toward education and helping farmers subsidize housing and build irrigation systems.  From what we gather, there have been many changes in the past decade that the people here are quite pleased with.

WHOA – We’re in China: Guilin and Yangzhou

We arrived in Guilin and our guide (English name Angela) and driver for the region met us at the airport.  We were struck by the incredible humidity which felt like July in Atlanta. The hour or so drive from the airport to downtown Guilin reminded us a bit of India but on a less terrifying level.  Nonetheless, there were vans, buses, bicycles, scooters, pedestrians and more engaged in some kind of organized chaos on the roads.  Though we were supposed to go to the hotel and relax for the night, Angela recommended we go to a river cruise around downtown Guilin.  We arrived a bit early and enjoyed a beer by the water overlooking the Sun and Moon Pagodas.  While there, a girl came up to our guide and asked if she could take a picture with us!  We had heard about this happening sometimes in China when someone has never seen a Westerner before.  She was very cute and of course we complied.  The river cruise took us through the new Guilin town, which they rebuilt in 2002 using the ancient motes and was very beautiful and colorful.  They modeled their bridges after such international places as the Oxford bridge, Golden Gate Bridge and the Arc de Triumph.  After the cruise we gathered outside the nearby Waterfall Hotel to witness their nightly 30 minute waterfall which is in the Guinness book of World Records as the highest and widest manmade waterfall!  After checking into our hotel, we had a late Chinese dinner in the hotel (ordered a much more appropriate amount of food) and were offered tea, which we accepted.  When the man went to pour water into our cups of leaves mixed with red dates, we were surprised that the water pot was more like an oil canister with a 2 foot spout!  He stood way back from the table with the end of the spout at least a foot or so away when he poured and we still can’t believe he managed to get the water into the cups!

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and met our guide and driver for a short drive to the Li River for a 4 hour cruise to Yangzhou. The cruise was amazing- we went down stream through endless spectacular scenery that’s difficult to describe. In short, we were treated to hundreds of limestone mountains that rose up from the ground like nothing I’ve ever seen. With every turn in the river it only got better. As we cruised down the river we passed a number of villages as well as the bravest (or reckless) fisherman on tiny bamboo boats that would approach the large river cruiser we were on in order to hook on and try and sell some jade (or likely fake jade) to the tourists.

We really enjoyed the town of Yangzhou, which is a tourist destination but more so for Chinese tourists than Westerners destination . While there, we strolled through the market, saw an absolutely fantastic outdoor cultural show (same director as the 2008 opening games in Beijing), had our first foot reflexology, went on a bamboo river boat, and took a long bicycle ride through villages  The Chinese tourists were hilarious on the river boats because they all bring preparations to have water fights with other boats, whether they know them or not.  For some reason, we seemed to be off limits and were spared numerous times from being sprayed. The bike ride was great because it gave us better insight into some cultural ways and how the more remote people live.  We had the opportunity to meet a old man who allowed us to see his house without warning… he had a mirror above the door, as almost all the homes did, which is there to ward off evil.  His home was incredibly simple and bare, and yet he had a TV!  We also encountered village women who carried their babies in baskets for the purpose of finding tourists (like us) to take pictures for money.  BTW, the majority group (92% of the population), or Han, are only allowed one child while the many minority groups are allowed two children. The exception to this rule is if a Han farmer has a child and it is a girl; in that case, they can wait two years and try again to have a boy.

Back in Guilin we saw the Reed Flute Cave, Elephant Hill, a Tea Ceremony, Silk Factory, and Pandas at the zoo.  The cave was interesting not only for the natural wonder but because there were clear differences between the limestone caves in NZ and the limestone caves in China that illustrate some of the cultural  values of different societies.  For example, in NZ, the emphasis on the caves was on conservation of the environmentally fragile aspects of the cave and was presented in a such a way as to allow the cave to speak for itself.  Alternatively, the cave in China, which was equally as impressive, was lighted with many colors and all around were signs pointing out naturally occurring shapes that invited the viewer to use their imagination to see animals, people, and other scenes.  We found this tendency in many places (the hills along the Li River all had names based what “might” be seen in them, etc. camels, apple, horses…) and realized that the Chinese culture emphasizes amazing imagination and interpretation of scenery.

So far, the people are great, the scenery is beautiful and the food is, well, interesting. After such a good start, we are looking forward to seeing what else China has to offer. The only negatives so far is the pollution, humidity and mosquitoes.  In 2 days, Tovah received 28 mosquito bites 9 including one on her eyelid!) despite using bug spray. Apparently Asian bugs prefer Western blood, as our driver joked about, but unfortunately, Tovah seems to have a mild allergy to them and they swell up like hives on her.  It is giving her the opportunity to sample Chinese medicines.

At the time we originally went to publish this blog we realized that access to the blogger site we use is blocked by the gov’t here.  So, sorry this is late but better late than never. Now that we have figured out a hack and a way to proxy, we will post more soon.

Blog site blocked in China...

So we have a slight problem accessing our blog site in China. Apparently the Chinese Government has blocked all Blogger and Wordpress sites. I'm using a hack right now to get access to the blog site and to post this basic post. I'll try and figure out a way in the next few days to access all the functions of Blogger so we can post pictures and videos with the blog site and update the photo albums, etc.

Bear with us as we figure out a way, may remote access into my US computer.

Hong Kong

So we left Auckland ready to get out of the cold and into some warmth of the northern hemisphere!  We only had one concern – getting through screening for Swine Flu at the airport.  Raj has had a lingering cough from our cold and that is one of the symptoms they screen for.  We drugged him up despite his cough being almost gone and we were both feeling great – no symptoms of anything whatsoever.  About half way through our flight they made an announcement that one of the passengers had become very ill and they were seeking the help of any passenger with medical training.  Raj and I were a bit concerned but it was still quite vague.  Then we saw them carry the 20 year old or so girl into first class so she could lie down and most of the flight attendants put on medical masks.  So now we were really concerned but we were kept in the dark as to the situation.  When the plane landed everything seemed fine; they set up the gate for departure and everyone was up and in the aisles when the captain came on the speaker and asked us to return to our seats while medical personnel came aboard.  We watched at least 10 doctor-types in surgical style gowns and masks examine this girl and her friend.  We heard a flight attendant tell another passenger that they were considering putting the entire plane in quarantine!  Raj and I sat there helpless and started talking about 1) how much money we’d lose if we ended up quarantined for a week in Hong Kong (because we paid for China in advance) and 2) how pissed we’d be if we were quarantined because of someone else rather than because of us!  Finally, after about 15 minutes they abruptly allowed us to disembark and we got through the rest of security/customs without incident.  We still can’t believe how lucky we got – we thought we were screwed for sure!

Hong Kong is absolutely massive! It is also vibrant and surprisingly beautiful.  It sits on a harbor and a large part of it is an island across the harbor. We stayed at a great hotel with a room with a fantastic view of the harbor.  The best way to describe Hong Kong is that it is similarly set us as Manhattan but with the bright lights and colors of Las Vegas.  Everyone is exceedingly nice and transportation is an absolute breeze.  We took a ferry across the harbor and a bus to and from the Peak (for views of the city) with great ease and the subway system seemed easy to use, though we didn’t have a need for it.  For such a huge city, everything was very clean and well organized.  The shopping was so tempting, but for the most part, we restrained ourselves because we have several internal flights in China with strict baggage restrictions.  We did visit the Temple Street Night Market and each got a pair of knock-off sunglasses (or “copies” as they call them).

We were only in Hong Kong for a short 2 days time but we enjoyed ourselves and would like to return when we have more time. There was so much still to see and do there!  The only other notable experience was dinner at our first authentic Chinese restaurant.  We were torn about eating traditional Hong Kong street food by the market but decided that since it was so muggy, we’d prefer to sit inside somewhere.  We found a Chinese restaurant that was very busy but with no tourists (there were quite a lot of westerners all over Hong Kong and thus, many restaurants that seemed to cater toward the more comfortable selections of food).  We jumped at the chance for a more authentic experience but that included a wait staff that spoke little English and with more traditional customs.  it took some time to figure that we weren’t being ignored by the staff, but that to get service or to order, you must raise your hand (they don’t come check and making eye contact was not enough).  The menu did offer English translation but they were brief and without any real description.  While we had waited to order we had watched other diners and figured out that it was family style and that it looked like about 2 dished per diner.  When our waitress took my order (mixed vegetables and steamed chicken with chilies) she seemed to think we needed rice as well, so we ordered that.  Then she offered me, in pretty good English thankfully, that she could cut off the head and the tail of my chicken if I “hated it.” Yes, really.  I was in such shock at the offer that I simply smiled and accepted, but after she walked away I realized that if cutting off the head and tail of my chicken was an option, then my meal, which was rather cheap, must include a WHOLE chicken! Since Raj had also ordered a main dish and two sides, we indeed ended up with a ridiculous amount of food.  We made decent progress as the dished came out as they were ready versus all together, but we were getting full when she brought my chicken. The waitress said as she put the huge bowl on the table, “don’t worry, don’t worry, it’s a small chicken.”  We did the best we could and learned a lot about how to eat the way they do (we spied on all the tables around us) and even managed to eat chicken drumsticks with chopsticks!  The food was all very good and we enjoyed the experience.

We are now on our way to mainland China (Guilin is our first city and by Monday we will be in Shanghai). We don’t yet whether internet access with be difficult or not so we are posting this from Hong Kong’s airport.  Be patient if you don’t hear from us for a while – we will keep writing and post a novel eventually.  Hopefully, it will not be a problem and we will post again from Shanghai!

NZ - Kaikoura to Auckland

On our way from Brian’s place in Dunedin to his previous home of Kaikoura about 10 hours north, we stopped at the remarkable Mouraki boulders.   On a random stretch of beach, right off the main road, these distinctly round and large boulders are found relatively clustered together.  I did not understand the fuss until we walked onto the beach and saw them in the distance.  They are huge and out of place and very round.  There is apparently nothing like them anywhere else, and believe me when I tell you that being there leaves little doubt that aliens were involved! We only spent about 20 minutes there but it really made my day.

Kaikoura is mainly known for whale and dolphin watching so obviously that was on the top of our list.  Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side and our whale watching cruise was cancelled due to wind.  So, went to the seal colony where we got closer than ever to Kaikoura’s very relaxed seals, and we also sampled their famous crayfish. We tried to check out the night life, but as usual it was a bit weak – we managed to find the only place with live music and a pool table and met a couple other travelers but the music was awful and we barely made it past midnight. On a whim we had booked a whale watching charter flight for the next morning before we had to leave to catch our ferry back to the north island.  The cost was the same, but it was more of a gamble because the cruises refund 80% of the fee if you don’t see any whales, but the flight company does not. However, it was our only chance because we had to drive 2 hours to catch the ferry and the cruise didn’t return until too late.  Apparently, it is great to see them from above because you see much more of them (as opposed to just a tail), but sadly, no whales wanted to come out and play during the 40 minutes we were in the air.  Thus, we left Kaikoura a bit a sad and disappointed.  The good news is that it was an absolutely beautiful drive from Kaikoura to Picton after our failed attempt at seeing whales. Most of it was right along the coast and we reached the ferry with less than 5 minutes to spare!

Instead of staying in Wellington again after we crossed over, we decided to make some progress on getting farther north and drove to Palmerston North. It was a decent size college town with a young vibe and lots of cafes and coffee shops. We probably would have stayed longer if time wasn’t tight to get to Auckland (we booked a sailing certification course!!!) so we drove toward Taupo/Rotarua where we planned to spend 2 nights exploring the thermal area and possibly go sky diving. This area is known for the many lakes and all the geothermal activity.  It is a little bit stinky of sulfur and a bit touristy, but we did finally find a motel that had free internet!  We took a day trip to the Orakei Korako Cave and Thermal Park in The Hidden Valley because we had heard it was off the beaten track.  On the way there we stopped to get pies and coffee to eat in the car. For those of you who don’t know, pies in NZ are savory pastries made of a flaky dough and filled with stuff like mince or steak and cheese (again good thing I started eating meat).  So, Raj and I each had a mince pie in the car on our way to the place when we rounded a bend and found a car stopped in the middle of the road.  It quickly became apparent that the reason the car was stopped was because there was a herd of cows taking up the road ahead as they were being to a new place.  I had already devoured my pie, but poor Raj was only half way through because they are bit messy to eat while driving.  Needless to say that Raj felt it was quite wrong to finish his mince meat pie as an entire herd of cows was 2 ft from our car.  Anyway, Orakei Korako was pretty nice – it had geysers, boiling mud pools and a great cave and many other nice examples of a geothermal area with the exception of a hot pool.  We particularly enjoyed watching the boiling mud :)

While in Rotarua we also decided to check out a Maori Culture show and dinner.  Although we normally avoid such touristy displays, we had heard very good things about it and wanted to learn more about traditional Maori culture (the indigenous people of NZ).  There were many to choose from and we again tried to choose one that seemed less popular in hopes that it would be more authentic.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be the worst night in New Zealand!  To begin with, they insisted that they pick us up on the company bus rather than allow us to drive ourselves because supposedly the “entertainment” began on the bus and they didn’t want us to miss out (we should have cancelled right then and there).  To keep a dreadful story short and locked away in my deep dark scary place, let me just say that it was absolutely everything we feared it would be, complete with tourists singing their national anthems with a microphone on the way back to our hotels.  The ONLY good thing was the buffet style traditional hangi meal the demonstration about how the food was cooked underground in the Polynesian way. 

On our way to Auckland, we decided to take one day/night and drive through the beautiful Coramadel Peninsula.  We continued to outrun incoming bad weather, had one of our best meals in NZ and saw more beautiful places, but we were also getting really excited about our sailing course and anxious to get to Auckland.   We were supposed to have two days before hopping on our ship for the sailing certification.  We took advantage of being in a city and got massages and manicures as well as seeing a movie for the first  time in quite some time (Wolverine).  We checked out the fantastic marinas, after all, Auckland is called the City of Sails, and saw the most spectacular yachts!  We kept hearing that the weather was supposed to get bad, but we didn’t hear from our sailing instructor so we figured we’d be outrunning it.  Unfortunately, as we were all packed up and about to check out of our hotel to go to the harbor, we got a message that she had to cancel our trip.  We were crushed but also figured it wouldn’t be much of a vacation to be on the water in a cold yucky storm when we didn’t even know what we were doing.  We regrouped and found a new hotel and settled into a very relaxing couple of days.  By the end of the week we had seen three movies (including Star Trek on IMAX – Awesome) and treated ourselves to a spa day  with facials, body scrubs and massages– gotta love strong exchange rates!  Frustratingly, the weather was fine for the most part with a few rain showers coming through each day, but ultimately, nothing a girl from Seattle and a guy from London couldn’t have handled :(  Oh well, can’t win them all…. but we are now wondering if we are destined to be sailors after all.

Are we destined to be sailors?

A few days after arriving in Auckland, New Zealand (City of Sails), Tovah and I started talking about how we would like to travel the world all the time someday. We both agreed that sailing around the world would be the way to do it, and half joked about buying a yacht and heading off into the sunset.

As we continued our adventure through New Zealand- Heli-hiking on Glaciers, Jet boating in Queenstown, galloping on horseback in the Catlins, and continuously saw amazing things, we kept thinking about the yacht idea and even spent an afternoon fantasizing about which ports we’d sail into on a yearly basis.

We continued talking about it so much that we actually started looking into different types of yacht, and came to the realization that we had no idea about yachts (power or sail). Actually we didn’t even know if we’d like the sea, sailing or anything related to such a life style. So, we decided to do a little research as we are about to be in the sailing capital of the world.

We contacted a few companies and booked a 5 day/4 night sailing certification course onboard a 10 meter yacht. So, Tovah and I are going to learn how to sail and get a crewman certification out of it!

We set sail from Auckland on May 8th aboard the “French Connection” - just the two of us and the instructor. We get back on the 12th and the next day we head for Hong Kong. I’ll let you all know if we are future sailors or not after the course.

NZ – Q’town to The Catlins

I was really excited to visit Queenstown because Raj has told me so much about his 6+ months living there when he was in NZ for about a year in 1999.  He was a bit nervous to return and see how much it has changed because much of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed in the surrounding area and the tourism rates have skyrocketed in the last decade.    We planned on staying 3 nights there so that we could experience the nightlife and have time to sample some of the adrenalin-junkie activities, as well as take a day trip to Milford Sound (fiord lands).  When we arrived it was a beautiful sunny day so we parked the car by the lake and wandered around for a while.  Raj reminisced about various spots he used to hang out and grieved a bit to find that several places were gone.  After checking out various motels we found a place that was offering a 70% discount for their penthouse studio unit so we scored a great place overlooking the lake and only a block for the town. (view from our room the right)

Unfortunately, by this time Raj was feeling pretty sick as I had given him my cold (again, not swine flu), so we took advantage of how nice the apartment was and stayed in a good part of the first couple of days and ventured out only to explore the town a bit. Raj decided it was about time for him to get a haircut and sadly that was our biggest adventure for the first 2 days (pathetic considering we were staying in the place where bungy jumping was invented).  On our 3rd day there we booked a full day bus tour to Milford Sound, which was 4 hours away so we preferred someone else to do the driving.  It left early in the morning and stopped several times on the way there to give us the chance to get out of the bus and take pictures. We went through the town of Te Anua, saw some nice wildlife, saw the Mirror Lakes and got a good sense of the history of the area as well.  It was nice to just sit back and relax and for both of us to be able to look out the window. We were also lucky that the bus was only about a third full.  When we arrived at Milford we boarded a cruise ship that held approximately 200 people for the 1.5 hours cruise.  It was a dry yet cold day but that didn’t stop us from rushing to the front of the ship in hopes of seeing dolphins and having good views of the many waterfalls we passed along the way and the famous Mitre Peak. Sadly, we did not see any dolphins and later heard that it is much less common to have them playing in the wake than it used to be. The waterfalls were lovely though and we got close enough for the mist to get us wet and to put the camera away!  It was Raj’s favorite day in NZ so far.

We decided to extend our stay in Q’town by one more night so that we could book at least one adventure activity. There were so many to choose from: bungy, sky diving, 4wd safaris, jet-boating, LOTR (lord of the rings) safaris, hang-gliding, parasailing, etc.; the options went on and on.  In the end, we decided on a Jet-boat ride through the canyons.  The drive there was in a large van and stopped several times to point out LOTR filming sites such as where Helm’s Deep was filmed. The drive also took us through a terrifying section of gravel road on a cliff face that was at times so narrow and steep that when looking out the window we could not see the road to be sure the tire would  be on land and instead saw straight down into the canyon. After seeing washed out roads throughout our drive, this was a less than pleasant adrenaline rush in my opinion; Raj, however, thought my horror was hilarious (he was not the one sitting by the window).  Ultimately, the drive was more entertaining than the jet boating. We had expected to be scared and screaming from doing 360 degree turns at high speed and with the canyon walls quite close, but it just didn’t do the trick :(

Next we headed to Dunedin on the SE coast of the south island to visit my old friend Brian.  We were thrilled to discover that he lives right on a beautiful beach where you see as many dogs and horses as people, if you see anything at all!  When we arrived, Brian and his girlfriend Eleanor took us to one of their favorite spots on the Otago peninsula to see penguins and sea lions and timed it perfectly for us see a lovely sunset as well. We then got quite a workout as we climbed back up the extremely steep dunes with very soft sand that we sank deeply into with each step.  The rest of stay with Brian offered us so more much needed R&R and the opportunity to cook a meal; may seem strange but I was really excited to have use of a full kitchen after over 6 weeks of eating out and the occasional motel kitchenette.

We decided to take a couple of days to explore The Catlins which are about 2 hours south of Dunedin.  Since we were  missing horseback riding we did some research and found a great place that offered full day horseback riding at their Organic Farm (we would call it a ranch as they farmed cattle and sheep).  For about six hours we saw beautiful sites, galloped in fields and on beaches with sea lions, and learned info on farming.  We also got to enjoy watching their litter of six puppies play with each other and with the horses. Then we drove to Curio Bay for the sunset and stayed at a motel where we had views of the ocean from our bed! Not a bad day, huh? Unfortunately, the next day the weather was cold and rainy so we decided to try and outrun the rain in order to see some waterfalls and caves.  We successfully saw three great waterfalls and due to the threatening weather had them all to ourselves and even lucked out with the rain stopping while we were there, but the cathedral caves were closed due to the bad weather.

Brian recommended we head to Kaikoura next as he used to live there studying whales and knew we’d enjoy the abundant sea life.   So, we took his advice and headed north along the coast so that we could stop for a couple of nights there before catching the ferry back to the north island. 

Quick notes on NZ in compared to South America:  The main similarity between South America and NZ is the complete abundance of spectacular scenery! Everywhere we go has something fantastic whether it is the colors of the trees, spectacular coastline, wildlife, green pastures, mountains and forests, or more unusual spots like glaciers or caves.  Everything is so beautiful and there is so much to see! However, the main difference is a seeming lack of culture here.  Perhaps it is just that it is similar to the UK in many ways that it doesn’t strike us as distinct but we miss the obvious differences we experienced in Chile and Argentina (as well as the nightlife because there is nothing going on anywhere here) and the sense of adventure it brought to our travels.