Farewell to New Zealand

The New Brighton Pier near Christchurch

We’re down to our last few days here in New Zealand, and I’ve been thinking about some of the things we’ve seen here that caught my eye.  There is a cow I call the ‘ring cow’ and I’ve tried to get a good picture of one, but have finally had to go to the internet to find an image.  They are not unique to New Zealand, but are a bit of an odd breed.  This link explains that they are a purebred breed dating back to the 16th century, and were mostly owned by wealthy Dutch people back then.  They are called Dutch Belted, or Lakenvelder, Cattle.  Kind of unusual to look at, and so I wanted to remember them as one of my ‘New Zealand’ things.

What I call the "Ring Cow" - more properly known as Lakenvelder

The only vineyards I’ve ever seen have been in the Okanagan Valley, and last time I was through there, I didn’t see anything like this:

Gigantic net roof system over the grape vines

Many of the vineyards here literally have netting ‘roofs’ over them, and can be seen in varying colours of red, white and black.  Some vineyards make little V-shaped troughs along the bottom of the vines - I didn’t get a good picture of those.  I can’t imagine what it costs to do this, but I suppose if it saves the crop from the birds it’s worthwhile.

I’ve been so impressed by all the outdoor areas - the hiking trails are always well-marked, well-maintained, generally have excellent signage and local information, and there is almost always a clean public toilet :-)  This trail was at a place called Hawkes Lookout near Motueka.  The stone here is ‘calcium-enriched’ marble, and rainwater sculpts it into the most amazing shapes.  

The Maori in the area called this place Te Ngararahuarau, and have a way better story about the rocks:   The sign said that “Te Ngararahuarau, the tannish of Wainui Bay, was a horrible lizard-like creature who though only about devouring men and snaring women.  He captured and enslaved beautiful Ruru, but she was too clever for him, lulling him to sleep with powerful karakia and escaping from his cave.  The people of Whakatu helped her set a trap, luring Te Ngararahuarau to their pa and setting him on fire.  He fled, and at the top of Takaka Hill tried frantically to dig his way home, but was consumed by flames.  His charred scales turned to stone, and were strewn around the hills, including the area known as Hawkes Lookout today.”  

Trail at Hawkes Lookout.  

Worn-down rock at Hawkes Lookout - unusual formations

Typical signage seen in parks and on trails.

View from Hawkes Lookout - typical NZ - so many colours.

I mentioned in the last post about a place where water filtered through the rock of a hill and became the headwaters of a river.  The hill at Te Ngararahuarau is that hill.

Another headwater we visited at the north end of the south island was a place called Te Waikoropupu Springs, headwater of the Takaka River.  This is a spot where water bubbles up from an underground spring.  No human contact is allowed with the water, to keep it as pristine as possible. It’s thought to be some of the clearest water in the world, with visibility to 63 meters!  

You can look, but don't touch the water!  The swirls in the
lake are the springs feeding the lake

A bit tough to see, but the motion on the water surface
is from the springs bubbling up to feed the lake and
river headwater

Probably about 10 feet deep here - so clear!

Beautiful clear water and beautiful area to walk in!

Don't touch the water please!

There were a lot of signs about this area, I thought this
was quite interesting

We’ve had fun looking at all the creative camper vans here.  The rental companies seem to go with different themes - Hippie vans, the very irreverent Wicked Campers, the fun slogans of the Jucy vans, and then the plain boring ones.  I’ve posted pics of some of them previously, but here’s another one we saw today.

Why rent a boring van?  Camping is big here, although rentals
are fairly expensive.

The New Zealand logo is a stylized silver fern leaf, and we saw variations of this theme used for various companies all over the place.  The one I liked best was Kiwi Rail, where the leaves of the fern were made to look like railway ties.  Didn’t get a photo of it though! Once a logo girl, always a logo girl I guess.  I can't help myself.

Variation on the New Zealand logo - seen everywhere

I’ve mentioned the single-lane bridges before - they are everywhere - major highways and little backroads.  You have to really keep your eye on the painted instructions on the highways as that’s how you are warned that a one-lane bridge is coming up.

Single-lane bridge - the highway ones are a little more substantial!

One Lane Bridge ahead - see the cars stopped and waiting.  This
is on the main highway on the east coast of the south island.

So we left Motueka, and made our way back to Christchurch on a slow 2-day drive.  We drove back through Picton, the town we originally arrived at, and stopped for the night in Blenheim, the heart of wine country.  It was a very rainy day, so good for travelling and not so great for sightseeing.

Back in Picton at the north end.  Here comes the ferry

Another common sight - beehives everywhere.  Usually painted
pretty colours.

Blenheim - this vineyard had no netting - I think we drove past it for
about 3 km.  Row on row on row

The drive out of Blenheim and down the east coast was such a contrast.  It started out with miles upon miles of beautiful green vineyards and then through a mountain range into some very dry hills.  The road followed the coastline for awhile - most of the beaches here were rocky and a bit forbidding.  We stopped at one for a break from driving, and managed to find some interesting stones.  There was an older fellow there with his granddaughter and he and Glen got to comparing notes about polishing stones.  He actually invited us back to his home for tea and to look at his polishing tools, but it would have put us into Christchurch too late.  Too bad.  Typical New Zealander - so friendly!

Through some very barren landscape after Blenheim

On our way to the beach for a rest - I liked this
little farm and sheep-sorting pen

I like the train crossing signs!

The stony beach and the rock-sorting table!

There were a lot of cars parked at the side of the highway
at this spot - turns out there were hundreds of seals and
sea lions basking on the rocks.  They are rather well-disguised
in this photo unfortunately.

Another spot we stopped at - I saw this curious tree
that seems to be deciduous with cones.  Never
heard of that before.  

We arrived at our final lodging in Christchurch - we hadn't had much luck finding an AirBnB, so we booked into the Pier Lodge, which turned out to be a former nunnery!  It was similar to the lodge in Invercargill and the one at Te Anau.  There was a large common kitchen, dining area and lounge for all the guests to use.  The dining area used to be the chapel.  

At the entrance to the Pier Lodge

I don't know if the bed was original, but the chair
sure seems to be!

The 'Lounge'.  Needs a decorators touch!

The dining hall, AKA Glen's computer room

It had a nice big back yard, but no-one was using it.

Glen, striking a pose.  

The lobby.  Check out the phone on the table!

It was about a ten minute walk to the New Brighton Pier, where we found - what else? - a big huge beach!  There was also a beautiful walking trail along the top of the dune, so we had a good long walk along it.  We spent two nights here, and caught an early morning flight to Australia on the second morning.

Cute little 'typical' NZ house next door to our lodge.

An earthquake-damaged church around the corner.  Closed
until the repairs can be made

Fishing off the New Brighton Pier.  That beach goes on for miles!

Looking the other way from the pier.  Christchurch is out there
somewhere!

Walking trail on the sand dunes behind the beach.  Beautiful spot.

Last day in NZ - we've had a great time here!

The avenue near the pier - not quite so crazy as the Brighton in England!

Back to the Lodge

Hard to believe we've been here two months.  We spent a month on each of the main islands, and have enjoyed every minute of our time in this beautiful country.  I do hope we come back sometime.  It's a beautiful place to be and to explore, and is made even more beautiful by the friendly people who live here.  

Turning in the car at sunrise

Welcome to Christchurch Airport

Christchurch airport entrance.  Glen is ready to go.

Nice uniforms on Air New Zealand

The safety announcement is done by the
characters from Lord of the Rings, and then they
have a trivia game for the rest of the flight to
Auckland.  It's a short flight!

There's that logo again!  

Auckland airport where we transfer to the
flight to Australia.  AKA Middle Earth
airport I guess.