Out of New Zealand, into Singapore

Wanaka is hard to get to, and just as hard to get out of. Bus to Queenstown, plane to Auckland, looong plane ride to Singapore. One very long day. The Jetstar magazine showed a route over the ocean but our plane actually crossed Australia diagonally. Saw lots of the outback - truthfully, that's what most of Australia is. Braided rivers are really pretty from the air. Streams meander back and forth in a broad channel which is only filled in flood conditions. Not very often, in Oz. Lots of mountain ranges, too. About Jetstar. They do charge less. Then they sell you everything but the seatbelt. Not that 3 bucks for a cup of coffee is a big deal, I just object to being such a captive market. Especially for an eleven hour flight. If my belly had held out, they could have stuffed their fifteen dollar TV dinner.

So now we're in Singapore, a place Liz has wanted to see for 20 years, ever since she read about it in the New Yorker. Very clean, very modern, very full. over 5 million people, 272 square miles. The harbor is unbelievable, row upon row of cranes with cargo ships lined up under them, swapping cargoes. Downtown full of highrises, retail shops on the bottom floors, offices above them and apartments above them. Miles of them! Underground, it's a similar story. We went looking for lunch in the lower part of the Sun Tec complex and emerged two streets over. Good, cheap lunch though. I counted over forty different food stalls available there. KFC, McDonalds and Subway among them. I suppose over here that's exotic, where prawns and noodles is commonplace. Chinatown is in the throes of Chinese New Year, making the area even more crowded than usual. Cross streets are jammed with hucksters of all kinds, from hundreds of specialty food stalls to every kind of cheap and colorful gimcrack with bunches of gewgaws thrown in. Worse than Christmas at Gibraltar Trade Center (If you haven't been there, it's worth it, just to understand the word kitsch).

Always budget conscious, we found the perfect tour. For 33 dollars each, we boarded the Singapore Hippo Duck tours. Double decker buses, four different routes and a riverboat, hop off and hop back on for 48 hours. THIS is a bargain! For two solid days we rode and walked ourselves into exhaustion.

We marveled at the multitude of architectural styles. It seems every new building needs to outdo its predecessors in some style or other. If you can't be tallest, how about being football shaped and covered with diamond plates? Two of them, side by side. They're called the durians (a particularly exotic fruit with a very strong odor) by the locals. Maybe a cruise ship on top of the casino, or a flying saucer to house the supreme court in the justice building? Use intersecting helixes (helices?) to house a walkway? You get the idea.

                                                   Singapore's Supreme Court Building

                                                                                Casino

World's Largest Foutain, "The Fountain of Wealth" is surrounded by 5 Buildings representing 4 Fingers and Thumb (so that Money will flow from the palm of your hand)

Raffles Hotel with colonial architecture is where Singapore Sling was invented. Raffles, an Englishman, put Singapore on the map.



                                                           River connects Singapore.

The Flyer. Each car holds 8 people. Have dinner during 1/2 hour trip.

Sunday, we hit Sentosa. This is Southeast Asia's Disneyland. Fortunately, they didn't pay much attention to Walt. A lot more in the way of nature walks, free stuff to do, very minor admission fee (Don't worry, you'll get nicked later if you go the independent attractions. Universal Studios in particular is expensive). On the other hand, we rode the luge and came back up on the chair lift 3 times for 10 bucks each. We got lost on the nature walk and covered almost half the island on foot, in the woods. Much of this was on a boardwalk looking at the top layer of three canopy jungle. Came out somewhere near the gun pits where the old coastal defense artillery had been. Had a hell of a time finding our way back to a bus stop. Seriously, Sentosa is a very cool place one couldn't fully cover in a week.

Luge - 680 meter downhill with plenty of curves

Sky Tiger - see all of Singapore from the top. Spins as it slowly rises.

Nature all around.

Waterfall on the nature trail

Liz at the little nature park under Flyer

View from Zipline tower.



An aside: car ownership in Singapore. This is the most expensive place to own a car in the world. Check this out: http://www.expatsingapore.com/content/view/1152. Due to these laws, Singapore exports more used cars than anyplace but Japan.  Nevertheless I saw dozens of Ferraris, Maseratis and Porsches. This despite tough traffic laws and universally slow traffic. I feel so sorry for the high performance cars that never see more than about 50 mph all their life.

Liz with Suspicion in Singapore or I am an amatuer traveler and feeling it.

Suspicion started when Mike exchanged his Australian $50 for Singapore dollars in the airport and the exchange he got was one for one. He said he met a thief. Then we got to the hotel, check in and charged our room. The female clerk said that SGD to USD was $1 for $1. Wow, I thought I was out of touch, Gee the US Dollar must be in deep trouble! However we only get 3 TV channels in our room, not even a news channel but CNBC financial news reports that SGD = 1.29 to USD =$1. So the clerk has an attitude and Chase Visa will manage the currency exchange no matter what the check-in clerk says.

Yesterday Mike and I jay-walked in Chinatown. No traffic was coming. Why not cross instead of waiting. Looking back it really stands out that we were the ONLY people to cross the street on a red light. I wonder if that will get us a ticket or future embarrassment. They monitor with cameras here.

Our hotel is in the Kepple District, a huge shipping complex but we'd never know it. It is hidden from view. I selected this hotel for price and convenience to Sentosa so we might visit the famous Disney-like Park there and ride the luge. Mike is not keen on cities but he saw the travelogue on TV with the luge ride and he thought Singapore looked like fun when I asked. But somehow we cannot take a bus from our hotel to Sentosa but rather we must return to the city and go out again with the tour ticket we bought.

                                                             The Year of the Dragon

We return to Singapore on Jan. 22. So what? Jan. 22 is Chinese New Year's Eve! Dumb time to be on the move! No thanks to Air Treks agent. Even though I tried to anticipate cultural events and dates like this by enrolling with a GM website who warns of this type of conflict, I missed this huge date on Chinese calendar. All I can say is "Kong Si Fa Chi" (Happy New Year! ) Don't ask me if that is Mandarin or Cantonese. I get them mixed up. I hear both and the accent is slightly different. I started practising "Kong Si Fa Chi" (think KFC) since a Chinese clerk in New Zealand said "Merry Christmas" to us. It is the least I can learn to say.

We return from Bali on Jan. 22 and spend one night in Singapore. Then on Jan 23, we take a bus to Melacca, a very historic trading city. The bus is booked through luxury.com.sg and costs $46 per person. We are paying more for a bus ride than we typically pay for a room. But we selected our seat and it is a sure way out of Singapore to Melacca. Melacca is also spelled Melaka and many other ways.

I like to make note of government messages to people. Singapore is intensely capitalistic so corporations buy their advertising before the government does. Nothing is free. It is not a "nanny state" Mike agrees that fewer messages are on display here than in Australasia. The most powerful two were heaped with guilt.

"Do your children speak proper English?"

"Your life. Your fight. Dengue."  (I saw these two only once and at a glance. I don't think they want them in neighborhoods with tourists.)

Trash cans say "Do your part. Let's Bin it.". No Smoking symbol By Law.
Army recruiting posters say, "Your Country". Singapore has some friction in region. It is a lot richer than neighboring Malaysia. Birthrate is 1.1 per couple. Workers are imported from India. 85,000 hotel maids congregate on their day off on Orchard Road, equivalent of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.  

Luxury shops on Orchard Road

President's mansion

Mass transit is great here. Buses run the same on Sunday as any other day. Choices are tandem buses, double decker buses and regular buses. We have not tried the trains.

Green spaces are terrific and prolific. Reuse is great too. I meant to mention this about Australasia too. The only place where plates and utensils were thrown away was in Sentosa Park and even there the clerk took our Chinette plates and forks from Mike as he was about to put them in trash. She did not let him throw it away. We don't know why. The stands in Chinatown even use red plastic chop sticks. They do not waste money putting paper in landfills. They must run a lot of dishes through dishwashers.

Liz More on New Zealand

What makes The Pines in Wanaka, Otago, South Island, New Zealand the nicest timeshare I can remember? The 2 bedroom, bath and a half townhouse is so thoughtfully put together and the quality of construction is so high. Furniture is high quality wood throughout from the kitchen cabinets to living room credenzas, bedroom dressers and night tables, and even the patio set. The kitchen ceiling is wood. Recessed lighting and reading lights are throughout. 2 late model TVs and a stereo entertain. A tidy foyer with hooks makes this a nice place for skiing in winter (June, July and August). 4 saucepans in the kitchen have polished copper bottoms. Not only did it come with every possible appliance, it also had instant coffee, tea, hot chocolate, salt, pepper, a pepper mill with peppercorns, and a bottle of milk was in the fridge.  An iron, ironing board, laundry tub, drying rack, washer and dryer with lots of detergent are just like home for even the most fastidious. The 2 story townhouse has 4 foot wide sliding doors without screens. We can leave those doors open all day or night to let in fresh air. Only an occasional house fly appears. When Mike sits outside a few little birds snatch any crumbs he offers.

                                        13 Rainbow Trout and Ducks competing for Breadcrumbs 

On Wednesdays guests are invited to attend a mixer; a BBQ sausage lunch is served. Unlike huge Massanutten, a timeshare in Virginia no water aerobics class or organized baseball games are offered but The Pines has size appropriate amenities. 

                                                 Sample of Landscaping around The Pines

The Pines provides an array of handy stuff at no charge. Included are bicycles of every size in good condition, bike helmets. Golf clubs and carts include left hand clubs. The extremely nearby course charges $60 per person for 18 holes. A sun room includes a heated pool, sauna and hot tub. The game room has ping pong and a library. A stream with a water wheel with ducks and trout entertain young and old. Tennis courts, trampoline and a chess board with large pieces amuse the inbetweens. BBQ grills complete the offerings.

This timeshare is most family friendly. Included are sugar packets with little sayings; the saying that fits in here is by Bill Cosby. "Parents are not interested in justice. What they want is quiet." The activities here give parents a fighting chance to lounge around while their children have lots to do. 

We are on the same latitude in New Zealand as southern Alaska but we see occasional well established palm trees. The Pines has bushes that include azaleas. Obvious pockets of year round warmth are here. The water is the bluest I've seen since the Finger Lakes near Cooperstown. I tried a swim in Lake Wanaka but water is too cold. I entered up to calves and decided to bike back to my heated pool in resort. Considering proximity to the South Pole the cold water is understandable. It is also wine country. We sampled excellent wines from Rippon, a vineyard started in 1982.

I'll repeat Mike's assumption that if you visit Australia, turn your watch back 30 years.  Some old fashioned notables in NZ: only 9 TV stations, 2 travel agencies, no internet cafe (no McDonalds) but the internet office is jammed and charges $5 NZD for first hour. The Otago Daily Times is printed 6 days per week and is a compliment to timeshare residents. Nice blasts almost forgotten from our recent past. We were comfortable here even if we missed the fiords. Our sit bones are in shape for bicycling in Asia. We leave with clean clothes, fresh and rested for Singapore tomorrow. 

More on The Otago Times and NZ media in general

As I looked for the daily Sudoku puzzle I couldn’t help but note the classified ads in today’s Wednesday paper. Four solid possibly 5 not so solid pages of classified advertising include a wide category of job openings. Sex ads are still in print here and not only on Craig’s List. Farm work ads are as follows: Herd manager for950 cows with 2 years current experience (danandbridget@farmside.co.nz), dairy worker for 600 cows (mia@3.net.nz), relief milker, please phone 03-415-7782, Bread Plant Supervisor in Christchurch (night shift for Tip Top Bakery) and a warehouse and logistics manager for a wine making and bottling firm are a few standouts. Of course construction jobs in Christchurch. Find the usual retail ads including grocery and restaurant including chef. Apply here the sugar packet with an old Chinese saying, “Of all the 36 alternatives, running away is always the best.” NZ is somewhere I’d run to if I were in the market. Mike was surveyed and asked if he’d return here and he said, Hell, yes!

Emirates Airlines has an open house in Dunedin. If I were younger and without interest in a degreed occupation and just wanting to travel, I’d immediately apply to work as Cabin Crew for Emirates. They ask for a resume, passport size and full length photos. The interview is in the Scenic Hotel Southern Cross on Jan. 26 at 9 AM sharp. I would not have any tattoo visible for that interview. Emirates Airline is apparently an expanding airline (makes sense since they pay a lot less for their jet fuel than anyone else) and their uniforms look so smart. Stewardesses wear a red beret with an elegant white scarf on the side and nice pleats in their skirts. Mike questions what a person can learn when confined to an airplane for weeks at a time. While attending Sci Fi conventions in Romulus Mike cannot help but see the crews arrive in the hotel late and leave early. I agree that domestic flying is brutal but if someone does not want a degree international travel might be a good experience for the attractive go-getter.  

Angel in Wanaka (Woman spray Painted herself Gold and bestows Blessings mostly upon Charmed Children. She moves very slowly to give angelic effect.) 

Forgive me if I repeat my comments on Qantas and then add LAN (Latin American Airlines). For this trip we fly a variety of airlines. Since we are not trying to accumulate air miles since we do not expect to be frequent flyers, we try a lot of different airlines based purely on price and destination. Their service is so good. Baggage is not extra. Seats are not extra. Food is not extra. Individual TVs with lots of programs including The Big Bang Theory pass the flight time. We finally watched this recommended show on the plane and laughed and laughed. Head sets are complimentary.  

Air New Zealand and Jet Star charge for everything. Air Zealand has a safety video from the World Rugby Competition held last October, 2011. It features Richard Simmons doing exercises (like fastening seatbelts) and the winning New Zealand All Black Rugby Team. Otherwise they are the same profit driven fanatical airlines that we have in the US.

Liz in New Zealand with minor comments on Australia

Liz in NZ with comments on Australia too

Australia and New Zealand governments advertise for the sake of their citizens to a greater degree than the public service announcements that I observe in the US. They are more Nanny-like. They also support tourism with I-Site centers throughout both countries. Practically every town has an I-site where an attendant will answer questions and hand out a local map. In one town in Australia the I-site was in an art gallery. Just as long as someone keeps the door open and will talk to a visitor. Cigarette retailers post the telephone# of the Quit Line. No smoking except in certain limited places. Call the national Quit Line and Nicabates are shipped to a citizen for a cost of as little as $3. (Mike pays $30-$50.) Highway signs warn motorists to Rest, Stay Fresh, Share the Drive. A Micro Nap kills...Enough to make a motorist sleepy. A poster shows an assembly of macho men united against battering women. Bowel cancer incidents are high in NZ. Since it is highly treatable they post signs about bowel movements and pain. Do not use candles in Camper Vans is another warning in a place just loaded with RVs. A free brochure on preventing objects from falling during earthquakes is a handy dandy booklet to take home since my mom’s china cabinet rattled during a quake in Washington, D.C. and we read about a tremor in Ohio, of all places. Governments give a voice to prevent horrors that confront firemen, teachers and medical workers. Government I-sites assist us, the budget traveler and that broadens their tourism industry.

I asked Jean Dunstan in San Remo in Australia how Mums potty train their children to push which of the 2 buttons on toilets. I asked because I did not really understand the buttons. Do the plumbing pipes vary for the 2 buttons? I wondered if one pipe is for pee and if a second pipe eliminates black water. She said the waste pipe is the same. A child learns to ask, little flush or a big flush? The flush simply varies by volume of water.

Mike can't get over the cattle and sheep on steep hillsides. They're in separate pastures on the steep hills. It's a wonder they don't tumble down. While biking in Wanaka I heard a sheep on the back of a truck bleating woefully. Then I saw the same sheep at the Wanaka Lion’s Club Fair and offered to feed her the crust of my meat pie. Her shepherd declined for the obvious reason that the pie crust had been near meat (Mad cow). He expressed sympathy for her bleating and her hideous fright. He said that  she’d never been transported before and that she’d seen numerous of her friends go off and not come back.

Hostels continue to be excellent and their operating mechanics interest me. In Rotorua the bed frame was made out of plywood. The window had a sheer curtain and a pulled-up Roman blind, both apparently locally made. The hostel in Kaikoura won a prize for best small hostel in 2010-11. It felt intimately small sandwiched on a beach road with a straight up cliff in back. The road led to a seal colony. 

Meanwhile Indonesians were by far the largest nationality to attend the show at the Agridome. Not Chinese as I first assumed. I enjoy a chain store called I think, Cost Plus World Market. It sold numerous Indonesian-made household items. 15 years ago or so I remember reading that their currency fell badly and that wages went down to $1 per day. I felt sorry for Indonesian woodworkers and guilty for buying their wooden carved exports.

Context on population has to assist in understanding peoples so here are some statistics. New Zealand has 4.5 million people while Australia has 22.5 million. The Netherlands has 17 million while the UK has 62 million. England alone has 50 million. Germany has 88 million and ranks 14th in national population. Vietnam is 13^th next to Germany. Indonesia is the world's 4th most populated nation. The US has 311 million and ranks third after China and India.

Rain fell in New Zealand for 5 days without let up. We rode most of day from Rotorua to Wellington, the capital. We visited the very convenient and comfortable Te Papa, New Zealand’s great national museum. We saw interesting public architecture along the water front. We apologize to Liz Boss and Sci Fi friends for skipping movie set tours for Lord of Rings but they are not that important to us. Wellington is at the bottom of the north island and where we take a ferry to the south island. From the ferry we are bussed to the beach town, Kaikoura.

In the hostel in Kaikoura we met a 26 year old Australian woman who came from and then returned to Christchurch on our bus. She told us to expect tremors. She also said that Re:Start was an interesting outgrowth built from colorfully painted shipping containers. Meanwhile a German tourist deliberately rerouted her trip to avoid Christchurch while I asked myself why I accepted the suggestion to go through there. I woke up in the middle of the night unsure if I were feeling a tremor. I had a bad dream about crawling insects and denial. Then the whole YMCA hostile actually shook in the morning (Jan 5) so I learned the difference between a vibration (feels like an electric blanket) and a mild earthquake.

In Kaikoura and Christchurch Mike and I slept in private rooms on twin beds. He is the most wonderfully tactile cuddly man. Before I met Mike I was not sure what cuddling meant though I’d heard it defined in Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. Mike holds an embrace as he stretches out his arm that is so comfortable. No wonder I don’t sleep as well in twin beds.

Mike admired Burt Munro played by Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a motorcycle racer who raced on Bonneville Salt Flats from Christchurch, New Zealand. So when asked if we’d go through Christchurch, I said, yes because the bus driver would manage snarled traffic. 66,000 residents have moved out of the city so traffic volume is fine. When we arrived our cab driver said that he knew Burt Munro and that Anthony Hopkins portrayed him very accurately except for accent. We did not find a restaurant open. Few businesses are open after 5pm. Good thing we had cheese, ham, crackers and a banana for the first night. Christchurch is in the province of Canterbury. Very near our YMCA is the Canterbury Museum. That and the botanical garden amused us during our day in Christchurch. The very crisp and clean Y cost $72 NZD per night or we spent a reasonable $110 USD for 2 nights.    

Our cab driver from Tarras to Wanaka told us that New Zealand tourism is continuing to be really hurt by Christchurch’s tremors, that people are not just avoiding Christchurch but entire New Zealand. Apparently Japanese tourists visit anyway. They understand the minimal risk of earthquake. Japanese appreciate the favorable exchange rate, wide open vistas of mountains and seashore and the diversity of natural beauty that makes New Zealand. 

Diane, you asked what defied planning? What were biggest surprises on the trip? I worried needlessly that Uluru would be too hot and that Wanaka would be too cold. I also did not anticipate that Christchurch would scare me (needlessly) but I was scared at first.

With you and George in mind, I really wanted to see the fiords because you said how stunning they are. It really upsets me is that we cannot afford to visit Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound and see the fiords. The whole effort and expense of getting to the South Island was so that we might see the fiords. We spent $830 NZD on the Great Sights Bus Line but that bus line does not serve Wanaka. “Ya cain’t git thar from here.” We can but only for a prohibitive cost. $1000 is too much on top of what we spent. I am too newly retired to spend that much for a single day. Bad enough I spent half that on the Great Barrier Reef. I was really angry and aggrieved when I learned that yesterday in the Wanaka I-Site. I raised my voice. How could we come 6000 miles and miss the fiords! I feel tricked because Wanaka is less than 100 kilometers from Queenstown. Tours to the sounds leave from Queenstown. When I called up the RCI number for New Zealand and found a week in Wanaka, I took it imaging that Wanaka to Queenstown to the fiord would work just fine. We would have been far better off for sightseeing to continue with the bus and hostels but instead we are in the nicest time share I ever remember. If only I had not booked this time share! I looked at car rental at $60 per day with a charge after the 1^st 150 kilometers. Queenstown’s one day boat tour to the fiords costs $170 per person and leaves awfully early and returns by 8 PM. Driving on the opposite side of the road in wee hours is just not the thing to command of Mike and me. Instead we are kicking back in the luxury of a very well appointed townhouse that we may not see the likes of in crowded Asia for the next 3 months. A fly over to a ship (fly/cruise/fly) from Wanaka is a $1000 for 2. Moral of story is do not book a timeshare in Wanaka if you only have 2 weeks in New Zealand.          

While I was upstairs reading and then meditating Mike heard someone stomping in another unit. He worried if I was still acting out my anger. Our 2^nd night in Wanaka we finally watched The King’s Speech. For me it was a story about a man managing anger and discovering friendship in the process. It was a movie that my mother said that she liked and it was Best Picture, so I really wanted to see it. For me it was a movie about the benefits of psychotherapy; feeling listened to is such a gift. We are visiting constitutional monarchies. The Queen of England is on the coins in Australia and New Zealand. The Economist is a magazine referred to here by newspapers. Its surveys show constitutional monarchies far surpassing the US in a number of measurements of democracy (like fair elections). Increasingly the US is struggling to sustain democracy; pressure to be an oligarchy run by the 1 percent is huge. We liked the suggestion that Margaret Thatcher’s funeral be privatized.  

Our Wanaka timeshare, The Pines makes The Moorings in Tomakin, NSW, Australia seem like a dump. I did not want to be too critical on The Moorings since we had just arrived in Australasia and didn’t have a frame of reference. Both were booked through RCI.

Language

In Australia and New Zealand reception is the word used for Guest Registration. When checking in to a hotel, hostel or timeshare, you go to Reception. When I asked if they’d have a reception for guests (typical social mixer in a timeshare) the receptionist looked confused. A reservation is called a booking. Instead of reservations required, they say, bookings essential.

Rotorura to Wanaka

After two nights in Rotorua, we got back on the bus for Wellington. Two nights there. The rain, of course, followed. Nice little town, very nice hostel, The Downtown Backpacker. Only one I ever saw with a bar. Wellington itself is actually rather small, sandwiched between the harbor and the surrounding mountains, no more than a couple of hundred yards with the result of homes being built into the sides of the mountains. Makes it pretty picturesque. That's helped along by a very eclectic mix of architecture.

We spent not a penny on touring in Wellington. First off, it's not as if we had the time - just a day and a half. Second, just walking the harbor and attending the (free) museum are plenty entertaining. Third, well, the hostel is a pretty nice place to hang out. I'd love to see the place in the sunshine but we're glad with what we got. Restaurants around the harbor are plentiful, high quality and inexpensive. In the museum I got a pleasant surprise. There, right next to the cafeteria was the Britten motorcycle. I'd completely forgotten he was from here. Britten was a glassware manufacturer who decided to go into racing. He built this machine from the ground up, apparently using every bit of technology he'd used modernizing his glassworks. From magnesium engine cases and internal parts designed with Formula 1 technology to spun carbon fiber frame and suspension members, it was all hand built. It ruled the Battle of The Twins class at Daytona until Britten's untimely death from cancer at age 45.  We also saw a fine example of a giant squid and the biggest ammonite I've ever seen.

The harbor was very much a working harbor and contained nearly every kind of ship, from cruise ships and freighters to ocean sailing racers, preparing for an intercontinental race.

Onto the ferry from Wellington to Picton, North Island to South. A 3 hour ride, complete with dolphin sightings a good distance off. Mountains all along the shore 'til we hit Picton harbor, a very long estuary. The ferry was massive, the size of a cruise ship with several bars and entertainment areas. No time for sightseeing, an hour later we were on the bus to Christchurch. Through more New Zealand countryside. Big steep smooth hills, usually dotted with cattle or sheep. These animals graze all the way up the side of the hills, looking as if they were in imminent danger of stumbling and rolling clear to the bottom. For once, our driver was not intent on being a tour guide, just driving at maximum possible speed on the narrow two-lane, full of curves. Then we hit the seashore. A fellow passenger on the ferry had advised us to sit on the left side of the bus. Good move! We met the seashore at Kekerengu. From there on, hills to the right, seashore on the left. Lots of camper parks right on the sea, beaches from pure sand to rough and rocky. About 30 kilometers north of Kaikoura was a seal breeding colony. Hundreds, no, thousands of seals, young and old, resting, playing in the frequent streams. Unfortunately traveling too fast to get any kind of pictures. I tried but got nothing but blurs.

Overnight stop in Kaikoura. Got there about 3 in the afternoon. Cute little beach town, nice intimate little hostel, the YHA Maui. Liz heard from the desk clerk that there was a seal colony a few kilometers up the road and the best time would be at low tide, arount 6 PM. Made a long trek to the rocky point. Saw 3 seals. Well, at least this time I was able to get pictures, though the seals were much more interested in their naps than the dozens of tourists clustered around them. Oh well. At least a few lunch wagons along the road served a very acceptable fish, scallops, squid rings and chips dinner. Next day, we had several hours to kill until the bus came at 3:30. Lots of time to walk arount the tiny business district and along a stream paralleling the ocean shore. Ducks, cormorant and trout in the stream. Profusion of vegetation on the banks, including lots of peas gone wild (and delicious) and dill, sweet clover, flowers. I wonder how all this got here.

Got into Christchurch about 6 PM. Just time to take a taxi to the YMCA, conveniently located near the museum and Botanical Gardens. A good thing, it seems that they're the only things going in this city just now. Wandered the streets looking for something to eat. Only thing open was a high end restaurant where one could easily lose track of a hundred or so dollars. Had some emergency rations, ham, cheese and crackers. Good enough to tide us over. The Y is nice, though pricey as everything is here just now. The whole city is on an emergency footing with a large part of the downtown cordoned off and very little traffic in the streets. Apparently the museum is a sturdy edifice (unlike the cathedral which is apparently going to have to be demolished). The usual general museum stuff,  New Zealand history, geology, fossils - most of the dinosaur bones were from North America, nothing much in the way  of paintings or sculpture, a bizarre wearable art exhibit (Okay, this needs expanding on. Very unusual materials - leather, wood veneer, copper radiator scraps, etc. used to make mostly formal dresses, men's suits, suits of armor. It actually beggars description, therefore  no photography allowed - this means you!), a large exhibit and film on National Geophysical Year, 1957, and the trek across the South Pole. The Botanical Garden was quite large and situated on the both sides of the Avon (Honest, that's the river's name. So much for originality.) featuring a formal rose garden, heritage rose garden, native and non-native trees, even a boat rental shed patterned on the British model. Really big trout in the river, maybe a foot and a half long, also eel. Parallel to the cordoned off downtown is an effort to restart commerce using shipping containers called Re:Start. Oh well. The shipping containers are sturdy, well bolted together and quite nicely done up. On the far side of this is the fenced-off zone, most of the central business district. Strangely, the only evidence of damage visible is shattered curbing and the occasional missing cornice. Oh, and building demolition off in the distance. Most of the buildings are in good shape, but next to structures that are iffy. On the walk back to the Y, we saw occasional houses cordoned off, most with no visible damage. Across the street from the Y was a ministry-of-something-or-other, taking up most of the block, closed off and missing a couple of steeples. Looks like that's being repaired but not yet habitable. We felt one small tremor. Nobody in the street got excited, after the one quick hesitation.

Another long bus ride through the Southern Alps, stoppping near Mount Cook, the highest peak. This resort was dedicated to New Zealander's famous Sir Edmund Hillary. (All the autographs I saw -many- said Ed Hillary, apparently he considered himself just another guy.) He learned  mountain climbing here. Bronze statue of him at the Hermitage, a 5 star hotel, nice little museum and theatrette devoted to his exploits. Breathtaking scenery of truly rugged looking mountains in every direction unlike the nice soft hills we'd seen in the north of New Zealand. Truly alpine monsters complete with a glacier (we only got to see one tiny corner of it) and snow on the 3,000 plus meter peaks. Lots of movies of mountain climbing on screens throughout the museum. Question, why the heck do they seem to all be climbing in crappy weather? Is there some advantage to climbing in the middle of  winter?

Now we're in Wanaka, 30 or so miles out of Queenstown in The Pines, a timeshare. Wanaka is a high-end resort town with a beautiful little lake, mountain scenery, golf course nearby. Our townhouse apartment houses up to 7 people with every modern amenity. Liz is devastated that we won't be able to get to the fjords. Wanaka is pretty much the end of the road, with minimal bus service. By the time we got to Queenstown (still 100 km form the fjord, the tours would have already departed, as it's a very full day, 7 AM to 8PM. Pretty you can't get there from here. Yesterday, Saturday, we attended a festival sponsored by the Lion's Club in the local park. Games for kids, amateur bandstand and rides in antique cars were the feature events. For a 5$ donation I scored a ride in a 1903 Renault. Chief oddity was a motorcycle style (all 3 forward gears in line) shift pattern, also radiator behind engine, thus no grille.