Wednesday, August 26, 1998
"New Zealand is where I would go if I really felt like getting away from everything, assume a new identity, disappear for good." These were the approximate words of Tony, my colleague in London when I had told him where I had gone on my vacation. Although further away from London then my place of domicile, Sausalito, California, which lies just north of San Francisco, New Zealand is physically a long way from everywhere. Even the nearest land in Australia, despite looking so close on the globe, is more than 1,000 miles across the Tasman Sea.

The objective of my trip to New Zealand was two-fold. First, when my ex-roommate took a job in New Zealand, I promised him I would visit him. Incidentally, to a Brit or a New Zealander (from hereon referred to as a Kiwi with a capital K, not to be confused with the flightless bird, the fruit or the shoe polish), a roommate is someone with whom you share a bed. A cohabitant in your apartment is a flatmate. Second, with the reversed seasons in the Southern Hemisphere, I had opportunity to meet my goal of skiing every month of the year. The two months that have always eluded me have been August and September. Our plan was to spend a few days in Auckland, where my ex-roommate Rich lives. Ex-flatmate I mean. From Auckland we would fly to Queenstown on the South Island to ski, then spend a couple of days in Diamond Harbour, just outside of Christchurch, also on the South Island.

We (my girlfriend Erin and myself) left San Francisco at 6:30 PM to meet connecting flight in Los Angeles (LAX). Beware that transferring to gate 2 (LA Intl terminal) from a domestic terminal could take 20 minutes time, as it did for us. A plus is United Air Lines' cooperative program with Air New Zealand, where they check the baggage all the way through to New Zealand without having to claim and check bags in again in LA. Our Air NZ flight departed on time from LAX at 9:15 PM.

I have to applaud Air NZ, as their coach seats have more legroom than the other airlines, and when the passenger in front of you reclines their seat, their face isn't in your lap, and the seat doesn't squash your knees (Golden Gate Transit, take note next time you order your buses!!!!!!!!) Also a plus are the headrests which adjust, and can be arched to cradle your head, allowing even the worst of airborne insomniacs (e.g. myself) the opportunity to bag a few Z's, with help of a little melatonin.

I thought the food was good on Air NZ, as far as airline food goes. Erin, my girlfriend, thought it wasn't fit for POW's. The flight attendant missed our row on the first beverage service requiring me to get out of my seat and flag him down, for which he was very apologetic for the rest of the flight. Strangely most of the flight attendants on Air NZ International flights were men, while on New Zealand domestic flights were women. Maybe the women want to be closer to their families, or don't want to work a 13 hour shift required by the trans-oceanic flight?

Friday, August 28
Arrived in Auckland International Airport at the ungodly hour of 4:45 AM, about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Despite already having one bottle of Kahlua for Rich, we decide to buy another in the duty-free shop as a liter was $28.90NZ, or about $14.46US with the current exchange rate, or about $2.50US cheaper than a 750 mL bottle in California. This was an early indicator of the bargains we Yanks were about to discover, thanks to an over-priced US dollar (about $2.03 to $1.93 NZ to the USD). All prices quoted here, unless otherwise specified are New Zealand dollars.

Erin and I went through New Zealand immigration, and picked up our luggage. While waiting for my skis, we saw a couple of customs agents, one with a beagle in tow, the other, a yellow lab. Customs agents led dogs, who were sniffing everyone's bags in search of contraband. Fortunately, our bags didn't draw any attention, canine or human.

My boots were another story. Although I truthfully answered no to the question of whether I had been on a farm in the last month, my boots still had evidence of visit to a cattle ranch, as well as crushed plums and thistle from clearing weeds out of my yard. One look was enough to convince the customs agent that the boots should be cleaned and sterilized before setting foot any further into New Zealand. So I waited patiently for 10 minutes in my stocking feet, while the apologetic customs agent washed and disinfected my boot soles. In addition, every piece of luggage must pass through an x-ray machine, including my bulky, oversized ski bag, which had most of my winter clothes packed in it.

Auckland

It was still dark when we headed out to the taxi stand. Taxis from the airport to the Mt. Eden area (just south of central Auckland and a little closer to the airport) were $31 or $40 the two times we took them. The higher priced fare, strangely enough was at 6 in the morning.

Although Rich is definitely not a morning person, he was awake to greet us at 6:30 AM, when we arrived which was a good thing because, between the driver, myself and Erin, we weren't able to identify his townhouse (or flat in Kiwi or Britspeak). Hopefully, we didn't annoy his neighbors or flatmates too much with the idling engine, the backing up the complex's steep driveway, and the ensuing discussions about which townhouse was flat A, prior to Rich's appearance.

After presenting Rich with his two bottles of Kahlua and his 5 bottles of Sierra Foothills zinfandel, the ballsy red wine, not that gutless, pink kool-aid that is sold throughout the rest of the US, known as white zinfandel, we went off to have some breakfast in Eden Village. I highly recommend Sierra Café, 418 Mt. Eden Rd., 09.623.0120, for breakfast. Reasonably priced, good food and friendly staff. A word of caution to any North Americans: they don't have what we would call regular coffee (Kiwis and Brits call it filter coffee, as opposed to Nescafe, or instant coffee.) They only have an espresso machine, as do many restaurants, so if you don't want a FuFu coffee drink, such as a mocha or latte, or are lactose intolerant as I am, the closest thing is a long black, which from what I could tell was a double espresso.

Later that morning, I had my first chance to try Vegemite. Vegemite, made by Kraft, a close relative of marmite, a salty yeast product that one must be a Commonwealth native to enjoy, is a staple of the Kiwis and Aussies, spread thinly on bread or toast. Fellow San Francisco Bay Area residents, Zeke and Joan Wigglesworth in their Fielding's New Zealand Guide describe it as "tasting like piano polish." It smells like hell, but didn't taste that bad, like brewers yeast, and it probably keeps the mozzies (mosquitoes) away thanks to lots of B vitamins. As a gift to a colleague of mine at work, I purchased a jar, as she would make Vegemite references, along with as many other Aussie expressions she could dig up, in e-mails with some business contacts in Sydney.

As we were flying to Queenstown the following morning, Rich, Erin and I agreed that we should take a look at central Auckland, and Rich wished to show us his lab and office. Rich is doing post-doctoral work at Auckland U in structural biology, x-ray crystallography to be exact.

Auckland University is in central Auckland, and with exception of an old clock tower, consists mainly of unappealing, blocky, modernistic buildings built to save money, not be architectural classics. The campus is attractively landscaped, and near the Student Union, there is a stone wall still equipped with slots for guns that was used as a fortification during the Land Wars with the Maori.

From Rich's office, I sent an e-mail off to some family members, letting them know I had made it Down Under safely. I thought about, but didn't send an e-mail to my co-workers, as I was still experiencing major pangs of guilt from vacationing at a time when there was a deadline for a major project in which our department was involved. I had booked my ticket prior to the existence of the project. Rich showed us his x-ray diffraction system, used for mapping of protein molecules, as well as some Silicon Graphics-designed computer software, which allows one to view and rotate protein structures in 3-D with aid of special glasses (much more sophisticated, and expensive, than your 3-D movie glasses).

From the University, we walked through Albert Park, a pretty urban park and garden on a hill just above the central business district and walked down to Queen Street in the heart of the city. Another thing, if you are going to Auckland and expecting a flat city or gentle inclines, guess again. Auckland was built on a series of volcanic cinder cones, which make the city very hilly. Be prepared to exercise if you are planning on walking. I hear Wellington, the capital on the other side of the North Island is even more hilly. We had a lunch reservation at 2 in Orbit, the restaurant at the top of the Sky Tower, Auckland's new tower and casino, and the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere.

Our walk continued to the foot of Queen Street, site of a hotel, used in addition to providing sleeping accommodations, for urban RAP jumping, or abseiling, which consists of rappelling down the side of the building attached to a rope. Also found at the foot of Queen Street is Waitemata Harbor, the Auckland ferry building and ferries that go to Rangitoto and Waiheke Islands. If one walks west on Quay Street, the street that parallels the harbor, one will see the boat that won New Zealand the Americas Cup in 1995. Taking a left at the Americas Cup boat and staying next to the water will take one to the Loaded Hog, a brewpub popular with Auckland financial district types during the lunch hour.

After having a pint each at the Loaded Hog, which serves high quality beer at about half the price of brewpubs in the States, about $4-5 for an English pint, 20 oz., we proceeded back towards the Auckland Sky Tower. Having a reservation at the restaurant allows one to bypass the line and not have to pay the $15 charge for the elevator ride up. We were blessed with a clear, sunny day, and the view from the top was spectacular. Acrophobes may have a hard time with the glass floors in parts of viewing deck which allow one a view of what's directly underneath one's feet 60 stories below. All 3 of our meals at the restaurant were very good. Diners who stay for an hour and twenty minutes will be rewarded with a complete rotation of their table around the tower and will have gotten a 360^o view of greater Auckland in the process. Considering the view and the free elevator ride, the final bill of $100 for 3 people (and a mocha and dessert for a fourth) was well worth it.

After lunch, we headed back to the University so Rich could check e-mail, and then to the University Staff Club. It was at the staff club, we discovered the Kiwi trait of furnishing pubs with couches and easy chairs (as opposed to the barstools, tables and hard wooden chairs prevalent in the States). We ordered a pitcher of Speights, one of the local brews, for $4.50, which I calculated at 65 cents American per glass. Unfortunately, you have to be an Auckland U staff member or guest to enjoy this bargain. Any Yankee beer or wine drinkers will still find beer or wine is significantly less expensive than at home, not the case for cocktails or spirits which are more heavily taxed.

Unlike most American restaurants, Kiwi restaurants (with exception of Brasseries and a few of the haughtier places) permit one to bring their own wine with a BYO policy. This originates from the limited number of liquor licenses available in New Zealand, and the fact that there are still a number of unlicensed restaurants in NZ. Wine shops are numerous in New Zealand and usually open in the evening, so it is not too difficult to find a bottle to bring with you. For Yankees, who are sick of getting gouged by greedy restauranteurs and draconian wine taxes, this is a welcome respite. Corkage fees were $1.25 per person to $5.00 per table.

That evening, the local wine shop in Eden Village was tasting some wines, including a Hawkes Bay cabernet, which were for the most part very good. We bought the cab, which was $17.00, a bargain by Stateside standards. We BYO'd the wine to the Italian restaurant across the street and had it with dinner.

A note on Kiwi wines. The New Zealanders pride themselves on their wines, more so their whites than their reds. I am not, nor was anybody in our group, a white wine drinker. The whites offered for tasting in the local wine shop were fine, as far as I could tell. Those who do appreciate white wine rank NZ's Sauvignon Blancs the highest, although there are a number of Chardonnays and Rieslings available as well. The red wines we tried, while not as sophisticated as a grand cru Bordeaux or a top Napa Valley cab, were overall very good and an excellent value for the money, running from $10 to $25 a bottle. This explained when Rich asked another wine shop employee in Parnell, a ritzier neighborhood in Auckland, if they ever carried California wine, the reply was that they had ordered it before but had a difficult time selling it because it was so expensive.

We went to bed fairly early, as we were still on California time which is 5 hours ahead and one day behind Auckland time this time of year (3 hours ahead and one day behind from October through April). The next day we were flying to Queenstown, and 4 days later to Christchurch to stay at a bach (pronounced batch, a Kiwi vacation home) owned by Peter, a colleague of Rich's who was very generously lent us use of it for a couple of days.

Saturday, August 29, 1998
Sheena, Rich's flatmate, offered to drive us to the airport. It looked like another gorgeous day in Auckland, hopefully our luck would continue on the South Island. The flight to Queenstown was cloudy most of the way down, but near Mt. Cook, the clouds lifted and the Southern Alps, including Mt. Cook, appeared. The mountains were comparable in ruggedness to their European namesake. The descent into Queenstown, which is in a valley at the foot of several mountain ranges was turbulent. Although it paled in comparison to a number of puddle jumper flights I have been on in Northwest Washington, which have kept me off any plane seating less than 30 passengers for the last 10 years, it was easily the choppiest ride I have been on in a jet. The other passengers were all maintaining stiff upper lips, in typical Kiwi style, with one-liners such as, "a little windy today, eh?"

The plane at times felt like it was in a paint shaker, enhanced by numerous creakings, bangings of bouncing luggage, and the encroaching sides of the Southern Alps. Thankfully, no airsickness bags were used, although Erin removed hers from her seat pocket in possible anticipation. Later, a cashier at the Remarkables Ski Area told me that the area was closed that day because of 140 knot winds. Remarkable.