So - where better to go than the land of the long white cloud - New Zealand.
Our first stop was Christchurch - a delightful little city if ever there was!
Our first meal in this little cafe just down the road from our hotel. A simple meal - lamb's fry and bacon (oh, yes, bacon!) on a generous serving of mash.
We were a little surprised a few minutes into our meal to find that the tram runs right through the (al fresco section of the) restaurant every few minutes.
We stayed in the Copthorne Hotel - very pleasant it was too. We hadn't planned any special trips or tours. We did drive up to the Gondola for a look at the views.
On to the High Country
Then we moved on to Queenstown for a few days.
Again, we were in a Copthorne Hotel - this one very big (actually a "resort"), and very pleasant.
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| From New Zealand |
Avalanches
We had hoped to go on out to the famous Milford Sound, but recent avalanches had closed the road. In fact some poor chap had died under five metres of snow up there. The situation was so volatile that they dropped dynamite on a few slopes to trigger controlled avalanches. Milford Sound is not on the way to anywhere, just one road in, and it was hopelessly blocked while bulldozers worked frantically for days to clear the way.
Glenorchy
Weather wasn't too great in Queenstown, either, so we went for a quiet drive up to Glenorchy.
(Another) Gondola
And then we went on the local Gondola. This one was steeper than the one near Christchurch ... and again very special views.
And when you get to the top, there is another chair lift to go to the top of the luge. You can see the things you ride down the luge on hanging under some of the seats.
They get up to quite amazing speeds before they reach the bottom! And you can also paraglide off the slope if you choose.
In fact there are a variety of ways to scare yourself on this mountain.
Kiwis
We dropped into the local Kiwi and bird park, and it was surprisingly entertaining.
In the Kiwi nocturnal house we were the only two visitors for a few minutes, and the funny little birds put on quite a show for us. They pulled out and ate a large juicy grub right in front of us, and then ran up and down against the glass giving us a really good look. Then one gave a mating call, the other responded, and they got together to make baby kiwis.
A steamship, and farming the high country.
We took a trip across the lake on this magnificent old steamship - TSS Earnslaw.
We put up with more breathtaking views, and then finally a couple of hours at Walter Peak Farm.
There were funny little cows, and deer, and sheep, to hand-feed; an afternoon tea, a shearing demonstration, and then another ride on the steamship.
Glow Worms
We still couldn't get through to Milford Sound, so we drove as close to there as we could - Te Anau, where they had the recent earthquake. We had no definite plans, but when we got there we found we could take a cruise on the lake, and a walk through the Glow Worms cave.
It was very cold and very wet - water cascading through the cave as we ducked under low ceilings along metal walk-ways.
It was different, and interesting.
At the end of a lovely day, it was quite a long way back to Queenstown, and the road was straight and open ...
... well at least she was lovely and polite about it!
The Fateful Sneeze
The road to Milford was still closed - what to do?
We saw a Savvy Army clothing shop, and thought maybe they would have some secondhand books we could browse.
As I browsed, I sneezed - old books usually do that to me.
(The other day Peter sneezed in a shop and made the doors fly open - or so it appeared ... but this was a quiet-ish sneeze.)
Suddenly the inside of my mouth started to feel strange, and my nose blocked up. As we left the store I said to Peter that I felt I was having a slight allergic reaction - maybe a cup of tea in a restaurant would make it pass.
But we had only gone a few steps before my lips started to swell up, and I realised my throat was closing up inside. My voice went all squeezed-up sounding. We remembered there was a medical centre up the hill aways, and headed there. I was desperately gasping the freezing air into what space was left in my throat - swallowing had become impossible, and panic was not far off.
We couldn't quite remember where the medical centre was. I saw an old man out in his garden shovelling potting mix. "Where's the medical Centre?" I asked in a hoarse whisper. "Just let me spread this shovel-ful ..." he replied. "My wife is having a serious attack!" said Peter. "This way then ... " said the man and took us around the corner to the next street.
They were wonderful. Within moments I had been hooked up and injected with cortisone and antihistimine, and oxygen was pumping into me. After a few minutes, though, there was no improvement and my throat felt even tighter. So then they started injecting adrenaline.
Finally, I found myself in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Way to spend the last day! Do you know how hard and narrow and uncomfortable those hospital trolleys can be for six straight hours?
While I was there a Korean man was brought into the next cubicle - poor chap had fallen off the luge and smashed his face on a rock. I knew that thing was dangerous!
Back to Christchurch ...
We had a rental car, and we had been warned not to take it to the snowfields because the insurance would not cover us. They provided us with chains ... just in case - but they were sealed, and if the seal was broken they would know we had gone somewhere we shouldn't!
However we were concerned that the shortest way back to Christchurch was via Lindis Pass, which can get snowed in. (We had gone down to Queenstown by the longer route along the coast.) We dragged out the instructions for the chains, and made sure we knew how to use them if we had to. We asked everyone we could what news there was of snow on Lindis Pass. They all seemed to say - no snow, but coming soon.
We decided to risk it and take the road, hoping we wouldn't be turned back at the last minute.
Well it didn't snow, though there were remnants of snow right up to the road, and it was a beautiful drive.
Done South Island ... on to North Island.
Finally it was time to get on a plane to fly to Wellington, North Island. We got to the airport bright and early, just to find we were fogged in and the plane was an hour late. Otherwise, though, all went smoothly.
And no more sneezing.
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