Reflection on Australia and New Zealand

On the last day of our visit to New Zealand, I took some time to reflect on the trip.  

We have seen more places than 80 percent of Aussies and Kiwis have seen, said Blinky, our guide. In Australia, we have been in two major cities (Sydney and Melbourne), the Outback, the rain forest, and the Great Barrier Reef. We saw flooding due to extreme rainfall in the desert as well as lower temperatures for this time of the summer. In New Zealand, we saw the changes in urban Auckland and the majestic countryside of the South Island, complete with a tour of the Milford Sound. We learned about efforts each country is making to be more multicultural, especially with the indigenous peoples who lived there before the white colonialists arrived.

Our flights were all on-time, our hotels comfortable and well-sited, and our local bus drivers were excellent and safe. Meals were good, and we sampled many local favorites even though some of them were overly fatty. One great revelation of this trip is that I am too sedentary and need to get more exercise. I also found that I longed to be home again in France and hearing the language even though I still don't understand it completely. It will also be good to get back to simple meals--I don't want to see eggs for breakfast for a LONG time! 

As I write this, I am in Queenstown seated on a simple park bench with a memorial plaque bearing the names of a couple who had lived in the area for 28 years. I suddenly became connected to them, which led to a reflection of this trip and what it has meant to me.

The couple probably placed the bench here because they enjoyed the exquisite beauty of the landscape and wanted to share it with others. This view has changed a few times over the past 150 years when the white Europeans settled this land first as a gold mining town and now as a fun and adventure park. And yet, as you look beyond these "uses" of the land, the land's profound beauty remains. 

The wind rustles the green and yellow leaves of the trees. The deep blue water contrasts the view with the timelessness of the mountains that stand there ever-present like the tabernacle of a cathedral. The permanence of the mountains is God-like. The peace and quiet of this place contrasts the noise, pretension, pain, and suffering of our modern world, which once again witnesses Nature's enduring presence. The crunching sound of walkers and bicycles on the gravel path beside the bench represents the various intrusions onto this land: The Māori. The colonizers. The industrialists. The tourists. What have they given? What have they taken? How were they changed? What do they understand? The Cambridges who lived here for 28 years left a simple park bench that overlooks the beauty of this lake and mountains.

At 72 years old, I look back on my life and try to figure out what I have to leave to this world. What is my legacy? The intangibles: educating young people, informing the public about various institutions, serving God as a Sister of St. Joseph and now as an associate and staff member of the International Centre. I have been one who prepares others for their own journey ahead. I'm the "in-between". I'm also on the edge of what normal people do, never fully investing in any one thing. I sample things and prefer to know a little about a lot instead of delving deeply and expertly into one thing. That I finally found journalism as my metier was a long journey, but I made it. That I have been able to travel and now live in France has been a dream come true. I am satisfied and grateful for this wonderful gift.

However, I won't leave the world anything concrete such as a bench for people to sit on and enjoy the beauty and peace of this place. But, perhaps, my writings are my legacy. I've written hundreds of articles and blogs. Once I return to the USA, I'll compile them in book form and give them to my nephew or maybe the Kalamazoo Public Library. 

I have lived a good life and enjoyed it. , and I have seen the world and encountered people from all walks of life and studied many different cultures. Not many people have done that nor do they have such a desire. And even though I'll never be recognized for my efforts, I did accomplish what I set out to do in life. That is satisfaction enough. I did end up doing what I wanted even though I struggled knowing exactly what that would be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another quiet walk along the lakeshore and another view of the Remarkable Mountains gave me a moment to give thanks to my Dad for helping me finance this incredible trip of a lifetime: three weeks in Australia and New Zealand--with other trips to come.

Our time here is now coming to an end and in a day or so we will all go home. It's a sad sort of feeling to have spent this much time with a group of people only to say good-bye and probably never see or communicate with them again. However, the memories, stories, and photos of the places we have visited are treasures that we will have forever. That is pure gift. I thank all my fellow travelers and Blinky, our guide, for this supreme pleasure.

 

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