 |
| yes, lots of wildlife here |
With Thomas'
parents sufficiently recovered from jetlag we set off on a 2 week
tour of the highlights of the South Island.
As I mentioned
before it had been extremely hard to find accomodation for all of us
in nearly all of the locations we visited. In some cases events such
as the famous coast-to-coast run coincided with our visit, or a
Robbie Williams concert (that nearly drove us mad, every last room in
Dunedin was booked, and everyone we phoned assumed we were going to
see Robbie Williams). But mostly it was just peak tourist season, and
tourism has boomed in NZ over the past years even more than before,
which meant that in fact it became unpleasantly busy in most places.
First stop was
Arthur's pass, where we did some lovely walks.
Next stop was my
favourite place, Hokitika. Hoki had changed since my last fieldwork
trip there, but remained relaxed and with many beautiful spots to
discover. Despite having stayed many times in Hokitika, I had never
done much there beyond resupplying fieldwork food, so it was nice to
see the sights. We also had unusual hot weather and went swimming
everyday in lakes and the oceans, to the astonishment of the locals.
 |
| Hokitika gorge, normally advertised with very blue water, here a beautiful gray |
On to the glaciers.
We walked to Franz Joseph, and again were surprised by the change.
Not only was it a highway of tourists of all shapes and cultures,
also the glacier, the river, the whole landscape had changed
dramatically since we had last been. Climate change in action, so to
speak. A bit sad, and for NZ perhaps worrying, to see this highlight
melt away. At least in a few years when there's nothing to see there
any more, it won't be so busy …
The following
photo's go backwards in time, Franz Joseph glacier in 2018, 2012,
2010.
 |
| Franz Joseph, February 2018 |
 |
| Franz Joseph, February 2018 |
 |
| Franz Joseph, November 2012 |
 |
| Franz Joseph, May 2010 |
 |
| Okarito beach |
We passed Haast
pass, visiting many sights on the way, mostly waterfalls, and we
could see that despite new parking having been built recently, it was
always difficult to find a spot (in the shade!).
 |
| Fantail falls, or Billy boiling falls, with hordes of tourists, for NZ |
In Manapouri we
stayed 3 days in a quirky motel with fantastic views of the lake. The
warm weather changed as we boarded for our Doubtful Sound (Fiord)
adventure. In Doubtful Sound the rain was soon lashing and pelting at
our boat, and everything was quite gray and invisible, but
nonetheless very impressive. And as I kept pointing out to whomever
wanted to listen, this part of the world is renowned for rain, so to
see it in rain is to see it's true nature. Well. Luckily on the way
back it just drizzled mostly so we got to see a bit more of the
actual landcsape. Hard to do justice in photos, but a magical place.
 |
| View of Lake Manapouri |
 |
| Doubtfull Sound in normal weather |
 |
| Doubtfull Sound |
And back to the East
coast it was. On the way we ran into the South Island sheep shearing
competition held in Gore, and went to watch a few rounds.
Our stay close to
Dunedin, on Otago Peninsula, was quite nice and we wandered around
Dunedin for
a day.
 |
| Otago Peninsula |
 |
| Dunedin botanical gardens |
Then we moved on to
Moeraki to see the boulders in lots of rain and high tide.
 |
| Boulders |
Finally after that
another cyclone was heading NZ's way, and as we had been unable to
find any more accommodation on the way, we drove back home. The storm
was supposed to hit around Christchurch pretty badly, so we also
thought it'd be better to be home when things got wet. Luckily not
much happened and we stayed dry.
The last week of the
holiday we did more walks around here and enjoyed the garden and the
ripe fruit and tomatoes.
And then 4 weeks had
flown by and the visit was over.
When I got back to work people said
all sorts of smart and funny things about having guests for such a
long time, and one was: “Guests bring joy twice: once when they
arrive, and once when they leave”.
