March 23-28: Nelson

I intentionally opted to make Nelson my last stop in NZ as everything I had heard about it was so positive. That was definitely not a mistake. My Airbnb in Nelson was a sweet little cottage about a 20-minute walk from downtown and 15 from the Tasman Sea. I didn't quite realize that when I booked it, but it could not have been more perfect. Between the house and the Sea was a wee mountain - or so it seemed - so I got my exercise even before I began to jog.

Nelson really is a wonderful city. (Have I said that about every place I've been?) Small, population just about 50,000 but big enough to have everything, or at least everything I was hoping for: a charming downtown, many fine historical buildings, delightful older homes, a river with a walking/cycling trail, lots of hills, also with lots of trails, great views and even a very nice beach, which apparently is hardly ever crowded. And of course a museum and art galleries.

Street signs along Trafalgar St.

Buildings along Trafalgar St., 

the main downtown street

Christchurch Cathedral,

as seen from Trafalgar St.

I had not realized that the very centre of NZ is located in Nelson. You have to work to get there as it's at the very top of one of the wee mountains. Makes me wonder if they haven't perhaps adjusted the exact spot to suit the landscape! The day I did that hike it was overcast but the view was still fantastic and I took a 360 degree film with my camera so I would not forget what I'd seen. Pretty special.

I was in Nelson for four whole days and filled much of them with lots more walking, to the centre of NZ, to the summit of the Grampian Reserve, along the Maitai River, wondering around the town core and some of the older sections of town.

View from Grampian Reserve

Along the Maitai River

One of the historic homes

I also visited both the Nelson Provincial Museum, located downtown, and the Founders Heritage Park,  a replica historic village containing many of the old 1800s buildings, and artifacts, of Nelson, as well as a number of displays and artisans.

Street in Founders Heritage Park

One of the artifacts

One day I took the local bus to a nearby community, Richmond, partly to see how easy it is to get around using public transportation. As in other places, it's not difficult, as long as you plan your trip, as the buses don't run very frequently. A highlight of that outing was going to the PICs peanut butter factory. (I know, I need to get a life.) But this PB is the pride of NZ; they even give factory tours!! Sadly, I was there at the wrong time for the tour, although I did get to have tastings. It's very good, and very natural, but really is no better than our very own PB produced by YUM Bakery. After my PB experience I met another friend of my friend Jan, the third this trip!!

This morning, my last one in NZ, I went to the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) market, which is located in a parking lot downtown. It's a very large market, with both food and some excellent crafts.

I am no longer in NZ. Late this afternoon (March 28 here) I boarded a plane from Nelson to Auckland. Nelson's airport is a treat. It's like going back in time 50 years. One gate, no security, walking out to the airplane. Love it!!

I and am now on the flight from Auckland to Vancouver. I'll spend the day in Vancouver with cousins I haven't seen in ages before continuing home. I am looking forward to seeing wee, wonderful Wolfville again, and friends I haven't seen in far too long.

The list of things I have loved about NZ would fill a book. I hope my pictures have done a better job of illustrating that than my words ever could. My pictures don't tell you how friendly people here are however. Staying at Airbnbs (10 in total) made such a difference. They allowed me to spend time with kiwis, and not just tourists. And to find out just how proud they are of their country. Who can blame them??

I will miss hearing some of the typical kiwi expressions and lingo: mate, no worries, jandals (flip-flops to us). One expression I don't think I mentioned before which I heard only in relation to the earthquake in Christchurch, as many people had to fashion their own: longdrop is the word kiwis use for the internal workings of an outhouse. Totally descriptive!

Pet peeves? Just two. One, the fact that literally all of their wonderful cafes close at 4:00. So if you do want a coffee after 4:00, and no food, McCafe is pretty much your only option. And if you want a plain old perked coffee you might as well go home and make it yourself, as all the ones available in the cafes are expresso based. I'd feel like a real hick asking for a perked coffee.

And the second thing is the road signs, or more specifically the lack of them. They are there most of the time, except it seems when you most need them. Also, because so many of the towns and cities are built on and around mountains, roads often twist and turn, and it is not uncommon to find 4 or 5 streets meeting at one intersection. Figuring out which sign belongs to which street can leave you standing there looking perplexed for quite some time.

But those things are amusing rather than anything else, and so very much a part of the country, one just wants to smile. As they do about everything else kiwi.

What a winter! I can't quite believe it is over. I've put together the route I did when I was there, Twenty stops in total, and it looks like this:

Addendum: I arrived back home early afternoon on March 29, after 4 flights. To mounds of snow! Two week later my front lawn still looked like this. But I was lucky. I was away having the winter of a lifetime while folks at home were also having one, but in a very different way!

March 20-22: Motueka & the Abel Tasman Track

I am now in Motueka. Most often I've used Intercity Bus to get from place to place. This time I used their competitor, Naked Bus, when I left Picton as I could not get here by Intercity. "Naked" in the sense of bare bones, I assume. I find the online booking system for Intercity much better, so use them whenever I can. For just the second time since I have been here the bus was full. This time a very big guy and his guitar were squeezed into the seat beside me. But the trip is not very long, just 2 hours two hours to Nelson, where he got off, and then it was relatively empty to Motueka (or Mot, as the locals seem to call it). It's another place that I had never heard of before arriving in NZ. But I was looking for a place where I could arrange a day hike in the Abel Tasman and Mot seemed to be a good spot.

Through Booking.com (I've used it often for hotels/motels here) I found what turned out to be a little apartment. It's probably the best non-airbnb place I've found. And one of the least expensive ($120/night). It was just recently updated, and is located on the edge of town, which means a pleasant 10 to 15 minute walk downtown. Five minutes in the other direction is either the Tasman Sea or farmland. Pretty special!

Downtown Motueka

The Tasman Sea, 5 minutes from my lodging

Motueka seems to be known as an artsy place, with lots of alternative lifestyle types. All that gives it a very nice feel. The population is about 7,000, making it the biggest center in the region. It's an apple growing region, just one more thing to turn my thoughts to Nova Scotia. That explains why I have seen so many people in Mot from countries I haven't seen in other places in New Zealand. I'm guessing they are helping with the harvest. Many of the apple orchards here look quite different than the ones back in NS. Many of the trees are almost pyramidal, and planted quite close together.  Not sure what type of apple they produce.

Saturday, March 21: I booked my day hike (I think they use the term tramp here only for multi-day hikes) the previous day at the i-site in Picton, before boarding the bus for Motueka. Have I mentioned how great these i-sites are? They are all through NZ, always in the town centre, and have a very identifiable logo. They are able help you with travel anywhere in the country, which can be very convenient. Anyway, I intentionally waited until the last reasonable moment to book my walk, as there has been a fair amount of rain. But today was forecasted to be, and is, glorious!

The i site sign, easily identifiable

Getting to the start of my walk (there are several hiking options) meant first taking a bus to Kaiteriteri (love the names!) and then a boat to Medlands Beach, where my walk began. It's possible to start at a number of different places but this walk was recommended. From Medlands Beach I took the track to Torrent Bay and then Anchorage Beach, where the boat picked us up for the return trip. The walk itself took about 3.5 hours. To say it was fantastic would be a gross understatement but I have run out of superlatives. Not a hard walk at all and the track it so well formed and used that it is almost like walking on a sidewalk. I'm guessing the tracks for most of the Great Walks must be like this. I took picture after picture of the track, as I was so blown away, even though I realized that later on I would not be able to tell one track picture from the next.

Two shots of the track

I just loved hearing nothing but the sounds of nature: the birds, the leaves, the water. My footstpes were the only human noise I heard. There were many more walkers on this track than on others I had been on, but I could easily go 10-15 minutes without encountering anyone. There were many more younger people on this track, most with large backpacks, so I assume they would be doing the entire route (60 km. in 3-5 days).

Again the views were outstanding. Sometimes just the forest, sometimes the glorious blue water in the distance and sometimes the beach. I wish I were able to recognize bird calls, as they were wonderful.

How's this for breathtaking

And a swing bridge to cross!

Anchorage Beach was a fine spot to end the walk. A beautiful crescent shaped beach with almost no one on it. I could have walked more but the sand was just too inviting! The water was too cold to do more than admire its colour.

Coming out at Anchorage Beach;

the walk is over

This was indeed a GREAT WALK, just as it is called.

Sunday, March 22: I began the day with a jog by the Tasman Sea, and past fields of cattle! I've had some great jogging routes on this trip, often on beaches that were very close to where I was staying.

As promised, it rained. I was so lucky to have done the walk yesterday as the forecast for the rest of my time here in NZ is not as good. The rain held off until mid-afternoon, so the Sunday morning market in Mot was not a washout. A bigger market than I expected given the size of the town. I had just enough time to cover the market and walk through the downtown area before the rains drove me "home". It's very nice to have an apartment to come back to, at least until tomorrow, when I am off to Nelson, and another Airbnb.

March 18-19: Picton & the Queen Charlotte Track

Wednesday, March 18: The sky was blue and the day glorious, perfect for a hike out of Picton through what is called the Victoria Domaine to "The Snout". On the map the domaine does actually have the shape of an aligator so the snout would be his/her nose. It felt a bit like the hike to Cape Split in that you walk out and back and at the end you get nothing but spectacular views, not a single concession hoping to sell something. Decidedly the walk here is not as flat; there were quite a lot of dips and climbs. Also numerous switchbacks, and steps created by putting something like a 2 x 4 or 6 vertically in the ground. so it was pretty easy walking. Kiwis know how to hike!!

Sadly there is no way (for me at any rate) to capture the sunlight streaming through the trees as I walked, or the sound of nothing but birds, cicadas (my goodness they can be loud) and the occasional fishing boat. Truly it was fantastic. The walk was along the coastline virtually the entire way with a view across the Queen Charlotte Sound to the Queen Charlotte Track. You can do a multi-day hike along the track but I'm hoping to do just one day, and tomorrow is my last chance. I passed a few people along the way but for the most part felt like I had this walk to myself. The round trip took about 4 hours.

Some of the views on the way to the Snout

At the Snout

Along the path

I returned to Picton to have coffee with a friend of Jan's from her Blenheim days. I've been so happy to have the opportunity to meet New Zealanders. They must all be warm and welcoming!

Thursday, March 19: My last day in this area and it too was ideal for a hike. So by 9:00 I was on a boat for the one hour ride to Ship Cove, with Beachcomber Cruises. There were about 25 people on the boat; when I registered I was told that in the very high season there could be up to 60. In their winter numbers fall off to about 6 to 10. I think I was there at the perfect time.

On the way out I learned that this area too is doing what it can to get rid of the predators (possums, rats) that were introduced when the Europeans (pakeha, in Maori) arrived in the mid 1800s and are threatening many of their birds. The captain pointed out a fence that had been built for that very purpose, at a significant cost.

The area around Picton has many islands with many bays and outcroppings. Although a small area it accounts for 20% of the coastline of all of New Zealand. I had time to do only a day hike but the Queen Charlotte Track is about 70 km. long and you can do the whole thing in 3 to 5 days. There are a number of lodges along the way to spend the night, and your luggage can be transported from lodge to lodge.

New Zealand has nine "Great Walks", three in the north island and the rest in the south. (Google Great Walks to learn more.) The Queen Charlotte Track is not actually one of them and I had not heard of it before I arrived. But within my first few days in New Zealand someone told me that I MUST do this walk, and I am so glad I did. The section I did starts at Ship Cove, where there is a memorial commemorating Captain Cook's 5 visits in the 1770s. The walk begins with a climb of about 225 metres in the first 40 minutes, which definitely warms you up, but that is the most serious climb along the route I did. You can see the water much of the time but are mostly high above it so the views are fantastic. So, in addition to hearing birds you can also hear the waves, and the occasional waterfall. The boat's captain had warned us that we might come across wekas (one of the flightless birds of NZ) and to hold on to our possessions as they are little thieves. I did encounter several; they were certainly not afraid of humans. One came up and pecked at my foot quite persistently, to the point where I had to remove it from his (her?) reach. There were also many traps along the route, again to catch the nasty predators, using a cheaper method than high-cost fencing.

Memorial to Cook's landings

A weka (not the one after my shoe)

Predator trap (one of many)

Views along the way

The section of the walk I did was about 15 kilometres and took me roughly 4 hours. The destination was a lodge (Furneaux) which had food and drink, always a motivator. The track itself was excellent. I passed some men working on it and was told that just a few years ago the path was so narrow you had to walk single file. Now it is certainly wide enough for two. That makes this route particularly suitable for older walkers and I'm guessing from the people I saw along the way that the average age on this track is rather higher than on some of the others. That's one of the wonderful things about this country, people appear to be active well into their senior years.

Furneaux Lodge

The well groomed trail

At the lodge I had a two hour wait for the boat returning to Picton, so certainly enough time to get some food. And I was afraid I might arrive too late, and be left behind! During that time I was talking to a couple from Vermont; it turned out she was originally from Truro!! One of the very few Nova Scotians I have met in NZ. The boat arrived back in Picton after 6:00 so this turned out to be a full day venture.  I hope to do something similar along the Abel Tasman Coast Track.  It is one of the Great Walks. Tomorrow I leave Picton for that area. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the weather is good. Whatever, there should not be snow. The same I understand cannot be said back home.

March 15-17: Picton and Blenheim

I arrived in Picton about 7 pm on March 15th. I'm again staying in a motel. This time because everything on Airbnb was either very pricy, or too far from the town to make walking a viable option. The motel is located right on the main street. Picton is a wee place (population about 3,000) but sees lots of people traffic as the ferries between the north and south islands dock here.

The next morning I went down to the harbour for my morning jog and was amazed that within half a block you can go from a commercial street to a truly delightful little harbour.

Shots taken at Picton harbour

I was also amazed to see so many other people with grey hair and hear North American accents but discovered they were from the cruise ship docked in the next harbour. This one apparently had been diverted because of the weather conditions, the remnants of Cyclone Pam. The day got progressively nastier, but not nasty enough to cause any damage. And given what I'd heard Nova Scotia was receiving (again!), I was not in a position to complain. So I stayed pretty much confined to my motel that first day.

Day 2 (March 16) I took the morning bus to Blenheim, a 30 minute drive south of Picton. It's huge relative to Picton, about 30,000 folk. Why Blenheim which, like me, you have likely never heard of before? First of all it was once the home of friends back home in Wolfville and I wanted to see where they had lived. But also I wanted to visit a place where Kiwis lived, a place not filled with tourists. I hadn't realuzed that Blenheim is the centre of the Marlborough wine region, New Zealand's largest. Despite that, there were few tourists that I could detect there. By that I mean not many people carrying maps, looking lost, or speaking with a different accent or in a different language. Blenheim is just a very pleasant kiwi town with a very nice downtown area, lots of parks, a lovely path by the Taylor River, an excellent museum and even some gardens (in Pollard Park). That's pretty much all you need!

Town clock, Blenheim

Memorial in Seymore Square, Blenheim

Pollard Park, Blenheim

 The museum devoted a good deal of space, not surprisingly, to wine. A few facts I didn't know:
- the first vineyards were planted in the Marlborough region in 1873, by David Herd;
- it wasn't until 1973 that the first truly commercial vineyards were planted;
- by 2007 there were 110 (!) wineries in the area;
- Sauvingon Blanc has made the area's reputation (likely everyone but me knew that);
- in 1982 one hectare of vineyard land cost $5,000. By 2007 that was up to $255,600!!

I had to return to Picton about 3:30, on the last afternoon bus. I'd have liked more time there.

Back in Picton I'd decided to go to see The Theory of Everything, the film about Stephen Hawking. A very good movie. But again I got more than I expected as the aquarium and the cinema share a space. Of course!! So while waiting for the film to start I got to hang out with little wee penguins, turtles, a large and very dead squid, and other assorted marine life.

The wee blue penguins (they were rescued)

March 13-15: Kaikoura

Late in the afternoon of March 13 I left Christchurch for the two and one-half hour bus ride north to Kaikoura, a small seaside town of about 2,000 known as the place to go to see whales. I spent two nights there, in a motel this time as I could not find anything on Airbnb. I came to New Zealand with no knowledge of Kaikoura and obviously no thoughts of going there. But it was recommended to me by several people, so here I am!

View walking to the main street

from my motel

Kaikoura is a pleasant little town, with lots of shops and restaurants on its main street catering to tourists. The beach there is rocky rather than sandy, but the water is still that magnificent shade of blue. Why is it every rock looks worthy of picking up and pocketing?  It's not so much a sports destinaion as the west coast, which meant I saw a broader age range of tourists. More with grey hair, like me!

I'd allowed two days there as whale watching trips are frequently cancelled because of weather/ocean conditions. Saturday (March 14) was not looking great so I booked a trip for Sunday. That meant I had the day on Saturday to wonder. First through the town (i.e., checking out the stores), and then had time to do the three hour hike around the Kaikoura Peninsula. Along the way I stopped at the Fyffe House Museum.  The original part of the house was built, using whale bones as the foundation (!), in 1844. It formed part of a whaling station and was occupied by Fyffes until 1868. Whaling was an important industry at that time but not for long, as the number of whales was too soon depleted. This little house was an unexpected find and the documentation/notes throughout very well done.

Fyffe House above and information

panel below

The peninsula hike was fabulous. Great views of the very steep cliffs and the glorious water. At the end of the peninsula there were several seals on the rocks, surrounded by tourists taking photos. The seals were very tolerant!

Views from the peninsula hike

Sunday was a perfect day! I had booked the whale watching trip for 1:15 but went down to check it out in the morning, just to make sure it had not been cancelled. As it turns out there was room for me on the trip that was leaving right then, so off I went. It's quite the operation. The company has several boats and do several trips each day, conditions permitting. Each boat holds close to 50 people if full. It takes almost half an hour to get out to the area where whales are found. We were told they prefer deeper water and apparently the environment around Kaikora is ideal for them. The guide was excellent and as it turned out he was the main attraction. We did see one whale, a sperm whale who seems to be a full time resident, and even has a name: Tiaki. These whales have a huge, and rather squarish head, bigger than any other mammal. Males can reach up to 20 metres in length. Passengers were asked to stay inside while the boat was moving but when it slowed to see the whale everyone poured out with their cameras, hoping for a shot of the tail going up in the air as the whale dove to feed. I must say, I have seen so many incredible things in New Zealand, this somehow seemed a bit comical. Not the whale, all of us. I didn't bother to get a picture. There are better ones than I could ever take online. If I hadn't done the trip I would have wondered what I'd missed, so now I know!

Would I recommend a trip to Kaikoura to someone else? Most certainly as a very pleasant stop along the east coast with a great hiking trail and the opportunity to learn more about the importance of the whaling industry in the early history of New Zealand. But I'm less certain I'd recommend it if someone is counting on seeing lots of whales. It would be important to determine when whales are most likely to be there, and be lucky with the weather conditions.

March 10-13: Christchurch, continued, and Akaroa

My time in Christchurch is now over and I would have to say that although I have had many incredible experiences, I think this one may top them all. I have been back to the city centre several times and am both saddened, and optimistic. As bad as things still look, my airbnb hosts and others I have spoken to have faith that their city will come back. Apparently for more than two years after it happened people were not even allowed to enter the city centre; now they are seeing buildings reopen, and new ones go up.

I spent several hours in Quake City, a part of the Canterbury Museum dedicated to the quake. It's appropriately enough located near the Re:Start Mall. One of the short films there shows the vision for the city centre. They are clearly taking a big picture view, and although it will likely take decades, it should be wonderful. Lots of green space. Where possible they want to save the old historic stone structures (many are churches) but new, more modern developments are also included, and they look very creative.

Another display said that 70% of the buildings in the city centre either have been or will be destroyed. I tried to confirm that online but was surprised that that was not easy to do. Anyway, that figure seems more likely than the 50% mentioned when I took the Rebuild tour. And of the 30% remaining, it appears that most need significant work. Just imagine standing almost anywhere downtown and being surrounded by empty lots, deserted buildings, buildings being rehabilitated, or new building sites. Here are a few more shots.

One of the many empty lots  

New development filling some of

those empty lots

Abandoned, possibly awaiting

 demolition

Perhaps the most difficult thing to see in Quake City was a film showing interviews with survivors. Some had had horrific experiences. One woman was trapped in the tower of the Anglican cathedral and was lucky to come away with only a broken arm. People climbed a ladder to rescue her despite the fact that the walls were trembling. It turns out that woman is a textile artist and she later made a quilt that has become one of the exhibits. This picture does not do it justice but here it is nonetheless.

I did leave Christchurch one day, taking a shuttle to a small seaside town about 90 minutes away, called Akaroa. It was settled by the French about 1840 and is promoted as having a French flavour. It is a very pleasant little town, but the only thing about it that seemed at all French was the name of some of the businesses. But France is a long way from New Zealand so whose to know! Although I did hear a lot of French spoken by tourists when I was there.

Wharf at Akaroa

I also made what have become my regular visits in most places I've visited, to the museum and the botanic gardens. This museum too had recreations from the city's early years, which I love. I'm most interested in the historical sections, and much of that information I've seen in other places. They also had a special exhibit celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the t-shirt. Who knew!!! It seems it all started when it became regulaion underwear for the US Navy, in 1913. Much has happened to it since then!!

The Botanic Gardens are beside the Museum, at the west end of the city centre. There is no evidence it was affected by the earthquake, which hit the eastern end of the city hardest. The gardens occupy a huge section of land, including a lovely forested area of native trees and plants. The destruction seems very far away in the gardens, but in fact it is just across the street.

I did get to have supper one night with a friend of a friend from home. What a nice treat!  They were spared any serious damage to their home although many homes around them did not fare as well.

A rather unexpected surprise was a visit to an exhition of street art in the YMCA. Graffiti at it's best! Here's a picture to prove that (to me anyway).

Street art!!

My airbnb hosts live a good distance from the city centre so unless I wanted to spend several hours each way walking, the best option was the local bus. They are great. Reliable, great route maps, and the buses for a particular route are easily identifiable as they are painted bright and lively colours. The one I used was the yellow bus. We should do that! No searching for the number. You can easily tell it's your bus from a great distance. One day I took the purple bus! Not just because it is my favourite colour but because it was going to Sumner, another beachside community at the eastern end of the city. It too was affected by the quake, but seems to be a weathier area than New Brighten (where I was staying), so perhaps people there were able to advance more quickly with restoration work.

Today (March 13, and Friday too) was a weather-perfect day. I walked on the beach in New Brighton, spent a bit of time in my hosts' hammock, and got a ride from my host to the bus station. He was very excited as this was the first day since the quake that he was able to use one of the more direct routes into the city centre. Road work is everywhere!! Our potholes seem like quite a minor inconvenience in comparison.

I feel very fortunate to have been able to spend time in Christchurch. It is changing everyday. It will never be like this again. I leave feeling as optimistic as so many of the people I spoke to seemed to feel. As one wall painting I saw said: "Smile for Christchurch". Here it is. It includes pictures of people from all over the world, all smiling for Christchurch.