Home at Last

It took a few extra hours, but we made it home. Our flight from Auckland to Los Angeles was about 12 hours, and although I really tried (really!) I couldn't sleep well. Too fidgety and tightly packed (not to mention tired) to really relax. They feed you well on those Qantas flights, but not always when you'd expect to be fed, and just when you're getting sleepy and think you could really sleep, there's someone asking you if you want something to drink.

We landed in LA at 6:30 a.m. Monday, local time, but it felt like about 5 p.m. (Tuesday) to us. We had to collect all out things and transfer to the domestic connections terminal and customs, etc, so we got through all that, and discovered Perry was missing. Somehow, he went through the line faster than Katie and I did, so we walked to the top of the ramp and he was no where in sight. We walked a little further, because we were convinced he had been ahead of us, and about 45 minutes later we found him back in the terminal waiting near a bookstore (but not actively looking for us!) I had walked past where he said he was standing at least three times and never saw him!

So, anyway we got to our American Airlines flight to Chicago with no further ado, and took off pretty much on time (10:30 a.m. LA time)

The trouble came when we landed in Chicago (4:30 local time) and saw they were predicting snow! Almost all the evening flights were being cancelled, but our was just delayed since the inbound flight hadn't landed yet. It got diverted from Iowa to Detroit until they had clearance to fly to Chicago. So, when they finally arrived at 12:15 a.m. we were assured they would clear the jet and board us as fast as they could. By that time the snow (less than 4 inches) had stopped and they had plowed and the planes needed to be de-iced, but we were in the air in less than an hour. So, we landed in Harrisburg at 3:15 a.m. (on Tuesday morning) instead of the planned 10:00 p.m.! And we were all very tired. It had taken more than 34 hours in real time to make the journey home, and none of us had really slept well that whole time. Thanks to our tired families who came to pick us up at that ungodly hour before going off to work the next day!

There and Back Again

We made it safely to Auckland. We stopped early yesterday morning in Matamata to visit the film location of Hobbiton, which was truly amazing. Because of the alleged filming in the next months of another film we were all asked to sign a nondisclosure confidentiality agreement that we would not disclose anything we saw on site to anyone - even on the internet. So as much as I'd love to, I cannot share those photos. Suffice to say-- the level of detail, the attention to minutia, the character, the artistry -- was evident everywhere. Folks who have visited Matamata even six months ago saw almost nothing to compare. You'll have to ask to see the pics personally.

It was a light drizzle most of the tour, and as we got back to the farm itself, we watched a short sheep shearing demonstration, where we learned the top shearers in the world can do several hundred per 8-hour shift. The champion can do one every 30 seconds, although I feel sorry for the poor sheep getting a rough haircut that fast. It looks like it hurts plenty.

Since it was starting to rain harder, we ate our lunch at the Shire's Rest Cafe, hoping to get some cool souvenirs, but they had surprisingly little to sell there. We got lamb burgers with mint jelly and chips (fries).

Still hoping to get souvenirs from Hobbitton, we drove back to Matamata looking for a shop, but alas, it was Sunday and everything was closed! BUT there was a gypsy caravan of craftsmen and artists on the town green, all dressed like the aging hippies they are, traveling together for 8 months across both islands, selling their wares, living on the road, out of their fantastic gypsy caravan vehicles, each one completely decked out it all its weirdness, with handcrafted ship's prows, crows's nests, and things that were actually metal, all painted to look like ancient gypsy wagons. We found a few treasures there.

Then we just had to drive the 2 hours north to Auckland. It's quite a nice large city, divided highways and all. It was still raining, so we went straight to the Campervan return dealer, and swapped it for a small car (which I was glad to discover was an automatic!). Then it was off to the last campground, where we had reserved a cabin with our own kitchen, where we used up all our leftovers for a nice picnic supper: a canned peppersteak soup, cheezy bread sandwiches with turkey, cheddar cheese, avocado, mustard, tomato, and a fresh strawberry, kiwi, and banana yogurt salad.

Today (Monday already here) we're flying home. We are planning to drive to the north of the bay to meet up with Katie's professor contact who has been working on some research that is closely related to her major project this past semester. Our flight leaves at 3:10 pm, and we're trying to repack all our stuff into the same size bags as we brought here, which is quite a challenge.

So, unless unexpected weather delays our arrival, we'll be at the Harrisburg airport at 10 pm, Monday. Shortly thereafter, I can get on my own computer and finally dress up and add the right photos to these posts.

the idyllic farmland in Matamata

The Shire's Rest Cafe, on the Alexander Farm, film location of Hobbiton

One of the reasons they chose this farm was because from the middle of it, you can look in any direction and not be able to see anything manmade.

Feeding the lambs after the tour

Eating our lunch at the Shire's Rest Cafe

The Gypsy Caravan Fair of arts and crafts in Matamata

Our last night was spent in this tiny cabin where we packed and repacked for our trip home. Here Perry and Katie are re-reading a thesis on restorative / substantive justice she wanted to refresh her memory on, before meeting the professor in the morning before our flight home.

Our "kitchen cabin"at the Top Ten Holiday Park in Auckland.

- Geoffrey

Location:New Zealand

Nelson to Wellington

Today we took the scenic route through wine country to the Ferry crossing at Picton. We passed miles and miles of beautiful vineyards. It was pouring down rain the whole time, so I didn't get any photos. At the ferry we only had to wait a half hour til loading time, then the 3.5 hour cruise across the channel. The ferry was huge, and had a lounge for sleeping, one like a food court, and a private bar. It stopped raining so hard so I got a few photos of the crossing.

Arriving in Wellington at about 4:30 we rushed to the Te Papa museum of Maori culture and New Zealand history and art. It was closing at 6:00 so we will probably go back tomorrow to see some more. It started raining again, so we walked to a nearby shopping district that had mostly covered sidewalks, but all the shops were closed! Doesn't anyone in New Zealand have after-work Christmas shopping to attend to? So we found a Chinese place open, had some supper and then drove over to the campsite in the next town up called Lower Hutt.

Tomorrow we hope to drive north to see some sites and end up near Hobbiton (actually a little farm country called Matamata.  We'll see how far we get!

Franz to Nelson

We woke up at our campsite with a grand view of the edge of Franz Joseph Glacier on Thursday, so we ate quick, and drove up to the edge of the glacier, where you can take a further 45 minute hike out the the edge of the ice itself (or at least to within a few hundred yards for safety).

Then it was mostly a long drive north along the west coast to see how far we could get. It started raining shortly after lunch so photo taking was sharply curtailed.

We pulled in to our campsite at about 8:00 pm, drove quickly into Nelson, but everything was closed, and it was pouring, so we bought some groceries and came back, and went to bed.

Today we're crossing the ferry to the north island, hopefully we'll get to explore some of Wellington, and hopefully it's not raining so hard up there!

the view from our campsite

The hike to the glacier's edge

The leading edge of the ice, melting slowly into this very icy stream

very icy, see?

My little cairn

Some hikers paid to have a guide take them further up on the ice.

The west coast is very barren of anything but these deserted beaches, and very twisty-turny two-lane roads.

The Pancake Rocks we hard to see close-up due to the driving rain.

but I got a few shots.

Wakatipu to Franz Joseph

This was another day of indescribable scenic beauty. We started off on the south tip of Lake Wakatipu, and drove north towards Queenstown. We saw some of the Middle Earth film locations, but some are on private land that has since been gated off and posted no trespassing (bummer). The highlight has got to be the short walk through a beauiful cliffside vineyard to the top of the steep ravine where they filmed the "Pillars of the Kings" at Argonath, etc. It didn't have the actual kings of course, as they were added digitally. It's right near the short but high bridge over the river where bungee jumping was first begun, and we watched several take the plunge. Apparently you can pay for either the plain jump, or the "Dunker" where they measure out enough bungee cord for your top half to go in the river before bouncing back upwards. We saw both. Only 43 meters drop, but enough to confirm that this is nothing I am interested in paying to do.

Then we drove north to Arrowtown, an old wild west type place with gold rush sensibilities. We had a picnic lunch and walked a bit on the gravelly river bed near where the Fords of Bruinen scene was shot. It was sunny and hot, the water cold and very clear, and we were on our way again.

We drove towards Wanaka by way of the hill country short cut, and BOY was it hilly. The road switched back on itself so many times we lost count. sometimes due to the steep incline not making it into 3rd gear for long stretches. (Driving a stick shift has been OK, but there are times when I really long for an automatic transmission and cruise control!) The land was very steep, with crazy barren hillsides with barely any grass, not even any sheep -- and that's saying something because everywhere you go (almost) you see acres and acres of sheep munching away on the impossibly emerald green pastures, separated from other pastures with cows, deer and, occasionally goats or alpaca.

The road brought us, at about 3:00, to the cozy little resort community of Wanaka, situated on the shores of Lake Wanaka, where we stopped only long enough to get some tea and cookies for the ride. (You must maintain some civilities while traveling.)

Pressing onwards we took the crazy twisting "highway" further north crossing the only place where you can get to the other coast for many hundred kilometers. Part of the trip follows more beautiful lakes with sharp mountains for backdrops. Then we went through a short piece of the southern Alps, through the Haast Pass, where many of the bridges are very narrow and only one lane, and of course you take turns If there's oncoming traffic (which there wasn't mostly). One such bridge overlooked a sight we had to stop and investigate: the Gates of Haast. We climbed down from the road to see them closer, and spent a good half hour climbing on the huge boulders and watching the bright clear green blue rapids descending towards the sea. On one of these bridges we chased a small stoat back across the bridge to the same side he started from. He ran panicked back and forth from side to side, weaving to and fro, until finally back on solid ground, and the car waiting its turn was surely wondering why on earth we were driving across that bridge so slowly!

We followed this river twisting and turning it's way down from the Pass to the little hamlet of Haast, where we got petrol (diesel, actually) and kept moving. Stopping briefly again when we saw the seashore within view of the road, we dipped our toes in the Tasman Sea, threw some perfect skipping stones, discovered a little cave that we all agreed would make a nice shelter for a pirate, and, even thought it was past 7:00 , we kept moving north as fast as the little country road -- pretending to be an interstate -- would allow. We only stopped once more for a small flock of sheep stampeding down the highway. The shepherd on his ATV with his collie were chasing them from one pasture to the next, and they matched right down towards and around both sides of the vehicle.

We arrived at our campground in Franz Joseph Glacier at 9:15, just as the clerk was locking up the office for the day, then went back to town for some dinner at a little Indian restaurant.

Tomorrow we hope to see some of the glacier, drive to Greymouth to see the Pancake Rocks, and see how far north we get. I'm tired, and don't have energy to wrassle with the iPad to get photos uploaded, so maybe I'll add them in the morning while I eat my breakfast.

Lunch at the fords

The River Anduin

The car bridge

The bungy bridge

Lake Tepaka

West Coast rivers run from the glacier mountains into these dry gullies

and into the sea,

where jungly Dr Seuss-type trees line the roads and the shore.

The beaches were empty

Perry told us all he knew about the ecology, because he had been to this beach with his classmates previously.

These glacial rivers have a very short journey from the mountains to the sea in the Fjordland region on the west coast,

producing very fertile green river valleys