New Zealand – Pristine, Friendly, Tidy, Punctual and Safe, with a Healthy Dose of Fun

So many adjectives to describe this special country and its people. Everything is clean and orderly and runs on time. So clean in fact that we saw many people out and about walking down the sidewalks barefoot! And truly we have never felt as safe anywhere as we did in New Zealand. We were mesmerized by scenery in New Zealand through our initial 2-1/2 weeks of travel. But the best was yet to come. The South Island is home to the Southern Alps, which occupy the central portion of the island in a north south direction and rival the American Rockies. The highest peak is Mt. Cook at over 12,000 feet. The southwestern coastal area is occupied by Fjordland National Park with majestic mountains emerging out of the sea. We have never cruised Alaska or the Scandinavian countries, but imagine they are similar to New Zealand’s fjords.

We noted in our post regarding the cruise that unfavorable weather diverted our ship away from the southern portion of the South Island and we missed seeing Milford Sound, Dusky Sound and Doubtful Sound. We reorganized our plans and flew to Queenstown in order to do an excursion to Milford Sound. The 13-hour winding journey took us through some of the most stellar scenery we had seen yet. Our guide was a French man named Eric who was exceptionally knowledgeable about the geology and history of the area. We made several stops along the 4-hour one-way drive to take in the scenery. An array of photos follows:

We took a boat cruise of Milford Sound that also included informative narration and a buffet lunch. It was raining when we arrived and the weather worsened as we sailed along. We spent more of the ride inside than out, but in the last ½ hour or so, blue skies appeared. Beautiful.

We also took a day trip to see Mt. Cook, which ended up being underwhelming since the mountain was essentially masked by clouds. Our driver/guide, Tom, was a bit dry. Oh well. The lessor mountains were pretty and it was a fine enough day anyway.

After two days of tours, we ended up with 1-1/2 unstructured days. Little did we know how much we would enjoy Queenstown. With the nearby mountains and lakes, Queenstown is New Zealand’s year round adventure capitol. We saw all sorts of offers for bungy jumping, bungy swings, parasailing, hiking, mountain biking, winter skiing, etc. You get the idea. As a result, Queenstown attracts visitors from around the globe. The town had quaint shops, bars, restaurants and a high energy vibe. And the weather could not have been nicer. Perfect for al fresco dining and enjoying the numerous street entertainers where even the dogs get into the act.

Most of the service workers were from elsewhere. The town was filled with fit young people and an abundance of outdoor outfitters. Evidently, young people come for the adventure and end up staying. Again, we really missed out when we were in our 20s. If we ever return to New Zealand, we would definitely return to Queenstown.

But, alas, our days in Queenstown had to end and we jetted back to Christchurch. Had we known that we would need to rearrange our schedule, we would not have returned to Christchurch at all, but our flight back to Australia was tied to multiple future flights so we didn’t want to pay to rebook. As it turns out, our time in Christchurch was quite worthwhile. Christchurch suffered two major earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 and had years of devastating aftershocks, the effects of which were very apparent, even 9+ years later. The Cathedral in the center of the city was severely damaged and has not been razed or restored. Fundraising is ongoing with the hopes of restoring this historic structure. In the meantime, it is totally barricaded with numerous signs warning that it is structurally unsafe.

Likewise, this historic structure is barricaded and braced, hoping for a new life.

We spent several hours in Quake City, a museum associated with the Canterbury Museum, and learned many details about the quakes and watched videos of local residents telling powerful personal stories. Hundreds died. Ultimately 80% of the commercial buildings in downtown Christchurch had to be demolished, as well as tens of thousands of homes. The central business district currently has mostly new buildings or vacant lots. Some of the vacant parcels have interim uses as public spaces or for public art exhibits. This “furniture” was covered with Astro Turf.

The riverfront parkland is beautiful, with a restaurant and bar plaza known as The Terrace. Interestingly, Christchurch is home to Circotica, a circus school. We had no idea that there actually was such a thing. Per its website, “Circotica was granted funding by the Christchurch City Council to open a circus school to assist in rebuilding the arts in Christchurch post-earthquakes.” As it would happen, they were hosting a Bread & Circus buskers event while we were there. There were multiple plazas and parks with hourly live acts that were very entertaining and even death-defying. You have to check out this guy’s act. Keep in mind that there was a brisk and variable speed wind blowing the whole tip. He is standing on a 10 foot straight extension type ladder. We were sure he was going to fall. The buskers work for tips, passing the hat, literally. Here is a video of the request for tips before he does his big trick. I cut the trick out because it went on for another three minutes.

And mullet man with the gymnasts and a live rock band-

This was our last stop in New Zealand. We hope we can return someday.