It’s Saturday the 14th here…

Posted on March 14, 2015 by Mary Beth Frezon

So it’s Pi Day! A most happy Pi day to all of you!

Here, we rose up from our lovely accommodations, had a hearty breakfast and were on our way. It was a great day to go to Paradise which the lodge fellow said was down a bit of bumpy road, then some recently graded road, over the ford and on just a bit. We never did find the recently graded part but we did pass through a bit of national park and through the Jordan which passes over the road (today thankfully not too much of it) and there was the sign that we’d arrived in Paradise. Some bored cattle looked on while we took obligatory selfies and then it was on to our next destination.

Onward and upward to Christofer Robyn Quilt Shop. I know, I know – but who can go into a quilt shop and not buy something, really. Had a nice visit with them while Marge and I fondled fabric.

PSA: This is what happens when your brain is cram-packed with hills and mountains. EVERYthing, even a pile of something on a second-floor, business shelf seen through a window from a parked car below, looks like hills and mountains.

Also, if your brain, filled with hills and mountains or no, says “hmmm that looks like a plover of some kind”, you should probably go with that. I did. I searched “NZ Plover” and it took me right to Spur-winged Plover which is exactly what I saw two of today.

winding road over crown range

[Having some upload issues to flickr at the moment so more photos as soon as possible.

Posted in birds and chickens, Journey to NZ | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Milford Sound, The Remarkables and Beyond!

Posted on March 13, 2015 by Mary Beth Frezon

First off – Breakfast of Champions:

We got picked up by a different bus this morning which took us through the countryside toward a boat tour of Milford Sound. The bus picked up other people along the way and we saw a rainbow as we pulled in to pick up one person.

We lucked into a very knowledgeable driver and guide, one Marge had met a couple years ago. This guy, Simon, is passionate about what he does and maybe the happiest guy working in NZ and that’s no exaggeration. He loves what he does and he knows a lot about a lot of local flora and fauna and geology and history.

The great thing about the bus rides yesterday and today was that not only did we get commentary from the drivers but we got to get off the bus and look around. Today we got to go on a few short walks, for example, exploring: a temperate rainforest area, a chasm with water-carved rocks, and the area below a glacier. There were other photo ops too where we were able to hop off the bus and wander around briefly admiring the view and taking photos. Mighty fine stuff.

As we got ready to board the bus there was a single flash of lightning and a clap of thunder. Then I got a fine demo of what “hosing down rain” looks like for awhile, so it was a fine thing to sit inside the boat drinking hot tea, enjoying lunch and watching the misty peaks roll by. Of course rain meant that all the many temporary waterfalls started gushing downhill. We saw three seals who were laying around on rocks but otherwise a quiet wildlife day.

All in all a fabulous day filled with many different beautiful sights and gorgeous scenes.

When we were dropped back at Lake Te Anau, we picked up a bit of dinner to go, filled the Prius and started off for our next destination. Folks, it’s a good thing that Marge is driving because I’m so busy looking around and taking photos and trying to figure out what I’m looking at that I’d be really really bad at driving. (Let alone the whole driving on the left side thing, although that’s feeling pretty normal to me right now.)

You can look at the flickr feed to see some photos from today to understand that it’s hard to pick out highlights. You can look up The Remarkables to see why I was having a hard time taking it all in late today!

Posted in Journey to NZ, weather | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Local Fiordland Beer

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Mary Beth Frezon

This went with my quite-lovely dinner tonight and it was quite tasty inside and out:

From the sea for as far inland as the eye can reach, nothing is to be seen but the summits of these rocky mountains which seem to lay so near one another as not to admit any valleys between them. — James Cook on Describing Fiordland on his voyage of discovery 1770

Posted in food, From the Quote Box, Journey to NZ | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Local Fiordland Beer

Pining…

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Mary Beth Frezon

O: Well, he’s…he’s, ah…probably pining for the fjords.

C: PININ’ for the FJORDS?!?!?!? What kind of talk is that?, look, why did he fall flat on his back the moment I got ‘im home?

O: The Norwegian Blue prefers kippin’ on it’s back! Remarkable bird, id’nit, squire? Lovely plumage!

Posted in geeky stuff, Journey to NZ, silliness | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Pining…

Thursday: To Doubtful Sound!

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Mary Beth Frezon

Last night we knew we’d be getting up quite early to catch a bus to a boat to a bus to a boat but there was still time for a few late evening photos.

This morning, the bus stopped at our motel and picked up the two of us, hats, bug spray, wind-proof and warm gear in tow. The bus driver was jolly despite the foggy conditions and pointed out a few things we might have seen if there had been a view. We boarded a boat that indeed did take us to another bus that went up and up and up (at one point the driver said it was up 5 ft elevation for every 1 ft – steepest road used by commercial buses) and finally another boat.

We saw an amazing array of the fiords and islands and clouds as well as bottle-nose dolphins, a penguin (it was a choice of being a stick or a penguin but sticks don’t dive and come up somewhere else) and shearwaters. I was quite proud that I spotted an albatross and watched him land and take off again. Turned out to be a Buller’s Mollymawk. Woot! Life bird!

On the bus back, we were given opportunities to get out of the bus to look around and stopped at Wilmot Pass and a moss garden along with some other vistas.

I encourage you to enjoy the view over on the flickr feed because there are too many wonderful sights to have here.

PS: no doubt I will be pining for the fiords, soon enough… (sorry, I had to do that)

Posted in birds and chickens, Journey to NZ | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Thursday: To Doubtful Sound!