Bungee jumping and refrigerated ships

Well today was a big day for Catheleen. Apparently bungee jumping was on her bucket list, so what better place to go bungee jumping than where it all started in 1988, at the Kawarau bridge near Queenstown. She was a bit nervous perhaps, but she executed a near perfect swan dive off the platform, and plunged 43 meters to the river below before bouncing back. When I asked her the secret to her success, she said that first of all you need to pay the fee to jump (which is non-refundable by way, even if you chicken out). Next when you jump you don't look down obviously, because who would jump off a perfectly functional bridge? Bet to imagine you are just jumping from a regular dock into a lake. The kids and I cheered her on as she jumped, as she yelled 'Carpe Diem' on the way down. Good for Catheleen - it was thrilling enough to watch her and others jump, one after another... much like lemmings off a cliff. Good kitty!

We're enjoying our cottage accommodations in Arrowtown. It's somewhat of a fishbowl though with bright windows on both sides of a small living room and kitchen area. But I do like the light coming in from outside, and the views of the surrounding hills and mountains are amazing. This place is definitely an upgrade from many of the places we've stayed. We have two separate bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a washer/dryer. Most times we're lucky to get one separate bedroom and perhaps the other bedroom is in the main room. That's the thing about long term travelling - you're purposely accepting a lower standard of living en route in pursuit of new experiences (unless money is no object). I've forgotten what it's like to have a dresser which actually holds my socks.

I've been thinking about New Zealand and what makes it tick ever since we arrived a couple weeks ago. It really is very similar to Canada in so many respects. The prices are about the same or slightly more expensive, the standard of living is about the same of slightly lower. Maybe the roads are in better shape, probably due to a milder winter climate. After awhile I stopped noticing the quirky Kiwi accent. The country is a modern, open, market-based economy. You can sense the British heritage in many ways including some of the food, and the polite and formal manners. They export different goods in different proportions than Canada like wool, lamb, milk and wine, but that's because they have a different climate and somewhat different terrain. They definitely make productive use of what they have.

It's not a populous country by any stretch of the mind. It's about the same size as the UK but with less than a tenth of the population. But it's amazing to me how much the country has developed in its short modern history, after the first Europeans started arriving in 1850. Take where we are now, the resort town of Queensland. It was first settled in 1860 as a farm but within two years, due to a gold rush in nearby Arrowtown, Queenstown was a bustling place of tents, streets, and new buildings going up fast. Once the gold petered out, the town remained.

New Zealand has an interesting history in terms of its economy. While it now produces many goods and services, the economy was partly built on the meat packing trade. Britain's growing population in the latter half of the 1800's had outstripped its food supply. Once refrigerated ships became viable in the 1880's, New Zealand acquired a ready and preferential market for its lamb and beef. This transformed much of New Zealand into pastureland that is still visible today. These days, besides sheep, dairy cows take up more of the pastureland, providing milk to Australia and increasingly Asia.

But until the 1950's, the U.K. was the biggest customer for animal products. That all changed by the 1970's, when the UK entered the European Economic Community, and had to end many of its preferential trade deals. After that, New Zealand went backwards from one of the richest countries in the world. It has since recovered after some radical changes to its economy in the 1980's to make it more open and less protectionist. Today while some quibble that income levels are not quite so high as Australia, the standard of living looks comparable from my observations.

Here's Catheleen taking the leap of faith. They test their bungee cords often - right?