First week

                                                     Bremmer Bay

Lavender Farm

 Good morning from Wanaka, NZ.  It is March 24 here which is, as a reminder, 20 hours ahead of Arizona (MST). As I sit here at my desk it is a brilliant, sunshiny day, our third in a row, albeit a little chilly.  It 9am and it’s 46 degrees climbing to about 66 this afternoon.  The warmest time of the day is from about 3pm to 7pm. I have been sitting in the delightful yard working on a bit of a tan for a maximum of one half hour a day. Joan says “get out of the sun, you just had an appointment with the dermatologist!!  Of course she is right.  

 

We have now been here for a full week and are pretty much over the jet lag thing.  It took longer than anticipated. It may have something to do with age! Unfortunately Joan has come down with a cold and, of course, it will be just a short period of time before I get it.  We’ll see.  You can count on me complaining about it if I do.

 

Although this has been a “rest” week Dan and the family have keep us busy, but a “fun” busy.  The highlight of this time was visiting the  Wanaka Lavender Farm, just a couple of miles outside of town.  Although it was raining most of the time the scenery was spectacular.  The site consists of 20 acres of beautiful lavender fields, farm animals and garden displays.  This is a real working farm with many manufactured lavender products, honey, and other delightful lavender themed items.  None of these are inexpensive. The products are sold by the ounce and a quick calculation of just one item came to $5000 in a very small display.  We strolled the entire area for about an hour stunned by the sheer beauty.  There is obviously a lot of pride by the employees. I’m sending some photos along with this posting.

 

I have mentioned that the kid’s schools are very close by so they have settled into a routine of visiting in the afternoon.  As most know it is NBA basketball season and closing in on the playoffs. Joan purchased the NBA TV package here and with the 7PM games starting here at 3PM (the next day) Malcie and Joan have been watching the Suns play.   It is a joy watching them critique the game together.  Joan has converted Malcie into a fan. He is currently playing basketball with his friends in a 3 on 3 form.  The family has a regulation size basketball setup at the house and he very much enjoys “shooting around”. Basketball is truly a worldwide game.

 

Joan will post some photos nearby and will also try to post a short video showcasing the house we are living in.

 

 

 

We're back

Well, here we are back in Wanaka, New Zealand after nine months.   We are very happy to be here to see Dan, Annie and the kids.   

 

First a few words about the flight trip down here.  Just for fun I started my stop watch from the minute we walked out our front door and stopped it when we arrived at Dan’s house.  Total time: 26 hours!!   A big thank you to our friend Sue Flint for the ride to the Phoenix airport.  On this trip we brought 3 large bags and two carry ons each. At home each bag weighted right at 49 pounds give or take but at Southwest Airlines one of them weighed about 52 pounds so once again we were on the floor rearranging  stuff to make sure nothing weighed over 50 pounds.  We got it done, barely.  Coming home we won’t have this problem because we had a lot of stuff for the family.  The biggest issue, however, was my carry on which had to weigh at least 35 pounds.  I had purchased a poker chip set for the kids and it was very heavy, so heavy that a fellow passenger had to help me lift it up to the storage bin.  That too will remain in NZ.   Last summer we flew from PHX to LA via American Airlines so the transition to Air New Zealand was very easy.   Not this time.  The Southwest terminal was at least one mile from ANZ.   Thankfully we had rented push carts for our bags but we both sweating by the time we made the transition. Our bags did not gain weight on the flight to LA so no issue at ANZ except that they would not check our bags through to Queenstown, our final flight destination, and we would pay the physical price later in Auckland. The flight to Auckland took off on time for our 12 hour jaunt across the Pacific.  We upgraded to Premium Economy which gave us more leg room, a further seat recline and a better meal. Still, 12 hours is 12 hours.   It can seem like a 120 hours. 

We each had a problem with our seats.  Mine would recline back immediately no matter how softly I touched it with my head and Joan’s wouldn’t move at all unless I got up and pushed it back with everything I had.   Although the flight attendents did their best to rectify the situation nothing could be done to fix the problems.   I’m sure that when I send in our review of the flight we’ll be comped with two free business class seats when we return!   Yeah, right!!

 

We arrived in Auckland on time, cleared customs, had our bags x-rayed again to make sure we weren’t bringing in produce to the country (Joan had some prepackaged chocolate dates that she “forgot” to tell them about and the x-ray machine missed and then we secured two carts to go to another terminal for our final flight.  And this is where we paid the price for the “no check through” to Queenstown.   We were told to just follow the painted green line and you’ll arrive at the domestic terminal, eventually. This turned into a two mile walk pushing all our stuff. The alternative was to take the bus shuttle to the terminal but that would have meant lifting the heavy bags onto and off the bus and I wasn’t about to do that!  We were very happy to finally get rid of the bags for the short flight to the South Island.  Easy flight EXCEPT for the gigantic weather bump we hit after cruising quietly. A real wake up call and there were more than a few gasps from the passengers.   

Very disturbing but no harm.

 

It was great to be greeted by Dan and an easy 45 minute ride to the rental house after a brief stop at Pembroke bakery to pick up lunch and an almond croissant.

 

We have been here for 3 full days now and I’ll be back soon with more of our adventure.  Look close by for some photos taken in the last few days.

Lori's Wanaka photos

 

Adventuring

Today is August 16^th and Joan and I are eight days away from returning to Scottsdale after an amazing vacation here in Wanaka with Dan, Annie, Phoebe, Malcie and Iris. Our very gracious hosts have made the entire stay so enjoyable but somehow saved two adventures to the end. 

On Saturday we all went down to Queenstown to pick up our friend Lori Baylor who is visiting for a week. Lori works with Dan and Joan and I have known her for many years so its been fun for all of us to see her here in New Zealand. Annie picked her up at the airport, did a little shopping and then met up with the rest of us to take the Shotover River Jet Boat adventure ride! The Shotover River is a somewhat shallow narrow river draining the high snow area near Queenstown. The river has very fast moving water but thankfully not huge rapids, but rapids that certainly do get your attention. The boats used for this ride are very high horsepower very flat bottom crafts, designed for this river. You can go top speed in water only a foot deep. We were all bundled up for the cold plus lifejackets. All got in and were told to hold on tight!  Of course there are no seatbelts for safety reasons. Once we got going we couldn’t believe the speed as we passed by outcrops of rocks a foot or two from our heads. A bit scary so you just trust that the driver knows what he is doing. Then for extra excitement he would signal that he is going to do a 360 degree turn at full speed! Not the most comfortable experience but quite thrilling as it rearranged our spines each time he did it! The ride was about 25 minutes long and ended where we began. The kids really enjoyed it and wanted to go again immediately. Once was enough for me. See photos below.

 

The second big adventure took place yesterday. Dan treated Joan, Lori and me to a one hour helicopter ride here in the Wanaka area. This was to be our first helicopter ride ever.  I quickly wondered if this was something I wanted to do but Joan suggested that I would be a wimp if I didn’t go so off we went and I'm glad I did go. Wanaka has a local airport housing the helicopter tourist industry so we left from there. The copter held six including the pilot so it was very comfortable with five. After a very gentle take off it proceeded to be a ride as comfortable as sitting in your living room. No crazy tilts, no jerkiness or sudden drops.The beauty of the mountains is really indescribable .We were quickly a few thousand feet above Wanaka looking down on now familiar areas snapping lots of pictures, including Dan’s house and the neighborhood. We headed over Lake Wanaka with both Dan and our pilot, Pete, giving a running commentary of what we were seeing.  We were all wearing ear phones that made hearing easy except for Pete’s NZ accent which was a little difficult.  After crossing over the lake we gained altitude to see the spectacular Mount Aspiring National Park, a massive land area creating the range of mountains that rises up on the west side of the South Island and eventually drops right into the Tazman Sea without any roads or beach areas.  Extremely rugged, covered by winter snows and gorgeous in every direction. As we got higher the pilot landed for about 10 minutes which allowed us to get off and tramp around in the snow and take more pictures. He landed one more time and we repeated our picture taking. Very, very cold at above 8000 feet but quite worth a little pain. We continued on seeing the various mountains and very deep valleys from different angles giving us such beautiful scenery. Dan took his GO-PRO camera so we look forward to seeing his footage.  Dan asked the pilot to make a few loops around Mt. Aspiring itself as he is involved in mapping projects and indicated it would be very helpful in his work. We were all happy for this extra look at a mountain top that looks remarkably like the Matterhorn in Switzerland.   The return trip was fun as we gently lost altitude towards Wanaka and I finally stopped holding my breath as we set back down at the airport.   I urge all of you to Google  this area to enjoy some really topnotch photos. Hopefully you enjoy the photos posted below. 

                                                  Jet boating

                                                 Joan, Gene, Dan and Lori

A lake in the middle of a island which is an island in the middle of a lake 

                                       Joan and Lori

                                        A beautiful sunset taken from our front porch

                                            The Shotover group

                                                  Lake Wanaka

                                       Looking down

                                              Shark's Tooth

                                                         Glacier

Panning for gold

Goldfields Mining Centre

Today is another rainy dreary day and a good day to go back and fill in some blanks.  The biggest omission took place on our drive to the Milford Sound about ten days ago.  As you may recall we headed out but as usual Dan and Annie planned a few sightseeing stops along the way.  On the road from Wanaka to Queenstown we passed through a beautiful gorge created over the eons by the Kawarau River from the always present snow runoff. I mentioned this ride in a previous posting. This time we stopped at the historical Goldfields Mining Centre. Gold was discovered in New Zealand just a few years after the gold rush in California of 1849.  In fact many gold miners left the California mines and headed to New Zealand to seek their fortune.  The conditions here were as primitive and difficult as California but the pot at the end of the Rainbow apparently made up for the physical pain involved in seeking fortune. The Goldfields Mining Centre is situated high on a bluff above the river with massive statuesque mountains in the background. A beautiful sight for us to observe but treacherous to mine. For a while the gold was plentiful and the small community grew to 100’s of men. All known mining techniques learned from the Californians were put to use.  The controversial method of water blasting was used to cut through the rock and debris resulting in plentiful results. Some would call this damaging the environment and it probably was but all these years later looking at the sight you really don’t notice it. When we arrived we parked on one side of the river and crossed a very sturdy bridge to the other. The “old” way of crossing was sitting on a very small platform and then being pulled over by hand to the other side. This device is still in place and looks like an easy way to die. These people were determined. We took the tour offered and it was excellent! The guide gave us a blow by blow description of the extraction methods, describing the torturous workload. It was work, eat and sleep, day after day after day.   At the end of the tour he gave us a demonstration of panning and the allowed us all a chance to do it ourselves.  None of the group found any gold and it was back breaking work!  Annie brought a delicious lunch which we had while sitting in an ancient building and then headed out for a short walk around the perimeter of the entire site. A difficult walk because of the hilly terrain but well worth it.  We passed the Chinese encampment built out of rocks. These had been destroyed over the years but re-built to give us a look at the way they lived back in the day. Yes, even the Chinese journeyed all the way to find their fortune. They were hard workers but not treated well and were pushed out to the periphery to eat and sleep. We were at the gold mine area for about three hours and found it very enjoyable. You can read more about it at www.goldmining.co.nz .   I think it would be worth your time.  

                                                         Iris and Annie panning for gold

                                                       The way across the river

Water blasting

                                                                 Kawarau River

 

 

 

Phoebe's Italian Dinner

 On Saturday Phoebe invited Grandpa and me over for dinner Sunday evening. She was preparing an Italian dinner and asked us to be her guests. We, of course, were delighted to accept. She asked for my help and I said to let me know and I would be right over. She was able to do everything herself and my help was not needed. An hour or two before we were due to be there she face timed to tell us that it was a fancy dress occasion and we should dress accordingly. Gene and I did the best we could with the limited amount of clothes we had. Dan and his family put us to shame. The menu for the evening was all made by Phoebe: 1st course:  Tomato soup with freshly baked ciabatta bread, 2nd course: Rustic Pizza Pie and salad with Italian dressing, and 3rd course: Tiramisu. Everything was delicious and we all scarfed it up.

To finish the evening we had a rousing poker game. Gene and Phoebe were the big winners.

                                              Phoebe the princess

                                            Annie the scullery maid

                                                Malcie the sous chef in his toque

                                                    Ready to dine     Mangia bene!

                                                              Dan       

                                             Iris the little princess

                                             Phoebe's freshly baked ciabbata

                                                     Iris, Malcie and Phoebe

                                                   The princess and the chef

Random photos

                              The big poker game

                                      Bird sanctuary in Te Anau

                                    Malcie just watched Top Gun

                                                   

                                       Gene's photos of trees

                                               Milford Sound

                                        Heavy rain at the Bird Sanctuary.

                                                 Friendly Kea