New Zealand – this was our first stop on a 4 1/2 month journey to 6 countries and Tibet. The following is an email I sent to family and friends, published here as part of a trial run for an eventual travel book. Comments are welcome!
January 26, 2009
Hi everyone, Please forgive the mass email but we’re on the road, and, well you know how it can be with internet service…we’re doing fine and have seen so many lovely New Zealand sights and people. I guess the main thing so far for me is the amazing fact we can travel between continents so “easily.” Today we visited the Antarctic Center here in Christchurch, New Zealand, which is on the South Island. Those early explorers to the South Pole REALLY gave their all for their journeys. All we’ve had to endure on ours is some temporarily lost luggage and a little sunburn. We are spoiled. But we are thankful. Robert Falcon Scott, a British explorer, reached the South Pole on January 17, 1912 (a month before my father was born) where the sun is continuously down for six months, and continuously up for the next six months. Unfortunately, he and his men did not make it back alive. The base in Christchurch is named in his honor. You can visit the tourist center there.
New Zealand is an adventurous country, formed by volcanic explosions which are still moving the place around. Last night I dreamt I was experiencing an earthquake, and it was like trying to walk on jelly. Let’s hope that is not a premonition.
Sheep out number people here, it seems, especially on th
e South island, which is where we’ve spent most of our time. 
The west coast was cold and rainy, so we did not get to take a helicopter flight up to the Franz Joseph glacier. That was a big disappointment for Hoyt since the last time he was here ten years ago the same thing happened, and he had high hopes [no pun intended] for this time. Oh well… That day instead we did get to walk pretty far up to see the Fox Glacier, which is south of there, and walked through the rainforest at lower altitudes.
What a whacky experience to be so close to huge bodies of ice, but looking at them from tropical pathways in a dripping wet lush green jungle area. Farther south, staying in the “one horse town” of Te Anau [to quote our innkeeper], we did go on the fiord land trip to Doubtful Sound (what is a sound that is doubtful?) then on a boat that took us winding through remote waterways at the base of steep mountains full of green vegetation.
It rains about 6 meters a year there. It is the wettest place on the planet. I felt very distant from civilization, quiet and full of peace (by then jet lag had worn off).
Hoyt has done an inordinate amount of driving through the countryside and along the beaches on this tour, but yesterday we turned in the car after we arrived in Christchurch. It’s a very British town, so the tea is good and the roses, as well as the begonias, in the Botanic Gardens were fabulous. Some were at least 6 inches in diameter. No kidding!
We’ve had fish and chips a couple of times and good Steinlager beer. We’re off to Sydney, Australia tomorrow at 3:30 am for four nights before flying down to Tasmania for about 11 days…you know where that is…it’s where the devil lives 🙂 So, cheers to you all. Stay well. We love you and are so glad for friends back home who love us. To be continued… Charlene and Hoyt P.S. A great personal story we read before arriving in N.Z. is: Slipping Into Paradise: Why I Live in New Zealand, by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson.
Susan Lilley
I love how you create such an informative yet intimate sense of place, Charlene! You could write a travel book.
Robyn
Brings back such fond memories. Well done!