Kaikoura (New Zealand)

Zigzagging across New Zealand is not an ideal route, but we headed northeast anyway because we didn't want to miss Kaikoura. In a country chock-full of beautiful views, this stunner was worth the detour. Shimmering, turquoise waters surround the peninsula, and the waves crashing on the big, dark boulders make for a striking contrast with the snow-capped mountains in the distance. A deep underwater canyon and an upwelling of currents off the peninsula combine to attract a variety of marine life... and the tourists who flock to see it. There is an easily accessible seal colony, over a dozen species of albatross, and crayfish the size of lobsters! Whale-watching though is what really put Kaikoura on the map since since sperm whales can be seen year-round not far off shore and humpbacks reliably pass by in the winter. Rich and I, however, planned to get a little closer to our marine life of choice than just a boat ride and a pair of binoculars. We were going to swim with dolphins!  

Wild, dusky dolphins hang out in big pods off the coast near town. Dark on the top (hence the name "dusky") and lighter on the underside, these guys are about our size and famous for their acrobatics. You can go out on a dolphin-watching cruise, and if the conditions are right, swim with them, too. Donning the mountain of neoprene apparel (wetsuits, hoods, gloves, etc.) wasn't going to dampen our enthusiasm... even though it should have clued us in to how cold it would be. We boarded the vessel and went searching. Once located, the crew carefully monitors the wild dolphins' behavior to decide if they are up for a closer encounter. For example, are they curious about the boat, circling back toward it or playing in the wake? If so, the skipper gives the signal to jump in with them. Sadly, in 3 hours on the water, we only saw one small pod with about 6 dolphins. They quickly shied away so the crew aborted the swim just as our feet touched the icy water. Even though pulling out showed how much the company respects wildlife and is concerned about safety - for which we totally applaud them - we couldn't help but still feel a little heartbroken. Especially on the heels of our failed glacier heli-hike. The good news was that the company offered us a deal that meant we could try again the next morning without any additional cost!

Taking them up on the offer, we were well-rewarded for our persistence. Scarcely 15 minutes into our second cruise, the skipper told us to suit up because we were about to converge on a large pod of over 150 dolphins! Slipping right into the teeming waters, the temperature at 10 C (or 50 F) was a shock. You soon forget this in the excitement and chaos of realizing that dolphins - DOLPHINS! - are streaming all around you. No touching is allowed, but honestly, it's so crowded that most of the time you worry they will run into you. Singing or making sounds (slightly challenging with a snorkel shoved in your mouth), diving down, or swimming in circles attracts their curiosity. It's actually a little disorienting. The cold water, the adrenaline, and singing "here fishy fishy" while swimming in ever-tighter circles to try to keep pace with a marine creature is pretty hard on the human body. But how many people can say they looked a dolphin in the eye and played with it for a while? It was frickin' amazing!! Eventually, the pod outswam us. So we hauled ourselves onboard, the crew steered the boat back up to the front of the pod, and we were right back in the action again. And repeat. For a total of 5 times. What a truly awesome - and I say that in the truest meaning of the word - experience!      

Arthur's Pass and Oxford (New Zealand)

Once you start heading down the west coast of the South Island, there aren't really too many options to cross over back to the east coast. Arthur's Pass seems to be the main highway through the Southern Alps. The transition from the wetter rainforests in the west to the drier sub-alpine east makes for dramatic landscapes. Kea, a species of mountain parrot, attack camper vans of unsuspecting tourists who appreciate the photo opportunity initially and then realize the birds are tearing at their door seals. The Devil's Punchbowl trail is a nice opportunity to stretch your legs along the way and check out another waterfall.

Not far out of the mountains, Oxford doesn't even exist in the guide books, but the nice little village is home to more family. Rich's cousins own a small farm, and we got to admire the gardens and meet their Clydesdale and Lipizzaner horses. The Shetland ponies followed us around, but it was the alpacas that really stole our hearts. With no regard of personal space, they stick their furry faces right up in yours, look deep into your soul with their big eyes, and give you a solemn sniff to greet you. Hilarious!

Greymouth and Franz Josef (New Zealand)

About 4 hours southwest of Abel Tasman National Park lies Greymouth. A quick glance around reveals its claim as the biggest city on the west coast doesn't really mean much, but after days in the backcountry, we were pretty happy in any place with a real bed and hot showers. The old mining settlement on the Grey River is home to a few shops showcasing quality jade carving. The green stone is highly prized in Maori culture, and though occurring naturally in this region, trade and the working of it is tightly regulated in New Zealand.

One thing we've enjoyed here is the availability and variety of craft beers. Restaurants and pubs around New Zealand prominently display their allegiance to different breweries, and you can be sure going into one that the full range from that brewery will be on tap. Monteith's is one of the most popular, and Greymouth just the happens to be the home of the original brewery. At first, the 30 minute tour seems a little pricey at 20 NZ dollars (= 10 pounds or 15 €), but then you get a 12 oz. pour of a brand new beer, tickets for an additional 3 glasses on-site, and a coupon for a free pint off-site. The brewers are experimenting in 3500 liter batches, and as visitors to the brewery, we got to try the new india pale ale and a truly fantastic apricot hefeweizen. Their black beer and winter ale also were quite tasty, and Monteith's Original – the oldest recipe and still the biggest seller – gets a thumbs up from us, too. After all the free alcohol, it's a good thing the in-house cafe also serves hearty fare like a luxurious seafood chowder.

Three hours further south of Greymouth is glacier country. There are two to choose from – Franz Josef and Fox. We had booked many months in advance and were very eager to hop on a helicopter and be whisked up onto the blue ice. Unfortunately, just as we started to suit up, the heli-hike was cancelled due to low cloud cover and poor visibility. We were gutted! The consolation prize – a free walk to the face of Franz Josef glacier – was much less impressive so we washed away our tears with a visit to the hot pools in town. Later, we blew some of our substantial refund on a lovely dinner of New Zealand lamb shanks and stayed to cheer on the national rugby team in a 22-0 defeat of their rivals, the Australian Wallabies. The All Blacks team are the pride of New Zealand, capturing the most recent Rugby World Cup in 2011, and it was great to see their awesome skills and watch them perform the haka (a traditional Maori warrior challenge) on their home territory.

Abel Tasman National Park (New Zealand)

Abel Tasman National Park, smallish by this country's standards, is located on the north coast on the South Island. We were there to hike the Coast Track, which has been designated one of New Zealand's 8 Great Walks. The entire track can be done in 3 – 5 days for backcountry hikers. Water taxis at several points and a bus at one end make it very accessible, and therefore, also popular with day visitors. The well-maintained trail itself is not very strenuous or technical. Marshes lead upward to the native bush of scrub land and rainforest. Secluded waterfalls and majestic tree ferns delight the eyes and add more beauty to the landscape. Isolated, golden sand beaches meet turquoise waters and white granite outcroppings. In summer, we've heard it can feel like a traffic jam on the track, but in the winter, we practically had it all to ourselves. Seeing half a dozen other hikers on the trail one day felt busy, and another night we were alone in a hut that sleeps 32 people. The huts are reserved through the Department of Conservation (or DOC), and though pricier than we're used to in North Carolina, they all had thick mattresses, wood stoves, and the hallmark of civilization – flush toilets with seats and toilet paper!

The one factor that does make the Abel Tasman Coast Track challenging is the tides. There are several spots along the trail where you need to cross tidal streams or estuaries. This involves a lot of head-scratching as you compare tidal charts, sunrise and sunset times, the estimation of your own speed (laden with your pack), and how deep you're willing to wade in chilly, often fast-flowing waters. At one point, several groups of hikers were sitting around for over an hour on a sandfly-infested beach waiting to cross a 3 meter stream. Eventually, boots came off and everyone rolled up their pants in their impatience to keep going. Further complicating these issues, we found the DOC estimates for completing a trail section to be, shall we say, ambitious… to the point where we started referring to them as “in New Zealand time” (= it will take us 1.5 times longer).

We did see a wide array of New Zealand fauna as well. Coastal birds like oyster catchers, cormorants, and ducks made regular appearances in Abel Tasman. Our favorite little birdies though were the fantails, which flit around picking up insects in the soil disturbed by our passage and flashing their white fan-like tails. The waters around Abel Tasman are part of the Tonga Island Marine Reserve so we got to check out some seals and blue penguins from our water taxi on the way back. The 3.5 days we spent in Abel Tasman National Park was a real change from the rest of our trip, and we really enjoyed this gorgeous corner of the country!

Wellington, Nelson, and Motueka (New Zealand)

If Rich thought Auckland felt like a proper city, Wellington is where all the cool kids must hang out. We didn't get to spend much time there, but the center seemed to have a lot of cool restaurants and bars filled with the artsy fartsy and hipster crowds. There's a film school, and it's the base of the New Zealand film industry. You can visit the Weta Workshop, too, responsible for much of the special effects and costumes in Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, and other films.

Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand, has to be the best free museum ever! Although, like everywhere downtown, you do have to pay for parking. The exhibits are well-organized, creatively presented, and highly interactive. With New Zealand's location in the Ring of Fire, the awesome power of nature features prominently, including experiencing a mock earthquake inside a house. There are exhibits highlighting the flora and fauna with an outdoor native bush area and a scary, preserved colossal squid  (that's the real name). You can learn more about Maori and New Zealand history and culture even stepping inside a whare, or a traditional Maori meeting house.

We had a smooth crossing on the ferry from the North Island to the South Island. Later we heard horror stories detailing rougher ones with 3 meter swells, and the boat running out of the entire supply of seasickness bags. Passing the misty, forested outcroppings of desolate smaller islands in the Marlborough Sounds reminded us of the approach to Vancouver Island in Canada.

After picking up our South Island car, we headed straight for Nelson in the dark, finding it to be quite a charming town by daylight. The little shops all seemed to be staffed by friendly people, and we got to catch up with another friend in a nice pub that inexplicably was playing an old North Carolina favorite tune “Wagon Wheel.”

The road out of Nelson towards Motueka is quite picturesque as, in addition to the ubiquitous sheep on the hill, it is also wine country. Pinot Noir grows particularly well in the Upper Moutere region, but the wineries also produce Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Gewurtraminer, and Riesling from grapes sourced locally or elsewhere in New Zealand. Wine tastings were very reasonable, ranging from free to 4 tastes for 2 New Zealand dollars (= 1 pound or 1.50 €). Such generosity tends to lubricate the wallet, and we picked up a nice reserve Pinot Noir from the Woollaston vineyards for later and had a nice lunch from the wood-fired oven at Kahurangi Estates. Other stops along the wine route also included a glassblower's gallery, a fruit stall selling bags of kiwifruit (kiwis are only the people or the flightless bird in New Zealand), and a woodturner's studio with a gnarled, cross-eyed old man with the air of a chatty grandad.