Greetings from Kiwi Land!!

We’ll start with a quick test. Which team just won America’s Cup? Any idea? Do you know what America’s Cup is?

We had no idea, but Kiwis love America’s Cup (it’s sailing/yachting for those not aware). Here’s a quote we saw in NY Times that sums it up: “The Cup is a niche attraction in the United States but it is a major event in New Zealand and has been drawing television audiences well over 1 million in a nation of 4.4 million”

At nearly every place we have stayed and at lots of restaurants people have been asking us about Team Oracle (which is Team USA). We had to read up to find out what was happening! The race has been the longest in history and has stretched out over 17 races. The intensity feels like an OSU vs. Michigan game spread out over 2 weeks! Team New Zealand orchestrated one of the biggest chokes in the history of sports by losing a best of 17 tournament when it was once up 8 points to 1!!!!

Trip Reshuffle!
Our trip to New Zealand started off with a substantial trip reshuffle. Apparently New Zealand had been pummeled with one of the worst storms of the last 25 years just before we arrived, and two Canadian tourists were killed when their van was swept off a mountain pass in a mudslide.

This resulted in the pass being shut down for +10 days. The scary part was that we were set to go over that same mountain pass after visiting glaciers on the west coast of the island. While disappointing to not see the glaciers, we were very grateful to not have been hurt or massively delayed with the road shut down.

In about 1.5 hours in the airport, we made a quick decision to cancel our glacier portion of the trip. With the help of Trip Advisor and several websites, we quickly changed our hotel, remapped out the next two days, and set off for the Southeast Coast of New Zealand. It turned out to be a fun change, and we had a great time!

Moeraki Boulders
Our first stop was to look at the Moeraki Boulders as we headed down the coast. These are unusual, large boulders that are spherical shaped. There are all over a beach and look quite strange!

Dunedin Area
Our next stop was in Dunedin, a neat Scottish heritage town spread over hills and a valley that overlooks a harbor and peninsula. We were fortunate to get the last apartment at a beautiful complex overlooking the city (whew! we much prefer having things planned out vs. last second shuffles!). It’s a college town with several Scottish buildings, beautiful views, and the world’s steepest street! Here are a few pics:

Green Pastures & Lambs
On our drives across New Zealand we saw lots of the green pastures and sheep that are signatures of the country. Since it is spring here, we also got to see lots of new lambs. My grandfather and aunt always had sheep which I loved to hold as a child. Seeing lambs running around the fields brought back lots of wonderful memories!

Nugget Point
We finished off our shuffled plans with a visit to Nugget Point. This point is on the Catlins Coast and is near the southern tip of New Zealand. The real treat of stopping here was that we saw the rare migrating albatross birds. There are only 25K of the Shy Albatross in the the world and are considered “Near Threatened” status. We happened to be at Nugget Point during their migration so we saw lots of them. These albatross weigh about 9 lbs and have up to an 8 foot wing span so they are huge. It was a great unexpected surprise!

Milford Sound & Fiordlands
From Nugget Point we headed to Milford Sound in Fiordlands National Park. Milford Sound is one of the best known destinations in New Zealand, and we happened to hit a fantastic weather day! It rains 2 out of every 3 days and is known as one of the wettest places in the world.

The week before we arrived there had been terrible weather – and the road to Milford Sound was actually shut down due to over 20 avalanches. In fact about 15 tourists were stuck at the sound for 5 days (see link for some interesting aerial photos)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9154681/Milford-cut-off-by-massive-slip

We were fortunate that road had reopened and the weather was sunny and warm for early Spring. We expected about 40-45 degrees with rain. The trip and the views were fantastic!

This is where Kiwis jump in the lake before the Michigan game

One of the 20 avalanches a week before our visit. Wow!!

And another…

We even got to see seals and the 2nd rarest penguin… although they were tricky to capture in pictures!

We also stayed in a great B&B near the park entrance. It’s often hard to find places that are nice near parks, but this B&B was great! Here is the view from our room:

We finished off our day by driving to Queenstown and eating at a gourmet burger shop. Ryan had a huge lamb burger!

We’re now off to explore more of New Zealand!