May 2020 Part 2

 Early February, after much angst about whether to fly to New Zealand or be forced to stay home due to drought or other medical reasons, we actually boarded the flight and arrived in Queenstown NZ . The weather was rainy leaving Brisbane.

 Flying into Queenstown we were pleased to see ice on the mountain tops and no rain.

 One of the lakes around Queenstown.

 The Alps as we sped around the South Island in our tiny hire car.

 This was the best steak place we could find in Queenstown. They recycle bicycles over there.

 Lake TeAnu is on the way to Milford Sound. We had not planned on visiting Milford Sound , just as well , as some days before we went, a bridge was washed away in torrential rain.

 This is the southern shore of the South Island, a bit windswept.

 I just loved these trees. They are permanently twisted and bent from the gales.

 Bluff is the town at the southern most tip of the South Island. There is a small 3rd Island off the coast which is quite popular with hikers.

 From the southern edge we drove up to Dunedin and up to the Albatross centre in the Otago area. We were lucky to see the changeover between Mum and Dad, sitting with their chick. A fascinating journey to learn about them.

 In Dunedin, we wandered through the Botanic Gardens, the trees seemed to grow better over there. This is an old Bunya Pine, of cultural significance to us as we had some growing at our previous farm.

 Further up the East Coast we found these boulders at Moeraki.

 Then we changed direction and headed west to Wanaka across the centre of the Island.This was a hydro electricity dam .

 We spent a night at Wanaka before driving up to Franz Josef Glacier. We went for a valley hike and also managed a flight up to land on the glacier, before the weather closed in and all flights were stopped.

 An action shot of crossing the freezing water, even though the air temperature was warm. The colour of the valley was grey but in a good way.

 The tourist strip of Franz Josef.

 From there we went to the beach on the West Coast.

 Back into Franz Josef for our afternoon flight in the helicopter to the glacier. This is down on the town landing area. A stroll from the tourist strip.

 From there we drove up to Greymouth for the night, and visited Shantytown, an old historical mining village display. They had a very good rocks and minerals collection in amongst their buildings. The place  was starting to feel the effects of the coronavirus on tourism as they usually have busloads of Chinese tourists and we were welcomed with the words " we HAVE some customers this Sunday morning " indicating they were struggling then. I would hate to see how they are surviving now as it is mostly run by volunteers I think.

 From there we headed into Christchurch, and detoured into Hanmer Springs. We drove over this old wooden/metal bridge. Jet boats operate in the river below. We had seen  the famous Shotover one near Queenstown on our first day in NZ too. We both decided if we get a chance to go back, we would spend more time at Hanmer Springs.

 Along the road to Christchurch we drove past these rocks, I think they are limestone but could be wrong.

 Christchurch is still rebuilding after the earthquake some years back now. I doubt if all of the buildings will be retained. There are plenty of car parking areas where buildings have been demolished and decisions no doubt to be made as to what is built there next.

 This was the peaceful scene in the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch.

 This was the view as we prepared to take off on the homeward bound flight. The only rain we saw the entire trip was overnight at Greymouth after our helicopter flight. We would like to visit again, we were hoping to hop across for a weekend in mid winter to Queenstown just so we could experience the cold. Now because of the current virus restrictions it may never happen. It might also then be too costly. I think some of us will be doing more lengthy and detailed cost/benefits analysis in future about spending.

Back home, we settled in to find we had more good rain while we were away to ease the drought pressures.. My father in law was moved into nursing care while we were away, so changes happened there too.  Our furry grand dog moved in for a planned 4 week stay while his Mum took off in early March for a trip to Sri Lanka and India. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit us. I might continue with that story into Part 3. Till then, take care.