ResQgeek

When I returned home from the trip to New Zealand and Australia, I found that I had taken more than 300 pictures in just two weeks! I've been slowly culling through them, and I've posted a number of them in earlier entries. However, I've found two that I especially like. Both were taken in Queenstown, and provide just a taste of how magnificent the scenery is in the mountains of the South Island. I've uploaded them to my Lulu storefront, but you can get a better view by clicking on the thumbnail image. The first photo was shot from the balcony of my hotel room, and shows the steamship T.S.S. Earnslaw on Lake Wakatipu, in front of a snow capped mountain. I took the second photo during a walk along the lake shore one morning. This sailboat captured my attention, and I carefully positioned myself to shoot it against the stunning backdrop of trees and mountains.

There are more great pictures sitting on my hard drive, and someday I might actually find something to do with them all! But these were two of my favorites, and I just needed to share.

"Jaywalking is not illegal in New Zealand," said our bus driver, as he drove us to our hotel in Auckland. "However, you only get to do it wrong once, so I'd recommend using the crosswalks."

Heh, I was fully aware that they drive on the other side of the road in NZ and Oz. I expected it to be a bit disorienting while riding in the buses, but somehow I hadn't considered the impact it would have on me as a pedestrian. I found it very difficult to remember that the more immediate danger would be approaching from the right instead of the left.

Actually, Auckland wasn't too difficult. Most of the high traffic volume intersections had traffic and crosswalk signals, so I could just wait for the appropriate crosswalk signal and cross the street with relative confidence. Combine that with a limited amount of time to explore (i.e., I never really got outside the heart of the city), and I managed to escape without any close encounters of the automotive kind.

Queenstown was a different story. I don't remember seeing any traffic signals in that town. In fact, I don't recall seeing any "STOP" signs either. The major intersections were all traffic circles (ooops, I mean roundabouts), and all the other intersections were controlled by "GIVE WAY" signs (the local variant of our "YIELD"). For the first couple of days, I repeatedly tried to cross the streets at the intersections, with potentially disastrous results. First of all, there were no crosswalks marked at the intersections. Combined with my decided tendency to look the wrong direction as I stepped off the curb, this resulted in a number of near collisions as I tried to step in front of approaching vehicles. Nothing like realizing that you were within a foot or so of serious injury to make you appreciate the local traffic patterns!

Eventually, I figured out how to safely cross the streets. The marked crosswalks were generally in the middle of the block, and the arrival of a pedestrian at a marked cross walk brought the traffic to a halt, permitting safe passage to the other side of the street. Needless to say, I carefully looked for the crosswalks for the remainder of the stay in Queenstown.

By the time we arrived in Sydney, I was beginning to adjust to the local traffic flow, but I was still amused (and more than a bit grateful, I'll admit) to find the crosswalks in Sydney painted with labels that indicated which way to check for oncoming traffic ("Look Right -->"). Together with the abundance of crosswalk signals, I was able to wander through the city with confidence. The perpetual fear of stepping in front of a ton (or more) of mechanized metal dissipated, and now I could focus my attention on not running head on into the oncoming pedestrians!

After reading skyring's book "Bookcrossing Through Middle-Earth," I knew that New Zealand was a place that I wanted to visit. After signing up for our "ski" trip, I was hoping to visit some of the same places, but I wasn't sure how many would be accessible. However, the descriptions of Milford Sound convinced me that I HAD to find a way to get there. Luckily, our trip leader decided to organize a side tip to Milford Sound, and I eagerly signed up.

On our second morning in Queenstown, our bus pulled away from the hotel in the pre-dawn dark, in a light rain. Unfortunately, the early hour prevented us from enjoying the scenery as we drove south around Lake Wakatipu. A couple of hours later we stopped for breakfast at a tourist trap in Te Anau. I grabbed some food from the cafeteria, released a book (The Confession of Joe Cullen, by Howard Fast), and did some souvenir shopping. Soon, we were back on our bus, driving up through the Fiordland National Park to Homer Tunnel and Milford Sound. It was overcast, but light enough to enjoy the increasingly beautiful landscape. We left the farmland behind and moved into the mountains, with snow capped peaks surrounding us. It was strange to be driving through the middle of a rain forest, looking up at the mountains, which were covered with snow, only a few thousand feet above us.

As we drew near the Homer Tunnel, which passes through the mountains below the Homer Pass, we began to see signs of recent avalanche activity, and the roadside was lined with signs that read "No Stopping - Avalanche Zone." After passing through the tunnel, we finally arrived at the wharf at Milford Sound. We were running behind, and had to hurry to catch our boat to tour the Sound (though I still released another book at the wharf -- A Botanist at Bay, by John Sherwood). It will take me a long time to find the words to describe the beauty of Milford Sound. It is one of the most breathtakingly gorgeous places I have ever visited. For the time being, I have to hope that these pictures can convey at least a portion of the beauty of this place.

( Milford Sound Pictures )

After a stunning cruise, one that included dolphins frolicking in our bow wave, seals sunbathing on the rocks, and penguins working their way over the rocks to their breeding grounds, departure time inevitably arrived. During the long, drowsy ride back to Queenstown, I happened to look to the left and saw one of the most impressive rainbows I've ever seen:

( Kiwi Rainbow )

It was a long, tiring day, but it was one of the highlights of the trip. Milford Sound, by itself, was worth making the long trip across the Pacific. The amazing thing is that this was only one day out of a two week trip!