North v South

New Zealand is compromised of 2 main islands, creatively referred to as the north and south (and yes, sarcasm included). The landscape is stunning no matter which side you are on, but even the inter-islander ferry provides phenomenal views.

 

 

 

The ride over did reveal some interesting things about kiwi culture.



Apparently, kiwis bring tools into the bathroom (look closely).

 

 

 

And you won't get in trouble for doing stupid things.

 

 

For the record, both islands are equally stunning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

IHOP it ain't

 

Punakaiki is known for its pancakes. Rocks that is.

Mother Nature has gotten a bad rap recently with hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis, but it can also create some very cool things. This is just one of them.

 



 

Syrup not included.

Two-for-one

Everything is unbelievable in NZ. They can't even have regular rainbows. Refrain from regurgitating YouTube phenom "double rainbow" guy and enjoy this for what it's worth.

Tackling the Fox Glacier is listed under "Extreme New Zealand" according to Lonely Planet, and since I never believe anything I read (but you should believe me), I needed to see if it lived up to its category. Before going extreme, I needed to look the part.

 Leave it to me to attempt to ascend it on one of the rainiest days since my arrival.

The positive side of the rain was that it revealed the blue in the ice. The bad, is that it made the ice even slipperier. Nevertheless, I made it back in one piece. Sort of.  Photos of enormous black and blues to come.

(fake smile to mask my achy muscles.)

It's all wine and ... [berries]

After a tough day of cycling around the Marlborough region of NZ, what better way to unwind and relax than with (another) glass of red and a bean bag.

Cycling wasn't all wine and bean bags. The wind that cuts through NZ can literally be breathtaking (the wind from the Tasman sea and South Pacific battle it out and the nooks and crannies funnel it thru.) A surprise bonus was a little strawberry farm that had the absolute best strawberries I have ever tasted!

Too bad you weren't there to taste them for yourself ...

The great, big, green blob

I have taken hundreds of landscape photos of New Zeland's breathtaking vistas, but my iphone camera doesn't capture the near majesty of it. If you want to see NZ as something other than a great, big, green blob I suggest you rent Lord of the Rings since clearly Peter Jackson I ain't.  So - against my better judgement - I share with you my inner Ansel Adams:

By the way, the one element the movie didn't showcase are the scary roads snaking around the mountains. This is probably why you only see hobbits walking and not driving.

Tidbits

Cairns is a funny little place. Admission for entry seems to be: flipflops, sunglasses, t-shirts (optional) and tattos, but no one goes to the beach. And there's good reason for it.

Apparently being 150 feet underwater surrounded by sharks is much safer than playing chicken with a croc off the shoreline.

This faux-beach town also has a few other quirks with the most noticeable being the high number of mental health facilities. These "service centers" are the Starbucks of Cairns.

 Perhaps I should start a franchise of McDepressions.

Down under, Downunder

Cairns is in northern, tropical Victoria and is the primary lauching pad for scuba divers heading out to the Great Barrier Reef. I joined 15 other divers for a 2-night, 3-day journey to the GBR so I cound tick off one of my bucket list items. Since I was spending more time underwater than above it, I didn't mind sharing a room the size of a closet with 6 other people. This photo shows the biggest bunks in the room (the others had less head space and were much narrower.

 

 

My only problem with my diving experience was fish names. The diver masters (and my fellow divers) were from all over the world and while they knew the names of the various fishes, they knew them in their native tongue. For example, in English we know it as "shark" but in Swedish it is "haj."

There were a lot of haj in the GBR but you'll have to wait for those photos to get developed the old fashioned way. Until that time, you can enjoy what 3 days on a boat with limited showers did to me.

 



The Outback Fakehouse?

I have been all over Sydney and have seen thousands of Asian, fish and organic restaurants, but haven't found one "bloomin' onion." If it weren't for the Opera House, I would have thought I landed in the wrong place.