New Zealand/Australia: Part 9 of 12

Part 9: Featherdale
May 2nd. The flight to Sydney went smoothly and after the night I had, I'm sure that it surprises nobody that I ended up sleeping most of the way! I had planned to watch "Mamma Mia" on the inflight entertainment, but ended up sleeping pretty much from "Lay All Your Love On Me" to "SOS" ;-)

I arrived to Sydney shortly after 7am and steeled myself for the looooong wait at customs. Fortunately, that ended up not being nearly as bad as I'd feared though! Sure, there was a long queue to get my passport checked*, but once that was done, it didn't take long for my suitcase to turn up, and I discovered a queue for customs that everybody else had missed! The sheep mentality is strong, and people seemed to have completely missed that there were two entrances to customs and all queued up in one!

* You KNOW you've entered Australia when 'line' is pronounced 'loine' - as in "Oi've opened another loine over here" ;)

Once in that line I was fortunate enough to be chosen for random testing (at least it seemed pretty random, but perhaps there was a reason to the madness) - I'd put all my candy into one bag, so when the officer asked me what I had to declare, I could just show him that bag. "That's it?" he asked, incredulously (I don't know why... perhaps he'd expected me to declare nothing when it was so little, and so obviously okay? But that's against the rules!), and indicated for me to go out of the line and over to the side, where I had my bags checked by a dog, rather than by human hand. The dog was awfully interested in my dirty socks which was a tad embarrassing, but once its handler saw that that was the only thing in that pocket, she scolded the dog and told me to move on ;) Which I was more than happy to do, because I knew that Anne and her family were standing right outside the gate waiting for me!!!!!!!!!

Now, to fully understand my excitement about this, a bit of history is in order. Anne and I first met each other online on an L.M. Montgomery mailing list somewhere around 1997. For awhile we were merely list acquaintances, but we slowly started exchanging personal emails, discovered each others' blogs and friended each other on MSN Messenger. Around 2004-2005 we'd be chatting for hours more or less daily. She is the kind of friend I could text at 4am and it wouldn't matter that I woke her up, and she is always there for me when I need her. I count her among my closest friends... but, we'd never met, and only spoken on the phone a couple of times.

So when this trip came around, and I discovered that I'd be going by myself, it seemed absolutely ridiculous to be so close to Australia and NOT take the opportunity for us to FINALLY meet in person. Both of us were eagerly counting down the days for months and suddenly we were down to mere minutes! I walked through the gate - and saw people eagerly waving Danish flags!

I immediately recognized Ian and Mike (Anne's husband and son) - and would have even without the flags - but think they took a bit longer to recognize me ;) Anne had been off with Giana (her daughter) somewhere, but quickly came running when she saw that I'd arrived, and after approx. 15 years, we could FINALLY give each other a hug in person :-)

We quickly dropped by their place to drop off my suitcase and pick up a picnic basket, and then drove off to Featherdale Wildlife Park to spend the morning there. I ended up having a terrific time - I got to hold a snake, feed wallabys and kangaroos and pet a koala! :-D A fantastic time was had by all, I think. Mike and Giana certainly had the time of their lives feeding the kangaroos... especially when one kangaroo stole the rest of Mike's 'cup' (an icecream cone), and Giana fed the rest of hers to a joey wallaby (no clue if it's still called a joey when it's a wallaby rather than a kangaroo) and an emu came to steal it!!! Purely by luck I managed to get a photo of that!


I'm always amused by animals sitting in funny and humanlike positions.


The poor thing was COLD!!! It hung on to me quite tightly to steal some of my heat.










The thieving emu!


These penguins stood and walked in formation! So cute :D


The tasmanian devil kept runing around and around the rock formation in the middle of its enclosure. By the time we arrived, it had made quite a track around it!


I was fascinated by both the albino wallaby and the albino peacock!

We ended the visit off with a lovely BBQ picnic and then (of course) a trip through the souvenier store, so I could get a keepsake and some pressies.

New Zealand - Part 8 of 12'ish

Part 8: Auckland
May 1nd: Leaving Liz was no fun AT ALL! First of all because it meant leaving my best friend. Secondly because I knew it heralded the beginning of the end - soon I'd be leaving first New Zealand and then the Southern hemisphere altogether. Time had flown by FAR too quickly, and I just wasn't ready to go home. Not by a long shot!

I was set to leave Hamilton Sunday afternoon, but got a bit of a fright that morning - I went to turn on the GPS and type in Holly's address so I'd be all set for that afternoon, only to discover that the GPS wouldn't turn on! Yikes! I did NOT relish a drive to Auckland without a GPS and even less the drive the following morning from Holly's place to the airport! Sure, I had maps, but I suck at reading maps while driving, because I can't retain the information and have to keep checking to see if I'm (still) on the right track. So there was a brief moment of stress there while I was thinking up various versions of plan B in case I couldn't get a new one. Fortunately that turned out not to be a problem - Liz gave me very precise directions to the Hertz rental place in Hamilton (I'm very much a landmark driver rather than a streetname driver!), and once there I was able to get it exchanged no problems. I typed in Holly's address, and was on my way! :-)

But PTL that I went to check the GPS that morning! I'd have been in a complete panic if I hadn't discovered it didn't work until I was on my way!

It was so great to get to meet Holly, Bryan and their kids. Holly's sister was there for a long visit, so I got to meet her too, which was a treat. But I've got to say, the kids are SO CUTE :-) They'd just arrived home when I came, so were a bit tired and hesitant at first, but once we'd sat down to dinner together, we were long-lost friends, and when time came for their goodnight stories, Symeon and Verity rushed over and found three books each, and then brought them to me, so I could read aloud to them! I was so honoured that they'd let me read to them after having known them for such a short time - reading aloud is one of my all-time favourite ways of bonding with children :-) Holly's sister really said it best - there are no strangers in their world :-)


Of course we also had to have photo evidence that Holly and I had met at last.

We sat talking for awhile, and then headed off to bed sometime after 10pm. I'd been offered a bed, but opted to sleep on the (extremely comfortable! I might add) couch instead, because I had to get up at 3am the following morning in order to be at the airport in time. As it was, I was so worried about oversleeping that I only slept a couple of hours anyway ;-) and thankfully I managed to let myself out of the house without waking anybody up.

Again, thank you SO much for letting me crash! It was so great not to have to drive up from Hamilton at that hour of the morning (or spend the night at the airport as would probably have been what I'd end up doing), and I loved finally getting to meet you, even if it was only for a couple of hours :-)

New Zealand - Part 7 of 12'ish

Part 7: Hamilton
April 23rd - May 1st: Hamilton is where I stayed the longest, but honestly, I think it's also the place where the least happened, because most of my time was spent less as a tourist and more as a long-lost member of Liz' family, returning home. Lovely, wonderful and terrific for me, but probably a bit boring for other people to read about ;)

But back on track. On April 23rd, Brent drove me to Palmy airport where I picked up my rental car and the GPS. I entered Liz' address into the GPS and it asked me if I wanted, "The quickest route, the easiest route, the shortest route or the scenic route". Ding-ding-ding-ding! :D


Love these hills!


Taihape is know as Gumboot Capital - they actually have annual gumboot throwing competitions. Unfortunately I missed the "Welcome to Gumboot Capital" sign when I drove into Taihape, so when I caught this on my way out, I had to stop for a photo!

With the GPS, driving to Hamilton was a breeze. It was a 5 hour drive, but didn't feel that long AT ALL! The scenary was absolutely gorgeous, driving on the wrong side of the road not a problem at all, and the time just flew by, so at 6pm I pulled up by Liz' place and was finally able to give my bestest best friend a hug again :)

The next week went by all too quickly. Liz sings in church choir, so I joined her for the Easter Vigil and the Easter Sunday service (and had my one bout of homesickness during the latter, as Easter Sunday services have always been a big deal in my church / my family. Fortunately the last hymn we sang happened to be one we sing in Denmark as well, and I know it off by heart, so I was able to sing along in Danish, and suddenly it felt like a proper Easter again :) Funny how music can do that), we went over to see Liz' parents several times (they were my 'reserve host-family' back then, and have always spoiled me rotten ;) ), we spent a couple of rainy days just sitting and chatting, doing crafty stuff and Liz managed to get me thoroughly hooked on The Big Bang Theory, so I'm going to have to get hold of that one now ;)

Wednesday Liz took me to a pub quiz to meet some of her friends (and do the quiz, obviously ;) ), we ended up taking second place, and had a brilliant time. I'm glad I got to meet some of her friends, so I can put faces to the people she talks about in her emails to me.

Friday Liz' parents had invited us to join them for a high tea at a Japanese tea house just outside Hamilton - apparently the only place outside Asia where Oolong tea is grown :) The high tea was served with sushi and cakes and absolutely delicious. Yum!

After the high tea we'd been invited back to Liz' parents' place to join them for the Royal Wedding. Honestly, I hadn't had any desire to watch it at all, but I REALLY like Liz' family, and this was a chance to get to spend more time with them, which is always a good thing. Liz' brother and his wife were there as well, as were two of Liz' uncles and aunts. I was REALLY pleased to get to meet them! I may have known Liz for 15 years, but I'd never before met anybody outside her immediate family, so it was excellent to get to meet some of the uncles and aunts she'd been telling me about :) I immediately liked them. They just seem like really nice people, and their humour is pretty much the same as the rest of Liz' family, so I fit in right away :) They seemed to like me too, and one of Liz' aunts ended up telling me, "You'll do. I approve of you as Liz' sister". Hehe - thanks!

New Zealand - Part 6 of 12'ish

Part 6: Back 'Home' to Palmerston North
April 22nd: After a day's respite, it was back to the airport for me again today. I was finally going up north, flying via Christchurch to Wellington. When I booked the tickets, I was a bit annoyed that I couldn't get a direct flight, but it turned out to be a very good thing indeed, because it meant I got to see Clive! (my host-father) He'd been away at work in Palmy when I was in Chch earlier that week, so I hadn't gotten to see him - to my great disappointment. However, he called while I was there, and when he heard that I'd be flying back via Chch, asked me to leave my flight information with Ruth, so he could come out and see me in the airport! Yay! :-) I was incredibly touched that he'd do that, and SO grateful that I got to see him. As I'm sure you've figured out by now, my host-family means a LOT to me, and have really become my 'second family', so I'm glad I got to see at least some of them. It was extremely difficult to say goodbye to them when it was time to board my plane.


Once in Wellington Lauren and Tane picked me up and drove me to their place for a quick lunch (lovely, lovely kumera soup - yum!) before heading off to Palmerston North. Lauren had very generously offered to drive me there, and it provided us with an excellent chance to catch up and have a bit of a nostalgic drive around Palmy. Lauren and I met at Freyberg High School, so of course we had to drive by there and have a bit of a wander around to see what had changed. Not too much fortunately, so it wasn't too disconcerting to be back. The same can't be said about Winchester School (my old primary school) though... perhaps not so strange, considering it's been 20-21 years since I attended that school, but I still feel that time should stand still while I'm not in Palmy - so there! ;-)

Lauren and Tane dropped me off at Dot & Brent's place at around 5. Dot and Brent (and their kids) have been friends of my family ever since 1990 when we attended the same church as them, Nina and I went to school with their two youngest children, and Mum and Dad became very close friends with them. They were there for me when I returned as an exchange student, and I ended up in the same Youth Group as Tim, their youngest son, and their oldest son is now living in London and is the godfather of Jordan - so yeah, all in all, a very close friendship has survived between our families for more than 20 years - of COURSE I had to see them when I was back.

It was still too early for dinner when I arrived, so Dot and Brent asked me if there was anything I'd like to see while in Palmy. Since they lived just a few minutes walk from the house my family and I lived in the first time we were in New Zealand, I told them that I'd really like to go past there. I'd checked in the white pages that it was still the same family living there as when we rented the place, so even though they might not remember me specifically, I knew that they'd remember my parents, and wouldn't mind me dropping by. Turned out that Dot knew them too, so even less reason for concern on that regard.

... I'm not... altogether sure it was a good idea though... At least, it was definitely very, very bittersweet. Once again I'd expected time to stand still, and once again I'd been shown very forcefully that that was not the case at all!

The owners were home, and they did indeed remember me, but it turned out that they had subdivided the section of land, had built a new house where the garage used to be, and were now renting out the old house to another family. I know it's completely unfair, but it was horrendously disconcerting. I was invited to go for a walk around the garden of the old house, and then shown around in the new house. I didn't care much about the new place, to be honest, but went along with it to be polite. I stepped from the patio into the living room - and almost burst into tears when I recognized the old living room arrangement! "I had not expected to get this emotional!" ... but I did. Could hardly speak for being so choked up. Really, really weird!

We walked back home shortly after that, and Dot got dinner on the table for us. Dinner was as Kiwi as Kiwi can be :) Lamb chops for mains and then a Pavlova with feijoas and hokey-pokey ice cream for dessert. Yum! Shortly before I left Denmark, Dot had sent me an email, asking me if there were any New Zealand foods I specifically missed. My reply was an instant FEIJOAS! I fell in love with this fruit back in 1990, but have been completely unable to find it anywhere outside New Zealand. It wasn't in season when Lars and I were there in 2004, so I hadn't had any since 1999! Dot reassured me that they would be in season while I was there, and had proceeded to get a huge bag full for me! I was a bit afraid they wouldn't live up to my expectations, but fortunately they most definitely did :-D I think I can best describe their taste as being a bit like a mixture of kiwi and pear... it still annoys me that I couldn't bring any home with me ;)

Saturday morning Dot had invited Tim and his family over for brunch. I am SO glad I got this chance to see Tim again! He used to be one of my best friends when I lived there, and it was great to spend some time with him and finally get to meet his wife and children :)

New Zealand - Part 5 of 12'ish

Don't worry, they're not all as insanely long as the last one ;)

Part 5: Queenstown - Day 2
April 21st: My first day with no flights! And also my first day with no set plans. I celebrated this by sleeping in ;) Around 11 I was on the road though, and for the first time experienced the drive into Queenstown by daylight, so I could finally see how GORGEOUS it is! I really should have stopped to take some photos of that as well, but didn't think that far until it was too late.

I found a place to park near the gondola (cable car) that is one of the hallmarks of Queenstown and took the gondola up to Skyline to try out the Luge track. Oh, my goodness - SO MUCH FUN!!!!




The view from the gondola, and to the other side once I'd reached the top.


There were two different luge tracks - Scenic track, which everybody must start off on, in order to get a feel for the luge, and then Advanced which is a lot steeper, has sharper turns, jumps and tunnels. I'll repeat myself and once more say SO MUCH FUN!!!!

I'd originally just bought tickets to try it twice, but though their tag line is "Once isn't enough", it turns out that "Twice isn't enough" either ;) So I decided to go just once more and then head back down. And trust me - it was a battle not to do a fourth and fifth run as well! Say it with me now - SO MUCH FUN!!!


Don't I look like somebody having the time of her life? ;-)

The rest of the day was spent wandering around Queenstown - I had another ice cream at Patagonia (and posted a couple of photos to FB ;) ), went for a walk around Queenstown Gardens (and found Rebekka's roses) and had dinner at a lovely tapas restaurant. For a day I'd been sort of worried about, I ended up having a TERRIFIC time! :)

New Zealand - Part 4 of 12'ish

Part 4: Milford Sound - FLY!
The original plan had been to return to Queenstown by coach, as that was what I had booked from Denmark, but on the way out in the bus, we had been told that it was also possible to fly back to Queenstown and we would be able to book that on the spot, even if we hadn't included it in advance. I'd read about this already back in Denmark, but had initially decided against it, because I felt it was too expensive, but the more I thought about it, the more tempted I was. Several reasons:
1) I'd be back 3.5 hrs earlier! Worth adding as a consideration, as the coach wouldn't have me back until 8pm, and then I'd still have to get back into town in order to get dinner.
2) Though it was a lot of money, it wasn't actually expensive for what it was.
3) If not now, then when? I had the money in my budget, and knew I would regret it if I didn't do it for financial reasons alone.
4) AMAZING experience and fantastic view!
5) A once-in-a-lifetime experience.
And last, but not least...
6) Money for tourism = more help to Chch. Once the guide told us that proceeds would go to the rebuilding of Christchurch, there really was no doubt in my mind any longer.

I am SO glad I did! Yes, it cost a pretty penny, but it was worth every bit of it! Our guide met us as we disembarked and sent us towards the airport (airstrip, really). Here we were met by our pilot, Stan, and shown to our small 10-person Cessna. I was about to enter the plane through th back door, when Stan told me, "There's room for one up in the cockpit if you'd like?" Don't have to ask me twice. "CAN I???" I exclaimed, and giddy with joy over my luck, I immediately jumped in.

Without a doubt one of the coolest things I've ever done, so once again, I'll let the photos do the talking.








Queenstown coming up in the distance...


"They're making a left right turrrn!"





Hopefully it's now perfectly clear why I took 300 photos that day alone ;-)

New Zealand - Part 3 of 12'ish

Part 3: Milford Sound Coach-Cruise
April 20th: I was much unamused - my alarm clock would have rung at 6:30am, but I woke already at 5:30am with a raging headache :( I get those once in awhile, and when I wake up with them, pills will usually have no effect at all, but I took a couple anyway, prayed and hoped for the best. PTL it mostly disappeared within a few hours - NOT a regular occurrance, but I was very grateful!

Anyway, this was the day I had arranged for a coach-cruise trip to Milford Sound, so at 7:20am a taxi picked me up from the lobby and drove me to the Real Journeys office in town, where the bus awaited. And thus started one of the best days of the entire trip. There's not much to actually tell about the trip, because basically it was just one amazing view after another, so I think I'll let the photos do most of the talking. Suffice to say that during a 4-hour bus-ride I didn't touch my book once... in fact, I even forgot I had it! ;)






Te Anau - a quinessential New Zealand town.


Mirror Lake


On bush walks, you don't cut down trees! You build around them!








Milford Sound


See the fault line? I was quite intrigued by that!


Yes, that is my hair! I had forgotten a scrunchie. It was a delight to comb out that evening, I can assure you.


Seals relaxing in the sun :) We got to see a couple of dolphins too, but unfortunately I got no photo of them - I prioritised seeing them "for real" rather than just through a lense ;)






I love the spiderweb effect on the water!


Two-year-old site of a tree avalance.


Ten-year-old site of a tree avalance - just so show how quickly it regrows. But as you can see from the first photo, the trees grow on very, very, VERY little so no wonder avalances happen.

Right, this is long and picture heavy enough as it is - I'll leave the rest for my next post.