New Zealand -- Milford Sound

 

One of the highlights of our Queenstown leg was our journey 180 miles west to Milford Sound near the Tasmanian Sea. The virgin forests, mountains, rivers, and waterfalls were like a return to "Jurassic Park". In fact, our bus driver-guide played the theme music from this film on his audio player as we entered the Sound.

As our boat took us through the Sound, we were dazzled by the steep mountains that met the salt water. These sights were quite moving for me and the Sound became one of several places in the world where I could sense God in the raw and untouched natural environment.

Below are some of the breath-taking sights of Milford Sound, which turned out to be both an unforgettable and unutterable experience. The waterfalls were the most intriguing, and I was able to take photos of them from different angles.

 

The boat captain knew how to please his passengers by moving closely to the shore where we could see seals lounging on the rocks and feel the sprinkles of waterfalls. 

 

 

 Our trusty boat (on the left) toured us through these beautiful waters. Upon boarding, we quickly claimed a table where we would eat our provided and delicious box lunch that included a well-stacked ham and cheese sandwich, an apple, and a brownie. We gobbled down our lunches so we could go out on deck to see the natural wonders before us. Although the boat captain provided a commentary, it was difficult to hear. However, the scenery provided enough visual stimulation that the commentary didn't matter.

 

The Road to Milford Sound

We began our four-hour bus ride to the Sound at 7 a.m. A taxi met us at the hotel at 6:45 to take us to the bus depot where several other buses were also departing for the same destination. When we boarded our bus, it was completely full. It was easy to see that Milford Sound attracts between 550,000 and 1 million visitors per year and is one of the most-visited tourist spots in the country. 

 

Our driver/guide broke up the long ride as his mellifluous voice expertly related stories of the area in a BBC radio style in an interesting and compelling way. Originally from England, he has lived in New Zealand for the past 11 years.

 

After a couple hours of riding, we stopped at a country café. However, with several buses all stopping in the same place at the same time, we engaged in a big scramble among scores of people to compete for toilets and the snack bar. This was not easy to do in just 30 minutes and be back on the bus!  However, some of my fellow travelers were adept enough at buying t-shirts, hats, or cuddly koala bears as well as finding something to eat and making a visit to the rest room. I was barely able to to hit the bathroom, eat a blueberry muffin, drink a cup of tea, and make it back to the bus. Although this part of the trip was extremely stressful, it was part of what made the trip an adventure. 

Our bus took off with everyone on it at the appointed time. However, it wasn't long before one of the kids on the bus vomited and then started crying out of embarrassment. Blinky, our guide, was seated near her and witnessed the disaster. He quickly ran up to the driver to tell him to stop the bus. Then he helped to clean up the mess, which was considerable. I've never seen such an emergency before on a trip but these quick-witted travel professionals were able to efficiently take care of it.

We made two other planned stops: one to Mirror Lakes and the other to a mountain lookout site. So even though the trip was long, the stops and the scenery took our minds off of the clock and made the ride quite an enjoyable. Below are some shots I took from the bus.

Trees communicate with one another. The soils here are not that good and trees live by entwining themselves with each other's roots. If one of the trees of the same root system goes bad, the entire group suffers and may die. The white line on this mountain illustrates this effect. It means that there are no trees there. Nature never ceases to amaze!

At Mirror Lakes, the driver gave us 15 minutes to view the sights.

 

 

We returned from Milford Sound tired but happy from the long day of 13 hours from start to finish. We dragged ourselves back to the hotel and planned to meet for a simple dinner at the sports bar next to the hotel.  

 

Our driver/guide played the theme from the film, "Jurassic Park", as we entered Milford Sound tourist area. Now, I will forever associate my memories of this day with this beautiful music.

The fiord was a playground for local Māori who knew its tidal and fish feeding patterns. European explorers didn't enter the Sound because they thought it would lead to a dead end. They also feared the steep mountainsides and changing wind conditions would prevent escape. Captain John Grono "discovered" the Sound around 1812 and named it Milford Haven after his homeland in Wales. In 1823, Captain John Lort Stokes renamed it Milford Sound. Thanks to the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998 which recognized Māori place names, the fiord's official name is Milford Sound/Piopiotahi.

 

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milford_Sound

 

New Zealand -- Queenstown -- Adventure Capital of the World

Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of the world with speed boats, helicopter rides, and cruises in various types of boats. There are all kinds of restaurants and retail shops in this small town of just a few blocks as well as a beach and a marina.

The area was discovered and first settled by Māori who called it Tāhuna, which means "shallow bay". European explorers William Gilbert Rees and Nicholas von Tunzelmann came here to settle the area. Rees established a high country farm in the current town center in 1860, but the discovery of gold in the Arrow River in 1862 encouraged him to convert his wool shed into a hotel named the Queen's Arms. It is now known as Eichardt's.

Many Queenstown streets bear names from the gold mining era (such as Camp Street) and some buildings remain and lie close together in a designated historic precinct. 

There are various accounts of how Queenstown gained its name, of which the following appears to be the most likely:  

"When William Rees first arrived in the area and built his homestead, the area was known as The Station although miners soon referred to it as The Camp from 1860 to 1862. The miners, and especially the Irish, had taken an interest in the ceremony held for a town called Cobh in Ireland (then part of the United Kingdom) which was renamed Queenstown in honour of Queen Victoria in 1850.

In January 1863, the town was officially given the name of Queenstown.

The mountains overlooking the bay are called The Remarkables and they provide a dramatic view of the Queenstown area. The beach is part of the actual city.

 

Queenstown is quite a lively city with restaurants, shops, meeting places for adventure tours. Many 19th century buildings make for a different kind of resort experience. The white hotel called Eichardt's used to be a wool shed until gold was found.

 

 

 

The water taxi shuttled us between our hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

One of the highlights of our time in Queenstown was a dinner stop at the famous Fergburger, rated by CNN as the best burger in the world.

 

 

 

 

The line was too long to order our carry-out, but it went rather quickly. Because the sun can get hot, the restaurant provides umbrellas for those waiting.

 

 

 

The food on this trip has been fatty, greasy, and heavy. Even so, I've been unable to resist it. At times, like tonight, I couldn't eat another thing. For dinner at Queenstown, we stopped at Ferburgers but had no more room in my stomach after a lunch of pork belly sandwiches and potatoes at the winery. I did decide to buy the frites, which were delicious, and a Coke to try to fizz down all the grease I had eaten on this day. Despite all the walking we've done, I gained 4 kilos on this trip. That's 9 pounds in 4 weeks! Just too much heavy food, snacks, a lack of salads and vegetables, and too much pasta in Melbourne. I was just unable to control myself!

 

 

Gerri and Terri (behind the driver) went on a speed boat tour on the lakes and loved it immensely--especially Gerri. 

 

One of the activities we pursued in Queenstown was a day-long trip to Milford Sound. For details on that trip, click here to see my blog on it.

 

 

 

Our last night in New Zealand called for an extravagant meal of four courses with each course offering several choices. Unfortunately, I was too busy eating and only took a photo of this old poster.

We had 3 appetizers, 3 main dishes, 3 side dishes, and 2 desserts. It took us two hours to eat all of this food. I was moderate in my eating--until we hit the desserts. Then, I felt over-stuffed. I settled into the night trying to get all the food digested before I went to bed.

 

 

Our hotel rooms in Queenstown were fabulous with separate rooms for every function. And we stayed there for three nights! Actually, I appreciated our hotels in both New Zealand and Australia, but this one was the best with all the amenities--and a huge bed with lots of pillows for snuggling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Queenstown was the last stop of our three-week tour. We fly back to Sydney where we will spend one night before we make our way home. I surprised myself by looking forward to getting back to France and hearing French language again. France has become quite ingrained in me--and I'm happy for that.

A taxi will pick us up at 1 pm to take us to the airport.  Our plane leaves for Sydney at 3:25 pm. While we were waiting in the hotel lobby, I had one last conversation with one of my fellow travelers about single and divorced women being the most liberated because they chose to be single rather than allow circumstances to choose their lifestyles for them. It was a confirming conversation.

Once we arrived in Sydney and checked into our hotel, the few of us who were left had dinner at an Italian restaurant. It was a nice way to say good-bye.

 

 
Resources

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queenstown,_New_Zealand

 

New Zealand -- Sheep Station

Sheep are a major export product in New Zealand. Farmers raise merino wool, which is a very high quality wool. Merino sheep originated in Spain and were brought to New Zealand where they took very well to the climate. Sheep produce wool for about seven years until they can no longer eat the grass. 

The sheep station we visited near Fairlie, has 4,000 sheep on 500 hectares (one field is 200 hectares and the other is 300 hectares). The farm was formerly owned by Tom, who still works the farm and is shown below shearing the sheep. He sold it to Mitch and Charlotte, a young couple with three kids, who he helped financially by supplying them with loans. He assists them as much as he can and seems glad that Mitch and Charlotte took over the farm--and that their three sons are in line to take it over from them. It's his legacy.

The process of sheep shearing is letting the sheep know who is the boss. And the sheep learn that it is less a struggle if they cooperate. This mother is showing her newborn how it is done. Tom took less than 5 minutes to shear her. Sheep shearers are paid by the number of sheep they shear, so they learn how to work quickly.

 

 

 

 

Charlotte explains that the sheared wool is collected and put into this compactor, which packages it in these 350-kilo sacks and sent to markets in China, the USA, and Indonesia. Wool goes for $52 and meat is $8. This farm also produces silage, which is cattle feed prepared by treatment in a silo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The big, beefy hands of a sheep shearer after years of work with the sheep.

Jackaroo in training. A jackaroo is a young man working on a sheep or cattle station, who gains practical experience in the skills needed to become an owner, overseer, manager, etc. The oldest son on the station is starting out his career by learning how to drive the equipment.

The word, jackaroo, originated in Queensland, Australia in the 19th century and is still in use in Australia and New Zealand today. Its origins are unclear, although it is firmly rooted in Australian English, Australian culture , and in the traditions of the Australian stockmen. A jillaroo is a woman. Ringers are cowboys.

As Charlotte said, the family works the farm 24/7/365, but they like the life they live in the place where they live it. It takes place outdoors and ownership allows them to be their own boss. School is five minutes away, and Mitch and Charlotte are satisfied with it for their kids. The kids can play outdoors--and they learn to do the work.

Farming is hard work economically and physically and farmers really struggle to make a living. You can never depend on a stable price: markets shift and situations change. For example, Covid affected the farm in that the workers had to stay clear of it. But the sheep needed tending despite the fact that there were lock-downs and work stoppages. Sheep can get Covid, but apparently they didn't.

On this sheep station, Charlotte and Mitch also raise lamb and mouton, which is less valuable than wool but another way to make money. The difference in the meat is defined by the sheep's teeth. When the lambs get their adult teeth, they become mouton. Farmers in Fairlie are now looking into producing sheep cheese.

 

 

In January 2019, there were 27.4 million sheep living in New Zealand. The sheep to person ratio in New Zealand was 5.6 to 1. At one time, the sheep to person ratio in was as high as 22 to 1. As of June 2022, there were approximately 25.14 million sheep in New Zealand, a decrease from the previous year when there were around 25.73 million sheep in the country.

The British brought agriculture to New Zealand and Australia beginning in 1788. They also brought cattle at a time when England was in recession. This included dairy cattle. Agriculture was slower to develop in Australia because of its soils while agriculture in New Zealand took off rather well. (The British also brought deer with them so that they could hunt.) Southland dairy cattle increased sixteen-fold (1,584 percent) from 38,000 to 636,000 while beef cattle decreased by 15.3 percent nationally from 4.6 million to 3.9 million.