Back home

Our great coworkers helped us celebrate our time in  NZ. The practice nurses were the heart and soul of the clinic and kept things running despite the lack of continual doctor coverage. The very next day we were aboard the little plane out to Wellington where we were able to thank the Baxters for all their help with a nice dinner at Logan Brown.

All to soon we left NZ for Rarotonga for a few days of R &R.

If you ever need a stop on the way to New Zealand to waste a couple days in a South Pacific paradise with brilliant blue waters , fabulous snorkeling ,great island cocktails, this is the place. 

We spent four days there then caught a flight .

To Aitutaki for a couple more fabulous days on the most brilliant lagoon in the world, with our own little bungalow

And without question it led to rum punch, dancing and name that tune, who can forget the opening chords of Hotel California with a free drink on the  line

But we did say goodbye to our little tropical break 

But not without one last shout out to the four square man, cook island style

So see you next year on another adventure. Thanks for reading!

Last weekend in Westport

Carolyn with a Coal Seam, not a Police song

Our time is winding down here and we are finishing our last weekend  in Westport. Five more days of work followed by a  little celebration then off next Saturday on the daily flight to Wellington. Anyways, in trying to squeeze in all our favorite local distractions, we started with a beautiful hike on the Denniston Plateau to get one final taste of the Coal legacy on the West Coast.
Next  we tackled the Ghost Road track along the mighty Mohikinui river north of us.

Walking in the New  Zealand bus on the West coast is really an experience you can not find elsewhere. Though we were only a 40 minute drive from Westport, we were rapidly in a quite isolated area, with nice formed tracks, and no other people, not one, to be seen on our little three hour hike.

Tahr

But then we were off for a Saturday night Wild Foods Feast At the Town House Restaurant  In Westport featuring Whitebait, Hare, Venison and Tahr. Our fellow doctor here, Nina, can catch or shoot all these delicacies for you but we attended a special dinner that lasted a bit over four hours and  it was wonderful as you can see

Whitebait appetizer with custard

Hare and leek pie

Venison Steaks with Boysenberry sauce

Tahr leg Roast with glazed Kumara

  motivated me to lose some weight once I get  back to Boulder.

We sat next to a couple who immigrated to NZ from South Africa and they thought the Tahr reminded them a bit of Warthog, I'll have to take their word for that.

Then off again for our favorite local walks around Cape Foulwind and this time we met an unexpected companion

Whom we mutually startled.The sea was quite lovely as a rough sea can be

And to finish off the Weekend, I squeezed in one last round of golf to celebrate Bob Charles, the last New Zealander to win the Open exactly 50 years ago, and with the help of his 7 iron shot a perfect Bogey round. 

So one more week of work , party,  visit the Baxter's on our way to the Cook Islands and then Home. 

Signs of the Times

With just over two weeks left in Westport, we have no more weekend trips planned.  The odometer on the car shows we have traveled over 10,000 km in our little Toyota Corolla.  And while the major attraction has been the scenery, we have enjoyed the road signs too.   As  a country with lots of tourists, they rely on pictures more than words. 

There are signs to let you know what other vehicles you may encounter:

And signs to notify you of road conditions:

You might encounter familiar beasts

Or not-so-familiar beasts (endangered carnivorous snails on the Heaphy Track)  --- this one we saw while hiking.

New Zealand is appropriately protective of their native birds, so motorists need to be on alert--

For penguins, kiwis, blue ducks and pukekos.

Signposts and mileage markers are common:

But my favorite sign, which is used for many things, simply tells me to watch out.

Just some photos of buildings,

We had a great trip to visit Vaughn, the lead doctor at the clinic where we work, at his home in Christchurch. We had a chance to see the devastation to the city center from the earthquakes of 2010-2011. The damage is quite dramatic, and despite the understandable delays in redeveloping the infrastructure of a city built 150 years ago, you can get a sense of the pride the residents have in their city and their chance to create something really special with the redevelopment.

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This is an area that has been razed and now home to shops and places to eat housed in brightly colored shipping containers, ReStart.

We  had a great visit.

Along our travels in New Zealand, I have taken some photos of unique but also typical buildings we find in the small towns  on the South Island. I am particularly fond of the brightly colored Dairies, their answer to our  7/11s . Also  the older taverns, part hotel, part bar and part restaurant, are great places and bring a sense of community to some of the very little towns.We have stayed in several excellent bed and breakfasts that are housed in beautiful Victorian homes. Among my favorite structures are the Four Square markets, which I have to photograph away from Westport. Though we do not have a traffic light here, we are big enough that the larger two grocery chains have displaced the Four Square.

Warwick House Nelson

 New,above, and Old, below, Westport city Buildings.

And of course my favorites:

Eric and the Queen

In New Zealand, the first Monday of June is a national holiday, the Queen's Birthday, and this year it was celebrated on June 3rd.  That's Eric's birthday as well, so we got a three day weekend to celebrate, and raised our glass to Queen Elizabeth too.  (Her actual birthday is in April).

We traveled back to Nelson for two nights, with a quick side-trip to Maruia Falls which was created in a 1929 earthquake.  The fault line crossed the river with land on one side being raised up.  The riverbed was shifted and a new waterfall resulted. It was raining, so we didn't stay long.

 

Nelson is a beautiful town on the Tasman Bay.  An Irish musical festival was taking place, so our first night, we ate a great Indian food dinner, then went to sit in a Mongolian yurt and listen to Irish session players.  A mix of cultures, but the music was clearly Irish and reminded us of the pubs on the Dingle Peninsula.

 

On Sunday, we drove through the Moutere Valley, wine-tasting, stopping at galleries and coffee-shops, and picking up shells on the beach.  One reason we like wine-tasting is that vineyards always seem to be located in the prettiest spots!  Harvest is over, but the views are still great.

 

Eric at Woollastone Estates Winery

 

 





 



Carolyn waiting for lunch on the vineyard patio.

Sheep grazing in the vineyard.

 

Modern art at the vineyard.

 

Monday, Eric's actual birthday, threatened to be rainy.  The rain didn't start until we were back near Westport.  One of my favorite signs on the Buller Gorge Highway is "Beware of Slumps!"  but I didn't really understand what a slump was until I saw one on the drive home.

 



Slump = part of the hillside collapses onto the road.  With an average rainfall of 6 feet, it's not surprising that drivers need to be wary.  Over the holiday weekend, 3 inches fell in 3 days, and we were glad we were over the mountains and dry.