Yes, New Zealand is a spectacularly beautiful country. But, there is another side of New Zealand, an edgy, wild risk taking, grab life by the horns, side. New Zealand is the birthplace of bungee jumping, where an elastic cord is tied to the limb of a person willing to dive off a precipice, jet
boating, where a jet engine is attached to a small skiff and the driver proceeds to speed into ridiculously narrow and shallow waterways, And, we don’t think we can say we’ve really experienced New Zealand without doing something wild. We discuss that the original settlers, who traveled at great peril to the end of the earth. Their progeny have continued to take risks and live life to the fullest.
We walk on the beaches in the southeast, and almost step on a sea lion. We learn afterwards that you NEVER get between a sea lion and the ocean, as they feel very threatened and may attack. Luckily, we didn’t end up paying for our ignorance.
The Shotover Canyon winds through steep cliffs. We strap ourselves into the boat and hold on
for dear life. The boat zooms at up to 80 kilometers/hour through the narrow gorge, barely missing the walls. The driver likes to get our adrenaline really flowing by aiming at the walls and veering off at the last possible millisecond. We do 360s within the confines of the canyon. We stumble off the boat with wild hair, wet clothing, and our hearts pumping!
The boat through Milford Sound and Doubtful sound are much more sedate by comparison. These two Sounds are actually fiords. A sound is a flooded river valley, whilst (yup, we are in the British Commonwealth country again and we can use the word again) a fiord is created by a glacier. These fiords are different from their cousins spelled with a “j” in Norway. Here, the cliffs are lined with trees and fern, and, there is so much rain in the region that there are waterfalls everywhere. We learn that it rains here an average of 8 meters a year. This kind of figure is meaningless to me (like the size of the national deficit), but, to put it in perspective, at least for those of you from cold climates, that would be the equivalent to 3,744 inches of snow. Our boat went close enough for us to the fiord walls to fill glasses with water from the falls. We are taken out into the Tasman Sea where the 10 foot waves and splashing surf make taking pictures impossible.
Along the west coast of the South Island are a series of glaciers. We hike up to the face of one, watching the centuries old ice break off with tremendous crashes. We watch a movie of attempted rescue of a climber who had fallen into a crevasse. Although the scenery is magnificent, the risks are too great for this group. Instead, we opt to take one of the numerous tramps.
Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? New Zealand has walking trails crisscrossing the country. These range from hour long paved walks, to 7 day grueling hikes over volcanoes. We have walked briefly on some of the longer walks (or tracks as they are called
locally) but we decide we want to really experience one of the trails. While some of the trails require camping, others have huts or other accommodations. The track we decide to take has various lodges along the way, making it a much more attractive option for us. Ethan and Siena are standing at the start of the Queen Charlotte Track, a 4 day walk 
along the spine of a peninsula extending into the straits that separate the north and south islands. The views are amazing. It takes us 6 hours of hiking to reach our lodge for the night. We are not exactly roughing it; the lodge has a spa and a fabulous restaurant. After all, who wants to carry a four course meal with accompanying libations?
Continuing on the risk taking theme, we try some Kiwi specialties. There is a local soda we've never heard of before: L & P, a light cross between lemonade and ginger ale. It is good, but the ad campaign "World Famous in New Zealand" is fabulous. At breakfast, we are encouraged to try the national favorites, Marmite and Vegemite. Both are yeast extracts, a salty spread for toast. We are informed that you are either a fan of one or the other—never both (like being a Yankees and a Mets fan, I guess). I am the only Beattie to finish my piece. But, I don’t like it well enough to eat the others…We also try paua, a local mollusk. The word is pronounced like powa—like, for those of us from New York, Powa to the People. We have it fried in a fritter and it reminds us of conch, which we love. The paua shells are gorgeous, iridescent blue and green.
We continue to love New Zealand. And, we can say that with absolutely no risk!
Cheers,
The Beatties
boating, where a jet engine is attached to a small skiff and the driver proceeds to speed into ridiculously narrow and shallow waterways, And, we don’t think we can say we’ve really experienced New Zealand without doing something wild. We discuss that the original settlers, who traveled at great peril to the end of the earth. Their progeny have continued to take risks and live life to the fullest.
We walk on the beaches in the southeast, and almost step on a sea lion. We learn afterwards that you NEVER get between a sea lion and the ocean, as they feel very threatened and may attack. Luckily, we didn’t end up paying for our ignorance.
The Shotover Canyon winds through steep cliffs. We strap ourselves into the boat and hold on
for dear life. The boat zooms at up to 80 kilometers/hour through the narrow gorge, barely missing the walls. The driver likes to get our adrenaline really flowing by aiming at the walls and veering off at the last possible millisecond. We do 360s within the confines of the canyon. We stumble off the boat with wild hair, wet clothing, and our hearts pumping!The boat through Milford Sound and Doubtful sound are much more sedate by comparison. These two Sounds are actually fiords. A sound is a flooded river valley, whilst (yup, we are in the British Commonwealth country again and we can use the word again) a fiord is created by a glacier. These fiords are different from their cousins spelled with a “j” in Norway. Here, the cliffs are lined with trees and fern, and, there is so much rain in the region that there are waterfalls everywhere. We learn that it rains here an average of 8 meters a year. This kind of figure is meaningless to me (like the size of the national deficit), but, to put it in perspective, at least for those of you from cold climates, that would be the equivalent to 3,744 inches of snow. Our boat went close enough for us to the fiord walls to fill glasses with water from the falls. We are taken out into the Tasman Sea where the 10 foot waves and splashing surf make taking pictures impossible.
Along the west coast of the South Island are a series of glaciers. We hike up to the face of one, watching the centuries old ice break off with tremendous crashes. We watch a movie of attempted rescue of a climber who had fallen into a crevasse. Although the scenery is magnificent, the risks are too great for this group. Instead, we opt to take one of the numerous tramps.
Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? New Zealand has walking trails crisscrossing the country. These range from hour long paved walks, to 7 day grueling hikes over volcanoes. We have walked briefly on some of the longer walks (or tracks as they are called
locally) but we decide we want to really experience one of the trails. While some of the trails require camping, others have huts or other accommodations. The track we decide to take has various lodges along the way, making it a much more attractive option for us. Ethan and Siena are standing at the start of the Queen Charlotte Track, a 4 day walk 
along the spine of a peninsula extending into the straits that separate the north and south islands. The views are amazing. It takes us 6 hours of hiking to reach our lodge for the night. We are not exactly roughing it; the lodge has a spa and a fabulous restaurant. After all, who wants to carry a four course meal with accompanying libations?Continuing on the risk taking theme, we try some Kiwi specialties. There is a local soda we've never heard of before: L & P, a light cross between lemonade and ginger ale. It is good, but the ad campaign "World Famous in New Zealand" is fabulous. At breakfast, we are encouraged to try the national favorites, Marmite and Vegemite. Both are yeast extracts, a salty spread for toast. We are informed that you are either a fan of one or the other—never both (like being a Yankees and a Mets fan, I guess). I am the only Beattie to finish my piece. But, I don’t like it well enough to eat the others…We also try paua, a local mollusk. The word is pronounced like powa—like, for those of us from New York, Powa to the People. We have it fried in a fritter and it reminds us of conch, which we love. The paua shells are gorgeous, iridescent blue and green.
We continue to love New Zealand. And, we can say that with absolutely no risk!
Cheers,
The Beatties
1 comment:
Dear Beatties --
We have been following your travels all year as part of our 7th grade Social Studies on 7B. Your pictures and descriptions have been a wonderful enrichment to our regular curriculum. We are all envious of your "classroom" -- Ethan and Sienna will have an understanding and appreciation of other cultures that could never be learned from a textbook or video. Thanks for your blog -- it is a fantastic teaching tool!
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