Two Americans emigrate to New Zealand from Colorado,
USA.
We talk about
our life in Nelson, New Zealand.
November 2007 | Blog home | January 2008
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9 December: Holiday fun in QueenstownOur nearly-two-week holiday began on a Tuesday with our flight down to Queenstown to meet up with friends John and Star Kane who travelled all the way to Queenstown from Broomfield, Colorado to see New Zealand and us.
They flew from Denver to Los Angeles to Auckland and finally to Christchurch. One long day for sure. Once in Christchurch, they took three days to drive south to pick us up at the Queenstown airport around 10am to see the sights of Southland.
We should have known the visit would be a wild one, with our first jet airplane since we moved to New Zealand taking us from Christchurch to Queenstown.
Flying on that 737 was odd after so long flying little propeller planes around the country, and when we came around the canyon and I got a glimpse of the Queenstown runway, I was a bit concerned that we would end up with the fish in the lake at the end of it. But clearly the pilots know more than me - we touched down as soon as we possibly could, reversed jets and braked hard, and managed to stop right at the end of the runway with about 100 feet to spare.
John and Star were waiting and welcomed us to Queenstown and our adventure began. Well, not really right then, as Don’s bottomless stomach made an appearance as soon as we got to town and he had to have a meal. Granted, we were up at 5.15am to catch the flight and had a very early breakfast. 
Lunch at Subway at 10.45am was to prove equally unfulfilling for the poor guy and we proceeded to eat ourselves silly over the next three days on our journey.
After lunch we tooled around a bit, visited Lake Wakatipu and took photos of stunning Queenstown.
Having been here three years ago, the town is changing so rapidly, becoming very commercial and touristy. What can you do? 
That’s the main industry I suppose, and as long as the views aren’t ruined, I imagine Queenstown will retain its lovely, if expensive, charm.
We had booked the afternoon to do the Shotover Jet on the Shotover River and that turned out to be a half-hour of super speed and bumps, a great time as we glided over waters, 
sometimes only 4 inches deep, and did 360 spins getting drenched, all with winds blowing through our hair as we raced through amazing canyon scenery, barely avoiding jagged rocks and cliff walls. You can see in several of these pictures how close we get to the cliff walls and to the dunes along the way. You can also see from the photo just down to the right that the boat is barely on the water, nearly lifting up as we did a turn to avoid oncoming cliff. Four inches is not very much water!
Gorgeous location and scenery on the ride. Don and I were lucky enough to revisit the site of our river raft finale from our trip three years prior where he took the lead guiding us through a tunnel and I was squished in the middle, bumping heads with Don in front of me and some guy behind me as our boat collapsed in the rapids, sandwiching me in the middle. Don recognised the spot instantly, and we recommended the rafting to another couple in our boat who were interested in doing the ride.
Speaking of squished, there was a major squish-fest both after the Shotover Jet ride and on our way to Glenorchy when we stopped along the lake to take in the view and we were swarmed by sandflies. Not as bad as our first visit in January, we still had John and Star spooked as to their power to bite and leave nasty wounds, so we hopped back in the car only to notice that the sandflies kinda like the car too, and they had joined us for the ride back to Queenstown. Too bad for them, many met their fate on the glass windows and squished between hands and flicked away.
Afterwards we went to the Pig and Whistle for a drink and I was gipped by a Canadian waitress who took me for a fool and filled my wine glass only halfway while other ‘locals’ seemed to have full wine glasses. Since everyone else enjoyed a full beer, I became the designated driver (also by choice as our two-hour drive to Te Anau was full of curves and bumps) and the other three went to the liquor store for six pack and then some to drink during the drive. Some girls get all the luck. I opted to get high on chocolate and sugar with a candy bar to keep me awake during the drive, and during the raucous drink fest I was soon to witness.
Sure enough, all that liquid had to have an effect, and both John and Star badly needed to empty their bladders. A stop at a roadside cafe halfway into the trip proved fruitless as they closed earlier at 5pm. Onward toward the first covered trees we could find, and no sooner had I braked the car to a stop than John and Star were out like a flash to find the nearest coverings. They did their business only to find on the other side of this hedging that farmed deer were watching their every move. Surely they got a good look at some crazy peeing Americans.
We arrived in Te Anau, had dinner, and prepped ourselves for the early morning ride into Fiordland toward Milford Sound. Bug spray included.
Monday was the day, and a massive Colorado snow storm didn't stop Kylee Gregory from getting off her braces. Next stop, retainers. See the before and after...
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13 December: Milford Sound (Piopiotahi)The day after we arrived in Queenstown, we were up at 5.30am for the second day in a row to be on the road by 6.30 for the two hour ride to Milford Sound, or Piopiotahi. We’d booked a 9am boat ride on the Sound (technically a fiord but those who discovered the area didn’t know that at the time). We got to ride again through scary Homer Tunnel and again found no green/red light at the entrance (just like our last trip), so we entered at our own risk.
Unlike our last visit, however, the tunnel has some new lighting so, although still quite steep and eerie, it’s not nearly as dark and creepy as it was last time. Turns out the lights come on at 9am anyway, directing traffic in and out of the tunnel. It seems up until 9am mostly people only go into the tunnel toward Milford, not out of it.
We had booked the Mitre Peak cruise, and once we arrived at the little port area, we discovered our boat would not be one of the gargantuan cruise boats you see to the right, with 2 and 3 levels for passengers.
No, we'd have the tiniest boat on the water, a dwarf in comparison. But as Don and I recalled, we took this same company last time and it was a great ride, longer than all the rest and it goes out to the farthest point, plus there are fewer people on board. So in our opinion, cheaper wasn’t larger, but it was better.
We headed out with about 50 other people on the boat, all fitting comfortably, on a sunny day out to St Anne’s point on the fiord and back. Pictures simply don’t do Milford Sound justice, but you can see a collection of the best photos Don and Star took on the day on our new Milford Sound page.
The boat ride was pleasant, with few sandflies and views of jumping dolphins, penguins (to the left) and seals on rocks (see below and right), and spectacular Mitre Peak and a great selection of waterfalls.
We determined that the sandflies must be worse as the summer season moves on, because they weren’t bad at all this time of year, although bug spray is still recommended because they are there—just not in the quantity we found them during the month of January in high summer.
After the boat ride we drove back the same (and only) way through Fiordland and stopped to do a hike to Lake Marian. Turns out we were warned that it was a ‘rough’ hike, and it was pretty much boulders and rocks most of the way up for about 90 mins one way, so I opted out and waited for John and Star as they completed the hike up and back in about 4 hours time.
Part of the reason it took them longer than usual was because at the top – and this would only happen to John – they discovered a large group of camping flight attendants from Sky West (branch of Delta?) airlines having a convention of sorts at the top. Leave it to John to travel halfway around the world climb to the top of a peak and locate dozens of flight attendants.
We stopped farther down at ‘The Chasm’ a short walk up to a valley of rock eaten out by a river that is very cool. Well, the scenery was cool, but only until I looked back upon my approach to the main viewing platform, and I saw a swarm of a different kind—Japanese tourists. Two busloads of tourist were dropped off right after us and they marched rapidly to the viewing platform, overwhelming the four of us as we meandered to enjoy nature. 
They didn’t seem so interested in nature as much as they were interested in taking a picture of something in nature, and then they marched right back out again. It was pretty incredible, actually, and Don and I waited behind as they ran by us, nudged us out of the way, and then cleared out, before we stopped to admire the scenery. I’m not sure I understand the Japanese tourism mentality, but whatever!
After a day of boating and hiking, we settled in the car for the long drive back all the way to Queenstown, some 3 hours or so, all with no pit stop. In fact, we had done such a good job of driving and passing slow cars, that when the time came for John and I to trade driving spots, we planned it to perfection, getting out far enough ahead of a red mini van we’d passed to do a firedrill of sorts trading spots to run around the car, get back in, and get back on the road before the red van showed up. SUCCESS!
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Dinner back in Queenstown at a local Indian restaurant proved to be a fun exercise in people watching as a crazy American guy at the table next to us bossed his guests around by ordering all their food for them, and then another crazy Indian guy was ticked off about his order coming so late (it did take awhile) and then he stormed out after touching only a bite, taking his two female companions with him, presumably still hungry! Oh, and then there was the other American guy who got his spicy meal only to bite into it and nearly vomit because it was MASSIVELY spicy – he had his head in his hands for a good 10 minutes, looking like he was going to hurl. It was all funny at the time, until the next morning when we found out John went home and had been a bit ill himself as soon as he got to the hotel. We avoided Indian food the rest of the trip!
Thursday had us waking up with a visit to glorious Starbucks on our way out to Wanaka (see photo at left for lake view) for breakfast and then to historic and touristy Arrowtown. Thursday was also the start of the Michael Hill NZ Open, a golf tourney hosted by a famous NZ guy who started a chain of jewelry stores. We didn’t know at the time that the world would seemingly converge on Queenstown, but it became very, very busy with the start of the tourney that day.
Wanaka as usual was spectacularly beautiful with the lake overlooking the high Southern Alps. We had breakfast at a local cafe, took some photos, wandered around, and I found some handspun yarn! We were blown away by the heavy winds that day, but also the prices of real estate in this small town. 
Holy s**t! A small little modular type house was over $500k and more typical family houses were easily $700k. Thanks, Queenstown, now you’ve made Wanaka completely unlivable for the average person!
What’s worse is that all of Southland – Queenstown and Wanaka included – have a shortage of workers coming into the strong tourist season. We saw help wanted signs in many many shop windows, cafes and retailers, and those jobs don’t pay worth squat. My friend was telling me the other day that in Queenstown, rents average 118% of your income! Now, I was pretty good at math, so I can tell you what that means: don’t move to Queenstown!
We drove through picturesque old-time Arrowtown and hit some of the shops and had lunch. I managed to find some form of merino wool clothing that I’ve not previously owned and bought it, although if I look through my closet I pretty much have every version of merino knitwear that is made. 
Except for the yoga pants, those are next on my list. We got some yummy ice cream and then headed out toward the airport for our flight to Nelson (via Christchurch), catching this hilarious cow on the way who said 'to hell with drinking out of the bin, I'll take it straight from the tap -- err, sprinkler.' Guess that grass won't be getting as green.
Here Star is relaxing in a massage chair at Queenstown airport. My memory is now a bit fuzzy, but I think today was the day that Star began to feel a touch of a cold, starting with a sore throat. Uh oh. This would be a sign of things to come...
We were watching Survivor last night when I started feeling the now familiar rocking feeling, but very lightly. I said to Don, we're having an earthquake, but he didn't believe me as he didn't feel anything. I rocked for a few minutes, but then we both REALLY rocked, and then he believed me.
Here's a cutout of our North Island map so you can see where; click on it to see the entire map of both Islands for perspective.
Friday December 21, 2007
By Elizabeth Binning and Alanah May Eriksen
Thousands of people ran for cover after a huge earthquake shook homes throughout the lower North Island and upper South Island last night. The quake, which measured 6.8 on the Richter scale, was centred under the sea 50km southeast of Gisborne, but was felt as far away as Dunedin.
Three buildings collapsed in central Gisborne, and minor damage was caused to the city hospital. Gas, power and water supplies were disrupted and many people were without phones or electricity. A local civil defence emergency was likely to be declared, officials said late last night.
There were some fires, and "significant damage" to three historic buildings in central Gisborne. One building's top level had collapsed, and the Camera House building's roof had caved in. The Hallensteins building also had severe roof damage. Mr Shepherd said the central city area had been "locked down" because of the damage.
The Health 2000 store's front awning collapsed, windows were smashed and bricks came tumbling down inside the building. ...Many people were in town when the quake hit because Thursday was late-night shopping night. Firefighters were flooded with calls about fallen power lines, building damage and activated alarms.
Guests were evacuated from the Portside Hotel after bookshelves came crashing down and television sets smashed in the rooms. Gisborne resident Merv Bradley, 78, said he had been living in the area since 1944 and the quake was the worst he had felt.
GeoNet duty seismologist Warwick Smith said thousands of people had logged on to the GeoNet website from all over the country to record that they had felt the quake.
He said an earthquake of a 6.8 magnitude was rare. "It was about the same size as the 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake, but this one was offshore so nobody was sitting right on top of it, although it could be felt quite strongly."
Gisborne District Council spokesman Vance Walker told TV One the quake was a series of sharp shocks, followed by a lull then more shocks. Gerry Browne of Opotiki said that during the quake the water was sloshing out of his swimming pool.
John McInnes, who lives in Mangapapa, near Gisborne Airport, was having a cup of tea with his wife and 18-year-old daughter when they felt a rumble. "It got bigger and bigger and then things started to fall out of the china cabinet."
Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management spokesman Vince Cholewa said the National Crisis Management Centre would be monitoring the earthquake aftermath and seeing what support was needed.
A tsunami warning had not been issued. Gisborne Hospital sustained minor water damage. The building was assessed and considered safe.
It is our second holiday in New Zealand, and this year just like last year has felt nothing like Christmas to us. How can it when we are in shorts, tshirts, and hot! Again, we have not put up a Christmas tree, have no decorations, and really no anticipation of the day or season. Houses in the neighbourhood are decorated, but not very many. Shops are packed with holiday trinkets, and everyone and their grandma is asking me, "are you ready for Christmas?"
No, I always say, because it's not Christmas. Not one for lying or even white lying most of the time, I just try to tell the truth as nicely as possible. I do love Christmas, it is probably my most favourite holiday all year round. To not really be celebrating it is kind of a bummer, honestly. I haven't had that live pine tree in my living room, with heaps of presents underneath it for friends and family. But it just doesn't feel like the holidays at all. Still, Don and I mumble along and get each other a gift or two (when before we were like children with most of the gifts under the tree for one another!) and we make nice at a Christmas dinner and then that's it. It's another day, frankly.
My friend Kate and her husband Colin had a Christmas Eve party last night. They are from the UK and another guest, Rachael, was also from the UK. I was speaking with Rachael about this and she is, of course, used to Christmas in winter and it being dreary and cold. Perfect! I told her this was my second Christmas in New Zealand and that I expected it to take many more seasons before it would feel like celebrating. This is her third and she's just put up a tree for the first time. I explained our attempt this year at a new tradition of having a mid-winter Christmas in New Zealand in May or June (because we can't wait until July or August--real winter months) where we go a bit crazy with things and she liked that idea.
Perhaps what I find most problematic is the weather. Last Christmas it was a blazing mid-20s (80F or so) and we had to take cover under an umbrella'd table and sweat through the BBQ dinner midday. Don went home with a burn on his head despite the umbrella, it was boiling hot!! 
Today we are also going to a friend's house for another BBQ dinner at the exact same time and I was expecting to go in barely any clothing at all! Anyway, yesterday was a terribly wet and rainy day; at Kate and Colin's house up one of the valleys 5k or so it was heavy misting and I remarked that on Christmas in Colorado this would be a very good sign because the minute the temperature dropped, that mist would turn to snow! (Not that I miss snow, but I like it on Christmas.)
The weather projections for today were no better--it's supposed to rain and be nasty. But hooray for me! Now, it is about 6.30am and I awoke to this weather, and what a lovely sight!! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... I am thrilled to have weather like this today, even if everyone else is not. If only it were really really cool outside, but rather it's quite muggy and about 15C / 60F right now, but we'll make do with that. At least exchanging gifts this morning with a mug of coffee for Don and hot chocolate for Angela will feel just that much more like the holidays.
Okay, so yesterday was Christmas and Don and I exchanged a couple of things. But this year the REAL Christmas was when our friends John and Star visited and they brought us the most amazing gift.
After we left Queenstown with John and Star in late November, mid-afternoon we landed in Nelson, where the sun was shining and the tide was out. But it was good to be back home. We showed John and Star our house from the airport as you can look up on the hill and see the distinctive coloring. These days it is the only house I see because the colors are so striking (strikingly cool or awful, who knows, you be the judge when you visit). We packed all our bags into ol’ Tillie (our car) and headed to the house. It was a light 31 degrees (approx 95F) inside the house as it had been closed up during a heat wave, so we opened the place up, everyone unpacked a bit, and we sat and relaxed.
Don and I went shopping for groceries, we came home and made a quick dinner and then the best holiday of the year commenced. Christmas!! For us, this year, Christmas was opening the suitcase of presents that Star and John brought over with them for us. We actually knew of everything inside as we personally shopped for all of it, shipping it to them for ‘export.’ Our two mules did a great job, as nothing was broken (margarita glasses) and everything came out perfectly! Cycling gels and bloks to keep us fed on the road for probably 2 years, books we had ordered that we couldn’t get here, cheap shaving cream to save us a bundle (here, $10US/bottle, there $2), my most favourite sock yarn from Colorado in many different colours (thanks Kylee), a sun protector shirt from REI, contact lens solution (again, here $15US/bottle, there $6) to last years, printer ink cartridges, ahhh, the list goes on and on and on. Our cycling friends are mighty jealous of our gels and bloks, think we could start a business here!
It was truly Christmas, without the tree and wrapping. Perhaps the most unique request was mine. New Zealand doesn't have Kraft macaroni and cheese—yes the stuff in a box with the ‘cheese’ in a packet, powder version. One of my guilty pleasures every so often. And for some reason I had been craving it. I heard someone on a radio station here who is from Canada with the same craving, but her friend brought her boxes of Kraft mac n cheese. I figured Star could do the same—go to Costco and get one of those 24-pack cartons and stuff it in a suitcase.
Well, after laughing hysterically at my idiocy, Star did go and buy me some Kraft mac n cheese, but Don had a most excellent idea that ended up being near genius—take the cheese packets OUT of the boxes, and just bring those! I can get macaroni noodles here no problem, right? So Star spent one morning harvesting out those packets and putting away the macaroni noodles for her girls to eat while they were over here. Everyone wins, right! And I’ve had 2 of the packs of cheese so far, it tastes as yummy as I remember, altho the orange colouring is a bit off putting LOL. After 2 packs, I’m sick of it and expect my stash to last me a good long while.
...of the year.This the first instalment of my bird of the year, the bird for 2007 is, drum roll please, the Bar-tailed Godwit. 
Why do you ask? Well let me enlighten you. I was amazed to learn that these birds migrate non-stop from Alaska to New Zealand every year - that’s 11,000+ kilometres. Furthermore, they do this without feeding and the fastest ones take only 6 days. I’ve also heard that they lose up to 50% of their body weight during the flight. So those of you who complain about the long airline flight from the US to NZ, it could be worse. They wait about 3 months before making the return flight via China back to Alaska. To get the current update on the tagged Godwits, check out the Alaska USGS site.
It just so happens that in New Zealand, the godwits prefer to be in the top of the South Island ... anywhere from Farewell Spit in Golden Bay over to Nelson here in our haven. And it's a pretty big deal when they are here.
Godwit's return causes excitement in Golden Bay
by Sally Kidson, Nelson Mail, 8 December 2007
A male bar-tailed godwit spotted back in Golden Bay after completing a mammoth return journey from Alaska has ornithologists excited. The bird was one of four male and four female godwits tagged and given satellite transmitters in Golden Bay in February.
Researcher Ingrid Hutzler, who spotted the bird at Totara Ave, said the sighting was significant as it was the first South Island tagged godwit to be seen since they left New Zealand for Alaska in February. The godwit was last tracked on its northward migration on March 24 near the Philippines, and there had been no record of it since, she said.
The male birds were fitted with backpack transmitters which appeared to have fallen off before they arrived at their breeding grounds, as it was believed the birds had lost so much weight in flight. It was not known whether the backpacks had affected the birds' flight, which was why it was exciting to see one of the birds had made the round trip safely, Ms Hutlzer said.
The female birds were fitted with internal transmitters which were much more successful, with some able to be tracked for over seven months. Ms Hutlzer said numbers of bar-tailed godwits had rapidly declined in the past decade, causing grave concern for the future of the champion long-distant migrant. The only way to establish trends was through bird count data kept over the years, much of which was carried out by the Ornithological Society of New Zealand volunteers, she said.
The study using the satellite transmitters, funded by the United States Geological Survey, had provided important insights into the birds' migration. The research established a godwit made the 11,000km journey from Alaska to New Zealand non-stop, and could cover a distance of more than 28,000km during its yearly migration.
For more information visit http://osnz.org.nz.
It's taken long enough, but here are some photos of our friends Wayne and Sharon, from a week ago when we had dinner with them one night. Don met Wayne through his work when he and Sharon moved to Richmond from Auckland in 2006, and Don helped him find a job here. They became fast cycling buddies and still go riding frequently.
Now we all get together for eating out and eating in (when there's no babysitter) and, today, holidays! We'll be spending New Year's Eve with Wayne and Sharon and their girls and some of their family. Another BBQ -- did I mention how HUGE BBQing is in this country? Don and I don't have a BBQ and we were threatened by NZ Immigration Service that they'd revoke our residency if we didn't buy one before summer's end.
If you don't recall (and why should you!), Wayne is best remembered as the cyclist who stopped in a cycle shop for some chafing cream part-way through a long ride with Don and the boys and walked out, dipped his hand into the jar and applied said cream to the, ahem, affected area right there on the footpath amidst pretty much anyone who wanted to see. 
Gosh, I wish I was there to see that! Sharon doesn't, though :) Where'd he wipe his hands off after?? Maybe that is just TMI.
Their youngest daughter Stella seems to have a thing for Don (am told for most boys, watch out teenage years!) and insists he reads her bedtime stories. Did you ever think you'd see Don like THIS!! LOL
Stella makes him play with her and her toys, and keeps him occupied while I take part in the wine 
drinking and food eating. It's a good break for Sharon too, who is a very busy mum with 3ish Stella and just-turned-5 year old Milla AND a part time job as a relief teacher a couple days each week.
We're looking forward to the feast later today, and one of the reasons we like Wayne and Sharon so much is that he is a vegetarian like me! So there is always a yummy option for me at their house. Sharon, a proud meat eater, and Don, the part-time vegetarian when it suits, like to go out to eat and get all their meaty options when we hit the local restaurants.
Since New Zealanders are the first to see the new year each year, we want to wish you and everyone you love a very happy new year. From our vantage point, being first and all, it's looking like a great year for all of you so far!
We hope you get all that you want (for many of you who write us, maybe a letter from NZIS???) and that you LIVE THE DAY and enjoy every moment in the new year and all those to come.
Bring on 2008!
Angela and Don
