Mozzeenet

Milford Sound is another one of the must-sees in NZ and it had a lot to live up to after the spectacular trip from Christchurch to Queenstown. In a way I wasn’t as excited beforehand about it because I went there last time I was in NZ but I’ve got to say it was an entirely different experience because last time it was sunny and bright whereas it was raining and wild this time. That meant the cascades on the way and in the sound which we saw on our boat cruise were overflowing - they just rush for hundreds of metres down the mountain sides. There was snow on the mountains as we drove by too. The desolate, rugged countryside there is quite awe-inspiring. The Homer tunnel cut straight through the rock is an incredible man-made feat as well.

After the Milford trip, we stayed overnight in Te Anau and that was a lot of fun at a campsite where we hired a cabin and cooked our own dinner. The stars and moon were out and there was a view of Lake Te Anau in the distance.

On the way further south we dropped in at Manapouri, another nice lake, and then followed the coastal route to get to Invercargill where we stayed with Peg and Jock. They looked after us fantastically well and we really appreciated them having us to stay. Invercargill is where Mum grew up so it has sentimental attachments. I saw where my grandparents are buried there.

They grew up in the area but lived in Christchurch in latter years. Peggy and Jock also showed us Rakahauka, the farm where Mum grew up. Apparently a young couple are living there now. It was interesting to see it from the outside.

Peg and Jock have some land and Jock took us out to show us their sheep. There was one poor little lambie by itself really dragging its feet at the end of the flock. Jock said that it was probably an orphan - he had recently bought the flock and it must have been separated from its mother. Poor little thing. I wanted to take it home with me.

Peggy also told us about a shop in Christchurch called the Gingerbread Man which sells gluten free bread and other goodies. There’s less available in NZ for people with food allergies. We dropped in to the shop when we were passing through Christchurch and bought some ginger cookies and cheese biscuits for the ferry trip to Wellington.

On the way back north, we travelled via central Otago through Alexandra where my grandparents lived when they retired. Mum lived there as a young adult too. I remember visiting them when I was a kid. My grandmother grew beautiful roses and they had an apricot tree. My Grandfather used to poke his dentures out at us with his tongue and I had to get stitches in my head once when I fell off a play rocket in the park near my grandparent’s house! The house is now a business and all concrete at the front. I didn’t recognise it at all.

Our next stop was Oamaru on the East coast, mainly because of my interest in the writing of the NZ author Janet Frame who grew up there but ended up viewing yellow-eyed and blue (fairy) penguins which was interesting though a bit cold and wet. The best was seeing the blue penguins jump out of the water and all waddle up to their nests in a group. There were close to 200 which landed out of the water that night. They’re so cute. We also saw some Janet Frame landmarks around the town, places she wrote about or were part of her life including one of the houses her family lived in and a place she used to go and sit in a woodland area.

We decided to go straight on to Kaikoura on the north coast instead of stop at Christchurch again because we knew we had to get the ferry the next day - there is whale-watching there but we didn’t do that. Did enjoy half a crayfish though.

We were lucky to get a nice crossing on the 3 hour ferry ride from Picton to Wellington and we were met there by my cousin, Gill who took us to my aunt and uncle’s place. We had such a nice time in Wellington catching up with Aunty Muriel and Uncle Rob as well as my cousins, Gill and Kath, and Gill’s family including her daughter, Samantha and husband, John. We had a great dinner with the family at a cute Italian restaurant/bar in the city. We were all speculating about what its name, Scopa, meant. Some thought it could mean ‘view’. Andrew ended up asking the waiter who dispelled our assumptions by explaining that it is an Italian card game and apparently has some other double meaning which he wouldn’t tell us so that was all very interesting and lots of fun.

My Aunty Muriel also took us to see some other Wellington sights including the fantastic interactive museum, Te Papa, up Mt Victoria to get a sweeping view of the city and also to the place where the Wahine ferry went down in 1968. That is another story altogether but it’s worth mentioning that most of my Mum’s family were on the Wahine ferry which sank in Wellington harbour after the worst storm recorded in history there. They all survived luckily but 51 other people lost their lives and it must have been a traumatic experience for everyone involved. Mum was in Wales at the time and my grandparents were going over to see here. They had to get on another boat 2 days later to sail to Europe which in those days took weeks!