Drove today through more beautiful scenery on our trip from Dunedin to Lake Tekapo by way of Mount Aoraki for lunch. New Zealanders are reverting back to the original Maori names for lakes and peaks. New Zealanders embrace Maori culture as their own. Museums are signed and descriptive text is done in both English and Maori even though the Maoris are bilingual. They have an accepted blended culture. New Zealanders know how to do things right. Shame that the US and Australia didn’t do the same.

This was our first glacial melt lake. Forget its name.

This was our first view of Mount Aoraki with Lake Pukaki to the foreground. We stood on Pukaki’s shore.

Mount Aoraki is covered with glaciers. As we drove in the clouds were thickening. After lunch at the park hotel it was raining but Pukaki still was in full sunshine. We drove on to Lake Tapeko and our Airbnb abode. Following pictures are at Tapeko.

Dunedin is named after the Scottish town. The town has about 160,000 residents. The terrain is steep and hilly like SF. There are some more boxy contemporary buildings but the majority are of the pre 1940’s era. The churches and govt. buildings are all 1800’s. Residences tend to be Victorian. A beautiful mix. Bottom line, they haven’t had their 8.0 earthquake yet. Christchurch lost most of their 1800 buildings about 6 years ago. We only had one full day in Dunedin but it was great. Walked the town for hours.

Most of our contacts are with restaurant staff. There is no tipping in NZ. They team work. They are paid well, around $15-17 USD per hour. They are as kind and friendly as can be and their service is on par with the US where they work for tips. Literally every restaurant in NZ we have dined in has music in the background. Whether 5 star or 2 star, whether small town or big town hotels restaurants the music is the same type. Contemporary top 40 or the contemporary versions of 1920-30 band music. No soft mood music. Lots of white haired diners listening to rap. They like it. A sign of an unstressed society. No wonder Ruth Nader Ginsburg said she was moving here if Trump won.

The Kiwis have a beautiful country and they are aware of it and fiercely proud. Many have commented that they appreciate that we have taken 2 weeks to really see it. The country is also amazingly clean. In Picton, we parked the car and walked a block to have lunch. As we started walking, we were with a 16-17 yr. old guy carrying an armful of freshly laundered tablecloths. We enquired about the linens and he said they were for his parent’s restaurant. He walked further ahead of us. I watched as he bent over and picked up a paper cup on the sidewalk and deposited it into a street garbage can on the corner. That would NEVER happen at home.

The city funds a graffiti arts project where international artists paint murals on the sides of buildings. There are now over 40. The tourist brochures show the walking route to view the art. We covered the route and were impressed by their urban canvases. One is shown below. I put a few on my business Instagram.

Tomorrow we are off to Mt. Cook and Lake Tekapo where we will sleep.

Yesterday we did a full day trip to Doubtful Sound. Even more impressive than Milford Sound. Two days of drizzling rain but stunning scenery. Check me out under the waterfall on YouTube (Tom Brodehl).

Why build a two lane expensive bridge when you can build one. All rural bridges are like this. If you have the black arrow in your direction you have the right of way, red, you don’t. Have crossed at least 50 bridges so far. It works.

Our drive today was over 8 hours ( inc. lunch & photo ops). Made it into Dunedin (done eden) at 5:45 PM. Really got down the driving on left (leafed) side of road. Our route today took us away from the west coast (Tasmin Sea) and brought us around the southern tip of southern island to the Pacific Ocean. We hugged the coast for hours traveling through the most beautiful farmland. Following are some shots of today’s drive.

We are staying in a small town called Te Anau, on Lake Te Anau, second largest lake in NZ. It is a 2.5hr. drive to Milford Sound. Our cruise on the sound is at 1715. We left the room at 1000. Objective was trekking or as the Kiwis call it, tramping along the way to Milford. The scenery is stunning. As they say about Milford Sound, no picture does it justice. They are right.

Our first trek was through an amazing moss forest. When a tree falls, it becomes a host to hundreds of plant life.

That was an easy trek, about 45 minutes. Our next one was a two hour trek called the Routeburn. We only did the first hour of what is a 4 day hike and returned back to the car park. The first one hour was completely up hill to above the tree line. Felt 70 for the first time.

We drove on to Milford Sound for our cruise. 2 out of 3 days are raining. The other drizzles. A clear blue day is once every 10 days or so. We lucked out!! Ours was drizzly. 4days before was cloudless sunshine. The pics speak for themselves.

 

The last photo was while driving out of the park. Tomorrow we are off to Doubtful Sound.

This is our Airbnb 16′ X 16′ cube. This is in the rear yard of an architect’s home.  A loft up a ship’s ladder for sleeping but we have a mattress on a sofabed down below. Includes a kitchen (with pull out drawer dishwasher). Really cute interior. The cube is across the road from the Arrow River with hiking paths on either shore, connected with cross bridges and full of brown trout. The human access and comfort level are immense in NZ. The government spends a lot on its people. Clean  and well stocked public toilets are everywhere.

The town is an 1860’s gold mining town architecturally preserved on the main street. It is a 20 minutes drive to Queenstown and is a weekend home and restaurant destination for people from Queenstown and Dunedin. Very expensive homes. Fabulous restaurants. The downtown has a real Nevada City quality to it. It doesn’t get totally dark until 10:30-11:00. Liking the long evenings.

Tomorrow we head out to Te Anau, gateway to both Milford and Doubtful Sounds. Will do boat cruises on each.

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Really getting good at this driving on the right. We zip along at 100km on these twisting 2 lane roads, some hairpin turns at  posted 15km. This morning we left Fox Glacier (rotten visibility in clouds and rain) and drove to Arrowtown where we are spending 3 nights. Really cute gold mining town from 1800s now a second home location for the NZ rich and Chinese rich.  Architecturally preserved like Nevada City. 20 minutes from Queenstown. Below are photos from our drive. Again stunning scenery and crystal clean air. Even drove through snow flurries over summit into Arrowtown.

80% of Kiwis live on the northern island. The only fair sized towns in the south are Queensland and Christchurch. Almost all towns are under 5K population. Every town that has at least two blocks has a free standing building which houses public toilets. Each stall is stocked with hand soap dispensers, paper towels, ample tissue and they are CLEAN!!

The beauty of this island is overwhelming. Every minute offers a new panorama. We are always surrounded by steep mountains and beautiful valleys. Everything is brilliantly green. I finally have the driving thing down. I know my 4 corners. Wiz along at 100km on their 2 lane winding roads, and mom has quit yelling that I  am too close to the left shoulder.

We drove down the coast for two days. Spent the first night at a B&B in Moana. Beautiful home run by a couple. We had dinner with them and two other couples around a hugh dining table. 2Kiwis, 2Aussies, 2Germans, 2Americans. Trump dominated the conservation as expected. We all got along splendly since we were all on the same side. Brekkie was just as much fun.

• Today we drove down the rugged West coast. Stopping for numerous photo ops. The water is cold and the beaches are rocky and windblown.
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• The west coast is all rain forest. The vegetation is really lush. The roads are lined with a forest of ferns. Must be hundreds of species.
• The beaches are all rock. Beautiful rocks though, all flat and rounded.

Yesterday we sailed across the Cook Straight from Wellington on the northern island to Picton on the southern island. The trip took 3.5 hours on a car

Our sister ship returning to Wellington.

ferry as big as a small cruise ship. The size was amplified by how small the semi tractor trailers looked driving aboard the ship. Funny watching everyone on board walking like drunken sailors due to the ship rolling from side to side in the choppy waters.

We picked up our rental car at the ferry terminal and drove south to Blenheim. Always uneasy the first day driving on the left side of road. We checked into our cute Airbnb cottage in the vineyards. Their total production of Sauvignon Blanc grapes is sold to Whitehaven. Whitehaven is our favorite. We are sleeping in the middle of next year’s production.

We visited many wineries today and had lunch at Brancott Estate in a beautiful classic New Zealand contemporary architecture restaurant. I will post a YouTube video panning over their beautiful vineyards below. ( search Tom Brodehl).

I am having a difficult time formatting this Word Press blog. It inserts photos anywhere into my article out of sequence. Oh well. Tomorrow we will continue our winery crawl.

After a grueling trip (SFO to Fiji in 11 hours, 5hr. layover, Fiji to Auckland in 3 hr., 4 hr. layover, then Auckland to Wellington) we arrived and managed to go out to dinner that night and got to bed at 11. Slept like babies and were up at 7:30.

Wellington is a lot like San Francisco. A beautiful bay and steep hillside. And like SF, very walkable. Celeste and I walked for 6 hours today. We arrived yesterday to really strong winds ( a real challenge for the pilot to land with the winds buffeting our plane from side to side) and overcast skies. Today was magnificent, and warm with scattered clouds, a real treat.

Today we walked the waterfront, rode a cable car up a steep hill and walked back to town through the botanical gardens.

View From Our Hotel Room

View Across The Harbor

We looked at the above art installation and in trying to find a title or artist name, I walked around to the backside for information only to find a door on each piece with a sign on each reading Public Toilet. Now that is a country with vision. At home one is lucky to find a plastic Porta potty. Even they are too expensive. Think I’m liking this country.

Tomorrow we take the ferry to the southern island.

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2. We decided to go upriver and visit the Grand Palace. Last time was 15 years ago when Megan joined us for two weeks in Thailand. Before the development of the BTS elevated skytrain and the subway system (we remember Bangkok before both) the fastest way to move was a river boat on the Chao Praya river. Since the Grand Palace is no where near either system, we take the skytrain to Taksin Pier and catch the Chao Praya Express and head upriver to Chang Pier near the palace. The boats hold about 200 people, mostly standing and stop at designated piers along the way. The ten mile long system costs 14 Baht or roughly 40¢.
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4. The Grand Palace is old so not a lot has changed in 15 years. The buildings are as beautiful as ever. At the National Museum we saw the royal funeral carriage which will carry the king’s body through Bangkok to his cremation point. The Thai’s revered and loved king is now 88 and under constant medical care. Last week he was in the hospital to have excess water drained from his brain. His passing will traumatize this country.
5. The other real change at the Grand Palace is the tourist base. In the past, one could quietly roam through the complex enjoying the Thai Buddhists praying at the numerous shrines and alters, offering up insense and flowers. Fast forward 15 years and the Chinese tourists have taken over the tourist scene. Hundreds of tour groups (30-40 people) descend on the Grand Palace daily with their flag bearing tour guide. Each group moves en masse, half carrying sun umbrellas which are wacking me in the face. The flag bearer shouts at the top of their voices so their group hears. The Chinese speak loudly anyway. I am assuming that most Chinese have no religion growing up in a Communist country, so their was no respect of the numerous “quiet please” signs through out the complex. It was a constant battle navigating the palace grounds. It was refreshing to get out of the grounds.

6. These were all tour groups and obviously non English speaking. There are still thousands of independent Chinese travelling also but they all speak passable English, actually better than the Thai’s. Thailand is getting inundated by Chinese tourists since they are not welcomed in the Philippines, Vietnam and other SE Asian countries over the South China Sea issue.

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