Day 7: Gimpy & the One-eye Penguin

Gimpy the lamb he's the star of the day
Handicap he is but rather nimble I say
Grab him for photos he will never obey
But feed him milk & happily he'll stay

The one-eye penguin has no name
Unlike the others she's not the same
Put him in the water & out she came
I must say that's a little lame

Set on a beautiful, sheltered harbour and overlooked by craggy volcanic hills, Akaroa is a popular resort village, some 80km east of Christchurch. We were supposed to visit a Korean lavender field on our way but they were closed that day - not a pity, we realized the field was about the size of a king size bed.

On the way to Akaroa

Anyway, our main purpose was the penguin tour at Pohatu bay (also known as flea bay), which laopo had been so looking forward to, but it turned out to be 'somewhat' disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I think we both liked it a lot. In fact, we thought it would be good to stay overnight at Pohatu and do a night penguin watch. But the day penguin tour wasn't really what I expected, though it was also enjoyable.

Akaroa

Shireen, our guide, owned the farm at Pohatu bay and had been working over the last two decades protecting White-flippered Penguins from introduced predators. Another couple (+ kid) was supposed to do canoeing but had to join us, albeit reluctantly, due to bad weather and had the word pissed written all over their faces. Shireen had to coax them like little kids and even revealed that her husband died at sea, so she tend to be more careful. In the end, the weather turned out okay, so she took them out the bay anyway.

*** As an aside: This is Weta, apparently some ancient "crockroach-like" insect that likes dark places, so they placed wooden structures with dark pockets to hide, to keep track & see if they are in danger of disappearing. They are as old as the dinosaurs but are now endangered because of forest fire & predators - dogs/cats/rats/birds/sheep (which could step on them).

Amazing but true .......Over one hundred years ago there was a scientist whose name was Walter Buller. He wanted to keep some weta for his insect collection so he needed some dead ones. Sir Walter proceeded to kill some weta but it was not that easy…… weta have been around since before the dinosaurs so they must be pretty tough right? RIGHT! One of the wetas was held under water for four days and survived, another survived being dropped into near-boiling water (ouch) and one chewed its way out of Sir Walter's handkerchief!***

With Shireen out, her bubbly niece was assigned to show us as many penguins as she could. Problem is the penguins have all gone out to hunt, leaving the babies in the nest, so there weren't really much to see. She was nice enough to walk us around to see where the penguins would have been while uncovering each nest to wake the babies from their sleep. And share the kitten they found the previous night - which laopo would normally go gaga over, but that day, she simply wasn't interested...penguins, where are the penguins?

The only consolation was this one-eye blue penguin.

Trying to teach him swim

Baby penguins

The star of the day turned out to be Gimpy, a handicapped sheep. 刚开始Gimpy八成是害羞，想抓她照个相都难。但很快就混熟了。我们离开的时候，她还跛着脚追在我们车后，一直追到栅栏边。

Gimpy has beautiful eyes

Akaroa habour

违章

Dinner at Akaroa

Day 6: Hokitika Gorge & The Journey Back Inland

I have to admit, I am not the safest driver, but as a highly trained one with a military driving license, I am there when it matters the most. First discovered the flat (just slightly deflated) tire the previous night. Have we travelled more than a thousand km in that state, while making those dangerous turns up and down the mountains? Guess more importantly, discovered it before any mishaps - and on behalf of everyone (my laopo and goldfish at home), I thank myself for that. Got it fixed at the auto shop while we walked across the street for breakfast.

Day 6 was rather light. Drove to nearby Hoikitika Gorge which was supposed to be redemption for not visiting the blue pool (it was pouring when we passed by blue pool on the way to Fox glacier the other day) but as usual it was cloudy, so laopo didn't get to see the blueness she expected. Plus the West Coast sandflies were at work again so we didn't stayed long. But nonetheless, this is a great attraction on its own, had it not been the other more spectacular attractions in South Island that have raised our standards.

On the way to Hoikitika Gorge
That was the end of West Coast, as we headed inland via Aurther's Pass back to Christchurch.

Day 5 - Once in lifetime experience - Helihike @ Fox Glacier

This is nature at work. A week after we left, 2 Australian Indians were crushed at the terminal when tonnes of ice collapsed as they went too close for pictures. Shocking, isn't it? Were we plain lucky? We had a good guide, who carefully examines each ice structure for signs of stress as we trampled on or walked under ice caves. Most importantly, the heli-hike experience allowed us to get as close as we could to these ancient structures in a safe and organized way. As laopo puts it, these are only a few countries in the world where glaciers are easily accessible. Yet New Zealand presents many many other fantastic wonders of the world...all in one place.


Our heli-hike experience started with a cranky bus ride to the take-off site. It was a really ancient bus - kind of reminded me of my primary school schoolbus, except it goes dead much more often (and it was only a 5 min journey). And one wonders if the chopper would behave the same. But the excitement on our faces were evident (mainly her since I don't get easily excited) as soon as we got on the helicopter. Being grossly underweight, she was put at the front seat and me at the back to balance the weight, seat belts tightened and ear muffs on. The chopper hovered over the ice-covered mountains and landed at ground zero. Teams 1 and 2 were already squatting with their backs at us as our chopper almost blew them off their feet.

Fox Glacier falls 2,600m on its 13km journey from the Southern Alps down to the coast, with it having the distinction of being one of the few glaciers to end among lush rainforest only 300 metres above sea level.

Our guide, Jeff, demonstrated as we strapped metal spikes over our boots. Each armed with a pole and off we went, in single file. Jeff led the way, clearing the ice with his axe, stamping on crushed ice to make stairs-like steps for us so all we have to do is to make sure we get our feet firm on the ground, and the spikes firm into it. The trick is to, contrary to how we walk normally, get the whole feet on the ground at the same time. Cos the spikes are in the middle, we'll probably not survive a few steps if we land on our heels.
Slowly, we climbed up the icy slopes. It was a spectacular sight as one looked down - the glacier stretches, meeting the sea at the horizon, where the weather appeared clear and sunny. Jeff said the thought of partying at the beaches in summer after work was what kept them going at times. A feature of the glacier was ice caves, formed by the ice surface bulging under pressure as the turns of the valley applied brakes on the sliding glacier. These caves come and go - the structure weakens as ice melts under sun and finally collapses. Jeff selected a few deemed safe and we crawled our way through - was extremely hard for the spikes to grip the ice blocks. Glaciers are such majestic structures, we were like ants crawling through my blanket, hoping that I won't sit on them.

A Q&A session ---- Why is glacier blue?

According to wiki, blue ice occurs when all of the air bubbles that are trapped in the ice are squeezed out, and the size of the ice crystals increases, making it clear. The blue color of the ice is a result of an overtone of a OH molecular stretch in the water which absorbs light at the red end of the visible spectrum.
The hike lasted 3 hours - Jeff said we had gone much further up the glacier than the other hikers that day. We returned to the landing site and rid ourselves of the hiking gear. The chopper that was supposed to bring us back came with the next group of hikers - in raincoats. By that time, the skies have turned grey and started to rain - I wonder how they could hike in wet, slippery ice.

When we returned to the town, it was sunshine again, typical of New Zealand weather. The highlight of the day has ended and we were ready for our next destination - Hokitika. I would be tempted to end the blog this way but there were more to come.

Dinner was some yucky Indian food - yucky curry chicken & yucky curry lamb. Okay, that's not the point but I have to mention cos it was really yucky. Highlight of the night was worms - yes, worms. Glowing ones, in fact. No, we didn't eat worms because we were still hungry after having yucky Indian food. The great thing about NZ is, you find treasures everywhere, even in a small town like Hokitika.

Just a few hundred meters from our hotel, there is this short passage into a forested area where some thousands (or more?) of glow worms reside. Apparently, they are the larvae of some kind of flies* [description below for those who are interested]. No photos but it's not hard to imagine, looked like a sea of fireflies (not that I have seen fireflies but I would imagine they look similar),

* glow worms -- the common name for various different groups of insect larvae and adult larviform females which glow through bioluminescence. There are a few major families found in different parts of the worlds. Based on wiki, the one we saw is called Arachnocampa, a genus of four fungus gnat species which are, in their larval stage. What’s interesting is the purpose of the glow – it varies. Some glow do so to attract a male for mating, some glow as a warning signal to predators. But the Arachnocampa larvae on the other hand glow to attract prey like midges into sticky snare lines for the larva to feed on.

Day 4 - 人间仙境 - Milford Sound

Weather in New Zealand changes dramatically, and is unpredictable; contingent plan is always necessary, and often more than one. It was a bit frustrating at the beginning because we have pretty tight travel schedule. But Lao gong soon talked me through it, as it's one of the characterists of New Zealand. Only after I took easy on the planning side, did I start discovering the different beauty of this place. 人说"浓妆淡抹总相宜", 来形容New Zealand 特贴切 --- 无论是阳光下的灿烂,云雾中的神秘,雨水里的浪漫; 都是风情各异,让人怎么也看不厌.

We are heading to Milford Sound today, also known as the Eighth Wonder of the World. 似乎去世外桃源的路都特长，特难走。由于雪山相隔，从Queenstown出发，开车单程要5个小时，为了晚上赶到Fox Glacier, 我们一早就安排坐小型飞机去Milford Sound。说到纽西兰天气的善变，Milford Sound变化无常的天气又是纽西兰之最。去Milford Sound的飞机听说有一多半的都会因为天气而被取消或改程，而我们要等到飞前的几个小时才会知道。怀着担心的心情，一夜没好睡，清晨5点多就起身查询。虽然此时屋外阳光灿烂，但听说昨天夜里山区里还下了雪, 峡湾那边的天气还是不适合飞行。折中的办法是我们飞到Te Anau,再坐1-2个小时的车去Milford Sound。

Queenstown lies at the outlet to Lake Wakatipu

去Milford的路上，一直阴雨连绵。车窗外，树间交错，山林葱郁；一团团的薄雾飘过，让这画面多了份水墨画般的灵气。 世界这么大，这么美；想想城市里喧杂和烦恼，觉得真是无谓。

Thousands of Russell Lupin flowers create a carpet of color waving gently in the breeze along the Milford Road in Fiordland National Park.

如果按原计划直接飞到峡湾，就会错过这片花海。好像我们生活中无法避免的小波折，与其去难过这些不如意，不如换个角度，去欣赏路边的景色。

Our driver/guide told us a story about the well-known national symbol of New Zealand - Kiwi bird. Although named as a "bird", the kiwi is actually flightless. And probably due to the lack of predators, the kiwi didn't have highly developed protective and defensive adaptations. Kiwis are endangered due to habitat loss and imported animals. The "kiwi tragedy" started with the migration of Europeans. Prior to Europeans coming to New Zealand, the kiwi had enjoyed a secure environment for thousands of years. The Europeans first brought in sheep, but they soon got tired of eating lamb, so they introduced rabbits to the island. Due to the lack of predators, rabbit population started increasing at insane rate that upset the Europeans. And "Smart" humans soon came out a solution; they imported rabbits' predators to this land. However, when these foxes, cats arrived, instead of chasing fast-running rabbits, they discovered thousands of kiwis walking around leisurely, and decided that they are going to have “chicken” instead. (Pardon their ignorance since they had never seen kiwi bird before.) – Another tragedy caused by 人类的自作聪明。

途经一个小镇，名字已经记不得了。司机说大家都叫这个“厕所镇”，因为全镇只有2家人，公共厕所倒是有几十个（给游客用的）。也不知是真是假？！

位于Fiordland National Park中的Milford Sound 形成于上个冰河时代。200万年前，几千米厚的巨大冰川移走后留下幽深的峡谷，灌入海水形成今天的峡湾。峡湾两岸是海拔1200多米的陡峭的岩壁，山上的积雪融化，化成无数条瀑布挂在峭壁上，飞泻下来，直入大海。

轻风拂袂, 飘然欲仙

美得让人窒息的Lake Wakatipu

回到Queenstown, 又要马不停蹄地赶去Fox Glacier, 车程大概330km.
油画般的Lake Hawea
河道转了个弯，Lake Hawea又呈现出另一种宝蓝色
Lake Wanaka
Sunset at the West Coast.

Day 3 - 如诗如画的小镇 - Queenstown

本来计划一早去terminal lake trail,但一起身,看到窗外云雾濛濛 ,雨下个不停;只好改为计划II -- 直接开去Queenstown. 刚开了20多分钟,美丽的Lake Pukaki渐渐出现在眼前. 由于今天风大,湖上被吹起了层层浪花,让本就一望无际的湖泊好似大海一样. 阳光下的湖面,粼光閃閃,波紋披金. 昨天还是温柔的蓝色,今天却亮得让人无法直视. 看到后视镜里的Mt. Cook 还是笼罩在云雾之中,暗自庆幸昨天好运,看到了蓝天白云下的主峰.
在Twizel, 这个温暖(it felt so good to be warm coming from Mt Cook)的小镇里吃了顿营养brunch (lamb pizza and bagel w/ smoked salmon), 我们继续向南开.

途径Lindis Pass,这个山脉里开满了种野花,后来Google才知道叫做Russell Lupin. 和昨天一样,沿途的风光是景随人移，处处是景. 大自然真是最佳的调色师-- 不同的气候，地貌， 造就了各异的风景。银白色的雪峰配的是如宝石般亮眼剔透的碧蓝湖水；万里晴空下是漫山金黄色的灌木丛；雨水充足的山脉里，缭绕的云雾点缀着翠绿的森林，倍显青葱色彩。不用开车的我，（辛苦了，老公！）一次次被车窗外的美景震撼着，一路上不断重复着“好美啊，好美啊。。。”

We got a big box of super cheap & fresh cherries on the way but as a result got jammed at a junction some 20 miles from Queesntown due to a traffic accident. Unfortunately, or fortunately, we were just 3 cars behind the crashed vehicle and had to make a big detour. Thankfully, GPS came to the rescue, we finally arrived at Oaks Shore Apartments without having to waste too much time. The 1-bed room we booked was spacious. The views over the lake and mountain ranges on our balcony was stunning.

似乎开进Otago district 后一直在下雨。那种湿嗒嗒，冰凉凉的感觉真不好。“去泡个热水澡吧”老公说。听到都觉得身子暖了起来-- 那还等什么呢 -- GPS 拿来，destination: Onsen Hot Pools. 虽然在Tripadvisor上好评如潮，Onsen pool is not massively advertised. 刚开到Onsen的停车场时，还小小吃了一惊--横看竖看都找不到做SPA的地方。顺着指示牌，一直走到山坡边，才发现一条崎岖的小路，和建在山崖边的Onsen，还真有点儿“柳暗花明”的感觉。

走进全木质的SPA房间，最让人惊艳的就是眼前360度壮丽的Alpine风光。归功于它得天独厚的位置，Arthur Point 的峡谷，山下Shotover River 的激流，远方灰蓝色的山脉，全都一览无余。它的窗户的设计也很特别，落地的玻璃窗一直连到天花板。全打开后，几乎变成了个露天的SPA，真是一点儿都没浪费周围的美景。泡在热气腾腾的山泉水中，阵阵清风拂面，再叹一口香甜多汁的樱桃；顿时令人有种沉淀心灵，洗尽铅华的感动