Farewell New Zealand

Fall has arrived. The peak of Mt. Aspiring is in the background.

Fall has come to the Southland. Although the days remain bright and warm, the evenings are becoming cool. Yesterday we awoke to find frost on the car. Time to move on.

We spent our last day in the Southland visiting a sheep farm. It seemed fitting since the industry has played such a large part in New Zealand’s history. It was a typical brilliant day with blue sky and sunshine sparkling off an early snow on the peaks. We travelled down Lake Wakatipu from Queenstown, via a steamship in continuous service since 1912, to Walter Peak High Country Farm - a working farm of 66 000 hectares and 22 000 sheep. There we learned about the industry past and present, marvelled as a working dog brought a flock down from the mountain then cut five sheep from the flock and drove them to a pen to be shorn. We watched as one was ‘fleeced’. After lingering on the deck of the original farmhouse drinking tea we boarded the late afternoon steamer for the trip back to Queenstown.

The TSS Earnslaw. In use since 1912

A top shearer can shear 200 sheep per day.

The next morning we flew to Auckland. The flight was a perfect way to return to where we had started ten weeks earlier. The flight path took us up the west coast of the South Island, past Mt.Cook radiant in the morning sun, over the Marlborough Sounds and Nelson, past Tongariro National Park and the three volcanic peaks and down into Auckland. In less than three hours we had retraced most of our journey from the air. It was a fitting farewell.

We will miss New Zealand. It has been a most amazing trip as we have tried to capture in our travel blog. The land is so new, so fresh and exciting. Humankind has inhabited New Zealand for about twelve hundred years, Europeans for little more than two hundred years. Shane Kozycan, the slam poet who recited at the closing ceremonies of the Olympics said “Canada is an experiment that is working.” So is New Zealand. There is a spirit which underlies the land that is tangible. People are proud of their country. They are easy in their own skin, friendly and very laid back. We were made welcome everywhere we went. I’m sure there are warts here somewhere. We just didn’t find them. It is a country well worth visiting.

We couldn’t agree what to highlight as part of our last entry so we each made some choices. Enjoy.

The drives Fran will miss:

The switchbacks on the West Coast

The switchbacks on the Crowne Ridge.

The switchbacks on Treble Cone. Yes, we drove to the top.

The waterfalls Ken will miss:

The signs we will miss:

What we will miss most:

Our daily "flat white".

See you all soon!