My New Zealand birthday experience

This year's birthday adventure took me to the land of the long white cloud-New Zealand.  You may recall this is my second trip to New Zealand this year (Wellington) but this time was strictly for fun.  I started in Queenstown which is the adventure capital of New Zealand.  The bungee jump was invented there and the ski fields are always busy during the season.  This time of year there is about a week of skiing left but I left that to the pros.  I did take a ride up the Skyline Gondola where the views of Queenstown were absolutely breathtaking.  From there I could see the Remarkables mountain range, Lake Wakatipu and the whole city of Queenstown.

It is much steeper than it looks

Views from the top

That afternoon, I went to a performance of a Haka.  For those of you who are asking yourself, "What the heck is a Haka?" well let me tell you.  It is a dance performed on special occasions by the Maori people.  The most famous Haka you may have seen is the one performed by the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team before a match.  Its fierce.

All Blacks vs Wallabies

I sort of knew what to expect because I have seen the haka performed before, mostly on TV but also at Waitangi Day celebrations.  This was more in depth and featured "maiden warriors".  They did not allow photos for several reasons, not the least of which is cultural.  They did take photos with us after and allowed people to take pictures during the "audience participation" portion.  I turned my camera over to one of the maiden warriors but I guess she is better at fighting than photography because every single picture turned out blurry.  Then she tried to take a video, which is nearly un-watchable because it is all over the place.  Oh well, maybe next time.

KA MATE!

 The next day I got up and started out to Milford Sound.  The roads in New Zealand are narrow and winding.  Not just a little bit either, but there were some hairpin turns there that concerned me.  Fortunately, Mac our bus driver was pretty skilled at getting the bus down the road.  We made several stops along the way because the bus had no facilities on it and the drive was a little over three and a half hours long.  The stops were plenty good on their own!

This is where a glacier once passed hundreds of years ago!

 At one point we stopped and got water from a mountain stream.  It was, as Bobby Boucher would say some, "High quality H2O!"  So crisp and clear and clean and COLD!  Straight off the glacier.  Not something I would normally do but Im pretty certain this is actually where bottled water comes from.

Mirror Lake

Squint at this rock...what do you see??

After what seemed like FOREVER on the bus, we finally arrived to board our Milford Sound cruise.  I boarded the boat and we started out toward the Tasman.

This is not photoshop!  This is REAL LIFE.

This is what happens when a glacier moves between two mountains.  A river would make a deep, pointed "v" rather than the "u" shape seen here.

The edge of the Tasman Sea

 While on our cruise, we encountered some of New Zealand's wild life.  These seals were catching some rays.  Ahh to be fat and lazy.....

This is a Kea bird!  They are native to New Zealand.

We saw a Kea bird on the way back from Milford.  The Kea is a parrot and is very intelligent and curious.  This little fella walked the length of our bus, looking up at us in the windows.  Then he and a buddy went to check out a vehicle behind us.  So cool.

The next day I jumped a bus to the other side of the island.  (LOADS of time on the bus.....)  This bus also made stops along the way but it was also to pick up and drop off other passengers.  I didnt have quite as much fun on this bus ride as I did on the way to Milford.  "Lawrence" was not super friendly and really must have been in a hurry because the ride was rough.  Ironically, the lone "rest" stop we made was in a little town called Lawrence.  It was SO SMALL!! I actually walked from one end of town to the other in less than 5 minutes.

This is main street Lawrence.

This makes me a little sad.  The town hall is for lease!

This is an old bank, not sure what it is now.

 After Lawrence, it was back on the road.  It took us just over four hours to get to Dunedin.  The last hour or so, I really thought I was going to be sick.  Every now and then, I was able to look up and out the window to catch sights of rolling green hills and the spring lambs chasing the bus.

How pastoral!

 When I finally got to my hotel in Dunedin, I checked in and they told me that I would have to take an elevator then a flight of stairs to get to my room.  I thought that was pretty weird until I saw the elevator.  The building is a Victorian era building so they have obviously made upgrades but there are some things they left untouched.  The elevator is one of them.  I LOVED this elevator.  It was like a time machine!  Every time I got in the elevator, I felt compelled to shout out "FIRST FLOOR- HABERDASHERY" but I didnt.

The outside of the hotel.  Beautiful old building.

 I took my time machine up to the top and then up the stairs to the addition where my room was (hence the reason to have to take the stairs in the first place), dropped off my bags and started looking for something to do.  Because it was rather late in the day I decided on a walkabout.

Another beautiful old building.  This is the old Bus Station

Entrance to the Dunedin Chinese Gardens

 The Dunedin Railway Station is a beautiful old building.  The joke is that it looks like a gingerbread house and it does in a way.  The train still runs through there but more for a novelty than necessity.  The building is also now home to an art gallery and the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame.  It is also a fabulously preserved historical building with gorgeous mosaic tile work.  The craftsmanship in buildings like this impresses me.

Entrance to the Dunedin Railway Station

The mosaic in the middle of the lobby of the Dunedin Railway Station

 Because Dunedin has a big Scottish heritage, there are Scottish influences all over the city.  Here, we have a statue of Scottish poet Robert Burns.  There is also a castle near by, the only one in the Southern hemisphere.  I didnt get a chance to tour that...maybe next time.

Robert Burns

 My last full day in New Zealand has me taking the tastiest tour I have ever taken.  The Cadbury Chocolate factory tour!  Much like Charlie Bucket, I rocked up to the doors of the Cadbury factory, complete with golden ticket (or rather, my tour booking reference number).  They brought us inside and we watched a health and safety video so no one fell into the chocolate river like Augustus... then they gave us hair nets, took our phones and off we went.

I got to see how they made all kinds of chocolate such as chocolate buttons, hollow eggs, Roses (a candy brand here, sort of like individually wrapped Whitmans Samplers) and Chocolate Santas.  Along the tour, they gave us candy!  I suspect its so we didnt try to nick it from the factory floor but none the less, I got quite a haul.  By the end, of the tour, I was even carrying it out in my mouth Lucille Ball style.

Original delivery trucks.  The one on the right is a model T and had a tank on the back to carry the milk to the factory!

Well, they are not Oompa Loompas but it was fun anyway.

Then it was back on the bus with grumpy Lawrence and back to Queenstown for one more sleep before I flew back to Oz.  I absolutely love New Zealand and think I can say that aside from home this may be my most favorite place on earth.