Living with MCL

The end of our vacation is finally close at hand. In just under 3 hours we should be heading home. I am a little disappointed, as well as being happy. You know what Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz,

there’s no place like home

Anywaze, as a continuation on my last post, and since I have lots of time on my hands right now, I thought I would take the time to reflect a little further on our trip, and provide some more thoughts and impressions from New Zealand.

1. New Zealander’s love Americans. The don’t love some of the things are country stands for now (at least our government), but they definitely love American culture, especially American oldies, and country western music. In fact on the south island that’s all you heard from the one station that broadcast on all the air waves, in ever city, as we traveled through the south island. It varies a little more on the north island, but at the most popular bars in Auckland, that’s pretty much all you hear.
2. If you’re traveling to New Zealand don’t worry about carrying cash. It seems every business takes credit cards. I only used cash when taking a taxi, or for little things like ice cream, but even in the case of the latter, I could have used my credit card.
3. Fresh, wild caught fish is not as prevalent on the island as I had thought. In fact, you can’t even purchase fresh, wild caught trout on the island. If you want trout, you have to catch it yourself. And all the salmon on the island is farm raised. We did have some grouper, orange roughy, sword fish, and marlin, but finding it not prepared fried (catering to the English) was difficult. Lamb and beef predominate, and contrary to what we had been told, the beef is very good.
4. And finally, the Irish are everywhere, even in Auckland, and we got to celebrate St. Patrick’s day a day early.

Cya all soon!

Well this is it, Auckland, New Zealand, the last leg in our tour of New Zealand. We turned in the rental car, and checked into the Westin Hotel, were we plan on spending our last 3 days, before returning home.

And as I was sitting in my room after a hearty dinner, I starting contemplating the last two weeks, thinking about the similarities and differences between the US and New Zealand, all the experiences we’ve had, and what if anything I would have done differently.

One thing that stood out was the lack of Americans in New Zealand, and the abundance of Europeans. Contrary to popular belief, the US is no longer the dominate force in the world, it once was.

The other thing that stood out, and which I commented on previously, was how different the two islands are. The most notable thing being how sparsely populated the south island compared to the north. The towns are smaller, and the roads are far less congested.

Prices are typically more expensive as well in the south, especially in the more touristy areas, i.e. Queenstown, and the accommodations more moderate..

In many regards, New Zealand is much like the US though. We both speak English, and New Zealanders live in home tracts much like the US, just on bigger lots, and the New Zealand coast line resembles many parts of the California and Oregon coastlines.

But driving in New Zealand is nothing at all like driving in the US, and that isn’t even taking into account New Zealanders drive on the wrong side of the road. The only way to describe the roads in New Zealand is to compare them to Lombard street in San Fransicso, but on a much larger scale.

There are some roads in CA, i.e. Topanga Canyon and Decker Canyon Roads, that come close in comparison, but even those can’t compare to the amount of curves, grades and narrowness of the roads encountered in New Zealand. I actually started getting motion sick on some of the roads, and I was driving.

Still New Zealand is a great country, and New Zealanders are the friendliest people, by far, I have met anywhere else in the world. I hope to come back and spend more time. 18 days is just not enough time.

I will do it just a little differently next time, concentrating on the south island, because of its more diverse and unique environment, and do a lot less driving, preferring to fly between various locations, when ever possible.

After I get my fill of the south island, then I’ll start on the north island.

Since crossing to the north island two days ago, I have found it amazing just how different the two islands are. It’s like we entered into a different world altogether.

While everyone is still very friendly, with only one exception so far, there are just so many other differences.

The south island is noticeably less populated and congested, and full of spectacular beauty and things to do, but the accommodations are sparse [or at least the more luxurious accommodations are harder to find], and the food, while very good, is for the most part very simple.

Of course you don’t go to the south island for the food and the accommodations. You go there for the adventure.

On the other hand, the north island is more for the less adventurous. There is still a lot of beauty to take in, and things to do, but not like on the south island, nor is it as unique as on the south island. But the food, and the accommodations are a step above [at least more abundant, and easier to find].

So if I had it to do all over, you might ask, would I do it again? Of course! New Zealand is a great country, I would just be a little smarter the next time, and only pick one of the islands to go to.

It’s like that old saying goes (or maybe it was a Mazda commercial)

If I only new then what I know now!

And just so you don’t forget us, here’s a shot of Edie and me, sitting on the veranda, just outside our room at the Ormlie Lodge, in Hasting, NZ after sipping on a nice sauvignon blanc. The weather has finally warmed up more to our liking.

After two days on the west coast with its beautiful glaciers, and spectacular sunsets, it was time to head over the pass towards Christchurch on the east coast.

We decided not to stop in Christchurch, as we were told it was just another big city, instead choosing to head north towards the wine region of Marlborough.

We stopped at a few wineries in the Canterbury region, but they were not of the quality of wines we experienced during our first few days in New Zealand. Given this region is known more for it’s Rieslings [not our favorite varietal], it wouldn’t be fair of anyone to make any conclusions based on our evaluations.

Still, as has been the case everywhere in New Zealand so far, everyone has been extremely friendly, informative and helpful, and additionally, in the case of the winery personnel, very passionate about their wines. [I'll give them a few more years in the wine making category.]

By this time it was starting to get late, and we ended up traveling a little further than anticipated, since nothing seemed too appealing until we reach the little town of Kaikura.

Kaikura is a little town on the coast, with a rocky coastline similar to that along parts of Malibu, where we discovered a little lodge, set in a beautiful country setting, and with it own restaurant, reminiscent of the chateaus we stayed in during our trip to France (one of our more memorable vacations) several years ago.

Fortunately they had one room left.