Return From Down Under

This may take two blogs.  Or more.  There is much to recount with entries in many categories of bizarre, strangely interesting and pedestrianly (if that is a word) annoying.  So let's begin.  As followers of the blog will recall, Michael and I set off on our journey to Australia and New Zealand early in May. We chose to go on a tour (phobia #3 -- touristaphobia) because the trip involved 8 separate flights, huge driving distances (all on the wrong/opposite side) and it was cheap (well, relatively).

Welcome to the Tour Experience

Oye.  The good thing was that we had plenty of free time to imagine that we weren't on a tour and to do our own thing.  The bad things were... well, everything else.  Those of you who have been followers of the blog from the start, will remember our trip to Switzerland (not a tour) in June, 2012 when we were beset by Indian tourists as we attempted to ascend the Jungfrau. Unpleasant.  Imagine our excitement when we realized that 10 members of our tour were a tightly knit clan of Indian tourists from New Jersey.  While Michael exhorted me not to indulge in stereotypes, we were thrown to the pavement as they rushed to secure the "best" seats on the bus from the airport.  We all know that there are no "best" seats on a bus but that didn't seem to enter into their thinking.  Each day that a bus was involved, they would madly dash on and throw articles of clothing across seats animatedly screeching "is saved, is saved" as their less nimble associates tried to elbow their way past others to secure the precious seats.  Ditto buffet lines, entrance to museums...well, you get the picture.  All the politically correct (or one might use the archaic word polite) members of the group looked on in horror and growing antipathy as the tour unfolded.  I would like to believe that this group (and the Indian-Swiss group) were outliers of a more demure and refined culture-- but I will need to be convinced.  So ends the pedestrianly (if that is a word) annoying segment of our drama.  Well, there was the woman who either was left or almost left at every destination and the fact that numerous members of the tour appeared to be close to death with some horrible (and virulently infectious) pulmonary illness but I'll leave those subjects alone.  Now on to the bizarre and/or strangely interesting.

Australia or New Zealand -- Who Wins?

The two countries are quite competitive.  Kind of like Norway and Sweden but they use more swear words about each other.  So, Michael and I decided to enter the fray and rate them in a number of categories.

* New Zealand-- Wins for landscape
They didn't just film Lord of the Rings there because it was cheaper.  It really looks like that and it is very cool.  See photos

* Australia-- Wins for neatest cities
 Melbourne is like a huge We Are the World Coke commercial.  It takes multi-cultural to a new level.  Lots to do. Lots of green space.  Ditto Sydney and even Cairns (illogically pronounced Cans).

* New Zealand-- Wins for friendliest people
 How friendly?  We were standing on a street looking mildly confused and a driver (on the opposite side of the street!) stopped his car and yelled out: "Hey mates?  You lost?  Need something?  Can I help?"  That's friendly.

* Australia-- Wins for Animals
Admittedly, virtually all of them are deadly or venomous or deadly venomous but they are also very weird and interesting.  Now, it isn't very fair, since New Zealand is a lot younger than Australia and they may be evolving very interesting and venomous animals as we speak but, as of this evolutionary moment, Australia wins.  There will be a lot more on animals as the blog progresses.

* Neither-- Wins for Intellectual Acquisitiveness
 It was just impossible to select a winner because that would infer that one country really seemed to value intellectual achievement.  Now, I know this is harsh.  But here is their nightly news.  In a thirty minute newscast:  1 and 1/2 minutes of news (50 seconds about celebrities); 10 minutes of weather (big countries/many climates); 28 and 1/2 minutes of sports.  They need this much time because they must cover: two forms of rugby (regular and Australian rules); futbol; cricket; basketball; netball; lawn bowling; hockey; field hockey; tennis and a couple of sports I couldn't identify.  Our tour guide asked us if we could name five famous New Zealanders (she seemed to think five was impressive).  We could come up with four (two were actors) and even she couldn't come up with the fifth.

*  Australia-- Wins for food
 Long after Britain has given up on their traditional foodstuffs (eggs floating in grease, meat pies, etc.) the colonial tradition lives proudly on in Australia and New Zealand.  And it is all REALLY EXPENSIVE.  We had only three outstanding meals in over two weeks and I assure you we paid dearly for them.  We also paid only a bit less dearly for some truly miserable meals.  While in Sydney we struck up a conversation with our waitress.  And discovered one reason that prices were a bit steep. She, and all the waitpersons, make $21 per hour.  This went a long way toward mitigating our guilt about only tipping 5-10 percent.  We were told not to tip anything but we thought "Oh my God, they will think terrible things about Americans if we don't tip ANYTHING".  We got over it.

*  Both-- Win for Quality of Life
This may be directly tied to the fact that they are not subjected to any world or national news.  Both countries seem to be very happy places.  We never saw any abject poverty (although it's probably there somewhere).  No one seems terribly stressed out.  Everyone is very civil and even friendly to strangers. They appear to be more socialistic (national health, many financial supports) but they are working on becoming more wrongheaded with the one percent (yes, they have them) urging austerity and removal of social programs.  I gleaned that in an article on page 32 of a newspaper next to an article on field hockey results.

So, in summary, it appears to be Australia by a nose.  But both countries were massively interesting and fun.  Where to go from here.... hmmm.  Maybe a blow by blow of each country.  Nothing informative or educational. Only the strange.  And many photos.

Kiwi Culture

We arrived in Auckland invigorated by our sixteen+ hour flight from Los Angeles that mysteriously included a plane change in Sydney, after  having already flown right over New Zealand.  We toodled around the city and saw several sites, fighting the Indians at every stop, and then did the only  logical thing.  We checked in, had a drink(s) and fell over.  The next day involved  going to the Space Tower (phobias #1 acrophobia -- they had clear plastic plates on the floor about a zillion feet up-- you had to walk on them), phobia#2 claustrophobia-- stuck on an 11 person elevator with 10 Indians and us and; phobia;  #3-- but you know that and I don't have to explain).  We then went to the Auckland Museum and that was an extremely beautiful and impressive building.  It had all kinds of artifacts and exhibits about how New Zealand was formed (essentially in a blink of recent time historically) by volcanic activity and lots of explanations about how people got to New Zealand as Pacific Islanders.  Hmmm. Here we encounter another problem with politically correct history versus, we might say, history.  I can't get into that whole colonialism vs. the indigenous thing but I will say that both New Zealanders and Australians (at least tour guides) bend over backwards to explain how wonderful the indigenous cultures (that they violently suppressed) were.  O.K. Fine.  But, at the same time, I was reading this book about Pompeii in 79 A.D.  and they had lots of groovy things --like the wheel, and literacy, and wine, and olive oil, and philosophy.  I decided I would prefer to live in Pompeii before 79 A.D. (for all the obvious reasons) than with the Maori in 1779. Michael, once more, tells me I am seriously xenophobic... sigh.

Let's Talk Cannibalism

I don't know.  Everywhere I visit these days it seems there was cannibalism.  The Aztecs, The Mayans, The Maori.  I just don't know.  Here is the explanation everyone gives (on tours).  "Well, yes.  They were, if you want to call it that, (I do)  cannibals.  But, really, it was an honor.  They didn't eat just anyone.   You had to be a valiant warrior and then they wanted to incorporate your spirit by eating you."  Hmmmm.  Maybe.  But, does that make it right?  Why would anyone strive to succeed and be valiant?  Maybe I'm just not enough of an Alpha type to want to succeed to the point that people want to suck on my tibia and pronounce it "pot licking good".  Sorry.  But I'm not on board with this whole cannibalism rant yet.  To my shame, I did not challenge the logic of the whole thing.

Look America!  We Have More History Than Them!

I have always been embarrassed that Europe and Asia and even Africa have so much more history than America does.  I mean, like thousands of years more.  Not fair.  But now we have found people with even LESS history than America. Yahoo!  The first Pacific Islanders (now called Maori) arrived in NZ in 1350 A.D.  Eight war canoes worth.  Now our Indians (Native Americans, whatever) were in our country (or their country, more accurately) way before that. Bingo! We win.  And then come the Europeans....slowly.  First the Dutch saw NZ in 1642 but weren't interested.  Then Captain Cook saw it in 1767 and gave it a pass. Then in 1790, the whalers and sealers came ashore but they mostly diddled around in the water.  It was only in the 1800s that Missionaries brought farming and religion to NZ (nobody likes the missionaries).   Even if you don't count the Vikings (quien sabe really?) we have a good 200 years on them for European settlement.  Game and Set!

So, that pretty much wraps up their history.  Well, there is a bit more.  The Maori fought among themselves constantly (see cannibalism section).  Then, when the Europeans said they wouldn't, but then did, take the Maori land anyway, they fought them for quite a while. Then they found gold.  Then they started having wars with people besides the Maori.  But didn't we all.  I doubt kids in NZ need Cliff Notes to ace NZ history.

Back to the Tour

Having done the Museum we set off on our own to figure out Auckland.  We have discovered that if we are in a city with water the first thing we want to do is get out of the city and on the water.  Doesn't matter if it's a river, an ocean or a fiord -- it's just our thing.  And Auckland is great for that.  Actually Auckland (sounds a lot like Oakland by natives) is great for a lot of things.  First of all, it is a city made by Volcanos -- you can see the remains of 48 of them (from the frightening Sky Tower).  The Maori's were standing on one of the islands in the harbor about 600 years ago when a Volcano formed before their very eyes a few miles away (now another island).  Bet that freaked them out.  Anyway, we hopped on a ferry and headed out to Devonport which is charming in many ways I won't bore you with and had a long walk and a credible pub meal in front of a fire (backwards seasons -- remember?)

Our French emigre New Zealand guide

View of Auckland from the Sky Tower.

The Sky Tower in Auckland.

A Maori ceremonial lodge at the Museum in Auckland.

Part of the lodge showing the detailed carving in the wood.

The view from the top of the hill on Devonport --- notice the number of sail boats.

The sailboats range from the most modern with the carbon fiber sails...

to the more traditional.

A view of downtown Auckland from the ferry to Devonport. The Sky Tower is peaking up above the buildings on the right.

The gulls in New Zealand scavenge for food in the trash cans as well.

This may look like a person on a board being towed by a boat, but is, in fact,a person being towed across the water by a machine on land that reels in the rope to pull the water skier.  Such cheaters.

One of the many beautiful houses on Devonport (yes, this is one house).

Then we flew to Queenstown.  It is a town dedicated to outdoor adventure. Why did they take US there?  I mean adventure-- like bungee jumping (restrained Michael), skiing (not yet-- still fall), 4 wheel drive careening through canyons -- well, you get the idea.  We managed to find the town, itself, boring. However, it is the gateway (used lightly) to Milford Sound which is phenomenal.  After a mere 4 and 1/2 hour bus ride on the only road that gets there we embarked on a boat and floated through the sound. I won't write.  Just take a look at the photos.  Wanted to go to Doubtful Sound (which is more remote and less touristy) but didn't have time.  They're actually fiords but the discoverers were confused.

A charming little town outside of Queenstown that was founded during the godl rush.

From the fall colors and the snow capped mountain, you can see that May is their November.

This was the bridge where a New Zealander started the sport of bungee jumping. This young woman has decided to literally take the plunge.

There is a visible sense of relief on her face as she is lowered into the capture boat.

The mountains capped with clouds are called the Remarkables.

On the "million dollar cruise" around the lake we saw some of the multi-million dollar houses on the south side of the lake.

All of the plants with fall colors have been imported into New Zealand. All of the native plants stay green all year long.

This was the 1992 America's Cup yacht entry, after the the 12 meter rules were modified following the disastrous 2008 America's Cup (which was settled in the courts).

This was taken on a walk through the lovely park in Queenstown.

On the way to Milford Sound we stopped here.

Because of the damp weather, the vegetation is very lush...

and they have tree ferns. (Yes trees that are ferns that grow quite tall-- only takes a couple of hundred years.)

Another stop on the way to Milford Sound was at a gorge, in which the water has carved out the rock over the millennia.

With very little imagination, this looks like a leaping panther.

The water falls on the way to, and at, Milford Sound were astounding, with this one creating a rainbow.

Milford Sound is actually a fjord, created by a glacier and is called the "Eighth Wonder of the World"

At the mouth of the fjord is the Tasman Sea. A peculiar feature of a fjord is that the depth of the water at the mouth is shallower than the depth at the landward end due to the glacial moraine.

The snow capped mountains feed the waterfalls which flow into Milford Sound. This causes the top layer of water to be fresh rather than salt water.

The land rises very rapidly from the water due to the fact that this was carved out by a glacier eons ago.

This is Stirling Falls which flows year round and is 155 meters high.

A frontal view of Stirling Falls.

A seal suns itself on the rocks.

The only kiwi we spotted was in the parking lot at Milford Sound.  The bus driver, unimpressed, moved it out of his way with his foot.

From there, it was on to Dunedin on a bus ride that was WAY long.  However, the bus rides allowed us to learn much about the wildlife of New Zealand.  So, what do they have exactly?  Let me preface this by saying that one thing they have is a problem with dumb folk bringing animals that shouldn't be in New Zealand to New Zealand -- a lot.  Examples follow.

First, they have 90 million possums or approximately 20+ possums per person.  Should these possums ever get armaments, the New Zealanders could be in a world of hurt.  And the possums would not be unprovoked.  They are such a blight on the land that they are the only animal EVER that the World Wildlife Foundation advocates killing without mercy, and in large quantities, and by any method possible.  That's harsh.  However, the New Zealanders have a gift for the lemonade/lemons thing. They found out these possums have the second warmest fur of any animal and it wears like iron.  So they knock 'em off,  mix possum fur with merino wool (see sheep below) and churn out socks, mittens etc. A pair of these socks is $38 in NZ.  See what I mean about pricey?  OK.  I'll tell you.  Polar Bear fur is No. 1.

And then there are the deer.  There are only1.2 million deer or 1/3 deer per person.  But it could have been much worse.  Yet another clever soul brought deer to New Zealand thinking a little hunt would perk things up.  Well, despite a year round hunting season they were unable to keep things under control.  So, what did they do?  They took big nets and threw them out of helicopters and trapped the deer.  They then put them in corrals and, Voila!, deer ranching became a thriving industry.  How could this entrapment approach be in the least way cost effective?  Not to mention the labor involved -- I mean deer don't like to be trapped.  It is very odd to drive along and see hundreds of deer munching contentedly in meadows enclosed by five foot fences.  Why don't they flee?  In Boston, we saw a deer jump our 6 foot fence without blinking.  In any case they don't escape and thus they end up as venison in Asian markets.  Strangely, the New Zealanders don't seem to eat them much although I did have a venison meat pie at one stop.  According to our guide "feral deer" still exist in the wild.  I find the thought of a deer being feral amusing.  The first figure only counted "farmed deer"so you can up that 1/3 deer a person to maybe 1/2 deer per person.  Who knows? They are crafty and elusive.

And then the sheep.  The sheep are pretty much under control because there are very few "feral" sheep. Sheep total  40 million or almost 10 sheep per New Zealander.  They are just everywhere.  We now know more than anyone would ever want to know about sheep.  It was a LONG bus ride.  Did you know that different species of sheep require different intervals between shearing?  Did you know that it takes an average of one minute for an experienced shearer to denude one?  Did you know that ONE sheep, adorably named Shrek, avoided being sheared for six years by hiding in a cave and, when discovered, became a major TV star? Neither did we.  I'd go on but it makes my head hurt.

The Moa.  There are exactly 0 Moa for each person in New Zealand.  There are, in fact, 0 Moas. Extinct.  The Moa was this really, really large (like 10 feet tall) bird that looked a lot like an ostrich, emu or cassowary (more on that guy later).  Didn't fly.  Foraged on the ground. When in Auckland we saw skeletons at the Museum and our guide enlightened us as to how the Moa met it's tragic fate.  But first, I have to delve into another extinct animal called the Haast Eagle.  This sucker had a wing span of 18 feet (not a typo), was mean, and had a big appetite.  So our guide says:  "The Maori hunted the Moa to extinction and then the Haast Eagle became extinct because their favorite food was gone." OK.  I can buy that.   But then, we are sailing around on a boat on Lake Wakatipu (all the names are like that) in Queenstown and the captain shares a different tale with us. Apparently a lot of Moa lived in the vicinity of the lake. According to him,  the Haast Eagle rendered the Moa extinct not the Maori. Then, deprived of it's favorite meal, the Haast Eagle began snagging small Maori children or, if ambitious, a teen or two and flying off to dine in comfort.  The Maori packed their bags and left.  I loved it.  A true quien sabe moment worthy of Mexico.  Made me a little homesick.

So then, eventually, we were in Dunedin.  A cool, university town that was so backward and economically depressed that they didn't bother to rip down all the beautiful Victorian buildings. The light bulb has gone on in the collective city mind and they are in the midst of a renovation effort. Michael's photos will show some of the highlights like the Chinese Gardens (actually built in China, torn down, shipped and rebuilt on site) and a house that was donated to the city and an amazing Castle type building.  It's not a house tour but you'll probably like them.

The Olveston historic house, built in 1906. Unfortunately pictures were not allowed in the house. Unlike many historical homes all of the furnishings have been left and are original.

The gardens & greenhouse at the Olveston house had some amazing flowers,...

which were still in full bloom,...

as well as this amazing mushroom, which we found.

The Dunedin railway station was very impressive, as can be seen from the doors.

Over a million tiles were used to form the mosaic on the floor of the railway station.

The Victorian architecture can be seen in this building across from the railway station,..

in the railway station building,...

and in this building which used to be a prison.

The Chinese garden is one only three authentic Chinese gardens outside of China, and was constructed over a period of eight years.

The garden was built in Shanghai, China on a piece of land which was the exact same size as this parcel in Dunedin.

The garden was then disassembled and re-assembled by skilled workers from Shanghai, who were allowed to enter on a special work visa.

My sister (Patricia)  was in China at the same time we were on our trip. She sent us a picture of her with a panda, so I sent her this picture of Deirdre with a panda.

The number of river stones and the patterns created by the stones in this courtyard are amazing. 

The tranquility of the garden was refreshing (until the Indians arrived).

Fen shui dictates that this bridge cannot be straight.

The use of water with the waterfall adds to the feeling of a calm & restful place.

We even stopped for a rest in the tea house at the left, overlooking the water.

Back to animals.  We ended up going on a boat ride out off the Otago Peninsula near Dunedin.  Lots of boats, si? Our quest was to see the Albatross in the air, on the sea and at their nests.  This place is the only place on a mainland that Albatross will nest.  Usually they nest on remote islands mid Ocean.  So this is a big deal and saves your going to a remote island.  They are really big (wingspread of 10 feet-- not a Haast Eagle but also not extinct) and heavy for birds.  To take off they have to use their feet as paddles, pick up a little velocity and heave themselves airborne.  They spend 10 years at a time never coming to land.  Then they come to breed/nest.  Quoting the only two lines I remember from The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner (although it could have been Evangeline) I looked on in wonder at a bird whose life must be really boring.

Larnach Castle on the Otago peninsula. The only castle in New Zealand was built in the 1870's.

The view from the top of the castle gave a great perspective on the peninsula.

The New Zealanders inherited the British love for gardens.

I did not realize it at the time, but in this photo I managed to capture a butterfly, a fly and a bee on this flower.

The surprising thing about the garden was the number of succulents...it rains A LOT here

and the variety of plants in the garden.

Another stunning view of the Otago peninsula as we head towards the boat.

Before getting on the boat, we had an official greeter on the dock.

One of the first to greet us on the water was this playful seal, waving hello.

There were also seals lounging on the rocks.

The big attraction on the boat ride was seeing the only colony of royal albatrosses close to civilization.

These birds are among the largest in the world, with a wingspan of up to 10 feet.

The are so big that they need to run on top of the water to build up speed for taking off.

On the boat ride back to the dock we encountered this mother with her nursing seal pup.

OK.  We are in the final lap of New Zealand.  Another really long bus ride.  The only thing that saves it is that we stop in this adorable town-- whose name I forget-- and wander around and find the remains of what was the only distillery in New Zealand which actually was in Dunedin, which is confusing, but hold on.  I had told Michael there was a distillery in Dunedin and he was most depressed to learn it had closed when we arrived there.  What we DIDN'T know was that some wise soul had bought up all the existing stock and moved the 600 barrels to the adorable little town. Thank you tour guide who told us. Hurrah! Throwing the Indians to the pavement in his rush to locate this historic site, I tried to keep up with his pace. It was great.  I know it's a little debased to do a Scotch tasting at 10:30 in the morning but we are not ones to waste an opportunity.  The little lady serving us found Michael charming and kept giving us more samples just to see which one was really THE one. We ended up buying a couple of bottles (yes Alex-- one is for you) and weaving our way back to the bus.  The bus ride was much better then.

The white limestone church in Oamaru. All of the buildings were made out of white limestone.
Ohh... said Deirdre.  That's the name of the town.....

In this warehouse in Oamaru, I found bales of wool from all those sheep we had been seeing in our travels. The whisky shop was just up the street from here.

On our long bus trip we stopped to see the Moeraki boulders, which are "concretions created by the cementation of the Paleostene mudstone of the Moeraki formation". (For those inquiring minds who want to know.)

We just decided to call them cool looking boulders.

Even the giant kelp washed up on the beach by the boulders was cool looking.

We finally made Christchurch, where we saw this church devastated by the earthquake. (The before picture is in the lower right of the photo.)

The final stop prior to jumping the plane to Australia was Christchurch.  You remember.  Horrible earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, 180 killed, massive destruction. Just the place to put on your tour itinerary.  Well, they did.  I found it disturbing.  Sort of like taking a tour of the favelas in Rio or those bus tours through the 9th Ward after Katrina.  We ditched the tour of wreckage/mayhem right after the Cathedral and sought out a place for a glass of wine.  Strangely, the only place we found was a YMCA (WHEN did they add bars?). We were the only people over 25 in the whole place.  I had a glass of $10 merlot that lacked authority while also boasting more than a whisper of turpentine. So here is an insight.  In France, we can go into a supermarket and pick up three bottles of wine for $20 and one of them is going to be quite good and the other two OK usually.  New Zealand and Australia are across the board significantly more expensive for wine than Europe and, with the exception of some Sauvignon Blanc, not that great in our opinion. So take that you little Oceania wine snobs!  News Flash for those over 40! Just double checked the spelling of the continent and found out that Oceania is no more! No!  Now it is simply Australia. Or maybe not.  Now they say it is rather arbitrary and up for grabs.  Oceania could be some islands in South East Asia and Australia or the continent could be just Australia and include New Zealand...... Oh, I hate this. We don't even know what the continents are any more?  How will we ever solve global warming?

From there it was just a hop, skip and three hour plane ride to Melbourne, Australia.  More on all of that in the next blog.  Take care.  Have fun.  More soon.