Brian's Travels - New Zealand
slept on the Auckland Shorinji Kempo dojo floor; toured caves with glow worm constellations and stupendous limestone formations at Waitomo; gawked at geysers, boiling mud, and technicoloured heavy metal mineral pools at Rotorua; were amazed at just how many sheep and how many more mozzies and sand flies they have; encountered gypsies in humongous house-on-wheels Bedford trucks; camped along raging rivers with rapids, waterfalls, and hydroelectric schemes; hiked on active volcanoes and viewed crater lakes in the howling wind in Tongariro National Park; wondered at the lack of straight roads; amazed to find that 30% of all Canadian geese call New Zealand home; stumbled over the pronunciation of the Maori names; watched a TV commercial shoot in Wellington; drank marvellous Milo; endured a three-hour channel crossing; appraised the products of the Marlborough wine district; discovered "fill your own" draft at the bottle shops; trekked portions of the Abel Tasman track; tramped over sand dunes and through sheep shit er, trail grease to get to Cape Farewell; wondered at the wild west coast with its fierce waves, surging blowholes, and populous seal colonies; panned for (fools) gold at Ross; braved rising ice water to view advancing glaciers; climbed a few small mountains for some views that were amazing; marvelled at magnificent Milford Sound and sailed with dolphins playing in the bow wave; travelled two km down a spiral tunnel in a mountain to a power station at Doubtful Sound; were blown away at Bluff; cruised through the Catlins and watched the yellow eyed penguins return from the sea at Nugget Point; rode the last punt in the southern hemisphere; took Roland up and down the steepest street in the world (19o) in Dunedin; hiked along glistening glacial valleys in Mt. Cook NP; imbibed numerous beers on our personal DB Brewery tour in Timaru; visited the only French colony down under on the beautiful Banks Peninsula; soaked at Hamner Hot Springs; will never forget the seals at Kaikoura; attended the Golden Shears at Masterson (the winner sheared 10 sheep in 9 minutes); saw art deco buildings, parasailors, and thousands of gannets at Hawks Bay; paused at the first place to get sunrise in the world on the East Cape; and braved a storm on the Coromandel Peninsula.
We had the opportunity to visit with members of the Shorinji Kempo branches in Auckland and Tauranga branches. They were a great help to us during our travels.
On March 16, 1995 we crossed the Tasman to resume our Australian odyssey.
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