We’ve driven 750 miles in the past 3 days. Moses has led us around mountains, across valleys, into forests, through farmland, and along the coast. (Moses is our campervan, if you didn’t read the last post. And if not – why not?) We would’ve had to change our plans if we had left Christchurch a day later, for the “Coast to Coast,” an annual triathlon, monopolized the main road. The single lane (yes – the central highway has only 2 lanes) was packed with campervans hauling bikes and kayaks to the starting point.

New Zealand is one big national park. It’s remarkable to see so much unspoiled land. When we reached Punakaiki, I couldn’t believe there was no admission fee to see the main attractions: the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. What’s the catch? Tanya and I walked on in and explored the rock formations that resemble stacks of pancakes. Very big stacks of pancakes - geologists are still trying to figure out nature’s recipe. In certain sections, water propelled from high tide gushes out of the rocks like a whale’s blowhole…hence the name.

That same day, we were even more impressed with 2 massive glaciers, though I now understand why the Maori name for New Zealand translates to “Land of the Long White Cloud.” The Franz Josef glacier was completely obscured when we drove up to visit it, but our luck was better when we did a hike around the Fox glacier. With hardcore clamp-ons attached to our shoes, we followed our guide as he carved out narrow steps with his ice pick. We carefully avoided deep crevices and slick patches until we reached a perfect spot to relax and photograph the rest of what we were standing on. I started talking with 3 guys from Detroit, and – once again – it’s a small world. Two of them go to Michigan and would probably recognize a bunch of my friends there, and the other goes to MIT and is good friends with a girl I know. On the middle of a glacier in New Zealand we were chatting about a mutual friend.

It was hard to leave Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world. We arrived late last night and it immediately reminded me of Aspen. A perfect ski village. I can only imagine what it's like brushed with snow in the winter.

Tanya runs ski/snowboard trips for Rustic Pathways, so she knew the best lookout spots. One of which was Deer Park, a mountain packed with animals and signs marking “Lord of the Rings” sites. Although the area is fenced off, the goats, sheep, bison, yaks, miniature horses, deer and donkeys are fairly wild. Especially the donkeys. There were 4 of them looking all cute and cuddly on the side of the road, so we pulled over and started petting them. I thought that if I tried to sit on one it would surely run away, but I managed to hop on a little fella with no problem. I smiled for the camera before giving it a few little kicks to see what would happen. At first – nothing. But after my last kick, the donkey took off like a racehorse. I held on to its neck for a few seconds before getting thrown onto the dirt road. It was too funny to hurt, but my hands were scraped and my knees got nice cuts. The donkey joined his friends, probably thinking “Who's the ass now?”

I could’ve spent days checking out all of Queenstown’s activities: parapenting, rafting, skydiving, quad-biking, a stunt plane, luge, canyon swing, Shotover jet, and loads of bungy jumping (including the first ever), but the choices are overwhelming and pricey...and I needed to recover from the donkey.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 11th, 2006 at 8:05 pm in XVI. NZ. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.