Farewell and reflections on our Pacific tour

Tomorrow is our last day in Fiji, before heading to Tulsa Oklahoma on Saturday to spend Christmas with Catheleen's family. After Tulsa it is back to Ottawa before the New Year.

On these last days of our trip abroad, sitting by the pool enjoying the weather, it's as good a time as any to reflect on the trip and write my last blog. Thank you to everyone who has kept reading throughout our adventure. I'm thinking about gathering up this blog along with the kids' blogs and Catheleen's Facebook entries, and creating a book for our coffee table. I think it will be fun to take the book off the shelf years from now, and reminisce about our family trip to the Pacific back in 2015.  

Catheleen and I had been thinking about taking a mid-career break (Catheleen would say late-career break) to do some travelling with the kids for years. We agreed a year ago there was no better time than 2015 to do so. John (now 13) and Elizabeth (age 10) were old enough to get some experiences out of the trip and hopefully remember it. I think they have many memories from our journey, and many stories to tell their friends when they get home. Some of them may even be true!

We sure had some adventures and laughs along the way. We had a great time on B.C.'s west coast visiting my family and exploring Vancouver island. From the small restaurants of Tokyo we slurped many noodle soups and watched well dressed commuters come and go, all on their smart phones. A highlight in Thailand was our sailing trip around Ko Tao, snorkeling amongst the coral islands and white sand beaches; the banana pancakes and green curry were also great. The laid back but very hot land of Laos felt like the end of the earth, with ladies riding side-saddle on motorcycles with parasols. Vietnam was a beautiful but frenetic place with amazing food and insane traffic. Indonesia offered us contrasts between the relaxed Hindu culture of Bali, and the Muslim culture of Java with its call to prayer. Singapore was a place of order and great international cuisine within a gleaming, modern cosmopolitan city-state; and the kids won't soon forget our amazing day at Universal Studios. Downtown Sydney was a fun place to enjoy a good beer by the harbour after listening to stories of life and adventure when the place was a convict colony. In New Zealand we explored the county's amazing scenery as we drove around the south island; the north island offered us some Maori culture, the windy capital of Wellington and the very livable cosmopolitan city of Auckland. Fiji was a relaxed stop on the way home, where we experienced island life in the South Pacific on Fiji time.

Before this trip, when I explained ours plans, some people thought what a great experience it would be for the kids. I think this has largely panned out, but it has also been a great experience and break for all of us, and an opportunity to bond even closer as a family. Having said that, I think everyone is looking forward to a little more space once we're back.

Travel opens the mind, and at its best is a journey of self discovery. After travelling around the Pacific, I think we've learnt a few things about ourselves, especially when we encountered the odd problem. But I think the best tip I picked up on this trip was from someone in Bali who said, "Stop and listen to the brook". Yes, good advice indeed.

As we left Canada at the best time of the year in July 2015, I wondered if we would find anywhere as great as Canada. The north island of New Zealand came close by the way, but that may have been because it seemed so familiar to me. But I don't think I was asking the right question - the quest is not to find the best place to live, but rather to live the best in your place.


We'll soon be back in Canada to get back to work and school - doesn't sound so bad if you ask me. As we like to say after every trip, it's nice to go away but it's nice to come home. Farewell and happy travels.

Resort activities on Fiji time

We're at a Outrigger Resort on the coral coast on this last week in Fiji. The resort is very nice - similar in many ways to the resorts we've visited over the years, but different. When we arrived at the resort we drove up to park our car, and were greeted by the attendant. As he opened the gate, he raised his hands high in the air and yelled "BULA!" in a loud booming voice. It startled the heck out of us, and then we started to laugh. The attendant does this every time we park the car.

Today was a rainy day, so John asked that I play bingo with him after lunch. To my surprise I won the first game and a free cocktail. John was one square short, and kicked himself that we didn't swap bingo cards at the start. As I said to John, it's nice to win. Elizabeth joined the kid's club today, and enjoyed hiking, egg tossing, snorkeling, and boogie board racing. She was the only kid her age there who wasn't from Australia or New Zealand. She said that her new found friends first didn't believe that she was from Canada, and when they finally believed her, they wanted her to choose which of the two countries she liked best. She wisely didn't choose.

John has been kicking around the resort doing his own thing. He befriended a number of the Fijian staff members, and convinced one to drive him around the resort on a golf cart. It all worked out until they had a flat tire and had to walk the rest of the way back. He also talked his way into the gym to use some of the exercise equipment, even though you are supposed to be 17 years of age or over. The latest of his shenanigans involved first getting a few dollars from me to buy a snack, and then using the code on the receipt to access the Internet laptops in the café. The only problem was he needed to be 15 to use the Internet café by himself without a parent. John claimed to be 14 and 1/2, hoping that the attendant would be nice and let him in. She would have none of it. I'm not sure how claiming he was under 15 was going to help his cause.

The resort is intended to showcase indigenous Fijian culture. Catheleen overheard an Australian father admonish his two young daughters, who were around five years old, to get out of the pool. He said that they didn't travel half way across the world to swim in the pool all day, and rather need to go experience some Fijian culture. First of all, I'm not sure five year olds even know what culture is, and secondly, they didn't travel that far. There are cultural experiences to be found here though, including listening to some of the singing groups performing around the resort. Singing is a tradition here, and they even have a poignant goodbye song a group sings as guests depart.

Almost all the staff seem to be indigenous Fijians. Many of them are quite overweight I've noticed, in stark contrast to the typically slim Asians we're seen all throughout South East Asia. Speaking with Lynn last week, she noted that the diet in Fiji is poor, which contributes to a great deal of heart disease, diabetes, and an early grave for many. Too much of everything is the norm for many unfortunately.

We've driven to the local town a few times now. It's a small town but buzzing with activity. They have a covered market with fresh fruits, vegetables, and seafood, and many vendors sell their vegetables and other items on the street, mostly spread out on mats. One lady had conical sea shells for sale, all fresh with the muscle or sea creature inside the shell - I don't know what type of sea food this was. We stopped by a few Indian stalls selling sweets, and picked up a few squares and balls, all brightly coloured and tasty. As always, we ended up at the bread shop to pick up some fresh bread, butter and various pastries. It's curious that inevitably an indigenous Fijian will strike up a conversation with us and point us to his store or a Fijian market, and warn us about the local Indian vendors who are supposedly aggressive. Funny thing though, the Indian vendors have been anything but aggressive. What a strange rivalry exists between these two groups.

We're enjoying the sunsets around here too. Just tonight we had dinner at a restaurant along the coast and just marvelled at the clouds, calm sea, and setting sun. It's nice to take it slow and enjoy the moment. As they say around here, we're on Fijian time.

Here's Elizabeth's silhouette after sunset near the restaurant.

Mud pools and stray dogs

We're back at the Hilton for an afternoon by the pool. It's not as hot today which is nice, and it's certainly been good to get to the pools this week, something we missed in Australia and New Zealand. It gives the kids access to some exercise.

Yesterday we visited the Sobeto Thermal Mud Pool. I wasn't keen on going at first. Something about the thermal part didn't appeal - it's already hot here. Also I wasn't thrilled about the mud part - who wants to get all dirty? But as it turned out it was a fun activity and I'm glad we went.

When we first arrived at the mud pool in bathing suits with cameras in hand, we were presented with buckets of mud drawn from the mud pool. We proceeded to coat ourselves in mud from head to toe, and then we let the it dry. I found it cooling to be covered in mud. I can see how this works for elephants and other animals. It must be the combination of protection from the sun and the slow evaporation effect from the drying mud which makes it cool. John wasn't too impressed with the idea of coating himself in mud at first, but he joined in once everyone else started. He did seem a little concerned though as the mud stiffened up. When we stretched it felt very strange as the mud cracked and stretched. After a while, we soaked in the mud pool itself, with contained a few feet of water over the warm mud below. As we stepped in, we sank up to our knees in the goop, and the kids tried jumping from a tree into the mud pool. After we washed off the mud as best we could, we soaked in a separate, and mud-free thermal pool for a while.

After our mudding experience we joined a kava drinking ceremony going on for a tour group that had just arrived. This time the kids joined us and they each had some kava. It was interesting to see each of the kids' reaction when they drank the kava. Elizabeth smiled, but you could see the grimace on her face for an instant. She later said it tasted like mud and she felt like she was going to throw up. I think she was exaggerating, but I don't see them trying the drink again. Me either frankly.

Lynn, the owner of the bed and breakfast we're staying at, used to drink a lot of kava, but not anymore. I asked why, and she said that after she had her daughter, she found that it was hard for her to wake up at night and in the morning to take care of her daughter. Lynn had an interesting perspective on life in Fiji, not all of it positive. A common observation from her again and again is how laid back the Fijians are, sometimes to their detriment.

One issue we've seen a lot here is a stray dog problem. Where we are staying we've seen and heard packs of stray dogs wandering the neighbourhood and fighting with the local property owners' dogs. Some people have taken to poisoning the dogs. Lynn has gone through a few dogs since hers have been poisoned, likely by accident. There are plans to build a dog shelter, funded mainly by a wealthy private family who recently emigrated to the island. It will be better for the dogs and locals when this dog problem is under control. They sure howl at night - good thing we have our ear plugs.

Here's Catheleen and me about as dirty as we're ever likely to be.

Fiji coups and kava

I think the quality of life for Fijians is about average for a developing country. Their standard of living is about the same as Indonesians based on their incomes. Not as high as Thais, but much higher than Vietnamese. About 70% percent of the Fijian population relies on subsistence farming. Quality of life, based on the human development index, places it in the middle rank of countries. Average life expectancy is 72, a few years behind the developed world.

The country certainly has its problems, which I think it's doing its best to resolve. One of the biggest issues it faces is racial tensions between the indigenous-Fijians and the Indo-Fijians. When the country gained its independence from the British in 1970, the Indo-Fijians wanted equal rights and privileges, while the indigenous Fijians were concerned about protecting their customary lands and communal life.

We got a sense for this communal life when we visited a primarily Indo-Fijian market today. A lady saw us eyeing the kava powder for sale, and asked us if we wanted to visit an indigenous Fijian market. We said yes and were led around and up some stairs to a craft store. Once inside, we were treated to an indigenous-Fijian welcoming ceremony, still widely practised to welcome visitors and guests throughout Fiji. We sat barefoot on a mat across from two gentlemen. One of them made some kava by straining water through a cloth containing grey powder, and strained it into a communal bowl. The powder was made from ground kava root. We clapped once, I drank the kava from a carved coconut shell, and then clapped three times. Then we shook hands as friends. Catheleen did the same. The kava didn't taste like much, just somewhat bitter; I imagine if I drank clay it might taste like this. It also gave me a strange light-headed feeling and a tingling sensation in my throat.

This community life also includes many community obligations. Lynn who runs the bed and breakfast told me about karekare, which requires anyone to comply with any reasonable request from an indigenous Fijian, like the loan of shovel for example. She said you must comply with these requests or face social disapproval from this group. Extended families are very important, and requests to support extended family members cannot be ignored. It's not uncommon for indigenous-Fijian relatives in town to house cousins, nephews or nieces from rural areas so the children have better access to schools.

Back to my story. In 1970, the British brokered a compromise where each group could elect 22 members to parliament, with the remaining 8 seats up for grabs. This gave the indigenous-Fijians a slight advantage based on their population. What has transpired since over the last 45 years, with four coups and four constitutions, can best be described as a microcosm of racial tension and healing. At the moment the country seems more united as one multi-cultural nation.

The first two coups in 1987 were staged by military leaders on behalf of other indigenous Fijians, who felt threatened by the first coalition party of Indo-Fijians and other parties. This prime minister, who was overthrown in the coup, was elected partly based on a fast growing Indo-Fijian population, along with growing support for coalitions between the two racial groups. The new constitution stacked the deck in favour of the indigenous-Fijians however, and led to an exodus of Indo-Fijians and economic stagnation. The Indo-Fijian population dropped from slight majority to slight minority.

The country re-grouped, punished the perpetrators somewhat, and amended the constitution in 1997 back to the 1970-style constitution. But in 2000 there was another coup shortly after the first Indo-Fijian prime minister was elected. This time it was orchestrated by a local civilian businessman under the pretext of supporting indigenous-Fijians. He was also upset with the cancellation of some of his contracts, after a new government was elected. This was the only bloody coup with 15 dead, and the military leaders were implicated in the coup but nothing was proved. Within a couple years the coup leader was serving life and the 1997 constitution was restored.

Next in 2006, Fiji's military leader staged a coup to topple the government, under the pretext of government corruption, but mostly to prevent amnesty for the remaining participants in the 2000 coup. The leader promised a new race neutral constitution and free elections within two years. It was 2013 before the new constitution was issued and 2014 before new elections were held.

The new constitution is definitely an improvement over the previous three, since the Indo and indigenous Fijians no longer vote for a separate group of parliament members. Now each vote counts the same. In fact, the only differentiation between these groups is indigenous Fijians are entitled to the lease-hold rents from customary land. Over two thirds of Fiji land is customary land, which can't be sold and can only be leased. Some of it has been leased for development based on 99 year leases.

I think the jury is out on whether these two groups can get along for the common good. The elections held last year were free and fair, and a coalition party representing all Fijians won out over a party representing indigenous Fijians' interests. But they'll need to stop the coups for one thing, and trust each other more. The current cooperation will be tested again if the Indo-Fijians become the majority group by population. If they can stay united over the next generation, come what may, I think they will have set a good example to the world for tolerance.

I wish them well. It's a beautiful country and it would be a shame to see the country's future squandered over racial tension.

Here's Tony, who welcomed us into his store with a kava drinking ceremony.

Fiji and Indian food

We've been in Fiji for a few days now and we're starting to get to know a few things about another country. This is the first time we've visited a tropical place and rented a car at the same time. This has given us much more freedom to explore the area than if we just stayed at an all encompassing resort, something we tend to do for March breaks when we go to Mexico or the Dominion Republic with the kids.

We're staying for a week at a place near Nadia town. It's a separate house next to the owner Lynn's place, a British lady who is married to a Fijian. It's a nice enough place with a pool. There's no air conditioning, but luckily the nights are cool. It does heat up to 30 degrees Celsius during the day pretty quickly though, so we make use of the pool often to stay cool.

I can see why Fiji is a famous vacation location that everyone seems to have heard of. The weather is near perfect with a warm ocean and cool breezes. The people are friendly and welcoming, and say bula, meaning hello. This is a popular holiday destination for Australians and New Zealanders mainly, since it's relatively close by.

On Sunday and Tuesday we visited the Hilton and Radisson resorts respectively. We were surprised at first that we could visit these resorts but they have both been welcoming to day guests like us. Since these resorts make their profits selling meals and drinks to their patrons, they are happy for us to show up to buy a few drinks. I think it also helps that it's off season and the places are not fully booked up, so there are always lounge chairs available.

On Monday we visited the Garden of the Sleeping Giant, a property with many walking paths with orchids, lily ponds and other cultivated gardens of various trees and flowers. The place used to be owned by Raymond Burr, the actor who played Perry Mason in the popular 50's and 60's TV show. He had an interest in orchids, and helped discover many previously unknown orchids.

We visited the market in Nadia this morning. I didn't recognize some of the local fruits and vegetables, but we did enjoy looking around the stalls. They sell a lot of pineapples, and a root called kava, which is ground down into a powder and used to make a popular drink. The drink is an acquired taste and apparently makes you very relaxed if you drink enough of it. It will also make your face feel numb. The local Fijians drink this every day. It's not a drug and is legal in Canada and the U.S.

We've been trying some of the local Indian food, which has been really good. Half the population is of Indian decent, the descendants of indentured labourers who came to work here from India in the 1870's through 1916, when indentured work was finally banned. Indentured workers often had a five year contract, after which time most people stayed on. Most couldn't afford to return home even if they wanted to. Fiji was a British colony from the 1870's until 1970, when the country gained its independence. The country has had an interesting period since then with four coups and four constitutions. I'll save that story for the next blog though - it's quite the tale.

Here we are at the Radisson resort today.

Killer whales and volcanic eruptions

We drove from Thames along The Firth of Thames bay to Auckland. Here we stayed at a place north of Auckland for two nights and then spent two nights in downtown Auckland before flying out for Fiji on Saturday morning.

The bed and breakfast north of Auckland had a great view of the bay. The owner, Rod, had built a pathway down a steep slope through the trees to a common path that led to the sandy beach below. Catheleen and I walked the path strewn with broken shells, and it was great to stroll the beach and look at the houses on the beach front and surrounding tan coloured cliffs. The place has a few big and modern houses, something we haven't seen much of throughout most of New Zealand. It's not surprising since this is New Zealand's only true big city with a population of 1.4 million. One in three New Zealanders lives in Auckland. For whatever reason, tensions exists between Aucklanders and the rest of New Zealand, especially the further south you go. The term JAFA for an Aucklander means "Just Another F***ing Aucklander", or if you're an Aucklander, "Just Another Fabulous Aucklander". Reminds me some of the rivalries between Canadain cities and regions.

We were told that killer whales have been seen in the bay, but we didn't see any when we were there. The ocean is warming up, this being late spring, and we saw people swimming here without wet suits. There's a swimming raft out in the bay, and we were told swimmers have been trapped there for awhile as killer whales swam about. There's been no reports of orcas hurting anyone, but I definitely would stay put on the raft if I spotted an orca.

One morning on my way down the path, Rod was working on re-shelling the path. He pointed out a Kauri tree, with a trunk not much bigger than a broomstick, that he planted 17 years ago. He said this tree was doing very well for its age. Unfortunately these trees, among the oldest and biggest in the world, were mostly wiped out by the forestry industry in the 1800's. Nowadays the forestry industry harvests mostly foreign species that do well here like Monterey Pines, that can grow to harvest size in under 20 years. We saw whole forests of these trees in the north of the South Island especially, all planted in rows in easily seen patterns. After awhile we started to distinguish between the local trees and the foreign trees. We've met a few people with an appreciation for the local trees, which was great to see.

In downtown Auckland we started off with a visit to the Auckland Museum, with floors for natural history, Maori and pacific people, and war. The kids went straight for the Minecraft exhibit of the Gallipoli campaign, which local university students put together. I really liked the volcano exhibit. We sat in a living room with a screen showing the Auckland harbour while the news came on the television. The newscast announced slow progress on the evacuation of Auckland, following warnings of volcano activity in the harbour. The newscast was interrupted when the volcano slowly started to rise out of the harbour, and then a rolling cloud of ash and steam quickly rushed into Auckland, covering the neighbourhood, while the house shook. It was a bit unnerving. Best advice, if you're living in Auckland and this thousand year event occurs - get out of town early if you can. The exhibit included a cast of a crouching figure who died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius over 2000 years ago. Most of the 20,000 inhabitants of Pompeii evacuated the day before the eruption based on some warning signs. The few that remained to protect their property did not survive and were buried in over two meters of ash.

Yesterday we did a family activity called The Great Escape, where we were locked in a room for an hour, and we needed to find the clues to get out. The room was in an Alice in Wonderland theme, and we needed to work as a team to solve the clues. It was really a lot of fun and well done, and we managed to get out with only 30 seconds to spare! The kids especially loved this, and solved most of the puzzles themselves.

I liked this sign at a coffee shop in Auckland. If you're going for hyperbole, you might as well go all the way.

Hot water beach and German immigrant culture shock

We spent a few days in the town of Thames, a bit east of Auckland around a bay called The Firth of Thames. We explored the town and the area, and on Sunday we drove north up the peninsula's west coast to the town of Coromandel, a quaint small town having a motorcycle convention the day we arrived for a visit. There were mostly older people walking around in black leather pants (what's with that?), and looking at each other's chopper or hog motorcycle. There was also a community band in the street playing hits from the sixties and seventies, so we stopped off at a cafe to enjoy a flat white while listening to the band. The kids have been drinking ginger beer lately, which is much like ginger-ale but with a much stronger ginger flavour. So I bought them another brand of ginger beer called 'Frank's Damn Good Ginger Beer', which they enjoyed, as much for the name as the flavour.

We then drove across to Hot Water Beach on the east side of the peninsula, where we watched the kids dig a hole in the sand to contain their own little hot tub. The beach is special because there is lava a couple of miles below the surface, left over from a volcanic eruption millions of years ago. The lava is still hot, and heats up the water above, creating a steamy section of sand on one part of the beach. It was curious to see everyone building their hot tubs out of sand, including Elizabeth and John, all next to each other. It reminded me of a bird colony on a rocky cliff, with each bird family claiming their small section of land for their nest. It was fun, but you had to be careful not to burn yourself since some of the sand could get up to 65 degrees Celsius.

In Thames we stayed at the bed and breakfast of Mathias and Elena, immigrants from Germany, who arrived here five years ago with their five children. Besides the warmer weather, they moved to New Zealand so their kids could go to school in a more lassez-faire environment, where they could learn and make mistakes at their own pace, and where the whole family could explore their own interests with fewer social constraints. In Germany Mathias was a doctor in a small town, and they felt constrained by social pressures to act as a doctor's family is expected to behave. But here in New Zealand they find they are less defined by their jobs, and this has given them more encouragement to try other things. For instance they just opened up a bike shop, not something doctors typically do in Germany.

But their story is also a cautionary tale for would-be immigrants. While their kids are thriving in this new culture, the parents are contending with some of the typical issues many immigrants face, such as re-starting careers at a more junior level, isolation from friends and family back home, and adjusting to a new culture and way of thinking that has its negatives as well as positives.

Mathias has been practicing medicine in New Zealand for a few years now, and said that he sees more mental health issues here than in Germany, more drug and alcohol abuse, and more family violence. He has a theory that New Zealand is more of a 'happy culture' than Germany, meaning people act more positive here than in Germany and expect others to do the same. Consequently people here are less likely to discuss or listen to others' problems. This aggravates depression issues for those who feel they have few outlets to seek help. I don't know how accurate this is, but he told an interesting scenario to expand on his point. Suppose someone dreamed of a paradise with better weather, where he thought all his problems would then fade away. But then suppose that once he emigrated to this paradise he was still not happy, but he no longer had the dream that moving to paradise would solve his problems. He might end up more unhappy than if he hadn't emigrated in the first place. I couldn't help but wonder if he was speaking about himself in some small way. I certainly learned more about their life in Germany from these chats than anything. They do plan to move back to Germany once the kids have grown up.

We are a few short days from Saturday when we fly out of Auckland for Fiji. With five weeks in New Zealand, we will have spent more time here than anywhere else. We've enjoyed our time in New Zealand. There are obvious differences in climate, flora and fauna, which we've had fun exploring, especially around the South Island with its spectacular mountainous scenery and endless rolling pastures. 

But what strikes me most about this country is its similarities to Canada, more so than its differences. The way New Zealanders think and act, their whole culture and outlook, seem almost identical to Canadians in most respects. If Canadians and Kiwis spoke English with the same accent, I think I would be hard pressed to see much difference. Visiting New Zealand is both interesting and commonplace. It's always interesting to visit a new place, and there are always new things to explore and discover. But it is also commonplace, since the people remind me so much of Canadians. It's a bit strange, but also comforting, to be on the other side of the world and still feel like you are still in your home country to some degree.

Here are the kids at Hot Water beach.

Rotorua fun and Kiwis in sweaters

On our last days in Rotorua we did a couple of fun and touristy activities. First we took the gondola up the hill for a great view of the lake and surrounding area. But the best part for the kids and us was the ride down on the luge. These were go-carts we steered and rode down cement tracks to the bottom through forests. Lots of twists and turns, not unlike driving through New Zealand's South Island. The kids loved it and were able to take a couple more rides down while Catheleen and I enjoyed the view and weather from a café at the top.

The next day we stopped at another hill for zorbing, a ridiculous sport where you climb into a large inflatable ball and then roll down a hill. Both John and Elizabeth went for the wet ride, where they sloshed around in their ball like clothes in a washing machine. They weren't hurt by the ride itself, but they may have busted a gut from all the laughing and screaming on the way down the zig-zag course, all captured on a Go-Pro for our viewing pleasure. I think it would have been more of a hoot if they went together in the same ball, but they went for separate rides.

For one of our last activities in Rotorua we thought we would check out a redwood forest a few miles outside of town. I thought that we would be getting away from the sulphur smell so prevalent in the area, but it followed us here too, at least for part of the time. Anyway, the forest itself was a marvel. The government planted the redwoods in 1901 as part of an experiment to see what types of trees could be grown in the area to support a forestry industry. This particular grove was protected as a memorial to local veterans of the first and then second world wars. What a pleasure it was to walk through a redwood forest, with its majestic trees covering the area. The trees were surprisingly huge - for some reason these trees grow faster in this area than in California, where the trees originate from.

One observation about houses here. Having stayed at a large number of places in New Zealand now, I've found the often drafty, single-pane windows and house heating methods are a little quirky compared to what I'm used to. There is no central heating or cooling of houses, where you simply set the thermostat for the house to the desired temperature, and the heating or cooling is then distributed to all the rooms via vents. Rather there is typically a mix of wall mounted heat-pumps, space heaters, wood stoves and other odds and ends to keep the place comfortable if need be. It's like they are strangely insisting that they live in a balmy, sub-tropical climate, ignoring the fact that it can be distinctly chilly at times. I understand many Kiwis spend their winters indoors bundled up in sweaters, and on sunny winter days, is isn't uncommon for it to be warmer outdoors than indoors.

Here's John coming out of a zorb orb.

Hobbits and sulphur pools

On Tuesday we drove north west to Rotorua, and along the way we stopped at the Hobbiton Movie Set, where parts of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies were filmed. When the director Peter Jackson was planning film locations in New Zealand, he did an aerial surveillance of this area and found this bucolic sheep and cattle farm, with its green rolling hills, including a critical pond and large tree. After a couple of years of construction, the area was transformed with dozens of hobbit holes and a tavern over a stone bridge.

The site was rebuilt in 2009 for The Hobbit movies, and later turned into a permanent exhibit and tourist attraction. We really enjoyed our tour on one fine sunny day, and we took a lot of pictures in front of all the hobbit holes. Some of the hobbit holes were smaller than others, which helped during filming to create the illusion that some of the characters were tall or short. The place was really well maintained. They must have an army of gardeners, with all the flower and vegetables gardens throughout. My favourite part of the tour was the end, when we stopped in at the Green Dragon tavern for a pint of beer, or in the kids' case, a mug of ginger beer. I can't say I'm the biggest fan of these movies, but I must admit it was pretty cool walking around this set. We almost expected Bilbo or Frodo Baggins to come out of a hobbit hole. The kids just loved the tour and are excited to watch all the movies again.

Our final stop for a few days was Rotorua, nicknamed Surfur City because of the hydrogen sulphide emissions, which give parts of the town a rotten eggs smell. Rotorua's tourist appeal comes from the town's nearby geysers, bubbling mud pools, and hot thermal springs. When we drove around town we noticed some steam rising from a park so we stopped in. We walked around to view all the bubbling pools, and found a spot with benches where we took off our shoes and dipped our legs in the warm water. John was concerned that his feet would smell like sulphur, but was happy to discover that this was not the case. So relaxing...

I understand not too long ago residents would make use of the boiling and bubbling pools to wash their clothing. Nowadays the pools are all cordoned off, which is a good thing with clumsy tourists like me wandering about. We visited the Wai-O-Tapu thermal area on Thursday, and we started off our tour with a visit to the Lady Knox geyser, which erupts every day at 10:15. I thought it was odd that the geyser kept such good time, but it turns out there's a good explanation for this. As we arrived almost late but just in time for the eruption, a guide stood up and told a story about how long ago convicts from a nearby prison used to do their laundry at this hot spot, and discovered that their laundry soap would set off the geyser. The guide then proceeded to pour some detergent into the geyser, and sure enough, five minutes later the geyser erupted in a 20 meter spurt of sulphur and soap scented steam and water. Not quite the same thing as watching a geyser erupt on its own, but interesting an fun nonetheless.

At this thermal area we walked the trails to see the sights. By the end of the two hour hike we were all feeling a little off from the heat and the continual sulphur fumes. On entry to the park we were warned to stay on the paths and not to smoke. I wondered why smoking was prohibited - it turns out some of the minerals we saw in the park, like yellow crystallised sulphur, are highly flammable. My favourite parts of the many stops along the walk were the Champagne Pool and Devil's Bath.

Champagne pool should belong on an alien planet, with its large pool of water with carbon dioxide gas bubbling to the surface. There were minerals around the edge coloured either yellow, orange or red. Huge amounts of steam would obscure the area on occasion, some of it red coloured mist from one part of the pool covered in iron oxide. The pool was accessible via a causeway crossing part of the pool. The place was just fascinating, but the steam and sulphur smell eventually drove us away.

Devil's Bath was our last stop and just as strange. The large pool below us, surrounded by white cliffs, was a bright yellow colour, as if it was filled with yellow paint with a green tinge. Sort of what toxic waste looks like in comic books I think. It was so bright it looked like it was glowing.

Here is Elizabeth and John making their way through the mist at the Champagne Pool, trying to minimize the smell as they escape the scene.  What are we - refugees?

Art Deco living and cracked iPhones

While visiting Wellington we stayed at a hobby farm, or what they call a "lifestyle block". The kids enjoyed playing with the owners' kids, a boy named Dominique who was a year older than John, and a girl named Celina who was a year younger than Elizabeth. It was great to see them play with soccer balls and skateboards, and interact with the neighbour's dog and cat. Dominique had just purchased a dirt bike, and showed off for us by riding it over the nearby hills and across the stream. They had all the usual animals like chickens and sheep, along with an unusual collection of donkeys, and were just in the process of purchasing a pony for Celina, which was to arrive on the day of our departure.

While the kids were all playing together, Catheleen and I chatted with the owners, Roland and Angie. We stayed two nights and both nights we stayed up to tell stories and share some food and drink. Angie is originally from Switzerland, and it was interesting to hear her tales of life back in Switzerland and how she ended up in New Zealand.

On Saturday we drove north from Wellington to Napier, on the east coast of the north island on Hawkes Bay. Napier was razed by an earthquake in the 1930's, and rebuilt in an art-deco style - prominent at the time. We enjoyed walking around and staring up at the building facades, with their straight line décor and pastel colours. It reminded us of parts of Miami. The town plays up the Art Deco motif with various restaurants, shops and festivals to celebrate this heritage. I really liked it since it was so different from any other town I've seen.

The bay itself was unique. When we looked onto the Pacific Ocean we saw a black pebble beach and water the colour of emerald green. The water was very cold, and we looked on while white and black birds dived for fish while a couple of seals relaxed on their bellies further out, one with a fish it just caught. The seals sometimes come on to shore to rest, and we read a sign asking people to leave the seals alone. I understand some people feed the seals, especially the skinny young ones that are still learning to fish, which is not good for them.

We had great weather the three nights we spent at Napier, which is common in this place. The summer months have a daytime high of 25 Celsius, while the winters have a high of 14 Celsius. I think this is near perfect weather. The rental prices are pretty good here too. If we were retired and looking for a place to get away from a Canadian winter I think this would be a good spot. We stayed at someone's home, who I believe clears out to sleep on a friend's couch whenever she has guests. It seems strange to me that she would inconvenience herself whenever she has a booking, but I guess it's worth it to her. We really enjoyed the lived in, homey place built in the 1930's, especially the backyard with its avocado and lemon trees with grape vines running along the fence line.

I don't know if the threat of earthquakes would bother me though if we lived here for an extended time, but I suppose most places have their risks. In Ottawa Canada I think the biggest risk is the winter driving conditions, which are not insignificant. I suppose you are just used to whatever risks are prevalent, no matter where you live.

We also hit the mall in Napier for maintenance and upkeep. I discovered after it rained that I had holes in my shoes so I picked up a new pair and threw out the old ones. If we travelled long enough we would end up replacing everything I'm sure. As it stands now we've replaced most of our luggage, replaced or thrown out some footwear, and purchased some new clothes along the way. Our clothes are starting to look a little ragged and stained though. I think they'll all end up in the trash when we're back home in Canada.

Our devices have suffered the most over our trip however. We've cracked and replaced two iPhone screens and one iPad screen, and ruined a third iPhone when I left it on the beach where it was inundated by a big wave. 

Here's Elizabeth at the park in Napier next to the bay. Parkland runs all along the bay, which is nice. This shot was taken around 6 PM. I noticed the ocean colour changed to blue by this time in the day.

Windy Wellington and the Te Papa

Last Thursday we had an early morning drive to catch the ferry from Picton on the south island to Wellington on the north island. The two hour ferry ride was very scenic as we passed by many coves on our way through the sound to the open ocean and across Cook Strait. The cruise through the sound with its tree-covered shores reminded me of the British Columbia ferry that rides past Salt Spring Island and other islands on the way from Vancouver to Victoria, Vancouver Island. The ferry itself was a miniature version of its B.C. cousin, except the Picton ferry included a semi-trailer filled with cattle, not something found often on B.C. ferries as I recall. I must admit the cattle were a little smelly when the wind was blowing the wrong way.

It was a beautiful cool sunny day, and as the ferry made its way into Wellington harbour, we had a good view of New Zealand's capital. There was a cruise ship in port, and the ship dominated this compact city of 400,000 (including suburbs), with its modest office towers and houses on the steep surrounding hills. I'm surprised there is enough room for this many people downtown and in the suburbs, given how little flat ground exists around the harbour before the high green hills start to take over.

We disembarked our rental car and went straight to the Te Papa, New Zealand's national museum. This museum was so good we came back the next day for more. It's been 100 years since the Gallipoli campaign of World War I, and to commemorate an exhibit has been set up in the museum. This is one of the best war exhibits I've ever seen. It followed the campaign from the allied landings in April 1915 until withdrawal the following January. The New Zealanders suffered disproportionally among the allies with a death-rate of about 25% of the New Zealand troops serving - it was a defining moment in the history of both New Zealand and Australia. The exhibit was very well done and included huge and realistic statues of some of the soldiers and participants, and great models and displays to provide some insight into the campaign. There was also an emphasis on a Maori regiment that served bravely, and sadly suffered heavy casualties alongside their allied compatriots.

The museum had a number of floors dedicated to Maori culture, and good exhibits on earthquakes and indigenous flora and fauna. At the earthquake exhibit, we learned about a fault line that runs straight through New Zealand, and we were able to stand in a house simulator that started to shake to get a sense of an earthquake. The island nation has experienced a number of significant earthquakes over the years, the worst ones in terms of devastation and fatalities being the Christchurch earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, and a North island earthquake in 1931 that wiped out the entire town of Napier.

The flora and fauna exhibits were really superb and showed how invasive species of plants and animals have transformed the country. There was one exhibit I really enjoyed that tried to show how the island might have looked and sounded a thousand years ago, when native trees and ferns dominated the landscape and native birds (like the huge moa and kiwi) covered the place. I found the sounds of the birds interesting with strange exotic squawks and low caws. There were no songbirds singing back then as there are now - all the songbirds I hear all day in New Zealand are imported European species.

There were some tours going on throughout the museum, some given by Maori guides. One Maori guide told a story about how the moas were hunted to extinction by Maori people by the early 1800's. At the time there also existed the largest eagle in the world that hunted the moas. The guide explained that once the moas were extinct, the eagles started including small children among other prey, and could pick a child up by the head and carry the victim off. This led to the quick extinction of the eagles, who were taken down by the Maori to protect their children. He told the story as a cautionary tale that people, including the Maori people, need to adapt to the world around them to prosper. Otherwise you'll end up like the moa and the eagle (figuratively speaking). I don't know how much of his tale was true, but I have to give him credit for superb story telling.

On our second day in Wellington the weather turned for the worse with gusts up to 120 kilometres per hour. I had heard that Wellington was a windy city, especially in the spring, but this was quite the blow. As we walked around the downtown streets, the gusts funnelled in from the harbour and up the streets running from the south to the north. It almost blow us off our feet - I saw Elizabeth laughing while holding onto a pole and I wasn't sure if she was kidding or not.

We also visited the Wellington Museum on the refurbished waterfront, which was well done and quirky. It covered the history of Wellington, and how it has evolved over the last 150 years since it became the capital. A nice thing about capitals is they often pour a lot of money into their national museums, and Wellington is no exception. The two museums we saw here were first class.

The downtown streets were also fun to walk around, although many of the buildings and areas seemed a little run down to me and could use some refurbishment. I think this is an ongoing process, as there were a few cranes downtown working on a number of buildings.

Here are the kids on the way into Wellington harbour.

Random things about New Zealand

I have to admit we haven't done too much since we arrived in Nelson New Zealand, on the northern end of the south island. We're staying in a really nice place on top of a ridge with a great view of the ocean. I find when we are at a particularly nice place, I feel like staying close to home base and just relaxing. So without many recent activities to describe, here's a list of random things I've learned about New Zealand since we arrived on the South Island.

1. What a beautiful place. Everywhere you go the views and vistas are amazing.

2. Driving on the left is tricky. I keep walking to the car to get into the driver's seat on the wrong side, and I still think the turn signal should be where the windshield wiper controls are. Then there are the ever present round-abouts - ugh. I attempted parallel parking once with some success, but I kept shoulder checking over the rght shoulder. It's confusing.

3. There really are more sheep than people here. Something like six sheep per person. You can't go very far without seeing sheep. We even saw sheep on someone's lawn in the suburbs. There are almost as many cows here too.

4. New Zealand is expensive. It's about 20% more expensive than Canada I figure, but that has a lot to do with the current exchange rate. But regardless, the cost of living for New Zealanders is high here, since income levels are a somewhat lower than in Canada. I can see the lower Kiwi purchasing power with fewer people in the restaurants and shops and the more modest cars and houses.

5. New Zealanders are a happy and friendly bunch. Various surveys show Kiwis self-assess as more content than most other countries. Everyone we've met has been very friendly. They are also very easy going in the driving department, even when I'm blocking traffic trying to find my way around.

6. New Zealanders are a crazy bunch, or at least they are in Queenstown. Between the bungee jumping, the speedboat racing on rivers through narrow cliffs and paragliding, they're just ... crazy.

7. Don't wait for the cheque. After a restaurant meal, remember to go up to the cash register to pay. We waited for the cheque for a while before we figured this one out. I like it.

8. Don't leave a tip. This one threw me at first too, but tipping is mostly for something exceptional, not regular service at a restaurant.

9. Black flies are a year round thing on the beach and lakes. They called them sandflies. Just when I thought the country was near perfect, I learned and experienced they have those small annoying black flies that we get in Ontario in May for a few weeks before they die off. They bite here too.

10. Where is everybody? If you like a relaxing place without too many crowds, this is a nice place to be. We often drove for some time in the country on "highways" before seeing another car or soul.

11. The best things are free - mostly. This place has great and free national parks, which I think are the best reason to come to this country. They are well marked with excellent trails and signage. There are good city parks for the kids too, and public washrooms are everywhere. Many people take their campers around, and there are campsites all over for them too. A few more water fountains scattered around would be nice though.

Going barefoot and kiwi encounters

We stayed for two nights on the west coast near the town of Franz Josef. It rained much of the time. Not surprising since the westerly winds off the Tasman sea dump eight meters of rain a year onto this part of the world. No one in this country seems to own a dryer by the way. Of all places, this rainy location could use some dryers. I don't think there are too many "good days for the drying" here, as some Irish travellers we met in Vietnam would say. Instead Kiwis for the most part seem to hang their clothes to dry on the line. We learned this time and again when we only found a washer at our accommodation. Maybe it seems strange to say, but I can't say I have hung many clothes on a line before our trip to New Zealand. It's not rocket science, but I learned on windy days that everything needs a peg or two to stay above the dirt below.

A unique custom we've noticed in New Zealand lately is people walking around barefoot. We've only seen it a few times since it's still springtime on the cooler South Island, but I understand going barefoot is more common on the north island in the summertime when it can get quite hot and humid. You won't find any North American signs here stating "No shirt, no shoes, no service". On the contrary, outside of factories and certain businesses, it's perfectly acceptable to go just about anywhere in bare feet. Children regularly go to school in bare feet, or kick off their shoes immediately after getting to school. In fact, we've seen signs in businesses asking people to remove their dirty shoes. I remember purposely going barefoot for a couple weeks in Thailand years ago when we stayed on the beach - it was a very nice feeling I recall.

We were here in the rain to visit the glaciers, so off we went. On our way we took a short jaunt from our car to see the Fox glacier from a distance, a river of ice on a steep downward slope. The next day we took the time and effort to hike through the rain a fair distance to come within a few hundred meters of the Franz Josef glacier. It took about 40 minutes to walk there, and we passed though the u-shaped valley carved out by the glacier as it retreated. For the first five or ten minutes we passed through some young forests, which have been growing ever since the glacier melted on this spot over 160 years ago. I was surprised to see nature fill in an area so quickly, which was recently just exposed rock. We next walked along a valley that had nothing in it but boulders and rocks, with cliffs on both sides. Mother Nature has not yet had time to fill in this area, which was massive, and made me think of a desolate place like the moon. We eventually crossed up and over a boulder-strewn ridge to see the blue-tinged glacier itself, covered in rocks and boulders and letting forth a river of melt water from its base. We could see boulders nearby in precarious positions, balanced on top of smaller rocks or wedged in a crack in the cliff, with a waterfall pouring down on top of it. This is one strange place, but a great location to see the power a glacier can wreck on the landscape.

On Sunday we also visited The Westcoast Wildlife Centre to see the kiwis. Kiwis are flightless, nocturnal birds, only found in New Zealand. There are five different species of kiwi, all of which are endangered due to introduced predators and habitat loss. We needed to wait for our eyes to adjust to the low light levels, but we were then able to view a Rowi, the rarest of the kiwi birds. It was quite active in its naturalised enclosure, racing back and forth looking for bugs and grubs in the undergrowth. What a strange looking bird with its long beak that looked like a straw with nostrils on the end, with big legs like a turkey on a small body. It was an endearing and odd looking creature. Too bad the birds are on the decline. They are easy prey for stoats in particular - weasels introduced to New Zealand in the late 1800's to help lower rabbit populations (another invasive species). It turned out though that the stoats found kiwis easier prey than rabbits.

Yesterday we drove north up the coast to Nelson at the northern end of the south island. We'll stay here for the next few days before ferrying to the north island. It was a nice sunny day and we enjoyed a few stops along the way. We first visited Punakaiki to take a short walk along the coast to view the limestone formations and ocean surge. There was a great path and boardwalk here to see strange limestone formations which looked like stacked pancakes, since the spaces between the limestone layers had worn away. Also interesting was watching the ocean waves roll into small coves and blow mist and air through holes, creating strange blow hole effects.

Later on we stopped in at a fur seal colony near Cape Foulwind. Not an auspicious name. I thought it might have been named this because we are downwind from the seals, but Captain Cook named it when his ship The Bounty was blown off shore at this location. After a short walk we had a great viewing platform to look down on the furry seals. We saw some young pups playing while mother seal took it easy, sunning herself on this fine day. There were a dozen or so seals milling about or lying down, and a couple of males were fighting and howling at each other, perhaps competing for the right to mate. We all enjoyed the spectacle, while the waves crashed up over the rocks, leaving great sprays of mist in the air.

Here's Catheleen and me at a stop along the west coast on a rare sunny day.

Quirky movie theatres and ancient forests

We've seen a few movies in New Zealand, and while we enjoyed them, what was more interesting was the movie theatres themselves. Unlike Canada they all seem to be independently owned and operated, and they are each quite different. In Te Anau, we didn't realise that we should have booked our seats days in advance. No matter, we still managed to get almost the last seats. We ordered popcorn for the kids, which were provided in white ceramic bowls, and waited in the adjacent Black Dog Bar while others ordered glasses of wine or beer for the show. Once inside the theatre, we placed our bowls and drinks on little tables between the seats and enjoyed the first half of The Martian. Next came the required intermission to get another drink. Others preferred a slice of cheesecake. The last theatre we visited was the Paradiso in Wanaka. This place was less upscale but no less unique. The theatre was filled mostly with sofas, along with a few regular theatre style chairs and one '50's era convertible, with theatre seats in the back seat. The best part about this place was the freshly baked cookies timed to be out of the oven for intermission. Of course we couldn't resist a few. I think all movie theatres should be like this.

Yesterday I went for a late afternoon run around part of Lake Hawea while the kids did their homework and Catheleen started making dinner. It was a magical moment with the view of the lake and snow capped mountains in the distance. The sun was shining and a strong wind was blowing a couple of kite surfers along with the waves. The water was a deep azure blue, and as I ran along the gravel path I passed through grassy fields and forests filled with strange wind-swept trees I've never seen before. I finally reached white cliffs overhanging the lake below, and turned back for a reverse view, with the sun slowly setting towards the mountain tops, casting a silver glare on the lake. I had to stop a dozen times on my run to take pictures, but the photos didn't do justice to the moment.

We drove up from Hawea along the west coast and stopped near Franz Josef Glacier for the next two nights. The drive was very wet since it rained all day, as it mostly does in these parts. Our drive through the mountains was remarkable for the huge ferns and strange trees. This whole area in a national park, and so this remote landscape has remained largely untouched. Since New Zealand is so isolated from the rest of the world, the trees and foliage are thought to be ancient species from 80 million years ago when the island started separating away from Australia. It all seemed so foreign. We would see trees that looked somewhat like a palm tree but not quite, and huge black ferns. If you needed a location for a movie with foreign plants unknown to most, this would be a good place to go.

Once we made it through the mountains and the Hass pass, we drove along the coast, with the Tasman Sea on one side and the Southern Alps blocking the way on the other side. We didn't pass many towns along the way, this being one harsh and lonely place for most people to handle I imagine.

Here is one of the pictures I took on my run on Lake Hawea.

Flightless birds and Doubtful Sound

When we drove up to Milford Sound yesterday we stopped and hiked a few short trails. In New Zealand they call it "tramping". Along one tramp we saw signs warning not to touch any small green pellets, which were rat poison. We learned that the national park staff were trying to control the rat population, which is not native to New Zealand. In fact besides a few bats, no mammals are native to New Zealand. Like Australia, New Zealand has suffered the effects of invasive species like rats and rabbits. For instance, they tried to control the rabbit population by introducing possums, but that not only didn't work, it created a possum problem.

One of the biggest issues with some of these mammals now roaming the wilds of New Zealand is they are hard on the birds. The lack of native mammals over the last 80 million years since New Zealand starting drifting away from Australia was a boon for the birds, and led to the development of some flightless species, including the kiwi and the moa. The moa, which looked somewhat like an ostrich, was the largest bird ever and could grow up to four meters tall. Unfortunately like many large animals around the world, they were hunted to extinction by humans. The last moa died around 200 years ago.

It seemed very strange as we drove around this beautiful country that there should not be any wild animals to fill it. No mountain goats on the mountains, no otters in the lakes, no squirrels, porcupines, bears, or deer in the forests. But that's just me looking at it from a North American perspective I suppose.

Yesterday we took a tour of Doubtful Sound, a fiord in Fiordland National Park. It's much more remote than Milford Sound and gets fewer tourists. We were rewarded for taking the option less travelled. We first crossed the peaceful and scenic Lake Manapouri by boat, and then took a gravel road up and over the Wilmot Pass. We stopped briefly for an incredible view below onto Doubful Sound. The road was built in the 60's to bring equipment in by sea to help build a power station, which was placed inside a mountain. A 10 kilometre tunnel was dug through the mountain to the sea to divert water from Lake Manapouri along with other lakes and rivers through the hydro-electric power station. They used to do tours of the station but not any longer. I'm not sure I would want to travel the tunnel anyway.

The three hour tour of Doubtful Sound itself was special. With countless views of the surrounding mountains, we motored along to the sea. Once there we spotted some fiordland crested penguins on some rocky islands. These are one of the world's rarest penguins and had yellow stripes over each eye, like long hairy eyebrows - it was great to spot them. I also really liked it when the crew stopped the engines so we could hear the sounds of nature - the faint caws of birds and the flow of nearby waterfalls. Captain Cook called this spot Doubtful Harbour when he passed by ship, since he was doubtful the wind would allow him to return if he ventured his ship The Bounty into the fiord. A better name I think is Patea, named by the Maori, which means the place of silence.

The kids really liked it when we stopped with the ship's bow under a trickling waterfall. We were given paper cups to catch the water, and Elizabeth really liked getting in there with her raincoat on to catch the water. The water was yellow from the tannins in the moss and trees, but it still tasted fine, pesticide and chlorine free. It was a nice way to spend a day at the most southerly destination we'll get to on this trip. It's northward bound from here on.

Here's John and Elizabeth gathering some water from a waterfall.

Te Anau and Milford Sound

Yesterday we took another impressive scenic drive southwest from Queenstown, crossing hills and heading over mountain passes. We are now in the Southern Alps, a chain of snow capped mountains that run up along the west coast of New Zealand, having been thrust up when the Australian and New Zealand tectonic plates pushed away from each other.

We arrived in Te Anau, a small town supported by tourism and farming. Tourists like us use it as a launch point for visits to the Fiordland National Park mainly. Once in town, we checked into our accommodations and enjoyed the warm sunny weather, which is rare for this area, known for its heavy rain and cool temperatures year round. I actually put on shorts and sandals during the afternoon, which was a first for me in New Zealand.

The sun felt strangely more intense on this sunny day than in Ottawa Canada, and I was curious if it was just me or if there was something to this. The closer to the equator you get, the more the sun is directly overhead and the more UV exposure you get. But since Ottawa and New Zealand are at the same latitude (Ottawa being 45 degrees north and here being 45 degrees south), you'd think we'd experience the same UV levels. It turns out that peak UV index ratings are significantly higher here in New Zealand than in Canada. The reason is New Zealand is near a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica. Also the earth is a little closer to the sun during the southern hemisphere's spring and summer than during the northern hemisphere's spring and summer. This goes a long way to explaining why New Zealand has the highest skin cancer rates in the world.

On Wednesday we drove from Te Anau to Milford Sound and back. Milford Sound is a fiord inlet. It provides access down a channel to the Tasmanian Sea, that part of the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and Australia. We really felt the cold wind blow in from the west as we approached the coast. These trade winds are known as the roaring 40's, and dump huge amounts of rain on this area.

We have fiords too in British Columbia and Newfoundland but I've never visited them. Fiords were formed long ago during an ice age by glaciers that carved out channels between the mountains; the glaciers have since melted away and are now filled with water as sea levels rose. They really are beautiful to see, as the mountains rise out of the narrow channels on both sides.

We made some stops along the way to Milford sound for short hikes and to check out the views. We couldn't help but crane our necks on the drive along the way, looking straight up at grey granite walls, covered in small waterfalls with piles of snow at the base of each waterfall.

A surprise at one stop was Kea birds, these large parrots that live in the mountains. They were really bold and would come up to us looking for food and jump onto our car. I couldn't shoo one off the hood of our car so I just started driving to get him to fly off.

As we trekked around to a lake at a stop along the way, we found the trees and forest floor were covered in a bright green moss, and many of the huge trees were a deep red colour. Reminded me a lot of the west coast of Vancouver island.

Here's John at a rest stop along the way.

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?

Mountain vistas and Queenstown fun

On Thursday we drove southeast from Oamaru to Wanaka and then on to Arrowtown near Queensland. Taking our time, we enjoyed the scenery along the way, as we drove past aqua and blue coloured lakes with impressive hydroelectric dams, meandering around foothills and over mountain passes. The towns were few and far between, and there were little sign of civilisation among the hills and mountains. As we weaved our way around the surrounding hills, we marvelled that the hills were mostly covered in the same tan coloured bushes. It created an unusual but pleasing colour scheme. The mountains were always in the distance - with their snow caps, they were a beautiful sight.

In Wanaka we visited Puzzling World, showcasing optical illusions and technological trickery that had us scratching our heads. The room of holograms had a number of high quality holograms. In the room of faces, all four walls were covered in famous people's faces that moved to follow us as we circled around the room. I particularly liked the room where one person had to crouch in one corner and looked like a giant while someone else stood in the other corner and looked like they had shrunk down to Alice in Wonderland size. My favourite exhibit was a sloped room you could walk through discombobulated, and play with exhibits like a pool table and ball that made it appear that objects were rolling and flowing uphill. Afterward we tried our luck in an outdoor maze, with bridges over parts of the maze where we had to get to each of the four corner towers to complete the challenge. I think Catheleen and I tried for almost an hour before giving up. The kids did the best and managed to find three of the four towers. We all had a great time at this place.

We next drove on, stopping at a few viewpoints along the way, and eventually descended from the top of a mountain pass to the valley below and our next stop, Arrowtown. It's a small town of 2,000 residents that was once a larger boom town in the late 1800's during a short lived gold rush. The town hit a low point in the 1960's with only 200 residents before bouncing back, mainly due to tourism. The town's Main Street contained many original wooden buildings from the gold rush days, and new development is in tune with this theme. It's a nice picturesque town surrounded by wooded hills and rocky mountains. Tomorrow we might try our hand at panning for gold in the stream.

On Friday we went to nearby Queenstown, home to an impressive number of high excitement adventure sports like bungee jumping, paragliding, and riverboat rides. We started out with a visit to the Fear Factory, which was really fun and well done. The kids wisely decided to sit this one out while Catheleen and I tested our nerve against the haunted house. The attendant highlighted how many people chickened out part way through. The 20 minutes through the maze was in total darkness, and the monsters throughout would constantly startle us when they appeared in front of our faces, screaming or howling for brief seconds with perhaps flashlights to light up their faces. They would often brush up against us in the dark, or run their hand on the back of our neck or pant legs. Catheleen, being shorter, had to go in front and my hands had to be on her shoulders as we crept along. So Catheleen got it from the front and I got from the back. Was a crazy haunted house. My adrenalin was up by the time we finished and popped out of the exit. The kids said they got a kick at hearing us scream. Definitely the best haunted house I've gone through.

Later we did a family activity called the Odyssey Sensory Maze. John had a lot of questions at first for the attendant to ensure there were no 'jump scares', as he calls it. After the attendant said that a two year old had gone through the maze that morning, John felt compelled to concede that it couldn't be scary. We had the whole place to ourselves, which was great, so we really goofed around in each of the sensory rooms. There was a room piled high with exercise balls where we could either bury ourselves in, or else try to sit at the top of the pile. There was a balloon room which was great for balloon fights, and a bridge over a glass room which looked like there were stars to infinity in all directions. The bungee cord room was like something out of the Mission Impossible movie, where we tried to get through the maze of multi-coloured bungee cords stretched out in a three dimensional barrier like laser beams. The most fun room for me was the mirror maze, where we tried to work our way through the dead ends to find the exit. It was fun just wandering around and getting fooled when we thought we were meeting each other only to discover we were looking in a mirror instead.

Here's Elizabeth at a mountain pass.

Yellow eyed penguins and steam punk

We've slowed down the last couple of days. I think it was because the weather turned for the worse. On Monday we had such a beautiful day with warm dry winds blowing in from the north. Yesterday the weather changed to blustery, cold and wet weather coming in from the south. Which is strange to me, like many other things. The days are getting longer, the sun tracks in the northern part of the sky from right to left, cold weather comes from the south, and I'm driving on the left. All opposite from what to expect in Canada.

Oamaru has an impressive Main Street with large imposing white limestone buildings on a broad avenue. Some of the buildings are very beautiful with Corinthian columns and ornate facades, all built in the late 1800's when this place was booming with profits from a gold rush and other businesses. Now the town is much smaller, and I found it strange to find so few people on the street, which was built at a time when the future seemed brighter. I am told that while other towns were pulling down some of these old but impressive buildings in the 60's and 70's, Oamaru was so bankrupt that they didn't have the money to do so. Good thing, because now days the buildings have great heritage value. Also, the 60's and 70's were not a great time for architecture, in my view, with its minimalist rectangle shaped buildings in vogue.

The town of Oamaru is now one sleepy place. We learned this soon enough after trying unsuccessfully to find a café that was open after 4:00 p.m. Just about every attraction runs between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. I suppose we have only ourselves to blame for only seeing one attraction per day, since we're getting up so late.

Yesterday we visited a Steam Punk museum in Oamaru, which was a blast. I didn't know anything about this science fiction sub-genre until I saw it. It's supposed to combine steam powered machines, sometimes from the Victorian era, in a fantasy alternate future. We saw imaginations gone wild with locomotives turned into flying machines, a crazy oversized chopper motorcycle made out of farm machines and other parts, and other bizarre machines made from mixing parts. My favourite exhibit was a glass room where the hanging lights turned different colours as the music played, transporting us to another dimension. Every direction we looked was saw copies of ourselves out to infinity. Very freaky.

Today was John's 13th birthday so he decided what to do. We ended up at a park next to the shore where a white sandstone sculpture competition was going on. The kids enjoyed the play structures next to the sculptures, especially the zip-line and a large wooden hamster wheelchair which we could get spinning very fast when we walked and then ran in it. The trick was trying to stop it. Usually one of us would fall first and slide along while the others kept running. It was a hoot!

Later we had lunch in a café with nice views of the shore. It reminded me of Nova Scotia on this cool, cloudy day with a view of the sandy and rocky shore, with a variety of fishing boats moored in the harbour. Later in the afternoon we went to see the movie Everest in 3D. True to the Kiwi theme of this leg of our trip, some of the characters in the movie were from New Zealand. The movie was pretty good by the way.

In the evening we went for sushi at a local Japanese restaurant and then later went to see some yellow-eyed penguins waddle on shore at dusk looking to find their nests for the night. They are a bit shy so we were lucky to see them. I understand they are endangered so hopefully they are not disturbed and allowed to flourish.

Here's John about to blow out the candles.

Rural life in New Zealand

The New Zealand All Blacks beat the Australia Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup finals on Saturday. The only reason I know this is because we were in Australia for the semi-finals and New Zealand for the finals. The kids really wanted to watch the finals at a sports bar or somewhere with a crowd, but we ended up waking up early Sunday morning at 5 AM to watch the game in our hotel room. Being in New Zealand, we cheered for the Kiwis.

The rivalry between the Kiwis and Aussies was on full display during the lead up to the event. Listening to some Kiwis, they seem to see themselves as under-appreciated by their larger rivals the Aussies, who they consider brash. Which is funny since the two countries are such close partners in business and politics. Reminds me somewhat of the relationship between the U.S. and Canada.

We drove south from Christchurch to a rural hobby farm near Oamaru. We enjoyed the drive through the countryside, which was very beautiful. The country has been turned into grassland for the sheep and cattle, which were everywhere. It was very striking to see the rolling hills all covered in grass like an endless lawn. The grass was often watered by industrial sized sprinklers. The fields, or blocks as they call them here, were bordered by hedges of cypress trees, sometimes 30 feet tall and shaped like a square hedge you might see in the suburbs, just bigger. It was very pleasing to the eye to see all these rolling hills, all the while with the snow covered mountains in the distance, called the Southern Alps.

We're saying at a hobby farm near Oamaru, or as they call it a lifestyle block. Our hosts Andrew and Tracy are very nice, and we've enjoyed speaking with them. We've learned a lot about their farm. Their sheep are having lambs right now. A couple of lambs with black faces were born two days ago and one ewe is due to give birth anytime. They have chickens, and the kids have learned to feed them, pick them up, and check their roost for eggs. We cooked up some of the eggs this morning - they were tasty. Tracy was also kind enough to saddle up one of their horses and give Elizabeth and John a ride around the paddock.

The weather was really pleasant today with sunny skies and a high in the low twenties. It's springtime, and the trees and bushes are in bloom. We're not having any problems with flies and insects here either - no bush flies to be found in these parts, unlike Australia. Good thing we got out today to enjoy the weather, mostly around the farm. The next couple of days the weather will turn as the rain and cold come up from the south.

Christchurch after the earthquake

We've had to park in some narrow driveways at our accommodations in Australia over the last week, and at one of these places I managed to scrape the front bumper on a fence. I thought we might be on the hook for the damages but luckily the attendant didn't notice or care when we dropped the car off in Sydney. What a relief.

We spent Thursday night, our last night in Australia, at a swanky downtown hotel in Sydney. The kids were happy to visit the Apple Store one last time, and it was nice to stroll down to the harbour again to see the Opera House and bridge. Catheleen and I stopped in at a pub in The Rocks district next to the harbour, and I had a schooner of beer called 150 lashes, which was really good.

The beer is named after a rogue and entrepreneur from the early days of Sydney named James Squire. He was sent to Sydney in the 1790's with the first fleet for stealing some chickens. After serving his seven years, he led a colourful life in Sydney with his mistress, wife and businesses. He's credited with starting the first brewery in town, and was later caught stealing plants from a local hospital to imitate the flavour of the hops used in his beer. For this offence he received 150 lashes immediately and 150 lashes later when he could bear it. This was a lenient sentence at the time, and the last 150 lashes were conveniently forgotten. It's suspected that the local authorities really liked his brewery, and maybe received free drinks, which probably played a role in his lenient sentence. When he died in the 1820's, it was the most well attended funeral up to that point. There's more information on Australia's convict past these days, and it's a point of fascination for many now to have a convict ancestor, rather than it being something to be covered up. From shame to fame.  

The next morning we flew to New Zealand. We really enjoyed the in-flight safety briefing with the catchy song based on the Men in Black movie. You can find it here or just search for it on You Tube - http://www.slashfilm.com/men-in-black-airline-safety-video/ . New Zealand airlines has collaborated with Sony on a number of videos, including a Lord of the Rings video. What a nice change from the dry safety demonstrations we've suffered through over the years. Leave it to the crazy Kiwis to mix it up a bit. On our descent we had clear views of snow capped mountains, grey silted rivers, and endless farms in the plains. Very exciting so see all this packed into a small area.

On our first and only full day in Christchurch today, we took the gondola ride up to the summit near Christchurch which offered stunning views of Christchurch city, the Pacific ocean, the Southern Alps and Lyttelton Harbour. It was a beautiful cool sunny day, and we enjoyed walking around at the summit on some of the trails, with tall clumps of shiny golden grasses surrounding us and small birds overhead, singing continual melodic tunes as they went. We also took a ride at the summit called the Time Tunnel, where a carriage rolled slowly through a few rooms with videos and displays showing the history of the Cantebury region. It started with the aboriginals who arrived here 1,000 years ago, and moved on to the first settlers who arrived in 1850 with visions of creating a model English town in a Neo-Gothic style like Oxford England. We all liked the ride, it was well done.

Later today we took a tram ride around the city centre. Christchurch was severely damaged by major earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. The one in 2011 killed 185 people and destroyed much of the downtown core - it's estimated that insurance payouts will total $20 to $30 billion. The tram driver provided great commentary on the reconstruction efforts. Over 1,000 buildings have been torn down since the earthquakes, and many more are slated for demolition. A lot of the abandoned buildings are covered in graffiti with broken windows. A large number of buildings are under construction, many with just steel frames built at this point.

The main cathedral in the centre of town is a wreck with its demolished spire and cracks throughout the structure. There is a standoff at this point between the church authorities, who want to tear it down and rebuild, and many residents who want it repaired to help maintain the character of the downtown. The government has appointed a mediator to help settle the dispute. In the meantime the church built a transitional cathedral in 2013 called the cardboard cathedral, since it was built in part with cardboard tubes. I can't see the tubes but I was impressed with the building with its tall A-frame style. When we stopped by on a Saturday afternoon there was a service going on, which was nice to see.

We also visited a temporary memorial downtown to the victims, which consisted of 185 chairs, all painted in white. Each chair was unique, to signify the uniqueness and value of each person who lost their lives. The chairs included small stools, a wheelchair and a baby car seat. It was very poignant and moving.

Our hotel proprietor Annie told us her story. Her daughter was downtown at the time of the 2011 earthquake, and had to run for it to escape the mud and water. It turns out Christchurch is built on a diverted river bed, and ground water rushed out of the earth as it liquified during the earthquake. She came back home with mud up to her chest. What a harrowing tale. Annie's house in the outlying streets was not affected, but other houses were ruined, seemingly at random. She said many people feel guilty that they were not affected when others were.

Later we stopped by one of the only shopping areas open at present in downtown Christchurch called Re:Start, which was built out of shipping containers. It was actually well done, with some of the sides of the containers replaced with glass. From the inside of some of these buildings, it was hard to tell these were temporary structures. Good for them for thinking about innovative ways of getting on with it.

Here are the kids at the summit on a walking trail.