E noho rā, Aotearoa

The title of this post in the Maori language is "Good Bye, New Zealand."  Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand.  It means the "Land of the Long White Cloud."  Polynesians settled in New Zealand about 800 years ago and the first European landed on its shore in the 17th century.  When I started on this trip, I wanted to have a better understanding of the history of New Zealand.  As I was traveling, I was reading Michael King's book on the "History of New Zealand."  Today you see the peaceful coexistence of the Pakehas (Europeans) and the Maoris.  But it wasn't always so.  The early Europeans settlers wanted to make New Zealand like the country where they came from.  Naturally, the Maoris resisted and there were many battles over the years.

Regardless of its history, New Zealand is a beautiful country, formed over millions of years ago by the movement of tectonic plates, earthquakes, glaciers, volcanic eruption, etc.  About a month ago, I never expected to see so many beautiful places and did so many things.  I've shared most of the best pictures on this blog.  Just to sight-see in New Zealand is nice but to actually do the activities is where the fun is. Here are the activities that I did on this trip:

1. Learned surfing in Raglan
2. Black water rafting (in the caves) in Waitomo
3. Learned to do the Haka (Maori War Dance) in Maketu
4. Ate native Maori food in Maketu
5. Soaked in a geothermal spa in Rotorua
6. Hiked the Alpine Crossing and active volcanic region in Tongariro National Park.  One of the volcanoes had a small eruption 2 weeks after we hiked there and the hiking trail was closed.
7. Stayed at a sheep ranch in Whakaharo
8. Visited the famous Te Papa Museum in Wellington
9. Toured the sites where some of the scenes from the Lord of the Ring movies were shot in Wellington
10. Rode the ferry between North and South Island
11. Sailed and hiked in the Abel Tasman National Park
12. Tasted the best mussels (green-lipped) farmed in Nelson, near Abel Tasman National Park
13. Hiked the Franz Josef Glacier in the Franz Josef National Park
14. Tasted whitebait fish (a delicacy in New Zealand)
15. Had the best fish (blue cod and orange roughy) and chips in Queenstown
16. Stayed near the famous Mount Cook and saw a glacier lake
17. River Rafting in a glacier-fed river in Rangitata
18. Sadly, saw the earthquake-hit area of Christchurch
19. Whale watching in Kaikorua
20. Swam with the dolphins in Kaikorua
21. Fishing and eating crayfish in Kaikorua
22. Saw the setup for the premiere of The Hobbit but missed it by 1 day

It's been a wonderful experience, especially traveling and doing things with twenty-something year -olds.  It makes me feel young and wanting to keep doing this forever.  I am sure I will be back in New Zealand in the future.  I've learned and experienced so much.  But, there is more to see and do.

E noho rā, Aotearoa!

Mount Cook on a cloudy day

Swimming with Dolphins

I saved the best for last.  On practically the last stop of my trip (Kaikoura), I did what I have been looking forward to since I head about it from other travelers - swimming with the dolphins.  It was a 3-4 hour trip and it costs around NZ$165.  The Pacific Ocean water is cold so we had to wear wet suits.  We wore snorkels so we can see under water.  We were told to make noises to attract the dolphins.  I rented an underwater camera for NZ$40.

The boat took about 20 minutes to get out to the open ocean and start looking for the dolphins.  They are not hard to spot because they hang out around this area all the time.  Once the captain spots the dolphins, he sounds off the alarm and we'll jump into the water.  Very soon the dolphins will start swimming around us.  They were almost playing with us.  With the underwater camera I took some good pictures and videos of the dolphins.  Sometimes it's hard to take good pictures because they swim so fast.  By the time you realize it's in front of you, it's gone.  So I have my camera ready all the time and had to anticipate their movements.  After a while they swim away and we get back on the boat. Then the captain would look for another pod and we'll go into the water again.  We did that four times before it was time for us to go back to shore.  This is definitely one of the highlights of my trip.

Boats that took us out to swim with the dolphins

Dolphins putting on a show

Pods of dolphins

More dolphins

A close-up shot

Took the picture just before it swam away

So close you can almost touch it

They seem to want to play with you

Sometimes you get more than one swimming around you

Kaikoura

About 2 1/2 hours north-east of Christchurch is a peninsula called Kaikoura.  This is a small picturesque town, population about 4,000, that used to be known more for the abundant crayfish off its shores.  In fact, the word Kaikoura means "food" (Kai) and "crayfish" (koura).  Today it is a popular tourist destination with many small hotels, motels, B&B, hostels along the road that runs along the coast.  I stayed at the YHA Hostel and it's right there next to this road.  At night I can hear the waves washing ashore and in the morning I look out at the ocean and snow-capped mountains at a distance.  

There is an abundance of marine animals in this area because of a deep ocean canyon off its coast.  This attracts a lot of food for these animals.  So, some of the popular tourist activities here are whale watching, swimming with seals and dolphins, fishing, etc.  I did three of these activities when I spent about 2 days here - whale watching, fishing, and swimming with dolphins, which I will talk about more in my next posting.  

As I mentioned this area is well-known for its abundance of crayfish.  However, I was surprised by the high prices of these crayfish.  An average size crayfish can cost about NZ$80 in a local restaurant.  I asked the locals why they are so expensive.  They said they export a lot of it to Asia, mainly China and Japan, where they fetch high prices so they have to keep up with the market prices.  On the fishing trip that I went on, we fished for sea perch but the fishing operator also has some crayfish traps that he set out to catch crayfish.  We brought in a few and had a crayfish cookout.  You cook them like you'd cook a lobster and they taste very much like lobsters.  They are about half to two-thirds the size of lobsters but you can eat most of the crayfish instead of just the lobster tails.

Whale-watching is a big business here because a lot of whales come to this area to hunt for food all year round.  The boat that I went on probably took about 50 people and we went out about 20 minutes off the coast.  We saw a couple of whales and were able to stay close enough to take some good pictures.  Other than these activities there is not much else to do except enjoy the scenery and fresh ocean air.

Beautiful Scenery along the coast

These are called the Seaward Kaikoura Range

A fur seal lazing in the sun

Crayfish caught in the trap

A crayfish cookout after a day of fishing

A beautiful sunset

More beautiful scenery

Whales!

Taking a dive

Christchurch

Christchurch used to be the second largest city in New Zealand.  It was designed to be like an English town and was settled early by the English.  So you see a lot of English characteristics in the city, including a river that runs through town called the Avon.  They even use an English term to call cruising down the river - "punting on the Avon".  

Sadly, Christchurch suffered a couple of devastating earthquakes in 2010 and 2011.  The buildings that were weakened by the first quake in 2010 got more damaged in the second quake in 2011.  What is worse is that they hit the core of the city, especially Cathedral Square, where most activities are held.  The whole city center was condoned off but you can see through the chain-link fence the extent of the damage.  Christchurch Cathedral the centerpiece of downtown Christchurch was badly damaged and there is a lot of debate as to whether to rebuild or tear it down.

The city built a temporary business area called Re-start for the downtown businesses to continue to operate.  This is a popular area but is no substitute for the businesses within the city center.  I had a hard time even finding a restaurant when I walked around the city.  The other sad story is that a lot of young people have moved to other big cities in New Zealand and even Australia.  

Christ College, an old-fashion English boarding school

Punting on the Avon

Re-start Mall, a temporary mall

A building being demolished

Cathedral destroyed by the earthquake

More buildings destroyed by the earthquake

The city has a beautiful Botanic Garden

Rafting in Rangitata

Stray Travel did not used to stop in Rangitata but after the earthquakes in Christchurch, they have to find another location for us to spend the night and participate in another activity.  The activity here is river rafting down the Rangitata River, which is fed by melting glacier.  The water is cold and very clean.  We had to wear a couple of layers of clothing and a wet suit to make sure we stay warm.  Our trip took about 3 hours.
First, we were given some instructions on how to paddle and what to do when the guide give us instructions.  We started going through fairly calm water, then through Grade 1 rapids.  Eventually, our toughest challenge was going through a couple of Grade 5 rapids.  After running the rapids, we took the opportunity to do some swimming and diving off rocks on the side of the river.  It definitely was an adrenaline-filled activity.

An enthusiastic group getting ready for some fun

Area around the Rangitata River

Getting the rafts ready

Members of my team with guide, Jason

Going through some rapids

A beautiful scene

More Rapids

Keep Paddling!

Diving into the cold water

Whew....that was cold!

Try diving again at 10m high

Lake Tekapo

I have not heard of Lake Tekapo but it was on our way from Mount Cook to Rangitata.  We dropped off a few travelers there and our driver, Rob, stopped by the lake to show us some of the views.  Wow...he couldn't have picked a better location for photo opportunities.  Apparently, this is also a popular stop for Asian tourists as I saw many Asian tourists in town and a few Chinese restaurants.  Not much for me to add other than show you the pictures that I took.

Mount Cook/Aoraki

Mount Cook is New Zealand's highest mountain at over 12,000 feet and is named after Captain James Cook.  It is located somewhere in the middle of South Island on the leeward (east) side of the Southern Alps. It is an iconic New Zealand landmark and one of the most popular tourist destinations.  The whole area was carved out by glaciers many, many years ago.  Mount Cook is one of many tall mountains in the area as you will be able to see from the pictures below.  It is also known by its Maori name, Aoraki.
There is a small village that was specially built for tourists visiting the Mount Cook area.  It is dominated by the Hermitage Hotel and I think the hotel runs all the motels and chalets.  They have a backpackers wing where we stayed.  There are 2 bunk beds (4 beds total) where we slept.  It was very comfortable accommodation and the restaurant is very nice too.  Not much else for me to say other than showing you some of the pictures that I took.
If you are wondering if some of the scenes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy were shot here, the answer is yes.  I think the 3 movies were shot in different parts of the North and South Islands.

Mount Cook

Surrounding area and mountains

Lots of beautiful landscape

Glacier Lake - water fed by melting glacier

More beautiful mountains

Lots of water from melting snow

These mountains are big!

Another view of Mt Cook from near the hotel

Hermitage Hotel near Mt Cook

Morning View of Mt Cook by Lake Pukaki