Ferry to Picton. I bid farewell to the chooks in Wellington – we had an early start to go to the South Island and they a late flight back to Canberra. The trip seemed much quieter after that and I missed them, their laughs, their giggles, Chook A’s snorts, the Uber rating rivalry and well, just missed them. Deb and I took the ferry from Wellington to Picton which is a tiny little town at the top of the South Island. When Deb said ferry, I was expecting a small catamaran type thing and we’d be there in half and hour. Nope, this thing was like the ferry to Tasmania or basically a ship carrying cars and heaps of people. It was awesome and took about 3 hours. The ferry winds it’s way inside the passage into Picton – it was a beautiful day, nice weather and appartently a whale was spotted, although never to be seen again? Picton was a nice little town to spend an hour (eating ice cream) while we waited to catch the scenic train to Christchurch. Once again, I thought it was a 3 hour trip but it was actually 6 hours – getting into Christchurch around 8pm and then delayed to 8.40pm.
Christchurch. Slept in nicely and then jumped on the hop on/off tram around the city. Had a good late breakfast and as always, kiwis are very friendly and chatty. The area we were in was hit badly by the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 so it was relatively new. The city was smallish and the trolley thing was only an hour ride. Although it’s a nice place, it just didn’t grab us like the others. There was still earthquake damaged buildings but I got the feeling it was just another city. We picked up our ‘Jucy’ hire car – thankful it wasn’t the typical green/orange colours of the rental vans they have everywhere. We drove up the local lookout area where they have a gondala as someone said you can drive to the top but sadly, it seemed not. So we spent an hour and a half driving in peak hour traffic for nothing. We were pretty tired, had a big feed at Lone Star and crashed early as we had another long drive the next day.
Queenstown. Up early to hit the road. The Jucy guy gave us the tip to avoid the busy highway which would be full of slow tourists (rolling my eyes) and I think it was good tip as we hit heaps of rental vans at the junction point of our shortcut and the busy highway. The countryside was beautfiful and we would have been more casual but we were on a time limit to have the car back by 5pm. We arrived into Queenstown around 2pm which was a hive of activity, tourists and backpackers. It is like our Jindabyne and Thredbo but with much more to offer. Very expensive and that is no understatement. We strolled the town, had some great pizza and checked into our fabulous accommodation. Well done to Deb, this was again another great pick as have all the accommodation places been including with the chooks. I think this would have to be the most friendly of accommodation places I”ve ever stayed. Seriously, they were so friendly, couldn’t do enough for us from check-in to check-out. It was called the Queenstown Park Boutique Hotel.
Milford Sound. Deb had organised a huge day out to the beautiful Milford Sound (which is really a fjord for those geography geeks). It was a 4 hour bus ride each way and a 2 hour ferry ride through the sound/fjord. The weather was good compared to what I’ve heard others say. It was mostly sunny with some clouds but overall a good weather experience. It was beautiful, majestic and quiet. I didn’t know what to expect really – at least the ferry was the size I thought it would be. We met some nice people as always, a couple of Americans who are currently living/working in China. They said they were not returning to China and instead, going home for a few weeks until it is safe to return (corona virus). They were from Michigan and very impressed when we said we had been there to Detroit. The ferry tour narrator made me laugh at one point as the ferry got up close to one waterfall. He said it was called Fairy Waterfall – it was named after the Australian Rugby team. Nobody laughed but me. We’ve heard a lot of rugby banter jokes during our travels here. We arrived back to Queenstown around 9 pm and it was still light. We were tired and decided dinner would be KFC on the green grass in the center of town with the backpackers and seagulls.
The flight home was long with a 3 hours wait in Sydney (another roll of the eyes). It was very quiet in Sydney airport, apparently this is normal for a Saturday especially now that school holidays are finished. It seems Canberra airport is open despite fires threatening the south side. Thanks to everyone who was posting updates on facebook for us. My sister has been home minding the dogs and my niece arrived yesterday so I’m looking forward to spending the next two weeks with them before I start back at school and my new job.
Corna Virus. By the way, a story I forgot to mention in the first New Zealand blog was my good Samaritan incident in Auckland. Our first morning in the city and we passed an Asian couple (mum/dad) on a street corner holding up their clearly, very sick daughter – she was not looking good at all. I circled back as it all looked odd and that girl looked bad. I grabbed some passers by who spoke Chinese/Mandarin who translated for me cause they didn’t speak English. Daughter was sick (yes, clearly) and they had called a friend to pick them up. Seriously, I said she needs a hospital. After some more translation they agreed to call an ambulance which another lady passing by kindly did. We finally sat them down and waited for the ambulance. They had arrived from China (warning bells) 2 days ago and she had eaten soup that morning and was sick, vomiting (ding, ding, ding going off in my head). She was starting as a student and mum/dad had flown her over. They did say where they were from but I can’t recall and I don’t think I knew the danger zone at that time. Eventually the ambulance came and I had to stand on the corner waving my arms as it missed us first time. A bit of the old air force aircraft marshalling skills put to good use as I directed/parked the ambo. Phew, quick handover, thanked the translators and then off to join the chooks who were patiently waiting and shaking their heads at me as always, in the thick of drama. We wish we knew what happened to the girl. Anyway, it’s been nearly 2 weeks now with no sign of Corona virus (touch wood). Mind you, I’m sitting in Sydney airport writing this which may well be a germ haven for any virus. If I’m still here in 14 days, you’ll know I made it safely.
Back at Home. My sister picked us up from the airport and my niece has now arrived so we have a full house. It will be lots of eating, Netflix, movies, shopping and more eating. I was keen to test drive my new pasta roller machine (wonderful birthday present from my dear friend MB) and I made a big batch of fresh pasta with bolognaise and carbonara sauce. I’ve made pasta at school but it was my first time rolling at home – relatively easy to do but made a big mess. Tasted good and it can only get better so quite happy with the result.
The only other bit of news is that I start my new job from the week of 17 Feb so I look forward to new chef’y tongs adventures. And one final picture is me going back to my roots….my techo days. Deb needed a new battery in her Mac and we decided to do it ourselves given everyone wanted the computer for a week and it would cost a fortune. So here I am sniffing the solvents and turning the screws….good news, Deb’s computer did work again. Phew.
Oh and quick puppy Harper update….we have a forever home for him and hope to settle him this weekend. He has grown bigger while we were away and has moved into a bigger collar - nice bright orange. It's hard to believe this little boy was a tiny puppy only weeks ago. He has a bright future which makes the past two months very rewarding.
Until next time, stay safe everyone.
